Digital Commons Network^™

Domain-Specific Associations Between Physical Activity And Tinnitus In Nhanes 2015-2018, Mitra Britton, Peter A Hosick

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background/Objectives: Tinnitus is a prevalent auditory condition associated with significant psychological burden and limited treatment efficacy. While physical activity confers broad health benefits, its relationship with tinnitus remains understudied. This study examined associations between domain-specific physical activity and tinnitus in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Methods: Data from NHANES 2015-2018 were analyzed. The final analytic sample comprised 4301 adults aged 20 years and older. Tinnitus was assessed via the NHANES audiometry questionnaire. Physical activity was categorized as low, moderate, and high (MET-min/week) separately for work-related (WORK) and non-work-related (NW) domains. Survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, …

Oriented Electrospun Fibers Of Poly(Pro-Curcumin/Peg) Sequester Reactive Oxygen Species And Promote The Growth Of Schwann Cells, Jack W. Devlin, Payton R. O'Connor, Conrad H. Cheung, John T. Leman, Martin Oudega, Edmund F. Palermo, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the biological injury microenvironment, pathologically elevated oxidative stress hinders healthy cell migration. Aligned electrospun fibers are used as tissue engineering scaffolds to support and guide the directionality of cell migration. The ability of cells in the central nervous system to sequester and quench reactive oxygen species is limited, and most electrospun fibers do not exert any antioxidant activity on contact. Thus, the challenge remains in designing a scaffold that can both guide cells to the injury site as well as sequester and quench excess free radicals, allowing cells to thrive and potentially regenerate. Curcumin is a well-known, potent antioxidant, …

Determination Of Hematobiochemical Parameters And Egg Quality Traits Of Turkish Sultan Chickens, Mehmet Naci̇ Oktay, Ruhi̇ Kabakçi, Ali̇ Karapinar, Gökhan Şen, Taha Altuğ, Yasi̇n Şenel

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The present study aimed to investigate the hematological and biochemical blood parameters, along with selected egg quality traits, of Turkish Sultan chickens. A total of 90 blood samples collected from 60-week-old hens and roosters and 129 eggs collected from 50 hens were analyzed. The findings showed that hematological parameters such as red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and heterophil-to-lymphocyte (H/L) ratio, as well as biochemical markers such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and uric acid levels, were significantly higher in roosters. The average egg weight, shape …

Lost In Loss: A Supportive Handbook For Teens Grieving The Suicide Of A Loved One, Gabriella Potter

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Adolescence is a complex developmental time. For adolescents grieving a suicide death, there can be added layers of complexity in navigating this developmental period, due to unique challenges and stigma, family disruption, trauma, unanswerable questions, feelings of rejection, abandonment, responsibility, and anger that can result from a suicide death loss. Through a literature review of the available research on adolescent suicide bereavement, this doctoral paper examines models of grief, adolescent development, and suicide loss, aiming to bridge the literature in all these domains. Despite the high prevalence of bereavement in young people, there are limited, tailored resources designed to support …

Motherwise In Nicaragua: The Implementation Of Culturally Adapted Relationship Education For Women During Pregnancy And Postpartum, Amanda Key Correa Love

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a concerning public health issue of global proportions, particularly within rural and under-resourced settings. Communities in these settings face elevated risk for relationship abuse, further compounded by barriers to access culturally responsive preventive intervention programming. This qualitative study investigated participant experiences, cultural adaptation, and implementation of the MotherWise program, a healthy relationship education intervention in rural Leon, Nicaragua. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with former and current program participants as well as the program facilitator following the initial program implementation. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify patterns related to participant experiences, the types of …

Understanding Whole-Brain Dynamics Through Generative Modeling, Ruiqi Chen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

A central goal in cognitive neuroscience is to map mental processes onto their physical substrates. Traditionally, this goal is pursued by associating different mental processes with spatially-based anatomic localization. On the contrary, much less is known about the temporal dynamics of neural activity, particularly at the scale of the whole brain. Research into whole-brain dynamics has been challenging primarily due to the lack of an analytic framework that can summarize such dynamics, expose the underlying mechanisms, and associate the mechanisms with cognitive processes. In this dissertation, I describe my doctorate research aimed at building such a framework and deploying it …

Encountering The Blue Economy Through Event Ethnography: A Methodological Reflection On The Geographies Of Policymaking, Carlo Ceglia

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This article offers a methodological reflection on adopting a particular type of ethnography—event ethnography—to engage with the production and circulation of policy realities. Responding to recent geographical calls asking us to critically investigate the Blue Economy (BE)—a recent policy paradigm supposedly ensuring economic development, social well-being, and environmental sustainability—I detail my choice of event ethnography as the primary methodological choice informing my encounter with one such paradigm in the archipelagic state of the Republic of Seychelles. In doing so, this article expands on current qualitative methodological approaches for the study of the BE by foregrounding the potentialities of event ethnography …

Exploring Engineering Technology: A Multi-Year, Multidisciplinary Project-Based Engineering Technology Workshop, Benito Mendoza, Angran Xiao, Muhammad Ummy

Publications and Research

Many students enter engineering technology programs with a limited understanding of disciplinary differences, curricular expectations, and career pathways, contributing to early dissatisfaction and attrition. To address this challenge, we developed Exploring Engineering Technology, a multidisciplinary, project-based workshop that introduces students to Mechanical, Electrical, and Computer Engineering Technology through a shared robotic systems project. This paper presents a multi-year design-based educational research (DBER) study documenting the iterative refinement and sustained implementation of the workshop across three consecutive summers (2023–2025) at a large urban public college. Using a consistent post-workshop survey administered across cohorts and aggregate student progression indicators, we examine …

The Impact Of Slow Tourism On The Psychological Well-Being Of Urban Recreational Tourists In Jakarta, Ahmad Ghazy Dananjaya

Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Policy Studies

This study addresses the urgent need for psychological escape among Jakarta's population due to high life pressure, noise pollution, and density. While slow tourism offers tranquility and deep connection, its application in fast-paced metropolitan settings remains under-researched. This study analyzes the impact of Tranquility and Physical Activity Involvement on the Psychological Well-being of urban recreational tourists. Adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-method design, quantitative data were collected from 200 purposively selected domestic tourists and analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression, followed by in-depth interviews. Surprisingly, statistical results indicate that neither tranquility nor physical activity significantly influences psychological well-being, either simultaneously or partially. …

Post-Revitalization Accessibility Critique: A Case Study Of Tunggang Parangan Cemetery Vs Kelambu Kuning Cemetery, Achmad Ramadhani

Journal of Indonesian Tourism and Policy Studies

This study examines the disparity between revitalization objectives and the implementation of comprehensive accessibility in cultural heritage sites in Indonesia. Through a comparative analysis of two recently revitalized pilgrimage sites - the Tomb of Habib Tunggang Parangan and the Tomb of Kelambu Kuning - this research investigates how different revitalization approaches affect accessibility outcomes. The study employs a literature review methodology utilizing digital sources and policy analysis, framed within the 3A tourism framework (Attraction, Accessibility, Amenity). Findings reveal that despite implementing different models - public-private partnership versus government-led development - both sites demonstrate similar deficiencies in implementing comprehensive accessibility principles. …

Enough With The White Lie-Ability: Decreasing Frivolous Health Care Liability Actions In Tennessee With Time And Transparency, Mary Katherine Smith

University of Memphis Law Review

No abstract provided.

Picturing Africa: Critical Reflections On The Importance Of Imagery In Textbooks, Amber R. Reed, Bailey A. Brown

Essays in Education

While many social studies teachers in the Atlanta metro area are working to combat stereotypical and racist images of Africa, our analysis of three commonly used textbooks demonstrate these are exactly the types of images that tend to get reproduced. This essay draws on an analysis of three commonly used textbooks in Georgia as well as interviews with teachers in the area. We show how stereotypes of Africa as filled with wild animals, primitive, and poverty-stricken are often upheld in publications despite teachers’ fervent desire to dismantle them. Because these images are often decontextualized, it is difficult for teachers and …

Whose Game Is It? Re-Centering Athlete Voice In Interscholastic Sports: A Literature Review, Nick Pocius

Essays in Education

Interscholastic athletics have long been positioned as educational spaces that support the holistic development of young people. However, an increasing emphasis on outcomes such as winning, advancement, and visibility has shifted the experience away from its intended purpose. This article examines the growing disconnect between what athletes report valuing in their sport experience and the expectations imposed by adults and broader societal pressures. Drawing on motivational frameworks such as Self-Determination Theory and achievement goal theory, alongside practitioner experience, the article identifies four key elements that athletes consistently prioritize: belonging, growth, autonomy, and meaningful engagement. It then explores how external influences, …

Plant-Assisted Synthesis Of Cobalt Oxide (Co3O4) Nanoparticles Using Ziziphus Jujuba And Capparis Decidua Extracts And Evaluation Of Antioxidant Activity, Muhammad Yaseen Khan

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

The plant-assisted synthesis method was employed to synthesize cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄) nanoparticles using the Ziziphus jujuba (Z. jujuba) (Jujube, Chinese Date, and Red Date) leaves and Capparis decidua (C. decidua) (Karira, Kair, and Bare Caper) stem. The Co₃O₄ NPs were characterized by various techniques. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrum disclosed that Z. jujuba-based Co₃O₄ NPs had absorption peaks at 347, 384, and 423 nm. Whereas the C. decidua-based Co₃O₄ NPs showed absorption peaks at 327, 376, and 402 nm. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum showed the …

Laser-Ablated Au@Ag@Au Core-Double Shell Nanoparticles To Fight Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria, Ahmed A. Aktafa, Uday M. Nayef, Majid S. Jabir

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

This work involved synthesizing Au@Ag@Au core double-shelled structures in deionized water (DW) using various laser energies (300, 500, and 700 mJ). These compounds served as antimicrobial agents against two bacterial types: Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Gram-negative Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii). The findings showed that bactericidal efficacy increased with higher laser energy. During production, a pulsed Nd-YAG laser synthesized Au@Ag@Au core-double-shell nanoparticles (NPs) in a 5 mL DW solution. The laser generated 250 pulses at energy levels of 300, 500, and 700 mJ. The device operated at a wavelength of 1064 nm. XRD analysis confirmed the crystal structure, …

Radiation-Driven Transformations In Polystyrene: Optical, Mechanical, And Morphological Insights Under High-Dose Gamma Exposure, Samah M. Hussein, Nahida J. Hameed, Evan T. Salim

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

The radiation sensitivity and the structure's stability of polystyrene (PS)-based polymers have been thoroughly investigated. The PS films were exposed to Gamma doses ranged between 10 to 30 kGy. The ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra showed a direct correlation between the dose of radiation and absorption. As the dose increases, the intensity of the absorption increases steadily, especially in the UV region below 400 nm. The exposed PS films to Gamma radiation demonstrated a linear response at wavelengths of 450, 650, and 850 nm. The response displayed a slight deviation of approximately ± 2, revealing a praised optical measurement. The optical band …

Synthesis And Characterisation Of Bioactive Glass 45s5 By Sol-Gel Method And Evaluation Of Biological Properties In Vitro, Khulood Haleem Yousif, Enas Muhi Hadi, Nehia Naema Hussein, Raid A. Ismail

Journal of Applied Sciences and Nanotechnology

Bone defects resulting from trauma or pathological events are among the most significant clinical, social, and economic problems. Bioactive glass (BG) is a possible alternative to inert graft materials. In this study, BG was fabricated from a SiO₂–CaO–NaO–PO₅ system using a new acid-catalyzed sol-gel method. Field emission scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the morphology of 45S5 BG powders, and their microstructural properties were investigated in detail. The common distinctive peaks of hydroxyapatite (HA) formation were confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Bioactivity and degradation were evaluated by immersion in simulated body …

In Work But Out Of Rights: Migration Governance And The Production Of Precarity Among Third-Country Nationals In Cyprus’ Hotel Sector, Petros Giannoulis, Petros Kosmas, Maria Panagopoulou

Irish Journal of Tourism, Hospitality, Leisure and Event Research

This study aims to examine how migration and labour governance in Cyprus produces and manages precarity among Third-Country Nationals (TCNs) employed in the hotel sector. For the purposes of the present study this category encompasses various groups of people, including Non-EU migrant workers, international students and asylum seekers. Drawing on critical scholarship on migration governance, differential inclusion, and institutional racism, the study analyses key policy instruments regulating the recruitment, employment and residence of migrant workers through qualitative content analysis. The findings demonstrate that precarity is not an unintended by-product of labour market regulation or administrative failure, but a structurally embedded …

Granular Phenotyping Of Neuromuscular And Cortical Adaptation In Elite Judo Athletes: A Three-Group Experimental Analysis Using Eeg And Emg Markers, Magdalena Prończuk, Dariusz Tadeusz Skalski, Wirginia Likus, Łukasz Jaworski, Adam Maszczyk, Kinga Łosińska

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: Inter-individual variability in neuromuscular and cortical adaptation presents a significant challenge for the personalization of neurofeedback protocols in elite sports, particularly in judo. Objective: This study aimed to identify distinct adaptation phenotypes in elite Polish judo athletes by integrating electrophysiological and performance-based measures following an EEG biofeedback intervention. Materials and methods: Twenty-four male athletes from the Polish national judo team completed a 15-session EEG biofeedback protocol targeting frontal alpha asymmetry. Post-intervention assessments included surface EMG amplitude (RMS), median frequency (MF), percentage EMG change, composite EEG indices (EEG_SUM), and normalized lower-limb strength. A composite Global Adaptation Index (GAI) was used …

Medical Image Integrity Protection Through U-Net Based Roi Segmentation And Hybrid Integer Wavelet–Quadtree Embedding, Muna M. Jawad, Rasha F. Nadhim, Noor A. Yousif, Ashwaq T. Hashim

Journal of Intelligent Informatics, Networking, and Cybersecurity

For decades, secure techniques in medical images have focused on securing the sensitive information through limiting direct access to the images themselves. Nonetheless, these methods tend to cause distortion on the images that can affect the diagnostic value and cause loss of crucial information. There arises the fundamental problem of secure embedding of medical data in such a way that does not affect the diagnostic integrity of the image. To overcome this limitation, a secure yet hidden data-hiding mechanism is introduced that is exploited U-Net-based deep learning for accurate Region of Interest (ROI) segmentation. Therefore U-Net architecture is used for …

Audio Signal Correction Via Transformer-Based Fusion Of Facial Landmarks And Latency Metadata, Ruofei Du, Mahdi Tayarani Najaran

Defensive Publications Series

In remote communication, audio signals and visual signals are often unsynchronized. A mismatch between perceived visuals and corresponding audio leads to speech recognition errors and reduced audio quality. This disclosure provides an architecture for visual-audio speech correction. Features are extracted by a mouth landmark encoder, an audio encoder, and a visual encoder. These features are mapped to a target audio signal through an on-device visual-audio transformer. Simultaneous processing of signals from both visual and audio modalities is performed. Device latency and conferencing platform latency are integrated into transformer encoders during a preprocessing stage. Enhanced audio signals are then decoded to …

Predictive Intent Proposal And Gestural Confirmation In Head-Worn Displays Via Multimodal Large Language Model Analysis, Ilia Labzovsky, Tamar Yakar

Defensive Publications Series

Traditional interaction models for wearable displays often present challenges such as physical fatigue, social friction, and unintended activations. Fully autonomous execution based on inferred intent may also lead to high-stakes errors. This disclosure describes a method for predictive intent proposal and non-verbal confirmation using multimodal data analysis. Video streams, eye-vector data, and inertial measurement unit data are ingested. Raw eye movements are converted into semantic tokens. An on-device multimodal large language model processes these tokens and the visual scene to infer a likely user intent. A non-intrusive augmented reality overlay is generated to propose a specific action. The action is …

Interactive Picture-In-Picture Control Surface For Managing Background Agentic Tasks, Yijo Liu, Clifford Tse Yan Chan, Tiffany Deonne Morris, Shadia Walsh, Golden Gopal Krishna, Lily Duraiswami, Yeun Su Shin, Carl Magnus Borg

Defensive Publications Series

Background processes are frequently suspended by mobile operating systems, which obstructs multitasking during long-running automated browser workflows. Visual feedback regarding the execution state of these workflows is typically absent. This disclosure explains how a live visual preview of an active Document Object Model is converted into a data stream compatible with a picture-in-picture container. A floating window is generated when a context switch occurs away from a mobile browser. A text summary is superimposed on the container to display specific workflow states. Interactive prompts are included directly within the overlay to allow state modifications. User intervention is enabled without a …

Interactive Graphical Interface For Multi-Tab Content Synthesis And Parametric Control, Yijo Liu, Carl Magnus Borg, Tiffany Deonne Morris, Shadia Walsh, Golden Gopal Krishna, Melissa Kuo Bui, Yeun Su Shin, Clifford Tse Yan Chan, Lily Duraiswami

Defensive Publications Series

Current methods for comparing content across multiple browser tabs are limited because tabs are treated as separate rendering instances. Comparisons of data across different pages often involve manual navigation or reliance on static text tables that lack interactivity. A technique is disclosed where a comparison interface is generated by extracting attributes from the underlying data structures of selected browser tabs. This interface synthesizes extracted data into a graphical overlay including parametric controls such as sliders and dials. Interactions with these controls trigger modifications to the browser state. These modifications include the physical reordering of tabs within a tab strip, visual …

Gating Spatial Coordinates Utilizing Inertial Detection, Tushar Chugh, Aditya Shrikant Mone, Karthik Kumara

Defensive Publications Series

Extended reality (XR) input systems relying solely on optical hand-tracking face critical limitations, including contact ambiguity between hovering and touching, processing pipeline latency, and field-of-view occlusion. This disclosure describes a multimodal sensor fusion framework that addresses these challenges by integrating spatial coordinate mapping from head-worn devices with high-frequency inertial event detection from wrist-worn devices. When a wrist-worn sensor detects the sharp acceleration of a physical impact at a specific timestamp, the system triggers retroactive event gating. The system accesses historical visual buffers to retrieve spatial coordinates corresponding to the impact time, then applies an update that dynamically forces the depth …

Generative Pipeline For 2d Image To Volumetric 3d Media Conversion In Extended Reality Environments, Dev Shimulbhai Daftari

Defensive Publications Series

The adoption of extended reality (XR) headsets is limited by a lack of native volumetric content, resulting in flat presentations of standard two-dimensional media libraries. Traditional depth-mapping approaches introduce severe visual stretching artifacts during six-degrees-of-freedom (i.e., translation and orientation) movement due to missing data behind foreground objects. The disclosed technology introduces a generative artificial intelligence (AI) pipeline that synthesizes volumetric media from standard monocular two-dimensional inputs (e.g., an image or a video frame). The pipeline performs depth estimation from the two-dimensional input to construct a three-dimensional point cloud, computes left and right eye stereoscopic perspectives via head-pose tracking, and uses …

Ai Agent Evaluation With Skill-Driven Test Cases And Lightweight Network Simulation, Ryan Holland, Elango Ganesan, Samer Salman, Yao Zhao

Defensive Publications Series

Presented herein is a system for automated generation, deployment, and evaluation of test cases for artificial intelligence (AI)-powered agents performing network operations. The system evaluates long-running agent trajectories rather than only single-turn outputs, validates whether required tool calls were executed, assesses whether a reasonable diagnostic process was followed, and checks whether conclusions were accurate and helpful. Procedural documentation, such as skills, is used as a proxy for coverage so that key use cases can be prioritized and test cases can scale with domain growth. The system also generates and pre-validates synthetic responses to anticipated tool calls, thereby avoiding physical networks …

Ensuring Symmetric Path Forwarding Of Ptp Packets Using A Dedicated Ptp Mac Address Steering Table, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A mechanism is disclosed for maintaining path symmetry of Precision Time Protocol (PTP) message exchanges in a packet switched network. Each network node along a PTP packet path maintains a dedicated PTP Media Access Control (MAC) Address Steering Table that is separate from conventional data plane forwarding and MAC learning tables. PTP packets are identified by User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port 319 for event messages and UDP port 320 for general messages. Upon receiving a forward direction PTP packet from a PTP Grandmaster (GM) toward a Telecom Boundary Clock (T-BC), each node records the source MAC address, source Internet Protocol …

Contextual Hardware Security Using Autonomic Physiological State Signatures, Sudeep Chauhan, Ehsan Nourbakhsh

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes techniques and architectures for securing a computing device against physically coerced access by utilizing dynamic autonomic physiological state signatures. Processing circuitry of a computing device (e.g., a primary computing device, a wearable sentinel device, or an industrial control terminal) continuously determines a dynamic physiological baseline from sensor data (e.g., heart rate, galvanic skin response, inertial data). A physiological baseline and anomaly engine utilizes a machine learning model, which accounts for contextual states such as active exercise tracking to filter false positives, to detect a distress state corresponding to a non-voluntary autonomic deviation relative to the dynamic physiological …

Veti-3.0 (Vortex Ejector Tip Integrated, Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

The VETI-3.0 is a passive, bolt-on exhaust scavenging device engineered for naturally aspirated internal combustion engines. Unlike static "vortex cones," this system utilizes Multi-Band Helmholtz Acoustic Tuning to prevent exhaust pulse reversion and an Adjustable Coaxial Ejector to lower effective backpressure via ambient air entrainment. It requires no electronics, no moving parts, and no engine modifications, targeted performance upgrades if this works.

Peak Horsepower Gain: +4% to +7% (Engine-dependent).

• Steady-State Cruise MPG: +5% to +8%.

Operational Range: Optimized from idle to redline.