Digital Commons Network^™

Section Intro: To Grieve, Tony Eiland, Molly Mcconnell, Ava Savino, Shiloh Winters

Mend

No abstract provided.

History Does Not Repeat Itself, But It Often Rhymes: Comparing The Messaging Of Adolf Hitler And Donald Trump, Elaina Varney

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

With the growing divide between the left and right, many on the left have raised alarms that Donald Trump is a fascist. My research paper compares Donald Trump’s messaging to Adolf Hitler’s messaging to find any similarities between the two in order to determine if Trumpism is a precursor to fascism. This study begins by looking at previous scholars’ research into whether or not Trumpism is a precursor to fascism and then I proceed to draw on primary sources such as speeches, Mein Kampf, and Trump’s TruthSocial posts, particularly those related to immigration and minorities, attacks on and suppression …

When Women Weep: The Gendered Politics Of Lamenting And Death In Early Irish Literature, Catherine Van Wey

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Early Irish literature of the ninth through thirteenth centuries encodes gendered assumptions about women’s emotion through narratives in which grief, sorrow, and shame repeatedly lead to female death. Focusing on the thirteenth-century hagiographic text Tales of the Elders of Ireland, feminist standpoint theory is applied to reveal how male-dominated authorship shapes literary portrayals of women as emotionally excessive, dependent on men, and narratively expendable once those men are lost. Situated within the cultural tradition of female lamentation or caoineadh, these portrayals show how women’s ritual roles as mourners were mythologized and reworked into literary mechanisms that reinforce patriarchal authority. Within …

Craft, Love, And Loathing: Anthropology Of Hair Art In The Twenty-First Century, Eugene Kauffman

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

When hair is cut off and used in art, many people find it disgusting, but when attached, hair is seen as beautiful. Over time, these ideas have changed; in the Victorian Era, people had more tolerance and appreciation for different types of hair art, such as sculptures and accessories. In order to analyze these changes and why hair is seen as repulsive, we must look at theories of disgust and abjection. In addition, we must look at the history of bodily art and the connections it had to death and mourning. The understanding and recognition of abject mediums such as …

Handwritten Histories: Exploring Identity Through Personal Correspondence, Savana Hauck

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

This project examines handwritten correspondence as a site of gendered and sexual self-discovery, intimacy, and historical continuity. Developed for HIST 2708W - Gender, Women, and Sexuality in Modern Europe - , it centers on a collection of contemporary “snail mail” letters written in response to reflective prompts about participants’ lived experiences of gender and sexuality. These personal narratives are presented in a physical, scrapbook-style format that emphasizes slowness, care, and trust as methodological and ethical practices.

By placing these contemporary letters in dialogue with historical examples of correspondence—including an 1882 letter sent to German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing, the intimate …

How Laws And Systems Contributed To The Masking And Expansion Of The Verdingkinder System And Targeted Jenisch People, Max Gmuender

Scholarly Horizons: University of Minnesota, Morris Undergraduate Journal

Did Switzerland have slavery? What did it look like? These were the questions that led me investigate the history of “Verdingkinder,” or contract children, who were placed as indentured laborers primarily on Swiss farms from 1850 to 1950. As I dug deeper, I discovered a more targeted campaign within this broader system: the “Kinder der Landstrasse” (Children of the Road) program, which ran from 1926 to 1973 and specifically removed children of the Jenisch ethnic community from their families.

This discovery raised a critical question that has driven my research: How did legal frameworks and institutional systems in Switzerland facilitate …

System And Method For Achieving Deterministic Recovery And Reconciliation In Distributed Transactional Data Pipelines, Soumendra Kumar Mishra

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes system and method for achieving deterministic recovery and reconciliation in distributed transactional data pipelines. The system introduces a deterministic control architecture that captures anomaly signals through an event recording mechanism and executes reproducible corrective actions via coordinated agentic components. A recovery engine reconstructs missing or partially processed data by analyzing distributed execution artifacts, restoring consistent intermediate states, and materializing affected partitions. A reconciliation engine deterministically merges late or unprocessed records with previously processed datasets using strict deduplication rules, cut aligned aggregate re-computation, and version preservation policies. The system ensures that any recovery or reconciliation action, regardless of …

Gci Invention #258-B: Whirlybird V3.0 – High-Wind Autorotating Fire Suppression & Nutrient Delivery System, Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

GCI Invention #258-B describes WHIRLYBIRD v3.0, a passive boundary-layer controlled (PBLC) autorotating samara-wing system for ballistic delivery of fire suppressants and precision nutrients in 70+ mph crosswind conditions.

Aerodynamics: Asymmetric high-camber samara wing with spanwise-zoned vortex-grate perforations (root/mid/tip density gradient), geometric twist, and tip micro-tabs for stable LEV, TSR ≈2.2, and 550-650 RPM autorotation. Chordwise stiffness gradient enables passive gust-load shedding (FoS ≥2.5 ultimate, ≥1.5 fatigue). Central high-inertia core provides gyroscopic stability.

Dispersal: RPM-altitude dual-trigger centrifugal release (550-650 RPM + 15m AGL) with internal vanes for 15m uniform ground coverage. Hybrid pellets (outer Purple-K for flame knockdown + inner MAP/polyphosphate …

The Vortex–Acoustic Bio‑Refinery (Vabr): A Modular Low‑Pressure System For Converting Sewage Sludge Into Astm‑Compliant Biodiesel, Michael Victor Caldwell Mr.

Defensive Publications Series

The Vortex–Acoustic Bio‑Refinery (VABR) is a conceptual modular system designed to convert municipal sewage sludge into ASTM‑compliant biodiesel using a combination of vortex‑based solids concentration, dual‑frequency acoustic processing, and catalyst‑assisted chemical transformation. The invention proposes a low‑pressure, low‑temperature alternative to high‑pressure hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), with the goal of reducing mechanical complexity, improving operator safety, and enabling decentralized deployment at wastewater treatment facilities. The VABR concept integrates fluid‑dynamic separation, acoustic disruption of organic structures, and catalyst‑supported biodiesel‑compatible reactions. This disclosure outlines the scientific principles, conceptual system architecture, and potential advantages of the VABR compared to existing waste‑to‑fuel technologies. It is released …

Dynamic Memory Management System For Distributed Data Processing Environments, Katyayani Kiranmayee Kolluru, Shivam Mohan, Ravi Shanker Kumar Sinha, Hardik Jain

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for dynamically managing memory allocation in a distributed data processing platform. The system includes a plurality of workers executing tasks with varying memory requirements, each equipped with a memory sentinel monitoring runtime parameters. A risk engine computes a risk score from telemetry data received from the memory sentinels to anticipate out-of-memory conditions and adjust resource profiles accordingly. When a high risk is detected, the system requests larger resource profiles from a resource manager, provisions new larger workers, and reallocates memory-intensive tasks while preserving their state through a state transfer plane. This …

Method And System For Optimizing Memory Utilization In Computing Environments, Satyam Raj, Shivam Mohan, Ravi Shanker Kumar Sinha, Pradeep Choube

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a system and method for optimizing memory utilization using a reinforcement-learning-driven, bidding-based page-replacement algorithm in computing environments. The method involves monitoring memory usage patterns from multiple processes through a memory management unit, calculating an affinity score for each page in a buffer cache based on access characteristics (including recency, frequency, tenure, working-set membership), page-fetch/IO cost, job-submission timestamps, and physical block identifiers, and determining page-eviction decisions via a bidding process in which pages with lower affinity scores are selected for eviction. The system comprises a buffer cache for rapid data access, an affinity calculator for assigning …

Synchronized Synthetic Global-Shutter And Rolling-Shutter Camera Images, Zheng Huai, Sazzadur Rahman, Chao Guo

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes a method and wearable system for generating synchronized synthetic images from heterogeneous cameras, including a global-shutter (GS) camera and a rolling-shutter (RS) camera, within a simulated environment. GS cameras capture all pixels simultaneously, while RS cameras capture images sequentially row by row, causing different rows to correspond to different capture times and making synchronization difficult. The disclosed method addresses this challenge by reconstructing a rolling-shutter image using multiple global-shutter images generated at calculated timestamps. Using rolling-shutter parameters such as exposure time and readout time, the system computes row-level timestamps relative to a center-of-exposure (COE) reference time associated …

Simulating Custom Environment For Augmented Reality Or Extended Reality System, Vikram Auradkar

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes a framework for simulating immersive computing environments, specifically targeting augmented reality (AR) and extended reality (XR) development. The system utilizes a dual-input architecture comprising a 3D scene file, such as a Graphics Library Transmission Format (glTF) file, and a corresponding scene information file containing semantic metadata. This metadata defines environmental elements including planar surfaces like floors and ceilings, vertical walls, and spatial anchors for immovable or movable objects. By incorporating configurable visibility conditions—including field-of-view (FOV) triggers, distance thresholds, and ambient lighting levels—the framework simulates the dynamic discovery of scene information by virtual hardware sensors that would be …

Terra² System, Vesa Olavi Lius

Defensive Publications Series

This document constitutes a formal Defensive Publication establishing worldwide Prior Art for the ALLFROMAIR® TERRA² Tri-Generation Platform. The system produces three simultaneous utilities from a single hardware unit and a single electrical connection: (1) purified drinking water meeting EU Directive 2020/2184 and WHO Guidelines 2022, (2) district heating at 4th-generation temperatures (35–60°C), and (3) district cooling and server cooling via evaporative vapor-pressure-gradient mechanisms. The core process is a Two-Module Three-Stage Rocket architecture (Charge–Harvest–Cool) operating an internal process temperature of ~50°C, independent of ambient conditions. Spray water applied to heat exchangers HX2, HX3 and HX_B undergoes natural vapour-phase desalination, enabling seawater, …

Method And System For Adaptive Routing Of Machine Learning Inference Requests Based On Health Scores, Hao Qin

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for adaptive routing of machine learning inference requests using composite health scores. The method involves maintaining a dynamic health score for each inference engine instance based on multiple performance factors including latency, success rate, timeout occurrence, error rate, saturation, and staleness. Instances are organized in a priority queue according to their health scores, with the instance having the lowest score selected for processing requests. A fairness adjustment is applied to prevent overloading any single instance. Instances that meet specific quarantine criteria are isolated and subject to periodic health assessments, while successfully …

Mathematical Play: The Game Of Cycles, Benjamin Gaines

Journal of Math Circles

In the Play chapter of Mathematics for Human Flourishing by  Francis Su, he introduces the Game of Cycles. This is a game played on a graph consisting of vertices, non-overlapping edges connecting those vertices, and the two-dimensional cells enclosed by those edges.  This lesson plan will help organizers use this game to lead an activity touching on the basics of combinatorial game theory, strategizing and think ahead, and how anyone can start exploring uncharted mathematical ground! This activity is suitable for middle school, high school, and undergraduate students, with no specific math background necessary.

Free Vibration Of Sandwich Panels With Re-Entrant Auxetic Core: A Numerical And Analytical Investigations, Nabaa Alaa Aldeen, Sadeq Hussein Bakhy, Mohsin N. Hamzah

Engineering and Technology Journal

In this paper, an analytical study is performed along with a numerical method to analyze free-vibration behavior of sandwich panels composed of aluminum face sheets and a polymer-based re-entrant auxetic core. An analytical model based on Classical Plate Theory (CPT) was formulated using equivalent orthotropic elastic properties derived from the re-entrant unit-cell geometry. Theoretical predictions were validated using three-dimensional finite element simulations in ANSYS 2025 R1, with SOLID186 elements under supported boundary conditions. The results indicate that if the core thickness is increased from 4 mm to 12 mm, there is roughly a 90% increase in the fundamental natural frequency. …

Modelling Of Fresh Ultra-High- Performance Slag Concrete Properties Using Response Surface Method, Sana Taha Abdulhussain, Maan S. Hassan, Shatha S. Hasan

Engineering and Technology Journal

The use of large quantities of cement, silica sand, and quartz powder in the production of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) imposes environmental burdens, increases CO₂ emissions, and depletes natural resources. In this concept, there is a need for sustainable UHPC mixtures that reduce clinker and natural aggregate consumption while maintaining ultra-high strength, particularly by utilizing industrial by-products and alternative materials combinations. This study aims to develop sustainable UHPC by incorporating steel slag and utilising accelerated carbonation in the manufacturing of sustainable silica-based binder materials, and to model the resulting fresh properties using response surface methodology (RSM). The investigated variables include …

Probabilistic Analysis Of The Service Life Of Concrete With Recycled Aggregates In Marine Environments, Pietra Guasti Vande Meerssche, Mauro De Vasconcellos Real, Fábio Costa Magalhães, María Noel Pereyra Domínguez, Rita De Cássia Taveira De Oliveira, Gustavo Bosell Wally

Seatific Journal

In marine environments, the main cause of degradation of reinforced concrete structures is corrosion induced by the penetration of chloride ions. Durability design approaches have gradually evolved toward performance-based approaches, which are capable of more accurately assessing the behavior of structures over time and their resistance under specific environmental exposure conditions. Due to the high variability of the parameters affecting the durability of these structures, a probabilistic performance-based approach tends to provide results closer to reality by considering the uncertainties of materials and degradation phenomena as random variables. In this work, a probabilistic service life analysis is carried out for …

Flexible Modeling Of Non-Gaussian Longitudinal Data: Some Approaches Using Copula, Subhajit Chattopadhyay

Doctoral Theses

Longitudinal data are common in medical and biological sciences, where measurements are gathered from subjects over time to explore relationships with explanatory variables (covariates) and to uncover the underlying mechanisms of dependence among these measurements. The responses observed at each instance can be either discrete or continuous. One of the primary challenges in longitudinal data analysis lies in the non-Gaussian nature of the response variables. As a result, there are relatively few multivariate models in the literature that effectively address the specific characteristics observed in such datasets. In this dissertation, we address four problems concerning longitudinal data analysis by developing …

A Review Of Oer Math Homework Systems, Rachel Bailey, Nathan Carter

Open Educational Resources Publications

This report evaluates four leading open educational resource (OER) math homework systems—MyOpenMath, WeBWorK, Ximera, and XYZ Homework—for their suitability in Bentley University’s first-year mathematics courses. The review compares cost, usability, LMS integration, available content, and alignment with Bentley curricula. MyOpenMath emerges as the strongest option due to its usability, robust problem libraries, and fully free access. XYZ Homework offers comparable features but includes student fees. Ximera and WeBWorK provide powerful capabilities but require greater technical expertise. The report concludes with recommendations for implementation and needed faculty support.

Within Sacred Walls: Cloister Architecture And The Virgin Mary As The Hortus Conclusus In 14th- And 15th-Century Italian Art, Catherine Howard

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The practice of cloistering allows women to exist in spaces dedicated to meditation and religious devotion. The physical nature of the cloister, which involves walls separating these religious women from the world, maintains a distinction between the cloister as spiritual and the world as secular.

One of the many titles of the Virgin Mary is the hortus conclusus, or “walled garden.” This metaphor is intended to emphasize her spiritual separation from the sins of the world, as well as her perpetual virginity. Artistic depictions of the Virgin in this role, particularly from Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries, often …

The Impact Of The Legalization Of Marijuana On The Under 21 In New Jersey, Sharon Mesmer

Child and Family Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Geochemistry Of The Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous Limestone Of The Bilecik Formation In The Dümrek Area (Eskişehir, Western Central Anatolia): Implications For Depositional Environment And Paleotemperature, Asuman Kahya, Meti̇n Bağci

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous limestones of the Bilecik Formation are exposed near the village of Dümrek (Eskişehir Province) within the Sakarya Zone. Mineralogical analyses reveal that these limestones are predominantly composed of calcite and include intraclasts, fossil shell fragments, ooids, and peloids, cemented by sparry and micritic calcite. The U/Th, Ni/Co, V/(V+Ni), V/Cr, and Ce/Ce* ratios indicate that these carbonates were deposited in an oxic environment. Furthermore, the Mn/Sr ratios imply no diagenetic alteration, indicating preservation of the original geochemical signature. The PAAS-normalized REE+Y patterns of these limestones display depletion in light rare earth elements, a pronounced positive La anomaly (La/La* …

Neotectonics Of The Malatya Basin, Se Türkiye; Implications Of The Reactivations Of The Faults Of The Basin During 6 February 2023 Earthquakes Of The East Anatolian Fault System, Yaşar Ergun Gökten, Doğan Kalafat

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Malatya Basin (MB) is a fault-controlled superimposed sedimentary basin situated in the SE of Anatolia, near and to the north of the East Anatolian Fault System (EAFS). The rock units ranging from the Permo–Carboniferous to the Upper Miocene form the basin’s basement. The thickening of the Upper Cretaceous–Upper Miocene sequence toward the Malatya Fault (MF), the basin’s northwestern boundary, indicates a dip-slip-dominated character for the MF and its control on the first-step sedimentation of the basin. The MF changes its character from dip-slip normal to the strike-slip in the Late Pliocene, and today presents a 1700-m left lateral offset, …

Numerical Study Of Porosity Effects On Temperature And Fluid Flow In Black Sea Gas Hydrates, Bahar Güvem, Doğa Doğan

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Numerical temperature and fluid flow simulations were conducted using ANSYS Fluent to investigate the influence of porosity variations on the temperature distribution within the gas hydrate layer. The study was carried out in the Black Sea region, where the gas hydrate deposits are of particular interest due to their potential for energy resources. The simulations explored various porosity levels within the hydrate layer to observe their effect on thermal behavior and fluid dynamics. The results revealed that porosity plays a significant role in modulating the temperature distribution within the gas hydrate layer, with lower porosity models exhibiting higher temperatures compared …

Short-Term Sleep Restriction In Humans Alters Diurnal Circulating Metabolite Profiles, Including Those Of Microbial Origin., Vanessa A Leone, Katya Frazier, Manpreet Kaur, Evan A Chrisler, Ashley M Sidebottom, Ethan Tai, Vilinh Tran, Shuzhao Li, Eugene B Chang, Dean P Jones, Eve Van Cauter, Erin C Hanlon

Faculty Research 2026

BACKGROUND. Gut microbes and their metabolites contribute to the host circulating metabolome and exhibit diurnal variation influenced by sleep-wake cycles and meal timing. Sleep deprivation alters the rhythmic circulating metabolome, but its impact on microbial metabolites remains unclear. We tested whether 24-hour circulating metabolite profiles, including those of microbial origin, differ under normal (habitual) versus short-term restricted sleep.

METHODS. In a randomized crossover design, 9 healthy adults completed 2 in-lab 24-hour blood sampling sessions (q120): one following 3 nights of normal sleep (8.5 hours/night), the other following 3 nights of sleep restriction (4.5 hours/night). Meal timing and caloric intake were …

Mediation Analysis Investigating The Mechanisms Of Two School-Based Smoking Prevention Interventions In Adolescents From Northern Ireland And Bogotá, Jennifer M. Murray, Sharon C. Sánchez-Franco, Olga L. Sarmiento, Erik O. Kimbrough, Christopher Tate, Shannon C. Montgomery, Rajnish Kumar, Laura Dunne, Allen Thurston, Aideen Gildea, Abhijit Ramalingam, Erin L. Krupka, Felipe Montes, Huiyu Zhou, Laurence Moore, Linda Bauld, Blanca Llorente, Frank Kee, Ruth F. Hunter

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

Background:

Reviews have highlighted a lack of evidence on how successful intervention strategies for adolescent smoking prevention can be effectively adapted for low-middle income countries (LMICs). The MECHANISMS study compared behavioral mechanisms between two school-based smoking prevention programs for adolescents in Northern Ireland (NI; a high-income setting) and Bogotá, Colombia (middle-income). ASSIST works via peer education and diffusion. Dead Cool uses conventional classroom pedagogy. Both interventions were previously trialed in the UK and were culturally adapted for Bogotá. We investigated whether changes in smoking/vaping outcomes differed by intervention or setting. Mediation analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized intervention mechanisms. …

Optimizing High-Density Uas Integration In Tbo Airspace: A Federated Contingency Management Framework For Singapore, Jianxiang Wang

Student Works

In Singapore's high-density urban airspace, integrating Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) into NextGen Trajectory-Based Operations (TBO) faces a significant scalability challenge due to reliance on centralized, legacy Command and Control (C2C) architectures. The problem lies in the latency and inefficiency inherent to centralized Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems when managing heterogeneous, low-altitude traffic. This is particularly true during non-nominal events, such as unpowered ballistic descents. Currently, these events necessitate disruptive airspace segregation, such as Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs). This paper presents a conceptual and architectural framework for federated UAS Traffic Management (UTM), utilizing intent sharing and …

Short-Term Sleep Restriction In Humans Alters Diurnal Circulating Metabolite Profiles, Including Those Of Microbial Origin., Vanessa A Leone, Katya Frazier, Manpreet Kaur, Evan A Chrisler, Ashley M Sidebottom, Ethan Tai, Vilinh Tran, Shuzhao Li, Eugene B Chang, Dean P Jones, Eve Van Cauter, Erin C Hanlon

Faculty Research 2026

BACKGROUNDGut microbes and their metabolites contribute to the host circulating metabolome and exhibit diurnal variation influenced by sleep-wake cycles and meal timing. Sleep deprivation alters the rhythmic circulating metabolome, but its impact on microbial metabolites remains unclear. We tested whether 24-hour circulating metabolite profiles, including those of microbial origin, differ under normal (habitual) versus short-term restricted sleep.METHODSIn a randomized crossover design, 9 healthy adults completed 2 in-lab 24-hour blood sampling sessions (q120): one following 3 nights of normal sleep (8.5 hours/night), the other following 3 nights of sleep restriction (4.5 hours/night). Meal timing and caloric intake were held constant. Serum …