Digital Commons Network^™

The Fossil Pearls Of The Million-Pearls Flowstone, Fairgrounds Room, Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico Usa, Victor J. Polyak, Paula P. Provencio, Yemane Asmerom

International Journal of Speleology

‘Fossil’ cave pearls in the Fairgrounds Room of Fort Stanton Cave form two distinct layers in a flowstone sample, FS-14-2. The flowstone in the Fairgrounds Room covers a mud-silt bank and the extinct streambed that extends across the room. Uranium-series dates of two pieces of flowstone from this room, one piece from the higher end of the flowstone (FS-14-1, devoid of pearls), and another piece from the lower end of the flowstone (FS-14-2, rich in pearls), show that the flowstone was deposited during the Last Glacial period (60,000 to 11,000 yr BP).  The two cave-pearl layers in FS-14-2 yielded U-series …

Scientific Skulduggery: Richard Harlan's Appropriation Of John Bachman's Claim To Discovery Of The Marsh Rice Rat, Lester D. Stephens

Georgia Journal of Science

In 1816, the noted mammalogist and clergyman John Bachman collected a new cricetid rodent, the marsh rice rat Oryzomys palustris (Harlan, 1838). Because of his demanding schedule, however, he did not draft a description of the animal until 1836, when, prompted by his friend John James Audubon, he submitted a copy to the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for publication in its Proceedings. Proposing the name Arvicola oryzivora for the rat, he asked the naturalist and associate of the Academy Richard Harlan to compare the skin with a related species described by George Ord in 1825. In a …

Historical Redlining, Walkability, And Green Gentrification In Baltimore, Usa, Rafael B. De Andrade, Ella Baynes, Vanessa Belt, Joseph Colasacco, Camden Speilman

The Geographical Bulletin

Historical redlining created persistent patterns of racial segregation and spatial inequality in American cities. However, urban initiatives aimed at increasing green spaces in these neighborhoods increasingly trigger gentrification that can displace original residents. In this study, we examine the spatial intersection of 1930s-era Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) redlining boundaries, current property values, and multimodal park accessibility in Baltimore, Maryland. Using geographic data from 245 properties and 13 major parks, we developed an accessibility framework incorporating walking, public transit, and automobile travel modes to estimate accessibility to green spaces across neighborhoods with different redlining histories. Our spatial analysis reveals that …

Data-Driven Risk Mapping For Safer Roads: Unincorporated Dekalb County, Georgia, Getachew B. Demisse, Stacy C. Grear, Araya D. Araya, Shimelis Gebru, Solomon Negash, Leo Ladefian, Carlo Frate

The Geographical Bulletin

This study presents a decade-long spatiotemporal analysis of more than 206,000 traffic accidents recorded between 2015 and 2024 in unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia. The primary goal of the study is to identify critical patterns of roadway risk and inform data‑driven safety interventions. Using crash records from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) AASHTOWare Safety platform and standardized crash‑rate calculations, the analysis revealed strong temporal regularities, including elevated crash frequencies during afternoon peak hours, Fridays, and seasonal transition periods such as October. Spatial analyses further demonstrate that crashes are highly concentrated along a limited subset of corridors, consistent with High Injury …

Volume 67-1, May 2026, Nancy Hoalst Pullen, Mark W. Patterson

The Geographical Bulletin

Volume 67-1, May 2026: Complete

Cover And Foreword, Nancy Hoalst Pullen, Mark W. Patterson

The Geographical Bulletin

Cover and Foreword

A Note From The Editors, Nancy Hoalst Pullen, Mark W. Patterson

The Geographical Bulletin

A Note From the Editors

Diversity Of Forest Vegetation In The Quarry Landscapes Of Central Polissia, Ukraine (Eastern Europe), Ivan Khomiak, Oleksandr Harbar, Ruslana Vlasenko, Tamara Andriichuk, Oleksandr Lavryk

The Geographical Bulletin

The features of territorial differentiation of vegetation in quarry landscapes are crucial for addressing theoretical issues in landscape science and applied problems of restoration ecology. This study aims to establish the phytocenotic diversity of forest communities. The forest vegetation of the quarry landscapes of Central Polissia includes 7 classes, 9 orders, 15 unions, 24 associations, and 2 groups of undetermined rank. Based on phytocenotic diversity, the quarries of Zhytomyr Polissia fall into three distinct zones: northern, central, and southern. The northern zone necessarily includes groupings of the Vaccinio-Piceetea class and excludes Salicetea purpurea. The central zone mainly features derived forests …

An Improved Process For The Preparation Of An Intermediates Of (4-Chloro-7-(2-((S)-1-(2-((3bs,4ar)-5,5-Difluoro-3- (Trifluoromethyl) -3b,4,4a,5-Tetrahydro-1hcyclopropa [3,4]Cyclopenta[1,2-C]Pyrazol-1-Yl)Acetamido)-2-(3,5-Difluorophenyl)Ethyl)-6-(3-Methyl-3-(Methylsulfonyl) But-1-Yn-1-Yl)Pyridin-3-Yl)-1-(2,2,2-Trifluoroethyl)-1h-Indazol3-Yl)(Methylsulfonyl)Amide Sodium, Lee Pharma Limited

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to (4-chloro-7-(2-((S)-1-(2-((3bS,4aR)-5,5-difluoro-3-(trifluoromethyl)-3b,4,4a,5-tetrahydro-1Hcyclopropa[3,4]cyclopenta[1,2-c]pyrazol-1-yl) acetamido)-2-(3,5-difluorophenyl)ethyl)-6-(3-methyl-3-(methylsulfonyl)but-1-yn-1-yl) pyridin-3-yl)-1-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl)-1H-indazol3-yl)(methylsulfonyl)amide Sodium, is represented by following structural formula (1) and its process for the preparation thereof.

The present disclosure relates to 2-((3bS,4aR)-5,5-difluoro-3-(trifluoromethyl)-3b,4,4a,5-tetrahydro-1H-cyclopropa[3, 4]cyclopenta[1, 2-c]pyrazol-1-yl)acetic acid is represented by following structural formula (2) and its process for the preparation thereof.

The present disclosure relates to (S)-tert-butyl (1-(3-bromo-6-(3-methyl-3-(methylsulfonyl)but-1-yn-1-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-2-(3,5-difluorophenyl)ethyl)carbamate is represented by following structural formula (3) and its process for the preparation thereof.

Evidence-Capsule-Gated Agent Memory And Action Control For Network Operations, Amit Singh

Defensive Publications Series

A system is proposed herein for governing artificial intelligence (AI) agents that perform network operations by interposing an evidence-capsule gate between deterministic network observations and an agent's memory and action authority. Structured evidence capsules bind operational facts and pass/fail assertions to topology scope, collection time, provenance, parser or schema version, freshness policy, and raw-evidence integrity information. A policy gate permits an agent to store trusted memory, cite current network truth, report successful operation, or execute or approve a network-changing action only when required capsules are fresh, in scope, integrity-verifiable, and passing. Missing, stale, conflicting, or tampered evidence causes blocking or …

Insertion Of Operations, Administration, And Maintenance (Oam) Overhead Bytes Over A 1 Gigabit Ethernet Link To Extend Optical Service Channel Range For Next-Generation Optical Line Systems, Gilberto Loprieno, Alessandro Putortì, Kannan Kapistalam Kasturirangan, Sara Corti

Defensive Publications Series

A technique is proposed herein for transporting Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) overhead over a 1 Gigabit Ethernet (1GbE) Optical Service Channel (OSC) by replacing available inter-packet-gap (IPG) idle capacity with OAM Sequence Ordered Sets. A hardware data path between a 1000Base-X Physical Coding Sublayer (PCS) and a 25 Gigabit Ethernet (25GbE) PCS performs rate adaptation, 64b/66b mapping, 256b/257b transcoding, and forward error correction (FEC), while preserving a 1.25-Gbit/s line rate. The OAM Ordered Set may use a /9C/AA/BB/CC structure in which AA and BB carry optical status information and CC carries control information including multiframe, fault-management, and Trail Trace …

The Agentic Clinical Decision Support Via Non-Contradiction Matching Against Temporal Pathways, Leonid Kuligin, Max Tschochohei

Defensive Publications Series

Clinical decision support systems using large language models can face challenges in reliability and explainability, particularly in adhering to validated clinical guidelines when processing unstructured and incomplete patient electronic health records. A described system can use an agentic pipeline to structure a patient's health data into a temporal, sequential history. This patient history can then be compared against a knowledge graph of predefined, multi-step clinical pathways using a non-contradiction matching algorithm, which considers a pathway a potential match if no patient data point directly contradicts a guideline condition. The system can then generate a ranked list of probable clinical pathways, …

Flexural Performance Of Nsm-Cfrp Strengthened Corroded Rc Prisms Under Freeze-Thaw And Wet-Dry Cycles, Zainab Abdulsattar Ghali, Maan S. Hassan

Engineering and Technology Journal

This study investigates the combined effects of corrosion level and environmental exposure on flexural behaviour of corroded reinforced concrete (RC) prisms repaired with self-compacted concrete (SCC) and strengthened with a near-surface-mounted (NSM) carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) system. Two accelerated corrosion levels (10% and 30%) were introduced before repair. The damaged concrete cover was removed and recast using self-compacting concrete (SCC), followed by NSM-CFRP strengthening. The repaired prisms were then exposed to standard laboratory conditions (ST), 300 freeze-thaw (FT) cycles, or 50 wet-dry (DW) cycles before flexural testing. Corrosion reduced the stiffness and load-carrying capacity of the RC prisms. The NSM-CFRP …

Federated System For Synchronous Root Cause Analysis Of System Incidents, Nikhil Kumar, Akash Verma

Defensive Publications Series

Initial response to system incidents in complex software environments can involve a manual process of context gathering, which may delay mitigation and increase cognitive load on engineers. A system can utilize a federated network of autonomous diagnostic agents that can trigger in response to a system alert. An agent can autonomously gather telemetry data from various sources, such as logs, metrics, and source code repositories, and can use an analytical model to perform causal synthesis. The system can then generate and deliver a human-readable root cause hypothesis with supporting evidence to a response team. This approach may automate initial data …

Hierarchical Approximation Of Self-Attention Using A Tree-Based Key-Value Cache, Antonio Gulli, Patricia Florissi

Defensive Publications Series

Self-attention mechanisms in neural network models can result in quadratic time and memory complexity, creating a memory bottleneck when processing long sequences. A hierarchical approximation of self-attention can address this limitation. The historical key-value cache can be represented as a balanced hierarchical tree where internal nodes store aggregated representations of token clusters. A query-dependent traversal mechanism can then approximate the influence of distant clusters by pruning subtrees based on a configurable criterion, such as the ratio of a cluster's spatial diameter to its distance from the query. This approach can reduce the computational and memory overhead associated with standard self-attention …

Novel Crystalline Forms Of [(2r)-2-(2-{[3,3-Dibutyl-7-(Methylsulfanyl)-1,1-Dioxo-5-Phenyl-2,3,4,5-Tetrahydro-1h-1,5-Benzothiazepin-8-Yl] Oxy}Acetamido)-2-Phenyl Acetamido] Acetic Acid And Processes For Preparation Thereof, Msn Laboratories Private Limited, R&D Center, Srinivasan Thirumalai Rajan, Sagyam Rajeshwar Reddy, Kommera Rajasekhar, Kondeti Raju And Shamim Ahmad

Defensive Publications Series

The present invention relates to novel crystalline forms of [(2R)-2-(2-{[3,3-Dibutyl-7-(methylsulfanyl)-1,1-dioxo-5-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-1,5-benzothiazepin-8-yl]oxy}acetamido)-2-phenylacetamido]acetic acid and processes for preparation thereof.

Formula-1.

Chemical Composition And Mechanism Investigation Of Subfraction From Wuwei Zijin San Guided By Anti-Hepatic Fibrosis Activity, Yazhen Guo, Zhongzhi Qi, Yajuan Chen, Lijuan Nie, Mingyu Luo, Yuechen Guo, Hui Wu, Bengui Ye, Jun He

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

BACKGROUND  Among the spectrum of hepatopathies that pose a significant global health threat, halting the progression of hepatic fibrosis is a key therapeutic objective. Wuwei Zijin San (WWZJS) is derived from a traditional Tibetan empirical formula, yet its efficacy against hepatic fibrosis, along with the underlying mechanisms and active ingredients, remains uncertain.

PURPOSE  The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of WWZJS against hepatic fibrosis, explore its underlying mechanisms and material basis, and evaluate the potential of direct interactions between the biologically active ingredients and their corresponding targets.

METHODS Chemical profiling of the active …

A Calibrated And Conformal Deep Learning Framework For Trustworthy Antinuclear Antibody Pattern Recognition With Selective Referral To Experts, Hussein Ali Hussein Al Naffakh, Ahmed Dheyaa Radhi, Raghdah Maytham Hameed, Muntaha Abdullah Reishaan, Fouad A. Majeed, Rozaida Ghazali

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

Reading antinuclear antibody patterns on human epithelial cells by indirect immunofluorescence is the reference screen for systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases, but it is slow, subjective, and variable between observers. Deep learning reaches high accuracy on this task, yet most systems return a single prediction without stating how reliable it is, which is unsafe in a diagnostic workflow. This paper presents an intelligent decision support framework built around a single calibrated uncertainty signal. That signal is the control variable for four reliability modules: confidence calibration, conformal prediction, error detection, and selective referral. A feature space out of distribution detector serves as …

Study Of Primer Efficiency And Relative Genetic Band Abundance In Different Genotypes, Mundher Kh. Jabbar

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

This experiment was aimed to find some indicators related to primers and genetic variations. Six bread wheat genotypes were selected as the dataset. The RAPD marker technique was used with oligonucleotide primers as marker of study. The goal was to identify factors used for the relationship between primers and their ability to elicit DNA fragments through different genotypes, as well as the relative genetic band abundance among genotypes. After the designed factors, key findings emerged: in relative primer amplification rate, C1 genotype exhibited a higher relative primer amplification rate (RPAR) of fragments from OP-H01 but did not differ from OP-V19 …

Public Sector Experiences Of Disruptions In The Psychological Contract: The Influence Of Ideological Currency And Digital Transformation On Public Servants, Willemijn Van Haeften, Xander Lub, Pascal Ravesteijn, Pascale Peters

Communications of the IIMA

Digital transformation is reshaping public-sector work and may alter how public servants evaluate their psychological contract with their employer. This research-in-progress examines how critical incidents associated with digital transformation disrupt psychological contracts and how ideological currency, the perceived commitment to valued societal causes or principles, shapes subsequent trajectories toward renegotiation, repair, or exit. The study uses a qualitative phenomenological design based on semi-structured interviews with 20 employees from five Dutch municipalities experiencing transformation-related changes. The Critical Incident Technique is combined with the dynamic psychological contract phase model to reconstruct disruption trajectories, while thematic analysis identifies recurring patterns across cases. Preliminary …

Perceived Effects Of Cancel Culture Threat And Digital Natives’ Patterns Of Communication On Social Media, Randolph N. Townley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

"Cancel culture" is a well-known atropism that has become commonplace on social media. To many this may feel like a new phenomenon, but it has existed in various forms since antiquity. From biblical times to today, people have attempted to silence dissenting viewpoints. The cancel culture philosophy is distributed over all viewpoints that have a potentially offensive bent for the group of people who deem the content offensive. This study evaluated whether digital natives feel compelled to limit their exposure on social media to their authentic viewpoints considering the threat of repercussions. Using Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory coupled with …

Stigmatic History: The Advancement Of Accessibility In U.S. Museums, 1960-2010, Misty A. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation represents an overlap between disability history and public history by examining how museums in the U.S. became more accessible between 1960 and the early twenty-first century. Utilizing an expansive cross-section of primary and secondary sources, this study unravels the complexities of social and legal pressures that resulted in accessibility becoming a priority in museums. Changes in social expectations, new legal measures, and activism contributed to a shift in the status and treatment of people with disabilities. With these changes came a need for public spaces to adapt and provide disabled peoples with the same access and experiences as …

Beyond Transformational Leadership: The Moderating Role Of Leader Hexaco Personality Traits In Fostering Psychological Safety In Law Enforcement, Daniel Q. Lentz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Law enforcement agencies struggle to recruit and retain officers due to lack of public support, criticism, and declining well-being, which raises stress levels. While operational stress affects officers, organizational stress is more damaging. Transformational leadership can help create a psychologically safe work environment, but research on this link is limited and mixed. This study examined how each HEXACO personality trait (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness) moderates this relationship, drawing on social exchange and attribution theories. Conducted in U.S. law enforcement agencies, a survey assessed officers' perceptions of their leader’s transformational style, HEXACO traits, and psychological safety. Moderation and mediation …

Growing Up Without A Father: A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experience Of Black Women In The Church, Jada She'ree Adger Byrd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of Black women who grew up in the faith community without a present father in the Southern region of the United States. The central research question that guided this study was, "What are the lived experiences of Black women who grew up in the faith community without a present father?" The theory that guided this study was intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989, 1991), as this theory provides a framework for the understanding of how intersecting identities, including race, gender, and spirituality, shape an individual’s interpretation of father absence. This study …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Family Dynamics And Juvenile Delinquency: A Qualitative Case Study With Probation Officers, Sevoca Glass Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Beqo et al. (2017) discuss the correlation between juvenile delinquency and upbringing in dysfunctional and fragmented homes. The point of this study is to investigate the link between family structure and dynamics while also figuring out how likely it is that someone will commit a crime (Mwangangi, 2019). Large amounts of empirical research have clearly shown that teens who grow up in bad homes are more likely to become juvenile offenders than their peers who grow up in loving homes. The main aim of this qualitative case study is to examine the views of federal probation officials regarding the possible …

Barriers And Facilitators To Health Literacy Among Black Americans With Overweight And Obesity In South Carolina: A Mini-Ethnographic Study, Shelly Campbell-Timmons

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative mini ethnography adapted from traditional ethnography with limited time and scope, was to explore and understand perceptions of barriers and facilitators to health literacy among Black Americans with overweight and obesity in three South Carolina counties. Population data showed that approximately 40.3% of U.S. adults are obese. Moreover, Non-Hispanic Black communities are disproportionately affected by overweight and obesity despite efforts to combat the weight-related health risk. Still, limited health literacy should be the focus of public health strategies like teach-back and plain language communication, to address overweight and obesity prevalence and disparities. The study was …

Influences Of A Social Emotional Curriculum On Teachers’ Classroom Experiences: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Nikki Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenology was to understand the lived experiences of general education first-grade teachers in Washington State who use social-emotional curricula to mitigate negative student behaviors. The theory guiding this study was Bandura’s social learning theory (SLT) as it pertains to peer-to-peer and peer-to-teacher relationships. The participants in this study were 10-15 elementary classroom teachers in Washington who will incorporate one Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) lesson per week. The teachers followed the MindUP curriculum to incorporate additional activities. The focus was on the lived experiences of first-grade teachers in Washington State who teach SEL to mitigate negative student …

Exploring The Role Of Single Pilot Operations In Night Cargo Aviation: A Phenomenological Study, Kollin Ellis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive phenomenology was to examine the lived experiences of pilots who have operated alone at night in an aviation cargo environment. The design was guided by an epistemological philosophical assumption. Extreme advancements in the technology of artificial intelligence and their applications in the aviation industry have raised the question of the value of a single operator serving in commercial cockpits. Some experts argue that a two-person crew is unnecessarily redundant. A significant gap in the current literature of experiential data existed to prompt this study. Through the contextual lens of the Dual Process Theory and …

The Effect Of Mental Health Check-Ins On Stigma And Symptoms Of Anxiety, Depression, And Post-Traumatic Stress, Benjamin Joseph Boeke

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This applied quantitative study examined whether participation in structured mental health check-ins was associated with self-stigma toward seeking psychological help and reported symptoms of anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and depression among law enforcement officers. Using a cross-sectional, nonexperimental comparative design, anonymous survey data were collected from 130 active sworn officers across 10 small and mid-sized Iowa law enforcement agencies. The agencies included those with and without mandatory check-in policies; primary comparisons were based on officers’ reported participation in at least one check-in. Measures included the Self-Stigma of Seeking Help Scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. …

What We Love Online: A Deductive Thematic Analysis Of Thoughtforms, Parasocial Agent Connection, And Bidirectional Fictophilia In The Digital Liminal, Michael P. Ross

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

As artificial intelligence (AI) systems become integrated into daily life, users are forming connections with non-human agents that are functionally useful, emotionally significant, and sometimes experienced as relational. This qualitative study examined how individuals make meaning of AI thoughtforms, how online disinhibition shapes perceived connection, and how personal histories and belief systems inform whether AI companions feel emotionally or symbolically “real.” Seven adults who reported meaningful AI interactions participated in semi-structured video interviews through Microsoft Teams. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, de-identified, and analyzed in NVivo 15 using deductive thematic analysis informed by parasocial attachment, fictophilia, social cognitive theory, and online …