Digital Commons Network^™

What Is The Distribution Of National Historical Parks?, Randall K. Johnson

Faculty Works

In an increasingly polarized nation, which no longer can reach any consensus about what is meant by the term “common good,” it might be wise to extend additional protections to national monuments from executive branch interference. But prior to doing so, the U.S. Congress may want to undertake some additional research work. Such research could build on the existing charge of the National Park Service as well as other interested parties. By doing so, Congress gains insight into whether and how this federal legislature should expand protections for national historical parks.

My article explains, at least in part, how Congress …

Underrepresentation Of Black Students In Advanced World Language Study, Megan E. Golden

Curriculum and Instruction (Ed.D.) Dissertations

Advanced K-12 world language (WL) courses (level three and beyond) suffer from significant underrepresentation of Black students, subsequently impacting Black students’ college and employment opportunities. This study employs a critical constructivist grounded theory framework to analyze quantitative surveys and retrospective qualitative interviews with Black college-aged individuals. The goal of this study is to center the voices of Black students and reveal how they describe their world language courses, how they perceive the impact of those courses, and what factors influence their decision on whether to continue to advanced-level world language study. Survey data found that Black students express limited feelings …

Ai Tools In Natural Resources And Environmental Systems For The Classroom, Research, Extension And Industry, Derek M. Heeren, C. T. Agouridis, Debabrata Sahoo, Isaya Kisekka, Trisha L. Moore

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

This white paper synthesizes a series of panel insights on AI adoption across education, Extension, research and industry contexts within natural resources and environmental systems. It emphasizes that while advanced machine learning and generative AI introduce structural shifts in autonomy, scale, and cognitive augmentation, their value lies in augmenting, not replacing, human expertise. Applied tool examples include decision‑support systems for rural water operators, HAB‑diagnosis apps integrating image classification and natural‑language guidance, an irrigation educational chatbot tailored to user background, and sensor‑driven orchard AI for light interception estimation and data gap filling. A recurring design imperative involves co‑development with end users, …

Lanthanum-Based Nanoparticles: A Promising Frontier In Antimicrobial Applications, Ikhazuagbe H. Ifijen, Peter Agyemang, Emmanuel Faderin, Lovelyn Oyinyechi Odo, Emmanuel Ikechukwu Okeke, Divine Ifechukwu Onugha, Stella Eberechi Obuba, Obembe Oluwafunke, Chinyem Ogochukwu

Michigan Tech Publications

Lanthanum-based nanoparticles have garnered significant attention for their potential in antimicrobial applications due to their unique properties and mechanisms of action. This review explores the antimicrobial efficacy of various lanthanum-based nanoparticles, including La2O3, La(OH)3, and LaF3, highlighting their mechanisms of action such as disruption of microbial cell walls, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and interference with microbial DNA and protein synthesis. Despite their promising attributes, several challenges hinder their practical application, including limited understanding of their mechanisms, concerns over biocompatibility and toxicity, and difficulties in scaling up production. Emerging trends in nanoparticle research, such as surface functionalization, smart delivery …

Nantucket Eelgrass Management Plan, Kimberly Starbuck, Kristin Uiterwyk, Shannon Hogan

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

Eelgrass is a critical component of our coastal ecosystem, supporting marine biodiversity, improving water quality, and helping to stabilize the shoreline. This planning effort aims to support the long-term health and sustainability of eelgrass habitats in our local waters.

Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) is a subtidal seagrass found on both the east and west coasts of North America. Over the last 40 years, eelgrass has declined worldwide as a result of increased turbidity, algal blooms, physical disturbances, disease, and a host of other stressors. Specifically, in Massachusetts, the eelgrass population has declined approximately 50% in the last 30 …

Stabilizing Embankments Using Geosynthetic Reinforcement, Daryl Greer, Charlie Sun

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Reinforced soil slopes (RSSs) can be a feasible solution for embankments where there exist right of way re-strictions, environmental issues, rolling or mountainous topography, unfavorable geology, and other limiting fac-tors. They can be an alternative to retaining walls or importing select fills to construct steeper, stable embankment slopes where flatter embankment slopes may result in unwanted impacts, costs, and maintenance issues. Thisreport discusses the advantages and limitations of using geosynthetic reinforcement to construct RSSs. Researchers investigated current design, specification, and construction practices to determine which practices can be adopted by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC). Specifications were developed for using …

Writing Climate Change: Science Knowledge In Creative Forms; Part Two: From Reading To Writing, Lytton Smith

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

This lesson explores how a short creative piece by Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate, draws on climate science knowledge to engage readers informationally, imaginatively, and emotionally. Students will reflect through discussion and/or writing on both the scientific methodology and the questions of equity and justice her poem raises. Finally, students will engage in a guided writing prompt where they research science knowledge around climate change and use what they find to shape their own short creative pieces (100-300 words), based in that science.

Writing Climate Change: Science Knowledge In Creative Forms; Part One: Understanding Science Stories, Lytton Smith

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

This lesson explores how a short creative piece by Ada Limón, U.S. Poet Laureate, draws on climate science knowledge to engage readers informationally, imaginatively, and emotionally. Students will reflect through discussion and/or writing on both the scientific methodology and the questions of equity and justice her poem raises. Finally, students will engage in a guided writing prompt where they research science knowledge around climate change and use what they find to shape their own short creative pieces (100-300 words), based in that science.

Perceptions Of An English Language Learner Program In A Florida Middle School, Kristifer M. Harden

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

A growing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) exists within the United States. The purpose of this study was to explore administrators' and teachers' perceptions of a school district’s ELL program and determine how those perceptions align with the ELL supports used in the classrooms of a small school district in Florida. The study intended to answer the question: How do the perceptions of an ELL program held by the administrators and teachers responsible for the implementation of the ELL program differ from one another and from the ELL supports being provided in classrooms? This qualitative case study was developed …

Data-Driven Methods For Signal Analysis And Nonlinear System Identification, Cristian Felipe López Ruano

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent years, data-driven modeling has gained considerable attention in nonlinear system identification, offering a powerful alternative to traditional physics-based methods. This has been possible by advances in machine learning, sparse regression, and differential equations in a weak form, which allow the accurate capture of complex nonlinear dynamics, even when the measurements are in strong background noise. Moreover, integrating these models with physical knowledge further enhances their reliability and interpretability, making them suitable for a wide range of science and engineering applications.

In this dissertation, we investigate algorithms for data-driven nonlinear system identification to obtain ordinary differential equations that govern …

Redundant Functions Of Mir156-Targeted Squamosa Promoter Binding Protein-Like Transcription Factors In Promoting Cauline Leaf Identity, Darren Manuela, Liren Du, Qi Zhang, Yifei Liao, Tieqiang Hu, Jim P. Fouracre, Mingli Xu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Is It Time To Revive The Privileges Or Immunities Clause?, Hwi Won Kim

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

Is it time to revive the privileges or immunities clause?

I argue it is. But in a distinct way from what other legal scholars have suggested. Today, two ideas dominate discussion of the Privileges or Immunities clause of the 14th Amendment. First, the Supreme Court rendered it a nullity in the Slaughter-House Cases (1873). Second, any attempt to revive it, most prominently Justice Thomas's recent concurrence in McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), necessarily means an abandonment of modern rights now protected by Due Process or Equal Protection. The first, in essence, argues the Clause is already dead, while the …

The Effects Of Extreme Weather On Rural Transportation Infrastructure And Crop Prices Along The Lower Mississippi River, James Mitchell, Hunter D. Biram

Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Faculty Publications and Presentations

Extreme weather events are worsening the fragile rural infrastructure in the United States, impacting trade flows of agricultural products. The Mississippi River, vital for transporting agricultural commodities, reached historic lows during the 2022 and 2023 fall harvests, increasing transportation costs and lowering crop prices. This paper estimates the cost of these drought events by analyzing Arkansas soybean basis data and Mississippi River stream gauge data. Low river levels significantly weaken soybean prices, with the impact being a function of a grain market's distance to a river port. Findings have implications for public policy investment in rural infrastructure and risk management …

Data Set For Fipronil Insecticide Response Spectrum Model For Juvenile Chinook Salmon, Kara E. Huff Hartz, Katie Knaub, Louise Cominassi, Giovanni Molinari, Shane Power, Mia Arkles, S.D.M. Chinthaka, Andrea Chandler, Md. Haibullah-Al-Mamun, Gregory Whitledge, Amelie Segarra, Richard E. Connon, Shawn Acuna, Michael J. Lydy

Data Sets

This spreadsheet is a compilation of the data sets corresponding to the following manuscript:

Development of a Fipronil Insecticide Response Spectrum Model for Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)

Kara E. Huff Hartz, Katie J. Knaub, Louise Cominassi, Giovanni S. Molinari, Shane Power, Mia Arkles, S. D. M. Chinthaka, Andrea Chandler, Md. Habibullah-Al-Mamun, Gregory Whitledge, Amelie Segarra, Richard E. Connon, Shawn Acuña, Michael J. Lydy

Environmental Pollution, Volume 385, November 2025, 127122.

Statesmanship 101: Recommended Readings By Scholars And Diplomats, John Shaw

Institute Publications

The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute asked leading diplomats and scholars this question: If you were teaching a "Statesmanship 101" course to highly motivated undergraduates, what five or so books would you assign them to read? This book answers that question.

Compliance And Systems Data Management Report: Monthly Waiver Participation Trends, July 2025, Tennessee. Department Of Disability And Aging

Compliance & System Data/Reports

This monthly report provides data on various aspects of the department's activities and programs.

Ben Ferencz’S Pioneering Transitional Justice Legacy, Including And Beyond Accountability, Federica D'Alessandra

Cardozo International & Comparative Law Review

The article argues that Benjamin Ferencz was a foundational figure in the field of transitional justice, extending beyond his recognized contributions to international criminal justice. His work laid the groundwork for the four pillars of transitional justice: truth, accountability, reparation/restitution, and memorialization. Ferencz’s efforts in investigating war crimes, prosecuting perpetrators, advocating for victim-centered justice, and preserving historical records demonstrate his pivotal role in shaping modern transitional justice frameworks.

Building Responsive & Sustainable Early Educator Apprenticeship Programs, Annie Schaeffing, Brooke Tucker, Liz Hartline, Lily Rosenthal, Davia Brown-Franklyn

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

This publication shares key findings and design recommendations from the Bank Street Education Center’s evaluation of Vermont’s early childhood education apprenticeship program. Drawing on excerpts from interviews and focus groups, the report explores how apprenticeship models can support early educators in earning credentials and degrees, and how program design can be adapted to better meet the needs of the early education workforce.

July 1, 2025 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Credible Or Constructed? Citation Quality And Undergraduate Student Perceptions Of Generative Ai, William Bowman, Chelsea Carroll, Kaylee Erdos, Suzanne Odom, Wanda Perez

Evans Library Publications

This study aimed to evaluate students' perceptions of the reliability of generative AI tools in academic work, with a particular focus on the accuracy of citations produced by ChatGPT and the frequency of citation hallucinations. The study consisted of two instruments: a feedback survey and an assignment worksheet. The study was completed over the 2024- 2025 academic year and was administered to students enrolled in a for-credit information literacy course offered by the Florida Institute of Technology’s Evans Library. It gathered survey responses from 156 students and received assignment worksheet submissions from 188 students. These submissions yielded 512 AI-generated citations …

Distributed Tracking Control Of Multiple High-Order Uncertain Nonlinear Systems With Guaranteed Performance, Eduardo Alvarez, Wenjie Dong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the distributed tracking control of multiple uncertain high-order nonlinear systems with prescribed performance requirements. By introducing a performance function and a nonlinear transformation, the prescribed fixed-time performance tracking control problem is reformulated as a distributed tracking control problem for multiple special nonlinear systems. With the aid of the universal approximation theorem for continuous functions and algebraic graph theory, distributed robust adaptive controllers are designed using the backstepping technique. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.

Advancing Statistical Methods For Multivariate And Network Meta-Analysis, Yifei Wang

Statistical Science Theses and Dissertations

Multivariate meta-analysis (MMA) and network meta-analysis (NMA) are essential tools for synthesizing evidence across multiple correlated outcomes and treatments. However, these tools face practical challenges, including outcome reporting bias (ORB), unreported within-study correlations, and computational burden. ORB can distort effect estimates in MMA, while missing within-study correlations in multivariate NMA may lead to biased conclusions. To address these challenges, this dissertation introduces two novel statistical methods. For MMA, we propose SemiMMA, a semiparametric and scalable approach that treats ORB as a missing-not-at-random problem and combines inverse propensity weighting (IPW) with the generalized method of moments (GMM). For multivariate NMA, we …

Oxytocin's Role In Feelings Of Social Connection And Loneliness, Cecile Sunahara

Psychology Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the role of oxytocin (OT) in feelings of social connectedness. Healthy male and female participants (N=138) were exposed to a task designed to elicit feelings of social connectedness to close others (i.e., the Social Connection Task); participants’ salivary OT levels were measured in response to this task. Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA), data were collected on participants’ feelings of social connectedness in daily life. Results from the current study showed that, among male participants, OT levels decreased in response to the Social Connection Task, while no change in OT was observed among female participants. OT reactivity to …

We The Voters: A Response To Professor Douglas, Jonathan L. Marshfield

UF Law Faculty Publications

A Response to Professor Joshua Douglas's Article, The Power of Electorate Under State Constitutions, 76 Fla. L. Rev. 1679 (2024).

Developing, Implementing, And Improving Data-Informed Student Success Campaigns Rnl 2025, Regina Wine-Nash, Paul E. Mabrey Iii

Student Success Analytics

Using our experiences of developing and implementing data informed student success campaigns, members of the Office of Student Success Analytics at James Madison University will discuss how they developed and implemented data-informed student success campaigns to improve retention and reduce equity gaps. With a focus on email and text campaigns, the presentation will discuss the value of integrating data-informed campaigns, explain the process for designing, implementing, and assessing campaigns, and help higher education professionals identify and design a student success campaign.

Masthead

Journal of Dispute Resolution

No abstract provided.

The Settlement Privacy-Transparency Matrix: Moving Beyond The Dichotomous Mindset In The Settlement Debate, Alyson Carrel, Peter K. Chan

Journal of Dispute Resolution

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote, “The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.” Forty years after Owen Fiss’s seminal article “Against Settlement,” it is time to reimagine how we approach the settlement debate beyond traditional dichotomies. Just as Schopenhauer recognized that time and experience allow us to better understand our past, forty years of grappling with the settlement debate have given us the perspective to see its limitations, and now with emerging technologies, new possibilities. The ‘text’ of the debate—its dichotomous framing and distributive solutions—has shaped four decades of …

Data And Ai Mystification: Ownership, Control, And Financialization In The Platform, Andrew W. Alexander

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The social relation between the platform and its users is defined by engagement with digital infrastructures and the rendition of this engagement into data. User-data, however, are surrounded by regulatory and legal ambiguities as they are not accounted for as intangible assets and their ownership and control are not transparent. I investigate how platforms rectify these ambiguities to realize user-data value as codified capital through an intensive case study of two major platforms. I use qualitative content analysis (QCA) to analyze annual and earnings reports, terms of service (ToS) agreements, and internal documents from 2017 through 2023 with qualitative data …

Explainable Use Of Foundation Models For Job Hiring, Vishnu S. Pendyala, Neha Bais Thakur, Radhika Agarwal

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Automating candidate shortlisting is a non-trivial task that stands to benefit substantially from advances in artificial intelligence. We evaluate a suite of foundation models such as Llama 2, Llama 3, Mixtral, Gemma-2b, Gemma-7b, Phi-3 Small, Phi-3 Mini, Zephyr, and Mistral-7b for their ability to predict hiring outcomes in both zero-shot and few-shot settings. Using only features extracted from applicants’ submissions, these models, on average, achieved an AUC above 0.5 in zero-shot settings. Providing a few examples similar to the job applicants based on a nearest neighbor search improved the prediction rate marginally, indicating that the models perform competently even without …

Restoration Quarterly: Vol. 67, No. 3

Restoration Quarterly

No abstract provided.