Digital Commons Network^™

From Aspiration To Obligation: A Contractual Sustainability Framework For The Egyptian Construction Industry, Salma Ali

Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is responsible for approximately 40% of global energy consumption and 35% of total waste generation, making it one of the most significant contributors to the global sustainability challenge. In Egypt, that challenge takes a specific contractual form. Egypt’s construction sector contributes approximately 23% of national energy consumption, yet the survey findings reveal that 63.5% of construction professionals report that sustainability clauses rarely or never appear in contracts, and only 11.5% confirm the presence of enforceable provisions with measurable targets. This gap is structural rather than attitudinal. Competitive procurement penalises voluntary sustainability investment, and without contractual obligation, awareness …

The Human Side Of Humanitarian Work: Well-Being And Performance Among Aid Workers In Egypt, Mai Osama Kenawy

Theses and Dissertations

Well-being and productivity are widely recognized as central to the work performance of humanitarian aid workers. Despite increasing attention to staff well-being, performance within the humanitarian sector in Egypt remains stagnant or, in some cases, declining. This study examines why expanded well-being initiatives have not yielded sustained performance improvements by examining how actors' external roles, organizational factors, and individual factors affect humanitarian workers’ well-being and work performance. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining ten in-depth interviews with humanitarian workers from international organizations, INGOs, and local NGOs, as well as a survey of eighty workers operating in the same context. The …

Work Precarity, Mental Health, And Performance Among Humanitarian Aid Workers In Egypt Post-2025 U.S. Funding Reduction, Mariam Allam

Theses and Dissertations

The humanitarian sector is increasingly characterized by precarious employment conditions and work precarity, including short-term contracts, unclear renewal terms, inadequate compensation, heavy workloads, and job insecurity, exacerbated by volatile donor funding. The 2025 U.S. funding cuts have intensified these vulnerabilities, particularly in countries like Egypt, with massive humanitarian operations because of being a significant destination for asylum applications and one of the largest refugee host countries. Despite the prevalence of precarious work in the humanitarian sector, limited research examines its effects on workers' mental health and work performance, especially during funding crises. This qualitative study explores the perceived effect of …

Energy Efficient Load Balancing In Multi-Band Cellular Networks Via Reinforcement Learning, Ahmed Shoukry El Soukkary

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates energy-efficient load balancing in homogeneous multi-band cellular networks through the joint design of user association (UA) and transmit power allocation (PA). The original mixed-integer nonlinear formulation is decomposed into two coupled yet tractable subproblems: a UA stage and a PA stage for high-frequency bands. For UA, a SINR-ratio-based heuristic is proposed to prioritize users that are most sensitive to suboptimal band assignments, and it is benchmarked against a Max- SINR baseline. For PA, the high-band power control problem is addressed using reinforcement learning, where a Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) agent learns power levels and band-activation decisions under …

Mobilizing Social Capital In Social Entrepreneurship: Strategies, Networks, And Growth In The Egyptian Context, Doaa Alaa

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how social entrepreneurs in Egypt strategically mobilise social capital to access resources, legitimacy, and opportunities within a fragmented and institutionally ambiguous ecosystem. Drawing on qualitative case studies of eight legally registered, mission-driven for-profit enterprises, the study analyses how founders build and leverage offline and online networks through practices such as emotional bonding, community formation, knowledge sharing, symbolic positioning, ecosystem engagement, and digital presence. Through thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews and secondary data, the research identifies a set of relational strategies that function as core mechanisms for entrepreneurial growth in contexts where formal support structures and legal definitions …

Engineering Nanoelectrocatalytic Systems For Co2 And Nitrate Conversion Into Value-Added Chemicals, Abdelrahman Mohamed Abdelmohsen

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis addresses two major related environmental crises: nitrate pollution of water systems and the ever-increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Both challenges are closely linked to anthropogenic disturbance of nitrogen and carbon cycles and require sustainable, energy efficient mitigation techniques. In this study, we investigate electrochemical conversion routes as a unified approach to convert these pollutants into value-added compounds: ammonia (NH3) via nitrate reduction (NO3-RR) and ethylene (C2H4) via carbon dioxide reduction (CO2RR). The first half of this work deals with the design and engineering of Cu-Zn alloy electrocatalysts for efficient NO3-RR. Tuning the alloy composition and surface nanostructure …

Sense Of Belonging Among Undergraduate Students At The American University In Cairo: Demographic Trends, Barriers And Facilitators, Lamiaa M. Mohamed

Theses and Dissertations

A sense of belonging is widely recognized as a key determinant of undergraduate students’ academic success, well-being, and persistence in higher education. However, existing research is largely grounded in Western contexts and often emphasizes institution-level measures, with limited attention to how belonging is experienced and constructed by students in non-Western settings. This study examines undergraduate students’ sense of belonging at the American University in Cairo, focusing on factors that shape belonging and institutional practices that may strengthen it. Using a sequential mixed-methods design, the study examined 87 responses from a quantitative survey adapted from the University Belonging Questionnaire, followed by …

The Informal Impact Of The Headscarf Ban On Veiled Students’ Everyday University Experiences In Paris, Farah K. Lotfy

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the informal impact of the 2004 headscarf ban on the everyday university experiences of veiled students in Paris. Although the ban applies formally to public schools rather than universities, the wider social climate surrounding laïcité and the veil continues to influence how veiled students experience visibility, belonging, and participation in higher education.

Using a qualitative approach based primarily on semi-structured interviews, supported by informal observations conducted within university spaces in Paris, the study explores how exclusion is experienced through stereotypes, scrutiny, social discomfort, self-monitoring, and anticipation of discrimination rather than through formal university policy. The research focuses …

Philosophia From Dialectic To Dying Before Death: Traces Of Plato’S Spirit In The Encounters Between The Falāsifa, Mutakallimūn, And Sūfiyya, Fadhil Yunus Alsagoff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a fresh approach to the question “What is philosophy?” by reconsidering Plato’s vision of philosophiaand seeking its traces in the encounters between the Falāsifa, the Mutakallimūn, and the Sūfiyya of the classical Muslim world. I argue that Plato’s true legacy lies in a vision of philosophia as dialectical inquiry that ultimately leads – due to the inextricable limitations of propositional language – to aporia and what he called “practicing for dying and death.” I then argue that this vision of philosophia finds resonance in the classical Muslim world in the embodied encounters between …

Who Moderates? A Polycentric Framework For Allocating Regulatory Responsibility In Online Content Moderation, Farh A. El Wishi

Theses and Dissertations

The question of who is responsible for content moderation on the internet remains one of the key topics relating to internet governance. Legislation has been adopted, platforms have utilized self-regulation methods, and users have flagged and reported content, all often happening simultaneously, yet rarely according to any coherent principle for deciding which actor should bear primary responsibility for which aspect of the problem. This research argues that the absence of a principled allocative framework is the central governance failure of the internet's regulatory history, and that addressing it requires a structured distribution of regulatory responsibility across the three actors who …

When Standard Therapy Fails: Refractory Thyroid Storm With Af-Rvr And Cardiomyopathy Requiring Prolonged Plasma Exchange, Nathan Fletcher, Noor Alkhawam, Allison Isabelli, Mehul Shah, Ruchita Patel, Angela Pauline Calimag

Advocate GME

Background: Thyroid storm can precipitate atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response and acute cardiomyopathy. While standard medical therapy is effective in most cases, therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is infrequently utilized and typically reserved for patients with refractory disease. In severe thyrotoxicosis, concurrent physiologic stressors such as infection or stimulant exposure may exacerbate the hyperadrenergic state and limit responsiveness to conventional therapy. Case Presentation: A 47-year-old man with recently diagnosed atrial fibrillation presented to the emergency department with dyspnea and anasarca. He was febrile to 104.5°F, tachycardic to 190 beats/min, and required high-flow nasal cannula. Thyroid testing showed TSH < 0.008 mcIU/mL (0.35–5.00), free T4 5.0 ng/dL (0.8–1.5), and free T3 14.0 pg/mL (2.2–4.0), with elevated thyroid-stimulating immunoglobulin and thyrotropin receptor antibody, consistent with Graves disease. Urine toxicology was positive for methamphetamines and cannabinoids, and respiratory pathogen testing detected influenza A (H3). The Burch-Wartofsky score was 80–85, consistent with thyroid storm. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed new biventricular systolic dysfunction with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 30–35%. Endocrinology initiated methimazole at 10 mg twice daily due to mild baseline transaminitis ( < 2 × upper limit of normal) and cautiously dosed propranolol given reduced LVEF, along with Lugol’s iodine, intravenous stress-dose hydrocortisone, and cholestyramine. Despite these constraints, antithyroid and beta-blocker therapy were systematically escalated as hepatic function and hemodynamics permitted, reaching methimazole 30 mg twice daily and propranolol 40 mg three times daily by hospital day 3. Despite stepwise escalation of methimazole, propranolol, and cholestyramine to 4 g four times daily, thyroid indices worsened, with free T3 rising from 4.9 to 10.8 pg/mL and free T4 from 4.0 to 4.6 ng/dL. Given progressive biochemical thyrotoxicosis despite maximally tolerated medical therapy, TPE was initiated on hospital day three. After seven exchange sessions achieved sustained thyroid hormone control, the patient was stabilized and underwent thyroidectomy. He was transitioned to levothyroxine and cardiac function recovered with improvement of LVEF to 56% during hospitalization. Clinical Lessons: Thyroid storm may remain refractory despite guideline-directed medical therapy, particularly during concurrent infection and stimulant exposure that can amplify adrenergic stress. In cases of objective thyrotoxicosis progression despite appropriate escalation of antithyroid therapy, timely consideration of therapeutic plasma exchange may facilitate stabilization and enable definitive treatment.

Child Sexual Abuse: What Utahns Need To Know, Brie Sparks, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Child sexual abuse is a serious and often hidden issue affecting children, families, and communities in Utah. It is frequently misunderstood and underreported, leaving many children without the support they need. Misperceptions about who is at risk and how abuse occurs can make prevention more difficult. Addressing child sexual abuse requires greater awareness, education, and a shared commitment to creating safe environments where children are protected and supported. Preventing abuse and reducing its long-term impacts is a critical responsibility for individuals, families, and communities in Utah.

Ultrasound-Enabled Refreshable Electrochemical Sensors For Cardiac Biomarker Monitoring, Mayank Garg, Heng Guo, Myeong Namkoong, Elizabeth Zhanov, Connor Malone, Md Saifur Rahman, Ayse Akcan-Arikan, Limei Tian

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is the gold-standard biomarker for acute myocardial infarction, yet current laboratory-based high-sensitivity assays require centralized infrastructure, trained personnel, and serial testing, limiting their suitability for real-time or continuous monitoring in resource-limited settings. Point-of-care electrochemical sensors have shown promise for rapid cTnI detection, but their reliance on antibodies as biorecognition elements and redox mediator solutions, and single-use operation restricts practical translation. Here, we report an ultrasound-enabled refreshable electrochemical biosensor for sensitive, stable, and repeatable cTnI monitoring. The device employs a cTnI-specific peptide as the biorecognition element, providing enhanced stability during storage, transport, and operation. Label-free electrochemical impedance …

Fly Racing Lab: Genetics And Behavior, Kimberly D. Rowland

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Dr. Kimberly Rowland, associate professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, held two workshops at Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter, Florida, for middle school girls from across the state. During the workshop, students studied genetics and behavior in Drosophila by conducting experiments and analyzing results.

This marks Rowland's fourth year participating in the summer Tech Trek project, hosted by the American Association of University Women. The one-week camp is designed to engage middle school girls in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) through hands-on problem-solving and connections with women role models in the field.

Provocation In Philosophical Practice, Kathryn Elizabeth Cook, Sara Dorrego Carreira, Anca-Cornelia Tiurean

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

Challenging conventional notions of comfort and safety in philosophical practice, this article argues for the primacy of reason in the work to provoke and exercise thinking. Exercising thinking involves problematization and conceptualization of cherished ideas and attitudes. Consequently, philosophical consultations can be uncomfortable; rather than seeking to alleviate this discomfort, this article examines it directly. Assumptions that discomfort is harmful, consultation is dangerous, philosophers are therapists, or success is mandated are actively problematized. The authors appreciate the growth promoting role of discomfort, see the beauty of exercising the thinking capacity, and respect the thinking competence of all people. The authors …

Flexible-Mode Multi-Skilled Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem With Setup Times: Application In The Oil And Gas Industry, Safinaz M. El Dawody

Theses and Dissertations

Turnaround maintenance (TAM) in the petroleum refining sector requires coordinating geographically dispersed project portfolios under stringent resource, schedule, and budget constraints. Conventional scheduling models treat tasks in isolation, failing to account for shared resources, crew fatigue, or inter-site transit. To bridge this gap, this study introduces and empirically validates a Flexible-Mode Multi-Skilled Resource-Constrained Project Scheduling Problem with Setup Times (FM-MS-RCPSP-ST). Applied to a real-world portfolio of 76 TAM projects across five governorates in Egypt, the framework is operationalized through an 11-stage pipeline integrating NSGA-II multi-objective optimization, GIS-based routing, and 500-trial Monte Carlo disruption simulations.

Results demonstrate that incorporating mandatory crew-rest …

Monospecific Mass Occurrence Of The Dimerelloid Brachiopod Halorella Amphitoma In A Shallow Marine Environment Of The Late Triassic Dachstein Platform (Bakony Mountains, Hungary), Tamás Müller, Attila Vörös, János Haas, Tamás Budai, Clemens V. Ullmann, Gregory D. Price, József Pálfy

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Dimerelloid brachiopods with patchy but cosmopolitan geographical distribution, including the Late Triassic (Norian) Halorella amphitoma, offer a unique opportunity to identify and reconstruct specific palaeo-microenvironments in the geological past. The group and this species are commonly associated with hydrocarbon seepage in Palaeozoic and Mesozoic records. In addition, mass occurrences of H. amphitoma are also known from neptunian dykes and palaeokarst cavities on the vast Late Triassic Dachstein carbonate platform. It has been suggested that the shells were either washed into these structures or the animals were living directly there in a dark environment, but normal marine conditions were implied for …

Heterogeneity Mechanism And More Precise Prediction Of Seafarer Fatigue Based On Group Modelling, Zhiwei Zhao, Anqi Quan, Shuxin He, Lijun Tang, Xinjian Wang, Wessel M.A. Van Leeuwen

Plymouth Business School

Traditional research often treats seafarers as a homogeneous group when exploring the causes of fatigue, neglecting the potential heterogeneity in fatigue mechanisms arising from differences in rank and department. This study systematically analyzes the fatigue driving patterns of four subgroups – Deck Department vs. Engine Department, and Officers vs. Ratings – and constructs high-precision prediction models. Based on questionnaire survey data from 450 seafarers from two Chinese shipping companies, Exploratory Factor Analysis was conducted to extract group-specific factors. Subsequently, Multiple Linear Regression and Backpropagation Neural Network models were established to identify key influencing factors and compare predictive performance. The results …

Eddy Current Generated From Bicyle Brake Disc., John Riley Mr

Defensive Publications Series

A magnet & coil assembly situated close to (but not in direct physical contact) a bicycle brake disc  which when rotating, generates an eddy current creating electricity for bike lights.

Reverse Hook Tent Peg, John Riley Mr

Defensive Publications Series

Revised / alternative design to my UK Registered Design  6454255.

Reverse hook tent peg allowing for redirection of forces, improving holding power by up to 80% & providing stability & flexibility to maintain guy line tension more effectively.

Self-Healing Qos Queue Management, Anonymous

Defensive Publications Series

A self-healing quality of service (QoS) queue management system and method are disclosed for a multi-service network node. Ingress traffic is classified by a class of service (COS) map and forwarded by a scheduler to a normal queue set of per-service egress queues. A queue monitor aggregates per-queue telemetry, including credit accumulation statistics, drops, and depth, and feeds the telemetry to a self mapping correction engine over a feedback path. The correction engine distinguishes a queue freeze from transient congestion by detecting that a queue has available credits yet is not draining, and in response rebinds the affected service to …

Robust Overnight Heart-Rate-Variability Estimation Independent Of Sleep/Wake Staging, For Movement-Disordered Sleep (Rem Sleep Behavior Disorder / Parkinson's), Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

Consumer wearables compute overnight heart-rate variability (HRV) — a widely used "readiness" or recovery signal — by first staging sleep from body movement and then aggregating HRV over the epochs labeled as sleep. In people with movement-disordered sleep, paradigmatically REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), which is strongly associated with Parkinson's disease, this fails: dream-enactment movement during REM is misclassified as wakefulness, so valid cardiac data is discarded and the resulting figure is unreliable. This disclosure describes a method that computes the nightly HRV figure over the full in-bed window — without conditioning on the device's sleep/wake or sleep-stage classification — …

Synchronized Multi-Line Digital Signal Generation Using Plural Independent Software-Triggered Serializer Peripherals With Open-Loop Fixed Start-Skew Compensation, Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

A method is disclosed for generating two or more time-aligned digital output signals — for example a differential pair such as the USB D- / D+ data lines, or more generally any paired, differential, multi-phase, polyphase, quadrature, or multi-channel synchronized output — on a microcontroller or system-on-chip that provides plural independent hardware serializer peripherals (such as two or more SPI master transmit/MOSI engines) but provides no single peripheral and no dedicated hardware capable of driving the desired multi-line signal directly.

Each output line is assigned its own serializer and preloaded with a precomputed bitstream. The serializers are started by back-to-back …

Heart-Rate-Recovery-Gated Rest-Interval Timing With Audio Status Updates Through A Consumer Earbud, Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes a method of dynamically gating the rest interval between exercise rounds based on real-time heart-rate recovery rather than a fixed-duration timer, with audio feedback announcing the remaining recovery distance through a consumer earbud.

At the end of each round the system records the round-end heart rate and computes a personalized recovery target as a percentage of an age-derived maximum heart rate. A minimum rest duration prevents excessively short rests when heart rate drops rapidly; a maximum rest duration prevents excessively long rests when heart rate does not recover. The next round begins when either (1) the current …

Consumer Earbud As A Closed-Loop Biometric Sensor And Ambient Feedback Device For Exercise Support, Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes the use of a single consumer earbud — an in-ear device with an integrated optical (photoplethysmographic) heart-rate sensor — simultaneously as both the heart-rate sensor and the sole audio feedback channel for real-time, hands-free, screen-free exercise support, without any separate wearable such as a smartwatch or chest strap.

Heart-rate and related samples (active energy, respiratory rate, step count, distance, flights climbed) are obtained through the host operating system's on-device health and workout framework, keeping all biometric computation on the device. A heart-rate zone configuration is derived from age (maximum heart rate estimated as 208 minus 0.7 times …

Crediting Recorded Prior Activity Toward An Exercise Warm-Up, With Heart-Rate-Gated Warm-Up Termination And Audio Status Through A Consumer Earbud, Gerard Ziemski

Defensive Publications Series

This disclosure describes a method for shortening or waiving the warm-up period before an exercise session by crediting the user's recorded prior activity, in combination with heart-rate-gated warm-up termination and audio status delivered through a consumer earbud.

A fitness application queries a platform health-data store (for example Apple HealthKit or Google Fit) and/or its own session log for activity bouts ending within a recency window before the present session — a previously recorded workout, or elevated active-energy or heart-rate samples. When a qualifying bout is found, the minimum warm-up duration is reduced or waived, with the amount of credit scaling …

Dynamic Video Resolution For Background Playback, Daniel Vik, Jugal Manjeshwar

Defensive Publications Series

This document describes techniques for a context-aware media scaling system that dynamically adjusts the resolution for video playback on devices (e.g., resource-constrained devices such as smart televisions) based on the current state and navigational context of a user interface (UI). The system determines the current state by actively tracking an application’s view context or page identifier (ID) to detect navigational transitions between a primary viewing UI (e.g., a “Watch” page) and a secondary navigational UI (e.g., for browsing content). The system maps the current state to a specific resolution policy. For example, for a transition from the primary viewing UI …

Calibration Of A Quantum Random Number Generator System Using Machine Learning, Ashish Kundu, Ramana Kompella, Peng Zhao, Eneet Kaur

Defensive Publications Series

Disclosed are techniques for calibrating a quantum random number generator (QRNG) system using machine learning to detect noise, drift, and entropy degradation across devices and the QRNG pipeline. One or more models evaluate device data, entropy quality, and system conditions to determine whether recalibration is needed, which devices should be recalibrated, and when recalibration should occur. The techniques may also support predictive recalibration and calibration planning to improve entropy quality and overall QRNG reliability.

Autonomous Multi-Agent System For Declarative Data Center Lifecycle Management, Ananya Simlai, Niccolò Cascarano

Defensive Publications Series

Conventional data center management can involve manual workflows or static declarative systems that may not effectively adapt to real-time conflicts or complex events, potentially resulting in unpredictable deployment timelines and increased operational risk. Systems and methods are described that can utilize a multi-agent ecosystem for managing data center resources. In such a system, specialized, autonomous software agents can communicate and negotiate with one another through a medium such as an asynchronous fabric to interpret high-level declarative goals. The agents may autonomously orchestrate complex actions, resolve resource conflicts, and adapt to changing conditions. This approach can improve operational resilience and agility …

Adaptive Video Sampling Using Multi-Factor Analysis For Multimodal Ai, Larry Lai, Ruixi Fan, Lan Wang, Youbao Tang

Defensive Publications Series

Processing continuous video streams can be computationally expensive and may lead to information loss with fixed-rate sampling techniques. A content-aware filtering system for adaptive video sampling may utilize a set of parallel analysis components to examine a video stream in real-time for factors such as scene changes, motion, semantic content, and latent feature similarity. Based on the aggregated output of these components, the system can select information-rich keyframes for downstream processing. A selected keyframe may be paired with a temporal timestamp. This approach may reduce data volume and computational load compared to fixed-rate sampling, while seeking to preserve temporal details …