Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Michigan's Automotive Workforce Transition, Erik Vasilauskas, Michael Horrigan

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This report examines how changes in automobile production, specifically the shift from internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicles toward hybrids and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), are likely to affect employment in Michigan’s automotive manufacturing and distribution system over the next decade. The goal is to quantify how many jobs in Michigan depend on the automotive supply chain today, how that employment has evolved since the early 2000s, and how it may change through 2030 under alternative production-and-demand scenarios. The results are intended to inform the workforce planning and community transition strategies of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Community and Worker Economic …

Gpr182 Is A Lipoprotein Receptor For Dietary Fat Absorption, Zhiwei Sun, Gwendalyn J. Randolph, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The lymphatic system plays a central role in lipid absorption by transporting triglyceride-rich particles called chylomicrons (CMs) from the small intestine to the systemic circulation. However, the molecular mechanism by which CMs get into the intestinal lymphatics is unknown. Here, we demonstrated that GPR182, an atypical chemokine receptor in lymphatic endothelial cells, mediates dietary fat absorption. GPR182-KO mice exhibited a selective increase in circulating high-density lipoproteins and are resistant to diet-induced obesity. GPR182 ablation in mice led to poor lipid absorption and thereby a delay in growth during development. GPR182 broadly interacted with and transported lipoproteins. Transmission electron microscopy analysis …

The N-Terminus Of Apolipoprotein B Mediates The Interaction Of Atherogenic Lipoproteins With Endothelial Cells, Ainara G. Cabodevilla, Nicholas O. Davidson, Et Al.

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Apolipoprotein B-containing (APOB-containing) lipoproteins contribute to atherosclerosis by entering the arterial wall through the endothelial cell (EC) surface receptors scavenger receptor-BI (SR-BI) and activin receptor-like kinase 1 (ALK1). We used N-terminal fragments of APOB, molecular modeling, and site-directed mutagenesis to identify and block the binding of chylomicrons and LDL to these receptors in cells and mice. We discovered that different APOB regions interact with SR-BI and ALK1 expressed on ECs. APOB48 lipoproteins were only internalized by SR-BI. A fragment of APOB comprising 18% of the N-terminal sequence, APOB18, reduced the uptake and transport of both chylomicrons and LDL by ECs, …

The Kashmir Conflict After The Abrogation Of Articles 370 And 35a Of The Indian Constitution: Geopolitical Dynamics And Human Security Implications, Rizwan Ali

Dissertations and Theses

The abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution on August 5, 2019, revoked the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under the Indian administration. It further bifurcated it into two Union Territories under central Indian control. The move came amid a severe security lockdown and communication blackout that lasted for months. It was followed by instrumental legal, social, and economic developments that directly affected the area’s disputed status and the human rights of its residents. This research examines the geopolitical and human security implications of the abrogation and subsequent developments through a qualitative, analytical design, integrating Edward …

Vitamin D Deficiency And Adverse Cardiovascular, Metabolic, And Mortality Outcomes In Adults With Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Propensity-Matched Retrospective Cohort Study, Andrew Cecil, Ekow Essien, Abena Agyekum, Gloria Amoako

Aurora GME

OBJECTIVE: Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and implicated in metabolic dysregulation and cardiovascular disease. This study examined associations between vitamin D deficiency and adverse cardiovascular, metabolic, and mortality outcomes in adults with OSA.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilized the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network spanning 155 healthcare organizations. Adults (≥18 years) with OSA (ICD-10: G47.33) were stratified by serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 into deficient (≤12 ng/mL, n=64,205) and sufficient (≥20 ng/mL, n=64,205) cohorts following 1:1 propensity matching. Primary outcomes included all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, heart failure, pulmonary embolism, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, …

Making A Makerspace: The Innervate Lab As A Reimagined Technology Education Space, Raaghav Pandya, Euisuk Sung, Caroline Darin

Publications and Research

With the growing emphasis on creativity, collaboration, and reflective thinking in technology and design education, technology labs are expected to shift from technical priorities to open, collaborative spaces. Designed within an existing technology education facility, the paper explored what it means to “technology lab” that merges the technical with the reflective, the cultural with the material, and the innovative with the contemplative. This paper presents the intellectual and aesthetic journey of creating an innovative makerspace within a technology education context and explains how this work embodies a sustainable model for training future technology educators. Our approach was informed by the …

Macropinocytosis Inhibition Attenuates Profibrotic Responses In Lung Fibroblasts And Pulmonary Fibrosis Models, Ivan O Rosas, Aaron K Mcdowell-Sanchez, Santiago Sanchez, Juan D Cala-Garcia, Alan R Waich Cohen, Elisa Ruiz-Echartea, Scott A Ochsner, Daniel C Kraushaar, Lindsay J Celada, Dandan Sun, Francesca Polverino, Cristian Coarfa, Neil J Mckenna, Konstantin Tsoyi

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a devastating chronic lung disorder with limited treatment options. Macropinocytosis is one of the key cellular processes involved in nutrient consumption from the extracellular environment under stress conditions. Here, we studied the role of macropinocytosis in experimental pulmonary fibrosis models. We found that macropinocytosis is increased in human lung fibroblasts (HLFs) derived from patients with IPF. The inhibition of macropinocytosis with 5-(n-ethyl-n-isopropyl)-amiloride (EIPA) inhibited profibrotic responses in IPF-derived and TGF-β1-stimulated HLFs and reduced pulmonary fibrosis in bleomycin-injured (Bleo-injured) mice. EIPA exerted its antifibrotic effects by regulating amino acid uptake, mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 …

Autophagic Flux Blockade Under Hypocapnia Reveals Co2-Sensitive Regulation Of Autophagy-Lysosome Homeostasis, Naghmana Ashraf, Zhen Sun, Jeanine L Van Nostrand

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Hypocapnia, a reduction in partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2), commonly occurs in clinical contexts such as mechanical ventilation, panic disorder, and brain injury, yet its impact on cellular homeostasis remains poorly understood. Given the central role of autophagy in stress adaptation, we investigated how low CO2 influences autophagic flux and lysosomal function. We found that hypocapnia induces autophagosome accumulation while impairing cargo degradation, indicating a blockade in autophagic flux. This response was accompanied by increased lysosome biogenesis but, paradoxically, reduced autophagosome-lysosome fusion and lysosomal proteolytic activity. Mechanistically, hypocapnia promoted TFE3 dephosphorylation and nuclear translocation, driving transcriptional activation of lysosomal …

Guideline On Stress Echocardiography - 2026, Ana Cristina Camarozano, Salvador Vicente Spina, José Roberto Matos Souza, Marcelo Dantas Tavares De Melo, Daniela Do Carmo Rassi Frota, Silvio Henrique Barberato, Fabio Villaça Guimarães Filho, Harry Acquatella, Vera Márcia Lopes Gimenes, Jorge Alfredo Lowenstein, Ricardo H Pignatelli, José Maria Del Castillo, Joselina Luiza Menezes Oliveira, José Sebastião De Abreu, José Luis De Castro E Silva Pretto, Issam Shehadeh, Alex Dos Santos Felix, Mercedes Maldonado Andrade, Antônio Carlos Sobral Sousa, Maria Estefânia Bosco Otto, Andrea De Andrade Vilela, Pedro Gutierrez Fajardo, Liz Andréa Villela Baroncini, Cristiano Vieira Machado, Fábio Cañellas Moreira, José María Hernández Hernández, Marco Stephan Lofrano Alves, Samira Saady Morhy, Márcio Silva Miguel Lima, Miguel Osman Dias Aguiar, Wilson Mathias Junior, Letícia Dos Santos De Oliveira Rocha, João César Nunes Sbano, Barbara Athayde Linhares Martins Vrandecic, Fabio Roston, Arnaldo Rabischoffsky, Juliana Paixão Etto Rolim, Raphael Aparecido Barreto Da Silva, Guilherme De Rossi, Kamila Fernanda Staszko, Jolie Britt, Marcelo Luiz Campos Vieira

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

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 …

The Purple Owl, March 1922, The Times Print, Florence, Ala.

Documents

March 1922 publication of The Purple Owl at State Normal School.

The Purple Owl, November 1922, State Normal School

Documents

November 1922 publication of The Purple Owl at State Normal School.

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 …

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 …

Detection Of C60 Combination Bands In The Near-Ir Spectrum Of Tc 1, Morgan M. Giese, Vincent J. Esposito, Simon Van Schuylenbergh, Jan Cami, Els Peeters, Charmi Bhatt, Dries Van De Putte, A. G. G. M. Tielens, Michael J. Barlow, Jeronimo Bernard-Salas, Alessandra Candian, Bryan Changala, Nick L. J. Cox, Harriet L. Dinerstein, D. A. García-Hernández, Marco A. Gómez-Muñoz, Kay Justtanont, Kathleen E. Kraemer, Eric Lagadec, Arturo Manchado, Ana Monreal Ibero, Raghvendra Sahai, Ameek Sidhu, G. C. Sloan, N. C. Sterling, Jeremy R. Walsh, Roger Wesson, Joshua Cole Whitman, Albert Zijlstra

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

We report the detection of a set of new near-infrared emission features between 3.5 and 5.2 μm in JWST/NIRSpec observations of Tc 1, the planetary nebula known for displaying the cleanest and most prominent mid-infrared cosmic fullerene spectrum. These broad features share the same spatial distribution as the well-known C₆₀ and C₇₀ mid-infrared emission bands, peaking in an asymmetric ring approximately 5″–6″ from the central star. Through comparison with new anharmonic quantum chemical calculations, we demonstrate that these features arise from C₆₀ combination bands, marking their first detection in an astrophysical environment. The total energy radiated …

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 …

Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Audio Enhancement And Synchronization In Smartphones For Hearing Aids, Pranav Kuriakkattil

Defensive Publications Series

This publication describes systems and techniques for providing artificial intelligence (AI) assisted audio enhancement and synchronization for hearing aids using an associated smartphone to improve audio quality available to the hearing aid user.  The system overcomes the hardware limitations of conventional hearing aids and improves the user experience, by utilizing the processing power, sensors, and connectivity of the user’s smartphone. The system creates a distributed microphone array by combining hearing aid microphones with smartphone microphones and offloading signal processing to the smartphone to preserve hearing aid battery life. Utilizing AI models for environment classification, speaker tracking, and binaural synchronization, the …

Real-Time Generative Audio Description Insertion Using Vision Language Analysis, Nikita Agarwal

Defensive Publications Series

Standard audio description tracks are manually scripted and pre-recorded, leaving vast amounts of uncurated media content inaccessible to visually impaired users as the audio description tracks are only available for a small fraction of premium media content. To address this limitation, the disclosed technology details a process for generating real-time audio descriptions for media content. Video frames are analyzed locally by an on-device vision language model during identified silence windows or gaps within the media content. A text summary of the visual action is generated and subsequently converted to speech. The playback speed of the synthesized narration is dynamically adjusted …