Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Fine Sediment On The Productivity Of Stream Ecosystems In The Pacific Northwest, Veena I. Davis

University Honors Theses

Salmon are important to the culture, ecosystem and economy of the Pacific Northwest. However, populations have declined significantly since European colonization. Salmon require specific conditions for each life stage and are highly sensitive to environmental stressors. Excess fine sediment is a leading form of pollution as it degrades salmon spawning habitat and the benthos upon which their main food source, stream insects, live. To evaluate the effect of sediment pollution on food availability for salmon smolt, we conducted an experiment  estimating the amount of stream insect biomass and calories lost due to sediment pollution. We counted insects on substrate samples …

Mycelial Modeling: Teaching Biology Students Statistical Modeling With Mushrooms, Colette Wolf

University Honors Theses

This paper summarizes and describes the development of a set of learning materials that were created to educate students and professionals from other fields in statistical modeling techniques. These materials are primarily aimed at biology students, but are still intended to be useful for anyone who is interested in incorporating decision trees and random forest models into their personal research in the future. By directing the reader towards the JMP software, these materials navigate around the statistical knowledge base and coding implementation practices that otherwise would serve as a barrier to learning statistical modeling techniques, and instead focus on the …

Recurrence And Reflection: Psychological Insights From Repetitive Dreams, Annika Cale

University Honors Theses

The most widely reported but least appreciated aspects of human experience are recurring dreams, or those dreams that happen repeatedly with similar themes, imagery, or emotional tone in each episode of the dream. This literature review was based on five relevant psychological sources to explore what common dreams tell about what is going on in the inner psyche of the person having the dream. The synthesis of the empirical literature on recurring dream frequency has been associated with weakened psychological well-being. Longitudinal studies were conducted to show the relationship between recurring dreaming and associated decrease in well-being. These theories are …

Pitching Fwar Vs Bwar As Predictors Of Team Success In The Mlb Regular Season, Jason Lee

University Honors Theses

Pitching Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is an area of sabermetrics capable of being used to predict regular season success in Major League Baseball. Fangraphs WAR (fWAR) and Baseball Reference WAR (bWAR) were used to construct regression models to predict regular season winning percentage, to build logistic models to establish a relationship between pitching WAR and the probability to win an individual regular season game, and to overlay density plots to consider WAR accumulation by pitching role and observe the difference of impact between starter and relief pitchers. This research finds that while pitching fWAR and pitching bWAR are both statistically …

So You Didn't Write The Next Great Novel (And How To Move Forward Knowing You Probably Won't), Adriana Stanzione

University Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the relationship between creative ambition and the paralyzing effects of perfectionism within the writing process. By analyzing this relationship via a lens on philosophy, psychoanalytic theory, and personal experience, it argues that the obligation and pressure to produce "good" work can often prevent sincerity and creative momentum. Divided into several sections, it also delves into ideas like inspiration and the revision process, tying in my own experiences with drafting my first manuscript, which resulted in years of writer's block and cynicism. The thesis also considers how cultural conditions contribute to creative stagnation, and deconstructs the concept of …

Assessing Spatial Distribution Of Plausible Earthquake-Triggered Landslides Relative To Ca. 1000 Ybp Earthquake On The Gales Creek Fault, Jacqueline Rheingans

University Honors Theses

Modern coseismic landslides cluster near the surface trace of the fault that ruptured, suggesting that clustering of paleolandslides may record information about paleoearthquakes. This study documents the pattern of prehistoric landslides near the Gales Creek Fault (GCF), northwest Oregon, to assess whether it reflects an independently known paleoearthquake. The GCF is located northwest of Portland through the Cascadia fore-arc basin where landslides are often triggered by intense rainfall during the wet season or potentially by seismic shaking on the megathrust or on crustal faults. In order to understand how a seismic event on the GCF will impact landslide distribution I …

The Unspoken And The Unseen: An Analysis Of Victim Gender And Linguistic Framing Of Sexual Assault In Judicial Discourse, Sarnika Ali

Quantitative Social Science Undergraduate Senior Theses

Sexual assault is a profound legal and social crisis. However, it is also fundamentally a linguistic one. The words used, or conspicuously not used, to describe victims, perpetrators, and their actions are not neutral arbiters of fact. They are powerful mechanisms that shape perceptions of harm, attributions of blame, and assignments of credibility. The central battleground for survivors is credibility, and while a “credibility discount” is often applied to female victims, the male victim is rendered nearly invisible. This research is therefore guided by one central, overarching question: how does a sexual assault victim’s gender influence the judicial language used, …

Skeletons Vs. Mummies: Osteological Trauma On Bog Bodies As A Measure For Cultural Change In Ancient Europe, Miranda Hoodenpyl

University Honors Theses

Bog bodies are some of the most well known archaeological finds in the world, and are preserved human remains found in wetlands. Researchers use the information stored in the bones of bog skeletons and mummies to learn about cultural lifestyles, travels, diet, and diseases throughout time in Northern Europe and the British Isles. Through multiple cultural changes and migration, the "bog body phenomenon" has remained an unusual treatment displayed throughout time. This literature review looked at skeletal trauma on bog remains to identify cultural change over time in Northern Europe and the British Isles, spanning the Neolithic, Bronze, Iron, and …

Strategic Anti-Transgender Policy Diffusion: Interest Groups, Courts, And The Two-Track Politics Of Gender Regulation, Henry Danford

University Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes the strategic diffusion of anti-transgender policy in the United States following the passage of Idaho House Bills 500 and 509 in 2020. It argues that conservative lawmakers and advocacy organizations employed a coordinated "two-track" policy strategy in which transgender sports bans served as highly visible and politically popular mode legislation while identity-document restrictions advanced more quietly through courts and administrative policy. Drawing on policy diffusion theory, the Advocacy Coalition framework, and minority stress theory, the study combines qualitative policy analysis with quantitative analysis of Household Pulse Survey mental health data and Media Cloud new coverage data from …

Custom Sbc Gps Tracking And Geocaching Carputer Software Development And Implementation, Joshua A. Davis

University Honors Theses

This thesis argues that hardware-integrated capstone projects develop software engineering skills that traditional coursework cannot replicate. A team of eight developers built a GPS tracking system on a Raspberry Pi 4 over two academic terms, integrating real-time position streaming, the APRS amateur radio protocol for network-independent location sharing, and PostGIS spatial queries for "new road" detection. The system implements SmartBeaconing for adaptive GPS data reduction, achieving approximately 80% storage savings while preserving route fidelity. The project exposed challenges absent from classroom assignments: hardware debugging without stack traces, cross-layer integration failures, and coordination overhead when deploying to unfamiliar architecture; demonstrating that …

Elucidating The Function Of Yedk In Response To Dna Damage, Hank Munro

University Honors Theses

Apurinic/Apyrimidinic (AP) sites are one of the most prevalent forms of DNA damage. These lesions arise spontaneously or during base excision repair of modified DNA bases and are potentially mutagenic in both mammalian and bacterial cells. 5-hydroxymethylcytosine binding, ES cell specific (HMCES), a protein found in eukaryotic cells, has been shown to form a stable DNA-protein crosslink with AP sites in single stranded DNA and to reduce the number of AP sites occurring either spontaneously or after alkylative DNA damage, resulting in increased genome stability. YedK, the Escherichia coli ortholog of HMCES exhibits some of the same biochemical properties as …

Brutalism, Bad Manners, And Tech Baddies: Strengthening Women's Sense Of Belonging In Undergraduate Computer Science Spaces, Mckenzie Starr West

University Honors Theses

Through a literature review supported by reflexive vignettes, this thesis explores women's experiences in undergraduate CS programs and how physical and discursive spaces may affect their sense of belonging and shape whether they enter, remain in, or leave CS programs. I provide historical and cultural context for undergraduate CS, including the history of women in education and the continued underrepresentation of women in CS compared to many other STEM fields. Using physical and discursive spaces as a lens, I examine how classrooms, study spaces, department communications, online forums, and other CS-related environments may signal who belongs, who is valued, and …

Adaptive Design Strategies For A Dual-Shaft Pvc Shredder, Gavin Balderas

University Honors Theses

This capstone project involved the design and development of a mid-size plastic shredder, created to process strong, ductile PVC sheets up to ½" thick. This application falls between the capabilities of consumer grade plastic shredders and heavy-duty industrial machines. Over 400 million tons of plastic produced annually and less than 10% of it is recycled; there is an ever-growing need for plastic recycling accessibility and infrastructure. This project aimed to create a compact dual-shaft shredder that can shred thick PVC sheets while being powered by a 120V outlet. Research into blade geometry and orientations aided an iterative design process driven …

Effects Of Changing Fire Regimes On Black Huckleberry Habitat Suitability, Emily Labarge

University Honors Theses

Black huckleberries are a significant cultural, ecological, and economic species in the Pacific Northwest. Historically, black huckleberries were tended with cultural fire by Indigenous peoples, and now also hold importance as a resource in the non-timber forest product economy. Research has begun on the impacts of climate change on suitable black huckleberry habitat and on changing fire regimes, but not in relation to each other. To address this gap, I examined the area of overlap between suitable black huckleberry habitat and fire burn probability into mid-century climate projections. I determined the current ownership entities with management jurisdiction in areas with …

The Thinnest Veil, Charles Butler

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The Thinnest Veil is a work of fiction set in a historical colonial world that traces the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade. The main character, Anuli, is abducted from her home in Nigeria and is sold into deeper levels of the American slave system. I wanted to write from a woman’s perspective in this project and think about what power this character would have in this world. I also wanted to explore West African culture and origin, and the influence they have left in other places they have been. In August 2025, I traveled to Barbados to research the …

Table Of Contents

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Comprehensive Examination Of Patients’ Data Privacy In Vietnam, Phuong Cham Nguyen

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Personal Data Protection In Vietnam’S Burgeoning Insurance Sector, Thi Giang Thu Pham, Thị Long Nguyễn

Washington International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Pharmacotherapeutic Interventions For Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Scoping Review, Matthew Mavandi, Jack Hyler, Eric Lee, Ramanjot Singh, De Wet Swanepoel, Ashley M. Nassiri, Vinaya Manchaiah

Student Publications

Background/Objectives: Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is a chronic condition with no established pharmacological treatment. Recent advances in drug-based therapies offer promising opportunities to prevent or treat SNHL. This scoping review summarizes the current landscape of pharmacotherapeutics for SNHL.

Methods: This scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). A literature search of PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted in 2024 using keywords related to SNHL and pharmacotherapeutics. A review protocol was preregistered on the Open Science Framework. A systematic search of five …

Multi-Institutional Data Analysis And Literature Review Of Comparative Outcomes Of Autologous Ureteral Substitution Techniques, Brooke Hildebrand, Neerja Tillu, Maurizo Buscarini, Arjun Venkatesh, Arshia Rangchi, Zachary Dovey, Ahmed Rabie, Osama Zaytoun

GME Publications

Introduction

Complex ureteral strictures often require substitution techniques to preserve renal function. Multiple autologous reconstruction options exist, yet comparative outcome data across techniques remain limited.

Material and methods

This multicenter retrospective cohort study included 168 patients who underwent ureteral reconstruction using ileal interposition, Yang–Monti tabularization, appendiceal interposition, or fallopian tube substitution. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative variables were analyzed. Renal function outcomes were assessed using serum creatinine and estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Complications were classified according to the Clavien–Dindo system.

Results

Postoperative renal function improved significantly across the cohort, with mean creatinine decreasing from 2.19 ±1.35 mg/dl to 1.68 ±0.93 …

Arab National Security In The Anthropocene Era: Strategic Horizons And The Quest For A Single Security Space (2025–2035), Hamdy A. Hassan

All Works

This study examines evolving dynamics of Arab national security and forecasts developments over the next decade. It identifies key determinants, including political stability, economic resilience, military capability, and social cohesion, while accounting for geopolitical shifts, technological change, climate pressures, and global power realignments. Employing a qualitative survey design, the research draws on semi-structured interviews with 112 regional security and policy experts and applies thematic analysis. Findings indicate that limited regional cooperation and weak economic performance undermine Arab national security. Looking toward 2035, the study anticipates foreign intervention, internal instability, and significant changes in alliances and technological utilization. The research underscores …

Analysis Of Social Media Trends For Political Election Predictions, Wong Jing Hong, Lew Sook Ling, Tan Li Tao

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

The traditional opinion polls are losing the capability to forecast election results because of the biasness in the sampling and the slowness in updating the polls. Although social media has a lot of real-time data, it has a considerable number of drawbacks, such as noise and demographic bias. This paper shows a new end-to-end forecasting pipeline, which is evaluated on a corpus of 1.75 million tweets related to the 2020 election in the U.S. Our approach adopts a dual-path sentiment extracted (VADER & RoBERTa) for a better accuracy and a new state level feature engineering to fix data bias. This …

Synthetic Data Generation For Healthcare Machine Learning: A Case Study In Vital Signs And Diagnostic Predictions, Sellappan Palaniappan, Rajasvaran Logeswaran, Kasthuri Subaramaniam, Oras Baker, Bui Ngoc Dung

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Healthcare Machine Learning (ML) applications face significant challenges in accessing high-quality training data due to stringent privacy regulations, institutional data silos, and concerns over patient confidentiality. This paper explores synthetic data generation as a viable and privacy-preserving alternative to real patient data for developing ML models in healthcare settings. We present techniques for generating realistic vital signs data including body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation according to appropriate statistical distributions. In addition, we demonstrate how synthetic datasets generated can be used to train diagnostic prediction models. The generated datasets were applied to multiple diagnostic prediction …

Ai-Powered File Security System With Facial Biometrics, Qr Code, And Otp Verification, Xinyi Loi, Ming Man Chan, Yuk Yii Chan

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Commonly used file-sharing systems suffer from impermissible security risks such as impersonation, credential theft, and QR code exploitation, which can expose sensitive information. This paper describes and evaluates an AI-driven secure file-sharing system designed to alleviate these risks through a multi-layered authentication strategy. The complete system involves AES-128 encryption, unique QR code referencing, live facial recognition, and One-Time Password (OTP) confirmation. In our proposed workflow, the sender encrypts a reference to the file and links it to facial data of the recipient, if applicable, and embeds this information into a QR code, that is dynamically generated during the send operation. …

An Integrated Yolov8 Based System For Real Time Vehicle Tracking And Identification Using Cctv Footage, Riya Jain, Piyush Kumar, Ashwani Kumar Dubey, Angela Amphawan, Neo Tse Kian

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Vehicle identification and tracking play a critical role in security and surveillance, supporting the efforts of law enforcing authorities to prevent crime, monitor traffic, and enforce the vehicle rules and regulations. This research presents a proof-of-concept system that employs YOLOv8 for real time vehicle detection and car type classification using live or recorded CCTV footage. YOLOv8 was chosen after rigorous comparison, it was chosen for its ease of use and efficient image training capabilities, making it well suited for rapid prototyping that the concept needed. The system is designed to extract key vehicle features, including colour, model of the vehicle, …

Enhancing Air Traffic Management Using Spatio-Temporal Deep Learning Predictions, Madan Singh, Azween Abdullah

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Modern air traffic management faces growing challenges, particularly at busy airports that must handle high flight volumes in limited airspace corridors. The study is especially pertinent for such airports, where daily operations must navigate intricate air traffic networks. To overcome these challenges, innovative approaches are needed to predict and manage congestion effectively which remains a major challenge. The paper presents a Spatio-temporal analytical framework for air traffic flow forecasting, utilizing a dual deep-learning architecture that combines network topology evaluation with time-series analysis. The model contains two major components. The first component employs Graph Neural Networks (GNNs) to model spatial relationships …

Analysis And Predictive Modelling Of Ev Charging Patterns And User Behaviour, Yi Xuan Law, Kah Ong Michael Goh, Check Yee Law, Connie Tee, Yong Wee Sek, S M Hasan Mahmud

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

As more Electric Vehicles (EVs) are released, the ability to predict energy consumption and charging duration becomes crucial in building optimal infrastructure and a proper system of managing energy. This paper proposes a machine learning model that predicts these two important parameters using a real-world dataset. The dataset consists of 1320 EV charging sessions made between January and February 2024 on Kaggle. The data set includes vehicle specifications, time stamps of sessions, environmental conditions, and user behaviour. Feature engineering tasks followed a thorough preprocessing procedure where missing values were imputed, outliers were removed, and the type of data was converted, …

Machine Learning For Employee Attrition Prediction: A Comparative Study, Kai Jia Low, Sook Ling Lew, Sri Winarno

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Employee turnover remains a long-standing issue that can lead to significant economic losses and a decline in workplace productivity. Traditional methods for predicting natural attrition, such as surveys and rumour assessment, usually fail to capture the complexity and multi-factorial nature of natural attrition. To address this limitation, this paper proposes to develop an advanced prediction model using Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to enhance the accuracy and reliability of export prediction. These methods are applicable to a full set of data covering parameters such as demographics, workplace performance and survey scores. The objective of this model is to provide a data-driven …

Gamification By Design: Methodological Foundations Of The Gamespro Speaking Model For Primary Education, Mohd Zulhairi Che Abd Rahman, Hasiah Mohamed, Siti Zulaiha Ahmad, Aurelio P. Vilbar

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

This study presents the development and validation of the GAMESPro model, a structured gamification model designed to enhance English-speaking proficiency among Malaysian primary school students. Despite national reforms and policy initiatives aimed at improving communicative competence, oral English skills remain underdeveloped, particularly in rural and resource-constrained schools. Existing gamification practices in Malaysian classrooms often rely on isolated digital tools and lack pedagogical coherence. Addressing this gap, the study employed the Design and Development Research (DDR) methodology, encompassing three phases: Needs Analysis, Design and Development, and Evaluation. A Systematic Literature Review identified key gamification principles, while validation of ten experts confirmed …

The Development Of Decentralized Ticketing System Using Web3, Yu-Xian Cheng, Kah-Ong Michael Goh, Check-Yee Law, Connie Tee, Yong-Wee Sek, Md Ismail Hossen

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Traditional ticketing systems often suffer from major drawbacks such as ticket fraud, duplication, inflated resale prices, lack of transparency, and centralized control over transactions. These issues result in reduced trust and limited flexibility for both event organizers and ticket buyers, especially in unregulated secondary markets. To address these gaps, this paper presents the design and development of a Decentralized Ticketing System (DTS) using Web3 technologies. The system leverages Ethereum blockchain, smart contracts written in Solidity, and NFT-based ticket issuance to ensure security, transparency, and verifiable ownership. Features include wallet-based login via MetaMask, multi-ticket purchasing, QR-based validation, controlled resale pricing, and …