Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of A Framework For Identifying Asphalt Pavement Cracking Distresses Using Machine Learning, Dingxin Cheng

Mineta Transportation Institute

Asphalt pavement cracking is one of the most critical distresses affecting pavement performance and service life. When pavement deteriorates, it can lead to safety hazards, higher vehicle maintenance costs, and expensive repairs for cities and states—making early detection essential for everyone who relies on the roadway system. To address this challenge, the research team developed a prototype cracking identification system that integrates a customized machine learning model with computer vision algorithms. High-resolution images collected from drones or ground-based cameras are processed within the system to automatically detect and classify major cracking types. The core of the framework utilizes the You …

Investigating The Viability Of A Shared Skill System Between Enemies And Players, Andrea Ng

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Over time, Japanese light novels and media inspired by it have been heavily influenced by RPGs in implementing skill systems, with one common trope arising from this being the ability to copy or steal others’ skills. However, there aren’t many games that implement this familiar trope despite how it takes advantage of an integral system to RPGs. Rather than treating enemies as simply obstacles, having to copy skills from enemies turns them into a resource. This project aims to implement the skill copy mechanic while also minimizing player-side specific handling so that skills are interchangeable between both players and enemies.

Provost’S Scholarly Dissemination Report: Une Authored Publications November 1, 2025, Through January 31, 2026, Une Office Of The Provost, Sonya Durney

UNE Provost's Reports

Scholarly dissemination report of UNE-authored publications during the period of November 1, 2025, through January 31, 2026. Prepared for the Academic, Student, and Research Affairs Committee Provost’s Report, March 2026.

Provost’S Media Report October 10, 2025 – February 15, 2026, Une Office Of The Provost

UNE Provost's Reports

Report of UNE media appearances during the period of October 10, 2025 through February 15, 2026. Prepared for the Academic, Student, and Research Affairs Committee Provost’s Report, March 2026.

Averaging Principle For A General Class Of Periodic Functions In Discrete Spaces, Martin Bohner, Jaqueline G. Mesquita, Sabrina Streipert

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, we develop a periodic averaging principle for arbitrary discrete time domains, leveraging a novel definition of periodicity. This definition does not rely on the classical requirement for the time domain itself to be periodic. We implement this averaging principle across diverse discrete time domains and explore a range of periodic functions within this extended context. The paper contains several examples with numerical simulations, providing visual demonstrations of our results. This highlights the versatility of our averaging principle and its potential to understand dynamics of nonautonomous recurrences with complex temporal patterns.

Controllability Of The Semilinear Benjamin–Bona–Mahony Dynamic Equation On Homogeneous Time Scales, Martin Bohner, Cosme Duque, Hugo Leiva

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

This work investigates the approximate controllability and free-time approximate controllability of a generalized semi linear Benjamin–Bona–Mahony type dynamic equation defined on homogeneous time scales, subject to homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. To accomplish this, the problem is framed within an abstract setting, employing the -semigroup theory on time scales. Moreover, we apply a technique introduced by Bashirov et al. [1, 2], which enables us to avoid relying on fixed point theorems.

Investigation Of Material Properties Of Thermoplastic And Thermoset Polymer Materials At Cryogenic Temperatures Using Molecular Dynamics, Swapnil S. Bamane, Sagar Patil, Khatereh Kashmari, Benjamin D. Jensen, Brett A. Bednarcyk, Evan J. Pineda, Jeffery Hinkley, Ozgur Keles, Jin Ho Kang, Gregory Odegard

Michigan Tech Publications

Cryogenic fluids, such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, are critical for space operations as rocket fuel and life support. The fluids need to be contained in tanks that can withstand the effects of cyclic thermal and pressure loading throughout their lifecycle. Polymer matrix composites (PMCs) are prime candidates for these tanks because of their low mass, which is important for fuel savings. Although advanced PMC systems have been developed for a wide range of engineering applications, insight is still needed to identify optimal polymer matrix materials for cryogenic structural applications. The objective of this study is to use molecular …

Plaster Creek Watershed Management Plan: Chloride Addendum, Plaster Creek Stewards

Watershed Reports

This addendum complements the 2008 Plaster Creek Watershed Management Plan (WMP), which tells the full story of the Plaster Creek Watershed’s current condition, impairments, and need for restoration. This addendum focuses on chloride, an emerging pollutant of concern in Michigan that was not addressed in Plaster Creek’s 2008 WMP. This addendum meets the nine elements required by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a watershed management plan to be officially approved; as such, its content and layout are intended for a technical audience.

Road Salt Alters The Ecological Effects Of Atrazine-Cypermethrin Mixtures In Freshwater Microalgae Mixtures In Freshwater Microalgae, Arif Ahmed, Matthew S Schuler

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Pesticides and road deicing salts are widespread contaminants in freshwater systems and frequently co-occur due to runoff and direct application. Atrazine, a triazine herbicide, and sodium chloride (NaCl), commonly used for road deicing, can independently alter water chemistry and affect aquatic primary producers. Atrazine can affect the freshwater algae, either inhibiting or stimulating their growth. The prolonged persistence of dissolved salts, ranging from decades to centuries, can lead to complex environmental scenarios characterized by multiple interacting stressors. Although many studies have examined each pollutant separately, their interactive effects have only recently gained scientific attention. This study investigated the individual and …

The Impact Of Employee Equity Incentives On Enterprise Innovation Efficiency: From The Perspective Of Granting Restricted Stocks To Employees, Zongjie Ji

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Against the dual backdrop of the in-depth implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy and the continuous deepening of SOE reforms, restricted equity has emerged a mainstream instrument for medium- and long-term employee incentives in Chinese SOEs. However, the underlying mechanisms, effect characteristics, and boundary conditions through which employee restricted equity incentives influence innovation efficiency in SOEs remain to be systematically examined. Drawing on panel data of 4,880 firm-year observation from Chinese A-share SOMEs over the period of 2015-2024, this study develops a direct effect model of “Equity Incentives-Innovation Efficiency” from the perspective of employee restricted equity grants. It further introduces …

Staying Strong In Practice: Reducing Musculoskeletal Risks In Dentistry, Leslie Hovda Dpt

Metro Denver Dental Society Articulator Magazine

Dentistry’s physical demands and static postures put providers at high risk for musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), especially in the back, neck, shoulders and wrists. This article Dr. Leslie Hovda, outlines practical ways to reduce strain through proper equipment use, posture optimization and preventive self-care. Applying the “MEDS” approach: mindfulness, exercise, diet, and sleep, can extend career longevity for dental professionals.

The Next Step In Oral Systemic Health: Educating The Public, Gary Pickard

Metro Denver Dental Society Articulator Magazine

Oral inflammation contributes to eight of the ten leading causes of death in the U.S., highlighting the need to integrate oral health into overall healthcare. Despite strong evidence linking gum disease to diabetes, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s, public awareness remains low. This article urges dental professionals to promote preventive care through patient education, saliva and blood pressure screenings and partnerships with medical providers. Initiatives by MDDS and RMDC show how integrated care can improve early detection and overall health outcomes.

Articulator Volume 32, Issue 1

Metro Denver Dental Society Articulator Magazine

The 1st Quarter 2026 issue features articles highlighting insights from the 2026 Rocky Mountain Dental Convention (RMDC) and perspectives on the evolving dental profession. Articles include:

• A reflection from Dr. Byran Savage on this year’s RMDC, celebrating education, innovation and professional connection.
  
  
• Practical strategies from physical therapist, Dr. Leslie Hovda, for reducing musculoskeletal strain and improving ergonomic health for dental professionals.
  
  
• An article from Mr. Gary Pickard of PDS Health exploring the critical link between oral and systemic health and how integrated care can improve chronic disease prevention.
  
  
• Guidance from Ms. Katherine Eitel Belt on having courageous, constructive conversations to …

Ai Is A Credibility Problem For Capital Markets, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In a commentary, SMU Dean of the School of Accountancy and Lee Kong Chian Professor of Accounting Zhang Liandong said that artificial intelligence (AI) is not mainly a labour problem for accountancy but also a credibility problem for capital markets. Prof Zhang noted that in an AI-rich economy, accountancy matters not just as a reporting function but also as part of the infrastructure that makes economic information reliable enough for others to act on. He added that the future of accountancy should not be framed too narrowly as a struggle for professional survival. Prof Zhang said that the bigger risk …

Autonomous Vehicle Adoption Behavior And Safety Concern: A Study Of Public Perception, Fatemeh Nazari, Mohamadhossein Noruzoliaee, Abolfazl (Kouros) Mohammadian

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Realizing the economic and societal benefits of autonomous vehicles (AVs) hinges on widespread public acceptance. However, existing research offers limited insights into two key behavioral factors shaping AV acceptance, namely, perceived AV safety concern and travel behavior, the latter reflecting how heterogenous mobility patterns influence the AV acceptance. These factors are often treated as exogenous, limiting insight into their true behavioral interdependencies with AV acceptance and their distinct behavioral roots. This study addresses these gaps by introducing a recursive trivariate econometric model that jointly estimates AV acceptance, perceived safety concern, and current travel behavior (proxied by annual vehicle-miles traveled or …

Evaluating The Impact Of Aggregate Size And Reinforcement On Alkali-Silica Reaction In Concrete Through Nondestructive Testing Techniques, Li Ai, David Bianco, Vafa Soltangharaei, Rafal Anay, Mahmoud Bayat, Paul Ziehl

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

This research investigates different nondestructive evaluation (NDE) methods to assess concrete under alkali-silica reaction (ASR) development. Four methods including acoustic emission (AE), ultrasonic pulse velocity (UPV), crack width measurement, and strain measurement were applied to reactive and control specimens under accelerated ASR conditioning. The innovation lies in using NDE methods to monitor concrete with varying aggregate sizes, quantifying method sensitivity through measured indices, and highlighting the effectiveness of each method to capture ASR development. The results indicate that the unconfined reactive fine-aggregate sample exhibited isotropic expansion, while coarse-aggregate specimens showed around 50 % greater longitudinal expansion and AE cumulative signal …

Leveraging Blockchain And Llms For Patient–Clinical Trial Matching, Diana Hawashin, Khaled Salah, Raja Jayaraman, Samer Ellahham, Ibrar Yaqoob

Industrial Engineering: Faculty & Staff Publications

Efficiently matching patients to clinical trials is essential for advancing medical research and ensuring reliable outcomes. However, current matching methods face several challenges. These include data integrity issues from tampered records, privacy risks caused by weak anonymization, and manual processes that delay recruitment. In addition, centralized systems lack transparency, expose sensitive patient data to security vulnerabilities, and suffer from single points of failure that reduce resilience and trust. In this paper, we propose a blockchain and Large Language Models (LLMs)-driven solution for secure, trustworthy, traceable, decentralized, and transparent patient-clinical trial matching. Blockchain ensures data integrity, security, and transparency by eliminating …

Llm-Based Exploration And Analysis Of Real-Time And Historical Blockchain Data, S. Gebreab, A. Musamih, K. Salah, R. Jayaraman

Industrial Engineering: Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Guarantor's Lifebuoy In The Bankruptcy Ocean, E. Jason Dennis, Carter S. Plotkin

SMU Law Review Forum

The Guarantor’s Lifebuoy in the Bankruptcy Ocean is an article by a practicing litigation law firm partner and associate based on their recent real-world experience arguing in Texas state court and federal bankruptcy court and lessons learned. The article is designed to examine an evidently underutilized bankruptcy stay exception and give actionable how-to advice on invoking it to litigators defending guarantors in scenarios they commonly face: a bankrupt principal obligor defaulting on the guarantied debt.

Update On Colorado Non-Compete Agreements For Dentists, Josh Austin

Metro Denver Dental Society Articulator Magazine

Colorado’s Senate Bill 25-083 (SB 83) makes non-compete and non-solicitation agreements unenforceable for associate dentists, regardless of compensation. While non-competes tied to the sale of a dental practice or minority ownership remain valid if reasonable, most employment-based restrictions are now void. The law also preserves dentists’ rights to inform patients of their new practice and maintains penalties for non-compliance.

Winging It: Convergence, Convivencia, And Belonging Of Latina Lawyers, Verónica C. Gonzales

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Changes In The Availability Of Inpatient Psychiatric Beds Across Rural And Urban Areas, 2012-2021, John Gale, Zachariah T. Croll, Jamar Croom Ms, Yvonne Jonk Phd

All Maine Rural Health Research Center Publications

• From 2012 to 2021, the United States experienced significant shifts in the distribution of inpatient psychiatric beds away from psychiatric distinct part units (DPUs) in short-term medical hospitals in rural and urban areas, and towards freestanding inpatient psychiatric hospitals (IPHs) in urban areas.
• While the number of DPU beds declined by 14.6% (775) in rural areas and 8.7% (2,834) in urban areas, the number of IPHs beds increased by 2.1% percent (120) in rural areas and 16.4% (7,851) in urban areas.
• • Overall, rural areas experienced a 6.8% (755 beds) decline in the number of psychiatric beds operated by either …

Take Flight With Languages

Dimensions

SCOLT Dimensions Volume 61

(Si16-04) Some Fixed Point Theorems On Chatterjea Type Contractions, Irom Shashikanta Singh, Y. Mahendra Singh

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This paper establishes the existence of fixed points related to strict Chatterjee contractive mappings by relaxing the compactness of the underlying spaces and the continuity of the mapping involved, using altering distance functions and comparison functions in the general setting of metric spaces. Several non-trivial and illustrative examples are provided to demonstrate, support, and validate the obtained theoretical results. In addition, a theorem that can characterize the completeness of metric spaces through the existence of fixed points is rigorously proven and discussed. Furthermore, a theorem on strict Chatterjea-type modulus contractive mappings without continuity assumptions and with relaxed compactness conditions is …

(Si16-06) Equations Of Geodesics In Two-Dimensional Finsler Manifold With A Special Cubic (Α, Β)-Metric, Sejal Prajapati, Brijesh Kumar Tripathi, V. K. Chaubey

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Geodesics represent the shortest path between two points in curved spacetime and are vital in the study of Finsler manifolds. Matsumoto and Park first derived the geodesic equation as a secondorder differential equation in a two-dimensional Finsler manifold with Randers, Kropina, and Matsumoto metrics. Building on this foundation, our paper presents the geodesic differential equation for a two-dimensional Finsler manifold using a special cubic power metric. In this two-dimensional setting, this work also looks at certain well-known geometric curves and analyzes their variants as solutions to the geodesic differential equation. Additionally, this work examines the geometric applications of the geodesic’s …

(Si16-07) Computing The Kirchhoff Index And The Wiener Index Of Spiro Para Hexagonal Cylinder Chain, Md Selim Reja, Sk. Md. Abu Nayeem

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In graph theory, the Kirchhoff index serves as a metric to evaluate the complexity of a graph. It is determined by adding up the resistance distances between every pair of vertices in the graph. In a network created from the given graph by substituting each edge by a unit resistor, the resistance distance between a pair of specified vertices is equivalent to the electrical resistance between them in the constructed network. Basically, it measures the convenience with which data or flow can move between various locations in a network that the graph represents. In terms of graph matrices, the Kirchhoff …

(Si16-11) Seasonal And Temporal Optimization Of Solar Energy Harvesting In Smart Iot Lighting Infrastructure, Abhijit Paul, Rishabh Pipalwa, Sabyasachi Mondal North - Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

This study investigates the seasonal and temporal optimization of solar energy harvesting in a smart IoT-enabled streetlighting infrastructure by focusing on the theoretical determination of optimal solar panel tilt angles. The proposed system incorporates auto-adjusted solar panels integrated with an IoT network comprising sensors, microcontrollers, and streetlights. A key innovation lies in the implementation of a modified MQTT communication protocol, which enables efficient, localized decision-making and data exchange among components. Simulation results indicate that the modified MQTT protocol significantly reduces communication delay and power consumption compared to the conventional MQTT approach, thereby enhancing the overall system performance. Detailed analysis of …

(Si16-21) Dynamical Study Of A Hassell-Varley Model With Nonlinear Harvesting And Fear Effect In Prey, Aditya Bhattacharya, Anindita Bhattacharyya

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this article, a one predator-one prey model incorporating Richards’ type growth in prey population, Hassell-Varley type functional response and Michaelis-Menten type prey harvesting is proposed and analyzed. Richards’ type growth with fear factor is incorporated in the proposed model to generalize the reduction effect of predator-induced fear on the rate of growth of the prey population. Positivity and boundedness of the system’s solutions are first established to ensure biological feasibility of the model. Existence and stability conditions of various types of equilibrium points associated with the model such as trivial equilibrium, axial (predator–free) equilibrium and coexistence equilibrium are obtained …

(Nuevo) Charla Pre-Bautismo, Elián Pérez

Bautismo

Charla pre-Bautismo

Circuit And Synaptic Mechanisms Of Methamphetamine Induced Cognitive Deficits During Abstinence: Roles Of The Perirhinal-Prefrontal Pathway And The Nucleus Reuniens, Sarah Goldsmith

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive deficits during abstinence are a hallmark of methamphetamine (meth) use and indicative of negative treatment outcomes. In rats, both long access meth self-administration and meth binge produce recognition memory deficits due to drug-induced plasticity within the perirhinal cortex (PRH). PRH projections are numerous and include the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the Nucleus Reuniens (NRe). In the first study, the role of the PRH-mPFC reciprocal circuit in novel object recognition memory was investigated by infusing an rgAAV encoding GFP-tagged Cre recombinase into the PRH or the mPFC. Following surgery, rats explored objects. During exploration, PRH neurons receiving input from …