MD-SOAR Maryland Shared Open Access Repository
Not a member yet
34521 research outputs found
Sort by
One Model, Two Minds: A Context-Gated Graph Learner that Recreates Human Biases
No full textWe introduce a novel Theory of Mind (ToM) framework inspired by dual-process theories from cognitive science, integrating a fast, habitual graph-based reasoning system (System 1), implemented via graph convolutional networks (GCNs), and a slower, context-sensitive meta-adaptive learning system (System 2), driven by meta-learning techniques. Our model dynamically balances intuitive and deliberative reasoning through a learned context gate mechanism. We validate our architecture on canonical false-belief tasks and systematically explore its capacity to replicate hallmark cognitive biases associated with dual-process theory, including anchoring, cognitive-load fatigue, framing effects, and priming effects. Experimental results demonstrate that our dual-process approach closely mirrors human adaptive behavior, achieves robust generalization to unseen contexts, and elucidates cognitive mechanisms underlying reasoning biases. This work bridges artificial intelligence and cognitive theory, paving the way for AI systems exhibiting nuanced, human-like social cognition and adaptive decision-making capabilities.http://arxiv.org/abs/2509.0870
Simulated In-Stream CO₂ Production With Changing Precipitation and Urbanization
No full textIncreasing urbanization coupled to changes in precipitation magnitude confound our understanding of the carbon (C) movement and transformation in streams. Precipitation drives organic C into waterways, while watershed urbanization can increase the lability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The uncertainty about how these disturbances interact and influence CO₂ production hinders predictions of the urban stream C cycle and strategies for reducing stream CO₂ efflux. To understand the effects of precipitation and urbanization on the C cycle in streams, we simulated CO₂ production across two Baltimore watersheds (Maryland, U.S.A.) that span an urbanization gradient using AquaMEND, a multipool C decomposition model coupled to stream geochemistry. We hypothesized that precipitation-driven C loading and urbanization-enhanced DOC lability boost in-stream CO₂ production more in urban streams than in exurban streams. Urban streams showed a greater shift in CO₂ production in response to precipitation-driven C loading, while CO₂ production in exurban streams responded more to urbanization-driven changes in DOC lability. Over all streams, increasing C loading due to precipitation had a stronger effect on CO₂ production than changes in DOC lability, and the highest CO₂ production resulted when these disturbances co-occurred. These results suggest a shift in primary drivers of stream metabolism as landscapes transition from exurban to urban, and highlight that urban streams have high CO₂ production potential. This study reveals how urbanization and precipitation-driven C dynamics interact to shape stream metabolic responses, and demonstrates the importance of incorporating precipitation variability and land use change into efforts to assess and mitigate stream CO₂ production.This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Biological and Environmental Research program Early Career award to EBG. The work was performed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a DOE Office of Science User Facility sponsored by the Biological and Environmental Research program under Contract No. DE-AC05-76RL01830. We thank all the parties involved in the Baltimore Ecosystem Study for providing publicly available watershed boundaries and historical stream chemistry data used in this publication.https://www.authorea.com/users/865771/articles/1341592-simulated-in-stream-co2-production-with-changing-precipitation-and-urbanizatio
Collaborative Research - Characterization and Training of Spatial Skills in Hydrogeology
No full textOverview: Hydrogeology, a sub-discipline of the geosciences, deals with fluid flow through the subsurface and connections to surface water bodies. A typical classroom exercise in hydrogeology is to develop a conceptual model of a contaminated site, identify groundwater flow direction(s), and predict the location and mass of a contaminant plume. This task requires knowledge of key hydrogeological concepts such as aquifers and aquitards, hydraulic head, groundwater flow, characterizing and understanding site specific aquifer and groundwater properties, and contaminant transport. It is also highly visuospatial in nature; the hydrogeologist must mentally synthesize discrete points of data from well logs, stratigraphic columns, aerial maps, geologic cross sections, water level data, and contaminant concentrations to produce a scientifically plausible conceptual model of groundwater flow and contaminant migration in the subsurface. At present, we do not know which discrete spatial thinking skills (for example, mental rotation, disembedding, penetrative thinking, or perspective taking) may play a role in this task, nor do we know how success may hinge on spatial thinking skill versus knowledge of hydrogeology. Leveraging prior research in the domains of structural geology and meteorology, we propose to tackle two related research questions: (1) What spatial thinking skills are essential to successfully completing a site characterization and contaminant plume task in hydrogeology? (2) How do students utilize these skills while completing this task in classroom and field settings? To address the first question, we propose a dominantly quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional expert-novice study. Upper-level undergraduate students, graduate students, and industry and academic experts in hydrogeology will complete a suite of spatial thinking and knowledge tests, plus a site characterization hydrogeology task based on typical classroom exercises. Expert review of the task will yield a suite of spatial thinking skills perceived to be integral to the task, and regression analysis will identify which discrete spatial thinking skills contribute significantly to success at the task. To address the second question, we propose a qualitative investigation of how students complete the hydrogeology task. Research will include classroom and field observations as well as student and instructor interviews to investigate how key spatial thinking skills identified by the first study are used (or not used) to solve the hydrogeology task.
Intellectual Merit: This project directly addresses grand challenges identified by the Geoscience Education Research (GER) community. We propose investigating the primary defining skills and tasks necessary to learning hydrogeology in support of challenges related to temporal and spatial reasoning (Ryker et al., 2018), in particular: What skills and tasks are essential to the different specialties within the geosciences? What spatial and temporal reasoning skills map onto these specific tasks? Characterizing the underlying skills important for learning hydrogeology is a necessary first step for building curricula that can more effectively teach students these skills and train future hydrogeologists. Identifying spatial thinking skills that are significant to practicing hydrogeology also adds to the body of spatial thinking research by providing additional data for understanding the role of spatial thinking in STEM learning. The project will include the development of a hydrogeology knowledge test that may subsequently be used as a valid and reliable measure of hydrogeological conceptual understanding.
Broader Impacts: Current labor projections predict greater than average growth in the demand for hydrogeologists. Research in other STEM domains demonstrates that targeted training of spatial thinking skills increases student persistence and retention. The potential for attracting and retaining diverse students in hydrogeology will increase with effective interventions that meet student needs. This research will benefit undergraduate geoscience programs and students by strengthening the pedagogical foundation of hydrogeology instruction with evidence from cognitive science. An additional goal of this project is to enhance interdisciplinary research between education, cognitive science, and hydrogeology
TSPC-PFD: TSPC-Based Low-Power High-Resolution CMOS Phase Frequency Detector
No full textPhase Frequency Detectors (PFDs) are essential components in Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) and Delay-Locked Loop (DLL) systems, responsible for comparing phase and frequency differences and generating up/down signals to regulate charge pumps and/or, consequently, Voltage-Controlled Oscillators (VCOs). Conventional PFD designs often suffer from significant dead zones and blind zones, which degrade phase detection accuracy and increase jitter in high-speed applications. This paper addresses PFD design challenges and presents a novel low-power True Single-Phase Clock (TSPC)-based PFD. The proposed design eliminates the blind zone entirely while achieving a minimal dead zone of 40 ps. The proposed PFD, implemented using TSMC 28 nm technology, demonstrates a low-power consumption of 4.41µW at 3 GHz input frequency with a layout area of 10.42μm²http://arxiv.org/abs/2508.1693
Acoustic Features, Syllable Usage, and Song Rates of Male and Female Songs in a Tropical Island Songbird, the Puerto Rican Oriole
No full textOur understanding of elaborate signaling behaviors, such as bird song, has been hindered by historical biases towards male animals. Bird song has been shown to serve important functions like defending territories or attracting mates in both males and females, and singing in both sexes is likely the ancestral trait for songbirds. Female song is strongly associated with year-round territory defense, especially in the tropics. However, more studies of both male and female songs are needed to better understand the selection pressures acting on this elaborate signal trait. The common ancestor of the New World orioles (Icterus) was likely a nonmigratory tropical species, with both males and females singing and defending year-round territories. The Puerto Rican Oriole (Icterus portoricensis) has these natural history characteristics, but little is known about how each sex uses song in this understudied Caribbean endemic. We found that while male and female songs were significantly different acoustically, they were indistinguishable in the field, and showed no sex-specific pattern in syllable usage. Males sang at higher rates than females during the dawn chorus, but females sang frequently during the day. Song is likely evolving as a unified trait in this species, reflecting the characteristics of the common ancestor, but may serve different functions for each sex. In the future, playback studies and rate observations throughout the full day and throughout the year will provide additional insight into how males and females of this tropical songbird may be using their songs.This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF IRES OISE-1827110), Smithsonian Institution, BirdsCaribbean, UMBC GSAhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/eth.1353
Beyond Sound: The First Workshop on Intelligent Acoustic Sensing on Wearables
No full textBeyondSound: The First Workshop on Intelligent Acoustic Sensing on Wearables, October 13,2025,at UbiComp/ISWC 2025 in Espoo, FinlandAcoustic sensors are now integrated into nearly every wearable device, valued for their affordability, low power consumption, and unobtrusiveness. By design, microphones and speakers are traditionally used for speech interactions and sound playback, respectively. However, recent advancements in artificial intelligence, advanced signal processing, and high-fidelity compact sensors have enabled researchers in Ubiquitous and Wearable Computing and HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) to significantly expand the sensing capabilities of these acoustic components. They are now being repurposed as minimally obtrusive, low-power, and privacy-aware sensing units on wearables to capture high-quality information about users and their surrounding environments. This information can be intelligently interpreted for seamless interaction, contextual awareness, health monitoring, and activity recognition—highlighting the tremendous potential of acoustic sensing for the future of wearable technologies. To fully explore the opportunities and challenges of applying acoustic sensing in real-world applications in the age of AI, this workshop invites researchers and practitioners from academia and industry to share insights, identify key challenges and discuss emerging developments in intelligent acoustic sensing and interaction technologies for everyday wearable devices. Through collaborative discussion and exploration, participants will address critical issues and propose innovative solutions to advance the field. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, acoustic sensing system development, open-source tools and datasets, signal processing, AI-driven approaches, privacy concerns, deployment challenges, and novel applications.This research was supported by the MSIT(Ministry of Science and ICT), Korea, under the ITRC(Information Technology Research Center) support program(IITP-2024-RS-2024-00436398) supervised by the IITP(Institute for Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation) and the U.S. National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2239569https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R7F8uSnKNrz1b0Yh0orjiUhgD-_fMx5k/vie
Characterizing the star cluster populations in Stephan's Quintet using HST and JWST observations
No full textStephan's Quintet (SQ) is a local compact galaxy group system that exhibits significant star formation activity. A history of tidal interactions between its four member galaxies and a recent collision between an intruder galaxy and the original group are associated with active star formation, particularly in many shocked regions in the intra-group medium. Using an existing star cluster candidate (SCC) catalog constructed from HST UV/optical images, we integrate flux measurements from five near-infrared filters (F090W, F150W, F200W, F277W, F356W) obtained from JWST NIRCam observations in 2022. Leveraging the extended photometric baseline from HST and JWST, spanning ~300 nm to ~3500 nm, we perform spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting using the CIGALE code to derive reliable estimates of age, mass, and extinction for the 1,588 high-confidence SCCs. We confirm earlier results that very young SCCs (~a few Myr) are predominantly located along previously identified shock regions near the merging galaxies, while older (>100 Myr) and globular clusters are more widely distributed. Our analysis shows that NIR photometry helps break the age-extinction degeneracy, reclassifying many SCCs from older to younger, moderately dust-extincted clusters when added to HST-based SED fits. We also observe a strong spatial correlation between young clusters and CO-traced molecular gas, although active star formation is present in several regions with no detectable CO. We find that the two prominent epochs of star formation, around 5 Myr and 200 Myr, correspond to the two major interaction events in SQ that gave rise to the observed extended tidal features.This work is supported by the Canadian Space Agency, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) RGPIN-2021- 04157 and a Western Research Leadership Chair Award. P. N. Appleton acknowledges support under NASA Guest Observer grant JWST-GO-03445 001-A. UL acknowledges support by the research grant PID2023-150178NB-I00, financed by MCIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and from the Junta de Andaluc´?a (Spain) grant FQM108. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a facility of the National Science Foundation operated under cooperative agreement by Associated Universities, Inc.http://arxiv.org/abs/2509.2280
Spaceborne mineral mapping reduces dust’s shortwave radiative impact uncertainty
No full textMineral dust impacts climate through complex interactions with radiation, which remain poorly quantified due to uncertainties in the amount of light-absorbing iron oxides within dust particles. NASA’s EMIT imaging spectrometer, now delivering high-resolution soil mineralogy from the International Space Station, provides the first observational basis to address this gap at a global scale. Using the EMIT data within Earth system model ensembles, we show that surface composition retrievals, especially of iron oxides, reduce uncertainty in the dust shortwave direct radiative effect by over 50% for both present-day and late-21st-century climates. The greatest improvements occur over the Sahara, where the regional dust concentration is high and dust radiative impacts are simulated with improved fidelity. While uncertainties remain, EMIT shifts the primary uncertainty source from mineralogical composition to our imprecise knowledge of the processes controlling the mass concentration of dust particles, especially those related to emission. These findings represent a pivotal step toward mineral-resolved dust aerosol modeling, offering improved insight into how dust alters Earth’s energy balance today and in a warming future.LL, NMM, RLM, BLE, and RNC received support from the NASA EMIT project. EMIT is supported by the NASA Earth Venture Instrument program under the Earth Science Division of the Science Mission Directorate. LL and NMM also acknowledge assistance from Department of Energy (DOE) DE-SC0021302, and the highperformance computing resources from Derecho provided by NCAR’s Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL), sponsored by the National Science Foundation. RLM also received support from the NASA Modeling, Analysis and Prediction Program. CPGP, MGA, BLE, and VO acknowledge funding by the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the ERC Consolidator Grant FRAGMENT (grant agreement No. 23 773051), Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad through the HEAVY (grant no. PID2022-140365OB-I00) and BIOTA (PID2022-139362OB-I00) projects funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF/EU), the AXA Research Fund through the AXA Chair on Sand and Dust Storms at BSC, and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements No 821205 (FORCeS) and No 101137680 (CERTAINTY). A portion of this research was performed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with NASA. We thank Raymond F. Kokaly, Gregg A. Swayze, Francisco Ochoa, and Abigail Keeble for their contributions to the generation of the EMIT soil mineral atlases.https://eartharxiv.org/repository/view/9808
Managing cybersecurity in local governments: 2022
No full textThis paper, based on data from our second nationwide survey of cybersecurity among local or grassroots governments in the U.S., examines how these governments manage this important function. As we have shown elsewhere, cybersecurity among local governments is increasingly important because these governments are under constant or nearly constant cyberattack. Due to the frequency of cyberattacks, as well as the probability that at least some attacks will succeed and cause damage to local government information systems, these governments have great responsibility to protect their information assets. This, in turn, requires these governments to manage cybersecurity effectively, something our data show is largely absent at the American grassroots because, on average, local governments fail in to manage cybersecurity well. After discussing our findings, we conclude and make recommendations for ways to improve local government cybersecurity management.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jcerp/vol2025/iss1/2
A further investigation on covering systems with odd moduli
No full textErdős first introduced the idea of covering systems in 1950. Since then, much of the work in this area has concentrated on identifying covering systems that meet specific conditions on their moduli. Among the central open problems in this field is the well-known odd covering problem. In this paper, we investigate a variant of that problem, where one odd integer is permitted to appear multiple times as a modulus in the covering system, while all remaining moduli are distinct odd integers greater than 1.These results are based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbered MPS-2150299.http://arxiv.org/abs/2507.1613