Research and Writings

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10161/2877

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 1316

Access status: Open Access ,
What happens when generative AI models train recursively on each others' outputs?
Vu, Hung Anh; Reeves, Galen; Wenger, Emily
Access status: Open Access ,
A Global Meta-Analysis of the Impacts of Fishing on Marine Organism Species Richness
(2026-04-10) Bai, Jin; Warnell, Katie; Wurst, Madison; Kuptz, Audrey; Wilson, Alyanna; Talal, Michelle; Olander, Lydia
Understanding the effect of fishing activities on marine organism species richness is important for managing fisheries. Previous reviews and meta-analyses have focused on the relationship between bottom-fishing gears and invertebrate species richness, but there is a lack of understanding around other fishing gears (e.g., long lines and gillnets) and other taxa (e.g., ray-finned fishes). The authors present an updated global meta-analysis to synthesize the effects of marine fishing on the species richness of invertebrates and ray-finned fishes and how a broader array of fishing gears affect marine organism species richness.
Access status: Open Access ,
Impacts of Forest Thinning and Clearcutting on Plant and Animal Species Richness in North American Forests: A Meta-Analysis
(2026-04-13) Bai, Jin; Warnell, Katie; Talal, Michelle; Wurst, Madison; Sharp, Simon; Horner, Sadie; Ricketts, Taylor; Olander, Lydia
Understanding how different intensities of timber harvesting affect species richness for plants and animals in North American forests will enable natural resource managers to better control the impacts of harvesting on flora and fauna communities. Previous syntheses have only examined thinning intensity as a categorical variable, comparing low and high intensity. This new meta-analysis examines how thinning intensity affects plant and animal species richness while examining the influence of other factors. Authors find that species richness tended to be greater where thinning intensity was below roughly 50% of trees removed. This threshold does not imply that timber harvest below 50% trees removed would definitely conserve plant and animal species richness, given the complexity of plant and animal responses to harvest.
Access status: Open Access ,
Foragers, Farmers, and Metallurgists
(2023-01-01) MacEachern, S
This article examines the prehistory of Central Africa during the last 10,000 years. At the beginning of this period, the region was occupied by mobile forager populations, with the first evidence for more sedentary life-ways and more intensive exploitation of plant resources appearing after 7000 years ago. After about 3000 years ago, we see the progressive appearance of village sites and iron technology in different parts of the region. These processes culminate in the development of complex social and political systems in Central Africa over the last two millennia.
Access status: Open Access ,
Burial practices, settlement and regional connections around the Southern Lake Chad Basin, 1500 BC-AD 1500
(2019-06-21) Maceachern, S
Access status: Open Access ,
(Un)becoming states: their neighbours and the Wandala south of Lake Chad
(2022-09-26) MacEachern, Scott
"This book examines the sociopolitical and cultural strategies of resistance developed by marginal communities.
Access status: Open Access ,
Communities, urbanism, and state building in the Lake Chad region
(2023-02-15) MacEachern, Scott; Magnavita, Carlos
Explores recent multi-disciplinary approaches to analysis of early political organization, its development from simple to complex political structures and the rise of the political state.
Access status: Open Access ,
Activist speak at the Republican debates
(2019-05-20)
Scholars of communication, political science, sociology, and media studies will find this collection useful.
Access status: Open Access ,
An Updated Meta-Analysis of Thinning and Clearcutting Impacts on Carbon Storage in North American Forests
(2026-03-25) Bai, Jin; Warnell, Katie; Talal, Michelle; Mason, Sara; Ricketts, Taylor; Wurst, Madison; Jung, Jennifer; Talikoff, Lucie; Olander, Lydia
Working forests serve an important role in providing timber products. At the same time, these forests are expected to contribute to mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration (removing carbon from the atmosphere) and by replacing high-emission fuel products, while providing wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services. Understanding the trade-off between increasing timber harvest activities and carbon stock is pivotal for sustainable forest management. Previous meta-analyses have produced mixed results regarding timber harvest effects on soil carbon. With new studies being published, the authors performed an updated meta-analysis to synthesize the effects of forest thinning and clearcutting on three carbon pools—plants and roots, organic layer, and mineral soil—as well as examine how these effects interact with thinning intensity and time since harvest.
Access status: Open Access ,
Leveraging Large Load Flexibility to Facilitate Access to Power While Protecting Customers: Considerations for State Regulators
(2026-03-19) Walsh, Sam; Farmer, Miles; Smaczniak, Kim; Zevin, Avi; Lobel, Nathan; Daly, Gabe; Profeta, Timothy
Rapid electricity demand growth from data centers and other large loads threatens grid reliability and affordability. Utilities typically build generation and grid capacity to serve all loads at all times, spreading costs across all customers. This approach is too slow and expensive to meet the pace of demand. Large load flexibility offers a solution. Large loads that commit to curtail consumption when directed—backed by energy storage, on-site generation, or operational curtailment capabilities—can interconnect faster and at lower cost. To take advantage of this opportunity, this policy brief recommends that states define flexible large load as a class and then implement that definition across four policy domains: (1) the load interconnection process, (2) ratemaking, (3) load forecasting and planning, and (4) bring-your-own-capacity (BYOC) policies.
Access status: Open Access ,
Characterization of industry relationships in oncology.
(Cancer, 2023-09) Harrison, Rebecca A; Majd, Nazanin K; Johnson, Margaret O; Urbauer, Diana L; Puduvalli, Vinay; Khasraw, Mustafa
Background
Collaborative relationships between academic oncology and industry (pharmaceutical, biotechnology, "omic," and medical device companies) are essential for therapeutic development in oncology; however, limited research on engagement in and perceptions of these relationships has been done.
Methods
Survey questions were developed to evaluate relationships between academic oncology and industry. An electronic survey was delivered to 1000 randomly selected members of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, a professional organization for oncologists, eliciting respondents' views around oncology-industry collaborations. The responses were analyzed according to prespecified plans.
Results
There were 225 survey respondents. Most were from the United States (70.0%), worked at an academic institution (60.1%), worked in medical oncology (81.2%), and had an active relationship with industry (85.8%). One quarter (26.7%) of respondents reported difficulty establishing a relationship with industry collaborators, and most respondents (75%) did not report having had mentorship in developing these relationships. The majority (85.3%) of respondents considered these collaborations important to their careers. Respondents generally thought that scientific integrity was preserved (92%), and most respondents (95%) had little concern over the quality of the collaborative product. Many (60%) shared concerns over potential conflict of interest if an individual with a compensated relationship promoted an industry product for clinical care/research, yet most respondents (67%) stated these relationships did not shape their interactions with patients.
Conclusions
This study provides novel data characterizing the nature of collaborative relationships between clinicians, researchers, and industry in oncology. Although respondents considered these collaborations an important part of clinical and academic oncology, formal education or mentorship around these relationships was rare. Conflicting findings around conflict of interest highlight the importance of more dedicated research in this area.
Plain language summary
Business enterprises in health care play a central role in cancer research and care, driving the development of new medical testing, drugs, and devices. Effective working relationships among clinicians, researchers, and these industry partners can promote innovative research and enhance patient care. Study of these collaborations has been limited to date. Through distribution of a questionnaire to cancer clinicians and researchers, we found that most participants consider these relationships valuable, though they find establishing such relationships challenging partly because of gaps in educational programs in this area. Our findings also highlight the need for further policy around the potential bias these relationships can introduce.
Access status: Open Access ,
Industrial Upgrading and Cluster Development in the Medical Devices and Aerospace Sectors in Baja California (Mexico)
(2026-03-25) Gereffi, Gary; Hamrick, Danny
This study analyses the role of the medical device and aerospace sectors in Baja California’s recent process of productive transformation and integration into global value chains (GVCs). Drawing on a combined cluster development and GVC approach, it examines how firms, institutions, and public policies interact to shape upgrading opportunities and development outcomes at the subnational level. Baja California has undergone a significant restructuring of its industrial base, moving from large-scale consumer electronics assembly toward more knowledge-, regulation-, and quality-intensive manufacturing activities. The medical devices sector is organized around a set of global lead firms such as Medtronic, Cardinal Health, and Becton Dickinson, that structure production networks and define upgrading pathways for suppliers and workers. In contrast, the aerospace sector is characterized by a distributed anchor structure, with multiple Tier-1 and Tier-2 firms jointly shaping cluster dynamics. Despite their strong integration into North American production networks, both sectors remain concentrated in manufacturing and assembly functions. The study identifies opportunities to advance economic, social, and environmental upgrading through targeted policies that strengthen supplier development, workforce skills, innovation capacity, and sustainability.
Access status: Open Access ,
Trade-Offs Between Social Equity and Ecological Benefits When Targeting Floodplain Buyouts for Natural Infrastructure Provision
(2026-03-06) Vegh, Tibor; BenDor, Todd K
Damages resulting from coastal and riverine flooding in the United States exceed $32 billion annually and cause accelerating societal impacts, with disproportionate disruptions to the lives and livelihoods of vulnerable populations. Two approaches for flood risk mitigation include managed retreat from flood-prone areas, implemented in US buyout programs, and the construction of nature-based solutions (NBS). This study considers how buyout patterns change under an NBS-focused approach that explicitly removes the political process in selecting a buyout location and instead targets parcels within the floodplain based solely on post-acquisition wetland restoration suitability. The findings of this study reveal a key, multidimensional trade-off associated with buyout targeting in terms of environmental, economic or financial, and social equity.
Access status: Open Access ,
Determinants of Private Participation in Programs Delivering Natural Infrastructure as a Watershed Service: A Review
(2026-03-06) Vegh, Tibor; BenDor, Todd K; Cubbage, Frederick W
The success of many payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs is determined, in large part, by programs’ ability to successfully enroll participants. However, underenrollment remains a frequent challenge and little systematized knowledge about the determinants of participation is available. While case studies of PES programs abound, there is less work suggesting trends or lessons that can inform improvements in PES program design or operation to increase enrollment. In this paper, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis and description of the factors that broadly influence PES program participation. This paper's findings suggest that the different aspects of participant motivation deserve a central role in any model explaining program participation.
Access status: Open Access ,
The Digital Revolution and Modeling Time and Change in Historic Buildings and Cities: The Case of Visualizing Venice
(2020-01-01) Bruzelius, C
Digital technologies can transform the ways in which we can represent time and change in historical monuments as well as in cities. This chapter describes a collaborative, international, and multi-faceted initiative, Visualizing Venice, that was begun in 2010 as a joint venture between three universities: the department of Art, Art History and Visual Studies at Duke University, the department of architectural history at IUAV, Venice, and the department of architecture and engineering at the University of Padua. From the outset, our initiative has had three equally important components: representing growth and change in buildings and cities through three-dimensional modeling, mapping, and visualization, creating public-facing websites, installations and exhibitions, and training of students at all levels and recent post-docs with the capacities of new media for the exploration of fundamental questions that concern urban spaces and their monuments. As a consortium of individuals, institutions and disciplines that range from architectural design to new media and to urban and architectural history, Visualizing Venice explores the transformative potential of digital technologies for research on and analyses of cities, utilizing the rich archival documentation of the city of Venice as a point of departure for specific case studies. In particular, this chapter focuses on the capacities of digital technologies to model and represent process and time in the creation of historic spaces and the role of Visualizing Venice as a pioneer in collaborative work in these areas.
Access status: Open Access ,
Visualizing Venice Mapping and Modeling Time and Change in a City Preface
(2018) Huffman, Kristin L; Giordano, Andrea; Bruzelius, Caroline
Access status: Open Access ,
Built to Endure: A Smart Guide for US Cities to Build Resilient Infrastructure That Lasts
(2026-02-18) Losos, Elizabeth; Linehan, Rory; Goupil, Jennifer; Novelli, Nick; Prior, Hannah; Burnett, Amelia
Resilience is needed for every community to thrive in a world at increased risk of natural disasters. But small and medium-sized communities don’t need expensive analyses or teams of people to get started. Resilience is achievable—even for lean municipal teams—when people, sound governance, and systems thinking are supported by increasingly accessible digital tools that help inform decisions and strengthen community outcomes. A new guidebook from Duke University, Bentley Systems, AECOM, the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Microsoft offers practical, step-by-step advice for small and midsized communities to integrate resilience into their infrastructure systems. Featuring eight case studies from cities in the United States and abroad, the guidebook is meant for immediate use in the real world. The guidebook also includes a separate section—Getting Started: Practical Entry Points for Local Governments—that will jump-start the systems thinking needed to truly achieve resilience.
Access status: Open Access ,
Data Centers and Generation Capacity over the Next Decade: Potential Benefits of Flexibility
(2026-02-17) Ross, Martin; Ewing, John
Access status: Open Access ,
Dr. Charlie Piot: Publishing an Open Monograph
(Duke ScholarWorks, 2018) Walton, Haley; Mangiafico, Paolo
Access status: Open Access ,
Dr. Joel Goldberg: Archiving Patents in the DukeSpace Repository
(Duke ScholarWorks, 2017) Walton, Haley; Mangiafico, Paolo

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