VTechWorks
VTechWorks provides global access to Virginia Tech scholarship, including journal articles, books, theses, dissertations, conference papers, slide presentations, technical reports, working papers, administrative documents, videos, images, and more by faculty, students, and staff. Faculty can deposit items to VTechWorks from Elements, including journal articles covered by the University open access policy. Email vtechworks@vt.edu for help.
Open Access Policy
Virginia Tech's open access policy enables researchers to deposit the accepted version of scholarly articles with no embargo.
Theses and Dissertations
Virginia Tech was first in the world to require ETDs in 1997, and continues to add scans of older theses and dissertations.
Open Textbooks
More than 40 freely available and openly licensed textbooks are among our most downloaded items.
Communities in VTechWorks
Select a community to browse its collections.
Recent Submissions
Performing Competitive Intelligence with Research Analytics Tools
Stovall, Connie (2024-03-12)
Noncovalently particle-anchored cytokines with prolonged tumor retention safely elicit potent antitumor immunity
Niu, Liqian; Jang, Eungyo; Chin, Ai Lin; Huo, Ziyu; Wang, Wenbo; Cai, Wenjun; Rong, Tong (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 2024-04-19)
Preclinical studies have shown that immunostimulatory cytokines elicit antitumor immune responses but their clinical use is limited by severe immune-related adverse events upon systemic administration. Here, we report a facile and versatile strategy for noncovalently anchoring potent Fc-fused cytokine molecules to the surface of size-discrete particles decorated with Fc-binding peptide for local administration. Following intratumoral injection, particle-anchored Fc cytokines exhibit size-dependent intratumoral retention. The 1-micrometer particle prolongs intratumoral retention of Fc cytokine for over a week and has minimal systemic exposure, thereby eliciting antitumor immunity while eliminating systemic toxicity caused by circulating cytokines. In addition, the combination of these particle-anchored cytokines with immune checkpoint blockade antibodies safely promotes tumor regression in various syngeneic tumor models and genetically engineered murine tumor models and elicits systemic antitumor immunity against tumor rechallenge. Our formulation strategy renders a safe and tumor-agnostic approach that uncouples cytokines’ immunostimulatory properties from their systemic toxicities for potential clinical application.
Conflict, Paradox, and the Role of Structure in True Intelligence
Bettendorf, Isaac T. (Virginia Tech, 2024-04-04)
Novel forms of brain-inspired programming models related to novel computer architecture are required to both understand the mysteries of intelligence as well as break barriers in computational complexity, and computer parallelism. Artificial Intelligence is focused on developing complex programs based on abstract, statistical prediction engines that require large datasets, vast amounts of computational power, and unbounded computation time. By contrast, the brain utilizes relatively few experiences to make decisions in unpredictable, time-constrained situations while utilizing relatively small amounts of physical computational space and power with high degrees of complexity and parallelism. We observe that intelligence requires the accommodation of ambiguity, conflict, and paradox. From a structural perspective, this means the same set of inputs leads to conflicting results that are likely produced in isolated regions of the brain that function independently until an answer must be chosen. We further observe that, unlike computer programs, brains constantly interact with the physical world where external constraints force the selection of the best available response in time-quality trade-offs ranging from fight-or-flight to deep thinking. For example, when intelligent beings are presented with a set of inputs, those inputs can be processed with different levels of thinking, utilizing heterogeneous algorithms to produce answers dependent upon the time available to process them. We introduce the Troop meta-approach, which is a novel meta computer architecture and programming.
Experiments demonstrate our approach in modeling conflict when the same set of inputs are heterogeneously processed independently using maze solving and ordered search in real-world environments with unpredictable, random time constraints. Across one hundred trials, on average, the Troop solution solves mazes almost six times faster than the only other solution, which does not accommodate conflict but can always produce a result when required. Two other experiments based on ordered search show that, on average, the Troop solution returns a position that is over twice as accurate as the other solutions which do not accommodate conflict but always produce a result when required. This work lays the foundation for more research in algorithms that utilize time-accuracy trade-offs consistent with our approach.
Engagement, Happiness, and Bugs: Building Connections Between Physical Activity and Science Lessons
Cybulski, Stella; Towner, Brooke; James, Joy; Sibley, Ben; Bowman, Mary (New River Symposium, 2024-04-12)
Spending time in nature settings and being physically active have positively impacted children's and adults' physical and mental health. The United States Department of Health and Human Services recommends 60 minutes of daily physical activity (PA) for children (2018). Today, only 24% of children meet that requirement. In addition to promoting physical and mental health, spending time in nature and PA has been shown to have brain health benefits for children improving cognition and academic performance! This session will share a recent study conducted using leisure intervention of physical activity and nature to boost students' academic performance, physical fitness, and mental health. The study investigated PA levels throughout the school day, the influence of classroom (indoor/outdoor) setting on PA levels, teachers' perceptions of stude nt behavior/engagement/content knowledge, and the influence of classroom setting on student enjoyment. During the two-week periods, there were control periods of inactive classroom lessons(the teachers planned all lessons) and intervention periods of active classrooms measured in outdoor settings, including a bug exploration lesson. Using the surveys and the data collected, we evaluated the impact of the activities through a cross-examination. Exploring innovative strategies and encouraging teachers to use movement/PA in outdoor environments has the potential to lay a foundation for promoting the well-being and quality of life of our children in elementary schools.
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC's assault on the Virginia Headwaters of the New River
Mountain Valley Watch (New River Symposium, 2024-04-12)
Designed on a desktop in Pittsburgh, PA, without boots on the ground or any sort of analysis of topography and geology, Equitrans took the shortest, least politically powerful route for its Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to the purported energy need in the Southeast. Paying over $5m in mitigation money up front to Virginia’s political leaders for the environmental damage it knew it could cause, it was free and clear to proceed. Except we fought back. We became Mountain Valley Watch. And for eight years we held MVP to starts and stops because of their failure to adequately limit environmental damage, causing their costs to double and their timetable to languish. And there, but for an act of Congress and votes sold, we would be stalling them still to protect our resources from the environmental damage still to come, and we just might have won. However, the MVP project was authorized to proceed and the environmental damages were allowed to continue. In this presentation we will provide an overview of the Mountain Valley saga and the environmental damages that have continued to occur and be mostly ignored by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.