Maryland Shared Open Access Repository

MD-SOAR is a shared digital repository platform for twelve colleges and universities in Maryland. It is currently funded by the University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) Library Consortium (usmai.org) and other participating partner institutions. MD-SOAR is jointly governed by all participating libraries, who have agreed to share policies and practices that are necessary and appropriate for the shared platform. Within this broad framework, each library provides customized repository services and collections that meet local institutional needs. Please follow the links below to learn more about each library's repository services and collections.

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Recent Submissions

Strike First, Strike Hard, Strive Later: Class, Inequality, and the Fractured American Dream in Cobra Kai
(2025-12-07) Mireku-Baabu, Emily; Hansen, Jordan; School of Humanities and Social Sciences; English Language and Literature
Cobra Kai revives the American Dream through a new lens, exposing how class, privilege, and generational conflict complicate the pursuit of success in Modern America. In a far-off land, in Reseda, California, an uphill battle begins as former karate prodigy Johnny Lawrence becomes a sensei, mentoring a group of outcasts seeking his purpose. Despite his best efforts, his past manifests in the form of his childhood rival Daniel Larusso, whose wealth and prestige juxtapose with Johnny’s deprivation and sloth, mirroring the inaccessibility of the American Dream. Previous analyses highlight the show’s nostalgia and martial arts themes, and express how Cobra Kai reflects the anxieties of republican led administrations. This paper fills the gap by connecting the series’ character arcs to broader cultural contexts, particularly exploring the divergent journeys that redefine success and failure in Cobra Kai. In Cobra Kai, the portrayal of the American Dream reveals how class difference and social inequality shape each character’s pursuit of success, revealing that opportunity is not equally accessible through its depiction of economic disparity, the illusion of meritocracy, and the redefinition of redemption as the true measure of achievement, the series challenges the traditional ideal that hard work alone guarantees upward mobility in the 21st century America. Subsequently, this essay draws upon Saidiya Hartman’s idea of “burdened individualism,” the compromise The Princess and the Frog makes for Black liberation, Cobra Kai’s relationship to the Trump administration, opposed to the Karate Kid’s connection to the Reagan administration, and other sources that map Cobra Kai’s allegorical significance. Ultimately, the series transforms a simple karate rivalry into a reflection of America’s broken
Enhancing Trustworthiness in LLM-Generated Code: A Reinforcement Learning and Domain-Knowledge Constrained Approach
(2025-02) Piplai, Aritran; Kotal, Anantaa; Mittal, Sudip; Joshi, Karuna; Finin, Tim; Joshi, Anupam
Imagine analyzing a piece of code that uses the function ConnectToServer() withan encrypted string as its argument. A large language model (LLM), trained onextensive programming data, might flag the use of encryption as suspicious andgenerate an explanation suggesting that the function likely connects to a maliciousserver. While this explanation might seem plausible, it can often be unfaithful—itovergeneralizes based on statistical patterns from its training data without trulyunderstanding the context or validating its claims [8]. A REACT (Reasoning andActing) framework, which combines reasoning with action steps, is likely a betterapproach because it allows the LLM to propose actions—such as decrypting the stringor examining server connections—while reasoning about the results [7]. However,REACT still lacks a feedback mechanism to evaluate the effectiveness of thoseactions or iteratively refine the sequence based on empirical observations. Without such feedback, it risks falling short in dynamic scenarios, where the validation of predictions and adaptation to new evidence are critical [10].
Dependence of Mo/Au Transition-Edge Sensor Properties on Normal Resistance and Critical Temperature
(IEEE, 2026-02-27) Wakeham, Nicholas; Adams, Joseph S.; Ambarish, C. V.; Bandler, S. R.; Borrelli, R. B.; Chervenak, J. A.; Petit, F. A. Colazo; Cumbee, R. S.; DeNigris, N. S.; Farrahi, T.; Finkbeiner, F. M.; Fuhrman, Joshua; Hull, S. V.; Kelley, R. L.; Kilbourne, C. A.; Muramatsu, H.; Porter, F. S.; Rani, A.; Sakai, Kazuhiro; Smith, S. J.; Wassell, E. J.; Witthoeft, M. C.; Yoon, S. H.
We have investigated the dependence of superconducting transition parameters on the bilayer properties in Mo/Au transition edge sensors (TESs). We present measurements of the normalized partial derivatives of TES resistance with respect to temperature (α) and current (β), in several fabricated wafers with differing bilayer properties, but in a single TES design characterized at the same relative point in the transition. The results show α increases and β decreases approximately linearly with TES temperature T and normal state resistance Rₙ. To study these dependencies further, we measured the temperature dependence of the critical current I꜀(T), and found it decreases approximately exponentially at high temperature. The slope of I꜀(T) on a logarithmic scale correlates with Rₙ but is independent of the transition temperature. We examine to what extent these findings can explain the observed T and Rₙ dependence of α and β. These results have implications for our understanding of the fundamental physics of the transition in these devices, and the reproducibility of TES performance resulting from small changes in bilayer fabrication.
Gino Unfiltered
(I Hate Politics Podcast, 2026-03-06) Dasgupta, Sunil; Renne, Gino
Gino Renne is the longtime president of UFCW 1994 MCGEO, the county government employees union. Sunil Dasgupta talks with Gino Renne about the county's politics, history, the role of unions, and the challenges of economic development and rent stabilization. Music by Seth Kibel.
No animal alive today is ‘primitive’ – why are so many still labeled that way?
(The Conversation, 2026-02-09) Omland, Kevin
All species alive today, from chimpanzees to bacteria, are cousins that each have equally long lineages, rather than ancestors or descendants of one another.