Digital Commons Network^™

A Fairness Assessment Of Mobility-Based Covid-19 Case Prediction Models, Abdolmajid Erfani, Vanessa Frias-Martinez

Michigan Tech Publications

In light of the outbreak of COVID-19, analyzing and measuring human mobility has become increasingly important. A wide range of studies have explored spatiotemporal trends over time, examined associations with other variables, evaluated non-pharmacologic interventions (NPIs), and predicted or simulated COVID-19 spread using mobility data. Despite the benefits of publicly available mobility data, a key question remains unanswered: are models using mobility data performing equitably across demographic groups? We hypothesize that bias in the mobility data used to train the predictive models might lead to unfairly less accurate predictions for certain demographic groups. To test our hypothesis, we applied two …

Teacher Candidates’ Conceptions And Practices Of Computational Thinking For Equity, Heather F. Clark, Symone A. Gyles, Imelda Nava-Landeros

Journal of Computer Science Integration

This study documents novice science and math teachers’ developing pedagogical approaches to integrating computational thinking (CT) and data into their courses to support educational equity and social justice. The 10 novice teacher candidates (TCs) studied were part of an urban teacher residency program that empowered them with an asset-based pedagogy we describe as “CT for Equity.” Drawing on coursework and interviews as data, we asked three questions: What are teachers’ conceptions of CT? What are their CT instructional practices? And how did their students respond to those practices? To explore conceptions of CT, we used Kafai et al.’s (2020) articulation …

An Evaluation Of Parameters Which Affect Dairy Herd Movement On Irish Pasture-Based Farms, Paul James Maher, Michael D. Murphy, Michael Egan, Patrick Tuohy

Publications

In pasture-based grazing systems, farm roadways are a pivotal link to connect paddocks on the grazing platform to the milking parlour. However, their effectiveness in the efficient movement of the dairy herd between the grazing paddocks and the milking parlour has yet to be fully quantified. A validation experiment was conducted on a research farm to analyse characteristics on farm roadways that may affect cow throughput, which was observed as the number of cows per minute (CPM) passing a specified location. Roadway width (R2 = 0.96) and surface condition score (SC) (R2 = 0.78, respectively) were both positively associated with …

The Santa Clara, 2023-10-13, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches To Describe Factors Affecting Preweaning Mortality Of Piglets, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Bandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Vamsi Manthena, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

High preweaning mortality (PWM) rates for piglets are a significant concern for the worldwide pork industries, causing economic loss and well-being issues. This study focused on identifying the factors affecting PWM, overlays, and predicting PWM using historical production data with statistical and machine learning models. Data were collected from 1,982 litters from the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Nebraska, over the years 2016 to 2021. Sows were housed in a farrowing building with three rooms, each with 20 farrowing crates, and taken care of by well-trained animal caretakers. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the various sow, litter, …

Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches To Describe Factors Affecting Preweaning Mortality Of Piglets, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Bandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Vamsi Manthena, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

High preweaning mortality (PWM) rates for piglets are a significant concern for the worldwide pork industries, causing economic loss and well-being issues. This study focused on identifying the factors affecting PWM, overlays, and predicting PWM using historical production data with statistical and machine learning models. Data were collected from 1,982 litters from the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Nebraska, over the years 2016 to 2021. Sows were housed in a farrowing building with three rooms, each with 20 farrowing crates, and taken care of by well-trained animal caretakers. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the various sow, litter, …

Interval-Valued Fermatean Neutrosophic Shortest Path Problem Via Score Function, Said Broumi, S. Krishna Prabha, Vakkas Uluçay

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Contemporary mathematical techniques have been crafted to address the uncertainty of numerous real-world settings, including Fermatean neutrosophic fuzzy set theory. Fermatean neutrosophic fuzzy set is an extension of combining Fermatean and neutrosophic sets. A Fermatean neutrosophic set was developed to enable the analytical management of ambiguous data from relatively typical real-world decision-making scenarios. Decision-makers find it challenging to determine the degree of membership (MG) and non-membership (NG) with sharp values due to the insufficient data provided. Intervals MG and NG are suitable options in these circumstances. In this article, the shortest route issue is formulated using an interval set of …

Supporting Students From Different Universities And Backgrounds To Improve Their Academic And Social Outcomes: Euniwell Masoee Project Workshop, Neil Cooke, Jörgen Forss, Enrica Caporali, Pascal Chargé, Kamel Hawwash, Jesper Andersson, Gianni Bartoli, Sarah Chung, Daniel Cottle

Workshops

There is a notable discrepancy between the relative prosperity of Europeans and the global security and sustainability challenge. The mission of the ERASMUS+ 2020 European University for Well-Being (EUniWell) alliance is to address this. Our project, “Maximizing Academic and Social Outcomes in Engineering Education” (MASOEE) interprets this contradiction for engineering educators, exploring how to ensure graduates make the utmost contribution to societal wellbeing by narrowing attainment gaps. We are combining the expertise of British, French, Italian, and Swedish faculties to identify, share, and ultimately transfer best practices for professional, business, and sustainability skill teaching that is aligned to the EU …

Getting Started – Hands-On Producing Lecture Films, Anja Pfennig

Workshops

Lecture videos are more and more implemented in higher engineering education to be used widely by students because very often literature only presents results but not how to get there. Lecture videos may close this gap and visualize the sometimes obvious but still hard-to-understand scientific background. To attract students and become a fully accepted learning material these videos need to be of a certain standard. Based upon our 8 years of experience it is important is to involve students directly into the concept and making-of (peer-to-peer approach), because students` needs and their perspectives on teaching material are directly included in …

Exploration Of Corona Charge As A Novel In Vitro Human T Cell Dna Transfection Method, Molly A. Skinner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With gene-based immunotherapies on the rise to treat a multitude of diseases, the ability to genetically modify cells in a rapid and efficient fashion is necessary to keep up with demand. Gene electrotransfer (gene transfer by electroporation) is an appealing transfection method due to its low cost, high efficiency compared to other physical forms of gene delivery, and low toxicity compared to liposomal or viral vectors.

Traditional gene delivery via electroporation is done within a cuvette where the cell suspension is placed between two plate electrodes. This method requires cells to be moved from the treatment cuvette to a growth …

Revolutionising Engineering Education: Creating Photorealistic Virtual Human Lecturers Using Artificial Intelligence And Computer Generated Images, Johannes H Moolman, Fiona Boyle, Joseph Walsh

Research Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted traditional classroom learning, making virtual and remote education increasingly important. In this context, the use of photorealistic virtual humans, or avatars, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer an immersive and engaging environment for delivering traditional classroom-based lectures. This paper proposes a process that combines AI and Computer-Generated Images (CGI) to create photorealistic virtual human lecturers for educational purposes.

The proposed process flow involves generating audio from text inputs, which is passed to a 3-Dimensional (3D) facial animation rig that matches lip, tongue, eye and facial movements to the audio using AI. This generates a …

Addressing Long-Term Challenges In Energy For Sustainable Futures By Applying Moonshot Thinking, Andreas Sumper, Marc Jené-Vinuesa, Carlos González-De-Miguel, Maria Marin-Macaya

Research Papers

The rapid and exponential changes in our world require the education of engineers who can develop solutions to future and long-term challenges such as climate change. Exploration and innovation methodologies such as Futures Thinking and Moonshot Thinking have the potential to equip engineering students with useful tools and skills to build sustainable futures. To this end, the InnoEnergy MSc Energy for Smart Cities programme at BarcelonaTech (UPC) has developed a challenge-based learning (CBL) course that applies moonshot thinking to tackle major energy problems. This paper presents the methodology refined over three years of implementing the CBL course with second-year Masters's …

Dc Grid Power Congestion Management Laboratory Experiments, Holly Engelbrecht, Diego Zuidervliet, Peter Van Duijsen

Research Papers

In the process of the electrical energy transition, a new curriculum for bachelor electrical engineering is developed. A new development is DC grids, as they are shown to be promising in solving the power congestion management problem. Particularly when adding solar power, battery storage, and load appliances including power electronics, DC grids are replacing AC grids, especially in micro-grids. The development of new laboratory experiments using three educational methods is described in this paper. First, theory combined with online calculation tools is used to prepare the students for the subject. Second, the experiment has to be prepared using simulation tools, …

Professional Identity Of Female Engineering Graduates: An Exploration Of Identity Status Through Life History Research, Natascha Van Hattum-Janssen, Maaike D. Endedijk

Research Papers

The number of students entering engineering programmes is too low to meet the need for engineering graduates. Still, many leave for jobs outside the technical sector right after graduation. Professional identity is a concept that helps to explain why they stay in or leave the technical sector (Cech 2014). It is the result of the process of professional socialisation. This study uses life history research to understand the professional socialisation of engineering graduates from kindergarten age until a few years after graduation. An analysis of the life experiences of male and female engineering graduates shows differences in how they describe …

Metabolomic Insights Into Tuberculosis: Machine Learning Approaches For Biomarker Identification, Miftahul Khair Akbar, Arief Aulia Rahman

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

The lung parenchyma is largely impacted by the infectious condition known as pulmonary tuberculosis (pulmonary TB) when the immune system creates a wall around the germs in the lungs, a tiny, hard bulge known as a tubercle develops, earning the disease the name tuberculosis. Although the majority of TB germs target the lungs, they can also harm other bodily organs. The identification of TB biomarkers, which are crucial for diagnosis, treatment monitoring, risk analysis, and prognosis, has been the subject of extensive research. Differences in metabolites between normal cells and tuberculosis are considered to be able to support the diagnosis …

Furthering Development Of Smart Fabrics To Improve The Accessibility Of Music Therapy, Ellie Nguyen, Daisy Z. Fernandez-Reyes, Franceli L. Cibrian

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we present the design and development of HarmonicThreads, a smart, cost-effective fabric augmented by generative machine learning algorithms to create music in real time according to the user's interaction. In this manner, we hypothesize that individuals with sensory differences could take advantage of the fabric's flexibility, the music will adapt according to users' interaction, and the affordable hardware we propose will make it more accessible. We follow a design thinking methodology using data from a multidisciplinary team in Mexico and the United States. Then we will close this paper by discussing challenges in developing accessible smart fabrics …

Classification Of Chronic Pain Using Fmri Data: Unveiling Brain Activity Patterns For Diagnosis, Rejula V, Anitha J, Belfin Robinson

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Millions of people throughout the world suffer from the complicated and crippling condition of chronic pain. It can be brought on by several underlying disorders or injuries and is defined by chronic pain that lasts for a period exceeding three months. To better understand the brain processes behind pain and create prediction models for pain-related outcomes, machine learning is a potent technology that may be applied in Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) chronic pain research. Data (fMRI and T1-weighted images) from 76 participants has been included (30 chronic pain and 46 healthy controls). The raw data were preprocessed using fMRIprep …

Feasibility And Outcomes Of Supplemental Gait Training By Robotic And Conventional Means In Acute Stroke Rehabilitation, Mukul Talaty, Alberto Esquenazi

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

INTRODUCTION: Practicality of implementation and dosing of supplemental gait training in an acute stroke inpatient rehabilitation setting are not well studied but can have positive impact on outcomes.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility of early, intense supplemental gait training in inpatient stroke rehabilitation, compare functional outcomes and the specific mode of delivery.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Assessor blinded, randomized controlled trial in a tertiary Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility.

PARTICIPANTS: Thirty acute post-stroke patients with unilateral hemiparesis (≥ 18 years of age with a lower limb MAS ≤ 3).

INTERVENTION: Lokomat® or conventional gait training (CGT) in addition to standard mandated therapy time. …

Overview Of Various Components Of Lateral Flow Immunochromatography Assay For The Detection Of Mycotoxins And Limit Of Detection In Food Samples: A Systematic Review, Vinayak Sharma, Thasmin Shahjahan, Bilal Javed, Furong Tian

Articles

The detection of aflatoxins is essential for the food industry to ensure the safety and quality of food products before their release to the market. The lateral-flow immunochromatography assay (LFIA) is a simple technique that allows the rapid on-site detection of aflatoxins. The purpose of this review is to evaluate and compare the limits of detection reported in the most recent research articles, published between the years of 2015 and 2023. The limits of detection (LODs) were compared against the particle type and particle size, as well as other variables, to identify trends and correlations among the parameters. A growing …

Columnas: The Honors Program Newsletter At Bentley University, Hailey Jennato, Samson Shen, Clara Williams

Honors Program

Page 1: HOW AI IS IMPACTING THE BENTLEY CLASSROOM AND EDUCATION OVERALL ~ by Nayeli Franco ’24

Page 2: A BEAUTY OF DIVERSITY ~ by Yun Song ’26

Page 3: RESURRECTING THE DEAD THROUGH COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY: HONORING THEIR MEMORY OR EXPLOITING THEIR LEGACY? ~ by Hailey Jennato ’24

Page 4: THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ~ by Isa Ramirez Perdomo ’26

Page 5: FROM STRUGGLE TO STRENGTH: THRIVING AS AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ~ by Ledion Hoti ’25

Page 6: CHASING BUTTERFLIES ~ by Alyssa Galin ’27

Deep Semantic Hashing For Aerial Livestock Detection, Shosei Anegawa, Franz Kurfess, Sumona Mukhopadhyay

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The goal of this project is to be able to accurately detect and count livestock in footage captured by a drone in real time. The main problems with this arise from the fact that a drone can only carry limited computing resources, and hashing is conventionally thought of as a great method of doing image classification very quickly and thus even on low-power devices. In this project, we use both a Faster-RCNN, which is a state-of-the art object detection model as a benchmark to develop a hashing model that can perform a similar task much more quickly. These two models …

Drones For Marine Science And Agriculture, David Caldera, Sai Murthy

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Our research project was launched at Cal Poly in 2019 with the goal of assisting researchers at the CSULB Shark Lab in detecting sharks from aerial images. Under the guidance of Dr. Franz J. Kurfess, students trained an object detection algorithm using shark images and were able to achieve high rate of detection. Following this success, the team has constructed multiple drones and expanded their research to include applications in the fields of agriculture and ecology. This summer the goal is to use a iPhone 14 Pro in lieu of a traditional camera system for real-time object recognition. Object detection …

Multi-Port Power Converters For Hybrid Energy System Applications, Sina Vahid

Dissertations (1934 -)

The increasing integration of renewable energy sources and energy storage systems in various electrical systems introduces the topic of hybrid energy systems. Power electronics converters play a pivotal role in transforming and transferring the power between energy sources, energy storage systems, and the loads. The traditional approach of using multiple power converters for each of the mentioned components poses challenges including high cost, decrease in the system power density, and communication between the power converters. Multi-port power converters have been proposed as an alternative to employing multiple power converters. Even though several multi-port converters have been proposed in literature, the …

Upscaling Wetland Methane Emissions From The Fluxnet-Ch4 Eddy Covariance Network (Upch4 V1.0): Model Development, Network Assessment, And Budget Comparison, Gavin Mcnicol, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard, Zutao Ouyang, Sara Knox, Zhen Zhang, Tuula Aalto, Sheel Bansal, Kuang Yu Chang, Min Chen, Kyle Delwiche, Sarah Feron, Mathias Goeckede, Jinxun Liu, Avni Malhotra, Joe R. Melton, William Riley, Rodrigo Vargas, Kunxiaojia Yuan, Qing Ying, Qing Zhu, Pavel Alekseychik, Mika Aurela, David Billesbach, David I. Campbell, Jiquan Chen, Housen Chu, Ankur R. Desai, Eugenie Euskirchen, Jordan Goodrich, Timothy Griffis, Manuel Helbig, Takashi Hirano, Hiroki Iwata, Gerald Jurasinski, John King, Franziska Koebsch, Randall Kolka, Ken Krauss, Annalea Lohila, Ivan Mammarella

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Wetlands are responsible for 20%–31% of global methane (CH4) emissions and account for a large source of uncertainty in the global CH4 budget. Data-driven upscaling of CH4 fluxes from eddy covariance measurements can provide new and independent bottom-up estimates of wetland CH4 emissions. Here, we develop a six-predictor random forest upscaling model (UpCH4), trained on 119 site-years of eddy covariance CH4 flux data from 43 freshwater wetland sites in the FLUXNET-CH4 Community Product. Network patterns in site-level annual means and mean seasonal cycles of CH4 fluxes were reproduced accurately in tundra, boreal, and temperate regions (Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency ∼0.52–0.63 and 0.53). …

Optimal Agricultural Land Use: An Efficient Neutrosophic Linear Programming Method, Maissam Jdid, Florentin Smarandache

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The increase in the size of the problems facing humans, their overlap, the division of labor, the multiplicity of departments, as well as the diversity of products and commodities, led to the complexity of business and the emergence of many administrative and production problems. It was necessary to search for appropriate methods to confront these problems. The science of operations research, with its diverse methods, provided the optimal solutions. It addresses many problems and helps in making scientific and thoughtful decisions to carry out the work in the best way within the available capabilities. Operations research is one of the …

Me-Em Enewsbrief, September 2023, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

Balanced Blended Space: Proposing A Universal Theoretical Framework For Combinative Reality, David Smith, Frederick Bianchi

Publications and Research

In today's fragmented societies, a unified framework for communication and collaboration across different realities is crucial. We introduce Balanced Blended Space (BBS) as a framework for describing combinative reality, encompassing virtual, physical, and conceptual realms, all intrinsically connected. Interactions within these environments shape our perceptual space. This paper outlines key axiomatic assumptions, criteria for a universal framework, and fundamental terminology. We identify deep symmetries enabling the BBS framework, including Cognitive and Computational Symmetry, Physical and Virtual Symmetry, Mediation Pathway Symmetry, Space-Time Symmetry, and Sensory Symmetry. We propose tests to determine its viability, emphasizing virtual intelligence as a collaborative partner. We …

Construction Aspects And Seismic Analysis Of Typical Buildings In Dolpo, Lhakpa Tsering

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study delves into the construction aspects and seismic analysis of typical buildings in the challenging terrain of Dolpo, situated within the Himalayan mountain range. Dolpo's unique geological and geographical characteristics, combined with its susceptibility to seismic activity, make it crucial to investigate and understand the dynamics of construction in this remote region. The research explores traditional and contemporary building practices, aiming to elucidate the interplay between construction methodologies and seismic resilience. Through a comprehensive examination of the geological context, structural design, and seismic vulnerability, this study contributes valuable insights to inform the development of robust and earthquake-resistant building strategies …

Leveraging Inflammatory Responses Toward Advancing Alzheimer’S Disease Treatments And Biomaterial Implantation, Mihyun Lim Waugh

Theses and Dissertations

Inflammation is a body’s physiological response to pathogens, foreign materials, or tissue injury. When immune system is triggered, activated leukocytes produce cytokines and chemokines that promote migration of neutrophils and macrophages to the inflammatory regions. At early stages of injury, acute inflammation occurs immediately to fight off the pathogens and restore tissues to homeostasis. However, if the inflammation-inducing stimulus is not removed and thus cells and tissues do not return to its homeostatic state, the prolonged inflammatory responses become a chronic condition. Recent studies have indicated that the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), a key receptor of innate immune …

Neutrosophic Bicubic B-Spline Surface Interpolation Model For Uncertainty Data, Siti Nur Idara Rosli, Mohammad Izat Emir Zulkifly

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Dealing with the uncertainty data problem using neutrosophic data is difficult since certain data are wasted due to noise. To address this issue, this work proposes a neutrosophic set (NS) strategy for interpolating the B-spline surface. The purpose of this study is to visualize the neutrosophic bicubic B-spline surface (NBB-sS) interpolation model. Thus, the principal results of this study introduce the NBB-sS interpolation method for neutrosophic data based on the NS notion. The neutrosophic control net relation (NCNR) is specified first using the NS notion. The B-spline basis function is then coupled to the NCNR to produce the NBB-sS. This …