Digital Commons Network^™

Scaling Expertise: A Note On Homophily In Online Discourse And Content Moderation, Dylan Weber

New England Journal of Public Policy

It is now empirically clear that the structure of online discourse tends toward homophily; users strongly prefer to interact with content and other users that are similar to them. I review the evidence for the ubiquity of homophily in discourse and highlight some of its worst effects including narrowed information landscape for users and increased spread of misinformation. I then discuss the current state of moderation frameworks at large social media platforms and how they are ill-equipped to deal with structural trends in discourse such as homophily. Finally, I sketch a moderation framework based on a principal of “scaling expertise” …

Establishment Of A Research Site At The Kennedy Mountain Campus For The Observation Of Airborne Particulate Matter, Alyssa Knaus

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This thesis explored particulate matter (PM) concentrations at two sites within the Colorado Front Range. The study utilized two models of PurpleAir PM sensors, Flex and SD-II, to provide real-time, accessible data on PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 mass concentrations with the goal of establishing the first research site at the Kennedy Mountain Campus (KMC). The first of the two sites used during this study was at a suburban location outside of Denver, CO. This period was used as an instrument intercomparison period in order to conduct instrument analysis. The initial findings from this period found significant correlations between PM concentration …

Comparing The Preparation Of Youth Services Librarians To Their On-The-Ground Experiences: A Grounded Theory Study Incorporating Criticism And Connoisseurship, Anne Holland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand the on-the-ground preparation of youth services librarians, in contrast to their professional training in Master’s of Library Science (MLIS) programs. Classic Grounded Theory was the predominant methodology for this qualitative study, and elements of Criticism and Connoisseurship were also utilized. Document review, interviews, and journaling activities with ten participants were the primary methods of data collection. Key findings from this dissertation include a grounded theory explaining the current state of preparation for youth services librarianship, and multiple avenues for further study.

A Geospatial And Machine Learning Framework For Forecasting Ground Level Ozone Pollution, William J. Keenan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The major detrimental health effects of ground-level ozone (GLO) pollution make it imperative that both policy makers and ordinary citizens have access to high accuracy, high-resolution forecasts of their local area. Recently, advancements in computing power have made it possible to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to a variety of big data modelling problems, including GLO forecasting and estimation. Of these AI methods, deep neural networks (DNN) have demonstrated the highest accuracy due to their ability extract non-linear relationships from high dimensional, noisy data inputs.

This research effort uses novel data sources, namely NOAA’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) meteorology …

How Well Do Nature-Based Solutions To Climate Change Address Gender Equity?, Stephanie Efua Yamoah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the climate crisis continues to deepen, there have been calls for adaptation and mitigation approaches that rely on nature-based solutions. These solutions are approaches that offer the potential to reduce and remove greenhouse gas emissions. Examples include forest restoration, coastal wetland conservation, and no-till agriculture, among other practices. In this thesis, I employ an intersectional feminist political ecology perspective to critically examine the integration of gender equity within such nature-based solutions. I make two interrelated arguments using a qualitative methodology and an intensive case study of three projects in Ghana. First, I argue that women’s participation in nature-based solutions …

Using Historic Glacial Data And Gis To Predict Mount Rainier National Park’S Glacial Future, Daniel Kincaid

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

Will Washington state have glaciers 100 years from now (year 2124)? Due to generally warmer weather glaciers are largely in retreat globally, including the glaciers in Washington state. In Washington state summer glacial meltwater plays a vital role in the survival of wildlife and is needed for human purposes that include recreation, power generation, drinking, agricultural, and industrial. This project looked at the most resilient glaciers in Washington state, the glaciers at Mount Rainier National Park. Historic measurements were used in an exponential growth calculation to project the amount in acres each glacier at Mount Rainer will advance or retreat …

Visualization Of Indiana And Northern Long-Eared Bats Using Spline Surfaces To Enable Targeted Land Management, Devin Escue

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This project introduces a Bat Visualization Tool to help manage habitats for threatened bat species while considering broader ecosystem dynamics. It integrates data from acoustic bat surveys at the Corriell Nature Preserve in Iowa. The tool attaches spatial context to non-spatial survey data, weights species calls based on statistical p-values, and creates visual bat species distribution maps using spline surfaces. It also generates future survey locations based on these patterns. By using geospatial analysis and statistics, the tool identifies priority areas for conservation actions, focusing on factors like forest composition, roosting preferences, and land cover types that affect bat habitat …

Gis-Based Dashboard For Data Analysis And Visualization At The Water Hub In Franschhoek, South Africa, Liliana Rosa Simon

Geography and the Environment: Graduate Student Capstones

This capstone project analyzes the land use change in the Franschhoek Valley, South Africa, and implements this information into an ArcGIS Experience Builder Dashboard. The development of an ArcGIS Experience Builder is utilized as a tool for improved spatial data communication at The Water Hub. An increase in urban development in the informal settlement upstream of the Stiebeuel River in the catchment basin north of the Water Hub research institute is found. The capstone uses geographic information systems, remote sensing, and ArcGIS Experience Builder to integrate spatial data into the Water Hub’s standard operating procedures. It highlights the importance of …

Statistical Modeling Of Knee Morphology And Material Properties Considering Diverse Populations, Gabrielle Jeannine Kindy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) is a widely performed surgical procedure aimed at alleviating pain and restoring function in patients with severe knee osteoarthritis. Despite its general success, disparities in postoperative outcomes have been observed across different racial and ethnic groups, with minority populations often experiencing less favorable results. One potential avenue for improving the generalizability of orthopaedic implants is using Statistical Shape and Intensity Models (SSIMs), which can be used to incorporate patient variability directly into the orthopaedic medical device development workflow through population-based finite element analysis.

This work aimed to construct an SSIM from a diverse subject set, incorporating …

Scale-Dependent Effects Of Urban Canopy Cover, Canopy Volume, And Impervious Surfaces On Near Surface Air Temperature In Portland, Or, Carson Ralls

Geography Masters Research Papers

Cities are significantly warmer than their surrounding rural environments. Known as the ‘urban heat island effect’, it can affect the health of urban residents and lead to increased energy use. Although this effect is extensively researched, less is known about how landscape characteristics within cities affect local temperature variation. With a warming climate and the need for heat mitigation strategies becoming more urgent, having a finer detailed understanding of the effects on temperature is critical to guide proper management policies. This study examined how tree canopy cover, canopy volume, and impervious surface cover affect daytime near surface air temperature, and …

Role Of Hypogenesis In The Evolution Of Karst In The Taurus Mountains Range, Turkey, Serdar C. Bayari, Naciye Nur Özyurt, Lütfi Nazik, Koray A. Törk, Noyan İ. Güner, Emrah Pekkan, Pınar Avcı

International Journal of Speleology

Field observations and laboratory data collected from the Taurus Mountains Range, Turkey during the last two decades provided evidence for the link between the evolution of hypogene karst and the geodynamic history. Major evidence includes; carbonate-hosted secondary ore deposits that are converted from primarily hypogene minerals by epigene, oxygen-rich groundwater circulating at local to intermediate depths. Another piece of evidence of hypogene karst in the Tauride is the Kırkgöz springs’ huge submerged cave/conduit system, which formed the Antalya Travertine Plateau, which is the world’s largest deposit precipitated by cool karst groundwater. The obruks in central Tauride are giant collapse dolines …

Real Time 3d Internal Building Directory Map, Zi Yang Chia, Pey Yun Goh

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Global Positioning System (GPS) is a famous technology around the world in identifying the real time precise location of any object with the assistance of satellites. The most common application of GPS is the use of outdoor maps. GPS offers efficient, scalable and cost-effective location services. However, this technology is not reliable when the position is in an indoor environment. The signal is very weak or totally lost due to signal attenuation and multipath effects. Among the indoor positioning technologies, WLAN is the most convenient and cost effective. In recent research, machine learning algorithms have become popular and utilized in …

Temporal Climatic Shifts In Henan Province: A 16-Decades Perspective Through Regression, Sarima, And Nar Modeling, Lin Qing, Ang Ling Weay, Shao Yiyang, Sellappan Palaniappan

Journal of Informatics and Web Engineering

Global warming is having a significant impact on all aspects of human production and life. This study employs a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the temporal dynamics of average temperature changes in Henan Province, China, from 1851 to 2012. Utilizing the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Data and the Daily Meteorological Dataset of China National Surface Weather Station v3.0, we applied regression analysis, Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA), and Nonlinear Autoregressive Network (NAR) models to predict temperature trends. Results indicate a significant warming trend over the 160-year period, with the models demonstrating strong predictive performance, albeit with some variability. The study …

Embodied Urban Political Ecology Of Oil: Social Reproduction In Oil ‎Geographies Case Study: Ahwaz, Khuzestan, Iran, Maryam Amiri

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines the transformative impact of the oil industry on social ‎reproduction ‎‎within the urban and ecological landscapes of Khuzestan Province, Iran, and ‎its center, the city ‎of Ahwaz. Specifically, the study sought to understand the effects of ‎the oil industry on social ‎reproduction in three key areas: gender relations, race/ethnic ‎relations, and daily life ‎amidst ‎environmental pollution caused by the oil industry.

‎This is explored through three sub-questions: 1) How are hierarchical socio-‎spatial ‎relationships perpetuated through practices of ‎everyday life? 2) How are gender ‎relationships redefined and ‎reproduced in the oil city? 3) How ‎are ethnic relationships ‎redefined …

Monitoring Air Fluxes In Caves Using Digital Flow Metres, Claudio Pastore, Amir Sedaghatkish, Eric Weber, Nicolas Schmid, Pierre-Yves Jeannin, Marc Luetscher

International Journal of Speleology

Precise measurements of airflow within caves are increasingly demanded to assess heat and mass transfers and their impacts on the karst environment, including subsurface ecosystems, hydrochemistry of karst water and secondary mineral precipitates. In this study, we introduce a new, low-cost and lightweight device adapted to monitoring air fluxes in caves which addresses the need for reliable measurements, low power consumption, durability and affordability. The device was calibrated in a wind tunnel, showing the high accuracy and precision of the device. Field-related uncertainties were further investigated in a ventilated cave to determine the effect of local airflow conditions on the …

Fiscal Incentives For Green Growth: A Mixed-Methods Study Of The State Of Agroforestry And Tree Cover In India, Spriha Pandey

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

Agroforestry is a crucial strategy for diversifying farmer livelihoods and achieving India's climate goals, but its adoption has been hindered by institutional and fiscal obstacles. This mixed-methods study investigates the impact of national government schemes on tree cover increase and expert perceptions of incentives and barriers to agroforestry adoption. Our analysis of national schemes from 2013-2017 reveals that effective fiscal mechanisms and policy cohesion are critical drivers of agroforestry growth. Specifically, we find that increased funding for the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is associated with significant increases in tree cover area while funding for the Horticultural Scheme (NHM) is …

Land-Use Governance And Indigenous Engagement In Arctic Alaska And Norway: Successes, Current Gaps, And Paths Forward, Ningning Sun

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

This study aims to analyze the land use governance structures and the role of Indigenous engagement in Alaska and Norway using a comparative approach, with special focus on successful practices, current gaps, and paths forward to achieve equitable governance. Extractive land uses, such as oil and gas extraction and the construction of wind farms, have mixed impacts on Indigenous communities and lead to social and legal issues such as land use conflict and environmental injustice. Previous research has studied land use governance in Arctic countries with regard to Indigenous Peoples, yet there is a lack of literature that spans Alaska …

Carbon Pricing In Action: Evaluating The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Evelyn M. Hatem

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is one of the longest-standing emissions trading schemes for carbon dioxide in the United States. “Cap-and-trade” describes an emissions trading scheme where emissions are capped at a specific level, allowances are allocated beneath that cap, and emitters can trade allowances. In RGGI, the cap lowers over time, and the allowances are distributed via a quarterly auction. While RGGI includes 10 member states across the Northeast United States, there is risk of carbon leakage whereby the carbon price signal in RGGI states reduces carbon emissions in those states, but there is increased generation in neighboring …

Spatial Targeting Of Irrigation Development And Water Resource Management To Mitigate Vector-Borne Disease, April Frake, Brad Peter, Grivin Chipula, Joseph Messina

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Scaling irrigated agriculture is a global strategy to mitigate food insecurity concerns. While expanding irrigated agriculture is critical to meeting food production demands, it is important to consider how these land use and land cover changes (LULCC) may alter the water resources of landscapes and impact the spatiotemporal epidemiology of disease. Here, a generalizable method is presented to inform irrigation development decision-making aimed at increasing crop production through irrigation while simultaneously mitigating malaria risk to surrounding communities. Changes to the spatiotemporal patterns of malaria vector (Anopheles gambiae s.s.) suitability, driven by irrigated agricultural expansion, are presented for Malawi's rainy and …

The Influence Of Sediment-Supply On River Recovery From Reach To Watershed-Scales, Jordan Fields

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Alluvial channels are always amidst cycles of disturbance and response, continually arcing towards, or back to, a dynamic equilibrium where the channel is subtly adjusted so that it is just able to transport the sediment load supplied from reaches above. As the landscape, and now the climate, have been altered by human activity, channels have been subjected to a changing balance of external forcings. Increasingly large and frequent floods, dam construction/removal, land use change, artisanal gold and sand mining all have drastically perturbed river channels’ delicate adjustment – how will they respond? Here, I consider the question from the grain …

Topological Regression As An Interpretable And Efficient Tool For Quantitative Structureactivity Relationship Modeling, Ruibo Zhang, Daniel Nolte, Cesar Sanchez-Villalobos, Souparno Ghosh, Ranadip Pal

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR)modeling is a powerful tool for drug discovery, yet the lack of interpretability of commonly used QSAR models hinders their application inmolecular design.We propose a similaritybased regression framework, topological regression (TR), that offers a statistically grounded, computationally fast, and interpretable technique to predict drug responses. We compare the predictive performance of TR on 530 ChEMBL human target activity datasets against the predictive performance of deep-learning-based QSAR models. Our results suggest that our sparse TR model can achieve equal, if not better, performance than the deep learningbased QSAR models and provide better intuitive interpretation by extracting an approximate …

Access To Prostate-Specific Antigen Testing And Mortality Among Men With Prostate Cancer, Hari S. Iyer, Benjamin V. Stone, Charlotte Roscoe, Mei Chin Hsieh, Antoinette M. Stroup, Charles L. Wiggins, Fredrick R. Schumacher, Scarlett L. Gomez, Timothy R. Rebbeck, Quoc Dien Trinh

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

Importance: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer is controversial but may be associated with benefit for certain high-risk groups. Objectives: To evaluate associations of county-level PSA screening prevalence with prostate cancer outcomes, as well as variation by sociodemographic and clinical factors. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data from cancer registries based in 8 US states on Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic White men aged 40 to 99 years who received a diagnosis of prostate cancer between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2015. Participants were followed up until death or censored after 10 years or December …

Gender-Based Service Quality Evaluation Of Multimodal Public Transportation In Dki Jakarta, Mohammad Owais, Jachrizal Sumabrata, Nahry Yusuf

Smart City

In DKI Jakarta, despite the extensive infrastructure development, there has been a significant decline in the usage of public transportation. This can be attributed to the inadequate quality of the services provided. Various studies have highlighted the significance of evaluating the quality of service in public transportation to ensure passenger satisfaction and attract new users. However, there is no agreement on the most effective methodology and suitable indicators for conducting such analyses. In addition, there is a growing recognition of the importance of promoting gender equality in multimodal public transportation (MMPT) and understanding gender differences and perceptions of MMPT services. …

Combinatorial Creativity: Knowledge Graphs And Idea Generation In Crowdsourcing Innovation, Zhi Wei Vincent Mack

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation explores the dynamic interplay between combinatorial creativity and technology-driven innovation within various knowledge-intensive fields. It critically examines the role of combinatorial creativity in generating groundbreaking innovations by amalgamating existing ideas and technologies. This research incorporates a detailed examination of how knowledge, whether tacit or explicit, can be transformed into actionable data to foster innovation in crowdsourcing contexts. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the relevant literature on how Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Management Systems can support combinatorial creativity. The study further delves into the transformative impact of knowledge management systems, particularly focusing on crowdsourcing platforms that leverage collective …

A Retrospective Review: Oxford County Wellness Collaborative's Contributions To Community Health, Emma Schwartz, Rachel T. Gallo Mph

Publications

Since 2011, Oxford County Wellness Collaborative (OCWC) has been transforming personal, environmental, and economic health by building strong relationships among people and organizations. OCWC contracted with the Data Innovation Project at the Catherine Cutler Institute of Health and Social Policy to synthesize previously collected or reported data and collect primary data to conduct a retrospective evaluation. The evaluation team used this data to convey past successes, better understand the outcomes of the collaborative to date, and provide recommendations for OCWC’s next steps in furthering its impact.

Moral Responsibility And Other Visceral Attitudes Of Western Michigan University Students Toward Food Waste, Quinn Heiser

Masters Theses

Despite the large number of people that go hungry on a regular basis in America, food waste remains a looming issue, globally and nationally. Both American college students and the universities themselves contribute a large portion to the national food waste totals. A dichotomy that is especially curious is the difference between students who live on-campus and whose main source of meals is the dining centers, versus students who live off campus and rely mainly on groceries to make meals independently. However, food waste has seldom been studied in the context of the fact that college is a major transition …

Estimating And Applying Parameters Necessary To Plan Cluster Randomized Trials (Crts) And Multisite Cluster Randomized Trials (Mscrts), Dea Mulolli

Dissertations

Cluster randomized trials (CRTs) are commonly used to study the effectiveness of educational interventions. During the design phase of a study, it is critical for researchers to ensure their studies are adequately powered to detect meaningful treatment effects, including both main and moderator effects. Designing CRTs with adequate power to detect main and moderator effects requires accurate estimates of design parameters. This research aims to advance the literature on design parameters for power analyses, specifically focusing on empirical estimates of intraclass correlations (ICCs). The work consists of three research papers that examine the role of including the teacher level in …

Agricultural Groundcover Update May 2024, Justin Laycock

Natural resources published reports

• In May, over 9% (1,410,000 ha) of the arable farmland in the south-west of Western Australia had less than 50% vegetative groundcover, which is inadequate to prevent wind erosion.
• Northern grainbelt had the highest risk of wind erosion and over 26% of this farmland had inadequate groundcover, predominantly found on landscapes known for sandy soils.
• About 1.3% (208,900 ha) of arable land had a high to very high risk of wind erosion because groundcover was less than 30%. Half of this land was in the West Midlands Ag Soil Zone.

Agricultural Groundcover Update April 2024, Justin Laycock

Natural resources published reports

• In April, over 12% (1,876,000 ha) of the arable farmland in the south-west of Western Australia had less than 50% vegetative groundcover, which is inadequate to prevent wind erosion.
• Northern grainbelt had the highest risk of wind erosion and over 26% of this farmland had inadequate groundcover, predominantly found on landscapes known for sandy soils.
• About 1.5% (238,900 ha) of arable land had a high to very high risk of wind erosion because groundcover was less than 30%.

Unraveling The History Of Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest With Statistical Modeling, Ryan Destefano

Master's Theses

The Amazon rainforest, a vital ecosystem of immense biodiversity and global climate significance, faces the ongoing threat of deforestation driven by agricultural expansion. This thesis employs remote sensing techniques, focusing on the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) derived from Landsat satellite imagery, to track land cover dynamics within the Amazon. The study examines historical land cover changes in current plantations in Peru and Brazil, regions where the exact timing of deforestation is uncertain. By analyzing EVI measurements dating back to 1984, inflection points indicative of deforestation events preceding plantation establishment are identified. Statistical modeling techniques, including spline fitting to analyze time …