Digital Commons Network^™

Emergency Explosive Ordnance Risk Education: Lessons Learned From Ukraine, Nick Vovk

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Following the Russian Federation military offensive launched on 24 February 2022, the context and extent of Ukraine’s explosive ordnance (EO) contamination drastically changed, leaving mine action (MA) operators with the need to provide emergency explosive ordnance risk education (EORE). Faced with scarce up-to-date guidance and good practices on the topic, the global EORE Advisory Group (AG)[1] produced a refreshed document to support implementation. In September 2023, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) also surveyed the entire MA community in Ukraine and organized a joint lessons-learned workshop to review the past eighteen months of emergency EORE programming. The workshop addressed various …

The Journal Of Conventional Weapons Destruction, Cisr Jmu

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

No abstract provided.

Military-Connected Small Business Profiles: Access To Capital And Resources Across Revenue Stages, Rosalinda V. Maury, Adam Pritchard

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This research brief presents a thorough analysis of the military-connected entrepreneurship ecosystem, detailing the progression of business development from inception to sustainability. Leveraging data from the NSMAE and bolstered by generous financial support from Walmart, it outlines the specific challenges and growth opportunities faced by military-affiliated small businesses. These challenges include navigating access to capital, overcoming operational hurdles, and seizing growth opportunities. This brief categorizes businesses into five stages—Foundational, Startup/Launch, Growth, Acceleration, and Sustainability—characterized by distinct financial conditions, operational challenges, and resource management strategies.

Building Effective Mentoring Relationships During Clinical Ethics Fellowships: Pedagogy, Programs, And People, Trevor M Bibler, Ryan H Nelson, Bryanna Moore, Janet Malek, Mary A Majumder

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

How should clinical ethicists be trained? Scholars have stated that clinical ethics fellowships create well-trained, competent ethicists. While this appears intuitive, few features of fellowship programs have been publicly discussed, let alone debated. In this paper, we examine how fellowships can foster effective mentoring relationships. These relationships provide the foundation for the fellow's transition from novice to competent professional. In this essay, we begin by discussing our pedagogical commitments. Next, we describe the structures our program has created to assist our fellows in becoming competent ethicists. We then outline the kinds of knowledge, skills, and professional attributes mentors should possess. …

Aging In The City Of Melrose: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin E. Coyle, Katherine Burnes, Mark Krebs, Ceara Somerville

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA) within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the City of Melrose. The goals of this project were to investigate the interests, preferences, and opinions of Melrose’s residents aged 55 or older by engaging the community regarding their experiences and needs relevant to the Council on Aging’s (COA’s) objective to identify and serve the needs of all Melrose citizens 55 and older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the City of Melrose, the Melrose COA, Milano …

Aging In North Andover: A Community Needs Assessment, Claire Wickersham, Caitlin E. Coyle, Ceara Somerville, Holly Stockdale

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging (CSDRA) within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the Town of North Andover. The goal of this project was to identify, describe, and prioritize the needs and preferences of North Andover residents age 60 and older as they relate to aging well in the community. In 2023, North Andover opened a new Senior Community Center. The contents of this report are intended to be used for planning for the new Senior Community Center space and to inform strategic planning …

T-Pickseer: Visual Analysis Of Taxi Pick-Up Point Selection Behavior, Shuxian Gu, Yemo Dai, Zezheng Feng, Yong Wang, Haipeng Zeng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Taxi drivers often take much time to navigate the streets to look for passengers, which leads to high vacancy rates and wasted resources. Empty taxi cruising remains a big concern for taxi companies. Analyzing the pick-up point selection behavior can solve this problem effectively, providing suggestions for taxi management and dispatch. Many studies have been devoted to analyzing and recommending hotspot regions of pick-up points, which can make it easier for drivers to pick-up passengers. However, the selection of pick-up points is complex and affected by multiple factors, such as convenience and traffic management. Most existing approaches cannot produce satisfactory …

Conditional Neural Heuristic For Multiobjective Vehicle Routing Problems, Mingfeng Fan, Yaoxin Wu, Zhiguang Cao, Wen Song, Guillaume Sartoretti, Huan Liu, Guohua Wu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Existing neural heuristics for multiobjective vehicle routing problems (MOVRPs) are primarily conditioned on instance context, which failed to appropriately exploit preference and problem size, thus holding back the performance. To thoroughly unleash the potential, we propose a novel conditional neural heuristic (CNH) that fully leverages the instance context, preference, and size with an encoder–decoder structured policy network. Particularly, in our CNH, we design a dual-attention-based encoder to relate preferences and instance contexts, so as to better capture their joint effect on approximating the exact Pareto front (PF). We also design a size-aware decoder based on the sinusoidal encoding to explicitly …

“Old Soldiers Need Only Apply”: Exploring Pathways To The Quasi-Civilianisation Of The Maritime Sector In Indonesia, I Gusti Bagus Dharma Agastia

Jurnal Politik

This article explores the phenomenon of quasi-civilianisation, or the inclusion of former or active-duty military officers in civilian administrative positions, in maritime security governance in Indonesia. To what extent is the maritime sector quasi-civilianised? Second, what are the pathways to quasi-civilianisation in the maritime sector? This paper finds that quasi-civilians tend to be concentrated in paramilitary agencies and to a lesser extent, in limited functional roles within the civilian administration. Quasi-civilians are desirable for these positions due to their expertise and ability to mediate between military and civilian counterparts. Moreover, the appointment of quasi-civilians has generally complied with prevailing regulations …

Igg In The Trenches: Results Of An In-Depth Interview Study On The Practice, Politics, And Future Of Investigative Genetic Genealogy, Christi J Guerrini, Whitney Bash Brooks, Jill O Robinson, Stephanie M Fullerton, Emily Zoorob, Amy L Mcguire

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) is a new technique for identifying criminal suspects and unidentified deceased and living persons that has sparked controversy. In a criminal case, the technique involves uploading genetic information left by a putative perpetrator at the crime scene to one or more direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy databases with the intention of identifying the perpetrator's genetic relatives and, eventually, locating the perpetrator on the family tree. In 2018, IGG helped to identify the Golden State Killer, and it has since been used in hundreds of investigations in the United States. Here, we report findings from in-depth interviews with 24 …

Pretesting Discrete-Choice Experiments: A Guide For Researchers, Nicola B Campoamor, Christi J Guerrini, Whitney Bash Brooks, John F P Bridges, Norah L Crossnohere

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Discrete-choice experiments (DCEs) are a frequently used method to explore the preferences of patients and other decision-makers in health. Pretesting is an essential stage in the design of a high-quality choice experiment and involves engaging with representatives of the target population to improve the readability, presentation, and structure of the preference instrument. The goal of pretesting in DCEs is to improve the validity, reliability, and relevance of the survey, while decreasing sources of bias, burden, and error associated with preference elicitation, data collection, and interpretation of the data. Despite its value to inform DCE design, pretesting lacks documented good practices …

Parental Descriptions Of Childhood Avoidance Symptoms After Trauma, Zoe Blair-Andrews, Alison Salloum, Stephanie Evans, Vicky Phares, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Recognizing and diagnosing the avoidance symptom cluster of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in young children has been challenging. This study examines caregivers' descriptions of young children's avoidance reactions. By describing parents' examples of childhood avoidance, clinicians, researchers, and educators may be able to provide more specific psychoeducation which may improve identification of avoidance behaviors in young children. Caregivers (N=73) of young children (age 3-7 years) participated in a semi-structured diagnostic clinical interview prior to enrolling in a clinical trial for childhood trauma. The assessment regarding the caregiver's description of the child's avoidance was audio recorded and transcribed for a thematic …

Case Sampling For Evaluating Hospital Postoperative Morbidity In Us Surgical Quality Improvement Programs, Vivi W Chen, Tracey Rosen, Yongquan Dong, Peter A Richardson, Jennifer R Kramer, Laura A Petersen, Nader N Massarweh

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Importance: US surgical quality improvement (QI) programs use data from a systematic sample of surgical cases, rather than universal review of all cases, to assess and compare risk-adjusted hospital postoperative complication rates. Given decreasing postoperative complication rates over time and the types of cases eligible for abstraction, it is unclear whether case sampling is robust for identifying hospitals with higher than expected complications.

Objective: To compare the assessment of hospital 30-day complication rates derived from sampling strategy used by some US surgical QI programs relative to universal review of all cases.

Design, setting, and participants: This US hospital-level analysis took …

2024 March, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for March of 2024.

Grievance Politics And Technocracy In A Developmental State, Ijlal Naqvi, Federico M. Rossi, Rayner Kay Jin Tan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article uses a process-tracing approach to understand changes in Singapore’s health sector from the start of self-rule in 1959 to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. Singapore is a developmental state recognized for its effective management of healthcare costs and its lack of political freedom. In both respects, the ‘Singapore model’ is of interest to other cities and nations. The standard narrative is one of technocratic proficiency in a context in which civic freedoms are heavily constrained, but this article identifies the surprisingly important role of social voices at key moments. It finds episodes in which effective …

The Distributional Impacts Of Transportation Networks In China, Lin Ma, Yang Tang

Research Collection School Of Economics

We document that the quality of roads and railroads vary substantially over time and space in China, and neglecting these variations biases the distributional impacts of transportation networks. To account for quality differences, we construct a new panel dataset and approximate quality using the design speed of roads and railroads that varies by vintage, class, and terrain at the pixel level. We then build a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model for multiple modes, transportation routes, and forward-looking migration decisions. Our findings demonstrate that disregarding quality differences leads to a median bias of approximately 31% in estimating real wage growth rates …

Constitutional, Governance Or Market Failures: China, Climate Change And Energy Transition, Henry S. Gao, Weihuan Zhou

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Jinping announced China’s plan to further scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, aiming at achieving CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060.2 A central element of the plan is reducing China’s heavy reliance on coal power. As a result, China’s use of coal already saw a steady decrease between 2013 and 2018. While coal demand increased in 2019 and 2020, new coal power plants approved in 2021 declined by approximately 58% compared to 2020.3 However, the good progress in energy transition was interrupted by the power outage sprawling over 20 provinces in China in September 2021, …

Measurement Of Regional Electric Vehicle Adoption Using Multiagent Deep Reinforcement Learning, Seung Jun Choi, Junfeng Jiao

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This study explores the socioeconomic disparities observed in the early adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in the United States. A multiagent deep reinforcement learning-based policy simulator was developed to address the disparities. The model, tested using data from Austin, Texas, indicates that neighborhoods with higher incomes and a predominantly White demographic are leading in EV adoption. To help low-income communities keep pace, we introduced tiered subsidies and incrementally increased their amounts. In our environment, with the reward and policy design implemented, the adoption gap began to narrow when the incentive was equivalent to an increase in promotion from 20% to …

Infrared Investigation In Singapore (Iris) Observatory: Urban Heat Island Contributors And Mitigators Analysis Using Neighborhood-Scale Thermal Imaging, Clayton Miller, Vasantha Ramani, Clayton Miller

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This paper studies heat fluxes from contributors and mitigators of urban heat islands using thermal images and weather data. Thermal images were collected by a rooftop observatory between November 2021 and April 2022. Over the same period, weather stations were operating at several locations on a university campus in Singapore. From collected data, a method was defined to estimate sensible and latent heat fluxes from building façades, vegetation, and traffic. Before analyzing heat fluxes using the method, thermal images were calibrated against measurements made with contact surface sensors. Results show that the method can be used to study heat fluxes …

Decentralized Multimedia Data Sharing In Iov: A Learning-Based Equilibrium Of Supply And Demand, Jiani Fan, Minrui Xu, Jiale Guo, Lwin Khin Shar, Jiawen Kang, Dusit Niyato, Kwok-Yan Lam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has great potential to transform transportation systems by enhancing road safety, reducing traffic congestion, and improving user experience through onboard infotainment applications. Decentralized data sharing can improve security, privacy, reliability, and facilitate infotainment data sharing in IoVs. However, decentralized data sharing may not achieve the expected efficiency if there are IoV users who only want to consume the shared data but are not willing to contribute their own data to the community, resulting in incomplete information observed by other vehicles and infrastructure, which can introduce additional transmission latency. Therefore, in this paper, by modeling the …

Multiobjective Stochastic Optimization: A Case Of Real-Time Matching In Ride-Sourcing Markets, Guodong Lyu, Wang Chi Cheung, Chung-Piaw Teo, Hai Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Problem Definition: The job of any marketplace is to facilitate the matching of supply with demand in real-time. Success is often measured using various metrics. The challenge is to design matching algorithms to balance the trade-offs among multiple objectives in a stochastic environment, to arrive at a “compromise” solution, which minimizes say the ℓp-norm-based distance function (for some 1 ≤p ≤∞) between the attained performance metrics and the target performances.Methodology/Results: We observe that the sample-average-approximation formulation of this multi-objective stochastic optimization problem can be solved by an online algorithm that uses only gradient information from “historical” (i.e., past) sample information, …

Self-Sampling For Human Papillomavirus Testing: Acceptability In A Us Safety Net Health System, Susan L Parker, Trisha L Amboree, Shaun Bulsara, Maria Daheri, Matthew L Anderson, Susan G Hilsenbeck, Maria L Jibaja-Weiss, Mohammed Zare, Kathleen M Schmeler, Ashish A Deshmukh, Elizabeth Y Chiao, Michael E Scheurer, Jane R Montealegre

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Introduction: Self-sampling for human papillomavirus testing is increasingly recognized as a strategy to expand cervical cancer screening access and utilization. Acceptability is a key determinant of uptake. This study assesses the acceptability of and experiences with mailed self-sampling kits for human papillomavirus testing among underscreened patients in a safety net health system.

Methods: A nested telephone survey was administered between 2021 and 2023 to a sample (n=272) of the 2,268 participants enrolled in the Prospective Evaluation of Self-Testing to Increase Screening trial. Trial participants include patients of a safety net health system aged 30-65 years who were not up to …

A Phase 1 Trial Utilizing A Pharmacokinetic Endpoint To Determine The Optimal Dose Of Ramucirumab In Children And Adolescents With Relapsed Or Refractory Solid Tumors, Including Central Nervous System Tumors, Kristy L Pilbeam, Kamnesh Pradhan, James Croop, Charles G Minard, Xiaowei Liu, Stephan D Voss, Emasenyie Isikwei, Stacey L Berg, Joel M Reid, Elizabeth Fox, Brenda J Weigel

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Background: Ramucirumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds the extracellular domain of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR-2) and prevents binding of VEGF ligands. Based on population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis and correlation with efficacy in adults, a target steady state trough concentration (Css,min ) ≥ 50 µg/mL was established.

Procedures: This phase 1 trial (ADVL1416) used a rolling six design and a PK primary endpoint to define the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of ramucirumab in children with recurrent/refractory solid tumors. Two dose levels (DL) were planned (DL1: 8 mg/kg, DL2: 12 mg/kg administered intravenously [IV] every 2 weeks). Toxicity …

The Influence Of Societal Nationalist Sentiment On Trade Flows, Douglas Dow, Ilya Cuypers

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In recent years, the world has witnessed a backlash against globalization and a rise in populist and nationalist movements around the world. However, there appears to be little empirical research concerning how these movements, and especially nationalist sentiment, actually influence trade. Therefore, we explore how and when nationalist sentiment within a country influences trade. Our results indicate that the effect of nationalist sentiment on imports is mediated by lower participation in free trade agreements (FTAs) but not via tariffs. Furthermore, we are unable to confirm support for a direct effect of nationalist sentiment on imports, as predicted by the consumer …

Implementation Of Digital Health In Addressing Global Threats: Lessons From The Use Of Technology During Covid-19 Pandemic In Indonesia, Naili Shifa, Anisa Tiasari, Kemal N. Siregar

Kesmas

This research conducted a systematic literature review to explore the implementation of digital health in Indonesia, focusing on the digital health policies, usage during the COVID-19 pandemic, benefits, and lessons learned. The study identified 10 relevant journals through database searches and analyzed the trends in publication, productive journals, and top institutions involved in digital health research. The findings revealed an increasing interest in digital health, with a growing number of published articles from 2021 to 2023. ScienceDirect emerged as the most productive journal, followed by PubMed and MDPI. The University of Indonesia and the University of Gajah Mada were the …

It Takes A Village: An Examination Of Social Relationships And Mental Health, Em Francis Trubits

Dissertations and Theses

Social relationships are impactful to mental health and well-being, both positively and negatively. Different sources of support vary in their ability to meet our needs and ultimately influence our well-being. While research has examined aspects of supportive and harmful social relationships and mental health, much of this work is cross-sectional or limited to a single source of support. This dissertation aimed to better elucidate the relationship between social relationships and mental health by integrating multiple theoretical perspectives and multiple sources of support, in a series of three empirical studies in order to inform theory and interventions targeting mental health of …

Evidence Review And Considerations For Use Of First Line Genome Sequencing To Diagnose Rare Genetic Disorders, Kristen M Wigby, Deanna Brockman, Gregory Costain, Caitlin Hale, Stacie L Taylor, John Belmont, David Bick, David Dimmock, Susan Fernbach, John Greally, Vaidehi Jobanputra, Shashikant Kulkarni, Elizabeth Spiteri, Ryan J Taft

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Early use of genome sequencing (GS) in the diagnostic odyssey can reduce suffering and improve care, but questions remain about which patient populations are most amenable to GS as a first-line diagnostic test. To address this, the Medical Genome Initiative conducted a literature review to identify appropriate clinical indications for GS. Studies published from January 2011 to August 2022 that reported on the diagnostic yield (DY) or clinical utility of GS were included. An exploratory meta-analysis using a random effects model evaluated DY based on cohort size and diagnosed cases per cohort. Seventy-one studies met inclusion criteria, comprising over 13,000 …

Statement Of The Aspher Task Force On War And Public Health On The Conflict In Israel/Palestine, Oliver Razum, Paul Barach, Tomasz Bochenek, Colette Cunningham, Nadav Davidovitch, Polychronis Kostoulas, Jutta Lindert, Henrique Lopes, Vladimir Prikazsky, John Reid, Mirjana Kujundžić Tiljak, John Middleton

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

No abstract provided.

Adopting The Standard Medical Deduction Increased State Snap Enrollment And Benefits, Yuwei Zhang, Jun Li, Dongmei Zuo, Colleen Heflin

Center for Policy Research

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is a critical safety net program that helps reduce food insecurity among low-income households in the United States. However, many eligible households do not participate in SNAP due to burdensome administrative requirements. To make it easier for more older adults and people with disabilities to participate in SNAP, many states have adopted the Standard Medical Deduction (SMD) to simplify administrative requirements. This brief summarizes findings from a study that examined the associations between state SMD adoption and SNAP participation and benefits from 2004 to 2019.

Post Covid-19 Recovery In Mountain West Metros, Zachary Walusek, Vanessa Booth, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet examines data on the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and recession on Mountain West metros. The original report includes data on economic activity, labor market, and real estate trends.