Digital Commons Network^™

Genetic Basis For Elevated Rheumatic Heart Disease Susceptibility In Samoa, John Bowen Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Rheumatic heart disease is an inflammatory heart disease that affects millions of people around the world. Especially high rates of the disease can be found in Oceania, including the island nation of Samoa. Genetic studies of immune response genes have provided insight into a possible genetic link to increased susceptibility to rheumatic heart disease, including the genes that code for the toll-like receptor (TLR) protein family. One of the functions of TLR proteins is to recognize the presence of bacteria via identification of bacterial flagella. My evaluation of a Samoan family identified a variant in the TLR-5 gene that would …

The Relationship Between Experiential Avoidance And Physiological Reactivity, Brodrick Thomas Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the universal nature of stress, and its impact on physical health, it is important to understand how it is related to other psychological variables. The current study was undertaken in order to investigate whether an individual's cardiovascular reactivity to stress is impacted by their level of experiential avoidance, as measured by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II). Individuals who are experientially avoidant are more likely to attempt to escape or prevent certain experiences and make effort to change them or avoid the contexts in which they occur. Previous research has indicated that experiential avoidance is related to some …

The Ability Of Novel Phage To Infect Virulent Bacillus Anthracis Isolates, Hyrum Smith Shumway

Theses and Dissertations

Bacillus anthracis is a soil dwelling microbe with pronounced pathogenic potential. Historically, anthrax has infected livestock and man. In the modern-age, anthrax is a bioterrorism concern with major incidents every decade. While the threat of large scale attacks is currently viewed as unlikely, the threat is consistent and constant. Current methods to defend against such an attack focus on antibiotics and containment of public panic. Antibiotic resistance, while not currently an issue for anthrax, could easily become so with genetically engineered weaponized strains created by rogue states or independent actors. This project evolved from collaborations between the Grose lab and …

Pyramidal Parent Training For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In Southeast Europe, Laura Lyn Knecht

Theses and Dissertations

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in developing countries may not have as much access to needed behavioral services as families living in developed countries. Caregivers of children with ASD in developing countries would benefit from an affordable, efficient parent training to teach them behavior techniques to use with their children. Pyramidal training is a cost-efficient method of training individuals through peers and would be a supportive intervention for families in developing countries. This study used a repeated acquisition design across three variables to examine whether a caregiver could train another caregiver on three behavioral interventions. These interventions …

The Clinical Significance Of Hprt As A Diagnostic And Therapeutic Biomarker For Hematological And Solid Malignancies, Michelle Hannah Townsend

Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 1,735,350 new cancer diagnosis and 609,640 cancer related deaths are predicted to occur in the United States in 2018. To improve patient prognosis, biomarkers are needed to identify cancer in early stages. When diagnosed at an early stage, cancer is more likely to respond to treatments and patients have a higher survival rate. Consequently, there is an ever-present need to identify biomarkers that can aid in the detection of cancer. Additionally, there is a paradigm shift in the field of cancer treatment towards immunotherapy. Traditional cancer treatments include chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy and are not cancer-specific, which …

U.S. Racial/Ethnic/Cultural Groups In Counseling Psychology Literature: A Content Analysis, Jared Mark Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

Research on ethnic/racial/cultural (REC) groups can contribute to reducing mental health risks and treatment disparities among REC minorities. Content analysis is a way to measure the quantity and quality of REC-focused research within a given field. For this study, counseling psychology was chosen for its leadership in multicultural and social justice issues. Three journals (Journal of Counseling Psychology, The Counseling Psychologist, and Journal of Counseling & Development) were coded for several variables, including REC-minority focus, article topic, geographic location of sample, urban/rural setting of sample, and inclusion of ethnic identity and acculturation measures. The results showed that 490 (21.3%) of …

Longitudinal Change In Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sexuality, Laura M. Padilla-Walker

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Research suggests that parents can be important sources of sex education for their children, but we know little about how this type of communication changes developmentally. Thus, the current study explored longitudinal change in child-, mother-, and father-reports of parent-child communica- tion about sexuality, and how change might be associated with behaviors indicative of sexual risk.

Methods: The sample included 468 adolescents (52% female, 67% white) who participated every year from age 14 to 18, and their mother and father. Results: Growth-curve analyses revealed relatively low and stable levels of parent-child communication from all three reporters, with some differences …

Automated Urban Parcel Ledger Generation To Track Spatiotemporal Parcel Dynamics, Naci Dilekli, Jennifer Koch

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Urban population growth is expected to continue into the 21st century, bringing about drastic changes to urban landscapes across the globe. Our particular focus is to understand and evaluate urban growth patterns through parcel splitting in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area (OKCMA). To this end, we present the background and methodology used to develop the absent land parcel history information in the OKCMA using parcel data from the previous two years. OKCMA multiyear parcel data does not align spatially due to shifts and distortions. We developed a method to identify parent:child parcel relationships using their attribute and geometry information. This …

Linking Administrative Data With Modelled Pollution Fields To Improve Estimates Of Population Exposure To Air Pollution In Major Scottish Urban Areas, Tomas Liska, Stefan Reis, Mathew R. Heal

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Exposure to air pollution has been identified as a major risk to human health. Epidemiological studies investigating the impact of human exposure to air pollution have largely ignored the spatio-temporal variability of air pollution within urban areas and population mobility. This approach may lead to exposure misclassification and, consequently, a bias in the associated health effects. By accounting for time spent at the place of work/study in addition to the time spent at the place of residence we attempt to improve estimates of exposure to ambient air pollution (nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone) of populations and population subgroups living in …

Operationalizing Social Ecological Systems Resilience Analysis Using A Dynamic Index, Bruno Meirelles

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Governance of social ecological systems (SES) is a difficult task. Embrace its complexity, the coupled nature of social and ecological dimensions, feedbacks and non-linearity of its attributes and the necessity of dealing with society participation in the decision process make the challenge bigger. Resilience is a growing research field that can collaborate with this discussion. Resilience is a SES feature that enhance its capacity of maintain identity under different systems changes. This work uses system dynamics theory as foundation to build a Dynamic Resilience Index. This index uses Cobb-Douglas equation to encompass several resilience attributes as biodiversity, social networks, institutions, …

Modelling The Effect Of Land Cover Change On Local Air Quality, Stefan Reis, Massimo Vieno, Laurence Jones, Rachel Beck, Edward Carnell, Katrina Sharps, Eiko Nemitz

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The role of vegetation in removing air pollution from the atmosphere as a beneficial ecosystem service for human health and well-being have been quantified in a recent study for the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics (ONS). In this study, our estimates for the UK indicated a monetary value of ~£1 billion per annum due to the removal of fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxides and ground level ozone by existing vegetation land cover. We will here illustrate the methodological approach chosen for this initial assessment, as well as work in progress to further refine the approach by improving the UK …

Long-Term Forecasting Of Nitrogen Dioxide Ambient Levels In Metropolitan Areas Using The Discrete-Time Markov Model, Asaf Nebenzal, Barak Fishbain

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Abstract: Air pollution management and control are key factors in maintaining sustainable societies. Air quality forecasting is a key factor in these tasks. While short-term forecasting, few days into the future, is a well-established research domain, no method exists for long-term forecasting (e.g., what will be the pollution levels distribution in the next year), which is essential for environmental planning and management as well as epidemiological and exposure studies. This research defines long-term air pollution forecasting and presents a Discrete-Time-Markov-based model for forecasting ambient nitrogen oxides patterns. Specifically, the model provides an estimate for the chance for tomorrow’s pollution level, …

Simulating Supply And Demand Of Ecosystem Services In Support Of Urban Planning, Hedwig Van Delden, Bram Oosterbroek, Joop De Kraker, Roel Vanhout

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Urban planning traditionally has a focus on socio-economic development and accessibility. Although a healthy living environment is often mentioned as an important factor of quality of life, bringing this aspect into the planning phase is difficult. With a push for compacter, less sprawling cities, ensuring sufficient amounts of green spaces and vegetation is a challenge. The ability to demonstrate their importance by presenting the health-related Ecosystem Services they provide assists in bringing them into the decision-making process.

We present a dynamic and spatially explicit integrated land use model applied to Greater Auckland, which simulates various urban futures and assesses the …

Effects Of Price And Availability On Consumer Behaviour Towards Sustainable Food, Firouzeh Taghikhah, Alexey Voinov, Nagesh Shukla

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In recent years, sustainable food products have incrementally penetrated the shopping basket of families owing to the health, quality and environmental issues. Motivated by the increasing importance of sustainable agricultural practices, this paper examines the market share of the organically produced food in comparison to the conventional food and evaluates the impact of consumer choices on the environment. With the aim to gain an insight into the consumer preferences and consumption behaviour, a simulation model combining system dynamics and agent-based modelling methods is developed for exploring two competing food products – one grown organically and the other one using conventional …

A Modified Approximate Dynamic Programming Algorithm For Community-Level Food Security Following Disasters, Saeed Nozhati, Yugandhar Sarkale, Bruce R. Ellingwood, Edwin K.P. Chong, Hussam Mahmoud

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In the aftermath of an extreme natural hazard, community residents must have access to functioning food retailers to maintain food security. Food security is dependent on supporting critical infrastructure systems, including electricity, potable water, and transportation. An understanding of the response of such interdependent networks and the process of post-disaster recovery is the cornerstone of an efficient emergency management plan. In this study, the interconnectedness among different critical facilities, such as electrical power networks, water networks, highway bridges, and food retailers, is modeled. The study considers various sources of uncertainty and complexity in the recovery process of a community to …

An Environmental Modelling Approach Sheds New Light On A Thorny Problem: Gender Inequality In Science, Kate O'Brien, Paul Maxwell, Terrance Fitzsimmons, Brian Head, Margaret Crane

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Much has been written and said about gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM): documenting the phenomenon, proposing a myriad of causes, debating possible solutions, and, most frequently, asking why is progress so slow? In this study, we propose that gender inequality in STEM is not just one problem, but a collection of interconnected, poorly defined problems for which there are no definitive solutions. Sound familiar? The same challenges characterize other wicked problems, such as those faced in modelling and managing socio-ecological systems. Like ecosystem health, gender equality has multiple valid definitions and no single indicator of success. …

An Interoperable Workflow-Based Framework For The Automation Of Building Intelligent Process Control Systems, Josep Pascual Pañach, Miquel Àngel Cugueró Escofet, Miquel Sànchez Marrè, Pere Aguiló Martos

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

One of the major problems to design and implement a control/supervision system for a process lies in the need to establish an ad-hoc system for each process installation. On the other side, an open challenge related to the deployment of Intelligent Decision Support Systems (IDSSs) is the interoperability of the different methods used, in order to allow interaction and reuse of different data mining methods and the use of methods based on a model or an expert. Thus, this paper proposes the use of visual workflows, to enable the automation of the design task and the implementation of Intelligent Process …

Managing Forest Disease Spread With Tangible Participatory Models, Devon Gaydos, Anna Petrasova, Vaclav Petras, Richard Cobb, Ross Meentemeyer

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Forest diseases fundamentally diminish the health and functioning of our valuable forest resources. Landscape-scale management efforts to reduce disease spread are a priority but can be fraught with questions about how best to allocate limited resources. Management efforts can be greatly enhanced by spatiotemporal models of disease spread which allow the comparison of alternative scenarios. In many cases, however, models are developed without user-friendly interfaces or consideration of stakeholder motivations, fueling a knowledge-practice gap where better science has not necessarily lead to better management. Tangible Landscape, an open-source participatory modeling tool, has been designed to address this challenge. Stakeholders can …

Microservices For The Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (Svap), Jack R. Carlson, Casey Sheley, Rumpal Sidhu, Shaun Case, Olaf David

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP) provides an initial assessment of the overall condition of wade-able streams, their riparian zones, and instream habitats. Field conservationists use the tool when providing technical assistance to land owners to improve stream conditions, sustainable use, and value of their property. SVAP does not require extensive training in biology, geomorphology, or hydrology, and represents a first step towards more detailed analysis and recommendations as needed. The protocol was developed in 1999 by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Aquatic Assessment Workgroup, following two years of field study and validation involving 182 stream reaches in …

Integrating Data-Based And Knowledge-Based Models In An Environmental Decision Support System For The Management Of A Drinking Water Treatment Plant, Lluís Godo-Pla, Pere Emiliano, Jordi Suquet, Fernando Valero, Manel Poch, Hèctor Monclús

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Drinking Water Treatment Plants (DWTP) face complex decision-making in their daily operation. The amount of data generated along the DWTP allows developing data-driven models and knowledge-based models that can be integrated into Intelligent Environmental Decision Support Systems (IEDSS). These systems can be used for predicting the main operational parameters along the water treatment process. At the present study, the procedure for building an IEDSS has been followed with a whole-plant approach. A methodology has been purposed to choose the right modelling technique that attends to the process characteristics and whose results are in tune with the expert knowledge. As a …

Quantification Of Uncertainty Sources In Hydraulic Modelling In A Climate Change Impact Framework, Gordon Aitken, Lila Collet, Lindsay Beevers Prof, Claire Maravat

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Floods are the most common natural risk to life and property worldwide, causing over £6B worth of damage to the UK since 2000. Climate projections would result in an increase of UK properties at risk from flooding. It thus becomes urgent to assess the possible impacts of these changes on extreme floods, while evaluating the uncertainties related to these projections and assessing the predominant sources in an impact framework. This paper aims to assess the changes to flood extent for the 1:100 year return period event of the River Don in Scotland (UK) as a result of climate change. It …

Addressing Curse Of Dimensionality In Global Sensitivity Analysis Of Large Environmental Models: An Automated Grouping Strategy, Razi Sheikholeslami, Saman Razavi, Hoshin Vijai Gupta, William Becker, Amin Haghnegahdar

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Global sensitivity analysis (GSA) has proven useful and necessary in parameterization, calibration, and uncertainty analysis of the advanced Earth and Environmental Systems Models (EESMs) that are nowadays essential tools in planning and decision making under uncertainty and non-stationarity. However, the EESMs typically involve many input factors (resulting in high-dimensional response surfaces), which are seldom known to high precision, leading to a huge leap in computational cost when performing GSA (a manifestation of curse of dimensionality). This issue precludes effective implementation of the current-generation GSA techniques because a comprehensive sensitivity analysis usually requires a prohibitively large number of model runs.

To …

Integrating Problem Structuring Methods And Agent-Based Modelling To Deal With Ambiguity: The Case Of The Glinščica River, Stefania Santoro, Irene Pluchinotta, Alessandro Pagano, Raffaele Giordano, Polona Pengal, Blaz Cokan

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Evidence demonstrate that the effectiveness of flood risk management measures depends on human decisions, actions and interactions. Action choices are not neutral, but commensurate with the perspectives and frames held by the actors making the decisions.The problem is that when these frames do not overlap or are incompatible, they potentially lead to a situation of conflict, hampering the effectiveness of risk management measures. In this work, we argue that making the decision actors aware of the existence of ambiguous problem framings and of the impacts of ambiguity on the measures’ effectiveness is the key to deal with conflicts in risk …

Exploring Complex Systems For Broadening Participation In Stem Through Participatory Modeling, Ronda J. Jenson, Alexis N. Petri, Arden D. Day

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Paper/Oral Presentation:

Participatory modeling is well suited for exploring and defining the complexities of a system as experienced by a full array of stakeholders. An example is broadening participation of persons with disabilities and underrepresented minorities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Funded by the National Science Foundation, the authors used participatory modeling in numerous settings, employing a variety of interactive techniques to elicit individual and group models. Using these techniques, our models resulted in more profound reflection, clarity, and descriptiveness of contributing factors. This approach also promoted inclusive and diverse perspectives because it involves the full array of …

Evaluation Of Forest Fire Fighting Simulator, Ferat Mantar, Ahmet Birol Cavdar, Osman Bilir, Ertugrul Bilgili

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Forest Fire Fighting Training Simulator (3FTS) is an interactive, real time simulation software designed to improve organization, coordination and firefighting capabilities of the different level fire managers in fighting forest fires. 3FTS utilizes a high fidelity fire propagation model to simulate fire behavior, and a fire suppression model to introduce the effects of the firefighting actions taken by the virtual firefighting crew or equipment in a synthetic environment. In this study, fire propagation model of 3FTS was explained first, describing how the factors that affect fire behavior, such as weather, fuel and topography were incorporated into the model. Then, …

Integrated Modelling Approach To Assess Woody Biomass Supply, Demand And Environmental Impacts Of Forest Management In The Eu, Sarah Mubareka, Giorgio Vacchiano, Roberto Pilli, Maarten Hilferink, Giulia Fiorese, Ragnar Jonsson, Pablo Ruiz Castello, Wouter Nijs, Valerio Avitabile, Jasper Van Vliet, Andrea Camia

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Forests are at the intersection of European policies on climate, energy and environmental protection and will contribute significantly to the shift of the European economy towards a greater and more sustainable use of renewable resources. Knowledge of the current and future provision and use of woody biomass is necessary to support multiple policies, provide insight into how forest ecosystems and their services will respond to increasing material and energy demand, climate change, and land use competition. The main data source for forest biomass data in the European Union are National Forest Inventories (NFIs). These are carried out based on country-specific …

Spatial Scale Dependency Issues In The Application Of The Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (Musle), David Gwapedza, Denis A. Hughes, Andrew R. Slaughter

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Modified Universal Soil Loss Equation (MUSLE) is used within a range of hydrological models to estimate daily and long-term sediments yields from catchments of various sizes. As part of a project designed to link a sediment model to other existing water resources models (rainfall-runoff, water resources yield and water quality models), the question of spatial scale dependencies within the MUSLE was raised. This study attempted to identify the spatial scale dependency issues from previous studies that used the MUSLE but found little information. Some hypothetical examples are therefore presented to try and isolate the key issues and the results …

Formulation Of An Approach For Integrating Earth Observations, Climate Forecasting And Land-Surface Modelling In Order To Predict Outbreaks Of Dengue Fever And Zika Virus In Vietnam, Quillon Harpham, Darren Lumbroso, Gina Tsarouchi

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Dengue fever occurs in 141 countries with 122,000 cases reported in Vietnam in 2016. The epidemiological situation there has been worsened by the failure of health systems to maintain adequate control of the species of mosquito that spread dengue. Several studies have emphasised the significant links between weather variability and infectious diseases, highlighting the potential for developing early warning systems for epidemics. The same methods could also be used to forecast outbreaks of zika, which has recently begun to be reported in Vietnam.

This presentation describes the results of a study, supported by the UK Space Agency, resulting in a …

Poster Presentation: Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (Cyan), Mike Galvin, Blake Schaeffer, Rajbir Parmar, Kurt Wolfe, John M. Johnston

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) is a multi-agency (NASA, USGS, NOAA, and EPA) project and its mission supports the environmental management and public use of U.S. lakes and reservoirs by providing a capability of detecting and quantifying algal blooms using satellite data records and disseminating this information through CyAN, a mobile application developed and hosted by EPA. The app provides water quality managers with a user-friendly platform that reduces the complexities associated with accessing satellite data to allow fast, efficient, initial assessments across lakes and reservoirs. Data from the European Space Agency Copernicus Sentinel-3 satellite Ocean and Land Colour Instruments …

An On-Line Information Portal For Environmental Decision Support Through Ecosystem Health, Peter A. Khaiter, Chengda Zheng

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In this study, we apply a holistic approach to sustainable environmental management on the basis of the notion of “ecosystem health”. A number of integrated characteristics of ecosystem status and their applicability to the task of sustainable development is examined to produce a set of the most appropriate indicators. This knowledge is then transformed into an interactive web-based information portal to be used by researchers and practitioners to solve a wide spectrum of scientific and practical problems. The conference paper and presentation will discuss the underlying theoretical concepts and showcase a prototype of the open source information portal.