Digital Commons Network^™

Educational Attainment And Employment Status Of Medical Cannabis Users In The Bay Area Of California, Kristi M. Sadler

Master's Theses

This research assesses whether participants’ responses align with the literature concerning cannabis use on educational attainment and employment outcomes. Mainly, cannabis use in adolescence is associated with lower educational attainment, and cannabis use in general may lead to poor employment outcomes, as described in the literature. Participants were medical cannabis dispensary patients with a California medical cannabis card residing in 11 counties in or near the San Francisco Bay Area. Data were collected via an internet survey from October to December 2017 via 32 medical cannabis dispensaries. Medical cannabis users reported having bachelor’s degrees at double the current national average. …

Effects Of Hypoxia On Anti-Predator Behavior Of English Sole (Parophrys Vetulus) And Speckled Sanddabs (Citharichthys Stigmaeus), Alexandra Beatrix Stella

Master's Theses

Predator detection and successful escape behaviors are critical to the survival of juvenile fish. However, rising temperatures and increased nutrient pollution result in more frequent hypoxic events (i.e., low dissolved oxygen levels), which may impact fish health and survival. This research examined the effects of hypoxia on two flatfish species commonly found in the Elkhorn Slough, an important nursery habitat in central California. English sole and speckled sanddabs were exposed to five DO treatments ranging from 8.0 mg/L DO (normoxic) to 1.0 mg/L DO (severely hypoxic). A startle response trial was used to examine the impact of increasingly hypoxic conditions …

Distribution And Habitat Use By Western Burrowing Owls (Athene Cunicularia Hypugaea) In Alameda, Contra Costa And San Joaquin Counties, California, Jacqueline Taylor

Master's Theses

Grasslands are regularly altered for development, agriculture, and animal farming which leads to habitat destruction and fragmentation and, ultimately, a loss of wildlife species. Though degraded, grassland ecosystems – including native and non-native species - dominate the landscape in the region of the San Francisco Bay Area east of the Bay. The western burrowing owl (Athene cuncularia hypugaea) is a native grassland species of California. The breeding burrowing owl population in the San Francisco Bay Area is resident, but burrowing owls from other parts of the range migrate into the region for the winter. The breeding owl populations in the …

Behavorial Response Of Diving Northern Elephant Seals (Mirounga Angustirostris) When Exposed To Predator Calls, Daphne M. Shen

Master's Theses

Understanding how marine mammals respond to and recover from acoustic stressors is crucial if underwater noise increases. The use of an animal-borne biologger that combines a speaker with a motion sensor allows for the collection of whole-dive and fine-scale data over repeated exposures under identical experimental parameters. This study determined whether northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), a model for deep-diving marine mammals, exhibited a stereotypical behavioral response when exposed to killer whale whistles, an acoustic stressor. I examined changes in dive characteristics, measured duration of altered response, and observed behavior in response to repeated exposures. When exposed to the playback …

Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer’S Disease Detection And Testing Interface (Mci-Addti) Modeller10.4 Integrating Structure-Function Prediction Modules, Grant Galileo Jacobson

Master's Projects

In the population of adult human patients who over express Beta and Tau Amyloids, it is unclear why 40% of them do not have Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), when all patients with AD have an overexpression of Beta and Tau Amyloids. The MCI-AD-DTI project’s epigenetic pipeline is an evolving computation tool that seeks epigenetic-related information related to the observed disparity. The MCI-AD-DTI’s epigenetic pipeline’s ability to identify mutations currently relies solely on PyPDB for verification of its protein functionality evaluation. The assessment process of the industry standard application, Modeller10.4, is independent from the current epigenetic pipeline’s protein evaluation algorithm. Thus, this …

Context Aware Neural Machine Translation Using Graph Encoders, Saurabh Kale

Master's Projects

Machine translation presents its root in the domain of textual processing that focuses on the usage of computer software for the purpose of translation of sentences. Neural machine translation follows the same idea and integrates machine learning with the help of neural networks.Various techniques are being explored by researchers and are famously used by Google Translate, Bing Microsoft Translator, Deep Translator, etc. However, these neural machine translation techniques do not incorporate the context of the sentences and are only determined by the phrasesor sentence structure. This report explores the neural machine translation technique dedicated to context-aware translations. It also provides …

The New Student: The Enhancement Of An Ebook To Support Emotional Connection, Rebecca Zumaeta

Master's Projects

EBooks are a form of multimedia applications that encourage cognitive learning. Multimedia can also influence readers to have a deeper connection to the story. Understanding the influence of a static picture book versus an animated and audio guided eBook can prove valuable in developing learning media and other forms of content. In this research we take a published children's book and apply the content into a multimedia eBook. The purpose of the creation of the eBook is to compare the interest of a reader on a story when static format, when some multimedia is added and when the story is …

Bias Detector Tool For Face Datasets Using Image Recognition, Jatin Vamshi Battu

Master's Projects

Computer Vision has been quickly transforming the way we live and work. One of its sub- domains, i.e., Facial Recognition has also been advancing at a rapid pace. However, the development of machine learning models that power these systems has been marred by social biases, which open the door to various societal issues. The objective of this project is to address these issues and ensure that computer vision systems are unbiased and fair to all individuals. To achieve this, we have created a web tool that uses three image classifiers (implemented using CNNs) to classify images into categories based on …

The Search For Metabolic Variants In Response To Climate Change In The American Pika, Tyler Stewart Trader

Master's Projects

Climate change and rising temperatures pose a serious threat to the long-term survival of American pika (Ochotana princeps), emphasizing the interest in the adaptive capability of the pika. This project queried single nucleotide polymorphisms in a population of American pika in Yosemite National Park using Whole Genome Sequencing data, with a specific interest in metabolic variants. The sample data included temporally separated cohorts, comparing modern population data to historical data taken before rapid anthropogenic climate change. Statistically significant variants were identified under Approximate Bayesian Computation using a population decline model. Although population statistics indicated little change between the …

Identification Of Oral Microbiome With Full-Length 16s Sequencing Using Nanopore Technology, Uyen Hoang

Master's Projects

Human microbiota has a key role in human development and receives considerable attention from research communities. Advances in metagenomics sequencing technologies have significantly improved the capabilities to characterize microbial species associated with human health and disease. Nanopore metagenomics sequencing makes a revolution by detailed characterization of the complex human microbiome. The Nanopore approach resembles traditional genome sequencing but also presents unprecedented challenges. This project will examine the Nanopore approach for oral human microbiome analysis focusing on the 16S rRNA gene collected from the oral cavity of healthy and Mild PKU patients. The findings of this project found that Nanopore sequencing …

Analyzing The Benthic Cover Of Crustose Coralline Algae Using Mask-R Cnn, Rachana Ravindra

Master's Projects

Coral reefs, supporting 25% of marine biodiversity, confront challenges from local and global impacts like overfishing, runoff, acidification, and warming. Crustose Coralline Algae (CCA), pivotal for reef structure and coral settlement, are underrepresented in research. Current methods like Coral Point Count with Excel Extensions (CPCe) have limitations, relying on image quality and being time-consuming. This paper proposes computer vision and Mask R-CNN, a supervised machine learning model, for CCA analysis in reef images, considering color, texture, and shape. Results indicate promise in clustering and classifying organisms. The innovative technology reduces manual labor, enhancing image analysis, simplifying the understanding of CCA’s …

Image Captioning Using Reinforcement Learning, Venkat Teja Golamaru

Master's Projects

Image captioning is a crucial technology with numerous applications, including enhancing accessibility for the visually impaired, developing automated image indexing and retrieval systems, and enriching social media experiences. However, accurately describing the content of an image in natural language remains a challenge, particularly in low-resource settings where data and computational power are limited. The most advanced image captioning architectures currently use encoder-decoder structures that incorporate a sequential recurrent prediction model. This study adopts a typical Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) encoder Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) decoder structure for image captioning, but it has framed the problem as a sequential decision-making task. …

Edible Learning: School Food Service Programming And Experiential Education That Promote Sustainable Agriculture And Better Nutritional Health, Kristina Grasty

Dissertations

The typical American diet, which involves the consumption of processed foods high in saturated fats, sodium, and refined sugar, is known to be unhealthy. Millions of students in the U.S. suffer from symptoms of malnutrition, making them susceptible to compromising health conditions such as type 2 diabetes that may persist into adulthood. Well-designed school nutrition programs and action learning that promotes sustainable agriculture have the potential to enhance students’ nutritional well-being as well as their understanding of the ecological systems needed to support good nutrition. This dissertation uses documentary film as an exploratory, qualitative research method to investigate approaches used …

Enhancing Deep Learning Classifiers For Dynamic Keystroke Authentication Via Gans, Jonathan A. Bazan

Master's Projects

Leveraging machine learning for biometric authentication is an area of research that has seen a lot of progress within the past decade. Keystroke authentication based on machine and deep learning classifiers aims to develop a robust model that can distinguish a user from an adversary based on typing metrics (keystrokes). While keystroke authentication started with static text, where people type the same data, the shift has been to dynamic data where every user’s data varies. Recent literature has shown that with enough data, deep learning classifiers have the capacity to authenticate users with a low Equal Error Rate (EER).

However, …

Driving Simulator : Driving Performance Under Distraction, Kaushik Pilligundla

Master's Projects

This pilot study used a driving simulator experiment to look into how podcast consumption affects driving performance as a continuous distraction. Three volunteers conducted three trials in the study, each with a different driving scenario. Data analysis was done to compare two conditions. The first condition is the Audio, where volunteers listen to podcasts while driving. The second condition is no-audio condition.. The no-audi condition had nothing to play in the background. We used eye-tracking technology to gather gaze data. The study's findings using the post survey and eye fixation data indicate that listening to podcasts leads to continuous distraction …

Lecturers' Awareness, Perception, And Utilization Of Institutional Repositories In Two Universities In Nigeria, Jemilat Iyabo Arilesere, Gafar Abiodun Akinosho Mr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of this study was to examine the lecturer's awareness, perception, and utilization of institutional repositories in two universities in Nigeria. The universities include Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and the University of Jos. The research design adopted for the study was correlational research design, while the questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The questionnaire was grouped into five sections and most of the questions were close-ended. Also, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were done in order to obtain the desired results. Out of 642 questionnaires distributed, 473 were completed, returned, and found suitable for use. …

E-Krishishiksha : E-Learning Portal On Agriculture Education In India, Prafulla Kumari, Shilpa Rani

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The aim of the study is to understand the e-KrishiShiksha, an e-Learning platform for agriculture education in India. An e-learning portal called e-KrishiShiksha had a significant impact on India's agricultural research and extension programs. According to the study, out of seven-degree programs, most students (56.2%) registered for the B.Sc. (agricultural) degree program. This was followed by the B.Sc. (Horticulture) 15.3%, B.Tech. (Agricultural Engineering) 11.3%, and B.Tech. (Dairy Technology) 6.4%. According to the report, university-wise across the country majority of users registered in MPKV Rahuri University (8.9%), followed by IGKV Raipur (5.6%) and TNAU, Coimbatore (4.7%). Furthermore, it has been noted …

2d-3d Facial Image Analysis For Identification Of Facial Features Using Machine Learning Algorithms With Hyper-Parameter Optimization For Forensics Applications, Gangothri Sanil, Krishna Prakash, Srikanth Prabhu, Vinod C. Nayak, Saptarshi Sengupta

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Recognizing a face is a remarkable process that humans naturally use. Computer vision has tried to resemble this ability of human vision as a biometric tool to identify humans. Commercial and law enforcement applications are increasingly using face recognition technology to identify people. Currently, it is one of the most sought-after detection methods used in forensics for criminal identification purposes. Owing to similarities in the appearance of certain faces, especially in criminal cases, this problem poses a great challenge in forensic investigation and detection. The novelty of this work lies in the development of a framework for face recognition using …

Pet Loss And Grieving Strategies: A Systematic Review Of Literature, Ruth E. Cervantes

Master's Projects

The impact that companion animals have on human lives has been explored in many aspects including therapy and emotional support. In some cases, these types of pets have been deemed necessary for pet owners with medical problems. However, pets are not only a medical necessity for some humans, but they are also companions, and most are included as family members. The loss of a pet often brings on intense grief that is not often acknowledged in the workforce. Bereavement leave for immediate family members is a benefit offered to employees, and as we will read in this literature review pet …

Differential Gene Expression Analysis Of Rodent Mammary Tissue Reveals Dysregulation Of Greb1 And An Age-Dependent Response To Spaceflight, Cleoma Arnold

Master's Projects

Life aboard spacecraft poses a danger to astronaut health, with hazards including microgravity, radiation, and enclosed spaces. Research into mitigating these health issues includes analysis of the transcriptome of rodents sent to the International Space Station. This project investigates the effects of spaceflight on the mammary tissue of female mice of two age groups, 10-12 and 32 weeks, in order to assess the impact of age and spaceflight on gene expression in a tissue relevant to female health. Analysis of the OSD-511 dataset from NASA’s Open Science Data Repository utilized a containerized implementation of their RNA-Seq pipeline on the San …

Estimating Air Pollution Levels Using Machine Learning, Srujay Rao Devaraneni

Master's Projects

Air pollution has emerged as a substantial concern, especially in developing countries worldwide. An important aspect of this issue is the presence of PM2.5. Air pollutants with a diameter of 2.5 or less micrometers are known as PM2.5. Due to their size, these particles are a serious health risk and can quickly infiltrate the lungs, leading to a variety of health problems. Due to growing concerns about air pollution, technology like automatic air quality measurement can offer beneficial assistance for both personal and business decisions. This research suggests an ensemble machine learning model that can efficiently replace the standard air …

Network Anatomy In Logopenic Variant Of Primary Progressive Aphasia, Maria Luisa Mandelli, Diego L. Lorca-Puls, Sladjana Lukic, Maxime Montembeault, Andrea Gajardo-Vidal, Abigail Licata, Aaron Scheffler, Giovanni Battistella, Stephanie M. Grasso, Rian Bogley, Buddhika M. Ratnasiri, Renaud La Joie, Nidhi S. Mundada, Eduardo Europa, Gil Rabinovici, Bruce L. Miller, Jessica De Leon, Maya L. Henry, Zachary Miller, Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The logopenic variant of primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) is a neurodegenerative syndrome characterized linguistically by gradual loss of repetition and naming skills resulting from left posterior temporal and inferior parietal atrophy. Here, we sought to identify which specific cortical loci are initially targeted by the disease (epicenters) and investigate whether atrophy spreads through predetermined networks. First, we used cross-sectional structural MRI data from individuals with lvPPA to define putative disease epicenters using a surface-based approach paired with an anatomically fine-grained parcellation of the cortical surface (i.e., HCP-MMP1.0 atlas). Second, we combined cross-sectional functional MRI data from healthy controls and longitudinal …

Dissemination Of Agro-Based Information By Telecentres Among Selected Rural Farmers In Tanzania With A Focus On Moshi Rural District, Kilimanjaro Region, Neema Florence Mosha Dr, Edith Talina Luhanga Dr, Pascal Nade Dr, Patrick Ngulube Prof

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study assessed the role of Telecentres in the dissemination of agro-based information among selected farmers in rural areas of Tanzania. A cross-sectional study design was conducted in Moshi Rural District, in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. A total of 442 rural farmers aged 21-60 years were randomly selected as study respondents. Questionnaires were used to collect data from respondents. The study found that 205 (55%) respondents were not aware of the existence and services offered among Telecentres, whereas only 12 (7%) respondents reported visiting Telecentres once per day, and 70 (41%) once per year. A total of 140 respondents selected computer …

An Analysis Of Ugc Recognized Maharashtra State Universities Websites, Anjali Sandesh Kale

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study was conducted with the aim of analyzing the websites of universities recognized by UGC using different parameters. Small SEO tools, MOZ and SimilarWeb were utilized to collect data related to the websites. Analysis of the website revealed that the majority of universities were grouped under 'Class A' which specifies that they have a large number of host in their network. Universities also used 'https' secure protocol for transferring data over the network. Domain authority and page authority revealed that the 'University of Mumbai' has the highest domain authority whereas "Savitribai Phule Pune University' has the highest page …

Knowledge Sharing And Referral Practices By Traditional Birth Attendants In Low-Income Urban Areas Of Southwest Nigeria, Janet O. Adekannbi, Joy O. Oluwafemi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) are important for maternal health care especially in Africa’s low-income areas. Without doubt, the relevance of TBAs in developing countries such as Nigeria is not expected to reduce in the foreseeable future. The knowledge of traditional birth attendants will continue to be needed and considering the tacit nature of their knowledge, there is a need to preserve the knowledge in this profession and promote sharing of best practices to prevent maternal mortality issues. This study investigated the knowledge sharing (KS) and referral practices of TBAs in low-income urban areas of South-west Nigeria. Qualitative approach was adopted …

Research Collaboration Analysis Among The Faculty Members Of Vidyasagar University During 1998-2022: A Bibliometric Study, Manoj Kumar Mandal

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Vidyasagar University, named after Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar was established as a state university in 1981. This university is known for research excellence in fields like science and technology, besides other branches of social sciences. This paper attempts to analyse the research collaboration among the faculty members of Vidyasagar University during 1998 to 2022 through bibliometric analysis. To this end, the paper extracted the data from Scopus database for the publications of the faculty members of Vidyasagar University during the said period. To analyse the data and visualise the research aspects Bibliometrix R package, Bibexcel, MS Excel and VOSviewer were …

Well-Being, Changes To Academic Behavior, And Resilience Among Families Experiencing Parental Immigration Imprisonment, Caitlin Patler, Gabriela Gonzalez

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

While the deleterious impacts of parental incarceration are well documented, we know less about the experiences of children with parents imprisoned by immigration authorities. We draw from 62 multigenerational and multiperspective interviews conducted in California with school-age children experiencing parental immigration imprisonment (PII), and their nondetained caregivers. We find that children experiencing PII report feelings and behaviors suggestive of significant psychological distress, which leads to changes in engagement and behavior at school. While some children access academic support and counseling, often following advocacy from nondetained parents or interventions by teachers, others do not receive such support. Many children conceal their …

Estimating Abundance Of An Elusive Cetacean In A Complex Environment: Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena Phocoena) In Inland Waters Of Southeast Alaska, Alexandre N. Zerbini, Kimberly T. Goetz, Karin A. Forney, Charlotte Boyd

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) is common in temperate waters of the eastern North Pacific Ocean, including Southeast Alaska inland waters, a complex environment comprised of open waterways, narrow channels, and inlets. Two demographically independent populations are currently recognized in this region. Bycatch of porpoises in the salmon drift gillnet fisheries is suspected to occur regularly. In this study, we apply distance sampling to estimate abundance of harbor porpoise during ship surveys carried out in the summer of 2019. A stratified survey design was implemented to sample different harbor porpoise habitats. Survey tracklines were allocated following a randomized survey design …

Decreasing Trash In Local Creeks: A Program Evaluation Of The City Of San Jose’S Direct Discharge Trash Control Program, Lakeisha Bryant

Master's Projects

The entire San Francisco Bay was once a navigable waterway in the 1850s during the Gold Rush era. Large amounts of sediment from upstream erosion and mining flowed to the bay resulting in the downsizing of the bay’s square miles (Environmental Protection Agency, 2022). As a result of intense development on the bay shores and adjacent lands, the bay faces several challenges that affect its water quality and threatens aquatic ecosystems. Pesticides, mercury, metals, and pathogens are just a few substances in the bay that cause unhealthy conditions for aquatic life and threaten human health. California’s Water Resources Control Board …

Divergent Post-Breeding Spatial Habitat Use Of Laysan And Black-Footed Albatross, Fredrick Dallas Jordan, Scott A. Shaffer, Melinda G. Conners, Julia E.F. Stepanuk, Morgan E. Gilmour, Corey A. Clatterbuck, Elliott L. Hazen, Daniel M. Palacios, Yann Tremblay, Michelle Antolos, David G. Foley, Steven J. Bograd, Daniel P. Costa, Lesley H. Thorne

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Understanding the at-sea movements of wide-ranging seabird species throughout their annual cycle is essential for their conservation and management. Habitat use and resource partitioning of Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) and black-footed (Phoebastria nigripes) albatross are well-described during the breeding period but are less understood during the post-breeding period, which represents ~40% of their annual cycle. Resource partitioning may be reduced during post-breeding, when birds are not constrained to return to the nest site regularly and can disperse to reduce competitive pressure. We assessed the degree of spatial segregation in the post-breeding distributions of Laysan (n = 82) and black-footed albatrosses (n …