Digital Commons Network^™

Large Eddy Simulations Of Wind Shear From Passing Vehicles Under A Freeway Overpass, Hamid Rahai, Assma Begum

Mineta Transportation Institute

California is moving toward a 100% clean energy future, and expanded wind energy will be a major component of the state’s future energy portfolio. Innovations in wind energy resources will move California closer to achieving its goal. To gain a better understanding of transient pressure and the wind shear generated at the bridge poles from passing vehicles, this study performed large-eddy simulations of a vehicle (also called an Ahmed body) moving under a freeway overpass at a distance of 0.75 w (width) from the bridge poles. Results include transient contours of mean velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, vorticity, and pressure around …

The Corner Poset With An Application To An N-Dimensional Hypercube Stacking Puzzle, Ethan Berkove, Jordan Schettler

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

For any dimension n ≥ 3, we establish the corner poset, a natural triangular poset structure on the corners of 2-color hypercubes. We use this poset to study a problem motivated by a classical cube stacking puzzle posed by Percy MacMahon as well as Eric Cross’s more recent “Eight Blocks to Madness.” We say that a hypercube is 2-color when each of its facets has one of two colors. Given an arbitrary multiset of 2-color unit n-dimensional hypercubes, we investigate when it is possible to find a submultiset of 2n hypercubes that can be arranged into a larger hypercube of …

Detecting Female Students Transforming Entrepreneurial Competency, Mindset, And Intention Into Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Angel Chang, Dian Fu Chang, Tien Li Chen

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Entrepreneurship has been viewed as an opportunity for economic development and changing economic scenario in global markets. Women are viewed as a reservoir of entrepreneurial talents, so they can be growth engines in novel markets. Previous studies have considered entrepreneurship as the most effective way towards the economic empowerment of women. Female students engaged in entrepreneurial education have been addressed persistently, while what transforms them in an education process is still unclear. Considering the transforming global economy and its influence on higher education, this study aims to detect female students transforming entrepreneurial competency, mindset, and intention into sustainable entrepreneurship. Using …

Tntdetect.Ai: A Deep Learning Model For Automated Detection And Counting Of Tunneling Nanotubes In Microscopy Images, Yasin Ceran, Hamza Ergüder, Katherine Ladner, Sophie Korenfeld, Karina Deniz, Sanyukta Padmanabhan, Phillip Wong, Murat Baday, Thomas Pengo, Emil Lou, Chirag B. Patel

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are cellular structures connecting cell membranes and mediating intercellular communication. TNTs are manually identified and counted by a trained investigator; however, this process is time-intensive. We therefore sought to develop an automated approach for quantitative analysis of TNTs. Methods: We used a convolutional neural network (U-Net) deep learning model to segment phase contrast microscopy images of both cancer and non-cancer cells. Our method was composed of preprocessing and model development. We developed a new preprocessing method to label TNTs on a pixel-wise basis. Two sequential models were employed to detect TNTs. First, we identified the regions …

Assessing The State Of Rainwater For Consumption In A Community In Dire Need Of Clean Water: Human And Health Risk Using Herisk, Imokhai Theophilus Tenebe, Praisegod C. Emenike, E. O. Babatunde, J. B. Neris, Omowunmi H. Fred-Ahmadu, Nathaniel Dede-Bamfo, Egbe Etu Etu, Nkpa M. Ogarekpe, Joshua Emakhu, Nsikak U. Benson

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study examines the case of Ekpoma community, Edo State, Nigeria, where roof-harvested rainwater is the primary source of water for drinking and domestic purposes. Eight potentially toxic elements (PTEs), namely aluminum, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead, and zinc, were detected in rainwater samples, collected and analyzed from 54 sampling locations across the community. The elemental concentrations were quantified using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and compared using the regulatory standards of the World Health Organization, United States Environmental Protection Agency, and Nigerian Drinking Water Quality Standards. The PTEs detected in the rainwater samples can be attributed to the nature of …

An Examination Of Peer Group Influence And Gender As Correlates Of Library And Information Science Students’ Attitude Towards Examination Malpractice: Implication For The Development Of Students, Emmanuel Chidiadi Onwubiko

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Examination malpractice has become a global cankerworm that has eaten so deep into our educational system and posing a serious threat to total development of students in our educational system. In search of solution to this anti-educational behavior, experts have attributed it to many factors including peer influence on the assumption that birds of a feather flock together and on the axiom; ‘show me your friends and I will tell you who you are’. This study therefore examined the peer group influence and gender as correlates of Library and Information Science students’ attitude towards examination malpractice and it implication for …

Advances In Non-Invasive Biosensing Measures To Monitor Wound Healing Progression, Walker D. Short, Oluyinka O. Olutoye, Benjamin W. Padon, Umang M. Parikh, Daniel Colchado, Hima Vangapandu, Shayan Shams, Taiyun Chi, Jangwook P. Jung, Swathi Balaji

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Impaired wound healing is a significant financial and medical burden. The synthesis and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) in a new wound is a dynamic process that is constantly changing and adapting to the biochemical and biomechanical signaling from the extracellular microenvironments of the wound. This drives either a regenerative or fibrotic and scar-forming healing outcome. Disruptions in ECM deposition, structure, and composition lead to impaired healing in diseased states, such as in diabetes. Valid measures of the principal determinants of successful ECM deposition and wound healing include lack of bacterial contamination, good tissue perfusion, and reduced mechanical injury and …

Exploring The Math In Support Vector Machines, Vishnu Pendyala

Open Educational Resources

“SVMs are a rare example of a methodology where geometric intuition, elegant mathematics, theoretical guarantees, and practical algorithms meet” – Bennet and Campbell

Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are used for supervised machine learning and have been successful in many applications, including those like image classification that favor deep learning. SVM owes its power to the intriguing math involved in its fabrication. This talk will introduce SVM and cover some of that math. Topics covered will include constrained and unconstrained optimization, convexity, the general notion of a function space, minmax equilibrium, duality, the Cover theorem, Kernels, and the Mercer theorem.

More …

Research Competence Of Postgraduate Students In Library Schools In South-West, Nigeria., Oluwaseyi Esther Afolabi, Opeyem Ebenezer Afolabi, Marcus Oladotun Aragbaye

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Research is an activity that brings about new discoveries and in order to perform it, competence is required. However, studies on research competence are a seldom area that needs more attention. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the research competence of postgraduate students in library schools in South-west, Nigeria. The peculiarity of this study is that research competence was sub-divided into three (3) different areas comprising: research knowledge, research skills, and research attitude. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The study covered one hundred and sixty-one (161) library and information science postgraduate students in …

Program Redesign To Prepare Transformative Special Educators, Andrea Golloher, Matthew L. Love, Lisa A. Simpson, Sudha V. Krishnan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Teacher educators are in a unique position to prepare future educators to disrupt the status quo and enact changes that ensure equitable access to educational opportunities for all students, including those with disabilities. It is critical that those who prepare future special education teachers (SETs) ensure they are prepared to engage with the broader school community to foster inclusivity and positive outcomes for all students, in addition to designing specially designed instruction (SDI) responsive to the unique learning needs of individual students with disabilities. Addressing this task requires candidates who are prepared to employ high leverage and evidence-based practices, culturally …

Clp: A Platform For Competitive Learning, Arpita Vats, Gheorghi Guzun, David C. Anastasiu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

We introduce the Competitive Learning Platform (CLP), an online continuous improvement tool that provides automatic partial performance feedback to students or groups of students on individual or collaborative assignments. CLP motivates students to do their best and come up with new solutions that can lead to improved assignment results before the assignment deadline. In this work, we describe the CLP system and present the results of a comprehensive set of analyses aimed at gauging the impact of utilizing this platform on student motivation, engagement, and performance. The analyses are based on a rich dataset containing CLP submission, student outcome, and …

Geography And Election Outcome Metric: An Introduction, Marion Campisi, Thomas Ratliff, Stephanie Somersille, Ellen Veomett

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

We introduce the Geography and Election Outcome (GEO) metric, a new method for identifying potential partisan gerrymanders. In contrast with currently popular methods, the GEO metric uses both geographic information about a districting plan as well as district-level partisan data, rather than just one or the other. We motivate and define the GEO metric, which gives a count (a non-negative integer) to each political party. The count indicates the number of previously lost districts which that party potentially could have had a 50% chance of winning, without risking any currently won districts, by making reasonable changes to the input map. …

Strategies For Scaleable Communication And Coordination In Multi-Agent (Uav) Systems, Jonathan Ponniah, Or D. Dantsker

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

A system is considered in which agents (UAVs) must cooperatively discover interest-points (i.e., burning trees, geographical features) evolving over a grid. The objective is to locate as many interest-points as possible in the shortest possible time frame. There are two main problems: a control problem, where agents must collectively determine the optimal action, and a communication problem, where agents must share their local states and infer a common global state. Both problems become intractable when the number of agents is large. This survey/concept paper curates a broad selection of work in the literature pointing to a possible solution; a unified …

Modeling Electrokinetic Flows With The Discrete Ion Stochastic Continuum Overdamped Solvent Algorithm, D. R. Ladiges, J. G. Wang, I. Srivastava, A. Nonaka, J. B. Bell, S. P. Carney, A. L. Garcia, A. Donev

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this article we develop an algorithm for the efficient simulation of electrolytes in the presence of physical boundaries. In previous work the discrete ion stochastic continuum overdamped solvent (DISCOS) algorithm was derived for triply periodic domains, and was validated through ion-ion pair correlation functions and Debye-Hückel-Onsager theory for conductivity, including the Wien effect for strong electric fields. In extending this approach to include an accurate treatment of physical boundaries we must address several important issues. First, the modifications to the spreading and interpolation operators necessary to incorporate interactions of the ions with the boundary are described. Next we discuss …

Monitoring Long-Term Spatiotemporal Changes In Iran Surface Waters Using Landsat Imagery, Alireza Taheri Dehkordi, Mohammad Javad Valadan Zoej, Hani Ghasemi, Mohsen Jafari, Ali Mehran

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Within water resources management, surface water area (SWA) variation plays a vital role in hydrological processes as well as in agriculture, environmental ecosystems, and ecological processes. The monitoring of long-term spatiotemporal SWA changes is even more critical within highly populated regions that have an arid or semi-arid climate, such as Iran. This paper examined variations in SWA in Iran from 1990 to 2021 using about 18,000 Landsat 5, 7, and 8 satellite images through the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud processing platform. To this end, the performance of twelve water mapping rules (WMRs) within remotely-sensed imagery was also evaluated. Our …

Use Of Machine Learning For Early Detection Of Knee Osteoarthritis And Quantifying Effectiveness Of Treatment Using Force Platform, Ashish John Prabhakar, Srikanth Prabhu, Aayush Agrawal, Siddhisa Banerjee, Abraham M. Joshua, Yogeesh Dattakumar Kamat, Gopal Nath, Saptarshi Sengupta

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent chronic diseases. It leads to pain, stiffness, decreased participation in activities of daily living and problems with balance recognition. Force platforms have been one of the tools used to analyse balance in patients. However, identification in early stages and assessing the severity of osteoarthritis using parameters derived from a force plate are yet unexplored to the best of our knowledge. Combining artificial intelligence with medical knowledge can provide a faster and more accurate diagnosis. The aim of our study is to present a novel algorithm to classify the occurrence and severity of …

Research Performance Of Ifla Journals Based On Scopus Database, Akhilesh Kumar Varma Dr., Shudhanshu Soni Mr., Japesh Singh Mr., Neha Verma Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined the performance of selected IFLA journals for 22 years between 2001 to 2021. The methodology used in this study includes Annual Growth Rate (AGR), Relative Growth Rate (RGR), and Doubling Time (Dt), as well as countries and institutions. With the highest productivity and distribution of publications per year, used to evaluate research productivity. To obtain the information required for this study, the Scopus database was consulted. During the research period, 813 publications were retrieved. Based on the study, the most articles were published in 2021, 84 (10.33%), and the lowest number was 25 (3.07%) in 2018. Due …

Assessment Of Digital Literacy Skills Among Ug Students Of Tangla College, Udalguri, Assam: A Study, F Chanchin Mawia, Boro Bhai Gyashree

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Digital literacy has the potential to be a powerful instrument for growth. People that are digitally literate are better able to communicate and stay up with contemporary developments. Digital literacy can be a beneficial evolution, as technological advancements can improve for the poor's economic chances, expand services to the underprivileged, improve organization, and promote social alteration. Students and teachers require up-to-date data for a variety of educational activities. The goal of this research is to examine digital literacy among the UG students of Tangla College, Assam. This article covers the level of agreement, awareness, regularity, and familiarity with digital literacy …

Use Of Smart Phones For Academic Purpose By Faculty Members Of Bharathiar University, Ananthi Jayakumar, Rajendran V Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Purpose: To study the use of smart phones for academic purpose by faculty member of Bharathiar university. The Smartphone has become an indispensable device for effective communication and information-gathering. Aim: The study aims to assess the level of use of smart phones for academic purpose by the faculty members of Bharathiar University. Design/Methodology/Approach: Data has been collected through questionnaire from faculty members of Bharathiar University using a random sample technique. The data were analyzed using SPSS and MS Excel. Findings: The finding of the study shows that everybody uses a Smartphone. The top three reasons for …

Effect Of Library Resources On Secondary Students' Academic Ability Levels In Chemistry In Enugu State, Nigeria, Bernadine Ngozi Nweze Phd, David Agwu Udu Phd, Maryann Ngozi Okpala Mrs.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

The study explored the effect of library resources on secondary school students’ academic ability levels as determined by their academic achievement in Chemistry. The study employed a quasi-experimental design. Precisely, the pre-test, post-test, and non-equivalent control group design. Two research questions with corresponding null hypotheses guided the study. The population of the study was all the senior secondary school class two (SS2) chemistry students of the 295 public secondary schools in Enugu State in the 2019/2020 academic session. A sample of 166 chemistry students (Male 89, and Female 77) was drawn through the purposive sampling technique from two secondary …

Estimating Uncertainty In Density Surface Models, David L. Miller, Elizabeth A. Becker, Karin A. Forney, Jason J. Roberts, Ana Cañadas, Robert S. Schick

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Providing uncertainty estimates for predictions derived from species distribution models is essential for management but there is little guidance on potential sources of uncertainty in predictions and how best to combine these. Here we show where uncertainty can arise in density surface models (a multi-stage spatial modelling approach for distance sampling data), focussing on cetacean density modelling. We propose an extensible, modular, hybrid analytical-simulation approach to encapsulate these sources. We provide example analyses of fin whales Balaenoptera physalus in the California Current Ecosystem.

Lawson Criterion For Ignition Exceeded In An Inertial Fusion Experiment, H. Abu-Shawareb, R. Acree, P. Adams, J. Adams, B. Addis, R. Aden, P. Adrian, B. B. Afeyan, M. Aggleton, L. Aghaian, A. Aguirre, D. Aikens, J. Akre, F. Albert, M. Albrecht, B. J. Albright, J. Albritton, L. G. Stanton, For Full Author List, See Comments Below

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation"into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven"(i.e., unity target gain) has not …

Trends And Developments Of Institutional Open Access Repository Movement In Brics Countries: A Comparative Study, Dheeraj Singh Negi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

“This article main purpose the examine the growth and development of Institutional Repositories available in BRICS countries , The relevant Data was collected from the Directory of OPENDOAR. Based on the data in OPEN DOAR, We found that 418 total repositories are available from BRICS countries, and analyzed that BRICS countries among the Brazil with 154(37%) number of repositories in OPEN DOAR. Russia with 50 (12%) in Number of contribution repositories in BRICS countries. foreword to India with 102 (24%) Number of repositories, China 64 (15%) , South Africa 48 (12%). Brazil year 2020 (40) highest repositories contribution and …

Enhancing The Cognition And Efficacy Of Machine Learning Through Similarity, Vishnu Pendyala, Rakesh Amireddy

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Similarity is a key element of machine learning and can make human learning much more effective as well. One of the goals of this paper is to expound on this aspect. We identify real-world concepts similar to hard-to-understand theories to enhance the learning experience and comprehension of a machine learning student. The second goal is to enhance the work in the current literature that uses similarity for transcoding. We uniquely try transcoding from Python to R and vice versa, something that was not attempted before, by identifying similarities in a latent embedding space. We list several real-world analogies to show …

Usage Of University Library-Based Electronic Resources By Undergraduates At Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba –Akoko, Ondo State Nigeria, Ademola E. Olanusi, Ademola E. Olanusi, Ademola Edward

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study investigated the usage of university library-based electronic resources by undergraduates at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, and Ondo State. Nigeria. The study design was a descriptive survey. Data was collected through questionnaires. The study population comprises undergraduates who visited the university electronic library during the 2020/2021 academic session. One hundred and fifty (150) copies of the questionnaire were administered, and 130 were retrieved giving a response rate of 86.7%.

The data were analyzed using frequency count and percentages. The findings of the study revealed that the majority of the respondents were female. The majority of the respondents use …

An Analysis Of The Photographs In Digital Archive Of Unesco, Parul Sen, Babita Jaiswal, Pratibha Shukla

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study discussed the digitally archived photographs available in the digital archive section of the website of UNESCO. A total of 5048 photographs have been analyzed based on the topic, country, year, photographer's name, and the name of the person. It is found that digital archives are playing an important role to know about one’s culture, past events, and initiatives. Digital archives are advantageous over traditional archives as they can be preserved for a longer period whereas traditional archives have many drawbacks such as getting damaged by rain, moisture, fire, and natural disasters. Every event that is useful from …

Students' Information Literacy Skills: A Study From Lahore Leads University, Lahore, Pakistan., Hafiz Muhammad Zeeshan, Ashina Sadiq

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Aim: The goal of this study is to measure the level of information literacy among students at Lahore Leads University.

Approach/ Design /Methodology: A survey method was employed to acquire pertinent data from the community. The participants were current Lahore Leads University students who represented the conditions and environment on the Lahore Leads University campus. The sample of 200 university students was chosen using a standard random sampling method. I created and managed a questionnaire by myself. As a result, the information gathered was assessed.

Findings:-Most students could not search and use the catalogue, select information sources, select relevant …

Pathway To Promote Diversity Within Public Transit Workforce, Mehri Mohebbi, Sumita Raghuram, Ahoura Zandiatashbar

Mineta Transportation Institute

There are many aspects of the transportation industry that can be focused on, but the lack of resiliency is one of the most urgent. Enhancing resiliency and creative problem-solving is essential to the industry’s growth and survival. But it cannot happen without building a more diverse workforce. Women still make up a small fraction of transportation workers, and African American and Hispanic employees are even less represented. These disparities are increasingly pronounced in many senior positions, particularly in STEM fields. Meanwhile, the public transportation industry is experiencing a severe and worsening workforce shortage and many agencies have reported substantial difficulty …

Optimal Design Of Functionally Graded Parts, Priyambada Nayak, Amir Armani

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Several additive manufacturing processes are capable of fabricating three-dimensional parts with complex distribution of material composition to achieve desired local properties and functions. This unique advantage could be exploited by developing and implementing methodologies capable of optimizing the distribution of material composition for one-, two-, and three-dimensional parts. This paper is the first effort to review the research works on developing these methods. The underlying components (i.e., building blocks) in all of these methods include the homogenization approach, material representation technique, finite element analysis approach, and the choice of optimization algorithm. The overall performance of each method mainly depends on …

Light From The Darkness: Detecting Ultra-Diffuse Galaxies In The Perseus Cluster Through Over-Densities Of Globular Clusters With A Log-Gaussian Cox Process, Dayi David Li, Gwendolyn M. Eadie, Roberto Abraham, Patrick E. Brown, William E. Harris, Steven R. Janssens, Aaron J. Romanowsky, Pieter Van Dokkum, Shany Danieli

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

We introduce a new method for detecting ultra-diffuse galaxies by searching for over-densities in intergalactic globular cluster populations. Our approach is based on an application of the log-Gaussian Cox process, which is a commonly used model in the spatial statistics literature but rarely used in astronomy. This method is applied to the globular cluster data obtained from the PIPER survey, a Hubble Space Telescope imaging program targeting the Perseus cluster. We successfully detect all confirmed ultra-diffuse galaxies with known globular cluster populations in the survey. We also identify a potential galaxy that has no detected diffuse stellar content. Preliminary analysis …