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Information Needs And Seeking Behaviour Of Library And Information Science Undergraduates During Covid-19 Pandemic In Niger Delta Region Of Nigeria, Lawrence Arumuru

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study was hinged on the information needs and seeking behaviour of library and information science undergraduates during the covid-19 pandemic in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Three questions were raised to put the study in the right perspective. The researcher employed the simple random type of sampling technique used to sample 184 respondents who are 200, 300, and 400 level undergraduates from Library and Information Science schools in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. The questionnaire was used as the sole instrument for data collection. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. Data collected were …

Two-Level Data Augmentation With Transfer Learning For Classification Of Medical Images With Limited Data, Nihil Pudota

Master's Theses

Machine learning used in the medical industry can potentially detect cancer in humancells at an early stage. However, training the machine learning models, especially deep learning models require thousands to millions of samples in order to reach an acceptable accuracy level. It is well-know that obtaining medical data is tedious hence in most cases, medical datasets have limited number of data samples. One solution for this problem is utilizing transfer learning such as pretrained networks on another dataset. Another solution is to increase the number of training data points with data augmentation. Common data augmentation methods for images include not …

Faster Depth Estimation For Situational Awareness On Urban Streets, Sanjana Srinivas

Master's Theses

Depth estimation algorithms are useful components of computer vision systems toassess video streams on urban streets. They can provide important information about the street space and improve situational awareness for humans. Deep learning algorithms for depth estimation are slow in providing on-time street evaluation for the users. To provide situational awareness to humans, the inference time needs to be small, so that results are fresh and meaningful. This paper explores approaches like switching to efficient convolutional neural network, quantization and pruning to improve inference time with a little compromise on the performance. We explore the impact of each of these …

Blue Red Hackenbush Spiders, Ravi Cho

Master's Theses

One of the goals of Combinatorial Game Theory is to find provable winning strategiesfor certain games. In this paper, we give winning strategies for certain spider positions played using the rules of Blue Red Hackenbush and a variant. Blue Red Hackenbush and its variants are played on a graph of a bLue and Red edges that are connected to a vertex called the ground. We will represent the ground as a horizontal black line. In this paper, we study spider graphs played under two different variants: Blue Red Hackenbush and Reverse Blue Red Hackenbush. Both variants are played by two …

Entrepreneurialism As Precarity: American Bookkeepers And Technological Transformation, Melanie Maxwell Bailey

Master's Theses

This study documents how small, U.S. bookkeepers are coping with and adapting to changing accounting technology, revealing how larger social and economic processes shape those reactions. This ethnographic research was conducted through literature review, ethnographic fieldwork, and semi-structured interviews, which were then thematically coded and analyzed. New accounting technology is seen both a tool and a source of freedom for bookkeepers, enabling remote entrepreneurship (argued to be a manifestation of neoliberal ideals) for the White women who primarily make up the industry. However, a major consequence of these technological transformations is the increasing ability to automate tasks bookkeepers historically considered …

“It Made Me Question If I Was In The Right Hands”: Exploring Cancer Prognostic Conversations Between Providers And Latinx Patients, Yesenia Anabel Carrillo

Master's Theses

People of color are often confronted by barriers within the health-care system that white people are not likely to encounter. Latinx patients are among those who experience racial health disparities, typically due to the lack of health literacy support and limited resource access. Drawing on previous work that focuses on exploring patient, provider, and caregiver preferences for cancer prognostic conversations; this study explores perceptions of cancer prognostic conversations between providers and Latinx patients to better understand the degree of cultural competence among providers and opportunities for enhancing interpersonal communication with Latinx patients. Interviews with seven patients and five providers were …

The Influence Of Teleconnection Patterns On Renewable Energy Resources, John Kyle Bergerson

Master's Theses

Energy providers are shifting their supply from carbon based forms of energy to renewable sources in response to policy changes aimed at reducing pollution and anthropogenic influence on the environment. Wind and solar energies are notable sources that have been adopted around the globe and are increasing in installation and efficiency, but relying on weather-dependent sources of energy has limitations. Variability in energy supply and demand becomes further dependent on the state of the climate, and thus predictability of that state is critical. Climate modes are correlated with climate variables and are used to make mid-term (>10 days), seasonal, …

Looking Into The Future: Predicting Future Video Frames Using Monocular Depth Estimation And Egomotion, Meera Kumar

Master's Theses

Micro-mobility has become a growing market that has altered transportation withincities. While helping people reach their destination efficiently while using fewer fossil fuels and resources, e-scooters lack tailored safety protocol. Using depth and ego-motion machine learning estimation through a live video stream, we hope to identify possible oncoming hazard for e-scooter users. To approach this problem, we tested methods that removed the pose network with a scaling transformation which was derived via linear regression. Our intuition was that training and inference will be faster with the removal of the pose network and was validated by the results. We also found …

Novel Thermally Decomposable Cobalt Materials, Yu-Jui Chang

Master's Theses

Developing suitable material precursors of reduced metal films plays an important role inflexible electronics. We introduce a relatively low-temperature sintering liquid material that may be used to pattern a conductive layer. The liquid material is made of oxidized metal carboxylate salts along with liquid amines or carboxylic acids. When heated above ca. 220 C, this material spontaneously decomposes into reduced metal and various gas-phase products. Inideal (albeit not this) cases, this yields an adherent, electrically conducting perfect metal mirror.Such materials, inks if you will, conserve metal and plate only where deposited, thus meeting an important ecological goal of metal conservation. …

Linear Inverse Problems And Neural Networks, Jasjeet Dhaliwal

Master's Theses

We investigate two ideas in this thesis. First, we analyze the results of adaptingrecovery algorithms from linear inverse problems to defend neural networks against adversarial attacks. Second, we analyze the results of substituting sparsity priors with neural network priors in linear inverse problems. For the former, we are able to extend the framework introduced in [1] to defend neural networks against ℓ0, ℓ2,and ℓ∞ norm attacks, and for the latter, we find that our method yields an improvement over reconstruction results of [2].

Effects Of Lemon Or Cinnamon Essential Oil Vapor On Physicochemical Properties Of Strawberries During Storage, Elise Christine Anita Freche

Master's Theses

Essential oils are currently being investigated for their potential role as food preservatives. They contain a mixture of bioactive compounds that would help increase the shelf life of food and might help preserve fruits without using synthetic chemicals. Although much research has been conducted on their antimicrobial properties, their effect on the physicochemical properties and organoleptic characteristics needs more investigation. In this study, the effects of lemon or cinnamon essential oil vapor on the physicochemical properties of strawberries were analyzed, focusing on the weight loss, color, firmness, acidity status, sugar content and visible decay. Strawberries were treated for 12 hours …

Ionic Percolation Networks In Composite Electrodes For All-Solid-State Batteries, Corey G. Abraham

Master's Theses

As the demand for high performance lithium-ion batteries grows, materials research isneeded to provide a safer alternative to the use of flammable liquid electrolytes. All-solid-state composite electrolytes consisting of a polymer host and ceramic filler can balance both the need for high ion-conductivity and mechanical flexibility within operating battery systems. The high interfacial resistances between such electrolytes and electrodes, as well as within porous electrodes, however, is a prohibitive performance attribute characteristic of this class of materials. One strategy to mitigate the inhibitory diffusion kinetics associated with the interface is to introduce an ionic percolation network into the electrodes. This …

Urban Edge Effects On Soil Conditions, Stand Structure, And Understory Composition In A Coast Redwood Forest, Nanako Oba

Master's Theses

Forests in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) can experience edge effects caused byhuman activities, such as timber harvest and urban development, altering vegetation composition and structure. Both the WUI and resulting edge effects are well studied in general; however, the influences of the urban edge on coast redwood forests specifically are not well understood. I analyzed soil properties, stand structure, and understory composition in a coast redwood preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains, California using twenty 300 m transects established across an anthropogenic edge and twenty transects within a forest interior control. Spearman’s rank correlations indicated that several variables exhibited positive …

Examining The Effects Of Power Posing On Stress Reactivity And Performance, Mitzi D. Ochoa

Master's Theses

Power posing is a concept that has garnered widespread attention due to claims thatan expansive powerful posture can improve self-perceptions of power, trigger changes in hormone levels, and improve behavioral outcomes including enhanced performance in social evaluative situations. Recently, these claims have been challenged by studies that failed to replicate the power boosting effects of expansive poses. This study aimed to address inconsistencies in the power posing literature and replicate original findings while controlling for potential effects of experimenter bias and touch. It was predicted that a high-power pose would reduce cortisol, increase perceptions of power, and improve performance. To …

Computational Analysis Of Changing Wavelength On Bottom Rib And Side Rib Wavy Microchannel Heat Sinks, Ty C. Kieger

Master's Theses

As the power capacity of microelectronics continues to increase while their volume and size decrease, many different on-chip methods including microchannel heat sinks (MCHS) are being explored to cool down the temperature of these electronics. Wavy MCHS have been proven to yield better heat transfer performance compared to straight MCHS, while only producing a slightly larger pressure drop. This study investigates the heat transfer performance of MCHS following a vertical wavy design and a horizontal wavy design that have the same cross-sectional area. The simulations show that vortices are produced along the channel in the peaks and troughs of the …

An Examination Of Factors Predicting Academic Engagement And Commitment Among Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Students: The Moderating Role Of Gender, Tasanee S. Thienpothong

Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of gender on the relationships between the predictor variables (i.e., sense of belonging, grit, and support systems) and academic engagement and commitment to major among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. Specifically, this study proposed that gender would act as a moderator of these relationships such that the relationships between the predictor variables and the outcome variables would be stronger for women than for men in STEM. A total of 254 undergraduates from a university in Northern California participated in an in-person survey. Although results did not show …

Tuning Poly(Isopropyl Glycidyl Ether-Block-Polyethylene Glycol-Block-Isopropyl Glycidyl Ether) Poly(Iprge-Peg-Iprge) Triblock Hydrogels For Use In 3d Printing, Alexander B. Le

Master's Theses

Additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing, is an emerging technology with wide applications. The goal of this work is to study hydrogels comprised of the poly(isopropyl glycidyl ether-block-polyethylene glycol-block-isopropyl glycidyl ether) triblock copolymer, poly(iPrGE-PEG-iPrGE), for 3D printing. The hydrogel blends contain poly(iPrGE-PEG-iPrGE) along with varying concentrations of 2.5k PEG, 4k PEG, 8k PEG, 18.5k PEG or 2.5k iPrGE homopolymers. The effectiveness of the blends was measured by comparing the gel point, storage modulus, equilibrium modulus, and yield stress of the hydrogels. The average gel point for the samples ranged from 7.03-12.78 °C and the hydrogels were thermoreversible. The concentration …

Negotiating Transportation Insecurity: Local Responses And Coping Strategies In San José, Ca, Andrew K. Ng

Master's Theses

Transportation insecurity causes adverse effects on people’s lives by limiting access to opportunities and resources even in San José. Understanding how people experience transportation insecurity in metropolitan areas may contribute to building a better transportation system. I conducted my research study by interviewing downtown San José residents and analyzing their stories on the effects of transportation insecurity and what they did to cope with the situation to move around San José. I analyzed the contents of the interviews through qualitative data analysis. Findings suggest that people experience transportation insecurity as time infringement through congested traffic, convoluted schedules, and service complications, …

A Study On The Relationship Of Arctic Oscillation With Atmospheric Rivers And Snowpack In The Western United States Using Forty-Year Multi-Platform Dataset, Samuel Liner

Master's Theses

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are affected by large-scale climate variability. We investigate how ARs and snowpack are shaped by arctic oscillation (AO) by examining the synoptic conditions and characteristics of ARs and snowpack in the different phases of AO using forty years (1980-2019) of Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) data, Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA2) reanalysis data, and in-situ observation data over the eastern Pacific and western U.S. region. More precipitation is found in lower latitudes during negative AO months and farther north in latitude during positive AO months. These are associated with …

A Chemical And Minerological Fingerprint Of Hydraulic Mining Sediment, In The Yolo Bypass, California, Stephanie Annette Meursing

Master's Theses

Hydraulic gold mining in California, began not long after the discovery of gold in 1848. This type of mining dislodged large amounts of sediment, which were then deposited downstream. The Yolo Bypass, downstream from several northern California rivers, has received and continues to receive hydraulic mining sediment (HMS). The main goal of this study was to document the chemical and mineralogical characteristics of HMS in the bypass. Twelve borehole cores from the bypass and five in-situ auriferous gravel samples, which were used for background concentrations, were collected for this study. All twelve cores had higher Hg concentrations than the in-situ …

Recommendations For A Water Conservationist Diet In California, Helen M. Lee

Master's Theses

As the world’s population continues to increase, a focus on nutrition security and water sustainability is needed to ensure enough resources for future generations and their wellbeing. The agricultural sector uses the most water worldwide, so identifying agricultural commodities that use less water and are more nutritious could help society reach these goals. California is the largest producer of agriculture in the United States. Therefore, an analysis of water use and nutritional value was conducted using water footprint (WF) and nutrient rich food scores (NRF) of California’s agricultural products. The results of the WF and NRF analysis showed that the …

Hybridity And Habitation: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Interior Design In Live-Action Cyberpunk Films Through The Lens Of Posthumanism And Thing Theory, Sydney Ng

Master's Theses

Characterized by hyper-urban environments, extreme class division, and an abundance ofcorporate oversight, the cyberpunk subgenre of science-fiction is a prime candidate for scholarly research on speculative interior design and associated technologies. Using the theoretical frameworks of posthumanism, or the concept that humans will transcend their current biological form in the near future, and thing theory, or the worldview that objects are able to enact their autonomy on living subjects, interior design in three live-action films in the cyberpunk subgenre were analyzed in order to determine how depictions of future spaces reflect present ideations of our potential real future. Metaphor analysis …

The Moderating Effect Of Locational Autonomy On The Relationship Between Remote Work And Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Alexandra Wong

Master's Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic intensified remote work, where many companies shifted their employees to working remotely with possibilities of adopting remote work permanently. The purpose of this study was to understand negative consequences of remote work intensity on employee behavior through counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), and whether a lack of locational autonomy would strengthen this relationship. Locational autonomy was conceptualized as two constructs: choice and approval. Results of an online survey administered to 202 participants revealed no direct relationship between remote work intensity and CWBs and locational autonomy choice had no moderating effects. However, locational autonomy approval moderated the relationships between …

Sparse Coding For Data Augmentation Of Hyperspectral Medical Images, Rojin Zandi

Master's Theses

Hyperspectral imaging presents detailed information about the electromagneticspectrum of an object in three dimensions. The significant point about the hyperspectral images is that it contains tens or hundreds of spectral layers, which provide precise data about the composition of the studied material. Therefore, hyperspectral images have been popular in many fields of study, such as medical diagnostic imaging. Speed and precision are key points to save human life in disease diagnosis, and applying machine learning techniques to medical hyperspectral images helps answer this need. Convolutional neural networka are one of the most popular machine learning methods for classifying medical images. …

Food Insecurity And Dietary Changes During Covid-19 In The San Francisco Bay Area, Iris Vanessa Tablas-Mejia

Master's Theses

Shelter-in-place and social distancing protocols were issued across the country to containthe spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19); however, these safety measures gave rise to unprecedented unemployment rates and disruptions to food access. This study investigated how COVID-19 affected food security and food consumption patterns in the San Francisco Bay Area. A validated survey developed by the National Food Access and COVID Research Team (NFACT) was distributed online from August to November 2020. The survey measured food access and eating behaviors during the pandemic. Seven hundred and twentyfour participants (403 female, 76 male, average age 43.9 ± 15.0 years) completed …

Assessing Wrf Precipitation Forecasts Of Atmospheric Rivers In Northern California Using 4d-Var Data Assmiliation Of Cosmic-2 Gps Radio Occultation Profiles, Paul R. Zechiel

Master's Theses

Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) can provide much needed water to drought-ridden locations, however, can also lead to potential devastating flooding events. Thus, AR forecasts must be improved to keep the public safe. This case study used the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to compare the impact of including COSMIC-2 GPS Radio Occultation (RO) measurements using 4D-VAR data assimilation techniques. Each WRF simulation analyzed the vertical motion, pressure, mixing ratios with respect to ice, rain, and vapor, and precipitation fields. To provide observational precipitation data for model comparison, the Integrated Multisatellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (IMERG) satellite and the Santa …

Reading And Study Habits Among Secondary School Students During Covid-19 Lock-Down In Ondo City, Michael Jato

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study is on the reading and study habits of secondary students during Covid-19 lockdown in Ondo City. The study employs survey research design and questionnaire instrument was used to elicit responses from200 respondents. Five research questions were formulated and the answers were provided through statistical mean. Findings reveal that that the reading habit of secondary school students during Covid-19 lockdown in Ondo city was good, but the study habit was poor, diverse materials were used for studying, home was used mostly for study and house chores and insufficient data were the major challenges. The study concludes that students of …

The Archival Works At Three Historic Mosques In Indonesia: The Documentation Of The Society’S Religious And Social Life, Lolytasari Lolytasari, Budi Sulistiono, Sulistyo Basuki, Maila D.H. Rahiem

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study examined the portrait of archive management activities in three historic mosques in Indonesia, namely Istiqlal Mosque, Luar Batang Mosque and Syuhada Mosque. These mosques have a profound symbolic significance for society. Luar Batang mosque is the oldest mosque in Jakarta. Syuhada Mosque is a gift from the Indonesian Government to Yogyakarta's people to fight for and preserve the country's independence. Istiqlal Mosque is the Republic of Indonesia's national mosque that has become a symbol of pride for its people. For many Muslims, the mosque is the nucleus of community life, and the written documents documented in the mosque …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Serials Review From 1991 To 2020, Azeem Akbar, Akira Jbeen, Ayesha Gulzar, Abid Iqbal

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study's objectives were to identify the document type, publishing trends, authorship patterns of research, most prolific authors, countries and keywords, top citied articles, and country collaboration of published articles in Serials Review (SR) through bibliometric measures from 1991-2020. The data was retrieved from the Scopus database and analyzed through VOSviewer, Microsoft excel, and Biblioshiny. The result found that most of the studies were published in the form of empirical (1785) with total citation (4998) during 1991-2020. Publications were increased from 2002 to 2004, but after 2014 the publications ratio decreased. A single authorship pattern was shown by most of …

Library Orientation And Its Impact On Students Academic Journey: A Case Study Of Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology (Knust), Law Faculty Library, Kwabena Osei Kuffour Adjei Dr., Akwasi Duffour Frimpong Mr., Vida Dogbe Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

ABSTRACT

Libraries use orientation as one of the marketing tools to introduce their clientele and potential patrons to the services and resources at their disposal. However, the means to measure the impact of the orientation programme is not clear as students still find it difficult to use the library effectively; based on this, the study investigated the effectiveness of present-day library orientation methods and their impact on students of the Law Faculty of KNUST library usage. Using a quantitative case study design, the study involved a randomly selected sample of 200 undergraduates out of a population of 721 students from …