Digital Commons Network^™

Gaps And Opportunities In Accessibility Policy For Autonomous Vehicles, William Riggs, Anurag Pande

Mineta Transportation Institute

Nearly 1 in 5 people in the US have a disability (more than 57 million) (U.S. Census Bureau), and people with disabilities use the automobile as a travel mode at significantly lower rates than people without disabilities (Bureau of Transportation Statistics). For example, people aged 18 to 64 with disabilities make 28% fewer trips per day (2.6 v. 3.6 trips) on average than people without disabilities. The disparity is even more significant for non-workers. These statistics highlight the notable technological, design, and policy failings in today’s transportation system - that disabled individuals have considerable suppressed demand for travel that is …

Extreme Fire Weather Associated With Nocturnal Drying In Elevated Coastal Terrain Of California, Richard B. Bagley, Craig B. Clements

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The second largest fire shelter deployment in U.S. history occurred in August 2003 during the Devil Fire, which was burning in a remote and rugged region of the San Francisco Bay Area, when relative humidity abruptly dropped in the middle of the night, causing rapid fire growth. Nocturnal drying events in the higher elevations along California's central coast are a unique phenomenon that poses a great risk to wildland firefighters. Single-digit relative humidity with dewpoints below -25°C is not uncommon during summer nights in this region. To provide the fire management community with knowledge of these hazardous conditions, an event …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of The Roadside Transportation Related Air Quality (Startraq) And Neighborhood Characterization, Jaymin Kwon, Yushin Ahn, Steve Chung

Mineta Transportation Institute

To promote active transportation modes (such as bike ride and walking), and to create safer communities for easier access to transit, it is essential to provide consolidated data-driven transportation information to the public. The relevant and timely information from data facilitates the improvement of decision-making processes for the establishment of public policy and urban planning for sustainable growth, and for promoting public health in the region. For the characterization of the spatial variation of transportation-emitted air pollution in the Fresno/Clovis neighborhood in California, various species of particulate matters emitted from traffic sources were measured using real-time monitors and GPS loggers …

How Do Environmental Factors Affect Drivers’ Gaze And Head Movements?, Arash Tavakoli, Vahid Balali, Arsalan Heydarian

Mineta Transportation Institute

Studies have shown that environmental factors affect driving behaviors. For instance, weather conditions and the presence of a passenger have been shown to significantly affect the speed of the driver. As one of the important measures of driving behavior is the gaze and head movements of the driver, such metrics can be potentially used towards understanding the effects of environmental factors on the driver’s behavior in real-time. In this study, using a naturalistic study platform, videos have been collected from six participants for more than four weeks of a fully naturalistic driving scenario. The videos of both the participants’ faces …

A Comparative Analysis Of Delay Propagation On Departure And Arrival Flights For A Chinese Case Study, Zhe Zheng, Wenbin Wei, Minghua Hu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In recent years, flight delay costs the air transportation industry millions of dollars and has become a systematic problem. Understanding the behavior of flight delay is thus critical. This paper focuses on how flight delay is affected by operation-, time-, and weather-related factors. Different econometric models are developed to analyze departure and arrival delay. The results show that compared to departure delay, arrival delay is more likely to be affected by previous delays and the buffer effect. Block buffer presents a reduction effect seven times greater than turnaround buffer in terms of flight delays. Departure flights suffer more delays from …

Transforming School Libraries Towards Achieving Quality Inclusive Education In A Recessed Economy, Oladotun Ayowumi Osunkentan, Kamorudeen Wumi Adeleke

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper attempts to establish ways in which school libraries can be used to achieve quality inclusive education in a recessed economy. Inclusive education is a process of enhancing the capacity of the education system in any country to reach out to diverse learners, irrespective of their status, character or disabilities, while economic recession is a period of decline in economic activities of a country. This paper emphasized that school library has a vital role to play in the inclusive education programme. School libraries should help disabled people to obtain special reading materials so as to integrate them into the …

Transactional Patterns Of Academic E-Book Usage: The Case Of Ebook Library, Pervaiz Ahmad Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper describes the transactional patterns of Ebook Library (EBL), one of the aggregator platforms owned by ProQuest, e-book titles at the Edith Cowan University (ECU), Western Australia to know the way and extent of usage. This study is longitudinal, involving three years’ worth of EBL usage data, investigating information seeking behavior by scholarly users of e-books employing statistical log analysis of the metadata datasets (logs) that describe e-book use.

This study compares three years’ transaction logs for EBL e-book titles used by the ECU community. The metrics used include aggregate trends, views, minutes spent, titles used, users, academic calendar, …

Use Of Information And Communication Technologies (Ict): A Study Of Women Entrepreneurs Of Kashmir, Shazia Manzoor Dr, Shamikhah Hamid

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In Kashmir, business is one of those spheres where women lag behind men because it is still considered to be a male preserve. However with high unemployment rates in Jammu and Kashmir, younger educated women are starting their entrepreneurial enterprises. The use of ICT in these enterprises is crucial in this era of digitalization and it has changed the overall scenario of doing business.

This paper has used the qualitative research approach to explore and analyze the experiences of the women entrepreneurs with respect to the use of ICT in their business ventures. Women entrepreneurs owning and managing a micro …

Librarians’ Perception Of License Agreements Of Electronic Resources: A Study, Chitra Singh, Rekha Pai

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

With the introduction of license agreements, there is no more ownership of the electronic resources, but an access based or subscription-based approach to the electronic resources came into existence. In this recent time of license agreements, the library professionals should have some legal skills. They should know the use of various terms used in license agreements like clauses, tenure, user rights etc. so that they can negotiate and communicate better with publishers and vendors and cater to the needs of the patrons. This study aims to find out the knowledge, attitude, and perception of librarians on license agreements, and to …

Exploring The Researcher’ Perception And Adoption Technique Of Open Access Journals In Central University Libraries Of North India: A Survey, Neha Kanojia Research Scholar, Shilpi Verma Prof. & Hod

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The research study presents the aim of the paper that open access journal is one of the most significant primary sources of information, which is helpful in the reference of scholarly publishing. A research article was undertaken to look at the accessibility and usage of perception in the library's open access journals. An effort has been made in this research paper to describe the perception and awareness of open access journals. The motive of the study explores the many resources that impact on the research scholar to select open access journals for publication. According to the methods used for the …

Citation Analysis On The Articles Published In International Journal Of Digital Library Services(Ijodls) During 2015-2017, Sagarika Medhi, Mukut Sarmah

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Citation analysis of all the journal articles published in the International Journal of Digital Library Services (IJODLS) from 2015-2017 is carried out. 144 articles published in the journal during 3 years. The highest numbers (55) of articles are published in the year 2015. The journal contained 1915 citations from 2015-2017. The average number of citations per article is the maximum in the year 2015. The study also covers the analyses of authorship patterns in citing articles. In the authorship pattern, Single author citations are dominant than others and it is 806(42.07%). Among the citations, Journal citations were the highest 1104(57.67%). …

Study Of Library Automation And Computing Skills Of Library Professionals In Goa, Prayangi V. Matonkar, Munesh Kumar

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Computers have become an essential part of our daily lives. With computers' help, one can perform various tasks related to analysing, computing, and publishing tasks more efficiently. Software and computing software programs support library services in dealing with the users' needs and demands for knowledge. With the advent of advanced library software for automation and digital preservation of knowledge, libraries worldwide have transformed the services from manual to automated. There are various software and solutions available for reading and reference. This research work tries to various collect data and insights on automation, library professionals' skills in handling the computer technologies, …

Trends And Pattern On Library Marketing: A Systematic Review, Abdurrahman Rahim Thaha, Rita Purnamasari

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze trends and patterns of library marketing research results using statistical and co-word analysis with a systematic review. After going through the screening results in the Scopus database, the search results yielded 287 documents in library marketing from 1977 to mid-2021. The analysis results will produce publications, citations, sources, countries, keywords, and topic clusters. The library marketing research trend tends to increase every year, with the most citations related to social media marketing in the library. The primary source of publications in the last three years has been Library Philosophy and Practice. The …

Book Acquisition And Technical Processing Pattern In Government First Grade College Libraries Of Karnataka, Ramesh Kuri

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The present study examines the book acquisition and technical processing pattern in the libraries of Government First Grade College (GFGC) of Karnataka. The study includes 249 colleges spread across the state and shows various methods of book procurement and technical processing employed in the selected college libraries. It is found that 90% of colleges procure library documents based on demand from faculty and student. Almost 45% of colleges use the publisher’s catalogue tool to select documents. At most (83.94%) colleges indicated that insufficient funding was the main obstacle to acquiring reading material. In addition, more than 51% of libraries …

Law Library Usage For Legal Information Seeking Among The Law Students In Public Sector Universities: An Empirical Study, Jibran Jamshed, Muhammad Kashan Jamshaid, Iram Saleemi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Objectives: The primary purpose of this study was to determine the Law Library usage patterns of law students in the public sector universities of Punjab, Pakistan. It analyzed the legal information needs of law students along with the purpose of their visits, availability of services, and major problems faced by law students in the law libraries.

Methodology: This empirical study was conducted while using a survey design. A structured questionnaire was distributed among the participants of the study using a convenience sampling technique. Collected data was analyzed and interpreted through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS V23). …

The Assessment Of Information Literacy Instruction (Ili) In University Libraries Of Pakistan, Sohail Iqbal

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The purpose of this paper was to explore the current assessment practices of information literacy instruction (ILI) in the libraries of universities in Pakistan. The research method consisted of a quantitative approach using a structured questionnaire for empirical data collection, which was sent to the libraries of universities of Pakistan. The findings of the study show that university libraries evaluated their information literacy instruction programs to find out the gaps and deficiencies through student and teachers’ feedback. Student learning was also assessed through faculty feedback and oral feedback. The outcome of this study will help the Library and Information Sciences …

A Meta-Analysis Of Youth Gender Prejudice Interventions, Molly Ackerman-Pulliam

Master's Theses

This meta-analysis of youth gender prejudice interventions provides an estimate of the overall effectiveness of empirical efforts to reduce expressions of gender prejudice or promote gender egalitarian attitudes among child and adolescent samples. Studies eligible for inclusion were quasi- or fully-experimental designs with child and adolescent participants ranging from 5-17 years of age that quantitatively measured gender prejudice reduction or increases in an egalitarian view of gender. The final sample of 31 studies were located via database searches using both general and specific keywords and Boolean operators. Effect sizes for measures of gender prejudice were calculated using Cohen’s d as …

Urban Agroecology For Food Sovereignty And Biodiversity: Are Urban Community Farms Or Gardens More Effective?, Heidi L. Giancola

Master's Theses

Industrial agriculture is accurately criticized for eliminating biodiversity and destroying food sovereignty. Urban agroecosystems, usually individual plots in community gardens, are promoted to restore ecological services and equity to food systems. Recently, collectively tended urban community farms have developed, with explicit social justice goals. This study directly contrasts the effectiveness of the urban community farm and garden models. Spatial analysis is used to confirm that community farms enhance geographic access for healthy food priority areas compared to gardens in the San Francisco bay area. An online survey of farm staff and gardeners from Marin to Santa Clara County resulted in …

Exploring Racial Injustice Conversations In Intergenerational Asian American Households Following The Death Of George Floyd: A Case Study, Jasmine Nicole Lopez Itliong

Master's Theses

This study explores intergenerational racial injustice conversations in Asian American households by focusing on conversations that occurred following the death of George Floyd. Asian American historical oppression, Eastern versus Western ideologies, and intergenerational communication conflict present several challenges for navigating conversations about racial injustice among family members. Given the important role of family in facilitating identity and fostering support, this study also considers the implications of mental health and well-being of Asian Americans associated with their ability to communicate about racial injustice. Informed by Racial Triangulation Theory and Family Communication Patterns Theory, four in-depth interviews were conducted, along with a …

Analysis Of Multi Resonant Switched Capacitive Converter With Imbedded Pcb Elements, Adel Lahham

Master's Theses

The data center industry is headed towards a lower point of load voltages with increased load demands contributing to higher I2R losses in power busses. Raising the bus voltage from 12V to 48V is a popular area investigated today for reducing power delivery losses. Switched capacitive converters (SCCs) are a popular topology used for this purpose. However, SCCs suffer from low tolerance for operating conditions and are unregulated. The proposed multi resonant switched capacitor buck converter (MRSCBC) can resolve these challenges while also providing output regulation. Switch mode power supplies exhibit high electromagnetic noise and with an increased number of …

Stability Of Earth's Trajectory Inside A Binary Star System, Michael Krunic

Master's Theses

The evolution of the solar system is an interesting dynamical problem in celestial mechanics. Computer simulations have shown that planetary bodies in multiple-body systems become unstable after a long time. In this thesis, through numerical simulations, we investigate the stability of the Earth in a binary star system. In the Sun, Earth, and Jupiter three-body system, we treat Jupiter as the second star (Star 2) and we simulate the Earth's orbit over many orbital periods. In our program, we generate the positions, velocities, accelerations, and other orbital elements of each body using Newton's laws of motion. We explore four types …

Changes In Allochronic Breeding Populations Of Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus Gorbuscha) Of Prince William Sound, Alaska, Claire Dormody

Master's Theses

Prince William Sound, Alaska is home to one of the largest pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) fisheries in the world. Salmon populations there have been fished commercially for over a century, and the State’s documentation of commercial fishing provides a valuable dataset in order to examine abundance trends of species in this region. For this thesis research, I analyzed the fluctuations in abundance and isolated even year and odd year breeding populations of pink salmon to assess whether there is a numerical discrepancy between pink salmon that spawn in odd years and the population that spawns in even years. Analysis of …

How Do You Handle That? How Graduate Teaching Associates Engage In Sensemaking Practices To Overcome Challenges, Laura Bell

Master's Theses

The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of Graduate Teaching Associates (GTAs) and how they communicate about the challenges they face. Initially, I examined how GTAs describe difficult experiences they have during and outside of the classes that they teach or help facilitate. Then, I investigated how GTAs describe the way they recover readily from these challenging situations and continue to learn from them through the process of sensemaking. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 13 GTAs from six different departments at San Jose State University, a thematic analysis was conducted to connect the information shared …

Distribution And Habitat Use Of The Santa Clara County Population Of Red-Bellied Newts (Taricha Rivularis), Joie De Leon

Master's Theses

Anthropogenically-induced habitat loss and degradation have increased extinction rates in amphibians worldwide, yet little is known about many remaining populations. A disjunct population of red-bellied newt (Taricha rivularis), an endemic California species, was discovered 130 km south of its previously known range. Here I document the range and breeding phenology of this population and contrast its mesohabitat use with that of other sympatric newts. Surveys across two years suggest that the southern population of T. rivularis is confined to a 1 km segment of Stevens Creek, and the population follows an early-March to late-April migratory breeding pattern, similar to one …

Epiphyte-Host Dynamics Between Pyropia And Nereocystis In Central California, Daniel Joseph Gossard

Master's Theses

Macroalgal epiphytism is widespread, but many unique epiphyte-host interactions remain poorly understood. Pyropia nereocystis is an annual northeastern Pacific species that has evolved to primarily epiphytize the annual kelp Nereocystis luetkeana. I examined three aspects of Pyropia-Nereocystis epiphyte-host dynamics in the southern extent of the host’s range: (1) temporal variation in epiphtyte presence; (2) growth of gametophyte and sporophyte (conchocelis) stages using transplantation experiments; and (3) effects of epiphyte depth and host characteristics on the recruitment and biomass of the epiphyte. Pyropia exhibited a shift in presence on Nereocystis that differed interannually as a function of Nereocystis density and Nereocystis …

Versatile Disubstituted Imidazole Ligands For Suzuki-Miyaura Coupling Under Mild Conditions, Daniel Parker

Master's Theses

Synthesis of small molecules for medicine, agriculture, or research often requires the formation of carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatoms bonds, and palladium catalyzed reactions have emerged as a potent technique for these cross-coupling reactions. To address increasing catalysts demands, our research has focused on the development of a versatile catalyst platform bearing imidazole pendants as ligands to support cross-coupling reactions under mild conditions, an area of current interest. A series of bridged imidazole ligands was synthesized using a modular approach and characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The catalytic activity of the complexes was measured for cross-coupling reactions in aerobic conditions, over a …

The Relationship Between Different Forms Of Exercise And Adhd Symptomatology, Matthew A. Reynolds

Master's Theses

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder associated with executive function deficits as well as negative life outcomes in both childhood and adulthood. Current treatments to reduce symptoms of ADHD include stimulant medications that act as catecholamine agonists. These medications often cause undesirable side effects, to which end better understanding the effects of non- pharmacological treatments on symptoms of ADHD is critical. Research conducted in children suggests that exercise may be an effective tool for symptom reduction. However, the relationship between exercise and ADHD symptoms remains unclear for adults. The aim of this study was to address this …

Quantification Of Red Blood Cell Deformability And Distribution In Venous Valve Mimics, Zyrina Alura Calderon Sanchez

Master's Theses

Red blood cells (RBCs) are vital to sustaining life as they are necessary for microvascular oxygenation and tissue perfusion, as well as inflammation and hemostasis. RBC deformability plays a key role in their distribution in blood vessels, and hence directly influences pathophysiology of sickle cell disease and deep vein thrombosis. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that RBC deformability will affect their distribution in venous valve pockets, the location of venous thrombosis. To test this hypothesis, we used confined microfluidic flows to quantify RBC deformability, and manipulated membrane cholesterol to alter RBC deformability. The effect of RBC deformability changes …

Deep Reinforcement Learning With Accelerated Reward Function Technique For Robotics Task Planning, Shifabanu Mohammed Rafiq Shaikh

Master's Theses

The objectives of this research are to investigate, design, develop, and implement a DRL-based reward function enhanced robotics technique to achieve ”human-like” operations for a six DoF robot. Technical challenges for robotics applications arise nowadays with a need to achieve human-like intelligence. DRL can formulate human-likeintelligence by maximizing a long-term reward function. However, the design of states, actions, policies, and reward functions having continuous values turns out to be quite tricky. Lastly, to reach a target position, control motion behavior without calculating inverse kinematics, and update state space for actions and policy optimizations are also challenging. Inspired by Google Deepmind’s …

Humpback Whale, Megaptera Novaeangliae, Feeding Dynamics From The Perspective Of The Individual: Insights From Demography, Life History, And Bio-Logging, Jennifer Tackaberry

Master's Theses

Studies of fission-fusion societies provide a framework in which to compare the feeding dynamics across demographics, unrestrained by stable associations or relatedness. This study used bio-logger data and surface observations combined with long-term population data from the Gulf of Maine humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae, population to investigate the influence of demographics on feeding methods, and time spent feeding, and to determine if a coordinated feeding method, kick-feeding, was a cooperative behavior. The results suggest that demographics did influence the feeding method used and highlighted the need to determine how energetic needs change across the feeding season. Adult females did not …