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The Role Of Savoring In The Relationship Between Concussion History And Consummatory Reward, John O'Donnell Jan 2023

The Role Of Savoring In The Relationship Between Concussion History And Consummatory Reward, John O'Donnell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Concussions are a relatively common neurological injury and are associated with several adverse outcomes including depression. Anhedonia is a core feature of depression, with multiple subtypes, including consummatory anhedonia (i.e., diminished reward liking). Reward liking is related conceptually to the practice of savoring pleasurable stimuli. Savoring has been a component of mindfulness-based interventions that have efficacy in treating depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between lifetime concussion history, reward liking, savoring, and depression severity. 293 participants (56% women; mean age: 19.31) completed an online questionnaire and computer-based image savoring task. Contrary to expectations, no …

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Exploring Risk Factors Associated With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomatology In Police, Lori Camacho Jan 2023

Exploring Risk Factors Associated With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptomatology In Police, Lori Camacho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Mental health outcomes, especially post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), in police have become more of a concern for law enforcement administrators, peers, family and friends. Using culture as a theoretical framework, the current cross-sectional, convergent mixed methods study explored the relationship between personal cumulative exposure to different types of critical incidents and likelihood of reporting PTSD symptoms in a sample of officers (n=71) from one municipal police department. This study also examined how personal cumulative exposure to different types of critical incidents and likelihood of reporting symptoms of PTSD may be moderated by the degree of perception of social support from …

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The Relationship Among Identity Development, Dark Personality, And Risk-Taking Behaviors, Reilly Branch Jan 2023

The Relationship Among Identity Development, Dark Personality, And Risk-Taking Behaviors, Reilly Branch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Previous research has found significant relationships between various dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, sadism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and externalizing behaviors including delinquency (Muris et al., 2013). Although many studies have examined the relationships among dark personality, risk propensity, and delinquency, little research has examined the role of identity development and identity distress in predicting risky or antisocial behaviors. Therefore, this study examined the utility of using both the Dark Tetrad and identity dimensions to predict risk propensity and delinquent behaviors. Emerging adult college students (N = 424) completed an anonymous online survey battery. Results indicated that specific dark personality traits (i.e., …

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It Is Time To Change The Way We Change, Thane Keller Jan 2023

It Is Time To Change The Way We Change, Thane Keller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Seventy percent of organizational change initiatives fail. Among organizations where change and adaptation are necessary for survival, the U.S. military stands at the top. The disparity between desired health and fitness behaviors and actual behaviors is a glaring reminder that change is difficult to implement and that current change systems struggle. Merit-based systems offer a solution by rewarding and reinforcing good behavior to generate lasting change. This paper evaluates Kotter's Change Model and Nudge Theory and found them insufficient because they do not sufficiently address reinforcement learning or the temporal tie between behaviors and rewards for reinforcement. This paper then …

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Cultural Movement(S) And Counternarratives: The Rhetorics Of Native Womxn Runners, Kim Martinez Jan 2023

Cultural Movement(S) And Counternarratives: The Rhetorics Of Native Womxn Runners, Kim Martinez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This analysis demonstrates the complex ways that Native womxn runners mobilize the rhetoric they create around and through their running activity to challenge settler colonial, heteropatriarchal ideologies in favor of Indigenous lifeways; build upon cultural practices that include running and a wider spectrum of gender roles to enact more inclusive, modern Native identities; and lead intersectional advocacy efforts that center Native communities. Utilizing a Cultural Rhetorics, Indigenous Feminist, and Decolonial framework that recognizes Native womxn as experts in their own lived experiences, I have gathered Native womxn runners' counternarratives from virtual spaces/social media to learn from their cultural, rhetorical (oral, …

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Gendered And Racialized Bodies In Dobbs V. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Saphronia Carson Jan 2023

Gendered And Racialized Bodies In Dobbs V. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Saphronia Carson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In June 2022 the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abandoning nearly 50 years of precedent, and removing federal protections for abortion access. In doing so, the Court drew on a lineage of explicit and implicit discourses that have constructed abortions, abortion providers, and pregnant and fetal bodies in ways that make overturning Roe seem inevitable. This thesis takes a reproductive justice perspective while conducting a feminist critical discourse analysis of the majority and concurring opinions in Dobbs. Two main findings stand out. First, the decision relies on originalist constructions of abortions, abortion providers, pregnant people, and fetuses to …

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Sexual Violence In Armed Conflict: How Levels Of Sexual Violence In Peacetime Affect Levels Of Sexual Violence In Conflict, Sydney Snowden Jan 2023

Sexual Violence In Armed Conflict: How Levels Of Sexual Violence In Peacetime Affect Levels Of Sexual Violence In Conflict, Sydney Snowden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Why do some armed conflicts have higher levels of sexual violence than others? Some existing theoretical work has pointed toward the possibility that the presence of sexual violence before armed conflict occurs can impact the levels of sexual violence during armed conflict, however, little empirical work has examined these theories. This thesis uses new, unique data to address concerns about the validity of previous studies and to explore sexual violence over the boundaries of time, looking at pre-conflict levels of sexual violence in addition to levels of sexual violence during armed conflicts. Using a parallel mixed methods research design, this …

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Predicting Implementation Citizenship Behavior Rating Discrepancies Between Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads, Alexandra Kandah Jan 2023

Predicting Implementation Citizenship Behavior Rating Discrepancies Between Supervisor-Subordinate Dyads, Alexandra Kandah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), defined as behavior that is discretionary and not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, has gained significant interest in the literature over the past few decades. Recent OCB research has begun to address more specialized facets of citizenship behavior that target behaviors that support specific strategic goals in the organization. One form of OCB encompasses those behaviors that assist with the implementation of new practices or innovations in the organization, above and beyond typical implementation. This study extends both the general OCB literature and the newer literature on implementation citizenship by examining factors …

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Racial Discrimination, Social Support And Psychological Distress Among Black Pregnant Women, Camilla Carey Jan 2023

Racial Discrimination, Social Support And Psychological Distress Among Black Pregnant Women, Camilla Carey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this dissertation research was to examine the associations among racial discrimination, social support, and psychological distress among Black pregnant women. The dissertation was guided by the Ecological Systems theory which has three domains that pertain to this research: individual, interpersonal, and community. A literature review was conducted to investigate what is known about the association between racial discrimination and psychological distress among Black pregnant women. This review found that seventeen of the nineteen studies included reported a positive association between racial discrimination and psychological distress among Black pregnant or postpartum women. Limited research focused on the potential …

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Analysis Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Tobacco Related Samples Via High Performance Liquid Chromatography And Laser Excited Time Resolved Shpol' Skii Spectroscopy, Ahmed Comas Jan 2023

Analysis Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Tobacco Related Samples Via High Performance Liquid Chromatography And Laser Excited Time Resolved Shpol' Skii Spectroscopy, Ahmed Comas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Human exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) due to cigarette smoke is well known. It is also known that PAHs are not inherent components of tobacco. Their presence in cigarette smoke results from the curing process of tobacco leaves used for the fabrication of cigarettes and the incomplete combustion of tobacco during the smoking process. The two chromatographic versions of EPA method 610 are popular approaches for the analysis of PAHs in a wide variety of samples. This method, which is based either on High-Performance Liquid-Chromatography (HPLC) or Gas-Chromatography (GC) has shown the presence of Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) in tobacco samples …

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Identification And Modeling Social Media Influence Pathways: A Characterization Of A Disinformation Campaign Using The Flooding-The-Zone Strategy Via Transfer Entropy, Jasser Jasser Jan 2023

Identification And Modeling Social Media Influence Pathways: A Characterization Of A Disinformation Campaign Using The Flooding-The-Zone Strategy Via Transfer Entropy, Jasser Jasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The internet has made it easy for narratives to spread quickly and widely without regard for accuracy or the harm they may cause to society. Unfortunately, this has led to the rise of bad actors who use fake and misleading articles to spread harmful misinformation. These actors flood the information space with low-quality articles in an effort to disrupt opposing narratives, sow confusion, and discourage the pursuit of truth. In societies that prioritize free speech, maintaining control over the information space remains a persistent challenge. Achieving this requires strategic planning to protect the dissemination of information in ways that promote …

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An Investigation On The Procedural Rhetoric Of Curated Difficulty, Ismael Benjelloun Jan 2023

An Investigation On The Procedural Rhetoric Of Curated Difficulty, Ismael Benjelloun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The discussion of difficulty exists as a prominent topic within the realm of play. In terms of accessibility, the difficulty associated with any form of play becomes rather crucial. In video games, difficulty can both enhance the immersion and interactions between a player and the game; however, difficulty can also act as a barrier to entrance and "gatekeep" experiences from individuals with disabilities. Developers utilize difficulty as a tool to deliver different forms of narratives and rhetoric to their audience. The field of Ludic Rhetoric observes and studies how rhetoric can be implemented and facilitated within contexts of play and …

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The Narratives Of Sexulization: The Perspectives Of Young Entertainers Around Their Own Public Sexulizaiton, Alexis Williams Jan 2023

The Narratives Of Sexulization: The Perspectives Of Young Entertainers Around Their Own Public Sexulizaiton, Alexis Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sexualization happens when agency is taken away from the individual being sexualized, where one is seen, depicted, and treated like a sexual object rather than a person. This thesis aims to explore celebrities' reactions to their own public sexualization. To do this, an inductive approach was used when analyzing first-person narratives (written and video) and interviews (podcast, magazine and newspaper) by those whose sexualization is a notable feature of their career in the United States. I used a nonprobability sampling technique in order to cast a wide net to find the sample (prior knowledge, Google searches, and Google alerts). This …

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Investigation Of Endothelial Mechanics On Primary Cell Functions: Endothelium Permeability And Wound Healing, Sean Beverung Jan 2023

Investigation Of Endothelial Mechanics On Primary Cell Functions: Endothelium Permeability And Wound Healing, Sean Beverung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The endothelium composes the inner lining of blood vessels, the heart, and lymphatic vessels. Within the cardiovascular system, it is an extremely important structure, aiding in the regulation of blood pressure with the vascular tone, recruiting immune response, regulating the transfer of material in and out of the bloodstream, and the creation of new blood vessels through angiogenesis. The endothelium is composed entirely of endothelial cells. These cells lay in a flat squamous formation and are in direct contact with blood and aid in the regulation and transfer of material in and out of the bloodstream via active and passive …

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With Silk, Sage, And Bones: Confronting Death And Dying Through Nature And Ritualistic Healing, Brittney Fucheck Jan 2023

With Silk, Sage, And Bones: Confronting Death And Dying Through Nature And Ritualistic Healing, Brittney Fucheck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis examines my fears of death and dying. Through my studio art practice, which includes observational representation, ceremonial and ritualistic performance, and installation, I seek to confront my own difficulty in accepting death's emotional weight. My motivation stems from my attachment to my mother's mortality and her relationship with dying animals. In researching cultural customs relating to death, I was inspired to explore non-archival materials and ritualistic processes reflecting my understanding of our bodies' temporal nature. This includes swaddling, etching, using materials such as branches, animal bones, copper, shells, and pine needles, and encasing materials in wax. My points …

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A Digitally Enhanced Virtual Cognitive Behavior Skill Building Intervention To Reduce Parent Stress And Family Obesogenic Behaviors, Sharlene Smith Jan 2023

A Digitally Enhanced Virtual Cognitive Behavior Skill Building Intervention To Reduce Parent Stress And Family Obesogenic Behaviors, Sharlene Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Parental stress is associated with increased obesogenic family lifestyle behaviors contributing to childhood obesity. Novel interventions are needed to reduce parental stress and improve healthy lifestyle behaviors for preschool-age children and families. The primary study aim was to analyze preliminary effects of a digitally enhanced evidence-based cognitive- behavior skill-building (CBSB) intervention on parental stress and healthy lifestyle behaviors (diet and physical activity) among parents of preschool-age children. A secondary aim was to evaluate feasibility/acceptability of this school-based virtual intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 12-week intervention involved text messaging and three pre-recorded CBSB educational video presentations accessed by parents of …

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Communication Scholarship And The Quest For Open Access, Preston Carmack, Michael R. Kearney, Abbey Mccann Jan 2023

Communication Scholarship And The Quest For Open Access, Preston Carmack, Michael R. Kearney, Abbey Mccann

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The advent of black, green, and gold open access publication models poses unique questions for scholars of communication. Plato’s (1956) classic critique of writing in the legend of Theuth and Thamus warned that the printed word “rolls about all over the place, falling into the hands of those who have no concern with it” (pp. 69–70). More than two 2 millennia later, scholars and administrators at all levels of the discipline face just such a phenomenon. As scholars of cyberspace debate whether “information wants to be free” (Levy, 2014), a communication perspective involves consideration of the importance of authorship and …

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Learning To Think Like A Leader, Mark Hickson Iii Jan 2023

Learning To Think Like A Leader, Mark Hickson Iii

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the second in a three-part series that the author has been working on. The first part was included in an earlier issue of this journal.

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A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre Jan 2023

A Typology Of Perceived Negative Course Evaluations, Heather Carmack, Leah E. Lefebvre

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Instructors and administrators continue to debate the merit and value of using course evaluations to assess instructor effectiveness and course outcomes, especially when students see course evaluations as satisfaction surveys where they can unload negative and/or hurtful comments directed at instructors. Little is known about instructors’ perceptions of negative course evaluations. This study qualitatively examined faculty’s (N = 90) perceptions of negative course evaluation qualitative comments. Using a grounded analyst-constructed typologies approach, three types of negative course evaluation comments were identified: professional, personal, and performance. These types of negative comments call into question the disconnection between what students and instructors …

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The Impact Of Student Motivation, Preparation, And Learned Helplessness On Undergraduate Students’ Communication With Advisors, Heather Carmack Jan 2023

The Impact Of Student Motivation, Preparation, And Learned Helplessness On Undergraduate Students’ Communication With Advisors, Heather Carmack

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine communication factors that influence students’ academic advising appointments, including predictors of scheduling future advising appointments. Undergraduate students’ motivation and feelings of learned helplessness were related to their advising meeting preparation and their communication involvement during advising meetings. Students who reported high levels of motivation and low levels of learned helplessness were more likely to prepare for advising meetings and be communicative during meetings. Students with immediate advisors were more likely to communicate with their advisors during meetings. Advising meeting preparation, motivation, and learned helplessness were significant factors in future advising appointments.

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“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia Jan 2023

“A Cog In A Wheel That Gets It Done”: A Qualitative Study Of The Experiences Of Faculty Seeking Administrator Support, Lakesha Anderson, Mattea A. Garcia

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This qualitative study sought to determine the stressors that motivate faculty to seek administrator support and examined faculty experiences of administrator support. Participants were 27 full- and part-time faculty members who completed a seven-item online questionnaire. Findings show that many participants felt unsupported by their administrator while navigating the stressful situations for which they sought help. This lack of support led to negative departmental cultures and faculty feeling insecure, undervalued, and isolated. This study highlights the need for policies and practices designed to build relationships between faculty and administrators. Efforts to improve the faculty-–administrator relationship can lead to increased understanding, …

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Modeling And Experimental Validation Of Mission-Specific Prognosis Of Li-Ion Batteries With Hybrid Physics-Informed Neural Networks, Kajetan Fricke Jan 2023

Modeling And Experimental Validation Of Mission-Specific Prognosis Of Li-Ion Batteries With Hybrid Physics-Informed Neural Networks, Kajetan Fricke

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

While the second part of the 20th century was dominated by combustion engine powered vehicles, climate change and limited oil resources has been forcing car manufacturers and other companies in the mobility sector to switch to renewable energy sources. Electric engines supplied by Li-ion battery cells are on the forefront of this revolution in the mobility sector. A challenging but very important task hereby is the precise forecasting of the degradation of battery state-of-health and state-of-charge. Hence, there is a high demand in models that can predict the SOH and SOC and consider the specifics of a certain kind of …

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Artificial Intelligence And Ethics, Carol M. Bast Jan 2023

Artificial Intelligence And Ethics, Carol M. Bast

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper focuses on the impact that artificial intelligence has had on the practice of law and ethics rules. In some respects, the ethics rules, comments, and continuing legal education requirements incorporate knowledge of technology into the duty of attorney competence. After offering a primer on artificial intelligence and attorney ethics, the paper discusses certain proposals for revising the ethics rules, comments, and continuing legal education requirements.

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Utilizing Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotopes To Examine Elite Juvenile Diet Of Individuals From Meroitic Sai Island, Sudan, Anelis Diaz Jan 2023

Utilizing Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotopes To Examine Elite Juvenile Diet Of Individuals From Meroitic Sai Island, Sudan, Anelis Diaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Limited research has assessed the lived experiences of juveniles during the Nubian Meroitic Period (300 BCE - 350 CE). Therefore, the focus of this research is to examine dietary patterns throughout development of elite juveniles from Sai Island, Sudan to identify if dietary variations exist throughout development that may be a result of social differences within the juvenile population. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of tooth dentin from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd molars of 11 adult individuals interred at cemetery 8-B-52.B on Sai Island are utilized to examine diet through the life course. As each tooth corresponds to …

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Perceived Barriers To And Comfort Levels With Hypothetical Intimate Partner Violence Help-Seeking Among Arab Americans, Jana Mostafa Jan 2023

Perceived Barriers To And Comfort Levels With Hypothetical Intimate Partner Violence Help-Seeking Among Arab Americans, Jana Mostafa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Members of the Arab American community experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) face unique barriers to help-seeking and have different comfort levels with using formal and informal resources. This thesis surveyed Arab-Americans to identify perceived barriers and comfort levels with IPV help-seeking. A culturally informed and centered approach was taken to examine connections between individual level factors, perceived barriers and comfort levels in using resources. To do so, I gathered data via an online survey with 82 Arab American participants. Findings suggest that participants perceived the greatest barriers to seeking help for IPV are related to how others view and understand …

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Using An Interactional Ethnographic Perspective To Explore Insider Perspectives When Working With Previously Archived Records, Michelle Sullivan Jan 2023

Using An Interactional Ethnographic Perspective To Explore Insider Perspectives When Working With Previously Archived Records, Michelle Sullivan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Studies in social science fields have examined specific issues in (re)using archived records for qualitative research, though few have focused on the use of private archives in ethnographic research, especially when it comes to foregrounding participant perspectives. In this methodological dissertation I draw on two sets of archived records to demonstrate how an ethnographer can make visible insider knowledge and perspectives when conducting qualitative research with archived records. Utilizing an interactional ethnographic perspective, I construct a dataset for analysis, making my logic visible as I use mapping and transcription, domain and taxonomic analysis, and discourse analysis to foreground insider perspectives …

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Predicting Heart Disease Using Tree-Based Model, Emil Agbemade Jan 2023

Predicting Heart Disease Using Tree-Based Model, Emil Agbemade

Data Science and Data Mining

The paper presents a study on the use of machine learning algorithms for the prediction of heart disease, which is the leading cause of death worldwide. The study focuses on the use of decision tree algorithms, which have the advantage of considering a large number of risk factors. The heart disease data set was obtained from the UCI Machine Learning Repository and was analyzed using a decision tree classifier. The data set had 6 missing data points, which were deleted, leaving 279 instances for analysis. One-hot-encoding was performed on categorical variables with more than two responses. The decision tree classifier …

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Machine Learning-Based Approaches For Predicting The Critical Temperature Of Superconductor, Pradip Dhakal Jan 2023

Machine Learning-Based Approaches For Predicting The Critical Temperature Of Superconductor, Pradip Dhakal

Data Science and Data Mining

This paper focuses on utilizing multiple linear regression, lasso regression, and extreme gradient boosting algorithms to predict the critical temperature of the superconductor. The model will be evaluated using the mean square error and adjusted R-squared values, and the best model will be recommended for future work related to this study.

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Silent Agony: Automated Detection Of Ethnic And Religious Cyberbullying Using Machine Learning, Emil Agbemade Jan 2023

Silent Agony: Automated Detection Of Ethnic And Religious Cyberbullying Using Machine Learning, Emil Agbemade

Data Science and Data Mining

The use of electronic mobile devices, social media, and networking websites has increased tremendously in recent years. Despite the advantages of these systems, such as exchanging ideas and information, being sociable, and providing entertainment, users may encounter adverse behaviors like toxicity, bullying, extremism, and cruelty. The prevalence of such behaviors has grown significantly in cyberspace, posing a threat to individuals and communities. To address this issue, there is a high demand for automated cyberbullying detection systems. Machine learning algorithms have been widely used to build such systems by classifying and detecting cyberbullying. In this study, we employed popular machine learning …

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Network Structure And Network Effectiveness In Thailand's Provincial Covid-19 Response Networks, Ruechagorn Trairatananusorn Jan 2023

Network Structure And Network Effectiveness In Thailand's Provincial Covid-19 Response Networks, Ruechagorn Trairatananusorn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Health and well-being are key focuses for international organizations and governments around the world as one of the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). The emergence of COVID-19 pandemic since late 2019 has led to not only substantial life losses, but also negative social and economic impacts that are relatively comparable to the "Spanish Flu" pandemic. The insights from public administration literature suggested that emergency and crisis management require collaborative efforts from various stakeholders across sectors and levels. However, the existing literature that studied the COVID-19 pandemic response under network perspective is still scarce in developing countries, especially in …

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