Digital Commons Network^™

R2u3d: Recurrent Residual 3d U-Net For Lung Segmentation, Dhaval D. Kadia, Md Zahangir Alom, Ranga Burada, Tam Nguyen, Vijayan K. Asari

Computer Science Faculty Publications

3D Lung segmentation is essential since it processes the volumetric information of the lungs, removes the unnecessary areas of the scan, and segments the actual area of the lungs in a 3D volume. Recently, the deep learning model, such as U-Net outperforms other network architectures for biomedical image segmentation. In this paper, we propose a novel model, namely, Recurrent Residual 3D U-Net (R(2)U3D), for the 3D lung segmentation task. In particular, the proposed model integrates 3D convolution into the Recurrent Residual Neural Network based on U-Net. It helps learn spatial dependencies in 3D and increases the propagation of 3D volumetric …

"Jesus Is Not A Foreign God":Christian Music-Making In Burma/Myanmar, Heather Maclachlan

Department of Music Faculty Publications

Christians in the Southeast Asian country of Burma, also known as Myanmar, make up approximately five percent of the national population. The Christian community of Burma includes both Catholics and Protestants, and the Protestants are divided into many denominations. Baptist Christians are predominant among this group, and they provided most of the ethnographic information upon which this article is based. In the article I argue that twenty-first century Baptists in Burma fulfill both aspects of a “twofold legacy” bequeathed to them by Adoniram Judson, the first Baptist missionary to Burma, and that their fulfillment of this legacy is manifest in …

The Use Of Culturally Proficient Professional Development To Enhance Learning Transfer, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The National Staff Development Council recommends that principals devote 10% of the school budget and 25% of teacher time to professional development (PD). While PD requires time, it is crucial that the time be organized, carefully structured, and purposefully led to avoid the waste of human and financial resources. Despite the millions of dollars spent on professional development nationally, student learning outcomes continue to stagnate or dwindle, discipline issues continue to skyrocket, and teacher moral plummets. This may be due, in part, to leaders paying little attention to learning transfer. Culture plays a key role in one’s ability to learn …

Building Emotionally Resilient Schools And Educators During Crises, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations in the U.S (Gallup, 2014). Stress affects teachers’ health and well-being, job satisfaction, job turnover, and student outcomes (Greenberg et al., 2016). Possessing and using social and emotional skills is necessary to regulate stress, maintain healthy personal and professional lives, and thrive as teachers and leaders (Jennings & Greenberg, 2009; Jennings, 2015). Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is key to human development because it is “the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective …

Creating Intentionally Inviting School Cultures During Crisis, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This qualitative study used Purkey and Novack’s (1988) Invitational Education as a conceptual framework to understand how 30 educational leaders in Ohio’s urban and suburban districts created intentionally inviting school cultures during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Findings indicated that leaders altered their leadership styles to focus on people rather than programs and policies in order to be more inviting. Challenges pertained to insufficient funding to provide professional development for teachers and parents and the need for more mobile devices and connectivity. This study is significant because it expands the invitational education framework to show how leaders are being intentionally inviting …

Covid-19 Crisis Management Strategies And Challenges Of Educational Leaders In America, Corinne Brion, Bilgen Kiral

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

This research was conducted to understand how 30 American school leaders managed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study used a case study approach. The researchers utilized a convenience and snowball sampling to conduct Zoom interviews in May 2020. The research findings revealed that leaders encountered numerous difficulties related to having to lead during two crises (a global pandemic and social-racial issues). Findings also indicated that leaders altered their style and used many strategies to lead in times of crises: They emphasized communication, became stress managers and cheer leaders, focused on developing a sense of belonging among teachers and students …

Marianist Educational Associates: Advancing And Promoting The Mission Of Catholic And Marianist Universities, Corinne Brion, Allison P. Leigh

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Preparing employees to become stewards of the Marianist values and charisms has become a priority at a Marianist institution because employees impact the institution’s environment and faculty and staff directly impact student learning. To date, there is a lack of research conducted among employees of a Marianist institution on how new understandings of institutional mission get transferred to their jobs. Additionally, there is a lack of empirical studies that examine what enhances and hinders the transfer of such understanding. Using the Multidimensional Model of Learning Transfer as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the …

Changing Cultural Norms Through Educational Leadership: Voices From Ghanaian Women Principals, Corinne Brion, A. Ampah-Mensah

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The purpose of this phenomenology study was to understand the experiences of women principals located in Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem (KEEA) district of the Central Region of Ghana, a patriarchal and traditional society. Specifically, this study examined how cultural factors positively or negatively influenced women access to the principal role and influenced their leadership experiences. Using Hofstede et al.’s (2010) six dimensions of national culture as a conceptual framework, this study elucidates the experiences of 12 women school leaders. Findings revealed that these women navigated cultural norms and beliefs in order to exercise their own leadership style and pursue their …

Trauma-Informed Leadership, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

According to recent data, over 34 million students have experienced at least one or more types of serious childhood trauma. As a result, current and prospective school leaders urgently need to develop trauma-driven skills and abilities in order to create safe schools for all students and raise academic outcomes. This teaching case study raises issues related to trauma experienced among students and its impact on students and school improvement. The author discusses one case in a fictitious district that is representative of the kind of traumas many other American schools face. I also provide additional resources for practitioners.

Leading In Times Of Crisis, Corinne Brion

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Defining what a crisis is can be challenging because the definition may vary based on information such as who the person defining it is and the context in which this person resides or learns. Educators and community members may argue that their educational organizations have always been in crisis depending on where their schools are located, their schools’ resources, and their students’ learning outcomes and well-being. Thus, for these communities it may be difficult to pinpoint how and when a crisis hits.

In this case study, the author defines crisis as, any situation that disrupts the education and training process …

American Gun Culture Encounters Christian Ethics: A Clash Of Narratives, Mark Ryan

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

The ethical debate about guns in America is permeated by political individualism. Public arguments for both greater gun control or more extensive gun liberty both assume the government faces it citizens fundamentally as individuals who bear rights and suffer benefits and harms. Because of the atomistic nature of individualist discourse, it is little wonder the debate does not take us very far.

In this chapter, I will interpret some central rhetorical and behavioral practices regarding guns in America as manifestations of distinct “theo-ethical visions” in contention. By a “theo-ethical vision” I intend in part the effort to bring out the …

President Paul Biya And Cameroon’S Anglophone Crisis: A Catalog Of Miscalculations, Julius A. Amin

History Faculty Publications

The historical literature on Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis traces its origin to the failure to implement the Foumban Constitutional Agreement. The current study adds a new perspective: Based on extensive field work in Cameroon and a variety of primary and secondary sources, this paper argues that Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis, which began in October 2016, degenerated into violence because of a catalogue of miscalculations made by President Paul Biya’s regime. It also argues that the crisis has had a devastating impact on the way of life in the Anglophone region. This paper concludes with recommendations on what needs to be done to …

Writing Consultants At The University Of Dayton: A Collaborative Cross-Training Approach, Heidi Gauder

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

The creation of a new learning commons at the University of Dayton Roesch Library not only highlighted the research and writing support available to students, but it also led to an entirely new library-led cross-training program for writing center student employees. Prior to the new learning commons, the writing center occupied spaces on the upper floors of the library, and the staff of the two units enjoyed a friendly, albeit distant, relationship for many years. The new learning commons, named the Knowledge Hub, brought the library research team directly together with the writing center, both in terms of proximity and …

Batman Saves The Congo: How Celebrities Disrupt The Politics Of Development, Alexandra Cosima Budabin, Lisa Ann Richey

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

How celebrity strategic partnerships are disrupting humanitarian space: Can a celebrity be a "disrupter," promoting strategic partnerships to foster ideas and funding to revitalize the development field, or are they just charismatic ambassadors for big business? Examining the role of the rich and famous in development and humanitarianism, this book argues that celebrities do both, and that understanding why and how yields insight into the realities of neoliberal development.

Contents:

• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Celebrity, Disruption and Neoliberal Development
• Chapter 2. Narrating the Congo: Dangerous Single Stories and the Organizations that Need Them
• Chapter 3. Choosing the Congo: How a Celebrity …

Religious Non-Affiliation: Expelled By The Right, William Vance Trollinger

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

For the past century, the bulk of white evangelicalism has been tightly linked to very conservative politics. But in response to social and cultural changes in the 1960s and 1970s, conservative white evangelicalism organized itself into the Christian Right, in the process attaching itself to and making itself indispensable to the Republican Party. While the Christian Right has enjoyed significant political success, its fusion of evangelicalism/Christianity with right-wing politics—which includes white nationalism, hostility to immigrants, unfettered capitalism, and intense homophobia—has driven many Americans (particularly, young Americans) to disaffiliate from religion altogether. In fact, the quantitative and qualitative evidence make it …

Fifnet: A Convolutional Neural Network For Motion-Based Multiframe Super-Resolution Using Fusion Of Interpolated Frames, Hamed Elwarfalli, Russell C. Hardie

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a novel motion-based multiframe image super-resolution (SR) algorithm using a convolutional neural network (CNN) that fuses multiple interpolated input frames to produce an SR output. We refer to the proposed CNN and associated preprocessing as the Fusion of Interpolated Frames Network (FIFNET). We believe this is the first such CNN approach in the literature to perform motion-based multiframe SR by fusing multiple input frames in a single network. We study the FIFNET using translational interframe motion with both fixed and random frame shifts. The input to the network is a sequence of interpolated and aligned frames. One key …

Safeguarding Curricular Self-Experiences In Undergraduate Music Therapy Education And Training, James Hiller, Courtney Belt, Susan Gardstrom, Joy Willenbrink-Conte

Department of Music Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to put forth a model to support the psychological safety of undergraduate students as they engage in a form of experiential learning called self-experiences. Self-experiences pair active engagement in learning episodes with learner self-inquiry. The need to safeguard curricular self-experiences is grounded in the American Music Therapy Association’s Professional Competencies and Code of Ethics and the Certification Board for Music Therapists’ Board Certification Domains. We first explicate several types and benefits of self-experiences and identify potential risks and contraindications that may compromise learners’ psychological safety and even cause harm. Next, we describe …

Retaining Opportunities, Completing Key Projects With Remote Student Employees During Covid-19, Henry M. Handley, Kayla Harris

Marian Library Faculty Publications

As the field of higher education began furloughs and layoffs to alleviate COVID-19 budget concerns, cultural heritage workers were directed to clearly demonstrate how their work contributes to institutions’ educational missions. Although physical library and archival collections were deemed inaccessible and less critical during the pandemic than ebooks, electronic journals, and digitized special collections, the two special collections projects considered in this case study demonstrate the value of continuing collections management work remotely and the relevance of student employees and other contingent workers in libraries and archives. The projects—one an inventory and bibliography of books acquired from a defunct religious …

Sustainable Energy System: Case Study Of Solar Water Pumps, Vibhu Sharma

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Graduate Student Publications

In rural areas of countries, agricultural lands require reliable and cost-effective water supply systems. This study evaluates the viability of replacing diesel pumps with solar-powered water pumps (PVPs) in rural Ohio, focusing on borehole depths <100m. The analysis shows that PVPs are a cost-effective alternative to diesel pumps, with a discounted payback period of 7 years for 3 HP solar water pumps. Using life cycle costing and financial modeling in Microsoft Excel, the costs and benefits of PVPs and diesel pumps are compared, demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of solar water pumping systems.

It's Not All About Me, Eric F. Spina

President's Blog: From the Heart

"I urge the Class of 2020 to use your education to serve others in ways that will change the narrative of our times," University of Dayton President Eric F. Spina told the Class of 2020 at the December commencement ceremony.

See You Next Year, University Of Dayton

News Releases

University of Dayton offices will be closed for a Christmas break from Dec. 19 through Jan. 3. Public safety and facilities staff will be on duty for necessary campus operations, but academic and administrative offices, Roesch Library and RecPlex will be closed. For emergencies on campus, please contact UD public safety at 937-229-2121.

Mortgage Discrimination And District Manipulation: Deterrents To Minority Mobility, Megan M. Rice

Honors Theses

This paper explores the relationship between gerrymandering and home loan discrimination. Gerrymandering, the process of manipulating district plans for political gain, and discrimination in mortgage lending are both illegal; and yet, they still occur in today’s society. By using individual loan application data from the HMDA’s website, a series of regressions will be run using applicant characteristics to measure loan discrimination at the state level. Once a state level model has been constructed, a measure of gerrymandering called the Efficiency Gap will be added into the regression in order to explore the relationship between home loan discrimination and gerrymandering. Regression …

Designing And Implementing A Peer-To-Peer Led Behavioral And Energy Reduction Program For Low-Income Neighborhoods, Jenn Hoody

Honors Theses

Reduction in energy consumption from fossil fuels is a necessary step toward combating climate change as more and more studies are revealing the catastrophic outcomes if the current trends do not change. Residential programs generally managed by energy utilities promoting energy cost savings and reduced consumption are being enacted to decrease the greenhouse emissions. However, thus far, little to no measures have been taken to extend the reach of such programs to low-income communities. Reducing household energy consumption would be particularly beneficial for these communities as it would lower utility bills for low-income households who spend a substantially greater portion …

Upper Extremity Motion Assessments In Virtual Reality Environments, Lanna Nicole Klausing

Honors Theses

Traditional upper extremity rehabilitation techniques often utilize tedious and repetitive reaching motions. Fully immersive virtual reality (VR), involving a VR headset, is a technology with the potential to have non-gaming uses and applications, specifically as an upper extremity rehabilitation tool. This study was designed with the long-term goal of evaluating immersive VR as an upper extremity rehabilitation tool. The purpose of this research is to quantify different movement deficits that may arise due to MS or Parkinson’s, and to understand how the motions of patients with MS or Parkinson’s may differ from healthy controls. This thesis documents the first step …

Christmas Truce?, Vicki Austin

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

My husband and mother appear to have reached a holiday truce. White flags wave. The drums of war pause.

Library Fall Programming: Virtual And Vast, Katy Kelly

University Libraries Blog Archive

University Libraries faculty and staff offered seven asynchronous programs on a variety of topics, reaching over 5,200 students during the fall semester.

Our Neighborhood History: Rogge Street, Bridget Garnai Retzloff, Heidi Gauder

University Libraries Blog Archive

In the 1920s, this one-block street in the north student neighborhood, just behind the House of Jacob synagogue on Wyoming Street, became an enclave for Jewish immigrants, many of them from the Russian empire.

On The First Day Of Christmas, Teachers Got A Legal Headache Over Blurring The Line Between Church And State, Charles J. Russo

Materials from the University of Dayton Magazine Website

Educators walk an fine line when it comes to marking religious holidays. But in so doing, are they missing an opportunity for teachable moments on faith issues? Professor Charles J. Russo weighs in.

Congratulations, Library Graduates, University Of Dayton. University Libraries

University Libraries Blog Archive

Faculty and staff in the University Libraries extend abundant thanks and wish them bright futures of leadership and service.

Three Years On 3: A Conversation With Kristin Shelley, Kayla Harris

Marian Library Blog Archive

Kayla Harris interviews a student staff member and teacher education major about her experiences working with the Marian Library archival collections.