Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Emotion Focused Features On Svm And Mlr Models For Depression Detection, Alexandria Mulligan

Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mental health diagnosis with estimates upwards of 25% of the United States population remain undiagnosed. Psychomotor symptoms of MDD impacts speed of control of the vocal tract, glottal source features and the rhythm of speech. Speech enables people to perceive the emotion of the speaker and MDD decreases the mood magnitudes expressed by an individual. This study asks the questions: “if high level features deigned to combine acoustic features related to emotion detection are added to glottal source features and mean response time in support vector machines and multivariate logistic regression models, would …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Subjective Mental Workload And Objective Indicators Of User Activity, Greg Byrne

Dissertations

Whilst the concept of physical workload is intuitively understood and readily applicable in system design, the same cannot be said of mental workload (MWL), despite its importance in our increasingly technological society. Despite its origin in the mid 20th century, the very concept of ”mental workload” is still a topic of debate in the literature, although it can be loosely defined as “the amount of mental work necessary for a person to complete a task” (Miller, 1956; Longo, 2014). Several methods have been utilized to measure of MWL, including physiological methods such as neuro-imagery, performance-based metrics, and subjective measures via …

Performance Evaluation Of An Edge Computing Implementation Of Hyperledger Sawtooth For Iot Data Security, Sean Connolly

Dissertations

Blockchain offers a potential solution to some of the security challenges faced by the internet-of-things (IoT) by using its practically immutable ledger to store data transactions. However, past applications of blockchain in IoT encountered limitations in the rate at which transactions were committed to the chain as new blocks. These limitations were often the result of the time-consuming and computationally expensive consensus mechanisms found in public blockchains. Hyperledger Sawtooth is an open-source private blockchain platform that offers an efficient proof-of-elapsed-time (PoET) consensus mechanism. Sawtooth has performed well in benchmarks against other blockchains. However, a performance evaluation for a practical application …

Factors That Affect The Rate Of Preterm Birth: An Examination Of The Inter-Related Impacts Of Social Determinants, Behavior And Physical Health Status, Krystal Michelle Hunter

Dissertations

The work seeks to examine the factors that have significant relationships to the rate of preterm birth (PTB) along with its cost to society.

There are four papers within this work. This purpose of the first paper is to measure the impact that healthy behaviors have on the rate of PTB when modeled with other factors like household demographics, community deprivation, chronic disease and mental health. This work finds that positive health behaviors has a negative relationship with PTB. The interaction between body mass index (BMI) and social class and its relationship to PTB is examined in the second paper. …

Exposing And Fixing Causes Of Inconsistency And Nondeterminism In Clustering Implementations, Xin Yin

Dissertations

Cluster analysis aka Clustering is used in myriad applications, including high-stakes domains, by millions of users. Clustering users should be able to assume that clustering implementations are correct, reliable, and for a given algorithm, interchangeable. Based on observations in a wide-range of real-world clustering implementations, this dissertation challenges the aforementioned assumptions.

This dissertation introduces an approach named SmokeOut that uses differential clustering to show that clustering implementations suffer from nondeterminism and inconsistency: on a given input dataset and using a given clustering algorithm, clustering outcomes and accuracy vary widely between (1) successive runs of the same toolkit, i.e., nondeterminism, and …

Crash Injury Severity Prediction With Artificial Neural Networks, Rima Abisaad

Dissertations

Motor vehicle crashes are one of our nation's most serious social, economic and health issues. They are the leading cause of death among children and young adults, killing approximately 1.35 million people each year. Providing a safe and efficient transportation system is the primary goal of transportation engineering and planning. To help reduce traffic fatalities and injuries on roadways, crash prediction models are used to forecast the injury severity of potential crashes and apply precautionary countermeasures accordingly. Most of these models are reactive as they use historical crash data to categorize crash-related factors. Recently, advancements have been made in developing …

Statistics-Based Anomaly Detection And Correction Method For Amazon Customer Reviews, Ishani Chatterjee

Dissertations

People nowadays use the Internet to project their assessments, impressions, ideas, and observations about various subjects or products on numerous social networking sites. These sites serve as a great source of gathering information for data analytics, sentiment analysis, natural language processing, etc. The most critical challenge is interpreting this data and capturing the sentiment behind these expressions. Sentiment analysis is analyzing, processing, concluding, and inferencing subjective texts with the views. Companies use sentiment analysis to understand public opinions, perform market research, analyze brand reputation, recognize customer experiences, and study social media influence. According to the different needs for aspect granularity, …

Machine Learning Techniques For Network Analysis, Irfan Lateef

Dissertations

The network's size and the traffic on it are both increasing exponentially, making it difficult to look at its behavior holistically and address challenges by looking at link level behavior. It is possible that there are casual relationships between links of a network that are not directly connected and which may not be obvious to observe. The goal of this dissertation is to study and characterize the behavior of the entire network by using eigensubspace based techniques and apply them to network traffic engineering applications.

A new method that uses the joint time-frequency interpretation of eigensubspace representation for network statistics …

Private And Federated Deep Learning: System, Theory, And Applications For Social Good, Han Hu

Dissertations

During the past decade, drug abuse continues to accelerate towards becoming the most severe public health problem in the United States. The ability to detect drug­abuse risk behavior at a population scale, such as among the population of Twitter users, can help to monitor the trend of drug­abuse incidents. However, traditional methods do not effectively detect drug­abuse risk behavior in tweets, mainly due to the sparsity of such tweets and the noisy nature of tweets. In the first part of this dissertation work, the task of classifying tweets as containing drug­abuse risk behavior or not, is studied. Millions of public …

Hydrophobically Modified Isosorbide Dimethacrylates As Biomaterials For Bisphenol A Free Dental Fillings, Bilal Marie

Dissertations

Amalgam and Bisphenol A glycerolate dimethacrylate (BisGMA) are the main dental filling materials in use today. Because of the negative perception of amalgam and its lower esthetic appeal, as well as the desire to replace the endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A, which is the building block of BisGMA, there has been a critical need to search for safer alternatives to these dental filling materials.

Isosorbide is a sugar-based molecule generally recognized as safe. It has been extensively studied as a replacement to the Bisphenol A core in various materials. However, isosorbide is extremely hygroscopic, and water uptake in dental fillings causes …

Ecological Restoration Parks In Xi’An, China: An Evolving Type, Han Yan

Dissertations

This dissertation examines four urban ecological restoration projects used as public spaces in the city of Xi'an, China. The overall goal is to understand the social and ecological implications of the site features at both design and planning scale and define what is ecological restoration in China's urban context. The result of the research shows that the top-down planning initiatives approach for establishing ecological restoration sites in urban areas that meet the need for more public open space in addition to restoring healthy urban ecological systems is very different from the definition of what is traditionally understood as "ecological restoration". …

A Practical Approach To Automated Software Correctness Enhancement, Aleksandr Zakharchenko

Dissertations

To repair an incorrect program does not mean to make it correct; it only means to make it more-correct, in some sense, than it is. In the absence of a concept of relative correctness, i.e. the property of a program to be more-correct than another with respect to a specification, the discipline of program repair has resorted to various approximations of absolute (traditional) correctness, with varying degrees of success. This shortcoming is concealed by the fact that most program repair tools are tested on basic cases, whence making them absolutely correct is not clearly distinguishable from making them relatively more-correct. …

Parameter Estimation And Inference Of Spatial Autoregressive Model By Stochastic Gradient Descent, Gan Luan

Dissertations

Stochastic gradient descent (SGD) is a popular iterative method for model parameter estimation in large-scale data and online learning settings since it goes through the data in only one pass. While SGD has been well studied for independent data, its application to spatially-correlated data largely remains unexplored. This dissertation develops SGD-based parameter estimation and statistical inference algorithms for the spatial autoregressive (SAR) model, a common model for spatial lattice data.

This research contains three parts. (I) The first part concerns SGD estimation and inference for the SAR mean regression model. A new SGD algorithm based on maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) …

Hydrodynamic Characterization Of Laboratory And Production Equipment For Pharmaceutical Testing And Manufacturing Using Experimental And Computational Approaches, Chadakarn Sirasitthichoke

Dissertations

The hydrodynamics of process units used in pharmaceutical industry, i.e., the distribution of velocity profiles and shear stresses within the vessel, often controls the process performance, significantly affecting product quality. The hydrodynamics is strongly influenced by several factors such as the vessel shape, stirrer type, presence of internals and baffles, agitation intensity, and liquid properties. Most of these parameters can be varied by the process designers and the operators to achieve the desired process outcomes. The impact of the hydrodynamics on the process outcome can be profound in both large vessels (e.g., reactors) and smaller vessels (e.g., dissolution vessels), involving …

Dependent Censoring In Survival Analysis, Zhongcheng Lin

Dissertations

This dissertation mainly consists of two parts. In the first part, some properties of bivariate Archimedean Copulas formed by two time-to-event random variables are discussed under the setting of left censoring, where these two variables are subject to one left-censored independent variable respectively. Some distributional results for their joint cdf under different censoring patterns are presented. Those results are expected to be useful in both model fitting and checking procedures for Archimedean copula models with bivariate left-censored data. As an application of the theoretical results that are obtained, a moment estimator of the dependence parameter in Archimedean copula models is …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Glycosaminoglycan Mimetic Variants For Cartilage Tissue Engineering Applications, Richard David Vincent Jr.

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Washington State Community College Leaders: Perceptions Of The 2018 American Association Of Community Colleges Competencies For Community College Leaders, Teresa Mcdermott

Dissertations

Purpose: The two-fold purpose of this study was to understand how Washington state community college vice presidents, deans, and academic faculty members serve in leadership positions with the Washington Association of Community and Technical Colleges (WACTC) and the Faculty Association of Community and Technical Colleges (FACTC) rate the importance of the 2018 American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Competencies for Community College Leaders, Third Edition and to compare the differences between the three groups’ views of the importance of the AACC competencies.

Methodology: A descriptive, non-experimental quantitative methodology was used for this study. The sample was 55 community college vice …

Exploring Factors Influencing The Transition Of Adult Students From Noncredit To Credit Community College Courses, Kevin Baker

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the factors that former Adult Basic Education (ABE) students perceived were important in their transition from noncredit courses to credit coursework offered at 2 community colleges in San Bernardino County and Riverside County, California, using Schlossberg’s (1984) transition theory and 4S system elements. A second purpose of this study was to determine which factors facilitated or hindered their transition from noncredit courses to credit coursework.

Methodology: This qualitative research study utilized a phenomenological approach to explore the transition experience of former ABE students. Semistructured interviews were used to discover …

A Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study Of The Strategies That Chief Human Resources Officers Use To Create A Culture Of Inclusiveness, Tonia Watkins

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this sequential, explanatory mixed methods study was to identify and describe the leadership strategies that exemplary chief human resources officers (CHROs) of K-12 school districts use to create an organizational culture of inclusiveness using Kennedy’s (2008) 5 leadership qualities of cultural differences.

Methodology: This research study utilized quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews of 13 exemplary CHROs in Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange counties in Southern California to identify and describe the strategies used to create an organizational culture of inclusiveness according to Kennedy’s (2008) 5 qualities of cultural differences.

Findings: The findings of the study reveal …

A Comparison Of Two Debriefing Methods On Clinical Reasoning Outcomes, Learner Satisfaction With Debriefing And Reflection, Clinical Learning And Clinical Reasoning, And Psychological Safety Of Nurse Orientees In Simulation-Based Education, Lori A. Persico

Dissertations

Simulation-based education is a teaching method used successfully in military, aviation, and medical education; however, the evidence rarely indicates how debriefing affects the learners' experiences. Debriefing is an essential component of simulation-based education that fosters conceptual learning, critical thinking, and clinical reasoning. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two different debriefing methods on nurses' perceptions of psychological safety, satisfaction with development of clinical reasoning skills, and satisfaction with learning.

The Lived Experience Of Lebanese Oncology Patients Receiving Palliative Care, Myrna A. A. Doumit

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to uncover the lived experience of Lebanese oncology patients receiving palliative care. The study design was based on the Utrecht School of phenomenology based on the Dutch school of phenomenology. This study followed purposeful sampling in which ten participants six women and four men with a mean age of 54.4 years were selected. The proposed research was approved by the Institutional Review Boards at the American University of Beirut and Duquesne University. In-depth semi-structured interviews along with observation-field notes were used as the source for data collection. Data were analyzed using the hermeneutic phenomenological …

New Nurses' Experiences In The Lateral Violence Zone: A Grounded Theory, Mary Lillian Hanks

Dissertations

The impact of lateral violence on nurses and the nursing profession contribute to the nursing shortage and has negative effects on patient care (Vessey, DeMarco, Gaffney, & Budin, 2009). According to the Center for American Nurses (CENTER, 2008), lateral violence and bullying are an everyday occurrence among health care professionals. Nurses must gain real world experiences to deliver quality, safe, and effective patient care (Benner, Surphen, Leonard, & Day, 2010). Unfortunately, there are experienced nurses who are unable or unwilling to help novice nurses transition into their new role. Impaired relationships among nurses can lead to absenteeism, medical errors, and …

Effects Of A Reminiscence Learning Experience On Registered Nurses' Attitudes Toward And Empathy With Older Adults, William J. Puentes

Dissertations

Negative attitudes toward older adults are endemic to the nursing profession, as well as society in general. With older adults accounting for an ever increasing proportion of health care services, it is imperative that nurse educators develop continuing education activities that have a positive impact on registered nurses' attitudes toward older adults. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of participation in a reminiscence learning experience (RLE) on registered nurses' attitudes toward and empathy with older adults.

Informing Effective Simulation Pedagogy In Nursing Simulation, Sherry L. Barnard

Dissertations

Simulation methods are now widely used in nursing education programs. Several studies have been conducted that examine the effect of simulation on student outcomes in learning (Alinier, Hunt, Gordon, & Harwood, 2006; Arnold, et al, 2009; Rosen, Salas, Silvestri, Wu, & Lazzara, 2008), however, little has been discovered regarding models of faculty support and guidance during simulation. The factors that influence student learning in the simulation experience suggest faculty be a guide by offering cueing and support before, during, and after the simulation process (Parsh, Roberts, & Green, 2010). It is also suggested that debriefing be non-judgmental and a time …

Simulated Presence Use For Quality Of Life Maintenance And Reduction Of Symptoms Of Distress In Persons Living With Dementia In Long-Term Care, Erin E. Bush

Dissertations

Nursing home residents with dementia often have an array of neuropsychiatric symptoms, including dementia-related agitation. It is theorized that many of these agitation symptoms occur due to unmet psychosocial needs that could be met by the presence of a caring nursing staff member, family member, or friend.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether live simulated presence improves dementia-related agitation when offered, identify barriers and facilitators to simulated presence between caregivers and residents of long-term care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to determine if live simulated presence by a caregiver delivered one-on-one improved quality of life in long-term …

The Health-Related Quality Of Life Of Adults With Down Syndrome, Rebecca Jermyn Graves

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and factors associated with the HRQOL of adults with Down syndrome (DS) as reported by adults with DS and their caregivers. The study was designed to compare measures of HRQOL, health problems, health risks, and health-care utilization of adults with DS based on self-report with those from caregiver-report and to explore associations between HRQOL and health problems, health risks, health-care utilization, adaptive behavior, and demographic characteristics.

A Nationally Representative Survey Of Depression Symptoms Among Jordanian Adolescents: Associations With Depression Stigma, Depression Etiological Beliefs, And Likelihood To Seek Help For Depression, Latefa Ali Dardas

Dissertations

Arab adolescents are considered a particularly vulnerable population to depression. The substantial lack of mental health services and the stigma associated with mental illness on the one hand; and poverty, unemployment, and lack of reasonable hopes for a decent future in the context of corruption of regimes and perceived social injustice on the other, call for establishing committed and effective policies to tackle depression and its associated stigma among Arab adolescents at risk for or diagnosed with depression. However, there is a substantial lack of research that can inform the current profile of adolescent depression in the Arab region. We …

Exploring Resilience In Exemplary Rural School Superintendents, Silas Gaussoin-Radcliffe

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory phenomenological study was to identify and describe the strategies used by exemplary rural superintendents to maintain personal resiliency based on Everly, Strouse, and McCormack’s (2015) five factors of personal resilience (active optimism, decisive action, moral compass, relentless tenacity, and interpersonal support).

Methodology: This exploratory phenomenological study used purposeful criterion sampling and recommendations from the county superintendents in the identified geographic area. Each of the 8 identified exemplary rural superintendents was interviewed using an instrument aligned to the five factors of personal resilience and their definitions. The researcher collected rich qualitative interview data, that were …

Emotional Intelligence, Motivation, And Retention Among Undergraduate Students Attending Associate-Degree Nursing Programs In Illinois, Patricia L. Pence

Dissertations

The purpose of the quantitative, descriptive non-experimental study was to determine what the relationship is between emotional intelligence (EI), motivation, demographic variables, and nursing student retention. The research also tested the Nursing Undergraduate Retention and Success (NURS) model by examining demographic variables and academic motivation of nursing students. The Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) and the Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) garnered data from 390 first-year undergraduate students attending nine associate degree-nursing (ADN) schools in Illinois. Regression analysis suggested statistically significant differences in the mean scores for the test anxiety and control of learning beliefs MSLQ subscales with retention at …

Quality Of Life Among Children With Physical Disabilities, Sharron E. Guillett

Dissertations

A triangulated descriptive research design was used to examine the relationships between quality of life (QOL), health status and physical disability among children between the ages of 8 and 15. A non-random sample (N = 80) of children with and without physical disabilities and their parents participated in this exploratory study. Children were asked to rank their quality of life from one to ten using a modified version of the Child Health Assessment Ladder (CHASL) (Norton, 1987) and then to discuss the rank they chose. QOL scores did not differ significantly between groups (M = 7 for both groups). Thirty …