Digital Commons Network^™

Quantum Fluctuations Spatial Mode Profiler, Charris Gabaldon, Pratik Barge, Savannah L. Cuozzo, Irina Novikova, Hwang Lee, Lior Cohen, Eugeniy E. Mikhailov

Faculty Publications

The spatial mode is an essential component of an electromagnetic field description, yet it is challenging to characterize it for optical fields with the low average photon number, such as in a squeezed vacuum. We present a method for the reconstruction of the spatial modes of such fields based on the homodyne measurements of their quadrature noise variance performed with a set of structured masks. We show theoretically that under certain conditions, we can recover individual spatial mode distributions by using the weighted sum of the basis masks, where weights are determined using measured variance values and phases. We apply …

An Examination Of Frontline Employee–Customer Incidental Similarities In Service Failure And Recovery Contexts, Kristina K. Lindsey-Hall, Susana Jaramillo, Thomas L. Baker, Daniel G. Bachrach

Faculty Publications

Developing rapport during the “moment of truth” when frontline employees (FLEs) interact with customers has long been an important topic for researchers and managers. We suggest incidental similarities—seemingly trivial shared points of comparison between customers and FLEs—can play a vital role during this juncture in service failure and recovery contexts. Across two experimental studies, we investigate several relationships impacted by the presence or absence of an incidental similarity between FLEs and customers for their effect on satisfaction and repatronage intentions. Results suggest incidental similarities can reduce failure attributions toward service providers and improve these important customer-related outcomes (study 1). Results …

Profiling Consumers: Examination Of Chinese Gen Z Consumers’ Sustainable Fashion Consumption, Yanbo Zhang, Chuanlan Liu, Yanru Lyu

Faculty Publications

The textile and apparel industry is widely recognized for its negative impact on the environment and society, and China is one of the largest fashion-consumption markets worldwide. There has been a growing awareness and effort to address these concerns in China, and Chinese Gen-Z consumers are playing a crucial role in shaping sustainable practices. This study aimed to identify and profile Gen-Z consumers with substantial engagement in sustainable fashion consumption in China. Data were collected from 292 Chinese Gen-Z adults from three major cities, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, using a convenience sampling strategy and the snowball approach. Cluster analysis was …

Thermoset Polymer Composites With Gradient Natural And Synthetic Fiber Reinforcement: Self-Healing, Shape-Memory, And Fiber Recyclability, Sakil Mahmud, John Konlan, Jenny Deicaza, Rachel Anna Schmidt, Guoqiang Li

Faculty Publications

Natural fibers have high potential as renewable reinforcement for polymers; however, their lower load-carrying capacity compared to synthetic fibers significantly limits the wide application in fiber-reinforced polymer composites. In laminated composite beams under bending load, the normal stress is the highest on the top and bottom layers but is zero at the mid-plane, with almost a linear normal strain distribution. Although the shear stress is the highest at the mid-plane, it may not be a major concern as most polymers can survive the high shear stress. Using this concept, we have designed a hybrid fiber reinforcement in a gradient manner: …

Social Media And Volunteer Rescue Requests Prediction With Random Forest And Algorithm Bias Detection: A Case Of Hurricane Harvey, Volodymyr V. Mihunov, Kejin Wang, Zheye Wang, Nina S.N. Lam, Mingxuan Sun

Faculty Publications

AI fairness is tasked with evaluating and mitigating bias in algorithms that may discriminate towards protected groups. This paper examines if bias exists in AI algorithms used in disaster management and in what manner. We consider the 2017 Hurricane Harvey when flood victims in Houston resorted to social media to request for rescue. We evaluate a Random Forest regression model trained to predict Twitter rescue request rates from social-environmental data using three fairness criteria (independence, separation, and sufficiency). The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), its four sub-indices, and four variables representing digital divide were considered sensitive attributes. The Random Forest regression …

Feature Extraction Techniques For Noisy Distributed Acoustic Sensor Data Acquired In A Wellbore, Jagadeeshwar Tabjula, Jyotsna Sharma

Faculty Publications

The distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) is a promising technology for real-time monitoring of wellbores and other infrastructures. However, the desired signals are often overwhelmed by background and environmental noise inherent in field applications. We present a suite of computationally inexpensive techniques for the real-time extraction of the gas signatures from noisy DAS data acquired in a 5163 ft. deep wellbore. The techniques are implemented on three well-scale DAS datasets, each representing multiphase flow conditions with different gas injection volumes, fluid circulation rates, and injection methods. The proposed denoising techniques not only helped in optimizing the gas slug signature despite the …

Combining Community Observations And Remote Sensing To Examine The Effects Of Roads On Wildfires In The East Siberian Boreal Forest, Vera Kuklina, Oleg Sizov, Victor Bogdanov, Natalia Krasnoshtanova, Arina Morozova, Andrey N. Petrov

Faculty Publications

The paper is aimed at assessing the associations between the road networks geography and dynamics of wildfire events in the East Siberian boreal forest. We examined the relationship between the function of roads, their use, and management and the wildfire ignition, propagation, and termination during the catastrophic fire season of 2016 in the Irkutsk Region of Russia. Document analysis and interviews were utilized to identify main forest users and road infrastructure functional types and examine wildfire management practices. We combined community observations and satellite remotely sensed data to assess relationships between the location, extent, and timing of wildfires and different …

Single But Not Solitary: A Call For Nuance In The Study Emerging Adult Singlehood, Jonathon J. Beckmeyer, Tyler Jamison

Faculty Publications

Both research and theory demonstrate that single adults are not a homogeneous group. However, scholars continue to rely on participants to self-identify their relationship status from a list that includes multiple forms of romantic involvement (e.g., casual dating, committed relationship, engaged, married), but only one category of non-involvement: “single.” This approach is especially limiting when studying emerging adults, who are often exploring different forms of sexual and romantic engagement. Consequently, we developed a two-step approach that contextualizes singlehood through the romantic and sexual activities of self-reported single emerging adults. Across three samples of U.S. emerging adults, we found that about …

Effects Of Individual Strategies For Resource Access On Collaboratively Maintained Irrigation Infrastructure, Jordan L. Stern, Afreen Siddiqi, Paul N. Grogan

Faculty Publications

Built infrastructure for water and energy supply, transportation, and other such services underpins human well-being and socioeconomic development. A fundamental understanding of how infrastructure design and user strategies interact can guide important design decisions as well as policy formulation for ensuring long-term infrastructure viability in conjunction with improved individual user benefits. In this work, an agent based model (ABM) is developed to study this issue for the specific case of irrigation canals. Cooperatively maintained irrigation canals serve essential roles in sustaining agriculture-based economies in many regions. Canal system design can strongly affect benefits derived by distributed users, regional agricultural output, …

Informal Practices Of Localizing Open Educational Resources In Ghana, Emily Durham Bradshaw, Jason K. Mcdonald

Faculty Publications

Research on the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) often notes the potential benefits for users to revise, reuse, and remix OER to localize it for specific learners. However, a gap in the literature exists in terms of research that explores how this localization occurs in practice. This is a significant gap given the current flow of OER from higher-income countries in the Global North to lower-income countries in the Global South (King et al., 2018). This study explores how OER from one area of the world is localized when it is used in a different cultural context.

Findings indicated …

Misogynoir And The Public Woman: Analog And Digital Sexualization Of Women In Public From The Civil War To The Era Of Kamala Harris, Cecilia Cerja, Nicole D. Nave, Kelly L. Winfrey, Catherine Helen Palczewski, Leslie A. Hahner

Faculty Publications

This essay identifies how the very conception of public woman is infused with the opprobrium hurled against a wanton woman–a sexualized figure who has lost claims to moral standing or social worth. Our analysis begins diachronically by using thin description to trace the historical conflation of public woman in general, and Black woman in particular, with prostitute to outline the contours of the trope of public woman that have solidified across time. We document how the public woman became equated with prostitute, and then how the label prostitute was affixed to women in public to situate them as promiscuous or …

Hierarchical, Porous Hydrogels Demonstrating Structurally Dependent Mechanical Properties, Elisabeth Lloyd, Rami Alhasan, Sujata Dhakal, Svetlana Morozova, Douglas R. Tree, Robert Hickey

Faculty Publications

While hierarchical ordering is a distinctive feature of natural tissues and is directly responsible for their diverse and unique properties, research efforts to synthesize biomaterials have primarily focused on using molecular-based approaches without considering multiscale structure. Here, we report a bottom-up self-assembly process to produce highly porous hydrogels that resemble natural tissues both structurally and mechanically. Randomly oriented, physically crosslinked nanostructured micelles form the walls of aligned, polymer-rich pore walls that surround water-rich cavities. Extremely soft elastic modulus (<  1 kPa), highly stretchability (greater than 12-times), strain-hardening, and completely reversible deformation result from the hierarchical structure. Independent control of nano and macroscales is realized through the combination of polymer macromolecular parameters and processing conditions, directly impacting the resulting phase behavior. Here, we demonstrate precise control of the material structure and structure orientation over many orders of magnitude (e.g., nm – µm), and reveal how the multiscale structure directly impacts mechanical properties.

Making Space Behind The Veil: Black Agency Within A Predominantly White Religion, Michael Wood, Grace Ann Soelberg, Jacob Rugh

Faculty Publications

The work of W.E.B. Du Bois highlights the significance of Christian religion in Black American life. According to Du Bois, the Black Church serves as a site of self-formation and affirmation, and the White Church as a source of racist beliefs and justifications for inequality. In this paper, we expand Du Bois’ inquiry about the influence of religion with a study of Black Americans who belong to a predominantly White religion. For those whose religious experience is almost wholly within the “white world,” what role does religion play in their lives? We analyze a set of 52 public accounts by …

Creating A More Efficient Etd Workflow, Nicole Lewis, Ellen Amatangelo

Faculty Publications

In 2019, the BYU Library began working with the Graduate Studies Department to develop a new workflow for processing incoming theses and dissertations. This presentation will examine our course of action for creating a more efficient process from student submission to institutional repository upload to cataloging. This was accomplished through open discourse in collaborative meetings and flexibility from IT teams. A comparison of the old and new workflows will be examined, along with how decisions were made along the way.

Protocol For Developing A Personalised Prediction Model For Viral Suppression Among Under-Represented Populations In The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jiajia Zhang Ph.D., Xueying Yang Ph.D., Sharon Weissman, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Bankole Olatosi Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Introduction Sustained viral suppression, an indicator of long-term treatment success and mortality reduction, is one of four strategic areas of the 'Ending the HIV Epidemic' federal campaign launched in 2019. Under-represented populations, like racial or ethnic minority populations, sexual and gender minority groups, and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations, are disproportionately affected by HIV and experience a more striking virological failure. The COVID-19 pandemic might magnify the risk of incomplete viral suppression among under-represented people living with HIV (PLWH) due to interruptions in healthcare access and other worsened socioeconomic and environmental conditions. However, biomedical research rarely includes under-represented populations, resulting in biased …

Development And Validation Protocol For An Instrument To Measure Household Water Insecurity Across Cultures And Ecologies: The Household Water Insecurity Experiences (Hwise) Scale, Sera L. Young, Shalean M. Collins, Godfred O. Boateng, Torsten B. Neilands, Zeina Jamaluddine, Joshua D. Miller, Alexander A. Brewis, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Wendy E. Jepson, Hugo Melgar-Quiñonez, Roseanna C. Schuster, Justin B. Stoler, Amber Wuitch, Hwise Research Coordination Network

Faculty Publications

Introduction A wide range of water-related problems contribute to the global burden of disease. Despite the many plausible consequences for health and well-being, there is no validated tool to measure individual- or household-level water insecurity equivalently across varying cultural and ecological settings. Accordingly, we are developing the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale to measure household-level water insecurity in multiple contexts.

Methods and analysis After domain specification and item development, items were assessed for both content and face validity. Retained items are being asked in surveys in 28 sites globally in which water-related problems have been reported (eg, shortages, excess …

Angular Correlations In The Β Decay Of B 8: First Tensor-Current Limits From A Mirror-Nucleus Pair, A. T. Gallant, N. D. Scielzo, G. Savard, J. A. Clark, M. Brodeur, F. Buchinger, D. P. Burdette, M. T. Burkey, S. Caldwell, J. E. Crawford, A. Czeszumska, C. M. Deibel, J. Greene, D. Heslop, T. Y. Hirsh, A. F. Levand, B. Longfellow, G. E. Morgan, P. Mueller, R. Orford, S. Padgett, N. Paul, A. Pérez Galván, A. Reimer, R. Segel, K. S. Sharma, K. Siegl, L. Varriano, B. J. Zabransky

Faculty Publications

We present the first measurement of the α-β-ν angular correlation in the Gamow-Teller β+ decay of B8. This was accomplished using the Beta-decay Paul Trap, expanding on our previous work on the β- decay of Li8. The B8 result is consistent with the V-A electroweak interaction of the standard model and, on its own, provides a limit on the exotic right-handed tensor current relative to the axial-vector current of |CT/CA|2< 0.013 at the 95.5% confidence level. This represents the first high-precision angular correlation measurements in mirror decays and was made possible through the use of an ion trap. By combining this B8 result with our previous Li8 results, we demonstrate a new pathway for increased precision in searches for exotic currents.

Coaching Elementary Teachers In Literacy: Does Feedback Type Matter To Low And High Implementers?, Elizabeth Cutrer, Erica Ellsworth Miller, Erjola Gjini, Melia Fonoimoana Garrett

Faculty Publications

For literacy coaches and teachers, feedback is an integral component of effective coaching. Yet, little is understood

about the interaction between feedback and high/low implementing teachers within coaching sessions. This multiple

case study explored the types of feedback literacy coaches provided both high and low implementing teachers over a

two-year period. In the first year, the literacy coaches provided at least twice as much instructional feedback as

emotional feedback to low-implementing teachers. Those teachers not only received more feedback in general, but the

feedback they received was primarily what they needed to do to improve. In contrast, during the same …

A Deeper Understanding Of Noise Effects On Cetaceans, Jason N. Bruck

Faculty Publications

Recent research with cetaceans under human care is illuminating just how dolphins are affected by human-made noise both in terms of their ability to cooperate as well as their ability to habituate to such noise. This research is providing granular detail to regulators assessing the problems associated with anthropogenic effects and is highlighting a role for behavior/cognition research in conservation.

Conceptualising Rural Access To Justice As Supply Chains Primed For Transformation, Hannah Haksgaard, Amanda Kool

Faculty Publications

This chapter is shared with express permission of Bloomsbury Academic. The full book is available at: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/access-to-justice-in-rural-communities-9781509951642/ The justice gap persists in many rural parts of the world due to a confluence of economic, cultural, and professional factors at play throughout the justice system and society at large. This justice gap means that people in rural areas experience institutions of justice – including access to lawyers and other legal advice – differently than people in urban areas. Travel, distance, the rural lawyer shortage, and other factors create this difference. No single factor or institution can be blamed for the rural …

Seasonal And Diurnal Variations Of Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability At Terrestrial Magnetopause, S. Kavosi, J. Raeder, Jay R. Johnson, K. Nykyri, C. J. Farrugia

Faculty Publications

Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability is ubiquitous at Earth’s magnetopause and plays an important role in plasma entry into the magnetosphere during northward interplanetary magnetic fields. Here, using one solar cycle of data from NASA THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macro scale Interactions during Substorms) and MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale) missions, we found that KHI occurrence rates show seasonal and diurnal variations with the rate being high near the equinoxes and low near the solstices. The instability depends directly on the Earth’s dipole tilt angle. The tilt toward or away from the Sun explains most of the seasonal and diurnal variations, while the …

Why Understanding Food Choice Is Crucial To Transform Food Systems For Human And Planetary Health, Krystal K. Rampalli, Christine E. Blake Ph.D., Rd, Edward A. Frongillo Ph.D., Joseph Montoya

Faculty Publications

What, how and why people eat has long been understood to be important for human health, but until recently, has not been recognised as an essential facet of climate change and its effects on planetary health. The global climate change and diet-related health crises occurring are connected to food systems, food environments and consumer food choices. Calls to transform food systems for human and planetary health highlight the importance of understanding individual food choice. Understanding what, how and why people eat the way they do is crucial to successful food systems transformations that achieve both human and planetary health goals. …

Jurisdictional Conflicts In Adult Guardianship, David M. English

Faculty Publications

The case of Britney Spears has shined a spotlight on guardianship, a subject area in which there has been increasing interest in recent years. The events surrounding Ms. Spears s case all occurred in a single jurisdiction, California. But with Americas increasingly mobile population, an individual for whom a guardianship is sought may have contacts with multiple states and, in some cases, foreign countries. Furthermore, following the appointment of a guardian, the guardian or individual subject to guardianship may move to another jurisdiction; it may become necessary to transfer the guardianship proceeding to another jurisdiction or seek ratification of a …

Stakeholder Perceptions About Incorporating Externalities And Vulnerability Into Benefit–Cost Analysis Tools For Watershed Flood Risk Mitigation, Thomas H. Douthat, Fahmida Akhter, Rachelle Sanderson, Jerrod Penn

Faculty Publications

Multi-scalar climate hazards in watersheds and growing consideration regarding equity call for innovation in how agencies evaluate and prioritize mitigation and adaptation projects. Benefit–Cost Analysis (BCA) is one approach that is increasingly being applied to decision-making (i.e., FEMA BCA toolkit), but that has not been applied to watershed and equity-based flood management initiatives. This paper addresses this topic and presents a case study evaluating projects for watershed flood and climate mitigation projects by the Louisiana Watershed Initiative (Louisiana, USA). Through semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and practitioners, we found that BCA tool design must be embedded in the program and policy …

Mathematics Library News, Aaron Lercher

Faculty Publications

Mathematics Library News is an LSU Libraries newsletter for members of the Mathematics and Experimental Statistics Departments, published roughly once each semester.

Amazonian Birds In More Dynamic Habitats Have Less Population Genetic Structure And Higher Gene Flow, Oscar Johnson, Camila C. Ribas, Alexandre Aleixo, Luciano N. Naka, Michael G. Harvey, Robb T. Brumfield

Faculty Publications

Understanding the factors that govern variation in genetic structure across species is key to the study of speciation and population genetics. Genetic structure has been linked to several aspects of life history, such as foraging strategy, habitat association, migration distance, and dispersal ability, all of which might influence dispersal and gene flow. Comparative studies of population genetic data from species with differing life histories provide opportunities to tease apart the role of dispersal in shaping gene flow and population genetic structure. Here, we examine population genetic data from sets of bird species specialized on a series of Amazonian habitat types …

Predictors And Barriers To Vaccination Among Older Syrian Refugees In Lebanon: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of A Multi-Wave Longitudinal Study, Berthe Abi Zeid, Tanya El Khoury, Hala Ghattas Ph.D., Marwan F. Alawieh, Zeinab Ramadan, Sirine Anouti, Sawsan Abdulrahim, Stephen J. Mccall

Faculty Publications

Background:

Vaccination is important to prevent morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 among older Syrian refugees. We aimed to elucidate the predictors of COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Syrian refugees aged 50 years or older in Lebanon and to understand their main reasons for not receiving the vaccine.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional analysis of a five-wave longitudinal study, conducted through telephone interviews between Sept 22, 2020, and March 14, 2022, in Lebanon. For this analysis, data were extracted from wave 3 (Jan 21–April 23, 2021), which included a question on vaccine safety and on whether participants intended to receive the …

Networks In Motion: The Alliances Of Information Communication Technologies And Mobility Technologies During The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, Miles C. Coleman, Will Mari

Faculty Publications

In this article, we turn back to the 1918 influenza pandemic to throw light on the alliances of information communication technologies and technologies of mobility (such as the car) during the pandemic. We examine newspaper articles, technical publications, and other historical texts to demonstrate that, despite the fact that mobile technologies—such as cellular phones—did not exist during the 1918 pandemic, the telephone and mobility technology nonetheless formed alliances as networks in motion, or social moments in which risk and reward are calculated not simply by the ability to move, but rather the ability to move, while remaining connected, revealing insight …

Nearly-Lossless-To-Lossy Medical Image Compression By The Optimized Jpegxt And Jpeg Algorithms Through The Anatomical Regions Of Interest, Zhongqiang Li, Alexandra Ramos, Zheng Li, Michelle L. Osborn, Waleed Zaid, Xin Li, Yanping Li, Jian Xu

Faculty Publications

Currently, plenty of image data is generated that complicate storage and image transmission. Great efforts have been attempted on how to increase compression ratio (CR) without loss of critical diagnostic information. In this study, we designed two optimized JPEGXT (JPEGXT_OPT) and JPEG (JPEG_OPT) approaches by amplifying discrete cosine transform coefficients and using the entire anatomical region as ROI (region of interest). We found that ROI percentages have a great impact CR: smaller ROI percentages (10–30 %) could obtain a larger CR. Under the near-lossless compression, JPEGXT_OPT could have CRs up to 4.0 under small ROI percentages (10–30 %), while only …

Predicting Adolescent Intervention Non-Responsiveness For Precision Hiv Prevention Using Machine Learning, Bo Wang, Feifan Liu, Lynette Deveaux, Arlene Ash, Ben Gerber, Jeroan Allison, Carly Herbert, Maxwell Poitier, Karen Macdonell, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Bonita Stanton

Faculty Publications

Interventions to teach protective behaviors may be differentially effective within an adolescent population. Identifying the characteristics of youth who are less likely to respond to an intervention can guide program modifications to improve its effectiveness. Using comprehensive longitudinal data on adolescent risk behaviors, perceptions, sensation-seeking, peer and family influence, and neighborhood risk factors from 2564 grade 10–12 students in The Bahamas, this study employs machine learning approaches (support vector machines, logistic regression, decision tree, and random forest) to identify important predictors of non-responsiveness for precision prevention. We used 80% of the data to train the models and the rest for …