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Achieving Causal Fairness In Recommendation, Wen Huang May 2023

Achieving Causal Fairness In Recommendation, Wen Huang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recommender systems provide personalized services for users seeking information and play an increasingly important role in online applications. While most research papers focus on inventing machine learning algorithms to fit user behavior data and maximizing predictive performance in recommendation, it is also very important to develop fairness-aware machine learning algorithms such that the decisions made by them are not only accurate but also meet desired fairness requirements. In personalized recommendation, although there are many works focusing on fairness and discrimination, how to achieve user-side fairness in bandit recommendation from a causal perspective still remains a challenging task. Besides, the deployed …


Dpd Guided Insight On The Formation Process Of Polyethersulfone Membranes By Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation And The Effects Of Additives, Eric Ledieu May 2023

Dpd Guided Insight On The Formation Process Of Polyethersulfone Membranes By Nonsolvent Induced Phase Separation And The Effects Of Additives, Eric Ledieu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), a coarse grain simulation method, was applied to the membrane formation process of non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) to gain further insight on the mechanism of certain variables and how they affect the final morphology. NIPS involves two solutions, an organic polymer dissolved in an organic solvent colloquially called the dope and an aqueous coagulation bath, brought into contact with one another. The solvents then mix, causing the polymer to fall out of solution as an asymmetric membrane with a dense surface layer and a more open subsurface layer in response to the decreasing solubility. Polyethersulfone …


The Terroir Of Swiss Cheese: A Temporal And Geomorphological Investigation Of The Martian Co2 Sublimation Pits, Racine D. Cleveland May 2023

The Terroir Of Swiss Cheese: A Temporal And Geomorphological Investigation Of The Martian Co2 Sublimation Pits, Racine D. Cleveland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Observations by NASA Mars Global Surveyor showed evidence of rough topography on the South Pole of Mars. The topography is the result of CO2 sublimation processes that occur through the changing seasons on the red planet. These sublimation areas are known to scientists as Swiss Cheese Features (SCF). SCF are erosional degradation pits that have been studied for over two decades. Studies show that these SCF increase in area over time, but these values are collected by hand on a per feature basis. Models for the pit evolution have also played a part in understanding these SCF. This work is …


Asymptotic Properties And Separation Rates For Navier-Stokes Flows, Patrick Michael Phelps May 2023

Asymptotic Properties And Separation Rates For Navier-Stokes Flows, Patrick Michael Phelps

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we investigate asymptotic properties of local energy solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations and develop an application which controls the separation of non-unique solutions in this class. Specifically, we quantify the rate at which two, possibly unique solutions evolving from the same data may separate pointwise away from a singularity. This is motivated by recent results on non-uniqueness for forced and unforced Navier-Stokes and analytical and numerical evidence suggesting non-uniqueness in the Leray class. Our investigation begins with discretely self-similar solutions known to exist globally in time and to be regular outside a space-time paraboloid. We prove decay …


The Autistic Perspective: Interviewing Autistic Adults On Lived Experiences With Behavior Modification And How It Has Shaped Their Communication, Lighla R. Whitson May 2023

The Autistic Perspective: Interviewing Autistic Adults On Lived Experiences With Behavior Modification And How It Has Shaped Their Communication, Lighla R. Whitson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of behavior modification (BM) based treatment, the best-known example being Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), is established as an evidence-based practice for promoting communication and other outcomes for Autistic individuals. As such, many Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) use it in their practice to target various forms of communication. Among many autistic advocacy groups, however, ABA and other BM informed therapies are often described as a detriment to mental and emotional health. Organizations such as the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) have come out against the practices and recommend finding different approaches to teaching communication skills. Much research is needed …


Factors That Affect Home Range Of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus) In Northwest Arkansas, Bannon Gallaher May 2023

Factors That Affect Home Range Of Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus) In Northwest Arkansas, Bannon Gallaher

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Conservation of animal populations requires knowledge of their habitat and spatial needs. Quantifying spatial requirements involves the analysis of home range. We examined the effects of sex, body size (SVL), body condition (log mass/log SVL), and year on home range in Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus) in Northwest Arkansas. Individual locality data from an ongoing, 22+ year radio-telemetry study in Madison Co., Arkansas were analyzed using both minimum convex polygon (MCP) and Kernel Density Estimates (KDE). Plots of the number of sequential observations versus home range (MCP and KDE) determined that a minimum of 25 locations per individual per active season …


Readiness To Lead: Novice School Leaders' Perceptions Of The Impact Arkansas Fellowship Experience On Their Preparedness To Assume School Leadership Roles, Allison Prewitt May 2023

Readiness To Lead: Novice School Leaders' Perceptions Of The Impact Arkansas Fellowship Experience On Their Preparedness To Assume School Leadership Roles, Allison Prewitt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research provides increasing evidence that school leadership correlates with school performance (Herman et al., 2016). The leadership skills of K-12 school administrators are linked with student achievement. Evidence indicates that school leaders’ roles continue to evolve as accountability measures change (Grissom et al., 2021). Historically, principal preparation programs emphasized developing management skills. According to research, this is insufficient to prepare instructional leaders for the complex social context of contemporary education (Hernandez et al., 2012; Kerston, 2010; Levine, 2005; Lynch, 2012; Miller, 2013; Zubnzycki, 2013). Unfortunately, most principal preparation programs (PPPs) have not kept pace with the expanding role of principals …


Experienced Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers’ Nonnativeness-Related Challenges, Coping Strategies, And Identity Construction, Roseli Marqueti Matos Franco May 2023

Experienced Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers’ Nonnativeness-Related Challenges, Coping Strategies, And Identity Construction, Roseli Marqueti Matos Franco

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kamhi-Stein (1999) declares that little is known about nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNEST) who work in ESL settings also known as Inner Circle countries. Twenty years later, Fan and de Jong (2019) have echoed that view by stating that traditionally research on NNESTs focuses on Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) international graduate students and that little is known about professional nonnative English-speaking teachers in English-dominant environments such as the U.S.A. Therefore, to try to help fill this gap in the literature, I investigated the lived experiences of English teachers who speak English as an additional language, often called …


Effects Of Landscape And Yard Features On Mammals In Residential Yards In Northwest Arkansas, Emily Johansson May 2023

Effects Of Landscape And Yard Features On Mammals In Residential Yards In Northwest Arkansas, Emily Johansson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The human footprint is rapidly expanding, and wildlife habitat is continuously being converted to human residential properties. Most wildlife residing in developing areas are displaced to nearby undeveloped areas. However, some animals can coexist with humans and acquire the necessary resources (food, water, shelter) within the human environment. This may be particularly true when development is low intensity, as in suburban yards. Due to the wide variety in how homeowners utilize their yards, they can be considered individually managed “greenspaces.” These yards can provide a range of food (e.g., bird feeders, compost, gardens), water (bird baths and garden ponds), and …


Autonomy And Self-Motivation Among K-12 Learners: An Examination Of Best Practice Research, Current Classroom Practices, And Teacher & Administrator Perspectives, Meghan Scales May 2023

Autonomy And Self-Motivation Among K-12 Learners: An Examination Of Best Practice Research, Current Classroom Practices, And Teacher & Administrator Perspectives, Meghan Scales

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Are our schools doing enough to create environments where learners are motivated to learn, and can problem solve and be autonomous in their learning? The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine a sample of schools in Indiana and determine to what extent they are utilizing research-based methods to ensure an environment where learners are motivated and autonomous. Additionally, in school where these methods were identified as lacking, I investigated some of the reasons teachers struggle to implement these practices. Data was collected using classroom observations and teacher focus groups from four participating schools. The results were then …


Improving Classification In Single And Multi-View Images, Hadi Kanaan Hadi Salman May 2023

Improving Classification In Single And Multi-View Images, Hadi Kanaan Hadi Salman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Image classification is a sub-field of computer vision that focuses on identifying objects within digital images. In order to improve image classification we must address the following areas of improvement: 1) Single and Multi-View data quality using data pre-processing techniques. 2) Enhancing deep feature learning to extract alternative representation of the data. 3) Improving decision or prediction of labels. This dissertation presents a series of four published papers that explore different improvements of image classification. In our first paper, we explore the Siamese network architecture to create a Convolution Neural Network based similarity metric. We learn the priority features that …


Development Of Medical Device For Volume Status Assessment Using Peripheral Venous Pressure, Audra Beneux May 2023

Development Of Medical Device For Volume Status Assessment Using Peripheral Venous Pressure, Audra Beneux

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The severe side effects of acute dehydration and blood loss may be prevented if assessed and treated quickly. As amplifier technology has improved, small peripheral venous pressure (PVP) signals collected using a transducer on an intravenous catheter can be analyzed to monitor patient volume status. This thesis details the development of an embedded system prototype that quickly and accurately assesses volume status using PVP analysis. The volume prediction algorithm classified 10 seconds of PVP data as “dehydrated” or “resuscitated”. The hardware design consisted of four primary areas: analog signal conditioning, processing, user interaction, and power. After data collection, the signal …


In-Situ Tribology Of Engineered Surfaces With 3d-Printed Micro/Nano-Textures, Mahyar Afshar Mohajer Dec 2022

In-Situ Tribology Of Engineered Surfaces With 3d-Printed Micro/Nano-Textures, Mahyar Afshar Mohajer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Surface texturing is an effective way to reduce the adhesion and friction between two contacting surfaces by reducing the real area of contact between them, providing a potential solution for adhesion and friction-induced failures, for example, failures in micro-/nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS). Surface texturing is also essential to the realization of functional surfaces such as superhydrophobic/philic and icephobic surfaces. However, textures are prone to deformation due to being subjected to higher contact pressures. The advancement of 3D nanoprinting by two-photon lithography (TPL), combined with the ability to make an in-situ observation of the interplay between the forces and the sliding surfaces …


Dream Border, Pardis Ahmadpour Mobarake Dec 2022

Dream Border, Pardis Ahmadpour Mobarake

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dream Border is the result of my lived experience of relocation. The exhibition addresses the duality of being on the border between reality and imagination. In this place, the present, past, and future exist simultaneously. By engaging with personal narratives, childhood memories, as well as Iranian cultural and literary visual elements, I search for universal concepts in relocation. These works evoke the imposition of power and the many phenomena that the contemporary world endures despite globalization, such as anxiety, fear, and oppression on a small or large scale, which compel people to relocate. Uncertainty in the process of migration and …


Evaluating Arkansas Weathering Steel Bridge Performance, Yessenia Gonzalez Dec 2022

Evaluating Arkansas Weathering Steel Bridge Performance, Yessenia Gonzalez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weathering steel enhances corrosion-resistant steel features over conventional steel when a patina properly forms on the weathering steel surface. Weathering steel is a low carbon steel of less than 0.3% carbon by weight and has a chemical composition including other alloying elements such as nickel, copper, and chromium that develops a patina. The patina is a dense protective oxide film layer that develops on the steel member surface. The patina defends the steel from corrosion by preventing moisture, oxygen, and contaminant penetration. However, long periods of moisture and deicing chemicals applied during wet wintry conditions hinder proper patina formation. Without …


Flood Hazard And Risk Analyses In The Republic Of Panama: A Case Study From The Juan Diaz River Watershed In Panama City, Virgilio De Jesus Quintero Dec 2022

Flood Hazard And Risk Analyses In The Republic Of Panama: A Case Study From The Juan Diaz River Watershed In Panama City, Virgilio De Jesus Quintero

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Flooding is the natural hazard with most occurrences in Panama. Its frequency and magnitude have increased over the years. This dissertation analyzes Panama’s flood activity in order to better understand flood hazards, the current evolution of Panamanian perceptions of flood risk, and the incorporation of indigenous knowledge used to mitigate flood hazards. The first chapter developed a baseline of past and current flood inventory in Panama, which required the use of flood historical data, thematic cartography, and Geographic Information Science (GIS). This chapter shows Panama has experienced floods in varying degrees. Through the spatial and temporal distribution of floods from …


Interfacial Engineering Of Nickel-Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes Via Atomic Layer Deposition (Ald), Xin Wang Dec 2022

Interfacial Engineering Of Nickel-Rich Layered Oxide Cathodes Via Atomic Layer Deposition (Ald), Xin Wang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Layered nickel-rich cathodes LiNixMnyCozO2 (NMCs, x + y + z =1, x ≥ 0.6) are regarded as one of the most promising cathode materials for next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), given their remarkably reduced cost and increased capacity compared to the conventional LiCoO2 cathode. However, the deployment of these Ni-rich cathodes has been hindered by the continuous loss of practical capacity and reduction in average working voltage, inherently due to their interfacial, structural, and thermodynamic instability. To address these issues, interfacial engineering via surface modification has been well-recognized as an effective strategy and a large number of coating materials have been …


Improving Building Cfd Peak Pressure Computation Using Les With A Focus On Inflow Turbulence Methods And Grid Spacing Size., Zahra Mansouri Dec 2022

Improving Building Cfd Peak Pressure Computation Using Les With A Focus On Inflow Turbulence Methods And Grid Spacing Size., Zahra Mansouri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Structural failures by extreme winds often leads to economic losses and even deaths. Proper design of buildings requires accurate estimation of wind loads to prevent structural damage. Using routine guidelines generally leads to the underestimation of buildings’ peak pressures, in which most failures occur. To estimate wind loads more accurately three different methods (i.e., field measurement, wind tunnel (WT), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD)) are in use. A well-validated CFD provides more flow field details at lower costs compared to field measurements and WT. As strong winds are extremely turbulent, the effects of turbulence in wind should be incorporated into …


Engineer And Test A Biodegradable Microneedle Patch To Deliver Meloxicam For Managing Pain In Cattle, Katherine Alejandra Miranda Munoz Dec 2022

Engineer And Test A Biodegradable Microneedle Patch To Deliver Meloxicam For Managing Pain In Cattle, Katherine Alejandra Miranda Munoz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microneedle patches are a promising source for transdermal diffusion of macromolecules and are designed to painlessly penetrate the skin. In this study, a biodegradable chitosan microneedle patch to deliver meloxicam for managing pain in cattle was tested. The potential of reuse of the polymeric solution to fabricate the patches, optimization of fabrication, morphological analysis of the microneedle patch and analysis of preservation of the chemical composition after sterilization were evaluated. In-vitro analysis consisted of studying in-vitro penetration mechanical properties, compression testing analysis of microneedle patch, and in-vitro drug release analysis. In-vivo studies were performed to analyze the dissolution capability of …


The Evolution Of X-Ray Binaries And Their Accretion States, Lacey A. West Dec 2022

The Evolution Of X-Ray Binaries And Their Accretion States, Lacey A. West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

X-ray binary systems (XRBs) consist of a compact object component (e.g., black hole or neutron star) that accretes matter from a companion star. Although the extent to which XRBs contributed to the early heating of the intergalactic medium is still under investigation, it is estimated that XRBs dominated the X-ray radiation field before the reionization epoch. The study of XRB emission is therefore crucial to our understanding of the very early universe. Furthermore, studying the abundance and radial distribution of each XRB type within a galaxy can be revealing of the host galaxy’s local properties, structure, and evolution. XRB spectra …


Scarico: It’S Only A Movie, Most Of The Time, Thomas Nelson Dec 2022

Scarico: It’S Only A Movie, Most Of The Time, Thomas Nelson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exploitation cinema is a domain of motion picture content catering to a viewership interested in imagery that is more provocative than what mainstream audiences desire to see. These types of films are typically considered lowbrow entertainment and have been made in every era, albeit in a limited capacity proportional to the niche audience demand for them. Some time periods see a rise in exploitation film productions in response to a growing demand for such content from a larger share of the broader cinematic audience. This relationship indicates that period-specific cultural factors can cause mainstream audience members to seek out more …


Movie Reviews Sentiment Analysis Using Bert, Gibson Nkhata Dec 2022

Movie Reviews Sentiment Analysis Using Bert, Gibson Nkhata

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sentiment analysis (SA) or opinion mining is analysis of emotions and opinions from texts. It is one of the active research areas in Natural Language Processing (NLP). Various approaches have been deployed in the literature to address the problem. These techniques devise complex and sophisticated frameworks in order to attain optimal accuracy with their focus on polarity classification or binary classification. In this paper, we aim to fine-tune BERT in a simple but robust approach for movie reviews sentiment analysis to provide better accuracy than state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods. We start by conducting sentiment classification for every review, followed by computing …


Loan Survival: Are Socially Disadvantaged Farmers More Likely To Default Or Pay In Full?, Marie-Cécile Vekemans Dec 2022

Loan Survival: Are Socially Disadvantaged Farmers More Likely To Default Or Pay In Full?, Marie-Cécile Vekemans

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims at identifying racial and gender discrimination in the usage of credit for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFR) in the United States. Usage of credit is considered successful when a loan has been paid in full and a failure is considered when the borrower defaults. Identifying such a pathway would provide useful information to the Federal government United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to evaluate the effectiveness and equity of loan programs. This study uses data from the USDA FSA farm loan programs that mainly target socially disadvantaged farmers and other underserved groups. …


Investigating The Effect Of Perceived Social Support And Professional Support On The Ability To Persist As A Building Administrator In Arkansas, Jill Annette Larosa Dec 2022

Investigating The Effect Of Perceived Social Support And Professional Support On The Ability To Persist As A Building Administrator In Arkansas, Jill Annette Larosa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Across the United States, our K-12 public schools have very low levels of principals persisting in their jobs. The national average for principal tenure is four years, and one out of every five principals in poverty districts leaves after one year (Levin et al., 2019). The tenure average of four years is a devastating statistic because, according to an investigation commissioned by the Wallace Foundation (Leithwood et al., 2011), it takes an average of five years with a new administrator for a school’s performance to rebound to the level of achievement that existed before the administration change. At the current …


Enhancing Human Schwann Cells Reparative Behavior Using Heparin/Collagen Layer-By-Layer Coatings, Luis Carlos Pinzon-Herrera Dec 2022

Enhancing Human Schwann Cells Reparative Behavior Using Heparin/Collagen Layer-By-Layer Coatings, Luis Carlos Pinzon-Herrera

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When a peripheral nerve injury (PNI) occurs, the gold standard for tissue regeneration is the use of autografts. However, due to the secondary effects produced by multiple surgeries involved in the removal and implantation of autografts for very small lesions, it is possible to replace them with the use of Nerve Guide Conduits (NGCs). However, NGCs are limited to short lesions (less than 1 cm). This limitation is caused by the absence of compounds in the extracellular matrix (ECM) that autografts can provide. Since much of the regenerative process takes place on the NGC surface, our work aims to modify …


Adult Students’ Willingness To Communicate In The Esl/Efl Language Classroom: A Literature Review, Lisa N. Moreno Dec 2022

Adult Students’ Willingness To Communicate In The Esl/Efl Language Classroom: A Literature Review, Lisa N. Moreno

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to survey the literature on what hinders and promotes willingness to communicate in the English /Foreign language classroom. Twenty-five articles published between 2017-2022 were evaluated in this study. The review of literature concentrated on foreign language students who are studying in a higher education setting or adults who are studying English in a Literacy Center setting. Findings indicated that the student’s psychological state played a major part in a student’s willingness to communicate. This includes self-efficacy, anxiety, emotions, trust, and motivation. A student’s involvement in the learning process determines a student’s ability to communicate. …


The Role Of Instructor Presence And Class Size In Promoting Engagement Among Adults Pursuing Undergraduate Degrees Online: A Preregistered Study., Ken S. Muessig Dec 2022

The Role Of Instructor Presence And Class Size In Promoting Engagement Among Adults Pursuing Undergraduate Degrees Online: A Preregistered Study., Ken S. Muessig

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult learners who pursue undergraduate degrees online are an understudied group who have characteristics that separate them from traditional younger students or graduate students who might be the same age. These characteristics could give them a different experience in online courses. Do adult learners experience instructor presence in a way that makes them engage in their courses more? Is that measurable by a validated measurement of student engagement? This preregistered study seeks to answer how the student engagement of adult learners seeking an undergraduate degree in a 100% online environment is effected by the presence of the instructor. The data …


A Case Study Examining Women In Leadership At A College Of Osteopathic Medicine, Sloane Gibson Kelley Dec 2022

A Case Study Examining Women In Leadership At A College Of Osteopathic Medicine, Sloane Gibson Kelley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dr. Andrew Taylor Still, the founder of osteopathic medicine, actively promoted gender parity in the field from its inception, at a time when few medical schools accepted women into their programs, and even fewer all-female medical schools existed (Quinn, 2017; Simpson & Weiser, 1996). Although an almost equal number of male and female students are enrolled in osteopathic medical schools, men far outnumber women in positions of leadership. While the data for the number of women deans and department chairs at osteopathic medical schools does not exist, research by the Association of American Medical Colleges (2021) showed that 24% of …


Female Adults’ Experiences Of Sexual Harassment And Assault In The Presence Of Others: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Effectiveness And Consequences Of Bystander Intervention Strategies, Kayla Ford Dec 2022

Female Adults’ Experiences Of Sexual Harassment And Assault In The Presence Of Others: A Qualitative Analysis Of The Effectiveness And Consequences Of Bystander Intervention Strategies, Kayla Ford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bystander intervention programs aim to reduce the acceptance of violence against women by fostering prosocial behavior from community members, and often provide knowledge on behaviors associated with sexual risk and ways a bystander can intervene. However, there is limited knowledge on which intervention strategies are used, and how these interventions impact perpetrator behavior and incidence of verbal and physical harm to those involved. There is even less research on these phenomena from the perspective of the victim. To address these gaps, the current study utilized a qualitative approach to (1) identify bystander intervention strategies employed; (2) discuss trends of the …


Using Copper Oxide And Zwitterions To Prevent Membrane Fouling And Optimizing Ultrafiltration Membrane Fabrication With Green Solvents, Cannon Hackett Dec 2022

Using Copper Oxide And Zwitterions To Prevent Membrane Fouling And Optimizing Ultrafiltration Membrane Fabrication With Green Solvents, Cannon Hackett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Membrane fouling and sustainable production of membranes are two of the most important challenges in membrane science. Chapter 1 of this dissertation introduces these challenges and covers previous research that has been done in those areas. Additionally, the objectives of this dissertation are stated. In chapter 2, a study was done in which polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes were functionalized with copper oxide nanoparticles and zwitterions for the purpose of reducing fouling on the membrane surface. Characterization confirmed the attachment of each component to the membranes. Dead-end filtration was performed with water and bovine serum albumin solution and showed that the functionalization …