Digital Commons Network^™

Aspirations Incubator: 2017–2023 Interim Evaluation Report, Sarah Goan, Elora Way, Alexa Plotkin

Publications

The Emanuel & Pauline A. Lerner Foundation’s Aspirations Incubator (AI) is a six-year pilot initiative invested in strategic capacity building for six youth development organizations in rural Maine. Grounded in the Trekkers Youth Programming Principles, the Aspirations Incubator invests targeted resources to provide long-term, comprehensive relationship-based programming to youth. This structured yet flexible program model aims to increase resiliency and introduce new opportunities to cohorts of young people starting in 7th grade and continuing through high school graduation. To document the potential impact and effectiveness of this unique model, the Lerner Foundation contracted with the Data Innovation Project to conduct …

Airbags As Real-Life Applications For Science, Carly A. Rock, Brooke A. Whitworth

Publications

At the core of an effective model-based inquiry (MBI) unit is a scientifically rich, complex phenomenon that serves as the reason for engagement and drives student sensemaking and investigations throughout the unit. Engaging in iterative attempts to explain phenomena over the course of an MBI unit allows the opportunity for students to construct evidence-based explanations that are refined over time with various science practices. We provide an example of using MBI as an instructional model to facilitate students’ conceptual understanding of chemical reactions.

Fatigue And Its Management In The Aviation Industry, With Special Reference To Pilots, Rajee Olaganathan, Timothy B. Holt, Jackie Luedtke, Brent D. Bowen

Publications

Abstract Fatigue is a significant contributing factor that reduces human ability and leads to accidents and threatens the safety of aircraft and human lives. Approximately 70% of fatal accidents that occur in commercial aviation operations are due to human factors. More specifically, crew fatigue contributes to nearly 15 to 20% of the accidents (Akerstedt, 2000). These accidents and incidents are associated with pilot fatigue because of the long duty periods, disruption of circadian rhythms, and inadequate sleep that are common among both commercial and military pilots. Though fatigue is seen in all the disciplines associated with the aviation industry, this …

Ethical, Legal, And Social Issues (Elsi), Andrea Jerkovic´, Alexander Siedschlag

Publications

This chapter introduces the concept of ethical, legal, and social issues – known as ELSI – as it is relevant to security science research and security science-informed practice. After defining ethical, legal, and social issues, the chapter addresses main ELSI domains and discusses how to address those in security science. Arguments are illustrated using examples from domains such as critical infrastructure protection and novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) response. Subsequently, the chapter demonstrates the relevance of ELSI analysis in security science for risk assessment and vulnerability analysis. It argues for a comprehensive approach to ELSI assessment and consideration in security science …

Knowledge Infused Policy Gradients For Adaptive Pandemic Control, Kaushik Roy, Qi Zhang, Manas Gaur, Amit P. Sheth

Publications

COVID-19 has impacted nations differently based on their policy implementations. The effective policy requires taking into account public information and adaptability to new knowledge. Epidemiological models built to understand COVID-19 seldom provide the policymaker with the capability for adaptive pandemic control (APC). Among the core challenges to be overcome include (a) inability to handle a high degree of non-homogeneity in different contributing features across the pandemic timeline, (b) lack of an approach that enables adaptive incorporation of public health expert knowledge, and (c) transparent models that enable understanding of the decision-making process in suggesting policy. In this work, we take …

Association Between Height And Hypertension Among Us Adults: Analyses Of National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-18, Rajat Das Gupta, Maxwell Akonde, Ibrahim Hossain Sajal, Gulam Muhammed Al Kibria

Publications

Background

Previous studies that investigated association of height with prevalence and control of hypertension found mixed results. This cross-sectional study explored these associations among US adults (≥20 years).

Methods

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–18 data was analyzed. Height was measured in meters and was converted into centimeters (cm) and was further divided into quartiles: Q1 (135.3–159.2 cm), Q2 (159.3–166.2 cm), Q3 (166.3–173.6 cm), Q4 (173.7–204.5 cm). Hypertension definition of the ‘2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline’ was used. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to find out the association between the dependent variable and the …

Investigation On Spectral Characteristics Of Gravity Waves In The Mlt Using Lidar Observations At Andes, Kai Ming Huang, Hang Liu, Alan Z. Liu, Shao Dong Zhang, Chun Ming Huang, Yun Gong, Wu Han Ning

Publications

Based on observations from lidar at Andes, we study the features of gravity wave activities and their spectra in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Case analysis shows that a quasimonochromatic inertia–gravity wave (IGW) dominates the perturbation fields, with clearly downward phase progression in the wind and temperature fields. Statistical investigation shows that the dominant waves in the MLT over Andes have the typical temporal and spatial scales of IGWs and show the preferential propagation in the meridional direction relative to in the zonal direction. The preferential propagation direction causes larger spectral peak and steeper spectral slope in the meridional …

Managing Quality In Aviation Projects, James W. Marion, Tracey M. Richardson, Vittal Anantatmula

Publications

From aircraft manufacturing, product customization, aircraft maintenance, and aircraft launch and recovery, project management is threaded through all aspects of aviation. Given the supreme importance of quality to every aircraft manufacturer, airline, and passenger, it would be expected that quality management, within the context of project management, would be a construct that is clearly defined. The aim of this mixed-methods research seeks to understand how quality is managed and assured in aviation projects, whether or not the current quality management framework is applicable to the aviation industry, and how quality should ultimately be managed in aviation projects. The results of …

Differential Privacy For Industrial Internet Of Things: Opportunities, Applications And Challenges, Bin Jiang, Houbing Song, Jianqiang Li, Guanghui Yue

Publications

The development of Internet of Things (IoT) brings new changes to various fields. Particularly, industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is promoting a new round of industrial revolution. With more applications of IIoT, privacy protection issues are emerging. Specially, some common algorithms in IIoT technology such as deep models strongly rely on data collection, which leads to the risk of privacy disclosure. Recently, differential privacy has been used to protect user-terminal privacy in IIoT, so it is necessary to make in-depth research on this topic. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive survey on the opportunities, applications and challenges of differential …

Annotated Bibliography Of Research In The Teaching Of English, Anne Crampton, Lisa Ortmann, Amy Frederick, Bridget Kelley, Kate Brodeur, Stephanie M. Madison, Candace Doerr-Stevens, Madeleine Israelson, Anne Ittner, Robin Jocius, Lauren Aimonette Liang, Tracey Murphy, Ian O'Byrne, Jeff Share, Sara K. Sterner, Erin Stutelberg, Mark Sulzer, Amanda Haertling Thein, Stephanie Rollag Yoon

Publications

Since 2003, RTE has published the annual “Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English,” and we are proud to share these curated and annotated citations once again. The goal of the annual bibliography is to offer a synthesis of the research published in the area of English language arts within the past year that may be of interest to RTE readers. Abstracted citations and those featured in the “Other Related Research” sections were published, either in print or online, between June 2019 and June 2020. The bibliography is divided into nine subject area sections. A three-person team of …

Investigating The Impacts Of Crash Prediction Models On Quantifying Safety Effectiveness Of Adaptive Signal Control Systems, Weimin Jin, Mashrur Chowdhury, Sakib Mahmud Khan, Patrick Gerard

Publications

Introduction: Adaptive Signal Control System (ASCS) can improve both operational and safety benefits at signalized corridors. Methods: This paper develops a series of models accounting for model forms and possible predictors and implements these models in Empirical Bayes (EB) and Fully Bayesian (FB) frameworks for ASCS safety evaluation studies. Different models are validated in terms of the ability to reduce the potential bias and variance of prediction and improve the safety effectiveness estimation accuracy using real-world crash data from non-ASCS sites. This paper then develops the safety effectiveness of ASCS at six different corridors with a total of 65 signalized …

Parking Recommender System Privacy Preservation Through Anonymization And Differential Privacy, Yasir Saleem Shaikh, Mubashir Husain Rehmani, Noel Crespi, Roberto Minerva

Publications

Recent advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) have enabled the development of smart parking systems that use services of third-party parking recommender system to provide recommendations of personalized parking spot to users based on their past experience. However, the indiscriminate sharing of users’ data with an untrusted (or semitrusted) parking recommender system may breach the privacy because users’ behavior and mobility patterns could be inferred by analyzing their past history. Therefore, in this article, we present two solutions that preserve privacy of users in parking recommender systems while analyzing the past parking history using k-anonymity (anonymization) and differential privacy …

Adaptive Signal System Safety Impacts Final Report, Mashrur Chowdhury, Weiman Jin, M. Sabbir Salek, Sakib Mahmud Khan, Katherine Brunk, Patrick Gerard, Nathan Huynh, Mohammad Torkjazi

Publications

The research team conducted a literature review and a nation-wide survey at the beginning of the research. The literature review revealed that Adaptive Signal Control System (ASCS) was effective in reducing crashes in some studies, while in other studies, the crash reduction due to ASCS was not statistically significant. Twenty-eight states participated in the nation-wide survey and helped the research team identify corridor characteristics, such as the design speed and Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) of an ASCS corridor, which would allow for the best operational and safety outcomes. Then, to determine the safety effects of ASCS, the research team …

The Relationship Between Learning Mode And Student Performance In An Undergraduate Elementary Statistics Course In The United States, John C. Griffith, Emily K. Faulconer, Bobby L. Mcmasters

Publications

Faculty have conducted many studies on the relationship between learning mode and student performance but few researchers have evaluated final grades, grade distribution, and pass rates in a sophomore introductory statistics course with a non-traditional student population who self-selected the learning mode from among different course sections. Accordingly, we examined 307 end-of-course grades from four different modes of instruction: (a) online, (b) videosynchronous learning classroom, (c) videosynchronous learning home, and (d) traditional classroom in an introductory statistics course. All data on grades, which included pass rate and grade distribution, were collected from the nine-week January 2019 term. All learning modes …

High Altitude Science Experiments Aboard Nasa’S Wb-57 Airborne Research Platform, Pedro Llanos, Kristina Andrijauskaite, Sathya Gangadharan

Publications

Purpose: Exposure to space radiation may place astronauts at significant health risks. This is an under-investigated area of research and therefore more knowledge is needed to better plan long-term space missions. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of radiation on murine naïve and activated T lymphocytes (T cells) and to test the effectiveness of thermal, radiation and flight tracking technology in biological scientific payloads. We cultured cells in specific cytokines known to increase their viability and exposed them to either flight or had them as ground controls. Flight cells were kept under proper environmental conditions by …

Exploring The Impact Of Early Exposure To Research On Dual Enrollment Students: A Qualitative Single-Case Study, Kevin A. Adkins, Jorge L. D. Albelo, Samantha Bowyer

Publications

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) provides a concurrent enrollment model to high schools across the United States. The concurrent enrollment opportunity offers science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college-credit coursework taught by college-credentialed instructors on the student’s high school campus. One faculty member transitioned to Embry-Riddle’s main residential campus following seven years of service with ERAU’s concurrent enrollment program. During his tenure with ERAU’s concurrent enrollment program, in addition to instructing a variety of concurrent enrollment courses, he maintained an active research agenda that involved concurrently enrolled students. His transition was preceded by the matriculation of a subset of these students …

Knowledge Network Embedding Of Transcriptomic Data From Spaceflown Mice Uncovers Signs And Symptoms Associated With Terrestrial Diseases, Amber M. Paul, Charlotte A. Nelson, Ana Uriarte Acuna, Ryan T. Scott, Atul J. Butte, Egle Cekanaviciute, Sergio E. Baranzini

Publications

There has long been an interest in understanding how the hazards from spaceflight may trigger or exacerbate human diseases. With the goal of advancing our knowledge on physiological changes during space travel, NASA GeneLab provides an open-source repository of multi-omics data from real and simulated spaceflight studies. Alone, this data enables identification of biological changes during spaceflight, but cannot infer how that may impact an astronaut at the phenotypic level. To bridge this gap, Scalable Precision Medicine Oriented Knowledge Engine (SPOKE), a heterogeneous knowledge graph connecting biological and clinical data from over 30 databases, was used in combination with GeneLab …

What Scientists Do: Engaging In Science Practices Through A Wonderframed Nature Study, Steph N. Dean, Andrew Gilbert

Publications

Despite recent reforms concerning how students engage in science, there have been significant challenges for educators seeking to consistently implement science practices within the classroom. This study considered science practices within a wonder-framed nature study as one possible way for educators to support students as they take on the role of scientists. We interviewed twenty students in Grades 3 through 5 who had participated in wonder journaling sessions outdoors that led to an investigative project and presentation. The evidence suggests that students strongly engaged in investigative science practices, and that they also experienced opportunities for sensemaking and critiquing practices. Through …

Alternative Practicum Experiences For Early Childhood Preservice Teachers, Qianyi Gao, Sandra Linder, Anna H. Hall

Publications

Practicum experiences are an integral part of teacher education programs. The current study drew on perceptions of various stakeholders (preservice teachers, cooperating teachers, and university professors) to examine two practicum models of an early childhood teacher education program. The study focused on the structure of a senior-level practicum and highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of two specific models. Findings showed that both cohorts of preservice teachers experienced stress and confidence boosts during the practicum, but each cohort underwent different learning experiences due to variances in the practicum structures. Cooperating teachers and university professors preferred the new model which allowed preservice …

The Motion Of Trees In The Wind: A Data Synthesis, Toby D. Jackson, Sarab Sethi, Ebba Dellwik, Nikolas Angelou, Amanda Bunce, Tim Van Emmerik, Marine Duperat, Jean-Claude Ruel, Axel Wellpott, Skip Van Bloem

Publications

Interactions between wind and trees control energy exchanges between the atmosphere and forest canopies. This energy exchange can lead to the widespread damage of trees, and wind is a key disturbance agent in many of the world's forests. However, most research on this topic has focused on conifer plantations, where risk management is economically important, rather than broadleaf forests, which dominate the forest carbon cycle. This study brings together tree motion time-series data to systematically evaluate the factors influencing tree responses to wind loading, including data from both broadleaf and coniferous trees in forests and open environments.

We found that …

Scoping The Emerging Field Of Quantitative Ethnography: Opportunities, Challenges And Future Directions, Rogers Kaliisa, Kamila Misiejuk, Golnaz Arastoopour Irgens, Morten Misfeldt

Publications

Quantitative Ethnography (QE) is an emerging methodological approach that combines ethnographic and statistical tools to analyze both Big Data and smaller data to study human behavior and interactions. This paper presents a methodological scoping review of 60 studies employing QE approaches with an intention to characterize and establish where the boundaries of QE might and should be in order to establish the identity of the field. The key finding is that QE researchers have enough commonality in their approach to the analysis of human behavior with a strong focus on grounded analysis, the validity of codes and consistency between quantitative …

Design, Development And Temporal Evaluation Of An Mri-Compatible In-Vitro Circulation Model Using A Compliant Aaa Phantom, Mirunalini Thirugnanasambandam, Tejas Canchi, Senol Piskin, Christof Karmonik, Ethan Kung, Prahlad Menon, Stephanie Avril, Ender A. Finol

Publications

Biomechanical characterization of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has become commonplace in rupture risk assessment studies. However, its translation to the clinic has been greatly limited due to the complexity associated with its tools and their implementation. The unattainability of patient-specific tissue properties leads to the use of generalized population-averaged material models in finite element analyses, which adds a degree of uncertainty to the wall mechanics quantification. In addition, computational fluid dynamics modeling of AAA typically lacks the patient-specific inflow and outflow boundary conditions that should be obtained by non-standard of care clinical imaging. An alternative approach for analyzing AAA flow …

Models, Race, And The Law, Moon Duchin, Douglas M. Spencer

Publications

Capitalizing on recent advances in algorithmic sampling, The Race-Blind Future of Voting Rights explores the implications of the long-standing conservative dream of certified race neutrality in redistricting. Computers seem promising because they are excellent at not taking race into account—but computers only do what you tell them to do, and the rest of the authors’ apparatus for measuring minority electoral opportunity failed every check of robustness and numerical stability that we applied. How many opportunity districts are there in the current Texas state House plan? Their methods can give any answer from thirty-four to fifty-one, depending on invisible settings. But …

Safety As A Criterion For Faculty Evaluation, Emily Faulconer

Publications

Faculty evaluations, whether for annual review, promotion, contract renewal, tenure, or other purposes, commonly cover three broad areas—teaching, scholarship, and service—with weighting that can vary based on the institution, college, department, and individual. Many faculty, especially in STEM fields, have teaching, research, and service roles that come with chemical, physical, or biological hazards. These faculty members would not likely deny safety as a responsibility. In these roles, faculty may be asked to teach safety concepts, supervise or perform work with instrumentation, manage chemical wastes, or prepare paperwork required under OSHA’s Laboratory standard (e.g., standard operating procedures).

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Volunteering:Results Of A Survey Of Maine Non-Profits, Sarah Goan

Publications

In response to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly within the nonprofit sector that relies heavily on volunteers, Volunteer Maine sought to assess how volunteer capacity had been affected and what types of support organizations needed to rebuild. To accomplish this, the organization partnered with DIP and SRC to design and administer a statewide survey of nonprofit organizations. The purpose of the study was to understand the pandemic’s impact on the volunteer base, document organizational adjustments to changing conditions, identify innovative responses, and determine how Volunteer Maine and its affiliates could best assist in community recovery efforts. The …

Peer Learning In Introductory Engineering, Kimberly Luthi, Mohua Kar, Lisa Macon

Publications

Our research aim was to understand if PLTL and engagement in problem-based learning activities increase commitment to engineering pathways and academic success. We used both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis to answer our research questions and give recommendations. The findings show that while there is an overall improvement in grades and commitment to engineering pathways for those involved in PLTL activities, there is still a concern with integration and scalability of PLTL in engineering education.

Personalizing The Online Learning Experience Part Ii: Instructional Presence, Emily Faulconer

Publications

• Instructor Presence
• Persona
• Social Presence
• Instructional Presence
• Learner Profiles
• Instructional Presence
• Providing Instructions
• Gradebook Feedback
• Checkpoints
• Wrap Up

Risks To Student Achievement In Higher Education, Angela Atwell, Bettina Mrusek, James Solti, Keith Wilson

Publications

Abstract. A university system sets out to deliver educational experiences that meet set goals such as the achievement of learning outcomes for individual courses and program outcomes for degree programs. There are many factors that impact the successful achievement of student learning outcomes and therefore success-ful program design and implementation. If courses are not effectively designed with assessments properly aligned to learning outcomes, student achievement is challenging to measure. If faculty do not consistently adhere to college and/or uni-versity policies regarding submission of assignments, student behavior and per-ceptions of expectations in future courses may be skewed. In addition, students may, …

Cyber Insurance Effects On Cyber Hygiene: Does The Homeostatic Effect Apply?, Wendi M. Kappers, Aaron Glassman, Michael S. Wills

Publications

A theoretical framework and research strategy is proposed to gain insight into perceptions and decisions as to how SMBs make decisions regarding cybersecurity hygiene measures, which could lead to betterinformed decisions regarding insurance as part of an ISA program, as well as have a bearing on policy structures and pricing for such insurance. This is because the definition of “cybersecurity hygiene habits”(CHH) as a task appears to vary within the industry and makes the practice hard to measure and evaluate. Research suggests that there may be a poorly understood connection between CHHs undertaken by organizations and their perceptions and/or adoption …

Humanistic Stem: From Concept To Course, Debra T. Bourdeau, Beverly L. Wood

Publications

Blending perspectives from the humanities and STEM fosters the creativity of all students. The culturally implicit dichotomy between the two meta-disciplines can be overcome with carefully designed courses and programs intent on doing so. The why and how of doing so through an online course is described with qualitative evidence of the success. Future plans for a full slate of such course and a virtual community are discussed.