Digital Commons Network^™

Renewable Portfolio Standards And Environmental Goals, Josh T. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Renewable portfolio standards (RPS) are one of the most common state policies meant to encourage clean energy use. They require that utilities purchase electricity from certain qualifying electricity generators, usually with no reference to the cost of that electricity. AlthoughRPS are meant to clean up electricity generation through using clean energy sources instead of fossil fuels, they may not do so effectively. Further, some energy companies may lobby state legislators to include their energy sources regardless of their actual environmental benefit. The actual relationship between enacting an RPS and a state’s emissions from energy production is unclear. I explore RPS …

Comparing Performance Of Gene Set Test Methods Using Biologically Relevant Simulated Data, Richard M. Lambert

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Today we know that there are many genetically driven diseases and health conditions. These problems often manifest only when a set of genes are either active or inactive. Recent technology allows us to measure the activity level of genes in cells, which we call gene expression. It is of great interest to society to be able to statistically compare the gene expression of a large number of genes between two or more groups. For example, we may want to compare the gene expression of a group of cancer patients with a group of non-cancer patients to better understand the genetic …

“I Really Don’T Look For Certifications, It All Has To Do With Personal Relationships”: The Construction Of A Meat Philosophy And Innovation Adoption By Culinary Professionals In The Rocky Mountain Region, Kailie B. Leggett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Demand for new methods of beef production is rising due to concern over potential impacts on human health, animal welfare, and the environment. Researchers at Utah State University have developed a method of beef production from cattle finished on tannin-containing legume forages in the Rocky Mountain Region in order to address those concerns. To ensure success of this product, the demand and marketability needed to be assessed. Food values addressed through new production standards and certifications are communicated through labeling by culinary professionals in the kitchen and behind service counters. This research study utilized qualitative methods to understand how culinary …

Riding To Learn: Informal Science In Adult Cycling Communities, Joel R. Drake

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our understanding of how the world works is shaped through countless interactions with things in it. These interactions are our first exposure to science. Through them, we learn that heavy things are hard to push and books do not fall through tables. Our interactions are also shaped by the rules of the groups to which we belong (e.g., families, religious organizations, athletic teams). These rules lead us to accept that some things cannot or should not be done, limiting our interactions with the world. At the same time, these rules change our appreciation for what we do experience.

Prior research …

Identifying Criticality In Market Sentiment: A Data Mining Approach, Vaibhav Sahu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The aim of this thesis is to study and identify time periods of high activity in commodity and stock market sentiment based on a data mining approach. The method is to develop tools to extract relevant information from web searches and Twitter feeds based on the tally of certain keywords and their combinations at regular intervals. Periods of high activity are identified by a measure of complexity developed for analysis of living systems. Experiments were conducted to see if the measure of activity could be applied as a predictor of changes in stock market and commodity prices.

Statistical Methods To Account For Gene-Level Covariates In Normalization Of High-Dimensional Read-Count Data, Lauren Holt Lenz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of genetic-based cancer research is often to identify which genes behave differently in cancerous and healthy tissue. This difference in behavior, referred to as differential expression, may lead researchers to more targeted preventative care and treatment. One way to measure the expression of genes is though a process called RNA-Seq, that takes physical tissue samples and maps gene products and fragments in the sample back to the gene that created it, resulting in a large read-count matrix with genes in the rows and a column for each sample. The read-counts for tumor and normal samples are then compared …

Development Of An Improved Low-Order Model For Propeller-Wing Interactions, Joshua Taylor Goates

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For aircraft that have propellers mounted in front of the wings or tail, the prop wash produced by the propellers can have a strong influence on the aerodynamics of the aircraft. As the accelerated air from the propeller flows over the wings and tail, it can cause an alteration in the aerodynamic forces produced by those surfaces. Thus, an understanding of propeller-wing interactions is essential for the design and analysis of many aircraft.

There are multiple existing methods for analyzing the propeller-wing interactions. High order methods, such as wind tunnel testing or computational fluid dynamics, provide very accurate results but …

The Power Law Distribution Of Agricultural Land Size, Lauren Chamberlain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper demonstrates that the distribution of county level agricultural land size in the United States is best described by a power-law distribution, a distribution that displays extremely heavy tails. This indicates that the majority of farmland exists in the upper tail. Our analysis indicates that the top 5% of agricultural counties account for about 25% of agricultural land between 1997-2012. The power-law distribution of farm size has important implications for the design of more efficient regional and national agricultural policies as counties close to the mean account for little of the cumulative distribution of total agricultural land. This has …

Examining Market Channels For Local Produce: Consumer Affordability And Producer Profitability, Karli A. Salisbury

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examines the price differences of commonly consumed produce between farmers’ markets and grocery stores in Utah. Our first objective is to compare price differences of a basket of produce between farmers’ markets and grocery stores. We compare these price differences in terms of low-income consumer affordability and if an individual can afford a market basket of produce using a combination of Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) dollars and Double Up Food Bucks (DUFB) incentive dollars. Our second objective for this study is to establish the price premiums of individual produce items based on where the produce was sold, …

A Simple Metabolic Switch May Activate Apomixis In Arabidopsis Thaliana, David Alan Sherwood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Apomixis, asexual or clonal seed production in plants, can decrease the cost of producing hybrid seed and enable currently open pollinated crops to be converted to more vigorous and higher yielding hybrids that can reproduce themselves through their own seed. Sexual reproduction may be triggered by a programmed stress signaling event that occurs in both the meiocyte, just prior to meiosis, and later in the egg just prior to embryo sac maturation. The prevention of stress signaling and the activation of a pro-growth signal prior to meiosis triggered apomeiosis, the first half of apomixis. The same approach was used prior …

Influence Of Environmental Variables On Survival Rates Of Pronghorn (Antilocapra Americana) Neonates Across Idaho, Brett R. Panting

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was completed to better understand pronghorn antelope (Antilocapra americana) populations found throughout Idaho. Antelope were studied in three separate and distinct study areas. The Big Desert, Camas Prairie, and Little Lost and Pahsimeroi valleys were all selected as study sites. Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG) is concerned with current pronghorn populations found throughout Idaho. Pronghorn are a valued big game species found in Idaho. Increasing pronghorn populations in Idaho is a focus of IDFG.

We captured and VHF-collared pronghorn fawns found in our three study areas. Fawns were monitored daily with telemetry equipment for …

Predicting U.S. Adolescents’ Purchasing Of Denim Jeans Using Quality Attributes, Behavioral Characteristics, And Sociodemographics, Michelle Clouse

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to establish a predictive model of the factors that contribute to the decision-making process when purchasing denim by 13- to 19-year-old adolescents living in the U.S. The researcher created an online survey through Qualtrics and administered it to an opt-in panel of adolescents, through Centiment. There were 460 survey responses collected.

Important denim attributes to respondents included comfort and fit, price, durability, and body perception. Significant predictors that increased respondents’ intention to purchase denim jeans included intrinsic attributes-appearance of fabric on the body, cognitive attributes, tighter fit, and purchased denim in the last three …

Gst Contract Review, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

GST contract review—overviewTax lawyers are often asked to review a commercial contracts from a Goods Services Tax (“GST”) perspec-tive. This note focuses on contracts for the supply of services or goods, and not a contract for the sale and purchase of a business.Understanding the GST consequences of the contractThe contract that you are asked to review will usually contain a GST clause, but it is insufficient to look only at that clause. As further explained in Practice Note: How to review a commercial contract for GST purposes, you should also review the whole contract so that you can establish:• What …

Producing The Self-Regulating Subject: Liberal Protection In Indonesia’S Migration Infrastructure, Andy Scott Chang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Labour protection has become a dominant agenda in global migration governance, particularly for sending countries whose diasporic citizens are denied political rights in host states. Despite having limited authority to arbitrate extraterritorial disputes, sending countries like Indonesia have deployed novel techniques of statecraft to improve migrant protection. Through the prism of the professional competence exam and pre-departure orientation seminar, this article investigates the Indonesian state's regulatory practices that focus on migrant conduct. Although outbound domestic workers are subject to a prolonged process of skill formation, other Indonesian contract workers pursue emigration upon acquiring basic legal knowledge without undergoing accreditation. While …

"Decisional" And "Operational" Negligence, Vincent Ooi

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article draws a distinction between “decisional” negligence, which concerns the negligence exhibited by a professional advising his client in a decision to pursue a course of action, and “operational” negligence which concerns the manner in which a professional acts upon his client’s instructions to pursue a course of action. With the advent of Montgomery, the distinction between the two kinds of negligence has been thrown into focus in the context of medical negligence. The distinction is an important one for two reasons: 1) the “standard of care” test to be applied; and 2) the measure of damages.

Thirty Years Of Instrument Research: What Have We Learned And Where Are We Going?, Michael Howlett, Ishani Mukherjee, J.J. Woo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Anyone interested in policy studies, policy analysis, policy evaluation and policymanagement should be aware of, and knowledgeable about, the origins, nature andcapabilities of different policy tools. They are a critical part of policy-making, providingthe ‘means’ by which to achieve policy ‘ends’ but also often becoming ends-inthemselves. Policy instruments are and have been the subject of inquiry in many policyrelated fields, including public administration and ‘governance’ studies, but also variousbroader disciplines such as political science and economics. Additionally, they have beena research topic in various policy-specific areas of study such as policy analysis andpolicy studies, as well as in sector-specific areas …

The 'Land Of Opportunity' Or The Land That Makes Us The Opportunity: An Examination Of Latinx For-Profit Choice Within The Central San Joaquin Valley, Joe A. Vasquez

Doctoral Dissertations

The San Joaquin Valley in Central California is known as an abundant agricultural epicenter with an extensive history of farming, migration, and political movements. Though this geography holds a rich representation of agricultural economy, it is also the site of major inequalities and underrepresentation, especially with regard to post-secondary education within its overrepresented Latinx population. Further amplifying the inequalities around post-secondary education and Latinx’s is the increasing occurrence of post-secondary enrollment into for-profit institutions by this population. Inequities associated with for-profit enrollment, such as high student loan debt and lack of career attainment, further stratify this geography classified as being …

Hexaco Personality Predicts Counterproductive Work Behavior And Organizational Citizenship Behavior In Low-Stakes And Job Applicant Contexts, Jeromy Anglim, Filip Lievens, Lisa Everton, Sharon L. Grant, Andrew Marty

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study examined the degree to which the predictive validity of personality declines in job applicant settings. Participants completed the 200-item HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised, either as part of confidential research (347 non-applicants) or an actual job application (260 job applicants). Approximately 18-months later, participants completed a confidential survey measuring organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB). There was evidence for a small drop in predictive validity among job applicants, however honesty-humility, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted lower levels of CWB and higher levels of OCB in both job applicants and non -applicants. The study also informs the use …

Managing Swaption Portfolio Risk Under Different Interest Rate Regimes, Poh Ling Neo, Chyng Wen Tee

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Efficient risk managing of swaption portfolios is crucial in the hedging of interest rate exposure. This paper formulates a portfolio risk management framework under stochastic volatility models. The implication of using the right volatility backbone in the stochastic-alpha-beta-rho (SABR) model is analyzed. In order to handle negative interest rates, we derive a displaced-diffusion stochastic volatility (DDSV) model with closed-form analytical expression for swaption pricing. We demonstrate that the dynamics naturally allow for negative rates, and is also able to fit the market well. Finally, we show that choosing the right backbone in the DDSV model results in optimal hedging performance …

Semiparametric Maximum Likelihood Inference For Nonignorable Nonresponse With Callbacks, Zhong Guan, Denis H. Y. Leung, Jing Qin

Research Collection School Of Economics

We model the nonresponse probabilities as logistic functions ofthe outcome variable and other covariates in the survey sampling study withcallback. The identification aspect of this callback model is investigated. Semiparametricmaximum likelihood estimators of the parameters in the responseprobabilities are proposed and studied. As a result, an efficient estimator ofthe mean of the outcome variable is constructed using the estimated responseprobabilities. Moreover, if a regression model for conditional mean of the outcomevariable given some covariate is available, then we can obtain an evenmore efficient estimate of the mean of the outcome variable by fitting the regressionmodel using an adjusted least squares …

Forecasting Large Covariance Matrix With High-Frequency Data: A Factor Correlation Matrix Approach, Yingjie Dong, Yiu Kuen Tse

Research Collection School Of Economics

We propose a factor correlation matrix approach to forecast large covariance matrix of asset returns using high-frequency data. We apply shrinkage method to estimate large correlation matrix and adopt principal component method to model the underlying latent factors. A vector autoregressive model is used to forecast the latent factors and hence the large correlation matrix. The realized variances are separately forecasted using the Heterogeneous Autoregressive model. The forecasted variances and correlations are then combined to forecast large covariance matrix. We conduct Monte Carlo studies to compare the finite sample performance of several methods of forecasting large covariance matrix. Our proposed …

Look Before You Jump, Kapil R. Tuli

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Coming to grips with the reality of eLearning. In boardrooms all over the world today a scenario is played out again and again: Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) enthusiastically pitch the strategy of eLearning while chief executives remain sceptical over the outcomes. For years, eLearning appeared to be the perfect answer for corporations that need to train their employees. And it certainly has its advantages.

Does Demography Determine Talent?, Philip Zerrillo

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Among the map of forces that shape a business environment, one of the permanent, pertinent and powerful factors is a nation’s demographics.

Early Prediction Of Merged Code Changes To Prioritize Reviewing Tasks, Yuanrui Fan, Xin Xia, David Lo, Shanping Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Modern Code Review (MCR) has been widely used by open source and proprietary software projects. Inspecting code changes consumes reviewers much time and effort since they need to comprehend patches, and many reviewers are often assigned to review many code changes. Note that a code change might be eventually abandoned, which causes waste of time and effort. Thus, a tool that predicts early on whether a code change will be merged can help developers prioritize changes to inspect, accomplish more things given tight schedule, and not waste reviewing effort on low quality changes. In this paper, motivated by the above …

Typing-Proof: Usable, Secure And Low-Cost Two-Factor Authentication Based On Keystroke Timings, Ximming Liu, Yingjiu Li, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Two-factor authentication (2FA) systems provide another layer of protection to users' accounts beyond password. Traditional hardware token based 2FA and software token based 2FA are not burdenless to users since they require users to read, remember, and type a onetime code in the process, and incur high costs in deployments or operations. Recent 2FA mechanisms such as Sound-Proof, reduce or eliminate users' interactions for the proof of the second factor; however, they are not designed to be used in certain settings (e.g., quiet environments or PCs without built-in microphones), and they are not secure in the presence of certain attacks …

Towards Mining Comprehensive Android Sandboxes, Tien-Duy B. Le, Lingfeng Bao, David Lo, Debin Gao, Li Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Android is the most widely used mobile operating system with billions of users and devices. The popularity of Android apps have enticed malware writers to target them. Recently, Jamrozik et al. proposed an approach, named Boxmate, to mine sandboxes to protect Android users from malicious behaviors. In a nutshell, Boxmate analyzes the execution of an app, and collects a list of sensitive APIs that are invoked by that app in a monitoring phase. Then, it constructs a sandbox that can restrict accesses to sensitive APIs not called by the app. In such a way, malicious behaviors that are not observed …

Perflearner: Learning From Bug Reports To Understand And Generate Performance Test Frames, Xue Han, Tingting Yu, David Lo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Software performance is important for ensuring the quality of software products. Performance bugs, defined as programming errors that cause significant performance degradation, can lead to slow systems and poor user experience. While there has been some research on automated performance testing such as test case generation, the main idea is to select workload values to increase the program execution times. These techniques often assume the initial test cases have the right combination of input parameters and focus on evolving values of certain input parameters. However, such an assumption may not hold for highly configurable real-word applications, in which the combinations …

Sybmatch: Sybil Detection For Privacy-Preserving Task Matching In Crowdsourcing, Jiangang Shu, Ximeng Liu, Kan Yang, Yinghui Zhang, Xiaohua Jia, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The past decade has witnessed the rise of crowdsourcing, and privacy in crowdsourcing has also gained rising concern in the meantime. In this paper, we focus on the privacy leaks and sybil attacks during the task matching, and propose a privacy-preserving task matching scheme, called SybMatch. The SybMatch scheme can simultaneously protect the privacy of publishers and subscribers against semi-honest crowdsourcing service provider, and meanwhile support the sybil detection against greedy subscribers and efficient user revocation. Detailed security analysis and thorough performance evaluation show that the SybMatch scheme is secure and efficient.

Making A Good Thing Better: Enhancing Password/Pin-Based User Authentication With Smartwatch, Bing Chang, Yingjiu Li, Qiongxiao Wang, Wen-Tao Zhu, Robert H. Deng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Wearing smartwatches becomes increasingly popular in people’s lives. This paper shows that a smartwatch can help its bearer authenticate to a login system effectively and securely even if the bearer’s password has already been revealed. This idea is motivated by our observation that a sensor-rich smartwatch is capable of tracking the wrist motions of its bearer typing a password or PIN, which can be used as an authentication factor. The major challenge in this research is that a sophisticated attacker may imitate a user’s typing behavior as shown in previous research on keystroke dynamics based user authentication. We address this …

Pribioauth: Privacy-Preserving Biometric-Based Remote User Authentication, Yangguang Tian, Yingjiu Li, Ximeng Liu, Robert H. Deng, Binanda Sengupta

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Biometric-based remote user authentication (BRUA) is a useful primitive that allows an authorized user to remotely authenticate to a cloud server using biometrics. However, the existing BRUA solutions in the client-server setting lack certain privacy considerations. For example, authorized user's multiple sessions should not be linked while his identity remains anonymous to cloud server. In this work, we introduce an identity-concealed and unlinkable biometric-based remote user authentication framework, such that authorized users authenticate to an honest-but-curious server in an anonymous and unlinkable manner. In particular, we employ two non-colluding cloud servers to perform the complex biometrics matching. We formalize two …