Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Elevators: How The New York City Subway System Can Better Serve Blind, Deaf And Cognitively Disabled People, Ethan B. Stark-Miller

Capstones

Many blind and visually impaired, deaf and cognitively disabled New Yorkers face challenges when using the subway. A large portion of the system is still missing key accessibility features that would make the subway usable for these groups. And while this problem is on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) radar – the MTA has launched a pilot program to address it – the agency still has no clear plan or timeline for quickly expanding these features to the entire system. Link to full project: https://medium.com/@tough_coquelicot_muskrat_287/beyond-the-elevators-132c31e3ef48

Locked Out: Thanks To State Policies, Minorities Are Being Left Behind By The Cannabis Industry, Nikitha Sattiraju, Evelina Nedlund

Capstones

Locked Out: Thanks to State Policies, Minorities Are Being Left Behind by the Cannabis Industry

Social justice provisions in states with legal cannabis usually include a percentage of business licenses for minorities and expungements for those formerly incarcerated for cannabis possession so they can participate in the industry. But that isn’t enough for minority communities to successfully start cannabis businesses. Expensive start-up and operation costs, competition from corporate cannabis, lack of banking services for the industry, and fear stemming from decades of over-policing for cannabis use continue to be major roadblocks.

Cannabis legislation across the country is failing to address …

From Muhammed To The Jobup: Engaging Malemployed Immigrants Through Journalism, Tiziana Rinaldi

Capstones

I focused my graduate work on the local community of malemployed immigrants. They are foreign-educated newcomers — medical doctors, pharmacists, teachers, lawyers and engineers, to name a few of their professions — who lack the resources to find skill- appropriate work in the U.S. They end up either unemployed or working at "jobs for which they’re overqualified or overeducated or both,” I wrote for NJSpotlight in 20171.

Using the social journalism method2 of engaging members of a chosen group to fill important if not crucial information gaps, I developed The JobUp, a series of free, offline educational events, as my …

Promesa, Puerto Rico’S Recipe For Disaster, Cristina M. Corujo Oruña

Capstones

PROMESA was signed with the purpose of helping the island’s economy recover from its crippling indebtedness. But three years later, the law has caused financial and social instability. Although, PROMESA grants Puerto Rico the right to file for bankruptcy, the effects of the law are worsening the island’s situation. Austerity measures, high costs, migration and a deeper economic recession are drowning the island.

Link to Capstone: https://medium.com/@cristina.oruna/promesa-puerto-ricos-recipe-for-disaster-1eadde7b6719

Woodhouse, Bianca M. Rosembert, Mankaprr Conteh, Netsanet Negussie

Capstones

The film WOODHOUSE, in production, profiles Julian Woodhouse, a gay, black, burgeoning fashion designer in New York, before, during and after the chance of a lifetime. In addition to designing, Woodhouse serves in the Army Reserve. His military career is the only aspect of his life that his religious, conservative black parents support. Julian has survived without the approval of his parents, who he says sent him to conversion therapy when he came out. After revealing a dark family secret in the context of this new opportunity in fashion, we’ll see Julian attempt to meaningfully reconnect with his parents for …

Super, Brown And Queer, Carolyn Adams

Capstones

In response to policy seeking to turn back time for marginalized communities, characters and creators - standing at their intersections - are springing into action to change lives in their worlds and ours. Carolyn Adams explores the circumstances surrounding contemporary mainstream representation of women of color and queer superheroes on the big screen and bookshelves alike.

link to capstone: https://www.carolyn-adams.com/writing-updates/capstone

The Never-Ending Lap, Ennica D. Jacob, Alexis Reese

Capstones

This personal film documents the journey of a Haitian-American woman dealing with sexual trauma in a culture that doesn’t speak candidly on the topic. How can women of the African- American diaspora break the cycle of sexual trauma and what are coping mechanisms to navigate their life choices with awareness?

The Never-Ending Lap will follow Ennica’s own healing process, delving delve into the cycles of sexual trauma. The film will explore past experiences through journal entries, therapy sessions and her love for track and field as she is on the road to search for coping mechanisms and healing.

Link: https://ennicajacob.myportfolio.com/videos

Not Manly Enough: Femmephobia’S Stinging Impact On The Transmasculine Community, Tat Bellamy - Walker

Capstones

My capstone project is about femmephobia in the transmasculine community. In interviews with at least six trans men and non-binary people, they explained the struggles they faced accessing health care and the discrimination they faced within their families for having a femme gender presentation. In the story, I speak to Rhea Hoskin, one of the leading researchers on femmephobia in Canada who details why this issue is harmful to the transmasculine community. Additionally, the director of the National Center for Transgender Equality talks about how femmephobia can rear its head and contribute to suicidality and depression in the transmasculine community. …

Wanda And Me: The Continuous Rise Of Puerto Rico's Greatest Pyramid Schemer, Natalia Rodriguez Medina

Capstones

Wanda Rolón is Puerto Rico's most prolific pastor. Her megachurch seats more than 4,000 people. She has ties to the government. She owns several radio and TV stations, and has reached millions. Follow the reporter as she visits Rolón's church, and discovers Wanda's modus operandi, and a bit of herself in this longform narrative.

https://medium.com/@nataliarodrguezmedina/wanda-and-me-the-continuous-rise-of-puerto-ricos-greatest-pyramid-schemer-f2d4ab9e8b5c

Third-Eye, Aaron Fassler

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Third-Eye Device is a peripheral device compatible with any firearm equipped with the Picatinny rail system. Its system of a camera attached to the weapon which connects to an eyepiece allows the user to aim the weapon without aiming down the sights. This device is potentially crucial to those who regularly engage in close-quarters combat such as police and military specialists, whose ability to quickly and accurately clear rooms during operations is critical to their safety and the safety of others. The student team was tasked with improving the device, primarily in its survivability in dusty and wet environments, …

Reducing Vascular Access Complications Through Precise Cannulation Plan Implementation, Rosemarie Quicho

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

Aneurysm, which is the dilatation of the arteriovenous fistula (AVF), and pseudo-aneurysm, which is caused by leaking of blood outside the arteriovenous graft (AVG), pose a threat to the vascular access (VA) and the patient (Mudoni et al., 2015). Uneven vein penetration by dialysis needles and subsequent skin scarring lead to the development of inflammatory changes in the VA area. Scab formation masks the signs of ongoing inflammation. Damage to and tearing of the scab can then lead to lethal exsanguination from the VA (Handlos, Marecová, Smatanová, Dvořáček, & Dobiáš, 2018). Dialysis staff members are trained to use the …

Standardization Of Postoperative Care Guidelines For Pediatric Cleft Palate Patients, Amanda Dailor, Macy Therese G. Andrada, Julie C. Barragan, Samantha T. Gerber, Mercedes S. Greenberg, Tatyana Grib

Master's Projects and Capstones

At a large, community-based pediatric hospital in Southern California, a quality improvement project commenced with a goal to improve patient outcomes by decreasing length of stay and pain levels, while increasing toleration of feeds. Implementing a standardized guideline would ensure safe practice across the continuum and allow providers to use a systematic tool for postoperative care, including nursing care interventions and medications. The Root-Cause-Analysis tool was used to assess the microsystem and determine the contributing factors to the identified problem. A SWOT analysis was then performed, followed by a plan to collect data from all pediatric cleft palate procedures performed …

An Approach To Increase Education In The Flu Vaccination Clinic Process, Koki Guangxi Inlow, Lucy Dale, Devante Lindsey, Nancy Tran Manalo, Elena Teresa Cleary

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Health Ministries Program, located in Orange County, is supported by a large faith-based community hospital and provides community resources such as flu vaccinations that are overseen by the Faith Community Nurse (FCN). In collaboration with the program, University of San Francisco (USF) nursing students researched and developed an implementation of a multi-purpose educational flyer to increase education and better streamline the process at flu vaccination clinics throughout Orange County faith-based organizations. Research shows that many individuals still do not get vaccinated due to misconceptions, misinformation, and lack of knowledge on the importance of flu vaccinations. The cost of flu-related …

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy And Its Relevance In The Adult English As A Second Language Classroom, Helena Henkin

Master's Projects and Capstones

There is an increasing demand for adult English as a Second Language teachers who are qualified to meet the needs of culturally and ethnically diverse students. Cultural dissonance between the students’ cultures and instructional practices and curriculum leads to high drop-out rates and poor instructional outcomes. This Field Project proposes that Culturally Responsive Pedagogy is an important tool to improve the learning outcomes of culturally and ethnically diverse adult English as a Second Language students. This Field Project discusses the theoretical components of Culturally Responsive Teaching. The notion of Culturally Responsive Teaching is premised on the idea that using students’ …

Improving Identification Of Ssi In Snf, Jennifer Teng Yuan Yu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Educational deficit in basic wound assessment can lead to failure to recognize early signs of infection or wound deterioration. Despite many challenges towards wound care, there are potential opportunities to reduce patient injury and clinical outcomes through continuing education. The purpose of this paper is to review literature on current wound care knowledge in nurses and assess existing wound care knowledge in nurses at a skilled nursing facility. A 10-question pre-test wound assessment quiz based on the Bates-Jensen Wound Assessment Tool (BWAT) selected by the Wound Care Coordinator (WCC)/Wound Care Specialist (WCS) was given to 22 nurses: 5 Registered Nurses …

Welcoming Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing English Language Learners: A Guidebook For English Educators, Sarah Chang

Master's Projects and Capstones

Research in the Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) English Language (EL) Education has shown that there is a significant lack of published research and resources within the past ten years.

The purpose of this project is to fill the gap between what is available and what is needed to give EL educators in public universities in the United States a resource and a guide to help them when working with DHH English Language Learners (ELL). Useful information, suggestions, and practices are provided within this guidebook and separated into three different chapters. The goal is to help DHH ELLs feel …

California Stream Condition Index (Csci) Score Analysis Of Streams Sampled From 1998 To 2017 In The San Francisco Bay Region, Jenna Rais

Master's Projects and Capstones

Human impacts to California’s streams have altered the state’s riparian and hydrological landscape. This is a critical issue with regard to natural resources, including ecosystem services such as water availability and water quality. Regulations have a limited amount of impact on the improvement of this landscape and can also become complicated by politics. Scientific advances have developed ways to quantify and describe the quality of streams, this includes the development of the California Stream Condition Index (CSCI) which is based on benthic macroinvertebrate (BMI) population numbers and functions. This index allows scientists to not only score the quality of a …

Best Management Practices For The Conservation Of Western Pond Turtle Populations In California, Cristina Yarnal

Master's Projects and Capstones

This project provides insight into western pond turtle (Actinemys marmorata) population health at sites in three states on the western part of the United States. Washington, Oregon and California have identified the western pond turtle as endangered, a critical and a species of special concern in that respective order. Washington has implemented a recovery plan for western pond turtles and Oregon has established best management practices for the conservation of native turtles. California has yet to establish any guidelines for the conservation of western pond turtles. This species is endemic to the western United States and has been …

Intelligent Fire Rescue Based On Internet Of Things And Virtual Reality, Fengting Yan, Zhicai Shi, Qianmin Su, Dong Jing, Jue Chen, Yunyu Shi, Tang Xian

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The integration of virtual reality, Internet of Things and artificial intelligence can provide intelligent WebVR interaction for fire rescue decision-making. However, it is necessary to solve the problems of data lightweight, real-time data transmission based on the Internet of Things, and visualization of fire scenario data on the web, and to build effective mechanisms and algorithms. This paper proposes an intelligent fire rescue (IVIFR) mechanism based on the integration of Internet of Things and Virtual Reality, gives a virtual intelligent fire rescue (VIFR) algorithm, and constructs a prototype system of intelligent fire rescue. The VIFR algorithm …

Robot Arm Control Method Based On Deep Reinforcement Learning, Heyu Li, Zhilong Zhao, Gu Lei, Liqin Guo, Zeng Bi, Tingyu Lin

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Deep reinforcement learning continues to explore in the environment and adjusts the neural network parameters by the reward function. The actual production line can not be used as the trial and error environment for the algorithm, so there is not enough data. For that, this paper constructs a virtual robot arm simulation environment, including the robot arm and the object. The Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG),in which the state variables and reward function are set,is trained by deep reinforcement learning algorithm in the simulation environment to realize the target of controlling the robot arm to move the gripper below …

Research On Simulation Optimization Of Disk-Based Storage Operation Mode In Warehouse, Danlan Xie, Liu Meng, Haihong Yu, Chen Jing, Yubo Zhou, Kazi Mohiuddin

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: As the efficiency of operation affects the overall competitiveness of the port, it is very necessary to design the storage operation mode reasonably. A disk-based storage operation mode is proposed. And the simulation model is established by using the logistics simulation software FlexSim based on the operational requirements of the warehouse. Through a large number of simulation experiments, comparing the primary storage mode with the disk-based storage mode, the results of the increase in total idle rate and the more balanced distribution of each hour utilization ratio of the forklifts are obtained. The result verifies the feasibility and effectiveness …

Path Planning For Mobile Sink Based On Enhanced Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm In Wireless Sensor Networks, Shanshan Ji

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To reduce the energy consumption and sink mobile distance of mobile sink wireless sensor networks simultaneously, a path planning algorithm for mobile sink based on enhanced ant colony optimization algorithm in wireless sensor networks is proposed. Genetic operators are introduced to ant colony optimization algorithm in order to prevent ant colony optimization premature. The non-uniform of data distribution is considered as the constraint condition, the network lifetime and sink mobile distance are considered as a multi-objective problem, and the enhanced ant colony optimization is adopted to search the Pareto sub-optimal sets of rendezvous points. The simulation results show that …

Evaluation Method Of Node Importance In Equipment Support Network Based On Polymeric Degree, Zhang Qiang, Junhai Cao, Tailiang Song, Yan Xu

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Aiming at the problem that the heterogeneity of nodes in equipment support network and the different support relationships leading to the inaccuracy of judging the importance of nodes based on single attributes such as degree value, this paper puts forward the concept of polymeric degree, and mines the importance information of nodes from the aspects of polymeric degree, betweenness centrality, closeness centrality and Eigenvector centrality. Because of the shortcoming that the Euclidean distance can not reflect the vertical distance in the traditional method of Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), the TOPSIS method is improved. The …

Cooperative Vehicle Positioning Method Based On V2x Enhanced Gps, Jiuling Wang, Shaobo Wu, Yuanli Zhang, Jiahui Qiu, Liu Qi

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: In order to further improve the vehicle positioning accuracy and adaptability to the environment, V2X (vehicle to everything) communication network is used for auxiliary positioning to enhance the GPS/DR integrated positioning. Firstly, the three subsystems of GPS, DR and V2X auxiliary positioning independently perform filtering estimation, and then a better estimation from the GPS and V2X auxiliary positioning is selected to conduct global optimal fusion with DR, and finally the three sub-filters are reset with the feedback of the optimal result. Simulation results show that when the GPS signal is seriously affected by multipath interference, the positioning performance of …

Not Just Yet: Despite Grinding It Out In Silicon Valley, Asians Are Least Likely To Lead Big Tech Companies, Karishma Vanjani

Capstones

Silicon Valley has long been known for the paucity of African-Americans and Hispanics in its ranks, but equally telling is the fact that the vast majority of Asians hired for non-managerial jobs are not moving up to management. The lack of diversity in the upper echelons of the companies is due in part to the maddening stereotype that Asians are too passive. White managers mentoring and supervising Asian employees face a wide gap in understanding cultural disparities. For the companies, though, tightening immigration policies can become barriers when they consider promoting Asians in the country on work visas.

https://karishmavanjani.com/writing/not-just-yet-despite-grinding-it-out-in-silicon-valley-asians-are-least-likely-to-lead-big-tech-companies/?_thumbnail_id=610

The Rockaway Project - Townes, Diara Jepris D. Townes

Capstones

The Rockaway Project is a story-driven website that provides information on the government response to Superstorm Sandy recovery on the Rockaway peninsula in Queens, New York. Dozens of climate resiliency projects have been delayed or remain unfinished, despite millions of dollars in funding and six years of promises. The website hosts audio, visual and digital content, gathered through interviews and data collection.

Link to capstone project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAq2BeR4bS0&t=1s

Using Engagement Journalism To Serve The Needs Of Caregivers Of People With Autism, Ariam Alula

Capstones

I’m Ariam. I worked with a diverse group of families who are intimately impacted by the autism spectrum disorder and other disabilities through caring for a loved one with the diagnosis. During the program, I used my journalism education, advocacy work, and interpersonal skills to support the emotional and informational needs of the community. The majority of the caretakers I engaged over the duration of the program reside in the Bronx, my home borough. I chose to focus on the lived experiences of people in this community because they represent my own. I have an older brother on the spectrum …

The Mta Tried To Improve Outer Borough Bus Service, But They've Only Made It Worse, Adwait Patil

Capstones

The MTA Bus Company introduced articualted, or twin-carraige, buses on three high-volume routes that connect the outer-boroughs to key locations in order to save money and improve service. Since then, commuters say service has only gotten worse and they think agency just doesn't care.

(https://adwaitadwait.github.io/project/)

How New York City Is Failing Students With Special Needs—And Why Minority Kids Have It The Worst, Pamela Subizar

Capstones

Under federal law, children are guaranteed free, appropriate education, but reports have found failures at every level of the New York City special education system. Despite some improvements by the city in recent years, initial evaluations are still delayed, and mandated services go unprovided. Complaints filed against the city have multiplied. Thousands of parents have to sacrifice savings and time fighting for better services. This report describes the particular challenges faced by minority families using data analysis, interviews with experts, and stories.

Latino students depend on these public services the most—they represent half of NYC students in special education programs. …

Cultivating Hope, Weaving Peace: Colombian Educators Building Pathways To Teach About The Armed Conflict, Laura Vesga Villalba

Master's Theses

Communities affected by conflict require additional educational support in order to adequately reflect on their situation and learn peacebuilding skills. Research is needed to examine how peacebuilding education is being approached through an intergenerational lens, to address the trauma that is carried throughout generations and the healing and reconciliation that may be brought about through successful critical peacebuilding education programs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the formal and informal educational approaches to teaching about the armed conflict in Colombia. The research methodology for this study was phenomenological research conducted through semi-structured interviews. Results illustrated that educational approaches …