Digital Commons Network^™

Parental Influence On Mate Selection In Modern Chinese Society, Szu-Yu Lin, Richard B. Miller, Li Ping Su-Kubricht, Jason Whiting, Roy Bean, Chih-Han Hsieh, Tsui-Shan Li

Faculty Publications

Traditional patterns of mate selection in Chinese societies involving arranged marriages by parents have been changing towards individual choice of a marriage partner. However, it is unclear to what extent this transition has occurred in Chinese society. The values and experiences of contemporary Chinese adults about parental influences on mate selection were addressed by conducting six focus groups in Taipei, Taiwan, which included a total of 51 participants. The results from qualitative analysis indicated that most participants did not feel obligated to have their parents' influence who they would marry. However, most of them wished for their parents to approve …

A Euclid Dissent, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

In Euclid v. Ambler Realty, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of zoning, including zoning that excluded apartment houses and retail businesses. Although the decision was not unanimous, the Euclid minority did not write a formal dissent. The purpose of this article is to show what such a dissent should have looked like.

Foreword To Latcrit 2017 Symposium: What’S Next? Resistance Resilience And Community In The Trump Era, Jorge R. Roig, Saru M. Matambanadzo, Sheila I. Vélez-Martínez

Scholarly Works

In this Foreword, we strive to contextualize “LatCrit XXI: What’s Next?” against the backdrop of two crises: the current political crisis in the United States and the continuing crisis of scarcity that impacts the legal academy. Through an examination of these crises, we will reveal how LatCrit scholars, in their efforts to build community and in their commitment to critical outsider scholarship, are part of the constellations of resistance that struggle against el mundo malo. We will argue that LatCrit has become a necessary institution for those seeking to engage in persistent resistance and dissent in the critical and progressive …

Out Of The Freezer And Into The Policy Fire: Quandaries In Reproductive Cryopreservation, Rebecca Feinberg

Scholarly Works

The field of assisted reproduction is advancing rapidly and is ripe for regulation and guidance. In 2018, over four thousand frozen eggs and embryos were lost to approximately one thousand patients at Ahuja University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, due to an accidental thaw of a cryopreservation tank. The precedent that will be set by the Ahuja class-action case is significant for both past events and future possibilities and is core to the discussion of policy involving the cryopreservation of gametes and embryos.

K–12 Blended Teaching Readiness: Model And Instrument Development, Charles R. Graham, Jered Borup, Emily Pulham, Ross Larsen

Faculty Publications

An increasing number of K–12 schools have adopted blended learning approaches. Current empirical research has been sparse regarding preparing teachers for blended teaching, including the skills they must develop to teach in blended contexts. This research is focused on that weakness, with the purposes of systematically identifying the skills needed for teaching in a blended learning context and of developing and testing an instrument that can be used to determine individual and school-wide readiness for blended teaching. In this study we present a measurement model used to develop items for measuring K–12 blended learning readiness. Specifically the instrument contained the …

Reward Type And Performance: An Examination Of Organizational Wellness Programs, William G. Heninger, Steven D. Smith, David A. Wood

Faculty Publications

We examine organizational control in the context of wellness programs—organizational initiatives designed to improve the physical and mental health of employees. In a field study setting, we examine the associations of three different types of incentives (cash, gift cards, and tangible rewards) with wellness program performance. We find that employees who successfully complete program challenges are associated with greater weight loss. We also find participants choosing gift cards are associated with the greatest program success, even though cash rewards are selected more than twice as often as gift cards. Tangible rewards are the least frequently selected reward and are associated …

Mitigating Climate Change Through Transportation And Land Use Policy, Alejandro E. Camacho, Melissa L. Kelly, Nicholas J. Marantz, Gabriel Weil

Scholarly Works

A number of U.S. state and local governments have adopted strategies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation and land development. Although some have made significant progress in reducing GHG emissions from the power sector, transportation emissions in most states continue to rise. This Article details the range of existing and proposed state interventions to reduce transportation sector GHG emissions, analyzes the trade offs of these strategies, and offers recommendations to improve and supplement such initiatives, including strategic use of planning mandates and funding and technical assistance. Additionally, regulating land use, shifting transportation spending, removing barriers to implementing road …

The Predictive Performance Of Objective Measures Of Physical Activity Derived From Accelerometry Data For 5-Year All-Cause Mortality In Older Adults: National Health And Nutritional Examination Survey 2003-2006, Ekaterina Smirnova, Andrew Leroux, Quy Cao, Lucia Tabacu, Vadim Zipunnikov, Ciprian Crainiceanu, Jacek Urbanek

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Background: Declining physical activity (PA) is a hallmark of aging. Wearable technology provides reliable measures of the frequency, duration, intensity, and timing of PA. Accelerometry-derived measures of PA are compared to established predictors of 5-year all-cause mortality in older adults in terms of individual, relative, and combined predictive performance.

Methods: Participants between 50 and 85 years old from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES, n = 2978) wore a hip-worn accelerometer in the free-living environment for up to 7 days. A total of 33 predictors of 5-year all-cause mortality (number of events = 297), including 20 measures …

Redmond (2002) Revisited: Have Standardized Behavioral Rating Scales Gotten Better At Accommodating For Overlapping Symptoms With Language Impairment?, Kirsten M. Hannig, Sean M. Redmond, Amy Wilder

Faculty Publications

Seventeen years ago, Redmond ¹ reviewed five standardized behavioral rating scales and identified several aspects of their design that made them prone to mischaracterize language impairments as socioemotional behavioral disorders. The purpose of this report is to provide an update and extension of the original audit. We consulted test manuals to evaluate: (1) representation of children with language impairments in their standardization samples; (2) presence of language, or academic items within their inventories; (3) accommodations for administering the measure to children with language impairments; and (4) procedures for identifying inordinately punitive ratings. Overlapping language and academic symptoms continued to be …

Nagwediẑk’An Gwaneŝ Gangu Ch’Inidẑed Ganexwilagh: The Fires Awakened Us: Tsilhqot’In Report On The 2017 Wildfires, Jocelyn Stacey, Crystal Verhaeghe, Emma Feltes

All Faculty Publications

This report documents the experiences of the Tsilhqot'in Nation during the historic 2017 wildfire season. It identifies needs and recommendations for moving forward with nation-to-nation emergency management.

Redmond (2002) Revisited: Have Standardized Behavioral Rating Scales Gotten Better At Accommodating For Overlapping Symptoms With Language Impairment?, Kirsten M. Russell, Sean M. Redmond, Amy Wilder

Faculty Publications

Seventeen years ago, Redmond reviewed five standardized behavioral rating scales and identified several aspects of their design that made them prone to mischaracterize language impairments as socioemotional behavioral disorders. The purpose of this report is to provide an update and extension of the original audit. We consulted test manuals to evaluate: (1) representation of children with language impairments in their standardization samples; (2) presence of language, or academic items within their inventories; (3) accommodations for administering the measure to children with language impairments; and (4) procedures for identifying inordinately punitive ratings. Overlapping language and academic symptoms continued to be a …

Somatosensory Cross-Modal Reorganization In Children With Cochlear Implants, Garrett Cardon, Anu Sharma

Faculty Publications

Deprived of sensory input, as in deafness, the brain tends to reorganize. Cross-modal reorganization occurs when cortices associated with deficient sensory modalities are recruited by other, intact senses for processing of the latter’s sensory input. Studies have shown that this type of reorganization may affect outcomes when sensory stimulation is later introduced via intervention devices. One such device is the cochlear implant (CI). Hundreds of thousands of CIs have been fitted on people with hearing impairment worldwide, many of them children. Factors such as age of implantation have proven useful in predicting speech perception outcome with these devices in children. …

Using Real-Time Visual Biofeedback For Second Language Instruction, Shawn L. Nissen, Rebecca Nissen

Faculty Publications

This demonstration will illustrate how using real-time visual biofeedback, through a relatively new type of electropalatographic (EPG) sensor, might facilitate improved pronunciation for learners of a second language (L2). The manner in which the EPG sensor is created and its use to track lingua-palatal articulation patterns will be described to individuals. This presentation will also include an explanation of how a student can visualize the contact patterns of their speech using the associated instructional software. A brief tutorial on the features of the instructional software will also be explained during the “show and tell” presentation.

Faith, Feminism, And Marriage: Institutions, Norms, And Relationship Quality, Jason S. Carroll, Spencer James, W. Bradford Wilcox, Richard Reeves, Laurie Derose

Faculty Publications

In this essay, we explore the links between religion and relationship quality for cohabiting and married couples. Our evidence from an 11-country sample suggests men and women in highly religious couples enjoy significantly higher levels of relationship quality and sexual satisfaction. Joint decision-making, however, is higher among men in shared secular relationships and women in highly religious relationships, compared to their peers in less/mixed religious couples. We also find a J-Curve in overall relationship quality for women such that women in shared secular, progressive relationships enjoy comparatively high levels of relationship quality, women in the ideological and religious middle report …

Quantifying Human Biological Age: A Machine Learning Approach, Syed Ashiqur Rahman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Quantifying human biological age is an important and difficult challenge. Different biomarkers and numerous approaches have been studied for biological age prediction, each with its advantages and limitations. In this work, we first introduce a new anthropometric measure (called Surface-based Body Shape Index, SBSI) that accounts for both body shape and body size, and evaluate its performance as a predictor of all-cause mortality. We analyzed data from the National Health and Human Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Based on the analysis, we introduce a new body shape index constructed from four important anthropometric determinants of body shape and body size: body …

Kidney Ailment Prediction Under Data Imbalance, Ranaa Mahveen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is the leading cause for kidney failure. It is a global health problem affecting approximately 10% of the world population and about 15% of US adults. Chronic Kidney Diseases do not generally show any disease specific symptoms in early stages thus it is hard to detect and prevent such diseases. Early detection and classification are the key factors in managing Chronic Kidney Diseases.

In this thesis, we propose a new machine learning technique for Kidney Ailment Prediction. We focus on two key issues in machine learning, especially in its application to disease prediction. One is related …

Effects Of E-Cigarette Flavoring Chemicals On Human Macrophages And Bronchial Epithelial Cells, Anna Manzi Morris

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

E-cigarettes and vapes are relatively new devices which are popular among young adults and teens. These devices vaporize an “e-liquid” for the user to inhale, which typically contains a mixture of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), varying concentrations of nicotine, and flavoring chemicals. Due to these flavoring chemicals being intended for ingestion as a food additive, their respiratory health effects are not well understood. Thousands of e-cigarette flavors are available on the market, many of which have the potential for toxicity. The majority of e-liquid flavoring chemicals (ELFCs) have not been tested for inhalation safety. In this study, we …

Improving Broiler Performance Utilizing Modern Feed Additives, Niles Rourke Ridgeway

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Modern broiler production strives to make modest improvements regarding broiler performance. This remains a goal as global population increases thusly increasing the quantity of an affordable, high quality source of protein. In recent years, an added stressor to achieving prior goals is mostly related to consciousness of environmental and consumer health. For decades, integrators have utilized minimal amounts of antibiotics as a barrier to most pathogens affecting the microbiome of a broiler’s gastrointestinal tract. Regulatory efforts have now prohibited most of previous sub-therapeutic medicine and started an in-depth scope of broiler gut health and interaction with antibiotic alternatives. In an …

Development Of A Sustainability Evaluation And Control Framework For Chemical Processes, Shuyun Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Industry, government, and society have begun to shift from economic stand-alone focus to the inclusion of sustainability in the decision-making process. This shift can be attributed to the growing environmental and social awareness that makes consumers and stakeholders not only care about product quality and cost, but also products and processes that minimize the environmental impact and conserve natural resources. As a result, some progress has been made in recognizing and understanding the challenges of sustainable development, which helps evaluating the sustainability performance of a specific process/product. In particular, sustainability assessment tools and methodologies have been developed to help the …

Metal Nanomaterials: Immune Effects And Implications Of Physicochemical Properties On Sensitization, Elicitation, And Augmentation Of Allergic Disease, Katherine Adair Roach

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many allergenic metals are being manufactured in nanoparticulate forms. Although the decreased size profile of metal nanomaterials has been consistently associated with more pronounced lung toxicity compared to larger materials, it is unclear if metal-induced immunotoxic effects exhibit a similar size-dependency.

The central hypothesis of these studies was that metal nanoparticles cause more pronounced immunomodulatory effects on allergic processes than larger forms of respective metals. Moreover, it was anticipated that, similar to their inflammatory potential in airways, the magnitude of these responses would correlate best with the dose metric of surface area.

The first set of studies utilized fine and …

Energy Efficiency Evaluation Of Blower Heater Non-Purge Compressed Air Dryers, Alexandra M. Botts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are several compressed air dryers available for industrial use including, refrigerant, desiccant, and membrane. This research focuses on twin tower regenerative closed loop desiccant dryers, specifically: blower heater non-purge (BHNP) with and without cooling water pumps, Compressed-air Heater Purge (CHP), Blower Heater Purge (BHP), and Pressure Swing Heaterless (PSH). These styles of dryers are used mainly in industries that require extremely dry air such as, food manufacturing, medical air, or sensitive technology manufacturers. The research was conducted by collecting and analyzing real time current draw data on air compressors and associated dryers at eight different facilities (13 compressor systems) …

Autonomous Systems With Reuse: A Survey On The State-Of-The-Practice, Denny Laverne Hood Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This problem report presents the results of an anonymous online survey that was used to collect information about software systems that use model-based software engineering, contain autonomy and where software reuse plays an important role. Recent advancements in computation ability and the emergence of decision-making algorithms have increased interest in and use of autonomy in applications areas such as aeronautics, automotive, military, and space industries. In these application domains, autonomy is used to reduce costs, reduce reaction times, and improve performance. Due to the emerging nature of autonomy, very little research has been done regarding the level of autonomy of …

Immunomagnetic Beads Coupled With Anti-Ph-20 Antibodies To Isolate Sperm From Dna Mixtures For Sexual Assault Kit Application, Kayla Becks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sexual Assault Kits (SAKs) account for a large portion of DNA mixture samples that are processed within a forensic laboratory, most commonly in the form of vaginal swabs. A typical vaginal swab from a SAK contains the female victim's epithelial cells and varying concentrations of sperm cells left by the perpetrator. The key to analyzing these types of samples is to separate the mixture into male and female fractions. As such, there is a demand to develop novel techniques that have the capability of recovering as much of the male fraction as possible, specifically in cases where there is a …

Can Fitts' Throughput Be A Predictor Of Muscle Fatigue – A Study Based On Metacarpal Gloves?, Sachin Sah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this study, Fitts’ throughput was used to estimate throughput for metacarpal gloves. Fitts’ throughput combines speed and accuracy during target transfer/movement tasks into a single performance index. It was hypothesized that the throughput will be affected by the glove condition and it will exhibit a relationship with the physiological response of hand muscles and perceived exertions. Fifteen healthy participants (10 males, 5 females) were recruited for data collection. Each participant performed a series of target transfer tasks using four glove conditions: (1) a pigskin leather (glove 1); (2) a synthetic fiber glove (glove 2); (3) a goat-grain leather glove …

Artificial Immune System For Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Abnormal Condition Detection And Identification, Ryan G. Mclaughlin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A detection and identification scheme for abnormal conditions was developed for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) based on the artificial immune system (AIS) paradigm. This technique involves establishing a body of data to represent normal conditions referred to as “self” and differentiating these conditions from abnormal conditions, referred to as “non-self”. Data collected from simulation of the UAV attempting to autonomously fly a pre-decided trajectory were used to develop and test a scheme that was able to detect and identify aircraft sensor and actuator faults. These faults included aerodynamic control surface locks and damages and angular rate sensor biases. The …

A Biomimetic Approach To Controlling Restorative Robotics, Matthew T. Boots

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Movement is the only way a person can interact with the world around them. When trauma to the neuromuscular systems disrupts the control of movement, quality of life suffers. To restore limb functionality, active robotic interventions and/or rehabilitation are required. Unfortunately, the primary obstacle in a person’s recovery is the limited robustness of the human-machine interfaces. Current systems rely on control approaches that rely on the person to learn how the system works instead of the system being more intuitive and working with the person naturally. My research goal is to design intuitive control mechanisms based on biological processes termed …

Rule Extraction And Insertion To Improve The Performance Of A Dynamic Cell Structure Neural Network, Osama Amhamed Elsarrar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Artificial Neural Networks are extremely useful machine learning tools. They are used for many purposes, such as prediction, classification, pattern recognition, etc. Although neural networks have been used for decades, they are still often not completely understood or trusted, especially in safety and mission critical situations. Typically, neural networks are trained on data sets that are representative of what needs to be learned. Sometimes training sets are constructed in order to train the neural network in a certain way, in order to embed appropriate knowledge. The purpose of this research is to determine if there is another method that can …

Being Mindful Of Perfectionism And Performance Among Athletes In A Judged Sport, Erika D. Van Dyke

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Literature pertaining to mindfulness and perfectionism in sport has expanded greatly in recent years. However, little research has integrated mindfulness and perfectionism, particularly within sports where athletes are judged on performance to a standard of perfection. The current study had two primary aims: (1) to explore profiles of mindfulness and perfectionism among intercollegiate gymnasts through a person-centered approach, and (2) to analyze differences in objective performance measures across the resulting profiles. The analytic sample consisted of 244 NCAA gymnasts representing NCAA Division I, II, and III institutions. Gymnasts completed self-report measures of mindfulness and perfectionism. Competitive performance records (i.e., national …

The Politics Of Drug Courts, Jeffrey Chris Moss

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined drug courts from a public policy and political science perspective. The first portion of the study focused on the history of sentencing policy from the 1970s through the drug court movement. The second chapter addressed gaps in the policy literature about how drug courts were created and how they evolved. Another focal point was determining how state-level actors such as legislators, state supreme courts, and bureaucratic agencies regulated drug court policy in each particular state. From this data, a continuum was formed to determine which states operated from a top-down management style for drug courts and which …

Critical Physicochemical Properties For Nanoparticle Toxicity: Impact Of Surface Coating And Size On Particle-Induced Cell Transformation And Inflammatory Response, Tiffany Kornberg

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nanoparticles, which measure 100 nm in at least one dimension, have surged in development, production, and use for a wide range of applications. However, the rapid pace of development for these emerging materials with unclear/unknown toxicity profiles makes it difficult to adequately assess health risk associated with exposure. One critical obstacle which limits scientific research to fill these critical knowledge gaps is the lack of accurate and predictive models for nanotoxicology studies, particularly those which involve occupationally relevant exposure scenarios (pulmonary exposure to low dose of particles in the circulating air). Typically, animal models are used to assess potential systemic …