Digital Commons Network^™

Creche Herald Vol. 23, No. 4, Rita B. Bocher

Creche Herald

The Winter 2019 publication features nativity sets and personal reflections from members in the organization; information about nativities and nativity exhibits; and information about the Friends of the Creche annual meeting.

Parsing Code-Switched Taglish Language By Creating Constituents, Fadiah Qudah

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

When extracting meaning from language, a common first step is to break down language into constituents, or words that work together as a unit. This task, known as parsing, typically follows a specific grammar in order decompose the language into its underlying structure composed of constituents. Difficulties with this grammar-based parsing occur, however, with real-world natural language due to its unstructured nature. Code-switching, the phenomenon of alternating between languages while communicating, further complicates this task by requiring us to parse based on two (or more) languages instead of one. In this thesis, a data-driven method to parse code-switched language into …

Social Media Text Analysis Using Multi-Kernel Convolutional Neural Network, Anna Philips

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Transportation planners and ride hailing platforms such as Uber and Lyft use their riders feedback to assess their services and monitor customer satisfaction. Social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and in particular Twitter provides a large dataset of micro-texts by users who regularly post to their social media accounts about their grievances with their ride experience. This data is often unorganized and intractable to process because of it’s extremely large size which is continuously increasing daily. In this project, we collected ride hailing service relevant text data from Twitter around New York and developed a novel Convolutional Neural …

Deduplication-Aware Page Cache In Linux Kernel For Improved Read Performance, Venkata Satya Ravi Kiran Boggavarapu

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The amount of data being produced and consumed is increasing every day. As a result, there can be a large amount of redundant data in the storage system. Storing and accessing these duplicate data unnecessarily consumes disk space and I/O bandwidth. Deduplication techniques are widely deployed to remove the redundancy. In particular, the deduplication solutions that work at the block level are proven to be effective. These solutions aim to effectively use disk space and write bandwidth by avoiding duplicate data writes to the storage. However, such a design might not help in improving the read performance, which is critical …

Use Of Word Embedding To Generate Similar Words And Misspellings For Training Purpose In Chatbot Development, Sanjay Thapa

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The advancement in the field of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning has played a significant role in the huge improvement of conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI). The use of text-based conversation AI such as chatbots have increased significantly for the everyday purpose to communicate with real people for a variety of tasks. Chatbots are deployed in almost all popular messaging platforms and channels. The rise of chatbot development frameworks based on machine learning is helping to deploy chatbot easily and promptly. These chatbot development frameworks use machine learning and natural language understanding (NLU) to understand users' messages and intents and …

Hiding In Plain Sight? The Impact Of Face Recognition Services On Privacy, James Richard Ortega

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The public at large is increasingly concerned with privacy online. While the focus is on the data privately collected by platforms, there are also privacy concerns in the realm of public data. Seemingly innocuous information shared in public, on online platforms, can be pieced together to detrimentally affect one's privacy in unexpected ways. On YouTube there exists a rich public dataset for adversaries to analyze for the purposes of breaching privacy; particularly due to the intersection of location and facial data. The goal of this work is to characterize the privacy risks that exists on YouTube, and explore the viability …

Using Property-Based Testing, Weighted Grammar-Based Generators, And A Consensus Oracle To Test Browser Rendering Engines And To Reproduce Minimized Versions Of Existing Test Cases, Joel David Martin

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Verifying that a web browser rendering engine correctly renders all valid web pages is challenging due to the size of the input space (valid web pages), the difficulty of determining correct rendering for any given web page (the test oracle problem), and the degree to which normal variation in browser rendering behavior can obscure other differences (fonts, bor- ders, input controls, etc). These challenges lead to manual human involvement during the testing process. We propose a new Property-Based Testing (PBT) approach that addresses these challenges in order to enable automated web browser render testing. Our approach is composed of the …

The Impact Of Toxic Replies On Twitter Conversations, Nazanin Salehabadi

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Social media has become an empowering agent for individual voices and freedom of expression. Yet, it can also serve as a breeding ground for hate speech. According to a Pew Research Center study, 41% of Americans have been personally subjected to harassing behavior online, 66% have witnessed these behaviors directed at others, and 18% have been subjected to particularly severe forms of harassment online, such as physical threats, harassment over a sustained period, sexual harassment, or stalking. Recently, many research studies have tried to understand online hate speech and its implications, focusing on detecting and characterizing hate speech. One limitation …

Numerical Study Of Detonation Flame Arrestor Performance And Detonation Interaction With The Arrestor Element, Hoden Ali Farah

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

A numerical study of detonation propagation and interaction with a flame arrestor product in a combustible gas/vapor transport pipeline system is conducted. The flame arrestor element is modeled as a porous medium using the Forchheimer equation, which is incorporated in the governing conservation equations as a momentum sink. The Forchheimer porous medium model is then used to model the flow through a representative four-inch detonation flame arrestor and is validated with experimental data. The detonation propagation simulation is modeled with the Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations extended for reacting flow. A 21-step chemical kinetic mechanism with 10 species is used …

Assessment Of Material State In Composites Using Global Dielectric State Variable, Vamsee Vadlamundi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Composites are heterogeneous in nature and a fundamental understanding of the material response to applied mechanical, thermal, electrical and other multi-physical fields is required to efficiently design and synthesize the material system and demands attention to long-term behavior in particular. Unlike metals, composites are designed to develop distributed damage and initiation of a single microscopic crack does not individually affect the strength/life of these materials. Therefore, the primary interest is not in single local events but in the process of interaction of multiple events that have a collective global effect on the material behavior. The interaction of these local events …

Static Response Calibration Of 3d Printed Thin Walled Structures Using Fused Deposition Modelling, Akhilesh Ravindra Kulkarni

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

3-D printing has enabled flexible, tool-less fabrication that yields numerous benefits. One benefit is unique and complex structural arrangements that increase design freedom to minimize weight. Such arrangements can be guided by advanced topology, shape, and sizing optimization tools using appropriate process constraints to ensure a printable design and can include highly integrated structural details such as stiffeners, flanges, frames, and other connections. 3D printing thin wall aircraft structures presents challenges for material and structural characterization. 3D printing enables integrated structural details, each detail is affected by the print process capability to fabricate the local geometry and deviations from designed …

Backstepping Approach For Design Of Cascaded Pid Controller With Guaranteed Trajectory Tracking Performance For Micro-Air Uav, Yusuf Kartal

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Flight controllers for micro-air UAVs are generally designed using Proportional- Integral-Derivative (PID) methods, where the tuning of gains is difficult and time-consuming, and performance is not guaranteed. In this thesis, we develop a rigorous method based on the sliding mode analysis and nonlinear backstepping to design a PID controller with guaranteed performance. This technique provides the structure and gains for the PID controller, such that a robust and fast response of the UAV for trajectory tracking is achieved. First, the second-order sliding variable errors are used in a rigorous nonlinear backstepping design to obtain guaranteed performance for the nonlinear UAV …

Budgeting In Times Of Fiscal Stress: An Analysis Of The Budget Process And Resource Allocation Of Social Programs In A Large Urban County From 2006-2017, Ronica L. Watkins Babers

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Grusky, et al. (2011) refer to the Great Recession as a transformative event that spiraled into as systemic crisis affecting both the public and private sector. Although the origin of the Great Recession was in the collapse of the housing market, it, in turn, created and sustained a crisis in both the financial sector as well as the labor market (Fligstein and Goldstein, 2012). The downturn would eventually lead to the most significant labor market dislocation in the post- Depression era, driving up high and long-term unemployment as well as involuntarily working part-time individuals (Grusky et al. 2011). Each level …

Lost In Translation? Assessing The Intercultural Sensitivity Levels Of Planners In The Dallas- Fort Worth Area, Eihua Corinne Olivia Shaw

Planning Dissertations - Archive

The inclusion of minorities in the public participation process is one of the greatest challenges within the field of planning. However, the political structures around public participation make it difficult for practitioners to respond to the challenges and needs of an increasing number of cultural minority groups in urban regions. Scholars have advised planners to be more sensitive to the needs of minorities, but there are no tools in the planning field to evaluate cultural sensitivity in practice. This dissertation examines public participation related to intercultural sensitivity. In particular, this research adds to a better understanding of the role of …

Pathway To Adopting Learning Analytics: Reconceptualizing The Decision-Making Process Of K-12 Leaders In North Texas, Justin T. Dellinger

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

Learning analytics has emerged as a data-driven way to improve learner outcomes over the past decade. However, as the adoption and implementation of learning analytics continues to surge, there are some significant barriers to this process, such as stakeholder buy-in, training, and support, concerns over privacy and ethical issues, the quality of tools provided by third-party vendors, and institutional capacity to collect and meaningfully analyze and interpret data. Poor implementation can increase inequities, squander public funding, foster stakeholder resistance around future initiatives, and ultimately lead to abandonment. Another challenge stems from the need for educators to not only understand a …

Development Of Medical Devices For Osteoarthritis Diagnosis, Antimicrobial, Wound Closure, And Wound Ph Milieu Monitoring, Shuxin Li

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Nanotechnology has been widely used in the field of biomedical engineering. For example, nanoparticles have been employed for targeted drug delivery due to their retention effect, increased permeability, site-specific targeting, and avoiding phagocytosis as foreign materials. Moreover, nanotools, such as liposomes, Q-dots, dendrimers, micelles, and carbon nanotubes, have been developed for disease diagnosis and treatment. Generally, the application of nanotechnology can be categorized as follows: nanomedicine, tissue regeneration, biomarker/biosensors, nanorobots, and gene therapy. In the past four years, I have been focusing on developing nanotechnology for diagnosis and treatment of many diseases such as osteoarthritis, open wound, and infection. Based …

Assembly-Scale And Whole-Building Energy Performance Analysis Of Ultra-High-Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (Uhp-Frc) Façade Systems, Bahram Abediniangerabi

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The majority of building energy consumption is used to heat and cool enclosed spaces. An innovative ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHP-FRC) façade system could potentially reduce this energy consumption by utilizing UHP-FRC’s high structural strength and ductility hence more space for insulation. The energy performance assessment of innovative façade systems such as UHP-FRC panels could be misleading if the effect of building types and climate contexts on building energy consumption is not considered. Moreover, thermal bridging and hygrothermal analyses of UHP-FRC panels are needed to investigate the heat and moisture transfer within the panels. The main objectives of this study are …

Nano-Petrophysical Study Of The Dean, Wolfcamp, And Canyon Formations Of The Midland Basin, Texas, Usa., Benton M. Mowrey

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

The prolific levels of oil and gas production from the shale revolution have been plagued by steep initial production decline and inefficiencies in recovering the total hydrocarbons in place. Even the widespread practice of using multi-well sites with closely spaced wellbores has failed to yield a moderate fraction of the potential resources. It is hypothesized that the constraints of shale production arise from its nano-pore structure. Slow, diffuse hydrocarbon transport from the shale matrix to the stimulated fracture network is a likely production bottleneck. Understanding transport phenomena from this tight, porous matrix to the fracture via nanometer-scale pathways is essential …

Gratitude

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.

Development And Evaluation Of A One-Step Multiplex Real-Time Taqman® Rt-Qpcr Assay For The Detection And Genotyping Of Equine G3 And G14 Rotaviruses In Fecal Samples, Mariano Carossino, Maria E. Barrandeguy, Erdal Erol, Yanqiu Li, Udeni B. R. Balasuriya

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Banner - V. 154, No. 11 - (December 2019), Christian Reformed Church In North America

The Banner

No abstract provided.

A Path Towards Arctic Presence: Stricter Regulation As The First Step In Free Navigation, Luke A. Sanders

UC Law Journal

The Arctic ice cap is melting. As the ice recedes, shipping lanes are opening that present shorter transport routes across the top of the globe. Industry analysts predict an Arctic shipping boom in coming years. In response, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) implemented a Polar Code (the “Polar Code” or the “Code”) to place heightened environmental and safety requirements on ships traversing the Arctic and Antarctic regions. These rules are binding on the United States, and the U.S. Coast Guard published the rulemaking for Polar Ship requirements. However, the rules have multiple shortcomings and loopholes. At the IMO, conversations have …

From Actions To Paths To Patterning: Toward A Dynamic Theory Of Patterning In Routines, Kenneth T. Goh, Brian T. Pentland

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper demonstrates a new way of seeing and theorizing about the dynamics of organizational routines through the concept of paths – time-ordered sequences of actions or events in performing work. Empirically and conceptually, paths provide the missing link between specific actions and patterns of action. When routines are represented as a narrative network, tracing the formation and dissolution of action paths can generate new insights about the dynamic patterning of actions in routine performances. We traced action paths using longitudinal field data from a videogame development project and found that action patterns change dramatically over time based on the …

Of Promoting Networking And Protecting Privacy: Effects Of Defaults And Regulatory Focus On Social Media Users’ Preference Settings, Hichang Cho, Sungjong Roh, Byungho Park

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Privacy research has debated whether privacy decision-making is determined by users' stable preferences (i.e., individual traits), privacy calculus (i.e., cost-benefit analysis), or “responses on the spot” that vary across contexts. This study focuses on two factors—default setting as a contextual factor and regulatory focus as an individual difference factor—and examines the degree to which these factors affect social media users' decision-making when using privacy preference settings in a fictitious social networking site. The results, based on two experimental studies (study 1, n = 414; study 2, n = 213), show that default settings significantly affect users' privacy preferences, such that …

Finance And Ideology: The Firm-Level Channels, Hao Liang, Rong Wang, Haikun Zhu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We provide firm-level evidence on how politicians’ ideologies affect economic outcomes and financial development by exploring a unique setting of ideological discontinuity in China from Maoism to Dengism around 1978. We find the ideological exposure during a politician’s early adulthood has an enduring effect on contemporary firm and city policies. Firms governed by “Mao’s mayors” have more stakeholder spending, lower pay inequality, and less internationalization than those governed by Deng’s. Further evidence suggests politicians’ ideology may affect economic activities through channels other than economic policy. Selection bias, endogenous matching and mayor age effect are unlikely to drive our results.

Don’T Google It: The European Union’S Antitrust Parade (“Enforcement”) Against America’S Tech Giants, Mariah Witt

San Diego International Law Journal

This Article details several case studies, each exemplifying the EU’s pro- competition practices versus the American monopoly-like corporations of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. The EU claims that each of these companies have abused their dominant position in their respective markets. Many companies (including those not listed in this comment) that have faced the EU’s antitrust wrath are merely the successful giants of their field, who should be enjoying their success, not sitting in fear of success’s implications in the global arena. This comment will conclude with a warning to future American corporations on the path to monopoly-like power and status …

The Impact Of Brand Identity In Achieving Marketing Objectives Applied Study In The International Company For Smart Card "Key Card", Sarmad Hamza Jassim, Samaa Ali Abdel Hussein

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Each organization has values ​​and objectives, tangible and intangible properties of its products. The reflection of properties on the brand constitutes the identity of the brand that contributes to building the customer's convictions about the products or services provided by any organization and its brand in a positive or negative way. This is reflected in purchasing behavior, which may push forward the progress towards marketing goals or deviation from them. Therefore, the current research came to identify the brand identity, its types and the factors affecting them and how they affect to achieve each of the marketing goals. At a …

Automated Measurement Of Heavy Equipment Greenhouse Gas Emission: The Case Of Road/Bridge Construction And Maintenance, Reza Akhavian

Mineta Transportation Institute

Road/bridge construction and maintenance projects are major contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), mainly due to extensive use of heavy-duty diesel construction equipment and large-scale earthworks and earthmoving operations. Heavy equipment is a costly resource and its underutilization could result in significant budget overruns. A practical way to cut emissions is to reduce the time equipment spends doing non-value-added activities and/or idling. Recent research into the monitoring of automated equipment using sensors and Internet-of-Things (IoT) frameworks have leveraged machine learning algorithms to predict the behavior of tracked entities.

In this project, end-to-end deep learning models …

The Potential For Using Loyalty Rewards And Incentives Programs To Encourage Transit Ridership And Regional Transportation And Land Use Integration, Christopher E. Ferrell

Mineta Transportation Institute

Transit smart cards can be used as a tool for increasing transit ridership, increasing retail sales in transit-oriented developments (TODs) and eventually, increasing opportunities for retail development in TODs. Instead of providing separate loyalty rewards for each store, or chain of stores, such cards would provide loyalty rewards—in several possible forms, including free transit ride credits, cash rewards, retail purchase discounts, sweepstakes rewards—to all transit riders who patronize TOD retail businesses. Additional rewards could also be given to transit riders who live, work, and shop in TODs, and even to riders who take transit for specific shopping trips in TODs. …

Green Up Pavement Rehabilitation Design Tool, Dragos Andrei, Robert E. Kochan, Jose H. Perez

Mineta Transportation Institute

While designers produce pavement rehabilitation recommendations every day, for projects of all sizes, most designers have little information on the environmental impact of their recommendations. This research developed a new decision tool, called the “Green Up Pavement Rehabilitation Design Tool,” to allow the comparison of different rehabilitation solutions in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and to encourage sustainable practices such as materials recycling and the use of permeable, cool, and quiet pavement surfaces. The project aligns with the major goal of California Senate Bill 1, which is “to address deferred maintenance on the state highway system and the local street …