Digital Commons Network^™

A Simheuristic Approach For Evolving Agent Behaviour In The Exploration For Novel Combat Tactics, Chiou-Peng Lam, Martin Masek, Luke Kelly, Michael Papasimeon, Lyndon Benke

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The automatic generation of behavioural models for intelligent agents in military simulation and experimentation remains a challenge. Genetic Algorithms are a global optimization approach which is suitable for addressing complex problems where locating the global optimum is a difficult task. Unlike traditional optimisation techniques such as hill-climbing or derivatives-based methods, Genetic Algorithms are robust for addressing highly multi-modal and discontinuous search landscapes. In this paper, we outline a simheuristic GA-based approach for automatic generation of finite state machine based behavioural models of intelligent agents, where the aim is the identification of novel combat tactics. Rather than evolving states, the proposed …

Transition To Grandparenthood And Subjective Well-Being In Older Europeans: A Within-Person Investigation Using Longitudinal Data, Antti O. Tanskanen, Mirkka Danielsbacka, David A. Coall, Markus Jokela

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The transition to grandparenthood, that is the birth of the first grandchild, is often assumed to increase the subjective well-being of older adults; however, prior studies are scarce and have provided mixed results. Investigation of the associations between grandparenthood and subjective well-being, measured by self-rated life satisfaction, quality of life scores, and depressive symptoms, used the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe from 13 countries, including follow-up waves between 2006 and 2015 (n = 64,940 person-observations from 38,456 unique persons of whom 18,207 had two or more measurement times). Both between-person and within-person (or fixed-effect) regression …

Theoretical Modelling Approaches Of Heat Pipe Solar Collectors In Solar Systems: A Comprehensive Review, Abdellah Sharifian, Mehdi Khiadani, Ataollah Nosrati

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The invention of heat pipe solar collectors (HPSCs) is considered as an immense step forward towards solving the challenges of conventional solar thermal systems. Their unique qualities have acted as a great motivation for researchers to focus their studies on HPSCs and their applications. A considerable share of these studies has been allocated to theoretical studies due to several technical and economic reasons. However, to the authors’ knowledge and despite many valuable efforts in this field, there is no review paper available to summarise the relevant proposed and developed theoretical models to date and identifies the research gaps in this …

Implementing Eccentric Resistance Training—Part 2: Practical Recommendations, Timothy J. Suchomel, John P. Wagle, Jamie Douglas, Christopher B. Taber, Mellissa Harden, G. Gregory Haff

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The purpose of this review is to provide strength and conditioning practitioners with recommendations on how best to implement tempo eccentric training (TEMPO), flywheel inertial training (FIT), accentuated eccentric loading (AEL), and plyometric training (PT) into resistance training programs that seek to improve an athlete’s hypertrophy, strength, and power output. Based on the existing literature, TEMPO may be best implemented with weaker athletes to benefit positional strength and hypertrophy due to the time under tension. FIT may provide an effective hypertrophy, strength, and power stimulus for untrained and weaker individuals; however, stronger individuals may not receive the same eccentric (ECC) …

Wellness In Allied Health Students: The Case For Change, Abigail Lewis, Alison Kirkman, Lisa Holmes

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction: The case for change. There are increasing mental health issues among young people, including higher education students. millennial students face unique challenges relating to attention, critical thinking and managing stress. Specifically, allied health students engage in multiple placements in which they need to interact with real people in real time while being evaluated in assessment and treatment strategies. Some universities have been using wellness programs and mindfulness strategies to support student mental health across campuses for some time. However, as allied health students face unique challenges, there is a need for a particular focus on wellness at an individual …

The Nexus Between Social Impacts And Adaptation Strategies Of Workers To Occupational Heat Stress: A Conceptual Framework, Victor Fannam Nunfam, Kwadwo Adusei-Asante, Eddie John Van Etten, Jacques Oosthuizen, Samuel Adams, Kwasi Frimpong

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Adverse effects of occupational heat stress in the context of the changing climate on working populations are subtle but considerably harmful. However, social dimensions and impacts of climate change–related occupational heat concerns on workers’ safety and health, productivity and well-being are often overlooked or relegated as minor issues in social impact analyses of occupational heat exposure due to climate change. This paper offers a conceptual framework based on an appraisal and synthesis of the literature on social impacts of climate change–related occupational heat exposure on workers’ safety and health, productivity and social welfare and the quest to localise and achieve …

Toward Collaborative Open Data Science In Metabolomics Using Jupyter Notebooks And Cloud Computing, Kevin M. Mendez, Leighton Pritchard, Stacey N. Reinke, David I. Broadhurst

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

A lack of transparency and reporting standards in the scientific community has led to increasing and widespread concerns relating to reproduction and integrity of results. As an omics science, which generates vast amounts of data and relies heavily on data science for deriving biological meaning, metabolomics is highly vulnerable to irreproducibility. The metabolomics community has made substantial efforts to align with FAIR data standards by promoting open data formats, data repositories, online spectral libraries, and metabolite databases. Open data analysis platforms also exist; however, they tend to be inflexible and rely on the user to adequately report their methods …

Capacitive Sensor And Its Calibration: A Technique For The Estimation Of Solid Particles Flow Concentration, Usama Abrar, Liu Shi, Nasif R. Jaffri, Qin Li, Mian W. Omar, Hassan R. Sindhu

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The precise and accurate measurement of flow rate in the batch flow of the solid particles is of primary importance in many process industries for the improvement of the efficiency of the system. Many techniques developed for the measurement of mass flow rate. The capacitive sensors has a significance of being non-invasive, higher accuracy and low cost for mass flow measurement despite the fact that many factors adversely affect the performance- including non-uniform flow, multiphase flow, temperature, pressure, and moisture in the solid particles. This paper covers preliminary investigations of the offline estimation of mass flow concentration based upon the …

Weight Management Among School-Aged Children And Adolescents: A Quantitative Assessment In A Ghanaian Municipality, Daniel Gyamfi, Christian Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Evans A. Asamoah, Bernard Berko Sampong, Emmanuella Nsenbah Batu, Enoch O. Anto

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

BACKGROUND: Childhood and adolescent overweight, obesity and underweight have become an issue of grave concern to both the developed and developing countries in context of global burden of non-communicable diseases. Unhealthy weight status is a significant public health issue for developing countries, of which Ghana is not excluded. This study evaluated the prevalence of overweight, obesity and underweight and its related factors among school-aged children and adolescents.

METHODS: A total of 1004 participants were randomly selected from six schools. A structured questionnaire on demography and socioeconomic status of students' parents/guardians was completed by the selected students. Anthropometric parameters were measured, …

False Image Injection Prevention Using Ichain, Mohiuddin Ahmed

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The advances in information and communication technology are consistently beneficial for the healthcare sector. A trend in the healthcare sector is the progressive shift in how data are acquired and the storage of such data in different facilities, such as in the cloud, due to the efficiency and effectiveness offered. Digital images related to healthcare are sensitive in nature and require maximum security and privacy. A malicious entity can tamper with such stored digital images to mislead healthcare personnel and the consequences of wrong diagnosis are harmful for both parties. A new type of cyber attack, a false image injection …

Steroid Therapy And Outcome Of Parapneumonic Pleural Effusions (Stoppe): Study Protocol For A Multicenter, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Randomized Clinical Trial, Deirdre B. Fitzgerald, Grant W. Waterer, Catherine A. Read, Edward T. Fysh, Ranjan Shrestha, Christopher Stanley, Sanjeevan Muruganandan, Norris S. H. Lan, Natalia D. Popowicz, Carolyn J. Peddle-Mcintyre, Najib M. Rahman, Seng Khee Gan, Kevin Murray, Yun Chor Gary Lee

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

BACKGROUND: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a major global disease. Parapneumonic effusions often complicate CAP and range from uninfected (simple) to infected (complicated) parapneumonic effusions and empyema (pus). CAP patients who have a pleural effusion at presentation are more likely to require hospitalization, have a longer length of stay and higher mortality than those without an effusion. Conventional management of pleural infection, with antibiotics and chest tube drainage, fails in about 30% of cases. Several randomized controlled trials (RCT) have evaluated the use of corticosteroids in CAP and demonstrated some potential benefits. Importantly, steroid use in pneumonia has an acceptable safety …

Floral Display And Habitat Fragmentation: Effects On The Reproductive Success Of The Threatened Mass‐Flowering Conospermum Undulatum (Proteaceae), Nicola Delnevo, Eddie J. Van Etten, Margaret Byrne, William Stock

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

1. Fragmentation of natural vegetation is currently one of the largest threats to plant populations and their interactions with pollinators. Plant reproductive susceptibility to habitat fragmentation has been investigated in many species; however, the response of wild mass‐flowering species is poorly known, with research limited to mainly boreal plant species.
2. Here, we studied twelve remnant populations of the threatened mass‐flowering shrub Conospermum undulatum in the southwest Australian biodiversity hotspot, each presenting different population size, level of isolation, and floral display. We assessed the impact of fragmentation on (a) fruit and seed production; and (b) seed germination. To gain a deeper understanding …

A Study Of The Food Environment At Australian Family Day Care, Ruth Wallace, Brennen Mills

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Overweight and obesity in childhood is a significant public health issue. Family day care (FDC) offers a setting where good eating habits can be nurtured in young children, yet often the food environment is unhealthy. This study aims to determine FDC educators’ knowledge and confidence about nutrition and the barriers and enablers to supporting healthy food environments. Australian FDC educators were recruited to a mixed methods study using self-administered e-surveys and qualitative in-depth interviews. The survey data (n = 188) revealed good knowledge about sugary foods, but poor knowledge of protein-rich foods. Nutrition knowledge was not associated with confidence …

New Graduate Nurses' Clinical Safety Knowledge By The Numbers, Melanie Murray, Deborah Sundin, Vicki Cope

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

AIM: To explore new graduate registered nurses' knowledge and attitudes concerning medical error and patient safety, during their first 6 months of professional practice.

BACKGROUND: New graduate registered nurses demonstrate basic skills and levels of performance due to limited exposure and experience in actual situations. There is a concern held for their clinical reasoning skills required to recognize patient deterioration, posing a threat to patient safety.

METHODS: An online questionnaire was used to survey new graduate registered nurses at three time points during graduate nurse programmes between August 2016 and February 2018.

RESULTS: A decrease in self-reported knowledge and attitudes …

Parenting Adolescents In Today’S World, Alina M. Baltazar

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

First Mission Outpost: The Family, Alina M. Baltazar, Silvia Bacchiocchi

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Born Again With Trump: The Portrayal Of Evangelicals In The Media, Eun-Young Julia Kim

Faculty Publications

Since Trump’s ascendancy in American politics and his subsequent election, a number of articles have surfaced in the media trying to explain evangelical voters’ support of Trump. This paper analyzes common descriptions and conceptions of evangelicals by identifying recurring descriptions of evangelicals in 110 online articles published in a two-and-a-half-year period surrounding Trump’s presidential campaign and election. The results indicate that the answer to the question as to why evangelicals support Trump resides not so much in their theology, but in their aspirations for America and assumptions of what America should be like. This paper argues that it is crucial …

Finding God In Community, S. Joseph Kidder, Jonny Wesley Moor

Faculty Publications

"God exists in community. Before the angels, before the universe, before perhaps time itself, the Father, Son, and Spirit shared a continuous love that can exist only in community.¹ Community is God’s primal manifestation of existence and reality. When God created humanity, He intended for us to be able to relate to Him, so the Lord made us male and female (Gen. 1:27), counterparts equal but distinct in community. Jürgen Moltmann argues that truly knowing something involves being able to participate with that entity.² For example, rather than learning physics merely to recite formulas and laws, …

Modelling Of The Radiant Heat Flux And Rate Of Spread Of Wildfire Within The Urban Environment, Greg Penney, Steven Richardson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

One approach to increase community resilience to wildfire impacts is the enhancement of residential construction standards in an effort to provide protective shelters for families within their own homes. Current wildfire models reviewed in this study assume fire growth is unrestricted by vegetation fuel bed geometry; the head fire has attained a quasi-steady rate of spread; and the shielding effects of urban development are ignored. As a result, radiant heat flux may be significantly overestimated for small vegetation fires in road reserves, urban parklands, and similar scenarios. This paper proposes two new models to address this issue, and utilises two …

Experimentally Linking Head Kinematics To Brain Deformation, Imouline Algharbi

Theses

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) research is used to study the effects of brain injuries and the rehabilitations for them. TBI contributes to major cause of disability and deaths quantifying up to 30% of all the head injuries. To mimic real world impact to understand the mechanism of injury head-surrogate models are used. This thesis describes a method to record head kinematics from acceleration and angular rate sensors of head-brain surrogate model for blast and blunt injury. This methodology is validated through experimental testing. To get a better insight of the head kinematics experienced by a real skull a drop tower …

Effect Of Turbostratic Orientations And Confined Fluid On Mechanical Strength Of Bi-Layer Graphene: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Nil B. Dhankecha

Theses

The rise of graphene as a reinforcement material in the last decade has been exponential owing to its superior mechanical properties. This one atom thick 2D material is applicable in many industries related to nanomechanical, nanoelectronics and optical devices. Despite its strength and superior properties, single-layer graphene tends to be unstable in a free-standing form. This led to active use of bi-layer and multilayered graphene in many of the above-stated applications. Though properties of single-layer graphene have been extensively investigated both computationally as well as experimentally for over a decade, bilayer graphene and its turbostratic form are still under research. …

Optical Properties Of Polymers And Their Applications, Samiha Hossain

Theses

The last decade has witnessed explosive growth in the world of photoactive polymers for a variety of applications in several sectors of the global economy. The need for efficient, reliable, and low-cost data acquisition, storage, processing, transmission, and display technologies has made it necessary for research aimed at addressing these needs. Recent accomplishments in this materials area represent exciting opportunities for major innovations in various fields. However, further work needs to be done to transfer the technology from fundamental R&D to manufacturing. The goal of this study is to provide a better understanding of the optical properties of polymers and …

Assignment Of E-Commerce Orders To Fulfillment Warehouses, Ahmad Basem Zamka

Theses

For large e-commerce companies such as Amazon, when an order comes, this order might be available at more than one fulfillment centers. Therefore, the question of which fulfillment center this order should be fulfilled from would arise.

In a typical situation, customer demand is fulfilled from the closest fulfillment center. However, this approach does not always provide the optimal solution since there are so many factors that could be involved in making such a decision. These factors might include inventory balance, product correlations, and future demand.

Our decision model focuses on putting future orders in consideration while assigning orders to …

Interval Training Methods To Increase Performance Markers And Load Carriage In Tactical Professionals, Nathan D. Dicks

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Load carriage is an inherent part of the military and other tactical occupations (e.g., law enforcement, firefighters). Variation in load carriage ranges from 7-60 kg and can increase energy expenditure as well as lead to higher injury risk. Various novel training methods such as low-intensity interval training (LIT) in combination with blood flow restriction (BFR) as well as high-intensity interval training (HIT) aim at enhancing critical velocity (CV), aerobic fitness, and load carriage performance. Two investigations identified the feasibility of LIT with BFR and the use of HIT to increase performance and load carriage. Methods: Twelve male participants (21.8 +/- …

Comparing Blood Serum Values Of Vitamin D And Calcium In Division I Female Athletes, Adalie Lynn Schmidt

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

The purpose was to compare blood serum levels of vitamin D and calcium to bone mineral density and previous fracture in Division I women’s basketball and soccer athletes. We recruited thirty athletes (19.53 ± 1.105 years); NCAA Division I soccer (n=21) and basketball (n=9). The calcium average was 9.61 ± .39 mg/dL for soccer and basketball was 10.01 ± 0.33 mg/dL. Vitamin D average for soccer was 44.48 ± 12.09 ng/DL and basketball 52.00 ± 17.44 ng/dL. Total bone mineral density measurements for the two groups did not differ at a statistically significant level (t[11.9] = 0.74, p = .472, …

Comparing Subjective Fatigue During Two Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (Cpr) Models, Rachel Reichel

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Bystanders are the first rescuers to perform CPR for patients suffering from cardiac arrest. Compression-only CPR decreases the amount of interruption time between compressions but increases the fatigue of the rescuer. In this study, participants were certified as lay rescuers and performed two compression-only CPR protocols for eight minutes and 59 seconds. The two protocols were 30 compressions to a 10-second break and continuous compressions with as many 10-second breaks as needed. Body mass index and hand grip strength were collected before the CPR protocols. Rate of Perceived Exertion scores were taken at three, six and nine minutes during each …

Changes In Energy Intake And Appetite Following Different Intensities Of Aerobic Exercise, Keith Alan Shaughnessy

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

This research evaluated changes in appetite, energy intake, and body composition following 15 sessions of both moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in overweight and sedentary adults (n = 4 female, n = 2 male). All subjects performed both MICT and HIIT. Paired t-tests were used to analyze data between testing sessions. A repeated-measures ANOVA along with a Bonferroni adjustment was used for measures over the study duration. Chronic appetite was unchanged over the study duration, but appetite post-exercise was 5.7% higher in HIIT (p = 0.03) in the first session compared to MICT. Energy intake was …

Comparison Of Shortwave Diathermy And Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization On Improving Hamstring Range Of Motion, Maddie Anne Hansen

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Limited research exists on the comparison of pulsed shortwave diathermy (PSWD) and instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM). In addition, minimal research exists on the AcuForce® 7.0 and none of it examines the effects of the AcuForce® 7.0 on range of motion (ROM). This study focused on the comparison of PSWD and IASTM on hamstring flexibility and perceived patient comfort. Twenty male students, faculty, and staff (age 24.5 ± 5.7 years) participated. Active knee extension ROM with the hip flexed at 90º was measured before and after the intervention. Perceived patient comfort was measured after the intervention. The results showed …

Raven And The Russians: An Environmental History Of Looking At Animals In Siberia, 1582-1867, Spencer Paul Abbe

History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies

The history of Russia’s eastern empire was largely defined by disjointed disparities between a Russian-speaking culture and the numerous indigenous groups of Siberia. Among these disparities were differing conceptions of the animals in the physical environment between the Russians and several of the indigenous groups they encountered as they expanded their claim to empire. This thesis foregrounds the role played by subjective perceptions of what the animal component of the physical environment was and was for by considering both indigenous and imperial perspectives of six animals which played roles in the imperial process.

Makȟóčhe Wašté, The Beautiful Country: An Indigenous Landscape Perspective, Dakota Wind Goodhouse

History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies

The Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires; “Great Sioux Nation”) occupied an area from the woodlands to the Great Plains. The landscape and the wind influenced their language and culture in a way that suggests a long occupation. Major landmarks like Ȟesápa (Black Hills), Matȟó Thípila (Bear Lodge; “Devils Tower”), Pahá Makȟáska (White Earth Butte; White Butte, ND), and Oǧúǧa Owápi (Images Burned Into The Stone; Jeffers Petroglyphs, MN) were woven into the cultural identity of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ. The pictographic record, traditional song, and oral tradition recall events like first contact with the horse at the Čhaŋsáŋsaŋ Ožáte (White Birch …