Digital Commons Network^™

Examining The Intersections Of Art And Science Through Photomicrography, Lauren Marie Solomon

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the ways in which photomicrography is interdisciplinary, requiring the fields of both art and science. Three types of microscopy were used in this project, brightfield, epifluorescence, and confocality. The overall thesis is both, a body of artistic work and a narrative of my endeavor to understand the science and process behind photomicroscopy.

When The Influencer Says Jump! How Influencer Signaling Affects Engagement With Covid-19 Misinformation, Ben Wasike

Communication Faculty Publications

With signaling theory, credibility, and social media engagement (SME) as guiding frameworks, this study used an experiment to examine how social media influencers (SMIs) affect how people engage with COVID-19 misinformation. SMI-promoted information elicited more SME, credibility, and purchase likelihood than non-SMI promoted information. The most effective message was a post promoted by an SMI that contained detailed information about an authentic product. However, data indicated nuance regarding the effect of SMIs. The authenticity of the information as well as the amount of detail in the post played a role. Additionally, mediated effects analysis showed that the impact of SME …

Voices That Matter: Boston Area Residents Of Color Discuss Climate Change, Lorena M. Estrada-Martínez, Paul Watanabe, Katsyris Rivera-Kientz

Sustainable Solutions Lab

This report presents findings from a qualitative study conducted by the Sustainable Solutions Lab at the University of Massachusetts Boston, centering on the climate change perspectives of 70 residents of color from the Greater Boston area. Through focus group discussions with Asian American, Black, Latino/a, and Native American participants, the study examines three core areas: the health impacts of climate change, levels of community preparedness, and individual and governmental responses. The findings reveal a shared concern over climate-related health vulnerabilities, structural barriers to climate preparedness, and a general mistrust of governmental leadership stemming from historical and ongoing racial inequities. Participants …

Cultivating Music Educators For Engaging In Varied Pedagogy Within An Increasingly Pluralistic Society, Maggie Brown

Honors Projects

As society continues to grow increasingly pluralistic, questions arise concerning how to better prepare preservice educators in teacher preparation programs. The purpose of this study was to determine the connections between P12 teachers’ training, experience, and what is being done in the classroom. Three participants were hand-selected for participation due to their proven track record employing varied curricular practice. The participants represented a varied range of areas of expertise and years of experience. After exploring the experiences of these three teachers, themes of (1) getting outside of one’s comfort zone, (2) engaging in musical amateurism, and (3) synergizing traditional and …

Optogenetic Heart Pacing And Heart Arrest In Drosophila Melanogaster Using Integrated Ocm Imaging And Light Stimulation System, Yuxuan Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Optogenetics has been widely applied to cardiovascular research using different models. Among them, Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) outstands for its similarity of human genes for disease modeling and short life cycle for rapid screening to analyze genetic mechanisms of heart disease. However, most of the current models only allow either activation or inhibition of the heartbeat, which is not sufficient to model complex arrhythmia. Our lab developed a novel Drosophila transgenic model based on a double transgenic line containing two light-sensitive genes, Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) and Halorhodopsin2.0 (NpHR2.0), that enable dual-directional control of the heartbeat rhythm. Real-time optical control of the …

An Exploration Of Higher Educational Experiences For Mixed Blood American Indian Males In The Santa Clara Valley, Edward Salcedo

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the availability of higher educational opportunities in the Santa Clara Valley for mixed blood American Indian males in the Santa Clara Valley from lower middle class and middle-class backgrounds born between the early 1980’s and early 1990’s who enrolled in community college courses but did not graduate. The study uses Critical Race Theory as the guiding theoretical framework but focuses on Tribal Critical Race Theory pioneered by Brayboy (2005) to understand the educational and societal experiences of American Indian people from their unique ethnic prism. The dissertation uses Red People’s Oral Tradition as the methodology, drawing from …

How Developers Engineer Test Cases: An Observational Study, Maurício Aniche, Christoph Treude, Andy Zaidman

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

One of the main challenges that developers face when testing their systems lies in engineering test cases that are good enough to reveal bugs. And while our body of knowledge on software testing and automated test case generation is already quite significant, in practice, developers are still the ones responsible for engineering test cases manually. Therefore, understanding the developers’ thought- and decision-making processes while engineering test cases is a fundamental step in making developers better at testing software. In this paper, we observe 13 developers thinking-aloud while testing different real-world open-source methods, and use these observations to explain how developers …

In The Driver’S Seat: A Practice-Based Inquiry Into The Compositional Role Of Electric Guitar Distortion In Heavy Metal Music, Timothy Hacquoil

Postgraduate

This exegesis presents the findings of a practice-based research inquiry into the compositional role of electric guitar distortion in heavy metal music. Practice-based research places the practitioner-observer in a position to engage with knowledge and scope the ontological framework within my methods of practice. In response to the research question, I have produced ten original heavy metal compositions which provide evidence of a connection between distortion method and composition influence such as genre classification and instrument playability. The narrow scope of investigation facilitates observation of this composition-distortion relationship which is supported by audio visualisation tools and contributes to research in …

Understanding Sentiment Through Context, Richard M.Crowley, M.H. Franco Wong

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We examine whether empirical results using text-based sentiment of U.S. annual reports depend on the underlying context, within documents, from which sentiment is measured. We construct a clause-level measure of context, showing that sentiment is driven by many different contexts and that positive and negative sentiment are driven by different contexts. We then construct context-level sentiment measures and examine whether sentiment works as expected at the context-level across four prediction problems. Our results demonstrate that document-level sentiment exhibits significant noise in prediction and suggest that document-level aggregation of sentiment leads to missed empirical nuances. The contexts driving sentiment results vary …

The Effectiveness Of Using Python Programming Approach In Teaching Financial Analytics, Clarence Goh, Yuanto Kusnadi, Gary Pan

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

This study presents a learning method and challenges regarding implementing a Python programming approach in teaching financial analytics to graduate accounting students. The advent of Big Data, as well as related applications and technologies, has significantly changed the process and practice of accounting. This has led to essential changes in the construction and teaching content of accounting education. While there have been several studies examining how data analytics is embedded in the accounting curriculum, the majority of the teaching cases in accounting focus on analysis and communication with Excel as the principal tool, with very few covering the necessary steps …

Foreign Donations In The Higher Education Sector Of The United States And The United Kingdom:Pathways For Reputation Laundering, Alexander Cooley, Tena Prelec, John Heathershaw

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

We explore how the influx of foreign funding into the higher education sectors of the United States and United Kingdom has raised the challenge of “reputation laundering”—when foreign donors and individuals use donations to prestigious universities to boost their international public image and offset negative images or reported controversies back in their home country. We outline four pathways for reputation laundering—donations for academic programs/schools, naming rights, honorary degrees and board seats; and the offer of favorable admissions decisions—and examine the variety of policies, practices and safeguards that have been adopted by U.K. and U.S. universities in response. We present evidence, …

Solidarity Federalism, Erin F. Delaney, Ruth Mason

Notre Dame Law Review

Studies of federalism, especially in the United States, have mostly centered on state autonomy and the vertical relationship between the states and the federal government. This Article approaches federalism from a different perspective, one that focuses on state solidarity. We explain how solidarity structures found in constitutional federations—including the United States—generate solidarity obligations, such as duties not to harm other states or their citizens. These duties give rise to principles, such as nondiscrimination, that are vital to federalism. Focusing on interstate relations and relations between states and citizens of other states, we argue that affirming both solidarity and autonomy as …

Interdisciplinary Design Studio: Programming Document Visioning For A Robotic Demonstration, Research, And Engagement Dairy, Steve(N) Hardy, Nate Bicak, Sarah Alduaylij, Noor Al-Maamari, Devyn Beekman, Kelsey Belgum, Lauren Chubb, Nicholas Forte, Mitchell Hill, Joshua Holstein, Dylan Lambe, Phuong Le, Mia Leriger, Elizabeth Loftus, Josh Lorenzen, Megan Lovci, Alex Martino, Zade Miller, Hannah Morgan, Annabelle Nichols, Collin Shearman, Rebecca Sowl, Nalin Theplikhith, Angela Vu, Shaylee Wagner, Ethan Watermeier, Trever Zelenka

Architecture Program: Student Creative Activity

The 2022 COLLABORATE Design Studio brought together students from various disciplines to address a complex, real-world project which required collaborative input from different perspectives. The studio worked to advance the co-creation of knowledge between external stakeholders, students, and instructors. The course was co-taught by faculty from different disciplines, and areas of expertise. During the semester, Nate Bicak and Steven Hardy worked with students from Architecture and Interior Design in collaboration with students in Dr. Tami Brown-Brandl’s students in Biological Systems Engineering and Animal Science to explore the values, spatial qualities, and area requirements of a Robotic Demonstration, Research, and Engagement …

Sequence-Based Bioinformatics Approaches To Predict Virus–Host Relationships In Archaea And Eukaryotes, Yingshan Li

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Viral metagenomics is independent of lab culturing and capable of investigating viromes of virtually any given environmental niches. While numerous sequences of viral genomes have been assembled from metagenomic studies over the past years, the natural hosts for the majority of these viral contigs have not been determined. Different computational approaches have been developed to predict hosts of bacteria phages. Nevertheless, little progress has been made in the virus-host prediction, especially for viruses that infect eukaryotes and archaea. In this study, by analyzing all documented viruses with known eukaryotic and archaeal hosts, we assessed the predictive power of four computational …

Eco-Dystopian Novels Written By Women: Second, Third, And Fourth Wave Feminism, Trystyn Cox

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The project is thematic; analysis of eco-dystopian novels written by American female authors in the 20th and 21st centuries in order to determine if the different waves of feminism experienced in the United States had any influence over the books. By doing an analysis of eco-dystopian novels the study identifies if there were any outside societal movements or issues going on at the time that may have influenced how the book was created or if a particular book was able to open innovative ideas to the society at the time it was published. I researched the second, third, and fourth …

Empirical Fragility Functions And Numerical Parametric Study For Buckling Of Steel Grain Bins Under High Wind Loads, Andrew Ruder

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While rural infrastructure is critical to the agricultural industry, it has been historically more susceptible to damage and slower to recover following natural disasters than its urban and suburban counterparts. This has been made evident most recently by the events of the August 10, 2020, derecho in which rural regions in Iowa were among the hardest hit areas with sustained windspeeds exceeding 120 mph. Among the most frequently damaged structures in this event were corrugated steel grain bins, which farmers and co-ops use to dry and store certain commodities. Unlike most other critical structures, steel grain bins are not designed …

Measuring Acoustic Nonlinearity Of Elastic Materials Using Thermal Modulation Of Ultrasonic Waves, Bibo Zhong

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nonlinear acoustic techniques have been used to determine the nonlinear properties of materials. Existing methods either require complex equipment to measure absolute nonlinear coefficients or can only be used on laboratory-sized specimens. A recently developed thermal modulation method addresses the limitations of existing methods, but further theoretical analysis and validation are required.

In this dissertation, theoretical analyses were first conducted to study the mechanically and thermally induced acoustoelastic effect. Beginning with the wave equation, the relationship of the ultrasonic wave velocity with respect to mechanical strain and the thermal strain was derived in detail. These analyses provided theoretical support for …

Perception Of Safety In Public Transport In Brazil, Elenice De Souza Oliveira, Braulio Figueiredo Alves Da Silva, Pietra Raissa Silva, Ana Marcela Ardila Pinto, Elisa Dilly Generoso Macedo

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This current study examines the perception of safety on the public bus transit system in a large Brazilian metropolis. Using a web-based survey, the study reached a convenient sample of bus users of a local university who were victims and witnesses to crime in two different types of local bus transit environments - the BRT MOVE - a modern bus system and its opposing counterpart - the conventional bus system. Research questions investigate whether or not riders’ perception of safety is influenced by the presence of mechanisms of control and surveillance on buses. Using a linear regression model, this study …

Urban Wildlife Management Planning Process And Conflict Mitigation: A Case Study Of Denver’S Canada Goose Management Plan, Brent Johannes

Community and Regional Planning Program: Theses

In 2019 and 2020, the USDA in coordination with Denver Parks and Recreation removed 2,174 geese from 6 different parks within the City of Denver. The removals and use of lethal methods to manage the concerns related to the geese population in Denver’s parks caused a public conflict and resulted in multiple legal challenges with the City of Denver. The opposition group claimed that the city did not sufficiently engage with the public in the formation of the goose management plan, and did not provide any public notification about the plan to remove geese. City officials have claimed that attempts …

Mitigating Popularity Bias In Recommendation With Unbalanced Interactions: A Gradient Perspective, Weijieying Ren, Lei Wang, Kunpeng Liu, Ruocheng Guo, Ee-Peng Lim, Yanjie Fu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recommender systems learn from historical user-item interactions to identify preferred items for target users. These observed interactions are usually unbalanced following a long-tailed distribution. Such long-tailed data lead to popularity bias to recommend popular but not personalized items to users. We present a gradient perspective to understand two negative impacts of popularity bias in recommendation model optimization: (i) the gradient direction of popular item embeddings is closer to that of positive interactions, and (ii) the magnitude of positive gradient for popular items are much greater than that of unpopular items. To address these issues, we propose a simple yet efficient …

Differentiated Security Architecture For Secure And Efficient Infotainment Data Communication In Iov Networks, Jiani Fan, Lwin Khin Shar, Jiale Guo, Wenzhuo Yang, Dusit Niyato, Kwok-Yan Lam

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper aims to provide differentiated security protection for infotainment data commu- nication in Internet-of-Vehicle (IoV) networks. The IoV is a network of vehicles that uses various sensors, software, built-in hardware, and communication technologies to enable information exchange between pedestrians, cars, and urban infrastructure. Negligence on the security of infotainment data commu- nication in IoV networks can unintentionally open an easy access point for social engineering attacks. The attacker can spread false information about traffic conditions, mislead drivers in their directions, and interfere with traffic management. Such attacks can also cause distractions to the driver, which has a potential implication …

Domestic Relations, Charles V. Crowe

Mercer Law Review

This Article addresses noteworthy appellate decisions and legislative updates relevant to Georgia domestic relations law during the Survey period from June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022.

You Can’T Simply Say “No!” Almighty Ceo: Georgia’S View On The Apex Doctrine And Discovery Abuse, W. Warren Hedgepeth

Mercer Law Review

Discovery is the process that allows litigants to gather information from the opposing party in a civil lawsuit. Discovery practices differ among states, and each state’s discovery laws generally determine (1) the scope and limits of what information can be gathered, (2) how it is gathered, and (3) when it is gathered. Depositions are included in discovery methods and allow parties to ask the deponent questions relating to the case. Depositions are not only expensive but can be disruptive, especially to high-level corporate executives whose time and dedication to their companies should be their primary focus. In some jurisdictions, corporate …

Liberty And Justice For Y’All: Allowing Legal Paraprofessionals To Practice Law To Reduce The Effects Of Legal Deserts In Rural Georgia, Amanda Claxton

Mercer Law Review

The lack of attorneys in rural America is not merely a social or cultural problem—it is a legal problem that officers of the courts cannot continue to ignore. Legal deserts are geographical areas where legal services are widely unavailable. Particularly in rural Georgia, legal deserts are a substantial issue. Attorneys and nonprofit organizations have attempted to ease the detrimental effects of legal deserts in a variety of ways; for various reasons, those efforts have been insufficient, and rural counties struggle to attract lawyers. Still, there is one method of resolving legal deserts that Georgia has yet to attempt: creating an …

Transgender Health: Exploring Medicalization And The Interactions Of Race/Ethnicity, Disability, And Education, Evan Thomas England

Master's Theses and Capstones

There is a wide range of experiences among and between transgender, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) and disabled groups, but they all share histories of medicalization that result in marginalized health experiences and access to health care. To what extent do these health experiences and outcomes vary for U.S. adults with multiply marginalized intersectional identities? How, if at all, does the established moderating capability of education impact health outcomes for people who are transgender? Using data from the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, this study utilizes regression modelling to explore the interactions of race/ethnicity, disability, and education with …

The Effects Of Endogenous And Exogenous Progesterone On Ingroup Affiliative Bias, Abby Sibson

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Millions of women use hormonal contraceptives around the world and though the physical side effects are thoroughly described in the literature and clinical setting, the psychological effects have been largely ignored until recently. Recent studies have found that the use of hormonal contraceptives has an effect on women’s hormones and psychological well-being. The goal of the present research was to expand the current knowledge of the effect of hormonal contraceptives on women’s hormones and social behavior by examining how women with differing levels of progesterone due to menstrual cycle fluctuations (follicular or luteal phase) or using hormonal contraceptives (birth control …

Against Bankruptcy Exceptionalism, Jonathan M. Seymour

University of Chicago Law Review

Bankruptcy courts conceive of their mission differently than other courts do. For the Supreme Court, bankruptcy cases are ordinary statutory cases to be resolved “clearly and predictably using well established principles of statutory interpretation.” Many bankruptcy judges, though, believe that bankruptcy courts serve a distinctive mission for which ordinary adjudicative methods do not suffice. Often, that mission is characterized using the language of equity. Judges and commentators alike have observed that among the most spoken words in the bankruptcy courts are: “the bankruptcy court is a court of equity.” Others have contended that bankruptcy necessitates “creativity and flexibility,” pursuant to …

Dissolve Of Living Space: Living Space Under The Development Of Metaverse, Wenting Feng, Nuo Lyu

Architecture Thesis Prep

According to our vision, in the future, after the use of the metaverse becomes popular, we will spend a lot of time working, living and playing in the metaverse. The space needed in reality will be reduced by the use of the metaverse, and public buildings will be retained or not depending on the nature of the building. Because the focus of human life shifts from reality to the metaverse, energy and material consumption will also be reduced, and environmental problems can be properly alleviated. The nature in the real city will also be expanded by the reduction of the …

Panopticon: A Privacy Revelation, Kexin Wang, Zhexu Yang

Architecture Thesis Prep

Our thesis project studies and analyzes the control of Surveillance Capitalism over people’s privacy, and how to make people realize the importance of privacy through the means of an architectural/design narrative. This concept comes from Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power, which explains how tech companies collect extra data, capture people’s behavioral surplus and sell them to third party customers, such as advertising companies, thus the predictions about people’s preferences accordingly. In this process, technology companies can make tremendous profit by stealing users’ personal information and then …

Firearms And Initial Aggressors, Cynthia Lee

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.