Digital Commons Network^™

Spanish-Speaking Caregivers’ Use Of Referential Labels With Toddlers Is A Better Predictor Of Later Vocabulary Than Their Use Of Referential Gestures, Janet Y. Bang, Manuel Bohn, Joel Ramírez, Virginia A. Marchman, Anne Fernald

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Variation in how frequently caregivers engage with their children is associated with variation in children's later language outcomes. One explanation for this link is that caregivers use both verbal behaviors, such as labels, and non-verbal behaviors, such as gestures, to help children establish reference to objects or events in the world. However, few studies have directly explored whether language outcomes are more strongly associated with referential behaviors that are expressed verbally, such as labels, or non-verbally, such as gestures, or whether both are equally predictive. Here, we observed caregivers from 42 Spanish-speaking families in the US engage with their 18-month-old …

Impact Of Location Spoofing Attacks On Performance Prediction In Mobile Networks, Nikhil Sai Kanuri, Sang Yoon Chang, Younghee Park, Jonghyun Kim, Jinoh Kim

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Performance prediction in wireless mobile networks is essential for diverse purposes in network management and operation. Particularly, the position of mobile devices is crucial to estimating the performance in the mobile communication setting. With its importance, this paper investigates mobile communication performance based on the coordinate information of mobile devices. We analyze a recent 5G data collection and examine the feasibility of location-based performance prediction. As location information is key to performance prediction, the basic assumption of making a relevant prediction is the correctness of the coordinate information of devices given. With its criticality, this paper also investigates the impact …

Word Embeddings For Fake Malware Generation, Quang Duy Tran, Fabio Di Troia

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Signature and anomaly-based techniques are the fundamental methods to detect malware. However, in recent years this type of threat has advanced to become more complex and sophisticated, making these techniques less effective. For this reason, researchers have resorted to state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to combat the threat of information security. Nevertheless, despite the integration of the machine learning models, there is still a shortage of data in training that prevents these models from performing at their peak. In the past, generative models have been found to be highly effective at generating image-like data that are similar to the actual data …

Twitter Bots’ Detection With Benford’S Law And Machine Learning, Sanmesh Bhosale, Fabio Di Troia

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Online Social Networks (OSNs) have grown exponentially in terms of active users and have now become an influential factor in the formation of public opinions. For this reason, the use of bots and botnets for spreading misinformation on OSNs has become a widespread concern. Identifying bots and botnets on Twitter can require complex statistical methods to score a profile based on multiple features. Benford’s Law, or the Law of Anomalous Numbers, states that, in any naturally occurring sequence of numbers, the First Significant Leading Digit (FSLD) frequency follows a particular pattern such that they are unevenly distributed and reducing. This …

Fake Malware Generation Using Hmm And Gan, Harshit Trehan, Fabio Di Troia

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In the past decade, the number of malware attacks have grown considerably and, more importantly, evolved. Many researchers have successfully integrated state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to combat this ever present and rising threat to information security. However, the lack of enough data to appropriately train these machine learning models is one big challenge that is still present. Generative modelling has proven to be very efficient at generating image-like synthesized data that can match the actual data distribution. In this paper, we aim to generate malware samples as opcode sequences and attempt to differentiate them from the real ones with the …

Crowdfunding Non-Fungible Tokens On The Blockchain, Sean Basu, Kimaya Basu, Thomas H. Austin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been used as a way of rewarding content creators. Artists publish their works on the blockchain as NFTs, which they can then sell. The buyer of an NFT then holds ownership of a unique digital asset, which can be resold in much the same way that real-world art collectors might trade paintings. However, while a deal of effort has been spent on selling works of art on the blockchain, very little attention has been paid to using the blockchain as a means of fundraising to help finance the artist’s work in the first place. Additionally, while …

Blackcurrants: A Nutrient-Rich Source For The Development Of Functional Foods For Improved Athletic Performance, Ali Ali Redha, Shahida Anusha Siddiqui, Reza Zare, Daniele Spadaccini, Silvia Guazzotti, Xi Feng, Nur Alim Bahmid, Yuan Seng Wu, Fathima Zahraa Ozeer, Rotimi E. Aluko

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Blackcurrants are nutrient-rich fruits with a significant amount of bioactive compounds including vitamin C and polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. The high phytochemical content of blackcurrants promotes this fruit to become a valuable functional food ingredient with varying health-promoting activities targeting different consumers including athletes. Athletes experience oxidative stress during intense exercise, which can result in inflammation and reduced exercise performance. Antioxidants such as vitamin C and polyphenols can restore the regular oxidative status of the body. Blackcurrant supplementation has shown potential ergogenic activity to improve athlete performance during high-intensity training. Clinical trials have evaluated the effectiveness of blackcurrant supplementation on exercise …

Characterizing The Feedback That Learning Assistants Give To Faculty, Sadhana Indukuri, Gina M. Quan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Learning assistants are undergraduate peer educators that help facilitate learning in a university classroom environment. Jardine (2019) found that learning assistant feedback to faculty roughly fell into three categories: course logistics, student behavior, and student understanding. We built from this previous work by further characterizing the feedback given to faculty by learning assistants and found the following categories: student experience, classroom content, classroom structure, accessibility, empathy, and broad feedback. Using interview data with learning assistants and faculty working with learning assistants, we created a preliminary framework for the types of feedback and examples by learning assistants. This framework may be …

Abortion Attempts Without Clinical Supervision Among Transgender, Nonbinary And Gender-Expansive People In The United States, Heidi Moseson, Laura Fix, Caitlin Gerdts, Sachiko Ragosta, Jen Hastings, Ari Stoeffler, Eli A. Goldberg, Mitchell R. Lunn, Annesa Flentje, Matthew R. Capriotti, Micah E. Lubensky, Juno Obedin-Maliver

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background Transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive (TGE) people face barriers to abortion care and may consider abortion without clinical supervision. Methods In 2019, we recruited participants for an online survey about sexual and reproductive health. Eligible participants were TGE people assigned female or intersex at birth, 18 years and older, from across the United States, and recruited through The PRIDE Study or via online and in-person postings. Results Of 1694 TGE participants, 76 people (36% of those ever pregnant) reported considering trying to end a pregnancy on their own without clinical supervision, and a subset of these (n=40; 19% of those …

Sieve Or Shield? High Tech Firms And Entrepreneurs And The Impacts Of Covid 19 On North American Border Regions, Kathrine Eileen Richardson, Francesco Cappellano

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study examines the role of international borders in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to unprecedented national decisions to close borders in order to contain the domestic contagion. The idea that borders act as shields conflicts with the needs of cross-border regions, as they rely on networks straddling the borders for goods and services’ provisions. This paper explores different approaches at individual, local, and regional policy levels used to counterbalance such impacts. As evidenced by North American border closures to most non-citizens seeking entry (shield effects), it is important to understand how professionals, firms, and their networks …

A Blockchain-Based Retribution Mechanism For Collaborative Intrusion Detection, Wenjun Fan, Shubham Kumar, Sang Yoon Chang, Younghee Park

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Collaborative intrusion detection approach uses the shared detection signature between the collaborative participants to facilitate coordinated defense. In the context of collaborative intrusion detection system (CIDS), however, there is no research focusing on the efficiency of the shared detection signature. The inefficient detection signature costs not only the IDS resource but also the process of the peer-to-peer (P2P) network. In this paper, we therefore propose a blockchain-based retribution mechanism, which aims to incentivize the participants to contribute to verifying the efficiency of the detection signature in terms of certain distributed consensus. We implement a prototype using Ethereum blockchain, which instantiates …

Tracking The Functions Of Ai As Paradata & Pursuing Archival Accountability, Jeremy Davet, Babak Hamidzadeh, Patricia Franks, Jenny Bunn

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

While a familiar term in fields like social science research and digital cultural heritage, 'paradata' has not yet been introduced conceptually into the archival realm. In response to an increasing number of experiments with machine learning and artificial intelligence, the InterPARES Trust AI research group proposes the definition of paradata as 'information about the procedure(s) and tools used to create and process information resources, along with information about the persons carrying out those procedures.' The utilization of this concept in archives can help to ensure that AI-driven systems are designed from the outset to honor the archival ethic, and to …

Obergefell, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Fulton, And Public-Private Partnerships: Unleashing V. Harnessing "Armies Of Compassion" 2.0?, Linda C. Mcclain

Faculty Scholarship

Fulton v. City of Philadelphia presented a by-now familiar constitutional claim: recognizing civil marriage equality—the right of persons to marry regardless of gender—inevitably and sharply conflicts with the religious liberty of persons and religious institutions who sincerely believe that marriage is the union of one man and one woman. While the Supreme Court’s 9-0 unanimous judgment in favor of Catholic Social Services (CSS) surprised Court-watchers, Chief Justice Roberts’s opinion did not signal consensus on the Court over how best to resolve the evident conflicts raised by the contract between CSS and the City of Philadelphia. This article argues that it …

The Role Of Data For Ai Startup Growth, James Bessen, Stephen Michael Impink, Lydia Reichensperger, Robert Seamans

Faculty Scholarship

Artificial intelligence (“AI”)-enabled products are expected to drive economic growth. Training data are important for firms developing AI-enabled products; without training data, firms cannot develop or refine their algorithms. This is particularly the case for AI startups developing new algorithms and products. However, there is no consensus in the literature on which aspects of training data are most important. Using unique survey data of AI startups, we find that startups with access to proprietary training data are more likely to acquire venture capital funding.

Investigation Of Geomechanical Behavior Of Laminated Rock Mass Through Experimental And Numerical Approach, Qingwen Shi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Roof failure in the Appalachian underground coal fields occurs often in laminated shale. Laminated shale roof in coal mines fails in unique ways, such as cutter failure or delamination failure. Extensive studies have investigated the influential factors that cause laminated roof failure, which include in-situ stress, entry layout, roof span, and roof support. However, cutter failure continues to occur frequently and erratically. This is due to the lack of in-depth understanding of the inherent properties of the laminations, such as bedding plane strength, matrix strength, and bedding plane spacing, which in turn influence the geomechanical behavior of the laminated rock. …

Reinforcement Learning For Process Control: Applications To Energy Systems, Elijah Ballard Hedrick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning method that has recently seen significant research activity owing to its successes in the areas of robotics and gameplaying (Silver et al., 2017). However, significant challenges exist in the extension of these control methods to process control problems, where state and input signals are nearly always continuous and more stringent performance guarantees are required. The goal of this work is to explore ways that modern RL algorithms can be adapted to handle process control problems; avenues for this work include using RL with existing controllers such as model predictive control (MPC) and adapting …

Phenomic And Genetic Controls Of The Drought Stress Response In Sorghum, Melissa A. Lehrer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Drought, one of the most common abiotic stressors, is a result of the precipitation and temperature fluctuations influenced by climate change. As consistent weather patterns are crucial for the maintenance of crop yield, drought threatens food security through its impact on plant growth and development. It is essential to ensure the quality, availability, and affordability of grain-based products in the face of climate change due to expectations of population growth. Therefore, shedding light on the mechanisms associated with drought tolerance is integral to maintaining agricultural production under water-limited conditions. My dissertation work aimed to uncover the morphological, physiological, and genetic …

Impact Of Haemonchus Contortus On Feed Efficiency And Feeding Behavior Of Katahdin And Suffolk Lambs, Camren L. Maierle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nutritional impact of internal parasitism, specifically Haemonchus contortus (Hc), is a significant contributor to production losses in small ruminants. Both chronic and subclinical infections generate millions of dollars of losses worldwide. Understanding the nutritional impact of Hc on lamb performance is crucial in determining the additional nutrient requirements of infected individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional impact of Hc on infected Katahdin lambs with extensive genetic selection for parasite resistance and susceptible Suffolk lambs. Growth, feeding behavior, and feed efficiency (RFI. F:G) were evaluated during artificial Hc infection. Katahdin ewes from the Virginia …

Investigating The Mitochondrial Protein Mitoneet In C. Elegans Models Of Aging And Alzheimer's Disease, Jacob Ryan Boos

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Oxidative stress is an imbalance between reactive oxygen species production and elimination, favoring the former. Reactive oxygen species serve as important signaling molecules for physiological homeostasis. However, when produced in excess, these once important signaling molecules become detrimental, disrupting cellular functions, and ultimately leading to cell death. In aging, reactive oxygen species production is increased, accompanied with reductions in oxidative stress resistance, increasing the risk for developing age-related diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases. The outer mitochondrial membrane iron-sulfur cluster containing protein mitoNEET (CISD1; gene CISD1) has shown to be a mediator of mitochondrial function and …

Development Of Machine Learning Algorithm To Identify High-Emitters From On-Road Data For Heavy-Duty (Hd) Vehicles, Filiz Kazan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The process of on-road, heavy-duty engine family certification is regulated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Currently, the US EPA 2010 emissions standards require the threshold from the Federal Testing Procedure (FTP) engine dynamometer cycle to be at or below a brake-specific NO_x (bs-NO_x) value of 0.20 g/bhp-hr for heavy-duty (HD) engines. The engine manufacturers are also required to conduct in-use portable emission measurement system (PEMS) testing to prove their products' compliance. The selected vehicles are required to satisfy not-to-exceed (NTE) analysis under normal driving conditions in the heavy-duty in-use testing (HDIUT) program. California …

Performance Of Peltier Cooled Technology During Preconcentration Of Volatile Organic Compounds Analyzed By Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Gc-Ms) Using Niosh Manual Of Analytical Methods (Nmam) 3900, Elizabeth Ann Fernandez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Using evacuated canisters for whole-air sampling allows for sampling without specific knowledge of the environment and potential analytes. Evacuated canisters are able to tolerate concentrations ranging from parts per trillion (PPT) to parts per million (PPM). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used evacuated canisters for years to sample volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from ambient air using their method TO-15 (LeBouf, et al., 2019). The GC-MS system used for the development of NMAM 3900 used liquid nitrogen to cool sorbent traps in the preconcentrator. Liquid nitrogen allows for cooling of specified points below ambient temperature. An alternative to liquid …

Machine Learning Approach To Health Risk Determination, Levi Butcher Cole

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the United States, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. The factors that contribute to heart disease are well known but it is still an ever-evolving field of research. The possible benefits to being able to determine an individual’s Health Risk could provide the early insights needed to combat cardiovascular disease. However, two major problems within this area are the public availability of a dataset and the label imbalances for the dataset. In this thesis, we present a framework for exploring health risk using a combination of the NHANES dataset and open-source machine …

Low-Temperature Hot Corrosion Of Boilers In The Coal-Fired Power Plant, Artem Gavrilev

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Hot corrosion of materials has remained a relevant topic since its introduction in the second half of the 20th century as gas turbine engines suffered severe corrosion during operation over seawater. Hot corrosion is observed in a multitude of high temperature components, such as gas turbines, power plants, refineries, fluidized bed combustion systems, pipelines, and industrial waste incinerators.

Hot corrosion experiments in the laboratory have been conducted under constant temperatures of interest, while in the actual working conditions of coal-fired power plants, boiler tubes are cooled down via water cooling from a relatively high fireside temperature, e.g., 1000°C. To investigate …

Classifying Blood Glucose Levels Through Noninvasive Features, Rishi Reddy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Blood glucose monitoring is a key process in the prevention and management of certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Currently, glucose monitoring for those interested in their blood glucose levels are confronted with options that are primarily invasive and relatively costly. A growing topic of note is the development of non-invasive monitoring methods for blood glucose. This development holds a significant promise for improvement to the quality of life of a significant portion of the population and is overall met with great enthusiasm from the scientific community as well as commercial interest. This work aims to develop a potential pipeline …

Multifunctional Organoboron Compounds And Boralactonate Salts, Randika T. Abeysinghe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Organoboron compounds have gathered an important significance within the chemistry community on account of their wide range of applications in synthesis, catalysis, and medicinal chemistry. Even though the uses of boron compounds in drug discovery have been overlooked until the last several decades, boronic acid containing molecules have garnered increased attention due to the unique chemical properties of the boron center. Boron-functionalized ��-aryl propionic acid non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug derivatives (bora-NSAIDs) can be accessed via copper(I)-catalyzed alkene boracarboxylation, using CO2 and B2pin2. To explore and expand the current synthetic and future medicinal chemistry applications of these bora-NSAIDs, methods …

Impact Of Radio Frequency Interference And Real-Time Spectral Kurtosis Mitigation, Evan T. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We catalog the ubiquity of Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) plaguing every modern radio telescope and investigate several ways to mitigate it in order to create better science-ready data products for astronomers. There are a myriad of possible RFI sources, including satellite uplinks and downlinks, cellular communications, air traffic radar, and natural sources such as lightning. Real-time RFI mitigation strategies must take these RFI characteristics into account, as the interfering signals can look significantly different at very high time and frequency resolutions.

We examine Spectral Kurtosis (SK) as a real-time statistical RFI detection method, and compare its flagging efficacy against simulated …

Development Of A Thermal Desalination System Using Low Quality Thermal Energy, Takudzwa C. Chipunza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Abstract

Development of a Thermal Desalination System Using Low Quality Thermal Energy

Takudzwa Chipunza

The blowdown water from the cooling tower of the power plant and the produced water from shale gas industry cannot be disposed directly to the environment as they may contain dissolved solids that are harmful to the environment. A detailed physical and chemical process to remove the mineral and organic solids has been developed in West Virginia University. Such a process includes running the blowdown and produced water through a softening tank, activated carbon tank, and a reverse osmosis (RO) system. The RO reject contains a …

Invisible Confidence: Developing An Innovative Leotard For Urinary And Menstrual Protection, Desiree' Nicole Childers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Invisible Confidence: Developing an Innovative Leotard for Urinary and Menstrual Protection

The focus of this thesis project is to develop a multifaceted study, related to leotards in competitive gymnastics and dance with regards to design and construction, use of absorbent fabrics, and product development and marketing. The research for developing this design will include: the exploration into the anesthetic design of the gymnastics leotard, along with the mechanical properties of fabric in the area of absorption and durability, as well as how the construction might affect these aspects, and will explore the steps towards the development and marketing of these …

Mountain Biking Mountaineers: Insights Into The West Virginia Mountain Biking Community, Connor Mullin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mountain biking is one of the most popular recreational activities in the United States. Beyond the increasing popularity of the sport, the technology is also changing, especially in terms of electric mountain biking. This new type of bike blends traditional mountain bikes with electric bikes, creating a potential new group of recreationists. The research on mountain biking, and more specifically electric mountain biking, is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine West Virginian mountain bikers by studying behaviors and motivations. There are no published studies focused on mountain biking in West Virginia, and therefore a need to fill …

Repercussions: The Pressure To Be Thin, Shuhan Liu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

My MFA thesis and supporting exhibition will highlight ceramics work I have created with the intention of dissecting the relationship between a soul and reality to convey the story of tension and anxiety and show it in a way that would let viewers identify with my discomfort and anxiety. The inspiration for my work came from the severe body anxiety that I faced that broke out during the three years of psychological stress caused by the pandemic. Using personal narratives as a starting point, I created object-based artwork that addresses the external pressures I feel to be skinny. As an …