Digital Commons Network^™

Principles For Using Remote Data Collection Devices And Deep Learning In Evaluating Social Impact Indicators Of Engineered Products For Global Development, Bryan J. Stringham

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluating the social impacts of engineered products, or effects products have on the daily lives of individuals, is critical to ensuring that products are having positive impacts while avoiding negative impacts and to learning how to improve product designs for a more positive social impact. One approach to quantifying a product's social impact is to use social impact indicators that combine user data in a meaningful way to give insight into the current social condition of an individual or population. However, determining social impact indicators relative to engineered products and individuals in developing countries can be difficult when there is …

Process Development In Facilities Management Sector, Mohammad Zaher Aldiek

Theses

This capstone project focuses on the enhancement and optimization of different aspects within the facilities management department of Dubai Developments, which is a leading real estate company in Dubai. Considering the huge number of buildings owned by the company and that the facilities management department was recently formed, there are still opportunities of improvement in terms of saving energy, growing productivity, improving operations processes and promoting sustainability. To do so, this capstone project focused on developing four main aspects within the FM department to ensure achieving the abovementioned objectives. Firstly, a retrofit project was implemented on the cooling system of …

Examining Case Clearance Through A Quantitative Approach, Libnah Rodriguez

Theses

The police force bears a fundamental responsibility to bring about justice for crime victims. To best fulfill this role, police officers must hold offenders accountable, beginning with their swift apprehension. Given this expectation, police agencies, and the public alike, have used clearance rates as a direct measure of police performance. However, despite its significance to victims, communities, and society at large, the complexities inherent to case clearance are rarely understood. Indeed, their definition, theoretical importance, and current figures are seldom examined among citizens and police agencies. This working paper will attempt to address this gap in knowledge by discussing the …

A Text-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention For Sexual And Gender Minority Groups: Protocol For A Feasibility Trial, Irene Tami-Maury, Rebecca Klaff, Allison Hussin, Nathan Grant Smith, Shine Chang, Lorna Mcneill, Lorraine R Reitzel, Sanjay Shete, Lorien C Abroms

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Smoking among sexual and gender minority (SGM) groups, which include lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, has been reported to be highly prevalent. This is attributed to several factors, including minority-specific stress and targeted tobacco marketing. Therefore, this population is at an increased risk for tobacco-related diseases. SMS text messaging programs have been found to be effective for smoking cessation and appeal to traditionally hard-to-reach populations over other interventions. It has also been suggested that targeted and tailored interventions could be more effective among SGM smokers because they can be designed to assure a safe, validating health care …

High-Frequency Ultrasound In Patients With Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis, Junkui Wang, Miao Wang, Qinghua Qi, Zhibin Wu, Jianguo Wen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study aimed to investigate the value of high-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) in differentiation of the seronegative rheumatoid arthritis (SNRA) and osteoarthritis (OA) and in the diagnosis of SNRA. 83 patients diagnosed with SNRA (SNRA group) and 40 diagnosed with OA (OA group) who received HFUS were retrospectively analyzed. The grayscale (GS) scores, power Doppler (PD) scores, and bone erosion (BE)scores were recorded, and added up to calculate the total scores of US variables. The correlations of the total scores of US variables with the 28-joint disease activity score (DAS28), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) were analyzed. The …

Applying Unsupervised Machine Learning Clustering Techniques To Early Childcare Soundscapes, Kenton Hummel, Erica E. Ryherd, Iason Konstantzos, Abbie Raikes

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Early childhood is a critical time period for language, brain, cognitive, and social/emotional development. Out-of-home childcare is a normative, typical experience for millions of young children. Although Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) in K-12 settings has received recent, significant attention, the links between IEQ and children’s learning and development in early childcare settings is a less understood topic. This work focuses specifically on the sound aspect of IEQ in early childcare settings to better understand typical noise levels and occupant experience. Standard approaches to analyzing background noise will be presented alongside more detailed statistical analyses utilizing unsupervised machine learning clustering techniques. …

What Is Nonclassical About Uncertainty Relations?, Lorenzo Catani, Matthew S. Leifer, Giovanni Scala, David Schmid, Robert W. Spekkens

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Uncertainty relations express limits on the extent to which the outcomes of distinct measurements on a single state can be made jointly predictable. The existence of nontrivial uncertainty relations in quantum theory is generally considered to be a way in which it entails a departure from the classical worldview. However, this perspective is undermined by the fact that there exist operational theories which exhibit nontrivial uncertainty relations but which are consistent with the classical worldview insofar as they admit of a generalized-noncontextual ontological model. This prompts the question of what aspects of uncertainty relations, if any, cannot be realized in …

Alterations In The Oral Microbiome Leading To Inflammatory Periodontal Disease, Emma Vlaun

Honors Scholar Theses

The oral cavity contains a complex micro-ecosystem of flora inhabiting a variety of different niches. Some of these niches include saliva, shedding surfaces, and non-shedding surfaces. Biofilms in the oral microbiome, colloquially referred to as dental plaque, can accumulate on non-shedding surfaces, such as natural teeth and other artificial hard parts such as braces, dentures, fillings, and implants. These biofilms are made up of many mutualistic bacteria that stick to each other and adhere to hard surfaces. Scientists speculate that at least 700 different species of bacteria inhabit various parts of the mouth. These bacteria occupy different niches in varying …

An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Virtual Reality In Distance Learning, Rashana Weerasinghe

Honors Scholar Theses

This study focuses on the applicability of emerging technologies in education. To explore this, our research was conducted through an “Intro To Emerging Technology” course taught by the OPIM Department at the University of Connecticut. The class meets in two modalities: virtual reality environment and video-conferencing platform. Our research explores the learning outcomes produced by the different classroom environments, seeking to better understand the impact of virtual reality in distance learning. The purpose of this is to identify and predict how virtual reality will be integrated into a distance learning environment and understand if it can be used as a …

Effect On 360 Degree Video Streaming With Caching And Without Caching, Md Milon Uddin

Electrical Engineering Theses

People all around the world are becoming more and more accustomed to watching 360-degree videos, which offer a way to experience virtual reality. While watching videos, it enables users to view video scenes from any perspective. To reduce bandwidth costs and provide the video with less latency, 360-degree video caching at the edge server may be a smart option. A hypothetical 360-degree video streaming system can partition popular video materials into tiles that are cached at the edge server. This study uses the Least Recently Used (LRU) and Least Frequently Used (LFU) algorithms to accomplish video caching and suggest a …

Effects Of A Behavioral Intervention On Physical Activity, Diet, And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Pregnant Women With Elevated Weight: Results Of The Hipp Randomized Controlled Trial, Sara Wilcox Ph.D., Jihong Liu, Gabrielle Turner-Mcgrievy Ph.D., Rd, Alycia K. Boutté, Ellen Wingard

Faculty Publications

Background

Physical activity (PA), diet, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are related to maternal and infant health, but interventions to improve these outcomes are needed in diverse pregnant women with elevated weight.

Methods

Health In Pregnancy and Postpartum (HIPP) was a randomized controlled trial. Women who were pregnant (N=219, 44% African American, 56% white) with overweight or obesity but otherwise healthy were randomized to a behavioral intervention grounded in Social Cognitive Theory (n=112) or to standard care (n=107). The intervention group received an in-depth counseling session, a private Facebook group, and 10 content-based …

Photocatalytic Anti-Markovnikov Hydroetherification Of Olefins, Kimberly A. Loyer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The development of olefin hydroetherification reactions via the addition of an alcohol nucleophile and hydrogen atom across an unsaturated carbon-carbon bond has remained a sought- after synthetic transformation. The formation of ethers via this methodology has traditionally required the use of transition metals and/or harsh conditions to catalyze the reaction and is challenging to make selective. However, the Nicewicz laboratory has since developed an anti- Markovnikov intramolecular hydroetherification of alkenols using photoredox catalysis. With the mechanism of this pivotal transformation—and of photoredox reactions in general—being largely unexplored mechanistically, the Hirschi lab implemented experimental 13C kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) and density …

Early Prediction And Longitudinal Modeling Of Preeclampsia From Multiomics, Ivana Marić, Kévin Contrepois, Mira N. Moufarrej, Ina A. Stelzer, Dorien Feyaerts, Xiaoyuan Han, Andy Tang, Natalie Stanley, Ronald J. Wong, Gavin M. Traber, Mathew Ellenberger, Alan L. Chang, Ramin Fallahzadeh, Huda Nassar, Martin Becker, Maria Xenochristou, Camilo Espinosa, Davide De Francesco, Mohammad S. Ghaemi, Elizabeth K. Costello, Anthony Culos, Xuefeng B. Ling

Pacific Faculty Work

Preeclampsia is a complex disease of pregnancy whose physiopathology remains unclear. We developed machine-learning models for early prediction of preeclampsia (first 16 weeks of pregnancy) and over gestation by analyzing six omics datasets from a longitudinal cohort of pregnant women. For early pregnancy, a prediction model using nine urine metabolites had the highest accuracy and was validated on an independent cohort (area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve [AUC] = 0.88, 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.76, 0.99] cross-validated; AUC = 0.83, 95% CI [0.62,1] validated). Univariate analysis demonstrated statistical significance of identified metabolites. An integrated multiomics model further improved accuracy (AUC …

Newsletter, December 2022, Cedar Oaks Guild

Cedar Oaks Guild Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Pushing On In Defense Of Qualitative Research: A Book Review Of Patricia Leavy’S Oral History, Vaso Thomas

The Qualitative Report

The central feature of Patricia Leavy’s book, Oral History: Understanding Qualitative Research, is the legitimization of doing oral history and, generally, qualitative research in the social sciences. Leavy reviews the foundational philosophies that inform the qualitative practice of doing social research and the methodological tools that affirm the scientific nature of oral history (such as reflection, explicitness, proper coding, and congruence). Leavy instructs the reader through each stage of the methodological process from research design to writing up the research findings. Oral History is not only an instructional guide but also a response to the critics of the qualitative …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Personal Health Care Challenges Experienced By Iranian Divorcees, Farzaneh Golboni, Zainab Alimoradi, Bengt Fridlund, Liselott Årestedt, Mark Griffiths, Anders Broström, Amir Hajiagha Pakpour Ahp

The Qualitative Report

Divorce, nowadays an increasingly more prevalent life event in Iran, can create poor general health among Iranian women, possibly due to bigger challenges for health-related behaviors. The aim was to explore challenges to achieve health-related behaviors as experienced by divorced Iranian women acting as household-heads. An inductive exploratory design based on qualitative content analysis was utilized. Twenty strategically selected divorced women acting as household-heads in Tehran were interviewed between September 2019 and January 2020. The divorced women experienced individual-centered and social and environmental-centered challenges concerning their health-related behaviors. Lack of competence, lack of personal control, and lack of emotional support …

Gender Identity, Sports, And Affirmative Action: What's Title Ix Got To Do With It?, Michael E. Rosman

St. Mary's Law Journal

There is much talk these days of promoting “equity” rather than “equality.” When applied outside athletics, Title IX promotes non-discrimination, usually associated with equality. As it has been applied to sports, though, it may be our most prominent “equity” statute, making sure each sex gets its fair share.

The questions this article seeks to address are legal ones that the debate about trans females seems to bring to the fore. How did we start with a statute whose language looks very similar to every other civil rights statute—and, indeed, that acts just like every other civil rights statute outside of …

Beyond All Worlds: George Macdonald, The Pre-Tolkienians, And The Forgotten Possibilities Of Fantasy, Ethan Patrick Stevens

Masters Theses

The history of modern fantasy has been powerfully shaped by the worldbuilding paradigm so successfully executed in J.R.R. Tolkien's 1954-55 trilogy The Lord of the Rings. However, there were nearly a hundred and fifty years of creative work between the birth of fantasy as a genre and Tolkien’s publication of The Lord of the Rings. By examining the pre-Tolkienian fantasists, we find that Tolkien's way of exhaustive consistency was not, and is not, the only way to write fantasy. Phantastes (1858), the first novel by the influential Victorian fantasist George MacDonald, defies contemporary worldbuilding standards almost constantly in …

Theorizing Constructive Learning Environments For Secondary Girls' Stem Learning, Safiyya Bintali

Undergraduate Research Symposium Performances & Exhibitions

Background: Multiple studies analyze STEM learning environments, but in these studies, secondary-age (middle/high school) female students are not the focus. There is a lack of research on creating effective STEM learning environments for motivating girls to be introduced to/motivated to pursue STEM fields.

Purpose of Study: Our study in the Engaging Girls in Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing (GUIC) summer camp, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)'s ITEST program, aims to close that gap by investigating elements that made up a constructivist STEM learning environment, and how these elements ensured an effective and supportive STEM learning environment for secondary-age female …

Insights Into Early-Stage Inbreeding Depression In Hawaiian Metrosideros, Rosalie Chaleunsouck

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness of offspring resulting from the conception of two genetically related gametes. Selfing, the fusion of gametes from the same individual, is the most extreme form of inbreeding, common in many plant species. Inbreeding depression is most prevalently seen at the seed-development stage (Levin, 1981).

Electrochemical Inactivation Of Tobacco Mosaic Virus: A Novel Vaccine Method, Angelica Diaz

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

We tested the effectiveness of using electrochemistry to irreversibly damage Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV). Hypothesis: By utilizing the acidic properties of DNA and RNA, viral genetic material can be irreversibly and selectively damaged using electrochemical methods. Technique could assist in development of highly targeted and effective vaccines.

Horizontal Ladder Task: Assessing The Effect Of A Walking Intervention On Mobility In People With Lower Limb Amputation, Chelsea Domingo

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Hundreds of thousands of people struggle with mobility due to lower limb amputation. Learning how to do something you have never done is a difficult task for anyone. Practice is important when person with amputation uses a prosthesis because each environment they encounter could vary. Across settings, different textures such as even and uneven terrain require different skills to maintain balance. The purpose of this research is to determine if practicing walking on uneven terrain will help people with amputation improve their ability to walk in different environments. We will use a horizontal ladder task (Christie et al., 2020) to …

A Literature Review On Developments In Timber Design And Its Impact On Carbon Emissions, Raquel Jackson

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Carbon dioxide emissions are a growing issue worldwide as urbanization and industrialization continues to increase (ie. Steel and concrete). Non-renewable resources limit steel and concrete production. Despite current methods to reduce greenhouse gasses, carbon emissions remain difficult to reduce from steel and concrete industries.

Are They Satisfied Enough To Go Above And Beyond?, Alexandra Lungu

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Drawing on self-determination theory, this study examines the relationship between paradoxical leadership and service employees' work behaviors.

Characterization Of The Thermophilic Xlanase Fsa272 From Candidatus Fervidibacter Sacchari Belonging To Glycoside Hydrolase Family Gh10, Nicole Torosian, Jonathan K. Covington, Allison M. Cook, Nancy O. Nou, Jan-Fang Cheng

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Candidatus Fervidibacter sacchari is a novel, facultatively anaerobic, hyperthermophilic bacterium found in terrestrial geothermal springs globally. Its genome encodes 115 putative glycoside hydrolase enzymes that are predicted to hydrolyze glycosidic bonds between carbohydrates. Fsa272, a member of the glycoside hydrolase family 10, was synthesized and cloned into Escherichia coli strain T7 Express. The transformed E. coli was grown with LB broth and ampicillin at 37°C. Fsa272 expression was induced with isopropylthio-beta-galactoside (IPTG), and the lysate was heat purified for 15 minutes at 80° C. The 3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid assay identified xylanase activity with a pH range of 4.5 to 10.5 (pHopt …

Characterization Of Usp7 Substrates In The Brain, Jose Itorralba, Sage Boss, Shahraiz Akbar, Hayley Baker, Chinglan Chang

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Loss of function lesions in Ubiquitin-specific protease (USP) 7 are associated with intellectual disability, speech delay, autism spectrum disorder, and seizures. While the deubiquitinating activity of USP7 has been characterized in cancer, its role in neurological conditions is not understood. Here, we show that USP7 can regulate the development of the brain by localizing to synaptosomes in the hippocampus and stabilizing neural-specific substrates.

Correlational Analysis Between Self-Esteem And Selective Mutism, Janelle Ferraris, Karina Carrillo-Juarez, Alexandra Caballero, Melanie Rede

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

These results demonstrate that children who score higher in being self-conscious or easily embarrassed are may be more likely to present more severe symptoms of selective mutism. These results also suggest that, in treating or identifying children with selective mutism, it is beneficial to understand the severity to which these children feel self-conscious or embarrassed.

Development Of A Novel Ionic Liquid-Coated Adsorbent For Treating Emerging Contaminants In Recycled Water On The International Space Station, Madeline Carroll, Gabson Baguma, Savanna Vacek

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Synthesize at least 3 biobased ionic liquids. Optimize method for conducting liquid-liquid extractions. Analyze and quantify how much DMSO2 is removed by the ionic liquids. Coat biochar with the most effective biobased ionic liquids.

Emotional Engagement To Music Is Correlated With Enhanced Frisson Experience But Not Misophonia, Sarah Al-Shimary, Nicole Datastanyan, Shelbie Silvers, Sivan Barashy, Solena Mednicoff

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

There is evidence that individuals who are particularly sensitive or intolerant to sounds are also more engaged or fascinated with positive sounds such as music.

Growth Of Pseudocotalpa Giulianii Larvae In Sand From Different Dune Sources, Cosset Hernandez Pena, Mandy Mountain

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Pseudocotalpa giulianii (PSGU) is an endemic species known to inhabit two sand dunes in Nye County, Nevada: Big Dune Recreational Area and Lava Dune. Differences in sand properties between Big Dune and Lava Dune could impact survival and growth of the larvae of P. giulianii. Use of permitted off-road vehicles (ORV) in Big Dune can impact its habitats and cause disturbances to local populations, including the Giuliani Dune Scarab as ORV activity is correlated with changes in dune vegetation. Lava Dune has no permitted ORV activity, however, differences in sand composition, including eroded basalt, have the potential to influence the …