Digital Commons Network^™

Power And Sample Size Calculations For Evaluating Spillover Effects In Networks With Non-Randomized Interventions, Ke Zhang

Open Access Master's Theses

Determining the appropriate sample size that is needed to achieve a desired level of statistical power is an integral aspect of study design, as it ensures that studies are adequately powered and that their results are reliable and meaningful. Adequate statistical power can also address some practical and ethical considerations. Various methodologies for power and sample size calculations have been developed for distinct types of studies. However, the implications for power when estimating spillover effects in sociometric network-based studies with non-randomized interventions (SNS-NRIs) remain inadequately explored. In this study, we first conducted a series of simulations to evaluate how the …

Recovering The Full Network Using A Sampling Bias Adjustment In Sampled Network, Ryan Humphreys

Open Access Master's Theses

This project aimed to investigate the differences in terms of network structural characteristics between full and sampled networks and to develop a new weighted generalized estimating equations model (WGEE) in order to mitigate the sampling bias and obtain less biased sample estimates for model coefficients and standard errors. The applications of such an approach are of interest in the field of network analysis and public health studies. The Transmission Reduction Intervention Project (TRIP) is an HIV study using risk networks and is a key motivator for this work. Two other motivating examples were constructed where it was found that sampled …

Analysis Of Turkey Reovirus Using Machine Learning, Maryam Kafikang

Open Access Master's Theses

Avian reoviruses continue to cause disease in turkeys with varied pathogenicity and tissue tropism. Turkey enteric reovirus (TERV) has been identified as a causative agent of enteritis or inapparent infections in turkeys. The new emerging variants of turkey reovirus tentatively named as turkey arthritis reovirus (TARV) and turkey hepatitis reovirus (THRV) are linked to tenosynovitis/arthritis and hepatitis, respectively. Turkey arthritis and hepatitis reoviruses are causing significant economic losses to the turkey industry. These infections can lead to poor weight gain, uneven growth, poor feed conversion, increased morbidity and mortality, and reduced marketability of commercial turkeys. To combat these issues, it …

On The Utility Of Multi-Species Foraminifera-Bound Δ15n Records For Subtropical Front Migration Analysis, Shalan Mcdonagh

Open Access Master's Theses

>The Subtropical front (STF) is an area of intense mixing between the cold Southern Ocean and the warm subtropical South Indian Ocean. On interglacial-glacial timescales the STF migrates, altering surface chemical and biological conditions as it moves. A recent study interpreted this migration through changes in the isotopic composition of nitrogen in the surface ocean during the Last Glacial Period by measuring the isotopic composition of nitrogen of foraminifera-bound nitrogen in a single species of foraminifera. Relying on a single species interpretation in this dynamic mixing zone may bias toward species-related ecological preferences. Here we explore the possibility that measuring …

Blue Carbon And Microplastic Sequestration In Coastal Habitats Of The Philippines, Emily Hall

Open Access Master's Theses

Climate change and human development pose significant threats to coastal ecosystems, and an understanding of the history of these ecosystems is necessary to assess potential climate mitigation and coastal resiliency strategies. The high-resolution histories in coastal vegetated habitats, enabled by high sedimentation rates, record long-term sequestration of below-ground carbon as well as the history of pollutants such as microplastics. Rates of sequestration, in addition to bulk storage estimates, are needed to inform future management decisions. This study documents organic carbon and microplastic concentrations and accumulation rates from five distinct sites in the southern Philippines. The carbon and plastic records are …

Early Life History Of American Lobsters (Homarus Americanus) In Coastal Southern New England Waters, Declan James Mccormick

Open Access Master's Theses

The Southern New England (SNE) American lobster (Homarus americanus) stock, previously one of the largest fisheries in the region, has suffered a significant decline since the early 2000s and is now severely depleted. The SNE lobster stock has struggled to recover and is currently experiencing recruitment failure, with a population bottleneck occurring between the spawner and recruit life stages. The objective of this project was to quantify the abundance and spatial distribution of larval and early benthic phase lobsters in coastal Rhode Island (RI) waters to investigate current recruitment processes. Field sampling for larval and juvenile lobsters occurred during the …

A Sample Efficient Off-Policy Actor-Critic Approach For Discrete Action Environments, Nicholas Clavette

Open Access Master's Theses

In the current reinforcement learning (RL) taxonomy, there exist few algorithms for discrete action environments that are capable of learning stochastic policies in an off-policy manner. Learning stochastic policies brings benefits such as stable training and smoother exploration strategies. Training an algorithm in an off-policy manner allows for greater sample efficiency, as experiences collected while interacting with a learning environment can be used more than once. Stable performance and good sample efficiency are highly important when collecting experiences from a learning environment is expensive. This thesis proposes a new algorithm for discrete action RL called Discrete General Policy Optimization (Discrete …

Hard Clam (Mercenaria Mercenaria L.) Response To A Warming Environment: A Mesocosm Experiment, Michael Shawn Potter Ii

Open Access Master's Theses

The Northern quahog (Mercenaria mercenaria), known also as the hard clam, is a cultural, economic, and ecologically important species endemic to the east coast of North America. Numerous studies have indicated that water temperature and food supply are the primary factors contributing to the success of the species. The response of the hard clam to warming trends in Narragansett Bay has yet to be fully investigated due to the challenge of isolating the impact of temperature alone on local populations. In this study, mesoscale physical models of Narragansett Bay were used to replicate conditions within the Providence River …

Effects Of Mate Choice On The Reproductive Success Of New England Cottontails (Sylvilagus Transitionalis), Hannah Petit

Open Access Master's Theses

The vulnerable New England cottontail (NEC, Sylvilagus transitionalis) has lost most of its historic range. Roger Williams Park Zoo (RWPZ) and affiliates created a reintroduction breeding program that breeds wild-caught rabbits and releases the offspring to amplify declining populations. To improve offspring production, a mate choice experiment was conducted that tested the preference of 8 females with 3 males in a pen that allowed visual and olfactory contact with all males simultaneously. The length of time, frequency of visits, female urine markings, number of barrier investigations, and female proximity to each of the males was recorded. These behaviors were …

Assessing Well-Being Impacts Of Sargassum Events In Puerto Rico, Patricia Valentin

Open Access Master's Theses

Since 2011, Sargassum events have become larger and more recurrent in Puerto Rico and appear to have come to stay. While some studies have described economic and ecological impacts on the archipelago, studies of Sargassum impact on human well-being are lacking. However, in the context of Puerto Rico, only a few studies have been conducted in terms of general impacts of sargassum events and its management. Puerto Rico, like most territories of the region, lacks an efficient strategy for sargassum management. Currently, only one set of protocols or guidelines has been produced since sargassum accumulations have become an issue for …

Modeling Acoustic Propagation Near The Atlantis Ii Seamounts, Nathan Tustison

Open Access Master's Theses

Acoustic modeling was used to predict ray paths for a future experiment at the Atlantis II seamount, part of the New England Seamount Chain. Historical sound speed data from the area around the Atlantis II Seamounts was analyzed to build the acoustic prediction model. The results of the prediction model produced propagation paths for various sound speed profiles (SSP)s. The model was used to assist in the placement of acoustic sensors prior to the experiment. The acoustic environment varies significantly due to the seamount's location and the presence of the Gulf Stream. The model has been designed to accept the …

Green Nation: State Forestry And Its Failures In The Atlantic Pyrenees, 1827-1848, Timothy R. Jarvis

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis argues that state forestry programs in nineteenth-century France failed to produce adequate conservation systems, resulting in the devastation of the natural world. After the revolutionary era, a highly centralized and technocratic state attempted to solve old environmental problems with modernized solutions. This tension between old and new ways of thinking reached a watershed moment during the middle of the nineteenth century, when Romantic and Enlightenment worldviews clashed within the environmental theater of state forestry. This confrontation radically transformed how the French perceived and interacted with nature. Concepts such as radical empiricism, biological evolution, and natural theology became cultural …

The Current State Of South-West Rural Representation In Contemporary Theatre., Ryan Wilce

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences Theses

The following thesis will present the current state of South-West rural representation in contemporary theatre and explore who has the right to tell rural communities stories. Using rural proofing as a base framework will present a new framework for theatre makers to inform and influence their creative representations of South-West rural life. To understand the current state of representation and create the framework to improve this, I will be using formalist, actantial and script analysis of select plays, practitioners and theatre companies representing rural life in their work. Equally, my work as a theatre maker will be analysed as I …

Intergenerational Community Engagement Strategy To Minority Families In Urban Housing Developments Suffering From Generational Issues In The Pioneer Homes And Central Village On The Southside Of Syracuse, New York, Aaron V. Chancy

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

In the Seventh-day Adventist Churches Fundamental Beliefs, Fundamental Belief #13 The Remnant and Its Mission, pages 168-178 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual (Church Manual, 172), there is no mention pertaining to the closing versus of Matthew 28. Yet within the evangelism endeavors, there is a lack of the elements of intergenerational ministry to families in low-income housing as a methodology in which to fulfill this mission. While the adage "If we get the children, we will get the parents" has been used in attempts to do ministry among low-income households, the lack of a systematic intergenerational evangelistic method …

Comparison Of Toxicity Of Silver Nanomaterials And Silver Nitrate On Developing Zebrafish Embryos: Bioavailability, Osmoregulatory And Oxidative Stress, Spp Pereira, D Boyle, Aja Nogueira, Rd Handy

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The mechanisms of toxicity of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) to the early life stages of freshwater fish, and the relative hazard compared to dissolved metals, is only partially understood. In the present study, zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos were exposed to lethal concentrations of silver nitrate (AgNO3) or silver (Ag) ENMs (primary size 42.5 ± 10.2 nm). The 96 h-LC50 for AgNO3 was 32.8 ± 0.72 μg Ag L-1 (mean ± 95% CI) compared to 6.5 ± 0.4 mg L-1 of the whole material for Ag ENMs; with the ENMs being orders of magnitude less toxic than the metal salt. The EC50 …

Economic Trade-Offs In Marine Resource Use Between Offshore Wind Farms And Fisheries In Scottish Waters, Yang Qu, J. Kim Swales, Tara Hooper, Melanie C. Austen, Xinhao Wang, Eleni Papathanasopoulou, Junling Huang, Xiaoyu Yan

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The rapid expansion of offshore wind farms (OWFs) has prompted growing concerns about the extent to which competition over the marine resource causes trade-offs within the energy-food nexus. Reflecting this concern, the paper develops a novel marine resource allocation module which augments a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model, calibrated on Scottish data. This allows simulations with varying degrees of differential productivity of the marine resource across alternative uses. Simulation results with the model show that increasing OWFs can impose substantial negative impacts on seafood supply. Extensive analysis is undertaken to test the sensitivity of the model results to changes in …

Challenges Of Evidence-Informed Offshore Decommissioning: An Environmental Perspective, Anaëlle J. Lemasson, Paul J. Somerfield, Michaela Schratzberger, Antony M. Knights

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Many offshore artificial structures are at or nearing their ends of life, and society faces the considerable challenge that is decommissioning. Current scientific evidence of the ecological and environmental consequences of decommissioning is insufficient to reliably and accurately inform decision-making and policy development. Thus, we must strengthen the scientific basis for evidence-informed decommissioning.

Victrices Scientiarum Of 1904: Who Were The First Women Elected As Fellows Of The Linnean Society Of London?, R Boden

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Published within The Linnean Special Issue No. 10 "‘The Door Was Opened’ Pioneering Women at the Linnean Society of London and Their Continuing Legacy" Compiled and edited by Gina Douglas Hon FLS and Leonie Berwick

Nature-Based Education: Expanding The Walls Of The Classroom, Halle Louise Kilburg

Honors Program Theses

Are the current practices of education one that best benefits a student? Every day, millions of children go to school. While there is a wide variety of what this experience may look like, there are common factors, such as sterile classroom environments, canned experiences, and dry lectures that often contribute to leaving students feeling burnt out, exhausted, and unmotivated. The purpose of this study was to explore how various schools use Nature-Based education to run their programs and the impact of this approach on students and teachers. For this study, four educators from three various programs were interviewed and asked …

Design, Evolution, And Evaluation Of A General Chemistry-Bridging Course, Scott A. Reid

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

General chemistry I/II courses are important gateway courses for a variety of STEM majors, as poor performance in these courses is often associated with lower rates of student success and retention. Much research has explored preparatory or remedial strategies to improve student outcomes. In this article, we report a different approach, which involved the development of a bridging or intervention course designed to capture students who are not or have not succeeded in general chemistry I and prepare them to retake the course in the following semester or summer. The course was initially developed as an eight-week module in the …

Measuring How Kinetochore-Microtubule Detachment Contributes To Chromosome Movement And The Correction Of Attachment Errors, Melissa K. Parks

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The goal of mitosis is to achieve faithful chromosome segregation; ensuring that the daughter cells inherit equal numbers of chromosomes. This is vital to cell health and viability and if mis-regulated can result in birth defects and disease such as cancer. There are many intricately regulated processes that occur throughout mitosis to achieve proper chromosome segregation, and one such example is the dynamic attachments formed between cytoskeletal structures, known as microtubules, and chromosomes, the carriers of genetic material. These attachments occur at structures called kinetochores, and the microtubules attached here are referred to as kinetochore-microtubules (k-MTs). These k-MTs are inherently …

Machine Learning For Electronic And Atomistic Simulations, Jun Yang

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The demand for accurate and efficient atomistic simulations and electronic structure calculations in materials science and quantum chemistry has motivated the development of novel computational methodologies. The rapid evolution of machine learning has brought new techniques for advancing the accuracy, efficiency, and predictive power of atomistic simulations and electronic structure calculations.

In this thesis, we explore the symmetry requirements and physics intuitions needed for developing machine-learning interatomic potentials, which are the most critical component in atomistic simulations. Specifically, we introduce a novel physics-inspired graph neural network interatomic potential that enables accurate and efficient atomistic simulations of complex materials. The machine …

Airborne Sound And Substrate-Borne Vibration In Orthopteran Communication, Ciara E. Kernan

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

The challenge of attracting and locating potential mates has driven the evolution of diverse mate-finding signaling systems. These systems can be complex, with multiple signals or signal components spread across different sensory modalities. When multiple modalities are combined in one communication system, features of each can be important to individual fitness; over evolutionary time, these can shape investment in different parts of a signal repertoire. One group of animals that commonly uses multiple signal modalities is Orthoptera. Cricket and katydid species within this order often produce airborne sound calls to advertise to potential mates. Many also produce substrate-borne vibrational signals. …

Using Micro Satellites To Assess The Impact Of Algae Growth On Global Warming, Hursh, Vanessa

Student Works

Data gathered from microsatellites can inform policymakers and environmental agencies about the impact of algae on global warming. It can guide the development of strategies to mitigate or harness the potential benefits of algae growth.

The Gender Of Gideon, Kathryn A. Sabbeth, Jessica Steinberg

Faculty Publications

This Article makes a simple claim that has been overlooked for decades and yet has enormous theoretical and practical significance: the constitutional guarantee of counsel adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright accrues largely to the benefit of men. In this Article, we present original data analysis demonstrating that millions of women face compulsory and highly punitive encounters with the justice system but do so largely in the civil courts, where no right to counsel attaches. The demographic picture that emerges is one in which the right to counsel skews heavily against women’s interests. As this Article …

The Nightmare Of Dream Advertising, Dustin Marlan

Faculty Publications

Advertisers are attempting to market to us while we dream. This is not science fiction, but rather a troubling new reality. Using a technique dubbed “targeted dream incubation” (TDI), companies have begun inserting commercial messages into people’s dreams. Roughly, TDI works by: (1) creating an association during waking life using sensory cues (for example, a pairing of sounds, visuals, or scents); and (2) as the subject is drifting off to sleep, the association is again introduced with the goal of triggering related dreams with related subject matter. Based on a 2021 American Marketing Association survey, 77 percent of 400 companies …

A Synthesis Of The Science And Law Relating To Eyewitness Misidentifications And Recommendations For How Police And Courts Can Reduce Wrongful Convictions Based On Them, Henry F. Fradella

Seattle University Law Review

The empirical literature on perception and memory consistently demonstrates the pitfalls of eyewitness identifications. Exoneration data lend external validity to these studies. With the goal of informing law enforcement officers, prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, judges, and judicial law clerks about what they can do to reduce wrongful convictions based on misidentifications, this Article presents a synthesis of the scientific knowledge relevant to how perception and memory affect the (un)reliability of eyewitness identifications. The Article situates that body of knowledge within the context of leading case law. The Article then summarizes the most current recommendations for how law enforcement personnel should—and …

Adapting Grief And Bereavement-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Chinese-Identifying Individuals In America: A Cultural Analysis, Ian Tsang

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Anti-Asian hate as well as shifting circumstances brought on by current events all around the world highlight the increased need for mental health support and services in an ever-growing Chinese population in the United States, particularly in regard to grief work. Additionally, Chinese Americans demonstrate a disproportionate and lower utilization of mental health services, especially in comparison to the general population in the country. This paper discusses the various factors contributing to this phenomenon before presenting recommendations for culturally adapting evidence-based approaches to grieving individuals in the target population. More specifically, a cultural analysis consisting of topics such as Chinese …

Rethinking Innovation At Fda, Rachel Sachs, W. Nicholson Price Ii, Patricia J. Zettler

Scholarship@WashULaw

In several controversial drug approval decisions in recent years, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has publicly justified its decision partly on the ground that approving the drugs in question would support innovation in those fields going forward. To some observers, these arguments were surprising, as the agency’s determination whether a drug is “safe” and “effective” does not seem to depend on whether its approval also supports innovation. But FDA’s use of these innovation arguments in drug approval decisions is just one example of the ways in which the agency has come to make many innovation-related judgments as part of …

Circulating Tumor Dna Sequencing Of Pediatric Solid And Brain Tumor Patients: An Institutional Feasibility Study, Ross Mangum, Jacquelyn Reuther, Koel Sen Baksi, Ilavarasi Gandhi, Ryan C Zabriskie, Alva Recinos, Robin Raesz-Martinez, Frank Y Lin, Samara L Potter, Andrew C Sher, Stephen F Kralik, Carrie A Mohila, Murali M Chintagumpala, Donna Muzny, Jianhong Hu, Richard A Gibbs, Kevin E Fisher, Juan Carlos Bernini, Jonathan Gill, Timothy C Griffin, Gail E Tomlinson, Kelly L Vallance, Sharon E Plon, Angshumoy Roy, D Williams Parsons

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The potential of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis to serve as a real-time "liquid biopsy" for children with central nervous system (CNS) and non-CNS solid tumors remains to be fully elucidated. We conducted a study to investigate the feasibility and potential clinical utility of ctDNA sequencing in pediatric patients enrolled on an institutional clinical genomics trial. A total of 240 patients had tumor DNA profiling performed during the study period. Plasma samples were collected at study enrollment from 217 patients and then longitudinally from a subset of patients. Successful cell-free DNA extraction and quantification occurred in 216 of 217 (99.5%) …