Digital Commons Network^™

Functional Connectivity Biomarker Extraction For Schizophrenia Based On Energy Landscape Machine Learning Techniques, Janerra D Allen, Sravani Varanasi, Fei Han, L Elliot Hong, Fow-Sen Choa

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Brain connectivity represents the functional organization of the brain, which is an important indicator for evaluating neuropsychiatric disorders and treatment effects. Schizophrenia is associated with impaired functional connectivity but characterizing the complex abnormality patterns has been challenging. In this work, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to measure functional connectivity between 55 schizophrenia patients and 63 healthy controls across 246 regions of interest (ROIs) and extracted the disease-related connectivity patterns using energy landscape (EL) analysis. EL analysis captures the complexity of brain function in schizophrenia by focusing on functional brain state stability and region-specific dynamics. Age, sex, …

Lindenwood Digest, December 4, 2024, Lindenwood University

Lindenwood Digest

The Lindenwood Digest has been a digital employee newsletter since 2009.

Authentic Leadership's Impact On Employees Felt Obligation: Moderated Mediation Model, Sina Eslamdoust, Tahmineh Borhani, Rasam Dorri, Minoo Karandish

Business Analytics Faculty Publications

In contemporary organizational settings, leadership significantly shapes organizational dynamics and influences employee attitudes and behaviors. Despite extensive research on leadership styles, there remains a gap in understanding the impact of authentic leadership on key employee outcomes, such as organizational identification and felt obligation. Drawing on Social Identity Theory (SIT), this paper examines how authentic leadership fosters organizational identification and influences felt obligation among employees. We propose a framework that considers the role of job fit as a moderating factor in these relationships. By exploring the mechanisms through which authentic leadership enhances employee identification and obligation, this study bridges the gap …

December 4, 2024, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Sublime Through Sound Design: A Multiplatform Approach, Elsie Mader

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The world around us has always vibrated with constant sound. That audio provides context for everyday activity, the background against which all life is played. To highlight its significance in the human experience, this study explores the impact of audio on emotion through my sound design for Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' morality play Everybody. Creating and describing the design process, this study seeks to discover how sound influences emotional response, shapes mood, and complements visual elements. Aiming to discern what soothes or incites audiences, the design focuses on a juxtaposition between familiar and unfamiliar sounds. Special attention is paid to base elements …

Was It Good? A Look At The Golden-Ticket Question Of Societal Preferences In Theatre, Carina Leland

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

What makes theatre “good?” There are some common answers that critics and the public agree upon, but the guidelines of good theatre have changed greatly throughout history. Many playwrights and critics have created philosophies that attempted to define popular theatre in their time or according to their personal views. Today’s opinion on “good” has its own set of characteristics that the majority of society enjoys, which is unique from any historical manifesto. Furthermore, our modern consensus doesn’t take into account the wildly different nature of individual preferences; while I enjoy light-hearted coming-of-age stories, others find deeper satisfaction from a thought-provoking …

Bere: A Novel Video Recommender System For Virtual Reality Using Human Behavioral Signals, Huadi Zhu, Chaowei Wang, Venkateshwar Reddy Darmanola, Ming Li, Hongbo Guo, Wenqiang Jin

Association of Computing Machinery Open Access Agreement Publications-Archive

While video recommendation has been studied extensively in regular PC and smartphone settings, such a topic has been rarely discussed in the virtual reality (VR) context so far. On the other hand, as the popularity of VR videos continues to soar, its recommendation will play a crucial part in providing suggestions and guiding users through a deluge of available content. Given this unmet need, in this work, we present Bere, a video recommender system tailored for VR. Our approach leverages viewers’ behavioral responses as they engage with VR videos to infer their preferences and thus make future recommendations. We integrate …

Recontextualized Knowledge: Available Designs Of The Long-Form Youtube Video Essay, Michelle Lynn Arendt

Dissertations and Theses

Recontextualization - the intricate process of transferring meaning material from one social semiotic context to another - is the primary avenue through which science and social science are communicated to general audiences. The prevailing popularity of social media platforms such as YouTube has encouraged a digital turn in recontextualization research and practice, with considerable emphasis given to navigating web 2.0's unique participation structure. However, compared to professional organizations, which contribute the largest amount of recontextualized scientific or social scientific content to social media platforms, independent user-generated creators consistently produce more successful content. Of interest to this project is the YouTube …

Mental Health, Well-Being And Resilience In Agricultural Areas: Gaps And Priorities. A Research Agenda For The Global North, Caroline Nye, Rebecca Wheeler, David Rose, Florence Becot, Mark Holton, Duska Knezevic Hocevar, Jorie Knook, Sarah Kyle, Maria Partalidou, Mark Riley, Artur Steiner, Hannah Whitley

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

This paper offers an overview of research perspectives, gaps, and priorities within the field of mental health and well-being among farming communities in the Global North. Developed by an international working group of scholars with expertise in the mental health and well-being of agricultural and rural communities, it outlines the importance of developing an international research agenda in this subject area by presenting five propositions. Each of the propositions addresses current research gaps and/or highlights potential advancements in investigations into one of the following areas of study: i) who is being researched, ii) what is being researched, iii) geographical gaps …

Deterring School Crime And Violence Through Non-Hardened Approaches: An Examination Of School Threat Assessment Teams, Shane E. Conwell, Nicholas P. Elam

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

The purpose of this quantitative empirical study is to determine whether a non-hardened security measure such as threat assessment teams has a relationship to school crime and violence. This study incorporated descriptive and inferential statistics from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of 2,762 participating schools administered by the National Center for Education Statistics.

Statistically significant relationships existed between school type and two of the 10 criminal offense variables: number of robberies with a weapon and number of incidents of theft/larceny. For nine of 10 variables, schools that had threat assessment teams, and met more frequently, had higher school crime and …

A Method And A System For Clustering Similar Transaction Disputes, Rupali Shah

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure provides a method and a dispute clustering system for Clustering similar transaction disputes. In the present disclosure, during a training phase, a dispute clustering system may receive historical transaction disputes to form sets of historical transaction disputes with similar causes. Each set of historical transaction disputes may be resolved using the same resolving method. In real time, the dispute clustering system may receive one or more transaction disputes. Then, the dispute clustering system may determine a related set of historical transaction disputes for each of the one or more transaction disputes by comparing the causes and rules …

User Interface Personalization Based On User Preferences And Practices, Ajay Prasad

Defensive Publications Series

While some websites and apps support manually configurable user interface personalization, such personalization approaches do not evolve dynamically with changing user preferences and do not effectively leverage the collective intelligence across the user community as a whole. Non-personalized and difficult to use user interfaces can lead to user frustration and/or reduced engagement. This disclosure describes techniques that, with user permission, leverage individual and community user preferences and practices for dynamic real-time personalization of a UI including one or more of layout, content, and functionality. User interaction with the personalized layout as well as explicit user input is used to fine-tune …

Consumer Based Network Device Malicious Activity Monitoring, Jacques Mouton, James Black, Thomas Piacentini

Defensive Publications Series

Client devices of a local network is identified. Network traffic patterns, packet characteristics, and application behavior is monitored for the client devices of the local network. The network traffic patterns, packet characteristics, and application behavior is analyzed for network abnormalities in the client devices of the local network. Administrator of the local network or users of the client device with network abnormalities are alerted. Connections to the client device with network abnormalities is dropped or blocked.

The Computational Eye. Deconstructing Style In Digital Art History, Paul Guhennec, Ellen Charlesworth

Artl@s Bulletin

With the aim of grounding digital methods in the art historic tradition, this paper uses the discussions around style as a springboard to ask how digital art history can extend beyond providing quantitative confirmation of known trends to enrich our current understanding of visual cultures. Drawing from the examples throughout this issue, we explore how an analysis of computational ways of seeing—or the ‘computational eye’—can expose the underlying preoccupations and priorities of our own research.

Afin de mieux ancrer les méthodes numériques dans la tradition de l’histoire de l’art, cet article se sert des discussions récentes autour du concept de …

Manufacturing National Boundaries? The Notion Of Style Between Identity Constructions And Spatial Approaches, Michela Passini

Artl@s Bulletin

Art historians have long been preoccupied by art’s geographical inscription. But it was during the interwar period that research on the geography of art really took off and was recognized as a field of study in its own right. This is evidenced by the organization of an international congress of art history (Stockholm, September 1933) specifically devoted to art geography.

What was the field covered in 1933 by artistic geography? How did it define its objects? And how an art history marked at the time by an extremely present methodological nationalism did shape geographical approaches?

Depuis les débuts de la …

Style Revisited, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel, Catherine Dossin, Nicola Carboni

Artl@s Bulletin

The resurgence of the concept of 'style' within the realm of artificial intelligence, particularly in the fields of image classification and style transfer, reignites age-old discussions in art history. Despite the success of algorithmic methods, this revival has been met with significant criticism from art historians. A thorough exploration of the history of the concept of style, its evolution, inherent ambiguities, and diverse applications underscores the challenges art history faces in integrating new computational approaches that aim to describe and analyze styles. This is the central theme of this issue of the Artl@s Bulletin, for which we invited a diverse …

Full Issue, Nhij V2, Newhouse Impact Journal

Newhouse Impact Journal

No abstract provided.

Chronicling Harriett: Speculative Museology Through Immersive Technology, Synatra Smith

Newhouse Impact Journal

This reimagining of Harriett’s Bookshop, a Black woman-owned bookstore in Philadelphia, renders the space as an interactive virtual reality environment entitled “Harriett’s Microverse” to highlight works by Black artists in Philadelphia. Here, I share my speculative cultural heritage preservation praxis through a discussion of three key questions to consider when developing digital projects. I also share recommendations and resources for cultural heritage professionals interested in replicating this type of project.

Understanding Others In Virtual Reality: Cognitive Empathy & Effort In Processing Idea-Themed Vr Stories, Kandice N. Green, Lyndsay Michalik Gratch, T. Makana Chock, Shengjie Yao, Heejae Lee, David Peters

Newhouse Impact Journal

This paper examines the role of virtual reality (VR) in promoting cognitive empathy for characters in VR narratives with inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility themes. The paper summarizes some of the results of a mixed-methods study we conducted (Green et. al, 2024) that found a complex interplay between prior experiences, cognitive effort, and VR design in fostering cognitive empathy (the ability to understand another person’s thoughts and feelings). The study found that prior experiences, whether personal or through a close other, significantly influenced how individuals engaged with VR narratives. However, the study did not find a significant relationship between prior …

Educational Design Of Xr, Jason Webb

Newhouse Impact Journal

This article explores the potential of Extended Reality, or XR, in higher education through experiential and personalized learning. It highlights the importance of designing XR experiences that are accessible and address deeper learning without creating cognitive overload for students. The future integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with XR is discussed to personalize learning further, allowing students to engage with AI facilitators and virtual historical figures for a more dynamic educational experience.

How Do We Embody Our Narratives?, Kevin T. Martinez, Ria J. Gualano, Andrea Stevenson Won

Newhouse Impact Journal

Virtual reality (VR) offers immersive experiences that provide unique opportunities for selftransformation, allowing people to both experience and co-author narratives in ways difficult to parallel in more traditional media. Many VR experiences place the user in a virtual world where they are embodied as an avatar. Avatar customization allows users to express and explore aspects of their identities that might otherwise be invisible or difficult to convey through corporeal representation, such as invisible disability, neurodiversity, and chronic pain. This may manifest through affordances translated relatively 1:1 (e.g., clothing) or affordances that expand the bounds of possibility (e.g., enabling the simulation …

The Capabilities Of Immersive Technologies To Induce Empathy, Tell Stories, And Immerse, Eugene Kukshinov

Newhouse Impact Journal

Immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR), often garner attention for their potential to revolutionize storytelling, empathy, and human experiences. However, a critical review reveals that technological determinism—the belief that technology defines human experiences—and a lack of nuanced conceptual frameworks frequently hinder a deeper scholarly understanding of these technologies. This paper explores the boundaries of immersive technologies, emphasizing that immersion is a psychological state rather than an inherent quality of the technology itself. By distinguishing between sensory and mental experiences and challenging prevalent assumptions, we can better appreciate the true capabilities and ethical implications of these technologies.

Can Immersive Storytelling Lead Us Through The Wilderness Of Climate Chaos? Maybe. But We’Ve Got Some Bushwhacking To Do., Michael O. Snyder

Newhouse Impact Journal

Modern immersive storytelling technologies, such as virtual and mixed reality, present an exciting opportunity to expand awareness and grow empathy around pressing issues like climate change, species loss, and habitat destruction. But does “the ultimate empathy machine”, as Chris Milk dubbed virtual reality in his TED talk, truly possess the power to lead us through the wilderness of climate chaos and into a brighter future? Here we examine how an overfocus on sensory stimuli and the removal of the centrality and primacy of the external storyteller in immersive spaces may be undermining its transformative power as a storytelling medium. To …

Power To The User: The Future Of Immersive Storytelling Might Lie In Understanding The Audience, Hannah Greber

Newhouse Impact Journal

Immersive storytelling in journalism has faced disillusionment due to low audience adoption despite initial high expectations. Drawing from media innovation theories, this essay argues that to progress to wide audience adoption, immersive storytelling should align with audience expectations, clearly demonstrate its added value, and create experiences deemed meaningful by the audience. Adopting a connection-strengthening audience focus is proposed to aid in bridging the gap between journalists’ intentions and audience perceptions. Two studies are presented to illustrate the added value of taking on such a connection-strengthening audience perspective. Future research should focus on collaborative efforts between academia and industry to design …

Front Matter, Nhij V2, Newhouse Impact Journal

Newhouse Impact Journal

No abstract provided.

Advances And Opportunities In Immersive Storytelling Technologies, Regina Luttrell

Newhouse Impact Journal

As societies stand at the forefront of unprecedented modern technological shifts, the convergence of immersive technologies is fundamentally reshaping the ancient art of storytelling. This next edition of the Newhouse Impact Journal explores the transformative impact of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and extended reality (XR) technologies on contemporary storytelling paradigms. As these immersive technologies reach a critical intersection of technical capability, accessibility, and creative possibility, they present both extraordinary opportunities and complex challenges for content creators, educators, and consumers. Through a collection of essays, this work investigates the multifaceted landscape of immersive storytelling, addressing crucial aspects such as …

System And Method For Checkpointing And State Synchronization For Fault Tolerance In Long-Running Map Reduce Jobs, Alok Roy

Defensive Publications Series

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for performing checkpointing and state synchronization for fault tolerance in long-running MapReduce jobs. The method involves integrating checkpointing mechanism into both the Map and Reduce phases of the MapReduce jobs, capturing and storing critical data and metadata at key intervals. Additionally, the method includes replicating these checkpoints across all clusters in the active-active setup, ensuring that any cluster can access the most recent checkpoint and resume the MapReduce job in case of failure or re-routing. Finally, the method ensures that the checkpoints are synchronized across clusters before the job proceeds, providing …

Smyrna Elgin Charge Conference Records, Smyrna United Methodist Church, Elgin

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

St George Church Council Minutes, St. George United Methodist Church

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.

Smyrna Elgin Charge Conference Records, Smyrna United Methodist Church, Elgin

Methodist Local Church Records

No abstract provided.