Digital Commons Network^™

Towards Comprehensive And Interpretable Video Understanding, Khoa Vo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video understanding is a critical domain in computer vision, focusing on analysis of sequential visual data to extract meaningful spatiotemporal information for tasks such as action recognition, video captioning, video retrieval, and temporal action localization, etc. Despite significant advancements with spatio-temporal convolutional neural networks and attention-based video models, current methods face limitations, including inadequate representation of main actors, lack of fine-grained modeling of relevant objects, and limited interpretability.
This thesis addresses these challenges by proposing novel approaches that enhance video understanding through modeling interactions among entities (actors and objects) and between entities and the environment, while improving interpretability in the …

Neural Network Architecture Search Enabled Wide-Deep Learning (Nas-Wd) Integrated Hyperspectral Imaging Understanding For Woody Breast In Poultry Processing, Chaitanya Kumar Reddy Pallerla

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development and implementation of a Wide & Deep (WD) learning model tailored for classification and regression tasks utilizing spectral data provides a robust solution to evaluate woody breast (WB) conditions in poultry fillets. This process begins with thorough data preprocessing, which includes loading spectral and classification datasets, imputing missing values with medians, and splitting the data into training and testing sets to ensure rigorous model evaluation. The WD model architecture integrates wide linear models and deep neural networks to harness the strengths of both approaches. The wide component excels at memorizing sparse feature interactions, while the deep component captures …

Investigating Consumer Perception And Wine Quality Impact On Alternative Packaging On Grape (Vitis), Mark Walker Bartz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The grape (Vitis species) and wine industry has major global economic impacts but faces issues with sustainability. The use of glass bottles for wine production is environmentally unsustainable due to energy-intensive manufacturing and poor recycling rates. However, wine consumers tend to associate glass bottles with higher quality over alternative wine packaging materials such as aluminum, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and flexible bags/pouches. Since wine price and packaging influence consumers perception of wine quality, wine producers need to understand consumers to maximize profits. Thus, the overall objectives of this research were to investigate consumer perception and wine quality impact of alternative …

Enhancing Selection Intensity With High-Throughput Phenotyping Data In Plant Breeding, Ashmita Upadhyay

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genomic prediction (GP) has proven to be an essential tool to accelerate the cultivar development pipeline by predicting the performance of un-phenotyped lines in the field of plant breeding. However, the prediction accuracy is bounded by the heritability of the target trait, limiting the efficiency of the single-trait GP model. To overcome the limitation, a multi-trait genomic prediction model using high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) data can be used to leverage secondary traits to boost the predictive ability of the target trait. This study aimed to assess the efficiency of the multi-trait (MT)- GP model powered by HTP derived secondary traits in …

Interaction-Sensitive Tree-Based Statistical Models, Xiaotong Sun

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces a tree-based framework to improve the interpretability and modeling of interaction effects among variables, essential in fields like biostatistics, healthcare, science and engineering. Traditional regression methods often fail to clearly capture complex interactions, while tree-based approaches, despite their interpretability, face performance limitations and overfitting concerns. Our proposed interaction-sensitive tree-based method, designed for seamless integration, combines various statistical techniques tailored to different data types, leveraging ensemble learning methods to enhance accuracy and mitigate overfitting. We present methods for regression, survival analysis, and classification, validated with case studies and benchmarked against traditional models using metrics like BIC and R-squared. …

Utilization Of Prosur Phr As A Novel Phosphate Alternative In Tumble, Inject, And Tumble Injection Marinated Chicken Breast, Sarah E. Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poultry is the most widely consumed meat protein worldwide for its health consideration, affordability, and versatility. Historically, the poultry industry has utilized numerous methods to improve meat quality most significantly, marination. Marination is practice commonly used in the industry by imparting various chemical functional ingredients that are known to enhance sensory characteristics such as tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. Various marination methods used in the industry including tumble, injection, and soaking. Ingredients, such as sodium chloride and phosphates are commonly used in the marination process. In recent years the industry has witnessed a shift in consumer preferences to “clean-label”. This trend …

I'M Just Me: The Rhetorical Study Of Veterans’ Experiences Of Academic Labels In College Classrooms, Taylor Weeks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project seeks to provide a glimpse into the impact of academic labels on student veterans via the student veterans' own voices. This project reflects on and builds from previous research projects that involve transition theories and pedagogical theories in the field of writing studies as well as veteran studies that involve student veterans. Through a locally situated multi-case study qualitative approach using questionnaires and interviews, I examine to what extent do academic labels have on student veterans from the student veterans’ own voices. Finally, I offer implications of this project for writing instructors, administrators, and future researchers involving student …

The Inclusion Of Soybean Co-Products In Ruminant Supplements On Health And Reproductive Efficiency, Kirsten Midkiff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybeans are a vital commodity for Arkansas and the United States, with co-products such as soybean meal having wide popularity in animal feeds due to high protein content and palatability. Soybean meal primarily is utilized in diets for swine and poultry operations with a small market in the beef cattle industry, likely due to the increased costs that are associated with the product. On the other hand, soybean oil is a product from the production of soybean meal that is not as widely used in the livestock industry as most of the oil produced is used for industrial purposes. Additionally, …

Wind Tunnel Investigation Of The Along-Wind Dispersion In Finite-Duration Neutrally Buoyant Gas Releases, Daniel Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the along-wind dispersion of hazardous gas releases within a turbulent boundary layer using controlled experiments in an ultra-low-speed wind tunnel, recognizing the limitations of numerical modeling and field tests. This study utilizes a neutrally buoyant gas mixture and dual Flame Ionization Detectors (FIDs) to capture representative, repeatable data on gas cloud behavior over finite durations. Ensemble averaging of 65 trials across varying release durations and downwind distances provided detailed insights into gas dispersion and the distinct time phases within finite-duration releases. Analysis revealed that along-wind dispersion coefficients depend on turbulence and vertical wind shear, with normalized coefficients …

Locating Health Inequities: Understanding The Dynamic Role Of ‘Place’ In The Social Determinants Of Health And Healthcare Accessibility, Abbie Sudduth Page

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective. The social determinants of health (SDH) are various non-medical factors that influence health behaviors and health outcomes, and they are measured in variety of different ways. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the relationship SDH items that may group to form a new domain and may be associated with outcomes of health care accessibility. This dissertation seeks to explain a novel understanding of social determinants of health and healthcare accessibility through the lens of the socioecological model and place-based SDH items.
Methodology. This retrospective study design utilized data from the baseline survey and year-22 wave of the …

The Role Of Dynastic Marriage In The Reigns Of Mary I And Elizabeth I Of England, Regan Vann

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My project will cover the role gender and dynastic marriage played in the reigns of Mary I of England Elizabeth I of England, and the differences they caused in their reigns compared to a reign of a male monarch. The historical question I am exploring is how Mary and Elizabeth’s gender impacted their reign by means of dynastic marriage. Marriage was important for the English royals as the prospect of marrying foreign royal created opportunities for alliances with other realms. Royal marriages were often arranged by the monarch, usually a king, for his children, especially his female children. Mary and …

School Personnel Perceptions Of Working In A Public School District Under State Authority, Dennis Ray Felton Jr.

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates the perceptions of teachers and principals within a K-12 public school district in the state of Arkansas currently operating under state authority. The Bolman and Deal's Four Frame Model is used in this study as a guiding framework. The insights of this study not only contribute to the academic discourse on state intervention in education but also offer practical implications for policymakers and school stakeholders. The research seeks to answer two primary questions: 1) How do teachers and principals perceive the working conditions in a school district under state authority? 2) What are the teachers and …

Cognitive Bias, Memory, And Fearfulness Of Red Jungle Fowl And Athens Canadian Random Bred Chickens, Victor Juwon Oyeniran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our understanding of how poultry perceive and interpret their environment is essential to enhancing their welfare; over the years, animal welfare science has relied on measures of the behavioral and physiological components of affective states (positive and negative) as welfare indicators. There is an increasing interest in the study of chicken’s affective states using the Judgment bias test (JBT) as a tool for assessing welfare through their responses to ambiguous cues. This study investigates the cognitive performance of two chicken breeds with different evolutionary histories: Red Junglefowl (RJF), the primary ancestor of modern chickens, and Athens Canadian Random Bred (ACRB), …

Filipino American Cultural Beliefs And Perceptions Of Autism, Emily-Anne Sevilla Del Rosario

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Not much is known about Filipino American beliefs of autism due to the novelty of the research area. Most research has been conducted in Asian American populations disregarding the uniqueness of each cultural subgroup. The purpose of the present study was to reach out to Filipino Americans and understand their perceptive of autism along with the potential barriers to seeking out help for concerns of autism traits through a mixed-method study. Results indicated the important roles that acculturation and religion play on the likelihood of seeking medical professional help. Qualitative interviews suggest three major themes that characterize Filipino American support …

Mula Kapihan Tungong Birtuwal Na Lunan: Ang Tradisyong Oral At Ang Pag-Unlad Ng Spoken Word Poetry Sa Pilipinas, Joanah Pauline L. Macatangay

Katipunan

Hindi na bago ang spoken word poetry bilang isang pagtatanghal at teksto sa kasaysayan ng sining at panitikan. Kung tutuosin, masasabing nagbabago lamang ang pamamaraan ng pagkilatis sa isang akda o sining sa daloy ng panahon. Sa ganitong pagtingin, marahil pinagyayaman ng spoken word poetry ang tradisyong oral sa Pilipinas sa patuloy na pagaangkop nito sa kahingiang pangkasalukuyan. Kaya naman, sa tulong ng panunuring papel na ito, sinikap na maitala ang naging pag-unlad at danas na pinagdaanan ng spoken word poetry sa kontemporanyo. Kaugnay nito, ipinakita rin kung papaano umagapay ang spoken word poetry sa nagbabagong konteksto at kondisyong panlipunan. …

Impluwesiya At Inspirasyong Dulot Ng The Xavier Stage Sa Lipunan Sa Pamamagitan Ng Sining-Pagtatanghal, Hobart V. Savior

Katipunan

Binabakas at sinusuri ng artikulong ito ang kasaysayan at patuloy na gampanin ng The Xavier Stage (TXS), ang repertoryong kompanyang panteatro ng Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan. Itinatag noong 2010, pinagsasama nito ang malikhaing produksiyon, kultural na paghubog, at panlipunang pakikilahok sa pamamagitan ng mga pangunahing programa nito: Bantawan (edukasyonal na teatro), Teatro Talakayan (pagsasanay panteatro), Bulig (panlipunang abot-tulong), Paglimbag (serbisyong pang-ekstensiyon), at Lab Prod (laboratoryo ng produksiyon). Pinagtitibay ng mga ito ang praktika ng kompanya sa teatro, at nagbibigay-ambag sa edukasyon, pamumuno, at pag-unlad pantao at panlipunan. Gumagamit ang TXS ng realismo bilang pangunahing anyo habang nag-eeksperimento sa …

Unravelling Large-Scale Patterns And Drivers Of Biodiversity In Dry Rivers, Arnaud Foulquier, Thibault Datry, Roland Corti, Daniel Von Schiller, Klement Tockner, Rachel Stubbington, Mark O. Gessner, Frédéric Boyer, Marc Ohlmann, Wilfried Thuiller, Delphine Rioux, Christian Miquel, Ricardo Albariño, Daniel C. Allen, Florian Altermatt, Maria Isabel Arce, Shai Arnon, Damien Banas, Andy Banegas-Medina, Erin Beller, Melanie L. Blanchette, Joanna Blessing, Iola Gonçalves Boëchat, Kate Boersma, Michael Bogan, Núria Bonada

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

More than half of the world’s rivers dry up periodically, but our understanding of the biological communities in dry riverbeds remains limited. Specifically, the roles of dispersal, environmental filtering and biotic interactions in driving biodiversity in dry rivers are poorly understood. Here, we conduct a large-scale coordinated survey of patterns and drivers of biodiversity in dry riverbeds. We focus on eight major taxa, including microorganisms, invertebrates and plants: Algae, Archaea, Bacteria, Fungi, Protozoa, Arthropods, Nematodes and Streptophyta. We use environmental DNA metabarcoding to assess biodiversity in dry sediments collected over a 1-year period from 84 non-perennial rivers across 19 countries …

Ang Retorika Ng Satira Ni Juana Change: Agresyon At Panliligalig, John Carlo S. Gloria

Katipunan

Mabulas na sandata ang satira na may mahaba nang kasaysayan ng pagbibigay-kritika sa kapangyarihan, paglalantad ng mga kontradiksiyon, at pag-uudyok sa isipan gamit ang pamumuna at pagpapatawa. Magkagayunman, dapat ding mabanggit na bahagi ng kasaysayang ito ang pagsasailalim ng satira sa iba pang anyo. Bunga ng kadalian nitong maiangkop sa ibang genre, lumabnaw ang mga pagsasakatangian sa satira at waring nanatiling nakahimpil ito sa anino ng mga anyong higit na bago kung ihahambing dito. Buhat sa ganitong pangangatwiran, lumilitaw ang pangangailangang muling turulin ang mga katangian ng satira na nagpapatampok dito. Pinoproblematisa ng sanaysay samakatwid ang pagkanatatangi ng satira bilang …

Roger Williams University 2024 President's Report: A Message From President Miaoulis, Roger Williams University

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Miscarriages Of Justice In Immigration Detention, Louis Century, Kent Roach

UBC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Scoring Campus Sexual Violence Policies Across Canada: A Comparative Policy And Criminal Approach, Caitlin Salvino

UBC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Influence Of Native And Invasive Grasses On The Behavior Of Aedes Aegypti In South Texas, Emily Medelez

Theses and Dissertations

Invasive grasses in South Texas can have widespread negative effects, displacing native species, reducing biodiversity, and posing risks to public health. These grasses may flourish in moist, shaded environments, which not only support their growth but also creates habitats favorable for mosquito activity. This can increase the population and alter the behavior of mosquitoes, potentially raising the risk of disease transmission. In this thesis, I look at the behavior of mosquito species Aedes aegypti, primary vector of the yellow fever virus. I analyzed the influence of oviposition, flight and resting behaviors. I tested the relative attraction of Aedes mosquitoes …

Microwave-Assisted Green Synthesis Of Spiroindolinopyranopyrazoles, Esther Owusu

Theses and Dissertations

Green Chemistry, usually known as sustainable chemistry, is widely implemented worldwide to safeguard human health and the environment. Recent investigations in organic synthesis and chemical transformation have demonstrated that green chemistry techniques are significantly reducing both chemical waste and reaction time. In order to fulfill this ecological requirement, it is crucial to lessen the utilization of perilous solvents and noxious chemicals, while also creating innovative reaction methods that decrease the production of trash. The implementation of such methodologies can greatly enhance the field of green chemistry. A more environmentally friendly synthetic method was utilized to generate spiro chemicals and their …

Policies And Price Controls On The Research And Development Of Orphan Drugs In The United States And The European Union, Bena Pearl Filipczak Smith

Master's Theses

There is substantive literature surrounding the impact of price controls on the research and development (R&D) of new pharmaceutical products. The European Union (EU) and United States (US) are often studied in contrast to examine the influence of price controls as the US has fewer pharmaceutical price controls than the EU.

We find moderate evidence that the US spent more on annual domestic pharmaceutical R&D than the EU between 2004 and 2021, on average, before and after adjusting for GDP growth per capita and year. We find strong evidence that the US increased annual domestic R&D spending at a faster …

Using The Intercultural Development Inventory To Measure Intercultural Development For A High-Impact Global Community Engagement Program, Jennifer Crystle, Megan W. Moran, Diana G. Venskus

Journal of Global Education and Research

High-impact practices (HIPs) in higher education, such as global community engagement programs, enhance student learning and lead to increased levels of civic involvement among graduates. However, it is unknown if participation in a global community engagement/service-learning program affects the development of cultural competence. The purpose of this study was to determine if student and faculty participation in a two-week community engagement/service-learning program in Guatemala would result in intercultural development measured using the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) tool. Participants were recruited from a graduate physical therapy education program in the U.S. and completed a pre- and post-trip IDI. Data analysis revealed …

Relationship Between Host Genomics And Microbiomics In Beef Cattle, Andrew D. Lakamp

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As sequencing technology becomes more affordable and throughput increases, microbiome information is becoming more readily available. For beef cattle selection, microbial information has a variety of uses including being a target for genetic prediction or used as a means to explicitly describe additional phenotypic variability in other traits.

Infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye, is a disease that infects the ocular surface and surrounding tissue which is an animal health and producer economic concern. Vaccinations have shown to have variable effectiveness, while limited genetics studies have suggested that direct genetic selection for resistance would be slow. Therefore, an …

Whole Exome-Seq And Rna-Seq Data Reveal Unique Neoantigen Profiles In Kenyan Breast Cancer Patients, Godfrey Wagutu, John Gitau, Kennedy Mwangi, Mary Murithi, Elias Melly, Alexandra R. Harris, Shahin Sayed, Stefan Ambs, Francis Makokha

Pathology, East Africa

Background: The immune response against tumors relies on distinguishing between self and non-self, the basis of cancer immunotherapy. Neoantigens from somatic mutations are central to many immunotherapeutic strategies and understanding their landscape in breast cancer is crucial for targeted interventions. We aimed to profile neoantigens in Kenyan breast cancer patients using genomic DNA and total RNA from paired tumor and adjacent non-cancerous tissue samples of 23 patients.

Methods: We sequenced the genome-wide exome (WES) and RNA, from which somatic mutations were identified and their expression quantified, respectively. Neoantigen prediction focused on human leukocyte antigens (HLA) crucial to cancer, HLA type …

Development Of Novel Ionization Chambers For Reference Dosimetry In Electron Flash Radiotherapy, Kevin Liu, Shannon Holmes, Ahtesham Ullah Khan, Brian Hooten, Larry Dewerd, Emil Schüler, Sam Beddar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Reference dosimetry in ultra-high dose rate (UHDR) beamlines is significantly hindered by limitations in conventional ionization chamber design. In particular, conventional chambers suffer from severe charge collection efficiency (CCE) degradation in high dose per pulse (DPP) beams.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to optimize the design and performance of parallel plate ion chambers for use in UHDR dosimetry applications, and evaluate their potential as reference class chambers for calibration purposes. Three chamber designs were produced to determine the influence of the ion chamber response on electrode separation, field strength, and collection volume on the ion chamber response …

Pathway-Based Clustering Identifies Two Subtypes Of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Associated With Distinct Molecular And Clinical Features In Pancreatic Ductal Carcinoma, Hongjing Ai, Rongfang Nie, Xiaosheng Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Existing single-cell clustering methods are based on gene expressions that are susceptible to dropout events in single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data. To overcome this limitation, we proposed a pathway-based clustering method for single cells (scPathClus). scPathClus first transforms single-cell gene expression matrix into pathway enrichment matrix and generates its latent feature matrix. Based on the latent feature matrix, scPathClus clusters single cells using the method of community detection. Applying scPathClus to PDAC scRNA-seq datasets, we identified two types of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), termed csCAFs and gapCAFs, which highly expressed complement system and gap junction-related pathways, respectively. Spatial transcriptome analysis revealed …

Association Of Late Eating With Colorectal Adenomas: A Cross-Sectional Study, Darbaz Adnan, Edena R Khoshaba, Mostafa Abel-Reheem, Jonathan Q Trinh, Yin Cao, Faraz Bishehsari

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is linked to lifestyle exposures. However, changes in the CRC rates among younger populations remain poorly understood and suggest the existence of yet unidentified factor(s) that may contribute to colon carcinogenesis. Here, we investigated the potential role of time of eating in the risk of pre-cancerous colonic neoplasms (tubular adenoma: TA).

Methods: We enrolled 663 participants undergoing screening colonoscopies. Data on food timing, dietary intake, sleep/wake patterns, and chronotype were collected through structured questionnaires. Late eating was defined as the consumption of food or snack within a 3-hour window of sleep onset for at least four …