Digital Commons Network^™

A Combinatorial Model For Affine Demazure Crystals Of Levels Zero And One, Samuel Spellman

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The symmetric and non-symmetric Macdonald polynomials are special families of orthogonal polynomials with parameters q and t. They are indexed by dominant, (resp. arbitrary) weights associated to a root system and generalize several well-known polynomials such as the Schur polynomials, Jack polynomials, Hall-Littlewood polynomials, etc. There are two well-known combinatorial models for computing these polynomials: a tableau model in type A, due to Haglund, Haiman and Loehr, and a type-independent model due to Ram and Yip, based on alcove walks.

Crystals bases are an important construction encoding information about Lie algebra representations. It turns out that there is an interesting …

Multi-Activity Student Knowledge And Behavior Modeling Via Transfer Learning, Siqian Zhao

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Online education systems have grown in popularity over the past few years, providing abundant opportunities for students to learn. As the number of students using these systems grows, it promotes the development of the Educational Data Mining (EDM) field, which leverages statistical, machine learning, and data mining technologies to explore large-scale educational data and develop methods to better understand student learning.

In this dissertation, we investigate two essential topics in EDM: Student Knowledge Tracing (KT) and Behavior Modeling (BM). KT aims to quantify and model student knowledge gained from learning activities, while BM focuses on tasks such as modeling student …

Understanding Local And Large-Scale Drivers Of Rainfall Variability And Change Over The Hawaiian Islands Region, Katrina Fandrich

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Hawaiian rainfall variability is strongly influenced by anthropogenic climate change and natural variability (e.g., Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Pacific North American (PNA) pattern, El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)). For local decision-makers and resource managers, understanding the drivers of rainfall variability and change in Hawai‘i is crucial for climate adaptation and mitigation planning. Previous studies have applied statistical and dynamical downscaling to produce high-resolution rainfall projections for the Hawaiian Islands region. However, to date, downscaling has only been used to investigate the influence of anthropogenic forcing on late-century rainfall projections for the Hawaiian Islands. For regions like Hawai’i, that are highly vulnerable …

Sparse Representation Learning For Temporal Networks, Maxwell Mcneil

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Temporal networks arise in many domains including activity of social network users, sensor network readings over time, and time course gene expression within the interaction network of a model organism. Data of this type contains a wealth of prior information such as the connectivity among nodes (e.g., a friendship graph), and prior knowledge of expected temporal patterns (e.g., periodicity). Modeling these temporal and network patterns jointly is essential for state-of-the-art performance in temporal network data analysis and mining. Sparse dictionary encoding is one modeling approach for such underlying patterns. However, most classical approaches consider only one dimension of the data …

Predictability Of Downslope Windstorms And Mechanisms Controlling Their Onset, Matthew James Brewer

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Downslope windstorms in the western United States often contribute to the ignition and ex- acerbation of existing wildfires due to their hot, dry, and gusty nature. Accurate forecasts of these windstorms are imperative for mitigating wildfire risk. However, forecasting downslope windstorms remains challenging due to their sensitivity to environmental conditions.

The Sundowner Windstorms of the Santa Barbara, California region have been asso- ciated with many large wildfires in the area. This study analyzes special observations from the Sundowner Wind Experiment field campaign to better understand the diurnal cycle of these windstorms. Analysis of the strongest windstorm during the campaign indicates …

Examining Downshear Reformation In Tropical Cyclones, Nathalie Rivera Torres

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The development of a new low-level circulation center in tropical cyclones, known as downshear reformation, can lead to sudden changes in storm structure and intensity, representing a challenge in forecasting tropical cyclones. This phenomenon is commonly observed in weak tropical cyclones (e.g., tropical depressions, tropical storms) experiencing moderate to strong vertical wind shear (> 5 m s-1), when the vertical wind shear organizes convection in the downshear region of the tropical cyclone, and lower-tropospheric vorticity is generated within the intense convection. Downshear reformation has been proposed as a mechanism for intensification, sometimes rapidly, in tropical cyclones under unfavorable environmental wind …

The Effect Of Learning Environment And Student Groupings On Math Skill Mastery, Erin Marr

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study was designed to evaluate the impact of instructional group size and composition on student progress within a classwide math intervention. In terms of group size, groupings of greater than and less than 10 students were compared. In terms of group composition, homogeneous and heterogeneous groups were compared, defined by grouping the classes with standard deviations of student performance within the upper quartile (heterogeneous) and lower quartile (homogeneous) on a pre-intervention measure. The outcome measure used to evaluate student progress was the number of trials required for students to reach mastery on a specific skill within the 16-skill intervention …

Chemical Reduction Of Curved Molecular Nanographenes: Metal Intercalation And Core Transformation, Yikun Zhu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The promising lithium storage capacity and fast charge transport rate make graphene a great candidate for energy storage applications. However, the harsh synthetic conditions lead to uneven size distribution and poor solubility, posing limitations on further applications and modifications of graphene and its derivatives. Molecular nanographenes, as graphene cutouts, possess outstanding chemical and physical properties stemming from their parent graphene but also demonstrate such unique features as controllable synthetic conditions, defined molecular structures, uniform size, and relatively good solubility. The improved solubility enables the use of solution chemistry methods for design modifications of molecular nanographenes and for systematical investigation of …

Examining The Effects Of Video Self-Modeling With Goal Setting On Third-Grade Students' Oral Reading Fluency, Sara Sleiman Tellaoui

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Video self-modeling (VSM) is an intervention based on Bandura’s (1999) theory of observational learning, which assumes that children learn a target behavior by observing a more competent model. VSM is assumed to provide an effective model from which children can learn given that the learner and model are the same person but differ only in their skills. More recently, studies have explored the effectiveness of VSM as an intervention for oral reading fluency (ORF) and showed promising results. Goal setting (GS) is another intervention that has been found to be effective in increasing students’ performance by motivating them to meet …

Assessment Of Spatial Distribution Patterns And Infestation Risk Over Time Of Spotted Lanterfly (Lycorma Delicatula) In New York State, Alanna Richman

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Spotted Lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula) is an invasive treehopper native to Asia. It was first introduced to Pennsylvania in 2014, and as of 2020 it has expanded to New York state. Their preferred host tree is the invasive tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima), but they will feed on over 173 different plants worldwide. Preferred host species in New York state include agricultural vegetation such as grape vines and fruit trees. Positive Spotted Lanternfly site data collected by the New York Department of Agriculture and Markets and iMapInvasives were analyzed using ArcGIS Pro to assess spatial distribution patterns. …

The Role Of Familial Support And Gender In Asian American Students’ Stem Career Development: A Test Of Social Cognitive Career Theory, Xiao Ting Wang

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study, based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994, 2000), investigated the role of familial support in the STEM career development of Asian American college students. Participants included 446 first-year undergraduate students who identified as Asian or Asian American and had not declared an academic major. Due to multicollinearity, four initial familial support variables—instrumental assistance, career-related modeling, verbal encouragement, and emotional support—were regrouped into two: performance motivation (instrumental assistance and verbal encouragement) and career mentoring (career-related modeling and emotional support). Structural equation modeling showed acceptable fit for a modified model, and the results partially supported the …

Informational Principles And Structures In Quantum Theory, Yang Yu

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This thesis examines the concept of information within the realm of quantum physics, investigating the nuanced relationship between information and physical laws as applied to quantum systems. With no consensus on a single definition of information in the physical sciences, our exploration is partitioned into two significant studies, each addressing distinct aspects of information in quantum contexts.

In the first study, we concentrate on the information that can be obtained from measurement results on identical quantum systems. The traditional approach of using Shannon entropy is limited due to its applicability primarily to discrete probability distributions. By incorporating a Bayesian update …

Stabilizing Bulk Lead-Free Tin Halide Perovskites, William Rice

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Tin halide perovskites are a growing candidate in the semiconducting materials field due to their band gap, and ability to be doped (specifically p-type doped). Halide perovskites are sensitive to light and air which causes the degradation of the material from its preferred cubic perovskite lattice. This thesis introduces a way of stabilizing bulk CsSnCl3 through the Goldschmidt tolerance factor. It will also introduce potential new ways to p-type dope halide perovskites. We attempted to p-type dope our halide perovskite by substitutional, interstitial, and vacancy doping to increase the carrier concentration to compete with current perovskites. During our trials of …

Bias-Aware Gaze Uniformity Assessment In Group Images, Omkar Kulkarni

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Today, more than 5 billion photos are captured every day, with smartphones generating over 94\% of these images. However, despite advancements in technology, achieving aesthetically pleasing group photos remains challenging, especially when it comes to aligning the direction of everyone’s gaze. While current methods focus on facial features, they often fail to ensure consistent gaze direction. The introduction of the iPhone's Live mode, which captures a 1.5-second video snippet along with still images, complicates the selection of the best key photo due to its subjective nature and a lack of publicly available data, especially during the pandemic.

To address these …

Enhancing A Computer Model To Evaluate Rainwater Harvesting And Reuse Strategies For Landscape Irrigation Under Current And Future Climate Conditions, Siyu Li

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Urbanization and climate change have detrimental impacts on water quantity and quality. Rainwater harvesting/reuse for landscape irrigation with rain barrels/cisterns, which can assist urban hydrological/water quality restoration and provide a beneficial resource for irrigating landscape, holds significant potentials in urban areas under current and future climates. However, the impacts of rainwater harvesting/reuse strategies for landscape irrigation under a changing climate need to be comprehensively evaluated to assist decision-making. In addition, a comprehensive tool is needed to help stakeholders develop efficient strategies to harvest rainwater for landscape irrigation with rain barrels/cisterns.

To address the needs, the simulation of the sub-daily hydrological …

Sources And Significance Of Symmetric Instability In The Outflow Layer Of Tropical Cyclones, Minghao Zhou

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The tropical cyclone (TC) outflow layer is an integral part of the TC transverse circulation: warm and moist air converges in the boundary layer of the TC; rising motion and condensational heating occur in the TC eyewall and rainbands; the TC warm core and divergent anticyclone establish in the mid-upper troposphere, with the mass imported into the TC center exported away through outflow near the tropopause.

A series of state-of-the-art numerical simulations were utilized to investigate different scenarios of TC outflow evolution, from an idealized axisymmetric setup to a semi-idealized asymmetric setup, to a real-case setup of TC–trough interaction. Large …

The Importance Of Ice Microphysics In Storm Electrification, Yichen Cai

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

Evanescent but powerful, lightning is the vast scale release of storm energy from accumulation of minuscule cloud particle interactions. Although lightning occurrence seems random, thunderstorms “electrify” themselves in methodical ways and show structured patterns. This study explores the role of ice microphysics in thunderstorm charging and discharge through numerical simulation.

A squall line has been simulated ideally and realistically with generally consistent conclusions. Drastically different amount of lightning was produced when using three different microphysical models: Depending on the choice of charging scheme, the National Severe Storm Laboratory (NSSL) two-moment model appropriately captures or overestimate the amount observed by the …

The Effectiveness Of Cybersecurity Training, Courtney Knight

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This study seeks to answer the question of what kinds of cybersecurity training are effective by reviewing the existing literature, analyzing for gaps, and bridging the connection with known learning techniques. The research is exploratory in nature, and is inductive – intending to develop a theory. Additionally, this study seeks to offer a taxonomy of cybersecurity training methods to be evaluated.

This study did not include security operation center (SOC), cyber incident response teams (CIRTs), or other types of advanced cybersecurity professional training. This research specifically focuses on training to improve the average employee and population’s tactical cybersecurity skills.

Several …

Structural Biology Of Diaphanous-1 And Its Role In Human Pathology, Gregory G. Theophall

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

DIAPH1 is diaphanous related formin which polymerizes actin into filaments and is important to cytoskeleton dynamics.[1, 2] The dysregulation and aberrant activation of DIAPH1 is known to cause deafness[3, 4] and clotting disorders,[5] and is recently implicated in the inflammatory responses associated with cardiovascular and diabetic pathology.[6-9] Despite this, activation of the full length structure and its regulation are poorly understood.[10-12] Therefore, the main objective of this dissertation is to explore the structural, autoinhibitory, and regulatory properties of DIAPH1 in the context of disease pathology. Herein, I show that DIAPH1 has a dynamic structure which is regulated through negative cooperativity, …

Plasmid-Borne Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Within A Permanently Stratified Marine Water Column, Paraskevi Mara, David Geller-Mcgrath, Elizabeth A. Suter, Gordon T. Taylor, Maria G. Pachiadaki, Virginia P. Edgcomb

BCES: Faculty Publications

Plasmids are mobile genetic elements known to carry secondary metabolic genes that affect the fitness and survival of microbes in the environment. Well-studied cases of plasmidencoded secondary metabolic genes in marine habitats include toxin/antitoxin and antibiotic biosynthesis/resistance genes. Here, we examine metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from the permanently-stratified water column of the Cariaco Basin for integrated plasmids that encode biosynthetic gene clusters of secondary metabolites (smBGCs). We identify 16 plasmid-borne smBGCs in MAGs associated primarily with Planctomycetota and Pseudomonadota that encode terpenesynthesizing genes, and genes for production of ribosomal and non-ribosomal peptides. These identified genes encode for secondary metabolites that are …

Gnss Software Defined Radio: History, Current Developments, And Standardization Efforts, Thomas Pany, Dennis Akos, Javier Arribas, M. Zahidul H. Bhuiyan, Pau Closas, Fabio Dovis, Ignacio Fernandez-Hernandez, Carles Fernandez-Prades, Sanjeev Gunawardena, Todd Humphreys, Zaher M. Kassas, Jose A. Lopez Salcedo, Mario Nicola, Mario L. Psiaki, Alexander Rugamer, Yong-Jin Song, Jong-Hoon Won

Faculty Publications

Taking the work conducted by the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) software-defined radio (SDR) working group during the last decade as a seed, this contribution summarizes, for the first time, the history of GNSS SDR development. This report highlights selected SDR implementations and achievements that are available to the public or that influenced the general development of SDR. Aspects related to the standardization process of intermediate-frequency sample data and metadata are discussed, and an update of the Institute of Navigation SDR Standard is proposed. This work focuses on GNSS SDR implementations in general-purpose processors and leaves aside developments conducted on …

An Analysis Of Precision: Occlusion And Perspective Geometry’S Role In 6d Pose Estimation, Jeffrey Choate, Derek Worth, Scott Nykl, Clark N. Taylor, Brett J. Borghetti, Christine M. Schubert Kabban

Faculty Publications

Achieving precise 6 degrees of freedom (6D) pose estimation of rigid objects from color images is a critical challenge with wide-ranging applications in robotics and close-contact aircraft operations. This study investigates key techniques in the application of YOLOv5 object detection convolutional neural network (CNN) for 6D pose localization of aircraft using only color imagery. Traditional object detection labeling methods suffer from inaccuracies due to perspective geometry and being limited to visible key points. This research demonstrates that with precise labeling, a CNN can predict object features with near-pixel accuracy, effectively learning the distinct appearance of the object due to perspective …

Garbage In ≠ Garbage Out: Exploring Gan Resilience To Image Training Set Degradations, Nicholas Crino, Bruce A. Cox, Nathan B. Gaw

Faculty Publications

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have received immense attention in recent years due to their ability to capture complex, high-dimensional data distributions without the need for extensive labeling. Since their conception in 2014, a wide array of GAN variants have been proposed featuring alternative architectures, optimizers, and loss functions with the goal of improving performance and training stability. This manuscript focuses on quantifying the resilience of a GAN architecture to specific modes of image degradation. We conduct systematic experimentation to empirically determine the effects of 10 fundamental image degradation modes, applied to the training image dataset, on the Fréchet inception distance …

Does Money Matter? Exploring Pay Disparities For Nursing Faculty Educators, Jacqueline Christianson, Jessica L. Zemlak, Kathryn J. Malin, Lisa M. Grabert

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Key Takeaways:

• The nurse faculty shortage must be addressed to meet the healthcare needs of the public.
• The salary gap between academic nurse educators and clinical practice nurses likely contributes to the nurse faculty shortage.
• Additional investments are necessary to recruit and retain sufficient nursing faculty.

In Vivo Measurement Of Nadh Fluorescence Lifetime In Skeletal Muscle Via Fiber-Coupled Time-Correlated Single Photon Counting, Kathryn M. Priest, Jacob V. Schluns, Nathania Nischal, Colton L. Gattis, Jeffery C. Wolchok, Timothy J. Muldoon

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is a cofactor that serves to shuttle electrons during metabolic processes such as glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). NADH is autofluorescent, and its fluorescence lifetime can be used to infer metabolic dynamics in living cells. Fiber-coupled time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) equipped with an implantable needle probe can be used to measure NADH lifetime in vivo, enabling investigation of changing metabolic demand during muscle contraction or tissue regeneration. This study illustrates a proof of concept for point-based, minimally-invasive NADH fluorescence lifetime measurement in vivo. Volumetric muscle loss (VML) injuries were …

A Stock Optimization Problem In Finance: Understanding Financial And Economic Indicators Through Analytical Predictive Modeling, Aditya Chakraborty, Chris Tsokos

Epidemiology, Biostatistics, & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Given the significant impact of healthcare stock changes on the global economy, including its GDP and other financial factors, we endeavored to create an analytical prediction model for forecasting the annual percentage change of these stocks. Our model, which is nonlinear, incorporates five key discoveries. We focused on predicting the average weekly closing price (pWCP) of AbbVie Inc. (North Chicago, IL, USA)'s healthcare stock (ABBV) from 1 August 2017 to 31 December 2019. The stock was chosen based on the low beta risk, high dividend yield, and high yearly percentage return criteria. Alongside predicting the weekly stock price, our model …

A Model For International Summer Research Experiences For Stem Students, Mika Munakata, Su San Lim, Carlos A. Molina

Department of Mathematics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this article, we report on a National Science Foundation-funded immersive international summer research program for biology students. Six students, representing Cohort 1 of a three-year program, spent 9 weeks at one of three institutes in Japan, working on related molecular, cellular, and developmental research projects under the mentorship of a Japanese researcher. We describe the recruitment process, pre-departure activities, orientation week, research projects, and mentorship structure. Data were collected to determine the impact of the program on students’ views about science and to seek feedback about the structure of the program. The pre-, mid- and post-program interviews with the …

Savings Associated With Surgical Aortic Valve Replacement With A Resilia Tissue Valve Based On Seven-Year Commence Trial Results, Tom Nguyen

All Publications

Background: Bioprostheses with RESILIA tissue demonstrate a reduction in calcification and improve health outcomes in pre-clinical and clinical studies. Prior economic analyses which relied on 5 years of evidence from the COMMENCE trial demonstrate financial savings for RESILIA tissue valves relative to mechanical valves after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Given the recent release of 7-year COMMENCE data, this economic evaluation updates the estimate for long-run savings of bioprosthetic valves with RESILIA.

Methods: Simulation models estimated disease progression across two hypothetical SAVR cohorts (tissue vs. mechanical) of 10,000 patients each in the US. The primary comparison calculated the SAVR-related expenditures …

The Ithildin Library For Efficient Numerical Solution Of Anisotropic Reaction-Diffusion Problems In Excitable Media, Desmond Kabus, Marie Cloet, Christian Zemlin, Olivier Bernus, Hans Dierckx

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Ithildin is an open-source library and framework for efficient parallelized simulations of excitable media, written in the C++ programming language. It uses parallelization on multiple CPU processors via the message passing interface (MPI). We demonstrate the library's versatility through a series of simulations in the context of the monodomain description of cardiac electrophysiology, including the S1S2 protocol, spiral break-up, and spiral waves in ventricular geometry. Our work demonstrates the power of Ithildin as a tool for studying complex wave patterns in cardiac tissue and its potential to inform future experimental and theoretical studies. We publish our full code with this …

Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4dee) For Everyone: Teaching Ecology To Non-Majors, Vikki L. Rodgers, Sara E. Scanga, Justin R St Juliana, Erica S. Tietjen, Jon M. Honea, Loren B. Byrne, Zakiya H. Leggett, George Middendorf

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Originally developed for application to ecology courses for undergraduate majors, the Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework offers possibilities for adaptation to courses with ecology content for many other audiences. Recognizing the extraordinary range of classroom contexts and constraints, we developed some general, flexible recommendations and approaches to guide instructors in adapting the 4DEE Framework for an array of non-major audiences and classroom context needs. Our hope is that 4DEE-aligned courses for non-majors will provide these students with greater appreciation of ecology and inspire them to use their knowledge to address many critical environmental issues in their personal and professional lives. …