Digital Commons Network^™

Building A User-Based Recommendation System Using A Model-Based Collaborative Filtering Approach, Shaheer Airaj Ahmed

Theses

The modern day internet faces a very famous problem called information overload. Where the amount of information is huge and the need for personalized results to match ones preferences for ease of access to other information like it. This is especially a problem in the e-commerce and streaming industries where the amount of items available is massive and users need a way to surf through results quickly and efficiently to find the exact items they are looking for and possibly look at similar recommendations. Modern day recommendation engines use user-item data to find items an active user may like based …

2021 - The Second Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2021 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on November 18, 2021. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Truss Bridge Damage Localization And Severity Estimation Using Influence Lines, Hamoud Alshallaqi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

The safety of bridges is one of the primary concerns of researchers, engineers, and bridge owners and managers, especially when bridges are approaching the end of their intended service lives. The estimation of bridge condition and remaining service life is critical to prioritize the allocation of available funding for repairs and rehabilitation. Various methods, including both dynamic and static approaches, have been developed to detect and localize bridge damage and estimate its severity. This research presents a methodology for detecting a single damaged member in a truss bridge and estimating the severity of the damage using static vertical deflection influence …

The Power Of Outdoor Learning Experiences: A Narrative Inquiry, Vincent M. Case

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Outdoor learning experiences offer schools an initial avenue to address global community issues, including climate change, natural resource depletion, disconnection from nature, and the current global coronavirus pandemic. This narrative inquiry study, grounded in the theoretical work of Vygotsky, Cajete, Brody, and Kahn, seeks to understand how children’s perceptions of their outdoor learning experiences provide insights into their learning processes. This study’s findings suggest that regardless of the location (mountains, home, school campuses, local natural areas), students say that they: experience positive affect and enjoyment; observe through their senses to explore, discover, inquire, change their behavior, and build deeper relationships …

Sampling-Based Algorithms For Two-Stage Stochastic Programs And Applications, Siavash Tabrizian

Operations Research and Engineering Management Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present novel sampling-based algorithms for solving two-stage stochastic programming problems. Sampling-based methods provide an efficient approach to solving large-scale stochastic programs where uncertainty is possibly defined on continuous support. When sampling-based methods are employed, the process is usually viewed in two steps - sampling and optimization. When these two steps are performed in sequence, the overall process can be computationally very expensive. In this dissertation, we utilize the framework of internal-sampling where sampling and optimization steps are performed concurrently. The dissertation comprises of two parts. In the first part, we design a new sampling technique for …

Arginine-Rich Polypeptides Are Potent Inhibitors Of Human Papillomavirus Infection And Powerful Tools To Investigate Viral Attachment And Entry, Jesse Mckay Young

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection. It is estimated that 80% of sexually active adults will contract an HPV infection. Thus, there is a significant need for low-cost and easily distributable HPV antivirals that can be used alongside vaccines to combat infection. Herein I have identified protamine sulfate (PS) as a potent microbicide against HPV infection. PS was agnostic to genotype and efficacious pre and post HPV exposure. PS application topically reduced HPV internalization by altering epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling and suppressed EGFR-stimulated HPV entry. Our preliminary data also suggest that heparin binding epidermal growth factor …

The Effects Of Physical Activity On Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Scoping Review., Amy L Shaver, Swapnil Sharma, Nikita Nikita, Daniel S Lefler, Atrayee Basu-Mallick, Jennifer M Johnson, Meghan Butryn, Grace Lu-Yao

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Cancer therapies are associated with multiple adverse effects, including (but not limited to) cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Fatigue is one of the most common side effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), occurring in up to 25% of patients. Physical activity has been shown to help reduce CRF through modulating the immune system, and may synergistically aid in the anti-tumor effects of ICIs. This review describes the nature and scope of evidence for the effects associated with concurrent physical activity while undergoing ICI therapy.

METHOD: Scoping review methodology was utilized to identify studies, extract data, and collate and summarize results.

RESULTS: …

Nature And Its Place In Professional Counseling: A Qualitative Study Of Expert Views, Experiences, And Future Plans, Matthew V. Bukowski

Dissertations, 2020-current

Recent publications and initiatives within professional counseling indicate a growing interest in the connections between human wellness and the natural world. Despite consistent growth of this trend between the years 2000 and 2021, there has been little dialogue within the profession about the ethical, ideological, and social justice implications of integrating nature therapy with professional counseling and counselor education. This study investigated the views, experiences, and future plans of 10 counselor educators who integrate nature therapy into their professional roles and developed two major themes and 12 subthemes that encapsulate their responses. Participants in the study overall shared a desire …

Words, Music, Memory: An Exploration Of Four Soprano Song Cycles By Lori Laitman Based On Poetry By Victims Of The Holocaust, Sheena Ramirez

Dissertations, 2020-current

This Doctor of Musical Arts document is an exploration of the four soprano song cycles by Lori Laitman based on text settings from victims of the Holocaust, with a specific focus on the compositional and performance devices that both underpin the power of words to bear witness to lived experience and ensure the process of musical commemoration as an act of historical preservation. Lori Laitman (b. 1955) has composed ten distinct song cycles commemorating victims of the Holocaust, of which four are included in this study – I Never Saw Another Butterfly, In Sleep the World is Yours, The Ocean …

The Effects Of Physical Activity On Cancer Patients Undergoing Treatment With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: A Scoping Review, Amy L Shaver, Swapnil Sharma, Nikita Nikita, Daniel S Lefler, Atrayee Basu Mallick, Jennifer Johnson, Meghan Butryn, Grace Lu-Yao

Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers

Background: Cancer therapies are associated with multiple adverse effects, including (but not limited to) cancer-related fatigue (CRF). Fatigue is one of the most common side effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), occurring in up to 25% of patients. Physical activity has been shown to help reduce CRF through modulating the immune system, and may synergistically aid in the anti-tumor effects of ICIs. This review describes the nature and scope of evidence for the effects associated with concurrent physical activity while undergoing ICI therapy.

Method: Scoping review methodology was utilized to identify studies, extract data, and collate and summarize results.

Results: …

The Negative Impacts Of Social Media Use On Adolescent Social-Emotional Development, Jill E. Funk

Masters Projects

The topic of this project is to inform all caregivers- educators, administration, parents/guardians- including students themselves of the negative impacts social media use can have on the social-emotional development of adolescents. This project involves teenagers also known as “iGen”, their social-emotional development, appropriate use of social media, and digital citizenship. In developed countries where teenagers frequently use social media, there is a great need to be aware of the risks that can result from this usage such as poor body image, self-esteem issues, depressive symptoms, cyberbullying, and sometimes suicidal thoughts. Parents/guardians, teachers, librarians, school counselors, and school administrators who are …

Development And Validation Of The Raffle; A Measure Of Reasons And Facilitators For Loot Box Engagement, J Lloyd, Laura Louise Nicklin, Stuart Gordon Spicer, Chris Fullwood, Maria Uther, Daniel P. Hinton, Jonathan Parke, H Lloyd, James Close

School of Psychology

Qualitative studies have identified a diverse array of motivations for purchasing items within video games through chance-based mechanisms (i.e., “loot boxes”). Given that some individu-als—particularly those at risk of disordered gaming and/or gambling—are prone to over-involvement with loot box purchasing, it is important to have a reliable, valid means of measuring the role of different motivations in driving purchasing behaviour. Building on prior qualitative research, this paper reports the development and validation of the “RAFFLE” scale, to measure the Reasons and Facilitators for Loot box Engagement. A 23-item, seven-factor scale was developed through cognitive interviews (n = 20) followed by …

Β-Hydroxy-Β-Methylbutyrate Supplementation Promotes Antitumor Immunity In An Obesity Responsive Mouse Model Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Michael F. Coleman, Kristyn A. Liu, Alexander J. Pfeil, Suhas K. Etigunta, Xiaohu Tang, Salvador Fabela, Et. Al.

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Pancreatic cancer (PDAC) is a deadly disease, exacerbated by obesity, which lacks effective therapeutic interventions. Most PDAC has a limited response to immune- and chemotherapy. Treating PDAC is made additionally challenging by the rapid emergence of muscle wasting and cachexia, which predict poor response to several therapies. We have found that dietary supplementation with β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate promotes immunosurveillance in PDAC tumors and protects muscle. This dietary supplement has the potential to be an important adjuvant in PDAC therapy, opening the doors to immunotherapy response.

Optimum Area Of Semi-Natural Grassland To Maintain Maximum Butterfly And Avian Species Richness In Japan, A. Shoji, K. Kohyama, H. Sasaki

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

To evaluate the optimum area of semi-natural grassland to maintain maximum butterfly and avian species richness in Japan, digitalized grid data of butterfly and avian distribution, as well as vegetation distribution, throughout the country were used. After obtaining logistic regression models explaining the probabilities of occurrence of each species with semi-natural grassland area and latitude as variables, the optimum value was calculated. The expected maximum species richness of butterflies in the country was the highest in the case of about 40 square kilometers of semi-natural grassland per 100 square kilometers, though the value varied somewhat with latitude. The expected maximum …

Managing Grassy Woodlands: Balancing Production And Conservation Of Resources, John G. Mcivor, Neil D. Macleod, S. Mcintyre

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Eastern Australian eucalypt woodlands are important agricultural areas that have been widely modified during two centuries of European-style use. Despite this they contain important natural resources including significant biodiversity. Long term sustainability of production depends on maintaining resources and management must be for both production and conservation. A research program on four properties in south east Queensland showed the properties were in generally good condition although all had some problems, and has highlighted a number of significant costs and barriers to adopting a more balanced approach to production and conservation.

Convergence Properties Of Solutions Of A Length-Structured Density-Dependent Model For Fish, Geigh Zollicoffer

Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal

We numerically study solutions to a length-structured matrix model for fish populations in which the probability that a fish grows into the next length class is a decreasing nonlinear function of the total biomass of the population. We make conjectures about the convergence properties of solutions to this equation, and give numerical simulations which support these conjectures. We also study the distribution of biomass in the different age classes as a function of the total biomass.

Marion Post And The Farm Security Administration In Florida, Robert E. Snyder

Florida Historical Quarterly

Between 1933 and 1940, and continuing through World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spent billions of dollars through a number of agencies on a variety of relief and recovery measures. Persuading Congress and the American public that mammoth appropriations were necessary to ameliorate the privations suffered by the bottom third of the nation required a constant lobbying and educational effort. To show the needs of the ill-housed, ill-fed, and ill-clothed during the Great Depression, and to record the progress made by the New Deal, a documentary photography project was established in 1935 in the Resettlement Administration (RA), and became …

Major General James Patton Anderson: An Autobiography, Margaret Uhler

Florida Historical Quarterly

Although James Patton Anderson has received relatively little historical recognition, the contributions he made to Florida’s Civil War effort are worthy of historical study.

Open-Range Cattle-Herding In Southern Florida, John S. Otto

Florida Historical Quarterly

The herders of the Old South held little land and few slaves but owned considerable numbers of livestock. They grazed their livestock on the unclaimed public lands, or “open-range,” at no charge, a practice which was safeguarded by state laws until after the Civil War. Living throughout the Old South, the herders were especially numerous in the mountains and the coastal plain, where the soil possessed little fertility, and where most of the land was unclaimed public domain. In the southern mountains, herders raised hogs in the unfenced hardwood forests, exporting porkers to southern plantations and to midwestern slaughter houses. …

Standards Of Nutrition In A St. Augustine Hospital, 1783-1821, Ann P. Emerson

Florida Historical Quarterly

Established by royal decree of the king of Spain in 1776, the Regulations for Royal Hospitals provided guidelines for hospital care in royal Spanish hospitals. This included the one in St. Augustine, Florida, during the Second Spanish Period (1783-1821). Other Spanish hospitals at this time were located in Mobile and New Orleans. The set of regulations is among the earliest written documents specifying the role and responsibilities of medical personnel, treatment of patients, content of regular and special diets, and preparation of food for patients. Earlier, in 1570, Phillip II of Spain had established a law to provide his subjects …

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

THE FLORIDA SITUADO: QUANTIFYING THE FIRST EIGHTY YEARS, by Engel Sluiter, reviewed by Lyle N. McAlister; BEYOND THE NEXT MOUNTAIN: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY ROBERT CRAWFORD WOODARD, DECEMBER 9, 1867-August 31, 1949, reviwed by Paul S. George; BERNARD ROMANS: FORGOTTEN PATRIOT OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. MILITARY ENGINEER AND CARTOGRAPHER OF WEST POINT AND THE HUDSON VALLEY, by Lincoln Diamant, reviewed by Louis De Vorsey, Jr.; THE GEORGIA-FLORIDA CONTEST IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1776-1778, by Martha Condray Searcy, reviewed by Robin F. A. Fabel; MY GOLD COAST: SOUTH FLORIDA IN EARLIER YEARS, by Lora Sinks Britt, reviewed by Thelma Peters; MCKEITHEN WEEDEN …

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

BLACK EAGLE : GENERAL DANIEL “CHAPPIE " JAMES , J R., by James R. McGovern, reviewed by Jim Haskins; THIS DESTRUCTIVE WAR: THE BRITISH CAMPAIGN IN THE CAROLINAS, 1780-1782, by John S. Pancake, reviewed by Hugh F. Rankin; THE SLAVE'S NARRATIVE, edited by Charles T. Davis and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., reviewed by Larry E. Rivers; WHITE SOCIETY IN THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH, by Bruce Collins, reviewed by John Hebron Moore; NORTH CAROLINA PLANTERS AND THEIR CHILDREN, 1800-1860, by Jane Turner Censer, reviewed by Cheryll Ann Cody; BLACK MASTERS: A FREE FAMILY OF COLOR IN THE OLD SOUTH, by Michael P. …

A Second Chance: Cary Nicholas And Frontier Florida, Dennis Golladay

Florida Historical Quarterly

On the morning of July 17, 1821, the inhabitants of Pensacola gathered around the town’s public square to witness the ceremony marking the transfer of the Floridas from Spanish to American control. Among the new American residents in the crowd was Cary Nicholas, a thirty-four-year-old transplanted Kentuckian who, like so many others, saw in the territory the prospect for a new start in a life too full of disappointments and failures.

Book Reviews, Florida Historical Society

Florida Historical Quarterly

JACKSONVILLE'S ORDEAL BY FIRE: A CIVIL WAR HISTORY, by Richard A. Martin and Daniel L. Schafer, reviewed by George E. Buker; THE ARCHITECTURE OF HENRY JOHN KLUTHO: THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL OF JACKSONVILLE, by Robert C. Broward, reviewed by Ivan Rodriguez; ORLANDO: THE CITY BEAUTIFUL, by Jerrell H. Shofner, reviewed by Marjory Bartlett Sanger; MIAMI 1909, WITH EXCERPTS FROM FANNIE CLEMONS’ DIARY, by Thelma Peters, reviewed by Paul S. George; WITH HEMINGWAY: A YEAR IN KEY WEST AND CUBA, by Arnold Samuelson, HEMINGWAY IN CUBA, by Norberto Fuentes, reviewed by Peter Lisca; U.S. MILITARY EDGED WEAPONS OF THE SECOND SEMINOLE WAR, …

St. Augustine Historical Society, 1883-1983, Thomas Graham

Florida Historical Quarterly

The St. Augustine Historical Society began as an informal gathering of a few individuals who met in the downstairs parlor of the Presbyterian manse on the corner of St. George and Hypolita streets. Dr. Milton Waldo, the Presbyterian minister, would converse on a regular basis with acquaintances who shared his interest in natural history. Because of its casual origin the date of the first Society meeting is uncertain. Dr. Waldo later recalled that he and Charlie Johnson, a local boy who would later be a natural history museum curator in Boston, began meeting together over insect and shell specimens in …

Animals In Irish Society: Interspecies Oppression And Vegan Liberation In Britain's First Colony By Corey Lee Wren, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Silence In The Kitchen: How Students Innovated And Created Despite Covid-19., Anna Cruickshank, Pauline Danaher

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

The COVID-19 lockdown has changed the educational landscape forever; everything that we thought we could not do online, it turned out we could. When the Irish Government announced that all third-level educational institutes were to close in March 2020 and that lecturers would move theory-based lectures online, it seemed a daunting challenge. Most lecturing staff had little experience of lecturing with online platforms and no time to prepare the students for new ways of working and attending class. Little did we know that twelve months later, as the crisis raged on, that an even bigger decision had to be grappled …

"This Wizard Of The Cooking Stove": How P.G. Wodehouse Contributed To The Field Of Gastronomy Through Anatole, The French Chef, In The Jeeves-And-Wooster Series, Elizabeth Wilson, Anke Klitzing

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson’s premise that Balzac, a realist fiction author, contributed to the cultural field of gastronomy by his ethnographically accurate depictions of restaurants in mid-nineteenth-century Paris, prompts asking whether this may be true for other fiction authors that painstakingly reflect the foodways of their time and place, such as English author P.G. Wodehouse through his character, the French chef Anatole, in the Jeeves-and-Wooster series. Thematic analysis found three gastronomic themes surrounding Anatole that could be confirmed as historically accurate. The highly-skilled chef employed in the country houses of the Edwardian upper class possessed cultural capital through his professional capabilities …

Editorial, Michelle Share, Dorothy Cashman, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.

Cover And Table Of Contents

European Journal of Food Drink and Society

No abstract provided.