Digital Commons Network^™

Reinforcement Learning And Virtual Human Animation: A Novel Approach To Data-Driven Animation, Portraying Dynamic, Flexible Human-Like Behaviours, Vihanga Gamage

Dissertations

Virtual characters require animation capable of portraying dynamic, context-sensitive human-like behaviours. Several approaches to generating such animation have been developed, but each carries limitations. Motion capture can produce high-fidelity animation but is expensive and ill-suited to systems that must respond in real time. Physics-based reinforcement learning (RL) enables flexible, dynamic behaviour portrayal, yet relies on simulation feedback signals that are unavailable for social gestures. Supervised approaches can learn social behaviours from motion capture data but yield agents with limited flexibility and generalisation.

This thesis presents RLAnimate, a model-based, data-driven RL framework for character animation that enables a single agent to …

Breaking Ranks: Recognizing Hiring Bias Associated With Different Military Branches, La Kesha Redel Leonard

All Dissertations

This study aimed to address the gap in research on hiring biases against military veterans, with a focus on branch-specific discrimination. While prior research has examined general veteran employment challenges, no existing scholarly studies have explored how stereotypes tied to a veteran’s branch of service influence hiring outcomes. Current approaches, such as diversity and inclusion policies and skills translation programs, overlook subtle yet impactful branch-related implicit and explicit biases against candidates from different branches of the U.S military during the hiring process, leaving a critical gap in workforce reintegration strategies. The purpose of this study was aimed to examine how …

Cell Death Helps To Stabilize Populations Of Prochlorococcus, P. Wang, E. A. Laws, C. Liang, X. Liu, J. Chen, Y. Zhong, C. Li, B. Huang

Faculty Publications

Prochlorococcus is one of the dominant phytoplankton species in tropical and subtropical pelagic marine ecosystems. To maintain its population equilibrium in oligotrophic waters, the dominant species Prochlorococcus requires high loss rates to offset its high abundance and growth rates. While theoretical frameworks recognize multiple loss processes for Prochlorococcus (viral lysis, environmental stress, programmed cell death), prevailing population studies attribute main mortality to grazing. This oversight stems from in situ data gaps of non-grazing mortality processes. In this study, we firstly formulated simple differential equations that took account of population losses due to both grazing and cell death. We then used …

Turning Patients, Saving Skin, Anna Atkins

Nurse Residency

PICOT Question: Do Turn Teams Beat Standard Nursing Care?

The Automation Of Aesthetics: Artificial Intelligence And Commercial Artists In North Brooklyn, Devin Sudweeks

Theses and Dissertations

Corporate elites expect generative AI to replace commercial artists but overlook their social and aesthetic expertise. This ethnographic study explores how Brooklyn-based commercial artists narrate their value amid automation, emphasizing embodied presence in cultural scenes, visual language, style, and authenticity, skills not easily mechanized but vital to aesthetic economies.

Learning From Adolescents’ Lived Experience: Recommendations For Suicide Prevention For Youth And Their Caregivers, Genesis Minaya

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored adolescents’ views on which supports are most helpful during suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Interviews revealed six themes: Communication & Disclosure, Empathic Non-Judgmental Support, Consistent Presence, Parent/Family Education, Coping Tools, Hope and Future Orientation. These findings highlight the critical role of family dynamics in adolescent suicide prevention.

Reverse-Chinoiserie: Qing Imperial Porcelain And The Reappropriation Of European Rococo, Yifan (Mia) Ye

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces “reverse-chinoiserie” to describe the Qing court’s reappropriation of European Rococo aesthetics in imperial porcelain. Through case studies of 18th-century ceramic diplomacy and design, it reveals how cultural imitation was reengineered into visual sovereignty. It examines how China responded to, absorbed, and redirected European fantasies of empire.

The Effect Of An Invasive Species (Lantana Camara) And A Fast-Growing Herb (Acanthus Pubescens) On The Plant And Animal Communities In Kibale National Park, Uganda, Kathleen Bufka

Theses and Dissertations

Fast-growing plant species, like Lantana camara and Acanthus pubescens, could threaten biodiversity in Kibale National Park, Uganda. I surveyed plants and wildlife in areas where these plants were frequently encountered compared to those areas where they are infrequent. I found mixed results based on plant traits and the animals considered. My findings support management efforts on these two species to prevent forest degradation.

Film Review: Motherhood And Mathematics: Hegemonic Femininity And Deviance In Shakuntala Devi (2020), Bharat Dhiman

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Analyzing The Impact Of Interactive Home Monitoring On Congestive Heart Failure Readmissions: A Program Evaluation, Josh C. Riggs

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Manuscripts

Hospital readmissions are described as a situation in which a patient is admitted to a hospital within 30-days of being discharged from an earlier inpatient stay and is a critical indicator of care, contributing heavily to the rising healthcare costs in the United States. Heart failure is one of the leading contributors to 30-day hospital readmissions, prompting healthcare organizations to develop and implement policies aimed at reducing these occurrences. This program evaluation examined the effectiveness of the University of Virginia’s (UVA) Interactive Home Monitoring (IHM) program at reducing 30-day hospital readmission rates among patients diagnosed with heart failure (HF). Utilizing …

Application Of Machine Learning In Early Childhood Development Research: A Scoping Review, Faith Benson, Daisy Chelangat, Willie Brink, Patrick Mwangala, Akbar Waljee, Cheryl Moyer, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Background: Early childhood development (ECD) lays the foundation for lifelong health, academic success and social well-being, yet over 250 million children in low- and middle-income countries are at risk of not reaching their developmental potential. Traditional measures fail to fully capture the risks associated with a child’s development outcomes. Artificial intelligence techniques, particularly machine learning (ML), offer an innovative approach by analysing complex datasets to detect subtle developmental patterns.

Objective: To map the existing literature on the use of ML in ECD research, including its geographical distribution, to identify research gaps and inform future directions. The review focuses on …

Social Cohesion, Trust, And Utilisation Of Maternal Health Services Among Refugee And Host Community Women In Bangladesh And Kenya, Haeun Lee, Ryan Rego, Neyat Fiseha, Ashok Barman, Nimo Sharif, Peninah Wachira, Joe Kolars, Akbar Waljee, Rubhana Raqib, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

The global refugee crisis places significant pressure on host communities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Social cohesion and trust between refugee and host communities are critical for maternal health service utilisation. This study explores the relationship between host–refugee trust, social cohesion, and maternal health service use in Bangladesh and Kenya, focusing on facility-based delivery, antenatal care visits, and postnatal care attendance. To do so, a cross-sectional survey was administered among 649 refugee/displaced women and 371 host community women in the two locations. The results show high trust levels in both groups, while social cohesion is greater among refugee/displaced women. …

Empowering Rural Smallholder Farmers: Access To Maize Postharvest Handling Information For Sustainable Food Security In Uganda, Jackline Estomihi Kiwelu, Patrick Ngulube

Libraries

This paper presents a model for improving access to scientifically researched information on maize postharvest handling among rural smallholder farmers in Uganda. The model was developed from a study that examined the influence of evidence-based information practices (EBIPs) on farmers’ ability to access and use such information effectively. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed, combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Data were collected through interviews with 22 agricultural extension officers, four information officers, and 312 rural smallholder farmers, as well as focus group discussions and analysis of relevant government documents. The study found that access to verified information was intermittent. …

Do Themes Improve Visitor Outcomes In Interpretive Programs?, Amber K. Hawes

All Theses

Thematic interpretation is widely promoted as being integral to an effective interpretive program. Some studies have suggested that thematic interpretation may enhance visitor outcomes; however, park visitor demographics have changed over the last decade, and others have suggested alternative approaches. In this study, we systematically observed live interpretive programs at 330 programs at 52 National Parks across the United States, monitored the extent and characteristics of theme usage, and collected visitor surveys immediately following each program. We used these data to determine the influence of the presence and characteristics of themes and theme questions on visitor outcomes. The results suggest …

Estimating Price Responsiveness For Service Of A Luxury Transportation Company: A Zero Inflated Poisson Approach, Sydney Butenhoff

All Theses

Estimating price sensitivity is crucial for premium service providers who face inconsistent client engagement. In this study, I investigate both observed ride demand and periods of client inactivity among ABC Transfer’s customers, meaning individuals who may not book rides in a given period but are not necessarily disengaged. ABC Transfer is a luxury ground transportation firm headquartered in upstate South Carolina. Using an unbalanced panel dataset spanning 2012 to 2024, I estimate a Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP) model to distinguish between individuals who might still be clients from those who are not likely to be clients any longer. The model accounts …

Unl Emeriti And Retirees Association Newsletter, August 2025

UNL Emeriti and Retirees Association: Newsletters and Other Materials

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Emeriti and Retirees Association Newsletter, August 2025

President's message: Continuing our commitment, Pam Edwards

Welcome to new members

Wake up your well-being

Book review, Atlas of the Heart

A look ahread at programming

Recapping past programming

Memory moments

Traffic Prediction For Research And Education Networks: Anomaly-Aware Deep Learning And Benchmarking, Mohammad Arafath Uddin Shariff

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Research and Education Networks (RENs) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) environments are critical infrastructures for modern scientific discovery, demanding sustained high-throughput and low-latency data transfers. Unlike commercial networks, RENs exhibit unique traffic characteristics, including predominant “elephant flows,” inherent burstiness, and complex temporal-spatial dynamics often decoupled from human-driven cycles. Traditional traffic forecasting methods, tailored for commercial Wide Area Networks (WANs), consistently fail to capture these distinct REN dynamics, leading to inefficient resource management and potential impediments to scientific progress.

This thesis addresses this critical gap by developing and validating a robust, scalable, and anomaly-aware traffic forecasting framework specifically tailored for REN/HPC networks. …

Redressing The Harm Of Accelerated Approval, Laura Karas

Articles

The accelerated approval pathway of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enables drugs to come to market more quickly than would be possible under a traditional FDA approval pathway. Accelerated approval is based upon the agency's determination that changes in a surrogate or intermediate clinical endpoint are "reasonably likely" to predict a clinical benefit meaningful for patients. In essence, the pathway affords sick patients earlier access to potentially beneficial drugs while trials to confirm clinical benefit continue. Accelerated approval has been likened to a social compromise in which promising drugs enter the market sooner in exchange for a …

Owl Solar-Powered Link: Duck Radio Mesh For Autonomous Monitoring, Jaden Tran, Shane Williams

Electrical Engineering

The Solar Duck Sensor Node transforms a standard DuckLink into a fully self-sustaining environmental monitor. A compact solar panel / power bank module plugs into the power ports of both the DuckLink and the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, keeping them charged through day-night cycles. The Pi Zero 2 W will perform local processing of sensor data. Sensor output will come from the Raspberry Pi AI Camera and its object detection capabilities. This output will be distilled into metadata and advertised over BLE. The DuckLink captures these packets, encapsulates them into LoRa payloads, and forwards them across the ClusterDuck mesh …

Georgia Library Spotlight: Poetry Spotlight: A Collaborative Effort, Tarmaria Chenta Davis

Georgia Library Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Hurricane Helene And Impacts On Georgia Libraries, Wilhelmina Randtke, Melissa Johnson, Kathy Davies, Erin Prentiss, Brad Warren, Emily Rogers, Emily Harris, Will Petty

Georgia Library Quarterly

In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene moved from Florida up the east coast of the United States. The hurricane struck land in the Florida panhandle, and moved north up through North Carolina. It passed over much of Georgia. The hurricane made landfall at around 11pm in Perry, Florida on Thursday, September 26. That night, it moved up through Georgia, and through to North Carolina. Governor Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency for Georgia, and later a state of emergency for 41 counties in Georgia. This article shares the experiences of librarians in Georgia in responding to and living through …

Compliance And Systems Data Management Report: Monthly Waiver Participation Trends, August 2025, Tennessee. Department Of Disability And Aging

Compliance & System Data/Reports

This monthly report provides data on various aspects of the department's activities and programs.

August 1, 2025 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Bibliography For "Ai 2.0: Is Ai A Tool, A Threat, Or A Teammate?", Annikah Carpio, Sally Park, Melody Madrigal

Library Displays and Bibliographies

A bibliography created to support a display about AI 2.0 in August 2025 at the Leatherby Libraries at Chapman University.

The Lasting Impact Of Childhood Maltreatment On Parenting: A Qualitative Study, Leslie K. Moorman

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This qualitative study explored how Child Protection Service (CPS)-involved parents made meaning of their parenting and what informed their meaning making. Bronfenbrenner’s Person Process Context Time (PPCT) framework was utilized to examine the context of parenting within the CPS system. The PPCT theoretical assumptions were used to discuss the results of the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants, from diverse ethnic backgrounds. All but one returned for a second interview. The CPS-involved parents disclosed childhood experiences that were consistent with childhood maltreatment. The participants were preoccupied with stories of their own childhood and not wanting to parent like …

Human-Ai-Collaboration-For-Coding, Siddhardha Ravi

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

AI-generated code, while rapidly producing functional solutions, often falls short in aspects like comprehensive error handling, robust documentation, and optimal architectural design, areas where human expertise excels. Conversely, humans can greatly benefit from AI's rapid code generation capabilities. This project proposes and evaluates "A Framework to Improve Code Quality by Utilizing Generative AI Coding Along With Human-Written Code", designed to create a synergy between AI and human intelligence for enhanced software development. Conducted over four weeks, the research leverages BigCodeBench as its core dataset to rigorously investigate how human intervention can improve AI-generated code quality, identify the most effective human-AI …

Sports Teams As Multiteam Systems, Frederic Vinal

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

A multiteam system (MTS) is a unique and complex organizational form consisting of two or more distinct component teams which interact interdependently in pursuit of a shared goal. In many contexts, such as emergency response teams military operations units, disaster relief task forces, and collaborative scientific efforts, MTSs are easily and intuitively identifiable as distinct entities. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding boundary conditions of MTSs, and classification of an organizational form as an MTS in novel contexts. This study addresses that gap by examining whether and how sports teams can be conceptualized as MTSs. Using a …

Crustose Coralline Algae Accretion In A Kelp Forest Ecosystem In Southern New England, Usa, Ruimeng Liu

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Temperate reef ecosystems are experiencing rapid canopy loss of kelp and the proliferation of algal turf. However, the consequences of these changes for crustose coralline algae (CCA)— a key but often overlooked benthic calcifier—are poorly understood. Here, I study CCA recruitment patterns in southern New England, USA, using standardized settlement tiles at two field sites over 12 months (September 2023 – August 2024). I measure CCA accretion rates and the associated biological and environmental correlates of CCA recruitment. At the two sites, CCA accretion rates ranged from 0.0259 to 1.215 mg CaCO3 cm⁻² yr⁻¹, with an average of 0.441 mg …

Project Choices: An Experimental Serious Video Game For Performance-Based Risk Assessment, Rachel Bomysoad

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Risk assessment for future criminal conduct currently relies on evaluator ratings or self-report measures, with imperfect predictive utility. A new serious (clinical) video game, Project Choices, was developed for assessment and treatment purposes with persons involved with the criminal legal system. Project Choices offers performance-based measurement of individuals’ responses to realistic scenarios relevant to overall criminogenic risk and individual risk factors. The current study aimed to pilot test the newest version of Project Choices (Version 2) using a sample of university students (N = 100), examining gameplay performance metrics (number of risky decisions overall and within individual risk domains) for …

Electrophysiological Markers Of Emotion Dysregulation In Autistic Youth, Rachel G. Mcdonald

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Emotion dysregulation (ED) is a transdiagnostic mechanism that is conceptualized as difficultly regulating emotions and deploying appropriate regulation strategies in response to environmental stimuli. Meta-analyses suggest that autistic people, across the lifespan, experience more severe ED as compared to both neurotypical people and those with mental health conditions. Despite elevated risk and evidence linking ED to disruptions in neural mechanisms, no studies to date have examined neural markers of ED in autistic populations. The current project uses multi-method and multi-informant measurement to examine similarities and differences in neural mechanisms of ED in autistic and non-autistic populations. Forty-four youth aged 11—17 …