Digital Commons Network^™

Spatial Heterogeneity And Temporal Trends Of California Extreme Heat Using High-Resolution Earth System Model Simulations, Eleni Konstantelos

Master's Theses

Extreme heat threatens California’s diverse landscapes and populations through intensifying and geographically shifting patterns. This study examined the temporal trend and spatial heterogeneities of California’s extreme heat for 1994–2015. The analysis was based on the fully coupled Energy Exascale Earth System Model version 2 (E3SMv2), specifically its 25-km regionally refined configuration. While the Desert/Inland region exhibited the highest number of days ≥ 35 °C and the highest heatwave severity, Central Valley showed the fastest increase in the number of days ≥ 35 °C and heatwave events, as well as the fastest increases of days exceeding various heat index thresholds over …

Match Made In Ml: Developing Compatibility Relationships In Evidential Reasoning Approaches With Machine Learning, Ella Jolie Thomas

Master's Theses

The presented expectation maximization informed evidential reasoning model extends the ability of the evidential reasoning calculus to support decision making by integrating an adaptive model learning capability. Compatibility relationships in Evidential Reasoning models are traditionally built by human domain experts. This process is labor-intensive, especially for large and complex models. Additionally, when new data becomes available, compatibility relationships must be reconstructed. Using machine learning and the expectation maximization algorithm, it is demonstrated that compatibility relationships can be constructed that learn relationships between domain knowledge that is used to make decisions. Using drug development as a domain of application, a traditional …

Interpretable Wellness Prediction From Passive Wearable Sensor Data Using Large Language Models, Cheng-Huan Yu

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a unified framework for multi-target wellness prediction using passive wearable sensor data and large language models (LLMs). The study integrates two complementary paradigms: prompt-based regression and representation-driven classification. In the first stage, structured wearable representations derived from daily physiological signals are used to prompt LLMs to predict stress, fatigue, sleep quality, and readiness. Two input representations are evaluated: statistical summaries and hybrid inputs combining statistical summaries with raw sensor values. To improve interpretability and prediction consistency, the second stage introduces a representation-centric classification framework in which wearable signals and wellness targets are discretized into categorical levels. Multiple …

Moral: Multimodal Reasoning For Autonomous Language Models With Sensor-Grounded Spatial Bev Rendering, Ambarish Govindarajulu Kaliamurthi

Master's Theses

Autonomous-driving vision-language models describe scenes fluently but reason poorly about metric, safety-critical spatial relationships because they do not read sensor geometry in a grounded way. This thesis presents MoRAL (Multimodal Reasoning for Autonomous Language Models), a two-stage fine-tuning pipeline that teaches a compact 2-billion-parameter VLM to decode a physics-encoded Bird’s Eye View (BEV) representation – LiDAR distance as color, object class as cluster shape, radar Doppler velocity as directional wedges – and then trains it to reason over that representation for driving decisions. Stage 2 then fine-tunes on 57,696 teacher-generated chain-of-thought examples across eight question types, using Cosmos-Reason2-8B as teacher …

Effects Of Variable Light On Sexual Competition In Kelp Species, Jaycee Lanza

Master's Theses

As foundation species, kelps significantly influence the structure and composition of their surrounding habitat by modifying environmental conditions, including light levels, currents, nutrient availability, sedimentation, and seawater chemistry. Light, in particular, is a critical resource that varies greatly within kelp forests, affecting kelp reproductive processes such as gametogenesis, fertilization, and recruitment, which are vital to population persistence. Biological factors, such as density-dependent competition for resources and sexual competition with other kelps, can also affect such processes. To understand how environmental variables influence kelp populations, it is crucial to recognize their combined effects. This study investigated the impacts of light levels …

The Zeal Instruction Set Architecture, Joseph A. Gerani

Master's Theses

The Instruction Set Architecture of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) determines what type of instructions the CPU is able to understand, how those instructions are encoded, and what it should output upon receiving those instructions as input. There are currently three popular ISAs meant for the consumer market: x86, RISC-V, and ARM, as well as a fourth that mostly now exists in the server market by the name of Power. One of the most important parts of an ISA is for engineers to be able to understand it and make use of it. If an ISA is too complicated, nobody …

Error-Tolerant Metric Dimension, Leander Ten Hoff

Master's Theses

Metric dimension is a graph parameter that measures the smallest distance-based unique coordinate system on a graph. Fault-tolerant metric dimension is a variant that requires redundancy. Inspired by this idea, we propose and investigate a new variant we call error-tolerant metric dimension. We first prove some fundamental results to gain familiarity with this more complex variant. Then, we use these tools to study relative behaviors of error-tolerant metric dimension. We prove explicit computations for simple graph families, including bipartite complete graphs and paths. Finally, we extend extremal results from previous papers on metric dimension, including a full correction of an …

Data Augmentation For Vision-Language-Action Models: Bridging Vision And Language, Miaosen Zhou

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on real-time task execution and object detection for autonomous robots through dataset augmentation. We propose a data augmentation approach to address dataset imbalance in Vision-Language-Action (VLA) models across both image and text modalities during the fine-tuning process. The proposed method takes an image as input and generates a structured textual description using a prompt engineering strategy to augment the textual input. The generated augmented text includes key elements such as the task goal, scene description, reasoning, and execution plan, along with other relevant contextual information. This enriched representation improves the quality of the training data and supports …

Towards Neural Network Optimization: Addressing Issues With Corrupted Weights Within Models, Nick Najafizadeh

Master's Theses

Neural networks are a recent popular technology inspired from human brains. Much of their popularity arises from how they excel in reasoning and logic, and are generally rather efficient in their tasks. With those strengths, they are frequently used in transportation and business among many other fields. However, neural networks have many factors that can deteriorate their performance, one of the most critical being weight corruption. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to detect and handle them as soon as possible so as to minimize the negative impact on a network’s performance. The optimization of neural networks would be especially …

Accessibility Fairness Practices In Ai Applications For People With Disabilities, Megan Gross

Master's Theses

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) improve the lives of people every day with tools like the auto-captioning of videos, improved screen-reader capabilities, and advanced mobility control through speech. However, are all groups of people benefiting from AI or are some being overlooked and left out? Although AI tools made for people with disabilities (PWDs) have improved their lives, AI for the general population generally ignores the experiences of PWDs, making them unable to interact with and benefit from technology. This research evaluates ChatGPT and Gemini in Gmail for usability fairness and analyzes how current regulations and development processes fail to …

Diagrammatic Methods For Calculating Correlation Functions In Low-Dimensional Quantum Gravity, Nicholas A. Parrilla

Master's Theses

This thesis investigates connections between random matrix theory and low-dimensional quantum gravity through the spectral form factor (SFF), a well-studied function that characterizes correlations in the eigenvalue spectrum of an operator. In random matrix ensembles, a feature of the SFF known as the “ramp” is governed by universal spectral correlations, and in Jackiw–Teitelboim (JT) gravity this regime is due to the double-trumpet wormhole geometry. We study the connected correlation functions underlying the SFF using combinatorial, diagrammatic methods from a mathematical formalism known as second-order free probability theory, where they are expressed in terms of annular noncrossing permutations. To access a …

Rewriting The Calculus 3 Workshop At San José State University, Moorea Lippert

Master's Theses

Calculus 3 at San José State University is a very important course for any student pursuing a STEM degree. However, the course is very challenging, so the university offers a supplemental workshop course for Calculus 3 students. Unfortunately, this workshop has not aligned with modern research in math education. This thesis documents efforts to recreate the workshop to better align with this modern research.

Hydrus Modeling Of A Sahelian Agroforestry System: An Investigation Of Local Water Balance, Nicole A. Butler

Master's Theses

Effects of drought can devastate agricultural productivity in the West African Sahel. Climate complexities, such as lower-than-average rainfall and high winds, can lead to crop failure and low yields, thereby creating food security issues. Agriculture in the Sahel is primarily rainfed, and the rain is becoming increasingly unpredictable due to the changing climate. The method of intercropping groundnut (Arachis hypogea) and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) with the shrub species Piliostigma reticulatum can combat the effects of climate change and restore degraded soil. Intercropping can increase water availability and crop yield when compared to crops grown in the absence of shrubs. …

Pipeline Optimization Of Agentic Llms For Text-To-Sql, Peter Conant

Master's Theses

Current database interfaces limit users’ interaction to those with technical skills, creating timely roadblocks for non-technical professionals. Text-to-SQL aims to simplify database interactions by translating natural language questions into database queries, but long-standing challenges like question understanding, question-schema linking, and SQL generation have held the field back. In the AI era, foundational LLMs prove to be very capable of question understanding SQL, perform well in Schema Linking, Generation, and Evaluation tasks. However the cost to run these model is a hurdle for many organization with low funds and resources. Text-to-SQL solutions often operate across large enterprise size databases with, and …

Monoids With K-Strictly Local Geodesic Languages, William M. Hong

Master's Theses

A paper by Gilman, Hermiller, Holt and Rees (2011) prove that a group G finitely generated by X is virtually free if and only if the language of geodesics words in G over X is k-strictly local if and only if the word problem is context-free. If M is a monoid finitely generated by X, we define Γu(M,X) to be the underlying, undirected graph of Γ(M,X). We prove that if the language of geodesics in Γu(M,X) based at the identity is k-strictly local, then the monoid and semi-group word problems are context-free.

Effective Strategies For Hospital Leaders To Increase Employee Retention, Lionso Gomez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Employee retention remains a critical challenge for hospital leaders because high turnover can contribute to workforce instability, increased organizational costs, and poor patient care quality. The purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry research project was to identify and explore effective strategies that hospital leaders in Texas use to increase employee retention. The participants were six former hospital leaders in Texas's eastern and southern regions who had successfully implemented employee retention strategies. This research project was grounded in Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and publicly available documents. The data were analyzed utilizing Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic …

Teachers' Perspectives: Literacy Recommendations For Newcomers With Limited Language Proficiency, Rachel Edmunds

Theses and Dissertations

Although multilingual literacy instruction has expanded in recent years, less is known about how teachers can support newcomers with limited language proficiency in Grades 4-6. This gap is significant as many teachers report feeling underprepared to meet the needs of their multilingual learners, especially those with limited language proficiency. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the literacy practices and strategies that teachers found effective when working with students who are multilingual newcomers with limited language proficiency (NLLPs) in Spanish and English in Grades 4-6 along with their implementation experiences. Drawing from Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, this qualitative study …

Looking Inwards, Turning Away: A Review Of Rehan Abeyratne’S ‘Courts And Lgbtq+ Rights In An Age Of Judicial Retrenchment’, Jwalika Balaji

Socio-Legal Review

This review engages with Rehan Abeyratne's book Courts and LGBTQ+ Rights in an Age of Judicial Retrenchment, which examines judicial responses to LGBTQ+ claims over the past two decades across three jurisdictions — the United States, India, and Hong Kong. Abeyratne argues that the apex courts in these countries have grown more inward-looking and have enabled the rise of illiberal and authoritarian forces; however, LGBTQ+ rights have emerged as an exceptional site where these courts continue to extend minimal remedies and adopt a tone of empathy, positioning themselves as the last bastion of liberal constitutionalism. Focusing on recent developments …

Establishing E-Prodeskel, An Integrated Village Information System For The Empowerment Of The Local Community In Kediri, Ani Budi Astuti, Eni Sumarminingsih, Wayan Firdaus Mahmudy, Maulina Pia Wulandari, Wigbertus Ngabu, Nur Kamilah Sa'diyah, Gusti Ayu Putu Rawi Rotchildi, Izza Lailatul Kasanah, Yusuf Gladiensyah Bihanda, Akbar Satya Nugraha

ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement

Digital transformation has become an important strategy for strengthening community empowerment by improving access to public information, governance transparency, and village services. However, many rural communities in Indonesia still face challenges in managing accurate village profile data and utilizing digital technologies to support good governance and sustainable development. This study examines a community engagement program in Purwokerto Village, Kediri Regency, Indonesia. The program intended to develop and implement E-ProDesKel (Elektronik Profil Desa Kelurahan or Electronic Village and Wards Profile), a web-based portal for an integrated village profile information system. The program adopted a participatory approach starting from an assessment …

Usa V. Rodney Blake

2026 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Math 141 Calculus I (Queens College), Anisha Clarke

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus provides the outline for a calculus one course using OpenStax Calculus Volume I and no graphing calculator.

Staff Education In An Outpatient Psychiatric Setting Using The Teach-Back Method To Improve Staff Knowledge Toward The Ultimate Goal Of Improving Medication Adherence, Laura Assanga Eyong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For this doctoral project, I implemented a structured staff education intervention at an outpatient psychiatric clinic that required a practice change to address medication nonadherence among patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. The practice-focused question was: For staff in an outpatient psychiatric setting, will structured education on the use of the teach-back method improve staff knowledge toward the ultimate goal of improving medication adherence? The goal of this project was to conduct a rigorous education program using the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation model to bridge the communication gap between staff and patients. Staff knowledge was evaluated via a pre-/posttest design …

Third Amended Disclosure Statement Filed By The Official Committee

Catholic Dioceses in Bankruptcy

No abstract provided.

Beyond Histone Demethylation: Mechanisms Of N-Alkyl Consecutive Oxidations By The Non-Heme Fe(Ii)/2-Oxoglutarate Oxygenase Kdm6b, Simahudeen Bathir Jaber Sathik Rifayee, Sudheesh Devadas, Midhun George Thomas, Bhargav Varada, Ethan Sommer, Cassandra Talaba, Christopher Schofield, Christo Christov

Michigan Tech Publications

The nonheme Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent histone demethylase KDM6B (JMJD3) has demonstrated a capacity for diversity in the oxidative transformations of N^ε-alkylated lysine residues in histone H3 peptides; however, the mechanisms of such dealkylations, compared with standard KDM-catalyzed demethylations, remain unexplored. We implemented molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics to investigate the catalytic strategies for the sequential oxidation reactions of KDM6B with different N-alkylated forms of lysine K27 in the H3 peptide chain, that is N^ε, N^ε-methyl ethyl lysine (Lys(Me/Eth)) and N^ε-isopropyl lysine (Lys(iPr)). The results for sequential oxidations, which yield alcohol, aldehyde, and …

Beyond Histone Demethylation: Mechanisms Of N‑Alkyl Consecutive Oxidations By The Non-Heme Fe(Ii)/2-Oxoglutarate Oxygenase Kdm6b, Simahudeen Bathir Jaber Sathik Rifayee, Sudheesh Devadas, Midhun George Thomas, Bhargav Varada, Ethan Sommer, Cassandra Talaba, Christopher Schofield, Christo Christov

Michigan Tech Publications

The nonheme Fe-(II)/2-oxoglutarate (2OG)-dependent histone demethylase KDM6B (JMJD3) has demonstrated a capacity for diversity in the oxidative transformations of N-alkylated lysine residues in histone H3 peptides; however, the mechanisms of such dealkylations, compared with standard KDM-catalyzed demethylations, remain unexplored. We implemented molecular dynamics and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics to investigate the catalytic strategies for the sequential oxidation reactions of KDM6B with different N-alkylated forms of lysine K27 in the H3 peptide chain, that is N , N -methyl ethyl lysine () and N -isopropyl lysine (). The results for sequential oxidations, which yield alcohol, aldehyde, and then carboxylic acid products, reveal …

Genetic Associations With Pulmonary Embolism Among Those With A Deep Vein Thrombosis: The International Network Against Venous Thrombosis Consortium, Susana Lozano-Esparza, Gabrielle E Shakt, Jennifer A Brody, Angel Martinez-Perez, Matthew P Conomos, Marine Germain, Katharine R Clapham, Maris Teder-Laving, Astrid Van Hylckama Vlieg, Anni Kauko, Florian Thibord, Ohanna C L Bezerra, Girish N Nadkarni, Gaëlle Munsch, Therese Haugdahl Nøst, Ellen L Goode, Yuekai Ji, Daniel I Chasman, Alexander P Reiner, Constance Turman, Kerri L Wiggins, Colleen M Sitlani, Juan Carlos Souto, Pamela L Lutsey, Tiffany Bellomo, Estonian Biobank, Million Veteran Program, Ruifang Li-Gao, Aleksi Kristian Winstén, Ming-Huei Chen, Ron Do, Lénaick Gourhant, Kristian Hveem, Sebastian M Armasu, Noémie Saut, Nathan Pankratz, Franco Giulianini, Jeffrey Haessler, Mingyang Song, Robert Olaso, Eric Boerwinkle, Daniel Dochtermann, Jose Manuel Soria, Stephen S Rich, David Smadja, Satoshi Koyama, Frits R Rosendaal, Teemu Niiranen, France Gagnon, Ha My T Vy, Neil Zakai, Catherine Lemarie, Anne Heidi Skogholt, Jean-François Deleuze, James S Pankow, Paul M Ridker, Yuxi Liu, Kenneth M Rice, Saiju Pyarajan, Mary Cushman, Jospeh Emmerich, Bruce M Psaty, Pradeep Natarajan, Andrew D Johnson, Marc A Rodger, Pierre Suchon, Francis Couturaud, Pierre-Emmanuel Morange, Weihong Tang, Charles Kooperberg, Christopher Kabrhel, Maria Sabater-Lleal, David-Alexandre Trégouët, Alisa S Wolberg, Scott M Damrauer, Nicholas L Smith

Children’s Nutrition Research Center Staff Publications

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), the latter of which often originates from DVT and can be fatal.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify causal genetic factors that alter risk of PE among those with a presumed DVT.

Methods: Using a case-only design of VTE, we conducted meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in the International Network Against Venous Thrombosis Consortium. Among participants diagnosed with VTE, each study identified those who had a clinically reported PE, with or without a clinically reported DVT; those remaining had isolated DVT. Logistic regression …

Third Amended Disclosure Statement Debtor

Catholic Dioceses in Bankruptcy

No abstract provided.

Ensuring Effective, Efficient, And Equitable Libraries In A Post-Pandemic Community College Environment, Jeffery M. Sundquist

Dissertations

Using a case study model, this dissertation investigated student needs regarding library support in a post-pandemic community college environment, using data from student focus group interviews. These needs were juxtaposed with perceived student needs using library employee survey data. Based on the interpretation of data grounded in a critical librarianship framework, the author created action items for college library leaders. To provide effective, efficient, and equitable onsite libraries and library services, the author recommends (a) designing for psychological safety and belonging, (b) embedding visible human support, and (c) conducting equity-oriented space audits. To provide effective, efficient, and equitable online libraries …

Multiple Perspectives On Inclusion In Science For Students Receiving Support From The Learning Center (Tlc) Program, Jeremy C. Adams

Dissertations

Almaden Country Day School (ACDS) is a small, independent private school located in the Almaden Valley neighborhood of south San Jose, California. Currently serving over 400 students, the school has been in operation for over 43 years. Nan Hunter, its founder, set out to build a school community that could “discover the gifts in every child.” As part of this mission, the school sought to support neurodiverse students with accommodations as part of its general education program. In September of 2017, the school’s leaders committed more deeply to this aspect of the school’s mission when they opened The Learning Center …

Leadership, Identity, And Black Joy: The Career Trajectories And Experiences Of Black Administrators In The California State University System, Uchechukwu C. Ogamba

Dissertations

This study explores the experiences of Black mid- and upper-level administrators within the California State University (CSU) system, with a focus on career trajectories, institutional barriers, support systems, and mentorship. Black administrators are essential but continue to be underrepresented in higher education leadership and limited research focuses on their professional pathways and sustainability within the higher education systems. Guided by Black Joy Theory and Professional Identity Theory, this study uses survey data (n = 24) and semi-structured interviews (n = 8) to explore how Black administrators navigate leadership and create meaning within institutional environments. Quantitative findings highlight the importance of …