Digital Commons Network^™

Study Of The Impact Of Atmospheric Variability On Subsurface Methane Emissions: Application To Leak Detection And Quantification For Underground Natural Gas Pipeline Leaks, Shanru Tian

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Natural gas (NG), taken as a bridging fuel for achieving a low-carbon future, has rapidly grown to be a significant component of the global energy system and requires extensive pipeline infrastructures, most of them buried underground. Fugitive methane (CH4) emissions from NG pipeline leaks pose environmental, safety, and economic threats to the public. An effective leak detection and quantification (LDAQ) survey method is critical to identifying a leak and assessing the size when it has occurred, thus initiating appropriate response actions to repair it and accounting for the environmental risks accurately. However, gaps exist between LDAQ survey methods, and the …

Investigation Of Models To Predict The Remaining Useful Life Of Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe, Ahmad Mahmoud Jibreen

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The water distribution system in the United States consists of 2.2 million miles of pipelines with water main breaks that the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2021 Report Card estimated results in six billion gallons of drinking water lost daily. Detecting the state of pipeline deterioration should always be a top priority in the water pipeline industry This dissertation statistically evaluates data from more than 70,000 electromagnetic inspections that have been performed since the installation of these pipes in 1971. The scope of this dissertation is related to performance and degradation of prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) which is …

Factors Affecting Health-Seeking Behaviour Among Men Who Have Sex With Men In Starehe Sub-County, Nairobi City County, Anthony Omariba

MSc in Advanced Practice Nursing

Men who have sex with other men (MSM) exist in Africa, as they do elsewhere. The continued proscription of MSM behavior leads to exclusion and discrimination. According to a global report, MSMs are responsible for most HIV transmission. MSMs in Kenya constantly fear being hurt because of their sexual orientation, and there is scant knowledge of their health-seeking behavior. There is a need to improve the health of this group to lower disease spread to achieve global HIV reduction. This study aims to explore MSM healthcare-seeking behavior, describe barriers to healthcare-seeking, and establish perceptions of the sexual risks associated with …

Brain Waste Among Highly Skilled Immigrants In The United States, Kimberly Alva-Chavers Gardner

Master's Projects and Capstones

The issue of brain waste and underemployment among highly skilled immigrants is a key issue facing the United States today. This problem of equity has turned into an issue of economic stability in a country with a waning population whose workforce will soon depend on immigrant and international workers. Multiple agencies, including government programs and nonprofits, are attempting to address this issue from a language learning perspective. Using the theoretical framework of Cultural Capital and Community Cultural Wealth, this research project suggests that the key to reducing brain waste and underemployment among highly skilled immigrants is to take the focus …

Democracy And Schooling: The Paradox Of Co‐Operative Schools In A Neoliberal Age?, Tom Woodin, Cath Gristy

Plymouth Institute of Education

From the first co-operative trust school at Reddish Vale in Manchester in 2006, the following decade would witness a remarkable growth of ‘co-operative schools’ in England, which at one point numbered over 850. This paper outlines the key development of democratic education by the co-operative schools network. It explains the approach to democracy and explores the way values were put into practice. At the heart of co-operativism lay a tension between engaging with technical everyday reforms and utopian transformative visions of an educational future. A new arena of debate and practice was established with considerable importance for our understanding of …

Optimal Channel Strategy Of Luxury Brands In The Presence Of Online Marketplace And Copycats, Sarah Yini Gao, Wei Shi Lim, Ziqiu Ye

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The strategic interaction between authentic luxury brands and their copycats has evolved since the proliferation of online marketplaces. Using a game-theoretic framework, we examine how an authentic luxury brand, observing the strategic behavior of its competing copycats, should make its optimal entry decision to a third-party online marketplace. Our findings reveal that the authentic luxury brand does not sell on the online marketplace when either the quality or the physical resemblance of the copycat to the authentic luxury brand is high. This contributes to the related literature by offering an explanation for the increasing quality of copycats amid the e-commerce …

December 1, 2022, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2020-

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The Impact Of Subscription Programs On Customer Purchases, Raghu Iyengar, Young-Hoon Park, Qi Yu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Subscription programs have become increasingly popular among a wide variety of retailers and marketplace platforms. Subscription programs give members access to a set of exclusive benefits for a fixed fee upfront. In this paper, we examine the causal effect of a subscription program on customer behavior. To account for self-selection and identify the individual-level treatment effects, we combine a difference-in-differences approach with a generalized random forests procedure that matches each member of the subscription program with comparable non-members. We find subscription leads to a large increase in customer purchases. The effect of subscription is economically significant, persistent over time, and …

The Value Of Fiduciary Duties: Evidence From En Bloc Sales In Singapore, Jianfeng Hu, Kelvin F. K. Low, Wei Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the impact of fiduciary duties on collective asset sales in the case of owners acting as delegates for other owners, thereby potentially inducing conflicts of interests. Our identification strategy exploits a unique legal shock in Singapore, which established fiduciary duties in those transactions in the real estate market known colloquially as en bloc sales. The imposition of fiduciary duties caused the price premium of units sold via en bloc sales to increase over units ineligible for en bloc sale, as well as over units that, although eligible for en bloc sale, are sold individually. In addition, this …

Learning From Manipulable Signals, Mehmet Ekmekci, Leandrro Gorno, Lucas Maestri, Jian Sun, Dong Wei

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We study a dynamic stopping game between a principal and an agent. The agent is privately informed about his type. The principal learns about the agent’s type from a noisy performance measure, which can be manipulated by the agent via a costly and hidden action. We fully characterize the unique Markov equilibrium of this game. We find that terminations/ market crashes are often preceded by a spike in (expected) performance. Our model also predicts that, due to endogenous signal manipulation, too much transparency can inhibit learning. As the players get arbitrarily patient, the principal elicits no useful information from the …

Nature Tech: A Nascent Ecosystem, Simon J.D. Schillebeeckx

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

When people talk about climate tech, they tend to mean carbon tech. It’s all carbon tunnel vision: Carbon footprint, carbon equivalent, carbon credit, carbon compensation, carbon emission reductions, carbon offsets, decarbonization and so on. By extension, the entire debate about energy transition, energy transformation, clean power and green energy is similarly a debate that is largely held within the carbon tunnel. Make no mistake about it. These are important topics to address. The energy transition will not only prevent catastrophic climate change but have massive benefits for human health by tackling fossil-fuel induced air pollution at the source.As the above …

Biomechanical And Sensory Feedback Regularize The Behavior Of Different Locomotor Central Pattern Generators, Kaiyu Deng, Hillel J. Chiel, Roger D. Quinn

Faculty Scholarship

This work presents an in-depth numerical investigation into a hypothesized two-layer central pattern generator (CPG) that controls mammalian walking and how different parameter choices might affect the stepping of a simulated neuromechanical model. Particular attention is paid to the functional role of features that have not received a great deal of attention in previous work: the weak cross-excitatory connectivity within the rhythm generator and the synapse strength between the two layers. Sensitivity evaluations of deafferented CPG models and the combined neuromechanical model are performed. Locomotion frequency is increased in two different ways for both models to investigate whether the model’s …

Vista: December 1, 2022, University Of San Diego

USD Vista (1965-)

No abstract provided.

The Central Valley Transportation Challenge, Christian Wandeler, Steve Hart

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Central Valley Transportation Challenge provides underserved minority students, who are primarily from rural areas, with high quality transportation-related educational experiences so that they learn about transportation-related topics and opportunities in transportation careers. The CVTC is a project-based learning program that brings university faculty and students to K–12 classrooms in rural areas. The project operated with three main objectives: (1) support K–12 teachers’ understanding and implementation of the CVTC programs; (2) connect K–12 students with university faculty and students, and transportation professionals through the CVTC program; and (3) develop an online hub with transportation-related lesson plans and sequences. The results …

Pharmacogenomics Translation In A Community Medical Context Using A Diffusion Of Innovations Framework: Provider Perspectives And Evaluation Implications, Sabrina Ewald Holley

Dissertations

Translation, in the context of medical research, is a process that describes how knowledge and innovation move and change into real world applications and outcomes. This study explores the translation of a medical innovation, pharmacogenomics (PGx), from research into clinical practice using the perspectives of medical providers in a community setting. PGx is the influence of a person’s genetics on drug response. Despite being available for over a decade, PGx testing is not widely adopted. Prior research primarily examined PGx translation in large academic medical centers, but not much is known about it in community practice settings. A better understanding …

Universal Pre-K In Comstock Public Schools, Meadow A. Nuyen

Dissertations

In 1971, President Nixon vetoed legislation that would have created federal funding for the education of kids under age five. With the veto, President Nixon reaffirmed that, except for poor children, the education and care of the children is the responsibility of the family, not the government. Yet over 31 years later, 41 states and the District of Columbia provide state-funded preschool (Waxman, 2021). Preschool in the state of Michigan is not automatically provided as K-12 education is. This study examined the beliefs of staff in Comstock Public Schools regarding Universal Pre-K, tuition-free preschool for all 4-year-olds. Participants included district …

Don’T Judge A Book By Its Covr: Learning And Training In Virtual Reality; The Effects Of Two Levels Of Immersion, Kendall Carmody, Meredith Carroll

Aeronautics Faculty Publications

Immersive devices, such as virtual reality (VR) devices are swiftly being integrated into military and civil operations as advanced tools for training, with studies observing the beneficial aspects of employing these devices for training cognitive skills (Xie et al., 2021). However, further research is needed to understand specific characteristics of the learning effectiveness of the technology and identify which levels of immersion benefit specific learning constructs in training. This study examined the effect of immersion on four constructs related to learning, including memory retention, learner engagement, learning performance in the form of knowledge acquisition, and perceived learning in a virtual …

Student And Teacher Perspectives On Asynchronous Learning During The Covid Pandemic, Michele Ehrhart

Education Doctorate Dissertations

The COVID Pandemic shut down schools across the country, leaving K-12 schools unprepared for virtual learning. In this mixed methods study, I examined data gathered from my 8th-grade science classes to assess the effectiveness of asynchronous instruction. My original research question was: How much if at all, did learning outcomes differ as a function of how the lessons were taught (uninterrupted instructional video versus interrupted/interactive Edpuzzle video)? Based on a preliminary examination of data, my study expanded into how self-regulated learning affected students’ comprehension, interest, and motivation. Study results showed no statistical differences in students’ comprehension based on how lessons …

Bridgewater Review, Vol. 40, No. 2, December 2022

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Uis Bulletin, Volume 64, No. 2, December 2022, Nivaldo Colzato

UIS Bulletin

This edition from December 2022 includes information from the UN-Water Summit on Groundwater 2022 at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Contents: Editorial: The motto that builds the UIS -- President’s Column: “History, Present and Vision” -- UIS President’s Report to the General Secretary -- The Report of the UIS General Secretary -- UIS Treasurer’s Report to the General Assembly -- The closing of the International Year of Caves and Karst 2021/22 -- The first years of the UIS -- The new UIS Bureau 2022-2025 -- The UIS Archive in Postojna, Slovenia -- Report of Commission on Artificial Cavities -- Report …

Garcia Family History, Austin Garcia

Your Family in History: HIST 550/700

The Family History of

Austin D. Garcia

2 September 2022

Austin Garcia authored this family history as part of the course requirements for HIST 550/700 Your Family in History offered online in Fall 2022 and was submitted to the Pittsburg State University Digital Commons. Please contact the author directly with any questions or comments: [email protected]

The American Society Of Pain And Neuroscience (Aspn) Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline Of Interventional Treatments For Low Back Pain, Dawood Sayed, Jay Grider, Natalie Strand, Jonathan M. Hagedorn, Steven Falowski, Christopher M. Lam, Vinicius Tieppo Francio, Douglas P. Beall, Nestor D. Tomycz, Justin R. Davanzo, Rohit Aiyer, David W. Lee, Hemant Kalia, Soun Sheen, Mark N. Malinowski, Michael Verdolin, Shashank Vodapally, Alexios Carayannopoulos, Sameer Jain, Nomen Azeem, Reda Tolba, George C. Chang Chien, Priyanka Ghosh, Anthony J. Mazzola, Kasra Amirdelfan, Krishnan Chakravarthy, Erika Petersen, Michael E. Schatman, Timothy Deer

Anesthesiology Articles

INTRODUCTION: Painful lumbar spinal disorders represent a leading cause of disability in the US and worldwide. Interventional treatments for lumbar disorders are an effective treatment for the pain and disability from low back pain. Although many established and emerging interventional procedures are currently available, there exists a need for a defined guideline for their appropriateness, effectiveness, and safety.

OBJECTIVE: The ASPN Back Guideline was developed to provide clinicians the most comprehensive review of interventional treatments for lower back disorders. Clinicians should utilize the ASPN Back Guideline to evaluate the quality of the literature, safety, and efficacy of interventional treatments for …

The Relationship Between Demographics And Early And Later Motor Problems In Children With Motor Difficulties, Promise Robinson

2022 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

A child’s achievement of motor milestones could result in later motor problems in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This study aimed to explore potential associations between early and later motor problems and demographic characteristics (such as race/ethnicity) in children with DCD. One hundred and thirteen parents/caregivers of children aged between 5 to 18 years with motor difficulties were asked to answer an online survey about early motor milestones, demographics, and current motor problems of children. The proper distribution for minority groups could not be found due to the sample being self-selected, however the focus was shifted to the achievement …

Longing For Cedar: Tracing Indigenous Family In The Pacific Northwest From Longhouses To Urban Sprawl And Bureaucratic Command, Darcy Gray

2022 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The Coast Salish are a network of related Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest. Their lifestyles have been challenged by Euroamericans for generations. Using archival sources from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and primary photographic sources, this study focuses on how domestic life changed for Coast Salish people across the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I explore pre-colonial settlements and longhouses, interracial marriages during colonization, and boarding schools for Indigenous children after U.S. power solidified. The transformation of Coast Salish life induced by oppressive power structures illustrates the vital role of family ties in the origins and evolution of Coast …

Pupillometry Reveals Insight Into Metacognitive Processes During Encoding, Britney Le

2022 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Metacognitions are the processes associated with how well we learn and monitor our study behavior. This can be assessed with judgments of learning (JOLs) during encoding of cue-target word pairs (e.g., dog – bowl), which are predictions on how confident we are that we will remember the target (e.g., bowl) when later presented with the cue (e.g., dog) at retrieval. The easily learned easily remembered (ELER) heuristic states that the easier it is to learn something, the easier it is to be remembered later. However, recent studies using eye tracking show that more effortful encoding, as indexed by larger pupil …

In Vivo Genetic Analysis Of Schizophrenia Through A Novel Cell Death Paradigm, Hannah Selvarathinam

2022 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects a person’s thoughts and actions. Compartmentalized Cell Elimination (CCE) is a novel cell death program, where three parts of the cell die differently. CCE can be used as a tool to address questions about psychiatric illnesses. Through a forward genetic screen looking for CCE defects, the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) network stability gene atln-1/atlastin and microtubule (MT) severing ATPase spas-1/spastin, were found to be linked to Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP), a neurodegenerative disease. A schizophrenic behavioral assay was performed on the CCE mutants atln-1, spas-1, hop-1, sel-12, and ptl-1 to explore the question of …

Life Within The Red River Gorge, An Artistic Exploration Of Anthropogenetic Change In Caves, Marcy Davis

2022 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

At the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, fauna and flora above ground are abundant due to it being a National Natural Landmark; however, this is not the same for underground. Caves play a vital role in understanding and predicting climate change, yet they are becoming detrimentally altered. Currently, cave features are being destroyed, which results in a loss of geological history. An art exhibition called, Anthropocene, at the UTA Gallery West was created to enlighten viewers on the significance of caves. Cave art installations of glass blown stalactites, expanding foam flowstone, and textile metal cave coral were installed to visually …

The Covid Classroom: An Examination Of The Effect Of Distance Learning On College Students Impacted By Covid-19, Eric Paul Salas

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

As a result of the tumultuous events in 2020 related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the academic world was forced to adapt and relocate for the safety of students, faculty, and staff. These changes had a lasting impact on those directly involved and predicted many aspects of daily life. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of life disruptions caused by distance learning, COVID-19 impact, and connectedness on the mental health and academic achievement of college-level students. Furthermore, to investigate the significance of resilience, self-compassion, and self-efficacy as predictive factors to stress, anxiety, and overall academic achievement. Additionally, …

Postpartum Depression And Covid-19: A Special Emphasis On Military Women, Lacey R. QuiￃﾱOnes

Social Work Theses - Archive

The purpose of this study is to explore the possible factors that contribute to postpartum depression in military women during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study had a total of 10 participants who were recruited by snowball and purposive sampling. The participants agreed to an interview with questions related to their overall experience of becoming a mother during a pandemic. The data collected showed two main themes emerged: environment and support. Of those, five subthemes appeared: policies and procedures and healthcare staff; in-person support, educational support, and mental health support, respectively. These findings point to potential shortcomings surrounding perinatal care for …

Study Of The Ai-Feynman Package, Parvat Sapkota

2022 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

At a particular point during the scientific process, we need to understand the relationships between different variables. In science, generally, the relationships are derived using the first principle. Developing another way to determine the relationship among variables of a physical system will help to boost not only overall scientific research but may also aid greatly in the scientific discovery process. Symbolic regression, which is a process of discovering a symbolic expression to describe the given data, can be used to determine relationships between variables. However, the problem with symbolic regression is that we have to go through many combinations before …