Digital Commons Network^™

Knowledge Management Modeling And Decision Analysis For Usmepcom, Luke G. Wunderlich

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the adoption of Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) in enhancing the Knowledge Management (KM) program at USMEPCOM, aiming to align decision-making with the organization’s values and goals. Through evaluating the current knowledge flow and policy drafts, it proposes categorizing command messages, establishing a centralized information repository, and scheduling a daily order release to improve information accessibility and operational readiness. Although no alternative offers a perfect solution, implementing Command Message Categorization is expected to significantly enhance operational efficiency and prepare USMEPCOM for future challenges.

A Staged Framework For Llm-Powered Information Extraction In Government Contracts, Jung H. Yae

Theses and Dissertations

The manual extraction of meaningful insights and conversion of content into structured forms to enhance document processing require substantial resources and are susceptible to errors. Despite numerous applications of various Natural Language Processing (NLP) models to streamline the manual process, challenges persist due to domain-specific data constraints and the deficiency of annotated data. This study attempts to address these challenges by leveraging a Large Language Model (LLM) to analyze government contracts. Through rigorous evaluation, we demonstrate the LLM’s effectiveness in information extraction and mitigating hallucinations, achieving a 87.86% accuracy in metadata extraction.

Evaluating United States Air Force Installation Water Security, Michael L. Berg

Theses and Dissertations

Water shortage at Mountain Home Air Force Base in the last decade ignited the need for an assessment of relative water security risk across United States Air Force installations. Current evaluation methods often differ from actual conditions suggesting a need to categorize security across the enterprise for multiple discrete locations. Indicator-based approaches for characterizing water security are common in academic literature but have little methodological consensus and have rarely been applied to discrete areas spread across geographically separated locations with diverse climates. Using a two-stage analytical hierarchy process and normalized utility functions, water security at 30 installations across the continental …

A Statistical Analysis Of Phased Construction Projects, Timothy M. Dejong

Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is known for exceeding target budgets and schedules, and Department of Defense projects are no exception. The Air Force Installation & Mission Support Center (AFIMSC) manages a budget of $3.14 billion to repair, alter, demolish, and maintain Air Force facilities. However, an ever-increasing backlog of maintenance and repair work and a consistently underfunded repair program pose an increased financial risk to the sustainability of the construction and repair program. Phasing large construction efforts is a potential strategy that has recently been used to yield efficiencies by AFIMSC program managers. This study presents a statistical analysis of phased …

Modeling Recovery Of The Florida Electric Transmission Grid After Severe Weather Event, Wei B. Guan

Theses and Dissertations

Predicted changes to the climate are expected to increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The Florida electric grid is a critical infrastructure system susceptible to severe weather events, especially hurricanes, causing widespread damage and outages. A foundational concept of the electric grid’s resilience is its ability to recover after extreme weather events, such as hurricanes and flooding. The recovery of the electrical grid after an extreme event is predicated upon the electrical asset's remoteness and the component's level of damage. Using fragility analysis, previous models have assessed the mean time to recover for transmission towers and substations …

Quantifying Resilience And Redundancy For Air Force Linear Infrastructure, Ryan C. Jakovich

Theses and Dissertations

The historical underfunding of USAF infrastructure necessitates a strategic approach to reduce excess infrastructure while preserving resilience in the face of potential first-strike scenarios. This thesis formulates an infrastructure resilience metric that assesses network performance under varying degrees of damage. Furthermore, the study calculates the impact of redundant infrastructure by introducing added structural elements and measuring the resultant reduction in performance loss during damage scenarios. Utilizing USAF geospatial infrastructure data, adjacency matrices representing graph theory networks were constructed in Arc GIS Pro and evaluated using coding languages from the IGraph library and algorithms developed in RStudio. The newly proposed performance …

Analyzing Cost Risk In Department Of Defense Program Office Estimates, Todd L. Millard

Theses and Dissertations

This research studies cost risk for Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition programs during development and has three overarching objectives: 1) analyze the degree of change in cost risk (quantified as risk dollars) as programs mature, 2) analyze the accuracy of cost risk estimates (quantified as risk error) as programs progress, and 3) adopt risk analysis techniques common in the commercial banking industry to analyze cost risk in DoD programs. For the first objective, some evidence of significant positive trends in relative risk dollars is found for ACAT 1, 2, and 3 programs. For the second objective, there is no strong …

A Model-Based And System-Theoretic Approach To Design Advanced Autonomy For Air Dominance Missions: A Loyal Wingman Case Study, Elizabeth S. Pennington

Theses and Dissertations

In contested air environments, safe coordination between decision-makers is paramount. Although the Department of Defense (DoD) prioritizes the development of Artificially Intelligent (AI) wingmen for air combat, a lack of methodology exists to design safe, holistic coordination between human and autonomous wingmen in the same environment. This thesis delivers a framework using Systems Theoretic Process Analysis Extended for Coordination (STPA-Coord) to analyze and design holistic coordination for the Loyal Wingman concept in an Air Dominance mission. STPA-Coord is a safety and hazard analysis process that uses Systems Theory to analyze and design coordination between decisionmakers in a system-of-systems architecture. Using …

Qualitative Insights From Dod's Cost Community: Data Visualization Challenges And Recommendations, Izel N. Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

Data visualization plays a significant role in decision-making for military leadership. Cost organizations create and utilize data visualizations to reap cost-saving benefits, boost productivity, and expedite task processes. Our research aims to support the development of such tools and provide insights from cost leadership. To do this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with cost professionals to learn how cost professionals manage and view their data, as well as what day-to-day challenges they face while working in the cost community. We used grounded theory for the interview process to detect common trends and attempted to generate new theory from the interview data. …

An Analysis Of Military Construction Cost Escalation And How It Is Accounted For In Cost Estimating Practices, Benjamin D. Rieben

Theses and Dissertations

Construction escalation is a significant economic phenomenon that plays an important role in the construction industry. It refers to the steady increase in the costs associated with facility and infrastructure projects over time. Accurately capturing escalation is a key component in the development of construction cost estimates, and failure to adequately account for escalation can have far-reaching consequences. This is especially true for Military Construction (MILCON) projects, which account for billions of dollars of defense spending annually. The Department of Defense (DoD) utilizes a unit cost approach to develop rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimates for MILCON projects. The DoD …

Human Capital Impacts In Military Acquisition, David K. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense has historically struggled to control both cost and schedule growth within acquisitions programs. Many studies have investigated these issues, but very few have explored the impact of human capital in improving performance outcomes. This study provides a description of current acquisition team manning and performs contingency table analysis to evaluate the impact of personnel, base, and ACAT on cost and schedule performance. The results of the study suggest that personnel has little to no impact on performance metrics of any kind, indicating that teams are allocated effectively. The study also suggests that ACAT 3 programs are …

Development Of A Metric To Quantify Facility Hardening, Jesse C. Solorzano

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the intricate aspect of infrastructure resilience, focusing on the distinction between hardening and resilience. Hardening, often used interchangeably, with enhancing resilience, involves strategies to strengthen facilities, networks, or systems against various threats. Despite its recognized importance in mitigating physical disruptions and enhancing facility functionality amid different threats, a significant vagueness persists in quantitatively defining hardening. This thesis addresses this gap by developing a quantifiable metric for facility hardening, separate from general resilience measures. The study begins by exploring the historical context of facility hardening, linked to catastrophic events and the need for resilient infrastructure. It explores various …

Selection Of Soil Stabilization Methods For Low-Volume Road Applications, Peter J. Spinks

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines a potential method of selecting an ideal soil additive to assist road planners in selecting an ideal soil stabilizer for low-volume road construction with in-situ soils. Essential for the socioeconomic success of rural communities, low-volume soil or gravel roads account for approximately 54% of US road expenditures to maintain and remediate. Soil stabilization can provide significant savings in regards to the cost, effectiveness, and environmental impacts of these roads. With hundreds of commercially available soil treatment products available with significant variations to their effects, it can be difficult for road planners to select the most appropriate product. …

An Empirical Study On The Transfer Of Virtual Reality Assembly Training, Casey P. Wood

Theses and Dissertations

Virtual Reality technology provides new opportunities for enhanced training in a variety of career field. An important feature of any training is whether the knowledge and skills learned transfer to real world work performance. Scholars call this Training Transfer. In this study, a novel approach to measuring training transfer of a Virtual Reality assembly training is designed and executed. 23 Subjects were recruited for this human subject experiment. The findings indicate that training transfer was not significantly different between VR and traditional training, however factors such as affective cognitive consistency, task complexity, perceived task workload, and conscientiousness contributed to training …

Accelerating Homomorphic Encryption In Risc-V Architectures With Hardware Based Number Theory Transform, Zachary Legg

Theses and Dissertations

Fully Homomorphic Encryption is an encryption paradigm enabling computations on encrypted data without the need for decryption. Such behavior is promising for securing DoD cloud computing but is also computationally demanding. To alleviate some of the computational load and accelerate FHE schemes, this research proposes adding a hardware accelerator, for the Number Theory Transform (NTT) operation, to a RISC-V processor. Thus enhancing FHE capabilities for potentially resource-constrained devices.

Analyzing The Effects Of Atmospheric Turbulence On Polarization-Entangled Photon Pairs Using Quantum State Tomography, Noah S. Everett

Theses and Dissertations

To help in building a quantum-based communication link, we experimentally designed a system to simulate atmospheric turbulence and characterize its effects on a polarization-entangled photon-pair source. The simulated turbulence is constructed using two afocal optical systems with a phase plate inserted in each to mimic both weak and strong atmospheric turbulence respectively. After propagation, quantum state tomography (QST) is performed on each pair to reconstruct the density matrix of the pair’s overall polarization state. In characterization of the simulated turbulence, we were able to reach strengths up to a D/r0 of 18.2, which begins to approach the strong turbulent regime. …

Training Schedule For The 56th Maintenance Group, Samantha K. O'Rourke

Theses and Dissertations

The 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron (56 EMS) provides equipment maintenance and back shop maintenance for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The squadron executes thousands of sorties and flight hours annually. This operations tempo requires maintenance to prevent equipment failures, minimization of aircraft downtime, insurance of safety and compliance, and training of maintenance personnel. The squadron incorporates periodic training sessions to train maintenance personnel skills needed by airmen. This research investigates the optimization of these training sessions employing mixed integer programming (MIP). A multi-objective MIP model is developed to address the complex needs of various training activities, such as: training regiments, …

Forecasting Stock Prices Using Arima Models And Technical Analysis, Muath I. Almaiman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the integration of Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) models and technical analysis to forecast stock prices, with a focus on Coca-Cola's (KO) and Netflix’s (NFLX) stocks. It examines the effectiveness of combining ARIMA models, known for their predictive accuracy in time-series analysis, with technical indicators, particularly moving averages. The study evaluates whether this integrated approach can enhance the predictive capability of stocks prices beyond traditional methods. The predictive capability is evaluated using error metrics from the ARIMA models, as well as by assessing the return earned using simple rules based on the technical indicators. Utilizing data spanning …

Measuring The Menu, Not The Food: “Psychometric” Data May Instead Measure “Lingometrics” (And Miss Its Greatest Potential), Jan Ketil Arnulf, Ulf Henning Olsson, Kim Nimon

Human Resource Development Faculty Publications and Presentations

This is a review of a range of empirical studies that use digital text algorithms to predict and model response patterns from humans to Likert-scale items, using texts only as inputs. The studies show that statistics used in construct validation is predictable on sample and individual levels, that this happens across languages and cultures, and that the relationship between variables are often semantic instead of empirical. That is, the relationships among variables are given a priori and evidently computable as such. We explain this by replacing the idea of “nomological networks” with “semantic networks” to designate computable relationships between abstract …

A Visual And Spatial Tool For Tracking, Mapping And Forecasting The Dispersal Of Biological Control Agents, Komi Mensah Agboka, John Odindi, Elfatih M. Abdel-Rahman, Onisimo Mutanga, Henri E.Z. Tonnang

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

iPydisp is an open-source, Python-based tool designed to model the spatio-temporal dispersal of insect species such as parasitoids. It provides an accessible interface for interactive spatio-temporal analysis, using cellular automata algorithms for easy data processing and updates. The tool's main features include intuitive data loading, easy setting of dispersal constraints, and dynamic visualization of dispersal patterns. iPydisp has the potential to improve our understanding of parasitoid dispersal and enhance pest management strategies.

The Pacifican March 2024, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Iran's Look East Policy Against Western Countries Through Snyder's Foreign Policy Analysis, Juana Clarentine Emmanuela Greevince De Lucas, Muhammad Rayhan Anandito, Tasya Salsabila Hendrayudha, Septyanto Galan Prakoso

Jurnal Politik

Iran has been in disarray following the United States exit from the JCPOA in 2018. It is due to the increasing number of sanctions reimposed by the West, which harms the Iranian economy. With the current economic downturn, Iran, under President Ebrahim Raisi's leadership, has made efforts to become completely independent from the West by establishing the Look East Policy as its foreign policy. This research analyses why Ebrahim Raisi's administration favoured the Look East Policy as Iranian foreign policy. Data collection techniques used in this study are library research, using secondary data from books, journal articles, official websites, and …

The Professional Constructor, Full Issue, Volume 49, Number 01

The Professional Constructor

No abstract provided.

Mixed Reality For In-Field Construction Activities: A Systematic Literature Review To Identify Challenges And Solutions, Sumanth Sai. P., Jason Lucas

The Professional Constructor

With the new industrial revolution, “Industry 4.0,” it is important to understand and incorporate the new standards and technologies evolving in the market. Industry 4.0 relies on the integrated use of big data and analytics coupled with various technologies to help make decisions and manage projects. This revolution has brought Mixed Reality (MR) into the construction field. Mixed reality (MR) offers significant benefits for smart industries, such as enhancing productivity, training, manufacturing, error correction, assembly, and packaging processes. But how feasible are Mixed Reality Technologies (MRTs) considering the high initial investment required for acquiring devices, subscribing to services, planning and …

Assessment Of Patient Perceptions Of Artificial Intelligence Use In Dermatology: A Cross-Sectional Survey, Alexander Wu, Madeline Ngo, Cristina Thomas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine has grown in recent decades, with deep neural networks demonstrating accuracies comparable to dermatologists when classifying melanoma, keratinocyte carcinomas, and other common skin conditions. 1 , 2 , 3 With the future possibility that AI will be integrated into dermatology practice, it is important to understand how patients view these possible changes. Although prior studies have shown that patients are open to the use of AI in the diagnosis of skin cancer, little is known about patients' trust and perception of AI accuracy in general dermatology. 4 , 5 This survey study …

Irs Scrutiny And Corporate Innovation, Nathan Goldman, Niklas Lampenius, Suresh Radhakrishnan, Arthur Stenzel, José Elias Feres De Almeida

School of Accountancy Faculty Publications

The IRS administers tax laws enacted by Congress. As part of the IRS's duties, they often consider taxpayers' financial statements to help ensure accurate tax reporting and payments. We posit that enhanced financial statement disclosures of tax information under FASB Interpretation Number 48 (FIN 48) lead to more IRS scrutiny and alter the incentives for corporate innovation. Using patent applications as a measure of corporate innovation, we employ a difference-in-differences research design with publicly listed US firms as the treatment group and privately held US firms not subject to the disclosure requirements as the control group. We find robust evidence …

Lenalidomide In The Treatment Of Anti-Myelin-Associated Glycoprotein Neuropathy: A Phase 1 Study To Identify The Maximum Tolerated Dose., Amro M Stino, Naresh Bumma, Rachel Smith, Long Davalos, Jeff Allen, Jing Christine Ye, Matthew Pianko, Erica Campagnaro, Cassandra Fierro, Abdelrahman Awad, Ben Murdock, Maciej Pietrzak, Gerard Loszanski, David M Kline, Yvonne Efebera, Bakri Elsheikh

Neuroscience Articles

BACKGROUND: Anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) neuropathy is a debilitating demyelinating polyneuropathy with no approved therapies. Our primary objective was to ascertain lenalidomide safety and maximum tolerated dose (MTD) in anti-MAG neuropathy.

METHODS: This phase 1b, open-label, single-arm, dose-finding trial was conducted from 2019 through 2022. The original design included a dose-escalation/extension phase followed by a dose-expansion phase. Three doses of lenalidomide were evaluated: 10, 15, and 25 mg. The main outcome was the MTD.

RESULTS: Eleven patients enrolled (10 men), with a mean age of 67.6 years (SD = 6.18, range 58-77 years) and mean disease duration of 8.5 years (SD …

Anchor: Melflufen Plus Dexamethasone And Daratumumab Or Bortezomib In Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma: Final Results Of A Phase I/Iia Study., Enrique M Ocio, Yvonne A Efebera, Roman Hájek, Jan Straub, Vladimir Maisnar, Jean-Richard Eveillard, Lionel Karlin, María-Victoria Mateos, Albert Oriol, Vincent Ribrag, Paul G Richardson, Stefan Norin, Jakob Obermüller, Nicolaas A Bakker, Luděk Pour

Oncology Articles

Melphalan flufenamide (melflufen), a first-in-class, alkylating peptide-drug conjugate, demonstrated clinical benefit in combination with dexamethasone in triple-class refractory multiple myeloma (MM). The phase I/IIa ANCHOR study evaluated melflufen (30 or 40 mg) and dexamethasone (40 mg with daratumumab; 20 mg followed by 40 mg with bortezomib; dose reduced if aged ≥75 years) in triplet combination with daratumumab (16 mg/kg; daratumumab arm) or bortezomib (1.3 mg/m2; bortezomib arm) in patients with relapsed/refractory MM refractory to an immunomodulatory agent and/or a proteasome inhibitor and who had received one to four prior lines of therapy. Primary objectives were to determine the optimal dose …

Association Of Timely Comprehensive Genomic Profiling With Precision Oncology Treatment Use And Patient Outcomes In Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Jeff Yorio, Katherine T Lofgren, Jessica K Lee, Khaled Tolba, Geoffrey R Oxnard, Alexa B Schrock, Richard S P Huang, Lorraine Brisbin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Timely biomarker testing remains out of reach for many patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (aNSCLC). Here, we studied the quality-of-care implications of closing the gap in timely receipt of comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) to inform first-line (1L) decisions.

METHODS: Using a real-world clinicogenomic database, we studied testing and 1L treatment patterns in aNSCLC after the approval of pembrolizumab in combination with pemetrexed and carboplatin (May 10, 2017). To estimate the association of timely CGP results with therapy selection and patient outcomes, we identified patients with no previous genomic testing beyond PD-L1 immunohistochemistry and dichotomized patients by whether CGP …

A Clinical Practice Guideline For The Management Of Patients With Acute Spinal Cord Injury: Recommendations On Hemodynamic Management, Brian K Kwon, Lindsay A Tetreault, Allan R Martin, Paul M Arnold, Rex A W Marco, Virginia F J Newcombe, Carl M Zipser, Stephen L Mckenna, Radha Korupolu, Chris J Neal, Rajiv Saigal, Nina E Glass, Sam Douglas, Mario Ganau, Vafa Rahimi-Movaghar, James S Harrop, Bizhan Aarabi, Jefferson R Wilson, Nathan Evaniew, Andrea C Skelly, Michael G Fehlings

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

STUDY DESIGN: Clinical practice guideline development following the GRADE process.

OBJECTIVES: Hemodynamic management is one of the only available treatment options that likely improves neurologic outcomes in patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Augmenting mean arterial pressure (MAP) aims to improve blood perfusion and oxygen delivery to the injured spinal cord in order to minimize secondary ischemic damage to neural tissue. The objective of this guideline was to update the 2013 AANS/CNS recommendations on the hemodynamic management of patients with acute traumatic SCI, acknowledging that much has been published in this area since its publication. Specifically, we sought …