Digital Commons Network^™

The Application Of Carbonate And Sediment Budgets To Assess The Stability Of Marginal Reef Systems, Shannon Dee, Adi Zweifler, Michael Cuttler, Jake Nilsen, Joshua Bonesso, Michael O'Leary, Nicola K. Browne

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Coral reefs and their associated landforms (carbonate islands and shorelines) are under increasing threat from the effects of anthropogenic climate change, including sea level rise (SLR). The ability of a reef to keep up with SLR depends on the rate of calcium carbonate accretion. Census-based carbonate budgets quantify rates of net calcium carbonate production on a reef and facilitate estimations of vertical reef accretion potential (RAP). To date, most carbonate budget studies have been undertaken in clear-water settings resulting in a limited understanding of how inshore reefs situated in more marginal environmental settings are functioning now and under future climate …

Application Of Event Cameras And Neuromorphic Computing To Vslam: A Survey, Sangay Tenzin, Alexander Rassau, Douglas Chai

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) is a crucial function for most autonomous systems, allowing them to both navigate through and create maps of unfamiliar surroundings. Traditional Visual SLAM, also commonly known as VSLAM, relies on frame-based cameras and structured processing pipelines, which face challenges in dynamic or low-light environments. However, recent advancements in event camera technology and neuromorphic processing offer promising opportunities to overcome these limitations. Event cameras inspired by biological vision systems capture the scenes asynchronously, consuming minimal power but with higher temporal resolution. Neuromorphic processors, which are designed to mimic the parallel processing capabilities of the human brain, …

Label-Free Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Coupled With Machine Learning Algorithms In Pathogenic Microbial Identification: Current Trends, Challenges, And Perspectives, Jia Wei Tang, Quan Yuan, Xin Ru Wen, Muhammad Usman, Alfred Chin Yen Tay, Liang Wang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Infectious diseases caused by microbial pathogens remain a primary contributor to global health burdens. Prompt control and effective prevention of these pathogens are critical for public health and medical diagnostics. Conventional microbial detection methods suffer from high complexity, low sensitivity, and poor selectivity. Therefore, developing rapid and reliable methods for microbial pathogen detection has become imperative. Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS), as an innovative non-invasive diagnostic technique, holds significant promise in pathogenic microorganism detection due to its rapid, reliable, and cost-effective advantages. This review comprehensively outlines the fundamental theories of Raman Spectroscopy (RS) with a focus on label-free SERS strategy, reporting …

Application Of Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Network (Mlp-Ann) Algorithm For Pm2.5 Mass Concentration Estimation During Open Biomass Burning Episodes In Thailand, P. Paluang, W. Thavorntam, W. Phairuang

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Open biomass burning (OBB) is the main cause of air pollution in Northern Thailand, where PM2.5 concentrations exceed Thailand's air quality standards annually during the January–April (dry season). The air emissions from databases that detail the pollutants discharged into the atmosphere from specific sources of air pollution are crucial for monitoring air pollution. However, this data has been poorly studied in Thailand. This study estimated ground-level PM2.5 concentration in Northern Thailand using the Multilayer Perceptron Artificial Neural Networks (MLP-ANN) model, integrating the in-depth data as input variables. The 10-fold cross-validation approach was applied to validate the model's performance. The meteorological …

Testing Multiple Environmental Dna Substrates For Detection Of The Cryptic And Critically Endangered Burrowing Freshwater Crayfish Engaewa Pseudoreducta, Kathryn L. Dawkins, Paul Nevill, Brian Chambers, Shane Herbert, Quinton F. Burnham

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Effective conservation of endangered species depends on knowledge of their distributions, but species detection can often be challenging. An example of this is provided by the Critically Endangered Margaret River burrowing crayfish (Engaewa pseudoreducta), which is highly cryptic. Due to the burrowing habit of this crayfish, detection of this species currently requires a great deal of effort, the results are often non-conclusive, and, as it involves manual excavation of their burrows, the habitat of this and other species is destroyed in the detection process. In response to these challenges, this study developed and optimized a species-specific probe-based qPCR assay targeting …

Review Of Agricultural Biomass Burning And Its Impact On Air Quality In The Continental United States Of America, Sai Deepak Pinakana, Amit U. Raysoni, Alqamah Sayeed, Juan L. Gonzalez, Owen Temby, Dawid K. Wladyka, Katarzyna Sepielak

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Burning is a common method to dispose agricultural biomass residue. This practice is widely used by farmers during pre- and post-harvest seasons for crops such as wheat, rice, grass seed, soy, cotton, sugarcane, and corn. Farmers choose this method because it is cost and time effective. These burning activities emit several types of pollutants into the atmosphere, including CH4, SOx, NOx, CO, CO2, and particulate matter of different sizes (i.e., PM1, PM2.5 and PM10). Globally, the United States of America ranks third, preceded by China and India, in greenhouse gas emissions due to agricultural burning activities. According to the 2020 …

Strong Marine Heatwaves Trigger Flowering In Seagrass, Catalina A. García-Escudero, Victoria Litsi-Mizan, Pavlos T. Efthymiadis, Vasilis Gerakaris, Oscar Serrano, Eugenia T. Apostolaki

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In recent decades, the global intensification of marine heatwaves has impacted several ecosystems and species, including the endemic Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica. However, the scarcity of research in Eastern Mediterranean meadows, where historical and present thermal conditions differ from those of the Western Mediterranean, hampers our ability to draw comprehensive conclusions regarding the species' response to elevated sea temperatures. Here, we studied flowering patterns of P. oceanica meadows (3–15 m depth) of the Greek seas and assessed their potential association with marine heatwaves, while also examining the effects on plant growth associated with the transition from vegetative to sexual reproduction. …

Unveiling The Dynamics Of Ai Applications: A Review Of Reviews Using Scientometrics And Bertopic Modeling, Raghu Raman, Debidutta Pattnaik, Laurie Hughes, Prema Nedungadi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

In a world that has rapidly transformed through the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), our systematic review, guided by the PRISMA protocol, investigates a decade of AI research, revealing insights into its evolution and impact. Our study, examining 3,767 articles, has drawn considerable attention, as evidenced by an impressive 63,577 citations, underscoring the scholarly community's profound engagement. Our study reveals a collaborative landscape with 18,189 contributing authors, reflecting a robust network of researchers advancing AI and machine learning applications. Review categories focus on systematic reviews and bibliometric analyses, indicating an increasing emphasis on comprehensive literature synthesis and quantitative analysis. The …

University Of San Diego Magazine 75th Anniversary 2024, University Of San Diego

University of San Diego Magazine (1992- )

Forging Community; Celebrating Impact; Aesthetic Aspirations; From Grassroots to the Vatican; Lighting the Way Forward; Decade of Discovery; The Stories Within; Those at Our Core; Aiming for Excellence; Twice as Nice; A Simple Yet Grand Vision

Rank-Guaranteed Auctions, Wei He, Jiangtao Li, Weijie Zhong

Research Collection School Of Economics

We propose a combinatorial ascending auction that is “approximately” optimal, requiring minimal rationality to achieve this level of optimality, and is robust to strategic and distributional uncertainties. Specifically, the auction is rankguaranteed, meaning that for any menu M and any valuation profile, the ex-post revenue is guaranteed to be at least as high as the highest revenue achievable from feasible allocations, taking the (|M| + 1)th-highest valuation for each bundle as the price. Our analysis highlights a crucial aspect of combinatorial auction design, namely, the design of menus. We provide simple and sufficient menus in various settings.

Development Of The Roadway Pothole Management Program, Dingxin Cheng

Mineta Transportation Institute

Addressing the issue of potholes is a primary concern for maintaining urban infrastructure. The research team has developed a prototype pothole management program. The program includes a mobile application and two machine learning models. The mobile app enables users to upload images of potholes, report relevant information, and provide driving directions to the pothole location. With the help of this application, the user can seamlessly capture images of the potholes, record pertinent information, and submit the data for necessary action. The mobile application is an essential tool in the Pothole Management Program (PMP), as it enhances the program's efficiency, effectiveness, …

Examining Teachers’ Perceptions Of School Conditions: Analysis Of Spring 2024 Working Environment Survey, Kiel Mcqueen, Jason Entingh, Grand Valley State University

Charter School Research Reports

This report uses teacher survey data across K-12 charter public schools authorized by Grand Valley State University (GVSU) to examine teachers’ perceptions of working conditions in schools.

Key findings include:

• Two-thirds of teachers in GVSU-authorized schools report favorable working conditions, which represents a six percentage point decrease compared to the prior year.
• Eighty-three percent of teachers report feeling satisfied working in their current school, which represents a one percentage point decrease compared to the prior year.
• Teachers indicating a positive school culture and climate are seven times as likely to report feeling satisfied working in a GVSU-authorized school.

Recommendations include: …

Examining The Relationship Between Subject-Specific Instructional Time, Instructional Practices, And Reading Achievement In The Charter Sector - Year One Report, Kiel Mcqueen, Grand Valley State University

Charter School Research Reports

This report uses teacher survey and student assessment data to understand how the allocation of instructional time and use of discipline-specific instructional practices varies across GVSUauthorized elementary schools. Key findings include:

• Two-thirds of instructional time in GVSU-authorized elementary schools is allocated to ELA and Math. • Considerable variation in the allocation of instructional time exists across GVSUauthorized elementary schools.
• Students scored at the 41st percentile on the NWEA MAP reading assessment prior to the study.

An Advanced Light Scattering Imaging Model For Total Internal Reflection Microscopy Considering A Stratified Medium, Christopher L. Wirth

Faculty Scholarship

An advanced light scattering model for Total Internal Reflection Microscopy (TIRM) is presented. The model considers the specific TIRM geometry and deals with the scattering by an axisymmetric particle of arbitrary orientation placed in a stratified medium and the imaging of the scattered field. The scattered field is computed by truncating the scattered and internal field expansions and by using spherical and plane wave expansions for the free-space dyadic Green's function. While the first expansion is valid outside a sphere enclosing the particle, the second one is valid outside the tangent planes bounding the particle from above and below. We …

Mapping Of Pavement Conditions Using Smartphone/Tablet Lidar Case Study: Sensor Performance Comparison, Calvin Beavers, Chad Day, Austin Krietemeyer, Scott M. Peterson, Yushin Ahn, Xiaojun Li

Mineta Transportation Institute

Poor road conditions affect millions of drivers, and assessing the condition of paved surfaces is a critical step towards repairing them. This project explores the feasibility of using the Apple iPad Pro LiDAR sensor as a cost-effective tool for assessing the damage and condition of paved surfaces. Our research aims to provide accurate and precise measurements using readily available consumer devices and compare the results to state-of-the-art equipment. This investigation involved visual inspection, identification, and classification of pavement distresses, followed by a comparison of the iPad and iPhone LiDAR data with a survey-grade terrestrial laser scanner. The project revealed several …

Battery Management System Development For Electric Vehicles And Fast Charging Infrastructure Improvement, Yu Yang, Hen-Geul Yeh, Cesar Ortiz

Mineta Transportation Institute

The electric vehicle (EV) has become increasingly popular due to its being zero-emission. However, a significant challenge faced by EV drivers is the range anxiety associated with battery usage. Addressing this concern, this project develops a more efficient battery management system (BMS) for electric vehicles based on a real-time, state-of-charge (SOC) estimation. The proposed study delivers three modules: (1) a new equivalent circuit model (ECM) for lithium-ion batteries, (2) a new SOC estimator based on the moving horizon method, and (3) an on-board FPGA implementation of the classical Coulomb counting method for SOC estimation. The research team extends the traditional …

Berkeley Pit And Discharge Pilot Project Discharge System Operations Assurance Plan 2024 Update, Revision 1, Wsp Environment & Infrastructure, Inc., Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of The Roadside Transportation-Related Air Quality (Startraq 2022): Data-Driven Exposure Analysis By Transportation Modes, Jaymin Kwon, Yushin Ahn, Steve Chung

Mineta Transportation Institute

Particulate matter (PM) pollution poses significant health risks, influenced by various meteorological factors and seasonal variations. This study investigates the impact of temperature and other meteorological variables on PM10 and PM2.5 levels in Fresno County, known for high air pollution. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and generalized additive models (GAMs) assess the significance of these relationships. Analyzing data from Fresno County, we examine PM10 and PM2.5 levels across "hot" (June to August) and "cool" (September to May) seasons. Findings indicate PM10, both MLR and GAM models identify statistically significant variables, excluding temperature and wind direction in each season. However, during the …

Diversity Management And Organizational Resilience Among Midsized Cccu Institutions In Christian Higher Education, Kristopher M. Sutton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory qualitative cross-case analysis was developed to investigate how diversity management strategies were implemented and whether they coexist with organizational resilience capabilities at three U.S. private, midsized Christian-affiliated institutions of higher education associated with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities. The researcher collected data from a senior-level chief diversity officer at each institution to determine how their diversity strategy was managed and whether a mature diversity program was concurrently present with organizational resilience capabilities. Data were collected using two primary instruments: the Diversity Management Competencies Questionnaire and semistructured interviews focused on organizational resilience. The collected data were supplemented …

Revised Draft Final Quarterly Operations And Maintenance Report Butte Treatment Lagoon System – Fourth Quarter 2022, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Hierarchical Damage Correlations For Old Photo Restoration, Weiwei Cai, Xuemiao Xu, Jiajia Xu, Huaidong Zhang, Haoxin Yang, Kun Zhang, Shengfeng He

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Restoring old photographs can preserve cherished memories. Previous methods handled diverse damages within the same network structure, which proved impractical. In addition, these methods cannot exploit correlations among artifacts, especially in scratches versus patch-misses issues. Hence, a tailored network is particularly crucial. In light of this, we propose a unified framework consisting of two key components: ScratchNet and PatchNet. In detail, ScratchNet employs the parallel Multi-scale Partial Convolution Module to effectively repair scratches, learning from multi-scale local receptive fields. In contrast, the patch-misses necessitate the network to emphasize global information. To this end, we incorporate a transformer-based encoder and decoder …

2024 July, Morehead State University. Office Of Communications & Marketing.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for July of 2024.

A Comparison Of Structure, Bonding And Non-Covalent Interactions Of Aryl Halide And Diarylhalonium Halogen-Bond Donors, Nicole Javaly, Theresa M. Mccormick, David R. Stuart

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Halogen bonding permeates many areas of chemistry. A wide range of halogen-bond donors including neutral, cationic, monovalent, and hypervalent have been developed and studied. In this work we used density functional theory (DFT), natural bond orbital (NBO) theory, and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) to analyze aryl halogen-bond donors that are neutral, cationic, monovalent and hypervalent and in each series we include the halogens Cl, Br, I, and At. Within this diverse set of halogen-bond donors, we have found trends that relate halogen bond length with the van der Waals radii of the halogen and the non-covalent or …

A Spectroscopic Search For Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes In Nearby Active Galaxies, Emily Temple

Theses

It is hypothesized that following a galaxy merger the two central supermassive black holes (SMBH) become a binary system, eventually coalescing due to emission of gravitational waves. This coalescence results in a single black hole, with an accretion disk shining with high luminosity that photoionizes the surrounding gas. Therefore, the newly merged SMBH is visible as an active galactic nucleus (AGN). However, the gravitational waves are emitted anisotropically by the binary as it inspirals, resulting in a recoil kick. This ejects the newly merged SMBH from the AGN’s center of the galaxy. The SMBH oscillates around the galaxy’s center of …

Elementary Teachers' Self-Efficacy And Its Role In Stem Implementation, Caroline Buechel, Michael K. Daugherty, Vinson Carter, Emine Sahin Topalcengiz

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

To equip students with 21st-century skills, teachers must have both deep STEM content knowledge and the confidence to implement and teach appropriate STEM content. Many elementary teachers have inadequate STEM background knowledge, low confidence, and STEM self-efficacy for implementing STEM in the classroom; as a result, teachers' classroom practices are affected. The study examined how elementary teachers perceive their ability to implement STEM in the classroom. The STEM Efficacy Survey was sent to a randomized pool of 100 elementary educators, and 18 of them agreed to participate in the study. This instrument was designed to elicit responses related to the …

Broadening The View: Demonstration-Augmented Prompt Learning For Conversational Recommendation, Quang Huy Dao, Yang Deng, Dung D. Le, Lizi Liao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Conversational Recommender Systems (CRSs) leverage natural language dialogues to provide tailored recommendations. Traditional methods in this field primarily focus on extracting user preferences from isolated dialogues. It often yields responses with a limited perspective, confined to the scope of individual conversations. Recognizing the potential in collective dialogue examples, our research proposes an expanded approach for CRS models, utilizing selective analogues from dialogue histories and responses to enrich both generation and recommendation processes. This introduces significant research challenges, including: (1) How to secure high-quality collections of recommendation dialogue exemplars? (2) How to effectively leverage these exemplars to enhance CRS models?To tackle …

Fedstem-Adl: A Federated Spatial-Temporal Episodic Memory Model For Adl Prediction, Doudou Wu, Shubham Pateria, Budhitama Subagdja, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Learning of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) provides insights into an individual’s habits, lifestyle, and well-being. However, it is crucial to address data privacy concerns in practical situations when learning the ADL routines of individuals. In this paper, we introduce FedSTEM-ADL, a federated spatial-temporal episodic memory model to address this privacy issue. FedSTEM-ADL utilizes a federation of Spatial-Temporal Episodic Memory for ADLs (STEM-ADL) for federated learning, wherein multiple local STEM-ADL models from individual users are combined into a global model while preserving the privacy of the original data. Specifically, each local model is designed to learn the spatio-temporal ADL routines …

On The Correlation Between Pre-Processing Workflow And Dimensional Accuracy Of 3d Printed Parts In High-Precision Material Jetting, Karin Chen, Ahmed Elkaseer, Steffen Scholz, Veit Hagenmeyer

Mechanical Engineering

Material Jetting (MJ) is distinguished in the additive manufacturing field for its ability to create accurate multi-material functional objects with features in the range of few micrometers. Analyzing the impact of each step in MJ from virtual design to 3D printed object on the process response is essential for optimizing the technology’s capabilities. The current state-of-the-art reveals a gap in MJ regarding the fundamental understanding of the correlation between the pre-processing workflow and the geometrical and dimensional accuracy. This study aims to bridge this gap by examining factors such as utilization of different CAD software with diverse working principles, part-based …

Configurable Mirror Descent : Towards A Unification Of Decision Making, Pengdeng Li, Shuxin Li, Chang Yang, Xinrun Wang, Hau Chan, Bo An

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Decision-making problems, categorized as single-agent, e.g., Atari, cooperative multi-agent, e.g., Hanabi, competitive multi-agent, e.g., Hold’em poker, and mixed cooperative and competitive, e.g., football, are ubiquitous in the real world. Although various methods have been proposed to address the specific decision-making categories, these methods typically evolve independently and cannot generalize to other categories. Therefore, a fundamental question for decision-making is: Can we develop a single algorithm to tackle ALL categories of decision-making problems? There are several main challenges to address this question: i) different decision-making categories involve different numbers of agents and different relationships between agents, ii) different categories have different …

Application Of An Improved Harmony Search Algorithm On Electric Vehicle Routing Problems, Vanny Minanda, Yun-Chia Liang, Angela H. L. Chen, Aldy Gunawan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Electric vehicles (EVs) have gained considerable popularity, driven in part by an increased concern for the impact of automobile emissions on climate change. Electric vehicles (EVs) cover more than just conventional cars and trucks. They also include electric motorcycles, such as those produced by Gogoro, which serve as the primary mode of transportation for food and package delivery services in Taiwan. Consequently, the Electric Vehicle Routing Problem (EVRP) has emerged as an important variation of the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP). In addition to the CVRP’s constraints, the EVRP requires vehicles to visit a charging station before the battery level …