Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond Statistical Significance: A Holistic View Of What Makes A Research Finding "Important", Jane E. Miller

Numeracy

Students often believe that statistical significance is the only determinant of whether a quantitative result is “important.” In this paper, I review traditional null hypothesis statistical testing to identify what questions inferential statistics can and cannot answer, including statistical significance, effect size and direction, causality, generalizability, and changeability of the independent variable. I illustrate these issues with examples from an empirical study of the association between how much time teenagers spent playing video games and time spent reading. I describe how study design and context determine each of those aspects of “importance,” and close by summarizing how to provide a …

Establishing The Validity And Reliability Of The Locus Assessments, Tim Jacobbe, Bob Delmas, Brad Hartlaub, Jeff Haberstroh, Catherine Case, Steven Foti, Douglas Whitaker

Numeracy

The development of assessments as part of the funded LOCUS project is described. The assessments measure students’ conceptual understanding of statistics as outlined in the GAISE PreK–12 Framework. Results are reported from a large-scale administration to 3,430 students in grades 6 through 12 in the United States. Items were designed to assess levels of understanding as well as components of the statistical problem solving process as articulated in the GAISE framework. We discuss details of how the model used to develop the LOCUS assessments guided the gathering of evidence for validity and reliability arguments. Three types of validity evidence are …

Exploring The Relationship Between Quantitative Reasoning Skills And News Habits, Bennett Attaway, John Voiklis, Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein, Eric Hochberg, Jim Hammerman, Uduak Grace Thomas, Nicole Lamarca, Laura Santhanam, Patti Parson

Numeracy

Because people are constantly confronted with numbers and mathematical concepts in the news, we have embarked on a project to create journalism that can support news users’ number skills. But doing so requires understanding (1) journalists’ ability to reason with numbers, (2) other adults’ ability to do so, and (3) the attributes and affordances of news. In this paper, we focus on the relationship between adults’ news habits and their quantitative reasoning skills. We collected data from a sample of 1,200 US adults, testing their ability to interpret statistical results and asking them to report their news habits. The assessment …

The Beacon, January 20, 2023, Beacon Staff

The Beacon, 2022-2023

Unsung Heroes: Dr. Bob Hubbard; How MLK changed America forever; SZA makes killer return with newest album; Long-awaited sequel introduces new faces; Visiting professor impacts Music Department; Make some noise for Northwestern percussion; Students experienced extreme weather; Campus celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.; 20 Students experience Urbana Mission Conference; An honored theatre professor; AI won't break the Internet (But It Will Try); The Overrated City of Paris, France; Raiders win NAIA National Championship; Junior Schany Starts Semester off Strong; NWC Raiders Demolish Hastings in Weekend Sweep; Exploring questions about identity; Twelve Japanese students welcomed to campus;

Kathy Scheiern: International Business On East Campus, Goat Eyes, And More, University Libraries

East Campus Oral Histories

WMU Alum Kathy Scheiern meets virtually over Zoom with Cassie Kotrch to discuss some of the memories and stories she has of her time on WMU's East Campus as a student at the College of Business.

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture For Growing West Coast Venus Clams, Avery Wallace

Theses

With demand for sustainable sources of seafood on the rise, California is looking to expand aquaculture with a focus on innovative culturing methods and use of native or resident species. Therefore, this study examined the potential for culturing native North American west coast venus clams (Chione californiensis and Chione undatella) using integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA). An ITMA approach was chosen because it is a culture method that uses species from different but functionally complementary trophic levels that have been found to reduce the potential negative effects of traditional monoculture. California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) and the seaweeds red ogo (Gracilaria …

Hydrocarbon Security Strategy And Carbon Peak And Carbon Neutral Strategy: Relationship And Path, Wenzhi Zhao, Kun Liang, Kun Wang, Shiguo Lin, Zhixin Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

A century of changes combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has sounded the alarm on energy security around the world. How to deeply understand the relationship between energy transition and energy security, and how to explore the path of China's energy security and the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality (abbreviated as "dual carbon") strategy have become a major problem. Based on detailed analyses of China's energy consumption predictions and dual carbon strategy requirements, this study proposes:(1) Energy security is the foundation of energy transition. The oil and gas shortage situation in China may persist for a long time. The "dual carbon" …

Theory And Technology Considerations On High-Quality Development Of Coal Main Energy Security In China, Liang Yuan

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Coal is the ballast of energy security in China. In order to guarantee the high-quality development of energy security, China strongly supports the innovative development of coal industry. This study systematically summarizes the innovative achievements of China in six aspects, i.e., coal resource exploration technology, coal and gas co-mining theory and technology, typical dynamic disaster risk identification and early warning monitoring technology, integrated mining and intelligent mining technology and equipment, coal high-efficiency and clean utilization and coal-based clean energy high-efficiency conversion technology, coal and new energy multi-energy synergy technology. The study deeply analyzes the current challenges faced in above mentioned …

High-Quality Energy Development And Energy Security Under The New Situation For China, Guofa Wang, He Liu, Dandan Wang, Yihui Pang, Lixin Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Energy security is the cornerstone of national security and stable development, and high-quality energy development is the fundamental guarantee for long-term national economic growth. This study analyzes the complicated domestic and international environmental impacts of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the United States energy rule, and the rigid demand for domestic energy consumption growth. It also analyzes the uncertainty of domestic energy transformation and development. Then, the study summarizes the enlightenment of China's energy development. Furthermore, based on China's energy structure and resource endowment, this study establishes an independent, controllable, safe and reliable integrated energy security system based on fossil energy, …

Shale Oil Development And Utilization And Its Role In Energy Industry, Xusheng Guo, Maowen Li, Mengyun Zhao

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Shale oil boom in the United States has catapulted it from an importer of crude oil to a net exporter. Field applications show that both the shift in exploration paradigm from finding traps to targeting resource-rich petroleum source kitchens (i.e., "sweet spots") and the technological innovation represented by horizontal well multi-stage fracturing are among the key factors for the large-scale development of shale oil in the United States. Compared with marine shale oils in North America, China's lacustrine shale oil resources have great potential, but the endowment conditions are not optimal. Early exploration and development experience shows that the adaptive …

Mission Of New Energy Under Carbon Neutrality Goal In China, Caineng Zou, Yanpeng Chen, Bo Xiong, Hanlin Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions, curbing the global temperature rise, and striving to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality are the initiatives and common pursuit of human beings confronting the climate change crisis. Carbon neutrality is a huge systemic project involving multiple disciplines and fields, and it requires a solid theoretical foundation and scientific methods to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, hence the emergence of carbon neutrality science. The theoretical connotation of carbon neutrality includes two "dynamic balances", namely, the dynamic balance between global carbon emission and carbon absorption, and the dynamic balance between human development and the natural environment, …

Role Of Transnational Oil And Gas Exploration And Development In Ensuring National Energy Security, Lirong Dou, Zuoqian Wang, Feng Gao, Xiaobing Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

United States is the founder of modern oil industry, which promoted the development of oil and gas in the world. By means of global layout of American oil companies, United States supercharges the backyard of North America while covets the forecourt of South America. United States realizes energy independence and opens energy hegemony during 70 years after World War II. On basis of reviewing the development history of American oil industry, this study analyzes the role of transnational oil and gas exploration, and development of Chinese national oil companies in ensuring national energy security. On the one hand, the entitlement …

Challenges Of International Turmoil Situation To China’S Energy Resource Security And Coping Strategies, Anjian Wang, Chunhui Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China is at a critical stage of development from late industrialization to modernization, and is still in the basic conditions of energy resources supporting the sustainable development of the national economy. The world today is facing unprecedented turmoil situation since the end of the cold war. The ongoing political and military crisis in Europe has accelerated the transformation of the world's geopolitical map and profoundly affected the global supply, demand and trade pattern of energy resources. Nowadays, the "four circles and two systems" pattern of global oil and gas supply and demand is undergoing major adjustments, and the competition in …

Forecast Of China’S Economic Growth Rate In 2023 And Policy Suggestions, Xikang Chen, Cuihong Yang, Kunfu Zhu, Huijuan Wang, Xinru Li, Jie Yin

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

China's economic growth slowed down in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding measures. There are great uncertainties in China's economic development in 2023. It is expected that China's medium and long-term economic growth rate will show a wavy downward trend. Based on input-output technology, econometrics, prosperity analysis, expert analysis, and scenario analysis, this study proposes a systematic integrated factor prediction approach on annual GDP growth. Through analysis of China's economic growth in 2022 and the current situation worldwide, China's economic growth rate is predicted to be about 6.0% in 2023, reverting to the normal level. The policy …

Problems And Countermeasures For Construction Of China’S Salt Cavern Type Strategic Oil Storage, Xilin Shi, Xinxing Wei, Chunhe Yang, Hongling Ma, Yinping Li

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Oil is an important strategic energy source, and the establishment of sufficient oil storage is a major need to ensure the political, economic and national defense security of the country. China's outer dependence for oil has exceeded 70% for three consecutive years, but the oil storage is extremely low. Underground salt caverns are internationally recognized as excellent places for large-scale oil storage, developed countries in Europe and the United States have built several salt cavern oil storages in the last century. The construction of salt cavern oil storage is expected to become an effective way to solve China's oil crisis. …

Developing Ecological Security Pattern For Coastal Wetlands Based On “Three-Line Integration” Spatial Strategy, Xiaowen Li, Liehui Zhi, Tiantian Ma, Zengli Liu, Baoshan Cui, Dongdong Shao, Yu Cao, Yonglin Mu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Coastal wetlands function as key socioeconomic resources as well as ecological barriers for sustainable development in coastal regions. Although previous research and practices indicate that restoration of degraded wetlands needs combination with intact natural wetlands to achieve best integrated ecosystem services, this kind of integration is still lacking both in research and practice. In the past decades, increased land reclamation coupling with climate change (e.g. sea level rise) have led considerable coastal squeeze effects and intensified degradation and loss in coastal wetlands along Chinese coastline, restoration of damaged coastal wetlands is therefore urgently needed to enhance the overall ecological functions …

Development Opportunities And Technical Challenges Of Industrialization For Hydrogen Production From Bio-Ethanol Reforming, Xue Han, Hong He, Guojun Yue, Hailong Lin, Jinsong Liu, Bin Yu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Bio-ethanol reforming for hydrogen production, using renewable raw materials and adopting mature and efficient chemical processes, is an important source of green hydrogen supply to achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Bio-ethanol is a widely used substitute for fossil fuels. With the continuous progress of cellulosic ethanol technology in recent years, bio-ethanol will gradually break through the constraints of starch-based raw material supply. Based on the industrialization achievements of hydrogen production and bio-ethanol, bio-ethanol reforming can realize a rapid linkage with the existing hydrogen energy industry. However, the existence of a carbon-carbon signal bond in ethanol poses …

2022 Research Fronts: Development Trends And Key Research Questions In 11 Broad Research Areas, Jiaofeng Pan, Haixia Wang, Fuhai Leng, Feng Zhang, Fan Yang, Jianxia Yuan, Ying Xing, Weiwei Fan, Qiuju Zhou, Wenyue Bian, Chaoxing Zhang, Longguang Huang, Haiming Wang, Lin Han, Ruimin Pei

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In 2022, Institutes of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASISD), the National Science Library, CAS, and Clarivate Analytics released their joint report Research Fronts 2022. The report utilized the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database to do co-citation analysis. The 2022 report started from 12 610 research fronts in ESI and identified a total of 165 research fronts, including hot and emerging specialties spanning 11 broad research areas in sciences and social sciences. With the 165 research fronts and the related core papers and citing papers as the basis for analysis, this study summarized 8 development trends in science …

Particle-In-Cell Simulations Of Plasma Sheath Effects On A Whistler Wave Electric Dipole Antenna Operating In The Magnetosphere, Kevin A. Shipman

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A coronal mass ejection or a high-altitude nuclear explosion can produce an artificial radiation belt containing high-energy electrons (~1MeV) in the Earth's magnetosphere. Some electrons become trapped in the Earth's magnetic field and have enough energy to severely damage or destroy nearly all lower-earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Over the years, there has been much interest in using a space-borne dipole antenna to inject very low frequency (VLF) whistler waves (3-30kHz) along the Earth's magnetic field lines. The whistler waves precipitate the electrons from the magnetosphere through a wave-particle interaction called pitch-angle scattering. However, because the magnetosphere is composed of plasma, …

Fast Blue And Cholera Toxin-B Survival Guide For Alpha-Motoneurons Labeling: Less Is Better In Young B6sjl Mice, But More Is Better In Aged C57bl/J Mice, Hasan Farid, Weston B. Gleford, Lori L. Goss, Teresa L. Garrett, Sherif M. Elbasiouny

Neuroscience, Cell Biology & Physiology Faculty Publications

Fast Blue (FB) and Cholera Toxin-B (CTB) are two retrograde tracers extensively used to label alpha-motoneurons (α-MNs). The overall goals of the present study were to (1) assess the effectiveness of different FB and CTB protocols in labeling α-MNs, (2) compare the labeling quality of these tracers at standard concentrations reported in the literature (FB 2% and CTB 0.1%) versus lower concentrations to overcome tracer leakage, and (3) determine an optimal protocol for labeling α-MNs in young B6SJL and aged C57Bl/J mice (when axonal transport is disrupted by aging). Hindlimb muscles of young B6SJL and aged C57Bl/J mice were intramuscularly …

Reconnaissance Of Landslides And Debris Flows Associated With The July 2022 Flooding In Eastern Kentucky, Matt M. Crawford, Zhenming Wang, Seth Carpenter, Jonathan Schmidt, Hudson J. Koch, Jason M. Dortch

Report of Investigations--KGS

Between July 25 and July 30, 2022, a series of convective storms generated approximately 14–16 inches of rainfall across parts of eastern Kentucky, predominately in Clay, Leslie, Perry, Breathitt, Knott, and Letcher Counties. The peak rainfall occurred on the evening of July 27 and the morning of July 28, with the hardest-hit areas experiencing more than 10 inches in a 24-hour period. The historic rainfall led to catastrophic flooding along many rivers and streams, but also triggered widespread landslides and debris flows that damaged roads, homes, property, and other infrastructure. Once initial relief and recovery efforts were established, the Kentucky …

Muon-Electron Scattering At Nnlo, A. Broggio, T. Engel, Andrea Ferroglia, M. K. Mandal, P. Mastrolia, M. Rocco, J. Ronca, A. Signer, W. J. Torres Bobadilla, Y. Ulrich, M. Zoller

Publications and Research

We present the first calculation of the complete set of NNLO QED corrections for muon-electron scattering. This includes leptonic, non-perturbative hadronic, and photonic contributions. All fermionic corrections as well as the photonic subset that only corrects the electron or the muon line are included with full mass dependence. The genuine four-point two-loop topologies are computed as an expansion in the small electron mass, taking into account both, logarithmically enhanced as well as constant mass effects using massification. A fast and stable implementation of the numerically delicate real-virtual contribution is achieved by combining OPENLOOPS with next-to-soft stabilisation. All matrix elements are …

On Limitations Of Uniplex Networks For Modeling Multiplex Contagion, Nicholas W. Landry, Jimi Adams

Faculty Publications

Many network contagion processes are inherently multiplex in nature, yet are often reduced to processes on uniplex networks in analytic practice. We therefore examine how data modeling choices can affect the predictions of contagion processes. We demonstrate that multiplex contagion processes are not simply the union of contagion processes over their constituent uniplex networks. We use multiplex network data from two different contexts- (1) a behavioral network to represent their potential for infectious disease transmission using a "simple"epidemiological model, and (2) users from online social network sites to represent their potential for information spread using a threshold-based "complex"contagion process. Our …

Synthesize Heterogeneous Biological Knowledge Via Representation Learning For Alzheimer’S Disease Drug Repurposing, Kang-Lin Hsieh, German Plascencia-Villa, Ko-Hong Lin, George Perry, Xiaoqian Jiang, Yejin Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Developing drugs for treating Alzheimer's disease has been extremely challenging and costly due to limited knowledge of underlying mechanisms and therapeutic targets. To address the challenge in AD drug development, we developed a multi-task deep learning pipeline that learns biological interactions and AD risk genes, then utilizes multi-level evidence on drug efficacy to identify repurposable drug candidates. Using the embedding derived from the model, we ranked drug candidates based on evidence from post-treatment transcriptomic patterns, efficacy in preclinical models, population-based treatment effects, and clinical trials. We mechanistically validated the top-ranked candidates in neuronal cells, identifying drug combinations with efficacy in …

Chatgpt And The Rise Of Ai, Derek C. Schuurman

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

Derek C. Schuurman considers the rise of AI from a Christian perspective in January 2023 in a blog post for the Christian Scholar's Review asking questions such as "how are people distinct from machines?" and "how can we discern norms for the responsible use of AI?" This blog post was one of the 2024 Word Awards Winners Honouring the Best of Canadian Christian Writing from 2023.

https://thewordguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TWA-2024-Media-Release-Winners-List.pdf

The Rise And Stall Of World Electricity Efficiency:1900–2017, Results And Insights For The Renewables Transition, Ricardo Pinto, Sofia T. Henriques, Paul E. Brockway, Matthew Kuperus Heun, Tania Sousa

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

In the coming renewables-based energy transition, global electricity consumption is expected to double by 2050, entailing widespread end-use electrification, with significant impacts on energy efficiency. We develop a longrun, worldwide societal exergy analysis focused on electricity. Our 1900–2017 electricity world database contains the energy carriers used in electricity production, final end-uses, and efficiencies. We find world primary-tofinal exergy (i.e. conversion) efficiency increased rapidly from 1900 (6%) to 1980 (39%), slowing to 43% in 2017 as power station generation technology matured. Next, despite technological evolution, final-to-useful end-use efficiency was surprisingly constant (~48%), due to “efficiency dilution”, wherein individual end-use efficiency gains …

Fort Hays State University Tiger Weekly, January 20, 2023, University Relations

Tiger Weekly Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Right To Data Encryption, Steven W. Schlesinger, Dr. Shlomit Yanisky-Ravid

San Diego Law Review

Technology drives our society, and we are data-dependent as a people. Though the legal system in the United States lacks neither basic protections nor methods to address data protection-related issues, this Article proposes an essential and more robust alternative.

This Article introduces the prevalence and reliance on data and stored information, noting the growing need for a better balance between enabling users’ ability to access encryption tools and the threats and concerns from a governmental perspective for malicious use of encryption tools for criminal and terror purposes.

The Article first recounts a brief history of encryption, focusing on its growing …

Head In The Bitcloud: A Discussion On The Copyrightability And Ownership Rights In Generative Digital Art And Non-Fungible Tokens, Amanda J. Sharp

San Diego Law Review

This Comment discusses three major copyright questions raised by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) creation and distribution in the digital art world. First, how does employing AI in the creation of generative and derivative digital art and NFTs affect the copyright requirements of authorship? Second, who is the rightful owner of an NFT image pre- and post-purchase? Finally, how does the first sale doctrine apply to NFT image purchases and are those protections enough to resolve future copyright-specific NFT claims? In Part I, an introductory example is laid out to showcase the complex issues generative and derivative digital art and NFT images …

Teaching By Practice: Shaping Secure Coding Mentalities Through Cybersecurity Ctfs, Jazmin Collins, Vitaly Ford

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

The use of the Capture the Flag (CTF)-style competitions has grown popular in a variety of environments as a method to improve or reinforce cybersecurity techniques. However, while these competitions have shown promise in student engagement, enjoyment, and the teaching of essential workforce cybersecurity concepts, many of these CTF challenges have largely focused on cybersecurity as a general topic. Further, most in-school CTF challenges are designed with technical institutes in mind, prepping only experienced or upper-level students in cybersecurity studies for real-world challenges. Our paper aims to focus on the setting of a liberal arts institute, emphasizing secure coding as …