Digital Commons Network^™

Robustness Of Image-Based Malware Analysis, Katrina Tran, Fabio Di Troia, Mark Stamp

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In previous work, “gist descriptor” features extracted from images have been used in malware classification problems and have shown promising results. In this research, we determine whether gist descriptors are robust with respect to malware obfuscation techniques, as compared to Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) trained directly on malware images. Using the Python Image Library (PIL), we create images from malware executables and from malware that we obfuscate. We conduct experiments to compare classifying these images with a CNN as opposed to extracting the gist descriptor features from these images to use in classification. For the gist descriptors, we consider a …

Conceptual Cost Estimation Of Highway Earthwork Construction In Iowa Using Spatial Statistical Modeling, Martha Sebsibe Hitsanu

Construction Management and Engineering

Estimating cost at the conceptual phase of highway earthwork construction projects is challenging owing to the limited amount of information present at the initial stages. Methods that have been applied in the past to perform such estimates are regression, mathematical equations, artificial intelligence, and others. The objective of this research is to use two spatial statistical methods – indicator kriging and empirical Bayesian kriging – together with exponential, whittle, and k-Bessel semi-variograms to build an appropriate model to predict highway earthwork construction cost at the conceptual stage. Iowa Department of Transportation provided the data for the study. The cross-validation results …

Pretrial Services: Exploring What Works And Policy Implications, Vanessa Waller

Criminal Justice and Political Science

As the view on mass incarceration around the United States is further explored, there has been a need for alternatives to jail. Specifically, pretrial services programs are an opportunity for recently charged defendants to be released from jail while being supervised in the community. Pretrial services programs find eligible defendants in local jails and collect information regarding the case to determine an appropriate release plan. Once the individual is released from jail, their risk assessment score is utilized to create a supervision plan along with the conditions imposed by the court during the bail hearing. This policy paper discusses previous …

Writing Fires: Writing Instruction, Student Learning Perceptions, And The Importance Of Connection In The Age Of Covid-19, Isaac Sullivan

English

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it devastating and potentially long-lasting impacts to the world. From economic upheavals, political ramifications, and educational disruptions, COVID-19 has changed the face of many aspects of life, perhaps forever. The issue in this study is to ask how COVID-19 may have impacted the literacy development of undergraduate students through the use of emergency remote instruction. To begin investigating the issue, roughly 200 undergraduate students in writing-focused classes (first-year composition and upper-division writing courses) were surveyed to understand how they learned the rhetorical conventions and genre expectations of their discipline. Out of the 200 responses, …

The Contribution Of Positive Affect And Loneliness On Readiness And Self-Efficacy To Quit Smoking Among Spanish-Speaking Mexican American Smokers, Tatiana Londoño, John R. Moore, Zully C. Guerra, Nazanin M. Heydarian, Yessenia Castro

School of Social Work Faculty Publications

Background: The existing research on affective and interpersonal determinants of smoking cessation largely under-represents minority smokers, such as Latinos.

Objective: The current study examined associations between affective and interpersonal factors with intermediary smoking cessation variables among Mexican-American smokers (N = 290; 60% male).

Methods: Measures of positive and negative affect, social support, and loneliness were each examined for associations with measures of motivational readiness to quit smoking, and smoking abstinence self-efficacy. Significant predictors were entered into models simultaneously to examine their unique associations. Covariates included gender, age, and educational attainment.

Results: Negative affect (b = .68, SE b = …

Thermal Biology, Overwintering, And A Degree-Day Model For The Adult Emergence Of The Red Sunflower Seed Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Shawna Pantzke

Entomology

Red sunflower seed weevil, Smicronyx fulvus LeConte, is a univoltine seed-feeding weevil that is a primary pest of cultivated sunflower, Helianthus annuus, in North America, especially within the upper Great Plains region. This pest spends its final larval stage overwintering in the soil before pupating in the summer and emerging as an adult to feed on sunflower pollen and lay eggs in developing achenes. Larval feeding can damage of up to 83% of seeds on a head. Growers typically manage S. fulvus by using insecticides; however, early planting dates have also been demonstrated to reduce weevil damage. It is important …

Implementing Trauma-Informed Care Through A Multi-Agency Learning Collaborative: A Theory-Driven Analysis Of Outcomes And Sustainability, Mira D H Snider M.S.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Learning collaboratives (LCs) are often used in large-scale implementation initiatives to promote evidence-based practice across provider networks. Although the outcomes and stakeholder perspectives of many LCs have been documented, support for the effectiveness of LCs is equivocal, and the means by which LCs achieve long-term improvements in clinical care are not understood. The current study investigated outcomes and sustainability of a multi-agency LC for implementing trauma-informed care in 23 rural Pennsylvania counties. Changes in outcomes (i.e., trauma symptom screening, trauma-informed care training attendance, clinician confidence with using trauma informed-care, utilization of trauma-related diagnostic codes, retention in service, service unit density) …

Monitoring The Systemic Immune System To Understand And Improve The Efficacy Of Immunotherapy For Metastatic Osteosarcoma, Justin Edward Markel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a complex tumor with no effective targeted therapies due to its genomic heterogeneity and pleomorphism. The immune response it creates, particularly against metastatic lesions, is considerable; however, various suppressive mechanisms induced by the tumor prohibit its effectiveness. The presence of infiltrating lymphocytes suggests that therapeutic disinhibition through checkpoint blockade could increase antitumor immunity, though none have been successful in clinical trials. The complexities of the immune response to OS tumors have yet to be unraveled; however, there is evidence to suggest that cell-mediated immunity (CMI, specifically T cells, Natural Killer [NK] cells, and myeloid-lineage cells [MLCs]) plays …

“We Are About Life-Changing Research”: Community Partner Perspectives On Community-Engaged Research Collaborations, Rebecca A. London, Ronald David Glass, Ethan Chang, Sheeva Sabati, Saugher Nojan

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This study examines the ethics and politics of knowledge across 15 distinctive community-engaged research projects. We focus our analysis on interviews with community partners and consider their perceptions of research, academic research partners, motivations for partnering, and the benefits and challenges of community-engaged research. We highlight three themes: Community partners’ (1) motivations to know better and more systematically what they already know, (2) interests in legitimating community-based knowledge (i.e., knowledge produced beyond the academy), and (3) efforts to navigate often inflexible university timelines and budgetary processes. Our findings highlight concerns at various ethical, political, and epistemic intersections and connect to …

State-Level Policy Environments, Discrimination, And Victimization Among Sexual And Gender Minority People, Kristen D. Clark, Mitchell R. Lunn, Eliot M. Lev, Michael A. Trujillo, Micah E. Lubensky, Matthew R. Capriotti, Thomas J. Hoffmann, Juno Obedin-Maliver, Annesa Flentje

Faculty Publications

Legislation has been passed in some states to reduce discrimination and victimization toward sexual and gender minority people (SGM; people who are not solely heterosexual and/or whose gender identity is not equal to what is socially associated with sex assigned at birth). The purpose of these analyses is to test whether state-level policy environments are associated with past-year discrimination and victimization among SGM people. Cross-sectional data from The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study annual questionnaire (collected 2018–2019), a national study of the health of SGM adults in the USA, were used for these analyses. Measures …

Multiantenna Multisource Multirelay Spectrum Sharing Networks: Buffer-Aware Direct Link Activation For Higher Reliability And Lower Overhead, Omid M. Kandelusy, Nicholas J. Kirsch

Faculty Publications

Cooperative relaying can be implemented in spectrum sharing networks to extend the range of reliable communication. In this paper, we incorporate multiple-antenna technology and buffer-aided relaying to guarantee a highly reliable connectivity for the secondary network with several source nodes. The multi-antenna configuration for the sources and destination nodes suggests that there are several potential source-to- destination channels which can be auspicious for the network in two ways. First: to balance up the buffer states. Second: to expand the link selection opportunity at each time step. Motivated by this rationale, we propose a buffer-aware communication protocol to incorporate the direct …

Disparities In Demand For Covid-19 Hospital Care In The United States: Insights From A Longitudinal Hierarchical Study, Wolfgang Messner

Faculty Publications

Background and aims

This study examined disparities in hospitalization for COVID-19 within the U.S. by racial and ethnic groups, health insurance status, and social support structure.

Methods

Using publicly available ecological case and contextual data from July 2020 to April 2021, a longitudinal hierarchical model for the 51 U.S. states was constructed.

Results

Racial/ethnic disparities were observed, such as that hospitalization rates were higher in states with a higher percentage of Black (β = .002, P = .009) and American Indian or Alaska Native persons (β = .003, P = .03). Conversely, lack of health insurance was related …

Darius Andrews Of Sumner, Maine: A Descent From Henry Andrews Of Taunton, Massachusetts, Kathrine C. Aydelott

Faculty Publications

This genealogical article proposes a descent from Henry Andrews, one of the proprietors of Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, through Ebenezer Andrews, Jr. to Darius Andrews of Sumner, Oxford County, Maine. It aims to resolve errors, identify gaps in the records, and re-establish identities lost to poor record keeping, misattribution, and confusion.

Genealogy Behind Bars: An Update, Kathrine C. Aydelott

Faculty Publications

This brief essay is an update to “Genealogy Behind Bars: Professional Development Through Prisoner Requests: A Case Study,” in Genealogy and the Librarian: Perspectives on Research, Instruction, Outreach and Management, Carol Smallwood and Vera Gubnitskaia, eds. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2018, which see for context.

Teaching Secondary Market Research Through Active Learning Workshops, Wendy G. Pothier

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

“Usefulness Without Use," Or, The Power Of The Virtual: Lu Xun On The Vital Efficacy Of Literature, Wenjin Cui

Faculty Publications

This article explores Lu Xun’s distinct view of the vital efficacy of literature, as

captured in his well-known conception of literature’s “usefulness without use.”

Starting with the highly idealistic vision of his youthful years, which posits an

unmediated flow of power from the free play of poetry to the direct action of politics,

I follow Lu Xun on the strenuous and crisis-ridden path he took in coming to terms

with the uselessness of literature vis-à-vis the power of politics, until he finally

reaffirmed the vital power of literature by pitching the self-transcending virtual

impetus of literature against the conservative actual …

Pre-Breeding To Combine Diverse Disease Resistance And Agrotype Genes In Hard Winter Wheat, Sagar Adhikari

Plant Sciences

The NDSU hard winter wheat (HWW) breeding program aims to develop improved varieties that are better equipped to cope with the environmental and disease challenges of the northern prairies. To achieve this, it is necessary to continually acquire and employ useful disease resistance and adaptation genes from other sources of HWW and hard spring wheat (HSW) germplasm. The first study pursued the transfer of the FHB resistance QTL Qfhb.rwg- 5A.1 and Qfhb.rwg-5A.2 (obtained from HSW PI 277012) through continued backcrosses into the HWW cultivar, ND Noreen, utilizing previously derived cross segregates and markers. A second study used modified single seed …

Non-Chemical Weed Management In Annual And Perennial Organic Cropping Systems, Zachary Pull

Plant Sciences

Weedy pests, especially perennial weeds, are among the most challenging barriers to organic crop production. Improving non-chemical weed management tactics for established organic productions systems, like cool-season grains, and emerging crops like perennial flax could benefit producers. We compared three crop sequences for creeping perennial weed suppression in organic grains. Three years of alfalfa was associated with reduced densities and aboveground biomass of perennial weeds compared to sequences that alternated grain and cover crops. Interseeding cover crops with perennial flax for weed management was attempted, but neither flax nor cover established well. Flame weeding and cultivation in perennial flax were …

Kentucky Bluegrass Establishment Under Saline, Waterlogging, And Saline-Waterlogging Conditions, Kevin Rue

Plant Sciences

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) (KBG) is commonly used for golf fairways, however, it is sensitive to salinity and waterlogging. The objectives of this research were to determine (1) KBG growth response to saline, waterlogging, and saline-waterlogging conditions and (2) efficacy of seed priming in stress enhancement. Nine KBG cultivars were subjected to the aforementioned stresses at the seedling stage for four weeks. The combined saline-waterlogging caused more severe damage than individual stress. ‘Sudden Impact’, ‘Award’, ‘Limousine’, and ‘Kenblue’ were relatively tolerant to the stresses based on results from tissue biomass, root length, and specific root length stresses, while ‘Moonlight’ …

Rev-Erb Is Essential In Cardiac Fibroblasts Homeostasis, Xiaokang Luo, Shiyang Song, Lei Qi, Chih-Liang Tien, Hui Li, Weiyi Xu, Theodore Lemuel Mathuram, Thomas Burris, Yuanbiao Zhao, Zheng Sun, Lilei Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

REV-ERB agonists have shown antifibrotic effects in the heart and other organs. The function of REV-ERB in the cardiac fibroblasts remains unstudied. Here, we characterize the functional difference of REV-ERB in mouse embryonic fibroblasts and cardiac fibroblasts using genetic deletion of REV-ERBα and ß in vitro. We show that REV-ERB α/β double deleted cardiac fibroblasts have reduced viability and proliferation, but increased migration and myofibroblasts activation. Thus, REV-ERB α/β has essential cell-autonomous role in cardiac fibroblasts in maintaining them in a healthy, quiescent state. We also show that existing REV-ERB agonist SR9009 strongly suppresses cardiac fibroblasts activation but in …

An Examination Of Land Preparation Methods To Alleviate Common Issues Associated With Pipeline Reclamation, Jarrett Lardy

Soil Science

Post-seeding land preparation methods can improve reclamation success; however, limited research is available for the Williston Basin. A field study evaluated four treatments: land imprinting, hydromulch, straw crimping, and the combination of hydromulch and land imprinting for their abilities to reduce simulated rainfall runoff and sediment losses and for their ability to promote plant growth. Straw crimping reduced total runoff and may likely be the best option for providing surface cover. However, vegetation establishment was found to be not significant among the treatments. Additionally, a laboratory study examined seven soils for their penetration resistances (PR) across variable water contents (Θg) …

Evaluating Ornamental Grasses For The Challenging Rain Garden Environment, Randy Nelson

Soil Science

Four experiments were conducted to determine the growth and survival of seven species of perennial ornamental grasses, tufted hairgrass [Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P. Beauv.], switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), big bluestem (Andropogan gerardii Vitman), Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis Andersson), little bluestem [Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash], blue grama grass [Bouteloua gracilis (Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths], and feather reed grass [Calamagrostis x acutiflora (Schrad.) Rchb.], when subjected to cyclical flood and drought, varying submergence depths and durations, NaCl, and NaCl with petroleum hydrocarbons. Chinese silvergrass and switchgrass survived cyclical soil flooding and drought and submergence for 7-d at a depth of 30 cm …

Soil Biological Functioning And Recovery In Soils Disturbed From Bakken Oil And Gas Activities, Zachary John Bartsch

Soil Science

Oil and gas activity-related soil disturbances can alter soil properties and reduce microbial function, which is crucial for nutrient cycling and proper soil function. The goal of this research was to investigate effects of remediation techniques on soil biological property recovery following various types of oil and gas disturbances. A series of studies evaluating microbial abundance, crop growth, and biological properties were conducted on crude oil-contaminated subsoils remediated either with thermal desorption or land farming. Thermally desorbed subsoil achieved similar yields to non-contaminated topsoil after four years. Additionally, biological properties in blended soil (1:1 topsoil to subsoil) were studied using …

Calcium Acetate: An Alternative To Gypsum For Brine Impacted Soils, Annalie Peterson

Soil Science

With North Dakota being ranked as a leading producer of oil and natural gas in the United States, the possibility of accidental produced water (aka “brine” or “salt water”) spills is a continuous concern. Brine water poses numerous threats to soil properties as it has the potential of causing soil dispersion by increased concentrations of sodium. The goal of this research was to compare the effectiveness of several calcium amendments: calcium acetate, flue gas desulphurization gypsum and pelletized gypsum, on improving the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and removing sodium of three brine impacted soils. Ultimately, increasing rates of calcium acetate …

Optimizing Prediction Power Of Rna-Seq On Intrinsic Characteristics In Breast Cancer, Yuan Liu

Statistics

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and accurate and early detection of breast cancer is vital in characterizing the disease. Transcriptomic expression is embedded abundant tumor and cell state information. However, selecting a good pipeline in applying mRNA expression is critical in downstream characteristics prediction. We designed a study that focused on determining the best combinations of preprocessing processes in predictions. We tested six normalization methods, two gene selection methods, and over ten machine learning algorithms. By using appropriate evaluation metrics, we recommend using FPKM normalization method combined with either gene selection method and employing RF …

Up In Flames: Using Anthropology To Analyze The Increasing Cremation Rates In North Dakota, Natalie Anne Basta

Sociology and Anthropology

Cremation rates within North Dakota, and the greater US, have been rapidly increasing over the recent decades. Funeral directors, coroners, and death investigators alike have noticed the increase; however, nobody has made a positive determination for why the increase was occurring. Using an anthropological lens, I evaluated the state of cremation with North Dakota and with the use of GIS analysis and interviews with local funeral directors, I was able to determine that there is not one specific reason for the rising cremation rates. Instead, there are multiple factors at play, one of which is cost.

Does Social Capital Always Affect Immigrant Employment? Analyzing The Mediating Effect Of United States’ Cultural Context On The Relationship Between Social Capital And Immigrant Employment, Debarati Kole

Sociology and Anthropology

The paper investigates if culture mediates the relation between immigrants’ social capital and the likelihood of employment in a host country. It applies Social Capital Theory to predict potential effects of culture and then, conducts statistical tests on data for two distinct periods in United States history. Results are consistent with prior findings that social capital enhances the likelihood of employment for immigrants. In general, culture did not affect the efficacy of social capital on increasing the likelihood of immigrant employment, though there was an effect of culture on the quantity of bridging capital and immigrants’ trust in members of …

Siege Starvation: A War Crime Of Societal Torture, Tom Dannenbaum

Chicago Journal of International Law

A recent amendment to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court has drawn unprecedented attention to the war crime of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. It comes at a time when mass starvation in war is resurgent, devastating populations in Yemen, Ethiopia, Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, and elsewhere. The practice has also drawn the scrutiny of the United Nations Security Council. And yet, despite this heightened profile and sharpened urgency, what precisely is criminally wrongful about starvation methods remains underspecified.

A common way of thinking about the criminal wrong is as a form of killing or …

The Persistent Objector Doctrine: Identifying Contradictions, Shelly Aviv Yeini

Chicago Journal of International Law

The persistent objector doctrine (POD) in international law provides that a rule of customary international law (CIL) will not oblige a state that has persistently objected to the development of the rule. The doctrine requires that the objection be “persistent” and “consistent” and that it not be contradictory. Yet, while in this context the meaning of persistency and consistency, in this context, has been discussed in the legal literature, the term “contradiction” has not. Therefore, it is not clear what type of behavior would represent a contradiction that would disqualify a state from persistent objector (PO) status. In practice, this …

Searching For Justice For Australia’S Stolen Generations, Keila Mayberry

Chicago Journal of International Law

Until the early 1970s, Australian federal and state government agencies forcibly removed tens of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and placed them up for adoption or in group homes and church missions. These children are known as the “Stolen Generations.” Domestic remedies have proven insufficient in securing justice for the Stolen Generations and international adjudication may be a viable alternative. This Comment examines whether Australia may be haled before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for violations of the Genocide Convention for its Stolen Generations policies. Australia’s policies likely constituted a violation of Article …