Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 27511 - 27540 of 817980

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Nut Intake, Functional Limitations, And Quality Of Life In Older Adults: Findings From Nhanes 2003–2012, Ilili Feyesa, Elena S. George, David Scott, Gavin Abbott, Jeew Hettiarachchi, Robin M. Daly, Jack Dalla Via, Ekavi N. Georgousopoulou, Sze Yen Tan Aug 2025

Nut Intake, Functional Limitations, And Quality Of Life In Older Adults: Findings From Nhanes 2003–2012, Ilili Feyesa, Elena S. George, David Scott, Gavin Abbott, Jeew Hettiarachchi, Robin M. Daly, Jack Dalla Via, Ekavi N. Georgousopoulou, Sze Yen Tan

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Increased nut consumption has positive effects on physical and cognitive function, but whether these translate into lower functional limitations in older adults is unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between nut intake, functional limitations, the severity of these limitations and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included data from 5807 adults (53.4% female) aged 60 years and older who participated in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2003 and 2012. Nut intake was assessed using two 24-h dietary recalls. Functional limitations were assessed using …


Anticolonialism And Qualitative Methods For Culture-Centered Interventions, Mohan Jyoti Dutta, Ambar Basu, Satveer Kaur-Gill, Debalina Dutta, Mahuya Pal, Iccha Basnyat, Selina Metuamate, Venessa Pokaia, Phoebe Elers, Indranil Mandal, Rabindranath Mandi, Pankaj Baskey, Devalina Mookerjee, Shaunak Sastry, Jaime Robb, Andrew Carter Aug 2025

Anticolonialism And Qualitative Methods For Culture-Centered Interventions, Mohan Jyoti Dutta, Ambar Basu, Satveer Kaur-Gill, Debalina Dutta, Mahuya Pal, Iccha Basnyat, Selina Metuamate, Venessa Pokaia, Phoebe Elers, Indranil Mandal, Rabindranath Mandi, Pankaj Baskey, Devalina Mookerjee, Shaunak Sastry, Jaime Robb, Andrew Carter

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this essay, we a collective of Indigenous, Black, and migrant Global South scholars engaged in experiments with the culture-centered approach (CCA) draw on our lived experiences amidst struggles against land grab, neoliberal extractivism, and capitalist exploitation to outline a framework for qualitative methods as anticolonial politics. We begin by exploring the interplays of colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism that have shaped the origins and uses of qualitative methods toward serving extractive agendas of global capital. This critique serves as the basis for outlining the key principles of the CCA, turning to voice, storytelling, and embodied action as the basis …


Cucurbit Plant Defenses Against Aboveground Or Belowground Insect Herbivores Are Distinct And Shaped By Eco-Evolutionary Factors, Morgan N. Thompson, Emily M. Russavage, Jeremy G. Garces, B. Jack Bradford, Danielle Merrell, Charles P.-C. Suh, Anjel M. Helms Aug 2025

Cucurbit Plant Defenses Against Aboveground Or Belowground Insect Herbivores Are Distinct And Shaped By Eco-Evolutionary Factors, Morgan N. Thompson, Emily M. Russavage, Jeremy G. Garces, B. Jack Bradford, Danielle Merrell, Charles P.-C. Suh, Anjel M. Helms

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Plant defense strategies against insect herbivores are classified broadly as resistance or tolerance. Resistance deters insect growth or feeding, while tolerance mitigates negative effects of herbivory on plant fitness. Plant investment into resistance or tolerance strategies likely falls along a continuum that has been shaped by eco-evolutionary factors, such as plant domestication or coexistence histories with herbivores. Relatively little is known about how general defense strategies differ against aboveground foliar herbivores and belowground root herbivores. In the current study, we investigated defense strategies of plant species in the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae) against aboveground squash bug (Anasa tristis) or …


Characterization Of Search Spaces And Effects On Machine Learning, Leo Ghelarducci Aug 2025

Characterization Of Search Spaces And Effects On Machine Learning, Leo Ghelarducci

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The present status of the field of Machine Learning (ML) focuses on optimization of popular models. Rarely are the effects of the problem characteristics upon the solution algorithm studied. There exists no standard for knowing when to apply ML algorithms to a given problem or how to estimate the effectiveness of results. Focusing on the search space of problems, a rigorous study was conducted to generate an in-depth understanding of the impact of search space characteristics to the performance of a ML algorithm, specifically a Genetic Algorithm (GA). The effects of specific problem characteristics, represented via solution space characteristics, on …


Drift Dynamics Of Early Life-Stage Invasive Carps, Saurav Karki Aug 2025

Drift Dynamics Of Early Life-Stage Invasive Carps, Saurav Karki

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Asian carp species pose significant ecological threats to North American freshwater systems due to their invasive nature and prolific reproduction. Their semi buoyant eggs develop while drifting downstream with the river current. Understanding early life-stage transport is therefore critical for predicting recruitment potential and guiding management efforts. Existing fluvial egg drift models, including those relying on 1-D hydraulics and fully 3-D CFD-based models, are either inadequate for complex braided rivers or too computationally demanding for large-scale application. The Platte River in Nebraska, characterized by wide, shallow, multi-threaded channels, is dominated by two-dimensional flow conditions, making a depth-averaged 2-D modeling approach …


Don't Settle For Less: Incorporating Postcolonial And Settler Colonial Perspectives Into The Sociological Canon, Eli Xavier Ornelas Aug 2025

Don't Settle For Less: Incorporating Postcolonial And Settler Colonial Perspectives Into The Sociological Canon, Eli Xavier Ornelas

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

For decades now, post-/de-/settler-/ and anticolonial scholars have advanced the argument that sociology has largely failed to incorporate critical insights from theories of empire into the sociological canon. In this dissertation, I argue that introduction to sociology textbooks offer an important vantage point from which to assess conventional sociological knowledge as textbooks are often thought to be “reflections of the discipline.” I analyze the social theory and race chapters of 21 of the most often used introduction to sociology textbooks in the United States to investigate two chapters where insights from theories of empire would be present if indeed incorporated: …


Authentication And Message Integrity Verification For Emerging Wireless Networks, Ebuka Philip Oguchi Aug 2025

Authentication And Message Integrity Verification For Emerging Wireless Networks, Ebuka Philip Oguchi

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation presents a comprehensive body of research on authentication and message integrity verification for emerging wireless networks, focusing on secret-free and physical layer security techniques across diverse, challenging, and unconventional environments.

It comprises four first-author contributions that span underground wireless systems, over-the-air (OTA) channels, vehicular communications, and nanoscale molecular networks.

The first contribution, Soil-Assisted Trust Establishment for Underground Wireless Networks (STUN), introduces a physical-layer trust bootstrapping protocol that achieves authentication and message integrity without pre-shared secrets. Leveraging underground-to-air propagation laws and trusted relay nodes, STUN resists active signal injection attacks and demonstrates security comparable to the unbalanced oil and …


Blood-Red And Flaming And True, Kate Gaskin Aug 2025

Blood-Red And Flaming And True, Kate Gaskin

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Blood-Red and Flaming and True contains poems that explore the immense feelings of love and loss tied to the relationship between parent and child. They chronicle my experience raising a neurodivergent child, as well as undergoing infant loss and navigating a U.S. medical system that is renowned for putting women and people capable of giving birth—especially BIPOC—at greater risk than other countries with similar resources. Through poems that inhabit a variety of forms, I sift through grief and joy while attempting to tap into the sublime state that underlies extreme loss and love. Throughout, I investigate how lyric poetry is …


Rhetorics Of Encounter: Toward A Biocentric Theory Of Discourse, Matthew D. Whitaker Aug 2025

Rhetorics Of Encounter: Toward A Biocentric Theory Of Discourse, Matthew D. Whitaker

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Encounters with more-than-human identities are transformative moments that stand to affect dispositional and bodily change in individuals. From close brushes with wild animals in National Parks to everyday interactions with local ecologies, encounters invite us to feel and think differently about the nature of our realities. In Rhetorics of Encounter: Toward a Biocentric Theory of Discourse, I draw from interdisciplinary perspectives to disrupt the idea of rhetoric as a representational medium, arguing that rhetoric occurs not just through textual exchanges of words and symbols, but through embodied moments of contact with other responsive beings. Invoking George Kennedy’s theory …


Development And Evaluation Of Supported Ionic Liquid Membrane And Porphyrin Frameworks For Carbon Capture Separation, Sarang Ismail Aug 2025

Development And Evaluation Of Supported Ionic Liquid Membrane And Porphyrin Frameworks For Carbon Capture Separation, Sarang Ismail

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The global urgency to mitigate anthropogenic CO₂ emissions has intensified the pursuit of energy-efficient separation technologies. Supported Ionic Liquid Membranes (SILMs) have emerged as promising candidates for CO₂ capture due to their tunable solubility-selectivity and low energy requirements. However, challenges such as mechanical instability, limited scalability, and trade-offs in transport performance have impeded their widespread adoption.

This thesis explores a systematic approach to designing and optimizing SILMs for enhanced CO₂ separation by tailoring polymer–ionic liquid interactions, processing conditions, and material architectures. A comprehensive set of studies were conducted using poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with varying molecular weights, different grades of PEBAX®, …


Multivariate Mixture Regression Models With Known Group Membership And Informative Priors, Pahalapathirage Dona Kalani Hasanthika Aug 2025

Multivariate Mixture Regression Models With Known Group Membership And Informative Priors, Pahalapathirage Dona Kalani Hasanthika

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

We introduced couple different novel approaches to incorporate latent variable information to multivariate mixture regression models with both Gaussian and count data. We also evaluated the performance of these models with existing best approaches with simulated data from various sampling structures and also evaluated one of the models performance with rice metabolite data that provided some novel insights as well as validating existing literature about performance and behavior of these metabolites. We validated the method using extensive simulations and a real-world application. In both quantitative covariate designs and complex treatment design simulations, our method consistently outperformed established tools like limma, …


From Classroom To Content Creator: Leadership Practices And Identities Of Female Science Teachers On Tiktok, Rachel M. Benzoni Aug 2025

From Classroom To Content Creator: Leadership Practices And Identities Of Female Science Teachers On Tiktok, Rachel M. Benzoni

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This qualitative multiple case study investigates how four secondary science teachers use TikTok to advocate for science education and how content creation shapes their professional identities as leaders. Using interviews and video content with a framework integrating constructivist leadership, Leader Identity Construction Theory (LICT), and the Social Change Model (SCM), findings show participants enacted leadership outside formal roles through distributed and relational practices leveraging social media's affordances. Five themes emerged from the analysis: (1) Reconceptualizing Teacher Leadership on Social Media, (2) Leadership Through Equity-Driven Practice, (3) Constructing and Leading in Online Professional Learning Communities, (4) Forming and Negotiating Identities in …


Acquired Resistance In Cancer: Towards Targeted Therapeutic Strategies, Alice Soragni, Erik S Knudsen, Thomas N O'Connor, Cristina E Tognon, Jeffrey W Tyner, Beatrice Gini, Donghwa Kim, Trever G Bivona, Xingxing Zang, Agnieszka K Witkiewicz, David W Goodrich, Dadi Jiang, Seth T Gammon, Christopher D Willey, Paul C Boutros, Vlad C Sandulache, Abdullah A Osman, Jeffrey N Myers, Kamiya Mehla, Pankaj K Singh, Keith S Chan, Hongbo Gao, Himangi Marathe Aug 2025

Acquired Resistance In Cancer: Towards Targeted Therapeutic Strategies, Alice Soragni, Erik S Knudsen, Thomas N O'Connor, Cristina E Tognon, Jeffrey W Tyner, Beatrice Gini, Donghwa Kim, Trever G Bivona, Xingxing Zang, Agnieszka K Witkiewicz, David W Goodrich, Dadi Jiang, Seth T Gammon, Christopher D Willey, Paul C Boutros, Vlad C Sandulache, Abdullah A Osman, Jeffrey N Myers, Kamiya Mehla, Pankaj K Singh, Keith S Chan, Hongbo Gao, Himangi Marathe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Development of acquired therapeutic resistance limits the efficacy of cancer treatments and accounts for therapeutic failure in most patients. How resistance arises, varies across cancer types and differs depending on therapeutic modalities is incompletely understood. Novel strategies that address and overcome the various and complex resistance mechanisms necessitate a deep understanding of the underlying dynamics. We are at a crucial time when innovative technologies applied to patient-relevant tumour models have the potential to bridge the gap between fundamental research into mechanisms and timing of acquired resistance and clinical applications that translate these findings into actionable strategies to extend therapy efficacy. …


Molecular Determinants Of Sotorasib Clinical Efficacy In Krasg12c-Mutated Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Ferdinandos Skoulidis, Bob T Li, Adrianus Johannes De Langen, David S Hong, Herve Lena, Juergen Wolf, Grace K Dy, Alessandra Curioni Fontecedro, Pascale Tomasini, Vamsidhar Velcheti, Anthonie J Van Der Wekken, Christophe Dooms, Luis Paz-Ares Rodriguez, Giannis Mountzios, Adrian Sacher, Ernest Nadal, Sebastien Couraud, Sang-We Kim, Kenneth O'Byrne, Danilo Rocco, Ryo Toyozawa, Izabela Chmielewska, Colin R Lindsay, Antreas Hindoyan, Lata Mukundan, Tomasz Wilmanski, Abraham Anderson, Christine Ardito-Abraham, Amrita Pati, Anita Reddy, Bhakti Mehta, Martin Schuler Aug 2025

Molecular Determinants Of Sotorasib Clinical Efficacy In Krasg12c-Mutated Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer, Ferdinandos Skoulidis, Bob T Li, Adrianus Johannes De Langen, David S Hong, Herve Lena, Juergen Wolf, Grace K Dy, Alessandra Curioni Fontecedro, Pascale Tomasini, Vamsidhar Velcheti, Anthonie J Van Der Wekken, Christophe Dooms, Luis Paz-Ares Rodriguez, Giannis Mountzios, Adrian Sacher, Ernest Nadal, Sebastien Couraud, Sang-We Kim, Kenneth O'Byrne, Danilo Rocco, Ryo Toyozawa, Izabela Chmielewska, Colin R Lindsay, Antreas Hindoyan, Lata Mukundan, Tomasz Wilmanski, Abraham Anderson, Christine Ardito-Abraham, Amrita Pati, Anita Reddy, Bhakti Mehta, Martin Schuler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Molecular determinants of KRAS(G12C)inhibitor efficacy in KRASG12C-mutated non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remain poorly characterized. Here we report one of the largest integrated analyses to date of sotorasib clinical efficacy biomarkers from the phase 2 CodeBreaK 100 and phase 3 CodeBreaK 200 studies. We reveal differential sotorasib activity and relative benefit compared to docetaxel across KRASG12C-mutated NSCLC co-mutational subsets and transcriptional subtypes. We also identify low expression of TTF1 and KEAP1 co-mutations/NRF2 activation as major determinants of sotorasib anti-tumor efficacy and adverse prognostic features. Exploratory analyses highlight potential tumor cell-extrinsic contributors to sotorasib anti-tumor activity and suggest …


Hepatic Lipid Metabolism Of High And Low Water-Efficient Broiler Lines Under Heat Stress, Maria Fernandez Cuadrado Aug 2025

Hepatic Lipid Metabolism Of High And Low Water-Efficient Broiler Lines Under Heat Stress, Maria Fernandez Cuadrado

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress (HS) is one of the most critical environmental challenges negatively impacting global poultry production, significantly compromising broiler performance, welfare, and economic viability. Specifically, heat stress profoundly disrupts physiological and metabolic processes, including hepatic lipid metabolism. Two broiler lines were divergently selected for high (HWE) or low (LWE) water efficiency. Heat-stressed HWE birds showed reduced fat content compared to their LWE counterparts, and HS reduced abdominal fat content in both lines. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in underlying molecular mechanisms involved in this divergent fat content between the lines. Day-old chicks were placed in …


Computed Tomography Radiomics-Based Cross-Sectional Detection Of Mandibular Osteoradionecrosis In Head And Neck Cancer Survivors, Serageldin Kamel, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Zaphanlene Kaffey, Sarah Mirbahaeddin, Abdulrahman Abusaif, David T A Fuentes, Kareem Wahid, Cem Dede, Mohamed A Naser, Renjie He, Ahmed W Moawad, Khaled M Elsayes, Melissa M Chen, Adegbenga O Otun, Jillian Rigert, Mark S Chambers, Andrew Hope, Erin Watson, Kristy K Brock, Katherine Hutcheson, Lisanne Van Dijk, Amy C Moreno, Stephen Y Lai, Clifton D Fuller, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Md Anderson Head And Neck Cancer Symptom Working Group Aug 2025

Computed Tomography Radiomics-Based Cross-Sectional Detection Of Mandibular Osteoradionecrosis In Head And Neck Cancer Survivors, Serageldin Kamel, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Zaphanlene Kaffey, Sarah Mirbahaeddin, Abdulrahman Abusaif, David T A Fuentes, Kareem Wahid, Cem Dede, Mohamed A Naser, Renjie He, Ahmed W Moawad, Khaled M Elsayes, Melissa M Chen, Adegbenga O Otun, Jillian Rigert, Mark S Chambers, Andrew Hope, Erin Watson, Kristy K Brock, Katherine Hutcheson, Lisanne Van Dijk, Amy C Moreno, Stephen Y Lai, Clifton D Fuller, Abdallah S R Mohamed, Md Anderson Head And Neck Cancer Symptom Working Group

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: This study aims to identify radiomic features from contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) scans that differentiate osteoradionecrosis (ORN) from normal mandibular bone in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with radiotherapy (RT).

Materials and methods: CECT images from 150 patients with confirmed ORN diagnosis (2008-2018) at MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) were analyzed (80 % train, 20 % test). Radiomic features were extracted using PyRadiomics from manually segmented ORN regions and automated contralateral healthy mandible regions. Correlation analysis (r > 0.95) reduced features for model training. A random Forest (RF) classifier with Recursive Feature Elimination identified discriminative features. Explainability was assessed …


Mitophagy’S Impacts On Cancer And Neurodegenerative Diseases: Implications For Future Therapies, Jason Huang, Vincent Truong Pham, Shaozi Fu, Gang Huang, Ya-Guang Liu, Lei Zheng Aug 2025

Mitophagy’S Impacts On Cancer And Neurodegenerative Diseases: Implications For Future Therapies, Jason Huang, Vincent Truong Pham, Shaozi Fu, Gang Huang, Ya-Guang Liu, Lei Zheng

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Substantial evidence supports an inverse relationship between cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs), but few studies investigate the biological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. While previous explanations-such as inflammation, reactive oxygen species (ROS), genetic mutations, and cell death-remain significant, they ultimately converge on mitophagy. This review identifies mitophagy as a pivotal factor in the development of both cancer and NDDs, while also evaluating specific mechanisms and processes to clarify how mitophagy connects these opposing disease trajectories. By examining these factors, we aim to uncover the underlying mechanisms that explain the inverse relationship between cancer and NDDs, which will help develop therapeutic strategies …


A Review: The Beauty Of Serendipity Between Integrated Circuit Security And Artificial Intelligence, Chen Dong, Decheng Qiu, Bolun Li, Yang Yang, Chenxi Lyu, Dong Cheng, Hao Zhang, Zhenyi. Chen Aug 2025

A Review: The Beauty Of Serendipity Between Integrated Circuit Security And Artificial Intelligence, Chen Dong, Decheng Qiu, Bolun Li, Yang Yang, Chenxi Lyu, Dong Cheng, Hao Zhang, Zhenyi. Chen

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Integrated circuits are the core of a cyber-physical system, where tens of billions of components are integrated into a tiny silicon chip to conduct complex functions. To maximize utilities, the design and manufacturing life cycle of integrated circuits rely on numerous untrustworthy third parties, forming a global supply chain model. At the same time, this model produces unpredictable and catastrophic issues, threatening the security of individuals and countries. As for guaranteeing the security of ultra-highly integrated chips, detecting slight abnormalities caused by malicious behavior in the current and voltage is challenging, as is achieving computability within a reasonable time and …


Use Of A Preliminary Artificial Intelligence-Based Laryngeal Cancer Screening Framework For Low-Resource Settings: Development And Validation Study, Shao Wei Sean Lam, Min Hun Lee, Michael Dorosan, Samuel Altonji, Hiang Khoon Tan, Walter T. Lee Aug 2025

Use Of A Preliminary Artificial Intelligence-Based Laryngeal Cancer Screening Framework For Low-Resource Settings: Development And Validation Study, Shao Wei Sean Lam, Min Hun Lee, Michael Dorosan, Samuel Altonji, Hiang Khoon Tan, Walter T. Lee

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Background: Early-stage diagnosis of laryngeal cancer significantly improves patient survival and quality of life. However, the scarcity of specialists in low-resource settings hinders the timely review of flexible nasopharyngoscopy (FNS) videos, which are essential for accurate triage of at-risk patients.Objective: We introduce a preliminary AI-based screening framework to address this challenge for the triaging of at-risk patients in low-resource settings. This formative research addresses multiple challenges common in high-dimensional FNS videos: (1) selecting clear, informative images; (2) deriving regions within frames that show an anatomical landmark of interest; and (3) classifying patients into referral grades based on the FNS video …


Investigating Rattlesnake Social Networks And Improving Their Public Image Through Unobtrusive Technologies And Community Science, Owen M. Bachhuber Aug 2025

Investigating Rattlesnake Social Networks And Improving Their Public Image Through Unobtrusive Technologies And Community Science, Owen M. Bachhuber

Master's Theses

While technology is often blamed for humans’ increasing disconnect with nature, it can also serve as a tool to facilitate empathy and conservation action for wildlife. Snakes are among the most feared animals on the planet, though their understudied social interactions provide opportunities to make scientific discoveries and change public perceptions. Project RattleCam was founded as a camera trap project in 2021 and launched the first off-grid livestream on a den of wild Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridis) in 2024. Both camera types captured hundreds of Prairie Rattlesnakes gathering in the summer as they prepared to give birth to pups before …


Debate, Reflect, And Distill: Multi-Agent Feedback With Tree-Structured Preference Optimization For Efficient Language Model Enhancement, Xiaofeng Zhou, Heyan Huang, Lizi Liao Aug 2025

Debate, Reflect, And Distill: Multi-Agent Feedback With Tree-Structured Preference Optimization For Efficient Language Model Enhancement, Xiaofeng Zhou, Heyan Huang, Lizi Liao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Large Language Models (LLMs) continue to set new standards in knowledge-intensive and complex reasoning tasks, yet their high computational demands limit widespread adoption. While distilling large models into smaller ones offers a sustainable solution, current techniques—such as static knowledge distillation, resource-intensive reinforcement learning from human feedback, or limited self-reflection—struggle to yield substantial and lasting performance gains. In this paper, we present a novel Debate and Reflect (D&R) framework that orchestrates multi-turn debates between smaller models and stronger teacher models, eliciting actionable feedback (e.g., error analysis, corrective strategies) to guide student models. Further, we introduce Tree-structured Direct Preference Optimization (T-DPO) to …


Advancing Molecular Graph-Text Pre-Training Via Fine-Grained Alignment, Yibo Li, Yuan Fang, Mengmei Zhang, Chuan Shi Aug 2025

Advancing Molecular Graph-Text Pre-Training Via Fine-Grained Alignment, Yibo Li, Yuan Fang, Mengmei Zhang, Chuan Shi

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Understanding molecular structure and related knowledge is crucialfor scientific research. Recent studies integrate molecular graphswith their textual descriptions to enhance molecular representationlearning. However, they focus on the whole molecular graph andneglect frequently occurring subgraphs, known as motifs, whichare essential for determining molecular properties. Without suchfine-grained knowledge, these models struggle to generalize to un-seen molecules and tasks that require motif-level insights. To bridgethis gap, we propose FineMolTex, a novel Fine-grained Moleculargraph-Text pre-training framework to jointly learn coarse-grainedmolecule-level knowledge and fine-grained motif-level knowledge.Specifically, FineMolTex consists of two pre-training tasks: a con-trastive alignment task for coarse-grained matching and a maskedmulti-modal modeling task for …


The Acute Effects Of Tetrahydrocannabivarin (Thcv) On Appetite, Caroline M. Sokol Aug 2025

The Acute Effects Of Tetrahydrocannabivarin (Thcv) On Appetite, Caroline M. Sokol

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The purpose of the current study was to assess the acute effects of tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) on appetite. Participants (N = 28) experienced 12.5 mg THCV, 25mg THCV, and placebo in counterbalanced order across three, 3-hr experimental sessions. Following baseline procedures, participants consumed THCV or placebo and completed self-report measures every 30 minutes. A series of repeated measures factorial ANOVAs were conducted to examine potential differences in study outcomes across THCV dosing conditions as well as within session (i.e., baseline, every 30 minutes after dosing (5), end of session) with respect to self-reported hunger, mood, and perceived drug effects (e.g., …


I See Sick People: Beliefs About Sensory Detection Of Infectious Disease Are Largely Consistent Across Cultures, Joshua M. Ackerman, Theodore Samore, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Norman P. Li, Et Al Aug 2025

I See Sick People: Beliefs About Sensory Detection Of Infectious Disease Are Largely Consistent Across Cultures, Joshua M. Ackerman, Theodore Samore, Daniel M. T. Fessler, Norman P. Li, Et Al

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Identifying cues to contagious disease is critical for effectively tracking and defending against interpersonal infection threats. People hold lay beliefs about the types of sensory information most relevant for identifying whether others are sick with transmissible illnesses. Are these beliefs universal, or do they vary along cultural and ecological dimensions? Participants in 58 countries (N = 19,217) judged how effective, and how likely they were to use, cues involving each of the five major sensory modalities in an imagined social interaction during a flu outbreak. Belief patterns were strongly consistent across countries (sight > audition > touch > smell > taste), suggesting a largely …


Experiences Of Discrimination During Pregnancy Predict Altered Neonatal Hair Cortisol At Birth, Kimberly D'Anna-Hernandez, Lillybelle K. Deer, Özlü Aran, Kenia M. Rivera, Melissa Nevarez-Brewster, Jenalee R. Doom, Benjamin L. Hankin, M. Camille Hoffman, Elysia Poggi Davis Aug 2025

Experiences Of Discrimination During Pregnancy Predict Altered Neonatal Hair Cortisol At Birth, Kimberly D'Anna-Hernandez, Lillybelle K. Deer, Özlü Aran, Kenia M. Rivera, Melissa Nevarez-Brewster, Jenalee R. Doom, Benjamin L. Hankin, M. Camille Hoffman, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

Prenatal glucocorticoids (e.g., cortisol) are a widely proposed prenatal programming mechanism, yet few studies directly measure fetal cortisol. Neonatal hair provides a non-invasive method to assess fetal cortisol. The current studies test the association between maternal exposure to discrimination and fetal cortisol, as measured in neonatal hair, in two cohorts.

Methods

Study 1: Pregnant individuals (N = 65) and their neonates (61.8 % female) participated in study 1 between 2017 and 2021. Participants self-identified as Asian (6.2 %), Black (21.5 %), Latinx (35.4 %), Multiracial or Multiethnic (35.4 %), and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander (1.5 %). Experiences …


Diversity Training In Clinical Child And Pediatric Psychology Programs: Results From A Survey Of Training Directors., Mary Louise Cashel, Shalonda Brooks, Trista Perez Crawford, Omar G. Gudiño, Sharnita Harris, Astrida S. Kaugars, Noriel Lim, Jerlym Porter Aug 2025

Diversity Training In Clinical Child And Pediatric Psychology Programs: Results From A Survey Of Training Directors., Mary Louise Cashel, Shalonda Brooks, Trista Perez Crawford, Omar G. Gudiño, Sharnita Harris, Astrida S. Kaugars, Noriel Lim, Jerlym Porter

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

This survey study presents satisfaction ratings completed by training directors of graduate, predoctoral internship, and postdoctoral programs in clinical child and pediatric psychology with respect to their culture and diversity training. The approaches to training and areas of diversity focus are also reported. All respondents (n = 42, 71% response rate) were from member programs of the Clinical Child and Pediatric Psychology Training Council, in geographical locations ranging from small towns to large cities across the United States. Over 90% of directors of graduate programs indicated that completing a course on multicultural psychology was a requirement for the program. …


Axicons For Improved Resolution And Depth Of Focus In Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscopy, Ruth E. Woehlke, Robert F. Cooper Aug 2025

Axicons For Improved Resolution And Depth Of Focus In Adaptive Optics Scanning Light Ophthalmoscopy, Ruth E. Woehlke, Robert F. Cooper

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscopes are instrumental for studying the eye, yet they use truncated Gaussian illumination and are limited by diffraction, restricting resolution and depth of focus (DOF). Non-diffractive Bessel beams have emerged as an alternative. Here, we use two axicons configured as: (1) an extended DOF beam for resolving multiple retinal layers; and (2) an annular beam for increasing lateral resolution. We compare both approaches to truncated Gaussian illumination using a variety of metrics. Using Configuration 1, we successfully observed multiple retinal layers simultaneously. Using Configuration 2, we observed enhanced lateral resolution but decreased signal-to-noise ratio.


Anisotropic Object-Based Shifts Of Attention Arise From Unequal Influences Of Visual Field Meridians On Neural Attention Gradients, David H. Hughes, Adam J. Barnas, Adam S. Greenberg Aug 2025

Anisotropic Object-Based Shifts Of Attention Arise From Unequal Influences Of Visual Field Meridians On Neural Attention Gradients, David H. Hughes, Adam J. Barnas, Adam S. Greenberg

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Object-based attention prioritizes the processing of information appearing within a selected object. We previously showed an object-based shift direction anisotropy (SDA) whereby horizontal shifts are more efficient than vertical shifts (Barnas AJ, Greenberg AS. Atten Percept Psychophys 78: 1985–1997, 2016; Barnas AJ, Greenberg AS. Vis Cogn 27: 768–791, 2019), an effect modulated by the visual field meridians (Barnas AJ, Greenberg AS. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 77: 2516–2532, 2024). Our present aim was to understand how the functional brain mechanisms of attention give rise to the SDA. We hypothesized that the SDA arises from attentional resources being partitioned differently by …


Computational Modeling For Automatic Superconducting Cavity Fault Prediction And Classification Using Time Series Signals, Md Monibor Rahman Aug 2025

Computational Modeling For Automatic Superconducting Cavity Fault Prediction And Classification Using Time Series Signals, Md Monibor Rahman

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Processing multivariate time series signals collected from sensor networks is challenging because of complex temporal dependencies and non-stationarity. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) like machine learning and deep learning, it has become possible to process sensor-driven time series data more effectively than traditional statistical methods.

This dissertation aims to develop machine learning and deep learning models to address machine fault diagnosis using multivariate time series signals collected from the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab. The first goal of the proposed work is to develop deep learning–based classification models and an unsupervised fault clustering approach …


“We Are Trans, But We’Re Not Transitional”: Exploring Safety, Place, And Space In The Lives Of Transgender Individuals In Southeastern Virginia, Susana Avalos Aug 2025

“We Are Trans, But We’Re Not Transitional”: Exploring Safety, Place, And Space In The Lives Of Transgender Individuals In Southeastern Virginia, Susana Avalos

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

In general, little research exists on trans people’s spatial experiences despite space being highly relevant to their experiences of violence and perceptions of safety. To date, two criminological studies have examined LGBTQ people’s fear of crime in relation to public or private places and spaces. This is in stark contrast to the sizable place and space literature on cisgender men and women. These topics from the perspectives of trans people are underexplored primarily because most criminological research has historically upheld binarized understandings of gender. Safety should not be privileged or limited to certain groups, individuals, or spaces. Instead, safety should …