Digital Commons Network^™

Muscogiana Vol. 34(2), Fall 2023, Mike Bunn, Rachel Dobson

Muscogiana

Muscogee County, Columbus, Georgia, Genealogy

Assessing Effective Communication Styles And Preferences Between Health Researchers And State Policymakers, Shelby Flores-Thorpe

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

This dissertation examined how health researchers and state policymakers can effectively communicate with each other to support the use of evidence-based public health information in the policymaking process. To achieve this, a systematic review, analysis of TX RPC Project data, and semi-structured interviews were conducted among health researchers and policymakers. The systematic review found that email, in-person meetings, and phone calls were the best way to reach policymaking offices at the federal and state levels. When providing policymaking offices with data, health researchers should provide briefs, summaries, fact sheets, or one-pagers to support legislative offices’ need for information. Shorter reports …

Computationally Efficient Design, Diagnosis, And Test Of Analog Integrated Circuit Analysis, Nisharg Shah

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

With the modern trend in chip functionalities and chip size, considerable advancement
has been made in EDA (Electronic Design Automation). EDA algorithms have become
irreplaceable in the semiconductor industry. We use adjoint sensitivity analysis and transient
simulations to render runtimes affordable and responses accurate.
This dissertation presents various advantages of adjoint sensitivity analysis to improve
the design cycle, provide better testing, and make more efficient the diagnosis of analog
circuits. Our motivation for all our applications has been to greatly reduce the computational
resources required while still providing the required result for design diagnosis and test.

Diagnosed By Dr. Hollywood: The Media’S On-Screen Depictions Of Mental Illness & Scripting The Public’S Perceptions, Grace Salloum

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In this study, the primary goal is to observe how media portrayals of mental illnesses can influence society’s perceptions of mental illness, notably when an individual’s knowledge largely hinges on these portrayals. Stigmas shape the attitudes of others towards individuals with mental illnesses. Stigmas refer to the devaluing of attributes rejected by society, and are characterized by status loss, stereotyping, and discrimination. They are sustained through framing effects and attribution. Framing is often used in the media’s presentation of mental health to sensationalize the experience or to generate alarm toward the afflicted. This study includes an analysis of movies and …

Object Recognition With Deep Neural Networks In Low-End Systems, Lillian Davis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Object recognition is an important area in computer vision. Object recognition has been advanced significantly by deep learning that unifies feature extraction and classification. In general, deep neural networks, such as Convolution Neural Networks (CNNs), are trained in high-performance systems. Aiming to extend the reach of deep learning to personal computing, I propose a study of deep learning-based object recognition in low-end systems, such as laptops. This research includes how differing layer configurations and hyperparameter values used in CNNs can either create or resolve the issue of overfitting and affect final accuracy levels of object recognition systems. The main contribution …

School Superintendents And The Convergent Social And Political Crises Of 2020 And 2021, Robin Benoit

Educational Studies Dissertations

The health, social, political, and economic crises that had national and global impacts in 2020 and 2021 brought renewed attention to systemic inequalities in public education and challenged school superintendents to reconsider how they involve others in addressing those disparities. This narrative study explored how the convergent crises and tense social and political climate of 2020 and 2021 have affected Massachusetts school superintendents personally and professionally. Guiding questions inquired about how superintendents recounted their experiences during this period and their impact on their conception of their role and responsibilities and their identity as a leader. A purposeful sampling technique was …

Fall 2023 Graduation Survey Responses, Systems Intelligence And Data Analytics, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Graduation

Fall 2023 Graduation survey responses master file without identifiers.

Do Space Tech Pack Program Evaluation: Improving Digital Access And Equity, Josie Gatti Schafer, Morgan Vogel, Tara Grell, Dan Hayes, Felipe Blanco

Publications

The Do Space Library received funding from the Emergency Connectivity Fund from the Federal Communications Commission to conduct the Teck Pack Program in Omaha, Nebraska, between June 30, 2022 to June 29, 2023. As part of the Tech Pack Program, 945 Omaha residents received a computing device and free internet access for one year. Along with this infrastructure, they received computer basics training and technology tutoring. This innovative program directly addresses the challenges experienced by those without access. In the city of Omaha, Nebraska, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey for 2021, over 9,000 households …

Objects Supporting/Resisting A Democracy And Resisting An Occupation: Two Sides Of The Same Coin—Kosovo And The Occupied Territories, Rory J. Conces Prof.

International Dialogue

I thought I knew all there was to know about evocative objects, at least as much as I needed to know to talk about ordinary (political) ontology. But I was very wrong, as wrong as I could ever be. I didn’t know much about those objects. And maybe I still don’t, even after spending a chunk of my life in Bosnia and Kosovo and immersed in their ethnic divisions and enclaves. What I concluded from my Balkan experience was that since peace and democracy building were the ultimate goals for the region, the divisiveness of ethnic enclaves and the objects …

Graduate Studies Newsletter (Fall 2023), Csusb - Office Of Graduate Studies

Graduate Studies Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Improving Semantic Document Classification Accuracy By Integrating Human-Crafted Knowledge, Zachary Weinfeld, Lubomir Stanchev

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Document classification is a pivotal task in various domains, warranting the development of robust algorithms. Among these, the Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) algorithm, introduced by Google, has proven to perform well when fine-tuned for the task at hand. Leveraging transformer architecture, BERT demonstrates stellar language understanding capabilities. However, the integration of BERT with a range of techniques has shown potential for further enhancing classification accuracy. This work investigates several techniques that leverage semantic understanding to improve the performance of document classification models trained with BERT. Specifically, we explore three methods. First, we will balance corpuses afflicted by imbalanced …

Deep Semantic Hashing For Aerial Livestock Detection, Shosei Anegawa, Franz Kurfess, Sumona Mukhopadhyay

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The goal of this project is to be able to accurately detect and count livestock in footage captured by a drone in real time. The main problems with this arise from the fact that a drone can only carry limited computing resources, and hashing is conventionally thought of as a great method of doing image classification very quickly and thus even on low-power devices. In this project, we use both a Faster-RCNN, which is a state-of-the art object detection model as a benchmark to develop a hashing model that can perform a similar task much more quickly. These two models …

Machine Learning Prediction Of Hea Properties, Nicholas J. Beaver, Nathaniel Melisso, Travis Murphy

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

High-entropy alloys (HEA) are a very new development in the field of metallurgical materials. They are made up of multiple principle atoms unlike traditional alloys, which contributes to their high configurational entropy. The microstructure and properties of HEAs are are not well predicted with the models developed for more common engineering alloys, and there is not enough data available on HEAs to fully represent the complex behavior of these alloys. To that end, we explore how the use of machine learning models can be used to model the complex, high dimensional behavior in the HEA composition space. Based on our …

Additive Manufacturing And Characterization Of Auxetic Structures, Jayesh P. Moore, Stephanie R. Ruzicka

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

An auxetic structure is an arrangement of unit cells that under a uniaxial load experiences expansion in both the longitudinal and transverse directions, resulting in a negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR). Research in auxetics has led to new insights into how non-linear mechanical reactions can be applied to various engineering fields. This project utilized stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing to manufacture auxetic test specimens to analyze of geometry-driven NPRs. With the distinctive mechanical properties of auxetic structures and vast applications, the future of product development of these geometries seems promising.

Hardware-In-The-Loop Reaction Wheel Testbed With Camera Vision, Abigail Romero, Harvey Perkins, Stephen Kwok-Choon

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Reaction wheels are widely used in aerospace systems as a method of attitude control. This research was focused on the design, development, and testing of a hardware-in-the-loop reaction wheel testbed that can be used for research and teaching applications related to satellite navigation and control. This project successfully utilized commercial off-the-shelf components to develop a reaction wheel capable of controlling the orientation of a freely rotating platform, as well as tracking objects using computer vision.

Additive Manufacturing For Medical Education, Michael Noon

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

A growing body of evidence is suggesting that anatomical knowledge, the keystone of many medical specialties, is suffering among new graduates. While a host of reasons are provided, one common thread that many point to is the decline of cadaver dissections in the classroom. Many virtual audio-visual tools are used to address this gap, yet evidence has shown their ineffectiveness. Given this gap, the high degree of flexibility found in additive manufacturing (AM), and the many uses AM has already found in the medical field, we propose its use to fill this gap, allowing for students to learn with touch …

Drones For Marine Science And Agriculture, David Caldera, Sai Murthy

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Our research project was launched at Cal Poly in 2019 with the goal of assisting researchers at the CSULB Shark Lab in detecting sharks from aerial images. Under the guidance of Dr. Franz J. Kurfess, students trained an object detection algorithm using shark images and were able to achieve high rate of detection. Following this success, the team has constructed multiple drones and expanded their research to include applications in the fields of agriculture and ecology. This summer the goal is to use a iPhone 14 Pro in lieu of a traditional camera system for real-time object recognition. Object detection …

Mechanical Design And Fabrication Of Rotating Test Stand For Supersonic Wind Tunnel, Suren I. Sanai, Sam Groom, Peter Kim, Nandeesh Hiremath

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This research project focuses on the design and manufacturing of a rotating test stand for the Cal Poly Supersonic Wind Tunnel (SSWT). In order to establish essential design parameters, the project employs compressible flow isentropic relationships to calculate the Mach number within the test section and determine static pressures. This comprehensive effort integrates preliminary design and manufacturing processes, utilizing CAD designs and a range of machinery for component fabrication, while also highlighting initial testing of the rotating test stand's ability to withstand predicted aerodynamic loads. As part of the research's future work, rigorous structural stability testing and the implementation of …

Building A Benchmark For Industrial Iot Application, Pranay K. Tiru, Soma Tummala

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

In this project, we have developed a rather robust means of processing and displaying large sums of IoT data using several cutting-edge, industry-standard technologies. Our data pipeline integrates physical sensors that send various environmental data like temperature, humidity, and pressure. Once created, the data is then collected at an MQTT broker, streamed through a Kafka cluster, processed within a Spark Cluster, and stored in a Cassandra database.

In order to test the rigidity of the pipeline, we also created virtual sensors. This allowed us to send an immense amount of data, which wasn’t necessarily feasible with just the physical sensors. …

Validation Of Macro Button Toolbar System For Radiology Report Composition, Brennan L. Chow

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The macro button toolbar system was developed to enhance radiologist report composition and improve group productivity in response to a rise in imaging volume and an impending radiologist workforce shortage. This research aims to validate the proposed benefits of the macro button toolbar system using an analysis of a time study and the radiology group’s historical wRVU productivity data. The study found that radiologists using this system achieved significantly higher productivity compared to national averages, with high toolbar users experiencing a 29% increase in wRVU productivity and a 52.6% reduction in report completion time for X-ray exams. The reduced report …

Review Study On Promoting Diversity And Inclusion In Engineering Education Through Digital Twins, Devon Bountry

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This study investigates the effect of digital twins in engineering education. This research was based on published research papers, conference papers, and case studies. Throughout a large range of studies, it was shown that digital twins can increase learning motivation and retainment through uses such as game-centered learning, personalized learning, and virtual prototyping. Particularly in engineering laboratory classes, digital twins can increase the variety of laboratory options while not increasing the cost due to equipment. This results in less barriers for students as there are more learning tools available at no additional cost or other requirements.

Exploring Cognition And Affect During Human-Cobot Interaction, Angelika T. Canete, Javier Gonzalez-Sanchez, Rafael Guerra Silva

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Collaborative robots (Cobots) have recently gained popularity due to their capability to work collaboratively with human operators. This collaborative relationship has been named under the robotics discipline of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC), in which humans and robots work together to accomplish a common task while also being in the same physical space. An important part of collaboration is the human's decision-making, which is largely affected by their affective and cognitive state. A cobot lacks this fundamental understanding of the human operator. In this research, we utilize a server-client program to communicate the affective states of a human user to a Raspberry …

Ethics And Social Justice For Ai In Data Science, Arya Ramchander, Kylene Nicole Landenberger

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

The advances of AI raise several critical questions about human values and ethics, highlighting the need for researchers and developers to consider the ethical implications and the risks of neglecting them. In the past few years, student researchers have developed an AI model that allows users to test their surveys for possible breaches of subject confidentiality. This allows the users to gauge the ethicality of their proposal. This summer, we have expanded on this research and launched an interactive model for students and researches to assess their current work for ethical and social justice implications. Using Langchain and Figma, we …

Development Of User Interface And Testing Harness, Jacob Amezquita, William Albertini

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

No abstract provided.

Integrating Human Expert Knowledge With Openai And Chatgpt: A Secure And Privacy-Enabled Knowledge Acquisition Approach, Ben Phillips

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Advanced Large Language Models (LLMs) struggle to produce accurate results and preserve user privacy for use cases involving domain-specific knowledge. A privacy-preserving approach for leveraging LLM capabilities on domain-specific knowledge could greatly expand the use cases of LLMs in a variety of disciplines and industries. This project explores a method for acquiring domain-specific knowledge for use with GPT3 while protecting sensitive user information with ML-based text-sanitization.

Training Is Everything: Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, And “Fair Training”, Andrew W. Torrance, Bill Tomlinson

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

In this Essay, we analyze the arguments in favor of, and against, viewing the use of copyrighted works in training sets for AI as fair use. We call this form of fair use “fair training.” We identify both strong and spurious arguments on both sides of this debate. In addition, we attempt to take a broader perspective, weighing the societal costs (e.g., replacement of certain forms of human employment) and benefits (e.g., the possibility of novel AI-based approaches to global issues such as environmental disruption) of allowing AI to make easy use of copyrighted works as training sets to facilitate …

Influence Of Metal-Coordinating Comonomers On The Coordination Structure And Binding In Magnetic Poly(Ionic Liquid)S, Kayla Foley, Lucas Condes, Keisha B. Walters

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A poly(ionic liquid) (PIL), poly(acrylamide-co-diallyl dimethylammonium chloride), was systematically complexed with Co²⁺, Fe³⁺, and Co²⁺/Fe³⁺ (mixed) at different molar equivalencies to form a series of magnetic PILs (MPILs). These novel MPILs were utilized to examine molecular structure and binding between the polymer and metal species using comprehensive spectroscopic studies in both dry and liquid states. FTIR, X-ray photoelectron, UV-vis, and Raman spectroscopies showed evidence of metal coordination of both the iron and cobalt chloride species with the acrylamide comonomer. Using AC susceptibility measurements, the MPILs were found to have magnetic properties …

An Analysis Of Paid Agent Contracts Utilized In The Recruitment Of International Students At University System Of Georgia Institutions, Jeremiah Lee Pitts

Theses and Dissertations

Many colleges and universities view international student recruitment as the solution to their financial pressures, but they lack the ability to effectively reach international markets. While many students desire to study internationally, they lack the knowledge and resources to explore their options. Paid agents bridge the information and opportunity gaps between institutions and prospective international students. However, the use of paid agents is fraught with many dangers. Paid agent contracts govern the relationships between these entities in the absence of regulations. This study explored the paid agent contracts employed by colleges and universities within the University System of Georgia to …

Development Of Pullulan/Chitosan/Salvianolic Acid Ternary Fibrous Membranes And Their Potential For Chemotherapeutic Applications, Salahuddin Ahmed, Megan Keniry, Victoria Padilla, Narcedalia Anaya-Barbosa, Md Noushad Javed, Robert Gilkerson, Kithzia Gomez, Acharan S. Narula, Karen Lozano

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

This study investigates the feasibility of centrifugal spinning for producing fibrous membranes containing pullulan, chitosan, and danshen extract. The danshen extract is composed of 20 wt% salvianolic acid B (SA). Citric acid was added to the mixture as a crosslinking agent to promote its use in the aqueous medium. The influence of the danshen concentration (25 wt% and 33 wt%) on fiber morphology, thermal behavior, and the biochemical effect was analyzed. Developed fiber-based membranes consist of long, continuous, and uniform fibers with a sparse scattering of beads. Fiber diameter analysis shows values ranging from 384 ± 123 nm to 644 …

Schoolyard Sites Curriculum Workbook, Lara Gengarelly, Erik Froburg, Malin Clyde, Haley Andreozzi

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.