Digital Commons Network^™

Concrete Maturity Method Applied To Rapid-Setting Calcium-Sulfoaluminate (Csa) Concretes For Pavement Repair Under Different Ambient Temperatures, Ryan Nicholas Langford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With more and more people using roadways the need for fast and efficient repair work is becoming increasingly important. Lane closures impede traffic flow and result in congestion. To further limit the amount of time lane closures are needed for repair work, calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement concrete has become an increasing popular construction material for its ability to reach adequate strength requirements within four hours. Because of this accelerated repair time, advanced testing methods are needed to verify that the replaced concrete does indeed meet or exceed the minimum compressive strength requirements.

The maturity method is one test used to …

Development And Application Of A Decision Framework To Support Improved River Basin Water Management, Leah Meeks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water management decisions made at local levels may have effects throughout an entire river basin. Water managers need better ways to help identify which decisions have broader implications and to quantify those effects to inform decision making. This dissertation presents a framework providing a basin-wide approach to water management using three studies. The first study developed a software tool to quantify how local changes within a water resources network affect the entire network. A case study was conducted on the Lower Bear River in Utah. The second study quantified the basin-wide effects of reducing return flows from irrigation areas to …

Understanding The Marginal Utilities Of Commute Time, Work Time, Travel Cost, And Income Using Stated Preferences Surveys, Niranjan Poudel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In transportation economics, measuring the willingness to pay (WTP) for a reduction in travel time–the monetary value of travel time savings (VTTS) –plays an important role in understanding the social benefits of various transportation projects. These monetary appraisals (WTP, VTTS) are better understood either through expensive daily activity-travel-expenditure diaries or using discrete choice experiments (DCEs). This study made use of data collected from two different stated preference surveys – a type of DCEs - (one from Portland, Oregon, US, and one from all over the US) to understand the marginal utilities of work, commute, income, and travel cost. The marginal …

Clothing Construction Curriculum: Exploring Gender Inclusivity, Shaelin M. Nilsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Female students have traditionally dominated enrollment in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) courses (formerly Home Economics). However, gender diversity has recently increased in many FCS areas due to changes in gender stereotypes and career opportunities. This trend is evident at Utah State University, where gender diversity in clothing construction (i.e., sewing) courses has increased drastically since the creation of the Outdoor Product Design and Development degree program. This study evaluated students’ experiences in traditionally female-dominant clothing construction courses.

Gender-inclusive courses are crucial for a productive and safe learning environment for all students. Avoiding personal biases and cultivating a relevant curriculum …

Understanding The Impact Of Covid-19 On Agriculture And Food Supply Chains: System Dynamics Modeling For The Resilience Of Smallholder Farmers, Busra Atamer Balkan, Andreas Nicolaidis Lindqvist, Kelechi Odoemena, Robert Lamb, Monique Ann Tiongco, Stueti Gupta, Arpitha Peteru, Hector Manuel Menendez Iii

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

COVID-19 has caused severe agriculture and food supply chain disruptions; significantly affecting smallholder farmers who supply most of the world’s food; specifically their changes in vulnerability; resilience; and food loss and waste. Therefore; the objective of this study was to understand the complex causal and feedback relationships for this system by developing a dynamic hypothesis and causal loop diagrams utilizing the System Dynamics methodology. Results provide a roadmap for dialogue and a framework for case-specific model development and help to guide policy decisions for smallholder farmers’ survival during health crises.

An Examination Of Graphic Design Skills Gaps: Academia Vs. Real World Needs, Jeffrey Scott Hughes

Masters Theses

Identifying and solving for the gap between university curriculum and the expectations of workplace hiring managers leaves graduates at a disadvantage when seeking employment in their field. What are those demands? What are the skills gaps? How can we solve to properly prepare graduates so that they are well-prepared for the demands of the industry?

Shape-Based Time Series Mining For Process Monitoring And Anomaly Detection, Li Zhang

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Due to the rapid development of computing and sensing technology, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring plays a crucial role for people suffering from cardiac problems. It is important to detect the abnormal ECG cycles during the cardiac monitoring for the early treatment. However, most existing methods focused on the full reading of time series, for the cycle-based time series, it is wasting time to read the whole time series while we can find the characteristic patterns instead. Characteristic patterns named shapelets are time series subsequences, which are explainable and discriminative features that can best classify time series. Shapelet-based classification that …

Understanding Curb Management And Targeted Incentive Policies To Increase Transportation Network Company Pooling And Public Transit Linkages, Susan Shaheen, Wesley Darling, Jacquelyn Broader, Adam Cohen

Research Reports

Transportation network company (TNCs) rides that are shared amongst users (i.e., pooled) can offer a variety of benefits including increased mobility and reduced transportation emissions. However, very few TNC users select pooled trips and not all pooled rides are matched with other riders. This report supports increased pooling by exploring different pooling strategies and incentives. TNC users were actively engaged to offer insights through the photovoice methodology (a participatory research method that allows community members to use photography to communicate their personal experiences and perceptions). The researchers gathered further information through interviews with four photovoice experts and 10 pooling stakeholders, …

Cutr Connections [August 2021], Cutr

CUTR Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Host Genetic Control Of Gut Microbiome Composition., Jason A. Bubier, Elissa J Chesler, George M. Weinstock

Faculty Research 2021

The gut microbiome plays a significant role in health and disease, and there is mounting evidence indicating that the microbial composition is regulated in part by host genetics. Heritability estimates for microbial abundance in mice and humans range from (0.05-0.45), indicating that 5-45% of inter-individual variation can be explained by genetics. Through twin studies, genetic association studies, systems genetics, and genome-wide association studies (GWAS), hundreds of specific host genetic loci have been shown to associate with the abundance of discrete gut microbes. Using genetically engineered knock-out mice, at least 30 specific genes have now been validated as having specific effects …

Do Academic Characteristics Predict Chinese Private University Students’ Success In English Language Testing?, Feijun Yu

Education (PhD) Dissertations

Conventional language learning theory, which holds that learning outcomes are solely associated with learners’ competencies, has begun to be disputed in the dynamic learning environment. This study used English learners’ academic characteristics from the 2014 cohort in a private university in Shanghai, China, to explore the relationship between language learners’ academic characteristics and their learning outcomes in a national standardized English examination. Via the collection of extant data, 3,580 cases were included for logistic and multiple regression analysis. Results showed factors associated with English learning are the NCEE English score, the number of tests taken by students, provincial origin, gender, …

Transitioning From Vue 2 To Vue 3, Adele Kanley

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Frontend development is a field that is constantly changing because of the vast amounts of tools that are made available each year. One of the most popular frameworks being utilized to create fluid user experience is the Vue framework. Branching from the well-known Angular.js, Vue.js is an independent open-source project that is making its mark in the user interface community.

Regardless of the popularity of a framework, updates are inevitable to keep up with the innovations required by the IT Field. To ensure that UNO IS&T students are being offered opportunities to learn and develop in the most update to …

Exploring Behaviors Of Software Developers And Their Code Through Computational And Statistical Methods, Elia Eiroa Lledo

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) increasingly penetrates all aspects of society, many obstacles emerge. This thesis identifies and discusses the issues facing Computer Vision and significant deficiencies in the Software Development Life-cycle that need to be resolved to facilitate the evolution toward true artificial intelligence. We explicitly review the concepts behind Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models, the benchmark for computer vision. Chapter 2 highlights the mechanisms that have popularized CNNs while also specifying significant gaps that could garner the model inadequate for future use in safety-critical systems. We put forward two main limitations. Namely, CNNs do not use lack of information …

Rapid Isolation And Quantification Of Exosome And Lentivirus By Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography On A Polyester Capillary-Channeled Polymer Fiber Stationary Phase, Sisi Huang

All Dissertations

Exosomes are vesicles secreted by cells having a size range from 30-150 nm and carrying genetic materials that are important for intercellular functions. Besides, mounting evidence suggests that tumor cells secrete more exosomes than normal cells making it important to quantify exosomes as well. Thus, it is important to be able to efficiently isolate and quantify exosomes for potential use in clinical diagnostics, as well as to develop a deeper understanding of their role in intercellular processes. Apart from exosomes, Lentivirus is another bioparticle that has drawn great attention from researchers. Lentivirus is a genus of retroviruses with a size …

Language As A Factor In Aviation Accidents And Serious Incidents: A Handbook For Accident Investigators Ed. 2, Elizabeth Mathews, Anthony T. Brickhouse, Joan Carson Ph.D., Enrique Valdes

Handbooks

The purpose of this handbook is to support accident investigators in the identification and consideration of possible language factors in aviation accidents and serious incidents. This handbook provides guidance, background information, and tools that will assist accident investigators in conducting a systematic review of possible language factors.

Biodiversity Of Marine Microbes Is Safeguarded By Phenotypic Heterogeneity In Ecological Traits, Susanne Menden-Deuer, Julie Rowlett, Medet Nursultanov, Sinead Collins, Tatiana Rynearson

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Why, contrary to theoretical predictions, do marine microbe communities harbor tremendous phenotypic heterogeneity? How can so many marine microbe species competing in the same niche coexist? We discovered a unifying explanation for both phenomena by investigating a non-cooperative game that interpolates between individual-level competitions and species-level outcomes. We identified all equilibrium strategies of the game. These strategies represent the probability distribution of competitive abilities (e.g. traits) and are characterized by maximal phenotypic heterogeneity. They are also neutral towards each other in the sense that an unlimited number of species can co-exist while competing according to the equilibrium strategies. Whereas prior …

Usa Libraries Newsletter, July/August 2021, Usa Libraries

USA Libraries Newsletter

USA Libraries Newsletter for July/August 2021

Designing Reactive Oxygen Species Producing Materials For Cancer And Wastewater Treatments, Nil Kanatha Pandey

Physics Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation is focused on using nanotechnology to improve conventional photodynamic therapy (PDT) and advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) for cancer and wastewater treatments, respectively. Even though PDT has a great potential for cancer treatment, the insufficient penetration depth of the external light source and hypoxic nature of the tumor microenvironment severely hinder PDT’s applications in clinical settings. Fortunately, microwaves (MWs) offer a potential opportunity to overcome these limitations. In the first part of the dissertation, a facile synthesis method of copper-cysteamine (Cu-Cy) nanoparticles is discussed, and their reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cancer cell killing performances upon MW exposure …

Integrating Game Mechanics With Basic Programming Concepts To Teach K-12 Students, Olivia Nche

All Dissertations

This research seeks to introduce concepts for programming, a key element of computing, to K-12students. A central goal is to better understand the bene ts of concept-integrated game mechanics in teaching basic programming concepts. The context of this research is also one of broadening participation. Thus the studies have been conducted in conjunction with two related projects| Boeing Summer coding camps and the NSF Culturally Responsive Computer Science (CR oCS) Project{both of which targeted underrepresented populations in computing with focus on programming. The basic programming concepts considered in this research involve integer and Boolean variables and include assignments, sequencing of …

The Performance Of Elementary Preservice Student Teachers Based On Interdisciplinary Curriculum Design, Ying-Feng Wang

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The study was aimed at exploring the performance exhibited by preservice student teachers in interdisciplinary curriculum design for elementary science in Taiwan. The subjects are eighty elementary preservice teachers from the National Metropolitan University. They designed integrated science curriculum and instruction by incorporating what they learned from the Elementary Science Methods course. The lesson plans, mind maps, artwork and feedback performed by the preservice student teachers were collected for data analyses. The findings indicated that eighty percent of preservice student teachers exhibited a high degree of interest in science instructional planning across different disciplines. They presented science lesson planning with …

Overarching Themes Of Moocs: An Integrative Literature Review, Gregory Bunn, Doris Lee

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) represent a growing means of offering mass instruction to students separated across distances and countries. MOOCs provide a flexible platform for instruction across numerous disciplines via the Internet. By incorporating a variety of online environments and discussion formats, MOOCs enable learners to engage with content and instructions in new ways. As MOOCs continue to evolve in design and involve more students, it becomes important to determine overarching themes in the literature discussing MOOCs. Such an investigation offers the potential to reveal new connections and ideas pertinent to the successful design and running of online courses. …

Systematic Review Of Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education (2000-2020) And Future Research Directions, Rajat Gera, Priyanka Chadha

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The goal of this study is to synthesize the findings, methodology and research themes of peer reviewed studies on Artificial Intelligence in higher education, published between 2000 to 2020. Twenty-nine articles were selected for review by following the PRISMA approach. The demographical and thematic trends suggest that most research is skewed towards few geographical locations (USA, Europe, India, China, Hong-Kong) and recent time periods (2018-2020) and scattered across publications from varied disciplinary traditions. Taiwan and United States contributed most to the number of studies, with 2017 being the most fruitful year. Vectors as well as decision trees were the most …

Accessibility And Usage Of Cultural Heritage By The Disabled Users: Understanding Of Parents’ Points Of View, Valentina Perciavalle, Elisabetta Sagone

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Background: Italian educational system express a growing attention toward the strategies utilized for improving the accessibility and participation for all individuals, but not always for the disabled users’ needs, underestimating the value of inclusive education in various contexts of everyday life. Method: A preliminary study with 82 parents of children and preadolescents with intellectual disability, sensory impairments, and physical disability was carried out adopting the “inclusive research paradigm” to investigate parents’ perceptions, levels of satisfaction, and attitudes toward obstacles/facilitators to accessibility and usage of cultural heritage sites in Sicilian context. Results: Using an online questionnaire, parental satisfaction degree …

Destination Management During The Health Emergency: A Bibliometric Analysis, Valentina Della Corte, Giovanna Del Gaudio, Giuliana Nevola, Erico Di Taranto, Simone Luongo

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The pandemic emergency has shifted the attention from a tourism focused on economic growth to a tourism focused on social wellbeing (Everingham & Chassagne, 2020). Destinations are required to answer new emerging needs in terms of health and safety without precluding the emotional side of the leisure travel experience. One of the ways destinations are rethinking their management is the introduction of innovation in terms of sharing knowledge, creation of new ideas and engagement of stakeholders (Pillmayer, Scherle & Volchek, 2021). Destinations need to strengthen their own networking of operators and relations to reduce risk perception and to ensure security …

The Role Of Quality Management Applications For Corporate Reputations, Ibrahim Sapaloglu, Isik Cicek

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

In today's conditions, the content of the concept of stakeholder has expanded and its importance has increased in organizations. The increase in the expectations of the stakeholders from the institutions they are involved in is a result of this situation, and one factor in their decision to continue the stakeholder relationship is the stakeholders' corporate reputation evaluations. Corporate reputation, which is defined as a set of values that express how the organization is perceived by social stakeholders, is a reflection phenomenon that is evaluated not only for customers but also for employees, and it has become one of the factors …

In Search Of The Effective Mission Statement: Structural Support Of The Firm’S Culture To Augment Financial Performance, Seong-Yuen Toh

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This study investigates the effectiveness of the mission statement from the strategic alignment perspective while considering the structural support of HR system towards the culture of the firm. Based on the resource-based view theory of the firm, this study posits that the valid mission statement contributes towards sustainable competitive advantage when the HR system is aligned with a valid mission statement and is supportive of the firm’s culture in a double mediation model. The results support this claim and contribute new understanding that strategic alignment requires structural support of the firm’s culture for mission statement effective. Furthermore, this indicates the …

Three Keys Of Development: Knowledge, Efficiency And Innovative Entrepreneurship, Irfan Kalayci, Ali Soylu, Baris Aytekin

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The change in the structure and composition of production factors have always been occurred in the world production history. The competition between sectors and also within each sub-sector that comprise them continues. In this sense, competition has always fed change, transformation and progress. The process phenomenon is the change and transformation movements that occur in the production processes that economies focus on. In this respect, the classification steps emphasize this development. In this study, we discuss economic groups (resource-oriented, productivity-oriented, and innovation-oriented) in terms of drivers of economic development (knowledge, efficiency, innovative entrepreneurship, and productivity). The 3rd Industrial Revolution starting …

Innovative Entrepreneurship In Turkey: Micro And Macro Perspectives, Irfan Kalayci, Baris Aytekin, Ali Soylu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Entrepreneurship is a scarce factor of production in the economy like labor and capital; it is a business area which is culture and finance related. Turkey is an average country in the entrepreneurship world league. This negative situation in terms of entrepreneurship also continues in terms of innovation and innovative entrepreneurship. Although Turkey is counted among the world's GDP in the rich, in terms of the capacity to innovate is among the poorest. This paper discusses how Turkey can change this "reverse fortune" through developing an internal innovation culture and opening this culture to the outside world. Naturally, the ongoing …

Machine Learning Framework For Nonlinear And Interaction Relationships Involving Categorical And Numerical Features, Shirish Mohan Rao

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Traditionally, physical scientific experiments have been conducted extensively to study and understand the behavior of a process or a system. With the advancement of computing technology in recent years, computer codes and algorithms are used as simulators to replicate behavior of a complex system. Such use of computers to study a system is termed as ‘computer experiments.’ The process involves selecting specific points or runs in the design space in order to maximize information about the system in minimal runs. These computer models are high dimensional and can take a long time to simulate. Metamodels (or surrogate models) built using …

Testing Artificial Intelligence-Based Software Systems, Jaganmohan Chandrasekaran

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based software systems are increasingly used in high-stake and safety-critical domains, including recidivism prediction, medical diagnosis, and autonomous driving. There is an urgent need to ensure the reliability and correctness of AI-based systems. At the core of AI-based software systems is a machine learning (ML) model that is used to perform tasks such as classification and prediction. Unlike software programs, where a developer explicitly writes the decision logic, ML models learn the decision logic from a large training dataset. Furthermore, many ML models encode the decision logic in the form of mathematic functions that can be quite abstract …