Digital Commons Network^™

Enhancing Fuzzy C-Means Clustering With A Novel Standard Deviation Weighted Distance Measure, Ahmed Husham Mohammed, Marwan Abdul Hameed Ashour

Baghdad Science Journal

The aim of this paper is to present a new approach to address the Fuzzy C Mean algorithm, which is considered one of the most important and famous algorithms that addressed the phenomenon of uncertainty in forming clusters according to the overlap ratios. One of the most important problems facing this algorithm is its reliance primarily on the Euclidean distance measure, and by nature, the situation is that this measure makes the formed clusters take a spherical shape, which is unable to contain complex or overlapping cases. Therefore, this paper attempts to propose a new measure of distance, where we …

Creation Story Motifs As Expressions Of Identity And Resiliency In The Visual Culture Of Kahnawà:Ke, Jana Ondrechen Hallford

Theses

Kahnawa:ke is a First Nations reserve near Montreal in Quebec, Canada, with a rich history of creative expression. This is a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) community, a part of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy, a prominent First Peoples group of the Northeast Woodlands. Like many other Indigenous communities, Kahnawa:ke is in the process of revitalizing and renormalizing their culture after centuries of assimilation efforts and pressures to separate them from their traditions. Their creation story, known as the Sky Woman Epoch, is foundational to this culture. While there are a number of creation symbols, this study will focus on the Sky Dome, a …

Exploring Experience Design In The Art Deco Restoration Of Indianapolis Bottleworks Hotel, Jennifer A. Mott

Theses

This thesis investigates the interaction between emotional resonance, the Decorative Arts, and historical significance in creating a curated emotional experience. Focused on the case study of the Bottleworks Hotel, a restored Art Deco gem within the former Coca-Cola Bottling Company plant in Indianapolis, this research provides an interpretative analysis, synthesis of the literature, and primary source surveys and reviews to show that the Art Deco restoration and the historical significance of the bottling plant work together to create stimulating experience design. As urban landscapes undergo transformation and the tourism industry becomes increasingly competitive and significant, this study not only enriches …

An Examination Of Artistic Expression Through Honoré Daumier's Le Fardeau, Sarah Isak-Goode

Theses

Honoré Daumier, renowned for his career as a political cartoonist in 19th-century France, created a substantial body of personal works that have received comparatively little scholarly attention. This thesis focuses on Daumier's paintings, particularly those created during his midlife (1848-1864), examining their distinctively serious qualities and emotional depth. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining art historical analysis and psychobiography, this research explores the previously unrecognized connection between Daumier's paintings and his private life experiences. Central to this study is an in-depth analysis of Le Fardeau, a painting that exemplifies Daumier's artistic evolution and emotional expression during a period marked by personal …

Enhancing Electronic Agriculture Data Security With A Blockchain-Based Search Method And E-Signatures, Duaa Hammoud Tahayur, Mishall Al-Zubaidie

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

The production of digital signatures with blockchain constitutes a prerequisite for the security of electronic agriculture applications (EAA), such as the Internet of Things (IoT). To prevent irresponsibility within the blockchain, attackers regularly attempt to manipulate or intercept data stored or sent via EAA-IoT. Additionally, cybersecurity has not received much attention recently because IoT applications are still relatively new. As a result, the protection of EAAs against security threats remains insufficient. Moreover, the security protocols used in contemporary research are still insufficient to thwart a wide range of threats. For these security issues, first, this study proposes a security system …

Intermediary Decentralized Computing And Private Blockchain Mechanisms For Privacy Preservation In The Internet Of Medical Things, Rasha Halim Razzaq, Mishall Al-Zubaidie, Rajaa Ghali Atiyah

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Protecting patient data in the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) is one of the major challenges facing healthcare organizations because of increasing threats to privacy and security. Although there are many existing protocols and solutions, such as Rivest–Shamir–Adleman (RSA) and El-Gamal cryptographies or centralized methods, that aim to protect data, they suffer from weaknesses such as slow performance or inability to handle large volumes of data. The issue of security in medical records has become an urgent need, and the use of centralized methods can expose them to single-point failure. In this paper, we present the efficient approach to securing …

Development Of Robust And Efficient Symmetric Random Keys Model Based On The Latin Square Matrix, Nada Hussein M. Ali, Mays M. Hoobi, Dunia F. Saffo

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Symmetric cryptography forms the backbone of secure data communication and storage by relying on the strength and randomness of cryptographic keys. This increases complexity, enhances cryptographic systems' overall robustness, and is immune to various attacks. The present work proposes a hybrid model based on the Latin square matrix (LSM) and subtractive random number generator (SRNG) algorithms for producing random keys. The hybrid model enhances the security of the cipher key against different attacks and increases the degree of diffusion. Different key lengths can also be generated based on the algorithm without compromising security. It comprises two phases. The first phase …

Collaborative Intrusion Detection System To Identify Joint Attacks In Routing Protocol For Low-Power And Lossy Networks Routing Protocol On The Internet Of Everything, Omar A. Abdulkareem, Raja Kumar Kontham, Farhad E. Mahmood

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

The Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL) routing protocol is utilized in the Internet of Everything (IoE) is highly vulnerable to various collaborative routing attacks. This attack can highly degrade network performance through increased delay, energy consumption, and unreliable data exchange. This critical vulnerability necessitates a robust intrusion detection system. This study aims to enhance a Collaborative Intrusion Detection System (CIDS) for detecting and mitigating joint attacks in the RPL protocol, focusing on improving detection accuracy while minimizing network delay and energy usage. A series of algorithms and techniques are implemented, including Queue and Workload-Aware RPL (QWL-RPL) for …

Cybersecurity Defence Mechanism Against Ddos Attack With Explainability, Alaa Mohammed Mahmood, İsa Avcı

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Application-layer attacks (Layer 7 attacks), a form of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) aimed at web servers, have become a significant concern in cybersecurity because of their ability to disrupt services by overwhelming server resources. This study focuses on addressing the challenges of detecting and mitigating the impact of such attacks, which are difficult to counter due to their sophisticated nature. The primary objective of this study is to develop an effective monitoring and defence model to detect, defend, and respond to these attacks efficiently. To achieve this, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) technology was used to understand the behaviour of the model …

From Monochrome To Color: Efficient Techniques For Realistic Video Colorization, Zahoor M. Aydam, Nidhal K. El Abbadi

Mesopotamian Journal of CyberSecurity

Colorizing grayscale videos is a challenging task that involves adding colors to monochromatic videos to make them appear as natural and realistic as possible, despite the absence of information about the original color distribution. This task is crucial for applications such as restoring historical videos and creating media content requiring realistic and accurate colorization. However, existing methods often face issues such as poor temporal stability, color distortions, and the need for extensive post processing under certain conditions. To address these challenges, this study proposes a novel approach comprising a pre-processing network and a source-reference network trained in an end-to-end manner. …

The Social Evaluation Of Accents And Perceived Social Influence In Singapore: A Comparison Of American And Singaporean English Accents, Matthew H. S. Ng, Chi-Ying Cheng

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Accents are an important differentiator between groups which influence social perception and interaction, especially in a diverse country like Singapore. Social identity theory suggests that individuals would exhibit favoritism towards their own accents. However, the accent prestige theory demonstrates instances whereby foreign accents are perceived as more prestigious than one's own accent and are associated with more positive characteristics. This paper sought to explore which of these two theories is more prevalent in Singapore by comparing the perceptions of American English accents and local Singaporean English accents along the competence-warmth paradigm of the Stereotype Content Model. Further, the current research …

The Link Between People's Social Perceptions Of Cultivated Meat Eaters And Their Acceptance Of Cultivated Meat, Xiaoyu Dai, Angela K. Y. Leung, Mark Chong

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Low consumer acceptance emerges as one important barrier to the introduction of cultivated meat, a novel food which offers an opportunity for more sustainable and ethical meat production. Due to the motives for impression management and self-esteem, one factor that could contribute to people's acceptance of cultivated meat is their perceptions of other individuals who consume cultivated meat. In the current research, two online survey studies with 393 Singaporean undergraduate students and 401 American adults were conducted to explore the perceptions of cultivated meat eaters. In both studies, participants were randomly assigned to read one of three profiles that described …

Are Corporations Responding To Civil Society Pressure?: A Multilevel Analysis Of Corporate Emissions, Annika Rieger

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Previous research in the world-society tradition associates improvements in nation-level environmental outcomes with greater civil society integration. However, research in the world-systems tradition indicates these improvements depend on a nation’s position in the global political-economic hierarchy. To test whether these patterns are present at the organizational level, I estimate a multilevel model using corporate emissions data from the Carbon Disclosure Project and include interactions between world-system position and three measures of civil society integration: number of NGOs, proportion of corporations with climate-management incentives, and number of corporate UN Global Compact signatories. I find that the relationship between civil society pressure …

Associations Of Household And Neighborhood Contexts And Hair Cortisol Among Mexican-Origin Adolescents From Low-Income Immigrant Families, Ka I. Ip, Wen Wen, Wei Xiang Sim, Shanting Chen, Su Yeong Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Although neighborhood contexts serve as upstream determinants of health, it remains unclear how these contexts “get under the skin” of Mexican-origin youth, who are disproportionately concentrated in highly disadvantaged yet co-ethnic neighborhoods. The current study examines the associations between household and neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES), neighborhood racial–ethnic and immigrant composition, and hair cortisol concentration (HCC)—a physiological index of chronic stress response—among Mexican-origin adolescents from low-income immigrant families in the United States. A total of 297 (54.20% female; mage = 17.61, SD = 0.93) Mexican-origin adolescents had their hair cortisol collected, and their residential addresses were geocoded and merged with the …

How “Ceremonial Openness” Prevents Organizational Change : An Analysis Of Corporate Earnings Calls In The Oil And Gas Industry, 2007–2020, Isak Ladegaard, Annika Marie Rieger

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Incumbent firms resist change as they have much to lose if things go wrong. But inertia can also be costly, particularly in times of crisis. In a world on fire, does corporate transparency foster engagement with external threats to future organizational success? To answer this question, we conduct a mixed-methods analysis of 887 public earnings-calls meetings between executives, investors, and outside analysts from 24 major oil and gas companies in 2007-2020, a period marked by extreme weather events and increased popular and political pressure to slow global warming. We find that formal rituals that promote openness and debate to protect …

Nuanced Relationships Between Indices Of Smartphone Use And Psychological Distress: Distinguishing Problematic Smartphone Use, Phone Checking, And Screen Time, Yue Qi Germaine Tng, Hwajin Yang

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Recent theoretical and empirical accounts maintain that different indices of smartphone use—including problematic smartphone use, phone-checking, and screen time—tap distinct facets of smartphone use. This highlights the importance of disentangling potentially unique associations between facets of smartphone use and psychological distress outcomes. The present study examined fine-grained relationships between several smartphone-use indices and facets of psychological distress. Further, we probed whether sex modulated the relationships between smartphone-mediated behaviours and distress outcomes. Using structural equation modelling, we analysed data from young adults (N = 364) and evaluated the associations of smartphone-related behaviours—problematic use, phone checking, and overall screen time—with depression, anxiety, …

Mechanical Thrombectomy Versus Intravenous Thrombolysis In Distal Medium Vessel Acute Ischemic Stroke: A Multinational Multicenter Propensity Score-Matched Study, Muhammed Amir Essibayi, Anna Luisa Kühn, Jane Khalife, Sherief Ghozy, Luca Scarcia, Benjamin Y Q Tan, Benjamin Pulli, Jeremy J Heit, Robert W Regenhardt, Nicole M Cancelliere, Joshua D Bernstock, Aymeric Rouchaud, Jens Fiehler, Sunil Sheth, Ajit S Puri, Christian Dyzmann, Marco Colasurdo, Xavier Barreau, Leonardo Renieri, João Pedro Filipe, Pablo Harker, Razvan Alexandru Radu, Thomas R Marotta, Julian Spears, Takahiro Ota, Ashkan Mowla, Pascal Jabbour, Arundhati Biswas, Frédéric Clarençon, James E Siegler, Thanh N Nguyen, Ricardo Varela, Amanda Baker, David Altschul, Nestor R Gonzalez, Markus A Möhlenbruch, Vincent Costalat, Benjamin Gory, Christian Paul Stracke, Mohammad Ali Aziz-Sultan, Constantin Hecker, Hamza Shaikh, David S Liebeskind, Alessandro Pedicelli, Andrea M Alexandre, Illario Tancredi, Tobias D Faizy, Erwah Kalsoum, Boris Lubicz, Aman B Patel, Vitor Mendes Pereira, Adrien Guenego, Adam A Dmytriw, Mad Mt Investigators

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and purpose: The management of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) due to distal medium vessel occlusion (DMVO) remains uncertain, particularly in comparing the effectiveness of intravenous thrombolysis (IVT) plus mechanical thrombectomy (MT) versus IVT alone. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy in DMVO patients treated with either MT-IVT or IVT alone.

Methods: This multinational study analyzed data from 37 centers across North America, Asia, and Europe. Patients with AIS due to DMVO were included, with data collected from September 2017 to July 2023. The primary outcome was functional independence, with secondary outcomes including mortality and safety measures …

The Psychometric Properties Of The Swahili Version Of The Primary Care Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Screen For Dsm-5 Among Adults In Kenya, Patrick Nzivo Mwangala, Joseph Newton Guni, Paul Mwangi, Millicent Makandi, Anita Kerubo, Rachel Odhiambo, Amina Abubakar

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Background: The psychometric properties of the Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5) are undocumented in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) at large. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swahili version of the tool, S-PC-PTSD-5, in a community sample of adults 18 years and older drawn from Nairobi, Mombasa and Kwale counties in Kenya.

Methods: Analysis of cross-sectional data from 1431 adults from the community was conducted, examining the reliability, factorial structure, measurement invariance, and convergent and divergent validity of the interviewer-administered S-PC-PTSD-5.

Results: Out of 1431 adults who completed the S-PC-PTSD-5, 666 (46.5%) reported experiencing …

Emergency Department Slit Lamp Interdisciplinary Training Via Longitudinal Assessment In Medical Practice, Samara Hamou, Shayan Ghiaee, Christine Chung, Maureen Lloyd, Kelly Khem, Xiao Zhang

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Eye emergencies make up nearly 3% of US emergency department (ED) visits. While emergency physicians (EP) should diagnose and treat these ophthalmologic emergencies, many trainees report limited ocular exposure and insufficient training throughout their residency to confidently conduct a thorough slit-lamp exam.

METHODS: We created an interdisciplinary, simulation-based mastery learning (SBML) curriculum to teach emergency attending physicians how to operate the slit lamp with multimodal learning methodology at a tertiary academic center. The EPs first demonstrate their initial slit-lamp competency with a 20-item checklist, and they then review the necessary curricular content to pass their independent readiness test before …

Hereditary Spherocytosis Due To A Novel Variant, P.Q1034x, In The Beta Subunit Of The Spectrin Gene: A Case Report, Emmalee M. Kugler, Akash Patel, Faraz Afridi, Maria I. Scarano, Rafat Ahmed

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Background: Heterozygous pathogenic variants of SPTB cause hereditary spherocytosis (HS) in a quarter of cases. Case report: A 14-day-old male presenting with persistent anemia and hyperbilirubinemia was diagnosed with HS by increased red blood cell osmotic fragility and decreased fluorescence on the eosin-5′-maleimide binding test. For his failure to thrive and hypotonia, genetic sequencing revealed a de novo variant of the SPTB gene (p.Q1034X) on exon 15. This variant is predicted to cause loss of normal protein function either through protein truncation or nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. A variant of uncertain significance (p.R438W) in the chondroitin sulfate synthase 1 (CHSY1) gene …

Exploring Medical Student Experiences Of Trauma In The Emergency Department: Opportunities For Trauma-Informed Medical Education, Giselle Appel, Ahmed Shahzad, Kestrel Reopelle, Stephen Didonato, Frances Rusnack, Dimitrios Papanagnou

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

PURPOSE: During the third-year emergency medicine (EM) clerkship, medical students are immersed in traumatic incidents with their patients and clinical teams. Trauma-informed medical education (TIME) applies trauma-informed care (TIC) principles to help students manage trauma. We aimed to qualitatively describe the extent to which students perceived the six TIME domains as they navigated critical incidents during their EM clerkship.

METHODS: We employed a constructivist, modified grounded theory approach to explore medical students' experiences. We used the critical incident technique to elicit narratives to better understand the six TIME domains as they naturally appear in the clerkship. Participants were asked to …

Critical Race Theory As Legal Epistemic Justice, Jasmine Gonzales Rose

Faculty Scholarship

“Critical Thinking: Not Critical Race Theory” and “Teach Truth: Not CRT,” proclaimed the front and back of a T-shirt on a fellow traveler passing in the airport. I was startled by the blatant misconceptions. The core pursuits of critical race theory (“CRT”) are to think critically, discover truth, and diversify knowledge about race and racism. Although I was aware of then-President Trump’s executive order barring federal diversity training and bills modeled after it, nothing had prepared me for the realization that my academic subfield had become so widely criticized that it was now the subject of T-shirt slogans. A few …

An Exponential Cone Programming Approach For Managing Electric Vehicle Charging, Li Chen, Long He, Yangfang (Helen) Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

To support the rapid growth in global electric vehicle adoption, public charging of electric vehicles is crucial. We study the problem of an electric vehicle charging service provider, which faces (1) stochastic arrival of customers with distinctive arrival and departure times, and energy requirements as well as (2) a total electricity cost including demand charges, costs related to the highest per-period electricity used in a finite horizon. We formulate its problem of scheduling vehicle charging to minimize the expected total cost as a stochastic program (SP). As this SP is large-scale, we solve it using exponential cone program (ECP) approximations. …

The 10 Commandments Of Endo-Bentall Repair, Mehrdad Ghoreishi

All Publications

No abstract available

Pain, Anxiety And Fear Related To Oral Biopsies: A Pilot Study, Alessandro Villa

All Publications

Objective: The objective of this prospective study was to measure the level of pain and anxiety before, during, and after an oral biopsy, and fear memory 7 days following the procedure.

Study design: This was a single-center, prospective, survey-based observational pilot study of patients seen from April 2022 to June 2023 at the Sol Silverman Oral Medicine Clinic, at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). We assessed the level of pain and anxiety before, during, and after oral biopsies and a fear memory interview on the 7th day post oral biopsy.

Results: Sixty patients participated in the study (median …

Does Voice Endorsement By Supervisors Enhance Or Constrain Voicer's Personal Initiative? Countervailing Effects Via Feeling Pride And Feeling Envied, Mingyun Huai, Xueqi Wen, Zihan Liu, Xingyu Wang, Wen-Dong Li, Mo Wang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

While the previous research has examined antecedents of supervisors’ voice endorsement, it has generally overlooked its effects on voicers’ affective and behavioral reactions, probably because of the underlying assumption that supervisors’ voice endorsement is inherently beneficial and likely to encourage more proactive behaviors in the future. In this research, we offer a theoretical model of the double-edged effects of supervisors’ voice endorsement on voicers’ subsequent personal initiative. Drawing on cognitive appraisal theory and related research, we proposed that supervisors’ voice endorsement prompts two different cognitive appraisal processes in voicers that evoke two distinct emotional experiences—feeling pride and feeling envied—with countervailing …

Recruitment Of Cxcr4+Type 1 Innate Lymphoid Cells Distinguishes Sarcoidosis From Other Skin Granulomatous Diseases, S. Sati, J. Huang, A.E. Kersh, P. Jones, O. Ahart, C. Murphy, S.M. Prouty, M.L. Hedberg, V. Jain, S.G. Gregory, Leung, Denis H. Y., J.T. Seykora, M. Rosenbach, T.H. Leung

Research Collection School Of Economics

Sarcoidosis is a multiorgan granulomatous disease that lacks diagnostic biomarkers and targeted treatments. Using blood and skin from patients with sarcoid and non-sarcoid skin granulomas, we discovered that skin granulomas from different diseases exhibit unique immune cell recruitment and molecular signatures. Sarcoid skin granulomas were specifically enriched for type 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1s) and B cells and exhibited molecular programs associated with formation of mature tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs), including increased CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling. Lung sarcoidosis granulomas also displayed similar immune cell recruitment. Thus, granuloma formation was not a generic molecular response. In addition to tissue-specific effects, patients with sarcoidosis …

Recruitment Of Cxcr4+ Type 1 Innate Lymphoid Cells Distinguishes Sarcoidosis From Other Skin Granulomatous Diseases, Satish Sati, Jianhe Huang, Anna E. Kersh, Parker Jones, Olivia Ahart, Christina Murphy, Stephen M. Prouty, Matthew L. Hedberg, Vaibhav Jain, Simon G. Gregory, Leung, Denis H. Y., John T. Seykora, Misha Rosenbach, Thomas H. Leung

Research Collection School Of Economics

Sarcoidosis is a multiorgan granulomatous disease that lacks diagnostic biomarkers and targeted treatments. Using blood and skin from patients with sarcoid and non-sarcoid skin granulomas, we discovered that skin granulomas from different diseases exhibit unique immune cell recruitment and molecular signatures. Sarcoid skin granulomas were specifically enriched for type 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC1s) and B cells and exhibited molecular programs associated with formation of mature tertiary lymphoid structures (TLSs), including increased CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling. Lung sarcoidosis granulomas also displayed similar immune cell recruitment. Thus, granuloma formation was not a generic molecular response. In addition to tissue-specific effects, patients with sarcoidosis …

Deans Report Udm: The World Needs Titans -- Serving Our Community And Beyond, Mert N. Aksu Dds, Jd, Mhsa, Cert. Dph

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

Detroit Mercy's Dental School is experiencing increased popularity despite a growing number of dental schools nationwide. The school emphasizes a learner-centered approach, focusing on student development and clinical experience. Key changes to the curriculum include increased integration of biomedical sciences and case-based learning. Detroit Mercy's commitment to excellence, community service, and humanistic care sets it apart from other dental schools.

A Visit To The U.P.: The 106th Annual Upper Peninsula Dental Meeting, Elizabeth Knudsen Dds

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The Cloverland District Dental Society hosted its 106th annual meeting in Gladstone, Michigan. The event included continuing education, guest speakers, a business meeting, and social activities. The meeting also featured student involvement and discussions about rural dentistry. The next meeting will be held on Mackinac Island in June 2025.