Digital Commons Network^™

Towards Human-Embodied Visual Intelligence, Cheng Han

Theses

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) in computer vision has garnered considerable attention across diverse research fields (e.g., image classification, image segmentation, object detection, optical flow, depth estimation). However, this progress is met with an array of challenges that hinder them from real-world deployments. In this paper, three major challenges are discussed: I. Low Task Generalizability. Current visual models are often specifically designed for targeted tasks, constraining their generalizability with varying adaptation scenarios; II. Weak Model Interpretability. Within the paradigm of connectionism, most of these models are frequently regarded as ``black-box'' systems, making them challenging for humans to understand …

Understanding The Retrospective And Current Health Care Needs And Service Experiences Of Adult Survivors Of Minor Sex Trafficking, Amelia Wagner, Sarah Lockwood, Amy Farrell, Carlos Cuevas, Jennifer E. O'Brien, Rebecca Pfeffer, Jaclyn Kolnik, Alisa Lincoln

Faculty Publications

Minor sex trafficking is an urgent public health problem, but we lack data about how such experiences impact health and health care access. Utilizing data collected from in-depth interviews with 35 adult survivors of minor sex trafficking across the U.S. we explored the physical and psychological healthcare access and healthcare experiences of adult survivors of minor sex trafficking. Negative healthcare experiences before, during, and following sex trafficking foster a lack of trust and confidence in healthcare systems as adults. Recommendations are provided to help overcome barriers to meeting healthcare needs and improving health care experiences for survivors of minor sex …

Social, Civic, And Institutional Trust: Necessary Conditions For A Pluralistic Democracy, Bruce L. Mallory

Carsey Publications

In this perspectives brief, author Bruce Mallory discusses how trust in social, civic, and institutional structures is a necessary ingredient for a healthy democratic society. Erosion of trust in democratic societies has negative effects for individuals, communities, and public participation in political and civic matters. Data from surveys of New Hampshire residents as well as national samples over the past decade show declining levels of trust in social and political institutions. This has been exacerbated in recent years by the global pandemic as well as increasingly stark political and social divisions.

Drawing on resources such as the 2020 New Hampshire …

A Systematic Approach For Evaluating And Selecting Healthcare Waste Treatment Devices Using Owcm-Codas And Triangular Neutrosophic Sets, Asmaa Elsayed, Bilal Arain

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Healthcare is a fundamental aspect of human life, impacting individuals, communities, and societies. Investing in healthcare infrastructure, services, and education is essential for fostering a healthy, thriving population. Healthcare waste management is a critical aspect of public health, and it requires a concerted effort from healthcare facilities, governments, and communities to ensure that waste is managed in a way that minimizes risks to human health and the environment. This paper proposes a hybrid methodology combining the Opinion Weight Criteria Method (OWCM) and the Combinative Distance-Based Assessment (CODAS) within the framework of Triangular Neutrosophic Sets (TNS) to evaluate and select the …

Manufacturing Strategies For Optimizing Supply Chains And Mitigating Disruption, Rudolph Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Shifts in consumer demands, access to raw materials, and rapid growth can influence supply chain performance. Tool and Die (T&D) manufacturing leaders tend to be concerned with ineffective supply chains, which can harm firms’ competitiveness and profitability. Grounded in Porter’s Value Chain theory, the purpose of this qualitative pragmatic inquiry was to identify and explore strategies that some leaders in the U.S. tool and die industry use to manage supply chains successfully. The participants were five T&D manufacturing leaders in the eastern United States who successfully managed T&D supply chains. Data were collected using purposeful sampling via semistructured interviews and …

Peatmoss: A Dataset And Initial Analysis Of Pre-Trained Models In Open-Source Software, Wenxin Jiang, Jerin Yasmin, Jason Jones, Nicholas Synovic, Jiashen Kuo, Nathaniel Bielanski, Yuan Tian, George K. Thiruvathukal, James C. Davis

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The development and training of deep learning models have become increasingly costly and complex. Consequently, software engineers are adopting pre-trained models (PTMs) for their downstream applications. The dynamics of the PTM supply chain remain largely unexplored, signaling a clear need for structured datasets that document not only the metadata but also the subsequent applications of these models. Without such data, the MSR community cannot comprehensively understand the impact of PTM adoption and reuse. This paper presents the PeaTMOSS dataset, which comprises metadata for 281,638 PTMs and detailed snapshots for all PTMs with over 50 monthly downloads (14,296 PTMs), along with …

Evaluating Artificial Intelligence On The Efficacy Of Preference Assessments For Preservice Speech-Language Pathologists, Brenna Griffin, Elizabeth R. Lorah, Christine Holyfield, Nicolette Caldwell, John Nosek

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) face many barriers to meaningful inclusion, including limited language and communication skills. Professionals, such as speech-language pathologists (SLPs), can provide personalized instruction to promote skill development and inclusion. Providing opportunities for individuals to express preferences and choice, such as the multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessment (MSWO; DeLeon & Iwata 1996), within these programs, further increases skill acquisition and social interaction. However, limitations in professionals’ knowledge and skills in performing assessments can be another barrier to meaningful inclusion for individuals with IDD and traditional training methods can be challenging and time consuming. …

Management Of Blunt Abdominal Trauma, Janet R Ashley, Keith W Burczak, Bryan A Cotton, Thomas W Clements

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Rigorous Verification Of Stability Of Ideal Gas Layers, Damian Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we develop tools for carrying out computer assisted proof of the stability of traveling wave solutions of the spatially one-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations with an ideal gas equation of state. In particular, we obtain rigorous, tight error bounds on a high-accuracy numerical approximation of the traveling wave profile for parameters corresponding to air, and we obtain rigorous representations in a neighborhood of positive and negative infinity of the solution to the first order ODE associated with linearizing the PDE equations about the traveling wave solution. We also develop supporting tools for rigorous verification of wave stability.

Home Blood Pressure Telemonitoring And Nurse Case Management In Black And Hispanic Patients With Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Gbenga Ogedegbe, Jeanne A Teresi, Stephen K Williams, Adebayo Ogunlade, Chigozirim Izeogu, Joseph P Eimicke, Jian Kong, Stephanie A Silver, Olajide Williams, Helen Valsamis, Susan Law, Steven R Levine, Salina P Waddy, Tanya M Spruill

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Importance: Black and Hispanic patients have high rates of recurrent stroke and uncontrolled hypertension in the US. The effectiveness of home blood pressure telemonitoring (HBPTM) and telephonic nurse case management (NCM) among low-income Black and Hispanic patients with stroke is unknown.

Objective: To determine whether NCM plus HBPTM results in greater systolic blood pressure (SBP) reduction at 12 months and lower rate of stroke recurrence at 24 months than HBPTM alone among Black and Hispanic stroke survivors with uncontrolled hypertension.

Design, setting, and participants: Practice-based, multicenter, randomized clinical trial in 8 stroke centers and ambulatory practices in New York City. …

The Fishing Cat: New Insights On Distribution In The Northern Sector Of Chitwan National Park, Nepal, Rupesh Maharjan, Rama Mishra, Jhamak Bahadur Karki

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus (Bennett, 1833) is an elusive and medium-sized feline species with distinguished marking patterns on their head and body separating them from other feline species. Despite being distributed widely among diverse geographic locations, their abundance has declined due to significant habitat loss and human disturbances. There exists a substantial research gap regarding their abundance and distribution in Nepal. In this article, we presented the updated documentation of the fishing cat distribution in the northern sector of Chitwan National Park through our species-focused camera trapping survey. The study was carried out between April and May 2021 with a …

Understanding The Retrospective And Current Health Care Needs And Service Experiences Of Adult Survivors Of Minor Sex Trafficking, Amelia Wagner, Sarah Lockwood, Amy Farrell, Carlos Cuevas, Jennifer E. O'Brien, Rebecca Pfeffer, Jaclyn Kolnik, Alisa Lincoln

Faculty Publications

Minor sex trafficking is an urgent public health problem, but we lack data about how such experiences impact health and health care access. Utilizing data collected from in-depth interviews with 35 adult survivors of minor sex trafficking across the U.S. we explored the physical and psychological healthcare access and healthcare experiences of adult survivors of minor sex trafficking. Negative healthcare experiences before, during, and following sex trafficking foster a lack of trust and confidence in healthcare systems as adults. Recommendations are provided to help overcome barriers to meeting healthcare needs and improving health care experiences for survivors of minor sex …

Waste Reduction And Recycling: Schweizer-Sklar Aggregation Operators Based On Neutrosophic Fuzzy Rough Sets And Their Application In Green Supply Chain Management, Zeeshan Ali, Hajra Bibi

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Green supply chain management (GSCM) is a valuable application that is used to reduce the overall environmental impact of the supply chain. Waste reduction and recycling are crucial components of sustainable technique that aims to reduce ecological impact and encourage reserve effectiveness. In this manuscript, we initiate the technique of Schweizer-Sklar (SS) operational laws based on neutrosophic fuzzy rough (NFR) values for SS t-norm (SSTN) and SS t-conorm (SSTCN). Further, we derive the NFR SS weighted averaging (NFRSSWA) operator and the NFR SS weighted geometric (NFRSSWG) operator. Some basic properties for the above-initiated techniques are derived. Additionally, we describe the …

Barriers And Facilitators To Healthy Eating In Disadvantaged Adults Living In The Uk:: A Scoping Review, R Briazu, F Masood, Louise Hunt, Clare Pettinger, Carol Wagstaff, R Mccloy

School of Health Professions

In the UK people living in disadvantaged communities are less likely than those with higher socio-economic status to have a healthy diet. To address this inequality, it is crucial scientists, practitioners and policy makers understand the factors that hinder and assist healthy food choice in these individuals. In this scoping review, we aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to healthy eating among disadvantaged individuals living in the UK. Additionally, we used the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to synthesise results and provide a guide for the development of theory-informed behaviour change interventions. Five databases were searched, (CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and …

Experimental Design For Scientific Discovery, Quan Minh Nguyen

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Experimental design offers an elegant model of many problems where one navigates within a vast search space seeking data points with certain characteristics. A multitude of applications in science and engineering fall under this umbrella, with drug and materials discovery being prime examples. The experimental design approach maintains a probabilistic model of the search space, and uses Bayesian decision theory accounting for this model to guide the accumulation of observed data to maximize an experimentation objective of interest. This dissertation explores Bayesian optimization and active search, two realizations of the experimental design framework that model discovery tasks. While existing solutions …

Predicting Distance Learning Counselor Education Doctoral Students’ Research Self-Efficacy, Jennifer Patrice Edwards

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Distance learning is a growing educational delivery method for Counselor Education and Supervision (CES) doctoral students. At the time of this study, no research existed regarding the research self-efficacy (RSE) of distance learning CES doctoral students. Historically, the lack of RSE among counselor educators has been a chronic issue. However, research addressing contributors to improving RSE among distance learning CES doctoral students is unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess and provide data on current perceptions and predictors of RSE among distance learning CES doctoral students. Two theories were used to conceptualize the key variables which were Lent …

The Lived Experience Of Stigmatization Due To Chemotherapy-Induced Hair Loss For Young Women With Cancer Who Attend College, Challna Blair

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study investigated the stigmatization experienced by young women in college due to chemotherapy-induced hair loss. Previous research primarily focused on older women, adolescents, and men, leaving a gap in understanding the impact on young college-age women. Using Goffman’s theory of stigma and Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological method, six young women were interviewed confidentially. The primary research question asked what is the experience of stigma in young women in college who have hair loss during or following chemotherapy cancer treatment? The study revealed that these women often faced being ostracized by peers, received minimal family support, and experienced distressing scrutiny from …

Relationships Between Environmental Pollution And Corporate Environmental Violence Within The Florida Energy Sector, Lynne Hodalski-Champagne

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Environmental pollution and corporate environmental violence (CEV) have become a primary motivator for research, activism, and policy initiatives. Prior research has involved environmental crime, environmental injustice and racism, its origins, history and applications, and effects on public perceptions leading to recommendations for policy implementation. The purpose of the study was to address environmental pollution in terms of total toxic emissions and CEV through analyses of harm inflicted on life, health, and physical integrity of humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. A quantitative correlational design was used with a Pearson’s r correlation coefficient to determine significance with a 95% confidence interval. Routine activities, …

Leaders’ Responsiveness To Creating Ethical Climate For Whistleblowing And Implicit Retaliation In The Public Sector, Oluwatoyin Olusegun

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Whistleblowing is reporting unethical or illegitimate practices witnessed by a member of an organization. Despite the laws and policies protecting whistleblowers in the public sector, many employees who report observed wrongdoings face retaliation. Creating an ethical climate impacts the responsiveness of organizational leaders to whistleblowing, yet little is known about how middle-level managers navigate organizational factors, situational factors, and personal beliefs to create an ethical climate. The current study aimed to bridge the knowledge gap by exploring how middle-level managers in government organizations in California described how organizational and personal factors influence their ability to create an ethical climate that …

Exploration Of The Implementation Of The Workforce Innovation And Opportunity Act By Vocational Rehabilitation Programs Through Collaboration With Education Officials, Elyse Leinani Luke

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite public policies intended to achieve employment equity for students with disabilities, compared to students without disabilities, transition-age students with disabilities are less likely to be in the workforce even after receiving public vocational rehabilitation (VR) services. The purpose of this qualitative, multicase study was to explore implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) by VR programs through collaboration with state education officials to deliver pre-employment transition services (pre-ETS) to students with disabilities. The Integration Continuum was used to conceptually frame this study because the model provides a hierarchical scale with definitions about how organizations work together at …

Neonatal Nurses’ Intention To Stay In The Nicu, Carolyn Penn-Griffin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Neonatal nursing leaders and national health care organizations within the United States are concerned about the recent shortage of skilled and experienced neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses that may reduce the quality of care delivered to NICU patients. NICU nurses are passionate about caring for premature and ill full-term infants and providing educational and emotional support for their parents, some NICU nurses remain in the NICU long-term, yet others contemplate leaving the specialty. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological research guided by Martin Fishbein and Ajezen’s theory of reasoned action was to explore the lived experiences of NICU …

How Can Geomorphology Facilitate A Better Understanding Of Glacier And Ice Sheet Behaviour?, Matt Westoby, Richard Jones, Lauren Miller

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Glaciers and ice sheets are an integral part of Earth’s system, advancing and retreating in response to changes in climate. Clues about the past, present, and future behaviour of these ice masses are found throughout current and former glaciated landscapes. In this commentary, we outline recent scientific advances from a collection of articles in which geomorphological evidence is used to inform us about the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets across a range of spatial (landform to continent) and temporal (seasons to millennia) scales. Through a diversity of approaches including field measurements, remote sensing and numerical modelling, these studies build …

Precrastination As A Form Of Intention Offloading: A Test Of The Clear Hypothesis, Ryan Jun Seong Liew

Theses and Dissertations

Precrastination has recently been studied due to its counter-intuitive nature. Precrastination is characterized by completing a task sooner rather than later at the expense of effort. VonderHaar et al. (2019) proposed the CLEAR hypothesis to describe the purpose of precrastination behaviors. The CLEAR hypothesis suggests that precrastination is a type of cognitive offloading behavior that clears one’s mental “to-do list”, leaving more cognitive resources for other tasks. Thus, if the CLEAR hypothesis is accurate, precrastination and other offloading strategies may be related. The current study was designed to test this prediction. My study sought to clarify the underlying mechanisms that …

Towards An Interdisciplinary “Science Of The Mind”: A Call For Enhanced Collaboration Between Philosophy And Neuroscience, Alessandra Buccella, Uri Maoz, Liad Mudrik

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

In recent decades, the neuroscientific community has moved from describing the neural underpinnings of mental phenomena—as characterized by experimental psychology and philosophy of mind—to attempting to redefine those mental phenomena based on neural findings. Nowadays, many are intrigued by the idea that neuroscience might provide the “missing piece” that would allow philosophers (and, to an extent, psychologists, too) to make important advances, generating new means that these disciplines lack to close knowledge gaps and answer questions like “What is Free Will?” and “Do humans have it?.” In this paper, we argue that instead of striving for neuroscience to replace philosophy …

How Are Entanglement Entropies Related To Entropy Bounds?, Emily Adlam

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper we seek to understand what current knowledge of entanglement entropies suggests about the appropriate way to interpret the covariant entropy bound. We first begin by arguing that just as in the classical case, a universal bound on the von Neumann entropy could have either an epistemic or ontological origin. We then consider several possible ways of explaining the bound as a consequence of features of the entanglement entropy. We discuss consider area laws in condensed matter and quantum field theory, arguing that they suggest an epistemic reading of the bound. We also discuss the ‘spacetime from entanglement’ …

Influence Of Polypyrrole On Phosphorus- And Tio2-Based Anode Nanomaterials For Li-Ion Batteries, Chiwon Kang, Kibum Song, Seungho Ha, Yujin Sung, Yejin Kim, Keun-Young Shin, Byung Hyo Kim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Phosphorus (P) and TiO2 have been extensively studied as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high specific capacities. However, P is limited by low electrical conductivity and significant volume changes during charge and discharge cycles, while TiO2 is hindered by low electrical conductivity and slow Li-ion diffusion. To address these issues, we synthesized organic–inorganic hybrid anode materials of P–polypyrrole (PPy) and TiO2–PPy, through in situ polymerization of pyrrole monomer in the presence of the nanoscale inorganic materials. These hybrid anode materials showed higher cycling stability and capacity compared to pure P and TiO2. The enhancements are attributed …

A/B Testing Of User Enrollment Forms To Enhance Diversity In The Biomedical Workforce Via The National Research Mentoring Network: User-Centered Design Case Study, Toufeeq Ahmed Syed, Erika L Thompson, Jason Johnson, Zainab Latif, Nan Kennedy, Damaris Javier, Katie Stinson, Jamboor K Vishwanatha

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is a National Institutes of Health-funded program for diversifying the science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine research workforce through the provision of mentoring, networking, and professional development resources. The NRMN provides mentoring resources to members through its online platform-MyNRMN.

OBJECTIVE: MyNRMN helps members build a network of mentors. Our goal was to expand enrollment and mentoring connections, especially among those who have been historically underrepresented in biomedical training and the biomedical workforce.

METHODS: To improve the ease of enrollment, we implemented the split testing of iterations of our user interface for platform registration. …

Improving Laboratory Animal Genetic Reporting: Lag-R Guidelines, Lydia Teboul, James Amos-Landgraf, Fernando J Benavides, Marie-Christine Birling, Steve D M Brown, Elizabeth Bryda, Rosie Bunton-Stasyshyn, Hsian-Jean Chin, Martina Crispo, Fabien Delerue, Michael Dobbie, Craig L Franklin, Ernst-Martin Fuchtbauer, Xiang Gao, Christelle Golzio, Rebecca Haffner, Yann Hérault, Martin Hrabe De Angelis, Kevin C Kent Lloyd, Terry R Magnuson, Lluis Montoliu, Stephen A Murray, Ki-Hoan Nam, Lauryl M J Nutter, Eric Pailhoux, Fernando Pardo Manuel De Villena, Kevin Peterson, Laura Reinholdt, Radislav Sedlacek, Je Kyung Seong, Toshihiko Shiroishi, Cynthia Smith, Toru Takeo, Louise Tinsley, Jean-Luc Vilotte, Søren Warming, Sara Wells, C Bruce Whitelaw, Atsushi Yoshiki, Asian Mouse Mutagenesis Resource Association, Celphedia Infrastructure, Infrafrontier Consortium, International Mammalian Genome Society, International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, International Society For Transgenic Technologies, Mutant Mouse Resource And Research Centers, Phenomics Australia, Rrrc- Rat Resource And Research Center, Guillaume Pavlovic

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The biomedical research community addresses reproducibility challenges in animal studies through standardized nomenclature, improved experimental design, transparent reporting, data sharing, and centralized repositories. The ARRIVE guidelines outline documentation standards for laboratory animals in experiments, but genetic information is often incomplete. To remedy this, we propose the Laboratory Animal Genetic Reporting (LAG-R) framework. LAG-R aims to document animals' genetic makeup in scientific publications, providing essential details for replication and appropriate model use. While verifying complete genetic compositions may be impractical, better reporting and validation efforts enhance reliability of research. LAG-R standardization will bolster reproducibility, peer review, and overall scientific rigor.

Associations Between Covid-19 Therapies And Outcomes In Rural And Urban America: A Multisite, Temporal Analysis From The Alpha To Omicron Sars-Cov-2 Variants, A. Jerrod Anzalone, William H. Beasley, Kimberly Murray, William B. Hillegass, Makayla Schissel, Michael T. Vest, Scott A. Chapman, Ronald Horswell, Lucio Miele, J. Zachary Porterfield, H. Timothy Bunnell, Bradley S. Price, Sharon Patrick, Clifford J. Rosen, Susan L. Santangelo, James C. Mcclay, Sally L. Hodder

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Purpose: To investigate the enduring disparities in adverse COVID-19 events between urban and rural communities in the United States, focusing on the effects of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and therapeutic advances on patient outcomes. Methods: Using National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) data from 2021 to 2023, this retrospective cohort study examined COVID-19 hospitalization, inpatient death, and other adverse events. Populations were categorized into urban, urban-adjacent rural (UAR), and nonurban-adjacent rural (NAR). Adjustments included demographics, variant-dominant waves, comorbidities, region, and SARS-CoV-2 treatment and vaccination. Statistical methods included Kaplan-Meier survival estimates, multivariable logistic, and Cox regression. Findings: The study included 3,018,646 patients, with rural …

Re: Approval Letter For The Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (Bpsou), Draft Final Residential Metals Abatement Program Investigation Summary Report (Non-Residential – Interior School Dust) - Gold Hill Lutheran Church (Creativity Factory Preschool) (Dated April 8, 2024), Molly Roby

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.