Digital Commons Network^™

Utilizing Deep Learning Audio Models For Blind And Low Vision Crosswalk Assistance, Wayne Lam

Dissertations and Theses

Navigating urban environments poses significant challenges for blind and low vision (BLV) individuals, particularly at street intersections where determining when it is safe to cross can be life-threatening. In New York City, where pedestrian fatalities are on the rise and only 2% of intersections are equipped with Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), alternative solutions are urgently needed. This thesis proposes an audio-based deep learning approach to support BLV individuals at crosswalks by detecting traffic movement direction and idling states using spatial sound. With 4-channel audio capturing capabilities of wearables, such as Meta Project Aria glasses, we explore state-of-the-art sound event localization …

Cognitive Map Generation For Vision And Language Navigation, Alexander Sandoval Mesa

Dissertations and Theses

Visual-Language Navigation (VLN) presents significant challenges for autonomous agents, such as robots and virtual assistants, particularly in complex, dynamic environments where the seamless integration of visual perception and natural language understanding is critical. Traditional VLN systems often struggle with effectively aligning language instructions and visual scene understanding, limiting their adaptability and navigation efficiency.

This thesis proposes a novel Cognitive Map-based framework that addresses these challenges by transforming natural language navigation instructions into structured graph representations. The Cognitive Map consists of nodes representing waypoints, landmarks, decision points, and edges encoding spatial relationships and navigational actions. These maps are generated using Large …

Multi-Material Adhesive Bonded Joints Under Static And Dynamic Loading, Gizem Derya Demir

Dissertations and Theses

Adhesively bonded joints present significant potential for reducing structural weight and enhancing performance in modern and future engineering structures. By enabling the elimination or reduction of traditional mechanical fasteners and facilitating the integration of dissimilar materials, adhesives can contribute to more efficient, lightweight designs. However, to fully leverage these benefits—especially in high-performance applications—adhesive materials must exhibit robust behavior under both static and dynamic loading conditions, such as ballistic impact. Despite their promise, the failure mechanisms of adhesives under such high-strain-rate scenarios remain insufficiently understood.

This dissertation investigates the performance of adhesively bonded multi-material joints subjected to static loading and ballistic …

Data Driven Bridge Deck Deterioration Modeling And Maintenance Intervention Scheduling, Deepak Kumar

Dissertations and Theses

Majority of over 617,000 bridges across the United States are significantly impacted by environmental factors, aging materials, and heavy traffic loads. According to the 2021 Infrastructure Report, nearly 231,000 bridges require repair or preservation work, with 46,154 (7.5%) being classified as structurally deficient, thereby posing risks for mor than 178 million daily trips across these bridges. Despite recent improvements, 42% of U.S. bridges are at least 50 years old, underscoring an urgent need for increased investment to meet repair demands. The nation’s backlog of bridge repairs is estimated at $125 billion, with a 58% increase in annual spending required to …

Generation And Characterization Of Human Blood-Brain Barrier Models For Investigating Neuropsychiatric Disorders And Tumor Metastasis, Yunfei Li

Dissertations and Theses

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is important in the normal function of the central nervous system (CNS). An altered BBB has been described in various neuropsychiatric disorders. The brain-specific microvascular endothelial cell (BMEC) is an essential structural component of the BBB. To test if integrity of the BBB formed by BMECs is compromised in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (also called DiGeorge syndrome), which is one of the validated genetic risk factors for schizophrenia, a 2D iBBB (induced BBB) on a Transwell filter was generated from human microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) derived from the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) out of patients with …

Experimental And Analytical Investigation Of Particle Dynamics In Newtonian And Non-Newtonian Fluids In A Taylor-Couette Cell, Andres F. Velez Mendoza

Dissertations and Theses

This doctoral dissertation investigates heavy particle sedimentation in Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, aiming to understand their behavior in Drilling Fluid (DF) systems used in oil and gas industry, where such phenomenon can lead to operational issues such as lost circulation, well control problems, and even blowouts. To simulate DF dynamics under operational conditions, this study utilizes a Taylor-Couette (TC) cell, which consists of a rotating inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder separated by a 9.0 mm annular gap. The TC cell allows for the investigation of the sedimentation behavior of spherical particles within both Newtonian fluids (deionized water and …

Deep Learning Architectures For Improving Weather Research And Forecasting (Wrf) Precipitation Estimates And Landslide Susceptibility Mapping: A Case Study Of Puerto Rico, Said A. Mejia Manrique

Dissertations and Theses

Precipitation is a critical factor in the Earth’s hydrological cycle and has a profound impact on various environmental and socioeconomic systems, including management of water resources, flood forecasting, and the evaluation of natural hazards, particularly those associated with rainfall-induced landslides. For the latter, obtaining precise precipitation estimates is essential, as intense rainfall events can trigger landslides that pose significant risks to human life, infrastructure, and ecosystems, particularly in mountainous regions. Puerto Rico (PR), with its mountainous terrain, tropical climate, and vulnerability to hurricanes, provides a unique environment for studying precipitation patterns and the need for accurate rainfall estimates. The complex …

An Exploration Of Object Representations And Defense Mechanisms In Caregiver-Child Dyads On The Thematic Apperception Test, Hannah L. Bloom

Dissertations and Theses

Caregiver-child interactions, beginning in infancy, are essential for socio-emotional development. Through these exchanges, caregivers impart fantasies, fears, and beliefs—both consciously and unconsciously—that shape the child’s internal models of self and others (object representations) and strategies for managing intense emotions (defense mechanisms). Historically, projective tests, such as the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), have been used to explore these constructs. In the TAT, participants craft narratives based on images that portray characters in different emotional states and interpersonal situations. Through their responses, participants project elements of their own internal world into the stories they create. Despite the TAT’s success in differentiating diagnostic …

A Message From The President

Bulletin of the Ninth District Dental Association

A regular column from the president of the Ninth District of New York bringing the latest news to the membership.

A Message From The President

Bulletin of the Ninth District Dental Association

A regular column from the president of the Ninth District of New York bringing the latest news to the membership.

A Message From The President

Bulletin of the Ninth District Dental Association

A regular column from the president of the Ninth District of New York bringing the latest news to the membership.

Antibiotic-Resistant Nontyphoidal Salmonella And Campylobacter Isolates Associated With International Travel, Connecticut 2010 – 2023, Shilpa Mudumbe

Public Health Theses

Antibiotics are helpful for limiting duration and complications of Salmonella andCampylobacter isolates in selected age groups and people who are immunosuppressed. However, antibiotic-resistant (AR) foodborne pathogens have been on the rise in the United States over the past 10 years and are often linked to international travel (IT). Long-term trends on AR have not been examined in Connecticut (CT). This study evaluates trends in AR among nontyphoidal Salmonella and Campylobacter isolates in CT from 2010 to 2023 and examines the association between AR and IT. Data from submission of annual systematic samples of CT Salmonella and Campylobacter isolates to the …

Claude Ai And Literature Reviews: An Experiment In Utility And Ethical Use, Max Sparkman, Alan Witt

Milne Library

Generative large-language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Claude have sparked debate throughout higher education about their potential and threats to the current pedagogical models for research. This paper scans the literature on the benefits and drawbacks of using LLMs in teaching and research, and compares and contrasts two literature reviews on the subject, one written by a human author and one produced by Claude. The comparison explores areas where the generative AI excels, such as quickly summarizing points of agreement across sources, as well as its limitations, like struggling with synthesis, providing incomplete citations, and hallucinating false information. While …

Message From The Ada President - Standing Up For Community Water Fluoridation, Brett Kessler

Bulletin of the Ninth District Dental Association

A message from ADA President Brett Kessler, D.D.S., regarding the importance of community water fluoridation.

The Relevance Of Natural Language Versus Terms And Connectors Searching In Westlaw And Lexis, Amy Taylor

Scholarly Works

Thirty years have passed since a published comparison of natural language and terms and connectors searching in legal databases, and that analysis included only Westlaw. The current study compares natural language and terms and connectors searching in both Westlaw and Lexis for two hypothetical scenarios. Searchers ran four searches for each hypothetical: Lexis natural language, Westlaw natural language, Lexis terms and connectors, and Westlaw terms and connectors. The results showed no statistically significant difference between natural language and terms and connectors for either hypothetical. This suggests it may be appropriate to reduce the time and energy spent teaching law students …

Gender, Race, And Interruptions At Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings, Lori A. Ringhand, Christina L. Boyd, Paul M. Collins, Jr.

Scholarly Works

In this research letter, we examine whether gender and racial bias affect interruption rates at one of the most visible events in American politics: US Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Using original data from 1939 to 2022, we find that male and white participants are more likely to interrupt women and person of color speakers, respectively, relative to male and white speakers. This finding holds for both senators and nominees as interrupters. Our results provide evidence that biased interruptive behavior occurs in even the most public and salient of political settings and that it can be mitigated (or intensified) by shared …

A Hierarchical Bayesian Meta-Regression Model For Incorporating Exposure Range Variability, Xiaotong Xu

Public Health Theses

Accurately synthesizing evidence from epidemiologic studies is essential for understanding complex environmental risk relationships and establishing causal relationships. However, the majority of meta-analyses in this area ignore the possibility of variability in risk due to differences in study-specific exposure levels while typical dose-response statistical methods assume a single dose amount per study and not a distribution or range of doses (i.e., exposures). We develop a novel hierarchical Bayesian meta-regression framework that incorporates functional averaging over study-specific exposure ranges and models the underlying exposure-response relationship using a flexible Gaussian process. Using a low-rank predictive process formulation, our approach efficiently projects functional …

Enhancing Dengue Forecasting With Remotely Sensing-Derived Vector Proxies And Random Forest Models: A Case Study For Sri Lanka, Shuyu Ye

Public Health Theses

Dengue fever is a growing global public health threat, especially in tropical and subtropical regions such as Sri Lanka, where seasonal outbreaks impose recurring burdens on health systems. Accurate and timely forecasting of dengue incidence is essential for public health preparedness, yet most existing models suffer from key limitations: they rely on historical case trends without accounting for real-time ecological dynamics, and often require entomological surveillance data that is not consistently available. This thesis addresses these gaps by proposing a machine learning forecasting framework that integrates remote sensing-derived environmental proxies to estimate latent mosquito vector abundance.Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), …

Economic Burden Of Medically Attended Respiratory Syncytial Virus Illness Among Older Adults, Shirley Zhu

Public Health Theses

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common respiratory pathogen that causes a large burden of disease among older adults. Though there are interventions, the impact and cost-effectiveness of recently licensed RSV vaccines in the United States is not well understood for this population. Thus, reliable estimates on the economic burden of RSV among older adults are needed for future economic analyses.

Objective: The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the cost of medically attended RSV among older adults in the United States.

Methods: Medicare claims data were used to determine average cost per visit for outpatient, inpatient, emergency …

Factors Associated With Non-Transport For Ems Incidents Of Pediatric Head Injuries, Margaret Zhang

Public Health Theses

Background/Purpose:Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a valuable resource for evaluating, treating, and coordinating care for individuals who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Among adults with a TBI, there is frequent refusal of EMS transport. This raises a public health concern because it can put a burden on resource utilization and reveal misperceptions regarding risk following head injuries. Less is known about whether similar patterns of non-transport exist among children with TBIs. The purpose of this study is to describe the epidemiology of pediatric head injuries attended by EMS and to identify factors associated with non-transport for these patients. …

The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (Pdufa): The Design, Evolution, And Challenges Of User Fees And The Reauthorization Process, Therese Ziaks

Public Health Theses

The Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) has had a critical role in funding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) through the form of industry user fees since 1992 with user fees comprising 48% of the FDA’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget. As the FDA faced pressure from Congress and the pharmaceutical industry to reduce drug application review times, the legislation was enacted to provide a funding source in addition to Congressional appropriations so the agency could meet proposed review time goals. As the FDA began to hire additional review staff, reduce application review times, and increase the number of pharmaceuticals …

Nativity Status And Tobacco Use Among Hispanic Adults In The Us, Siyan Zhou

Public Health Theses

Background: Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable mortality. Understanding the consumption patterns of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, two of the most prevalent and harmful tobacco products, is important for population health. Furthermore, as the nation's largest racial or ethnic minority group, the Hispanic population faces tobacco-related disparities despite overall low prevalence of tobacco use. Since the Hispanic population is not homogeneous, it is important to disaggregate it by ancestry and nativity status to better guide policy and targeted interventions.

Methods: The 2022 September Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) included 37,540 participants in the US. Rao-Scott …

Dnabert Reveals Tf Motifs Information In Dna With Attention, Zetong Zhao

Public Health Theses

Traditional motif discovery tools often do not capture cooperative interactions between transcription factors (TFs). This study employs DNABERT, a transformer-based deep learning model, to analyze TF binding sites (TFBS) using attention mechanisms and k-mer tokenization. Fine-tuned on ENCODE ChIP-seq data, DNABERT achieved high predictive accuracy and could identify co-binders such as FOS and JUND through motif enrichment analysis. The model inferred position weight matrices (PWMs) aligning with JASPAR motifs and highlighted the regulatory importance of sequences near gene start regions. Comparisons with BPNet showed strong correlations, which validated DNABERT’s ability to capture TF-specific patterns. While constrained by dataset biases and …

Environmental Health And Justice Impacts Of Data Centers, Yijing Li

Public Health Theses

Background: The rapid expansion in the number and size of data centers, structures that house servers, storage, and networking equipment, in the United States has raised concerns about their environmental and public health impacts as well as the equity implications of where these facilities are built. Objective: This study examined national patterns of data center siting and identified demographic predictors of facility presence. Methods: Operational data center locations were obtained from the Data Center Map database, and county-level sociodemographic characteristics were drawn from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. A national spatial distribution map was created to visualize …

Software, Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Agenda

• Workflow
• Version Control
• Reviews
• Testing
• Constraints
• Concepts
• Assurance

Test And Integration Facilities And Equipment Eat, Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Agenda

• Hardware Protection

• Why, When and How

• Hardware protection breakdown

• ESD

• Cleanrooms

• Procedures

• Training

• Hardware Handling

• School Equipment Guidance

• Training References

Defense In Depth Exercise (Didex) 25: Technology Quad Chart, Kori Moore, Troy Johnson

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

SDL poster for DiDEX 25

Assembly, Integration And Test, Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

What is “AI&T”

• A continuous, iterative process of turning low level components into the system of hardware, software and ground tools that meet YOUR mission

• Teaching the engineering team to UNDERSTAND the system they’ve built

• It does exactly what it was designed to do, now figure out what that was…

• Verifying mechanical, electrical, data and software interfaces

• Does it fit?
• Does it talk?
• Is it on?

Advanced Doppler Wind And Temperature Sounder, Trent Newswander, Scott Bailey, Mark Hervig, Phillip Scott, Zack Hatfield

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Introduction

• An advanced Doppler Wind and Temperature Sounder (DWTS) is being developed for flight on NASA’s Dynamical Neutral Atmosphere-Ionosphere Coupling (DYNAMIC) satellite

– Will provide the first comprehensive global dataset of winds and temperature in the mesosphere and thermosphere (40–250 km altitude)

– Designed and built by Space Dynamics Lab (SDL)

• The DYNAMIC mission aims to characterize the energy transfer between the ionosphere, thermosphere, and mesosphere

– Led by Scott Bailey from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Sate University

– See his HELIOTECH DYNAMIC poster for more details

• DWTS observes the Doppler shift of atmospheric NO and ^{13 …}

Electrical Power System (Eps) Overview, Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

UNP Presentation on Electrical Power Systems