Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing Key Factors Influencing Fire-Induced Spalling Of Concrete Using Explainable Artificial Intelligence (Xai), Mohammad Khaled Gazi Albashiti

All Theses

This thesis adopts eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) to identify the key factors influencing the fire-induced spalling of concrete and to extract new insights into the fire-induced spalling phenomenon. In this pursuit, an XAI model was developed, validated, and then augmented with two explainability measures, namely, Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) and Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME). The proposed XAI model not only can predict the fire-induced spalling with high accuracy (i.e., >92 %) but can also articulate the reasoning behind its predictions (as in, the proposed model can specify the rationale for each prediction instance); thus, providing us with valuable insights …

Role Of Salinity In Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (Pfos) Bioconcentration Between Aquatic Species And The Differential Regulation Of Transporters In Fundulus Heteroclitus, Tyler Davis

All Theses

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a persistent organic pollutant that is known for its surfactant properties and its resistance to degradation. The persistence and lipophilicity of PFOS in surface waters have led to its bioaccumulation in fish, which in turn leads to its accumulation and toxic effects in humans that consume fish. PFOS is also hypothesized to perturb reproduction and survival of low and mid-trophic level zooplankton species such as Daphnia magna that are food for multiple fish species. In this study, a 21-day D. magna chronic toxicity test was performed using 1,10, 100, 1000, and 5000 ppb of PFOS to …

Childhood Sleep Health And Epigenetic Age Acceleration In Late Adolescence: Cross-Sectional And Longitudinal Analyses, David Balfour, Phillip E. Melton, Joanne A. Mcveigh, Rae-Chi Huang, Peter R. Eastwood, Sian Wanstall, Amy C. Reynolds, Sarah Cohen-Woods

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aim: Investigate if childhood measures of sleep health are associated with epigenetic age acceleration in late adolescence. Methods: Parent-reported sleep trajectories from age 5 to 17, self-reported sleep problems at age 17, and six measures of epigenetic age acceleration at age 17 were studied in 1192 young Australians from the Raine Study Gen2. Results: There was no evidence for a relationship between the parent-reported sleep trajectories and epigenetic age acceleration (p ≥ 0.17). There was a positive cross-sectional relationship between self-reported sleep problem score and intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration at age 17 (b = 0.14, p = 0.04), which was …

The Role Of Peer, Supervisor, Mentor, And Organizational Support On Workplace Ostracism And Inclusion, Erica Boucher

All Theses

A common workplace problem, particularly for women and other minorities, is workplace ostracism and a lack of inclusion into social and professional networks. There are many negative effects of workplace ostracism including decreased job satisfaction and productivity and increased turnover intentions. Conversely, inclusion is associated with positive interpersonal, psychological, and work-related outcomes for individuals. Given the importance of ostracism and inclusion, understanding predictors of these variables may aid the design of successful, supportive organizational interventions to create a positive environment for employees. Based on the literature, it seemed that ostracism and inclusion would be impacted by feelings of institutional, supervisor, …

Nero's Alexandrian Coinage: The Olympic Series Of 66/67 And 67/68 Ce And Its Achaean Context, Samantha Doleno

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Emperor Nero's coinage is considered by some to be the height of artistic innovation, strongly influenced by his own philhellenism. This can especially be seen in his Alexandrian coinage, which minted an unprecedented amount of coinage at the end of his reign. The overall purpose of this thesis is to explore why the Olympic series, a series of billon tetradrachms minted in 66/67 and 67/68 CE and thought to commemorate Nero’s victories in Greece, was minted, despite Alexandria not being affected by Nero’s journey to Greece. I will argue that the Olympic series was minted as a philhellenic connection to …

Faszination Mond – Das Mondmotiv In Der Deutschsprachigen Gegenwartslyrik Vor Dem Hintergrund Seiner Literarischen Tradition, Lara-Mareen Foerster

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This master thesis explores the moon motif in contemporary poetry in relation to its literary history. Contemporary poetry is understood as poetry after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. My research seeks to provide an overview of the moon motif in German contemporary literature where hitherto only scholarship on Durs Grünbein has considered the importance of the moon motif. Therefore, this work taxonomically explores the functions of the moon motif in general instead of aiming at a close reading of selected poems. I am taking a stance against the notion that the moon motif and the fascination for …

O Observatory: Poems, Abbey Frederick

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Functional Network Model Definition On Biomarker Outcome Prediction, Xinyang Feng

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) models are widely used to investigate the human connectome and to predict and understand behavior, emotion, and cognition. Prior research has organized pediatric connectome data using adult functional network models. However, this assumes that adult functional network models are appropriate and useful for prediction developmental outcomes from pediatric connectome data. We hypothesize that the application of adult brain network models could result in poor model fit, limiting the generalizability of results. Here, we test whether prediction of biological age is improved by concordant brain network models matching underlying functional connectome data. To quantify the difference in age …

Adapting Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (Ro-Dbt) For Adolescents: Preliminary Testing Of Mechanisms Of Change, Molly Fennig

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Background: Overcontrol is a phenotype characterized by inflexibility, perfectionism, and a need for control or structure, which increases risk for disorders such as anorexia nervosa, social anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Given high comorbidity and limited efficacy of current treatments for these disorders, Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy for adolescents (RO DBT-A) attempts to improve outcomes by targeting overcontrol as a transdiagnostic mechanism. This study aimed to test preliminary efficacy of telehealth-delivered RO DBT-A in targeting overcontrol as a mechanism of psychopathology in a heterogeneous clinical sample. Method: Participants were female adolescents (ages 13-21; 83% white; 80% non-Hispanic/Latino) who presented with …

Transdiagnostic Predictors Of Everyday Functioning: Examining The Relationships Of Depression And Reinforcement Learning, Nada Dalloul

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Background and Hypothesis. Identifying the factors contributing to functional deficits in psychotic disorders is essential to developing effective interventions. To address gaps in the literature, the current study had several goals: examine whether there are differential relationships across domains of neurocognition and function, assess whether reinforcement learning is related to function, identify how and if predictors of function are transdiagnostic, determine whether depression and positive symptoms contribute to function, and to further explore whether the modality of assessing function impacts the observed relationships. Study Design. We examined the neurocognitive and symptomatic predictors of individual functional domains across three measures …

Storm Surge Risk Assessment In Coastal Communities In The Rio Grande Valley: An Application Of Gis-Based Spatial Multicriteria Decision Analysis With Analytical Hierarchy Process, Dean Kyne

Sociology Faculty Publications

Cameron County, which is located in the Rio Grande Valley, maintains records of storm surges associated with noticeable property damage, fatalities, and injuries. This study investigates storm surge inundation risk in Cameron County using storm surge hazard datasets from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, along with American Community Survey 2019 block group datasets. Using a GIS-based spatial multicriteria decision analysis with an analytical hierarchy process method, the study estimates that storm surge water levels could be above 6.1 m (20 ft) in category 4 and 5 hurricane events, whereas about 37% of the county’s population (159,659 people) could be …

Stimulus–Response Congruency Effects Depend On Quality Of Perceptual Evidence: A Diffusion Model Account, Blaine Tomkins

Psychology Faculty Publications

Individuals often need to make quick decisions based on incomplete or “noisy” information. This requires the coordination of attentional, perceptual, cognitive, and behavioral mechanisms. This poses a challenge for isolating the unique effects of each subprocess from behavioral data, which reflect the summation of all subprocesses combined. Sequential sampling models offer a more detailed examination of behavioral data, enabling us to separate decisional and non-decisional processes at play in a task. Participants were required to identify briefly presented shapes while perceptual (duration, size, location) and response features (location-congruent/-incongruent/-neutral) of the task were manipulated. The diffusion model (Ratcliff, 1978) was used …

Nest Material Preferences In Wild Hazel Dormice Muscardinus Avellanarius: Testing Predictions From Optimal Foraging Theory, Sa Collins, Sm Lane, M Ishibashi, T Hamston

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Obtaining nesting material presents an optimal foraging problem, collection of materials incurs a cost in terms of risk of predation and energy spent and individuals must balance these costs with the benefits of using that material in the nest. The hazel dormouse, Muscardinus avellanarius is an endangered British mammal in which both sexes build nests. However, whether material used in their construction follows the predictions of optimal foraging theory is unknown. Here, we analyze the use of nesting materials in forty two breeding nests from six locations in Southwest England. Nests were characterized in terms of which plants were used, …

Fdic Releases Comprehensive Overview Of Deposit Insurance System, Including Options For Deposit Insurance Reform | Fdic, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Documents

No abstract provided.

First Republic Bank Is Seized, Sold To Jpmorgan In Second-Largest U.S. Bank Failure, Rachel Louise Ensign, Ben Eisen

Documents

No abstract provided.

Jamie Dimon Says ‘This Part Of The Crisis Is Over’ After Jpmorgan Chase Buys First Republic, Hugh Son

Documents

No abstract provided.

The Tragedy Of The Common? A Comparative Population Genomic Study Of Two Bumblebee Species, Jana V. Huml, Jonathan S. Ellis, Sarah Rustage, Mark J.F. Brown, Richard Billington, Mairi E. Knight

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Within the theoretical framework of the small population paradigm, we investigated the population genomics and parasite load of two bumblebee species across the UK and Ireland. Bombus pratorum is widespread and common throughout its range while Bombus monticola is restricted to higher altitudes and shows a more fragmented distribution. Bombus monticola showed stronger population structuring, isolation-by-distance, and a deficit of heterozygotes in the most isolated population in the south of its range (Dartmoor). Heterozygosity and inbreeding coefficients (FIS) were comparable between both species, but the proportion of polymorphic sites was much greater in B. pratorum. Notably, both species have suffered …

Actions And Approaches For Enabling Industry 5.0-Driven Sustainable Industrial Transformation: A Strategy Roadmap, Morteza Ghobakhloo, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Manuel E. Morales, Mehrbakhsh Nilashi, Azlan Amran

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Although Industry 4.0 was believed to promote sustainable development, it has ignored or misunderstood many prevailing sustainability concerns, which led to the emergence of the Industry 5.0 agenda. While the desirable sustainability values of Industry 5.0 are widely acknowledged, the knowledge of how this agenda can deliver sustainable transformation is lacking. The present study addresses this knowledge gap, explaining how Industry 5.0 transformation should be managed to facilitate sustainable development. Therefore, this study strives to model the underlying mechanism for enabling such transformation. The study conducted a content-centric review of the literature and identified 11 actions and approaches that serve …

Biodegradable Magnesium Materials Regulate Ros-Rns Balance In Pro-Inflammatory Macrophage Environment, Maria Paula Kwesiga, Amani A. Gillette, Seyedehfatemeh Razaviamri, Margaret E. Plank, Alexia L. Canull, Zachary Alesch, Weilue He, Bruce Lee, Roger J. Guillory Ii

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The relationship between reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS-RNS) secretion and the concomitant biocorrosion of degradable magnesium (Mg) materials is poorly understood. We found that Mg foils implanted short term in vivo (24 h) displayed large amounts of proinflammatory F4/80+/iNOS + macrophages at the interface. We sought to investigate the interplay between biodegrading Mg materials (98.6% Mg, AZ31 & AZ61) and macrophages (RAW 264.7) stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (RAW 264.7LPS) to induce ROS-RNS secretion. To test how these proinflammatory ROS-RNS secreting cells interact with Mg corrosion in vitro, Mg and AZ61 discs were suspended approximately 2 mm above a monolayer of …

The Whispering Voices Behind The Poetry Of Robert Browning And Matthew Arnold: Three Theoretical Approaches To Selected Works: Formalist, Psychoanalytic, And Marxist, Gabriel M. Cisneros

Theses (2016-Present)

Throughout the literary world, many critics have attempted to pinpoint the root cause for the sudden changes in style and attitude about writing the poetry that ultimately chased Robert Browning and Matthew Arnold into developing their own style in which to convey their innermost compassion for humanity. They hid their injured poetic souls; they hid their innermost thoughts, but they expressed themselves through their characters. By expressing themselves as the voice behind the speaker, they were able to create an artificial mask and utilize the mask as a method of capitalizing on the very essence of what the dramatic monologue …

Investigating The Impact Of Covid-19 On Mobility Condition., Sandip Acharya

Theses (2016-Present)

Having large number of vehicles operating in the freeways of Houston daily, the mobility concern is high as some of the freeways in Houston are among the most congested freeways in United States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the less congested freeways led to over speeding resulting in various crashes and even fatality. This resulted in changing of drivers; and ultimately the mobility patterns were changed during the study years of 2019, 2020 and 2021. To better understand how this mobility pattern changed over the three years, this research used Machine Learning algorithms to examine the mobility of freeways in Houston …

Promotion Of Citizenship Through Migration: Taking Into Cognizance The Peculiarities Of Migrant, Uche Nnawulezi, Hilary Nwaechefu

Indonesia Law Review

This study arose out of the growing interest in citizenship issues that have remained an intractable problem in the global migration community. The main objective this study is to examine the realities of global migration which has necessitated expansion on citizenship policies of admission, acquisition of rights, responsibilities, and interest of migrants or residents contained in statutory provisions or frameworks of migrant's country of residence. This is against the backdrop driven by the desire to create stability in the international migration system. It becomes imperative to examined the benefits and protections accorded to migrant in his place of residence which …

Evaluating The Use Of A Specialised Technological Application On Students Learning Growth, Paul Taylor, Aya Khattab, Amanda Yousef

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

From experience, students usually drop in their achievement levels only when faced with a situation that is beyond their control. Situations that impact them are either physical, mental, or both, such as bullying, family sickness, or death. The global pandemic that swept the world was a situation that has globally affected all human beings. This impact was substantial not just from a humanistic perspective of well-being but also economically and academically. The economic and human impact was an experience that could be seen directly within the schools of Qatar. Large swathes of children were showing lower academic levels than was …

Evaluating The Use Of A Specialised Technological Application On Students Learning Growth, Aya Khattab, Ayatalla Mahmoud Ibrahim Khattab, Amanda Alaa Alden Yousef, Paul M. Taylor

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

From experience, students usually drop in their achievement levels only when faced with a situation that is beyond their control. Situations that impact them are either physical, mental, or both, such as bullying, family sickness, or death. The global pandemic that swept the world was a situation that has globally affected all human beings. This impact was substantial not just from a humanistic perspective of well-being but also economically and academically. The economic and human impact was an experience that could be seen directly within the schools of Qatar. Large swathes of children were showing lower academic levels than was …

Evaluating The Use Of A Specialised Technological Application On Students Learning Growth, Amanda Alaa Aldin Yousef, Aya Khattab, Paul Taylor

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

From experience, students usually drop their achievement levels only when faced with a situation beyond their control. Situations that impact them are physical, mental, or both, such as bullying, family sickness, or death. The global pandemic that swept the world was a situation that has globally affected all human beings. This impact was substantial from a humanistic well-being perspective and economically and academically. The economic and human impact was an experience that could be seen directly within the schools of Qatar. Large swathes of children showed lower academic levels than predicted before the pandemic. When we returned from Covid, levels …

Impact Study On Skill Development Of Teaching English With Differentiated Instruction To High School Students In A Multi-Level English Class., Isarel Ortega

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

The research examined the difference between students placed in an ESL class with a multilevel class versus students in a differentiated class. The information from the study will be used in the future to better the quality of students' success when learning English in the Mexican public education system. English classes in the public education system ranged from no skills to low literacy to high literacy. Most students who came into a public high school from a private middle school had previous English knowledge. However, students who came from a public one, even though all public middle schools had to …

The Effectiveness Of Handwriting Without Tears Programme In Teaching Handwriting To Students On The Autism Spectrum, Sana Abdul Majeed

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

Objective:

This research sought to determine the effectiveness of the Handwriting without tears ® programme when used in a specialized school in Doha that caters exclusively to autistic students.

Method:

This was a quantitative experimental study which included two cohorts, a control group (n=18) improving their handwriting skills through traditional methods and a treatment group (n=18) that received interventions based on HWT curriculum and resources.

Results:

Both groups demonstrated improvements in their handwriting skills however

the treatment group exhibited greater difference between pre-test and post-test scores and mastered more competency levels using the HWT® interventions and resources.

Conclusion:

The study …

To What Extent Does The Accreditation Process Encourage Teachers To Enhance The Critical Thinking Skills Of Fifth And Sixth Graders, Abdelmuniem Elkhair Mohamed, Ihab Mosa Basha

International Graduate Program for Educators Master's Projects

To What Extent Does the Accreditation Process Encourage Teachers to Enhance the Critical Thinking Skills of Fifth and Sixth Graders

Ihab Mosa Basha & Abdelmuniem Mohamed

Under the direction of Dr. Joan DellaValle

School accreditation organizations aim to enhance the ability of educational institutions to develop and improve their performance and outcomes by using research based standards and indicators to measure the quality of school operations. This study aimed to assess the effect of the school accreditation process, especially Qatar National School Accreditation (QNSA) on raising teachers’ and educators’ awareness of the importance of the implementation of higher order thinking …

The Loneliest Galaxies In The Universe: A Gama And Galaxy Zoo Study On Void Galaxy Morphology., Lori E. Porter

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

The large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe is comprised of galaxy filaments, tendrils, and voids. The majority of the Universe’s volume is taken up by these voids, which exist as underdense, but not empty, regions. The galaxies found inside voids are void galaxies and expected to be some of the most isolated objects in the Universe. However, their standard morphology remains poorly studied. This study, using the Galaxy and Mass Assembly (GAMA) data and Galaxy Zoo survey, aims to remedy this. For completeness purposes, we use void galaxies identified by Alpaslan et al. (2014) with stellar masses (M*) of 10 …

Immobilization And Its Effects On Functional Recovery After Spinal Cord Injury., William H. Gregory

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

Recovery, or rather the failure to recover, is a perplexing issue of spinal cord injury that is currently being investigated. This issue becomes more puzzling when investigating models in which spinal cord injury (SCI) is studied. There appears to be greater functional recovery experienced by animals within these models after injury as compared to patients in the clinical setting. While many things could contribute to this disparity, one difference that stands out when comparing the basic research model and clinical experience of SCI is the inactivity and limb disuse after the injury. This same level of immobility is rarely accounted …