Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing Aerodynamic Loads On Low-Rise Buildings Considering Reynolds Number And Turbulence Effects: A Review, Md Faiaz Khaled, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

This paper presents an extensive review of existing techniques used in estimating design wind pressures considering Reynolds number and turbulence effects, as well as a case study of a reference building investigated experimentally. We shed light on the limitations of current aerodynamic testing techniques, provisions in design standards, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to predict wind-induced pressures. The paper highlights the reasons for obstructing the standardization of the wind tunnel method. Moreover, we introduce improved experimental and CFD techniques to tackle the identified challenges. CFD provides superior and efficient performance by employing wall-modeled large-eddy simulation (WMLES) and hybrid RANS-LES …

Religiosity And Midwestern Lgbtq+ Homeless Youth, Alecia Keller, Nancy Kelley

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Previous investigations have focused on the intersections of LGBTQ+ youth and religion, homelessness and religion, or homeless LGBTQ+ youth, without recognizing the multiple intersections that make up each LGBTQ+ youth’s identity. The purpose of this study was to gain more insight into how being homeless, identifying as LGBTQ+, and growing up with some religion played a role in transitional-aged (ages eighteen to twenty-five) youths’ lives. After working with Youth Emergency Services (YES) in Omaha, Nebraska, and conducting interviews with LGBTQ+ youth who were previously homeless, similar topics emerged among participants. Three participants were evicted from their homes because of their …

Effectiveness Of Accommodations For Students With Adhd At Uno, Kayla Farley

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder which can impair ability to sustain attention, inhibit impulses, plan and organize, and complete tasks. These deficits can create barriers to academic success for students with ADHD. Accommodations are often offered to alleviate these disadvantages. However, current research has called into question the effectiveness of commonly offered accommodations for students with ADHD. The purpose of this study was to determine how helpful UNO students found these accommodations and how to better help this student population. The study surveyed 27 UNO students with ADHD on their learning problems, their experiences with the accommodations and why they …

A Machine Learning Approach For Predicting Patient Mortality With Heart Rate Variability Statistics, Matthew Thiele, Dario Ghersi

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The prediction of patient mortality in the healthcare system provides a metric by which hospitals can better manage patient care and assess the needs of each individual patient. As such, the development of better predictive methods is vital for improving patient outcomes and overall quality of care. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of the heart’s complex beating patterns, giving medical professionals additional insight into patient health. Previous research has demonstrated the potential use of heart rate variability as a metric for patient mortality prediction for various conditions, however more work is necessary to validate HRV as a metric …

Patterns And Predictors Of Adherence To Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations In Alberta's Tomorrow Project, Olivia K. Loewen, Navjot Sandila, Grace Shen-Tu, Jennifer E. Vena, Huiming Yang, Kara Patterson, Jian Yi Xu

Faculty Publications

Breast cancer screening is an important prevention component as it can reduce cancer mortality and improve survival. Understanding patterns of adherence to screening recommendations is essential to guide health promotion strategies and policy implementation efforts. The 1999 Alberta screening guidelines were used to determine screening status for eligible female participants in Alberta's Tomorrow Project (n = 4,972), a longitudinal province-based cohort. Screening patterns were derived based on screening status assessed at enrollment (2001–2008) and follow-up (2008–2011). Information on reason for screening was also collected at each time point. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess potential predictors of adherence to …

Personalized Breast Cancer Onset Prediction From Lifestyle And Health History Information, Shi Ang Qi, Neeraj Kumar, Jian Yi Xu, Jaykumar Patel, Sambasivarao Damaraju, Grace Shen-Tu, Russell Greiner

Faculty Publications

We propose a method to predict when a woman will develop breast cancer (BCa) from her lifestyle and health history features. To address this objective, we use data from the Alberta's Tomorrow Project of 18,288 women to train Individual Survival Distribution (ISD) models to predict an individual's Breast-Cancer-Onset (BCaO) probability curve. We show that our three-step approach-(1) filling missing data with multiple imputations by chained equations, followed by (2) feature selection with the multivariate Cox method, and finally, (3) using MTLR to learn an ISD model-produced the model with the smallest L1-Hinge loss among all calibrated models with comparable C-index. …

A Systematic Literature Review Of Anti-Discrimination Design Strategies In The Digital Sharing Economy, Miroslav Tushev, Fahimeh Ebrahimi, Anas Mahmoud

Faculty Publications

Applications of the Digital Sharing Economy (DSE), such as Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit, have become a main facilitator of economic growth and shared prosperity in modern-day societies. However, recent research has revealed that the participation of minority groups in DSE activities is often hindered by different forms of bias and discrimination. Evidence of such behavior has been documented across almost all domains of DSE, including ridesharing, lodging, and freelancing. However, little is known about the underlying design decisions of DSE platforms which allow certain demographics of the market to gain unfair advantage over others. To bridge this knowledge gap, in …

Roots And Branches: Mimetic Reconstruction Of Women's History Through Nature In Post-Colonial Literature, Jessica D'Albero

Student Theses

Composed similarly to a mini book, this unconventionally structured thesis centralizes on how contemporary female authors, particularly Aurora Levins Morales and Yaa Gyasi, can rebuild gaps in undocumented women’s history through a fusion of nature within post-colonial fiction. A severe lack of preservation exists regarding women’s historical records due to centuries of facing oppression and dual colonization within domestic and public spheres. As a result, women’s memories have become misdirected. These memory gaps can be mimetically refurbished through fictional reconstruction to reimagine simulated pieces to the puzzle of women’s past. The paper divides into two sections, discussing first the idea …

Callaway Measurement Device, Andre S. Fisher, Roman Hays, Blake Sousa, Grant Gabrielson

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this document is to illustrate the Callaway Measurement Device senior project from start to finish. The challenge given to the team was to update and improve a gauge used by Callaway employees to measure the loft, lie, and face angle of their full spectrum of golf clubs. Once the team understood how the pre-existing gauge operates, the team conducted background research into other technologies that could improve the gauge. The team decided to digitalize the device amongst other tweaks to reduce error. Because the CAD files were not available for the pre-existing device, the team began reverse …

Gasifier Wall Wash Manifold, Ashley Sieu Che, Gintaras Julius Baipsys, Peyton Joseph Archibald, Michael Thomas Kieran

Mechanical Engineering

The objective of our Gasifier Wall Wash Manifold Project is to design three different manifolds that will uniformly distribute water on the inner diameter of a pressure vessel. Also, the distributed water should completely cover the circumference of the inner walls. From extensive research of current solutions as well as the conduction of technical analyses, we were able to produce three designs that would be able to meet our engineering specifications. Time constraints led to the fabrication of one manifold design along with a test rig. With a fully functional test rig, we saw positive results from our design verification …

Locking Solar Tracking Bushing, Benjamin James Reed, Andrew Donald Maas, Angel Navarro-Iniguez, John Vincent Bruner

Mechanical Engineering

The contents of this final design review (FDR) outline the progress made by a team of four mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo to solve the problem of torsional galloping in solar tracker panels since the preliminary design review. The project proposed by the sponsor, Christian Friedrich, on behalf of ARaymond is a design for a friction based braking system integrated into a redesigned bushing.

The CDR contains details about the system design, the design justification, the manufacturing plan, and design verification plan. In the system design section, the four manufacturing subsystems (bushing mount, actuation, …

Novel Hitch Cargo Cart, Cesilio Sanchez Ramirez, Lance Haidet, Richard Lontoc, Tyler Selinka

Mechanical Engineering

This document presents the engineering design process used to develop, manufacture, and test a new and improved iteration of a hitch cart prototype. This process was performed by a team of four mechanical engineering seniors as part of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s senior design pathway. The goal of this project was to develop a sturdy and reliable iteration of our sponsor’s hitch cart prototype, that integrated the functionality of a vehicle hitch cargo platform and that of a height adjustable cargo cart into a single streamlined and easy to use product. This design could be used by …

A Drought-Tolerant Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiont For Sustainable Soybean Production, Christian James Peterson

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Bradyrhizobia are an ideal model organism to study plant-microbe interactions due to dual lifestyles as free-living soil organisms and as endosymbionts for valuable cropping systems in agriculture. Farmers have been utilizing the Soybean-Bradyrhizobium japonicum mutualism for decades to revitalize marginal soils, increase yields, and establish a regenerative approach to farming by mitigating the use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers. The largest impediment to bio-fertilizer success is desiccation (e.g., drought) stress before the symbiosis can be established. Due to climate change, fluctuating high temperatures and drought occur seasonally in many growing regions and are becoming a growing concern for modern agriculture. Thus, …

The Impact Of Grade Inflation On Teachers’ Evaluation: A Quantitative Study Conducted In The Context Of Five Lebanese Universities, Bassem E. Maamari, Hiba S. Naccache

Journal of Global Education and Research

Asking students to evaluate teaching faculty by every ending semester in modern education is an established trend. In the higher education circles, it is validated based on a large body of research showing a relationship between these evaluations and students’ achievement. The arising problem is whether this relation is positively associated or not, and the presence of a growing debate pertaining to the many factors influencing this correlation. Most of the cited research shows a link between the attitude of students and their achievement. This research studies the effect of students’ grade point average (GPA), together with the type of …

An Access And Equity Ranking Of Public Law Schools, Christopher L. Mathis

Grantee Research

Over the past few decades, several comprehensive ranking systems, including the influential U.S. News and World Report’s Best Law Schools rankings, have emerged to provide useful information to prospective law students seeking to enroll in law school. These ranking systems have defined what is measured as “quality” and what outcomes law schools focus on to gain a better position in the ranking. These rankings fail to measure what many law schools claim to be one of their longstanding goals—diversity, access, and equity.

One of the problematic and shocking reasons U.S. News cites for not including diversity measures in the …

Numerical Simulation Of Hydrodynamic Forces On Riverine And Coastal Bridges Subjected To Extreme Weather Events, Fahad Pervaiz

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

ABSTRACT: Recent bridge failures due to hurricane-generated storm surges and riverine flood events have highlighted the vulnerability of bridge infrastructure to extreme hydrodynamic loading. In addition to posing an immediate risk to human life, bridge failures can hinder evacuation planning and emergency response efforts. Changes in flood frequency and intensity due to climate change and urbanization may alter the hydrodynamic conditions along urban streams, further stressing bridge infrastructure designed based on historical flow conditions. As a result, quantifying the structural response and stability of bridges under current and future hydrodynamic conditions is crucial to improving transportation safety and efficiency. This …

Microplastic Risk Characterization Of Plastic Road, Md Shams Razi Shopnil

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In recent past, the act of waste recycling has been diversified in manifolds across the world leading to evolution of newer recycling technique and fresh recycled product. Albeit plastic is one of those waste materials which is getting extremely difficult to get substantially recycled because of its record-breaking production, consumption, and its wide range of variations in properties ultimately leading to substandard recycling status of plastics globally. This seemingly poor status of waste plastics recycling against the gargantuan amount of fresh plastic products being added to consumer stream gives rise to a menacing one directional problem: Plastic Pollution, which is …

Reuse Of Recycled Plastic For Subgrade Treatment, Jerin Tasnim

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Disposal of solid waste becomes a global issue due to it contains a large amount of non- degradable polymers and may lead to many environmental issues. With the scarcity of space for landfilling and due to ever increasing cost, finding ways to handle these wastes without endangering the environment is crucial. One of these methods is to use plastic wastes as one of the pavement materials. In this study, a new method of subgrade soil stabilization of pavement is proposed where soil will be stabilized by mixing only plastic with soil for the treatment of subgrade. In order to demonstrate …

Dedication, Sara Ann White

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Commercial Transportation, Madeline E. Mcneeley, Joshua H. Dorminy, Spencer P. Mead, Caitlyn B. Clark, Stephen G. Lowry

Mercer Law Review

Commercial transportation involves all the significant forms of passenger and freight transportation across the United States. This Article surveys significant judicial, regulatory, and legislative developments in Georgia commercial transportation law from June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022.

Construction Law, Peter M. Crofton, David R. Cook, C. Jackson Parker

Mercer Law Review

In addition to common issues of construction law, cases from this year’s Survey period address novel issues such as the interplay of construction law and constitutional law and mandatory COVID-19 vaccines. As predicted in last year’s survey article, cases covered this year address the continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, while construction projects resumed, the industry faced normal problems as well as unprecedented supply-chain difficulties.

Criminal Law, J. Scottt Key

Mercer Law Review

This Article reviews some of the most important opinions impacting the practice of criminal law delivered by the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Georgia covering the period from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022, as well as legislation adopted by the Georgia General Assembly during the 2021 session. This Article is designed to be a mere overview to both prosecutors and defense attorneys of decisions and new statutes and serves as a broad guideline to how these decisions will affect the practices.

Insurance, Myrece Johnson, Maren R. Cave, Thomas D. Martin

Mercer Law Review

During this Survey period, the courts in Georgia were somewhat quiet in the area of insurance following fairly active survey periods during the pandemic. In the three areas of insurance that typically dominate this annual update—automobile, liability, and property insurance—there were only a few cases in each area that seemed to break new ground or offer useful insights to practitioners of insurance law. This Survey period saw very few cases in the area of Georgia uninsured/underinsured (UM) law, which is typically the most active area of insurance decisions year after year. In fact, in this Survey period, legislative changes seemed …

Local Government, Russell A. Britt, Jennifer D. Herzog, Nick Kinsley, Jacob Stalvey O'Neal, Pearson K. Cunningham, Stuart Sumner, Rebekah Ditto, Philip E. Friduss

Mercer Law Review

No abstract provided.

Real Property, Erica L. Burchell

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys developments in Georgia real property law between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. The 2021 Calendar year saw interest rates on a fixed-rate thirty-year mortgage hover at or around roughly 3%—oftentimes actually being below 3%. Since the beginning of 2022, those rates have continued on a nearly steady climb, with the average rate for a thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage for the week of May 26, 2022, clocking in at over 5%, a staggering difference from the year before. Rising interest rates have likely cooled demand for refinances. Nationally, while 2022 is showing a decline in new purchase …

Wills, Trusts, Guardianships, And Fiduciary Administration, Mary F. Radford

Mercer Law Review

This Article discusses significant cases decided by the Georgia Court of Appeals during the period of June 1, 2021 through May 31, 2022, and significant Georgia legislation enacted in that same period relating to Georgia probate and trust law, guardianship, and estate planning.

Workers' Compensation, H. Michael Bagley, J. Benson Ward

Mercer Law Review

The Survey period featured limited legislation. House Bill 1409 increased the maximum rate of temporary total disability benefits from $675 to $725 and increased the maximum rate of temporary partial disability benefits from $450 to $483. Similarly, the maximum amount of death benefits payable to a sole surviving spouse was increased correspondingly from $270,000 to $290,000.

While not an amendment directly to the Workers’ Compensation Act (the Act), it is noteworthy that House Bill 389 amends the definition of “employment” applicable to the “Employment Security Law.” This definition now includes services performed for wages unless the Department of Labor makes …

Zoning And Land Use, Newton M. Galloway, Steven L. Jones, Joshua Williams

Mercer Law Review

Since 2017, this Georgia Survey of zoning law has annually chronicled judicial decisions transforming legislative zoning decisions into quasi-judicial actions, starting with City of Cumming v. Flowers, which held that a local government decision on a variance is quasi-judicial and may only be appealed by writ of certiorari. Subsequently, the Georgia Court of Appeals in York v. Athens College of Ministry held that consideration of a special/conditional use permit is also a quasi-judicial decision, thus extending the holding of City of Cumming. Though the appeal of a zoning decision has traditionally been de novo, York prohibited parties from …

When The Dust Has Settled: Fallout From The 2020 Presidential Election And S.B. 202 Placed Georgia’S Election Code In The Nation’S Crosshairs, William L. Wheeler

Mercer Law Review

Long regarded as a “safe” red territory, Georgia was thrust into the center of a national debate on federal and state elections when President Joe Biden flipped the state blue in the 2020 presidential election. In the wee hours of the morning on November 4, 2020, as the final votes were tallied and the electorate results became clear, the Peach State became the ignition point for a fiery, and often hyper-partisan, national debate over federal elections and how states conduct such contests. Due in part to the contrived rhetoric espoused by acolytes of the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) party, …

Forming Coalitions And Sharing Payoffs In N-Person Normal Form Games, Emma Owusu Dwobeng

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

For a given n-person normal form game, we form all possible sets of mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive coalitions of the n players. For each set of coalitions, we define a coalitional semi-cooperative game as one in which these coalitions are taken as the players of this new game, each coalition tries to maximize the sum of its individual players’ payoffs, and the players within a coalition cooperate to do so. For any coalitional semi-cooperative game, the goal of the original n players is to improve their individual payoffs obtained in a Greedy Scalar Equilibrium (GSE) of the original game, …