Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Need For Affect, Problematic Social Media Use And The Mediating Role Of Fear Of Missing Out In European And Arab Samples, Areej Babiker, Mohamed Basel Almourad, Constantina Panourgia, Sameha Alshakhsi, Christian Montag, Raian Ali

All Works

Purpose: The growing awareness and concern about the excessive use of social media have led to an increasing number of studies investigating the underlying factors contributing to this behavior. In the literature, it is discussed that problematic social media use (PSMU) can impact individuals’ mental health and well-being. Drawing on the Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model, this study aimed to examine the association between the need for affect (affect approach and affect avoidance) and PSMU (operationalized via the social media disorder scale), as well as the mediating role of fear of missing out (FoMO) in that relation. Participants and Methods: …

Flexible Global Aggregation And Dynamic Client Selection For Federated Learning In Internet Of Vehicles, Tariq Qayyum, Zouheir Trabelsi, Asadullah Tariq, Muhammad Ali, Kadhim Hayawi, Irfan Ud Din

All Works

Federated Learning (FL) enables collaborative and privacy-preserving training of machine learning models within the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) realm. While FL effectively tackles privacy concerns, it also imposes significant resource requirements. In traditional FL, trained models are transmitted to a central server for global aggregation, typically in the cloud. This approach often leads to network congestion and bandwidth limitations when numerous devices communicate with the same server. The need for Flexible Global Aggregation and Dynamic Client Selection in FL for the IoV arises from the inherent characteristics of IoV environments. These include diverse and distributed data sources, varying data quality, …

Forecasting Energy Consumption Demand Of Customers In Smart Grid Using Temporal Fusion Transformer (Tft), Amril Nazir, Abdul Khalique Shaikh, Abdul Salam Shah, Ashraf Khalil

All Works

Energy consumption prediction has always remained a concern for researchers because of the rapid growth of the human population and customers joining smart grids network for smart home facilities. Recently, the spread of COVID-19 has dramatically increased energy consumption in the residential sector. Hence, it is essential to produce energy per the residential customers' requirements, improve economic efficiency, and reduce production costs. The previously published papers in the literature have considered the overall energy consumption prediction, making it difficult for production companies to produce energy per customers' future demand. Using the proposed study, production companies can accurately have energy per …

Complete Study Of An Original Power-Exponential Transformation Approach For Generalizing Probability Distributions, Mustafa S. Shama, Farid El Ktaibi, Jamal N. Al Abbasi, Christophe Chesneau, Ahmed Z. Afify

All Works

In this paper, we propose a flexible and general family of distributions based on an original power-exponential transformation approach. We call it the modified generalized-G (MGG) family. The elegance and significance of this family lie in the ability to modify the standard distributions by changing their functional forms without adding new parameters, by compounding two distributions, or by adding one or two shape parameters. The aim of this modification is to provide flexible shapes for the corresponding probability functions. In particular, the distributions of the MGG family can possess increasing, constant, decreasing, “unimodal”, or “bathtub-shaped“ hazard rate functions, which are …

Facial Expression Recognition Using Lightweight Deep Learning Modeling, Mubashir Ahmad, Saira, Omar Alfandi, Asad Masood Khattak, Syed Furqan Qadri, Iftikhar Ahmed Saeed, Salabat Khan, Bashir Hayat, Arshad Ahmad

All Works

Facial expression is a type of communication and is useful in many areas of computer vision, including intelligent visual surveillance, human-robot interaction and human behavior analysis. A deep learning approach is presented to classify happy, sad, angry, fearful, contemptuous, surprised and disgusted expressions. Accurate detection and classification of human facial expression is a critical task in image processing due to the inconsistencies amid the complexity, including change in illumination, occlusion, noise and the over-fitting problem. A stacked sparse auto-encoder for facial expression recognition (SSAE-FER) is used for unsupervised pre-training and supervised fine-tuning. SSAE-FER automatically extracts features from input images, and …

Fine Characterization Of Leafing Phenology In The Brazilian Atlantic Forest By Optical And Microwave Remote Sensing, James B. Bell

Dissertations and Theses

Tropical forests provide important ecosystem functions in the global biosphere, but they remain among the most poorly understood elements of land surface models, especially with regard to their seasonal dynamics. For instance, in seasonally dry forests, the pattern of the annual green-up in their canopies closely follows annual patterns of rainfall. The same, however, does not occur in wet forest canopies which are dominated by evergreen trees. In the latter, water is not scarce enough to limit leaf photosynthetic function. Canopy leafing phenology in these forests is therefore poorly characterized by optical remote sensing methods which are not sensitive to …

Advancing The Accuracy Of Watershed Analysis Across Diverse Hydrometeorological And Geologic Regimes Via Classification And Analysis Of Gpm-Imerg Products, Jake M. Longenecker

Dissertations and Theses

The analysis and protection of watersheds, along with spring water resources, depend on the accurate identification of catchments. Building on previous research that correlated spring hydrographs with high-resolution, satellite-based Global Precipitation Measurement – Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for GPM (GPM-IMERG) data, I improve the speed and accuracy of catchment identification and hydrodynamic characterization via an enhanced Empirically Constrained Hydrologic Operation (ECHO) algorithm. This research (1) establishes optimal parameter inputs for the algorithm to enable reliable identification of source point-locations, (2) removes human in-the-loop processing, and thus reduce potential operator bias, and (3) explores the potential for using a limited dataset of …

Molecular Elucidation Of Reaction Mechanisms In Aluminum & Lithium Metal Batteries By Solid-State Nmr Spectroscopy And Electrochemical Methods, Leo W. Gordon

Dissertations and Theses

As society wrestles with the ever-growing climate consequences of burning fossil fuels, the increased demand for electric vehicles and renewable power generation mandates safe, sustainable, earth-abundant, low cost, and energy dense batteries. Different use cases will necessitate different types of batteries; for example, stationary storage systems prioritize minimal expense, whereas mobile applications like electric vehicles emphasize high energy densities. Aluminum and lithium metal batteries hold great promise for next-generation energy storage due to their large specific capacities (2980 mA h g^-1, and 3860 mA h g^-1, respectively). In particular, aluminum metal is low cost, has high …

Machine Learning Approach To Predict Tdcs-Induced Electric Current In The Human Brain, Chikako Olsen

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising non-invasive method for treating neurological and psychiatric disorders and enhancing cognitive function. However, the underlying mechanisms of tDCS are not fully understood, and there is no ground truth for determining, non-invasively, where in the brain tDCS electrical currents flow. At the same time, effective neuronal engagement from tDCS requires accurate localization of the induced currents to specific brain target regions. Machine Learning (ML) has the potential to significantly improve the accuracy and precision of tDCS current prediction. This study aims to develop a novel approach using ML to predict the location …

Analysis Of Chemical Elements In Basalts Using Mislabeled Data, A Machine Learning Approach, Jenifer Vivar

Dissertations and Theses

Scientists use basalt chemistry to discriminate among different tectonic settings. There are well-known chemical elements used to classify tectonic settings. An exploration of new features is done using Logistic Regression and Random Forest to discover any new elements of interest. The models were used with other tools, such as recursive feature elimination and permutations, to increase reliability. Among the scarcely explored chemical elements are Terbium (Tb), Holmium (Ho), Samarium (Sm), and Erbium (Er). The data used for the exploration contained many outliers. Therefore, an ensemble model was created to explore the location and composition of such outliers. The ensemble was …

Exploring Information Leakage In Historical Stock Market Data, Edison Hua

Dissertations and Theses

Information leakage is a major concern for traders who want to execute large orders without affecting the market price. In this paper, we explore the sources and effects of information leakage in historical stock market data using various methods and metrics. We first define information leakage as a pattern caused by a trader that would otherwise not occur without the trader’s activity. Using historical data, the direct impact of a potential large trade cannot be measured, but we consider a minimal impact large trade to be one that minimizes changes to the established trading data. We then analyze how information …

Optimization Of Optical Nanosensor Response For The Detection Of Anthracyclines Using A Binary Machine Learning Classifier, Myesha Thahsin

Dissertations and Theses

Pharmacokinetic variables such as interindividual variation in metabolizing and eliminating drugs makes dose selection of chemotherapeutic anthracyclines difficult. One potential solution to determining dosing levels of an anthracycline is the development of non-invasive sensors to monitor their pharmacology in vivo. Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) have substantial potential for in vivo sensor development, as they exhibit near-infrared fluorescence in the tissue-transparent window and a robust response to their local environment. An emerging method for evaluating and optimizing SWCNT sensor response is through machine learning. In this study, anthracyclines Daunorubicin, Doxorubicin, Epirubicin, Mitoxantrone and Idarubicin, were used to interrogate 12 SWCNT preparations …

Firm Size As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Sustainability Practices And Organizational Performance In Banks, Abel Azuwueze Osuji

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Bank managers are facing increasing pressure to adopt sustainable finance models that address stakeholders' diverse interests. It is important to understand how ESG strategies relate to corporate financial performance (CFP) to facilitate the adoption by bank leaders. Grounded in the triple bottom line and stakeholder theories, the purpose of this ex-post facto study was to examine the relationship between sustainability practices and the CFP of banks within the contingency of firm size. Secondary data on 226 global banks were collected from the Sustainalytics and FitchConnect databases. The results of the moderated multiple regression analysis indicated the two full models comprising …

Strategies To Reduce The Impact Of Disruptions In Manufacturing Transportation Supply Chains, John Enyabe Ndone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

Supply chain managers in the manufacturing transportation industry grapple with reducing the impact of disruptions in transportation supply chains since 50% of U.S. companies have experienced between six to 20 disruptions per year. Ineffective transportation disruption strategies negatively impact the performance and profitability of manufacturing organizations resulting in losses and business failure. Grounded in Goldratt’s philosophy and thinking process of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore successful strategies supply chain managers in the manufacturing transportation industry used to reduce the impact of disruptions in transportation supply chains. The participants …

Lattice Extensions And Zeros Of Multilinear Polynomials, Maxwell Forst

CGU Theses & Dissertations

We treat several problems related to the existence of lattice extensions preserving certain geometric properties and small-height zeros of various multilinear polynomials. An extension of a Euclidean lattice $L_1$ is a lattice $L_2$ of higher rank containing $L_1$ so that the intersection of $L_2$ with the subspace spanned by $L_1$ is equal to $L_1$. Our first result provides a counting estimate on the number of ways a primitive collection of vectors in a lattice can be extended to a basis for this lattice. Next, we discuss the existence of lattice extensions with controlled determinant, successive minima and covering radius. In …

Lessons Learned From Interdisciplinary Efforts To Combat Covid-19 Misinformation: Development Of Agile Integrative Methods From Behavioral Science, Data Science, And Implementation Science, Sahiti Myneni, Paula Cuccaro, Sarah Montgomery, Vivek Pakanati, Jinni Tang, Tavleen Singh, Olivia Dominguez, Trevor Cohen, Belinda Reininger, Lara S Savas, Maria E Fernandez

Student and Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Despite increasing awareness about and advances in addressing social media misinformation, the free flow of false COVID-19 information has continued, affecting individuals' preventive behaviors, including masking, testing, and vaccine uptake.

OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we describe our multidisciplinary efforts with a specific focus on methods to (1) gather community needs, (2) develop interventions, and (3) conduct large-scale agile and rapid community assessments to examine and combat COVID-19 misinformation.

METHODS: We used the Intervention Mapping framework to perform community needs assessment and develop theory-informed interventions. To supplement these rapid and responsive efforts through large-scale online social listening, we developed a …

Utilizing Markov Chains To Estimate Allele Progression Through Generations, Ronit Gandhi

Honors Theses

All populations display patterns in allele frequencies over time. Some alleles cease to exist, while some grow to become the norm. These frequencies can shift or stay constant based on the conditions the population lives in. If in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the allele frequencies stay constant. Most populations, however, have bias from environmental factors, sexual preferences, other organisms, etc. We propose a stochastic Markov chain model to study allele progression across generations. In such a model, the allele frequencies in the next generation depend only on the frequencies in the current one.

We use this model to track a recessive allele …

Long Term Changes In Aquaculture Influence Migration, Regional Abundance, And Distribution Of An Avian Species, Paul C. Burr, Brian S. Dorr, Jimmy L. Avery, Garrett M. Street, Bronson K. Strickland

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Agricultural development has been causing changes to the environment and the abundance and distribution of avian species. Agriculture is dynamic with changes in products occurring at large scales over relatively short time periods. The catfish aquaculture industry is one such agriculture industry that has undergone dramatic changes over the last 25 years. The double-crested cormorant (Nannopterum auritum) is a piscivorous bird that has an extensive history with the aquaculture industry of Mississippi due to its depredation of cultured catfish. A large-scale monitoring program began in 1989 to estimate the abundance and location of cormorants at every known roost in the …

A Social Network Analysis Of Actors Involved In Wild Pig (Sus Scrofa) Management In Missouri, Hailey E. Ellis, Meredith J. Grady, Lauren Jaebker, Alan D. Bright, Keith M. Carlisle

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) cause significant damage to agriculture and native ecosystems and can transmit diseases to animals and people. Management responses designed to reduce population numbers are needed to mitigate these threats. Identifying networks of key actors, including the ways in which they interact, is valuable for purposes of better understanding opportunities or constraints that generate or impede effective management responses. The goal of our study was to understand the network of organizations, and the personnel working within them, that were active in wild pig management, research, or policy initiatives in Missouri during 2018–2020 by 1) identifying …

Assessment Of Habitat‐Specific Competition For Oral Rabies Vaccine Baits Between Raccoons And Opossums, James L. Helton, Jacob E. Hill, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Richard B. Chipman, Amy Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Guha Dharmarajan, Olin E. Rhodes Jr.

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Throughout the eastern United States, the National Rabies Management Program (NRMP) distributes oral rabies vaccine (ORV) baits to manage rabies virus circulation in raccoon (Procyon lotor) populations. The consumption of vaccine baits by non‐target species including Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) may reduce the effectiveness of ORV programs, but competition for baits remains poorly quantified in many areas of the southeastern United States. We distributed placebo ORV baits injected with a biomarker across 4 land cover types (bottomland hardwood, upland pine, riparian, isolated wetland) on the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, USA, 2017–2019. We then trapped …

An Ode To Owls: Review Of What An Owl Knows: The New Science Of The World’S Most Enigmatic Birds By Jennifer Ackerman, Alan B. Franklin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Owls are mysterious creatures, mainly because we humans hardly ever encounter them. They are mostly nocturnal, are silent in their flight, and tend to unnerve us with their ghostly and sometimes quavering vocalizations. There have been numerous books on the natural history of owls written for nonexperts, but Jennifer Ackerman’s What an Owl Knows takes a novel tack, blending natural history and scientific discovery with a discussion of recent technological innovations. The result is a fascinating read on how scientists are beginning to better understand the lives and ecology of these secretive and rarely visible birds.

The book’s nine chapters …

Intracellular Diversity Of Wnv Within Circulating Avian Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Reveals Host-Dependent Patterns Of Polyinfection, Dalit Talmi-Frank, Alex D. Byas, Reyes Murrieta, James Weger-Lucarelli, Claudia Rückert, Emily N. Gallichotte, Janna A. Yoshimoto, Chris Allen, Angela M. Bosco-Lauth, Barbara Graham, Todd A. Felix, Aaron C. Brault, Gregory D. Ebel

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Arthropod-borne virus (arbovirus) populations exist as mutant swarms that are maintained between arthropods and vertebrates. West Nile virus (WNV) population dynamics are host-dependent. In American crows, purifying selection is weak and population diversity is high compared to American robins, which have 100- to 1000-fold lower viremia. WNV passed in robins leads to fitness gains, whereas that passed in crows does not. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that high crow viremia allows for higher genetic diversity within individual avian peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), reasoning that this could have produced the previously observed hostspecific differences in genetic diversity and fitness. Specifically, …

Texas Hunters' Attitudes Toward Wild Pigs (Sus Scrofa) And Their Management: An Applied Approach For Wildlife Managers, Lauren M. Jaebker, Alan D. Bright, Hailey E. Ellis, John M. Tomeček, Maureen G. Frank, Rachel L. Connally, Stephanie A. Shwiff, Keith M. Carlisle

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Choosing and executing a wild pig management strategy is often a considerable challenge for wildlife managers due to the wide variety of potential strategies and stakeholder preferences. Our research aims to understand management preferences for and tolerance of wild pigs among Texas resident hunters within 8 managerial districts of Texas. We applied the Potential for Conflict Index (PCI2) to estimate potential management preference conflicts within each district. From 24,201 questionnaires completed in 2019, we found that, on average, 74% of respondents across all management actions in each district were found to be acceptable. Resident respondents were overall intolerant of wild …

Spatially Structured Brown-Headed Cowbird Control Measures And Their Effects On Kirtland’S Warbler Long-Term Population Sustainability, Eric A. Margenau, Nathan W. Cooper, Donald J. Brown, Deahn M. Donner, Peter P. Marra, Pat Ryan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context: Brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater), through brood parasitism, can exert extrinsic population growth pressures on North American songbirds. Cowbird removal programs may reduce parasitism rates on host species but can be expensive and difficult to implement throughout a host species’ breeding range.

Aim: We estimated cowbird abundance and nest parasitism rates within Kirtland’s warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii) primary breeding range in Michigan, USA, and determined the maximum sustainable parasitism rate for Kirtland’s warblers under several spatially structured cowbird removal designs.

Methods: We conducted point counts to estimate cowbird abundance and monitored nests to quantify nest parasitism rates …

Movements And Resource Selection Of Wild Pigs Associated With Growth Stages Of Corn, Bethany A. Friesenhahn, Randall W. Deyoung, Michael J. Cherry, Humberto L. Perotto-Baldivieso, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Nathan P. Snow

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one of the most successful invasive species globally and are often implicated in agricultural damage. This damage is expected to increase as ranges of wild pigs expand, impacting the human food supply and increasing costs of food production. Our objective was to evaluate movement behaviors of wild pigs relative to resource availability and landscape features in an agriculture-dominated landscape, with a goal of informing management practices for reducing damage to corn. We monitored hourly movements of adult wild pigs relative to corn crops using GPS collars during the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons (Feb–Sept) in …

Range-Wide Sources Of Variation In Reproductive Rates Of Northern Spotted Owls, Jeremy T. Rockweit, Julianna M. Jenkins, James E. Hines, James D. Nichols, Katie M. Dugger, Alan B. Franklin, Peter C. Carlson, William L. Kendall, Damon B. Lesmeister, Christopher Mccafferty, Steven H. Ackers, L. Steven Andrews, Larissa L. Bailey, Jesse Burgher, Kenneth P. Burnham, Tara Chestnut, Mary M. Conner, Raymond J. Davis, Krista E. Dilione, Eric D. Forsman, Elizabeth M. Glenn, Scott A. Gremel, Keith A. Hamm, Dale R. Herter, J. Mark Higley, Rob B. Horn, David W. Lamphear, Trent L. Mcdonald, Janice A. Reid, Carl J. Schwarz, David C. Simon, Stan G. Sovern, James K. Swingle, J. David Wiens, Heather Wise, Charles B. Yackulic

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We conducted a range-wide investigation of the dynamics of site-level reproductive rate of northern spotted owls using survey data from 11 study areas across the subspecies geographic range collected during 1993–2018. Our analytical approach accounted for imperfect detection of owl pairs and misclassification of successful reproduction (i.e., at least one young fledged) and contributed further insights into northern spotted owl population ecology and dynamics. Both nondetection and state misclassification were important, especially because factors affecting these sources of error also affected focal ecological parameters. Annual probabilities of site occupancy were greatest at sites with successful reproduction in the previous year …

Evaluation Of Roost Culling As A Management Strategy For Reducing Invasive Rose‑Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula Krameri) Populations, C. Janes Anderson, Leonard A. Brennan, William P. Bukoski, Steven C. Hess, Clayton D. Hilton, Aaron B. Shiels, Shane Siers, Bryan M. Kluever, Page E. Klug

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rose-ringed parakeets (Psittacula krameri) are one of the most widespread invasive avian species worldwide. This species was introduced to the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA, in the 1960s. The rapidly increasing population has caused substantial economic losses in the agricultural and tourism industries. We evaluated the efficacy of a roost culling program conducted by an independent contractor from March 2020 to March 2021. We estimated island-wide minimum abundance was 10,512 parakeets in January 2020 and 7,372 in April 2021. Over 30 nights of culling at four roost sites, approximately 6,030 parakeets were removed via air rifles with 4,415 …

Demographic And Functional Responses Of Kit Foxes To Changes In Prey Abundance, Ashley E. Hodge, Eric M. Gese, Bryan M. Kluever

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Many carnivores exhibit demographic and functional responses to changes in prey abundance. Demographic responses often include changes in population size, litter size, and recruitment of young into the adult population. Functional feeding responses are commonly reported for many carnivore species. We investigated demographic and functional responses of kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis Merriam, 1888) to changes in prey abundance during 2010–2013 in western Utah, USA. Between 2010 and 2013, litter size averaged 3.9 (±1.4) pups/litter. Survival rates of kit fox pups were 0.07, 0.01, 0.46, and 0.16, respectively, and there was a correlation between pup survival rates and rodent abundance; …

Social Network Analysis Of White-Tailed Deer Scraping Behavior: Implications For Disease Transmission, Michael E. Egan, Kim M. Pepin, Justin Fischer, Scott R. Hygnstrom, Kurt C. Vercauteren, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Host contact structure affects pathogen transmission in host populations, but many measures of host contact do not distinguish contacts that are relevant to pathogen transmission from those that are not. Scrapes are sites for chemical communication by white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) during the breeding season and potential sites of transmission of prions, the causative agent of chronic wasting disease (CWD). Scrape-related behaviors vary in their probability of transmitting prions to or from the environment, suggesting that behavior be combined with contact structure to better reflect potential heterogeneity in prion transmission at scrapes. We recorded visits and behaviors by …

Defining County-Level Terrestrial Rabies Freedom Using The Us National Rabies Surveillance System: Surveillance Data Analysis, Amber Kunkel, Gabriella Veytsel, Sarah C. Bonaparte, Haillie Meek, Xiaoyue Ma, Amy J. Davis, Jesse Bonwitt, Ryan M. Wallace

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background: Rabies is a deadly zoonotic disease with nearly 100% fatality rate. In the United States, rabies virus persists in wildlife reservoirs, with occasional spillover into humans and domestic animals. The distribution of reservoir hosts in US counties plays an important role in public health decision-making, including the recommendation of lifesaving postexposure prophylaxis upon suspected rabies exposures. Furthermore, in surveillance data, it is difficult to discern whether counties have no cases reported because rabies was not present or because counties have an unreported rabies presence. These epizootics are monitored by the National Rabies Surveillance System (NRSS), to which approximately 130 …