University of Southern Mississippi
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Institutional Repositories: Looking Back and Moving Forward
No full textTo celebrate the 10th anniversary of SMIRC, we are convening a panel discussion featuring a group of IR managers with at least a decade of experience in the field. What are some of the major changes they have observed with IRs over the last decade? What have been some of their greatest successes and challenges? What have been some of the most important lessons they have learned along the way, and what wisdom would they pass along to anyone just getting started in IRs? And finally, where do they see IRs heading in the years to come? Join us as we discuss the answers to these questions and more
Refocusing Open Access Marketing and Education Efforts in Response to Local Perceptions
No full textOpen access to authoritative research is vital to the development of an informed society and integral to the mission of many academic libraries. But high article publishing charges, unscrupulous publishers, and misunderstandings about what exactly “open access” means can poison the well, turning a library’s users against the entire philosophy. In this presentation, we seek to start a conversation with our colleagues about the term “open access” and possible alternatives. The presenters will delve into the definitions of each term, explain why “open access” might be problematic, weigh the pros and cons of rebranding their team’s services, discuss how a rebrand would affect efforts to serve their university’s mission; and solicit suggestions on how best to educate researchers on what “open access” really means
Relationships Between the Social Deprivation Index and Mental Health Outcomes in Sexual and Gender Minority Adults
Get PDFSexual and gender minority (SGM) populations include individuals who identify as non-heterosexual and/or whose gender identity does not align with their sex assigned at birth. SGM populations experience higher rates of social deprivation—disadvantages including socioeconomic factors and living conditions—compared to non-SGM groups. While the current body of research highlights the negative health impacts of social deprivation, no work has yet assessed the extent to which SGM status moderates associations between social deprivation and mental health symptoms. This study aimed to fill that gap by examining associations between social deprivation and mental health symptoms, as well as whether this relationship varies between SGM and non-SGM groups. The researcher hypothesized that greater social deprivation would be related to frequent negative mental health symptoms. Further, the researcher hypothesized that the relationship would be stronger for those who identify as SGM compared to non-SGM. Participants (N = 450) recruited from Prolific completed measures of anxiety, depression, paranoia, and schizotypy. The Social Deprivation Index was derived from participants’ zip code. Social deprivation was not significantly associated with symptom measures. SGM status did not moderate associations between social deprivation and mental health outcomes. Exploratory analyses revealed that the SGM group had lower income levels and higher rates of social deprivation, previous mental health diagnoses, and previous mental health treatment, compared to the non-SGM group. The results of this study contribute to the understanding of socioeconomic factors related to mental health outcomes. Future work should aim to analyze interactions between individual-level and community-level factors on SGM mental health
Ten Years of SMIRC (2015-2025): Reflections on the Changing Nature of Repository Librarianship
No full textNostalgia, Economic Revitalization, and Community Relationships in Hattiesburg\u27s Recent Historic Preservation Efforts
Get PDFThis paper examines the reasons behind the modern interest in historic preservation in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and argues that its supporters are driven primarily by nostalgia towards what they envision as “Old Hattiesburg” and its aesthetics, interest in economic opportunities, and the strengthened sense of community made possible through historic preservation. From the foundation of Hattiesburg to today, there have been shifts in interest in Downtown and its historic districts, and they fluctuate based on changing political, economic, and social trends. In order to contextualize Hattiesburg’s historic preservation, this thesis draws upon secondary scholarship on historic preservation, economic revitalization, and historical memory and upon oral history interviews with key stakeholders in Hattiesburg—a city historic preservationist, organizational leaders, investors, business owners, and homeowners, and others. These interviewees were able to identify key qualities that not only motivated them to support historic preservation but also their reflections on the city’s period of decline and reasons why individuals have returned to Hattiesburg’s historic districts. This study determines the key factors for Hattiesburg’s cultural resurgence of historic preservation within the last 20 years—nostalgia, economic revitalization, and community reinvigoration—but it also highlights larger themes of how historic preservation impacts the people and places that it touches
Animal in the Machine: Poems
No full textAnimal in the Machine is a collection of poems intersecting the narrative of a dramatized automaton flute player, the disembodied language of computer code, and a poetic voice that seeks to imitate and satirize artificial intelligence
Contact Surface Curvature Length Specifies Graspability
No full textAlthough prehensile activity is part of everyday life, it is still not clear what is the information that specifies graspability. In Experiment 1 we manipulated size and shape and asked observers to perceive if objects are graspable. The ratio of object diameter and handspan was proposed as the invariant, however, the results showed that it did not map onto perception in a 1:1 fashion. We recomputed the ratio using surface curvature length of the object instead of the diameter as the relevant object property. The thinking was that the hand forms an arc when making contact with the surface of the object, thus, the size of the area over which the hand makes contact with the surface of the object should be a better candidate variable. 25 3D-printed objects varying in size and shape (from cube to sphere) were shown to 22 participants. The results revealed that the ratio of contact surface curvature length and hand span map onto perceived graspability in a 1:1 fashion irrespective of shape. This result demonstrated that the new ratio is the invariant that specifies perceived graspability. In Experiment 2 we tested if the curvature/handspan ratio generalizes to nonsymmetric objects. Perception was not specified by the ratio, but accuracy (that incorporates actual actions) was. This result demonstrates the need to consider perception and action together when investigating the nature of information that specifies performance in affordance tasks
PROACTIVE DETECTION OF ALCOHOL IMPAIRMENT: LEVERAGING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR ENHANCED TRAFFIC SAFETY
No full textDrunk driving continues to seriously threaten public safety, affecting drivers, pedestrians, and other road users. Despite strict laws and the use of tools such as breathalyzers, the persistent prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving underscores the need for innovative prevention strategies to save traffic. Current detection systems are primarily reactive, with limited effectiveness in proactively identifying impairment, especially out-of-the-vehicle detection methods. To address this gap, this thesis introduces a novel approach that uses machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) techniques to classify people as intoxicated or sober using image data from outside the cars. The study uses a custom dataset that preprocesses and integrates images from the IMDB-Wiki and Drunk/Sober datasets, incorporating images with varying disruption and noise levels (ranging from 10% to 30%) to simulate different camera qualities outside the suspected person’s car. This noise and disruption addition enhances the dataset’s diversity to fit the real-life scenarios of collecting out-of-the-vehicle data from different sources with different capabilities. It ensures robustness in handling real-world conditions where the data can be collected from different sources, such as drones, closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, or autonomous cars driven near the suspected driver. We then train several ML and DL models to predict alcohol impairment by analyzing facial features and other image-based indicators. The results demonstrate significant advances in detection accuracy and reliability compared to existing systems, paving the way for proactive methods for preventing drunk driving that can affect traffic safety
Negative Affect and Cannabis Use Outcomes in College Students: The Mediating Effect of Protective Behavioral Strategies
Get PDFParticularly considering the ongoing changes in legalization, there has been a growing prevalence of cannabis use among college students. Similarly, students have endorsed increased mental health concerns following the COVID-19 pandemic. Resulting in a cycle of harmful use, research has supported a positive relationship between negative affect and cannabis-related negative outcomes. Protective behavioral strategies for marijuana (PBSM) have been successful in reducing cannabis-related negative outcomes; however, the frequency and utility of PBSM use for students experiencing increased negative affect is unknown. Participants included 330 college students (Mage = 19.17) from 12 U.S. universities who were predominately White non-Hispanic (57.9%), and female (67.3%). Using an SEM framework, total PBSM use and its subscales were evaluated as mediators of the effects of negative affect on cannabis use. Invariance testing was conducted to determine if the relationships functioned similarly across cannabis state legalization status. Negative affect demonstrated positive relationships between harmful cannabis use and cannabis-related negative outcomes. These relationships were not mediated by PBSM use but were invariant across cannabis state legalization status. Findings suggest that college students experiencing negative affect are more vulnerable to cannabis-related negative outcomes and should be the focus of campus mental health and harm reduction services
