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A New Normal: Testing Cumulative Prospect Theory in Defendant Plea Decision-Making
No full textPlea-bargaining is a common and necessary part of the American criminal justice system and though psycholegal scholars have made great advancements in our understanding of defendant plea behavior, the field generalcy lacks a sufficient theoretical model of plea-bargain decision-making. Across two experiments, this dissertation empirically tests Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT; Tversky & Kahneman, 1992) as a potential model of defendant plea decisions. In Experiment 1, participants completed two risk aversion tasks, one economic and one adapted into a plea domain, to assess the presence of loss aversion and risk aversion in both domains. Findings suggest that, in a plea context, loss aversion may manifest in overweighting gains (rather than losses), significantly predicting plea decisions, Additionally, CPT outperformed SOT in all tests of predicting plea behavior. In Experiment 2, participants received a plea-bargaining vignette which manipulated guilt status, sentence type (probation vs. jail) and sentence magnitude (2 years vs. 11 years). Similar to Experiment 1, results from Experiment 2 suggest that CPT can better encapsulate plea decision-making than SOT, in part due to its ability to adjust for reference point and marginal utility. Overall, these experiments suggest that or understanding of defendant plea behavior improves when adapting a CPT framework. Future directions and implications for researchers are discussed
Dynamic Optimization of Directed Energy Deposition Build Conditions Using Real-Time Monitoring Via Closed-Loop Control
No full textDirected Energy Deposition (DED) is an additive manufacturing process that is being rapidly adopted by industry and is well suited for the fabrication of complex components in various metal alloys. DED provides unique benefits such as design flexibility, the potential for in-situ alloying, and an open environment that allows for unobstructed monitoring within the build chamber. Despite these benefits, fully exploiting additive manufacturing\u27s (AM) potential remains a complex task for designers. This dissertation presents a framework for controlling Directed Energy Deposition process variables through in-situ monitoring. An exploration into modifying AM build conditions through the development and implementation of a multimodal model using real-time closed-loop control. Leveraging data from visual and acoustic sensors to detect deviations in the build process, enabling immediate adjustments to process parameters. Real-time closed loop feedback increases stability to build conditions and improves consistency. By correlating visual and acoustic signals with the weld pool, this research establishes a novel methodology for real-time standoff height estimation and adaptive layer height control. The dissertation evaluates the effectiveness of the designed closed-loop control system, demonstrating its capability to adapt the manufacturing process based on immediate feedback from the monitoring systems. By improving the reliability and efficiency of AM processes, this work contributes to their broader adoption in industrial applications to increase quality and yield
Chipless 3D Microfluidic RF Sensing
No full textEffective management of the cold chain is essential to uphold the quality and safety of products vulnerability to physical factors like temperature, humidity, pressure, etc., including perishable foods, pharmaceuticals, and vaccines. Chipless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) sensors have become increasingly favored as a viable technology for tracking, inventory, and sensing industries due to their wireless and non-line of sight (NLOS) situations, straightforward fabrication, cost efficiency, and adaptability to challenging environmental conditions. However, there is still a need for advancements in RFID sensors to make them promise for cold chain applications. Integration of flexibility and non-volatile memory into the existing RFID technology is crucial to eliminate the reliance on external memory and constant signal monitoring, leading to reduced overall costs and an expanded range of potential applications. Investigation is also required to simplify the complex geometric fabrication processes and obtain a compact chipless RFID sensor. Moreover, detecting chipless RFID tag responses in noisy environments remains difficult due to clutter effects and multipath interference from the surroundings. Therefore, further research is needed to enhance its practical application in real-world environments.This study presents a flexible chipless RFID sensor for cold chain applications, capable of detecting physical parameters and storing data independently, eliminating the need for external memory. The sensor\u27s structure incorporates a flexible microchannel-based liquid patch and a deformable PDMS substrate, ensuring flexibility and optimal performance. Furthermore, integrating customizable temperature threshold-detecting smart materials into the design facilitates non-volatile memory for the sensor, enabling its use in various cold chain applications for sensing multiple physical parameters. The device\u27s geometry features a meander-shaped patch, contributing to the compact design of the chipless RFID sensor. In addition, the fabrication process utilizes additive manufacturing or 3D printing technology for the microchannel-based sensor, offering a more straightforward approach than traditional fabrication techniques. Therefore, the developed chipless RFID sensor holds considerable promise for cold chain management, enabling the wireless tracking and monitoring of products or objects while efficiently storing sensing data without needing external memory
Unpacking Exclusion: A Narrative Literature Review And Discrete Analysis Of Preschool Suspension And Expulsion
No full textThis thesis explores exclusionary disciplinary practices in preschool settings, where children from marginalized groups, particularly racial minorities and those with disabilities, face a higher risk of suspension and expulsion. This thesis provides a qualitative overview and interpretation of existing literature, pointing trends and gaps in research and highlighting four main themes: (1) Navigating the layers of exclusionary practices: From policy to practice; (2) Exclusionary practices: An adult decision with complex consequences; (3) Exclusive education: Who is left out and why in early childhood settings; and (4) Resistance as a tool for inclusion. Through a Disability Critical Race Theory framework, this narrative literature review and analysis examines how the intersection of ableism and racism drives these disparities, often due to implicit biases that lead to misinterpretations of behavior. While research has addressed these risks separately, few studies consider how multiple marginalized identities, such as being both Black and disabled, compound the likelihood of exclusion. Findings highlight the need for inclusive policies that account for intersecting identities and aim to inform stakeholders about creating equitable early education environments
Development Of Advanced And Practical Powder Composition Characterization And Analysis Techniques For Powder Bed Based Additive Manufacturing
No full textThis thesis addresses the widely neglected topic of powder management in the context of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM). In LPBF AM, powder represents besides its direct impact on manufacturing and final part quality a significant AM cost factor, and the minimization of waste is of paramount importance to deliver the AM promise of most effective usage of input material. The reuse of powder is a necessary practice, but it requires proper calibration to ensure that it does not deviate substantially from the original composition in order to provide equivalent powder conditions to maintain desired manufacturing quality. Furthermore, consideration is given to the comparability of powders utilized in disparate studies. It is inevitable that differences occur in particle size distribution (PSD) between manufacturers, batches, and lots, which gives rise to concerns about the potential impact on the manufacturing process. While considerable attention has been devoted machine parameter setup, machine-to-machine comparability and process repeatability, less emphasis has been placed on the analytical characterization of powder and the course of action to customize powder composition job specific and thus enabling an accurate powder coating process in the powder bed, parts additively manufactured of utmost quality and at predefined costs.Moreover, powder blending is becoming increasingly crucial for in-situ alloying, the development of novel alloys, and multi-material processes, particularly in the context of high-performance applications. The development of efficient and analytical approaches to powder blending, whether for upcycling or pure PSD comparability and development, is currently lacking. This work introduces a novel approach, the Rosin-Rammler Prediction Method (RRPM), for the description and further analysis of PSD. This approach and the corresponding methodology has been transferred into software code, extensively tested and already statistically validated targeted for analytical PSD modifications. The thesis presents a method for powder sampling that is both repeatable and structured, and thus provides a defined and solid base to explore the influence of dosing factors and the creation of a two-dimensional map of powder characteristics across the entire substrate plate. Furthermore the influence and impact of well predefined PSD variations on manufacturing/part quality was explored by deploying a customized experimental set-up, designed, engineered and manufactured as part of this thesis. The PSD deviations were purposely predefined to reflect industrial operating conditions realistically, mostly challenged, by the use of different powder lots and the powder recoating process itself. The RRPM approach and its implementation allows for nearly full coverage of realistic PSD differences via analytically determined blending instructions. Comprehensive and thorough investigations confirmed the validity of the analytical model developed and its ability to deliver precise results. PSD differences due to lot variations and coating processes were found to be significant, with different PSD zones on the substrate plate identified. An additional impact factor not yet represented in current literature, the substrate plate geometry, was identified. PSD changes were found to lead to measurable differences in energy absorption, process parameter windows, melt pool geometry, and hardness of the manufactured part. In general, finer powder resulted in a more stable and broader process window and elevated hardness values. The key findings of this thesis are: â?¢ A repeatable areal powder sampling approach established, relevant powder characteristics are mappable â?¢ Overdosing leads to a measurable particle size refinement across the substrate plate â?¢ PSD differences across the substrate plate result in different energy absorptivity (â??6.4 %) â?¢ Refined powder shows a more stable/wider process parameter window â?¢ Refined powder displays higher hardness values (â??\u3e9 %) â?¢ PSD affects geometrical melt pool properties â?¢ RRPM calculations are highly accurate (goodness of fit \u3e97 %) Given the central role of the RRPM tool in the work and its demonstrated accuracy in the investigations conducted thus far, it is imperative that future investigations prioritize an in-depth examination of the limitations inherent to the underlying Rosin-Rammler approach. In particular, the RRPM description of geometrically irregular particles, as well as bi- and multimodal distributions, should be characterized in order to address the conditions of an industrial application of RRPM in an optimal manner. Moreover, it is essential to conduct comprehensive research into the impact and significance of particle size distribution (PSD) on the manufacturing process and, subsequently, the quality of the final component. In light of the findings presented here, it is recommended that additional factors (e.g., coating speed, coating principle, coating thickness) be subjected to analysis in the context of powder application with a view to characterizing their influence on the resulting PSD distribution over the substrate plate. With regard to the determined PSD-related hardness differences, it is advisable to carry out further EBSD investigations with a view to analyzing the probable influence of the PSD on the resulting microstructure
Elevating Voices: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Chicano/a Students Labeled As At-Risk Along The U.S.-Mexico Border During Their Eighth Grade Year
No full textThis study investigates the lived experiences of Chicano students who were labeled as at-risk during their time in eighth grade in a public school located along the U.S.-Mexico border. This study focuses on the academic and personal experiences of these students. Through the qualitative methodology of Narrative Inquiry, this study captures the narratives of the participants and provides insight into factors that impacted their personal and academic journeys. This study draws connections between the participants\u27 experiences and four themes that grounded the studyâ??s comprehensive literature review: Maslowâ??s Hierarchy of Needs, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) using the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework, the school-to-prison pipeline, and mentorship. By drawing connections between the participantsâ?? experiences and these four themes, the study revealed significant findings that could impact future mentorship programming, SEL training and culturally responsive training for educators. By analyzing and coding the stories shared by the participants, this study reveals valuable insights that have the potential to inform educational policy to implement professional development for educators centered on social and emotional learning (SEL), culturally responsive teaching practices, and SEL-based mentorship programming designed to foster a more equitable learning environment for Chicano students labeled as at-risk in public schools. The findings of this study highlight the positive and negative experiences of five Chicano students labeled as at-risk during their time in eighth grade. The insights gained from this study emphasize the need for school systems to implement more inclusive practices that honor the cultural identities of students and the need for the implementation of social and emotional learning frameworks that can positively impact studentsâ?? personal and academic development
How Shapley Value and Its Generalizations Can Help in the Analysis of Complex Engineering Systems and What Next
No full textFor a complex engineering system -- such as a city\u27s street network -- it is important to predict how its functionality is decreased when some of these components break down, and, if repairs are needed and repairs budget is limited, which subset of the set of components should be repaired first to maximize the resulting functionality. For systems with a large number of components, the number of possible subsets is astronomical, we cannot try to simulate all these subsets. So, the natural idea is to approximate the actual dependence of functionality on the subset by a simple expression -- linear or quadratic -- and to use known algorithms for optimizing such approximate expressions. In this paper, we provide an algorithm for such an approximation, and we show that for linear approximations, the resulting expression is a generalization of Shapley value -- a techniques that is now successfully use to make machine-learning-based AI explainable. We also analyze how the Shapley value idea can be further improved
The Heterogeneous Effects of Cannabis Dispensaries on Crime: The Importance of Foot Traffic
No full textThis paper pairs exact dispensary locations with city block level crime data to study the impact of medical cannabis dispensaries on crime in the state of Florida from 2016-2019. Leveraging a Florida state law that requires broadly uniform security provisions across dispensaries, we capture important dispensary heterogeneity by incorporating customer volume and local non-dispensary foot traffic with smartphone geopositional data. We use not-yet-operational dispensary locations as a control group and a geo-spatial difference-in-differences framework and find reductions in larceny, vehicle burglary, and motor vehicle theft following the opening of high-volume dispensaries. We fail to find evidence of similar deterrent effects near low-volume dispensaries, and instead, find larceny increases when low-volume dispensaries open in low foot traffic areas. The heterogeneous results suggest foot traffic is a significant factor impacting crime near dispensaries
Estudio etnológico sobre la diversidad poblacional y el barrio afroamericano en la frontera de Ciudad Juárez, México- El Paso Texas, Estados Unidos
No full textEl siguiente artículo discute los hallazgos más interesantes del estudio de campo y etnológico titulado Barrio Negro en la frontera: “Blaxicans” de Ciudad Juárez México. El contexto empírico en el que se desarrolla el artículo es una comunidad de Afro-Americanos migrantes que existió en el centro de Ciudad Juárez, México entre los años 1960-1990 y que para propósitos de este estudio los hemos categorizado como “Blaxicans2”. Por otro lado, para proteger la identidad del informante principal de este estudio, se utilizó el seudónimo bajo el nombre de “Jerome Brown” de igual forma a los otros informantes claves que contribuyeron al análisis con sus relatos, experiencias de vida y anécdotas. Por último, gran parte de la información recopilada fue a través de las experiencias de campo efectuadas por el antropólogo Howard Campbell durante sus experiencias en Ciudad Juárez, México entre los años 1991-2020. Los hallazgos encontrados en este estudio pretenden generar una contribución académica al acervo histórico contemporáneo y cultural de la diversidad poblacional que ofrece la frontera de México y Los Estado Unidos
2024 Calendar: ...it’s how you play the game
No full textThis calendar features photographs with a games in the archives theme. From sports to spelling bees, photos from various collections capture the spirit of competition.https://scholarworks.utep.edu/calendars/1009/thumbnail.jp