University at Albany, State University of New York
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The Impact of Hazard Naming in Wireless Emergency Alerts: Enhancing Protective Action Decision Making and Organizational Attitudes
Get PDFWireless Emergency Alerts are an important way people learn about impending threats. Yet, these messages typically lack information about the hazard that will endanger people. In this study, we examine how naming the hazard and its associated cues in a Wireless Emergency Alert influences people’s perceptions that help them make protective action decisions, including understanding, belief, personalization, deciding, response efficacy, and self-efficacy. We also measure the extent to which naming the hazard and its cues affects an organization’s reputation and perceived transparency. To do so, we conduct a 2 (message type: named hazard vs. unnamed hazard) × 3 (hazard type: civil disturbance, dam failure, and wildfire) experiment with 579 Sacramento, CA residents. Results show that regardless of hazard type, naming the hazard and its cues increases understanding and favorable attitudes towards the organization. We also find that in the case of wildfires, when the recommended actions are perceived as difficult, including the name of the hazard and its cues increases people’s confidence in their ability to act and make decisions. We discuss the implications of our findings for both risk communication practice and theory, as well as future research directions for wildfire warning message design specifically
Cambio de Código y Fenómenos Léxicos en Tres Generaciones de Hispanohablantes Dominicanos en Nueva Jersey
No full textEn Estados Unidos, el contacto prolongado entre el español y el inglés ha generado diversas situaciones de bilingüismo. Sin embargo, históricamente, la comunidad mexicana en el suroeste del país y la comunidad puertorriqueña en el noroeste han sido las más representadas y, por tanto, las más estudiadas (Poplack 1980; Silva-Corvalán 1994; Torres Cacoullos y Travis, 2015; Rodríguez-Ordóñez et al., 2023). Recientemente, las investigaciones sobre el bilingüismo en la comunidad dominicana han ido cobrando más relevancia, debido al rápido incremento de dominicanos en los Estados Unidos. Investigaciones anteriores han propuesto que los dominicanos muestran una alta lealtad al español, y a su vez, mayor grado de mantenimiento en comparación con otros grupos caribeños, centroamericanos y suramericanos (Otheguy et al., 1989; Toribio 2000a, 2003), pero pocos estudios se han enfocado en los procesos de contacto lingüístico y sus resultados en comunidades de hablantes dominicanos en la región noreste y otras zonas de los Estados Unidos (Marsh,1987; Arias-Álvarez, 2018).
Este proyecto se basa en 36 entrevistas sociolingüísticas, divididas equitativamente por el género de los participantes: 16 para la primera generación, 8 para la generación 1.5 y para la segunda generación 12 participantes. Los datos se han recogido y analizado de forma cualitativa y cuantitativa, de acuerdo con los diferentes factores sociales y lingüísticos que condicionan el cambio de código y los tipos de inserciones del inglés en el español. Específicamente, se han estudiado varios fenómenos léxicos (préstamos léxicos, calcos, y extensiones semánticas), y casos de cambio de código (intra-oracionales, inter-oracionales y marcadores discursivos) en el español de la comunidad dominicana de tres generaciones sociolingüísticas (la primera, segunda y la 1.5) en Nueva Jersey. Además, se empleó el software estadístico SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) para codificar y analizar los datos. Este análisis, realizado mediante tablas cruzadas y la distribución de Chi-cuadrado, permitió identificar correlaciones entre las variables dependientes y diversos factores sociales y lingüísticos.
En total se analizan 1972 casos de inserciones del inglés en el español en el presente corpus. Los resultados muestran que las inserciones de palabras sueltas del inglés fueron las más frecuentes, con 1,116 casos y un porcentaje del 56.6% del total, seguidas de las inserciones de palabras múltiples en inglés con 397 casos (20.1%). A continuación, le siguen los marcadores discursivos, con 341 casos (17.3%) y las formas del español influenciadas por el inglés (las extensiones semánticas y calcos), con 118 casos (6%). Los resultados muestran que la producción general de los fenómenos léxicos de esta comunidad dominicana no está condicionada a los factores sociales. Por su parte, las palabras sueltas están asociadas a la familiaridad del tema hablado, la necesidad de llenar un vacío conceptual, y la frecuencia y difusión de la palabra suelta en la comunidad. Además, las producciones de los tipos de préstamos indican una relación importante con las generaciones sociolingüísticas. En el caso del uso de las palabras múltiples, está relacionado con la función discursiva, la dirección de las lenguas, la generación sociolingüística, el nivel de educación, el tipo de educación, y la identidad étnica. Por último, la realización de los marcadores discursivos está condicionada por las generaciones sociolingüísticas y el género
Identity Art Reexamined: Boundaries and Narratives in the Outsider Art World
Get PDFThis dissertation examines how cultural meanings shape market boundaries through a case study of outsider art, an art category deeply embedded in a culture of authenticity. Using mixed methods, the dissertation analyzes hierarchies and structures of the outsider art market, narratives in biographies crafted by dealers, and interactions between artists, dealers, and the audience. Through strategically constructed narratives, dealers portray outsider artists as heroes using art to fight against hardships. They not only present the authenticity of the art but also perform their own authenticity and extend it to the audience, performing civic commitment in the aesthetic public sphere and simultaneously achieving commercial gain. In the search for authenticity, some audiences try to guard the uniqueness of outsider art, while others long for private connections with artists. Compared with dealers and audiences, artists tend to focus on works instead of identities, with the aim of presenting professionalism and creativity. This dissertation shows that cultural meanings influence market boundaries in three stages: establishing legitimacy, justifying boundary-crossing, and recreating boundaries in response to shifting societal values. These findings contribute to the sociology of art, creative industries, and boundary-making by highlighting how cultural meanings intersect with market and civic logics in processes of (e)valuation
Secured Communication and Coexistence for Efficient Spectrum Utilization
Get PDFOver the years, the demand for wireless communications has grown exponentially, resulting in a scarcity of available spectrum. This scarcity leads to the need for efficient spectrum utilization, a key factor in ensuring reliable and uninterrupted communications. One of the key challenges in achieving reliable communication is ensuring secure transmissions to protect the privacy and integrity of data for active users. Wireless communications are vulnerable to eavesdropping, interception, and unauthorized access, which can compromise the confidentiality and integrity of transmitted data. The coexistence of multiple wireless communication systems is another challenge to be addressed for passiver users. In many cases, wireless communication systems have to coexist with passive users, which use the same spectrum for different purposes. Coexistence is especially challenging when at least one spectrum user is passive, as is the case with passive and active systems such as radio astronomy and wireless communication systems.
This thesis explores the efficient spectrum utilization from two aspects: secure communication between active users and coexistence of active and passive users in the same space, time and frequency. \textit{First}, we propose neural network-based approaches to enable secure communication and maintain the confidentiality of messages between intended users. Specifically, we present three approaches: 1) We design complex-valued neural networks that implement wireless steganography to conceal the existence of secret messages. Our method can achieve a high embedding rate and is independent of the waveform. 2) We propose an autoencoder-based approach for key generation, which extracts secret keys from compressed channel estimates. This approach can map non-reciprocal channel estimates to highly correlated keys. 3) We investigate the detection of unknown signals using two neural network architectures through multi-domain feature integration. Our models effectively distinguish between open-set and closed-set signals across a wide SNR range, outperforming approaches relying on single-domain features. \textit{Second}, we design a system that utilizes reconfigurable intelligent surfaces~(RIS) to establish coexistence and cancel interference at the telescope.
This encompasses several subtopics essential to the development and implementation of RIS, including a feasibility analysis of RIS design to evaluate its practical potential and effectiveness. The direction of arrival~(DoA) estimation in low SNR regimes is explored to provide critical data on incident interference for cancellation processes. Additionally, the prototyping of RIS arrays is addressed, focusing on the design of efficient arrays and the evaluation of performance against multiple DoA scenarios. These subtopics collectively contribute to advancing RIS technology for applications in wireless communication and interference cancellation. Our research contributes to achieving efficient spectrum utilization, resulting in improving the quality of signals received by radio telescopes and ensuring reliable and secure communications for active users
Analysis of Extreme Rainfall and Streamflow Events in the Catskill/Delaware Catchment Using the New York State Mesonet
Get PDFExtreme rainfall and streamflow often lead to increased turbidity in reservoirs in the Catskill/Delaware catchment, which is part of the New York City water supply system. To better understand extreme events that lead to increased turbidity, this study takes a dual approach: first, we identify hydrologic conditions during extremes to understand when and why extremes occur. Next, we evaluate an identified extreme case to evaluate mesoscale model skill in this region. Measurements from the New York State Mesonet and United States Geological Survey are used to identify hydrologic conditions from 2017-2024 associated with three extreme event types: rainfall, streamflow, and concurrent rainfall that leads to streamflow. We find that each event type has a distinct seasonal distribution and soil moisture conditions. Streamflow and concurrent events during the cold season often occur with snow melt, with the latter suggesting the prevalence of rain-on-snow events. Meanwhile, rainfall events during the warm season often do not result in streamflow events due to dry antecedent soils. Following this analysis, we evaluate the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) for a high-impact rain-on-snow event from 24-25 December 2020. We find that the HRRR has high skill in forecasting the accumulated precipitation and change in snow water equivalent and low skill in snow depth forecasts. Together, these analyses further the current understanding of extreme rainfall and streamflow and provide insight into mesoscale model performance in the Catskill/Delaware catchment
Gaussian Process Regression and Nested Sampling for Planetary Parameter Prediction
Get PDFIn this project, we implemented a Gaussian Process (GP) regression framework using MATLAB to model two planetary (Earth) parameters, the surface temperature and albedo, as functions of planetary rotation rate and insolation (the amount of sunlight impinging on the planet). We used simulation data from the NASA ROCKE-3D general circulation model developed by the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS). The GP model generates a joint multivariate Gaussian distribution that is entirely captured by a covariance matrix and the output of a training data set. The covariance matrix is determined by the input data and the three hyperparameters a GP requires: lengthscale, noise variance, and signal variance. We optimized this set of hyperparameters by using standard kernel functions to generate the covariance matrix and then calculating the log-likelihood of the outputs given the model and the inputs. The kernel functions we used included the squared exponential kernel and the Matern family of kernels. The Nested Sampling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms were used to efficiently explore the high-dimensional parameter space using log-likelihood. We also locate the areas of highest uncertainty to inform future data generation and collection (Bayesian Adaptive Exploration). We visualize the predictions through surface plots that display the predicted mean and uncertainty of the planet’s surface temperature and albedo as a function of the values of rotation rate and insolation
Genomic Diversity of Salmonella Enterica Serotype Braenderup in New York State
Get PDFThe Gram-negative Salmonella enterica (family Enterobacteriaceae) is a common foodborne pathogen mainly isolated from foods of animal origin. Salmonella can be transmitted to humans, causing diverse symptoms, from self-limiting gastrointestinal diseases to more fatal typhoid fever. The young, elderly, and Individuals with weakened immune systems are especially at risk from salmonellosis. Salmonella is a concern to public health and the food industry throughout the world, and its severity depends largely on its serotype, a classification based on the unique combination of surface antigens. In this study, I aimed to elucidate the population structure and antimicrobial resistance determinants of S. enterica serotype Braenderup. I analyzed 186 complete genome sequences obtained from diagnosed patients with salmonellosis across the New York State. The data has been provided by the Wadsworth Center of the New York Department of Health, where it was carried out genome assembly, sequence quality check, annotation, pangenome analysis, antimicrobial resistance detection, and phylogenetic tree reconstruction, and statistical analysis using R Studio. This study shows the predominant Sequence Type for the isolates obtained from S. enterica ser. Braenderup was ST 22, found in 179 isolates, and a trend in antimicrobial resistance genes, where the main classes found were multidrug resistance and Resistance-Nodulation-Division RND efflux pump genes, as well as 26 core AMR genes, which indicate a consistent trend within the serotype. There were also 31 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) found and classified into 5 different main classes. Moreover, 121 core virulence genes were found, where the main category for the genes was effector delivery system, and only 74 isolates contained mobile genetic elements, which increase the pathogenicity of the group and show a limited horizontal gene transfer within the serotype. These results are essential to understanding the genetic basis for S. enterica to cause disease and resist antimicrobial treatments, which will inform appropriate and effective public health strategies
Clinical Experiences in Conducting Empirically Supported Treatments for Insomnia
No full textControlled research shows that cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment for insomnia, yet clinician experiences with applying CBT in routine settings has received limited attention. This study replicated and extended upon the Two-Way Bridge initiative (Goldfried et al., 2014), which aimed to establish a dialogue between researchers and clinicians on the identification of variables that promote and interfere with the effectiveness of evidence-based therapies. This survey study asked clinicians to identify variables they have encountered that make it challenging to implement CBT and related interventions for insomnia. N = 182 clinicians completed an online survey on typical assessment practices, treatment techniques, and perceived barriers and their impact on treatment implementation and efficacy. A subsample (N = 87) repeated the survey approximately two weeks later to evaluate test-retest reliability. Frequently used interventions for treating insomnia included behavioral strategies, cognitive restructuring, and psychoeducation, with over half incorporating integrative adaptations into treatment. Factors perceived as highly limiting to effective treatment delivery included patient adherence difficulties, comorbidity, unhelpful beliefs about sleep and medication, stressful household environments, and challenges in applying behavioral protocols. Problems with training in CBT for insomnia were also reported. These findings provide researchers with practice-informed directions for future empirical investigation into improving the efficacy of CBT and offer clinicians insight into common challenges encountered in treating insomnia routine practice
Stress and Resilience in Higher Education Administrators: Exploring the Role of Mindfulness
No full textThis dissertation explores stressors experienced by higher education administrators (HEAs) and examines the role of mindfulness practices in mitigating stress and fostering resilience and job satisfaction. HEAs manage essential institutional functions yet face intensifying pressures from volatile funding streams, shifting demographics, changing public perceptions, political and cultural challenges, technological disruptions, and pandemic-related change. Despite HEAs central role in sustaining higher education, limited research examines how these professionals experience stress, and even less has considered mindfulness as a potential resource for coping and resilience.
Guided by a qualitative methodological approach, this study draws on semi-structured, thick description interviews with 18 HEAs across diverse institutional contexts. Data were coded thematically to capture patterns in lived experiences and perspectives.
Analysis demonstrated three overarching themes: 1) participants’ mindfulness practice, 2) stress experiences by participants, 3) mindfulness and resilience. Stress was found to be pervasive and structural, rooted not only in workload but in institutional instability, role ambiguity, and unrecognized emotional labor, especially for student-facing roles. Participants reported that mindfulness practices, both formal and informal, helped them regulate emotions, establish boundaries, reconnect with values, and sustain leadership presence, even amid unchanged external demands. Resilience was framed less as endurance and more as agency, discernment, and, at times, resistance, with participants emphasizing that individual coping is insufficient without organizational cultures that model care and support.
This study finds that higher education administrators experience stress as chronic, cumulative, and systemic, rooted in political volatility, budget and enrollment pressures, institutional restructuring, role ambiguity, and persistent emotional labor, especially in student-facing and equity-oriented positions. To cope, participants in this study turned to mindfulness, adopting practices such as meditation, breathing exercises, mindful walking, journaling, yoga, and brief intention-setting rituals. These practices functioned less as cures than as “pause buttons,” enabling emotional regulation, stress transformation, boundary-setting, and a renewed connection to purpose. Participants consistently reported reductions in perceived stress, improved capacity to remain composed during crises, and greater resilience and job satisfaction. At the same time, they emphasized that mindfulness alone could not resolve structural overwork or institutional dysfunction. Its benefits depended on context, support, and integration with broader systems of care. Thus, mindfulness emerged as a sustaining but limited resource, vital for individual grounding, yet insufficient without organizational change.
The study contributes to scholarship and practice by illustrating how resilience emerges through both individual strategies and institutional conditions, offering implications for leadership development, organizational policy, and long-term workforce sustainability in higher education
The Role of Social Media in Beauty Marketing: Insights from Kidfluencers, Brand Withdrawal, and Consumers’ Attitudes
No full textThis thesis examines the evolving role of social media in beauty marketing by analyzing industry trends, ethical considerations, and consumer perceptions. The paper first outlines how social media has transformed digital marketing, enabling brands to merge advertising, community-building, and e-commerce. Two case studies highlight contrasting dynamics within this landscape: the rise of “kidfluencers,” which raises concerns about privacy and potential financial exploitation; and Lush Cosmetics’ decision to withdraw from major social media platforms, a move rooted in ethical branding but accompanied by economic challenges. To further investigate consumer attitudes, a survey of 150 U.S. participants assessed social media usage patterns, well-being outcomes, and shopping behaviors. Results show that YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok are the leading platforms for discovering beauty products. Most participants reported minimal effects from social media usage on overall well-being, but some noted increased stress and reduced productivity. Overall, findings underscore the complex relationship among beauty brands, social media, and consumer expectations, revealing that while social platforms are powerful marketing tools, ethical considerations and audience preferences must remain central to strategic decision-making