Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
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And I Become Her
No full textThis thesis is a novel written in the first-person point of view with two characters, Jamila and Bella. The two protagonists are identical twins who got separated at birth. The novel addresses cultural effects and explores the role of upbringing in shaping the twins\u27 identities. Jamila is raised by her father in Saudi Arabia while Bella is raised by her mother in the United States. The storyline starts when the two sisters meet in Atlanta, Georgia, 18 years after the separation. Jamila studies business administration at Georgia Tech while Bella studies creative writing at SCAD. Each one of them get entangled in a love triangle that overlaps with the other and discover the truth about their being twins. In a twisted turn of events, they decide to trade places with one another and consider switching their fiancées. They both experience how it feels to be the other twin, which inspires the name of the novel, And I Become Her. Through the life swap, the readers live through the twins as they discover cross-cultural aspects and explore intriguing questions about identity and love
Latent Auto-recursive Composition Engine
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the shifting boundaries of art in the era of Generative AI, critically examining the essence of art and the legitimacy of AI-generated works. Despite significant advancements in the quality and accessibility of art through generative AI, such creations frequently encounter skepticism regarding their status as authentic art. To address this skepticism, the study explores the role of creative agency in various generative AI workflows and introduces an artist-in-the-loop system tailored for image generation models like Stable Diffusion. This system aims to deepen the artist\u27s engagement and understanding of the creative process. Additionally, a novel tool, the Latent Auto-recursive Composition Engine (LACE), which integrates Photoshop and ControlNet with Stable Diffusion, is introduced to improve transparency and control. This approach not only broadens the scope of computational creativity but also enhances artists\u27 ownership of AI-generated art, bridging the divide between AI-driven and traditional human artistry in the digital landscape
Opposition Man
No full textMichael M. Morris is an oppositional researcher searching not only for dirt to take down those he feels are unworthy to hold political office, but also for his own direction in life. After the tragic loss of his wife and only child, he begins to put the pieces of his life back together, only to be pulled back into both destructive old habits and into the very town he hoped to avoid. Persuaded to return to Tallahassee, Florida, Mike finds himself not only fighting the wealthy and politically powerful family responsible for his misery but also the guilt that keeps him from truly healing
A Study of Social Anxiety in Extended Reality Environments
Get PDFRecent advancements in Passthrough technology and Transformer based Large Lan- guage Models present a unique opportunity to delve into the intricate dynamics of hu- man social behavior. This study investigates the effects of human-controlled avatars and AI-controlled avatars on individuals with social anxiety within a Passthrough environment. A total of N=19 participants engaged in interactions with a human- controlled avatar via a head mounted display, followed by an AI representation, both within the Passthrough setting. Conversations were structured to elicit moments of stress or challenge in participants’ lives. Parameters such as heart rate, sincerity, stress levels, feelings of social pressure, and comfort were measured to gauge influence. A comparative analysis was conducted with earlier studies that utilized less advanced technology, including algorithm-based AI and human-operated avatars controlled via keyboard and mouse. Results indicate a positive impact of these technological ad- vancements, with participants perceiving the AI agent as more lifelike and relatable than systems explained in prior research. Additionally, interacting with the human- controlled avatar in the Passthrough environment appears to alleviate perceived stress and social pressure while maintaining a high degree of social presence compared to face-to-face encounters (in vivo). Notably, the human-controlled avatar demonstrates a more pronounced positive effect on social anxiety compared to its AI-controlled counterpart
What We Consume
No full textEveryone feels like a monster at some point in their lives. We’ve all grappled with the desire to climb out of our own skin, the desire to kick and scream and rage, the desire to let our pain manifest as a physical thing. These are the feelings that I set out to capture within my novella What We Consume.
My story follows three girls—Aislin, Breena, and Vivien—who agree to be interviewed for a documentary about their disappearance and the subsequent death of their best friend Poppy. Themes of belonging and grief are explored through the girls’ physical circumstances. They are cannibalistic fairy changelings wearing human faces, and they struggle to reconcile this dichotomy within themselves. By alternating between flashbacks and present-day interviews, I examine the ways that my main characters have been shaped by their trauma and dissect how being both human and inhuman affects the girls as they discover who they really are under their human facades.
At its core, my novella centers around the question “What makes a monster?” This story grapples with conforming to the expectations of a small town, loss of innocence, girlhood and what it is like to be a monster living in another person’s skin
Towards Machine Proficiency With Semantic Underspecification
No full textHuman natural language communication frequently relies on extra-linguistic information to fill in gaps in the linguistic signal left by semantic underspecification, or the omission of details that can be inferred from prior knowledge or other modalities. Underspecification is particularly common in conversations between acquaintances, since these interlocutors share context. Underspecification is a key and beneficial feature of natural language that improves efficiency, although it can cause communication to fail if it is not resolved correctly. For language models to communicate effectively and in a human-like fashion, they must learn how to recognize and utilize underspecified language. This thesis argues that proficiency with underspecification and ambiguity are critical components of a pragmatic approach to machine learning systems. It then explores recent work with the goal of clarifying the current state of research into the impact of these phenomena in machine learning. Finally, it suggests potential strategies to make progress on quantifying and enhancing machine comprehension of underspecification, offering directions for future research to improve the communicative fluency of models
“MY HOME IS MY HEART: IT MIGRATES WITH ME” INDIGENOUS SAMI PEOPLE AT THE CROSSROADS
Get PDFIndigenous people around the world have gained more attention than ever before. One such group is the Sami people, an indigenous ethnic minority in the Fennoscandia region, who have experienced the tension between their sustainable lifestyle that respects nature and the Western world’s way of living. Reindeer herding, a part of their traditional way of life, is at the heart of Saminess and their identities. However, current research on indigenous issues often focuses on land rights, resource management, and other aspects that overlook the diversity and complexity of the Sami culture. This thesis aims to explore the sustainability of the Sami people’s semi-nomadic lifestyle in the highly modern countries of Finland, Sweden, and Norway. This thesis reviewed relevant research articles and books to understand different aspects of Sami people and their sustainable way of living. This research revealed that the Sami people find themselves at a crossroads between maintaining their traditional way of life and adapting to the demands of modern society, with their identity and the political, economic, and cultural aspects of their lives at the center of it all. Despite the challenges, their resilience is a testament to their survival in these modern countries that do not fully support them. Interestingly, while previous generations have felt the weight of their Sami heritage, the new generation of Sami take pride in their language and traditions. It is important to note that the Sami people do not seek statehood, but rather hope for respect for their culture and involvement in decisions that impact their lives. However, they face new challenges, such as climate change, which threatens the sustainability of reindeer herding. Consequently, the future of this traditional way of life remains uncertain, and its loss would be devastating to both the Sami people and the cultural diversity of Finland, Sweden, and Norway
DEEP SCREENS: A PIPELINE FOR TRANSFORMING POSE ESTIMATION IN FILM INTO 3D CHARACTER ANIMATIONS
No full textWith the advancement of computer vision and machine learning, techniques have emerged to capture movement data from humans in video footage. The Deep Screens Project utilizes these techniques to extract 3D human body pose data from film using machine learning and computer vision algorithms. Once data is extracted, it will undergo statistical analysis to quantitatively characterize the acting styles specific to various eras, genres, and actors. My thesis contributes to the Deep Screens Project by developing a pipeline that integrates machine learning and computer vision libraries to import data into a 3D visualization environment such as Unity. This pipeline includes steps such as 2D pose estimation, initial smoothing, 2D to 3D pose lifting, secondary smoothing, tracking ID matching, data loading in Unity, and updating humanoid character animations. Additionally, my thesis involves creating a small art demo to demonstrate the potential for artistic expression and educational use of the data obtained. After evaluating various tools and methods, we constructed a custom pipeline and demo that not only fulfills the project’s requirements but also enhances user engagement through an artistic showcase. Feedback from 30 participants con- firmed the effectiveness of the pipeline and the artistic representations in capturing the essence of the original film scenes. While the current pipeline meets its objectives within the constraints of contemporary technology, future enhancements will focus on improving tracking accuracy and expanding capabilities to accommodate larger groups and more complex motion capture
Riding Shotgun: Authenticity and Discovery
Get PDFThe truth hurts.” So, my family said to me from my earliest comprehension. The poet’s fundamental ethic requires a commitment to authenticity, at the intersection of myriad creative possibilities. How to write poems about family, friends, and life experiences, mine included, through honest interrogation? Fortunately, empathy and truth are not mutually exclusive. When I began my thesis, my poems written during MALS enrollment were scattered, print and electronic. I could have saved myself plenty of time had I been a good curator. So said, there was an upside to gathering the strays. I was afforded the benefit of thematic discovery – family history, marriage, professional boxing (my family was avid), perspectives on racism, and more. Certainly, the gathering together was essential, but this would not have been enough without my prose writing produced across the MALS curriculum: Writing Nature, Methodologies, Playwriting, Cultural Studies, and more. The prose writing, in many cases, spawned some of my best poems because that is where room for interrogation is plentiful. As I wrote and leaned into unflattering aspects of being human, I trusted readers’ independent interpretations. Here it is and now, in the ether, it is yours. The rewards of letting go did not come overnight. Collectively, my thesis readers encouraged, prodded, suggested, and emerged as highly trustworthy editors. The incremental advances toward my authentic voice owe much to their “powers of the unvarnished.” When I enrolled in the MALS – Creative Writing program in the spring of two-thousand-seventeen, I shared that my birth as a poet came through a simply worded poem by Countee Cullen, “Incident”. That was decades ago, and it remains the only poem, including any of my own, I can recite accurately from end to end. In Countee’s narrative, a little Black boy on a trip to Baltimore smiles at a similarly aged boy who responds with a racial epithet. My reaction in the moment: That speaks to me! I could be having a sunshine filled and joyful day, but somehow, one racial incident would eclipse all. And, so, I have written a thesis true to Countee Cullen
TOWARDS A WEARABLE DEVICE FOR MEASURING IMPEDANCE PLETHYSMOGRAPHY OF THE RADIAL ARTERY
Get PDFRecent advancements in bioimpedance technology have demonstrated significant promise in the application of cardiac health monitoring. This research explores the design and development of a forearm-based wearable bioimpedance device for non-invasive measurement of heart rate and respiratory rate at an accuracy level comparable to medical-grade monitors. It utilizes a tetrapolar electrode configuration to analyze bioimpedance changes in the radial artery due to blood flow.
An ongoing aspect of this work involves the preliminary development of an embedded framework intended to integrate signal generation, acquisition, and processing within the device to achieve compact and efficient system design, anticipated to contribute to its overall performance. However, current efforts focus on addressing the technical challenges inherent in such integration, including its impact on improving signal fidelity and device usability.
Bioimpedance-based wearables have further potential in correlating the resulting signals to several complex cardiac diseases such as COPD, Asthma and CHF. Unlike photoplethysmography (PPG) based systems, bioimpedance can directly measure multidimensional physiological data relevant to cardiac health including fluid balance, tissue composition and thoracic fluid content. These measurements are less susceptible to external factors like motion artifacts and skin pigmentation, offering a consistent and reliable method for long-term monitoring in diverse populations and non-clinical settings. This capability to correlate changes in bioimpedance with cardiac functions presents avenues for early detection and nuanced monitoring of complex cardiac conditions, potentially offering a more comprehensive understanding of the patient\u27s cardiovascular health. Additionally, the integration of advanced bioimpedance monitoring into wearable devices also allows for personalized healthcare and remote patient monitoring, thus promising enhanced diagnostic accuracy and patient convenience.
This research exemplifies the commitment to pushing the boundaries of wearable health technology, while acknowledging the complexity of developing a fully integrated, miniaturized solution. It also reviews the evolution and theoretical basis of bioimpedance technology in cardiology, underscoring the innovative potential of the four-electrode forearm wearable system in transforming cardiac health monitoring