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Making the Invisible Visible: An Exploratory Mixed Methods Analysis of Idea Generation Processes and Writing Outcomes for Students with and without High-Incidence Disabilities
Get PDFThe genre of persuasive writing requires writers to independently probe their long-term memory to generate pertinent ideas that support their opinion on a given topic. However, many students with high-incidence disabilities struggle with the complex synergy of tasks involved in writing, and in particular generating ideas. A qualitatively dominant mixed methods study explored and compared the idea generation processes and writing outcomes of eighth grade students with high incidence disabilities and proficient writers. Students with high-incidence disabilities and proficient writers engaged in a think aloud protocol during “pretest,” sharing idea generation processes, while simultaneously composing an essay in response to an opinion-based persuasive writing prompt without any supports. Both groups then received instructional lessons on the use of the technology-based graphic organizer (TBGO) with built-in evidence-based strategies. Students then engaged in a second think aloud with identical data collection procedures to “pretest” but using the TBGO as they were writing. Finally, a third think aloud was conducted when the TBGO was removed, where both groups participated in a final think aloud that again captured idea generation processes while composing another essay. The use of a think aloud was used to glean qualitative data of the idea generation processes employed when responding to an opinion-based persuasive writing prompt while writing outcomes (number of ideas generated, total number of written words, writing quality) were concurrently collected. The findings of this study revealed that both students with high-incidence disabilities and proficient writers generate ideas through personal experiences in all writing contexts. Proficient writers demonstrated more complex idea generation processes, as they generated ideas by employing strategy use, using organizational strategies, and by simply pausing to think. The use of the TBGO enhanced the idea generation processes of students with high-incidence disabilities, as these students less frequently exhibited idleness of their idea generation processes and were more likely to engage in multiple idea generation processes with the tool. However, results demonstrated that students with high-incidence disabilities likely require more explicit instruction related to the generation of ideas. Additionally, quantitative results demonstrated that the use of the (TBGO) resulted in a statistically significant difference in the number of ideas generated, the total number of written words, and writing quality for students with high-incidence disabilities when writing with and without the TBGO. Yet only the number of ideas generated, and the writing quality measures improved significantly for proficient writers. A mixed analysis was used to quantize the frequency of the emergent qualitative themes
INTEGRATING NONLINEAR KERNEL-BASED DETECTOR ALGORITHMS AND MINIMUM NOISE FRACTION FOR ADVANCED OIL-SPILL DETECTION WITH HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERY
Get PDFGlobally, oil spills are a significant environmental and economic concern. These spills can have substantial long-term consequences for the affected areas, including environmental damage, harm to local wildlife, and impacts on local communities' ability to support themselves. Despite these concerns, identifying and containing oil spill accidents can be challenging, especially in remote or inaccessible areas. Consequently, developing efficient and reliable methods for detecting and imaging oil accidents is essential.The varied properties of different types of oil can affect how an oil appears on images, presenting a significant challenge when attempting to identify oil spills. In addition, weather conditions such as wind and waves can disperse oil over extensive areas, making it difficult to determine the extent of an oil spill. In addition, conventional remote sensing and imaging techniques have limitations such as false positives and misidentification of objects in the water that can result in inaccurate reporting. Hyperspectral imaging is a promising technique for detecting oil discharges. This technology uses a wide spectrum of electromagnetic radiation to create images of objects or substances based on their spectral signatures. However, hyperspectral imaging has complexities, making it challenging to identify oil deposits using this technique. This study investigated the feasibility and efficacy of using kernel-based algorithms to enhance the detection of oil spills in hyperspectral images. In order to evaluate the clarity and precision of hyperspectral images of previous oil disasters, this study used four imaging techniques: Kernel Adaptive Subspace Detector, Kernel Orthogonal Subspace Projection, Kernel Spectral Matched Filter Detector, and Kernel Matched Signal Detector. In addition, the Minimum Noise Fraction utility was evaluated in conjunction with the kernel-based algorithms. The study's findings demonstrated that kernel-based algorithms improved the clarity and accuracy of images with fewer false positives and the ability to identify oil spillage over larger areas. In addition, the study found that the nonlinear kernel-based signal detectors outperformed their linear counterparts, demonstrating the potential of kernel-based methods for detecting anomalies. However, the study also revealed some limitations of the method, such as trade-offs between recall and precision based on the eta thresholds chosen for the analyzed images. The findings of this study are essential for the research and development of future technology for detection of oil spills. The research indicates that kernel-based algorithms could be useful for accurately identifying oil spills in hyperspectral images. However, the results also emphasize the need for additional research into algorithms based on anomaly detection and hyperspectral imaging techniques specifically for detecting oil spillage. Future research in this area could lead to the development of more effective and dependable methods for detecting and cleaning up oil spills
Surviving NIBRS: Restoring America’s Unreported Homicides and Exploring the Influences for Law Enforcement’s Declining Cooperation in Crime Reporting
Get PDFFBI adoption of the National Incident Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2021 as the mandatory reporting standard for crime data resulted in an unprecedented decline in police reporting to the federal government. Only 57 percent of the nation’s homicides were reported that year. This study obtained more than 6,000 unreported homicides from local and state police agencies using Freedom of Information Act and Open Record Act requests. The study compares FBI data and the study’s augmented dataset for accuracy and completeness using the National Vital Statistics System as a reference. This study also used a 3,134-county regression analysis to explore the socioeconomic factors associated with police decisions to participate, or to decline participation, in the more complex NIBRS program
Perspectives of Experienced Spanish Immersion Teachers on Their Work With K-1 Latinx Students and the Formation of Their Writer Identity
Get PDFThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until December 2025.The perspectives teachers hold about their culturally and linguistically diverse students (CLDLs) are crucial for these learners' social and academic development (Carley Rizzuto, 2017; McSwain, 2002; Nieto, 2015; Peregoy & Boyle, 1997). These perspectives directly impact instructional practices and attitudes toward the education of CLDLs, especially influencing the social and writer identities of young children from underrepresented groups (Calderón et al., 2011; Lee et al., 2007; McCarthey & García, 2005). This study focuses on understanding the perspectives that experienced teachers of CLDLs hold about their work with K-1 Latinx students in the area of writing, the formation of the writer identity, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in this process. Using case study methodology, experienced teachers were identified following criterion-based case selection and provided insights through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The study fulfilled a research gap by focusing on young CLDLs, as studies of the development of the writer’s identity have mainly focused on monolingual English speakers from upper school grades or college students. Given the crisis that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed over the well-being and education of children, this study is significant because it analyzed the perspectives of experienced teachers of Latinx students who belong to underrepresented groups most affected by the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is crucial to understanding the perspective of experienced teachers of young CLDLs and identifying strategies that promote the development of their writer identity. The study is important because it contributes to the efforts of analyzing the writing process of CLDLs. In addition, it expands the current literature on the development of the writer identity of underrepresented students and the effects of the physical and psychological environments on this process.2025-12-1
Improving the Representation of Human Health Behavior in Spatial Agent-Based Models of Disease Spread
Get PDFGiven the significant threat of infectious respiratory diseases to global health, epidemiological models are essential tools for better understanding disease transmission. Of the many modeling approaches, Agent-Based Models (ABMs) are ideal for simulating disease spread because of their ability to examine and predict disease outcomes based on individual-level behaviors and interactions, which are key drivers of disease spread. However, many existing ABMs either ignore or generalize the behavioral component due to several challenges, such as the lack of data for informing agent behaviors, difficulties with implementing behavioral computational frameworks, or limited interdisciplinary collaboration between the broader ABM community and domain experts. The objective of the thesis is to advance the representation of human health behaviors in ABMs of infectious respiratory disease spread. To achieve this, a systematic literature review is conducted to assess the extent to which health behavior is modeled in existing ABMs of infectious respiratory disease spread. Building upon the findings from the literature review, a data-driven agent decision framework of health behaviors for spatial ABMs of disease spread is developed. The framework is then integrated into a geospatial ABM that simulates the spread of COVID-19 and mask-use behavior among the student population at George Mason University (GMU) during the Fall 2021 semester. The advancements made in this thesis will ultimately provide the public and decision-makers with greater insight into disease transmission, accurate predictions on disease outcomes, and preparation for future infectious respiratory disease outbreaks
Queering Cosplay and Conventions: An Intersectional Study of Cosplay, Community, and Identity
Get PDFCosplay is a form of fan interaction in which one dresses as a particular character from a fixed medium such as a TV show. Cosplay is also an example of fan translation of popular culture into folklore and a method through which cosplayers can explore their identity/identities and experiment with gender through the liminal, ritualesque space of the cosplay convention. This thesis draws upon ethnographic fieldwork to examine the performance of cosplay, cosplay conventions, and the broader cosplay community from a folkloric lens to learn how fans use cosplay to help them express love for a character and/or a particular fandom as well as find community within fandom spaces. Further, it will provide insight into how cosplay can be used as a tool for self-exploration and a form of self-expression of various identities—with a focus on LGBTQIA+ identities—that fans have both within a fandom and outside of it
Free to Kill: Creators, Comics, and Killing Characters
Get PDFThis work examines how the Bronze Age of comics, thanks to factors like changes to the comics code authority, freedom to create at Marvel, and a brand new and young generation of comic book fans coming in, gave way to what has become a comic book staple, killing characters. Looking at a specific set of comic book deaths, it becomes apparent that Marvel Comics hired new and fresh talent and chose to give them the reins to tell new, unique, and horrific stories that brought a new reality into the comic book world by disillusioned liberal boomers. Although Marvel’s freedom was not absolute, these new writers brought new perspectives and attitudes akin to their generation, unlike those who served in World War II. This generation brought Marvel into handling controversial and complex real-world issues, like death, and made readers question their sense of right and wrong
Humanitarian Action in a Digital World: How the Pursuit of Legibility Shapes the Humanitarian Act
No full textThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until August 2028.The increase in the number of people in need, and the protracted nature of humanitarian crises have placed tremendous stress on the international humanitarian system. As a result of this, humanitarian actors have pursued different schemes to meet those demands. Through in-depth key information interviews conducted with humanitarian officials, international organization practitioners, private tech sector officials, and academic researchers this dissertation looks at the evolution of humanitarian response as a result of growing needs and the pursuit of digitalization of humanitarian services and response. The study utilizes legibility as a framework of analysis to argue that the humanitarian sector is shaped by its pursuit and the desire of humanitarians to know more about the environment they operate in. Rather than levy taxes and organize the affairs of a state, international humanitarian organizations pursue legibility to make the people affected by crises legible to the humanitarian apparatus. This is done through increasing forms of monitoring and surveillance, remote management, data extraction, and various forms of standardization and abstraction. Humanitarians today find themselves at a crossroad for the future of humanitarian action. The dissertation argues that the humanitarian sector localization ambition is in itself in opposition to the current model of operation driven by legibility. This current model, the study argues, creates a conflict between a humanitarian system focused on their own approaches and perspectives and that of the people impacted by crises that the sector proclaims to serve. The dissertation draws attention to the debates on what humanitarians are expected to deliver, the growing moral and operational challenges to the existing humanitarian principles, and the impact of their rapprochement with the private tech sector as a result of digitalization, The dissertation concludes by providing practice and research recommendations for a sector seeking to find its moral compass in a complex world.2028-08-1
Identification of Antimicrobial Peptides against Gram-negative Bacteria
No full textThis work is embargoed by the author and will not be publicly available until December 2028.Antibiotic resistance in bacteria has been rising due to excessive and improper use of antibiotics. There is a pressing need to find alternative approaches to tackle this issue. Unconventional antimicrobials have been proposed to combat multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are promising compounds for fighting bacterial infections. AMPs are a cationic polypeptide chain that can target microorganisms, including bacteria. In this work, three approaches of peptide design have been implemented to generate novel peptides with a focus on gram-negative bacteria. Computational-aided positional analysis method was utilized to generate peptides based on pre-existing dataset of Acinetobacter (A.) baumannii-active peptides to target multidrug resistant (MDR) A. baumannii. The output resulted in the generation of five peptides, HRZN-13 to -17. HRZN-15 peptide had the strongest antibacterial and antibiofilm activity against MDR A. baumannii among HRZN peptides. However, it was toxic to human red blood cells (RBCs) and Galleria mellonella (waxworms). Rational design created a novel sequence GATR-3 from a cryptic peptide that was isolated from American alligator, which we characterized in this study against A. baumannii. GATR-3 exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against a panel of MDR A. baumannii strains. The most exciting finding was that it inhibited biofilm formation as well as eradicated preformed biofilm in this wound-infecting pathogen. GATR-3 did not cause toxicity in hepatocytes, human RBCs and G. mellonella. It also demonstrated host-directed activity, inducing migration of macrophages. The third method that was employed in this study is chemical modification of naturally occurring peptides. The human cathelicidin LL-37 peptide was dissected to find smaller fragments that have antibiofilm activity against Francisella novicida. KR-12 was the smallest fragment tested that exhibited antibiofilm activity but failed to inhibit growth of F. novicida, indicating it’s antibiofilm activity. Therefore, chemical staples were introduced on KR-12 and KR-16 fragments to support their secondary structure conformations and potentially increase their stability or activity. Stapled peptides successfully demonstrated improved growth-inhibitory effect of F. novicida, compared to the native peptides, with minimal toxicity towards human RBCs. All the peptide design methods presented in this dissertation led to the production of novel peptides with activity against gram-negative bacteria.2028-12-1