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Future of Research Integrity Conference Recording: Session Three
No full textVideo recording of the third session for the Future of Research Integrity Conference on May 21, 2024.https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/fric2024_session-videos/1002/thumbnail.jp
Barriers in Reporting Sexual Violence on College Campuses
Get PDFThis thesis is designed to examine the underreporting of sexual violence on college campuses by exploring the systemic, cultural, and logistical barriers that hinder victims from disclosing their assault. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the research identifies three overarching influences for non-reporting. Fear, shame, and lack of resources are presented as the basis of the decision that victims make to not report. Meta-analysis of the research concludes that there is a profound impact of internalized victim-blaming narratives, fear of repercussions and institutional deficiencies in providing accessible support. Recommendations for solutions emphasize creating trauma-informed policies, improving communication and accessibility of resources, and fostering cultural shifts to address rape culture and its normalization. Practical implementation on campuses could include: Lessons on trauma informed care for peers at orientation and freshman seminar.
Distribution of information for victims’ resources at orientation, freshman seminar, every syllabus, every advising appointment.
Link to victims’ resources on each courses Canvas page.
Utilization of student volunteers at victims’ centers for anonymous support.
Yearly faculty and staff training on trauma informed care.
University funding victim resources.
Ultimately, the research advocates for systemic reforms that prioritize victim support, justice, and prevention, with an aim to increase reporting and mitigate sexual violence on college campuses
Software and Hardware Co-Design for Deep Learning Power Optimization
No full textDeep Neural Networks (DNN) have become a core component in many state-of-the-art computer systems. It was only in 2005 that Intel released its first commercial CPU to offer dual-core processing, whereas, in 2020, Nvidia released a single GPU with 6912 cores to meet the demand for DNN applications. With demand increasing for computational performance, the underlying computational architecture needs to evolve to keep pace. At the same time, DNN models increase in computational complexity as new algorithms are discovered to expand SL capabilities. DNN algorithms use large datasets, which place a large demand on hardware memory management. Reducing the power consumed in DNN applications has a broad impact on many different systems that perform DNN algorithms, both in the cloud and on the edge.
This research aims to present two approaches to optimize the power efficiency of DNN. From the software design perspective, Aim #1 demonstrates a hyperspectral imaging (HSI) scalable DNN framework for classifying lesional tissue images. Also, Grad-CAM heatmaps have been studied to provide interpretability into the DNN decision making process. These heatmaps visually highlight specific regions of an image that indicate signs of a lesion. Additionally, the DNN architecture scales with image complexity, utilizing Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to reduce the number of dimensions contained in the data and DNN architecture. Utilizing the framework provides a range of possible configurations to optimize between hardware requirements and DNN accuracy.
From the hardware design perspective, Aim #2 presents a bit truncation memory for static random-access memory (SRAM), to support DNN processing. It utilizes the over-precise data structures that contain DNN parameters to trade precision for power efficiency. The developed memory can adapt the number of truncated bits and set the optimal truncation values to meet the quality requirements of different DNN applications and, meanwhile, enable significant power savings. The memory structure was validated using standard AlexNet and VGG-16 models, as well as a pruned lightweight VGG-16 model. The architecture also supports truncation for video streaming applications, making this SRAM architecture useful to process DNN algorithms and video streaming.
Finally, Aim #3 merges the scalable software framework from Aim #1 with the scalable hardware architecture of Aim #2. The two systems are integrated together to produce power optimization at both the hardware and software levels. The effects between the systems are studied to identify optimal software and hardware configurations for the specific HSI classification task
Side Channel Detection of PC Rootkits using Nonlinear Phase Space
Get PDFCyberattacks are increasing in size and scope yearly, and the most effective and common means of attack is through malicious software executed on target devices of interest. Malware threats vary widely in terms of behavior and impact and, thus, effective methods of detection are constantly being sought from the academic research community to offset both volume and complexity. Rootkits are malware that represent a highly feared threat because they can change operating system integrity and alter otherwise normally functioning software. Although normal methods of detection that are based on signatures of known malware code are the standard line of defense, rootkits that have never been seen before (zero-day threats) are not easily defeated because of their ability to evade scanners and present false system information. In this research, we propose to evaluate a novel approach of rootkit detection based on collection of time-serial voltage data from the internal motherboard of standard desktop PCs.https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/honors_college_posters/1010/thumbnail.jp
Formation of Diazirine Functionality for Propellant Applications
Get PDFOur research focuses on a cost-effective approach which minimizes synthetic overhead when assembling compounds with diazirine functionality. The goals are to prevent the surplus use of ammonia in the formation of diaziridine functionality and use an IKA Electrosyn 2.0 in the oxidation of diaziridine functionality. Success with either specific aim will significantly reduce the synthetic overhead currently observed. Diazirine functionality plays a vital role in a vast number of applications. Two of interest to us include diazirine functionality as a next generation propellant and as a photoaffinity label. With the latter, this strategy plays a vital role in drug discovery and biomedical research as it allows researchers to study, understand, manipulate, and control complex biological systems. Moreover, previous research has shown that diazirine functionality has the potential to be used as propellants, so this project also aims to explore the energetic properties of this functionality and develop a deeper understanding of their physical properties. The energetic properties are assessed using digital scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis
Civil Disobedience of Social Workers in Hospice
Get PDFWhat is civil disobedience? Civil disobedience is often thought of as peaceful protesting or non-violent law breaking. However, the textbook definition is “the refusal to obey the demands or commands of a government or occupying power, without resorting to violence or active measures of opposition” (Britannica). Peaceful protesting has been an integral part of American history. Henry David Thoreau, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr. were all civilly disobedient citizens who altered the course of history. Any and all protests, however, cannot be considered civil disobedience, since there are some requirements of this category.https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/honors_college_posters/1025/thumbnail.jp
USA Archaeology Museum Newsletter - March 2024
Get PDFIn this edition of the museum\u27s newsletter: Upcoming Free Public Talks: The Cosmos Revealed: Precontact Mississippian Rock Art at Painted Bluff Jan Simek, Ph.D. Documenting the Africatown Cemetery, Alexandria Jones, Ph.D. Alliance Française, A Thorn in Spain\u27s Side: The Rise & Fall of 16th Century Huguenot Corsairs, Jen Knutson Down the Bay: Archaeology & Oral History, Philip Carr, Ph.D., Rachel Hines, and Ryan Morini, Ph.D. Where is the Parity: Exploring the Gap Between Health Disparities and Health Equities, Franklin Trimm, M.D. and Tiquera Hall
On Exhibit at the Archaeology Museum: Unwritten: Archaeology & Oral History of Jim Crow Mobile
Upcoming Exhibit: Now Accepting Submissions for the INTO Light Project
Upcoming Local Archaeology Conferences
Teachers! Project Archaeology Investigating Rock Art Professional Development Workshop
Giving to the Archaeology Museu
Using Simulation to Enhance Undergraduate Nursing Education
Get PDFThis poster presentation will discuss the implementation of simulation-based education in the undergraduate nursing curriculum to increase preparedness in caring for adolescent patients with symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation. This topic aligns with the conference’s theme by identifying the importance of introducing nursing students to urgent and life-threatening simulated healthcare events prior to graduation. The plan for this presentation is to impart information to others regarding the use of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning’s standards of best practice when implementing innovative, simulation-based education for nursing students. The outcome and objectives for this presentation is to provide awareness on how our faculty implemented these simulation-based experiences in our program, to describe the standards of best practice for implementing this innovative type of education using our University’s Simulation Program, and to disseminate our progress and findings to other members of regional institutions of higher education.https://jagworks.southalabama.edu/cotl2024-poster/1000/thumbnail.jp
Sex and Age Differences in Near-infrared Spectroscopy Responses and the Resulting Influences on Cognition
Get PDFVascular dysfunction is the earliest known marker of neurodegeneration. However, limited research has been conducted to determine if changes in peripheral vascular function track differences in brain health. Therefore, the purpose was to determine if previously reported sex differences in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) vascular occlusion test (VOT) parameters persist across the lifespan and if these differences track age- and sex-related differences in a cognitive task. Ninety-nine healthy, cognitively intact adults (50 women, 49 men) across the adult lifespan (19-81 yrs) were used for analysis. The combination of NIRS-VOT was used to quantify microvascular function. Cognition was defined as the time to completion on Part A and Part B of the trail-making test (TMT). Five, separate 2-way between factor ANOVAs (sex x age) were used to determine mean differences in each NIRS-VOT derived variable and TMT outcome. Regardless of age, men exhibited faster rates of desaturation (p \u3c 0.001; ̅Δ = 0.031 %·s-1) during ischemia and achieved a higher magnitude of total re-saturation (p = 0.006; ̅Δ = -2.5 %) (StO2max) following ischemia. Independent of sex, StO2max progressively decreased with increased age (p \u3c 0.001; 2 = 0.274). TMT Part A indicated that men (p \u3c 0.001; 2 = 0.546) and women (p = 0.020; 2 = 0.154) exhibited sex specific rates of decline in processing speed, whereas Part B decreased across age independent of sex (p \u3c 0.001; 2 = 0.188). This was the first study to demonstrate that sex differences in NIRS-VOT outcomes, StO2max and desaturation rate, persist across the adult lifespan