ScholarWorks (California State University)
Not a member yet
87523 research outputs found
Sort by
Optimizing Dependence-aware Service Function Chain using Integer Linear Programming
No full textNetwork Function Virtualization (NFV) enables flexible deployment of network services by running Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on shared hardware and chaining them into service sequences known as Service Function Chains (SFCs). While this practice greatly improves scalability and resource utilization, resource allocation remains the current outstanding problem in NFV. This thesis introduces Dependence-aware Service Function Chains (DSFCs) to explicitly capture inter-VNF dependencies, ensuring that certain functions are executed in a prescribed order. To optimally place DSFC in a NFV infrastructure, we formulate the placement problem as an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model. The ILP minimizes total network bandwidth consumption subject to constraints that respect VNF dependency ordering, substrate node capacity, link capacity, and connectivity requirements. We will also introduce and implement a greedy algorithm called Greedy DSFC Mapping via Topological Sort and Shortest Path (DSFC_TS) that takes some inspiration from previous works. We implement the model to solve it using Gurobi mathematical solver, evaluating its performance on various network scenarios. Experimental results demonstrate that the ILP-based solution (DSFC_ILP) outperforms the greedy algorithm (DSFC_TS) under light-moderate network loads, achieving lower overall bandwidth usage and shorter service chain paths. However, under higher traffic demands, the DSFC_TS greedy algorithm scales better yielding lower bandwidth consumption and comparable hop lengths. Furthermore, DSFC_ILP consistently achieves higher SFC acceptance rates especially in resource-constrained environments. These findings validate the benefits of dependency-aware optimization and provide insights for future research on scalable, dependency-conscious NFV resource allocation
A Handbook for Educators and Guardians: Getting Students to School
No full textChronic absenteeism is a growing concern in high schools across the United States, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Defined in California Education Code § 48263.6 as missing 10% or more of the academic year for any reason, chronic absenteeism is closely associated with lower academic performance, increased dropout risk, and long-term emotional and behavioral difficulties. Despite its wide-reaching effects, high school absenteeism remains under-addressed. Many schools and families lack access to cohesive, evidence-based tools that can intervene before patterns of disengagement become entrenched. This project introduces a comprehensive handbook for stakeholders, including educators, parents, mental health professionals, and school administrators, grounded in Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework. By translating research into practice, the handbook provides real-world tools to address the multifaceted causes of absenteeism, such as student mental health, housing instability, academic disconnection, and limited transportation access. This resource guides systems-level collaboration through targeted, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive strategies to support consistent school attendance and promote equitable educational access for all students
Peer mentoring manual: Improving school engagement and reducing acculturative stress of immigrant high school students
No full textWith the increasing number of newcomer immigrant students in public high schools, there is a greater need for school administrators, school counselors, and school psychologists to find culturally appropriate interventions to support this specific student population. Research shows that acculturative stressors act as barriers to immigrant students' school engagement. In an effort to combat this, peer mentoring programs centered around addressing stressors, developing strong social peer networks, and learning coping skills can be utilized. Despite the effectiveness of these types of programs, public schools and staff face challenges in their ability to plan and implement these targeted small group interventions. This project seeks to alleviate this burden by compiling and structuring peer mentor training sessions and weekly group meetings within a comprehensive, culturally responsive manual. The manual's ease of use should assist program facilitators and make it more feasible for them to implement peer mentoring programs, which have been empirically supported to significantly assist this disadvantaged high school student population. Discussions of the final product, as well as its limitations and possible future work related to it, are included at the end
The Accessible Futures Bridge Program: Increasing Academic Success for BIPOC College Students with Disabilities
No full textThe college experience at a four-year university for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students with disabilities is uniquely shaped by the intersection of race and disability. This graduate project explores topics such as the transition from high school to college, employment and graduation rates disparities, intersectionality, and the stigma often associated with seeking support. Drawing on Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), this paper examines how race and disability intersect, which can create additional layers of marginalization. Additionally, this paper emphasizes the significance of academic and social integration, drawing from Tinto's Student Integration Theory, which aims to increase student persistence. This graduate project proposes developing a transitional workshop series alongside a designated community space to foster a sense of belonging, raise awareness of available resources, and provide students with the tools they need to prepare for college
AI-Powered Adaptive Modulation for UAV-Based Communications
No full textThis work offers a thorough performance analysis of wireless communication systems based on drones and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, operating at 2.4 GHz while simultaneously affected by rain attenuation and Rician fading. As aerial communication platforms are increasingly used to provide connectivity in remote, rural, and disaster affected regions, it is essential to assess their operational dependability under harsh climatic circumstances. Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Support Vector Machines (SVM) are two machine learning-based modulation classification frameworks that are used in conjunction with adaptive modulation techniques and comprehensive Monte Carlo simulations to evaluate the resilience and flexibility of the system. To evaluate key performance metrics including Bit Error Rate (BER), Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), and attainable data rates under various rain rates and Rician K-factors, both systems were modeled with realistic operating characteristics. The results obtained demonstrate that under ideal circumstances, the LEO satellite system consistently achieved greater data rates and supported higher-order modulation schemes. The parallel computing toolbox of MATLAB enabled more than one million Monte Carlo simulations for each platform to examine the combined effects of Doppler‐shifted Rician fading and ITU-R rain attenuation. An extensive collection of channel conditions produced empirical CDFs through these simulation runs. An Adaptive modulation controller is built through implementation of SVM and LSTM classifiers that extract rain intensity together with instantaneous SNR and fading gain and BER estimates from the current channel state. The developed models generate modulation decisions within 1 millisecond which demonstrates 99.5 percent accuracy. Research studies demonstrate that the presented AI method improves spectral efficiency by 15 % over standard threshold adaptation and achieves a 25 % reduction in bit errors at moderate SNR conditions together with a 30 % decline in outages during severe rainfall. Our research demonstrates that the ML-based adaptive modulation system fulfills UAV and LEO platform latency and power requirements which makes it ready for next-generation hybrid aerial-space communication network implementation
Comparative Analysis of MPPT using Particle Swarm Optimization and Fuzzy Logic
No full textThe dynamics of wind speeds vary, are never constant, and come from all cardinal directions. Considering the substantial physical dimensions of wind turbines, they lack the ability to move in such a way to capture wind from any direction. It is desired to design a wind turbine model and output power and energy which can be sent to support a grid with any input of wind speeds. A 12.3 kW wind turbine is used along with a DC-DC boost converter to act as an actuator for a Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controller. The yaw and blade angle of the wind turbine will be considered stationary, with wind speeds coming from one cardinal direction. A Perturb and Observe (P\&O) method was used first as reference for a single wind speed, but since wind speeds vary, two other methods will be used to adapt to the change in wind speeds.This report will cover how Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) behave as an MPPT for a wind turbine. These two methodologies will be verified using Matlab/Simulink to display the performance of each. A hybrid model will also be designed in which PSO is used to tune the membership ranges of an FLC. While both proved to be successful, the hybrid model also achieved in obtaining maximum power for any dynamic wind speed allowing for an efficient method to support the grid and preserve energy
Biomechanics of Jumps with and without Backpacks
No full textWhen athletes, tactical personnel, and workers carry additional weights, ground reaction forces increase, and the risk of musculoskeletal injury rises. Athletes carry additional weights during training, whereas tactical personnel and labor workers often carry those weights with them in various working environments. From several past scientific studies, it has been shown that there is an increase in maximum vertical ground reaction forces corresponding to the larger weights carried. These studies also suggested that heavier weights result in higher rates of lower extremity injuries. This project examines the effects of additional weights on the vertical ground reaction forces (GRF), net joint moments, and leg stiffness during counter-movement vertical jumps. Participants executed two trials of counter-movement jumps under three load conditions: no-load, 25 lbs., and 45 lbs. Ten cameras, using Cortex motion analysis software (Motion Analysis Corporation), captured the reflective markers placed on participants according to a two-dimensional model with six markers per side. Two Kistler force plates were used to capture the GRF. The kinematic and kinetic data were calculated using Kinetics Tools™ from Motion Analysis Corporation and custom Matlab™ scripts. A two-dimensional inverse dynamic solution using Matlab™ programs and Microsoft Excel™ was used to derive the angles and moments at the ankle, knee, and hip. The vertical stiffness of the lower limb, during part of the unweighted phase and braking phase of the counter-movement jump, the propulsive impulse (the vertical ground reaction force integrated with respect to time), and maximum vertical velocity of the center of mass were computed and compared among the three conditions. The results suggest that individual participants have varied strategies in response to the three loading conditions. A comprehensive study is required to fully understand human responses under increased backpack load conditions
Embracing Resilience: The Voices of Self-Determination, Healing, and Rediscovery of Self-Worth and Hope In For Colared Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf
Get PDFThis article aims to investigate the motif of self-determination of hope and healing from the humiliated and oppressed women in For Colored Girls/ Who Have Considered Suicide/ When the Rainbow Is Enuf. Ntozake Shange is an African American writer in the US who has contributed to the persistent prejudices about black women and their bodies. For ages, black woman's bodies have been subjected to historical representations of their entanglement with slavery. The black women's voices are simultaneously treated as subjects of exploitation, supposition, and sub-humanization. Black bodies were forced into a process of oppressive system, which in turn promoted several stereotyped and disparaging images. Most unheard of, they were the only group described as "masculine," the only group and class of women seen as sex symbols. Black women were viewed as laborers, breeders, and objects of desire for white males. Black women's key concerns are poverty, marginalization, discrimination in the workplace, and powerlessness. Women of color have broken their long standing silence by sharing their tales of how they went from being invisible to visible and insecure to alert. They are winners despite having been wronged. Her play challenges conventional discourse by bringing the impossible to life and calling upon the obscure
Opioid Harm Reduction in Advanced Practice Nursing
No full textOpioids are responsible for taking thousands of lives in the United States. Advanced practice nurses who prescribe opioids for pain management have the potential to exacerbate or mitigate the problem with opioid prescribing. Currently, there is a lack of education and training to prepare advanced practice nurses in opioid harm reduction strategies. This proposed study aims to evaluate the effects of opioid harm reduction education on active nurse practitioners for 7 months using a pre- and post-study design. It will evaluate whether additional opioid harm reduction education improves knowledge of opioid antagonist prescribing and harm reduction interventions compared to pre-education levels. This study is significant to advanced practice nurses who are on the front lines of patient care. With the addition of education and training in opioid harm reduction, they can be better prepared to identify patients at risk for opioid abuse and the potential risk for opioid overdose
Manual Dexterity Before and After Walking with Backpack Load
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to examine short-term changes in manual dexterity following backpack load carriage. We hypothesized that manual dexterity performance times on a grooved pegboard test would increase after carrying a backpack and decrease after 15-minutes of rest, returning to baseline levels. Participants (15 male: mean ±SD: 27.5 ± 9.1 yrs, 87.8 ± 15.8 kg, 1 left-hand dominant; 20 female: 25.0 ± 4.7 yrs, 68.0 ± 15.0 kg, 1 left-hand dominant) performed a 25-peg grooved pegboard (GP) test across five different timepoints: baseline (PRE), immediately after donning a backpack loaded to 30% body weight (DON), immediately after 40-minutes of treadmill walking at 1.1 m/s with backpack (POST), immediately upon backpack removal (DOFF), and after 15-minute seated recovery (REC). Results demonstrated significant increases in GP times from PRE to POST, with an average increase of 6.39 s for dominant (p=0.005) and 6.59 s for the non-dominant (p=0.021) hands, indicating impaired manual dexterity due to backpack walking. Significant improvements in GP completion times were shown after removal of the backpack, with a mean of 3.37 s (6%) decrease in dominant hand completion time, and a 5.63 s (8%) decrease with the non-dominant hand (dominant p=0.016; non-dominant p=0.005). Additionally, decreased non-dominant hand completion times were shown at REC (p<0.001). Dominant hand performance demonstrated significant differences between sexes (p=0.004) with females being on average 7.9 s faster than males at the DOFF timepoint. No significant differences were observed between sexes for the non-dominant hand (p=0.104). Results indicate manual dexterity significantly decreases after backpack carriage but recovers upon load removal. These findings have implications for ergonomic guidelines of implementing a recovery period for hand function after backpack carriage for military personnel, first responders, and other related occupational groups