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AUTOMATED DETECTION OF OFFENSIVE TEXTS BASED ON ENSEMBLE LEARNING AND HYBRID DEEP LEARNING TECHNIQUES
No full textThe impact of communication through social media is currently considered a significant social issue. This issue can lead to inappropriate behavior using social media, which is referred to as cyberbullying. The accessibility and freedom of expression afforded by social media platforms enable individuals to share their emotions and opinions, but it also leads to cyberbullying behavior. Automated systems are capable of efficiently identifying cyberbullying and performing sentiment analysis on social media platforms. In this dissertation, our focus is on enhancing a system to detect cyberbullying in various ways. Therefore, we apply natural language processing techniques utilizing artificial intelligence algorithms to identify offensive texts in various public datasets. The first approach leverages two deep learning models to classify a large-scale dataset, combining two techniques: data augmentation and the GloVe pre-trained word representation method to improve training performance. In addition, we utilized multi-classification algorithms on a cyberbullying dataset to identify six types of cyberbullying tweets. Our approach achieved high accuracy, particularly with TF-IDF (bigram) feature extraction, compared to previous experiments and traditional machine learning algorithms applied to the same dataset. We employed two ensemble machine learning methods with the TF-IDF feature extraction technique, which demonstrated superior classification performance. Moreover, We used four feature extraction methods BoW, TF-IDF, Word2Vec, and GloVe to determine which works best with the ensemble technique. Finally, we utilize a multi-channel convolutional neural network (CNN) enhanced with an attention mechanism and optimized using a focal loss function
Impacts of Climate Change on Vertical Migration of Zooplankton Species
Get PDFVertical migration in marine and freshwater environments stands as one of Earth’s largest daily animal movements concerning biomass. It serves as a crucial life pump, shaping phytoplankton grazing patterns, facilitating nutrient transport through the water column, and providing vital sustenance for deep-water organisms lacking access to surface phytoplankton. Despite enduring millennia of climatic shifts, contemporary anthropogenic climate change surpasses historical rates of change, posing unprecedented challenges. Climate-induced phenomena increasingly affect various species, including vertical migrators. This paper delves into Diel Vertical Migration’s ecological significance and anticipates detrimental effects of climate change on individual animals’ physiology and migration patterns. Foremost, rising temperatures are likely to shrink migratory species and hinder their migration frequency, potentially leading to species decline. As climate change intensifies, understanding and mitigating its impacts on these crucial ecological processes becomes imperative
ESSAYS ON ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GOVERNMENT POLICY
Get PDFGovernment policy has long been used as a lever to stimulate entrepreneurship, yet its outcomes vary widely across contexts, prompting renewed interest in how such policies shape entrepreneurial activity. This dissertation investigates the multifaceted relationship between government policy and entrepreneurship using a two-essay framework that draws on extant literature and qualitative field data. It examines how policies not only create structural conditions but also activate symbolic mechanisms that influence individual behavior and occupational choices.
The first essay conducts a systematic review of 166 articles published in leading management and entrepreneurship journals between 1993 and 2024. It maps theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, and policy effects across global settings, organizing the literature around a novel taxonomy of government policy activism and levels of entrepreneurial activity. The analysis reveals a bifurcated scholarly landscape— one advocating for activist policy interventions and another emphasizing minimal state involvement—highlighting a lack of integration across perspectives. Findings show that government policies can simultaneously enable and constrain entrepreneurship, depending on institutional environments and policy design. The essay advances a research agenda that calls for greater attention to micro-level mechanisms, policy heterogeneity, and outcomes in developing contexts.
The second essay explores how individuals interpret enabling policy environments through identity work. Drawing on 48 interviews with diasporic returnees, government officials, and traditional leaders in Ghana, the study theorizes how symbolic policy interventions such as the “Year of Return” and “Beyond the Return” trigger a four-phase identity shift—activation, commitment, anchoring, and confirmation. This process gives rise to three distinct identity pathways—leadership, survivalist, and assimilationist—each of which correlates with a different occupational outcome: opportunity entrepreneurship, necessity entrepreneurship, or formal employment. The essay contributes to external enabler theory by introducing identity work as a micro-mechanism explaining heterogeneous behavioral responses to the same policy context.
Together, these essays offer a multi-level understanding of how government policy influences entrepreneurship by linking institutional structures with interpretive processes. They contribute to theory on policy effectiveness, identity construction, and entrepreneurial behavior, with implications for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to design inclusive and context-sensitive entrepreneurship policies
INTERLEUKIN-1 TYPE I RECEPTOR IMPLICATED IN EMERGENCE AND SEVERITY OF GENERALIZED TONIC-CLONIC SEIZURES IN A TRANSGENIC MOUSE MODEL OF ADULT-ONSET, PROGRESSIVE EPILEPSY:
Get PDFInterleukin-1 β (IL- 1β) is a proinflammatory cytokine with proconvulsive properties that is elevated in epilepsy. The hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) buffers hyperexcitability, and deficits in granule neuron gating contribute to epileptogenesis. Excess brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may drive hyperexcitable circuit assembly, promoting a seizure-producing breakdown of the gating function. We use a transgenic mouse model of forebrain BDNF (TgBDNF) overexpression that exhibit spontaneous generalized tonic/ clonic seizures (GTCSs) at ~3 months, which progress as evidenced by prolonged periods of post-generalized EEG suppression (PGES). This is accompanied by hippocampal hypertrophy and brainstem cell loss. A strain globally lacking IL-1 type I receptor (IL-1R1) is bred with TgBDNF mice to assess epilepsy using subdural cortical EEG/video. It is hypothesized that removal of IL-1R1 will prevent epileptogenesis and/or mitigate seizure associated death risk/neuronal injury
EXPLOITING UNDULATING FIN KINEMATICS FOR MULTI-DIRECTIONAL SWIMMING CONTROL
Get PDFThe Black Ghost Knifefish achieves remarkable swimming gait transition by leveraging the distinctive morphology and kinematics of a single, elongated undular fin. Alongside bi-directional swimming, complex maneuvers incorporating vertical movement and pitch control can also be attained. Inspired by the Knifefish, we explore a novel propulsive and directional control method for an undulating membrane affixed to a robotic vessel utilizing counter-propagating waveforms in tandem with a sigmoidal spatiotemporal pattern to control forward, backward, and turning of the vessel. The proposed actuation supplied the propulsion necessary for the robotic vessel to swim bi-directionally with heading control under varying flow speed conditions. Manipulation of the colliding point of opposed propagated waves and a sigmoidal adjustment to the curvature of the fin equipped the vessel with 2D positional and heading control, allowing for both guided trajectory swimming and station-keeping when subjected to external flow disturbances. Vessel kinematics and particle image velocimetry were evaluated for detailed analysis of vessel control and resulting fluid mechanics. Refinement of undulatory swimming mechanisms offers potential for smoother navigation in AUVs, serving as ancillary propulsion to traditional rotary mechanisms or as a sole propulsive method
BREAKING THE SILENCE WITH ROUTINE GENITOURINARY SYNDROME OF MENOPAUSE SCREENING: A QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
No full textAffecting upwards of 87% of women in post menopause, genitourinary syndrome of menopause is greatly under-diagnosed, and consequently, under-treated. Genitourinary syndrome of menopause refers to health conditions impacted by hypoestrogenic state experienced in menopause. Common symptoms of GSM include vaginal dryness, irritation, clitoral or labial atrophy, dyspareunia, decreased libido, anorgasmia, dysuria, recurrent UTI, urinary incontinence (Kaufman et al., 2025). Despite the burdensome consequences of GSM, women are unlikely to vocalize their symptoms and seek treatment. Additionally, societal beliefs of shame surrounding sexual health impede patients and clinicians from addressing GSM specifically (Mili et al., 2021). As a result, the North American Menopause Society and the American Urological Association have now recommended routine screening of GSM to address the disparity in diagnosis and treatment (Kaufman et al., 2025) (North American Menopause Society [NAMS], 2020). The purpose of this quality improvement project was to observe if implementation of routine GSM screening using the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) led to an increase in diagnosis, treatment, or referral in women age 40 and older experiencing peri menopause, menopause, or post menopause in an OBGYN clinic. Results did not indicate any statistical significance, χ² (3, N= 109) = 5.34, (p= .15), in GSM screening and clinical outcomes. Pre-intervention chart audits (n=79) showed rates of GSM diagnosis, treatment, and referrals at 65.8%, 36.7%, and 7.6% respectively; post-intervention chart audits (n=30), at 56.6%, 36.6%, and 23.3%. Despite results not yielding the intended outcome in the given population, the importance of addressing GSM persists and is evidenced by the growing disparity in treatment globally
MICROPLASTIC VARIABILITY IN WETLAND SEDIMENTS AND VEGETATION: A CASE STUDY OF SPRUCE BLUFF PRESERVE, FL
No full textPlastic pollution has become an imminent threat to the environment and human health. This study explores the occurrence, distribution, and retention mechanisms of microplastics (MPs) in Spruce Bluff Preserve, a 97-acre freshwater wetland ecosystem located along the eastern bank of the St. Lucie River in Port St. Lucie, FL. Understanding MP dynamics in transitional freshwater ecosystem is crucial for environmental management efforts given Florida’s heavily fragmented and managed landscape. This research specifically examined the relationship between wetland vegetation and MP retention in sediments across different ecological zones within the preserve. Surface sediment samples were collected along 8 transects of varying lengths (15-25 m) established across different wetland zones, with sampling points at 5 m intervals. Polymers were identified and classified based on shape, size, and color under the microscope following oxidative digestion, density separation, and vacuum filtration. Loss on Ignition (LOI) analysis was conducted to determine organic content in the sediment to assess the correlation of key sediment MPs abundance. The study evaluated the spatial distribution and density patterns of MPs across the wetland zones and investigated the influence of vegetation density, plant structure, and species composition through filed botany observations
THE TRANSFORMATIONAL MOMENTS OF ONLINE STUDENTS IN DOCTORAL PROGRAMS: A LIVED EXPERIENCE
No full textThe purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the transformational learning experiences of students enrolled in online doctoral programs. Guided by Mezirow’s transformative learning theory, this study addressed the research questions: How do students in online doctoral programs experience transformative moments at public institutions in the United States? How is the curriculum connected to the students’ transformational experiences in online doctoral programs at public institutions in the United States? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with online doctoral students to capture their lived experiences across programs.
Analysis revealed three key findings. First, participants described how program structures, including curriculum design, cohort models, and faculty mentorship, shaped conditions for transformative learning by fostering reflection, dialogue, and application of new knowledge. Second, students’ narratives highlighted the process of identity reconstruction, as participants provisionally explored new roles, built competence and self-confidence, and ultimately reintegrated transformed perspectives into professional and personal contexts. Third, the study found that transformative learning was sustained through agency, ownership, and ongoing connections between academic inquiry and professional practice, allowing participants to view themselves as both scholars and practitioners in new ways.
These findings demonstrate that online doctoral education can facilitate transformative learning when programs intentionally integrate opportunities for critical reflection, collaborative dialogue, and applied practice. The study contributes to the literature on doctoral education by illustrating how program structures can enable identity development, professional growth, and personal transformation in the context of online learning
ASSEMBLING LIFE FROM DEATH: EXAMINING THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FAUNA OF JUPITER INLET LIGHTHOUSE’S PAST TO PRESERVE BIODIVERSITY FOR THE FUTURE
No full textThis project utilizes an assemblage of faunal remains from a precontact midden at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse archaeological site in northern Palm Beach County, Florida. The assemblage was identified and analyzed through the lenses of resource use and paleoenvironmental changes. The Indigenous groups in the area heavily utilized estuarine resources such as fish and marine turtles. The archaeological assemblage was compared to a modern survey of species present at the site. The species identified in the precontact collection are present in the surrounding area today. The archaeological assemblage matching up with modern species speaks to the success of Loxahatchee River management. This research is limited in scope, and further research into precontact resource use is suggested