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Methods for Improving Low Frequency Selection and Electrode Firing Order in Cochlear Implants
Get PDFThe Advanced Bionics cochlear implant devices allocate static frequency bins to electrode channels based on the natural tonotopic organization of the cochlea. These frequency bins are wide and limited, especially in the lower range. Considering that the fundamental tones of the human voice and the primary melodic tones in music are in this lower range, it is important to have accurate representation of this frequency content. Here, adjustments to the frequency bin allocation algorithm used in the crowdsourced CI Hackathon code are made to allow a more accurate representation of the original signal. First, the frequency bins allocated to each channel will be overlapped to allow the lower channels to utilize the parabolic fit method of frequency estimation. Second, a higher order Fourier transform and peak finding algorithm will determine the most important frequencies present, then an adjusted electrode firing order will be found to avoid interference in electrode signals
Transmission Main Construction Management - An Assessment of Project Tracking During Transition to a Cloud Based System
Get PDFA massive $2B settlement between the Federal Government and the City of New Orleans to remediate the damage to municipal infrastructure from Hurricane Katrina and the failed USACE levee system required the repair of roughly 400 of 1600 miles of roadways in New Orleans. The mandated repairs included many subsurface utilities below those roads. Traditional engineering construction project management practices proved inadequate to manage such a massive undertaking on the strict timelines mandated by FEMA funding. Unprecedented volumes of work for the engineering and construction industries and the government agencies tasked with performing the work from design through construction revealed the inefficiencies of traditional work processes. Implementation of an industry best practices cloud-based multi-tenant engineering construction project management platform radically improved contractor invoice processing times. Calculated key performance indicators confirm efficiency gains using the platform. Additional gains in efficiencies will be realized if platform development and use is continued
An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis study: The Children of Black Southern Protestant Theological Leaders, and mental health implications
Get PDFAccording to Lee (2015), most PKs have their own personal stories about their complicated relationship with the church. The kids of Pastors experience pressure to satisfy their parents, peers, and the congregation. They also experience scrutiny and feel they are living “life in the fishbowl” (Benjamin et al., 2021). Meaning their lives and life decisions are constantly on display and discussed or questioned by onlookers; especially the community and members of their congregation (Benjamin et al., 2021). Meanwhile, they are trying to understand who they are, separate from who their parents are, and who society and the congregation thinks they should be. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of Black Southern Protestant Pastors’ Kids. This study sought to explore the lived experiences of PKs from childhood through adulthood. It explored mental wellness implications for PKs, specifically Black Southern Protestant Pastors’ kids. Bronfenbrenner believes that through our experiences, we are always learning and developing (Shelton, 2019). Therefore, this framework was a useful tool in examining the lived experiences of PKs. This study included Five participants: three females, two males, all African-American that were raised and grew up in the South as Children of Black Protestant Pastors. The Five participants were interview through semi-structured interviews, and IPA analysis was conducted and seven superordinate themes were derived. The seven super-ordinate themes derived from this study were (a) Childhood and Family dynamics, (b) Duties, Expectations, Pressures (c), Privacy and Boundaries (d) Perfectionism and Image (e)Stressors, Trauma, and mental health (f) Identity and Self Discovery and (g) Hindsight. Implications for counselors, counselor educators, the mental health field, and policy makers are discussed
Survival of the Smartest? The Evolutionary Ecology of Cognition in Anolis Lizards
Get PDFCognitive processes such as learning, memory, and decision-making are integral to an organism’s fitness, allowing to integrate cues from its environment and adjust its behavior accordingly. Historically, cognitive abilities were thought to have evolved according to a Scala Naturae design—an idea that has since been disproven—which suggested that complex cognitive abilities were exclusive to “higher” taxa. This perspective has created significant phylogenetic gaps in our understanding of cognitive evolution. In this dissertation I aimed to address this issue by investigating the evolution of cognition in reptiles, focusing on the green (Anolis carolinensis) and the brown anole (Anolis sagrei). Specifically, I adopted an integrative approach to assess how locomotor challenges can shape the brains and behaviors of these reptiles. I started by clarifying a methodological oversight, experimentally assessing the relationship between exertion capacity and other locomotor performance traits, in A. carolinensis. The second chapter tested the Adaptive Flexibility Hypothesis, exploring the relationship between behavioral flexibility and the cognitive abilities in a native and an invasive species of anole. The final chapters quantified the connections between different types of exercise training, cognitive abilities, brain morphology and physiology. Overall, I found evidence that aerobic and anaerobic training differentially affected both brain structure and metabolism. Measuring cognitive abilities presented its own set of challenges, highlighting the need for better-suited protocols. Finally, I found consistent sex-specific differences in both phenotypes and in response to treatments, which underscores the importance of including both sexes in research. This dissertation highlights connections between physiological capacities and brain morphology and function, and points to new directions in the study of both locomotor performance and cognitio
New Constraints on the Stratigraphic Architecture and Evolution of Mississippi River Delta Lobe Activity: Barataria Basin, Southeastern LA
Get PDFBarataria Basin is a shallow water, interdistributary estuary that has evolved in response to dynamic depositional regimes governed by distributary avulsion and reworking of sediments by coastal processes. In the Mississippi River delta plain, the migratory nature of the River has produced an evolving landscape constructed through episodes of regressive and transgressive sedimentation. These processes produce unique depositional signatures in the stratigraphic record, however the transgressive component of the delta cycle often results in obliteration of the regressive phase. This study uses a modern suite of geophysical and sediment core data to construct a revised geologic framework in Barataria Basin, in which distributary networks are mapped on a delta-lobe scale. Radiometric dates are leveraged to constrain the temporal evolution of these Mississippi River delta lobes within the Basin. Furthermore, this study offers a unique opportunity to examine preserved regressive deposits in the shallow stratigraphic record
All Things Return: A Novel
Get PDFThis work is a novel about what happens to a young woman when her past catches up to her