bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hybrid Recommender Framework for the Design of Intelligent Clinical Decision Support Tools
Authors:   , Ahumada Luis M. , Hu Xiaohua
Published: July 2021

Physicians are constantly faced with making decisions under uncertainty, and despite the extraordinary advancements in the field of clinical informatics, there is a significant void about how to build simple and trustworthy clinical decision support systems. This dissertation focusses on investigating whether a hybrid recommender framework approach can exceed conventional data analysis techniques in order to provide physicians with accurate insights. The research questions explored a novel hybrid recommender framework that improves upon common clinical recommendation practices such as data driven, case base reasoning and machine learning techniques by integrating them into a unified data model. Conceptually this study was framed within theories of probability, numerical analysis, case base reasoning, machine learning, clinical decision support and recommendation systems. Experiments demonstrate that the proposed hybrid recommender framework is more accurate and effective than common baseline techniques. We evaluate the framework by implementing a prototype and experimenting with an outstanding clinical problem: how to reduce the number of unnecessary pre-operative blood tests for pediatric neurosurgical patients. We analyze heterogeneous databases containing 359,475 patient encounters at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from 2001 to 2014. Experimental analysis shows that our hybrid approach has a sensitivity of 0.80, a specificity of 0.85 and a mean absolute error of 0.875. Finally, we demonstrate preliminary results of a real-world implementation by embedding the recommendations into the physician's workflow in the production environment of the hospital's electronic health record. The application shows a reduction of ordering unnecessary tests by ~ 25% in the first quarter of 2016 and a 100% adoption rate by the user base. This result suggests that our approach helps in improving the quality of physician's decisions with a positive impact on outcomes.
Drug Safety Signal Detection from Online Health Communities
Authors:   , Yang Haodong , Yang Christopher C.
Published: July 2021

The development of Web 2.0 and Health 2.0 technologies leads the booming of online health communities (OHCs) such as MedHelp, WebMD and so on. Such platforms are not only empowering individuals to play a substantial role in their own health, but also generating informative consumer-contributed-contents that can be utilized to mine timely and useful knowledge, thus providing automated insights and discovery. Since pharmacovigilance, namely adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and drug-drug interactions (DDIs), represents a serious health problem all over the world, how to detect drug safety signals has drawn many researchers' attention and efforts. Currently, methods proposed to detect ADR and DDI signals are mainly based on traditional data sources such as spontaneous reporting data, electronic health records, pharmaceutical databases, and biomedical literature. However, these data sources are either limited by under-reporting ratio, privacy issues, high cost, or long publication cycle. In this dissertation, we propose to harness consumer-contributed-contents extracted from online health communities for drug safety signal detection and developed various techniques to serve our purpose. Specifically, for ADR detection, we propose to utilize association rule mining to extract associations between drugs and ADRs, and use such measures as confidence, leverage, lift, etc. to capture the association strength. Experiment results demonstrate that our methods are capable of detecting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted ADR signals. Furthermore, we also develop matrix-based and tensor-based techniques to detect ADR signals in a timely manner. The experiment results showed that both approaches are able to detect ADR signals much earlier than FDA's official alert or labeling revision time. Especially, tensor-based method outperforms matrix-based techniques because they are capable of handling missing data that is quite common in the area of social media, and can better capture and exploit temporal patterns. For DDI detection, we also use association rule mining and propose another measure, namely Interaction Ratio, to capture association strength between two drugs and an ADR. Experiment results demonstrated that our method is able to effectively detect DDIs reported by DrugBank. Other than directly mining consumer-contributed-contents, we also propose to construct a heterogeneous healthcare network based on those contents and to utilize link mining techniques for drug safety signal detection. Concretely, for both ADR and DDI detection problems, we extract topological features from the network, quantify the features using different weighting schemas, and use supervised learning techniques to predict drug safety signals. Further, for DDI detection, we propose to detection drug-drug interactions and association ADRs at the same time with triad prediction. Experiment results show that our techniques are effective in discovering both ADR and DDI signals.
Holographically Polymerized Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Network As Solid Polymer Electrolytes
Authors:   , Bazzel Kevin T. , Li Christopher Y.
Published: July 2021

The current generation has become increasingly concerned with the dangers posed by fossil fuels and have therefore turned their attention to clean energy technologies, such as electrochemical batteries and solar cells as suitable alternatives. Lithium-based batteries have emerged as the most promising energy storage for use in personal devices, transportation and general energy storage. Current lithium batteries are referred to as 'rocking chair' batteries due to the presence of lithium in its ionic rather than metallic state. These batteries are safe for commercial use, however, they severely cut into lithium's high specific capacitance properties. Consumer demands for higher battery energy densities and faster charging rates are driving research for lithium-metal batteries. Potential safety concerns arise with current liquid electrolytes in lithium-metal batteries due problematic lithium dendrite growth in the cell. Liquid electrolytes do little to prevent dendrite growth, which will eventually cause short-circuiting and possible volatile reactions. Solid polymer electrolytes have been proven to prevent dendrite growth by providing a physical barrier between the electrodes. Advancements in polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) are necessary to increase the potential for fuel cells, batteries, and solar conversion devices. Increasing the mechanical properties to create a mechanically robust film has a direct tradeoff of reducing ion transport and conductivity. This research is focused on decoupling ionic conductivity and mechanical properties to form a phase separated membrane capable of inhibiting dendrite growth. Holographic polymerization was used as a topdown technique to create a nanostructure with highly conductive rich phases, as well as mechanically robust phases. A new formulation has been proposed that utilizes a photo-inert low molecular poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) which has the main mechanism for ionic conductivity. A crosslinked network composed of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) and photoreactive PEO monomers provide the mechanical support. The mechanical and conductive properties of the phase-separated films were investigated and compared with isotropic floodlit samples. The films were shown to show exceptional low temperature conductivity and the mechanical and conductive properties were successfully decoupled through the use of holographic polymerization.
The Effect of Strain on Electronic Transport Properties in Perovskite Manganite and Ferrite Films
Authors:   , Cieri Andrew Gabriel , May Steven J.
Published: July 2021

In the modern world, the ubiquitous nature of electronic devices and computer driven advancements cannot be overstated. In the last several decades, the increase in processing speed and power of these devices has been tied to the ability of the industry to miniaturize silicon transistors following Moore's Law. The current silicon based technology is approaching the fundamental limit and therefore further advancement might not be possible without development of another material. Transition metal perovskite oxides are a class of materials that could fulfill this need. However, before perovskite oxides can be deployed in commercial electronic devices, a deeper understanding of their electronic behavior is needed. In this thesis, electron transport properties, including carrier mobility, are investigated as a function of epitaxial strain in manganite and ferrite oxide thin films. La_[0.7]Sr_[0.3]MnO₃ (LSMO), La_[0.7]Sr_[0.3]FeO₃ (LSFO) and La_[0.7]Ca_[0.3]MnO₃ (LCMO) were grown on SrTiO₃ (STO), (LaAlO₃)_[0.3](Sr₂AlTaO₆)_[0.7] (LSAT), LaAlO₃ (LAO), SrLaAlO₄ (SLAO), and GdScO₃ (GSO) substrates. The different lattice parameters of the various substrates introduce strain into the films which alters their physical and electronic structure. The films are etched into a Hall bar pattern in order to conduct resistivity and Hall Effect measurements. The Hall Effect is used to calculate carrier concentration, which along with the resistivity produces mobility values for each film. The results show that the induced strain can drastically change the electronic properties by creating insulating or conductive behavior and even altering magnetic transition temperatures for films of the same stoichiometric ratio. LSMO films on STO and LSAT are conductive, while those on SLAO and LAO are insulating. In LCMO, the magnetic transition temperature occurs at 240 K on LSAT, but at 150 K in the STO film. Films with larger strain percentages, such as those on LAO, become insulating at all temperatures. The magnitude of the anomalous Hall Effect and magnetoresistance is larger in the LCMO films compared to the LSMO films. Mobility is also shown to change based on the varied strain state of the film. The mobility of the LSMO film on STO is larger than the LSMO film on LSAT, demonstrating that the carrier mobility in LSMO is dependent on strain type not just strain magnitude.
Experimental Characterization of the Melting and Freezing of Encapsulated Phase-Change Materials under Convective Boundary Conditions
Authors:   , Kapilow Deborah , McCarthy Matthew
Published: July 2021

This work was conducted as part of a multidisciplinary project on the development of alternative dry-cooling technologies for power plants using phase change materials (PCM). The research focuses on the dynamics of the melting and freezing of phase change materials in millimeter scale cylindrical polymer tubes under convective boundary conditions. The effect of air temperature, air velocity, and encapsulant material and wall thickness were studied using a custom built experimental apparatus. It is shown that as air velocity increases the time to complete melting and freezing is reduced, and the overall heat transfer coefficient between the air and the PCM is increased. As expected, this work showed that the rate of phase change was increased by reducing the thermal resistance of the encapsulant using thin walled tubes with larger thermal conductivities. Additionally, a larger temperature difference driving heat transfer produced larger melting and freezing rates. During the initial stages of phase change in thin-walled tubes, the experimental results matched well with a simple quasi-steady 1D heat transfer model neglecting the effects of sensible heating and natural convection. Substantial deviations from the model were seen for tubes with large wall thickness and higher thermal resistances, due to the effects of sensible heating of the polymer encapsulant. At the later stages of phase change, deviations from the predictions were seen for both freezing and melting for all wall thicknesses. Freezing was under-predicted using the simplified modeling approach, while melting was over-predicted. This is attributed to the observed deviations of the experimental results from the 1D radially inward melting and freezing assumed in the analysis. This work demonstrated the viability of creating low-thermal resistance encapsulated PCM (EPCM) structures for the proposed dry-cooling system. Specifically, the long-term performance of EPCM was shown for over 100 cycles (> 42 hours) meeting the target thermal performance and cost requirements of the project.
Television Content Regulation in a Developing Country
Authors:   , Diop Layire , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

Senegal is a country in West Africa where television has long been a stronghold of the government. The first private television experience began in 2005. The liberalization of the sector was accompanied by the inception of a regulatory body entitled to set requirements and guidelines for television operators. Apart from technical conditions, television networks have the obligation to ensure freedom of information, equal access for politicians, trade unions and civil society organizations, the promotion of public interest as well as the protection of childhood and human rights. As of 2016, the number of television networks was estimated at 17. The rapid growth of the sector has been accompanied by numerous lawsuits. Defamation, broadcast of false news, infringement on people's private lives and several other offenses are rampant, so much so that the national journalists trade union is advocating for the depenalization of press misdemeanors. The objective of this research was to study the efficiency of the system established to control the content of television programs and prevent misconduct by network owners and journalists. The researcher also inquired as to the challenges linked to a shift from analog to digital that became effective in Senegal in June 2015. The field work was conducted through interviews with the members and staff of the regulatory body, media operators and specialists as well as trade union leaders in Senegal.
Sexual Messages in Reality Television
Authors:   , Fiocco Erica L. , Maher Terry , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

The goal of this thesis is to examine the frequency in which sexual messages occur on reality television programs targeting an adolescent audience and if the frequency of sexual messaging will effect decision making positively or negatively. A case study explores the concept of sexual messages targeting adolescent audiences on television and other media providing an analysis of how sex is presented, the types of messages, and the frequency in which these messages occur. Secondly, the thesis provides original research in the form of content analysis to reveal perceptions of sexual messages presented to adolescents and if they are perceived positively or negatively through twitter discussion. In addition, this research will also shed light on the frequency in which television networks are employing social responsibility by including safe sex messages and additional resources on social media in juxtaposition with their efforts on television.
The Effects of Digital Video Technology On Modern Film
Authors:   , Hu Kaichen , Culver David , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

Film is an art, and it is also a product of the development of science and technology. Without science and technology, humans cannot have this magical art that can make our fantasies become reality. Throughout the history of film, every revolutionary technological advancement has dominated the development direction of film. However, since 1960s, with the emergence of digital technology, the whole film industry entered a new era. People all over the world can experience an unprecedented pleasant amazement and audio-visual experience when they are watching films. Meanwhile, digital technology has become a powerful tool, allowing many filmmakers who have the great passion to make their own movies easier than before. Now, everyone can make "films". This paper studied the evolution of the film industry under the emergence of digital technology from the perspective of interviews of some professional practitioners, history of film development and film industry economics. First of all, the research addresses the current situation of film industry, which involves every link of the film industry such as production, distribution etc. We move then to find the fundamental changes hiding inside the industry to learn that what digital technology really means to film industry. Finally, the paper will address the impact of new digital technology on film industry. Key words: digital technology, film industry, film production and distribution
Is Social Media the Savior of The Spring Festival Evening Gala?
Authors:   , Liang Yi Yin , Salas Philip W. , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

The Spring Festival Gala is the most watched television program in China. However, as time changes, viewers have found that the Gala is boring and not attractive and interesting anymore because of various reasons. The show has received praise as well as criticism. Thus, reclaiming lost audience and continuing to innovate are the two obstacles facing the Spring Festival Gala. The purpose of this thesis is to explore whether social media is able to help the Spring Festival Gala to attract audiences, especially the younger generation, and to examine whether a new form of cooperation between the Gala and advertisers could be accepted by the audience.
An Analysis of Chinese Web Series Development and Strategy Go Princess Go
Authors:   , Yin Yiyi , Salas Philip W.
Published: July 2021

From 2012 to 2016, the development of Chinese web series was rapid. In light of the Chinese economic boom and prosperous entertainment market in the 2010s, there is a solid future for this industry. However, a few significant problems have arisen; vulgar content, fragmented length and inefficient marketing strategies. If these problems can't be solved, the development of Chinese web series will be limited. This thesis takes a successful Chinese web series, Go Princess Go, as a case study by using both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the factors contributing to its success, and analyzes what pros and cons that Chinese web series should take into consideration for future development.
The Importance of Curriculum in Undergraduate Dance Programs
Authors:   , Rocha Alexandra L. , Brody Jean
Published: July 2021

This study analyzes the curricula of nine university level dance programs, in addition to how the approach of each department plays a vital role in the education undergraduate dance students receive, specifically, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. It is important for undergraduate dance students to receive an education that exposes them to other possible career paths outside of dancing professionally. After conducting interviews with the nine university level dance programs, the findings were categorized into three groups; programs with a strict focus on creating performers, programs that make performing the primary goal, while also encouraging and exposing students to other options, and lastly, universities that believe the skills acquired through receiving an undergraduate dance education go beyond dancing, and become skills that are applicable to a multitude of professions. The importance of this study was to gauge the preparedness of undergraduate dance students for non-performance, dance related careers.
Prescription Drug Misuse and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men (YMSM) in Philadelphia
Authors:   , Kecojević Aleksandar , Lankenau Stephen
Published: July 2021

Background: Prescription drug (i.e. opioids, tranquilizers, or stimulants) misuse has emerged as a significant public health problem among young adults. Limited research has examined this problem among young men who have sex with men (YMSM), including its link to sexual risk behaviors. This is of concern as YMSM are at elevated risk for both substance use and HIV infection. Methods: The current study used mixed-methods design to assess the relationship between prescription drug misuse and sexual risk behavior, to identify the risk factors influencing prescription drug misuse and risky sexual behavior among YMSM, and to explore motivations and social contexts of prescription drug misuse in a sample of 191 YMSM (aged 18-29), current misusers of prescription drugs, recruited in Philadelphia from November, 2012 to July, 2013. Results: Findings from the first quantitative analysis suggested that some prescription drugs are associated with sexual risk behaviors among YMSM. Those included opioids, muscle relaxants, and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Findings from the second quantitative analysis identified some of the risk factors associated with increased prescription drug misuse. For example, experiences of childhood abuse were associated with increased prescription opioid and tranquilizer misuse, while experiencing recent stress was associated with increased opioid misuse. Recent experiences of somatization were associated with illicit drug use. Additional analyses indicated that illicit drug use, but not prescription drugs, significantly mediate the impact of stressors on sexual risk behaviors. Findings from qualitative analysis yielded some distinct motivations for prescription drug misuse. These included social/recreational motives, facilitating sex with other men, and psychological motives. Conclusions: We observed complex associations between prescription drug misuse and sexual risk behaviors. Assessing the individual, social, and environmental factors affecting YMSM may help in developing more efficacious prevention programs for substance use and sexual risk behaviors.
Lexical network size and connectivity in schizophrenia
Authors:   , Moelter Stephen T. , Chute Douglas L.
Published: July 2021

Aberrant semantic associative connectivity may be an underlying characteristic of the cognitive and symptom profile of schizophrenia. Words of varying network size (small or large) and connectivity (high or low) were used in lexical decision and cued recall tasks to test the hypothesis that word processing speed and recall in schizophrenia are modulated by increased activation of associative connectivity. Patients with schizophrenia and controls exhibited increased priming and higher probability of recall when words maintained greater levels of associative connectivity; however, controls demonstrated greatest priming and highest recall when network size was small, while patients exhibited increased priming and better recall when network size was large. These results suggest that the behavioral effects of increased associative activation depend on the size of the activated lexical network. Over-activation of associative networks may work to the patient's "advantage" on tests of priming and cued recall when the activated network is large. When the activated network is small, however, over-activation may make appropriate response selection in patients more difficult, potentially taxing attentional resources. Such distinctions have relevance to cognitive models of schizophrenia that attempt to reconcile accounts of increased automatic associate bias with reduction of verbal working memory and context maintenance.
Irreversible breakdown of HIV-1 by peptide triazole thiols and multivalent gold nanoparticle conjugates
Authors:   , Rosemary Bastian Arangassery , Chaiken Irwin M. , Shieh Adrian C.
Published: July 2021

The HIV entry is a critical multi-stage process which leads to attachment to the cell receptor followed by co-receptor binding leading to a conformation change in the HIV envelope spike leading to membrane fusion. The peptide triazoles developed in the Chaiken lab has previously been established to function as dual antagonists of the binding of gp120 at its host cell receptor binding sites for both CD4 and CCR5/CXCR4 and have shown to have broad neutralization In Vitro. In this work we showed that a representative member of this class, peptide triazole thiol, led to HIV inhibition but also leads to irreversible lysis and complete inactivation of cell-free HIV-1. Further to improve the potency of these peptide triazole thiol inhibitors, I created multivalent displays of KR13 on gold nanoparticles that led to a drastic potency increase in inhibition of HIV-1. My research is focused on understanding the mechanism of action of the peptide triazole thiol and its gold nanoparticle conjugates that lead to the virolysis action of HIV-1. In order to study this intriguing breakdown of HIV-1, my studies focused on kinetic and thermodynamic studies. This included understanding the fate of several important viral proteins, including gp120, gp41 and p24, time dependent inhibition of viral entry into host cells and the morphological and biological state of the residual virus. Further the molecular, physical and functional transformations of the gold nanoparticle peptide conjugates and how these properties affect their virolytic function were tested. From these studies it is conclusive that the peptide triazole thiol virolysis event does follow a time-dependent breakdown pathway of the viral machine that eventually leads to complete disruption of the virus. A clear correlation between peptide triazole thiol dependent HIV-1 virolysis and HIV-1 - host cell fusion was observed. Gold nanoparticle peptide triazole conjugate studies showed that the gold nanoparticle inhibitor virolysis works by a different mechanism all together. We further showed that increasing size of the nanoparticle and density of peptide coverage led to an inhibitor with almost 2000 fold enhancement of its anti-viral potency. These studies therefore have led to two major findings; one, the discovery of an innovative class of HIV-1 inhibitors that that lead to complete irreversible breakdown of the virus by hijacking the virus-cell fusion mechanism and two, the proof of concept model of nanoparticle-inhibitor constructs that have opened up the field to the rules required for development of highly potent nanoparticle-inhibitor constructs that irreversibly lyse the virus. These findings have thereby given the HIV-1 field as well as the nanomedicine field an innovative approach that can be further developed and nurtured.
Essays in Corporate Governance
Authors:   , Wilson Jared Ian , Walkling Ralph A.
Published: July 2021

Corporate governance examines the mechanisms through which managers and directors are incentivized to act in the best interests of shareholders. The three essays of this dissertation focus on internal and external control mechanisms in the CEO and director labor markets and their effectiveness in aligning the interests of mangers, directors and shareholders. The first essay examines the influence of industry shocks and peer firms on board monitoring decisions. Recent evidence documents that industry factors influence CEO turnover decisions, despite agency theory's proposition that boards should filter out industry shocks when evaluating CEO performance. Consistent with industry dynamics affecting board monitoring decisions, I document that industries exhibit CEO turnover waves. During these periods of abnormally high turnover, executives face a heightened threat of discipline as boards increase turnover-performance sensitivity. This increased scrutiny inside waves represents a meaningful managerial incentive that curbs value-destroying behavior of CEOs. Overall, this essay documents the existence of CEO turnover waves, which motivate boards to monitor management differently and have real effects on CEO behavior and shareholder wealth. The second essay examines the shareholder wealth effects associated with a required venue for shareholder litigation. In response to the increased threat of shareholder litigation filed in multiple states, firms have adopted exclusive forum provisions which limit lawsuits to a single venue of the board's choice. It is unclear whether these provisions impose increased costs on shareholders' ability to discipline managers and directors or provide benefits to shareholders by eliminating multi-forum and duplicative lawsuits. I use the Delaware Chancery Court's announcement upholding the adoption of these provisions as a natural experiment to evaluate their wealth implications. Overall, this essay suggests that exclusive forum provisions create value for shareholders by specifying a required venue for corporate litigation. The final essay, with David Becher and Ralph Walkling, examines the stability and composition of acquirer boards around mergers and the director characteristics associated with selection for the post-merger board. Our results indicate that the post-merger board changes substantially and variation is significantly different from both non-merger years and non-merging firms. Adjustments reflect firms upgrading skills associated with executive and merger experience and bargaining between targets and acquirers, rather than agency motives. Conversely, director selection at non-merging firms is driven by general skills and diversity. Our analyses provide insight into the dynamic nature of board structure and characteristics valued in the director labor market.
The Study of Single Molecule Protein Biophysics Using a Solid-State Nanopore
Authors:   , Freedman Kevin J. , Kim MinJun , Abrams Cameron F.
Published: July 2021

The kinetics of protein folding and binding has been studied for several decades and continues to reveal links to overall cellular health,cell functionality, and responses to therapeutic agents. Despite numerous methods to purify and detect proteins, there is still a growing need to develop technology that can enhance sensing and reveal potentially hidden properties of proteins. This is important not only from a scientific perspective but also in practically achieving the goals of personalized healthcare. Next generation sensors should ideally have three main characteristics: (1) high resolution sensing, (2) high-throughput sensing, and (3) the potential to be automated and used by untrained personnel. Future devices will revolutionize the healthcare industry by decreasing both the time and cost to do basic scientific research, diagnostic testing, and drug development. A likely candidate for next-generation protein sensing is solid-state nanopores. The pores developed here are fabricated in a 50 nm thick silicon nitride membrane and a single nanopore is drilled using a focused ion beam or a focused electron beam. The detection method employed is largely based on resistive pulse sensing where analytes are electrokinetically transported through a pore and identified by their unique modulation of ionic current (i.e. an ionic blockade). Since the dimensions of the nanopore are on the same scale as the molecule being sensed, only a single molecule can enter the pore allowing individual protein kinetics to be probed. Traditionally proteins are detected by ensemble averaging which hides important kinetics and sub-populations of molecules that may be important to understanding the early stages of a disease or detect a disease early. In the first section of this study, the prominent issue of protein adsorption onto the sensing device (i.e. the nanopore) is addressed and resolved by using a modified voltage protocol. The rationale behind the new sensing scheme is explained in terms of the interplay of diffusive and entropic (barrier-dominated) forces on a protein. In the second section, we discovered that the voltage which drives the protein through the pore also has denaturing effects. The unfolding data supports a gradual unfolding mechanism rather than the cooperative transition observed by classical urea denaturation experiments. Lastly it is shown that the voltage-mediated unfolding is a function of the stability of the protein by comparing two mutationally destabilized variants of the protein. In the final section of this study, voltage-mediated unbinding of a single protein complex is studied. We argue that determining the unbinding forces between two proteins adds an additional level of specificity which is needed for eventual use as a diagnostic tool. In this study, nanopores are developed not only as a sensor but also a single molecule or protein complex manipulator that can locally unfold or unbind molecules.
Rebels, Artists and the Reimagined City
Authors:   , Mitman Tyson John , Luvaas Brent Adam
Published: July 2021

This work is an ethnographic examination of how graffiti writers in Philadelphia produce the work they produce and how, through the production of that work, they construct new subjective selves and build new social spaces. It begins by offering a historical account of the emergence and development of graffiti as a practice. It then describes how the practice of writing graffiti became a sub (or counter) culture within the city due to how it was reacted to by city authorities and how writers then reacted to this interpretation of what they were doing. It further describes how the aesthetic practices specific to Philadelphia's graffiti culture emerged and why, and how the way city officials publicly constructed the idea of graffiti caused differing city authorities (the police and the courts) to consider the crime of graffiti to carry differing forms of socially destructive severity. Additionally, it explains the complex internal systems of rules and politics that govern how graffiti writers think about and interact with the physical spaces that comprise the city, how they negotiate their position and status within the graffiti community and how they establish the rules for handling interpersonal conflicts when they arise. It then offers a theoretical account for how the work that graffiti writers do causes them to literally see and interact with the city differently than other citizens and how graffiti on the landscape of the city offers all citizens the opportunity to conceptually reconsider how city spaces can appear. It then addresses why city spaces appear the way they do. Further it offers the idea that graffiti engages with the concept of who has the authority to physically and visually decide how the city landscape appears and how the right to those decisions are debated between those with the legal and financial authority to decide them and those who alter them without (though sometimes with) permission. It concludes by discussing issues of gender within the graffiti community and how through the work graffiti writers' produce they offer a type of perpetual becoming to the urban landscape and to city life.
African American Men Speak
Authors:   , Scott Pia L. , Bureau W. Edward
Published: July 2021

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the experiences of formerly incarcerated African American men participating in the Self-Paced In Class Education (SPICE) program to understand the perceived barriers to reentry and how the program supported their transition back into society. By using Bronfenbrenner's ecological framework and qualitative phenomenology (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Moustakas, 1994), the study assessed the dynamics of prisoner reentry from the perspective of nine formerly incarcerated African American men to explore their experiences from childhood to adulthood. Data was collected through interviews to address the following research questions: (a) What barriers to societal reentry do formerly incarcerated African American males perceive when they exit prison?, (b) How do the participants in the Self-Paced In Class Education program describe utilizing the contents of the program outside of prison?, and (c) How do the participants in the Self-Paced In Class Education program describe their engagement with allied agencies that support their transition to life beyond prison walls? The findings suggest that African American men perceived barrier difficulties in the reentry and transition process to include lack of housing, education, employment, and assistance from allied agencies. Understanding the essence of the African American male's experiences with the reentry process will contribute to the field of criminal justice reform and support the needs of African American men returning home from prison. Keywords: reentry, recidivism, rehabilitation, correctional education
Sea Level Change in the Delaware Bay and its Impacts on Fetch Limited Barrier Islands
Authors:   , Jaworski Anna S. , Spotila James Robert , Lacovara Kenneth
Published: July 2021

In this dissertation I studied historical changes in the Delaware Bay along the New Jersey coastline to improve our understanding of the region as well as better understand how the area will respond to rising seas. The shallow sloping, low elevation shoreline of the Delaware Bay makes it especially vulnerable to sea-level rise. The New Jersey coastline along the Delaware Bay consists of coastal communities, wetlands, sandy beaches, and fetch-limited barrier islands at risk as sea-level rises and shorelines erode. Using dendrochronology and 14C dating of peat deposits I created two sea level curves for the area. Using the 14C curve I found a historical rate of sea level change of 1.5 mm/yr for the last 3000 years. The dendrochronological sea level curve shows a rate of 8.9 mm/yr for the last 57 years. As sea level has risen over the last 130 years, the shoreline has eroded at an average rate of 1.67 m/yr. The wetland shorelines are eroding faster than the regional average at a rate of 4.1 m/yr. As the rate of sea level rise accelerates, so does the rate of shoreline erosion. During the most recent time period, 1970-2013, the average rate of shoreline erosion has increased to 2.64 m/yr for the whole region and 6.12 m/yr for the wetland shorelines. In addition, I sought to better understand the fetch-limited barrier islands in the region. The barrier islands are composed of well sorted, medium and coarse grained sand, which becomes coarser and poorly sorted longshore from north to south. The barrier islands are becoming more fragmented as they migrate landward, but overall sand area has remained stable since the 1970s. Understanding how the system is responding to sea-level rise is critical for helping resource managers' plan for the future of this critical tidal ecosystem.
Compassion Fatigue among Nurse Leaders
Authors:   , Johnson Moore Kirsten , Giarelli Ellen
Published: July 2021

The current state of healthcare with its multifaceted demands related to patient care outcomes and the challenges of managing personnel creates a complex work environment for the nurse leader. Striving to meet the competing needs of the organization, employees, patients and families on a daily basis can result in work related traumatic stress and cause burnout. This places an individual at risk for compassion fatigue (CF). The concept of CF has primarily been studied among direct patient care providers and has not been explored among individuals at the leadership level. The goal of this DNP project was to determine if nurses in leadership positions are at risk for or are experiencing CF. For this study, CF was defined as a state in which a nurse leader experiences an inability to maintain a desired level of compassionate energy, due to frequent and regular exposure to prolonged, emotionally and psychologically challenging managerial circumstances in the workplace (adapted from Andreotta, 2013). A mixed methods approach was utilized to gather demographic data and describe the nurse leader's level of compassion satisfaction (CS), risk for burnout, and secondary traumatic stress as measured by the Professional Quality of Life (ProQOL) Version 5. The use of open ended questions allowed for the identification of factors in the workplace that are modifiable and can be used to develop a CF prevention program for nurse leaders. Thirty-three nurse leaders from two academic medical centers responded to the research survey which revealed an average to high level of CS, coupled with low to average level of burnout and WRTS among the nurse leaders as measured by the ProQOL V5. CS mean score was 54.55 (SD = 3.94), burnout mean score was 43.11 (SD = 4.04), and WRTS mean score was 41.73 (SD = 3.81). The qualitative data provided insight on the source of CF in the work environment which included employee, patient, and organizational stressors. Potential solutions for mitigation and prevention identified by the nurse leaders included personal and organizational solutions such as enhancing coping skills, developing resiliency skills and increasing organizational support. This study identified the presence of risk factors for the development of CF fatigue among nurse leaders and elements in the work environment that can be modified to prevent this condition. These finding may be used to create a satisfactory Professional Quality of Life for the nurse leader which impacts their role effectiveness and supports the delivery of quality patient care.
Reducing the Risk of Major Injury from Falls in Hospitalized Adults
Authors:   , Vadyak Karen , Patton Carol M.
Published: July 2021

Literature indicates that more than one million falls occur annually in American hospitals. Thirty to fifty percent of these falls result in injury (Joint Commission, 2015). Ten percent of these patients sustain a major injury and experience permanent disability or death (Mion et al., 2012). Vinyl covered, padded floor mats, consisting of high density foam cores, are hypothesized to reduce the impact and force of a patient fall. The PICOT question this final DNP project answers is: In acute care, hospitalized adults, do the use of Posey® beveled-edge, bedside floor mats reduce the risk of major injury in falls from bed during acute care hospitalization. A retrospective chart review of all adult inpatients that experienced falls from bed in a 254-bed acute care hospital in Easton, PA was conducted. The outcome of this final DNP project addresses whether the Posey® bedside floor mat improves patient outcomes in an acute care environment. The results of this project will influence and shape evidence-based policy in acute care environments for patients with a high fall risk.
Comparison of NCD and CNN based mitotic classification of neural stem cells in phase contrast microscopy
Authors:   , Marino Michael , Cohen Andrew R.
Published: July 2021

Automated mitosis detection is a major difficulty in segmentation and tracking algorithms. This thesis explores the implementation of an automated mitotic detection algorithm for phase-contrast data into a segmentation and tracking platform called LEVER2. We implement two separate classification algorithms - one based on an estimate of the pairwise normalized compression distance (NCD) and one deep learning implementation using convolutional neural networks (CNN) - in combination with local statistics in order to limit the search region for mitotic events. The CNN provided a significantly higher detection rate while the NCD provided a significantly lower false positive rate. The NCD classifier generated an overall detection rate of 0.736 and an overall false positive rate of 0.0083, while the CNN approach generated an overall detection rate of 0.880 and a false positive rate of 0.0567. However, it was also determined that using a bi-modal classifier incorporating the peak normalized cross-correlation of the image with the t - 1 frame the CNN implementation could outperform the NCD classifier - achieving a false alarm rate of 0.0079 with a detection rate of 0.809 by thresholding out cell images that were above a threshold peak cross-correlation.
Chinese Music Reality Shows
Authors:   , Bi Zhengyuan , Salas Philip W. , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

The first Chinese television music talent show premiered in 1984, but from 2004-2015, the genre attracted the attention of young viewers, and generated significant profits for television stations and production companies. The purpose of this thesis is to analysis the features and developing trends of Chinese music talent shows. This will be accomplished by using case studies of 4 talent shows: CCTV Young Singer Television Competition; Super Girl; The Voice of China and I Am a Singer. Through these four typical music talent shows, the research will help to explain the keys to success for music talent shows in the Chinese market; the reasons why they are so popular, and more importantly, to determine the best production techniques for a music talent show to adapt to Chinese cultural norms.. This thesis will then provide suggestions for development and innovation in music talent shows in China.
Cutting the Cord
Authors:   , Cohen Benjamin Harris , Maher Terry , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

The purpose of this study was to better understand Generation Y's consumption of video content, with a focus on alternative viewing devices. Research was conducted into the technological, economic, and social factors that have contributed to Generation Y's shift from a traditional television-viewing paradigm to alternative viewing practices and devices. The study was conducted in 2015, through an Internet survey, and included 199 participants between the ages of 21-35. Results from the research paint a clear picture of the variables that have influenced Generation Y viewing behavior, as well as feature specific data that indicate viewer preference around viewing devices and allegiances to leading content delivery portals.
Genetic exploration of the ATP synthase complex in Plasmodium falciparum
Authors:   , Pershing April M. , Vaidya Akhil B.
Published: July 2021

During the blood stages of its life cycle, P. falciparum relies on glycolysis as its major source of ATP rather than oxidative phosphorylation. Yet, we have been unable to disrupt the genes encoding the [beta] and [gamma] subunits of the ATP synthase complex in P. falciparum blood stages. To address the essential nature of ATP synthase we generated a merodiploid line expressing a tagged mutated [beta] subunit from an ectopic site. This should reduce the overall ATP synthase activity. Although the mutant subunit was correctly trafficked to the mitochondrion, the transgenic parasites grew at the same rate as the parental lines, indicating that the ectopically expressed mutant subunits did not have a dominant negative effect. Furthermore, we generated a transgenic parasite line that permitted conditional knockdown of the [beta] subunit through the use of a regulated ribozyme. Knockdown of the [beta] subunit showed no growth phenotype, indicating >80% reduction in its expression was not detrimental to the parasites. These knockdown parasite lines allowed us to revisit a hypothesis regarding the target of proguanil, a drug shown to work synergistically with atovaquone to kill the parasite, and which is a component of the registered antimalarial drug combination Malarone®. Earlier work from our laboratory led to a hypothesis that proguanil targets a secondary pathway for generating mitochondrial membrane potential ([delta][psi] m), and that this pathway becomes essential when the primary pathway of mitochondrial electron transport chain (mtETC) is inhibited by atovaquone. We monitored the effects of the merodiploid catalytic knockdown line and the ribozyme knockdown line for their sensitivity to atovaquone as well as another mtETC inhibitor, ELQ300. We also reengineered the ribozyme conditional knockdown line to become mtETC independent and thus resistant to atovaquone. This provided a means to examine the secondary pathway of [delta][psi]-m generation in absence of mtETC. Through the use of these transgenic parasite lines we were able to provide strong evidence that the alternate pathway to generate the [delta][psi]-m is likely to be the ATP hydrolase activity of the parasite ATP synthase. These findings now solve a decades long mystery regarding the nature of proguanil synergy with atovaquone.