bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The effects of price context and prior product knowledge on consumers' product evaluations
Authors:   , Feng Shan , Suri Rajneesh
Published: July 2021

This research examines how consumers rely on price and prior product knowledge in product quality evaluations. To understand the interaction effects of pricecontext and prior product knowledge on quality evaluations, a conceptual framework based on cue utilization theory and information processing theory was developed. It is proposed that low knowledgeable consumers are more likely to use price as a quality indicator in a low-priced context and in a limited-attributes context; moderate knowledgeable consumers tend to rely on their knowledge to make product evaluations; high knowledgeable consumers are more likely to use their product knowledge in a highpriced context and in an extensive-attributes context. A set of hypotheses was developed regarding the interaction effect of price context and prior knowledge on consumers' perceived monetary sacrifice, quality evaluations, and value judgments. Two experimental studies were conducted using student subjects to test the proposed hypotheses. Prior product knowledge was measured in both studies. Price context was manipulated at low vs. high level in study 1 and at limited vs. extensive attributes in study 2. The three dependent measures used in this study were perceived monetary sacrifice, perceived quality, and perceived value. Results of the experiments showed significant interaction effects between price context and prior knowledge on quality evaluations. A significant quadratic relationship between the use of price and the level of prior product knowledge was observed in a lowpriced context and in an extensive-attributes context, providing support for the proposed hypotheses in the conceptual model.
Development of detailed, reduced and skeletal kinetic mechanisms for hydrocarbon oxidation at low and intermediate temperatures
Authors:   , Gupta Ashutosh , Miller David Leslie , Cernansky Nicholas Peter
Published: July 2021

In the absence of scalable alternative energy sources that are greenhouse gas (GHG) neutral, hydrocarbon fuels are expected to continue to be a large part of the energy mix for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, combustion technologies and fuels will have to be improved and refined to reduce hazardous and GHG emissions and improve efficiency. Computer simulations using accurate chemical kinetic models are increasingly being used to aid the development of these technologies. This study presents approaches that can help improve kinetic models for combustion and aid the development of new engine technologies that are fuel efficient and produce lower GHG emissions. A reduced kinetic mechanism that can predict cool flames for propane-air mixtures was developed. The mechanism is able to predict multiple cool flames, global variables and species concentrations within defined accuracy limits, and reduces computation time by a factor of three and computer memory for the computation by an order of magnitude. This study also developed algorithms for the development of extended detailed kinetic mechanisms as well as skeletal models for primary fuels and fuel additives. This algorithm was used to develop a detailed mechanism for the combustion of Primary Reference Fuels (PRFs) and Di-Tertiary Butyl Peroxide (DTBP), a fuel additive. The detailed kinetic mechanism was able to help explain the impact of DTBP on PRF combustion in a PCI engine and identify the primary mode of action of DTBP depending on the PRF octane number. The skeletal model reduces the computation time by 99.6%, and requires approximately 0.1% computer memory compared to the detailed mechanism. As a final objective, the first detailed kinetic mechanism accounting for the formation of lactones during low temperature combustion of hydrocarbons was developed. Lactones are cyclic ethers with a carbonyl function that have been observed experimentally by several research groups including the combustion chemistry group at Drexel University, but not predicted, by kinetic mechanisms available today. The proposed detailed kinetic mechanism, containing 206 new reactions and 35 new species, was able to achieve good agreement with published experimental data for the non-alkylated lactones produced during the oxidation of n-dodecane in a Pressurized Flow Reactor.
Spillover of social responsibility associations in a brand portfolio
Authors:   , Wang Wenling , Korschun Daniel , Suri Rajneesh
Published: July 2021

Extant research has established that social responsibility (SR) activity can be beneficial to companies by influencing consumers' SR associations with the company and its product brands. However, most studies only look at the outcomes of SR initiatives implemented at the corporate level (i.e., corporate social responsibility). This research provides a new and expanded perspective by exploring how SR activity at the product brand level reverberates throughout the full brand portfolio. Based on associative network theory, it is proposed that when consumers are aware of a product brand's SR initiatives, their social responsibility associations with this product brand will spill over to another product brand and the corporate brand through the pre-existing links between brands. This spillover effect is presumed to be stronger for companies using the monolithic rather than endorsed or stand-alone branding strategies. The spillover effect between two product brands is also expected to be influenced by their product category fit. As a result of this spillover of SR associations, consumers are expected to show a heightened purchase intent, positive word of mouth intent, and willingness to pay a higher price for other product brands offered by the company; and they are more likely to identify with the company and talk positively about it to others. Three experiments were conducted and found support for the proposed conceptual model. The findings will help managers make better decisions about which brands (product and corporate level) should be involved in SR activity.
Cluster-based query expansion using language modeling for biomedical literature retrieval
Authors:   , Xu Xuheng George , Hu Xiaohua
Published: July 2021

The tremendously huge volume of biomedical literature, scientists' specific information needs, long terms of multiples words, and fundamental problems ofsynonym and polysemy have been challenging issues facing the biomedical information retrieval community researchers. Search engines have significantlyimproved the efficiency and effectiveness of biomedical literature searching. The search engines, however, are known to return many results that are irrelevant to the intention of a user's query, in other words, perform not very sound in terms of precision and recall. To further improve precision and recall of biomedicalinformational retrieval, various query expansion strategies are widely used. In this thesis, we concentrate on empirical comparison, experiments and evaluations ininvestigating query expansion methods. We also use the findings as an empirical justification for cluster-based query expansion. We have investigated broadly many methods of query expansion such as local analysis, global analysis, ontology-based term reweighting across various search engines and obtained important insights. Among the findings, two-stage concept-based latent semantic analysis strategy and cluster-based query expansion have been presented and the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) technique in the Latent Semantic Indexing (LSI) is utilized in the proposed method. In contrast to other query expansion methods, our strategy selects those terms that are most similar to the concepts of in the query as well as the related documents, rather than selects terms that are similar to the query terms only. Furthermore, we propose a novel framework for cluster-based query expansion. we have designed and implemented a novel and efficient computational approach to cluster-based query expansion using language modeling. Through our experiments in TREC genomic track ad-hoc retrieval task, we demonstrate that clusters which are created based on the whole collection or the initially returned document results of the original query can be utilized to perform query expansion and eventually improve the overall effectiveness and performance of information retrieval system in the biomedical literature retrieval. Lastly, we believe the principles of this strategy may be extended and utilized in other domains.
Auditory localization as revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging
Authors:   , Matthes Jessica Marie , Williams J. Michael
Published: July 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the parietal lobe in auditory localization through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Previous cortical lesion research as well as research conducted with positron emission topography suggests that the parietal lobe is involved in the ability to localize the direction of a sound source. The right parietal lobe may play a particularly important role. Nine participants, wearing headset microphones that hung down within the auditory canal, sat on a chair in the middle of a room. Sound recordings were taken from eight different locations around them (0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, & 315°). These recordings were played back for the participants through a set of headphones while in the MRI scanner and participants were instructed to try to determine the location of the sound. Results revealed bilateral activation of the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes. A region of interest analysis of the parietal lobes revealed that the right hemisphere was not significantly more active than the left parietal lobe during the localization task. This finding was inconsistent with the hypothesis that significantly more activation in the right parietal lobe would occur during auditory localization tasks.
Epilepsy and Family History of Psychiatric Disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R)
Authors:   , Calhoun Shawna , Mossey Jana M.
Published: July 2021

Background: Epilepsy has been estimated to affect fifty million people globally. Little is known regarding the risk factors for and, therefore, prevention of epilepsy. Previous research has supported the association between epilepsy and psychiatric disorders as being an epiphenomenon. Objective: Assess the association of epilepsy with psychiatric disorders, age of mental health symptom onset, and family history of psychiatric disorders. Methods: A secondary data analysis was performed of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) data. The survey was completed by 9,282 English-speaking adult residents of the continental United States between February 2001 and April 2003, of which 5,721 were asked about epilepsy status. Comparisons were performed between respondent subgroups of the following: prevalence of DSM-IV lifetime mental disorders, age of mental health symptom onset, and family history of psychiatric disorders. Results: In the NCS-R sample, persons with epilepsy were found to have a higher prevalence of any DSM-IV lifetime disorder, 86.03/100 in people with epilepsy and 76.01/100 in those without, along with an earlier onset of mental health symptoms (p<0.01). At the DSM-IV group level, only substance abuse and impulse control disorders were found to be significantly higher in persons with epilepsy (p<0.05). The majority of respondents with epilepsy had an onset of mental health symptoms preceding their epilepsy diagnosis, however this temporal relationship varied with age of epilepsy diagnosis (p<0.0001). Of the psychiatric disorders reported, a statistically significant association was found exclusively between family history of depression and epilepsy status (p=0.0511). Conclusion: Multiple facets of psychiatric disorders appear to be associated with epilepsy status. Future research is needed to assess these associations using a larger case population, in addition to testing the biological pathways of these associations.
Health Impact Assessment of Mountaintop Mining
Authors:   , Rockett Adele , Gross-Davis Carol Ann
Published: July 2021

Background: Mountaintop mining (MTM) is one of the most high profile environmental issues in the United States. The adverse environmental impacts of MTM have been determined after extensive litigation between citizen groups, government agencies, and industry as well as heavy opposition from environmental activists. However, there is little evidence on the human health effects caused by MTM. Environmental Justice (EJ) is also a pertinent issue when evaluating the impact of MTM on public health. A Health Impact Assessment was created to provide a tool for public health officials, policy makers, industries and community members to better understand the health impacts of MTM and aid in the development of policies that mitigate the health risks of this practice. Methods: An extensive literature review was conducted to establish the current status of MTM studies regarding impacts on human health. Inquiries were made to several academic institutions with known interest in studying the human health impacts of MTM including Duke University and West Virginia University. The specific EJ components of MTM were determined through meetings with EPA and CDC stakeholders, a literary analysis, as well as with a personal visit to West Virginia mining communities. Future study designs and interventions were based on an evaluation and critique of current literature by CDC officials and through the examination of current and prospective EPA Cumulative Impact Assessment projects. Results: Compiled literature shows weak evidence for various human health impacts of coal mining exposure including heart and kidney disease and certain cancers. However, there are no completed or active human health studies of MTM impacts available. EJ component of MTM has been confirmed based on Census data showing high poverty rates throughout most of Appalachia. There are several federal and academic efforts underway to evaluate the human health and EJ impacts of MTM. Conclusions: Based on scientific evidence regarding coal mining and human health impacts, an extensive EJ evaluation, and a thorough environmental impact assessment, epidemiologic studies are necessary to mitigate the human health risks of MTM. Collaborative efforts by the CDC, ATSDR, EPA, and academic institutions are necessary to connect environmental impacts with the health risks posed by MTM.
On using diversity to improve the performance of wireless communication systems
Authors:   , Lin Rui , Petropulu Athina P.
Published: July 2021

Diversity is an effective way to combat channel fading and can be exploited at multiple protocol layers to achieve reliable transmissions over wireless communication networks. This dissertation develops resource-efficient algorithms that explore diversity at the physical layer and between physical and medium access control layers. At the physical layer, we propose a novel bandwidth efficient scheme for single transmit/receiver antenna Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems. As opposed to the existing methods, the proposed approach is characterized by both spectral diversity and blind channel estimation capabilities through non-redundant linear precoding and low computational complexity algorithms. An optimal precoding scheme is proposed that, for quadrature phase shift keying signals results in minimum channel error and asymptotically minimum bit-error rate. The performance is evaluated analytically and the advantages over other methods are shown with simulations. At the intersection between the physical and medium access control layers, we propose a novel random access algorithm for collision resolution. Collided data is forwarded by various relays in different time interval to achieve temporal and spatial diversity. Upon receiving all the transmitted and forwarded signals, the destination node can formulate and solve a multiple-input multiple-output problem to recover the original packets. A comprehensive analysis of the diversity gain and capacity of the scheme is provided. The proposed scheme is capable of dealing with the wireless fading channel without bandwidth expansion nor additional antenna hardware. It also requires minimal scheduling overhead and enables efficient use of network power.
Evaluating the Referral Process among Immigrants with Tuberculosis
Authors:   , Kumaran Vinay , Cummings Curtis E.
Published: July 2021

Background: The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ) has 20 quarantine stations (QS) across the United States (U.S.). Each QS provides consultation and referral services to foreign born persons with tuberculosis (TB) class B conditions who intend to reside in the U.S. After arrival in the U.S., immigrant medical packets are reviewed and packets with TB class B conditions are sent from each QS to the CDC Electronic Disease Notification (EDN) system from which they are forwarded to State and Local Health Departments for referral for follow-up. This study analyzed Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) Quarantine Station's experience with the CDC EDN system and the immigrant referral process. Methods: All data used for this project were obtained from the EDN database maintained by the PADOH. We obtained EDN records for immigrants who had TB class B conditions as a result of the EDN notification process. Password-protected spread sheet with de-identified EDN evaluation follow-up sheets provided by Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) were decoded, analyzed, and defined. EDN immigrants' data were analyzed to determine the extent of any discrepancies in the referral process at PHL QS and compare them with other QS referral process by use of simple statistical analysis. Frequencies, means, modes and medians explored if the port of entry into the US correlates to follow-up outcomes. Results: A total of 627 immigrants with TB conditions entered Pennsylvania 2009 and 2010. A total 49 immigrants with a TB condition arrived PHL. Of these 49 immigrants, 8 (16.3%) followed-up at local health departments for further medical evaluation. The average duration between date of arrival and follow-up for these immigrants was 74 days. For immigrants entering PA from other QS, 153 (24.4%) followed-up. Conclusions: The EDN system needs much improvement. The low follow-up rates and the prolonged time for follow-up are inadequate. Data entry is low priority where resources are low, making follow-up data entry into EDN unstable. Providing guidance and training for stakeholders to use EDN properly and better information technology can improve its efficiency.
Reliability of the global assessment of functioning scale
Authors:   , Woldoff Sarah Beth , Herbert James D.
Published: July 2021

Since the Global Assessment of Functioning Scale (GAF) was introduced in the revised third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R) in 1987 (American Psychiatric Association), its use in clinical settings has grown considerably. However, there is little research on the reliability and validity of the scale. Thirty-six psychologists with experience administering the GAF scored one high-information and one low-information vignette according to two methods of determining the GAF score. Method A consisted of the traditional paper-and-pencil version in which the rater determines the client's GAF score based on the individual's psychological, social, and occupational functioning. Method B consisted of a computer-assisted GAF (First & Multi-Health Systems Staff, 1997), in which assessment questions related to psychological, social, and occupational functioning are presented to the clinician in a yes/no format. Results indicated that both methods of GAF administration could be scored reliably by raters. Consistent with predictions, the results revealed a significant interaction between method and information level. Specifically, in the high information condition, the computer-assisted method resulted in scores closer to "gold standards" determined by expert diagnosticians relative to the paper-and-pencil method. These findings are promising with respect to the clinical utility of the computer-assisted GAF procedure. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.
Enabling entity retrieval by exploiting Wikipedia as a semantic knowledge source
Authors:   , Jeon Sofia , Lin Xia
Published: July 2021

This dissertation research, PanAnthropon FilmWorld, aims to demonstrate direct retrieval of entities and related facts by exploiting Wikipedia as a semantic knowledge source, with the film domain as its proof-of-concept domain of application. To this end, a semantic knowledge base concerning the film domain has been constructed with the data extracted/derived from 10,640 Wikipedia pages on films and additional pages on film awards. The knowledge base currently contains 209,266 entities and 2,345,931 entity-centric facts. Both the knowledge base and the corresponding semantic search interface are based on the coherent classification of entities. Entity-centric facts are also consistently represented as  tuples. The semantic search interface (http://dlib.ischool.drexel.edu:8080/sofia/PA/) supports multiple types of semantic search functions, which go beyond the traditional keyword-based search function, including the main General Entity Retrieval Query (GERQ) function, which is concerned with retrieving all entities that match the specified entity type, subtype, and semantic conditions and thus corresponds to the main research problem. Two types of evaluation have been performed in order to evaluate (1) the quality of information extraction and (2) the effectiveness of information retrieval using the semantic interface. The first type of evaluation has been performed by inspecting 11,495 film-centric facts concerning 100 films. The results have confirmed high data quality with 99.96% average precision and 99.84% average recall. The second type of evaluation has been performed by conducting an experiment with human subjects. The experiment involved having the subjects perform a retrieval task by using both the PanAnthropon interface and the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) interface and comparing their task performance between the two interfaces. The results have confirmed higher effectiveness of the PanAnthropon interface vs. the IMDb interface (83.11% vs. 40.78% average precision; 83.55% vs. 40.26% average recall). Moreover, the subjects' responses to the post-task questionnaire indicate that the subjects found the PanAnthropon interface to be highly usable and easily understandable as well as highly effective. The main contribution from this research therefore consists in achieving the set research goal, namely, demonstrating the utility and feasibility of semantics-based direct entity retrieval.
Approximate Bayesian inference for robust speech processing
Authors:   , Maina Ciira wa , Walsh John MacLaren
Published: July 2021

Speech processing applications such as speech enhancement and speaker identification rely on the estimation of relevant parameters from the speech signal. Theseparameters must often be estimated from noisy observations since speech signals are rarely obtained in 'clean' acoustic environments in the real world. As a result, the parameter estimation algorithms we employ must be robust to environmental factors such as additive noise and reverberation. In this work we derive and evaluate approximate Bayesian algorithms for the following speech processing tasks: 1) speech enhancement 2) speaker identification 3) speaker verification and 4) voice activity detection. Building on previous work in the field of statistical model based speech enhancement, we derive speech enhancement algorithms that rely on speaker dependent priors over linear prediction parameters. These speaker dependent priors allow us to handle speech enhancement and speaker identification in a joint framework. Furthermore, we show how these priors allow voice activity detection to be performed in a robust manner. We also develop algorithms in the log spectral domain with applications in robust speaker verification. The use of speaker dependent priors in the log spectral domain is shown to improve equal error rates in noisy environments and to compensate for mismatch between training and testing conditions.
Collaborative estimation in networks
Authors:   , Ramanan Sivagnanasundaram , Walsh John MacLaren
Published: July 2021

Consider a network of nodes that are deployed to monitor a common phenomenon. In many cases, the network nodes need to estimate the common phenomenon from "noisy" observations they make. Although each node can independently obtain the estimate from its own observations, it can obtain a better estimate by communicating with the other nodes and by exploiting the interdependence between the observations at different nodes in estimation. In this dissertation, we study such a collaborative estimation problem in which a network of nodes, each indirectly observing an underlying source through "noisy" measurements, communicate with each other in order to form better estimates of the underlying source. Two primary constraints, complexity and communication, should be taken into account in the design of collaborative estimation algorithms. Although it is referableto have both low complexity and low communication, the limits on the estimation error performance can be studied by relaxing either or both of these constraints. In particular, signal processing and machine learning based approaches tend to focus on developing low complexity collaborative estimation algorithms with less strict attention to communication, while information theory focuses on characterizing the fundamental tradeo between communication rate and estimate performance, with less attention to complexity. Reconciling complexity with communications, modern practical coding theory can aid the design of collaborative estimation algorithms with low-complexity and low-communication. In this dissertation, we apply tools from aforementioned areas of study to develop collaborative estimation algorithms with low-complexity, low-communication and lowcomplexity/low-communication, and evaluate the estimation error performances.
High power switching device SPICE models based on circuit response
Authors:   , Weaver Bryan A. , Nwankpa Chikaodinaka Okechi Dike
Published: July 2021

Power electronics converter capabilities are expanding into power levels of 10 kW and above with the support of steadily growing high power semiconductor device capabilities. Computer aided design and circuit simulation tools are likewise growing, yet the supply of available and accurate SPICE models for high power semiconductor devices isn't keeping pace with the expanding device capabilities. In an effort to improve model availability and accuracy, user configurable high power switching device SPICE models for the Schottky diode, Insulated Gate Bipolar and power MOSFET transistors will be developed. In a departure from conventional physics based semiconductor modeling techniques, circuit response models establish how the device responds to circuit characteristics. These SPICE circuit response models will be user configurable by means of data from either or both device measurements and datasheet figures. With access to these models, the circuit designer / application engineer will minimize the need to search for SPICE models of the selected component or need to investigate the overall accuracy of the models that are available.
Robot-driven epidural spinal cord stimulation compared with conventional stimulation in adult spinalized rats
Authors:   , Hsieh Fu-Han , Giszter Simon F.
Published: July 2021

Epidural stimulation to trigger locomotion is a promising treatment after spinal cord injury (SCI). Continuous stimulation during locomotion is the conventional method. To improve recovery, we designed and tested an innovative robot-driven epidural stimulation method, coupled with a trunk-based neurorobotic system. The system was tested in rats, and the results were compared with the results of the neurorobotic therapy combined with the conventional epidural stimulation method, and with robotic rehabilitation alone. The rats had better recovery after treatment with the robot-driven epidural stimulation than conventional stimulation or controls in our neurorobotic rehabilitation system.
Navigating the Social Landscape
Authors:   , Greene Rachel Elizabeth , Schelly Hill Ellen
Published: July 2021

The purpose of this research study was to gain greater insight into the lived childhood experience of adults who immigrated to the United States between ages five and ten, with regards to how they learned to navigate social relationships. Immigrant children are often at a social disadvantage due to limited language skills inhibiting their ability to communicate and minimal supports to assist them in coping with challenges. Following resettlement, they may experience discrimination, isolation, and/or rejection in interactions with peers. The lack of peer approval and support during this stage of psychosocial development has serious implications for identity development. Immigrant children are at particular risk for developing mental health issues if adequate family and institutional transitional supports are not in place to assist the acculturation process following resettlement. The study used a qualitative phenomenological design in which participants (n = 3) participated in a group movement workshop designed to facilitate recall of childhood memories from the cultural transition period regarding social interactions with others and were interviewed individually. The primary essences identified by participants were: feeling different, feeling of being misunderstood, standing out, comfort with foreign peers (or those with immigrant parents), confidence of abilities (in the U.S.), feeling of being supported at home, and feeling of being supported in the community. Although participants minimized the role of the group movement process in contributing access to their childhood memories, the detailed accounts of childhood immigration experiences were rife with movement images and references. Although the ability to generalize the findings of this study is limited due to its small sample size, the results have clear implications for transition support. A dance/movement therapy intervention is recommended for use in treatment with immigrants or individuals exploring cultural identity issues.
Civic engagement
Authors:   , Vuono Francesco , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

WHYY is a PBS-affiliate serving the Philadelphia-Delaware Valley. WHYY implemented a large scale rebranding strategy moving from a public television licensee to being known as a civic space. The concept of "civic space" can be defined as a location, literal or technological - where the community can go to communicate and become informed on matters of politics, culture and debate; while being offered opportunity for education and civic dialogue. With the rise of social media, WHYY needs a plan to utilize the social media technology and websites as a way to create a link with the community as is crucial in civic space. Social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, can offer unique opportunities to organize and inform the public. Sites like these can create multimedia outlets, dialogue, feedback and a sense of community interconnectivity. This thesis presents a plan for WHYY to incorporate these social network technologies to enhance their "civic space." By enhancing the use of social and digital media, WHYY will have the opportunity to revitalize community relations, community communication and community involvement.
Integrating Chinese culture into Sesame Street
Authors:   , Wang Shengrui , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

This thesis demonstrates a way to integrate Chinese culture into the American television program, Sesame Street. With increased exposure to the program elements and strategies suggested herein, American children will draw creative ideas from Chinese culture. A Sesame Street Chinese curriculum has been designed which uses selected cultural aspects of Chinese culture as content to address the instructional goals of Sesame Street. A new puppet called Beibei the Panda will act as a medium to teach American children about Chinese culture in an entertaining and interesting manner. From February to July 2010, I interned at the Global Production department of the Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization that produces Sesame Street. The internship provided me with precious opportunities to test my thesis ideas with the Sesame professionals.
Interactive advertising for local news broadcasts
Authors:   , Yarsinsky Eric Shawn , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

This thesis will discuss various forms of interactive television including one-screen, two-screen and three-screen interactivity. Various formats of interactive advertisements will also be analyzed in terms of how they could be applied to local news broadcasts. As a conclusion, a sample interactive television application for use during local news broadcasts will be introduced.
A case study of China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting (CMMB)
Authors:   , Zhang Dongchen , Tedesco Albert S.
Published: July 2021

Beginning late in the 20th century, mobile broadcasting TV has been launched in many countries all over the world. Though it was expected to be one of the most promising technologies, each country still has its own situation, some are successful, and others are disappointing. Meanwhile, the mobile broadcasting TV is penetrating China rapidly because of the development of its special China Multimedia Mobile Broadcasting standard and network. The worldwide mobile broadcasting TV markets are active due to technology development, business models maturity, and competition is aggressive. The potential size and growth rate of the Chinese mobile TV market warrant examination of the wireless development in and outside of the country. Here, we study specifically this unique growing standard - CMMB, including the technology, the consumer demographics, and the business model.
Design and implementation of alkali activated cement for sustainable development
Authors:   , Moseson Alexander J. , Barsoum Michel W.
Published: July 2021

Herein, progress is presented on the design and implementation of technology for sustainable development in general and international development in particular. Necessarily interdisciplinary, the work draws upon the tools and techniques of Mechanical, Materials, and Civil Engineering; and History & Politics. The work was conducted along two paths, the first being the theory and methodology of sustainable development. A flexible design and dissemination framework was developed, Technology Seeding, defined as: development by the transfer and participatory adaptation of appropriate proven conceptual designs. The methodology was developed in part through two case studies which implemented, respectively, wood-turning lathes in Tanzania and upland rice planters in Thailand. The second path is the design and investigation of alkali-activated cements (AACs) for practical use. Those developed herein, for US markets, comprise ground granulated blast furnace slag, soda ash (sodium carbonate), and up to 68 wt.% granular limestone. Mixture Design of Experiment (DOE) was utilized to guide empirical and theoretical analysis of performance (e.g. compressive strength), economic & ecological aspects (e.g. cost, CO₂ production, energy consumption), and chemistry (e.g. Rietveld analysis of x-ray diffractograms). Models were derived to understand the impact of mix design on performance and for optimization. Successful formulations are hydraulic and cure at room temperature, with strengths as high as 41 MPa at 3 days and 65 MPa at 28 days. Some of these formulations, compared to OPC, are competitive in performance, reduce cost by up to 40%, and reduce both CO₂ production and energy consumption by up to 97%. Major chemical products include calcium silicate hydrates / calcium aluminum silicate hydrates (C-(A)-S-H), gaylussite, and calcite (both newly formed and remaining from limestone). Calcite/dolomite and C-(A)-S-H both contribute to strength. A fraction of the limestone is consumed and becomes part of the C-(A)-S-H, with an average CaO/SiO₂ ratio of 1.4. A six month term as a Visiting Scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Mumbai, India built upon both paths. Several AACs that use local materials and techniques and pass local standards were rapidly developed, and the potential positively assessed for these AACs to be used to empower slum dwellers.
Modeling of trihalomethane formation based on consensus of existing empirical models
Authors:   , Erispaha Adam , Haas Charles Nathan
Published: July 2021

Upon discovery of their prominence in municipal water supplies in the US in the 1970s, trihalomethanes (THM), a potentially carcinogenic disinfection by-product, have been extensively researched. As a result, many THM formation models have been proposed in the literature to predict what concentrations are expected under various environmental conditions. However, many of the existing THM formation models are site-specific or effective only under certain conditions, and therefore cannot be utilized universally. This study evaluates the performance and characteristics of 40 existing THM formation models by applying water quality data collected from the EPA Information Collection Rule (ICR) database. Additionally, this study proposes six new models based on a consensus of the existing model predictions. Water quality data for chlorine dose, pH, temperature, bromide concentration, total organic carbon (TOC), UV-254, reaction time, alkalinity, and residual chlorine was input into each model equally, when applicable. Based on mean squared error of predicted THM and observed THM, two proposed models performed better than any of the existing models reviewed. Proposed models are comprised of measurements of central tendency (arithmetic mean, median, and weighted average based on modeling-building sample size) of all existing model predictions for a given ICR sampling event. The same procedure was also carried out by selectively incorporating each existing model predictions into the central tendency measurement based on each existing model's original data ranges, such that predictions were only accepted if the ICR sampling event resembled the model-building data for each existing model. Finally, the correlation of existing model predictions with observed data was shown to increase as a function of parameterization and model-building sample size.
Talus morphology and its functional implications on the ankle joint
Authors:   , Seale Damani Y. , Siegler Sorin
Published: July 2021

A clear understanding of the ankle joint has applications from the design of ankle braces to the design of ankle implants and total ankle replacements. Examination of the articular trochlear surface of the talus can be used to describe talar morphology and explain ankle joint kinematics. A testing protocol was established to determine which of two anatomical axes; intermalleolar axis and trochlear cone axis; best approximates the axis of rotation of the ankle joint. Anatomical axes were located and oriented using anatomical landmarks obtained from CT images for the foot and ankle. An anatomical reference axis system was established to standardize the location and orientation of the anatomical axes. The talus geometry was approximated as the frustum of a cone, the axis of which potentially represented the axis of rotation of the ankle joint. The results showed that the ankle joint is not accurately modeled as a single fixed axis of rotation joint. The talus was best approximated as the frustum of a skewed cone. Due to the asymmetry, rotation about the skewed cone results in a constantly changing axis of rotation. Hence, the ankle joint was modeled as a single degree of freedom joint, the axis of rotation of which is constantly changing.
Anodization growth and integration of titanium dioxide nanotubes in dye sensitized solar cells
Authors:   , Susilo Stefani , Lau Kenneth K. S.
Published: July 2021

Titanium dioxide nanotube (TNT) arrays have been successfully grown by anodization in a glycerol electrolyte. A growth rate of 1.4 [mu]m/h has been achieved, which is more than double that typically observed with tubes grown in glycerol. By adjusting anodization parameters, such as increasing anodization temperature (45 °C) with a small addition of water (5 vol%) and a high fluoride salt concentration (0.67 M), we found an optimized balance between field assisted oxide growth and chemical dissolution that allowed for the increase in growth rate. Nanotubes of 2.2 [mu]m in length with 48.7 nm inner diameter have been obtained for 2 h of anodization time with uniform pore opening from top to bottom and relatively smooth outer walls. The TNT arrays have been integrated as photoanodes in dye sensitized solar cells and current-voltage measurements performed on these DSSCs showed that significant improvement in cell performance is expected with optimization of nanotube properties and solar cell fabrication techniques.
Wounds at the End of Life
Authors:   , Emmons Kevin Richard , Dreher Heyward Michael
Published: July 2021

Introduction. Wounds can impact all facets of life including physical, psychosocial, and spiritual aspects. Persons with advanced illness are at especially high risk for developing wounds, with over 43 types identified in this population. Hospice patients with cancer are exemplary of a population where patients have significantly advanced illness. Greater than one third of patients in hospice will have or develop a wound. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact wounds have on quality of life (QoL) among cancer patients in hospice and to identify patient preferences for symptom control and relevant outcomes/endpoints. Methods. 22 subjects were recruited from a hospice that serves the Philadelphia metropolitan area. Three instruments were used: the Hospice Quality of Life Index (HQLI) for general QoL measurement; the Cardiff Wound Impact Schedule (CWIS) for wound- specific QoL; and the Bates-Jensen Wound Assessment Tool (BWAT) to assess wound severity. In addition, a Maxdiff preference scaling program was used to examine patient preferences related to symptoms and relevant endpoints. Results. The HQLI index mean score was 142.59 (SD± 32.95) and the CWIS mean score was 115.45 (SD± 44.31). QoL scores and subscores among these subjects were the lowest than any reported in the literature. Wound scores indicated that wounds experienced by the subjects were either moderate or severe regarding BWAT wound severity. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that wound severity significantly correlated with CWIS quality of life (p=0.021). In particular, the Physical Symptoms and Daily Living subscale was correlated to wound severity (p=0.009). Using a linear regression analysis, exudate type (p=0.000) and amount (p=0.051) has a significantly negative relationship with overall CWIS quality of life. Lack of granulation tissue (p=0.026), exudate amount (p=0.047) and type (p0.000), and necrotic tissue amount (p= 0.005) were factors that had a negatively significant relationship with the Physical Symptoms and Daily Living QoL subscale. Through a Maxdiff preference scaling technique, subjects identified pain, odor, drainage, and bleeding as the most important factors to manage in wound care over wound healing. Conclusion. These results indicate that the more severe the wound the worse the quality of life of among cancer patients in hospice. Wound factors such as drainage and dead tissue had the greatest impact on quality of life. Subjects preferred wound care to reflect symptom management over wound healing endpoints.
Plasma produced reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in angiogenesis
Authors:   , Arjunan Krishna Priya , Clyne Alisa Morss
Published: July 2021

Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from existing vessels, plays a key role in physiological processes including development, growth, and wound healing. Insufficient angiogenesis contributes to impaired wound healing in diabetic patients and the elderly. Vascularization is also essential for the successful engineering of large, complex tissues and organs in vitro. Although successful tissue fabrication of a few hundred microns has been achieved, tissue engineering is limited by the inability to vascularize constructs to provide nutrients to the tissue core. Plasma medicine is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field combining engineering, physics, biochemistry and life sciences. Plasma, the fourth state of matter, is an ionized gas composed of charged particles (electrons, ions), excited atoms and molecules, radicals, and UV photons. Non-thermal dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma, which primarily produces reactive oxygen species (ROS) has previously been used primarily to sterilize tissue and equipment, coagulate blood, or kill bacteria and cancerous cells. A nitric oxide (NO) producing pin-to-hole spark discharge (PHD) plasma has been reported to sterilize liquids and surfaces, including living tissue. Low doses of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) contribute to angiogenesis. This study demonstrates the potential of plasma in delivering ROS/RNS into liquids and cells for wound or tissue engineering vascularization. ROS produced by a DBD plasma penetrated into both treatment liquid as well as into endothelial cells. These ROS then enhanced endothelial cell proliferation, migration and tube formation through fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) release. Specifically, H₂O₂ and OH· were the primary ROS responsible for plasma-induced angiogenesis. In longer term studies, non-thermal DBD plasma induced FGF-2 release led to secondary intracellular ROS production, enhanced FGF-2 expression and subsequent enhanced FGF-2 release. In a parallel study, a PHD plasma produced NO that enhanced endothelial cell proliferation and migration while maintaining cell viability. This research improves both our understanding of plasma and ROS/RNS effects on endothelial cells, and may facilitate the development of inexpensive, portable, medical devices for wound treatment. Thus, this dissertation contributes significantly to vascular biology, plasma medicine and health care.