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Title: Making A Hot, Arid, Desert Arab City More Livable: Investigating the Role of Street Design in Enhancing Walkability in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Creator: Almahdy, Omar Esam
Date: 2020
Description: Since the introduction of automobiles in the 1950s, cities in Saudi Arabia have evolved around an automobile infrastructure. Riyadh, the...
Show moreSince the introduction of automobiles in the 1950s, cities in Saudi Arabia have evolved around an automobile infrastructure. Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia with a population of over 7.2 million, is facing an urban mobility challenge. For most inhabitants, driving is the only transportation available, since there is not yet an efficient public transit system. Currently, contemporary urban streets in Riyadh are limited to automobiles and inaccessible to pedestrians. Creating a walkable environment and improving walkability could solve numerous problems like the obesity crisis, the lack of city vibrancy, traffic congestion, environmental injustice, and social isolation. In this research, I investigate the climatic, geographic, social, and cultural factors that influence walkability in Riyadh as a hot, arid, and desert Arab city. The study uses mixed methods that include structured streetscape observations and pedestrian activity mapping as well as surveys and interviews with Riyadh’s citizens. Also, more data were collected through interviews with experts in Saudi urban planning and development. The issue of walkability in Riyadh extends beyond the design of the built environment. Many non-physical barriers hinder people from walking. Again, the perception of the streets as thoroughfares for automobiles only has deepened the problem. However, the lack of adequate sidewalks on most streets is the main reason why people do not walk. Also, this lack is a critical indicator of the dearth of efficient and proper urban design. The harsh climatic conditions along with the occasional sandstorms as well as polluted ambient air make the walking experience uncomfortable most of the year. To sum up, this study indicates that people’s awareness of the value and importance of having walkable streets and minimizing the reliance on motorized transport modes is a key driver in creating a pedestrian-friendly street.
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Title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Depression
Creator: Antler, Caroline
Date: 2020
Description: Almost half of individuals in the US struggling with depression never seek treatment and, of those that do, over half receive inadequate care....
Show moreAlmost half of individuals in the US struggling with depression never seek treatment and, of those that do, over half receive inadequate care. Although the efficacy of CBT for MDD is well established, the rate of individuals receiving psychotherapy has declined. With copious evidence supporting the effectiveness of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of pharmaceuticals, the current study evaluated the potential utility of DTCA of CBT for MDD.One hundred seventy-eight adults with (a) prior exposure to DTCA for antidepressants and (b) no mental health diagnoses or treatment were randomly assigned to view one of three video conditions: CBT for depression (CBT, n = 60), CBT plus information on antidepressants (CBT+MED, n = 58), or Control (arthritis and diabetes Public Service Announcements (PSAs); n = 60). After viewing the video participants completed measures of attitudes about, and willingness to engage in, CBT and antidepressant medication. The study was conducted online with participants being recruited through Prolific and the survey created via Qualtrics.Compared to controls, participants viewing CBT DTCA videos (with or without information on antidepressants) were more willing to engage in CBT, had less public and self-stigma associated with CBT, and believed CBT has less potential for harm. Compared to the CBT group, the CBT+MED group reported greater concern about the risks of disclosing personal information in a therapy setting.These results extend previous findings by applying the DTCA marketing style to a specific diagnosis and type of therapy. Findings indicate that DTCA-style ads for CBT for MDD can be effective in reducing stigma and increasing treatment willingness. They further suggest that DTCA-style marketing of evidence-based psychotherapies can be efficacious when created for specific treatments and disorders. The findings have substantial implications for public health and the dissemination of evidence-based practice.
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Title: Applying Statistical Methods to Air Quality and Asthma Data in Chicago Homes
Creator: Abromitis, Kari
Date: 2020
Description: This thesis investigates one years’ worth of indoor and outdoor air pollution data collected from Chicago area homes in relation to results...
Show moreThis thesis investigates one years’ worth of indoor and outdoor air pollution data collected from Chicago area homes in relation to results from monthly asthma surveys taken by the residents of those homes. This examination involves the processing and calibration of this large dataset, basic statistical analysis, and analysis of asthma as related to variation of air pollution and air pollution resulting from nearby transportation sources. The data was collected as a part of the Breathe Easy project, which was funded by the HUD and involved IIT and Elevate Energy, a Chicago-based economic development organization that promotes building equality through climate action. The majority of the data processing and analysis were performed using Python and it is intended for continued use during the ongoing Breathe Easy project. The basic statistical analysis of this data led to initial investigations of how the variability of pollutants on a daily basis triggered asthma severity and symptoms. There were limited relationships observed between asthma symptoms and pollutant variability, and it was found to not be as important as overall pollutant levels. A second investigation was pursued to examine how the proximity to transportation, including Metra trains, freight trains, elevated rail trains, highways, bus lines, and busy roads, affected indoor and outdoor pollution levels at each home, as well as concurrent asthma outcomes. Similar to previous research, there was some relation for transportation closeness, particularly for highways and Metra trains, and pollution emitted that effects the health of nearby residents. In addition, homes that had greater air infiltration (via envelope airtightness measurements) had elevated levels of particulate matter – the pollutant most associated with transportation proximity. This thesis provides a basis for further investigations in this ongoing project and for similar asthma and air quality relationship studies.
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Title: Technology News, January 22, 1946
Date: 1946-01-22, 1946-01-22
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: Technology News, May 21, 1946
Date: 1946-05-21, 1946-05-21
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: Technology News, May 28, 1946
Date: 1946-05-28, 1946-05-28
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: PREPARE2THRIVE: A COMMUNITY-BASED PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH PILOT INTERVENTION
Creator: Guy, Arryn Aleia
Date: 2020
Description: African Americans living with HIV and serious mental illness (AALWH and SMI) experience multi-level barriers to treatment engagement including...
Show moreAfrican Americans living with HIV and serious mental illness (AALWH and SMI) experience multi-level barriers to treatment engagement including structural discrimination, HIV and SMI stigma, medical mistrust, and poor patient-provider relationships. Personal resources such as HIV treatment self-efficacy and active coping are identified in the extant literature as buffers to barriers to treatment engagement, and may be mechanisms by which individuals living with HIV engage effectively with treatment. Using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) the current study piloted a culture-specific, group-level psychoeducational intervention to improve treatment engagement among AALWH and SMI (N = 16). Overall, acceptability for intervention was high (M(SD) = 33.18(5.66) [range 6-42]). Inferential statistics indicate significant increases in CD4+ counts; HIV treatment self-efficacy, perseverance; psychological appointment attendance; and instrumental support seeking. Additionally, there was a statistically significant decrease in medical appointment attendance and self-distraction coping. An increase in ART engagement, and a decrease in viral load were also observed, however these results were not statistically significant. The peer-led intervention was highly accepted by participants. Participants demonstrated increases in HIV treatment self-efficacy, psychological appointment attendance, and CD4+ counts following completion of the intervention; however, had worse medical appointment attendance. The author highlights the clinical significance of the findings here. Taken together, results support mixed outcomes for the CBPR-developed and peer-led intervention.
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Title: Distributed Resource Management for Wireless Networks Over Unlicensed Spectrum
Creator: Han, Mengqi
Date: 2020
Description: In the past decades, a variety of wireless networks have been deployed, e.g., long term evolution (LTE) cellular networks, wireless local...
Show moreIn the past decades, a variety of wireless networks have been deployed, e.g., long term evolution (LTE) cellular networks, wireless local network networks (WLANs), cloud radio access network (C-RANs), wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs), wireless body area networks (WBANs) and etc.To meet the exponential growth of traffic demands and improve the network throughput, different enhancement in the MAC protocols have been proposed for the emerging networks. For example, U-LTE (Unlicensed LTE) is proposed for LTE users to aggregate the spacious unlicensed spectrum with the licensed spectrum to boost the network throughput. Meanwhile, Wi-Fi users are allowed to opportunistically bond available channels for high data rate transmissions to improve the spectrum efficiency and network throughput. But the performance of the emerging networks with the new techniques has not been well investigated. Thus, in this thesis, we comprehensively investigate the network performance in different network scenarios. In each scenario, we first develop mathematical models to identify the performance bottlenecks in the existing MAC protocols. We then propose an algorithm to intelligently tune the protocol parameters to maximize network performance. Finally, the proposed algorithm is compared with some existing algorithms. Specifically, in the first scenario, we evaluate the coexistence performance between the Wi-Fi users with channel bonding capability and the legacy users without channel bonding capability. Specifically, the channel bonding probability and the channel access delay of wireless users are first analyzed, considering the contentions among legacy and multi-channel users in the same channel and across multiple channels. Based on the analysis, the network capacity, i.e., the maximum number of traffic flows that can be supported with the bounded delay performance in a multi-channel Wi-Fi with and without channel bonding, is then derived. Based on the analytical results, we propose a heuristic bonding policythat can provide important guidelines to control the number of flows to satisfy the QoS requirement and achieve the maximum network capacity. In addition, we propose an efficient probabilistic channel aggregation scheme to maximize the network throughput under the quality of service constraints for multi-channel users with channel aggregation capability. A Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) based approach is further applied to intelligently tune the aggregating probabilities of secondary channels to maximize the network throughput.In the second scenario, we consider that U-LTE users are coexisting with the legacy users without channel bonding capability in the same unlicensed spectrum. The throughput of both Wi-Fi and U-LTE users are both derived when U-LTE users adopting two Load Based Equipment(LBE) random access protocols and Category 4 (Cat 4) algorithm agreed in 3GPP release 13.Based on the analysis, we find that the current protocols of U-LTE users are far from perfect to achieve harmony coexistence. Subject to the system fairness constraint, the aggregate throughput of U-LTE and Wi-Fi networks is maximized based on a semi branch and bound algorithm. To make the complex optimization tractable, reinforcement learning techniques are introduced to intelligently tune the contention window size for both U-LTE and Wi-Fi users. Specifically, a cooperative learning algorithm is developed assuming that the information between different systems is exchangeable. A non-cooperative version is subsequently developed to remove the previous assumption for better practicability. Extensive simulations are conducted to demonstrate the performance of the proposed learning algorithms in contrast to the analytical upper bound under various conditions. It is shown that both proposed learning algorithms can significantly improve the total throughput performance while satisfying the fairness constraints.Finally, by considering the energy constraints, we consider an IoT network where IoT devices use adaptive p-persistent ALOHA for data transmissions. In an IoT network with energy harvesting, an IoT device can contend for channel access only when it is ready, i.e., it has data for transmission and it harvests enough energy for communications. Due to stochastic energy harvesting and random access, the number of ready devices in the network may vary. As such, an analytical framework is first developed using a discrete Markov model to analyze the average number of ready devices. Next, an optimization problem is formulated to maximize the system throughput by adapting the transmission probability p of IoT devices. Given that the wireless environment is unknown at different IoT devices, e.g., the total number of contending devices, data arrival rates of other IoT devices, a multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm is introduced for each device to autonomously tune the transmission probability in a distributed manner. In addition, game theory is applied to design the reward function to ensure an equilibrium and to closely approach the optimal parameter setting. Numerical results show that the proposed learning algorithm can greatly improve the throughput performance comparing with other algorithms.
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Title: Technology News, December 11, 1945
Date: 1945-12-11, 1945-12-11
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: Technology News, March 26, 1946
Date: 1946-03-26, 1946-03-26
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: Technology News, April 01, 1946
Date: 1946-04-01, 1946-04-01
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: Using Computational Approaches to Investigate Streptococcal Species from the Food Industry
Creator: Sun, Yukun
Date: 2020
Description: Streptococcal species are a major cause of concern in the Food industry. In the swine industry, Streptococcus suis is not only a major...
Show moreStreptococcal species are a major cause of concern in the Food industry. In the swine industry, Streptococcus suis is not only a major pathogen that can cause several systemic issues in pigs, but also an emergent zoonotic agent that can infect workers and consumers alike. However, not all S. suis strains are pathogenic and strain 90-1330, an avirulent Canadian serotype 2/sequence type 28 isolate, was previously found to produce a lantibiotic bacteriocin that kills several pathogenic Streptococcus species. This finding led to the suggestion that S. suis 90-1330 could be used as a probiotic in the swine industry for prophylactic purposes.As part of my thesis (Chapter 2), I sequenced the complete genome of S. suis 90-1330 and used comparative genomic approaches to predict if this strain is indeed avirulent and suitable for probiotic purposes. Results from our comparative analyses suggested that this strain may not be as harmless as initially thought, as its genome was found to code for several virulence factors including a hemolysin that lyses blood cells. The bacteriocin it produces and the products that confer resistance to its effect were found encoded in a functional, mobile integrative and conjugative element (ICE), suggesting that use of this strain as probiotic without further engineering would facilitate the spread of resistance to this bacteriocin. Furthermore, the bacteriocin was found widely distributed across several streptococcal species, indicating that the use of this strain as a probiotic might provide fewer health benefits than originally thought.In Chapter 3, I used the approaches and tools we developed as part of our work on S. suis strains to investigate the genetic diversity pertaining to Streptococcus parasuis and Streptococcus ruminantium. These two streptococcal species were recently removed taxonomically from S. suis based on phenotype assays and on limited genotype data, and the extent of their intra- and interspecific diversity as well as their potential for virulence were unknown. The two novel species were found to be genetically distinct from S. suis in our comparative analyses, as expected from previous studies, but the genetic differences responsible for their phenotypic differences could not be ascertained in large part due to the presence of many unique proteins of unknown functions, highlighting a need for improved methods to infer functions computationally.In Chapter 4, I describe the computer pipeline that we built to facilitate and automate genetic diversity analyses between bacterial species, and which was used extensively for Chapters 2 and 3. Notably, to palliate for data missing from sequencing archives, we implemented a simple solution that generates in silico sequencing datasets from complete and/or draft genomes. I tested and validated our pipeline extensively and describe in this chapter its pros and cons and current limitations.
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Title: High Frequency Trading and Its Impact on Market Quality in U.S. Futures Market
Creator: Wang, Chao
Date: 2020
Description: This research focuses on the effects of high frequency trading (HFT) on market liquidity in US futures market. This research utilizes a unique...
Show moreThis research focuses on the effects of high frequency trading (HFT) on market liquidity in US futures market. This research utilizes a unique data set consisting of all book events for multiple underlying assets and contracts during calendar year 2018, covering all trading days information of E-mini S&P 500, Gold, Eurodollar, Crude Oil, Corn and Soybean futures with their nearby and deferred contract data each day. This study extends findings from existing HFT equity research (e.g. Brocher et al., 2016; Frino et al., 2019, etc.) that HFT promotes market liquidity, into the commodity market. It also addresses HFT’s contributions to price discovery, and find it varies by types of commodities. Furthermore, the research identifies how an HFT phenomenon, the Cancel Cluster, impacts the futures market. Also, this research verifies and extends the models in Frino et al. (2019) to multiple commodities. Finally, a series of promising future analyses are suggested.
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Title: FINANCIAL BURDEN AND COPING IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER PATIENTS
Creator: Yap, Bonnie Joyce
Date: 2020
Description: In order to contribute to knowledge about how treatment impacts the financial well-being of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer, this...
Show moreIn order to contribute to knowledge about how treatment impacts the financial well-being of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer, this study examined the relationship between patient characteristics, financial burden, and financial coping over the treatment period among patients receiving treatment for locally advanced head and neck cancer at a major midwestern medical center. A sample of 65 participants completed self-report questionnaires on out-of-pocket costs, use of financial coping strategies, healthcare utilization, and personal and medical characteristics. Participant disease-specific information was obtained from their medical charts. Age, illness intrusiveness, and distance significantly predicted use of lifestyle-altering financial coping strategies. In addition, human papillomavirus (HPV) status significantly predicted use of care-altering financial coping strategies. Results of hierarchical linear regression analyses found significant main effects of financial burden, loneliness, and social support as predictors of the use of financial coping strategies. Moderation effects of loneliness and social support were not found. Trajectories of out-of-pocket costs indicated that costs are highest at the beginning of treatment and decrease over time. The results highlight the non-disease characteristics of patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer that may make them more vulnerable to financial distress and financial burden. Future studies with larger and more representative sample sizes could further add to information about the impact of cancer treatment on patient financial wellbeing.
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Title: Technology News, April 09, 1946
Date: 1946-04-09, 1946-04-09
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: Armour Institute of Technology campus, Chicago, Illinois, ca. 1901
Date: 1901
Description: Photograph of the Armour Institute of Technology campus, including the Armour Mission, Main Building, and Machinery Hall, taken from Ogden...
Show morePhotograph of the Armour Institute of Technology campus, including the Armour Mission, Main Building, and Machinery Hall, taken from Ogden Field. Photographer unknown, possibly C.V. Smith. Date of photograph unknown. Date indicated is an estimate.
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Collection: C.V. Smith photographs, circa 1900-1929

Title: Technology News, September 23, 1946
Date: 1946-09-23, 1946-09-23
Collection: Technology News Microfilm collection, 1928-1981

Title: The effect of information overload on knowledge recall and related cognitions for an educational program based on the Mental Health First Aid Model
Creator: Bink, Andrea B.
Date: 2020
Description: Early-intervention public health education programs have been effective at teaching a skillset to help others. However, some of these programs...
Show moreEarly-intervention public health education programs have been effective at teaching a skillset to help others. However, some of these programs have also been criticized for delivering more information than is necessary to learn the skill. Receiving too much information could cause information overload and interfere with program goals. The current study investigated the differential effect on outcomes of two trainings: (i) a standard training with lecture material about depression and anxiety (illness-information), and a skillset to guide interpersonal support for someone with depression and anxiety (skill-information); and (ii) a targeted training that omitted the lecture material and only presented the skillset. Predicted outcomes were that the combination of illness-information and skill-information in the standard training would result in information overload and would interfere with skill-information recall and attitude change. The current study also investigated two variables that could influence outcomes: general information overload about mental health (MHIO) and interest in the topic of mental health. Results were that participants in the standard training endorsed significantly more information overload and performed significantly better on recall measures than participants in the targeted training. Both trainings were effective at attitude change. Finally, preexisting MHIO was associated with training information overload, care seeking, and skill-information recall. Preexisting topic interest was associated with skill-information recall. Results suggest that some background lecture material might be necessary to learn how to support someone with depression and anxiety. Also, programs that promote interpersonal support are effective at attitude change no matter how much information they provide.
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Title: Small Molecule Ligands and Antibody Drug Conjugates for Potential Application in Targeted Cancer Therapy and PET Imaging
Creator: Ren, Siyuan
Date: 2020
Description: Cancer has been a deadly disease threatening humans. Traditional treatment methods such as chemotherapy with non-specific targeting may cause...
Show moreCancer has been a deadly disease threatening humans. Traditional treatment methods such as chemotherapy with non-specific targeting may cause severe side effects to normal cells and tissues. Novel and better methods for treatment and imaging of cancer has been eagerly sought. We wanted to develop new small molecule inhibitors and antibody drug conjugates for targeted cancer therapy and imaging. Theranostic conjugates combining therapeutic entity and imaging agent are useful in treatment and diagnosis of cancer. We designed a theranostic conjugate containing iron chelating anti-tumor agent and optical imaging probe. Novel iron chelator CAB-NE3TA displayed significant anti-proliferation activity against several cancer cell lines and was conjugated to targeting antibody panitumumab (PAN). The therapeutic conjugate exhibited excellent anti-tumor efficacy and targeting ability to EGFR overexpressed on cancer cells such as skin cancer (A431). The theranostic conjugate CAB-NE3TA-PAN loaded with a near IR fluorescent dye provided promising anti-tumor efficacy and optical imaging in tumor-bearing mice. Tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) analogues were synthesized and evaluated for cytotoxicity against different cancer cell lines. Our in vitro studies showed that the THIQ analogues exhibited anti-proliferative activities against multiple cancer cell lines. Cytotoxicity study revealed that anti-tumor activity of THIQ analogues are structure-dependent. Binding affinity between THIQ analogues and a potential target Tdp1 was determined. Positron emission tomography (PET) has been used in diagnosis of cancer. In this study, small molecules and chelators with potential donor groups were evaluated systematically for complexation with 89Zr for PET imaging. New ligands with different donors were evaluated for radiolabeling efficiency and complex stability with 89Zr. The theranostic conjugate (CAB-NE3TA-PAN-IR800) and small molecule THIQs and 89Zr-chelators showed encouraging results for potential applications in for therapy and imaging of cancer.
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Title: The Differential Influence of Computerized Neuropsychological Assessment Across Psychopathology
Creator: Singh, Shifali
Date: 2020
Description: The method of administering neuropsychological assessments has transformed with the advent of novel technologies. The present study examined...
Show moreThe method of administering neuropsychological assessments has transformed with the advent of novel technologies. The present study examined how the manual versus computerized administration of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) influenced the relation between psychological symptom severity and performance on the WCST, using perseverative responses and failures to maintain set (FMS) subscales. The Dot Counting Test, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and SUPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale were used to measure performance validity, depression and anxiety, and impulsivity. Eighty-five participants were recruited from the Chicagoland area. Participants reported their age, gender, handedness, education, ethnicity, computer and smartphone familiarity, and medication use. Age ranged from 18 to 66 years (mean (SD) = 34.3 (15.8)), and 49.4% were recruited from an outpatient facility. For perseverative responses, both method of administration of the WCST were equivalent regardless of psychological symptom severity. For FMS, method of administration itself influenced performance, and particularly the impact of impulsivity symptom severity on FMS. Specifically, method of administration significantly moderated the relationship between FMS and Lack of Perseverance, Sensation Seeking, and Positive Urgency. There were also significant main effects between FMS, Lack of Perseverance, and Positive Urgency. The findings from this study suggest that the equivalence between the manual and computerized versions of the WCST depends on the WCST subscale and the type of psychological symptom. New normative data need to be developed for the computerized WCST, along with a more consistent method of scoring and interpreting WCST subscales.
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