Robotic Odor Source Localization Using Vision and Olfaction Sensing

Robotic Odor Source Localization (ROSL) technology allows autonomous agents like robots to find an odor source in unknown environments. A successful odor source location depends crucially on an effective navigation algorithm that directs the robot towards the odor source. This thesis is a combination of three projects. First, we detail development of a versatile multi-modal robotic platform for ROSL real-world ROSL experimentation and discussed real-world validation of a traditional olfactionbased ROSL algorithm. Secondly, we introduced vision in ROSL by proposing a fusion navigation algorithm that integrates deep-learning enabled vision and olfaction-based navigation. This hybrid approach tackles challenges such as turbulent airflow, which can disrupt olfaction sensing, and physical obstacles within the search area, which may hinder vision detection. Thirdly, we introduce multi-modal reasoning-based navigation algorithm. This approach utilizes zero-shot reasoning capabilities of multi-modal Large Language Model (LLM) in novel situations. To evaluate the effectiveness of the three implemented algorithms, we conducted real-world ROSL navigation experiments. Experimental results demonstrated that 1) the developed real-world robot platform can be utilized to validate ROSL algorithms, 2) the proposed incorporation of vision sensing outperforms olfaction-only methods, and 3) zero-shot LLM reasoning-based method is effective in ROSL

Terrestrial Salinization Impacts on Growth and Behavior of a Common Detritivore Armadillidium vulgare (Isopoda)

Climate change and human activities are changing the nutritional landscape by increasing the availability of some essential elements and decreasing others. Sodium (Na) is an essential element in heterotrophs, which is required for water regulation, nerve function, and muscle function. Heterotrophs can acquire Na through diet and environment, often experiencing limited availability of Na due to plants concentrating Na 10-100 times less than heterotrophs need. The Sodium Subsidy-Stress (SSS) hypothesis posits that organismal performance follows a hump-shaped curve of a physiological response, where Na acts as a subsidy, increasing organismal performance such as growth until an optimal threshold is reached, after which Na becomes stressful to organisms and performance decreases. The SSS hypothesis can apply to heterotrophs and salt taken in though diet or environment. This refers not only to herbivores consuming living plant life but also to detritivores consuming the detritus that plants produce. This means that decomposers can also experience a salt subsidy or stress. The physiological and ecological consequences of both dietary and environmental Na availability on detritivores, specifically the terrestrial isopod, Armadillidium vulgare, can indirectly affect decomposition rates. I tested the predictions that isopods (Armadillidium vulgare), which are nearly ubiquitous detritivores, follows a subsidy stress response to a gradient of Na availability. Additionally, I tested how dietary NaCl and environmental NaCl pathways impacted growth, survival, assimilation efficiency, mass-specific consumption, water body content, behavior, and tissue concentration. Isopods were exposed to a 3x3 factorial design of dietary NaCl (low, medium, and high) and environmental NaCl (low, medium, and high). In the first experiment, dietary Na availability was manipulated using an artificial diet, and a natural diet with single isopods in laboratory microcosms. In a second experiment, isopod dietary Na availability was manipulated using a natural diet of senesced oak leaves with single isopods in a laboratory microcosm. In these two experiments, environmental Na treatments were the same. Lastly, in a third experiment, environmental Na was manipulated as only low and medium NaCl on isopods raised in groups of 10 per microcosm, and dietary Na was not manipulated. In this way, we were able to explore different diets\u27 effects on salt intake and look at group effects on salt intake via environmental NaCl. A behavioral trial with four quadrant petri dishes of varying environmental NaCl (low, medium, high, and a higher option) was used to look for lasting effects of dietary Na and environmental Na treatments on isopod salt selection. A Na tissue analysis was used to look at internal Na content after treatments. Isopod growth in the artificial diet experiment was minimal but followed a subsidy-stress curve (a quadratic relationship) driven primarily by the environment. In contrast, growth was minimal or negative in the natural diet experiment and showed a positive linear relationship between growth and sodium. The artificial diet also found a slight quadratic relationship driven by environment isopod percent body water content and isopod tissue concentration. The artificial diet also showed a difference in assimilation efficiency in the first week with low environmental treatments showing higher efficiency. The natural diet showed an environmentally driven quadratic relationship in Na tissue content and an interaction between diet and the environment for mass-specific consumption. The group\u27s trials showed no effect sodium treatments had on growth, isopod body water content, and isopod tissue. In addition, in behavioral trials, isopods consistently choose to be in higher salt levels compared to lower levels. These results add to evidence that Na acts as a constraint on decomposition and that ecosystem responses follow a subsidy-stress curve

Evaluating a Common Book Program\u27s Effect on Gains in Knowledge and Position toward Sustainability in the Nutrition Professions

A Common Reader Program, also called a common book, summer reading, or a one-book program, has been reported to enhance the college educational experience yet appears to have been underutilized by colleges and universities. In the case of health sciences, there can be great benefits in having students learn from the literature not typically found in textbooks used in the curricula. Common reader programs allow for different teaching methods to be implemented and using multiple teaching methods in a single program can be beneficial. In nutrition and dietetics (ND) programs there is a need for additional education regarding sustainability in our food systems and healthcare processes, and this could be done using common reader programs. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations states that a sustainable food system can provide food security and nutrition for all, while keeping the economic, social, and environmental bases uncompromised for future generations (FAO, 2018). Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) should proactively transform food systems by facilitating population-wide shifts to have individuals partake in more healthy and sustainable diets (Barbour et al., 2022). The ND programs at Louisiana Tech University have initiated an annual focused common book program that began one academic year before this study. More research is needed to determine if this program is beneficial to the students to help aid in any future decisions regarding program participation. The purpose of this quantitative, exploratory intervention research design was to evaluate the benefits of using a common book program for ND students focusing on sustainability in food systems and health care delivery. Specifically, gains in knowledge, confidence, and positions toward sustainability in the nutrition profession. This study utilized a retrospective post-then-pre-study design and a purposive, convenience sampling strategy for participants of ND majors currently enrolled at Louisiana Tech University at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Focused recruitment was on ND majors enrolled in FNU 480 (Senior Seminar), FNU 592 (Intern in Nutrition-Dietetics), and FNU 299 (Research for Nutrition Professionals). The online questionnaire included 33 items. Participants were given the chosen common book “There is No Planet B” by Mike Berners-Lee, made available through an Entergy Micro Grant, and encouraged to attend the nine planned campus events and activities around the topic of sustainability. Approximately 65 students were eligible to participate, and there were a total of 35 respondents. The majority of respondents were female (82.90%), white, non-Hispanic (80.00%), and had an upperclassman, junior or senior, academic standing (62.86%). Seventeen respondents received academic credit for program participation. Almost half of the respondents (45.70%) considered themselves “moderately familiar” with the topic of sustainability before participating in the program. The media was the highest contributor to prior familiarity (60.00%). There were 16 respondents (45.70%) who only read the sections required for their course from the common book, four respondents (11.40%) read the entire book, and five respondents (14.30%) did not read the book. On average, all five mandatory events for academic credit had a 38.86% participation rate, while the four voluntary events had 20.00%. The correlation between the program participation (events and book), total gains, and total position scores were more neutral with no statistical significance. An average of 41.43% of the respondents reported a good to great gain in the items regarding their knowledge of sustainability after completing the program. The mean total position score of 1.19 + 0.15 indicates an agreeable position toward all statements regarding sustainability. A total of 65.71% of the respondents would encourage ND students to engage in the common book program. Of the 30 responses to the question of whether participation developed a new understanding of sustainability in food systems, 26 responses (86.7%) were positive and four responses (13.3%) were negative. Prior research on common book programs was focused on students of different declared majors than ND, or students with a freshman academic standing in post-secondary, degree-granting institutions. The ND Common Book Program at Louisiana Tech University can be assumed as one of the few programs that gear their focus towards ND majors and upperclassmen academic standing based on the lack of literature. It was found that the ND Common Book Program was beneficial and provided a gain in knowledge, confidence, and position toward sustainability in food systems for students attending Louisiana Tech University

Sleeping Through the Fright: Examining the Role of Posttraumatic Symptoms on the Relationship Between Sleep Quality, Well-Being, and Health

About one-third of our lives is spent sleeping. While sleep can be delayed to accommodate one’s lifestyle, the effects of inadequate sleep can be significant. Insufficient sleep has been linked to chronic health conditions, such as heart attacks, coronary heart disease, strokes, asthma, COPD, cancer, arthritis, depression, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Sleep disturbances, such as insomnia and nightmares, are prevalent after a traumatic event (B. Caldwell & Redeker, 2005; Spoormaker & Montgomery, 2008) and are often seen as one of the defining characteristics of posttraumatic stress disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Maker et al., 2012). Well-being is another component that may be associated with sleep and trauma. When factors such as a healthy diet and exercise are explored, sleep quality has emerged as a significant predictor of overall well-being (Wickham et al., 2020). Trauma exposure can significantly hinder one’s well-being. However, aspects of well-being, such as social support and positive interpersonal relationships, can provide a protective factor (Kaniasty, 2012; Shakespeare-Finch et al., 2014; Weinberg, 2016). The present study examined the mediating role of posttraumatic symptoms on the relationship between sleep quality, well-being, and health. This study consisted of 276 participants recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), an online crowdsourcing platform. The results of this study indicated that posttraumatic symptoms do not significantly mediate the relationship between sleep quality and well-being. However, concerning health, the results showed that posttraumatic symptoms fully mediate the relationship between sleep quality and health. Relevant implications of the findings, limitations, and future directions are discussed

The Impact of Institutional Support on African American Male College Students: A Phenomenological Analysis

This study is a powerful call to action for higher education institutions to recognize and address the unique challenges of African American male college students. Through a qualitative phenomenological approach grounded in Swail\u27s (2004) Framework for Student Success, the study sheds light on the institutional factors that impact the lives of these students. The research design utilized semi-structured interviews with seven African American male participants, and the analysis reveals codes, clusters, and themes that emerged from their narratives, providing valuable insights into the impact of institutional support on their lives. The study highlights the importance of peer support, the challenges faced by the participants, and their maturation process. The research findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding student success and serve as a foundation for further research in this critical area. In conclusion, this study serves as a wake-up call for higher education institutions to take action and address the systemic barriers that prevent African American male students from accessing and completing higher education. By fostering a development philosophy and providing enhanced institutional support, institutions can ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed and reach their full potential

The Impact of Irrational Beliefs on Dysfunctional Decision-Making in B2B Salespeople

The complexity of the contemporary business-to-business (B2B) sales landscape requires salespeople to respond faster, be more knowledgeable, and add more value to buyer interactions than ever before. As such, B2B salespeople must carefully consider the impact of their decisions since they have the potential to directly impact organizational revenue and bottom-line outcomes. The present research utilizes rational-emotive behavior theory to examine judgment and decision-making in B2B salespeople. Research questions are presented and tested with a sample of 306 B2B salespeople using structural equation modeling. The results of the analysis reveal that irrational beliefs lead to dysfunctional emotions, and in turn, dysfunctional decision-making behaviors in B2B salespeople. In doing so, the present research highlights the indispensable role cognition plays in impacting emotions, and the principal role emotions play in impacting decision-making

What\u27s Age Got to Do with It? A Re-Examination of the Factor Structure of the Revised Fraboni Scale of Ageism

Individuals in the workforce increasingly achieve higher education, live longer, and remain in the workforce longer than previous generations. At the same time, ageist stereotypes and age discrimination persist, costing companies millions of dollars, generating negative PR, and contributing to harmful physical and mental effects on individuals. There have been calls for more research on ageism and its measurement tools to continuously evaluate the psychometric quality and construct validity of ageism scales. Therefore, the primary purpose of the current research was to replicate previous work related to the construct validity and factorial composition of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism, a commonly applied instrument measuring ageist attitudes. Factor analyses on a new, representative U.S. sample supported the FSA\u27s multidimensionality. However, they revealed inconsistencies in the composition of items falling into these factors compared to the 2005 version of the instrument. Specifically, the findings of this research indicated a somewhat contrasting clustering of items than that of the original (1990) and revised (2005) versions of the instrument. In addition to these findings, younger individuals had higher ageism scores than older individuals, and men had higher ageism scores than women, reiterating findings of prior research and posited theory on ageist attitudes. Practical and theoretical implications of these conclusions are discussed, including the notion of moving toward the application of measures that capture more modern, contemporary ageism theory as opposed to older measures grounded in outdated theoretical frameworks. From a practical perspective, this research could also have implications on organizational intervention design related to factors like organizational climate, culture, or DE&I that can potentially contribute to addressing ageism

The New Bully: Online Racism, Online Sexual Harassment, and Their Association with Aggression and Stress

There has been a great deal of study related to the impacts of traditional bullying and cyberbullying on mental health and similarities found between these variables have led researchers to question whether cyberbullying is a form of traditional bullying or its own distinct variable. By further analyzing the forms of cyberbullying, online racism and online sexual harassment, the present study aims to add to this discussion. Furthermore, there has been little research on these variables since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Considering changes in work and school lifestyles during the pandemic, analyzing the associations of online racism and online sexual harassment with mental health outcomes since 2020 can be valuable for researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders alike. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cyberbullying, in the forms of online racism and online sexual harassment, and mental health outcomes, in the forms of aggression and stress, following the pandemic. Specifically, this study investigated if participants with increased experience of online racism and online sexual harassment following the pandemic reported a greater experience of aggression and stress compared to those whose experience of online racism and online sexual harassment did not increase following the pandemic; furthermore, the present study tested the whether there were significant interaction effects between online sexual harassment and racial identity, as well as interaction effects between gender identity and online sexual harassment in their relationship with aggression and stress. The present study also examined whether online racism and online sexual harassment predicted aggression and stress after the experience of traditional bullying is controlled and if online racism and online sexual harassment may interact with each other in their relationship with aggression and stress. 202 participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MURK), an online crowdsourcing platform. They completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) to measure their stress and the Buss and Perry’s Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) to measure aggression. They also completed the Online Victimization Scale (OVS) to measure their experience of online racism and online sexual harassment as well as the Bullying Scale (BS) for their experience of bullying in the traditional format. A series of Analysis of Variance (ANOVAs) were used to examine the differences in aggression and stress of those who reported increased experience of online racism and online sexual harassment when compared to those whose experience of online racism and online sexual harassment did not increase following the pandemic; in addition, these analyses examined the interaction effects between increased online racism and racial identity as well as the interaction effects between online sexual harassment and gender identity on their relationship with aggression and stress. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine if online racism and online sexual harassment predicted aggression and stress above and beyond the impact of traditional bullying and if online racism and online sexual harassment may interact with each other in their relationship with aggression and stress. Results showed that compared to those whose experience of online sexual harassment did not increase following the pandemic, participants with increased experience of online sexual harassment following the pandemic reported significantly greater stress but not aggression; however, there were no significant differences in stress and aggression between participants with increased experience of online racism following the pandemic and their counterparts whose such experience did not change. While results showed that compared to Caucasian participants, participants of a racial minority group reported significantly greater stress, there were no significant interaction effects between online racism and racial identity or online sexual harassment and gender identity in their relationship with aggression and stress. Additionally, hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed online racism and online sexual harassment predicted aggression and stress above and beyond traditional bullying; however, no interaction effect of online racism and online sexual harassment was found on their relationship with stress and aggression. Based on these results, it can be concluded that online racism and online sexual harassment are not forms of traditional bullying because they contribute to mental health outcomes above and beyond traditional bullying. This conclusion has important theoretical implications in that it suggests that researchers cannot assume that forms of cyberbullying have the same associations with mental health outcomes as traditional bullying and encourages future researchers to focus on these separate variables (online racism and online sexual harassment). It can also be concluded that those who have experienced online racism and online sexual harassment following the pandemic possess different relationships in terms of mental health outcomes than those who have experienced traditional bullying. This conclusion has important practical implications in that it suggests that stakeholders may need to approach the prevention and treatment of online racism and online sexual harassment differently than they have approached traditional bullying in the past. Future research could benefit from focusing on examining the impact of these interventions or treatments on online racism and online sexual harassment, where research is scarce

The Quatrain - Volume 7

The Quatrain is managed by students at Louisiana Tech University and advised by faculty from the College of Liberal Arts. The journal is housed in George T. Madison Hall, where undergraduates collect, assess, and edit submissions from student writers and artists. The Quatrain is a print and electronic project for people who value quality undergraduate writing and art. Full-dress researched, academic essays and scholarly explorations; photography; life-writing; sculpture; cultural criticism; work that has a reflective, autobiographical style; and creative writing in all its forms: We simply seek to display samples of the interesting, original, and quality work being produced by gifted students and emerging talents. Visit us at thequatrain.com to learn more

Case Study of How Effective School Leaders Influence the Contexts of Formative Evaluations that Strengthen Teacher Efficacy

An instrumental case study was implemented to understand how effective school leaders influence the contexts of formative evaluations that strengthen teacher efficacy. The study took place in a rural, public school district ranked as an A school by the State Department of Education in student achievement for the past three years. The principal, two master teachers, and four classroom teachers were interviewed and observed to explore how the context of formative evaluations strengthened teacher efficacy at their school. Findings from this study show that school leaders successfully facilitate teachers’ professional efficacy by personalizing the evaluation process and being goal-oriented, focusing evaluations on growth rather than accountability, consistently communicating high-quality feedback, providing opportunities for collaboration, and building relationships. The school leadership team is responsible for creating an environment where the relationship between the overall school context and the formative evaluations context works in tandem to build teacher efficacy and improve student achievement