Compassionate Music Teaching with adults learning recreationally in lessons: a narrative inquiry

Using the Compassionate Music Teaching (CMT) framework as a lens, in this study I explored the ways that teachers of adults learning recreationally in music lessons may align their teaching approaches to learners’ adult-specific needs. Adult education scholars have accentuated the need for facilitators of adult learning to consider adult learners’ life experiences, circumstances, and identities (Merriam & Baumgartner, 2020). Researchers studying adults learning music have similarly identified the ways in which adults appreciate opportunities to ask questions, share in discussions, and be a part of the decision-making processes related to their music learning (Creech et al., 2020; Creech et al., 2014; Rohwer, 2012). In alignment with adult education and music education scholarship, the CMT framework offers an approach through which teachers may connect with learners as people to support their musical and personal growth (Hendricks, 2018). However, as Roulston et al. (2015) identified, an approach has not yet been proposed specifically for the teaching and learning of adult music learners. Whereas one might assume that a lack of adult-specific teaching techniques may not pose an issue in a one-on-one setting, there is evidence that even when teachers make efforts to meet adult learners’ needs in lessons, they are not always successful (Leahy & Smith, 2021). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the ways, if any, that teachers of adults engaged and empowered adults learning in recreational music lesson settings. Through the process of narrative inquiry, I engaged with participants in guided conversations to explore their processes of becoming musicians and educators and the ways they engaged compassionately with their adult students. I share the findings of the narrative inquiry through a series of re-storied vignettes. The findings of this study highlighted adult-specific needs that arose from the participants’ narratives and the ways that the teachers enacted qualities of CMT (trust, empathy, patience, inclusion, community, authentic connection) as they worked to meet those needs. I explore these needs under four categories: (a) following learner goals and objectives, (b) acting as a guide, (c) respecting learners’ full humanity, and (d) supporting musical belonging. The results of this study contribute to extant research by offering further insight into adults’ music learning needs, offering teachers of adults approaches through which may better meet learner needs, and expanding the CMT framework to include the experiences of adults learning recreationally

Assessing approaches to heat vulnerability and adaptation in Massachusetts: a mixed-methods analysis at state, community, and individual levels

Our changing climate is intensifying the public health threat of extreme heat. Heat morbidity and mortality disproportionately burden those made most vulnerable by social, environmental, and structural factors manifesting heightened exposure and sensitivity as well as reduced adaptive capacity to heat. In order to address and prevent these negative impacts, cities are developing heat adaptation plans. There are several approaches by which researchers have positioned their work as informing decision-making, including vulnerability assessments and participatory action research. However, there remains a need to assess these approaches as applied to heat vulnerability and adaptation, with a lens towards the roles of researchers, decision-makers, and residents. This dissertation uses mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) to characterize heat vulnerability and understand perceptions and priorities of participants at multiple levels of assessment (individual, community, city, state). First, we assessed the decision-making implications of, and socio-spatial context for, developing HVIs for city- and state-levels. We found that the choices made in constructing an HVI, including those regarding geographic scale and presentation, influence its results and interpretation. The strong spatial association between HVI scores constructed for the Boston area and redlining maps reinforces the challenges in interpreting sociodemographic and land use covariates absent an historical context, and broadly, the challenges of developing nuanced interpretation from publicly available covariates. Moving from the state and city levels, we then focused in on the levels of community and individual, in the context of neighboring environmental justice and urban heat island communities: Chelsea and East Boston. We evaluated the responses of decision-makers to residents’ experiences, perspectives, and priorities around heat adaptation presented via photovoice. We engaged Chelsea and East Boston decision-makers through interviews with nineteen representatives of local government, public health, and policy organizations. Questions combined with viewing the photovoice exhibit and report elicited interviewees’ nuanced responses and valuable insights. Interviewees described how their work aligns with called-for actions by photovoice participants. They also identified barriers and challenges in taking action, gained insights from the photovoice project, and offered recommendations to expand and build on the called-for actions. Finally, we characterized and contextualized individual-level experiences of heat exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity by integrating quantitative and qualitative data for a sample of ten Chelsea and East Boston residents. Across and within each of these participants’ data, we found high variability in exposures defined by time spent under thermal comfort thresholds, as well as in experiences of sensitivity and adaptive capacity. Participants described both taking on and trying to avoid a number of costs related to thermal comfort, in addition to the significant financial/economic costs, including impacts of heat on health and sleep disturbances, coping strategies around transportation, and other behaviors, including either leaving or staying at home on hot days. We demonstrated the value of mixed-methods analysis at an individual level and offer a framework that centers heat adaptation needs and accessibility in positioning interventions. This dissertation provides evidence for integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in community-engaged, participatory action research approaches that link heat vulnerability assessments to heat adaptation actions.2026-01-04T00:00:00

Inference and synthesis of temporal logic properties for autonomous systems

Recently, formal methods have gained significant traction for describing, checking, and synthesizing the behaviors of cyber-physical systems. Among these methods, temporal logics stand out as they offer concise mathematical formulas to express desired system properties. In this thesis, our focus revolves around two primary applications of temporal logics in describing the behavior of autonomous system. The first involves integrating temporal logics with machine learning techniques to deduce a temporal logic specification based on the system's execution traces. The second application concerns using temporal logics to define traffic rules and develop a control scheme that guarantees compliance with these rules for autonomous vehicles. Ultimately, our objective is to combine these approaches, infer a specification that characterizes the desired behaviors of autonomous vehicles, and ensure that these behaviors are upheld during runtime. In the first study of this thesis, our focus is on learning Signal Temporal Logic (STL) specifications from system execution traces. Our approach involves two main phases. Initially, we address an offline supervised learning problem, leveraging the availability of system traces and their corresponding labels. Subsequently, we introduce a time-incremental learning framework. This framework is designed for a dataset containing labeled signal traces with a common time horizon. It provides a method to predict the label of a signal as it is received incrementally over time. To tackle both problems, we propose two decision tree-based approaches, with the aim of enhancing the interpretability and classification performance of existing methods. The simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of our proposed approaches. In the next study, we address the challenge of guaranteeing compliance with traffic rules expressed as STL specifications within the domain of autonomous driving. Our focus is on developing control frameworks for a fully autonomous vehicle operating in a deterministic or stochastic environment. Our frameworks effectively translate the traffic rules into high-level decisions and accomplish low-level vehicle control with good real-time performance. Compared to existing literature, our approaches demonstrate significant enhancements in terms of runtime performance.2025-01-17T00:00:00

Tuning capillary evaporation in nanoporous membranes: fundamentals and applications

Capillary evaporation from nanoporous membranes is defined as an evaporation process where liquid water is drawn passively by capillary force from the membrane inlet to the evaporating meniscus. It has been considered as one of the most effective methods for phase-change heat and mass transfer as both the heat and mass transport resistance are minimized, finding promising applications in electronic cooling, solar-powered desalination, and membrane-based water treatment. This thesis aims to explore novel methods to tune capillary evaporation from nanoporous membranes and new applications that can utilize such effective phase-change heat/mass transfer. First of all, the effect of nanopore surface charge on evaporation area and evaporation flux per pore area is investigated numerically. Our results show that the evaporation flux increases as the nanopore surface charge density increases, being 81.1% higher when the surface charge density reaches -80 mC/m2. Secondly, hybrid nanochannel-nanopore devices with varied hydraulic resistance are fabricated to tune capillary evaporation by changing the meniscus area during evaporation. We find that the mass flux is actually the highest when the meniscus is flat and attribute it to the change of hydrogen bond network due to meniscus extension-induced negative pressure and/or interfacial surface charge density. Next, a parylene C membrane and a laser-reduced graphite oxide membrane are tested for capillary evaporation based surface heating membrane distillation. For the parylene C membrane, a 1D analysis is conducted to model the vapor transport and temperature distribution within the system. The optimized mass flux and HUE is 152.63% and 28% higher than the state-of-the-art device, respectively. On the other hand, the laser-reduced graphite oxide membrane serves as an attempt for large scale manufacturing. Finally, a suspended thermal island design is proposed to address the challenges that the current hybrid nanochannel-nanopore device encountered

Medicare advantage: provider networks, payment, and value

Medicare Advantage (MA), a private alternative to Traditional Medicare (TM), covers over 50 percent of Medicare beneficiaries and accounts for a similar share of spending (in 2023). The government pays private insurers a monthly amount to offer coverage to beneficiaries. The plans covering most MA enrollees – preferred provider organizations (PPOs), health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and point of service (POS) plans – are also required to maintain provider networks that restrict access to certain providers and meet government adequacy requirements. In paper one, we develop a method for measuring the restrictiveness of provider networks in MA without relying on provider directories. This approach relies on prescription drug event (PDE) data for MA enrollees to identify providers seen by enrollees. Focusing on primary care providers (PCPs) as a high-prescribing specialty, we use a prediction model trained on stand-alone prescription drug plans (PDPs) to estimate the number of providers that would have been seen absent network restrictions, allowing estimation of a measure of network restrictiveness for MA plans. Our findings suggest that MA plans reduced access to PCPs to 60.6% of what we would expect it to be absent network restrictions. HMOs tended to have the most restrictive networks, and rural areas were most affected by network restrictions. When developing provider networks, MA insurers seek to maximize profit while meeting regulatory standards. To make networks attractive to patients, insurers might have to include providers that are differentiated by quality, brand-name, or other characteristics. These so-called “star providers” are those that are difficult to exclude from networks due to market power, potentially driven by product differentiation or other behavior. In the second paper, we build on prior work identifying star providers in other markets, and using claims data, we develop a measure of demand for provider groups among TM beneficiaries. Using this measure, we identify star provider groups, of which 81.04% are in-network for at least one MA plan, compared to 26.3% for others (SMD: 1.31). While these groups had a larger share of beneficiaries than others (5.69% vs 1.14%, SMD: 0.57) (indicating market power), they tended to have a similar number of providers. These findings suggest that there exist provider groups that limit the ability of MA insurers to flexibly modify networks, which may affect how regulators view proposed mergers. Insurers participating in MA must offer benefits at least as valuable as TM, but typically expand benefits beyond what TM offers, and they are required to have an out-of-pocket limit on beneficiary costs. Payment changes might affect the value of these benefits. Reductions in payment might lead to narrower networks or less expansive benefits, for instance. In the third and final paper, we use a one-time reduction in government payments in 2015 to identify the extent to which payments change network breadth, benefits, and/or advertising effort. We find that less than 100% of the reduction is passed through to beneficiaries. 40.6% of the reductions are passed through as less generous benefits while 27.6% are passed through as higher premiums. We find a reduction in zero-premium plans but no effect on advertising effort or network restrictiveness. A major contribution of our analyses is the development of a novel method for measuring provider network restrictiveness, allowing regulators and researchers to evaluate the role of provider networks in affecting access without relying on provider director data. Our results are consistent with prior work suggesting that the MA market is generally non-competitive and that a less than competitive provider market may make it difficult for insurers to modify provide networks

Telehealth exercise and mindfulness for pain in people with knee osteoarthritis

People with knee Osteoarthritis (OA) often develop negative psychosocial beliefs like pain catastrophizing and fear avoidance that can interfere with engagement in physical activity and adherence to exercise. This can lead to further pain and disability since exercise and physical activity are the first line treatment for knee OA. Therefore, there is a need for interventions that address negative psychosocial beliefs related to exercise and low adherence along with addressing physical impairments of knee OA. This dissertation examined the safety, feasibility, and acceptability of a novel telehealth mindful exercise intervention for people with knee OA. The mindful exercise intervention trains individuals to incorporate concepts of mindfulness into strengthening exercises recommended for knee OA. The intervention was delivered via telehealth to facilitate access. Study 1 used a decentralized randomized controlled trial (RCT) of mindful exercise (n=21) vs. exercise alone (n=19) in people with knee OA. Mindful exercise was safe with 0 adverse events (vs. 4 in exercise group) and lower use of oral analgesics. The design was feasible for recruitment and retention, but adherence was suboptimal (53% in mindful exercise group) and the cohort was not racially diverse. Participants in the mindful exercise group reported larger clinically meaningful improvements in pain intensity, interference, catastrophizing, quality of life, and global assessment of knee OA compared to the exercise group. Study 2 was to qualitatively determine the acceptability of the mindful exercise intervention. Participants in the mindful exercise group of the RCT (n = 13 of 21) participated in individual interviews that were informed by the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability. Participants valued the content (exercise and mindfulness) and format (telehealth, group) of the intervention. Areas for further refinement included exercise selection and equipment, additional support and education on mindfulness, and greater flexibility with timing and nature of intervention sessions. Study 3 investigated the association between telehealth satisfaction and ehealth literacy in both groups. Participants in this cohort had high ehealth literacy (mean = 31.3 on a 8–40 scale) at baseline and high satisfaction with telehealth (mean = 5.6 on a 1–7 scale) at the end of the intervention. There was no association between ehealth literacy and telehealth satisfaction (R2=0.01, p=0.61). In conclusion, telehealth mindful exercise could be a safe and feasible intervention for people with knee OA. However, further refinement to improve adherence and acceptability are needed prior to efficacy studies

Examining meaningfulness, caring, and culturally responsive teaching: a multiple case study of three instrumental performing ensembles

This multiple case study explores the influence of caring and culturally responsive teaching on the meaningful experiences of students within three secondary instrumental music programs. Employing Silverman's Tripartite View of Meaningfulness as a conceptual framework, in-depth interviews were conducted with three orchestra members and five jazz ensemble members, alongside interviews with three teachers from distinct schools and programs. Rehearsals, conducted both in-person and on Zoom during the coronavirus pandemic, were observed to analyze students' experiences within each group and identify overarching themes. The findings highlight a strong correlation between teachers' expressions of care and meaningful experiences reported by students. Additionally, a profound emotional and cultural connection to selected repertoire emerged as a key facilitator of meaningful experiences. Students found meaning from their ensemble participation through various avenues, emphasizing the importance of teacher-student relationships, high expectations set by teachers, and the empowering effect of students' autonomy in their education, fostered by teachers who exhibit care and foster learning communities. Additionally, some students found meaning in the inclusion of ethnic and cultural diversity content in the curricula, allowing for identification and representation. This study contributes insights into how caring and culturally responsive teaching enhances the meaningfulness of students' experiences, particularly in instrumental music ensemble settings. Teachers who actively practice caring about, for, and with their students, while facilitating a connection to the ensemble's repertoire, play a pivotal role in fostering meaningful experiences. These findings add to the existing body of research supporting the significance of music education for all students and provide a nuanced understanding of student perspectives on what constitutes meaningful participation in instrumental music ensembles

Evaluation of a nursing training in ‘problem solving for better health’ program in Lesotho

BACKGROUND: Problem Solving for Better Health (PSBH) aims to strengthen healthcare systems through a ‘bottom up’ approach, optimizing use of existing resources to solve problems in low-resource contexts. Between November 2021 and June 2022, the Government of Lesotho sought to train about 900 nurses in PSBH (PSBHN), collaborating with the Lesotho-Boston Health Alliance. This dissertation evaluated PSBHN implementation. METHODS: A mixed-methods single group pre-test, post-test design guided by the RE-AIM framework was employed. Change in problem-solving efficacy among nurses was assessed with Problem-Solving Inventory at baseline and 3–6 months post-training. We assigned quality scores for nurses’ planned quality improvement projects at training and assessed extent of project implementation 3–6-months later. We conducted in-depth interviews with the PSBHN implementers and nurses to understand experiences with PSBHN. Costs of implementation from a limited societal perspective and scenarios for future scale-up were estimated. We used Stata17, NVivo12 and Excel16 for data analyses. RESULTS: A total of 89 of the planned 900 nurses were trained (10%). Approximately 66% of nurses achieved a medium quality score for the project designed at training; 31% scored high. At follow up, no significant change in problem solving efficacy was observed (p=0.658), but nearly 50% of nurses had initiated their projects, with a 35% increase in project initiation odds for every one-unit increase in project quality score (p<0.014). Qualitatively, coworker and manager support, along with personal drive enabled nurses. Both trainees and the implementation team reported challenges related to funding and resources, competing interests, and lack of stakeholder support. The total financial and economic implementation costs were US$36,413 and US$41,784, respectively. A four-year scale-up was estimated at US$665,142 in 2023 present value, representing 0.4$222,428 and an ambitious case scenario, US$987,897, both in 2023 present value. CONCLUSION: Implementing costs are a modest proportion of the health budget, but challenges should be addressed to improve reach, adoption, and implementation effectiveness. Efforts to improve the quality of trainees’ planned projects and address barriers faced in the workplace could strengthen PSBHN implementation in Lesotho

Utilizing mindfulness-based practices in a pediatric emergency department

Mental health conditions affect one in five children with only half of these children receiving proper treatment (CDC, 2022). This is partly due to the continued shortage of trained pediatric psychiatric providers in the community (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2019). In addition to the shortage of providers, there remains a shortage of pediatric psychiatric beds (Kraft et al., 2021). These combined factors have led to the pediatric boarding crisis in America (Leyenaar et al., 2021; McEnany et al., 2020; Nash et al., 2021). When adolescents are admitted to the emergency department due to a mental health crisis, their ability to rest and sleep is often disrupted. The “Utilizing Mindfulness-Based Practices in a Pediatric Emergency Department” program offers occupational therapy practitioners a framework to help these adolescents regain a sense of normalcy in their daily routines and purposeful activities. Through the incorporation of mindfulness-based practices and comprehensive education, adolescents can work on re-establishing a healthy balance in their rest and sleep patterns

Facilitating decision-making in large distributed systems with selfish and adversarial actors

Modern computing systems are large and distributed, thus involving various actors with different and sometimes conflicting interests. Actors in such systems are often non-cooperative: they may be selfish, i.e., they seek to maximize their own payoffs, or they may be adversarial, i.e., they not only seek to maximize their own payoffs but also minimize payoffs of others. Modeling selfish and adversarial behavior in modern computing systems provides valuable insights to system designers and the actors themselves. In this dissertation, we propose to facilitate decision-making in such systems. Specifically, our proposed work consists of two thrusts: (I) shared/buy-in computing games; (II) mining threat databases for security analysis. In Thrust I, we investigate shared/buy-in computing systems from a game-theoretic perspective. Such systems allow users to use free shared resources, and optionally purchase additional buy-in resources with priority access. Idle buy-in resources are available to all users for enhancing resource utilization. We propose a game-theoretic model to capture interactions between shared and buy-in users and the system provider. We analyze important properties of the game, including the Nash equilibria and best response dynamics. We identify and quantify the inefficiency of the Nash equilibria in terms of the social cost. We further propose and analyze subsidy policies that reduce this cost. We validate and expand our results with both simulations and real traces collected from the Boston University Shared Computing Cluster. In Thrust II, we propose novel methods to mine and enhance threat databases that help defend a system against attackers. Threat databases provide critical information on known vulnerabilities and weaknesses that affect existing products or software packages, for example, Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE), Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE), and Common Platform Enumeration (CPE). Our methods are based on threat knowledge graphs that aggregate information from CVE, CWE, and CPE in the form of a graph. Using the threat knowledge graph, our methods predict associations between threat databases, specifically between products, vulnerabilities, and weaknesses. We evaluate the prediction performance using standard metrics, and demonstrate the ability of the threat knowledge graph to uncover many associations that are currently unknown but will be revealed in the future. The predicted associations provide system's defenders with more complete threat information, and assist them in the vulnerability management process. We have made the artifacts of our work publicly available, for the sake of reproducibility and advancement of the field