An Analysis of the Cost Impacts Experienced by Drywall Subcontractors During Covid-19

Covid-19 has presented issues in many forms for the drywall tenant improvement (TI) industry due to regulations and restrictions instilled in the Bay Area, California. This report details appropriate implementation of force majeure clause in contracts, stay-at-home orders with regard to construction and updated OSHA requirements. It then goes into analysis on cost impacts observed by various drywall companies operating in the Bay Area and how they are created and controlled. This analysis is supported by interviews conducted with representatives from six different drywall subcontractors who are involved in the estimating and bidding process. Interviews consisted of eight open ended questions regarding cost alterations and mitigation due to Covid-19’s impact on areas concerning material procurement, jobsite productivity, initial bidding changes and future expectations. Every company has its own way of alleviating costs associated with Covid-19, however, in the TI sector, many smaller costs associated with Covid-19 are being forgiven to keep good relations. The future looks promising for the construction economy as the Covid-19 vaccine may be available in the coming months, however, upcoming tenant improvement designs may evolve as company work structures have changed due to the pandemic

Improving Disciplinary Literacy in the Science Classroom with Scaffolding

This study examines the effects of scaffolding on students’ scientific literacy skills. This study measured the scientific literacy skills of students before and after the use of four different scaffolding practices by the researcher. Participants included 41 students in grades 7-12 that are enrolled in a science course taught by the researcher. The data collected will be used to direct the researcher’s future teaching of scientific literacy practices

Removing Crutch Phrases from Audio Containing Speech

Speakers generally find crutch phrases useful to pause and compose their thoughts as they speak. Listeners can find such utterances distracting and/or confusing. Crutch phases in technology-mediated communication such as audio and/or video calls can affect the quality of interaction. This disclosure describes techniques, implemented with user permission, to process speech audio to detect and remove crutch phrases from speech audio. Phrases in the speech are compared with a standard library to detect crutch phrases in the audio stream and to remove such phrases. With permission, natural language processing and/or machine learning techniques can be used to train a model based on an individual’s crutch-word use and speaking style to improve the speed and accuracy of crutch phrase removal. Crutch phrase removal can be implemented within any application, platform, or service that involves speech content, such as audio or video conferencing applications, video streaming, transcription services, etc

Updating the Berne Convention for the Internet Age: Un-Blurring the Line Between United States and Foreign Copyrighted Works

John Naughton, notable journalist and academic, has asserted that “[common sense] should also revolt at the idea that doctrines about copyright that were shaped in a pre-Internet age should apply to a post-Internet one.” And yet, in crucial aspects of international law, this is the situation in which the world finds itself today. The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (the “Berne Convention” or the “Convention”) is one of the most important multinational agreements concerned with copyright law, but it has not been amended since September 28, 1979. Although the internet technically existed in an early and limited form at that time, its use did not become popular and widely available to the public until it was privatized in the 1990s. Because of this timing, the Berne Convention does not reflect any of the practical possibilities for the creation and dissemination of copyrighted works that the internet has made possible, let alone the explosion of creative content and the changing attitudes toward authorship, sharing, and copyright that those realized possibilities have brought about

Education as a Source of Hope: An Examination of Teacher Beliefs and the Lack of Support for Children with Chronic Health Conditions

As survival rates increase, more children with chronic health conditions are returning to K-12 classrooms after receiving medical treatments. Research has shown that many teachers believe that students with chronic health conditions should not have to worry about school while they are going through treatment (Irwin & Elam, 2011; Legislative Alliance for Students with Health Conditions, 2017). Research also suggests that many schools are violating the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 by withdrawing students from the district due to chronic absenteeism (Eaton, 2012; Wilkie, 2012). The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore and examine the ways in which teachers and schools are supporting students with chronic health conditions, as well as the experiences of teachers who have witnessed inequities impacting these students. An initial survey was sent out to elementary school teachers from a local Bay Area school district, in order to examine the relationship between the beliefs of teachers and the level of support for students with chronic health conditions. Three hospital teachers were also interviewed from a Northern California hospital. Data was analyzed through an open coding process to identify themes and patterns. The findings from this study indicate that teachers benefit from shifting their perspectives from a parent centric way of thinking to student centric, in order to understand the benefits of continuing education during medical treatment. Findings also suggest the need for awareness about the normalizing aspects of education in a hospital setting. By identifying the obstacles that are preventing students with chronic health conditions from receiving the education they have a right to, teachers can better support these students during treatment and their re-entry back into the classroom

The Impact of Academic Tracking and Mathematics Self-Concept on Mathematics Achievement.

ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of academic tracking, in high school math, on students’ mathematics self-concept (MSC) and how that correlates to students’ mathematics achievement. This study measured students’ MSC through a mathematics self-concept questionnaire and measured mathematics achievement by the students’ latest grade report. Participants included 60 students in grades 10-12 who had been or were currently enrolled in math courses in the researcher’s school district. The data collected will direct the researcher and school administration on the effects of academic tracking on students, allowing for further discussion about continuing tracking in the district

Smart dispensers to optimize restocking process

Many businesses need to efficiently restock paper towels in company bathroom facilities. This disclosure describes a smart paper towel dispenser which includes a built-in scale to detect the weight of the paper towel roll and a WiFi/GPS enabled microcontroller. The rate at which paper towels are dispensed and the device location is obtained to assess the number of towels remaining, the number of towels dispensed, and to determine when the paper towel stock is low and needs to be replaced. An alert is provided to the responsible personnel to replace the paper towels. The data can also be used to build forecasts, e.g., using a regression machine learning model such as a KNN algorithm with supervised data, to identify times of the day when paper towels need to be replaced

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationNuclear research reactors are found throughout the world and have been crucial in the advancement of scientific and engineering discoveries but the majority are approaching operational ages that require a renewed focus on safely maintaining and optimizing their use. A novel multilevel safety-factors-centered framework for the optimization and utilization of aging research reactors has been developed that can be implemented at any research reactor facility. The framework consists of an optimization tool for neutron activation analysis (NAA) and irradiation experiments, an optimization system, DACOS, for optimizing reactor operation parameters, and the overall Engineering Safety Culture ideology. The selection of NAA experimental parameters for irradiation in research reactors is essential in lowering the radiation dose to personnel while also minimizing the generation of excessive radioactive products. This comes in competition with assuring that enough activity of an examined sample is produced in order to be able to measure targeted trace nuclei. This is accomplished by coupling a NAA precalculator tool, PyNIC, with the optimization tool, DAKOTA, creating the PyNIC-DAKOTA tool system. This PyNIC-DAKOTA tool system is used to determine the optimal parameters for NAA. The PyNIC-DAKOTA tool system is benchmarked with several examples using the University of Utah TRIGA Reactor (UUTR). The PyNIC-DAKOTA tool system shows expected agreement with the actual NAA experiments. DACOS is a newly developed computational optimization system that merges well-known neutron transport code AGENT and well-known optimization tool DAKOTA. The DACOS can be applied to any reactor configuration for the purpose of optimizing its operation parameters such as but not limited to determining the optimal fuel composition and spatial distribution, amount and position of reflectors and neutron absorbing materials to achieve a specified neutron flux at a given location in the reactor or reactor power level. DACOS demonstrations of application are given for modeling of the UUTR. All of the research reactor optimizations and improvements are housed under the umbrella of a newly formed concept of Engineering Safety Culture and the workflow process that it encompasses. This new ideology is presented with illustrative examples of its implementation and resulting benefits