2024 UMKC Theses - Freely Available Online
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Item This is not a prison: surrealism in transition from the perspective of staff implementing a restorative community in a carceral facility(2024) Farrar, Summer D.; Sexton, LoriThis qualitative study explores the implementation of a restorative justice and Nordic-influenced program at a Department of Corrections-run facility. Observations of staff at the facility and how they utilize restorative tools in the context of the legal system, which is by nature adversarial, produced a snapshot of an institution in the process of transition. The work of the corrections professional is traditionally focused on maintaining order within a carceral facility. Restorative justice principles emphasize the dignity of the individual, amends made to those who are impacted, and the well-being of the community. As the staff worked to implement dignity, a key component in Nordic-influenced carceral practice, into their daily tasks and interactions, the result was “a strange and anxious feeling sometimes created by familiar objects in unfamiliar contexts” (Tate, n.d.). This is a state best explained by artists between World Wars I and II, whose response to the condition of their society was the creation of the Surrealism movement. The nature of the criminal justice system shapes even the most routine operations of the carceral facility. Implementing a program that emphasizes personal dignity and community within the adversarial legal system creates an environment that is surreal. The surrealism produced was a sign that transformation was taking place. This study provides insight into what institutional change within the criminal legal system may look and feel like. An uncomfortable mix of old and new practices is a sign that change is underway. It also explores the implementation of restorative justice principles in conflict resolution, as well as into many aspects of daily institutional life such as clothing, eating, navigating in and out of the facility, searches of bodies and cells, programs, drugs, formal complaints, and internet access.Item How marital status plays a role in diagnosing bipolar disorder in patients originally diagnosed with depression(2024) McCamy, Lisa Marion; Cheng, An-LinBipolar disorder (BD), or manic depression, is a chronic illness marked by intense mood swings, from severe depression to euphoria, affecting mood, energy, and activity. BD patients often present with depression and are thus initially diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). Misdiagnosis of MDD in BD patients leads to more depressive episodes, psychotic symptoms, and hospitalizations. The delay from MDD to BD diagnosis can average nearly nine years, with a range of one to 45 years. Approximately 70% of BD patients continue to be misdiagnosed with MDD. This study aims to determine if marital status influences this delay. Method: the study evaluated a total of 3,257 individuals greater than 18 years of age who were initially diagnosed with MDD, and then later correctly diagnosed with BD. Results: Married individuals initially diagnosed with MDD had a significantly longer delay in months to correct BD diagnosis compared to single individuals. Further analysis revealed that married females had a significant increase in the time to receive a correct BD diagnosis compared to married males. Conclusion: The present study's findings indicated that single patients misdiagnosed with MDD experience a shorter delay than married patients before receiving a correct BD diagnosis. While single patients have an advantage overall, married males experience a shorter delay than married females before receiving a correct BD diagnosis. To our knowledge, these are new findings and should be researched further to see if they could be of assistance in reducing or eliminating the delay to a correct diagnosis of BD.Item Pareto optimality based zonal allocation of distributed energy resources considering technical and economic constraints(2024) Alanazi, Waleed Mohammed; Goli, PreethamDistributed Energy Resources (DERs) play a crucial role in enhancing the resilience of distribution networks during High-Impact Low-Frequency (HILF) events. Optimal allocation of DERs is essential to minimize capital costs while improving the operational performance of the distribution network. This paper introduces a Pareto Optimality Based Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO) approach for the strategic placement of DERs across various zones of a distribution network. We formulate a multi-objective optimization problem within the fuzzy domain, aiming to minimize DER installation costs, reduce power losses and enhance the voltage profile of the network. The proposed optimization algorithm is evaluated using the IEEE 123-bus test system through a co-simulation between MATLAB and OpenDSS. The results illustrate that the proposed approach effectively balances cost and power losses while ensuring the voltage profile remains within the NERC standards.Item An open-source framework for offloading big data and AI tasks (Offload) to heterogeneous compute units(2024) Akula, Satya Sai Siva Rama Krishna; Rahman, MostafizurThe ever-increasing demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data processing have spurred the rapid development of novel hardware architectures specifically designed for computationally intensive tasks. Alongside these advancements, software solutions are emerging to exploit this specialized hardware by offloading tasks. However, proprietary software often necessitates a substantial learning curve for users, hindering widespread adoption and flexibility. This paper proposes OFFLOAD, an open-source, hardware-agnostic software-hardware framework. OFFLOAD facilitates the distribution of tasks across diverse hardware units, encompassing both cutting-edge accelerators and existing system-on-chip (SoC) architectures. Our framework seamlessly integrates with popular databases and application development tools. Through the utilization of multi-level abstractions implemented at the compiler, operating system, and driver levels, OFFLOAD translates high-level code and data into hardware-optimized binary instructions. To the best of our knowledge, OFFLOAD represents a ground-breaking approach within this domain. The feasibility of OFFLOAD is demonstrably validated by its integration with prevalent tools such as MySQL, Apache Spark, and Apache Arrow within a user-friendly Python environment. Subsequently, tasks are offloaded for execution on hardware leveraging memory mapped I/O. This is exemplified by integrating OFFLOAD with Raspberry Pi devices, showcasing the entire workflow from software-based data query to hardware execution.Item The distances between stories, sketches, and essays(2024) Reed, Ryan Steven; Pritchett, Michael, 1961-This collection represents a zoomed-out view of my work as a master’s degree candidate at UMKC. It contains six pieces of fiction (seven if you count my experimental piece, Please Consider the Cone), the beginning of two novels, and three pieces of nonfiction. I did not include the poetry I wrote beyond a single instance which tied in strongly to Take Flight, for this I hope you will be appreciative. A number of these pieces have been submitted for publication. Not Gone Yet was published by the web journal Worlds Within, and It Was Never a Joke was written for and is under consideration by the editor of The Pitch. They all represent some attempt at quantifying the distances between, as the title states: between people, between versions of ourselves, between time, and between understanding. I believe the only true understanding of anything in this existence is to thoughtfully consider it in the context of proximity. These pieces aim to do just that.