Publications by authors named "Ali Nejat"

Objectives: This research aims to propose a novel methodology for analyzing and optimizing wayfinding in complex environments by examining their spatial configurations.

Background: Wayfinding difficulties often lead to disorientation and hinder users' ability to locate destinations. Although architectural design can aid in simplifying user access, existing approaches lack a specific focus on wayfinding optimization despite its significant impact on users' navigational abilities.

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Detection of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in cancer images has gained significant importance as these lymphocytes can be used as a biomarker in cancer detection and treatment procedures. Our goal was to develop and apply a TILs detection tool that utilizes deep learning models, following two sequential steps. First, based on the guidelines from the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group (IIOBWG) on Breast Cancer, we labeled 63 large pathology imaging slides and annotated the TILs in the stroma area to create the dataset required for model development.

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The increasing impacts of disasters, caused by more frequent extreme events coupled with the growth of adverse anthropogenic activities, has raised the importance of fostering more resilient communities. Measuring resilience is a vital step in the process of building and strengthening a community's resilience as it helps with identifying the priorities and monitoring the progress. The objective of the current research is to catalog variables proposed in the literature as measures of households' resilience to disasters.

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Place attachment is the social, emotional, and functional bond people experience with a specific geographic area. The formation of this bond is based on several different characteristics of the place, such as property values, local relationships, and employment opportunities as well as the internal attributes of a person, such as age, gender, and income. While gaining an understanding of place attachment through these characteristics and attributes is indispensable to our understanding of disaster recovery, few studies have explored this relationship using qualitative methods.

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This study examines how multi-level factors affected individuals' relocation decisions after EF4 and EF5 (Enhanced Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale) tornadoes struck the United States in 2013. A telephone survey was conducted with 536 respondents, including oversampled older adults, one year after these two disaster events. Respondents' addresses were used to associate individual information with block group-level variables recorded by the American Community Survey.

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People may receive tornado warnings from multiple information sources, but little is known about factors that affect the number of warning information sources (WISs). This study examined predictors for the number of WISs with a telephone survey on randomly sampled residents in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, approximately 1 year after both cities were struck by violent tornadoes (EF4 and EF5) in 2011. The survey included 1006 finished interviews and the working sample included 903 respondents.

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When considering the factors important for disaster recovery, one must consider the attachment individuals have toward their living area. This article reviews and synthesizes the current literature on the determinants of place attachment in the context of postdisaster recovery. Although the majority of the reviewed articles focused on disaster recovery, there were some which had a broader scope and were included due to their importance.

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Introduction: This study examines how changes in emotional closeness and exchanges of support among family members after Hurricane Sandy affected residents' psychological outcomes both positively and negatively.

Methods: The working sample included 130 family ties reported by 85 respondents recruited from community and shelter residents on Staten Island after it was seriously damaged by the 2012 Hurricane Sandy. Regression with robust standard errors was used to examine how changes in emotional closeness and exchanges of support with adult family members affected respondents' posttraumatic psychological distress and posttraumatic growth.

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