Digital Commons Network^™

Workload In Nursing: A Descriptive Study Using Cognitive Work Analysis, Jonathan Umansky

Theses

Nursing is a high workload profession, and excessive workload has been shown to have an adverse effect on patient care. This problem has been compounded by shortages of qualified nurses in hospitals, resulting in increased workload of the existing nursing staff. Prior research has focused on patient-staff ratios and skill mix to analyze the relationship of workload and degradation of care. The current research implemented a multi-dimensional model for analyzing nurses’ workload in a large general hospital. This method afforded the researcher the opportunity to examine a work domain from multiple angles. Nurses play versatile roles, and workload extends beyond …

Read Receipts Feature In Mobile Platform: An Investigation Study Based On Social Tie Between The Sender And Receiver, Lujayn Alhddad

Theses

Read receipts is a built-in feature in all mobile instant messaging applications. The number of mobile instant messaging applications users is steadily increasing as a result of increasing the number of smartphone owners. This study investigated people's desire of using the read receipts based on the nature of the relationship between the sender and receiver. The research classifies relationships as strong and weak ties. An online survey was conducted, in which the majority of the participants were Middle Eastern. The survey investigated two factors that affect people's desire of using the read receipts feature, the social tie with the sender …

Casa Pasiva. An Exploration In Adapting Vernacular Techniques To Meet Passive House Standards In The Dominican Republic., Larissa Reyna

Theses

As a developing country, the Dominican Republic does not have the financial resources or expertise in the construction field to fully implement many of the available sustainable technologies. However, sustainable approaches can be both subtle and radical for their application to this country. If our intention as designers is to really make a change, then the answer is balance, a balance between simple yet effective techniques and new technologies.

The Passive House standard, which focuses on energy efficiency by super insulating and air tightening the envelope, is one of the most rigorous energy standards in Europe and the United States. …

Pulsed Photonic Curing Of Conformal Printed Electronics, Sourav Das

Theses

As next-generation electronic products emerge, there is a need to create more electronic functionality in compact spaces. One of the techniques to achieve this is by integrating electronic circuitry on mechanical stress bearing parts of electro-mechanical products. Direct-write printing processes like inkjet printing and aerosol jet printing can be used to print conductive inks on conformal surfaces of mechanical components. Advanced curing/sintering processes such as pulsed photonic curing can be used to cure/sinter printed inks to produce conductive traces. However, the use of photonic curing on conformal surfaces introduces two sources of variability into the process, which are the distance …

Chromatic Dispersion Compensation In Electrical Domain Via Signal Pre-Distortion Using A Dual-Drive Mach-Zehnder Modulator, Saivivek Bheemanathini

Theses

In recent years, evolution of technology has contributed a major role in the field of optical communication systems. There is an ever growing demand for transmitting signals at higher data rates and compensating the transmission impairments simultaneously. Speed of the signal transmission down the optical fiber is limited by transmission impairments that are characterized as linear or nonlinear losses. In my thesis, I lay a special emphasis on linear loss especially chromatic dispersion and it's effect on an optical signal down the fiber and study the compensation techniques in an electrical domain challenging the methods employed in an optical domain. …

Information Design For Medical Innovation: Raising Student Awareness Of Medical Design Potential, Brian W. Rosenberg

Theses

Medical design has the power to improve, prolong and save lives. Medical professionals and patients throughout the world face critical problems that can be addressed with design solutions developed in an academic setting. International collaboration fostered by universities can be a source of unique technology, cultural development and natural resources that can aid in the discovery and delivery of medical solutions. Projects developed through university based initiatives exemplify how effective information design benefits medical design applications.

MEDdesign is a program initiative of the Vignelli Center for Design Studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Through this international program, design students …

The Art Traveler: Building A User Experience System To Discover Art, Yue Liu

Theses

With the increasing popularity of mobile devices and their apps, mobile technologies have changed the nature of travel significantly. With numerous travel apps available today, many tourists can become confused with which one to select and use. Another important factor is that a majority of travel applications are designed for everyone traveling everywhere, not specifically for one kind of tourist and one subject matter. The goal of this thesis is to create an effective and efficient user experience system.

The project is a travel planner for people to pursue an art tour of their own interest. It focuses on designing …

Monitoring Cloud-Prone Complex Landscapes At Multiple Spatial Scales Using Medium And High Resolution Optical Data: A Case Study In Central Africa, Bikash Basnet

Theses

Tracking land surface dynamics over cloud-prone areas with complex mountainous terrain and a landscape that is heterogeneous at a scale of approximately 10 m, is an important challenge in the remote sensing of tropical regions in developing nations, due to the small plot sizes. Persistent monitoring of natural resources in these regions at multiple spatial scales requires development of tools to identify emerging land cover transformation due to anthropogenic causes, such as agricultural expansion and climate change. Along with the cloud cover and obstructions by topographic distortions due to steep terrain, there are limitations to the accuracy of monitoring change …

Developing An Algal Biofilm Filtration System For The Remediation Of Nutrient Pollution In Freshwater Ponds, Danielle Delp

Theses

Anthropogenic nutrient pollution is one of the most serious threats facing aquatic systems in modern times. Pollution with compounds containing nitrogen and phosphorous encourages rapid development of autotrophic biomass, or blooms, that severely degrade the quality of an aquatic system both as a habitat for organisms and as a water resource for human use. In freshwater ponds, the widespread need for treatment of nutrient pollution and resulting blooms has resulted in the growth of a large industry dedicated to pond management and maintenance. These companies utilize a variety of chemical and non-chemical treatments to prevent the growth of blooms or …

Numerical Investigation Of Parameters Impacting The Wall Thickness Of Carbon Nanotubes Manufactured By Template-Based Chemical Vapor Deposition, Yashar Seyed Vahedein

Theses

Template-based chemical vapor deposition (TB-CVD) is a versatile technique for manufacturing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or CNT-based devices for various applications. In this process, carbon is deposited by thermal decomposition of a carbon-based precursor gas inside the nanoscopic cylindrical pores of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates to form CNTs. Experimental results show CNT formation in templates is controlled by TB-CVD process parameters, such as time, temperature and flow rate. Optimization of this process is done empirically, requiring tremendous time and effort. Moreover, there is a need for a more comprehensive and low cost way to characterize the flow in the furnace …

The Use Of Landsat 8 For Monitoring Of Fresh And Coastal Waters, Javier A. Concha

Theses

The most interaction between humankind and water occurs in coastal and inland waters (Case 2 waters) at a scale of tens or hundred of meters, but there is not yet an ocean color product (e.g. chlorophyll-a product) at this spatial scale. Landsat 8 could potentially address the remote sensing of these kinds of waters due to its improved features. This work presents an approach to obtain the color producing agents (CPAs) chlorophyll-a, colored dissolved organic material (CDOM) and suspended material (SM) from water bodies using Landsat 8. Adequate atmospheric correction becomes an important first step to accurately retrieving water parameters …

Multiple Collections, William Thomas Tighe

Theses

This paper describes my interest in the artist’s multiple and the thesis body of work created in the exploration of them. I was especially interested in the relationship of individual components I could combine to form a singular object and how the resulting object had the ability to change through various methods of production and presentation. Also, in contrast to the idea that multiples are exact copies of each other I was interested in exploring the idea of the multiple being seen as an individual object.

My interest in history and collecting unique objects from the past have heavily influenced …

Biodiversity And The Role Of Bioturbating Invertebrates In Nutrient Cycling In Stormwater Ponds, Kerry Lee Kuntz

Theses

Stormwater retention ponds are typically constructed to manage stormwater in commercial and residential areas, thereby reducing flooding and erosion and improving downstream water quality. Although auxiliary ecosystem services of stormwater ponds are less often recognized, these small aquatic ecosystems may also serve as habitat for aquatic flora and fauna and can be hotspots for biogeochemical cycling. This study examined the biological communities and physicochemical environment of 9 stormwater ponds in Rochester, New York, USA to assess their role in supporting biodiversity and facilitating carbon and nutrient cycling in developed landscapes. A field study revealed that pond age and vegetation cover …

Recursive Model Selection For Gnss-Combined Precise Point Positioning Algorithms, Andrew Tollefson

Theses

The accuracy of Global Positioning algorithms can be improved by incorporating observations from the satellites of multiple Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). To best utilize these observations, inter-system biases must be modeled. A unified observational model is proposed which accounts for these factors for an arbitrary number of GNSS. The Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC) may be imposed upon the unified model to balance data-fitting degree with model complexity among candidate models for a given satellite configuration scenario. A simple formulation is derived for the change to the Weighted Sum Squared Residuals (WSSR) outcome caused by modifying the least-squares design matrix …

Multiplayer Sound-Oriented Game Design: An Ios Brain And Hearing Training Game, Liwei Yu

Theses

Hearing (auditory perception) is one of the most important senses in our human bodies. There are millions of different sounds in our world; humans perceive the sounds from the outside world to get information, and respond to them.

It is beneficial to enhance hearing abilities and hand-ear coordination to boost brain fitness, engage in better communication with others, and enhance concentration abilities.

With the fast development of smart mobile devices and mobile internet, it is easy to get people connected no matter where they are. Some people usually play games during short fragments time.

Considering these factors, it is a …

Effects Of Persuasive Communication On Intention To Save Energy: Punishing And Rewarding Messages, Michell Patricia Garcia Mera

Theses

Communication can be used to persuade individuals to change their intentions. This study analyzes the use of rewarding and punishing messages for the purpose of changing intention towards energy saving. It also analyzes the use of social and individual rewards and punishments and their effects in motivating behavioral change positively towards energy saving. Results show that while reward and punishment are both effective in manipulating intention positively towards energy saving behaviors, overall there is no significant difference between the two. However, when individual reward was compared to individual punishment, individual punishment was found to be more effective than reward in …

A Generalized Model Of Cognitive Workload, Taylor Carpenter

Theses

Numerous catastrophic accidents have been the result of human operators making poor judgement calls stemming from suboptimal decision making. This suboptimal decision making, in many cases, arises when an operator is either in a high cognitive workload state, overwhelmed with information leading to a greater chance of missing an important detail, or in a low cognitive workload state, distracted and overall not paying attention to the task at hand. If the cognitive workload of an individual can be properly monitored, suboptimal operator conditions can be recognized or prevented, reducing the chance of an accident. While previous research has led to …

Consistency And Inconsistency In Celebrity Endorsements, Vanessa Veras Victoria

Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate consumer attitudes towards brands when exposed to celebrity endorsements in cases where the personality of the celebrity does not match the personality of the brand (inconsistent). Theories used in this research included: Cognitive Dissonance Theory, how consumers are expected to react when receiving information that presents inconsistency; and Schema Theory, how information is stored in the form of schemas. A measure consisting of attractiveness, credibility, purchase intention and likeability was created based on studies by Spear and Singh (2004) and Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta (2010) in order to evaluate consumer attitudes. A survey …

Effect Of Simulated Canopy Cover On Created Vernal Pools In The Northeastern Us, Elizabeth Anne Bruen

Theses

Vernal pools in the Northeastern United States are small, forested wetlands characterized by ephemeral flooding. These unique ecosystems provide critical habitat for both terrestrial and aquatic organisms, abate seasonal flooding, and are biogeochemical hotspots. Vernal pools may be created to maintain key ecosystem services associated with loss of natural wetlands. In many instances, however, created pools do not mimic the ecological functions and services of extant vernal pools due to shortcomings associated with the surrounding land use and canopy cover, hydrology, or invasion by opportunistic plants. Because of the importance of these systems to regional biodiversity, understanding the conditions required …

Efficient Implementations Of Pairing-Based Cryptography On Embedded Systems, Rajeev Verma

Theses

Many cryptographic applications use bilinear pairing such as identity based signature, instance identity-based key agreement, searchable public-key encryption, short signature scheme, certificate less encryption and blind signature. Elliptic curves over finite field are the most secure and efficient way to implement bilinear pairings for the these applications. Pairing based cryptosystems are being implemented on different platforms such as low-power and mobile devices. Recently, hardware capabilities of embedded devices have been emerging which can support efficient and faster implementations of pairings on hand-held devices. In this thesis, the main focus is optimization of Optimal Ate-pairing using special class of ordinary curves, …

Critical Action, Zachary Dietl

Theses

Critical Action is an examination of pluralism in how artworks are judged. As artworks are often equivocal, so too are our beliefs about them. I claim that because of varying levels of knowledge, experiences, tastes, or other biases, an artwork exists in as many contexts as it has viewers. In order to better identify the ways that judgements are formed, I made a series of self portraits and performed a transforming action on each of them. Each action is designed to critique a perceived quality in or adjacent to the work. The portraits are pushed into new modes of understanding …

See A Different World: Interactive Storytelling For Children To Raise Awareness Of Color Blindness, Dan Yu

Theses

Children play with interactive applications to gain knowledge in their daily life. There are different kinds of interactive applications that help educate children through visual storytelling. In reviewing the current apps available, few of them were written or designed for children with disabilities, especially children with color blindness. Through research, it was discovered that children lack an awareness of color blindness. This thesis aims to design an effective, interactive visual storytelling application to raise awareness of color blindness for elementary school aged children. The project helps children gain knowledge about color blindness through reading and playing activities within the app. …

Fat Boy Can't Fly, Tianyu Yang

Theses

“Fat Boy Can’t Fly” is a 3 minutes 52 seconds long animated graduate thesis film. It tells an inspiring story about how a boy whose particular flaw prevents him from flying his sword to the mountaintop along with the others, but turns his weakness in to a strength to finally reach the peak of the mountain.

By combining 2D and 3D techniques, this film creates a relatively unique visual effect with vivid animation. It helps audiences go into the world to understand the characters and story.

This paper outlines the whole film creation process from the very beginning of an …

Empirical Study Of Training-Set Creation For Software Architecture Traceability Methods, Waleed Abdu Zogaan

Theses

Machine-learning algorithms have the potential to support trace retrieval methods making significant reductions in costs and human-involvement required for the creation and maintenance of traceability links between system requirements, system architecture, and the source code. These algorithms can be trained how to detect the relevant architecture and can then be sent to find it on its own. However, the long-term reductions in cost and effort face a significant upfront cost in the initial training of the algorithm. This cost comes in the form of needing to create training sets of code, which train the algorithm how to identify traceability links. …

Mist, Huan Abby Liao

Theses

Mist is an abstract, animated graduate thesis film with a duration of five minutes. It is an extremely personal film, which is inspired by my childhood memories and Chinese culture. It is a reflection of my own life, which just like the fluid ink in the film, reacts with the environment naturally and leaves distinct marks on the paper of my life.

This is a live action and 2D animation mixed film that was produced with After Effects and Premiere software. The primary plan was to produce this film in 3D. However, in order to achieve a more dynamic look, …

The Blue Sweater, Dhaneesh Kooliyath Jameson

Theses

‘The Blue Sweater’ is a journey through memories of a place and way of life that no longer exists. Memories that are now fading away and some I have already lost. I travelled back in my memory and gathered all that I remembered of living in my village. While we embraced development, we lost a lot too. Bridges sprung up connecting the islands of the coast to the city, machines began plying the land, and alongside, trees and animals started disappearing. My memories are now a mixed bag of vivid imageries of an actual tropical village that used to be, …

Spectral Properties Of Squaraines And Their Aggregates, Targeted For Use In Bulk Hetero-Junction Solar Cells, Chenyu Zheng

Theses

While Organic photovoltaics (OPV) offer great promise as a low-cost renewable energy source, the relative low efficiency still challenges its commercialization potential. This challenge can be addressed with squaraine (SQ) molecules through unique material de-sign. Advantages of SQ over other materials, such as conjugate polymers, include its high extinction coefficients (>105), decent photo-stability, good synthetic reproducibility, and tunable molecular structure. The chemical properties of SQ dyes make them very suitable to form two pronounced aggregates in film: H- and J-aggregates. With small chemical modifications, the squaraines can have substantial impact on photophysical properties and aggregation pattern, and thus on …

Open Up, Mahima Tuladhar

Theses

pen up is a graduate 2D animation thesis with a run time of 6 minutes and 27 seconds. It explores the strained relationship between a boy and his father. In amidst of a fight between the two the boy run’s out of the house following a light wisp. It leads him to a cliff where a woman in a black cloak stands. She gives the boy a very magical experience and a reminder of the love he once had with his family. He goes back home where he reminds his father about the love they once had and that they …

American Sign Language Recognition System By Using Surface Emg Signal, Celal Savur

Theses

Sign Language Recognition (SLR) system is a novel method that allows hard of hearing to communicate with general society. In this study, American Sign Language (ASL) recognition system was proposed by using the surface Electromyography (sEMG). The objective of this study is to recognize the American Sign Language alphabet letters and allow users to spell words and sentences. For this purpose, sEMG data are acquired from subject right forearm for twenty-seven American Sign Language gestures of twenty-six English alphabets and one for home position. Time and frequency domain (band power) information used in the feature extraction process. As a classification …

Vaccine Access And Affordability In A Coordinated Market Under Stochastic Reservation Prices, Galo Mosquera

Theses

Ensuring vaccine affordability and accessibility are major challenges for the fulfillment of the immunization goals of the Global Vaccine Action Plan for the decade 2011 – 2020. Four of the five immunization goals in this plan are currently delayed because of limitations in vaccine affordability. The use of combination vaccines can help to make vaccines more accessible as long as their pricing becomes more affordable. Procurement mechanisms, such as tiered pricing and pooled procurement, have generally been used for reducing the cost of vaccine purchases, but they have not been used to ensure overall market affordability. This study extends the …