Digital Commons Network^™

Becoming Burlington: An Analysis Of Citizen Engagement In Waterfront Revitalization, Johanna L D Hartman

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

This research focuses on methods of citizen engagement in the Burlington waterfront revitalization from 1980-2024, finding that the values of citizens and the Progressive Coalition shaped the physical elements of revitalization, including public access, low-cost activities, and a mixed-use and equitable built environment. Additionally, the Downtown Waterfront is a centerpiece of the City’s place branding efforts, which aim to create a sense of place for residents and attract visitors and businesses to Burlington. I conducted research through the urban political ecology framework, utilizing interviews with key informants, archival research, and analysis of land use photographs throughout key planning and development …

Effective Drag Coefficient Prediction On Single-View 2d Images Of Snowflakes, Cameron Hudson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The drag coefficient of snowflakes is an crucial particle descriptor that can quantify the relationships with the mass, shape, size, and fall speed of snowflake particles. Previous studies has relied on estimating and improving empirical correlations for the drag coefficient of particles, utilizing 3D images from the Multi-Angled Snowflake Camera Database (MASCDB) to estimate snowflake properties such as mass, geometry, shape classification, and rimming degree. However, predictions of the drag coefficient with single-view 2D images of snowflakes has proven to be a challenging problem, primarily due to the lack of data and time-consuming, expensive methods used to estimate snowflake shape …

Enhancing Grid Reliability With Coordination And Control Of Distributed Energy Resources, Hani Mavalizadeh

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The growing utilization of renewable energy resources (RES) within power systems has brought about new challenges due to the inherent uncertainty associated with RES, which makes it challenging to accurately forecast available generation. Further- more, the replacement of synchronous machines with inverter-based RES results in a reduction of power system inertia, complicating the task of maintaining a balance between generation and consumption. In this dissertation, coordinating Distributed Energy Resources (DER) is presented as a viable solution to these challenges.DERs have the potential to offer different ancillary services such as fast frequency response (FFR) when efficiently coordinated. However, the practical implementation …

Robust Interventions In Network Epidemiology, Erik Weis

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Which individual should we vaccinate to minimize the spread of a disease? Designing optimal interventions of this kind can be formalized as an optimization problem on networks, in which we have to select a budgeted number of dynamically important nodes to receive treatment that optimizes a dynamical outcome. Describing this optimization problem requires specifying the network, a model of the dynamics, and an objective for the outcome of the dynamics. In real-world contexts, these inputs are vulnerable to misspecification---the network and dynamics must be inferred from data, and the decision-maker must operationalize some (potentially abstract) goal into a mathematical objective …

Role Of Relative Humidity In New Particle Formation From Ozonlysis Of Atmospheric Volatile Organic Compounds, Christopher Snyder

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The impact of relative humidity (RH) on organic new particle formation (NPF) from ozonolysis of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) remains an area of active debate. Previous reports provide contradictory results indicating both depression and enhancement of NPF under conditions of moderate RH, while others ignore the potential impact. Only several reports have suggested that the effect may depend on absolute mixing ratio of the precursor volatile organic compound (VOC, ppbv). However, before any experiments could be completed, development of new methods was necessary to overcome the limitation of sampling ultrafine nanoparticles (<50 nm aerodynamic diameter) with aerosol mass spectrometry. This dissertation includes a report on a new Particle Growth Apparatus (PaGA) that artificially grows particles from as small as 17 nm to over 110nm. Considerable effort was made to identify the most suitable growth matrix (squalane) and optimize particle growth for reproducibility and sensitivity.

The PaGA was then utilized in the …

Employing Genetic Algorithms For Energy-Efficient Data Routing In Internet Of Things Networks, Farzana Akhter

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The Internet of Things (IoT) connects a vast number of smart objects for various applications,such as home automation, industrial control, and healthcare. The rapid advancement in wireless technologies and miniature embedded devices has enabled IoT systems to be deployed in various environments. However, the performance of IoT devices is limited because of the imbalance of data traffic on different router nodes. Nodes that experience high data volume will have a higher energy depletion rate and, as a result, will reach the end of their life quicker than other routers that have less data traffic. Genetic Algorithms are a well-known technique …

Organic Fouling Mitigation In Forward Osmosis Technology Through The Use Of Oscilatting Alternating Current Electric Fields, Logan Werner

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Forward osmosis (FO) is the term given to osmosis in water filtration applications. FO has many advantages to conventional membrane filtration processes. The lack of external pressure needed to force solvent through the membrane is dramatically decreased in FO, resulting in a lower cost of operation compared to reverse osmosis. Lower external pressures also result in decreased fouling on the membrane surface and improved permeate flux. Fouling is one of the foremost challenges within the membrane filtration industry and is one of the biggest contributors to operating costs. While FO results in less fouling than RO, fouling remains a major …

Predicting Leucotaraxis Spp. Adult Emergence In The Pacific Northwest With Implications For Biological Control Of Hemlock Woolly Adelgid In The Eastern United States, Liam Farley

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae) is a non-native, invasive pest of eastern hemlock (Tsugae canadensis) and Carolina hemlock (Tsugae caroliniana), both of which are considered important foundation species in forest ecosystems. Adelges tsugae has caused widespread decline and mortality of hemlock trees in eastern North America. Native hemlocks are particularly vulnerable because of the absence of co-evolved plant defenses and lack of natural enemies of A. tsugae. Managing A. tsugae through development of a biological control program has great potential at the regional level. Two species of silver fly from the Pacific northwest (PNW) Leucotaraxis argenticollis and Leucotaraxis piniperda are …

Computing The Canonical Ring Of Certain Stacks, Jesse Franklin

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

We compute the canonical ring of some stacks. We first give a detailed account of what this problem means including several proofs of a famous historical example. The main body of work of this thesis expands on our article \cite{Franklin-geometry-Drinfeld-modular-forms} in describing the geometry of Drinfeld modular forms as sections of a specified line bundle on a certain stacky modular curve. As a consequence of that geometry, we provide a program: one can compute the (log) canonical ring of a stacky curve to determine generators and relations for an algebra of Drinfeld modular forms, answering a problem posed by Gekeler …

Control Of Pneumatically Actuated Drones, Benjamin Scott Jackson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Aerial autonomous vehicles have played a crucial role in assisting humans with safety-critical operations on Earth. Applications include natural disaster response, environment surveillance, and infrastructure inspection. As humans hope to return to the Moon, as per NASA's latest initiatives, autonomous vehicles could serve as a key component in keeping humans out of harm's way. However, many celestial objects lack an atmosphere, making propeller-powered drones inadequate. To address this problem, this thesis presents an optimal control methodology to demonstrate how systems actuated using cold gas thrusters may play the role of drones in space. In place of cold gas thrusters, this …

Community Science And Coyote Stories: Capturing And Communicating Nature's Non-Material Values For Use In Decision-Making, Joshua Wright Morse

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The reasons and ways that nature matters underlie every part of environmental decision-making. Yet, there are disparities in how different kinds of benefits from and values about nature are represented in policy and practice. This dissertation explores how decision-makers and community members value nature broadly and also in the context of a specific human-wildlife interaction in Vermont, United States.

In my first chapter, I conduct semi-structured interviews with environmental sector practitioners in Vermont to learn about their awareness of non-material values from nature. I find that practitioners talk readily about both material and non-material ecosystem services as well as multiple …

Knee Articular Cartilage Quantitative Mri Reliability And Left-To-Right And Visit-To-Visit Repeatability In Healthy Subjects Under Compressive Loading, Andrew Borah

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Purpose: Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) metrics, including T1ρ and T2*, exhibit considerable promise as image-based biomarkers to monitor the progression of osteoarthritis and post traumatic osteoarthritis. The potential for tracking disease progression utilizing these metrics may be further enhanced with the joint under loaded conditions, as an abnormal response to loading may contribute to cartilage degeneration. Reliability and repeatability studies for T1ρ and T2* measurements have yielded variable results, compared surgical to non- surgical knees, employed diverse sample regions of interest, and acquired images under traditional non-weight bearing knee conditions. The purposes of this study are to quantify side-to-side …

Investigation Of Software Defined Radio And Deep Learning For Ground Penetrating Radar, Yan Zhang

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a non-invasive geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. This technology is widely used to detect and map subsurface structures, utilities, and features without the need for physical excavation. Traditional GPR systems, which rely on fixed radio frequency electronics like Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), have significant limitations in their flexibility and adaptability. Adjusting operational parameters such as waveform, frequency, and modulation schemes is challenging, which is crucial for tailoring performance to specific tasks or conditions. The considerable size and weight of these systems restrict their applicability in harsh or confined spaces where …

Ring Learning With Errors, Sarah Days-Merrill

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Over the last twenty years, lattice-based cryptosystems have gained interest due to their levelof security against attacks from quantum computers. The main cryptosystems are based on the hardness of Ring Learning with Errors (RLWE). The Learning with Errors (LWE) problems were first introduced in 2005 by Regev [Reg09] and in 2010, [LPR10] developed the Ring Learning with Errors (RLWE) problems as candidates for safe encryption against quantum computers. Let K be a number field with ring of integers OK. For a prime q, the RLWE problems rely on samples of the form (a, b) ∈ OK/qOK × OK/qOK where a …

Modeling To Evaluate The Contribution Of The Built Environment On Heat Microenvironments And Analysis Of The Efficiency And Efficacy Of Electric Vehicle Purchase Incentives, Parker King

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation provides an integrated examination of urban heat mitigation strategies and the effectiveness of electric vehicle (EV) purchase incentives, employing innovative methodologies across its four chapters to address pressing environmental and policy challenges. It leverages a unique dataset obtained through extensive mobile sampling, state-of-the-art machine learning techniques, revealed preference data collected through robust survey design, and detailed sociodemographic analyses to offer insights into the dynamics of urban heat islands, sustainable transportation, and policy efficiency.

The first section details the quantifying of micro-environment heat differences pertaining to the influence of the built environment across 10 cities over 20 days, using …

Evaluation And Modeling Of Factors Associated With Urine Drug Testing Appointment Absences, Sherry Xu

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Why doesn’t a patient show up for their appointment? Is it too far? Are there too many appointments? Or something else? Urine drug testing clinics often observe patient scheduled visit absenteeism, and this can be used as a data source to answer our questions and explore other potential correlations between factors. With a well-developed electronic health data system, a retrospective study was performed on a large data set collected between January 2019 and December 2021 across the U.S. and more than half a million patient encounters; it contained nearly a year of quarantine, and pandemic status was also analyzed as …

An Agroecological Approach To Improving Soil Health Practices On Vermont Vegetable Farms, Rebecca Reed Maden

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Vermont’s vegetable farms are highly valued for their contributions to the state's food system, environment, and communities, yet their continued success is impeded by many challenges. Specifically, soil is a valued and vulnerable resource, but management of it requires knowledge, money, and time. This dissertation applies an agroecological approach to understanding soil health practices on vegetable farms in three distinct studies.

In the first part of this dissertation, data is collected from six on-farm research trials in 2017-2018 to better understand the nitrogen (N) dynamics following two commonly planted legume-grass cover crop mixes: field peas (Pisum sativum, var. ‘4010’) and …

Characterization Of A Pathological Tau Point Mutation, E342v, Implicated In Frontotemporal Dementia, Liam Clancy

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is classified as a Tauopathy, a group of heterogenous neurodegenerative disorders characterized by the abnormal functioning of a microtubule associated protein (MAP), Tau. Microtubules, an integral cytoskeletal component in neurons, are thought to be stabilized by Tau. In disease states such as FTD, a reduction in binding affinity of Tau for the microtubule is believed to lead to intraneural Tau deposition and aggregation, which subsequently causes microtubule instability. Consequently, neuronal health is compromised and an array of brain functions decline creating the symptomology seen in FTD. However, it is now known that Tau has a myriad of …

Co2 And Economic Development: The Role Of Regulations, Trade, Institutions, And Innovation, Melisa Uyar

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

This study seeks to uncover the shape and turning points of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) by examining the various channels that define the CO2-output relationship. The EKC is an inverted U-shaped curve that demonstrates the relationship between pollution and income. CO2 pollution generated by human activities is the leading contributor to global warming. As the global economy continues to grow with developed countries experiencing high GDP levels and many countries still at low development status, policymakers must find a way to balance economic growth and subsequent pollution. This study uses a sample of 217 countries from the World Bank …

Beyond Walls: The Artwork Of Women And Queer Artists In Interior Spaces, Sabina C. Ward

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

Using the framework of Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, and James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room, this paper examines the manifestation of interior space in the works of female and queer artists. Historically excluded from the public sphere, these artists turned to interior spaces as a source of inspiration, and by doing so, created a unique visual language, and redefined their spaces as ones of infinite possibility.

Stem Cells For Cystic Fibrosis Development Of A Culture System For Tracheal Explants To Examine Shrink-Wrapped Cell Engraftment, Zaley Deleonardis-Page

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease and although advancements have been made in treating it, current therapies are not a cure and require expensive daily treatment. Delivering CF transmembrane conductance regulator gene-corrected stem cells in to the airway to engraft into the epithelial cell layer could provide long-term benefits. The development of extracellular matrix nanoscaffolds that shrink-wrap cells allows for more effective cell delivery and engraftment. The goal of this project was to develop an ex vivo culture system for tracheal explants to examine the engraftment of shrink-wrapped bronchial epithelial cells. In vivo tracheal conditions were modeled using air-liquid …

White Victims, White Villains: True Crime Podcasts, The 'Ideal Victim,' And The Demarcation Of A 'White Criminal' Stereotype, Meghan Hessler

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the overrepresentation of white male criminals in true crime podcasts, contrasting with the disproportionate focus on Black male criminals in the mainstream media. Despite the prevalence of ‘white-on-white’ crime in true crime narratives, the stereotype of the Black man as the archetypal criminal persists in the American imagination. This paradox raises questions about the influence of true crime consumption on racial stereotypes regarding ‘criminality.’ Through demographic profiling and qualitative analysis of top true crime podcasts Morbid, Crime Junkie, Dateline, and My Favorite Murder, this study aims to elucidate this discrepancy. By examining approximately 160 podcast episodes and …

Student Perspectives Of Safety At The University Of Vermont: An Analysis Of Fear In Burlington, Vt, Cameron Provorny

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

Urban college campuses introduce complex dynamics that affect how students navigate their campuses and cities. This study employed a critical geographic perspective to discover the nature and extent of safety concerns for University of Vermont students living in Burlington. The primary research methods to gather and analyze data included surveys, traditional interviews, and walking interviews, as well as analysis of summary campus safety data provided by the project’s community partner, the Office of Student-Community Relations. The main goals of this research were to highlight student voices, provide recommendations to the university, and add new insights to this field of study.

The Influence Of Menopause On Actigraphy-Based Sleep Assessments, Sabrina Ann Joseph

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

Women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) more frequently than men and one explanation for this discrepancy is linked to the menopause transition. Additionally, disturbed sleep has also been identified as a risk factor. The goal of this study was to examine several biological and physiological factors related to menopause and assess if they were related to sleep quality. Sleep was assessed using an Actigraphy device and a self-reported measure called the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The menopause-related variables chosen to be studied in this thesis were divided into four categories: Age, Mood, Physical Symptoms, and Brain Structure/Function. After …

The Classical And Quantum Lamb Model, Nam H. Dinh

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

In 1900, Horace Lamb considered the classical dynamics of a vibrating particle embedded in an elastic medium. Lamb described how the back action of the elastic waves generated damps the vibrations of the particle. This process is of renewed interest in the quantum regime. The quantum theory of such dissipative systems finds relevance to a variety of mesoscopic and nanoscopic mechanical systems currently under intense experimental study. The Lamb model is revisited here using a Lagrangian framework. The coupling between the vibrating particle and the elastic medium arises from enforcing a holonomic constraint with a Lagrange multiplier. The classical equations …

The Role Of Canonical And Novel Taste Neurons In Amino Acid Feeding In Drosophila Melanogaster, Grace O. Davis, Jacqueline A. Guillemin, Molly Stanley

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

Mammals and insects alike depend on foodstuffs as an essential source of proteins and their constitutive amino acids (AA), several of which cannot be synthesized by the organism. AA consumption by Drosophila melanogaster plays a crucial role in a variety of behaviors that impact the animal’s survival and fitness, including feeding, mating, and egg laying. Underlying neural circuits that dictate such behaviors begin with the activation of distinct subsets of gustatory receptor neurons (GRNs) in the fly labellum, which subsequently transmit taste information to the brain for its integration. However, the mechanisms by which GRNs detect AAs to elicit behavioral …

Using Soil Cores To Assess The Role Of Ion Exchange In Soils Impacted By Acid Deposition: A Case Study From Sleepers River Research Watershed, Danville Vermont, Elliott Jaye Bloom

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

Shifts in acid deposition in the Northeastern United States have impacted forest soils in many watersheds with important trickle-down effects such as altered water quality in streams and rivers that are coupled and complex. For my research, my main question was “How do the characteristics of solution (acidity and ionic strength) impact soil geochemical reactions and the ensuing release of solutes (e.g. carbon, nitrogen, and major anions and cation species) from soils?” To address this question, I took advantage of archived samples, completed additional analyses, and integrated these new data into an existing dataset of soil leachate derived from intact …

Feminine Tragedy And The Ethics Of Abjection, Melissa Faye Chadwick

UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses

This thesis investigates how several filmmakers have depicted the downfall of female protagonists whose existence poses a threat to what we consider feminine, proper, and moral. Through the lens of Julia Kristeva’s theory of the abject and psychoanalytic film theory, I discuss how certain cinematic approaches reflect the disruption of identity and/or the social order through their female character. Kristeva’s theory of the abject has previously been taken up by film scholars, notably Barbera Creed in her analysis of feminine monsters in horror. Situating abjection in tragedy emphasizes the ethical dimension of the abject, which I interpret through both Lacanian …

Anxiety And Kinesiophobia In Patients With Cardiovascular Disease: Characterization Of The Population And Symptom Trajectories, William A. Middleton

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Background:Psychological difficulties are common surrounding cardiac events and may remain elevated for some time during patient recovery. Evidence suggests that depression, anxiety, and kinesiophobia, or the fear of body movement, may negatively impact patients’ recovery. A comprehensive grasp of these factors and their progression in cardiac patients is currently lacking, despite their significant health implications. Methods: Patients hospitalized for an acute cardiac event were eligible for the study. Participants completed a demographic and psychological questionnaire in hospital. The psychological battery included the 8 item Patient Health Questionnaire-8, the 7 item General Anxiety Disorder-7, and the 17 item Tampa Scale for …

Master's Project: Collaborating In Liminal Spaces: An Exploration Of Relational And Reflective Learning, Caroline Winston Bruno

Rubenstein School Leadership for Sustainability Project Publications

This Capstone project explores the question: how do I relearn belonging to the Earth by listening to and being in deeper relationship with all of life? I focus on the liminal spaces I encountered during my work as the garden instructor at the Franklin County Jail. I begin with a theoretical grounding in abolition and how I am shaped by the community around me as I explore concepts of “kinning” (Van Horn, 2021, p. 3). I bring forward how my own learning became more legible, while sharing my reflections on myself as a teacher, learner, and leader.

I share instances …