Digital Commons Network^™

Predictive Filtering-Based Image Inpainting, Xiaoguang Li

Theses and Dissertations

Image inpainting is an important challenge in the computer vision field. The primary goal of image inpainting is to fill in the missing parts of an image. This technique has many real-life uses including fixing old photographs and restoring ancient artworks, e.g., the degraded Dunhuang frescoes. Moreover, image inpainting is also helpful in image editing. It has the capability to eliminate unwanted objects from images while maintaining a natural and realistic appearance, e.g., removing watermarks and subtitles. Disregarding the fact that image inpainting expects the restored result to be identical to the original clean one, existing deep generative inpainting methods …

Informatics-Based Discovery Of New Natural Products, Their Biosynthesis, And Their Biological Roles, Ethan Older

Theses and Dissertations

In this work, genome mining and biosynthetic knowledge are applied for the discovery of new natural products, their biosynthetic pathways, and their promising biological activities and roles through the development of two unique new informatics-based approaches.

In chapter one, an overview of microbial natural product biological functions and biosynthesis is provided. The use of bioinformatics leveraging microbial natural product biosynthetic knowledge is also introduced. This chapter highlights the importance and need for developing innovative approaches to accessing microbial natural products, a vastly untapped source of new molecules with promising biological activities.

In chapter two, a correlational network linking the gene-encoded …

Approximate Computing And In-Memory Computing: The Best Of The Two Worlds!, Mohammed Essa Fawzy Essa

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) has become ubiquitous, integrating into numerous real-life applications. However, meeting the computational demands of ML systems is challenging, as existing computing platforms are constrained by memory bandwidth, and technology scaling no longer yields substantial improvements in system performance. This work introduces novel hardware architectures to accelerate ML workloads, addressing both compute and memory challenges. In the compute domain, we explore various approximate computing techniques to assess their efficacy in accelerating ML computations. Subsequently, we propose the Approximate Tensor Processing Unit (APTPU), a hardware accelerator that utilizes approximate processing elements to replace direct quantization of inputs and weights …

Mild Hydrothermal Crystal Growth Strategies For Complex Inorganic Metal Fluorides, Navindra Keerthisinghe

Theses and Dissertations

Inorganic metal fluorides have been investigated for their interesting magnetic and optical properties, their electrochemical behavior, and their ionic conductivity. Fluoride materials can accommodate metals in very low oxidation states, which can be advantageous for designing new magnetic materials. Specifically, mixed metal fluorides incorporating transition metal cations often exhibit interesting magnetic behavior, such as frustrated magnetism. However, many challenges are encountered during the synthesis of such fluoride materials, including the inability to perform reactions under ambient conditions and the involvement of toxic gases for fluorination during solid-state reactions. Therefore, solution growth techniques such as mild hydrothermal synthesis are currently utilized …

Uncovering The Physical Activity Experiences Of Muslim Women Students At Western University, Mais Zuhair Awadallah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose: This study will illuminate the experiences of young Muslim women studying at Western University regarding physical activity by exploring the intersectionality of sociocultural factors influencing their engagement with physical activity. Methods: Eleven participants were recruited using purposeful and snowball sampling. Individual, semi-structured, episodic interviews with the participants were conducted. Data was analyzed thematically using an abductive approach. NVivo software was used in the coding process. Critical Race Feminism and Orientalism were the theoretical frameworks used to frame interview guide and interpret research findings. Findings: It was found that religious teachings, ethnic background, and social support shape …

Impact Of Energy Allocation On Fish's Age And Weight At Maturation By Mathematical Models, Siyi Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The age and weight at maturation are crucial traits in an organism’s life cycle, influencing its growth, survival, and reproduction. We propose a biphasic energy allocation model, distinguishing pre-maturity and post-maturity, to study the mechanisms of maturation and estimate the age and weight at maturation. This model is parameterized for female lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis). We compare different functions involved in the model, estimate parameters, and do sensitivity analysis. Our results indicate that (i) weight at maturation is positively related to the fraction of energy allocated to growth which, by data fitting, is almost a constant; (ii) age …

Enhancing Strawberry Disease And Quality Detection: Integrating Vision Transformers With Blender-Enhanced Synthetic Data And Swinunet Segmentation Techniques, Kimia Aghamohammadesmaeilketabforoosh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Agricultural productivity in strawberry cultivation was enhanced through the application of machine learning in this study. Traditional methods for detecting diseases and assessing ripeness in strawberries were identified as labor-intensive and error-prone, which limited farming efficiency and reduced crop yields. To address these challenges, it was hypothesized that advanced machine learning models incorporating attention mechanisms could significantly improve these tasks. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of various models by optimizing them for specific agricultural applications. Two datasets of strawberry images were augmented, and three pretrained models—Vision Transformer (ViT), MobileNetV2, and ResNet18—were fine-tuned. Data quality was improved through background …

Responding When Time Is Of The Essence: An Analysis Of Signal Timing In The Macaque Superior Colliculus During Reflexive Visually Guided Reaching, Amirhossein Asadian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The superior colliculus (SC) is a subcortical structure well known for contributing to saccades and reflexive orienting. SC neurons in primates are also active during arm movements, including those involving voluntary reaching. What is not known is whether SC neurons could contribute to reflexive visually guided reaches. A marker for such reaches is the express visuomotor response (EVR), which is generated on upper limb muscles in monkeys within 65 milliseconds. Here, we recorded the activity of SC neurons while two monkeys performed a task known to produce EVRs. When accounting for efferent delays, our results show that the SC neurons …

Harnessing Implicit Learning To Support The Discovery Of Second Language Phoneme Patterns In Adult Learners, Émilie R. Hoeppner

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statistical learning studies have focused primarily on artificial languages, despite having an overall goal of providing insight into how we learn natural languages. Here, we investigate the impact of statistical learning on processing phonemic regularities within a second language in adult learners. Participants passively listened to Italian (L2 exposure group) or English (control group) podcasts for three weeks and completed a word rating task with ERP recorded before and after this listening period. Behaviourally, the L2 exposure group showed a nonsignificant trend towards increased sensitivity to phonotactic probability over the three weeks. At the ERP level, only the L2 group …

Using Landscape Archaeology To Gain Insight Into The Human Experience During The Late Woodland And Mississippian Periods In South Carolina’S Pee Dee River Basin, Noah Safari

Theses and Dissertations

People move through and use the landscape in the ways they do for myriad reasons. The goal of this thesis was to elucidate how people viewed and settled in the Pee Dee River Basin area during the Late Woodland and Mississippian Periods in South Carolina. Framing my research with a landscape archaeology focus, by considering sites within a larger region or landscape, we can inhabit the “taskscapes” of the past and gain an understanding of the past (Ingold 1993).

To do this, I used the methodological lens of settlement ecology “to build a balance sheet of varying priorities (Stone 1996:8) …

Generalizations Of The Graham-Pollak Tree Theorem, Gabrielle Anne Tauscheck

Theses and Dissertations

Graham and Pollak showed in 1971 that the determinant of a tree’s distance matrix depends only on its number of vertices, and, in particular, it is always nonzero. This dissertation will generalize their result via two different directions: Steiner distance k-matrices and distance critical graphs. The Steiner distance of a collection of k vertices in a graph is the fewest number of edges in any connected subgraph containing those vertices; for k = 2, this reduces to the ordinary definition of graphical distance. Here, we show that the hyperdeterminant of the Steiner distance k-matrix is always zero if …

Representation Dimensions Of Algebraic Tori And Symmetric Ranks Of G-Lattices, Jason Bailey Heath

Theses and Dissertations

Algebraic tori over a field k are special examples of affine group schemes over k, such as the multiplicative group of the field or the unit circle. Any algebraic torus can be embedded into the group of invertible n x n matrices with entries in k for some n, and the smallest such n is called the representation dimension of that torus. Representation dimensions of algebraic tori can be studied via symmetric ranks of G-lattices. A G-lattice L is a group isomorphic to the additive group Zⁿ for some n, along with an action …

Erodibility Of Sand-Silt-Xanthan Gum Mixtures, Edwin Kotey

Theses and Dissertations

The high frequency of earthen embankment failure recorded during floods has led to the general rule that embankments should not be overtopped. This notwithstanding, overtopping cannot be entirely avoided particularly during extreme events, such as winter storms and hurricanes. Reducing soil erodibility is thus fundamental to prevent and control disasters caused by embankment failure. Recent studies have explored the use of environmentally friendly additives, such as biopolymers, to improve soil properties. Geotechnical tests have shown that biopolymers can effectively increase soil strength, but little is known about biopolymer-treated soil resistance to erosion by flowing water. Results of flume experiments to …

The Effect Of Chromium Coatings On Hydrogen Uptake In Zirconium Alloy Nuclear Fuel Cladding, Jorie Lyn Walters

Theses and Dissertations

The amount of hydrogen in a nuclear reactor can have a profound impact on its performance and safety when it is absorbed into or released from fuel rods. Hydrogen pickup in modern fuel cladding materials has been minimized by alloying additions and microstructural texture engineering, but these materials are still susceptible to hydrogen release during high temperature oxidation. The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in 2011 resulted in hydrogen gas production and subsequent explosions which led the United States Department of Energy to initiate a program to develop enhanced nuclear fuel cladding materials. New cladding materials include …

Selected Commissioned Works For Solo Piano By National Artists For Music In The Philippines' National Competitions For Young Artists (Namcya) In The Philippines, Almond See Ponge

Theses and Dissertations

This document examines the importance of the role of the National Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) in the Philippines and its commissioned competition pieces for solo piano by Philippine National Artists for Music. It underscores the significance of NAMCYA’s contribution to nurturing young talents and enriching Philippine piano literature that helps strengthen its national identity. An analysis of selected commissioned works by Col. Antonino Buenaventura, Lucrecia Kasilag, and Ramon Santos, shows the integration of Western and Filipino musical idioms with neo-classical, neo-romantic, and contemporary composition techniques. Performance notes are also provided to assist future pedagogues and performers of these works.

Melding Of Traditions: African American Cultural And Learned Style Topics In The Music Of Roger Dickerson, Kenneth Green Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Roger Dickerson, born in 1934, is an African American composer, educator, and pianist from New Orleans. His compositions include multiple works for band, orchestra, voice, choir, chamber ensembles, and solo instruments. Dickerson, a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominated composer, published only one work for wind band, Essay for Band in 1958. Unfortunately, this work was rarely performed in its first sixty years, and it is not known by many band directors. In recent years, there has been a movement to program music by composers from historically marginalized and underrepresented communities. Essay for Band has benefited from this movement which also seeks …

Reflections Of Chinese Opera In Contemporary Chinese Piano Repertoire: A Cutural, Analytical, And Pedagogical Guide, Mengyu Song

Theses and Dissertations

Over 5,000 years, Chinese opera has been inspired by many imperial dynasties, regions, and ethnic cultures, making it a unique reflection of Chinese culture. Chinese composers have incorporated traditional Chinese opera in piano compositions to express cultural identity and artistic significance. This music has a broad and profound cultural significance, fostering cultural interchange and understanding and presenting a diverse and inclusive musical experience for non-Chinese students and musicians.

This research study provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese traditional operas, vocal technique and instrumentation, the development of piano music in China, and corresponding piano literature in progressive difficulty for early-intermediate to …

Multilevel Factors Affecting Covid-19 Vaccination Among African American Communities In South Carolina, Ran Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Persistent health disparities has led to significant public health challenges, especially for African American (AAs) communities, and have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving high population vaccination rates are crucial to controlling the virus’ spread. However, AAs have higher rates of COVID-19 infection and mortality than Whites, yet their vaccination rates remain relatively low. The dissertation aimed to investigate the multilevel factors and mechanisms that affect AAs’ vaccination behavior. The first objective is to assess the impact of the intrapersonal level factor (i.e., perceived barriers to vaccination) on vaccination behavior. The second objective is to investigate the impact …

B-Spline Impulse Response Functions For Transient Ssi Analysis Of Pile Foundations, Kingsley C. Ozegbe

Theses and Dissertations

The advent and consequential advancements in geotechnical earthquake engineering has made soil-structural analysis (SSI) an important component in the analysis and design of earthquake resistant structures. The filtering effects of pile foundations which reduces the seismic demand on pile-supported superstructure when they are subjected to seismic waves have been investigated and confirmed by several researchers in the last 40 years. To this end, several methods of analyzing the effects of SSI have been developed over the years. From the simplified Winkler model to the more robust finite element method (FEM) and boundary element method (BEM), researchers and structural engineers alike …

End-To-End Full-Width Induction Welding Of Unidirectional Tape-Based Thermoplastic Composites, Jaspreet Singh Pandher

Theses and Dissertations

The current large scale application of thermoset composite materials in large, twin aisle, civil transport aircraft have resulted in significant performance enhancements, such as aerodynamic efficiency, weight reduction, and durability. These large aircraft are, however, produced in relatively low numbers. For the next generation smaller single aisle aircraft, large scale applications of composites are of interest in the airframe. Application of composites in single aisle aircraft will require not only proof of similar and/or significant performance improvements, but also proof of adequate manufacturing rates. One option to achieve both is large scale application of thermoplastic instead of thermoset composites.

Thermoplastic …

Human-Centred Leadership In Higher Education Student Services: Strategies For Preserving A Values-Driven Team Culture During Organizational Change, Christine A. Klaray

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

In the dynamic Canadian higher education landscape, leaders of student services units face mounting pressures to ensure teams remain agile, responsive, and efficient while meeting students' needs. By nurturing a values-driven team culture characterized by shared beliefs, values, and assumptions, leaders cultivate thriving work environments that mitigate risks associated with staff burnout and attrition, while safeguarding against the shift towards transactional operations over student-centric approaches. The student services team described in this dissertation-in-practice (DiP) is preparing for the transition to a new institution-wide student software system, and staff expressed concerns about preserving the team’s core values amid increased workload and …

Examining The Effects Of Physical Education Teacher Behaviors On Actual Motor Competence And The Associations Among Actual Motor Competence, Perceived Motor Competence, Enjoyment In Physical Education, And Physical Activity In Early Childhood, Unjong Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Physical Education (PE) can be considered a black box when the interactions between the teacher and the students are unknown. PE as the black box has been embedded in the process-product paradigm. PE teachers can be critical role models for fostering students’ actual motor competence (AMC) because students can learn from what they observe from teachers’ behaviors. Additionally, AMC, perceived motor competence (PMC), and enjoyment in PE can be potential factors to increase students’ PA in schoolbased setting. Therefore, this dissertation consists of two studies that examine PE teacher behaviors, AMC, PMC, enjoyment in PE, and PA in early childhood …

Bridging Policy-Curriculum-Accommodations: A Nursing Education Initiative, Ketsa Maceus

The Dissertation in Practice at Western University

Supporting student academic accommodations (AAs) is an increasingly prevalent challenge for post-secondary nursing instructors in Ontario, with the growing number of students in nursing programs with mental health or medical disabilities. Historically, nursing programs have denied access to potential students with disabilities; today, the rigorous nursing program structure and the lack of support for instructors remain realities, even with the Ontario Human Rights Code and administrators' policies. The nursing faculty team (NFT) at Top College (TC) (pseudonym) must uphold educational and clinical expectations while assuring student competencies and curriculum integrity. In this comprehensive dissertation-in-practice (DiP), I explore bridging gaps in …

Perceived Factors Impacting Teachers’ Pedagogical Decision-Making Pertaining To The Use Of Pbl In The Classroom: A Dissertation, Amanda Slaughter

Dissertations

There is a consistent body of research evidence citing the potential of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as a viable instructional tool to raise student engagement with challenging content (Saye & Brush, 2017; Strutchens and Martin, 2017; Wynn, 2015). According to the National Council for the Social Studies, “The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (NCSS, accessed 2023, March 1, para. 2). Scholars like Engle (1960) called for instructional strategies that raised the …

2023 Analysis Of Microplastics In Bed Sediments Of The Puget Sound In The Salish Sea, Mia Robbins

Environmental Science Undergraduate Theses

Pollution of bays and estuaries by microplastics is an increasingly pressing concern, especially in bodies of water surrounded by densely populated areas. Microplastics have been found in waters virtually everywhere. Microplastics are known to be vectors for harmful chemicals and can impact digestion and other physiological processes in organisms. Quantifying the number of microplastics in the Puget Sound can give a clearer picture of the local scope of this issue. With this work, we monitored the levels of microplastics in sediments at 50 sites in the Puget Sound and related them to 2021. Sediments were disaggregated and density separated to …

2023 Analysis Of Harmful Algae In Bed Sediments Of The Puget Sound In The Salish Sea, Peyton Scheschy

Environmental Science Undergraduate Theses

Alexandrium catenella is a toxic dinoflagellate that has two life stages, a dormant cyst form within bed sediment, and a vegetative form that swims freely in the water column. Both produce a saxitoxin that can bioaccumulate within shellfish and when ingested by mammals, could potentially lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). This project looked at the distribution of cysts of A. catenella in the Salish Sea to inform shellfish harvesters of the potential for harmful algal blooms in their region. In order to analyze for cysts, sediment was collected at 50 stations throughout the Salish Sea. These samples were processed …

How Can Dei Training Change The Culture Of An Organization To Achieve Belonging And Retain Diverse Employees?, Kaisa S. Holt

University Honors Theses

Studies show the need for innovation and higher productivity yields can be best achieved through workforce heterogeneity. Creating effective DEI training frameworks is crucial for belonging, sustainable social well-being and enacting real change. This is key to proactively shifting our current system from one that responds to the need for DEI on a surface level to something that is regenerative. The aim of this review is to evaluate characteristics and enhancements added to evidence-based DEI training between 2020 and 2024. Studies were identified using the Portland State advanced database of academic journals on the DEI training and impacts of the …

Object Classification, Detection And Tracking In Challenging Underwater Environment, Md Modasshir

Theses and Dissertations

The main contributions of this thesis is the applicability and architectural designs of deep learning algorithms in underwater imagery. In recent times, deep learning techniques for object classification and detection have achieved exceptional levels of accuracy that surpass human capabilities. However, the effectiveness of these techniques in underwater environments has not been thoroughly researched. This thesis delves into various research areas related to underwater environments, such as object classification, detection, semantic segmentation, pose regression, and semi-supervised retraining of detection models.

The first part of the thesis studies image classification and detection. Image classification is a fundamental process that involves assigning …

Plotting For Change: Utilizing Computer-Based Scaffolding Through Desmos To Influence High School Students’ Performance And Attitudes Toward Mathematics, Jennifer Underwood Farmer

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this action research was to understand the impact of computer-based instructional scaffolding in Desmos on Math 3 high school students’ performance and attitudes toward mathematics. The demand for societal mathematics literacy has increased significantly over the last decade and continues to grow. To achieve this literacy, students must reason, augment, communicate, model, and problem-solve with technology applications; development of these skills requires engagement and support through technology-rich learning opportunities.

Currently, Math 3 students are not performing at the proficient level on state exams and are displaying negative attitudes towards mathematics. Student attitudes and performance in technology enhanced …

Exploring Heat Variations In Columbia, South Carolina, Michael Graeme Hohlfeld

Theses and Dissertations

As the leading cause of weather-related fatalities in the United States, the concept of heat as a hazard has been studied for decades, especially in the urban environment. Urban heat island research is limited by the fact that most investigate land surface temperature rather than air temperature and other variables that affect human comfort including humidity. This thesis utilizes a public network of weather stations in Richland County, South Carolina to investigate differences in heat between the city of Columbia, and more rural parts of the county. The study period was June, July, and August of 2022. Results indicate that …