Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Synthesis And Styrene Copolymerization Of Octyl 2-Cyano-3-(R-Phenyl)-2-Propenoates, Martin S. Wasilewski

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Novel alkyl ring-substituted octyl phenylcyanoacrylates (OPCA), RPhCH=C(CN)CO₂CH₂(CH₂)₆CH₃, where R is H, 2-methyl, 3-methyl, 4-methyl, 4-ethyl, 4-propyl, 4-i-propyl, 4-butyl, 4-t-butyl, 4-i-butyl) were prepared and copolymerized with styrene. The ethylenes were synthesized by the piperidine catalyzed Knoevenagel condensation of ring-substituted benzaldehydes and octyl cyanoacetate, and characterized by CHN analysis, IR, ¹H and ¹³C NMR. All the ethylenes were copolymerized with styrene in solution with radical initiation (ABCN) at 70°C. The compositions of the copolymers were calculated from nitrogen analysis. Compositions of ST-OPCA copolymers ranged from 18.6 % to 27.4% of …

Data-Driven Damage Initiation Criteria For Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites, Alexander Richard Post

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Computational progressive failure analysis (PFA) is vital for the design, verification, and validation of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. However, the computational cost of PFA is usually high due to the complexity of the model. The damage initiation criterion is one of the essential components of a PFA code to determine the transition of a material’s state from pristine or microscopically damaged to macroscopically damaged. In this thesis, data-driven models are developed to determine the matrix damage initiation based on the Mohr-Coulomb model and Hashin model. For 2D plane stress states, the computational cost for determining damage initiation can …

Facilitating Heuristic Evaluation For Novice Evaluators, Anas Abulfaraj

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

Heuristic evaluation (HE) is one of the most widely used usability evaluation methods. The reason for its popularity is that it is a discount method, meaning that it does not require substantial time or resources, and it is simple, as evaluators can evaluate a system guided by a set of usability heuristics. Despite its simplicity, a major problem with HE is that there is a significant gap in the quality of results produced by expert and novice evaluators. This gap has made some scholars question the usefulness of the method as they claim that the evaluation results are a product …

Wavelet Packet Power Spectrum Of The Sdss Lyman-Alpha Forest: A Tool For Large-Scale Structure Detection, Jason Pero

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

One of the goals of astrophysics is to obtain a full understanding how the Universe is organized on large scales and how structure evolved. In this thesis we develop a method of detecting structure on Mpc scales by measuring the one-dimensional power spectrum of the transmitted ux in the Lyman- forest. The method is based on the wavelet packet transform (WPT), which has several advantages over the Fourier transform. This includes reduced noise, resulting in less data manipulation and scrubbing in the early stages of analysis. Another advantage is localization of outliers in the data, which allows the general trend …

Anthraquinone Extraction And Quantification, Modification Of The Pictet-Spengler Reaction For The Creation Of Useful Isotopes And Use In Protein Ligation, Jermell Williams

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The Pictet-Spengler reaction rates of three species known to exhibit the alpha effect will be compared to the rate of the amine functional group. This is part of a larger effort to to generate a bifunctional tool for protein ligation by attaching an alkyne or azide group to the amine. With this, the aldehyde tag method can be used to modify proteins in biological conditions cheaply, specifically, and efficiently.

Electrochemical Studies Of Organic And Organometallic Compounds In The Pursuit Of Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction, Joshua J. Ludtke

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Carbon dioxide is the main contributor to the greenhouse effect in the world today; developing renewable energy sources and addressing anthropogenic CO₂ release into the atmosphere are two key ways of addressing its increasing impact. Electrocatalytic reduction to products like methanol or carbon monoxide is one useful path to address the rapid increase of carbon dioxide, and the fac-M(bpy-R)(CO)₃X family of complexes (M = Mn or Re; bpy-R = substituted 2,2’-bipyridine; X = Cl, Br, etc.) is one class of effective CO₂ reduction catalysts. Although the capability of the rhenium complex Re(PyBimH)(CO)₃Cl (PyBimH …

Long Term Variation Of Class I Methanol Masers, Nycole Wenner

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Class I methanol masers in high mass star forming regions are generally found in outflows. There, shocks provide the collisional pumping that causes the population inversion necessary for maser action. Less is known about Class I methanol masers compared to Class II. A better understanding of Class I masers will allow them to be used as more effective probes of high mass star formation, about which much remains to be learned. In particular, the variability of these masers could potentially be used to investigate activity in high mass star forming regions. I present an investigation of the long-term variability of …

Analyzing Nanoscale Thermal Transport Using Time-Resolved X-Ray Diffraction, James Grammich

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Classical models of thermal transport breakdown at lengthscales below a few microns in many materials, including the surfaces of bulk semiconductors. This presents difficulties in the analysis and design of small electronic devices, where unexpected thermal effects can occur such as hot spots that deteriorate performance and limit speed. Time-resolved x-ray diffraction has been proposed as one method to investigate this regime of nanoscale thermal transport, especially inside semiconductor materials where other techniques can not penetrate or yield quantitative results. Towards this goal, this thesis benchmarks a new, portable, and fast open-source x-ray dynamical diffraction code (TRXD) for strained crystals …

Threshold Concepts In Web Development: The Impact Of Education And Experience On The Perceptions Of Practitioners, Michael Lee Mick

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

The Threshold Concepts (TCs) framework posits characteristics of critical concepts that enable a learner to see things in a new and unforgettable way that allows the incorporation of cognitive approaches and skills needed by professionals in the discipline. All previous research has been qualitatively oriented toward discovery of candidate TCs, without, so far, quantitative studies of the candidate TCs recognition within the professional ranks. An underrepresented group in previous research is that of Web development professionals.

This proposal describes initial quantitative research utilizing the TCs framework in the Web development area to measure the perception of candidate TCs by professionals …

Speckle Correlation Using A Deep Learning Algorithm On Newtonian Fluids, Sanskar Basnet

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

In soft-matter physics, Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) stands out as the non-invasive technique designed to measure the size and distribution of particles using speckle correlation. Traditional DLS analysis performs a one-to-one mapping of the size with diffusion which is computationally costly, in addition to lacks in generalisation to seek deeper relationships amongst speckle patterns. A recent advancement in double-pulse speckle imaging allows for the temporal-correlation problem presented by DLS to be transformed into an image classification problem. In this prototype study, I probe the feasibility and efficacy of DLS data analysis of speckle correlation using Deep Learning (DL). To reduce …

Examining Dimensions Of Patient Satisfaction With Telemedicine, Robert Garcia

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

During the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) medical institutions and practitioners have drastically increased their adoption of telemedicine. The proliferation of telemedicine systems has sparked renewed interest among IS researchers in evaluating its usage. One of the main indicators used to measure the success of telemedicine services is patient satisfaction. Yet several problems exist with current methods used to evaluate telemedicine satisfaction. Patient satisfaction with telemedicine is frequently evaluated using either single question items or handmade instruments that are seldom assessed for validity. While telemedicine satisfaction is typically evaluated through single measures, satisfaction is considered a complex and multidimensional …

Federated Learning In Gaze Recognition (Fligr), Arun Gopal Govindaswamy

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

The efficiency and generalizability of a deep learning model is based on the amount and diversity of training data. Although huge amounts of data are being collected, these data are not stored in centralized servers for further data processing. It is often infeasible to collect and share data in centralized servers due to various medical data regulations. This need for diversely distributed data and infeasible storage solutions calls for Federated Learning (FL). FL is a clever way of utilizing privately stored data in model building without the need for data sharing. The idea is to train several different models locally …

Quantitative Intersectional Data (Quinta): A #Metoo Case Study, Alicia E. Boyd

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

This research began as an investigation of the #metoo movement, with the initial impetus to illuminate the voices located on the margins, those who often go unheard or are never recognized. This work aimed to understand the intersectional aspects of how these hashtag variations of the hashtag #metoo (i.e. #metoomosque, #churchtoo, #metoodisable, #metooqueer, #metoochina, etc) reveal the inequities of the #metoo movement on Twitter. The proliferation of these hashtag variations has often been ignored by scholars, and therefore absorbed into the larger #metoo movement conversation on Twitter. Therefore, the term `hashtag derivative' was created to describe the variation on the …

Designing An Interactive Theatre Game With Dynamic Asynchronous Play, Ardian Amiti

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

This project proposes the use of asynchronous narrative mechanics and dynamic elements of gameplay to further the player’s sense of interaction with characters and the environment of the game, inspired by interactive theatre performances such as Sleep No More. The player plants seeds in a garden which is maintained by several Non-Playable Characters, influencing both the environment and the narrative. Scenes occur according to the state of the garden, but do not wait for the player to be present. Plants grow and wilt as time passes. Sometimes the player cedes control as the characters tend to or cut down plants, …