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A Longitudinal Study Of Achilles Tendon Adaptation In Ncaa Division I Female Gymnasts: Associations With Menstrual Status, Birth Control Use, Pain, Limb Dominance, And Training Exposure, Mattie Jane Hyde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This longitudinal study evaluated Achilles tendon (AT) thickness in 22 NCAA Division I (DI) female gymnasts across three consecutive seasons in relation to menstruation, birth control use, pain, limb dominance, training week, and year of collegiate competition. Weekly ultrasound and athlete survey data were analyzed using mixed-effects models for absolute AT thickness and change in thickness from baseline measurements. Associations were primarily characterized by interactions rather than uniform effects of individual predictors. A Pain × Limb Dominance × Week × Year interaction was associated with both thickness outcomes across season-specific and combined analyses, with relationship directions varying by limb, season …

An Investigation Of Pelvic Kinematics And Implications For Total Hip Arthroplasty, Kathryn Holland Colone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is one of the most commonly performed orthopaedic procedures, with approximately 500,000 surgeries performed annually in the United States alone. Although THA is widely regarded as highly successful, postoperative complications persist, highlighting the multifactorial nature of THA outcomes. Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of implant positioning and soft tissue mechanics, yet challenges remain in optimizing surgical decisions on a patient-specific basis. Recent advances in surgical planning tools have shifted the focus of preoperative planning toward optimizing patient-specific outcomes, highlighting the need to better understand how patient anatomy, surgical technique, and joint mechanics interact to influence …

Percolation-Induced Thermo-Rheological Transitions In Biobased Graphene Nanoplatelet Nanofluids, Abiodun A. Saka, Tobechukwu K. Abor, Anthony C. Okafor, Monday U. Okoronkwo

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Biobased lubricants with thermally responsive rheology are increasingly needed for high-efficiency mechanical systems. Graphene nanoplatelet (GnP) nanofluids in vegetable oils are promising candidates, yet their percolation-driven thermo-rheological transitions remain insufficiently understood. In particular, the coupled concentration–temperature landscape controlling network-mediated flow transitions has not previously been established. Here, surfactant-free GnP nanofluids were prepared in high-oleic soybean oil (HOSO) at concentrations of 0.025–2.15% v/v (ϕ), and their rheological response was mapped between 25°C and 80 °C under steady-shear and oscillatory conditions. Below the percolation threshold (ɸ ≤ 0.1% v/v), the nanofluids exhibit near-Newtonian behavior, moderate reversible viscosity enhancement, and classical Arrhenius-type temperature …

Developing Field And Spaceflight Microscopy, Nikki Johnston

Dissertations and Theses

Designing for spaceflight favors the reduction of unnecessary features and cost-cutting, whether thisbe computation, hardware, or procedure. Resources are spent toward fortification and mission success over convenience. Such design goals paired with the relatively smaller budgets of academia lead us to do as much as we can in-house and use open-source as much as we can without compromising mission success. We also believe that thoroughly testing technology in extreme environments on earth is necessary for the success of a flight instrument. We focus on microscopy for life detection. I have spent my time here learning methods of hand-building microscopes to …

Structured And Interpretable Representations For Ensemble And Dynamical Systems, Yuan-Hung Kuan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Precise and robust manipulation of large populations of structurally identical dynamical systems with heterogeneous dynamics, known as ensemble systems, is a central challenge in many emerging applications. These systems are often difficult to analyze and control because of the inherent nonlinearities, high dimensionality, heterogeneity, and incomplete knowledge of the underlying dynamics. To address these challenges, this thesis develops structured and interpretable representations for the analysis, control, and learning of nonlinear ensemble systems. Its central objective is to transform complex heterogeneous dynamics into representations that preserve essential structural and dynamical properties while enabling tractable computation and effective control design. First, the …

The Self-Aware Room: A Framework For Operational Self-Awareness In Evolvable Blended Environments, David B. Smith

Publications and Research

The Self-Aware Room (SAR) is a room-scale research environment developed within the larger Balanced Blended Space and Blended Reality Performance System research trajectory. Rather than treating the room as a conventional “smart” environment composed of fixed automation technologies, SAR approaches it as an evolvable blended environment made from physical, virtual, conceptual, sensory, computational, and performative relationships. Its defining feature is not any particular sensor, model, or output device, but the set of transformations through which physical activity becomes structured observation, bounded representation, interpreted state, governed decision, and mediated response.

This paper develops the conceptual and methodological foundations of SAR as …

Advancing The Oresat Adcs: Design & Implementation Of An Open-Source Reaction Wheel System, Chris Kane-Pardy

Dissertations and Theses

Reaction wheels provide the primary means of precision attitude control for many CubeSat attitude determination and control systems by exchanging angular momentum with the spacecraft body. As the Portland State Aerospace Society's OreSat spacecraft transitioned from a 2U to a 3U configuration, the increased spacecraft inertia reduced the attitude control authority available from the legacy reaction wheel system. This thesis addresses that challenge through the redesign of the reaction wheel system and the development of a deterministic embedded controller and experimental framework for evaluating brushless motor commutation strategies under identical operating conditions.

The redesigned system combines an analytically sized flywheel, …

Research Status And Prospects Of Monitoring Technology For Large-Span Cable-Stayed Bridges Based On Machine Learning, Liu Guoliang, Liu Guokun, Yan Donghuang, Wang Wenxi, Wang Qishun

Journal of China & Foreign Highway

Machine learning and intelligent optimization algorithms have been increasingly applied to construction and health monitoring of long-span cable-stayed bridges. Based on the construction history of cable-stayed bridges both domestically and internationally, an overview of the origin and development process of cable-stayed bridges was provided. Firstly, from the perspective of the entire life cycle of bridges, bridge monitoring was divided into construction period monitoring and operation period monitoring. The applications of mainstream construction monitoring methods in large cable-stayed bridge projects were elaborated, and the specific composition of bridge health monitoring systems was clarified. Secondly, the basic principles of several machine learning …

Mineral Composition-Driven Competitive Adsorption Behavior Of Superplasticizer In Recycled Concrete Powder-Cement Pastes: Quantification And Validation, Junpeng Du, Tongsheng Zhang, Hongyan Ma, Peiliang Shen, Yiqun Guo, Siqing Zeng, Jiangxiong Wei, Qijun Yu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recycled concrete powder (RCP) exhibits pronounced variability in mineral component contents, which leads to competitive adsorption of superplasticizers in RCP-Portland cement (PC) pastes and consequently to mineral composition-dependent deviations in rheological properties. In this study, limestone powder (LSP), quartz powder (QZP), and hardened paste powder (HPP) were used to simulate the main components of RCP. Effects of RCPs with target components on the rheological properties of blended cement paste were investigated, and a competitive-adsorption coefficient (CC) was proposed to quantify the competitive adsorption of superplasticizer. Results showed that increasing LSP-enriched RCP content reduced the yield stress of cement paste, primarily …

Plasma-Generated Ozone For Odor Removal, Jordan Marot

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Ozone (O₃) is gaining popularity for its use in industrial and environmental applications, including water treatment, air purification, disinfection, and odor remediation. As a powerful oxidizing agent, ozone is highly effective in destroying harmful bacteria and degrading hazardous gas pollutants such as hydrogen sulfide (H₂S). Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactors are widely used for commercial ozone production under atmospheric-pressure conditions. However, ozone yield and selectivity are strongly influenced by operating parameters, particularly gas flow rate, which affects residence time, energy transfer, and competing byproduct chemistry.

This study explores the influence of the air flow rate on …

A Message From The Managing Editor, Carissa Bayack

Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal

A message from the 2025-2026 Managing Editor of the Binghamton University Undergraduate Journal, Carissa Bayack.

Deciphering The Rules Of Odor-Driven Learning In The Fruit Fly Olfactory System, Cole B. Hanan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Odorant identity is encoded by patterns of activity across olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) and their corresponding glomeruli in the antennal lobe (AL). An odorant's valence can be modified by experience, allowing animals to associate previously neutral odors with appetitive or aversive outcomes. However, some odors appear resistant to such reassignment, and the factors determining whether an odor can acquire learned valence and whether that association generalizes to chemically related odors remain poorly understood. This thesis uses Drosophila melanogaster to address this question using a fully automated proboscis extension reflex (PER) conditioning assay. Odorants are presented via a computer-controlled olfactometer, reward …

A Functional Ultrasound Imaging (Fusi) Pipeline For Investigating Brain-Wide Hemodynamics During Torpor-Like Hypothermia, Owen J. Culver

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Torpor is a regulated state of reduced metabolic demand that enables animals to conserve energy under unfavorable environmental conditions. The controlled induction of a similar state, termed synthetic torpor, has potential applications in ischemic protection, organ preservation, cancer treatment, radiation protection, and long-term spaceflight. Although neuronal populations within the preoptic hypothalamus have been shown to initiate hypothermic and hypometabolic states, the distributed cerebral hemodynamic dynamics accompanying their induction and maintenance remain poorly understood. In this thesis, we developed an accessible functional ultrasound imaging (fUSI) acquisition and analysis pipeline and applied it to investigate cerebral hemodynamics during chemogenetic activation of the …

Impact Of Stress & Fatigue On Cardiovascular Function In Young Pilots: A Thematic Review, Swarna Manoj

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Impact of Stress & Fatigue on Cardiovascular Function in Young Pilots: A Thematic Review   Authors: Swarna Manoj, Scott Ferguson   Keywords: pilot, stress, fatigue, heart rate variability (HRV), cardiovascular disease (CVD) Aviation is expanding globally and young pilots are the major workforce, yet FAA protocols require mandatory ECG only from age 35, with annual cardiac screening after age 40. Over the past five years, a pattern of sudden cardiac arrests in pilots particularly aged 30-40 has urged safety concerns. Despite the existing literature examining fatigue, burnout, stress, sleep hygiene and circadian disruption, only few studies systematically examine how these factors impact …

Project Minerva, Lena Wang, Gannon English, Ethan Yemm, Gabrielle Guirguis, Jose Murphy

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

Project Minerva is a multidisciplinary engineering initiative at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) dedicated to the design, integration, and deployment of high-altitude balloon (HAB) systems for stratospheric research and aerospace hardware validation. The project challenges student researchers to engineer flight-ready payloads capable of maintaining structural and electronic integrity in extreme temperatures and low-pressure environments in the stratosphere. Typically utilizing 600g latex balloons filled with helium, Project Minerva missions aim to achieve altitudes exceeding 22,000 meters to facilitate vertical atmospheric profiling of variables such as CO₂ concentration, humidity, temperature, and pressure. Beyond its technical objectives, the project serves as a professional training …

Actionable Hydrologic Data To Information With National Water Model-Based Derived Dataset, Cutting-Edge Data Services, And Agentic Ai System, Sujan Chandra Mondol

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrologic data are the cornerstone of many complex hydrologic research and operational workflows that produce useful hydrologic information for water resources decision-making, flood risk communication, and water availability implications. The National Water Model (NWM) is a valuable source of hydrologic data, particularly for its extended coverage of unmonitored streams and the large-scale continuity of hydrologic processes. Precomputed secondary datasets derived from this simulated data, such as streamflow indices, can improve operational efficiency through thresholding. Disseminating the data through modern technologies, such as application programming interfaces, is required for ready integration into applications. However, if extraction requires an intermediate service, there …

Intrinsic Memory In Digital Snns: Enhancing Performance On The Cart-Pole Task With Fractional-Order Dynamics, Niklas Karl Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers working with Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) are faced with the challenge of identifying useful biologically plausible features for inclusion in neuron models. Prior research indicates that dynamics of fractional-order calculus, which impart a form of intrinsic memory, are a key feature of biological neurons. In this work, we present the development and usage of neural networks with intrinsic memory in application to the cart-pole task, a common benchmark for neural network performance. We found that usage of fractional-order neurons may allow for up to a 37.5% reduction in neural network size as compared to networks using a standard Leaky …

The Influence Of Urban Form On The Distribution Of Air Pollutants, Takin Khosrownia

Dissertations and Theses

Urban form exerts strong control on how pollution from outside a city is transported through the urban canopy and experienced at street level. This study uses the prognostic microclimate model ENVI-met to simulate an active pollutant released from an upwind rural highway and advected through an urban region represented by ten Local Climate Zone (LCZ) types. The cases share identical inflow and are isothermal, dry, and non-vegetated, so that differences among them are attributable to building morphology alone. PM2.5 is the primary exposure diagnostic. Its transport and ejection are characterized through plan-view contours, vertical plume sections, and spatially averaged streamwise …

Functionality Risk Assessment And Risk-Based Management For Critical Infrastructure Systems, Anteneh Zewdu Deriba

Dissertations and Theses

Critical infrastructure systems such as transportation networks serve as the lifelines of modern society, supporting economic activity and ensuring access to critical services. Their disruption under extreme events can produce consequences extending far beyond physical damage to individual assets. In transportation networks for instance, failures of critical assets such as bridges and tunnels can reduce accessibility of communities, limit freight capabilities for commerce, and increase travel distance and travel time of road users. These consequences associated with the system functionality loss are tied not only to the physical vulnerability and failure of individual assets, but also to the system configuration …

Mountain Development In Nepal: Settlements, Infrastructure, And Economic Transformation, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

As Nepal urbanizes, expands infrastructure, strengthens local governments, and explores deeper connectivity with India and China, climate change is increasing floods, landslides, heat, and water insecurity. Rapid internal migration, rising disaster risks, youth outmigration, and dependence on remittances are also revealing the limits of conventional urban development, especially in the mountainous region. The central challenge for Nepal is no longer just to accommodate growing towns and cities, but to build settlements that are safe, productive, environmentally resilient, and capable of sustaining long-term prosperity.

This paper argues that Nepal's urban future must be guided by a new development paradigm centered on …

C.S.A. Assessment - Tamp Family Health Center Portal, Delante Clark

Graduate Scholarship and Creative Works

This C.A.S. assessment evaluates how the Tampa Family Health Centers website influences userattention, cognitive processing, information accessibility, navigation efficiency, and digital user experience.The assessment examines whether the platform supports intentional engagement and informed decision-making while minimizing cognitive overload, distraction, confusion, and unnecessary attentional demands.

TFHC serves as a healthcare access portal providing appointment scheduling, patient resources, providerinformation, healthcare services, MyChart access, payment services, and community health resources.These functions make attention management and information clarity critical to successful user outcomes.

Linear Relationships Of Gibbs Free Energy For Rare Earth Element Oxide, Hydroxide, Chloride, Fluoride, Carbonate, Ferrite, And Zirconate Minerals And Crystalline Solids, Ruiguang Pan, Alexander P. Gysi, Artaches A. Migdisov, Nicole C. Hurtig, Chen Zhu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Rare Earth Elements (REE) are classified as critical minerals and materials essential for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable and clean energy. Accurate thermodynamic properties of REE minerals and other crystalline solids are crucial for geochemical modeling of REE speciation, solubility, and transport in ore deposits and for extraction, chemical processing, and recycling. However, the standard Gibbs free energy of formation (∆Gof,REEX) for these solids vary by 10s kJ mol−1 across different sources from literature. We applied the Sverjensky linear free energy relationship (LFER) to evaluate internal consistency for isostructural REE solid groups and predicted ∆Gof values for solid …

Measurement Of Pollution Emissions From Natural Gas Stoves: Preparation For An Induction Cooktop Intervention Study, Jessica Zanella Lorensi

Dissertations and Theses

Humans spend ∼90% of their time enclosed in buildings. Indoors environments can be a source of pollutant which can affect health and productivity. Appliances that combust fossil fuels indoors, like stoves, are a critical source of a range of pollutants, like carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂). In the US, the usual cooking fuel is natural gas (NG), presented in more than 30% of households in the country. Some studies in the literature linked cooking pollutants, including those specific to gas combustion, to various health conditions, including heart and respiratory diseases. Nitrogen dioxide, for example, can be …

Single Fluorogens And Orientation-Localization Microscopy For Quantifying Chemical And Biomolecular Dynamics At The Nanoscale, Yiyang Chen, Yuanxin Qiu, Matthew D. Lew

Electrical & Systems Engineering Publications and Presentations

Many chemical systems look uniform only because ensemble measurements average over their most interesting molecules. Electron-transfer rates vary across electrode surfaces; lipid membranes contain nanodomains with distinct packing and fluidity; peptide aggregates exhibit local polymorphism; and biomolecular condensates contain transient networks of interactions that are blurred in ensemble images. A central challenge in chemical imaging is not simply to see smaller structures, but to measure chemical variables such as polarity, redox potential, and molecular confinement at the single-molecule level. In this Account, we describe how fluorogens, molecules whose brightness, blinking, spectral shifts, orientation, rotational mobility, and motion are directly shaped …

Comparing Principal Component Analysis And Sequential Fusion Deeponet With Varying Dataset Size For Design Space Exploration Of Hypersonic Flow, J. Dallan Trentman

Theses and Dissertations

Design space exploration and optimization of hypersonic vehicles is costly due to the difficulty of producing high fidelity CFD simulations in the hypersonic domain. Reduced order modeling can allow for design optimization at a fraction of the computational cost. This paper investigates the amount of training data required to produce an accurate Reduced Order Model. A PCA based ROM is developed and compared to a Sequential Fusion DeepONet by comparing model prediction accuracy, training time, and prediction time, across dataset sizes from 25 samples to 1024 samples. These models are applied to 2D hypersonic CFD simulations of the Orion reentry …

Resonant Shock Plate Simulation And Prediction Using Modal Substructuring, Harrison C. Denning

Theses and Dissertations

Aerospace structures such as rockets can experience various shock events during flight, such as stage separation or impacts. These shock events can expose components inside the rocket to large accelerations and stresses which in turn can damage the parts. Shocks are often simulated in the lab using a resonant shock plate test. Resonant shock plate testing is often used to qualify aerospace parts, as it can mimic the shocks experienced during launch and stage separations. However, during the course of development, both the definition of the shock environment and the design of the subcomponent tend to change, so that multiple …

Rfsoc Based Ground Penetrating Radar For Detection And Avoidance Of Underground Utilities, Brady Bowerbank

Theses and Dissertations

Preexisting underground utilities present a considerable danger to underground boring projects. Gas and electrical lines can be damaged, leading to major economic impact and even loss of life. While maps of underground utilities exist, they are not always accurate and gas and electrical lines can shift over time, necessitating tools to accurately detect utilities so that crews can steer the machines away from any possible danger. In this thesis, the design of a new frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) ground penetrating radar (GPR) is outlined. The design of a lightweight, flexible radar is demonstrated using the CASPER FPGA framework with an operating …

Isoperimetric Soft Robots, Mihai Stanciu

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents two advances in isoperimetric soft robotic trusses that improve their performance, modularity, and configurability. The first contribution introduces a large-scale modular robotic truss designed as a lightweight, reconfigurable structure for lunar applications. The system consists of inflatable fabric tubes routed through motorized roller units and interconnected by a newly developed spherical joint that enables multiple robotic triangles to connect at a common vertex. The resulting truss can be assembled into structures beyond a single octahedron while retaining compact stowage when deflated and untethered operation after initial inflation. Experimental validation demonstrates modular assembly, long-term pressure retention, load-bearing capabilities …

Thermophysical Property Studies: 1. Thermodynamic Consistency For Associating Compounds 2. Autoignition Temperature, Cassandra Jane Guffey

Theses and Dissertations

Accurate thermophysical property data are essential for the design, optimization, and safe operation of chemical processes. Properties such as vapor pressure, enthalpy of vaporization, heat capacity, density, and autoignition temperature--which are among the properties studied in this work--are required for equipment sizing, process simulation, hazard assessment, and economic evaluation. A major focus of this dissertation is the application of multi-property thermodynamic consistency techniques to compounds that exhibit strong vapor-phase association. These methods improve confidence in recommended property values by enforcing rigorous thermodynamic relationships among ideal-gas heat capacity, liquid heat capacity, vapor and liquid densities, vapor pressure, and enthalpy of vaporization. …

A Semantic Data Management Framework For Uncertainty Quantification In Synchrotron Diffraction Pattern Analysis, Ayorinde E. Olatunde, Ozan Dernek, Erika I. Barcelos, Roger H. French, Anirban Mondal

Student Scholarship

Advancements in technology have enabled scientists and engineers in the synchrotron science domain to generate high-dimensional data. To conduct a machine learning study on these data, an analyst undergoes multiple analytical stages, including dimensionality reduction, predictive modelling, and uncertainty quantification (UQ).

To ensure reproducibility in science, it is necessary to document the semantic relationships among the stages of the analysis to enable provenance, interoperability, and knowledge reuse. In this work, we present a Semantic Data Management (SDM) framework rooted in FAIR principles that provides ontologies for UQ workflows. We illustrate the application of UQ ontology in synchrotron diffraction pattern analyses …