Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding Social Impacts Of Major Disruptions From The Perspective Of Destination Access, Manika Rana Bhat

LSU Master's Theses

Major disruptions (like public health crises and extreme weather events) significantly impact human mobility and travel patterns. This study investigates the social impacts of major disruptions on human mobility from the perspective of accessing destinations. This study used a large-scale dataset from SafeGraph and focused on analyzing the impacts of COVID-19 and Hurricane Ida on destination access in Louisiana. The findings of the temporal plots indicated that the impact magnitude of Hurricane Ida was much smaller than that of the COVID-19 pandemic but still resulted in hardship on destination access. During COVID-19, it was found that parishes with limited active …

Tool Life Characterization In Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding, Ruth Guadalupe Belnap

Theses and Dissertations

As light-weighting becomes a priority for the automotive industry, refill friction stir spot welding emerges with enormous potential to supplement or replace conventional spot joining processes. This thesis addresses the limitations of current tooling options by examining materials beyond steel for use in RFSSW. Contained herein is an analysis of weld quality as a function of tool material, a production evaluation of RFSSW using various tool materials, and an assessment of long-term performance of a tungsten carbide tool. Over the course of this research, tungsten carbide emerged as a viable candidate for long-lasting RFSSW tooling.

Digimindready: Enhancing Military Readiness Through Edge Ai-Driven Wellness, Education, And Digital Discipline Via Privacy-First Mhealth Innovation, Md Mehedi Hasan

Master's Theses

Military personnel often find themselves in intense situations that require high focus. Successfully engaging in these dangerous missions means they must efficiently control cognitive load, manage overwhelming stress, and stay focused through distractions to perform at their best. Military training significantly focuses on human performance, which benefits military readiness. The 21st century has introduced unanticipated challenges to all, such as the adverse effects of excessive screen time, external distractions, and over-reliance on technology without being aware of digital discipline. Militaries are no exception. These challenges have become an emerging threat to military personnel's cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. On top …

Exploring Differences In Perceived Learning For Students In Online Versus Face-To-Face Collegiate Pilot Ground Schools: A Quantitative Causal-Comparative Study, Christopher Komsa

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine if there was a difference in the perceived learning of students completing online versus face-to-face collegiate pilot ground schools. Higher education institutions with pilot training programs are highly invested in student success and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) compliance. A growing number of students are taking online courses in college, and this shift was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived learning was quantified using a web-based survey that collected perceived learning data as measured by the Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor (CAP) Perceived Learning Scale. A sample of 86 students at University …

Stretching The Limits Of Mri—Stretchable And Modular Coil Array Using Conductive Thread Technology, Folk W. Narongrit, Thejas Vishnu Ramesh, Joseph V. Rispoli

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Objective: We propose a modular stretchable coil design using conductive threads and commercially available embroidery machines. The coil design increases customizability of coil arrays for individual patients and each body part. Methods: Eight rectangular coils were constructed with custom-fabricated stretchable tinsel copper threads incorporated onto textile. Tune, match, and detune circuits were incorporated on the coil. A hook-and-loop mechanism was used to attach and decouple the modular coils. Phantom and in vivo scans at various anatomical flexion angles were acquired to highlight performance, and a temperature test was performed to verify safety. Results: In vivo MRI experiments demonstrate high sensitivity …

The Impact Of Emojis On User Engagement With Trolling Content In Online Platforms, Diya Saraf

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

This thesis examines the impact of emojis on user engagement within online discussions, particularly focusing on the trolling behavior on social media platforms such as Reddit. The central problem addressed is understanding how different types of emojis—in emotional, informational, and popularity-based categories—affect user interactions and engagement in online communications. Through a robust methodological approach, combining quantitative data analysis and Random Forest regression modeling, this research meticulously analyzes emoji usage patterns and their correlations with engagement metrics like upvotes and comments.

The results highlight that emotional and popular emojis significantly enhance engagement by facilitating emotional expression and connection among users. In …

Ragu Conversational Menu Assistant: An Llm Retrieval Augmented Generation Approach, Sam Abdel, Seth Mak, Aaron Pham, Christopher Michael

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

This project introduces a novel Conversational Menu Assistant leveraging Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) techniques within a modified Large Language Model (LLM) framework to enhance dining experiences by providing personalized menu assistance. The main innovation lies in the system’s ability to integrate up-to-date menu information from various sources, including web scraping, into its responses, thereby circumventing the limitations commonly associated with LLMs, such as the need for frequent retraining and the challenge of handling dynamic information. Our solution addresses the pressing issue of reducing the workload on restaurant servers and streamlining the ordering process by offering precise menu details, personalized recommendations …

Characterizing The Potential For Failure In Environment Testing Due To Bolted-Joint Friction Nonlinearity And Bilinearity, Brennen Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Nonlinear behavior in systems complicates the analysis and design of many systems in engineering. In vibration engineering, typical methods such as modal analysis fail or require significant adjustment in the presence of nonlinearity. Understanding and modeling nonlinear behavior is becoming more important in many modern engineering applications. One area that is relatively unexplored is how nonlinearity affects environment testing. This can cover a wide variety of subtopics, but this thesis focuses on failures that can occur in a system which are not predicted by corresponding linearized systems. To further limit the scope of this work, and to provide a context …

Evaluating Computational Predictions Of Magnetic Resonance Acoustic Radiation Force Imaging For Breast Cancer Focused Ultrasound Surgery, Chloe K. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: In magnetic resonance-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) therapies performed in highly heterogeneous tissues such as the breast, the focal location must be located and characterized to guide successful treatments of tumors. Treatment time can be minimized by a priori prediction of the focal location through computational models. The purpose of this work is to evaluate numerical simulations of focused ultrasound (FUS) on their predictions of the focal location. Those simulations are compared to clinical magnetic resonance acoustic radiation force imaging (MR-ARFI) data collected during in vivo treatment of breast tumors. Methods: The focal location was evaluated prior to MRgFUS treatment …

Ocean Rain Detection And Wind Retrieval Through Deep Learning Architectures On Advanced Scatterometer Data, Matthew Yoshinori Otani Mckinney

Theses and Dissertations

The Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) is a satellite-based remote sensing instrument designed for measuring wind speed and direction over the Earth's oceans. This thesis aims to expand and improve the capabilities of ASCAT by adding rain detection and advancing wind retrieval. Additionally, this expansion to ASCAT serves as evidence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques learning both novel and traditional methods in remote sensing. I apply semantic segmentation to ASCAT measurements to detect rain over the oceans, enhancing capabilities to monitor global precipitation. I use two common neural network architectures and train them on measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) …

Direct Evaporative Cooling For Sustainability And Environmental Conservation, Iman El-Mahallawi, Hesham Safwat, Mahmoud Elsayed, Mahmoud Alghrieb

Mechanical Engineering

This work presents the results of experimental work on cellulose cooling pads with honeycomb structure to study their evaporative cooling effect which is one of the partial solutions for achieving the SDG goals 2030. The paper outlines various types of evaporative cooling materials, highlighting their distinctions and potential applications. Furthermore, it offers a comparative analysis of the cooling effects between wide hole and narrow hole cellulose cooling pads, both individually and in combination. The experimental setup results are thoroughly examined to provide insights into the performance of the cooling pads. Results showed up that direct evaporative cooling have a significant …

Ar Storybook, Priya Jain, Jessica Torres, Melody Trinh

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Parents often use technology as a digital pacifier or source of entertainment for their children. While excessive screen time for children can be harmful, a digital future seems inevitable. As technology becomes more prominent in everyday life, children should utilize their early years to engage with technology in a way that develops their growing minds. AR Storybook is an interactive storybook that strives to provide children with an active learning experience. The story teaches children computational thinking skills through augmented reality activities embedded into the plot. The activities ask the user to help a character complete a task by using …

Academic Success In First-Year Engineering Students At Private Higher Education Institutions In Egypt: Key Factors, Wassim Alexan

Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed to identify the key factors contributing to the success of first-year engineering students at private higher education institutions (HEIs) in Egypt. It specifically examined how various independent variables influence the success of these students, measured as the dependent variable. By analyzing these relationships, the study seeks to pinpoint key success factors (KSFs) for first year engineering students in this specific educational context. The research work employed a mixed methods approach, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative analysis involved collecting data through a survey administered to a sample of first year engineering students at private …

Shape Memory Alloy Capsule Micropump For Drug Delivery Applications, Youssef Mohamed Kotb

Theses and Dissertations

Implantable drug delivery devices have many benefits over traditional drug administration techniques and have attracted a lot of attention in recent years. By delivering the medication directly to the tissue, they enable the use of larger localized concentrations, enhancing the efficacy of the treatment. Passive-release drug delivery systems, one of the various ways to provide medication, are great inventions. However, they cannot dispense the medication on demand since they are nonprogrammable. Therefore, active actuators are more advantageous in delivery applications. Smart material actuators, however, have greatly increased in popularity for manufacturing wearable and implantable micropumps due to their high energy …

Activity Descriptors As Tools For Designing Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts For Water Splitting, Aya Gomaa

Theses and Dissertations

There is an uprising urge to design efficient, active, and durable catalysts to achieve sustainable hydrogen production. The unambiguity of which material should be used pushed the scientific community to devote enormous efforts in exploring different elements with different ratios on trial and error bases. However, the bridge between the theoretical calculation and the experiments introduced a new realm of designing efficient catalysts by introducing the concept of activity descriptors. In the first part of the thesis, the ability to convert waste stainless steel (SS) 316L meshes into highly efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts is demonstrated. The …

Virtual Museum Tours Of The De Saisset Museum, Justin Enciso-Anaya, Karthik Tamil, Quoc Truong

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Our project transforms the California Stories exhibit at the de Saisset Museum into an immersive virtual tour, integrating Matterport technology and Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI) principles. Matterport’s high resolution 360 degree camera allows us to capture a physical space in high definition into a 3D virtual space while Matterport’s software helps to facilitate the creation and editing for our physical space in a virtual environment. HCI principles focus on how systems should work when direct interaction with users is a key component. We apply the principles of HCI to create a virtual museum tour that offers visitors a culturally enriching, interactive experience, …

Sensitization Of Europium Oxide Nanoparticles Enhances Signal-To- Noise Over Autofluorescence With Time-Gated Luminescence Detection, Hunter Miller, Jessica Q. Wallace, Hui Li, Xing-Zhong Li, Ana De Bettencourt-Dias, Forrest Kievit

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Clinical translation of nanoparticle-based therapeutics has been limited, and a lack of preclinical delivery characterization is partly to blame, limiting our understanding of the mechanisms of failure. The improvement of the preclinical delivery assessment requires nanoparticles with higher detectability. This work focused on the exploration of several aromatic carboxylic ligands (terephthalic acid, quinaldic acid, and kynurenic acid) for the sensitization of europium oxide nanoparticles with a long emission lifetime to overcome cellular autofluorescence, a key confounder of detection in luminescence-based bioimaging. A facile one-pot synthesis and ligand exchange process generated and sensitized ultrasmall Eu₂O₃ cores. As reflected …

Scdi: Privacy-Preserving Device Identification, Ethan Shenassa, Michael Castillo

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

As internet security concerns grow due to the increasing complexity of cyberattacks, heterogeneity of network-connected devices, and popularity of insecure Internet of Things (IoT) devices, network administrators require more intelligent ways of managing and securing their networks. One crucial step in this regard is the ability to identify and classify devices from the edge of networks. However, many recent advances in network security come at the cost of user privacy, as device classification algorithms often require packet payload data, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, or other sensitive information. This paper proposes the Shenassa-Castillo Device Identifier (SCDI): a software network device identifier …

Feature Extraction From Vibration Signature Required From Railroad Bearing Onboard Condition Monitoring Sensor Modules, Kevin Quaye, Ping Xu, Dimah Dera, Heinrich D. Foltz, Constantine Tarawneh, Alberto Diaz

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

From 2013 to 2022, 1671 derailments have been reported by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), 8.2% of which were due to journal bearing defects. The University Transportation Center for Railway Safety (UTCRS) designed an onboard monitoring system that tracks vibration waveforms over time to assess bearing health through three analysis levels. However, the speed of the bearing, a fundamental parameter for these analyses, is often acquired from Global Positioning System (GPS) data, which is typically not available at the sensor location. To solve this issue, this paper proposes to employ Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to extract the speed and other …

Distant Horizon: Exploring Human-Ai Interaction Through Video Games, Gabe Labadie, Dalia Suszko, Max White

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

As the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) continues to grow and become more and more integrated into our everyday lives, it has begun to raise ethical concerns surrounding authority, autonomy, and responsibility. Researchers and consumers alike have begun to wonder how much trust we are willing to place in a non-human decision maker, especially if an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) capable of surpassing human cognitive capabilities is ever developed. If we are willing to let an AI write essays for us, are we willing to let it manage a business? A government agency? What about a nuclear reactor?

Our project …

Daily Digest: A News Aggregation Site, Justin Wang, Jack Maguin, George Orloff, Justin Groves

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

A staggering amount of news articles are uploaded every day – approximately 5,000 in the United States alone [1]. That volume of information causes difficulty for many people who try to stay up-to-date with current events. The number of articles and the multitude of sources that they come from can feel overwhelming. In our project, we attempt to tackle this issue. We use web scraping to collect a dataset of news articles and combine it with a Large Language Model (LLM) capable of processing those articles to generate news summaries for the user. The user interacts with the program through …

Electrochemical Identification Of Metal Chlorides In Eutectic Licl-Kcl Without Prior Knowledge Of Analyte Identities, Tyler Williams, Jason Torrie, Mark Schvaneveldt, Ranon Fuller, Greg Chipman, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

The identities of unknown analytes within four eutectic LiCl-KCl melts were determined using electrochemical methods, simulating the uncertainty of electrochemically probing an electrorefiner salt bath or molten salt nuclear reactor. With a variety of electrochemical methods (e.g. cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, and square-wave voltammetry), and electroanalytical techniques (e.g. semi-differentiation), every analyte was positively identified, although one false positive occurred because of an unexpected chemical interaction. This study highlights some remaining challenges for the use of electrochemical sensors in nuclear material control and accountability in molten salts: (1) quantification of analytes without the use of calibration curves (e.g. error in property values, …

Design And Fabrication Of Passive Microfluidic Devices For Enhancing Membrane-Based Biosensors, Tanner N. Wells

Theses and Dissertations

Microfluidic devices and systems have demonstrated wide applicability in sample processing and analysis. The ability to integrate sample processing and analysis into a single platform is a key benefit of microfluidic technologies. This dissertation describes the design and fabrication two types of microfluidic devices developed to enhance membrane-based biosensors. First is a device for collecting particles into a highly confined region, locally enhancing their concentration. Second is a device for size-based particle separation capable of separating differently sized particles into separate streams. Both types of devices are fabricated with a thin top layer, providing a platform for synthetic membrane-based technologies. …

The Design, Prototyping, And Validation Of A New Wearable Sensor System For Monitoring Lumbar Spinal Motion In Daily Activities, Brianna Bischoff

Theses and Dissertations

Lower back pain is a widespread problem affecting millions worldwide, because understanding its development and effective treatment remains challenging. Current treatment success is often evaluated using patient-reported outcomes, which tend to be qualitative and subjective in nature, making objective success measurement difficult. Wearable sensors can provide quantitative measurements, thereby helping physicians improve care for countless individuals around the world. These sensors also have the potential to provide longitudinal data on daily motion patterns, aiding in monitoring the progress of treatment plans for lower back pain. In this work it was hypothesized that a new wearable sensor garment that makes use …

Manipulating Colloidal Particles Using Chemical Gradients And Top-Down Control, Mark Nichols Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Colloidal particles provide the ideal building blocks for the next generation of microdevices, such as advanced sensors and precision drug delivery systems. However, many such applications require the use of top-down (i.e. humanly controllable) forces to manipulate colloidal particles with single-particle precision, and current methods can only achieve such precision for small numbers of particles at a time. To address this challenge, we propose using chemical forces in combination with existing top-down techniques to enable the control of larger numbers of particles simultaneously. Controlling colloids using chemical reactions is a novel technique not typically utilized. Due to its distinct difference …

Uhd: Unary Processing For Lightweight And Dynamic Hyperdimensional Computing, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam, M. Hassan Najafi

Faculty Scholarship

Hyperdimensional computing (HDC) is a novel computational paradigm that operates on long-dimensional vectors known as hypervectors. The hypervectors are constructed as long bit-streams and form the basic building blocks of HDC systems. In HDC, hypervectors are generated from scalar values without considering bit significance. HDC is efficient and robust for various data processing applications, especially computer vision tasks. To construct HDC models for vision applications, the current state-of-the-art practice utilizes two parameters for data encoding: pixel intensity and pixel position. However, the intensity and position information embedded in high-dimensional vectors are generally not generated dynamically in the HDC models. Consequently, …

Infrared Light-Based Data Association And Pose Estimation For Aircraft Landing In Urban Environments, David Akagi

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we explore an infrared light-based approach to the problem of pose estimation during aircraft landing in urban environments where GPS is unreliable or unavailable. We introduce a novel fiducial constellation composed of sparse infrared lights that incorporates projective invariant properties in its design to allow for robust recognition and association from arbitrary camera perspectives. We propose a pose estimation pipeline capable of producing high accuracy pose measurements at real-time rates from monocular infrared camera views of the fiducial constellation, and present as part of that pipeline a data association method that is able to robustly identify and …

Feasibility Of Parallelized Measurement Of Local Thermal Properties, Alexander J. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents research done in the development and the exploration of feasibility for a high-throughput method to measure local thermal properties. The present capabilities in the measurement of local thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and Kapitza resistance are very inefficient and impractical to fully understand and characterize heat transport through certain materials and features. This work follows up on past work in local thermal property measurement via the spatial domain thermoreflectance (SDTR) method, and explores the possibility of parallelizing the process. The parallelized SDTR (P-SDTR) method involves using laser projector sources to periodically heat and measure …

Design Of Precision Deployable Origami-Based Space Arrays, Clark Thomas Roubicek

Theses and Dissertations

Deployable origami-based arrays can offer many benefits for a wide variety of engineering applications because of their ability to stow compactly and deploy to a large area. These types of arrays have been demonstrated for use in solar arrays, heat shields, and more; however, they have yet to be shown in high precision applications such as telescopes. The biggest roadblock to using origami in high precision arrays is align- ment in the deployed state; in optical systems, local (single panel) and global (entire array) misalignment can drastically reduce performance. Precision positioning of origami-based arrays can be a challenge because of …

Advancing Omnimodality: Expanding Human Creativity Through Adaptable And Accessible Multimodal Computing Systems, Joshua Urban Davis

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Emerging technologies have given us a whole host of new ways for people to be

creative. From the immersive worlds of AR/VR to the synthesis powers of largelanguage

models and generative AI, these new tools hold the potential to reshape

human expression and creativity. But how can we ensure that these new modalities

are accessible to everyone, even those who aren’t able bodied? This thesis advocates

for a human-centered approach to the development of many-modal systems. I will

probe how our machines support, direct, or inhibit creativity as a mode of problem

solving through 6 novel multimodal prototype interfaces and …