Digital Commons Network^™

Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Parts: A Review, Jacob Pessin

Honors Theses

Structural health monitoring has the potential to allow composite structures to be more reliable and safer, then by using more traditional damage assessment techniques. Structural health monitoring (SHM) utilizes individual sensor units that are placed throughout the load bearing sections of a structure and gather data that is used for stress analysis and damage detection. Statistical time based algorithms are used to analyze collected data and determine both damage size and probable location from within the structure. While traditional calculations and life span analysis can be done for structures made of isotropic materials such as steel or other metals, composites …

Investigation Of Ceria-Nickel Containing Aerogels For Catalytic Converter Applications, Xiao Peng Li

Honors Theses

Aerogels have physical properties that make them appealing for automotive exhaust catalysis: they are highly porous with low density and high surface area. Current catalytic converter technology uses precious metals (Pt, Pd and Rh) to oxidize CO and unburned hydrocarbons and reduce NO. Catalytic-metal-containing aerogel can potentially be a less expensive alternative for use in catalytic converters. Prior work with nickel-alumina aerogels indicated promise for this application; the goal of including ceria is to increase oxygen storage and thereby enhance catalytic ability. Here, cerium- and nickel-containing aerogels, with an alumina backbone and silica backbone, are fabricated using an epoxide-assisted recipe …

Representational Style And Congressional Elections: New York's 19th District In The 115th Congress, Margaret Mccormick

Honors Theses

The disconnect between members of Congress and the American public is no secret. Of the three branches of government, the legislative branch is intended to be the most representative of the people. However, it consistently faces the lowest approval ratings among the American public. Although the public largely disapproves of Congress as a legislative body, most Americans support their own representative. This phenomenon is reflected in high reelection rates for congressional incumbents. My thesis examines the relationship between congressional representation and elections through an evaluation of the representational style of Congressman John Faso. Faso, who represented New York’s 19th District …

Preventing Browser Fingerprinting By Randomizing Canvas, Rianna Quiogue

Honors Theses

Whether users know it or not, their online behaviors are being tracked and stored by many of the websites they visit regularly through a technique called browser fingerprinting. Just like a person's physical fingerprint can identify them, users' browser fingerprints can identify them on the Internet. This thesis outlines the techniques used in browser fingerprinting and explains how although it can be used for good, it can also be a major threat to people's online privacy and security. Since browser fingerprinting has gained popularity among many websites and advertising companies, researchers have been developing ways to counteract its effectiveness by …

The Regime Of Sex Trafficking Of Women In The United States, Julia Wilson

Honors Theses

Sex trafficking is a vicious crime and has been denoted as a form of modern-day slavery, accumulating nearly 21 million victims worldwide. Women and girls make up 95% of victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation, which reflects the dominance of patriarchy operating in the U.S. and across the globe. When it comes to the sex trafficking of women, it is often seen as a problem that happens elsewhere, never close to us. This hegemonic narrative that exoticizes sex trafficking contributes to keeping the problem in the dark. Yet an estimated 200,000 people are forced into the sex trade in the …

Design Of Natural Composite I-Beam For Sampe 2019, Brian Harkness

Honors Theses

In recent years, the demand for high performance, lightweight, fiber-reinforced composites have grown substantially. Fiberglass and carbon fiber have exemplary material properties that meet the demand and have set the industry standard for performance materials. Although these materials meet their design function, they suffer from high environmental impacts throughout their life cycle and are not cost effective to produce. Flax fiber composites have comparable properties to fiberglass but can be produced more efficiently and production requires much less energy consumption. Flax is a readily available, renewable material that will easily biodegrade once it is the end of its useful life …

Förgörning To Trolldom: A History Of Danish Witchcraft And Magic, Cole M. Robert

Honors Theses

Numerous historical texts have evaluated European witchcraft trials and beliefs to discover the political, social, theological, economic, and cultural factors that led to the persecution of accused witches. These texts largely focus on the trials in Continental Europe, predominantly Southwestern Germany, with scant mentions of the trials in northern Europe. The Danish witchcraft trials in the early seventeenth century are significant to the greater history of witchcraft because they were highly concentrated yet resulted in relatively few executions. This paper seeks to determine the origins of the Danish witch trials and to explain why the death toll was restrained, with …

Applying An Innovative Idea To Kidney Stone Removal, Jack Beaty

Honors Theses

Renal lithiasis, commonly referred to as “kidney stones” is a condition in which the urine composition crystallizes and cannot pass through the ureter, causing pain and discomfort. Renal lithiasis can be caused by diet, infection, reduced water retention, or hereditary disorders; each of which results in a distinct stone composition [1]. Stone compositions can vary between calcium oxalate, struvite, uric acid, and cystine[2]. Each stone type, however, provides the same pain to the patient and the same potential risk of blocking the urinary system.

Kidney stone symptoms may include but are not limited to: pain in the lower back, the …

Investigation Of Even-Skipped, A Developmentally-Regulated Gene Controlling Neural Segmentation In Dragonflies, Kathryn Bangser

Honors Theses

A comprehensive understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying pattern formation and neurogenesis is necessary in order to trace the evolutionary history of insect embryogenesis.

One of the most important processes of embryogenesis is the organized pattern formation that allows for proper body segmentation and neural development. Proper segmentation, which relies on a series of specific gene expressions, is necessary for the development of an operational nervous system. Even-skipped (eve), one such regulatory gene, has been studied extensively in certain model organisms, and theories regarding the evolution of its functional role could be further elucidated by visualizing its expression …

Barriers: An Exploration Of Architectural Structures As An Indication Of Wealth And Socioeconomic Status, Lisa Demoranville

Honors Theses

I decided to explore the barriers and limitations of wealth through an investigation of architectural structures, focusing on popular industries and institutions on which our society commonly depends. I have noticed that places such as hospitals, schools, grocery stores, and restaurants differ dramatically depending on the neighborhoods in which they were located. This topic sparked my interest after living in Lima, Peru for a month, as I was able to observe the developing economy and dramatic division of wealth among the population. Certain questions about the divides and differences within a society and its culture started crossing my mind; not …

Overstimulated - An Immersive, Multimedia Art Installation, Quinn Devlin

Honors Theses

This thesis provides the explanation, inspiration, research and progression of an immersive, multimedia art installation that emulates the idea of a “sexual dystopia.” It explores how our dichotomy of inadequate sex education and hypersexual, gender-based media is resulting in a dystopian sexual reality for women in particular. The work portrays a future world in which sexual and fertility technology is so advanced and accessible that real men and women no longer interact. As a result, women and objects become one in the same.

Female literary icons are over-sexualized to suggest that porn-culture is a by-product of a historical framework that …

The Incidence Of Intra-State Violence: An Empirical Study On Ethnicity And Values, Kevin Fitzpatrick

Honors Theses

FITZPATRICK, KEVIN R. The Incidence of Intrastate Conflict: An Empirical Study on Ethnicity and Values. Department of Economics and Political Science, June 2019.

ADVISORS: Jeeten Giri, Lori Marso

What best explains conflict? Why do societies engage in violence, or better yet, why are some societies more likely to fall victim towards internal instability and civil war? This paper seeks to better understand what factors offer the most explanatory power for intra-state violence. Utilizing Geert Hofstede’s 6-D model of cultural dimensions, I construct a data set incorporating intra-state data from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program/Peace Research Institute of Oslo to determine …

Hope For Another Humanitarian Intervention? Rwanda, Kosovo, Libya And The Consequences Of The Responsibility To Protect (R2p) On Myanmar, Victoria Carter

Honors Theses

After the catastrophic failure of the UN and western nations to prevent and halt genocide in Rwanda in 1990, many pledged “never again.” In less than ten years, the ethnic cleansing in Kosovo provided the international community with a chance at redemption. Without waiting for UN approval, NATO forces led a military intervention to stop Milošević’s campaign of violence against the Kosovo Albanians. The humanitarian intervention in Kosovo left many questions for the international community: Who should intervene to stop genocide or ethnic cleansing in a given state? When should the international community intervene? In the early 2000s, there was …

Characterizing The Waters Of 6 Rivers In Upstate New York With A Focus On Physical Hydrology And Controls On Water Quality, Connor Horan

Honors Theses

Rivers are key passageways connecting inland waters to the world’s oceans. They are responsible for the mobilization and transport of nutrients, sediments, and weathered materials. Rivers have been influential in the development of human civilization and are hubs for people and businesses to populate. As our population puts a heavier burden on these waterways, there is a need to better understand the controls on their water quality.

The overarching goal of this research is to improve our understanding of the hydrology and water resources of the Upper Hudson and Mohawk watersheds. This is critical to our understanding of the ecological …

Exploring The Behavior Repertoire Of A Wireless Vibrationally Actuated Tensegrity Robot, Zongliang Ji

Honors Theses

Soft robotics is an emerging field of research due to its potential to explore and operate in unstructured, rugged, and dynamic environments. However, the properties that make soft robots compelling also make them difficult to robustly control. Here at Union, we developed the world’s first wireless soft tensegrity robot. The goal of my thesis is to explore effective and efficient methods to explore the diverse behavior our tensegrity robot. We will achieve that by applying state-of-art machine learning technique and a novelty search algorithm.

A Cross County Examination Of Fiscal Federalism In The 2016 Election, Sarah Kaplan

Honors Theses

The 2016 election has often been referred to as one of the most unorthodox elections in United States history. Both major candidates had their own unusual qualities about them. Hillary Clinton was the first woman to receive a major party’s nomination. Donald Trump ran with no political experience, using a rhetoric that was foreign to the established political world. And yet, Donald Trump did the unthinkable and was elected to the highest office in the nation. He triggered a voice that many felt was silenced in recent years. By laughing in the face of political correctness, and speaking about what …

Mutations In The Human Follicle Stimulating Hormone Receptor Caveolin Interaction Motif Cause Increased Basal Activation, Elizabeth Altman

Honors Theses

Over twelve percent of women aged fifteen to forty-five in America suffer from infertility and/or impaired fecundity and over seven million women have used infertility services, such as intrauterine insemination and in vitro fertilization. Some cases of infertility may be due to dysfunctional human follicle stimulating hormone (hFSH) signaling. hFSH plays a role in spermatogenesis in males, as well as follicle maturation and estrogen production in females. Problems with either hFSH or the hFSH receptor (hFSHR) decrease fertility in males and cause complete infertility in females. As part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, hFSH is released from the pituitary gland and …

Investigating The Urban Stream Syndrome In The Schenectady-Schoharie Region Of Upstate New York, Elizabeth Marie Andonie

Honors Theses

The urban stream syndrome is defined as the typical effects that cities have on watersheds and has been identified in urban regions worldwide. Symptoms include a higher risk of flooding, increased erosion, reduced biodiversity, and elevated concentrations of nutrients and contaminants. The objective of this study is to determine the extent of the urban stream syndrome in and around the Schenectady area. More specifically, this study focuses on two separate aspects: 1) the influx of road salt, and 2) the influx of organic waste. In addition, data were compared with previous data of the same streams to determine changes over …

The Ketogenic Diet: A Noteworthy Treatment For Pediatric Patients With Refractory Epilepsy, Hannah Christian

Honors Theses

Although epilepsy has been a well-documented neurological disorder for thousands of years, a third of individuals with epilepsy today still have seizures that are not well managed. After the addition of benzodiazepines to other anticonvulsants in the 1950s, doctors have largely focused on treating epilepsy with medications. But, an older treatment has been recently reintroduced into the medical community to help remediate seizure activity. Interestingly, a high fat and low carbohydrate diet regimen called the ketogenic diet has proven to be helpful to some people with refractory epilepsy, that is, epilepsy that does not respond well to medications. In a …

The 2018 Elections: Gender, Media Representation, And Campaign Strategies, Emily Bobruff

Honors Theses

For my thesis topic, I am researching the impacts of media representation of candidates on gender and campaigning. I break down my research based on the type of campaigns, including U.S. senatorial and gubernatorial campaigns. Looking into campaigns for each type of office, I observe how candidates represented themselves in the 2018 elections through their own campaign advertisements. I juxtapose this research with my research on how the media then portrays candidates, and look to see if gender impacts media coverage in 2018. Main questions that my research provides insight to: How has the role of gender in campaigns changed …

Une Étude Comparative De La Restauration Scolaire Des Primaires Au Lycée En France Et Aux États Unis Au Xxie Siècle, Brianna Cummings

Honors Theses

In recent years, there has been much debate surrounding national school lunch programs around the world. During the second half of the nineteenth century, the first school lunch programs were introduced on a school to school basis in both France and the United States. However national school lunch programs were not established until the middle of the following century. Since their establishment, national laws towards the school lunch program have greatly changed, sparked by major concern from citizens. By examining lunch programs in France and the United States, clear differences, as well as points of similarity, have been highlighted. These …

The Theia Soteria: Alternative Design For Safer Initial Entry During Laparoscopic Procedures, Kayla Dubois, Patrick Ryan, Madelyn Joanis

Honors Theses

Laparoscopic procedures account for 15 million surgeries worldwide [1], with the initial entry into the peritoneal cavity accounting for 33-50% of all major laparoscopic complications [7]. This initial entry is the most dangerous as surgeons must enter the cavity using a sharp object with no visibility and space between the outer surface of the cavity and internal tissues. During the initial entry into the peritoneal cavity, the patients undergoing laparoscopic procedures are at a high risk for damage to internal organs and vasculature, necessitating the development of a device to protect these internal tissues and increase patient safety.

Geometric Constructions, Origami, And Galois Theory, Julia Greene

Honors Theses

Geometric constructions using an unmarked straightedge and a compass have been studied for thousands of years. In these constructions, we can draw circles and lines starting with any two points, and we can create new points where they intersect. An n-gon is said to be constructible if can be constructed in a finite number of steps using these guidelines. We begin with constructions of several n-gons, and examine the field theory behind geometric constructions. Galois theory then provides a precise classification of which n-gons are constructible and which are not. Next is an exploration of origami construction, which examines a …

Approximation Of Continuous Functions By Artificial Neural Networks, Zongliang Ji

Honors Theses

An artificial neural network is a biologically-inspired system that can be trained to perform computations. Recently, techniques from machine learning have trained neural networks to perform a variety of tasks. It can be shown that any continuous function can be approximated by an artificial neural network with arbitrary precision. This is known as the universal approximation theorem. In this thesis, we will introduce neural networks and one of the first versions of this theorem, due to Cybenko. He modeled artificial neural networks using sigmoidal functions and used tools from measure theory and functional analysis.

Designing A Low-Cost Ultrasound Pulser, Andrea Huey

Honors Theses

Ultrasound imaging allows for those studying living beings to see inside a subject without causing it harm. This allows for real-time images to be taken, leading to ease of observational research. However, while this technology is beneficial to those who utilize it, the devices used to create and receive ultrasound pulses can be incredibly complex, allowing for precise adjustment of the output signal and various other functions, and therefore expensive. The focus of this senior project is the design of a low-cost pulser for use with an ultrasound transducer. While it does not have all the high-level functions of the …

Make America Great Again? American Conservatism And Donald Trump, Justin Lange

Honors Theses

LANGE, JUSTIN M. Make America Great Again? American Conservatism and Donald Trump. Department of Political Science, June 2019

ADVISOR: Prof. Clifford W. Brown, Jr.

It might seem difficult to imagine now, but once upon a time it was possible to feel shocked by political developments. We’ve become so desensitized, especially in the last few years. Yet in 2016, there was a profound sense of disbelief over the results of the American presidential election. How could Donald Trump, a complete political outsider who’d never before held office, defeat an opponent who seemed to hold every office except for the presidency she …

Roma In The European Union: Structural Barriers To Fundamental Rights, Maria Lovetere

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the effects of European Union expansion on Roma populations throughout Europe. The EU instituted a number of policies intended to help European Roma, one of the most persecuted minority groups on the continent, but rather than significantly improving quality of life for this population, in many places relations between Roma and greater European society have worsened. I introduce the topic by reviewing the legal frameworks created for this purpose, and discussing existing literature that examines the pitfalls of EU Roma policies.

Next, I argue that through europeanization and profit-oriented migration policies, the EU has furthered the …

The Impact Of Generational Experiences On Anti-Immigration Sentiments, Pedram Malakian

Honors Theses

Immigration is one of the most important issues in our increasingly globalized world. Every year, millions of people relocate to Europe and United States in an effort to improve the quality of life for themselves and their family. With this increase in immigration, there has been an emergence of anti-immigration sentiments which have in turn allowed far right political parties to gain more power, evident in the British referendum to leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States. While most works of literature look at the current work status, education level and income of …

Public Financing Of Elections In The States, Nicholas Meixsell

Honors Theses

In the US, there is a history of the courts striking down campaign finance reform measures as unconstitutional. As such, there are few avenues remaining for someone who is interested in 'clean government' reforms. One such avenue is publicly financed elections, where the state actually provides funding for campaigns. These systems can be quite varied in the restrictions and contingencies they attach to the money, and for examples one has to look no further than the states There are many states that have some form of public financing for elections, and by looking at the different states' systems we are …

The Diminishing Male Labor Force Population: What The American Time Use Survey Suggests About How Male Nonworkers Allocate Their Time, Rory Nizolek

Honors Theses

The male labor force participation rate has been declining for decades, dropping from nearly 90% down to 69.3% as of now. Using survey respondent data from the 2003-2017 American Time Use Survey, this paper investigates how nonworking males choose to allocate their time in a day. This paper examines how the time allocation has changed over time for males ages 25-34 as well as for those who have less than a high school degree because these two samples shows significant changes in time allocation. For the other samples, ages 35-44 and 45-54 as well as all education levels higher than …