Digital Commons Network^™

Metasurfaces And Their Applications In Photonic Devices, Shuwei Guo

Dissertations and Theses

Metasurfaces are flat artificial optical elements composed of dielectric and/or metallic nanostructures. They can manipulate light in unprecedented ways by altering amplitude, phase, and polarization at subwavelength scales. The ability of these two-dimensional elements to perform multiple optical functions within compact optical systems—while offering high functionality, small form factors, and easy integration into optoelectronic devices—has sparked significant interest across various fields and industries. These applications span imaging, sensing, nonlinear and quantum optics, optical computing, automotive technology, augmented and virtual reality, and more.

In this dissertation, we explore and design new multifunctional metasurfaces with a focus on manipulating spectral responses. First, …

Utilizing Deep Learning Audio Models For Blind And Low Vision Crosswalk Assistance, Wayne Lam

Dissertations and Theses

Navigating urban environments poses significant challenges for blind and low vision (BLV) individuals, particularly at street intersections where determining when it is safe to cross can be life-threatening. In New York City, where pedestrian fatalities are on the rise and only 2% of intersections are equipped with Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS), alternative solutions are urgently needed. This thesis proposes an audio-based deep learning approach to support BLV individuals at crosswalks by detecting traffic movement direction and idling states using spatial sound. With 4-channel audio capturing capabilities of wearables, such as Meta Project Aria glasses, we explore state-of-the-art sound event localization …

Cognitive Map Generation For Vision And Language Navigation, Alexander Sandoval Mesa

Dissertations and Theses

Visual-Language Navigation (VLN) presents significant challenges for autonomous agents, such as robots and virtual assistants, particularly in complex, dynamic environments where the seamless integration of visual perception and natural language understanding is critical. Traditional VLN systems often struggle with effectively aligning language instructions and visual scene understanding, limiting their adaptability and navigation efficiency.

This thesis proposes a novel Cognitive Map-based framework that addresses these challenges by transforming natural language navigation instructions into structured graph representations. The Cognitive Map consists of nodes representing waypoints, landmarks, decision points, and edges encoding spatial relationships and navigational actions. These maps are generated using Large …

Multi-Material Adhesive Bonded Joints Under Static And Dynamic Loading, Gizem Derya Demir

Dissertations and Theses

Adhesively bonded joints present significant potential for reducing structural weight and enhancing performance in modern and future engineering structures. By enabling the elimination or reduction of traditional mechanical fasteners and facilitating the integration of dissimilar materials, adhesives can contribute to more efficient, lightweight designs. However, to fully leverage these benefits—especially in high-performance applications—adhesive materials must exhibit robust behavior under both static and dynamic loading conditions, such as ballistic impact. Despite their promise, the failure mechanisms of adhesives under such high-strain-rate scenarios remain insufficiently understood.

This dissertation investigates the performance of adhesively bonded multi-material joints subjected to static loading and ballistic …

Data Driven Bridge Deck Deterioration Modeling And Maintenance Intervention Scheduling, Deepak Kumar

Dissertations and Theses

Majority of over 617,000 bridges across the United States are significantly impacted by environmental factors, aging materials, and heavy traffic loads. According to the 2021 Infrastructure Report, nearly 231,000 bridges require repair or preservation work, with 46,154 (7.5%) being classified as structurally deficient, thereby posing risks for mor than 178 million daily trips across these bridges. Despite recent improvements, 42% of U.S. bridges are at least 50 years old, underscoring an urgent need for increased investment to meet repair demands. The nation’s backlog of bridge repairs is estimated at $125 billion, with a 58% increase in annual spending required to …

Experimental And Analytical Investigation Of Particle Dynamics In Newtonian And Non-Newtonian Fluids In A Taylor-Couette Cell, Andres F. Velez Mendoza

Dissertations and Theses

This doctoral dissertation investigates heavy particle sedimentation in Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, aiming to understand their behavior in Drilling Fluid (DF) systems used in oil and gas industry, where such phenomenon can lead to operational issues such as lost circulation, well control problems, and even blowouts. To simulate DF dynamics under operational conditions, this study utilizes a Taylor-Couette (TC) cell, which consists of a rotating inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder separated by a 9.0 mm annular gap. The TC cell allows for the investigation of the sedimentation behavior of spherical particles within both Newtonian fluids (deionized water and …

Deep Learning Architectures For Improving Weather Research And Forecasting (Wrf) Precipitation Estimates And Landslide Susceptibility Mapping: A Case Study Of Puerto Rico, Said A. Mejia Manrique

Dissertations and Theses

Precipitation is a critical factor in the Earth’s hydrological cycle and has a profound impact on various environmental and socioeconomic systems, including management of water resources, flood forecasting, and the evaluation of natural hazards, particularly those associated with rainfall-induced landslides. For the latter, obtaining precise precipitation estimates is essential, as intense rainfall events can trigger landslides that pose significant risks to human life, infrastructure, and ecosystems, particularly in mountainous regions. Puerto Rico (PR), with its mountainous terrain, tropical climate, and vulnerability to hurricanes, provides a unique environment for studying precipitation patterns and the need for accurate rainfall estimates. The complex …

The Role Of Social Inequality In The “Feminization” Of Borderline Personality Disorder, Jane Goldie Ekhtman

Dissertations and Theses

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe and prevalent mental illness that is three times more likely to be diagnosed in women than men. BPD research has attempted to explain this gender disparity, with clinician gender bias emerging as a possible factor. Yet, no research to date has examined the role of social status in the overdiagnosis of women with BPD. There is merit in examining BPD through a class lens as low SES is a risk factor for BPD, poverty and income inequality disproportionately affect women, and low status is associated with stereotypical traits of femininity. Additionally, mental health …

Soviet-American Relations During The Cold War: What Policies And Circumstances Conspired To Unravel The Soviet Empire?, John W. Krey

Dissertations and Theses

The two victorious superpowers of World War II – America and the Soviet Union – conceived and implemented unilateral foreign policies amid an atmosphere of intense hostility and suspicion of each other’s international intentions. Regardless of Moscow’s acquiescence in joining the United Nations and resolving a host of disputes (for example, the Security Council veto) regarding the establishment and operation of the same organization, it threatened to disequilibrate power relations between the US and the Soviet Union in the immediate aftermath of the second world war, which convinced Washington to develop the containment policy, a defensive realist posture for repelling …

The Rise Of China: Economic Expansion, Military Modification And The Belt And Road Initiative, Felix Padilla

Dissertations and Theses

In order to analyze China’s rise in power, we have to examine how China has achieved this growth. We need to observe their domestic reforms, international initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and strategic military advancements. This thesis focuses on China’s economic integration, market reforms and military modernization. The thesis uncovers the effects of this rise on global governance and power balances, especially in trade, security, and geopolitics. I analyze China's vision of a multipolar world and how it contrasts with the current global order and how this fuels rivalry with the U.S. and other powers. China's rise …

Examining The Complex Interplay Of Stress, Social Support, And Drinking Motives On Alcohol Use Behaviors: A Moderated Mediation Model Among College Students, Sabrina Perrin

Dissertations and Theses

College student alcohol use remains a public health concern, yet the psychological and social mechanisms that contribute to high-risk drinking patterns are not fully understood. Guided by the motivational model of alcohol use and stress-buffering theory, this study tested a moderated mediation model to examine how perceived stress, coping motives for drinking, and perceived social support interact to influence alcohol use behaviors. A sample of over 1,100 diverse urban college students completed measures of stress, social support, drinking motives, and four alcohol-related outcomes: binge drinking, frequency of alcoholic drinks consumed, negative drinking consequences, and use of protective behavioral strategies (PBS) …

Unveiling Invisible Wounds: Experiences Of Racial Microaggressions, Racial Gaslighting, And Mental Health Among Racially And Ethnically Minoritized Adults, Supriya Pandit

Dissertations and Theses

Racial microaggressions are momentary, subtle, and often unintentional comments or behaviors that nonetheless communicate negative race-based messages towards racially and ethnically minoritized individuals. Given the accumulated and differential impact of racial microaggressions on individuals' mental health over time, it is crucial to investigate its associations with specific mental health symptoms and intrapsychic alleviating factors. To further clarify which coping strategies for racial microaggressions can be more empowering versus harmful, it is also crucial to investigate the processes and mental health consequences that unfold when individuals choose to challenge racial microaggressions, such as racial gaslighting. Racial gaslighting is an insidious interpersonal …

The Transformative Power Of An Ethic Of Care In Patricia Piccinini’S Mythic Posthuman Offspring, Keely Parrish

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the contemporary artist Patricia Piccinini and her posthuman hybrid creations within the context of a feminist ethic of care. Largely referring to scholarship by the political scientist Joan C. Tronto, I argue that Piccinini expands the definition of an ethic of care to include non-human entities as well as human ones. The four phases of care identified by Tronto will serve to outline the encounter between the audience and Piccinini’s work to see how humans and non-humans (1) care about, (2) take care of, (3) give care and (4) receive care from each other, as well as …

Cosmopolitanism Now: Fragmented Belonging, Adriana Fischetti

Dissertations and Theses

Abstract

This thesis reconceptualizes cosmopolitanism for the contemporary moment as fragmented belonging, critiquing and moving beyond traditional cosmopolitan frameworks grounded in universal reason, seamless integration, or coherent identity. Through close readings of Teju Cole’s Open City and Tremor, and Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West, this study argues that cosmopolitanism today emerges explicitly from rupture, contradiction, and ethical struggle, shaped fundamentally by conditions of displacement, empire, surveillance, and global capitalism. Engaging critical theorists such as Kwame Anthony Appiah, Homi Bhabha, Pheng Cheah, and Roland Barthes, the thesis identifies fragmented belonging as an ethically charged response to …

Essential Caretaking For Artists With Disabilities: Exploring The Overlooked Histories Of Hazel Knapp And Grandma Moses, Bryan P. Martin

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis explores the intersection of disability studies and art history, addressing the underrepresentation of disability in scholarship, especially concerning medical sociology and caretaking. Focusing on two early-twentieth-century self-taught American artists, Hazel Knapp (1908–95), who fell into obscurity, and Anna Mary Robertson Moses (1860–1961), best known as Grandma Moses, this is a comparative analysis of how disability influenced their artistic practices and shaped their divergent career outcomes. Knapp was born with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurodegenerative disorder, and fell into obscurity due to a lack of support for her condition, but experienced a promising start to her career that included patronage …

Minds, Made Up Or Malleable? Covert Commands At The Eclipse Of Vaccine Communications, David H. Lee

Publications and Research

Abstract: Although millions have died from SARS-CoV-2 illness, COVID vaccines are credited with stemming the tide. Vaccinations and boosters significantly decrease the incidence of severe illness and death (even if they don’t usually prevent COVID-19 infection). Despite the success of global vaccination efforts, frequent reports of vaccine hesitance and refusal suggest that public health communications need improvement.

The chapter begins by acknowledging adverse events associated with COVID vaccination, including rare cases of anaphylaxis, GBS, and myocarditis. An inoculation-theoretic rationale is offered for this admission of vaccine risks: just as immune defenses mount when organisms are exposed to pathogens, so too …

The Bib Record In The Age Of Digital Reproduction, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

Taking both structural and thematic inspiration from Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” this article posits that the movement from physical card catalogs to ALSs [Automated library systems] and ILSs [Integrated library systems] was not solely the result of technological progress. Rather, this transition had its genesis in a process Marx called primitive accumulation—in this case a form specific to the library profession. In other words, this article seeks to recast the history of digitized catalogs within libraries, seeing them, first and foremost, as harbingers of disenfranchisement and dispossession, specifically of catalogers. The article …

Acc 362: Cryptoassets & Accounting Implications, Sean Stein Smith

Open Educational Resources

AI Policy and course materials (case studies) for course ACC 362: Cryptoassets & Accounting Implications.

A Comprehensive Guide To Construction Documentation: From Hand Drafting To Bim, Cesar Salazar

Open Educational Resources

The construction industry relies heavily on precise and clear documentation to ensure the successful completion of projects. This book is a comprehensive guide to creating construction drawings, focusing on the principles and best practices that lead to high-quality outputs. Unlike manuals that teach specific software tools, this book emphasizes the effective use of various drawing tools to produce detailed graphic narratives that support the entire construction process, from inception to completion.

Does Performance Change Budgets? Punctuated Equilibrium, Performance, And The Budget For Juvenile Justice In An American State, Elaine Yi Lu, Robert Hines, Katherine Willoughby

Publications and Research

How performance informs budgeting and budgets is contentious and unclear. Applying punctuated equilibrium theory, this research seeks to understand if performance information once placed on the media and macropolitical agendas can lead to long term budgetary shifts. This research highlights how the accumulation of performance information punctuated the funding scheme and created a new equilibrium over time.

This research uses mixed methods to study the impact of performance on Florida’s (USA) Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) over a 20-year period. First, we conduct a media review of 400 randomly sampled newspaper articles to characterize the media discourse around the DJJ …

A Battle Of The Chatbots: An Exploratory Comparison Of Chatgpt, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity And Huggingchat, Karen Okamoto

Publications and Research

This exploratory study compares the output of the free versions of six generative artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots—ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity and HuggingChat. Five questions were submitted to all of the chatbots and examined according to the length of the response, tone of the response, and any additional features provided by the chatbots such as citations, web links, and helpful follow-up questions. This comparison found that Perplexity excelled at responding to all of the questions though others provided strong outputs as well, pointing to the possible importance of using multiple chatbot for answers and for continually examining different chatbots given …

Assessing The Predictive Validity Of The Network Inventory Of Risk, Victories, And Needs Assessment (Nirvana) For Youth Receiving Prevention Services., Michael T. Baglivio, Kevin T. Wolff, Katherine Jackowski

Publications and Research

The current study assesses the predictive validity of a newly-developed holistic risk/needs assessment for youth receiving prevention services. Employing a multiyear statewide sample of over 17,000 prevention youth, multivariate and Area Under Curve techniques are used to examine predictive validity in predicting future formal juvenile justice system involvement (new law violations) across sex, race/ethnicity, and multiple youth age ranges. Furthermore, predictive validity across the severity of the subsequent offense type (misdemeanor, non-violent felony, violent felony) was examined. Findings demonstrate large effect sizes for static risk only, dynamic risk only, and total risk plus protective scores on future offending. Sex and …

Understanding Violence In Juvenile Correctional Facilities: A National Study Of Victim-Offender Overlap In The United States, Tzu-Ying Lo, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

The phenomenon of victim-offender overlap within juvenile correctional facilities is an underexplored area in criminological research. This study examines the prevalence and correlates of victim-offender overlap using data from two collections of the National Survey of Youth in Custody conducted in 2008–2009 and 2012. Our findings reveal that the victim-offender overlap group constitutes a significant proportion of incarcerated youth. Multinomial logistic regression analysis indicates that institutional factors, such as correctional officer legitimacy, in-facility gang membership, fear of inmate assault, experience of filing complaints against staff, and time served, significantly differentiate victim-offenders from the three other groups: victims-only, offenders-only, and those …

Victim-Offender Overlap Among Incarcerated Youth In The United States: A Bivariate Probit Analysis Using National Data, Tzu-Ying Lo, Yu-Hsuan Liu, Amy Adamczyk

Publications and Research

For many crimes, people who are the perpetrators may also be the victims. While several studies have investigated the victim-offender overlap, very few have examined the relationship for incarcerated youth where institutional conditions can exacerbate the overlap. Drawing on ideas from routine activities theory, this study explores the victim-offender overlap among incarcerated American youth using data from the 2008–2009 National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC-1, N = 8,625) and the 2012 National Survey of Youth in Custody (NSYC-2, N = 8,125). Findings from a bivariate probit regression indicate that younger age, higher facility populations, negative perceptions of officer legitimacy, …

Processing Of Verbal Versus Adjectival Agreement: Implications For Syntax And Psycholinguistics, Zuzanna Fuchs, Olga Parshina, Irina A. Sekerina, Maria Polinsky

Publications and Research

Linguistic theories distinguish between external and internal agreement (e.g., noun-verb agreement vs. noun-modifier agreement, the latter also known as concord) and model them using different mechanisms. While this distinction has garnered considerable attention in syntactic theory, it remains largely unexplored in experimental work. In an effort to address this gap, we conducted two studies of external/internal agreement in Russian using self-paced reading and eye-tracking while reading. We measured the response to violations generated when native speakers encounter a noun that mismatches the features on an earlier element inflected for agreement (verb, modifying adjective, and predicative adjective). Both experimental studies found …

Whose Decolonization? Prospects For Decolonizing African Art Music, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Although they date back to the 1960s—the decade of African independence—decolonization discourses have gained a new visibility in today’s academies and social media. Targets of decolonization include universities (and numerous practices within), archives, museums, political and economic systems, and individuals from previously colonized nations. Questions remain, however, about what, why, and how to decolonize. This article explores the prospects for decolonizing African art music, a repertoire formed from the twin forces of missionization and colonization. Eschewing a big-picture approach, the author focuses on samples of African choralism, African pianism, African opera, and African symphonism to show that the dividing lines …

Assembly Of Ppsu-Oligomers, Mariam Nesterov

Student Theses and Dissertations

The development of nanostructures for delivering multiple proteins to targeted antibodies has become a promising avenue in biotechnology, driven by advancements in synthetic polymers like poly(propylene sulfone), PPSU. However, the PPSU polymer faces a major limitation - its high insolubility. To address this challenge, this study investigates whether PPSU oligomers can enhance both the solubility and stability of lysozyme, a model protein that is cost-effective and widely accessible. Using dimer, trimer, tetramer, and hexamer configurations, we analyzed the interactions between PPSU oligomer and lysozyme under varying conditions. Our results show that the dimer and trimer are water soluble (no aggregate …

Reputation Management: Branding A Higher Education Graduate Program To Increase Visibility, Vanderbilt Artaxerxes Brabson Iv

Student Theses and Dissertations

This capstone project offers a comprehensive training tool for non-communication professionals working in higher education programs. Its main goals are to give users (1) a summary of valuable research on higher education reputation management, branding, and strategic communication, and (2) an online toolkit for non-communication professionals to boost the visibility and impact of their educational initiatives. By providing practical, actionable resources, these tools help higher education professionals effectively handle the challenges of strategic communication management. The toolkit is especially useful because it delivers evidence-based strategies and methods that can be directly applied to improve communication efforts in higher education. It …

Testing Routine Activity Theory: Behavioural Pathways Linking Temperature To Crime, Christopher Thomas, Jinuk Jeong, Kevin T. Wolff

Publications and Research

This study examines direct observations of outdoor routine activities to investigate the pathways through which temperatures shape crime. Daily administrative records of crime, weather, and outdoor activity were assembled from 2015 to 2019 in New York City. Mediation analysis (with bootstrapped standard errors) reveals that alterations in routine activities account for a statistically significant, yet modest, proportion of temperature’s relationship with homicides, shootings, assaults, larceny, and public consumption violations. The comparable mediation effects across violent and nonviolent crimes support routine activity theory as an explanatory framework for understanding temperature's impact on crime. The measures introduced here offer a novel approach …

Election Season Capstone, Richard G. Mendez

Capstones

My capstone project takes a dive into politics this election season by looking at the growing Republican party in New York City, how young voters felt about the failed Harris campaign and how Democrats could learn from their mistakes.