Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Synthesis Of Biobased And Chemically Recyclable Polysulfone Using Imine Chemistry, Vitasta Jain

All Dissertations

Plastic waste poses a major problem because of the chemical stability of these materials, leading to their accumulation in the environment and the leaching of toxic chemicals during their slow decomposition. Additionally, the use of depleting petroleum reserves for synthesis has made for an unsustainable production and risks due to use of chemicals hazardous to the environment and the individuals exposed to it.

To address these concerns, researchers have explored biobased feedstock and incorporating chemical recycling capabilities for a closed loop, sustainable process. One promising feedstock is lignin with its abundant functional groups that can be modified and utilized to …

Linear And Nonlinear Topology Optimization With Morphing Beam Networks, Andrew S. Montalbano

All Dissertations

Topology optimization (TO) is an engineering design discipline dedicated to optimizing material distribution within a given domain. In traditional gradient-based topology optimization, the solid domain is discretized into small volumetric elements. Using finite element analysis (FEA) of the structure, the gradient of the objective function with respect to the design variables (the pseudo densities) is computed, and these design variables are updated iteratively until convergence is achieved. Although gradient-based TO methods are well-established, sensitivity analyses of objective functions and constraints can be both mathematically complex and computationally intensive. The nonconvex nature of most TO problems often complicates efficient convergence. Furthermore, …

Hybrid Physics-Infused Machine Learning Framework For Fault Diagnostics And Prognostics In Cyber-Physical System Of Diesel Engine, Shubhendu Kumar Singh

All Dissertations

Fault diagnosis is required to ensure the safe operation of various equipment and enables real-time monitoring of associated components. As a result, the demand for new cognitive fault diagnosis algorithms is the need of the hour. Existing deep learning algorithms can detect, classify, and isolate faults. Still, most depend solely on data availability and do not incorporate the system's underlying physics into their prediction. Therefore, the results generated by these fault-detecting algorithms sometimes need to make more sense and deliver when tested in actual operating conditions.

Similar to diagnosis, the fault prognosis of diesel engines is paramount in numerous industries. …

Opportunities To Learn In Rural South Carolina Schools: Rurality, Place, And Passion, Grig Sawyer

All Dissertations

High school principals can change the status quo of the current iniquitous disparities in the education system between South Carolina’s rural high schools and their more populated and affluent suburban schools. Using a non-standard structure and the resources in their control, these school leaders can find solutions so schools can offer rural students advanced math and science programs. Yet, there is a paucity of studies examining how small rural school principals make advanced math and science courses available to their students, particularly in rural South Carolina. Thus, studies must examine how South Carolina school leaders successfully offer advanced math and …

An Emergency Response System To Assist The Movement Of Vehicles During Emergency Operations In Urban Transportation Networks, Jamal Nahofti Kohneh

All Dissertations

Emergency responders need to arrive at the emergency scene as soon as possible, but operating vehicles under emergency conditions can pose a risk to both the responders and other road users, potentially resulting in crashes or delays in emergency operations. In this research, an emergency response system is proposed to assist emergency and non-emergency response vehicles (ERVs and non-ERVs) during emergency operations in a connected vehicle environment. This system collects the information from connected ERVs and non-ERVs, utilizes this information as inputs in the proposed models, and sends instruction messages back to vehicles. The proposed models provide the fastest ERV …

Hardware-Oriented Protection And Acceleration For Machine Learning Application, Antian Wang

All Dissertations

The security of Machine Learning (ML) grows along with the development of high-performance models and expanding application scenarios. Numerous users are benefiting from the convenience brought by transformative ML applications. In the meantime, various attackers are trying to find vulnerabilities within ML deployment service models, thereby undermining the performance of ML and jeopardizing stakeholders’ interests. The dissertation focuses on the two aspects of secure ML applications: acceleration and protection. Homomorphic Encryption (HE) emerges as a widely recognized security primitive suitable for the cloud computing service model, where the computation can be performed over ciphertext without decryption. However, evaluations in the …

The Role Of Kinases Signaling In Organogenesis, Fatemeh Nasehi

All Dissertations

Kinases are crucial regulators of organ development and differentiation. This thesis investi- gates the roles of TAK1, TGFbeta-Activate Kinase 1 (TAK1/Map3K7), and Akt3 kinases in skeletal, cardiac muscle, and cartilage. TAK1 is pivotal for the differentiation of various organ systems, including sinoatrial node and cartilage, and is responsible for phosphorylat- ing a diverse array of downstream kinases. We identified several novel proteins, including phospho-Akts, that are upregulated in response to TAK1 activation. We discovered severe Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) and cartilage defects in Akt3 mutant mice. Although this mouse mutant has been studied for over two decades, we are the first …

Artificial Intelligence Integration, Concerns, Benefits, And The Need For Ethical Policies For Community Foundations And Nonprofit Organizations, Venera Balidemaj

All Dissertations

This study describes the nature and extent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration in philanthropic organizations and assesses the capacity and readiness of nonprofits in adopting AI for philanthropic use. Additionally, the study explores the nature and extent of perceived concerns, risks, and benefits of AI use in philanthropy and describes the current state of and need for ethical guidance. Specifically, 31 community foundation leaders and 11 nonprofit organization leaders in the United States completed an online survey. Results indicate that organizations report low readiness for AI integration as well as concerns about confidentiality and bias in the data upon which …

Exploring The Use Of Social Media Among Theme Park Guests: A Uses And Gratification Theory Approach, William J. Henderson

All Dissertations

Theme parks have provided billions of dollars to the local economies of tourist destinations (Blair & Rush, 1998; Warden, 2019). In the digital age, the theme park experience is shared with vast online audiences and so there is a need to understand how theme parks are presented on social media from the guest perspective. Specifically, it is vital to understand the uses and gratifications of social media use and content creation from guests and influencers within a theme park context.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory serves as a foundational theory for this research to understand the psychological gratifications found through …

Identification And Validation Of A Measurement Of Emergency Physician Workload During End Of Shift Patient Handoffs, Steven Foster

All Dissertations

Recent increases in emergency physician (EP) workload have been identified as contributors to increased EP burnout, increased staff attrition, decreased patient safety, and increased patient admission rates. Patient handoffs have been extensively researched as critical points in patient care, with existing research primarily focusing on communication errors and interventions designed to standardize handoff communication protocols.

While end of shift handoffs in hospital emergency departments (EDs) intuitively represent a transfer of patient caseload from an outgoing EP to an incoming EP, there is a fundamental lack of literature examining how such handoffs contribute to EP workload, and a similar lack of …

Remote Onboarding Of Software Developers: Leveraging Virtual Reality And Ai Tools, James Dominic

All Dissertations

Software development teams add newcomers to accommodate the increasing demand, complexity of software solutions, and turnover. Onboarding newcomers is expensive and error-prone. It can take up to three years for a newcomer to become an expert on a project. Onboarding techniques described in the current literature focus on collocated teams. As more teams are adopting remote and distributed team structures, I address this research gap in understanding remote onboarding for software developers. I present my research on the use of Virtual Reality (VR) for remote software developer onboarding. I discuss a VR remote pair programming environment. With positive outcomes, pair …

Computer Vision Algorithms For Assessment Of Surgical Suturing Skill Using Hand And Needle Motion, Jianxin Gao

All Dissertations

Surgical suturing skill assessment is a crucial part of surgical education. Vascular surgery educators have developed a simulation-based examination called Fundamentals of Vascular Surgery, which includes a clock-face model for assessing open surgical suturing skills. The clock-face model, however, requires the valuable time of expert surgeons to determine examinees' skills. Moreover, expert surgeons have different judgments for appropriate sutures, which leads to inconsistent grading. These limitations motivate us to use sensors to measure examinees' needle motions and hand motions during the clock-face suturing exercises, and then use the measurements for objective suturing skill assessment.

To assess suturing skills based on …

Novel Meta-Materials Application For Pressure-Offloading Of Diabetic Foot Ulcers, Kyle Walker

All Dissertations

Diabetes and its associated complications have seen their prevalence sharply rise in the United States over the past few decades. In fact, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes has nearly doubled from 5.1% of the US population in 1988, to 9% in the most recent CDC report, which does not include the large percentage of the population with undiagnosed or prediabetes. Of this diabetic population, it is estimated that up to 34% will experience at least one foot ulcer during their lifetime. In worst case scenarios, these ulcers can become infected and eventually require amputation of a portion of, or the …

On The Structure, Energy, And Segregation Behavior Of Grain Boundaries In Metallic Systems, Yasir Mahmood

All Dissertations

Nearly all structural metallic systems are multi-component polycrystalline aggregates; their microstructures are composed of crystalline grains that are internally joined at grain boundaries (GBs). This thesis focuses on GB structure, energy, and chemistry, as these greatly influence many material properties and processes, including boundary dynamics during processing treatments or under operating conditions.

Using atomistic simulations, we examine the impact of metastable GB structures on solute segregation. A wide range of GB geometries and metastable structures are used in our study. The Al-Mg alloy is used because it is of interest for light weighting. The atomistic simulation results are used to …

Exploring Equity In Introductory Biology Genetics Education, Sandy G. Phillips-Long

All Dissertations

The dissertation “Exploring Equity in Introductory Biology Genetics Education” delved into the critical examination of equity within undergraduate genetics education. Chapter One outlined the background, significance, research framework, and manuscripts included in this study. Chapter Two was a scoping review that provided an overview of the current pedagogical approaches in undergraduate genetics education. It identified six active learning pedagogies: Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE); group work; case-based learning; inquiry-based learning; Virtual Reality (VR); and Consider, Read, Elucidate the hypothesis, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment (CREATE). Chapter Three was a systematic literature review investigating pedagogical …

Pelvic Sucker Form And Function In Waterfall Climbing Gobies: Variation In Morphology And Adhesive Performance Can Inspire Biomimetic Innovation, Amanda Palecek Mcclung

All Dissertations

Adhesive systems have evolved in many animal lineages and have appeared multiple times among the fishes. Bioadhesion in the gobies, a group found around the world, plays a role in both station-holding and even climbing. Among the Hawaiian streams, we find four species of amphidromous gobies which must face predators as juveniles and climb streams up to hundreds of feet tall to reach adult habitats. These gobies exhibit a range of climbing and adhesive abilities that result in an elevation-dependent species stratification, in which increasingly proficient climbing species are found in streams at increasingly higher elevations. This group is therefore …

The Development Of A Novel Cartilage Analog Scaffold For Chondral Regeneration, Vishal Thomas

All Dissertations

Focal Chondral Defects (FCDs) are cartilage injuries that affect about 900,000 Americans every year. Left untreated, these may lead to osteoarthritis and eventually necessitate painful knee replacements. Current treatment options are limited in terms of durability, cost, and availability of grafts. Tissue engineering, using natural scaffolds, are a highly attractive alternative promising cost efficiency, abundance, and long-term benefits. However, their low mechanical strength and dense matrices are impediments that could lead to sub-optimal repair.

In this work, a natural biomaterial, the bovine nucleus pulposus (bNP), derived from intervertebral disc tissue, was identified as a candidate scaffold for cartilage regeneration. Mechanical …

We Train Ai, Why Not Humans, Too? An Exploration Of Human-Ai Team Training For Future Workplace Viability, Caitlin M. Lancaster

All Dissertations

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the workforce is transforming team dynamics, leading to the emergence of Human-AI Teams (HATs). These teams offer opportunities to capitalize on human strengths with AI's prowess, offering significant opportunities for innovation and efficiency. Effective HAT functioning requires aligning human expectations with AI capabilities and bridging knowledge gaps between teammates. Despite this potential, key integration challenges remain, such as developing shared mental models, addressing skill limitations, and overcoming negative AI perceptions. Existing training efforts often apply human-human teaming principles directly to HATs, overlooking AI's role as a teammate and limiting the development of HAT-specific …

Monitoring Vehicle Seat Occupancy Status And Tracking Human Passenger Activities Inside Vehicle Passenger Cabins, Rahul Prasanna Kumar

All Dissertations

An autonomous vehicle (AV) is a promising engineering innovation that can operate without a human driver. Nonetheless, to ensure passenger safety and comfort in the absence of human drivers, the vehicle must continuously monitor and predict how the cabin’s state will evolve in the immediate future. The two major factors influencing the cabin’s state are the occupancy statuses of vehicle seats and the activities of human passengers occupying them. Therefore, this dissertation presents a system employing a capacitance-sensing mat and a machine learning unit to monitor vehicle seat occupancy status and track passenger activities non-intrusively. While the mat integrates with …

Vision-Based Autonomy Stacks For Farm Tractors And Intelligent Spraying Systems In Orchards, Shengli Xu

All Dissertations

Autonomous tractors equipped with intelligent sprayers have become a pivotal aspect of smart farming (SF), marking a transformative shift in traditional agricultural practices and holding the potential to revolutionize the farming industry. With 2,453,620 fruit-bearing acres in the United States as of 2022, there is a pressing need for the implementation of autonomous systems for farm tractors and intelligent spraying systems in orchards. These advancements can significantly reduce labor costs, address labor shortages, and minimize spray loss. Furthermore, to enhance profitability and productivity, it is essential to develop low-cost yet effective vision-based autonomy systems that can operate efficiently across various …

Capillary Phenomena In Flow Down Fibers: Beads, Bridges, Sheets, And Threads, Chase Tyler Gabbard

All Dissertations

Capillary phenomena are ubiquitous in everyday life with surface tension responsible for shaping liquids and deforming slender structures on length scales smaller than the capillary length, as seen in the formation of drops from a leaky faucet and in the coalescence of wet hair, respectively. Recently, thin film flow down fibers have received significant attention for their ability to produce bead-on-fiber patterns with associated high surface area-to-volume ratios that optimize retention times in heat and mass transfer applications. The presence of a base flow gives rise to complex dynamics including absolute and convective instabilities. The parallelization of these processes through …

Efficient And Secure Data Transmissions In Emerging Heterogeneous Wireless Networks, Sihan Yu

All Dissertations

The widespread deployment of wireless devices facilitates the Internet of everything, greatly enhancing communication efficiency and improving people’s daily experiences. The interconnectivity of wireless devices relies on wireless communication technologies. With the development of various emerging communication technologies, wireless networks have become increasingly vast and complex, giving rise to numerous new challenges such as efficiency and security concerns.

In wireless networks, different devices may utilize different communication protocols, resulting in heterogeneous wireless networks. Communication among heterogeneous devices is challenging, often leading to conflicts and low communication efficiency when utilizing limited communication resources (e.g., spectrum resources). Moreover, the coexistence of heterogeneous …

Convex Approach To Data-Driven Optimal Control With Safety Constraints Using Linear Transfer Operator, Joseph Raphel Moyalan

All Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with the data-driven solution to the optimal control problem with safety constraints for a class of control-affine nonlinear systems. Designing optimal control satisfying safety constraints is a problem of interest in various applications, including robotics, power systems, transportation networks, and manufacturing. This problem is known to be non-convex. One of this thesis's main contributions is providing a convex formulation to this non-convex problem. The second main contribution is providing a data-driven framework for solving the control problem with safety constraints. The linear operator theoretic framework involving Perron-Frobenius and Koopman operators provides the convex formulation and associated …

Physics-Informed Machine Learning Methods For Inverse Design Of Multi-Phase Materials With Targeted Mechanical Properties, Yunpeng Wu

All Dissertations

Advances in machine learning algorithms and applications have significantly enhanced engineering inverse design capabilities. This work focuses on the machine learning-based inverse design of material microstructures with targeted linear and nonlinear mechanical properties. It involves developing and applying predictive and generative physics-informed neural networks for both 2D and 3D multiphase materials.

The first investigation aims to develop a machine learning method for the inverse design of 2D multiphase materials, particularly porous materials. We first develop machine learning methods to understand the implicit relationship between a material's microstructure and its mechanical behavior. Specifically, we use ResNet-based models to predict the elastic …

Data-Driven Enhanced Energy Management System Applications For Energy Control Centers, Dulip Madurasinghe

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores the pressing needs of modern bulk power system operation and control and delves into enhancements to EMS applications with minimal infrastructure development. The dissertation investigates three main EMS application enhancements. The transmission network topology processing (TNTP) is a foundational application of the EMS. A physics-based hierarchical transmission network topology processing (H-TNTP), including substation configuration identification, to improve efficiency and reliability is proposed. Secondly, a multi-level distributed linear state estimation (D-LSE) approach solely based on PMUs is proposed utilizing H-TNTP as the network modeling tool. The D-LSE can conduct linear state estimation (LSE) at either substation, area or …

Fantastic Trolls And Where To Find Them: Problem Framing In The Defense Against The Informational Dark Arts, Jayson M. Warren

All Dissertations

In the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the notion of state-sponsored trolls engaging in information operations on social media has captured the attention of society. Yet eight years after this policymaking focusing event, sustainable solutions prove elusive and there is still much that is not known about the underlying phenomenon. This dissertation is part explanatory and part exploratory in its attempts to answer the overarching research question: What is the Relationship Between How the Problem of State-Sponsored Trolls on Social Media is Framed & the Way U.S. Federal Policy Attempts to Solve It? Using …

Integrating Artificial Intelligence And Augmented Reality For Enhanced Task Performance In The Construction Industry, Aasish Chandrika Bhanu

All Dissertations

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector, characterized by its complex tasks, often faces challenges in adopting cutting-edge technologies, a trend that can significantly hinder productivity improvements compared to other industries. This dissertation explores the emerging integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) within the AEC domain, investigating how effectively this can be implemented to potentially revolutionize industry practices. AI could be used in the AEC domain for advanced analytical and decision-making processes, while AR could be used for training, visualization, and remote collaboration.

In scenarios where construction site workers require expert guidance, these technologies could be helpful. …

Opioid Overdose Epidemic Modeling, Chelsea Spence

All Dissertations

The opioid overdose crisis in the United States has led to thousands of lost lives and thousands more people struggling with opioid dependence. Disease modeling allows researchers to examine the course that the disease may take and to investigate policies to determine the effects they may have. Disease models can be used to model non-communicable diseases and have been used to study opioid use disorder. Many types of disease models exist with their own inherent benefits and drawbacks.

In this dissertation, we provide a scoping review of the disease models that have been used to study the opioid overdose epidemic. …

A Pilot Study On The Effects Of Aesthetic In Game Play Experience And Visual Attention In Virtual Reality, Makayla Middleton

All Theses

Video games have become very popular over the last couple of decades and the popularity is increasing year by year. Imagine a world where video games didn’t exist. Yes, the world would function as normal but we would take away the creative freedoms expressed in game play. The video game industry today has become larger than the music and film industry combined. With new technologies becoming available, the user’s game play experience continues to change.
The purpose of this thesis is to look at the growth and definitions of game play experience and see how it will change with virtual …

Engineering The Properties Of Magnesium Aluminate Spinel Through Solid State Solutions, Robin Conner

All Theses

Magnesium aluminate spinel solid state solutions were prepared via the coprecipitation method and calcined in air at 900 °C for 2 h. The manipulation of magnesium aluminate spinel’s microstructure through the formation of solid state solutions with zinc and gadolinium substituting for magnesium was investigated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR FTIR) confirmed the formation of a single cubic crystalline phase. The luminescence properties were investigated by radioluminescence (RL) under X-ray excitation and thermoluminescence (TL) measurements. In the case of zinc, all concentrations of the solid state solutions showed similar luminescence with bands at …