Digital Commons Network^™

Exploratory Study Of Students' Representational Fluency And Competence Of Electric Circuits, William Fernando Sandchez Cossio

Open Access Theses

Electric circuits are extensively used in today’s devices as computers, phones, cameras and others. This makes them a crucial topic in engineering because almost every engineering branch could be related of used them at different levels. Even though their importance, students often struggle during the learning process of circuit analysis topics. Additionally, other very important abilities for engineering students are the capacities to create, use, express and think about models and representations of technical concepts; and the capacities to translate and map from one representation to another. These abilities are known as representational competence and representational fluency respectively.

The purpose …

Using Big Data Analytics For Effective Six Sigma Project Selection, Anuja S. Rayarikar

Open Access Theses

Food security is a global concern that is addressed by each nation in its unique way. The Public Distribution System (PDS) is the largest food security scheme in India, which distributes food commodities to citizens at subsidized rates.

The onset of technology has been reflected in the PDS and the system has undergone many reforms over the years. The automation of fair price shops (FPS) in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India is one such reform that was implemented in January 2015. The use of unique identification cards called “Aadhar cards” for authentication along with electronic point-of-sale (ePoS) devices …

Visual Detail And Its Effects On Character Attachment In Video Games, Carl Sommer

Open Access Theses

The video game industry has been experiencing a trend toward independent game developers making their own games, as well as large companies opening smaller divisions to work on smaller games. This can be looked at from a purely financial perspective, given that smaller games will inevitably consume a smaller budget; however, there is also good reason to believe there can be substantial creative benefits to companies indulging in this trend. This research is concerned with the effect that visual detail can have on a players emotional attachment to characters in video games-otherwise known as character attachment. While intuition may often …

Using Ubiquitous Data To Improve Smartwatches' Context Awareness, Yuankun Song

Open Access Theses

Nowadays, more and more data is being generated by various software applications, services and smart devices every second. The data contains abundant information about people’s daily lives. This research explored the possibility of improving smartwatches’ context awareness by using common ubiquitous data. The researcher developed a prototype system consisting of an Android application and a web application, and conducted an experiment where 10 participants performed several tasks with the help of a smartwatch. The result showed a significant improvement of the smartwatch’s context awareness running the prototype application, which used ubiquitous data to automatically execute proper actions according to contexts. …

Metal-Promoted Self-Assembly Of Collagen Mimetic Peptides Into Biofunctional Scaffolds For Stem Cell Delivery With The Aim Of Tissue Regeneration, Kevin Strauss

Open Access Theses

Collagen is a strong, sturdy, but malleable, protein found abundantly in the extracellular matrix. Consequently, it has become an invaluable biomaterial for use in regenerative medicine. However, natural collagen poses difficulties when it comes to customization and structural control, as well as the risk of infectious prions from animal sources. Our approach utilizes shorter, synthetic collagen mimetic peptide sequences. These peptides retain the incredible triple helical stability of natural collagen but can be modified with versatile metal-binding ligands. In the presence of an appropriate metal ion, the peptides self-assemble into diverse, three-dimensional morphologies. The peptide NCoH, functionalized with N-terminal NTA …

Novel Gain Enhancement Technique For Microstrip Patch Antennas Based On Multi-Pronged Feed Network Synthesis, Brian J. Vaughn

Open Access Theses

Developing antennas with enhanced gain has always been an important pursuit within the antenna community, as a higher gain leads to an increase in the received power for any given wireless link. In general, when a higher gain is needed for an application, only certain types of antennas can be used. The goal of this thesis project was to develop a method for increasing the gain of antennas that already exist by applying modifications to them, expanding the design flexibility for wireless applications. In this thesis, a novel method for increasing the gain of microstrip patch antennas by synthesizing specialized …

A Platform For Otakus To Gradually Learn And Adapt To Social Conventions, Shang Xu

Open Access Theses

It is believed that good design should not only satisfy users’ needs, but also improve their overall quality of life. Nowadays, with the rapidly increasing amounts of time spent on the internet, more and more people, the majority of them youngsters, claim themselves as otakus since they cut themselves off from face-to-face communication. From my primary and secondary user studies, most otakus have difficulties interacting with strangers in real world contexts, but some do want to expand their social networks. This design hypothesis is to provide opportunities for otakus to meet people and build friendships in real life. The purpose …

A Study Of The Color Selection Workflow Of Web Design Students, Yawen Yu

Open Access Theses

This study investigated the color selection workflow of web design students as they create websites, as well as the resources, past experiences, and thoughts that go into this process.

Interviews and task activities were conducted to identify the color selection workflow, and the process was found to contain many micro-interactions that ultimately went beyond just color selection. Furthermore, the color selection workflow was observed to be composed of “modes,” where each contributed to the behaviors of the student designers.

Experimental Characterization Of Scroll Expander For Small-Scale Power Generation In An Organic Rankine Cycle, Felipe Airoldi Accorsi

Open Access Theses

Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) are thermodynamic power cycles designed to generate work from low temperature sources. The low temperature heat input, typically between 80 °C to 270 °C, allows them to recover energy from industrial waste heat, exhaust gas from diesel, engines, solar systems, geothermal systems, and others. This technology already is commercialized in large-to-medium-scale power plants; however, it is still in development for small-to-micro scale.

The operating principle of ORC comprises four major steps. First, the working fluid evaporates at high pressure using the heat transfer from the low temperature heat source. Then, the working fluid reduces its enthalpy …

Students' Reasoning With Haptic Technologies: A Qualitative Study In The Electromagnetism Domain, Sadhana Balachandran

Open Access Theses

With abundant applications in the medical training and entertainment industry, haptic technology is slowly making its way into the realm of science education, particularly in conveying abstract and non-visible concepts. Electric field is one such abstract concept. Past studies have shown that learning concepts such as electric fields in a traditional classroom can be quite challenging since students have a hard time visualizing the phenomena and applying its effects to reason. Furthermore, these concepts are the building blocks for more complex concepts such as matter and molecular interactions. Visuo-haptic devices provide a great platform to enable students to visualize and …

The Meaningfulness Of Internships: A Sensemaking Approach, Kaley Campbell

Open Access Theses

Internships are an important part of undergraduate education, with more than 61% of students completing an internship, yet there is not much academic literature surrounding this topic (NACE, 2015). Using Weick’s (1995) sensemaking theory, report data was analyzed thematically looking at how interns made sense of their experiences and what they found to be meaningful. This study found four distinct themes that interns used to navigate unique tensions and power dynamics within their organizational setting: “Just an intern,” “It’s up to me,” “For my future,” and “I was allowed.” Future research could explore framing internships more as a career choice …

Using Construal Level Theory To Promote Hpv Vaccine Uptake Among College Males, Julie Cannon

Open Access Theses

College males’ uptake of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination is low. Prior research indicates perceived susceptibility to HPV among college males is also low. Construal level theory may offer a framework to alter perceived susceptibility and intention to vaccinate, but little research has examined this potential. Construal level theory provides foundational elements including that low construal level of perceptions is associated with more proximal psychological distance (hypothetical, social, temporal and spatial). Research indicates a disparity in college males’ susceptibility estimates which suggests high hypothetical distance. A reduction in hypothetical distance should be indicated by a measured increase in perceived susceptibility. …

Aging Effects In Automated Face Recognition, Miguel Cedeno Agamez

Open Access Theses

The main objective of this work was to analyze the effects of aging on the automated face recognition process.

A dataset was used to perform experiments and obtain indicators to measure the impact of aging. To compare the effects of aging the dataset was segmented based on the age difference between the subjects’ face images. The image quality metrics were also part of the analysis performed in this study.

The results of the experiments shown that the higher the gap between the images, the higher the error rates. These were the expected results and it is consistent with other experiments …

Stochastic Modeling And Dem Simulation Of Granular Media Subsidence Due To Underground Activity, Rodrigo Borela Valente

Open Access Theses

Many communities around the world have been established in areas of ongoing, as well as ceased, underground mining activity. Ground movements induced by ore extraction methods and the collapse of abandoned cavities have long been recognized as a hazard to surface structures. A number of approaches have been proposed for the prediction of subsidence in underground mining regions, and their integration to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can produce a powerful risk management tool. Nevertheless, this application is often limited by either a lack of generality or excessive computational cost of the methods available.

In this work, the stochastic subsidence model …

Farmers' Use Of Mobile Phone Technology For Agricultural Information Services In Lilongwe District, Malawi, Benjamin F. Chisama

Open Access Theses

Mobile phone technology can be a useful tool to provide farmers with relevant and reliable agricultural information for critical farming decisions in developing countries such as Malawi. An increasing number of rural farmers have been faced with information asymmetry challenges due to some pitfalls in the extension systems. In addition, knowledge gaps on farmers’ use of mobile phone technology; their awareness and use of MAIS; and their preferred topics to be delivered using mobile platforms were identified. However, little was known on how farmers were using existing MAIS. This study’s aim was to explore the potential of providing mobile agricultural …

Beyond The Gender Gap: Understanding Women's Participation In Wikipedia, Danielle J. Corple

Open Access Theses

In 2010, UNU-MERIT researchers surveyed editors of Wikipedia, “the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit” (Glott, Ghosh, & Schmidt, 2010). When the report revealed that almost 90% of the editors were male, however, it suggested that perhaps not everyone “can edit” Wikipedia—especially women. As the resulting media and academic explanations of the Wikipedia “gender gap” have largely attributed the gap to ‘female lack’—lack of initiative, confidence, or technical skills—very little research has explored the treatment of women within Wikipedia culture. Thus, this paper first draws upon feminist technology scholars to problematize current explanations of the gender gap that frame …

Examining The Difference Between Asynchronous And Synchronous Training, Colby R. Craig

Open Access Theses

For my project, we chose to do a thesis so that it would better help me out in the future in the case I wanted to get my PhD. My thesis so far has been to develop software that will help POD sites better be able to train their volunteers in the case of an emergency. We have already collected some data for our research from a test POD site that was constructed. We took data on the amount of time it took each volunteer to get an individual actor through the line depending on whether they learned via teacher …

Building A Digital Forensic Investigation Technique For Forensically Sound Analysis Of Covert Channels In Ipv6 And Icmpv6, Using Custom Ids Signatures And Firewall System Logs, Lourdes Gino Dominic Savio

Open Access Theses

Covert Channels are communication channels used for information transfer, and created by violating the security policies of a system (Latham, 1986, p. 80). Research in the field has shown that, like many communication channels, IPv4 and the TCP/IP protocol suite has features, functionality and options which could be exploited by cyber criminals to leak data or for anonymous communications, through covert channels. With the advent of IPv6, researchers are on the lookout for covert channels in IPv6 and one of them demonstrated a proof of concept in 2006. Nine years hence, IPv6 and its related protocols have undergone major changes, …

A Comparative Forensic Analysis Of Privacy Enhanced Web Browsers, Ryan M. Gabet

Open Access Theses

Growing concerns regarding Internet privacy has led to the development of enhanced privacy web browsers. The intent of these web browsers is to provide better privacy for users who share a computer by not storing information about what websites are being visited as well as protecting user data from websites that employ tracking tools such as Google for advertisement purposes. As with most tools, users have found an alternative purpose for enhanced privacy browsers, some illegal in nature. This research conducted a digital forensic examination of three enhanced privacy web browsers and three commonly used web browsers in private browsing …

Detection Of Communication Over Dnssec Covert Channels, Nicole M. Hands

Open Access Theses

Unauthorized data removal and modification from information systems represents a major and formidable threat in modern computing. Security researchers are engaged in a constant and escalating battle with the writers of malware and other methods of network intrusion to detect and mitigate this threat. Advanced malware behaviors include encryption of communications between the server and infected client machines as well as various strategies for resilience and obfuscation of infrastructure. These techniques evolve to use any and all available mechanisms. As the Internet has grown, DNS has been expanded and has been given security updates. This study analyzed the potential uses …

A Novel Mode-Switching Hydraulic Hybrid For An On-Highway Vehicle: A Study Of Architecture And Control, Hiral Jayantilal Haria

Open Access Theses

Increasing demand for fossil fuels, their limited reserves and the environmental effects resulting from the transportation sector has raised severe concerns to government agencies, transportation industry as well as the end-users. This has raised interests in improving the fuel economy of road vehicles. One of the promising technologies in this regard is hybridization of vehicle transmission. Hydraulic hybrids have progressively gained acceptance due to their high power density and low component costs relative to their electric counterpart.

Many different hydraulic hybrid architectures have been developed to achieve better power management and regenerative braking and have been tested for performance and …

Authentic Enterprise, Communal Employee Relationship, And Employee-Generated Managerial Assets, Yeunjae Lee

Open Access Theses

This study aims to explore managerial intangible assets of organizations generated by their internal publics, employees. Considering employees’ perception and communicative behaviors as an organization’s managerial assets, this study examines an organization’s authentic behaviors and organization-employee relationships. To be more specific, this study firstly investigates how an organization’s authentic behavior—truthfulness, transparency, and consistency—affects communal relationship between employees and an organization. Using megaphoning, scouting, and microboundary spanning as theoretical frameworks for employees’ communicative behaviors (ECB), this study also examines the association among perceived authenticity of organizational behavior, organization-employee relationships, and employees’ communicative actions. Furthermore, this study investigates how employees …

Evaluating The Physical Welfare Of Dogs In Commercial Breeding Facilities In The United States, Moriah J. Hurt

Open Access Theses

Despite high levels of public concern, the state of commercial breeding (CB) dog welfare is largely unknown. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the physical welfare of dogs in CB facilities and their environment in Indiana. This study specifically aimed 1) to characterize dog foot health in CB facilities as a function of the length of time dogs were housed on a given flooring substrate, 2) to characterize visual dog body cleanliness and visual kennel cleanliness as a function of the flooring substrate, 3) to determine the efficacy of kennel cleaning procedures and 4) to characterize the dog dental and …

Influence Of Stormwater Control Measures On Watershed Hydrology And Biogeochemical Cycling, Colin D. Bell

Open Access Dissertations

Urban development replaces vegetation with impervious surfaces and natural drainage channels with pipe networks that quicken flow paths and alter hydrologic regimes. Additionally, the import of food, application of fertilizer to lawns and gardens, and heightened atmospheric deposition increases nutrient availability in urban landscapes. These excess nutrients are ultimately routed to streams through the pipe networks before it can be processed by the vegetation and microorganisms of the landscape. This combination of physical and chemical disturbances impacts stream ecosystems and degrades their ability to perform valuable services such as removal of nutrients, degradation of pollutants, and provision of recreational and …

Data Mining Twitter For Cancer, Diabetes, And Asthma Insights, Kimberly Chulis

Open Access Dissertations

Twitter may be a data resource to support healthcare research. Literature is still limited related to the potential of Twitter data as it relates to healthcare. The purpose of this study was to contrast the processes by which a large collection of unstructured disease-related tweets could be converted into structured data to be further analyzed. This was done with the objective of gaining insights into the content and behavioral patterns associated with disease-specific communications on Twitter. Twelve months of Twitter data related to cancer, diabetes, and asthma were collected to form a baseline dataset containing over 34 million tweets. As …

Thematic Analysis Of Influencers On Continuing Professional Learning Of Tenure Track Engineering Faculty As Assistant Professors At An Ru/Vh Institution, James Edwin Cawthorne

Open Access Dissertations

“Although the need for lifelong learning of professionals is stressed through university education, the patent differences between learning as a student, within a controlled framework focusing on accessible outcomes, and learning as a professional have not been clarified” (Webster-Wright, 2009, p. 708). Assistant professors are entry level professionals in academia who been prepared through their extensive education process to be lifelong learners and yet it is unknown how these assistant professors are engaging, or being engaged by others, in continuing their professional learning (CPL) for short-term and long-term success in academia as a career. This study aimed to understand who …

Facebook Engagement On College Students' Interpersonal And Intrapersonal Functioning, Scott S. Deatherage

Open Access Dissertations

In recent years college students have incorporated social-networking sites, and more specifically Facebook, into their daily lives. Facebook has received empirical attention; attention focused on what students are doing on Facebook, who its users are, and, more recently, why students access Facebook. However, researchers who have assessed motivations for accessing Facebook have emphasized how motivations are associated with certain activities, and have not simultaneously and directly examined how activities and motivations are associated with both maladaptive and adaptive factors of students’ interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning. The purpose of the present study was to examine how Facebook engagement is associated with …

Knowledge Modeling Of Phishing Emails, Courtney Falk

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates whether or not malicious phishing emails are detected better when a meaningful representation of the email bodies is available. The natural language processing theory of Ontological Semantics Technology is used for its ability to model the knowledge representation present in the email messages. Known good and phishing emails were analyzed and their meaning representations fed into machine learning binary classifiers. Unigram language models of the same emails were used as a baseline for comparing the performance of the meaningful data. The end results show how a binary classifier trained on meaningful data is better at detecting phishing …

A Mixed Methods Study On Choice Of Media Influence On Construction Industry Communication, Luciana De Cresce El Debs

Open Access Dissertations

This study focuses on the use of different communication media for solving problems in the construction industry. The focus of this research is on design-problems containing spatial information and are informally reported between site supervision and design professionals. Due to the fragmented nature of the construction industry, miscommunication is a well-known and common problem. Yet, this fragmented nature is necessary in order to build a complex product involving many different types of professionals. To better understand the issue, this study uses previous literature, such as those published on media richness theory, problem-solving strategy, and construction specific communications, in a three-phased …

The Politics Of Town Hall Meetings: Analyzing Constituent Relations-In-Interaction, Robert J. Green

Open Access Dissertations

The politics of town meetings proposes that town hall meetings are institutions of representative democracy that present an opportunity for constituents to hold their elected representatives accountable in a public setting. Constituent relations-in-interaction glosses a complex set of interactional practices and procedures through which ensembles of participants bring town hall meetings, as structures of social interaction, into being. This study uses conversation analysis, the study of talk-in-interaction, to show that the politics of town hall meetings orients to three types of accountability: Interactional accountability, political accountability, and public accountability. The articulation of these accountability types provides a sense of overall-structural …