Digital Commons Network^™

A Trust Management Framework For Decision Support Systems, Yefeng Ruan

Open Access Dissertations

In the era of information explosion, it is critical to develop a framework which can extract useful information and help people to make “educated” decisions. In our lives, whether we are aware of it, trust has turned out to be very helpful for us to make decisions. At the same time, cognitive trust, especially in large systems, such as Facebook, Twitter, and so on, needs support from computer systems. Therefore, we need a framework that can effectively, but also intuitively, let people express their trust, and enable the system to automatically and securely summarize the massive amounts of trust information, …

Driving Foreign Relations: The European Sports Car And The Globalization Of America, Keenan J. Shimko

Open Access Dissertations

Historians are just beginning to examine the ways in which Americans were affected at home by contact with the peoples and cultures of Europe through consumption. As Kristin Hoganson notes in Consumer’s Imperium, when it comes to Americanization and the globalization of culture “we know more about the outgoing tide than the incoming swells.”1 My dissertation takes the notion of Americanization and inverts it to examine the influence of a European product, the sports car, on American consumers and automobile manufacturers in the postwar period. By using European sports cars as a case study to explore the influence of European …

Energy Efficient Downstream Communication In Wireless Sensor Networks, Xiaoyang Zhong

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation studies the problem of energy efficient downstream communication in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). First, we present the Opportunistic Source Routing (OSR), a scalable, reliable, and energy-efficient downward routing protocol for individual node actuation in data collection WSNs. OSR introduces opportunistic routing into traditional source routing based on the parent set of a node’s upward routing in data collection, significantly addressing the drastic link dynamics in low-power and lossy WSNs. We devise a novel adaptive Bloom filter mechanism to effectively and efficiently encode a downward source-route in OSR, which enables a significant reduction of the length of source-route field …

A Mapping Of Applied Electric Fields In The Spinal Cord Via Finite Element Analysis, Kavya Cherukuri

Open Access Theses

Approximately 17,000 new cases of spinal cord injuries (SCI) occur every year in the United States, resulting in temporary or permanent paralysis in patients. Presently, there are no known FDA approved treatments that restore functional loss after SCI. Previous in vitro studies have shown that axonal outgrowth and pathfinding can be enhanced through the application of weak DC electric fields. For the past several decades, our laboratory has exploited this phenomenon of electric field-induced axon regeneration by developing an implantable device that delivers weak DC current across the spinal lesion. Although the device has shown positive improvements in functional and …

Community Detection In Cyber Networks, Harsha Vithalrao Deshmukh

Open Access Theses

Community detection has been widely studied and implemented across various research domains such as social networks, biological networks, neuroscience, and cybersecurity. In the context of cyber networks, it involves identifying the groups of network nodes such that the network connections are dense within the group and are sparser between the groups. Various community detection algorithms can be utilized to detect the underlying community structure of a given network. However, it is crucial to evaluate the quality of the detected communities as there are a number of ways that a particular network may be partitioned into communities, and thus, a quality …

Exploring The Effects Of A Stem Integrated Program Experience On Girl Scouts’ Pro-Environmental Intentions, Miranda E. Furrer

Open Access Theses

Youth have a natural curiosity about the world around them. However, even with this curiosity and the known benefits to spending time outdoors, many youth do not spend much time outdoors; they spend a majority of their time indoors. Through programming relating to a real-world problem, such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) integrated programming, youth can begin develop an appreciation for the world around them by learning and by having an interest in spending more time outdoors. By spending more time in the outdoors, youth may develop a stronger connection to their environment, which is important in this …

Development Of A Finite Volume General Two-Phase Navier-Stokes Solver For Direct Numerical Simulations On Cut-Cells With Sharp Fixed Interface, Vishwanath Ganesan

Open Access Theses

A general two-phase solver is developed to solve Navier-Stokes equation for low Mach number incompressible fluids on a mixed grid using a finite volume approach by employing a sharp fixed interface cut-cell method. This sharp interface divides the computational domain into two sub-domains corresponding to two different phases. The Navier-Stokes equations in each sub-domain are solved separately by coupling the boundary conditions for mass and momentum at the interface. These sub-domains can either be of same media (fluid-fluid) or different media (fluid-solid or fluid-gas). For a fluid-gas media, this enables to distinguish the sub-domains clearly and establish discontinuities in the …

The Effect Of Sc On The Formation And Distribution Of In-Situ Tib2 Particles In An Aluminum Matrix, Dan Huang

Open Access Theses

My research question is the effects of scandium on the formation and distribution of in-situ TiB2 particles in an aluminum matrix. In-situ TiB2 particles have been proven to be effective grain refiners in an aluminum matrix. On the other hand, scandium is getting more and more attention due to the high strength and low density of Al-Sc alloys, which have been applied in many areas. My research is to investigate the effect of the addition of scandium on the in-situ TiB2 particles in an aluminum matrix through a series of metal-salt reactions followed by a detailed microstructure analysis. TiB2 particles …

A Study On Synthesizing Pdm And Lms In K-12 Environments, Meagan Hughes

Open Access Theses

This thesis concentrates on combining PDM and LMS in K-12 environments. With PLM making a rise in nontraditional environments, there is a need for research in the education area. A directed look at document management in the “Project Lead the Way” classes at high schools across Indiana has been conducted with this study. The survey aims to find the issues that teachers encounter when using the learning management system both with the PLTW curriculum and the one that is currently in place at their individual schools. Using the issues reported from the data obtained from the survey, the possibility of …

Youth Perceptions Of Equine Welfare Among Common Horse-Human Interactions, Brandon M.G. Rice

Open Access Theses

Animal welfare studies have explored various topics such as general care and management, human perceptions and factors associated with welfare. These studies however consistently utilize adult populations. The equine industry embodies a large number of youth members and the principles they establish as adolescents regarding specific equine activities and care and management practices are likely to carry forward through their adult lives. To move forward and enhance welfare practices, it is essential to understand youth perceptions and viewpoints towards all populations working with horses; therefore this study was conducted to explore the perceptions and awareness levels of youth towards the …

Quantifying Human Heat Stress In Working Environments, And Their Relationship To Atmospheric Dynamics, Due To Global Climate Change, Jonathan R. Buzan

Open Access Dissertations

Heat stress is a global issue that crosses socioeconomic status. Heat stress leads to reduced worker capacity on seasonal scales, and weekly to sub-daily timescales, incapacitation, morbidity, and mortality. This dissertation focuses on 2 distinct parts: quantification methods of heat stress, and heat stress applications. Quantification methods of heat stress Chapters 1–3 focus on historical analysis of heat stress. Chapter 1 is a detailed assessment of previous work in heat stress—methods, history, and future research outlook. Chapter 2 focuses on the implementation and quantification of a battery of heat stress metrics within the global circulation model framework. The ultimate outcome …

Modeling Anthropogenic Disturbance Of Wildlife, Laura E. D'Acunto

Open Access Dissertations

Anthropogenic disturbance of wildlife refers to a broad range of non-lethal human activities that can impact animal behavior during critical life functions resulting in reduced fitness for those animals. Human disturbance of wildlife can take the form of recreation, resource extraction, noise, and infrastructure development. Animals perceive human presence on the landscape as a predation risk and thus exhibit behaviors such as vigilance, flight, alter their habitat selection, and show signs of stress in response. In this dissertation, we use several different modeling techniques using diverse data types to address the consequences of human disturbance on wildlife species. First, we …

Intimacies Of Power: Eroticized Violence And Gendered Sexuality In Transgressive Art 1890s— #Metoo, Julia Louisa Smith

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to understand eroticized violence by analyzing sadism and masochism as models of modern masculinity and power. I look at the literature and theory of male sexual sadism and masochism as “artefacts of art” as metaphors of male subjectivity expressed across vast and interdisciplinary cultural fields of cultural expression (Bersani, Freudian Body 5). Best understood as an aesthetic formation, masochism shows how cultural formations of subjectivity and sexualized violence are a modern for m of power that operates by means of subversion and can tolerate its own castration. As a metaphor of modern masculinity, de Sade’s sadism shows …

A Study Of The Piston Cylinder Interface Of Axial Piston Machines, Daniel Mizell

Open Access Dissertations

The piston cylinder interface of axial piston machines of swash plate type is one of three critical lubricating interfaces that are responsible for proper machine operation. The interface must simultaneously bear large time changing external loads while preventing excessive leakage or friction. For long term machine reliability, a full fluid film must be maintained between the piston and cylinder surfaces. The goal of this work is to further the understanding of the phenomena contributing to fluid film behavior. A novel multi-body non-isothermal fluid-structure-thermal-interaction piston cylinder interface model is introduced that considers compressible fluid flow, squeeze due to transient deformation, as …

Using Computational Musicological Approaches And Informatics To Characterize Soundscapes In Diverse Natural And Human-Dominated Ecosystems, Kristen M. Bellisario

Open Access Dissertations

The overarching objective of my dissertation research is to use computational musicology and informatics methods to characterize soundscapes in myriad ecosystems across different disturbance gradients. Three questions guided my research:

Can my methods place sound signals into three major sound source bins (classes) better than current approaches?

How can traditional metrics quantify disturbance and temporal periods within a time-dependent structure?

Can a multi-labeling approach allow for content discovery in a soundscape ecology database?

To address these questions, I organized the dissertation into three research chapters.

The second chapter, “Spectral timbral analysis for discrimination of soundscape components,” explores sound beyond traditional …

Sustainable Supply Planning Of By-Product Minerals: A Case Study On Indium, Chul Hun Choi

Open Access Dissertations

Clean energy technologies represent a promising solution to the global warming challenge. However, many clean energy technologies depend on some rare materials, and concerns about demand of the materials have been raised recently. To make the concerns getting even worse, the materials are usually by-products of base metals, thus the supplies highly rely on the demand and production of the base metals. Indium is one of these materials. It is critical for two emerging clean energy applications, that is, copper indium gallium selenide photovoltaic, and light-emitting diode lighting. Like other rare materials, indium is also a by-product of base metal, …

Thermal & Non-Thermal Signatures From Galactic Nuclei, Ian Christie

Open Access Dissertations

The bifurcation of Galactic Nuclei into active galactic nuclei (AGN) and low-luminosity accreting systems is ultimately related to the gas dynamics and therefore the observed emission. Relativistic jets in AGN produce bright and variable emission emanating across the electromagnetic spectrum. The ultra-fast variability, occurring on timescales of several minutes, observed from blazars, a subclass of AGN, pose tight constraints on theoretical models as they require compact objects characterized by fast motions and high Doppler boosting within the jet. Here, I report on the relativistic magnetic reconnection model as a source of blazar emission. By using the results of first principle …

Advancing Eastern Hellbender Conservation Through Novel Head-Starting Techniques, Erin K. Kenison

Open Access Dissertations

Translocations often use captive-reared animals to help bolster or re-establish wild populations. Captive-rearing provides safety and ample amounts of food so animals can be released as larger, older individuals. However, captive environments are highly dissimilar from wild conditions and may deprive animals of experiences that promote normal development. Naïveté to natural stimuli can result in inappropriate or dangerous behaviors following release, elevated predation in the wild, increased disease susceptibility, and ultimately, failed translocation efforts. Eastern hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis alleganiensis) have experienced precipitous declines over the past few decades in Indiana and have been reduced to a single, low-density population in …

The Effects Of Consuming Red Meat On Indexes Of Cardiometabolic Health And Personal Well-Being, Lauren Elizabeth O'Connor

Open Access Dissertations

Red meat consumption is recognized to increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, however, the totality of the evidence does not support this. The recommendations to limit red meat consumption, such as in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ omnivorous healthy eating patterns, are largely based on data from observational cohort studies which assess red meat intake in the context of a Western-style eating pattern. In these studies, “red meat” is often ill-defined and grouped with processed meat as one intake category leading to inconsistent associations between red meat intake and cardiometabolic disease risk. Unprocessed red meat, independent of processed meats, …

Developing Rich Haptic Key-Click Feedback, Quan Liu

Open Access Theses

Three studies were conducted in an attempt to develop distinctive haptic key-click feedback. Study 1 investigated the perceptual dimensions associated with manual key clicks, with the goal of developing realistic haptic key-click feedback signals for virtual keys. We first harvested eight adjective pairs for describing the haptic feel of button and key presses from native English speakers. We then conducted a multidimensional scaling (MDS) experiment where participants provided adjective ratings and grouping data for twenty-three buttons and keys. An MDS analysis of the grouping data led to either a two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) solution. By projecting adjective ratings onto …

Reduction Of The Effective Electron Temperature In A Cryogen-Free Dilution Refrigerator Via Electronic Filtering And Vibration Dampening, Michael Mckinley Yannell

Open Access Theses

Cryogen-free dilution refrigerators (dry fridges) have become an increasingly popular solution to researchers’ cryogenic measurement needs due to their user friendliness and long term use cost savings (4He does not need to be replenished). However, commercially available dry fridges frequently have an effective electron temperatures much warmer than the base temperature of the mixing chamber of the dry fridge. This thesis documents efforts taken to reduce the electron temperature in a dry fridge and the direct probing of the electron temperature via Coulomb blockade thermometry in a 500 nm wide quantum dot.

Choosing Wickedness: Moral Evil In Kant's Religion, Changtze Chia

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation concerns Kant’s doctrine of radical evil. The doctrine consists in the following two claims: (1) The propensity to evil is a universal propensity, found in every human being. It is therefore an innate disposition. (2) Every human being is morally responsible for the propensity to evil found in him. It is therefore a disposition that is freely chosen. The poor reception Kant’s doctrine of radical evil has received over the centuries can be traced to his insistence on these two claims. The doctrine has been censured for two reasons: (1) Kant appeals to empirical evidence in his argument …

Comfort Levels And Communication Styles Of Sexual Health Educators: A Phenomenological Study, Kathleen A. Greenan

Open Access Dissertations

This qualitative, phenomenological study explored Sexual Health Education (SHE) through the lens of 11 public school teachers who offered sex education to their students; teaching sex education was not mandated by the State. It explored the levels of comfort and barriers that educators possessed when they communicated SHE to adolescents. One community within the State of Indiana was examined; at the time of the study. Eleven 7-12th grade educators among three school districts shared their beliefs, values, and feelings regarding SHE instruction and levels of sexuality comfort. As a result, the concept of sexuality comfort was reconstructed, and three findings …

Novel Ideas And Techniques For Large Dark Matter Detectors, Darryl Masson

Open Access Dissertations

As dark matter detection experiments continue to report null results, the need for larger and more sensitive detectors means even more stringent design requirements. New calibration techniques are required and better calibration methods become possible with increased detector size. Additionally, previously ignored detector features such as convection become important, especially as internal, dissolvable sources become more common. Furthermore, convection also offers the possibility for reduction of the 222Rn backrounds via an offline analysis where atoms of 214Pb are tagged and followed throughout the detector via a technique dubbed the “radon self-veto”. In this thesis, we present the characterization of a …

Hydration Shell Water Structure And Aggregation Of Small Amphiphilic Solutes, Shannon R. Pattenaude

Open Access Dissertations

My research aims to address long-standing questions in physical chemistry about water-mediated hydrophobic and ionic interactions of biological relevance. For example, my research has provided some of the first experimental evidence of water driving hydrophobic groups apart rather than pushing them together in solution, thus damping rather than enhancing the contact free energy of oily molecules in water. I have also obtained some of the first experimental evidence concerning the structure of water structure around nonpolar groups in solution, thus demonstrating that hydrophobic hydration-shells have a clathrate hydrate-like structure. In addition, I am currently studying ionic interactions in water, which …

Visual Preferences And Human Interactions With Shading And Electric Lighting Systems, Seyed Amir Sadeghi

Open Access Dissertations

Buildings in the United States are responsible for 40% of the primary energy use and 30% of carbon dioxide emissions. As awareness is being raised for the energy consumption and environmental impacts of buildings, it is not surprising that improving building performance has gained significant attention over the past years. Increasing the energy efficiency and reducing the emissions associated with buildings is possible through the use of high-performance building design and implementation of advanced building controls. Moreover, as part of the modern life style, people in developed countries spend most of their time inside the buildings. This fact necessitates consideration …

Neural Encoding And Decoding With Deep Learning For Natural Vision, Haiguang Wen

Open Access Dissertations

The overarching objective of this work is to bridge neuroscience and artificial intelligence to ultimately build machines that learn, act, and think like humans. In the context of vision, the brain enables humans to readily make sense of the visual world, e.g. recognizing visual objects. Developing human-like machines requires understanding the working principles underlying the human vision. In this dissertation, I ask how the brain encodes and represents dynamic visual information from the outside world, whether brain activity can be directly decoded to reconstruct and categorize what a person is seeing, and whether neuroscience theory can be applied to artificial …

From Pieces To Paths: Combining Disparate Information In Computational Analysis Of Rna-Seq., Yifan Yang

Open Access Dissertations

As high-throughput sequencing technology has advanced in recent decades, large-scale genomic data with high-resolution have been generated for solving various problems in many felds. One of the state-of-the-art sequencing techniques is RNA sequencing, which has been widely used to study the transcriptomes of biological systems through millions of reads. The ultimate goal of RNA sequencing bioinformatics algorithms is to maximally utilize the information stored in a large amount of pieced-together reads to unveil the whole landscape of biological function at the transcriptome level. Many bioinformatics methods and pipelines have been developed for better achieving this goal. However, one central question …

Mass Spectrometric Methods Development For The Characterization Of Components In Complex Mixtures For Enhanced Oil Recovery Operations And For Drug Development, Ravikiran Yerabolu

Open Access Dissertations

High-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MSn) coupled with separation techniques, such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC), has proven to be a valuable tool for the molecular level characterization of complex mixtures. The utilization of different methods, such as collision-activated dissociation (CAD) and gas-phase ion/molecule reactions, facilitates structural elucidation of the components in complex mixtures. This thesis primarily focuses on the development of tandem mass spectrometric methods for solving analytical challenges associated with the characterization of complex mixtures produced during enhanced oil recovery (EOR) operations and in drug discovery. Chapter 2 describes the instrumentation used for the research …

The Role Of Material Complexity In Retrieval Practice Effects, Joseph P. Bedwell

Open Access Theses

Recently, van Gog and Sweller (2015) asserted that the advantages of testing diminish (or even disappear altogether) as the complexity of learning materials increases. To elucidate their claim, they used the term “element interactivity” as a proxy for material complexity. While material low in element interactivity can be thought of as a series of isolated facts, material that is high in element interactivity contains strongly related ideas such that the learning of any particular idea is contingent on understanding other components of the material. The current set of experiments systematically manipulated element interactivity in order to evaluate the validity of …