Digital Commons Network^™

The Real Face Of Arabic Symbols, Leena Yahya Sonbuol

Theses

This is a brief insight into my thesis: "The Real Face of Arabic Symbols". I have examined in depth the artwork I completed for my Masters of Fine Arts degree at Rochester Institute of Technology, the work for which was exhibited in the Bevier Gallery for two weeks during March 2017.

The aim of this study is to explore differences in symbolic language between the Eastern and Western cultures in visual arts and explain the misconception of Arabic symbols in the western world. It examines Arabic cultural symbols in contemporary art, and the creation of a symbolic language for a …

Welcome Home Rochester: Guiding Refugees Through Life In America, Michael Kelly

Theses

Rochester, NY is the third-largest city in New York State, situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, with a population of 210,565. Rochester is also the third largest city—after Buffalo and Syracuse—in terms of refugee resettlement. In 2016, US government resettlement and secondary migration brought 850 new refugees here. In 2017, that number is expected to pass 1,000., When refugees are resettled in the United States, the first three months of casework and assistance are provided by a federally-funded resettlement organization. After these months, however, refugees are removed from the resettlement service’s caseload. In Rochester, it is at this …

Time Travel, Labour History, And The Null Curriculum: New Design Knowledge For Mobile Augmented Reality History Games, Owen Gottlieb

Articles

This paper presents a case study drawn from design-based research (DBR) on a mobile, place-based augmented reality history game. Using DBR methods, the game was developed by the author as a history learning intervention for fifth to seventh graders. The game is built upon historical narratives of disenfranchised populations that are seldom taught, those typically relegated to the 'null curriculum'. These narratives include the stories of women immigrant labour leaders in the early twentieth century, more than a decade before suffrage. The project understands the purpose of history education as the preparation of informed citizens. In paying particular attention to …

Flux Guard: An Exploration Of Situational Rigidity, Nicholas Miclette

Theses

In 2014 there was an estimated 15 million snowboarders worldwide. Like many extreme sports there is always the possibility of injury. Extensive research has shown snowboarders sustain more wrist injuries than any other sport in the world. In particular beginner or novice snowboarders are the most susceptible to injury and often times wear no protective gear when first learning. Although there has been research into the efficacy of upper extremity protection in snowboarding, a universal standard has yet to be developed to judge current wrist protection. Due to this fact my thesis explores innovative ways to reinvent the wrist guard …

Neural Networks And The Search For A Quadratic Residue Detector, Michael Potter, Leon Reznik, Stanislaw Radziszowski

Presentations and other scholarship

This paper investigates the feasibility of employing artificial neural network techniques for solving fundamental cryptography problems, taking quadratic residue detection as an example. The problem of quadratic residue detection is one which is well known in both number theory and cryptography. While it garners less attention than problems such as factoring or discrete logarithms, it is similar in both difficulty and importance. No polynomial—time algorithm is currently known to the public by which the quadratic residue status of one number modulo another may be determined. This work leverages machine learning algorithms in an attempt to create a detector capable of …

Public Sector Wages: The Implications For The Private Sector, Drenusha Berisha

Theses

Acknowledging the contribution of public sector in the well-being of every country, this project focuses on the potential effects of a growing public wage bill for private sector in Kosovo. The public sector is the main employer in the country, where the increase in the staff size is also followed by wage increases which are mainly election induced. While government spending and employment can be considered as complements to private sector as they provide the infrastructure for private sector activity, they can also induce adverse effects. As such, the goal of this project was to provide an analysis of private …

Evolution Of The Museum Experience: Mobile Augmented Reality’S Impact On The Visitor Experience At An Outdoor Living Museum, Rita Locke Pettine

Theses

This paper reports the findings of a study to determine if using Mobile AR (augmented reality) to render an exhibit’s supplemental information increased the level of learning and enjoyment of visitors to a living museum, specifically the Pocock Trail located within the Bergen Swamp, which is classified as a “Living Museum”. A museum is identified as “Living” when it “is a natural, wild area that is relatively undisturbed by man. It is an area where the native plant and animal life are maintaining themselves in a natural, biological manner” (BSPS, 2016). When an area is undisturbed by man it is …

Synapps: Children’S Asd Management Through A Mobile Application And An Interactive Biofeedback Exercise, Elizabeth Richardson

Theses

This thesis explores how to provide better access to alternative treatment options through an immersive biofeedback exercise and mobile application for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This thesis also seeks to connect children with ASD to medical professionals and treatment facilities.

This is done through a motion graphics piece depicting an abdominal breathing exercise and correlating mobile application. Users participate in biofeedback exercises in which their real-time biofeedback is monitored, transmitted to the mobile application, and reflected to the user. The mobile application analyzes and identifies physiological signals and detects what feedback is most useful to help the individual …

Rabbit Hole, Chen Wang

Theses

Rabbit Hole is a multimedia installation, which combines drawing, performance, animation, and sculpture to celebrate gender as a performative expression of multiple possibilities while presenting sexual identification as neutral and fluid.

In Rabbit Hole, I present an opportunity for the viewer to experience a disorientating fictional space, in which the physical body floats across boundaries. Constructed biomorphic forms entangle and pulsate creating an arena where gender is ever evolving, celebrating a freedom of sexuality. The symbolic representation of the rabbit within the work connects across North American and Chinese Culture.

A Machine Learning Approach On Providing Recommendations For The Vacant Lot Problem, Md Towhidul Absar Chowdhury

Theses

Modeling municipal or urban decisions is challenging due to the abundance of variables that guide end results. One such challenging issue is the existence of vacant lots in a city, which causes poorer standard of living for the community. As a result, reclaiming these properties and putting them into productive use is a primary concern. However, each time community leaders had to ``reinvent the wheel'' and make decisions from scratch. To this end, we propose the creation of a vacant lot model and utilizing it to provide recommendations for vacant lot conversions, providing a starting point for such decision making. …

The Adoption Of Project Based Learning In Graphic Communication Programs, Aezzaddin Aisyah Zainuddin

Theses

Project Based Learning (PBL) is widely recognized as an effective teaching method when compared to traditional lecture-based approaches in the classroom. Recognizing that the graphic communications industry needs employees with requisite skill sets and the established efficacy of PBL as a pedagogical technique for teaching those skills, the researcher examined the implementation of PBL in post-secondary institutions serving the graphic communications industry.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted to solicit information from educators in graphic communications programs in the United States. The questionnaire was designed to examine the factors which comprise PBL utilized in the classroom. PBL factors were derived from …

Deep Learning For Semantic Video Understanding, Sourabh Kulhare

Theses

The field of computer vision has long strived to extract understanding from images and videos sequences. The recent flood of video data along with massive increments in computing power have provided the perfect environment to generate advanced research to extract intelligence from video data. Video data is ubiquitous, occurring in numerous everyday activities such as surveillance, traffic, movies, sports, etc. This massive amount of video needs to be analyzed and processed efficiently to extract semantic features towards video understanding. Such capabilities could benefit surveillance, video analytics and visually challenged people. While watching a long video, humans have the uncanny ability …

Evaluating Public Hearing Testimony In The Context Of A High-Risk Environmental Rulemaking: Does Public Hearing Testimony Provide The Epa With The Information The Agency Requests In Its Proposed Rulemaking?, Deborah Stein

Theses

Does public hearing testimony provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the information the agency requests in its proposed rulemaking? In one EPA proposed rulemaking, the agency requests public comment on approximately 140 topics specific to the proposed rulemaking. This analysis examines the testimony from two public hearings to see if the speakers provided any of the information the agency requested. Public hearings are used frequently in our democratic system and can vary substantially. The public hearings associated with a high-risk environmental proposed rulemaking are compared to characteristics that are common to public hearings in general. The public participation characteristics …

The Power Of After-Hours: Young Adult Engagement And Programming In Museums, Hannah E. Barber

Theses

This project explores the cultivation of an ever deepening relationship between young adult audiences (ages 21-40) and museums and cultural institutions through the use of special event programming. Museums are turning to after-hours events to capture this audience’s attention, developing them as a mode of communication to solidify connections between the institution and young adults. Drawing on Ray Oldenburg’s construct of a “Third Place,” developed in his psychological study focused on the comfort of individuals in physical spaces, I investigate how several museums in the Rochester, New York, area are pursuing young adult audiences by creating social and engaging spaces …

A Study Of Cyber Laws In The United Arab Emirates, Mohammed Imranuddin

Theses

The United Arab Emirates, as a developing country has been experiencing cybercrime even more rapidly in the recent years. The overall Internet penetration as well as the use of cyber-based systems in Critical Infrastructure is growing with a never seen pace in the country just as in the rest of the world. UAE has emerged to be on the forefront of many technological advances in the recent past. However, in the case of technological advances security advances must follow or the whole state becomes vulnerable. In the modern world there are several options for a state that wants to improve …

Akchessima: Latin Type Design For Digital Chinese (Seal Script) Typefaces, Xuan Zhang

Theses

As multi-language text layout and Chinese/Japanese/Korean typefaces has become an important topic in modern day typography, the visual match-making between Latin and Chinese writing is a very important issue in type design.

For this thesis project, Latin letters are designed based on a Chinese seal script style typeface, in seek of a design principle of matching Latin letter forms for Chinese calligraphic styles, originating from different writing tools and traditions.

There is not one universal principle that would apply on all different Chinese typeface styles. However, based on research of writing habits and technology, multiple methods have been developed in …

Fiddle Me This: A History And Discussion Of Old-Time Fiddle Tunes In Western New York, Christopher M. Fisher

Theses

This thesis documents the history of fiddle tunes in Western New York from their introduction to the area in the mid-seventeenth century to the present day. Using a wide array of both primary sources and scholarly articles, I demonstrate the importance of this musical tradition. In addition, the thesis presents new primary and secondary sources created by the author in the spring of 2017, including the recording of interviews and performances and their presentation online. The primary research included interviews with three musicians, whom I ask, “How do these fiddle tunes continue to influence people today?” In these sessions with …

Re-Presenting Racist Objects: A Case Study Of The Dentzel Carousel At Ontario Beach Park In Rochester, Ny, Kelli M. Spampinato

Theses

Caricatures of African Americans and associated racist imagery, once commonplace in American life, have been used to display dominance and oppression over African Americans. These images were created in order to support the Jim Crow hierarchy, which white Southerners established in the late 1800s and upheld until the 1960s, with white people reigning at the top and black people at the bottom. This Southern social construct was not limited to this geographical area, but also influenced white opinions and attitudes towards the black population in the north as well. In part, white supremacy was maintained through the creation of everyday …

The Process Of Creating Accurate Reproductions Of Fragile Objects: Fabricating 3d Facsimiles With Limited Resources, Katherine E. Curran

Theses

Museums and other cultural institutions must consider how to best preserve their collections for an exponentially digital world. Our digital age is providing new avenues for preservation, accessibility, viewing, and interaction. This thesis assesses the feasibility of utilizing and creating accessible and readable 3D digital surrogates and prints. To consider and adapt current best practices "what are the implications of creating accurate reproductions for the research environment as well as for online and in person use”? This thesis presents themes that relate to the broader fields of digitization, reproduction, and fabrication in museums and cultural institutions, presents findings in the …

Investigating Agricultural Management Practices And Environmental Sustainability In Jordan, Mohammed I. Al-Qinna Dr., Mohammed Ali Salahat Dr.

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Jordan, as other developing countries in the world, is struggled by instable agricultural development due to existing various water pressures (e.g. increase in irrigation demands, deterioration of water quality, industrial pollution, water borne sewerage, etc.), climate change impacts, and biophysical and socioeconomic barriers (e.g. rapid population growth, social unsettlements, sudden refuges and migrations, limited economic resources, low levels of technology, environmental limitations and stresses, and widespread poverty). One of the adaptive key issues for the Jordanian environmental sustainable development is the awareness of farmers on the water savings and environmental protections at farm level. The aim of this study was …

Fundoggy: Using Gamification And Social Network Services To Create A Mobile Fundraising Application For Helping Shelter Dogs, Yu Ri Na

Theses

The proliferation of new media is rapidly changing the world of philanthropy and more effective methods of raising funds and developing donor relationships must be sought. Furthermore, today’s trends indicate that the amount of giving by individuals has increased gradually, but the generation gap in donors is increasing.

Fundamentally, this thesis project seeks effective ways to attract young donors and show how to maintain a continuous connection with them by using today’s trending business and marketing buzzwords, “gamification” and “social network services.” Employing a game’s entertainment, problem-solving challenges, interactive experience, and customer loyalty improvement is expected to create significant synergy …

Mdd, What And How: A Motion Graphics Short Film, Yi Zhou

Theses

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a growing mental health problem these days as it creates more social issues and creates problems for families and individuals. However, people still do not know enough about this mental disorder. The purpose of this short motion film is to provide people with a quick and effective introduction to MDD. This film explores a way to deliver essential information in a short amount of time and in a clear way for the audience to understand. It tells a story through the point-of-view of those who have friends or family members suffering from MDD. This story …

Automated Quality Assessment Of Printed Objects Using Subjective And Objective Methods Based On Imaging And Machine Learning Techniques., Ritu Basnet

Theses

Estimating the perceived quality of printed patterns is a complex task as quality is subjective. A study was conducted to evaluate how accurately a machine learning method can predict human judgment about printed pattern quality.

The project was executed in two phases: a subjective test to evaluate the printed pattern quality and development of the machine learning classifier-based automated objective model. In the subjective experiment, human observers ranked overall visual quality. Object quality was compared based on a normalized scoring scale. There was a high correlation between subjective evaluation ratings of objects with similar defects. Observers found the contrast of …

Mpls & Qos In Virtual Environments, Amar Madhavan

Theses

The rise of high performance computing has seen a shift of services from locally managed Data Centers, to centralized globally redundant Data Centers (Cloud Computing). The scale of operation and churn required for cloud computing has in turn led to the rise of faster and programmable network pathing, via SDN & NFV. Cloud compute resources are accessible to individual researchers, as well as larger organizations. Cloud computing relies heavily on virtualization and abstraction of resources. The interconnect between these resources is more complex than ever, due to the need to seamlessly move from virtual to physical to hybrid networks and …

Fragments, Yue Liu

Theses

My work comes from my understanding and perception of historical fragments. I think imperfection is a natural beauty, which exists everywhere in our lives. My perspective was influenced by a Buddhist theory called “Wabi-sabi”, and I referred to the method of “architecture renovation” to create my jewelry work. During the creation, I was also inspired by a jewelry artist named John Iverson, with his work influencing the many forms and techniques I used for this project.

I also adopted a different method of constructing material to represent my interpretation of my observation of “fragments.” In my heart, fragments not only …

Mobile App Of Food Combinations- Medley For Mom, Xun Zhao

Theses

“There were variations in the types of dietary intervention and the effect of specific nutrient components. There was no heterogeneity for dietary intervention components, but considerate heterogeneity for all dietary interventions combined.” With the development of the society and the improvement of living conditions, people’s eating habit has become much more diverse. However, some food combinations could potentially bring discomfort, such as indigestion, constipation and so on.

Due to the individual differences of the human digestive system structures, improper food combinations lead to various harms to different groups of people, among which pregnant women suffer the most.

“There is little …

Fresh Food Delivery System Based On Suburban Community, Zhuo Wang

Theses

Healthy eating is one of the biggest problem that affect people’s health in US, unhealthy eating causes billions of dollars on related disease every year. Eating more fresh food is one the most efficient and simplest way to improve this situation, So questions are why certain people can not eat enough fresh food and how to help them eat more fresh food. Following the questions, my research shows that there are multiple reasons involved including long commute time, far away from fresh food shop and price, according to the research, a fresh food delivery system based on suburban community called …

Permeation Fill-Tube Design For Inertial Confinement Fusion Target Capsules, Brian S. Rice, Jeff Ulreich, Chad Fella, Jay Crippen, P. Fitzsimmons, A. Nikroo

Articles

A unique approach for permeation filling of nonpermeable inertial confinement fusion target capsules with deuterium— tritium (DT) is presented. This process uses a permeable capsule coupled into the final target capsule with a 0.03-mm-diameter fill tube. Leak free permeation filling of glow-discharge polymerization (GDP) targets using this method have been successfully demonstrated, as well as ice layering of the target, yielding an inner ice surface roughness of 1-µm rms (root mean square). Finally, the measured DT ice-thickness profile for this experiment was used to validate a thermal model’s prediction of the same thickness profile.

From Character To Characteristics, Yen-Ting Chen

Theses

Through my life experiences, the way my family raised me, and fostered my thoughts, I have developed a strong connection to my native language. Taiwan is a country where the traditional Chinese characters are still widely in use, alongside with Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore. In fact, traditional Chinese characters can carry specific meaning individually, or further create various meanings when used in combination, which is profound and intriguing. Focusing on the form and structure of Chinese characters and their relationship with literal meaning, I wanted to design and create furniture that brings together culture, family, and personal vision.

As …

A Passionate Journey: Info-Motion Graphics Video Exploring Why And How To Find Work You Love., Jia Zhou

Theses

Benjamin Disraeli, a 19th century British Prime Minister, once said, “Man is not a rational animal. He is only truly good or great when he acts from passion.” Passion is the fuel that can power you toward the realization of your dreams. To live a truly satisfying and purposeful life, it is important for every individual to know what their passions are so life will be fulfilling.

Teenagers choose their career after they graduate from high school. They begin to wonder what they will become and what contributions they can make in the future. It is important for people to …