Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Governed Iot Networks: A Blockchain-Based Framework, Mehrdad Salimitari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In the modern-day, IoT-enabled devices and sensors are growingly deployed in a variety of applications in consumer, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure spaces. Thus, decentralization of such networks for reducing the maintenance and repair costs is significantly gaining attention. In this dissertation, we investigate a variety of mathematical tools and technological advancements to design a secure, fully decentralized, and self-governed IoT network. On this path, the main challenge is ensuring the data integrity in IoT networks, securing the devices against a variety of attack scenarios, and preserving the privacy of the users. We begin by proposing a prospect theoretic method for …

Measurement And Mitigation Of Optical, Recombination And Resistive Losses In Silicon Photovoltaics, Mohammad Jobayer Hossain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Today, most of the photovoltaic cells in the market are made of silicon. Great achievements are being attained every year in terms of reducing the price of this kind of cells and improving their efficiency, reliability and durability. However, further improving the cell performance is a challenging task because of the presence of optical, recombination and resistive loss mechanisms in the cell. This work is focused on the measurement and mitigation of these losses. Mitigation of the optical, recombination and resistive losses at first require quantifying those losses and their impacts on the cell performance metrics accurately. Traditionally, solar cells …

Understanding Variation In Sexual Exploitation And Abuse In Un Pkos: The Role Of Military, Police, And Civilian Peacekeepers, Gabriella Cuber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Apart from perpetuating human rights violations in fragile contexts, sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) in UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs) reduces the international community's ability to pursue peacebuilding missions, threatens the legitimacy of ongoing missions, and undermines gender equality efforts in the host country. While previous research has investigated patterns of SEA violations by peacekeepers, most studies limit their focus on abuses by military and police personnel. This study expands on these studies by examining SEA violations committed by civilian peacekeepers in addition to military and police personnel, as well as separately. I argue that several other determinants beyond military attributes …

Online Organizational Citizenship Behavior: An Exploration Of New Avenues For Prosocial Behavior In The Digital Age, Sarah Rabon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Internet use has changed modern workplaces and introduced new options for employee behavior, including organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). While prior research suggests the internet is a unique social environment, and not a simple extension of a traditional in-person workplace, OCB has not been studied in this context. This thesis aimed to identify and document the nature of online OCB and identify how it differs in form and function from traditional in-person OCB. This thesis used a mixed methods approach, with self-report data from 201 participants. Results indicate workers engage in OCB online at a lower rate than in person. Some …

"Do You Hear What I Say?" A Phenomenological Exploration Of International Students' Oral Communication Experiences With Pechakucha Oral Presentations In A Us English For Academic Purposes Program., Van Thi Hong Le

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

With the importance of oral communication skills and digital literacy skills for 21st-century learners (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2006), there is an increasing tendency to incorporate technology in language learning and teaching. In this trend, PechaKucha Presentation (PKP), a unique, fast-paced format of giving presentations, has recently been advocated for its benefits in developing learners' oral communication skill in various contexts (Angelina, 2019; Coskun, 2017; Mabuan, 2017). This paper presented a study that explored seven international students' speaking and listening experiences with PKP activities while completing the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program prior to their undergraduate programs in …

Design-Based Research Toward A Professional Development Program, Karl Miehl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this dissertation in practice was twofold; The first purpose was to design a Professional Development (PD) program for a specialized group of civilian employees working in a large military organization, and the second purpose was to evaluate and refine that PD program using mixed-methods empirical research. The study focused on a group of approximately 100 Instructional System Specialists and Research Psychologists. These employees are highly educated, with the majority holding advanced degrees in their respective fields, yet they lacked a clear path to career development within their organization. Following the tenets of design-based research, a PD program …

Dynamic Analysis Of The Implementation Of The Blockchain Technology In The Supply Chain, Rehab Ali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Blockchain technology is a new digital technology that has been disrupting the way businesses are performing. It is a decentralized and distributed ledger that enables transactions of any form of value. As blockchain technology provides visibility, transparency, and security through the multi-agent system, the supply chain sector is one of its critical and promising applications. In a highly dynamic environment, the supply chain's efficiency needs to be measured from a blockchain perspective. As the main benefit of blockchain technology is the visibility and real-time access to data, blockchain technology's preeminent affected areas within the supply chain are the responsiveness to …

Ultraviolet Solar Blind Ga2o3-Based Photodetectors, Isa Hatipoglu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Detection within the deep ultraviolet (DUV) region (˜200-280 nm) offers unique fundamental advantages to probe certain optical traces. Therefore, many applications have emerged including flame and missile detection, and non-line of sight and space-to-space communication. Ga2O3 has become a natural choice for DUV detection owing to its intrinsic ultra-wide optical bandgap (˜4.85 eV), extrinsic n-type dopability, and excellent chemical and physical stability. However, Ga2O3 has no viable p-type doping to date, and fabricated photodetectors show only partial coverage of the entire solar-blind region (˜200-245nm). Furthermore, there is a limited understanding of how various growth parameters for ß-Ga2O3 and its alloys …

The Effects Of A Remote Based Exercise Intervention On Psychosocial Factors In Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Juan Mayo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

AIM: The aim for this study was to identify the effects of physical activity (PA) on the psychosocial factors (PA self-efficacy, enjoyment of PA, perceived stress, and depression) amongst young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through the use of a 12-week remotely prescribed exercise program. METHODSs: This quasi-experimental study consisted of a 12-week remote-based exercise intervention (and a no-exercise control group) for young adults (18 – 35 years) with ASD. Participants were recruited through the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD), an organization that provides resources to individuals with ASD and their families. The exercise program occurred twice …

Incongruous Surrealism Within Narrative Animated Film, Daniel Mccabe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

A pop music video is a form of media containing incongruous surrealistic imagery with a narrative structure supplied by song lyrics. The lyrics' presence allows filmmakers to digress from sequential imagery through introduction of nonlinear visual elements. I will analyze these surrealist film elements through several post-modern philosophies to better understand how this animated audio-visual synthesis resides in the larger world of art theory and its relationship to the popular music video. This analysis coincides with the practical and theoretical experimentation evident in the film companion to this thesis, Slapper the Cat: A Musical Cartoon. A long-form animated music video …

Examining The Values In Our Valued Practices: Universal Design Principles As A Catalyst For Tutor Reflection, Eric Wisz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Recent writing center scholarship has discussed the roles of valued practices in writing centers and the implications Universal Design (UD) for writing center work. This thesis extends such lines of inquiry by bringing these two conversations together to explore the potential of UD principles as a catalyst for writing center tutor reflection on valued tutoring practices. In a semester long study, data were collected in the form of individual and dialogic tutor reflection through surveys, individual interviews, reflective writing prompts, and a focus group. The data were analyzed to examine how tutors formed their tutoring practices and how they understood …

An Evaluation Of The Differences Between Perpetrators In Completed And Averted School Shootings, Ashley Winch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

School shootings have received a substantial amount of media attention and there have been a variety of explanations proposed as to their cause. While completed school shootings have been evaluated extensively, little research has been done into school shootings that have been averted, and even fewer studies have evaluated between group differences between completed and averted school shootings. The purpose of the present study was to assess the differences in completed and averted school shootings primarily with respect to the age of the perpetrators, the number of perpetrators, and participation in leakage warning behaviors. Additional demographic variables were assessed with …

The Effect Of Covid-19-Related Stress On Registered Nurses In The United States, Samantha Jacqlyn Genova

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The United States, as of October 2021, is the country with the most reported COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths in the world. Since the first case was confirmed, Registered Nurses working in the acute care setting have been at the forefront of this public health crisis. As the pandemic has continued, studies have been conducted to collect, analyze, and reveal the effect of COVID-19-related stress on Registered Nurses in the United States. This critical literature review takes eleven published studies related to this topic, discusses the commonalities between them, addresses limitations in the literature and offers recommendations for future research. …

Home Healthcare Embodied Agents: Priorities And Opportunities, Faith Sauber

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Prevention is a central tenet of modern healthcare. New ways of informing, educating, and allowing patients to keep track of their health are continually developing. Integrating technology that bridges the gap between healthcare providers and their patients is essential in today's digital age. One emerging idea is the use of home healthcare embodied agents. Embodied agents are conservational interfaces that can interact and look like human beings. They can exhibit both verbal and non-verbal language cues and be capable of having a natural conversation. This kind of technology could help both patients and healthcare providers by giving patients a helpful …

Effectiveness Of Virtual Reality On Reducing Pain In Burn Patients, Jillian R. Carr

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Burn patients undergo excruciating levels of pain throughout their treatment in the hospital. Pain levels increase during medical procedures, such as wound care and debridement. As a part of the treatment plan, traditional pharmacologic interventions are provided. Over time, patients become tolerant of pain medications, specifically opioids. The developed tolerance contributes to more pain felt by the patient. Medical providers limit the number of opioids prescribed to prevent addiction and other adverse effects, contributing to the challenge in treating burn pain. Virtual reality (VR) has been studied as an intervention across various settings to alleviate distressing symptoms in patients. Many …

Home-Based Interventions To Lower Neonatal Mortality Rates In Developing Countries, Josee Sarah Etienne

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Aim: To evaluate Home-based interventions to lower neonatal mortality rates in developing countries.

Background: A developing country is a country that is lacking in the services and facilities enjoyed by people in developed countries, such as personally owned automobiles and homes with indoor plumbing and water-carried sewage disposal systems. The difference in resources compared to developed regions, has been evident to the correlation of the increase neonatal mortality rates.

Method: An electronic, systematic review of four databases were used to retrieve 209 articles initially, later filtered to 42 articles utilized in this review. The following databases used are as listed: …

Facilitation Of Enviromental Factors To Reduce Sound Decibels In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Literature Review, Cassandra Hanlon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This literature review investigates nursing interventions to reduce decibel levels in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The secondary purpose of this review was to evaluate if the interventions to reduce noise in the NICU had different outcomes for normal weight premature infants and infants afflicted with neonatal abstinence syndrome. The data bases for completing this review were Google Scholar, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL Plus), PubMed, and Elton B. Stephens Co. (EBSCO). The key search words included ‘NICU and decibels', ‘reducing decibels', ‘neonatal abstinence syndrome' ‘decibels', ‘preterm infants' and 'normal weight preterm infant*'. The …

Use Of Mechanical Pronation Beds In Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome In The Intensive Care Unit: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Amanda St. John

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The increasing rate of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) reinforces the need for additional resources to assist clinical staff with an individual's care and recovery. Pronation therapy involves physically rotating an individual from the posterior position to the prone position. Pronation therapy has successfully been used for individuals diagnosed with ARDS in Intensive Care Units for decades. However, manual pronation maneuvers by staff members poses risks for those who are critically ill and risk of physical injury to caregivers. Mechanical pronation beds have revolutionized the art of pronation therapy, minimizing risks, and decreasing possibility of kinking or pulling out life …

Getting Crafting When You're Bored: The Interaction Between Personality And Boredom, Jamie Striler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Researchers have proposed job crafting as a solution for alleviating the pervasive issue of workplace boredom. This multi-study dissertation sheds light on the relationship between boredom and job crafting while considering the role of three personality traits: proactive personality, extraversion, and promotion focus. Study 1 utilized a cross-sectional design that measured employee perceptions of boredom along with subject matter expert (SME) ratings of these jobs as boring. The experiment run in Study 2 induced boredom to test its impact on job crafting along with measuring personality. Results did not support the hypotheses that the links between boredom and three dimensions …

Polymer-Based And Functionalized 3d Microelectrode Array (Mea) Biosensors, Nilab Azim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Microphysiological systems are three-dimensional (3D) in vitro systems that recapitulate crucial biological aspects of cell heterogeneity and native tissue architecture by mimicking complex structures that are impossible in two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures. Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) are biosensors used to spatially and temporally monitor the activity of microphysiological systems by transducing cellular signals into electronic signals to provide quantitative data on the in vitro system. Conventional MEAs are typically planar in nature, however, 3D MEAs offer several advantages such as better simulation of an in vivo cellular environment and improved signal-to-noise ratio and cell-electrode coupling. MEA fabrication utilizing traditional cleanroom methods …

A Breathing Intervention To Enhance Cardiac Regulation And Mitigate Stress In Police Cadets, Samantha Napier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Maintaining effective performance under stress can be challenging, especially in the dangerous environments encountered by the police and military personnel. This document reviews the impact of stress on performance, discusses breath interventions as a means of stress mitigation, suggests an approach for exploring the value of a breath intervention in police cadets, tests, analyzes, and discusses a test of this method and results. Biofeedback training can be used to produce resonance breathing that is synchronized with heart rate and optimizes heart rate variability (HRV). This intervention was expected to alleviate physiological and subjective stress responses. Studies reviewed confirm that higher …

Survivors Of Human Trafficking: Reintegration Into The Community And Society, Charrita Ernewein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Human trafficking is a highly profitable human rights violation and is labeled as one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. Few studies provided a detailed analysis of the survivors' accounts of their experiences and how these experiences influenced their reintegration into society. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experience of female survivors of sex trafficking as they reintegrated into the community and society using the survivors' voice. This study also aimed to describe the survivors experience with healthcare providers. This study obtained data from hard to detect populations (female survivors aged 18 and older) through …

Optimizing Peer Selection Among Internet Service Providers (Isps), Shahzeb Mustafa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Connections among Internet Service Providers (ISPs) form the backbone of the Internet. This enables communications across the globe. ISPs are represented as Autonomous Systems (ASes) in the global Internet and inter-ISP traffic exchange takes place via inter-AS links, which are formed based on inter-ISP connections and agreements. In addition to customer-provider agreements, a crucial type of inter-ISP agreement is peering. ISP administrators use various platforms like AP-NIC and NANOG networking events for establishing new peering connections in accordance with their business and technical needs. Such methods are often inefficient and slow, potentially resulting in missed opportunities or sub-optimal routes. The …

Neural Signatures Of Human Perception Of Effort And Comfort In Isometric Arm Force Exertions By Males, Raul Fernandez Sumano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Understanding the brain's electrical activity provides objective evidence of different psychophysical phenomena related to manual handling tasks. The primary objective of this research was to assess the neural signatures of human physical efforts and perceived comfort in isometric arm exertions. Two experiments were conducted with male participants (n=20) who applied isometric forces at 1) different levels of exertion and 2) different levels of physical comfort. EEG signals, the rate of perceived exertion (RPE), and the rate of perceived physical comfort (RPC) have been recorded. The results showed statistically significant differences in EEG's power spectral density (PSD) at different brain regions …

Binary State Distance Vector Routing: A Protocol For Near-Unicast Forwarding In Partitioned Networks, Ammar Farooq

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Ad-hoc networks are highly dynamic and can be disconnected/partitioned during their operations, particularly in delay-tolerant networks (DTNs) where infrastructure support is not entirely available. Even after several decades of research on DTN routing, there is still a need for routing protocols that operate effectively in network environments where disconnections, delays, and resource scarcity are common. Traditionally, DTN routing protocols use an epidemic routing strategy, where multiple copies of packets get forwarded to increase network reachability. However, these flooding-based strategies are seldom suitable in resource-constrained network settings. Other prominent DTN routing designs use distance vectors (DVs) that summarize global network reachability …

Improving Performance And Flexibility Of Fabric-Attached Memory Systems, Vamsee Reddy Kommareddy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

As demands for memory-intensive applications continue to grow, the memory capacity of each computing node is expected to grow at a similar pace. In high-performance computing (HPC) systems, the memory capacity per compute node is decided upon the most demanding application that would likely run on such a system, and hence the average capacity per node in future HPC systems is expected to grow significantly. However, diverse applications run on HPC systems with different memory requirements and memory utilization can fluctuate widely from one application to another. Since memory modules are private for a corresponding computing node, a large percentage …

Factors That Affect The Successful Implementation Of Quality Management Systems In Healthcare, Mustafa Rawshdeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Modern Organizations must be high performing to sustain and grow their operations. This is particularly true for healthcare organizations as they have complex and sensitive operations. One way to improve organizational performance is to adopt Quality Management Systems (QMSs). QMSs organize and improve the effectiveness of all processes to meet stakeholder requirements and achieve organizational performance improvements in alignment with strategic goals. However, the value of QMSs is dependent on successful implementation, which is reportedly quite challenging. This doctoral research examines the factors that affect the successful implementation of QMSs in healthcare. First, a systematic analysis of the published literature …

Heart Rate Variability In Adults During 24-Hours With A Focus On Sleep Period, Ankur Ravikanth

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The objective of this study is to investigate heart rate variability (HRV) over a period of 24 hours with special focus on patterns during the sleep period. Comparisons were made between sleep and the full 24-hour data. The Polar M430 watch was used to record heart rate (HR) data for about 24 hours, and the subject kept a journal of the activities they performed throughout the day. The data was visualized as heart rate in beats per minute (BPM) as a function of time. To check the accuracy of the Polar watch, a 7-minute recording of HR from the watch …

Family Communication: Examining The Differing Perceptions Of Parents And Teens Regarding Online Safety Communication, Tara Rutkowski

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The opportunity for online engagement increases possible exposure to potentially risky behaviors for teens, which may have significant negative consequences (Hair et al., 2009). Effective family communication about online safety can help reduce the risky adolescent behavior and limit the consequences after it occurs. This paper contributes a theory of communication factors that positively influence teen and parent perception of communication about online safety and provides design implications based on those findings. Previous work identified gaps in family communication, however, this study seeks to empirically identify factors that would close the communication gap from the perspective of both teens and …

Influence Of Ecm Composition And Intracellular Calcium On Endothelial Biomechanics And Prediction Of Cellular Stresses Using Machine Learning, Vignesh Aravind Subramanian Balachandar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Endothelial cells, which form the inner layer of the vasculature, constantly interact with their external microenvironment called the extracellular matrix (ECM) by exerting contractile cell-substrate stresses called tractions and cell-cell stresses called intercellular stresses. This cellular mechanosensing can become aberrant and act as a precursor for many vascular pathological and physiological processes such as cancer metastasis, atherosclerosis, cell differentiation, migration, and morphogenesis. Also, intracellular calcium signalling plays an important role in endothelial cell motility and in maintaining vascular tone. Alteration in ECM composition has been linked to several pathologies, in fact, a transition to a fibronectin-rich matrix from a type …