Digital Commons Network^™

Expanding The World Of Themed Entertainment Through Choice-Based Narratives: How Video Game Design Principles Inspire Immersion In Attractions, Layla R. Mccarthy

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Within most traditional theme park attractions, guest interaction does not directly impact the unfolding of the narrative. While there are many examples of encouraged interaction, guests still lack agency. Within this research, the goal is to develop a hypothetical theme park attraction (titled The Library of Worlds) where guests will be met with various choices that influence the trajectory of the story. Drawing inspiration from non-linear storytelling and interactive gaming, this study explores integration of choice-based narratives into themed entertainment, questioning the ways in which agency can enhance immersion and connection within attractions – as well as what elements …

Gothic Girlhood Horrors, Nina M. Lopez

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Gothic Girlhood Horrors is a collection of creative nonfiction examining the formative experiences of girlhood. Through experimental essays, short stories, and other forms of prose, it investigates how universal and personal a young woman’s experiences can be. Part I, “HOW TO BECOME A GIRL,” opens with a coming-of-age story. “GIRL CRAZY” takes inspiration from memoirist Elissa Washuta’s “Sexually Based Offenses,” with the narrator engaging in a hypothetical conversation. Some essays explore the narrator’s relationship with motherhood; others delve into the complex relationship with her own mother. Key moments of girlhood are highlighted, such as dying hair (“let down your hair”) …

Statistical Analysis Of Interstitial Impacts On Shock-Driven Fuel Droplet Atomization, Miguel L. Moran

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Understanding the deformation and aerobreakup of liquid droplets is critical for designing fuel injectors for pressure gain combustion systems. Previous literature has observed the morphology and timescales of individual liquid droplets exposed to the convective flow fields behind moving shocks propagating between Mach 1 and Mach 10. However, the liquid droplets produced by an injection system are not isolated and have many close neighbor droplets of similar diameter. Understanding interactions between these droplets is necessary to reconcile existing theory with droplet behavior observed in liquid jets and droplet clouds. The present study uses a simple injector to create vertically oriented …

Characterizing Conditioned Pain Modulation And Quadriceps Motor Unit Recruitment Among Older Adults With Chronic Knee Pain, Emily J. Parsowith

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

BACKGROUND: Over 25% of U.S. older adults experience chronic knee pain, which worsens with inactivity, creating a cycle of pain, disability, and sedentary behavior. However, a limited understanding of its underlying mechanisms hinders the development of effective treatments. PURPOSE: This study integrated assessments of Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) and motor unit control to elucidate the role of pain sensitization and neuromuscular impairments specific to chronic knee pain. METHODS: Seventy-five participants were divided into three groups: young adults (n=25), older adults without pain (n=30), and older adults with chronic pain (n=20). CPM efficiency was evaluated using heat and pressure test stimuli …

Novel Symmetrical Components-Based Methods For Protection Of Systems With High-Level Penetration Of Ibrs, Kwasi Opoku

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The global electric power system is undergoing a transition which has resulted in the proliferation of inverter-based resources (IBRs), mainly renewable energy resources and battery energy storage. These offer the advantage of decarbonization targets in electricity generation while potentially improving resilience and overall efficiency of the electric grid. Furthermore, this has led to the development of inverter-interfaced microgrids at the sub-transmission, and especially, distribution levels.

An effective protection system is a prerequisite for any power system operation. However, the departure of modern power systems, in this regard, from conventional sources and topologies presents new challenges to effective protection from power …

Humanity In The Calamity: Hurricane Andrew, The Cold War, And The Demilitarization Of Fema, 1993 – 2002., Luis R. Rios Iii

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Humanity in the Calamity maps out the erroneous land practices that damned the American population to build in the state of Florida in a manner that does not fit the fluid landscape of the environment. Throughout history, as Americans built up Florida on the threatened coastline, the doctrines of disaster polities and emergency management were birthed under the influence of Civil Defense, induced by the militaristic agendas of the Cold War. The influence of Cold War-Era Civil Defense clouded the field of emergency management and FEMA, limiting the response to natural disasters making disasters more violent and deadly.

These issues …

Requisites For A Dream: An Evaluation Into The National Urban League’S Adjustment Efforts For Southern Migrants, 1911-1930, Adaeze Nwigwe

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The American Dream is loosely defined as a universalist rhetoric that promises any American the opportunity to succeed in life. However, for African Americans this has not always been guaranteed. Historiography around the mantra uncovers a gap in consideration for Black Americans’ unique marginalization in American society despite their long history within the nation. This paradox inspired a myriad of proposed solutions towards racial disparities, with the early twentieth century favoring ideas of racial uplift as a panacea for prejudice. This thesis examines the use of racial uplift as a solution by the National Urban League during the first half …

Macabre Therapeutics: An Exploration Into The Cathartic Nature Of Splatter Utilizing The Saw Franchise As Corpus, Rosalind E. Rohrbaugh

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This project positions splatter (a subgenre of horror films that centralizes gore) as applicable for sociopolitical critique and emotional catharsis, disrupting the narrative of splatter as a solely shock-based enterprise. The project utilizes the Saw franchise as a corpus, which reignited audience interest in extreme horror in 2004, rejuvenating splatter film releases since their stagnancy throughout the 1990s. This research seeks to answer why Saw captured the attention of audiences and returned the splatter subgenre to the 21st century, utilizing psychoanalytical film analysis, sociopolitical analysis, semiotics, content analysis, and archival research as methodology and drawing on Aristotle’s Catharsis and Rhetorical …

Mitigation Of Transverse Gusts On Morphing Wings Via Span-Wise Twisting, Alex Ruiz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Wind gust encounters create a highly unstable and unpredictable environment for air vehicles. Small aircraft are especially susceptible to gust-induced disturbances due to their limited size and weight, leading to significant fluctuations during flight. This study introduces a novel concept involving a twisting mechanism along the wingspan, allowing for span wise variations in pitch. Using a towing tank and a gust generator apparatus, we demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed mechanism. Force data and flow field data obtained from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) provide insights into the vortex mechanisms at play. A Modified Discrete Vortex Method using the leading-edge separation …

Development Of Human Neuronal Microphysiological Models And Subsequent Integration Into Multi-Organ Platforms For Evaluation Of Therapeutic Efficacy And Off-Target Toxicity, Aakash Patel

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Microphysiological systems are a rapidly growing field of research for modeling of physiological processes and disease in an in vitro environment. The translatability and cost effectiveness of these platforms make them a valuable tool for drug discovery, allowing investigation of both efficacy and off-target toxicity either as a replacement or supplement to traditional animal models. Neurological disorders in particular are often difficult to emulate in an animal model, making the development of these models a highly useful area of research for both elucidation of brain function, as well as neurological disorders. Taking these models and integrating them into a multi-organ …

Application Of Multi-Branching Narratives And Cooperative Gaming For Theme Park Rides, Jon Bryan Salvador

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis examines the opportunities to combine video game concepts such as branching narrative games and cooperative games with interactive theme park rides or attractions. With the state of the contemporary themed entertainment industry explicitly defining the guest’s role to the context of the ride or attraction’s storyworld, there is a need to reassess the conventional forms of theme park ride interactivity to create a more dynamic narrative, gameplay experience, and guest or audience engagement. Through a brief analysis of relevant themed experience and video game references, this research proposes a cooperative theme park ride that utilizes a modified version …

Gait Kinematics And Muscular Responses To Rhythmic Perturbations In Healthy Young Adults, Kayley A. Romero

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Falls pose a significant risk across all ages, leading to injury and loss of independence. Understanding gait adaptation to external perturbations provides insights into balance control and muscle activation, with implications for rehabilitation and fall prevention. While entrainment, the synchronization of biological rhythms to external stimuli, has been widely studied using auditory and visual cues, its effects in response to mechanical perturbations remain unclear. This study examines how young, healthy adults adapt to discrete mediolateral perturbations and whether entrainment occurs when mediolateral perturbations are applied at set timings determined by their natural stride period.

Participants walked on a self-paced treadmill …

Sketching Towards Character: An Actor's Process Of Reclaiming The Mind-Body Connection, Lauren E. Schulke

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The human body is capable of incredible things. It completes vital functions autonomically, can instinctively protect us from harm, helps us sense, process, and respond to the world we inhabit, and can even heal itself when necessary. But what happens when an actor, who is dependent on their body to express their artistry, has lost awareness of their material? With the help of this thesis and the crafting of a personal methodology, I have developed a process that works towards healing this fracture and encourages the initial crafting of character through embodiment.

This thesis details the evolution of a personal …

Increasing Bystander And Environmental Awareness Through Haptic Feedback, Jose-Valentin T. Sera-Josef

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The Chariot System is a bystander and environmental awareness system that uses vibrotactile haptic feedback delivered via a wearable. It was designed with the goal of using a subject's haptic channel to keep them aware of their surroundings thus freeing their visual channel to focus on and enjoy a virtual reality (VR) experience. This work contributes to the space of VR research that aims to keep users aware of the outside world while in VR, an area that typically focuses on using visual notifications but rarely applies haptics. A user study involving 24 participants was conducted comparing the Chariot System …

On The Dynamic Connectivity And Phase Transition In River Networks, Juthika Roy

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

River network (RN) structure has a significant impact on flux transport, aggregation and ecosystem connectivity. In this dissertation, the structural control of RN on flux transport was investigated by the application of integrated framework of dynamic clusters and network graph theory. This new framework has been proposed to determine sub-catchment connectivity using minimum and maximum flow criteria. Our analysis on synthetic and natural RNs across United States demonstrates that basin scale connectivity at low flow conditions is efficiently governed by the abundance of side branching junctions whereas this characteristic slows down the flux convergence rate at maximum flow condition.

Furthermore, …

The Impact Of Visualization Styles On Movement Imitation Accuracy In Virtual Reality, Gabriela R. Shamblin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Virtual reality (VR) has become a powerful tool for motor learning and skill acquisition, offering immersive environments for users to practice and refine movements. This thesis investigates how different visualization styles in VR affect movement imitation accuracy, specifically focusing on hand movements. While prior research has explored precise alignment and visualization individually, few studies have examined their combined impact. This study addresses that gap by evaluating the effectiveness of various visualization methods in relation to offset, animation, and manual type.

We developed an application to ensure all participants experienced each visualization factor as 12 combinations in varied sequences. The user …

Considerations For Application Of The Titleist Performance Institute Screen, Andrew Skibski

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The golf swing is a complex movement requiring a combination of power, flexibility, stability, balance, and coordination to strike the ball at a high velocity with precision. The Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) screen is a series of functional tests used to identify individuals’ physical limitations that may influence their ability to perform the golf swing effectively. TPI guidelines recommend performing the TPI screen without a warm-up to improve consistency, but reliability of the TPI screen has not been previously published. Additionally, factors such as a warm-up or playing a round of golf may influence the body’s physical capabilities and could …

Reimagining Main Street: Themed Experience Design As A Tool For Small Town Revitalization, Carrie L. Schweiger

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The idea of the American main street is deeply embedded in popular culture, often seen through layers of nostalgia that can obscure the real-world conditions of today. While an idealized nostalgia may benefit some towns, decades of change have left many struggling to fit the mold. This thesis explores how core principles of themed experience design can be integrated into existing American main streets, reimagining the way residents interact and identify with these spaces.

Examining historical upheavals alongside decades of media portrayals brings insight into the different stories embedded in America’s small towns, many of which remain focused on the …

Under Control, Eric Tegethoff

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Under Control is a collection of six short stories focused on masculinity. The stories explore family, climate change, nationalism, and the nature of work. “A Survey of Man” and “Snake Pit” dive into the corrosive effects of capitalism on men in society. In “The Art of War,” the narrator finds the cost of pursuing healing outside of society’s prescribed norms. Society’s norms also act on the characters in “My Country, My Cybertruck” and “Bad Reporting.” The collection ends with “Virtual Idaho,” a short story that scrutinizes the masculine barriers to properly grieving for a loved one.

Using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Uav) And Closed-Circuit Television (Cctv) Video For Multi-Object Multi-Camera Vehicle Tracking (Momcmvt) In Traffic Monitoring, Siyuan Tang

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This study integrates Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to enhance traffic monitoring through a Multi-Object Multi-Camera Multi-View Tracking (MOMCMVT) framework. By combining UAV and CCTV data, the framework provides a more comprehensive and accurate representation of traffic dynamics. The Automated Roadway Conflict Identification System (ARCIS) is utilized to stabilize UAV footage using the Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) algorithm, while the Channel and Spatial Reliability Tracking (CSRT) algorithm ensures robust vehicle tracking in CCTV footage. To address perspective disparities and limited overlapping coverage, perspective transformations and GPS adjustments are applied, aligning image coordinates with real-world locations. The …

Evaluating Indirect Markers Of Musculotendinous Unit Recovery Following Eccentric Plantar Flexor Exercise, Ecaterina Vasenina

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The recovery of the musculotendinous unit (MTU) following eccentric exercise is a complex process influenced by mechanical, structural, and nutritional factors. The MTU encompasses interconnected systems, including the Achilles tendon and calf muscles, which respond dynamically to mechanical loading. The interplay of these systems is critical to understanding recovery and optimizing interventions for performance and rehabilitation. Despite advances in the field, gaps remain in assessing measurement reliability, identifying sensitive recovery markers, and evaluating the efficacy of nutritional strategies such as collagen supplementation.

This dissertation is organized into three interrelated studies. Study 1 presented in Chapter 2 investigated the reliability of …

Optomechanical Interactions And Dynamics In Nanoparticle Systems, Sohila Abdelhafiz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation investigates the coupling between optical forces and the dynamics of nanoparticle systems. Using theoretical models, simulations and experiments, we explore how light mediates interactions between nanoparticles leading to optical binding, nonreciprocal forces, and collective behavior in colloidal suspensions.

We first examine the dynamics and interactions of particles under illumination due to complex electromagnetic forces. Of particular interest are interparticle forces between particles with specific optical properties such as those satisfying the Kerker scattering conditions. We demonstrate the wavelength-dependent dynamics of such Kerker dimers and establish conditions required for their stable longitudinal binding. We also describe a one-way non-reciprocal …

Examination Of Driving Experience, Hazard Perception & Distracted Driving: Going Beyond Individual Factors By Using A Social-Ecological Framework, Alejandro A. Arca

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This research included two studies that examined the roles of nomophobia, driving experience, distraction presence, and hazard presence on driving behavior. In Study 1, a hazard perception task was used to assess participants’ hazard perception accuracy rate and reaction time. Results showed that novice drivers displayed significantly higher levels of nomophobia and lower self-efficacy scores, divided attention, and working memory scores compared to their experienced counterparts. Furthermore, the results also showed that novice drivers reported faster reaction times to hazards, which may be associated with poor impulse control as previously reported in the literature. Study 2 was conducted to further …

Atomic Layer Deposition As A Method Of Modifying Sintering Behavior Of Nanopowders, Eric Bissell

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Nanocrystalline ceramics promise superior mechanical, electrical and optical properties, yet their fabrication is impeded by a lack of scalable manufacturing methods. This thesis explores atomic layer deposition (ALD) as an enabler to manufacturing nanocrystalline ceramics. Chapter 1 frames the scientific and industrial motivation for combining traditional sintering methods with ALD, highlighting the challenges involved in nanocrystalline ceramics manufacturing, and the opportunities that lie in the combination of the two techniques. Chapter 2 surveys the state-of-the-art in nanocrystalline ceramics manufacturing, powder ALD chemistry and reactor design. Three challenges of powder ALD are highlighted and a critical comparison of fluidized-bed versus rotary-bed …

Practical Applications For Biomechanical Modeling Methods, Joseph M. Dranetz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Models are tools humans use to understand and assess the world around them. The field of biomechanics is one well suited to modeling pursuits. Physiological systems are complex, and modeling may serve as an appropriate method in understanding them. Recently, technologies enabling the collection of biomechanical data have improved greatly and continue to expand. This dissertation serves as an anthology of various attempts to collect and interpret biomechanical data with modeling.

The first study: Electromyographic, ultrasound, and knee torque data was collected from both legs of an individual with a unilateral transtibial amputation. These data were used to generate a …

Hetero-Cisgender Rituals: The Oppression Of Sexual- And Gender-Minoritized People, Bertha A. Ben Khallouq

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Among the groups that experience health inequalities in the United States, sexual- and gender-minoritized people figure prominently. Medical practitioners are tasked with alleviating these health inequalities, and it has been suggested that through the education of new physicians, we can decrease these inequalities. This perspective, however, neglects that medical students are social actors and their socialization begins long before medical school. In the present study, I develop a framework for understanding hetero-cisgender rituals that medical students experience and participate in before starting their medical training. I answer three research questions: (1) To what extent do medical students witness hetero-cisgender rituals? …

Parents’ Adverse Childhood Experiences And Young Children’S Behavior Problems: Examining Protective Moderating And Mediating Factors, Kaitlyn M. Daleandro

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are childhood exposures to abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction. ACEs have been linked to a cumulative negative impact on later adult physical and psychological well-being. Parents who carry ACEs often have difficulties in parenting, which have, in turn, been linked to young children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Nonetheless, some parents who carry ACEs develop positive parenting strategies. Very little is known about how such outcomes occur. A growing area of research concerns protective and compensatory experiences (PACEs) that buffer against the negative consequences of ACEs. PACEs may improve deficits in cognitive, emotional, and neurobiological systems …

Beam-Clip: Multimodal Alignment For Mmwave Beam Pattern Learning, Andrew P. El Kommos

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This thesis presents a novel approach to beam prediction in wireless communication systems using a multimodal masked CLIP (Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training). We introduce a two-phase training methodology that first aligns representations across multiple sensor modalities—GPS, Radar, LiDAR, and RGB images—through masked contrastive learning, followed by task-specific fine-tuning for channel power reconstruction. Our approach adapts CLIP’s pre-training strategy to the domain of wireless signal modeling, enabling the model to learn rich, transferable features that capture the spatial and contextual dependencies of the beam distribution. Notably, the pre-training stage provides a substantial boost to overall performance, significantly improving the model's ability to …

On High-Speed Breakup Of Water Droplets Behind High Mach Number Shocks, Sydney M. Briggs

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Water droplet breakup in high-speed flow is a relatively popular experimental study to analyze breakup mechanisms. There is a plethora of experiments performed at low Mach number and low Weber number, but studies with higher speed flows and higher Weber numbers are less common. In this study, water droplet breakup is assessed using high-speed shock waves (Mach 2.3-above Mach 5) in a shock tube. Multiple methods are used to introduce droplets, and multiple different water purity levels are considered. An assessment was made into whether cavitation played a role in the breakup process physically, as this has been a budding …

Towards Supporting Undergraduate Students To Become Lifelong Learners: A Multimethod, Multimodal, And Multigranular Analysis Of Motivation And Self-Regulated Learning In Context, Sierra Outerbridge

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This publication-based dissertation includes three manuscripts with distinct statistical methods to investigate self-reported motivation, self-reported self-regulated learning (SRL), and enacted SRL processes in undergraduate student contexts towards understanding how students learn how they learn.

The first manuscript focused on 1248 undergraduate statistics students, utilized self-reported motivation, and interpreted logfile data of time spent within an online textbook through the lens of SRL using hierarchical cluster analysis followed by k-means cluster analysis to identify four distinct motivation clusters. Results from a repeated measures ANOVA suggest that students did not spend time differently within the textbook, whereas there were differences between motivation …