Digital Commons Network^™

Mission Specific Solar Radiation Environment Model (Mssrem) : Peak Flux Model, Zachary Donald Robinson

Dissertations

A new probabilistic model has been presented in the dissertation. The Mission-Specific Solar Radiation Environment Model (MSSREM) peak flux model provides a design reference environment that can be tailored to a specific mission with the mission length, mission duration, and confidence level specified. These reference environments will provide the bounding-case flux for solar energetic particles that will be encountered during the mission at the specified confidence level. The MSSREM peak flux model probabilistically models the environment for six elements (hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron) and scales these environments to produce the remaining 86 environments for elements Z=1-92. The …

Pulsar Timing As A Direct Probe Of Galactic Dark Matter, Kiley Heflin

Dissertations

In the currently accepted paradigm, dark matter is hypothesized as an explanation for the flat rotation curves of galaxies under the assumption of virialized orbits. The use of millisecond pulsar (MSP) timing as a probe of Galactic dark matter content is explored as a means of challenging this assumption. A method of inference of the Galactic potential using frequency derivative $\dot{\nu}$ is produced, and an upper limit for a virialized Galactic rotation curve is given through direct observation of acceleration. The data set used includes 210 pulsars with known $\dot{\nu}$ and astrometric properties, a subset of which also have measured …

Mesoamerican Mountain Gap Winds : Forecasting And Understanding The Impact On Regional Weather, Emily Foshee

Dissertations

Mountain Gap Winds (MGW) are low-level jets forced by gaps along elongated complex terrain that act as flow barriers. A prominent occurrence of MGW, forced by the Chivela pass in southern Mexico, is found over the Gulf of Tehuantepec in the eastern Pacific where it impacts air, marine transport, fisheries, and tropical cyclogenesis. Though this MGW was subject of numerous studies, crucial aspects yet to be addressed include improving the forecasting of this phenomenon and understanding the impact of MGW on the evolution of tropical cyclones in the East Pacific. Computationally inexpensive linear regression model (LRM) and Recurrent Neural Network …

Patient-Specific Factors Associated With Surgical Delay In A Large Academic Hospital, Natalie Meyers

Dissertations

The high cost of healthcare is driving the search for more efficient practice, especially in high-stakes locations like the operating room. In addition to financial losses, patients suffer physical and emotional distress, including an increased risk of morbidity or mortality when surgical cases are delayed due to inefficiency. While patient-related causes of delay have been implicated, it is unclear which specific factors are most significant. This study aimed to identify specific patient factors correlated with surgical delay and develop a predictive risk algorithm that describes the relationship between patient-specific factors and surgical delay.

A retrospective review of 36,543 patients’ charts …

Job Satisfaction As A Function Of The Five Factor Model Of Personality In The Community Mental Health Center Environment Of Northern Indiana, Robert Ryan

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the Big Five personality type indicators and job satisfaction in the community mental health setting. The focus of this study was to gain a better understanding of whether a not-for-profit can benefit from the use of a brief personality instrument to recruit and retain individuals with the highest probability of job satisfaction. This research complements previous research which has revealed a positive correlation between certain Big Five personality traits and job satisfaction in several sectors. The research population for this study consisted of community mental health employees working …

Function And Nature Of The Heavenly Sanctuary/Temple And Its Earthly Counterparts In The New Testament Gospels, Acts, And The Epistles: A Motif Study Of Major Passages, Leonardo G. Nunes

Dissertations

The present dissertation examines the function and nature of the heavenly sanctuary/temple and its relationship to the earthly counterparts in the major passages of the New Testament (NT) Gospels, Acts, Pauline and General Epistles where the sanctuary/temple motif is found (a total of twenty-two passages). After the introductory chapter, chapters 2, 3, and 4 are devoted to the exegetical analysis of these major passages following canonical order and divisions of the NT. This exegetical analysis has detected the relevance of the heavenly sanctuary/temple motif for NT studies, i.e., how its function, nature, and relationship to the earthly counterparts influence the …

Educational Leadership Model: An Historical Analysis Of Arne Duncan (2001-2015) As Chief Executive Officer Of The Chicago Public Schools And As Secretary Of Education Of The United States Of America, And Impact Of His Leadership Style On Implementation Of Educational Initiatives, Jodilyn Maria Pinkerton

Dissertations

This research is a historical examination of Arne Duncan's leadership styles as Chief Education Officer of the Chicago Public Schools and as U.S. Secretary of Education. This analysis highlights the correlation between Ronald Heifetz's Adaptive Leadership (2009) and Arne Duncan's leadership style as he implements initiatives to expand educational opportunities for students in the Chicago Public Schools and his national reform initiatives to improve college readiness among high school graduates. This research also presents Arne Duncan's challenges and successes in the implementation of the Renaissance 2010 program that closed 70 schools, Chicago Public Schools exit from the Consent Decree, the …

Laissez Fairy Tales: Consensus, Cohesion, And Corporate Culture During The Collapse Of Lehman Brothers, William Howard Burr

Dissertations

Understanding the ways in which organizations fail is foundational to the organization studies discipline. Organizational sociologists have outlined the various ways organizations and organizational cultures can fail separately or simultaneously, temporarily or totally. Yet, little effort has been directed toward proving that organizational culture is capable of surviving the complete and total collapse of the organization from which it emerged. This work uncovers a new way that organizations can fail that leaves their organizational culture intact. the author considers employee interactions during the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy by reassembling the cultural artifacts contained in a company email archive to demonstrate that …

Vigilance Of Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Timothy Finn

Dissertations

Vigilance of certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) is an integral component of the care they provide patients under general anesthetic. the practice of CRNas is important as the official seal of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA). on the seal, Morpheus, the god of dreams, is shown holding the Lamp of Learning, by the light of which he keeps vigil (Hirter & Van Nest, 1995). as the patients remain unconscious under general anesthesia, CRNas remain the patients' eyes and ears remains responsive to their needs. the CRNa must remain attentive to the patient's needs by continuously monitoring the patient …

Cultural Responsiveness Among Teachers And School Discipline, Sharon K. Perry

Dissertations

The disproportionality in school staff's discipline practices toward racial minority students (Skiba et al., 2011) are linked to higher levels of suspension and expulsion rates. These practices are also connected to various negative outcomes relative to student achievement and even students completing secondary education (Raffaele-Mendez & Knoff, 2003). the public school population has increasingly become more racially and ethnically diverse; however school personnel, both administrators and teaching staff have largely remained homogenous and predominantly White. as a result, some research has indicated that school personnel's level of cultural responsivity (CR) may impact their discipline practices. Examples of this have included …

The Phenomenology Of Accompaniment: A Journey Of Transformation, Siobhan O'Donoghue

Dissertations

Accompaniment is a humanitarian approach that seeks to ameliorate the suffering of individuals and communities that are vulnerable, and often struggling with the effects of collective traumas. Despite the fact that accompaniment models are being utilized in various parts of the world, the topic has seldom been explored in the literature. the purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of accompaniment for migrants. Purposeful sampling was used to identify 28 participants who represented both accompaniers and the accompanied. Data were collected through 13 interviews and 3 focus groups and analyzed using Moustakas' (1994) transcendental phenomenological method …

Image Instance Segmentation: Using The Cirsy System To Identify Small Objects In Low Resolution Images, Orghomisan William Omatsone

Dissertations

The CIRSY system (or Chick Instance Recognition System) is am image processing system developed as part of this research to detect images of chicks in highly-populated images that uses the leading algorithm in instance segmentation tasks, called the Mask R-CNN. It extends on the Faster R-CNN framework used in object detection tasks, and this extension adds a branch to predict the mask of an object along with the bounding box prediction. Mask R-CNN has proven to be effective ininstance segmentation and object de-tection tasks after outperforming all existing models on evaluation of the Microsoft Common Objects in Context (MS COCO) …

Machine Learning Assisted Gait Analysis For The Determination Of Handedness In Able-Bodied People, Hugh Gallagher

Dissertations

This study has investigated the potential application of machine learning for video analysis, with a view to creating a system which can determine a person’s hand laterality (handedness) from the way that they walk (their gait). To this end, the convolutional neural network model VGG16 underwent transfer learning in order to classify videos under two ‘activities’: “walking left-handed” and “walking right-handed”. This saw varying degrees of success across five transfer learning trained models: Everything – the entire dataset; FiftyFifty – the dataset with enough right-handed samples removed to produce a set with parity between activities; Female – only the female …

An Examination Of The Smote And Other Smote-Based Techniques That Use Synthetic Data To Oversample The Minority Class In The Context Of Credit-Card Fraud Classification, Eduardo Parkinson De Castro

Dissertations

This research project seeks to investigate some of the different sampling techniques that generate and use synthetic data to oversample the minority class as a means of handling the imbalanced distribution between non-fraudulent (majority class) and fraudulent (minority class) classes in a credit-card fraud dataset. The purpose of the research project is to assess the effectiveness of these techniques in the context of fraud detection which is a highly imbalanced and cost-sensitive dataset. Machine learning tasks that require learning from datasets that are highly unbalanced have difficulty learning since many of the traditional learning algorithms are not designed to cope …

Transformer Neural Networks For Automated Story Generation, Kemal Araz

Dissertations

Towards the last two-decade Artificial Intelligence (AI) proved its use on tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, automated driving. As discussed in the Moore’s law the computational power increased rapidly over the few decades (Moore, 1965) and made it possible to use the techniques which were computationally expensive. These techniques include Deep Learning (DL) changed the field of AI and outperformed other models in a lot of fields some of which mentioned above. However, in natural language generation especially for creative tasks that needs the artificial intelligent models to have not only a precise understanding of the given …

Identifying Online Sexual Predators Using Support Vector Machine, Yifan Li

Dissertations

A two-stage classification model is built in the research for online sexual predator identification. The first stage identifies the suspicious conversations that have predator participants. The second stage identifies the predators in suspicious conversations. Support vector machines are used with word and character n-grams, combined with behavioural features of the authors to train the final classifier. The unbalanced dataset is downsampled to test the performance of re-balancing an unbalanced dataset. An age group classification model is also constructed to test the feasibility of extracting the age profile of the authors, which can be used as features for classifier training. The …

Detection Of Pathological Hfo Using Supervised Machine Learning And Ieeg Data, Isabel L. Sicardi Rosell

Dissertations

Epilepsy is the second most common neurological disorder and it affects approxi mately 50 million people worldwide. One of the main characteristics of this disorder is the presence of recurrent seizures which tend to be controlled through medication. Nonetheless, 20% of the patients with this disorder are resistant to drug treatment meaning that they need to go through alternative procedures.

Finetuning Pre-Trained Language Models For Sentiment Classification Of Covid19 Tweets, Arjun Dussa

Dissertations

It is a common practice in today’s world for the public to use different micro-blogging and social networking platforms, predominantly Twitter, to share opinions, ideas, news, and information about many things in life. Twitter is also becoming a popular channel for information sharing during pandemic outbreaks and disaster events. The world has been suffering from economic crises ever since COVID-19 cases started to increase rapidly since January 2020. The virus has killed more than 800 thousand people ever since the discovery as per the statistics from Worldometer [1] which is the authorized tracking website. So many researchers around the globe …

Investigating Effect Of Amount Of Augmented Data On Performance Of Convolutional Neural Network For Multiclass Image Classification, Shivam Khandelwal

Dissertations

This research project seeks to investigate the use of Image Data augmentation that generates synthetic data by adding distortions to original images, as a means of replacement to a large amount of real data used to train the Convolutional Neural Networks. The purpose of the research project is to assess the effectiveness of augmented data over the real data by comparing the performance of the model trained with various amounts of augmented training and validation data ratio. Deep learning tasks involving convolutional neural networks have difficulty in generalizing the models effectively for computer vision tasks when the training dataset is …

Investigating The Predictability Of A Chaotic Time-Series Data Using Reservoir Computing, Deep-Learning And Machine- Learning On The Short-, Medium- And Long-Term Pricing Of Bitcoin And Ethereum., Molly Kenny

Dissertations

This study will investigate the predictability of a Chaotic time-series data using Reservoir computing (Echo State Network), Deep-Learning(LSTM) and Machine- Learning(Linear, Bayesian, ElasticNetCV , Random Forest, XGBoost Regression and a machine learning Neural Network) on the short (1-day out prediction), medium (5-day out prediction) and long-term (30-day out prediction) pricing of Bitcoin and Ethereum Using a range of machine learning tools, to perform feature selection by permutation importance to select technical indicators on the individual cryptocurrencies, to ensure the datasets are the best for predictions per cryptocurrency while reducing noise within the models. The predictability of these two chaotic time-series …

Efficient Predictive Lossless Hyperspectral Image Compression Using Machine Learning, Zhuocheng Jiang

Dissertations

Hyperspectral imaging technology has found many useful applications in various domains such as remote sensing. Data compression allows for efficient storage and transmission of massive hyperspectral image datasets. In this dissertation, we study efficient predictive coding schemes for lossless compression of hyperspectral images. We use machine learning techniques to improve the following two key components of the predictive coding process: (i) accurate pixel value prediction, and (ii) more efficient entropy coding of the prediction errors (residues). To this end, we propose an adaptive filtering framework based on concatenated neural networks, which are capable of extracting both spatial and spectral correlations …

A Comparative Study Of Text Summarization On E-Mail Data Using Unsupervised Learning Approaches, Tijo Thomas

Dissertations

Over the last few years, email has met with enormous popularity. People send and receive a lot of messages every day, connect with colleagues and friends, share files and information. Unfortunately, the email overload outbreak has developed into a personal trouble for users as well as a financial concerns for businesses. Accessing an ever-increasing number of lengthy emails in the present generation has become a major concern for many users. Email text summarization is a promising approach to resolve this challenge. Email messages are general domain text, unstructured and not always well developed syntactically. Such elements introduce challenges for study …

Evaluating Bert Embeddings For Text Classification In Bio-Medical Domain To Determine Eligibility Of Patients In Clinical Trials, Saurabh Khodake

Dissertations

Clinical Trials are studies conducted by researchers in order to assess the impact of new medicine in terms of its efficacy and most importantly safety on human health. For any advancement in the field of medicine it is very important that clinical trials are conducted with right ethics supported by scientific evidence. Not all people who volunteer or participate in clinical trials are allowed to undergo the trials. Age, comorbidity and other health issues present in a patient can be a major factor to decide whether the profile is suitable or not for the trial. Profiles selected for clinical trials …

Philosophy And Practice Of Wholistic And Physical Student Development At Select Seventh-Day Adventist Higher Educational Institutions And Work Colleges, Brenda Gay Palmer Chase

Dissertations

Problem and Purpose

There is an extensive array of literature and research espousing the importance of developing the whole student. Comparatively, there is limited research on examining how colleges and universities that promote wholistic student development incorporate each of the human dimensions into an integrated educational experience. There is, therefore, a need for scholarship that compares and contrasts how separate and distinct higher educational systems having a philosophy of educating the whole person define and implement the development of the physical dimension. Similarly, research is needed that examines how the differences in interpreting and implementing the development of the physical …

A Measurable Cybersecurity Quality Framework And Its Application To The Department Of Transportation, Mohammad Shojaeshafiei

Dissertations

Numerous organizations are running businesses around the clock and have interaction with users through computer networks. The substantial issue here is that the organizations may not be able to assure the users that all operations can be performed completely securely while the users are engaged with the system’s operations. On a broader scale, the necessity of security assurance goes beyond business affairs such that lack of system security in organizations and agencies may endanger national security and public safety. All the records, research, and scientific studies show that it is almost impossible to guarantee all services and transactions on a …

A Hermeneutic For The Aqedah Test: A Way Beyond Jon Levenson's And Terence Fretheim's Models, Arlyn Sunshine Drew

Dissertations

Problem

The works of Jon Levenson and Terence Fretheim highlight the problem of determining which interpretations of the biblical worlds of meaning around the text are congruent with the text of the Aqedah (also known as the Sacrifice of Isaac, Genesis 22: 1-19) and which should be disclaimed. A hermeneutical model is needed for Abraham's test that provides a text-based paradigm for sound interpretation of the narrative world (in the text), the historical world (behind the text), the theistic world (above the text), the cosmological world (below the text), and the present world (in front of the text).

Method

Four …

High Stakes Testing And School Characteristics: A Comparative Study, Kelsey M. Dailey

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this quantitative, correlational study was to better understand the relationship between the 2016 Grade 10 ISTEP+ English passing rate and 2018 graduation rate amongst 290 Indiana high schools and the following variables: school size, average SAT reading score, percentage of students passing advanced placement (AP) exams, percentage of special education students, percentage of free or reduced lunch students, percentage of English Language Learner students, and percentage of minority ethnic group students.. The results of the research may further evaluate how 2016 school characteristics are related to the Grade 10, 2016 ISTEP+ English which may suggest future …

A Re-Examination Of Pentateuchal Hamartiology And Atonement As A Hermeneutical Framework For Interpreting The Laying On Of Hands, Slavisa Milodar Jankovic

Dissertations

The ritual gesture of laying on of hands in Scripture has generated significant interest among theologians from rabbinic times until now. Still today, scholars assign various meanings to the ritual. In the second half of the 20th century, the fresh interest that put forward new meanings for this gesture came primarily through the introduction of the new sub-discipline of Ritualistics within Old Testament studies. This relatively new discipline is not founded upon premises found in biblical texts, but rather, upon those found in various secular social, philosophical sciences, and other disciplines such as sociology, philosophy, anthropology, literary criticism, and the …

A Correlational Model Of Burnout And Personality Among Clergy In The United States, Nathanael M. Stephens

Dissertations

Problem

This study explored the relationship between personality and burnout. The facets of personality detailed in the Factor Five Model served as the independent variables, with burnout as the dependent variable. Research exists on the relationship between personality and burnout for individuals in helping professions. However, there is little research on the interaction between burnout and personality factors among Protestant clergy members.

Method

A total of 602 participants who self-identified as living in the United States were recruited through an advertisement on Facebook. Participants all indicated they were Protestant members of the clergy and had been in the ministry for …

Selectivity For Allosteric Effectors Of Bacterial Adp-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase: Structural And Functional Studies, Mashael Alghamdi

Dissertations

The biosynthesis of the intracellular polysaccharide in bacteria and plants, glycogen and starch, respectively, controlled by the key regulatory step that catalyzed by ADP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase (ADP-Glc PPase). ADP-Glc PPase is an allosteric enzyme regulated by metabolites produced of the principle carbon assimilation pathway in each organism. Agrobacterium tumefaciens enzyme activated by fructose 6-phosphate (Fru6P) and pyruvate, whereas Escherichia coli enzyme activated by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (FBP), and both enzymes inhibited by AMP. Here, we targeted the allosteric regulation of the A. tumefaciens enzyme, examined some residues that may impact the regulation mechanism (Ser72, His71, Arg75, Ser351, Ser334, Arg368, Asn350, and Asp291), …