Digital Commons Network^™

Nanostructured Titanium Dioxide As Novel Electrodes For Water/Wastewater Treatment, Amir Ahmadi

Dissertations

Electrochemical redox processes have emerged as a viable option for water and wastewater treatment as they offer several advantages such as capable of degrading a wide range of contaminants, small footprint, capability to adjust to influent fluctuation, and less waste generation. In electrochemical treatment applications, the electrode material largely determines the efficiency of the treatment processes. However, electrodes commonly used for water treatment may either suffer low reactivity and/or stability (e.g. metal and mixed metal oxides such as SnO2, PbO2, IrO2, RuO2, and IrO2/RuO2 electrodes) or be subject to limited applications due to high cost and the scarcity of the …

An Embedded Defense-In-Depth Module For Detecting Cyberattacks On Interdependent Scada Controllers, Rishabh Das

Dissertations

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) is a process control architecture with interconnected computers monitoring and controlling physical processes using sensors and actuators. SCADA manages large cyber-physical systems like water treatment, gas pipelines, oil terminals, and power systems. These processes use a decentralized computing architecture. Small ruggedized digital computers (programmable logic controllers or PLCs) adapted for the control of industrial processes perform the distributed control. These computers do not have security built into them and rely on external nodes for the detection of cyber-attacks. This dissertation introduces an embedded intrusion detection system (IDS) inside the PLCs. The embedded intrusion detection …

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 …

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 …

Characterization Of Supercell Thunderstorms Exhibiting Anomalous Charge Structures In The Southeastern United States, Sarah M. Stough

Dissertations

This research is concerned with two supercell thunderstorms observed in the Southeastern United States that exhibited anomalous charge structures (ACSs). ACSs are characterized by an apparent reversal of dominant charge region polarity from normal charge structures (NCSs). Historically, ACSs have been rarely indicated within the Southeast and are not documented within the literature. Conceptual models of ACSs more typically observed in the Great Plains hypothesize that ACSs arise as a result of high liquid water content (LWC) in the mixed-phase region of an updraft, facilitated by conditions that increase the efficacy of the updraft in supplying LWC and reduce the …

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 …

Customer Churn Prediction, Deepshikha Wadikar

Dissertations

Churned customers identification plays an essential role for the functioning and growth of any business. Identification of churned customers can help the business to know the reasons for the churn and they can plan their market strategies accordingly to enhance the growth of a business. This research is aimed at developing a machine learning model that can precisely predict the churned customers from the total customers of a Credit Union financial institution. A quantitative and deductive research strategies are employed to build a supervised machine learning model that addresses the class imbalance problem handled feature selection and efficiently predict the …

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 …

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 …

Community Violence Exposure Among Ethnic Minority Youth: Understanding The Predictive Roles Of Depressive Symptoms And Risky Behavior In A Community Sample, Amanda Nicole Burnside

Dissertations

Ethnic-minority youth residing in urban communities are disproportionately impacted by community violence exposure (ECV), and despite decades of research, rates of ECV in youth continue to increase. Further, person-based analyses have demonstrated variability in rates of ECV, even among youth who share similar risky demographic factors and it is important to examine the utility of psychological factors as predictors of ECV. Drawing from public health frameworks and the reciprocal-stress model, the current study seeks to better understand the longitudinal relationship between various components of depressive symptoms (depressed affect, somatic symptoms, depressive cognitions, suicidal thoughts and behaviors) in the prediction of …

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 …

Suffocated Cd8 T Cells In The Hypoxic Tumor Microenvironment, Lourdes Beatriz Plaza Rojas

Dissertations

Hypoxia is a common feature of solid tumors that plays an important role in angiogenesis, malignant progression and metastatic development. However, its impact on T cell anti-tumor responses is less known. We determined that CD8 tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) tend to localize to non-hypoxic tumor areas, suggesting a susceptibility to tumor-associated hypoxia. This led us to further study the effects of hypoxia in vitro by culturing spleen-derived mouse T cells in a humidified chamber at 0.5% O2, 5% CO2 and 37 °C. We found that T cell proliferation and effector function are reduced by hypoxia, severely affecting inflammatory cytokine production. …

Interpreting Minorness And Minor Characters In The Victorian Novel, Grace Pregent

Dissertations

An unprecedented and staggering wealth of characters floods the Victorian novel with its rich social representation of the nineteenth century. in reading these capacious narratives that seemingly accumulate objects, plots, and people, critics continuously privilege plot and minimize or dismiss the intricate participation of minor characters in the construction of meaning. Studies of literary characterization have classically struggled to articulate a theory of character that moves beyond reductive dichotomies€”flat or round, major or minor€”but that does not become inflated and cumbersome. Despite a lack of comprehensive critical attention, minor characters are no minor matter, and the brevity of their textual …

A Single Camera 360-Degree Real Time Vision-Based Localization Method With Application To Mobile Robot Trajectory Tracking, Khomsun Singhirunnusorn

Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a new method for real time vision-based localization in the full 360-degree area around a 3D reference object. In the past, Mirage pose estimation was developed for multi-camera systems. To achieve 360-degree localization with a single camera, we introduce the Mirage-S pose estimation method that uses a single camera given a 3D reference object as input. Mirage-S finds the solution by using an iterative numerical method with non-linear equations. This dissertation splits the localization problem into three parts: 360-degree 3D object recognition, 360-degree pose estimation, and 360-degree localization application. First, 360-degree 3D object recognition is required to …

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 …

On Determination Of Curvature In Range Images And Volumes, Jacob D. Hauenstein

Dissertations

Determination of surface and hypersurface curvature is considered here. Focus is on the (1) introduction of four new methods for determining surface curvature in range images, (2) introduction of three new methods for determining surface curvature in volumes, (3) introduction of two new methods for determining hypersurface curvature in volumes, and (4) evaluative studies of such types of methods. The evaluative studies include evaluations of existing and new methods based on the accuracy of the determined curvatures, run times, and results on a set of curvature-based tasks.

A Virtual Cyber-Physical System Testbed For Use In Network Intrusion Detection And Prevention System Verification, Sueanne Nichole Griffith

Dissertations

In this work, the author presents research that will result in three contributions to the cybersecurity field. The first is a software model of a navigational lock based on the Sault St. Marie Locks. It is constructed with Matlab Simulink and open-source tools, using information available on existing systems and the government standards for lock construction. The second contribution is a methodology for use in comparing and testing intrusion detection and prevention systems. This includes the creation of a network data set, eleven network attacks to be used in testing, and criteria with which analyzed systems may be compared. Lastly, …

Design, Testing, And Modeling Of Radio Frequency And Digital Circuits Using Metal-Ferroelectric-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistors, Mitchell Ryan Hunt

Dissertations

In this dissertation, a novel device, the ferroelectric transistor, is studied, modeled, and applied to various circuit designs. Empirical data of several devices are presented alongside the theory behind the device operation. This theoretical understanding of the device is then used as the basis for a physically derived model, which is shown to agree with the experimental collected data. Lastly, these new devices are applied to several circuit designs ranging from digital to radio frequency and new operation of these circuits developed to highlight the unique and interesting features afforded by the addition of a ferroelectric layer. The primary focus …

Robust Single Loop Nonlinear Control For Quadrotors, Han Woong Bae

Dissertations

In this dissertation, two robust single loop nonlinear controllers are proposed for an underactuated quadrotor: a sliding mode controller and an online reinforcement learning controller. The proposed controllers control the position of the control point, a displaced point from the quadrotor's geometric center, and the yaw angle. This method solves singularity issues in control matrix inversion and enables the utilization of the multi-input multi-output equation to derive the control laws. In the proposed approach, roll and pitch are not directly controlled. However, auxiliary terms are developed and utilized in both controllers to actively stabilize the roll and pitch of the …

Improved Modeling And Verification Of Metrology On Small Radius Optics, Reem Alsalamah

Dissertations

This dissertation employs a graphical method of laser beam propagation analysis, the yybar diagram, to develop analytical solutions for a difficult optical metrology challenge: modeling of the behaviour of an interferometric system when testing small radius objects. The method presented utilizes the yybar diagram for Gaussian beams to model interferometric systems. The method enables rapid, intuitive layout and understanding of the complex properties of beam propagation, yielding algebraic calculations producing quantitative results. We first derive a relation for minimum test radius; the smallest radius part that can produce a perfect fluffed fringe, wherein the test and reference waves are identical …

Ultrafast Time-Frequency Spectroscopy Based On Few-Cycle Pump-Probe Transient Reflectometry, Hemang Jani

Dissertations

Over the last decade, advances in novel materials such as two-dimensional (2D) materials, metamaterials, plasmonics, and negative-electron-affinity (NEA) structures have triggered rapid growth in the development of ultrafast optoelectronic devices. This calls for simple yet effective approaches to characterize ultrafast dynamics in these materials and devices. An important aspect of this thesis research is to demonstrate one such approach by amalgamation of state-of-the-art in ultrashort light pulse source with a classical pump-probe methodology to develop a Few-Cycle Pump-Probe Reflectometer (PPR) system, which can offer both high temporal resolution and broad spectral coverage. As one of its applications, this work focuses …

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 …

Digital Optical Correlator Alignment Monitoring System For Astronomical Telescopes, Tomasz Marek Lis

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of An Embedded Process Prediction Intrusion Prevention System For Industrial Control Systems, Aaron W. Werth

Dissertations

Highly notable cyber-attacks, such as Stuxnet [44] and the Marocchi attack [18], have targeted critical infrastructure with the goal of affecting physical processes to cause harm. This work presents a payload analysis-based Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) to detect similar attacks by predicting what harm the attacks could cause to the physical process. The IPS developed is called the Embedded Process Prediction Intrusion Prevention System (EPPIPS). EPPIPS will examine incoming command packets and programs that are destined for a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) that interacts with a physical process. If EPPIPS predicts these packets or programs to be harmful, EPPIPS can …

Condition Assessment Of Composite Insulators, Meghana Ramesh

Dissertations

The application of composite insulators in high voltage transmission and distribution has progressively increased. In recent years, composite insulators have captured a large share of the market at certain voltages due to advantages of lightweight, low cost, superior contamination performance and low maintenance. These composite insulators have a fiberglass rod housed inside a polymeric sheath. The housing material is generally made of organic materials. The material nature of composite insulators makes them easily prone to deterioration due to moisture, heat, pollution and also electric discharges. The absence of intermediate metallic structures results in highly non-uniform voltage distribution along the composite …

Construction Of Classroom Community In A Full-Inclusion District: Comparative Case Studies With Elementary School Teachers, Tri Nguyen

Dissertations

This research documented how elementary school teachers build, structure, and maintain classroom community in a full-inclusion district. Specifically, this study applied Invitational Theory to investigate the relationship between a full-inclusion school model and the construction of classroom community. The study focused on the teachers’ behaviors to structure and maintain an environment of inclusion, care, and belonging. This qualitative comparative case study documented teachers’ behaviors over a series of 10 weeks at the start of the school year. Documentation evidence of classroom community- building were collected in two formats: classroom observations and teacher interviews. By the end of the observational period, …

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 …

Music Notation-To-Color Synesthesia And Early Stages Of Music Education: A Grounded Theory Study, Eduardo Sola Chagas Lima

Dissertations

Problem

Synesthesia is a neurological condition characterized by over-abundant neural connectivity between commonly highly specialized areas of the brain. The developmental form of the condition often results in automatic and consistent cross-sensory associations between perceived stimuli and commonly unrelated brain regions. This research contemplates the specific form of music notation-to-color synesthesia and its impact on early stages of music education. Synesthetes with this mode of the condition tend to involuntarily yet consistently associate music-notational concepts with colors, thus rendering their assimilation of these concepts unique and individualized. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent of these individualized …

Choice Of God/Higher Power, Perceptions Of God/Higher Power, Religious Beliefs And Behaviors, And Social Support As Predictors Of Length Of Sobriety, Satisfaction With Life, And Quality Of Life Among People Recovering From Alcohol Addictions In Three Midwestern States, Carlton Martin

Dissertations

Problem

An estimated 12.7% of the US population meet the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). The annual cost to the society, including emergency room visits, lost days at work, and accidents on the road is in the billions. The impact of this disorder on the family, the community, and the individual is immeasurable. A growing body of literature supports an association between religious and spiritual beliefs and behaviors and recovery from alcohol addiction. This project is an investigation of this association. The goal is to offer some …