State Estimation, Covariance Estimation, And Economic Optimization Of Semi-Batch Bioprocesses, Ronald Hunter Alexander

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One of the most critical aspects of any chemical process engineer is the ability to gather, analyze, and trust incoming process data as it is often required in control and process monitoring applications. In real processes, online data can be unreliable due to factors such as poor tuning, calibration drift, or mechanical drift. Outside of these sources of noise, it may not be economically viable to directly measure all process states of interest (e.g., component concentrations). While process models can help validate incoming process data, models are often subject to plant-model mismatches, unmodeled disturbances, or lack enough detail to track …

Working With Community Partners In Wv: Learning How To Frame Health Equity In Physical Activity Interventions, Karly Marie Casanave-Phillips

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Developing physical activity interventions that reach underserved populations and increase equitable access requires knowledge of health equity (Bantham et al., 2021). Thus, as funding organizations push for use of community engaged approaches, it becomes important to gauge what community leaders know about health equity. The present study employed surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore community partners’ understanding and perceptions of health equity, as well as benefits and barriers to promoting health equity in their communities. Participants (n = 20) were capacity-building grant applicants recruited through the Center for ActiveWV. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to develop two higher order …

Development Of A Framework To Support Community-Scale Nutrient Recovery For Local Crop Fertilization And Production, Scott A. Lopez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nutrient and resource recovery (NRR) has become increasingly crucial as regions face deteriorating sanitation infrastructures, limited support, and growing environmental challenges. Implementing region-specific NRR technologies and systems could provide effective circular economy insights into addressing these challenges. Because of the multidisciplinary challenges associated with the design and implementation of NRR strategies, various government and local decision-makers need to collaborate effectively in the decision-making process. Structured decision-making (SDM) methodologies are practical when determining the most appropriate NRR strategy for nutrient-rich waste streams. However, applications of computational SDM limited because of the vast amounts of data that are needed to analyze the …

Artificial Light At Night Disrupts Pain Behavior And Cerebrovascular Structure In Mice, Jacob Raymond Bumgarner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Artificial Light at Night Disrupts Pain Behavior and Cerebrovascular Structure in Mice

Jacob R. Bumgarner

Circadian rhythms are intrinsic biological processes that fluctuate in function with a period of approximately 24 hours. These rhythms are precisely synchronized to the 24- hour day of the Earth by external rhythmic signaling cues. Solar light-dark cycles are the most potent environmental signaling cue for terrestrial organisms to align internal rhythms with the external day. Proper alignment and synchrony of internal circadian rhythms with external environmental rhythms are essential for health and optimal biological function.

The modern human environment on Earth is no longer …

Skirting The Law: Sensationalism And Spectacle Of British Murderesses From The 1830s To The 1860s, Sarah Elizabeth Offutt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

“Skirting the Law: Sensationalism and Spectacle of British Murderesses from the 1830s to the 1860s” concentrates on women who committed the crime of murder during a time where print culture rose in popularity, gendered spheres of influence dictated lives, and class consciousness governed society. Due to their rarity and uniqueness, murderesses became a fascination among the public as they defined societal expectations. While some women inspired sympathy for their plight that led to their actions, others were viewed as wicked and abominations of nature. When observing how infrequently women were convicted in comparison to men, the thesis argues that their …

“Long Have I Wished To See The King:” Indigenous Transatlantic Diplomacy In The 18th Century North American Southeast, Riley Christian Bowers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis situates three examples of transatlantic diplomacy practiced by Cherokee and Yamacraw diplomats in the eighteenth century within their Indigenous contexts. Utilizing treaty negotiations, transcripts from diplomatic summits, official correspondence, published journals, and newspapers, this study aims to situate these delegations within an Indigenous and transatlantic sociopolitical context. The aim of this work is to address questions regarding the objectives of the people involved, and to trace the outcomes of their policies. The answers to these questions explain one of many southeastern Indigenous political strategies of the eighteenth century, one that highlights the imperial center as a crucial setting …

Advancing Medical Technology For Motor Impairment Rehabilitation: Tools, Protocols, And Devices, Matthew Yough

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Excellent motor control skills are necessary to live a high-quality life. Activities such as walking, getting dressed, and feeding yourself may seem mundane, but injuries to the neuromuscular system can render these tasks difficult or even impossible to accomplish without assistance. Statistics indicate that well over 100 million people are affected by diseases or injuries, such as stroke, Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, peripheral nerve injury, spinal cord injury, and amputation, that negatively impact their motor abilities. This wide array of injuries presents a challenge to the medical field as optimal treatment paradigms are often difficult to implement due …

Outdoor Recreation Benefits In Urban Areas: An Importance-Performance Analysis Of Residents' Perception In Morgantown, West Virginia, Zachary D. Cox

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Abstract

Outdoor Recreation Benefits in Urban Areas: An Importance-Performance Analysis of Residents’ Perception in Morgantown, West Virginia

Zachary Cox

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in outdoor recreation has surged in primitive, rural, and even urban settings. Similarly, outdoor recreation studies that focus on residents have continually grown post-COVID-19. Through shared activities and a sense of community, residents have a strong voice in the decisions and improvements of their local environmental spaces. The purpose of this study is to assess the benefits of outdoor recreation among residents in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia. To identify these benefits and perceptions, researchers …

The Uncertain Future Of Landscapes Subjected To Mountaintop Removal Mining, Samuel James Bower

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Increased erosion following human land disturbance is a global issue for ecosystem health and land management. Mountaintop removal (MTR) mining – a type of surface mining predominately found in the Central Appalachian Coalfields region – is one of the most significant examples of human perturbation to a natural landscape. A post-MTR landscape, when compared to its natural state, has significantly different erosive potential due to the rearrangement of topography from mining and reclamation practices. Removal of vegetation and alterations to soil further influence erosion by raising the effective erodibility of substrate subjected to MTR. We quantify the changes in erosion …

Investigating The Effects Of Flotation Restricted Environment Stimulation Therapy On Neural Networks In Chronic Pain Patients Via Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging And Other Modalities, Tyler Austin Mcgaughey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chronic lower back pain (CLBP) is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, with an estimated direct cost of over 600 billion dollars in the US alone. CLBP profoundly impacts the patient, their support team, and the healthcare system. Widespread changes to the patient's well-being, including mental health, are seen in CLBP and contribute to a downward spiral that often leads to disability. Chronic pain is poorly understood and is difficult to treat because of its subjective nature. Recent improvements in pain assessment in the clinic and in biomedical research have had a profoundly impacted the field. More than …

Program Evaluation Of A Type 1 Diabetes Transition Process For Emerging Adults, Anna J. Shashura

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Purpose: To evaluate a structured transition program, Preparing Emerging Adults with Knowledge and Skills (PEAKS), for pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in an outpatient pediatric endocrinology center.

Design and Methods: Program evaluation was completed following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Framework for Program Evaluation in Public Health, focusing on implementation adherence, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1C), and provider satisfaction for the first three visits of the PEAKS program. Satisfaction was assessed using the Got Transition Sample Health Care Transition Feedback Survey for Clinicians. Implementation adherence and HbA1C were gathered using retrospective chart review.

Results: Less than half …

Elucidating Mechanisms Of Proteasome Modulation By Small Molecules To Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases And Cancer, Janelle Joo Yee Chuah

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Maintaining protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, is crucial for cellular function, and protein degradation through the proteasome plays a pivotal role in this process. Dysregulation of the proteasome can lead to proteostasis collapse and has been linked to the development of neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. Neurodegenerative diseases often exhibit proteasome impairment, whereas proteasome upregulation is frequently observed in cancer. Although the use of proteasome inhibitors as a pharmaceutical approach has shown success in certain cancers, it has yet to demonstrate efficacy in neurodegenerative diseases due to the absence of drug-like small molecules capable of effectively reversing proteasome impairment and/or activating the …

Toward A Reconceptualization Of Gentrification: Assessing Neighborhood Variation By Socioeconomic And Economic Processes, Annette M. Mackay

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The core conceptualization of gentrification is social class ascension. Researchers and the public have often disagreed about how, when, where, and why gentrification occurs. When there is agreement, researchers often add specifications, such as displacement, that further confuse the concept. Reasons for the confusion include non-integrating theoretical dimensions, methods that assume independent effects, and the context of place. The objective of this study is to conceptualize gentrification in a case study city using two key dimensions, socioeconomic and economic processes, in a spatial context. Using principal component analysis to identify the latent constructs that account for change in Pittsburgh, PA, …

Machine Learning For Biosensors, Gayathri Anapanani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Biosensors have become increasingly popular as diagnostic tools due to their ability to detect and quantify biological analytes in a wide range of applications. With the growing demand for faster and more reliable biosensing devices, machine learning has become a valuable tool in enhancing biosensor performance. In this report, we review recent progress in the application of machine learning to biosensors. We discuss the potential benefits of using machine learning in biosensors, including improved sensitivity, selectivity, and accuracy. We also discuss the various machine learning techniques that have been applied to biosensors, including data preprocessing, feature extraction, and classification and …

Simulating Energy Performance Of Buildings: A Study Using Equest And Energy Star® Portfolio Manager, Sabin Wagle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The urgent need for improving building energy efficiency in response to global warming and environmental sustainability has highlighted the importance of practical techniques to optimize energy performance. The study utilizes the eQUEST simulation engine and Energy Star® Portfolio Manager to evaluate retrofit and design parameters and conduct a sensitivity analysis to explore the impact of different parameters on building energy performance. The study develops building energy models in eQUEST using data from two fully operational Distribution centers. It is calibrated using the Normalized Mean Bias Error (NMBE) and Coefficient of Variation of Root Mean Square Error (CV(RMSE)) method, meeting the …

Disaster Risk Assessment In The Context Of Social Justice Using Geospatial Data Analytics, Behrang Bidadian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Disaster Risk Assessment in the Context of Social Justice Using Geospatial Data Analytics

Behrang Bidadian

In recent decades, urban areas have witnessed a rise in floods which have posed a significant threat to human life and wealth, due to the effects of global warming. While researchers have conducted extensive studies on natural disaster risk focusing on components such as hazard, exposure, and vulnerability, certain aspects of this field have remained inadequately understood. To fulfill this need, the primary objective of this dissertation was to enhance our understanding of flood risk in urban areas, considering it a crucial example of natural …

Can Gamification Increase Work Motivation? Considering The Job Characteristics Model And Employee Attitudes Towards Games., Richard A. Oxarart

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gamification, or the use of game elements in the working environment, is becoming more prevalent in the workplace. These elements, such as badges, points, levels, fictional narratives, leaderboards, and others have been being used in industry due to their assumed motivational properties. Though researchers have begun to investigate this assumption, there is still a lack of supporting empirical evidence. Furthermore, what research has been done has been met with mixed results. This study investigates the usefulness of gamification through the lens of the job characteristics model, which has rarely been used in this field of study and would bring it …

Associations Among Executive Functioning, Family Functioning, Adolescent Responsibility, And Adherence In Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Cecily Newel Conour

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a common cause of chronic pain for adolescents in the United States. Adherence to the treatment regimen is a significant concern, particularly for adolescents. Barriers to adherence are varied, but include cognitive factors, such as forgetting. Parent involvement is associated with increased adherence in this population, though adolescent involvement is less studied. Family functioning is associated with adherence to medication regimen across pediatric chronic illnesses, including IBD treatment regimen. To better inform clinical care, this study aims to understand the relations among adolescent’s responsibility, executive functioning, family functioning, and adherence. Methods: The current study …

Expansion On The Use Of The Novel Compound, Elp-004, Using A Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Experimentation Model, Kendyl Marie Berry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Osteoarticular tuberculosis (OAT) is a bone degenerative disease that results in bone erosion, joint effusion, joint swelling, and sometimes, nerve compression. OAT occurs from the hematogenous dissemination of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacilli spreading from the primary site of infection to the bones and joints; the primary site of infection tends to be the lungs as pulmonary tuberculosis infections are the most common. OAT can occur as the result of an active or latent infection. Latent infections result in OAT when bacilli are able to escape granulomas. The incidence of OAT is not as high as pulmonary infections, making up about …

Influences On Perceptions Of Students With Disabilities Regarding Services And Supports Rendered At Their Collegiate Institution, Taylor Leanne Mikalik

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Over the past several generations numerous policies and laws have been established that have allowed people with disabilities to further their education. Students with disabilities enter higher education with varied experiences, which allow for a wide array of perceptions of the services and supports provided on this level. The purpose of this dissertation was to study what these perceptions are and how these perceptions were formed; in hopes to encourage more students with disabilities to self-disclose and access beneficial services in the future. A semi-structured narrative interview was conducted with 8 students willing to self-disclose and who received services and …

Structural Health Monitoring Using Machine Learning And Synthetic Data, Michail Tzimas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Structural health monitoring spans many decades of research across multiple engineering fields. However, typical monitoring processes for damage detection of complex structures usually prohibit real-time or fast detection of debilitating damage to the structure. One of the major issues of real-time detection of damage is the enormity of data that needs to be processed, which is worsened by the relative inability of fast relaying of data to structural engineers. With the rapid advancement of Machine Learning, both issues can be overcome, and detection of failure is achieved with non-invasive techniques. This dissertation explores the applicability of Machine Learning as a …

Investigating The Impact Of Demographic Factors On Contactless Fingerprint Interoperability, Aeddon David Berti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Improvements in contactless fingerprinting have resulted in contactless fingerprints becoming a faster and more convenient alternative to contact fingerprints. The interoperability between contactless fingerprints and contact fingerprints and how demographic factors can change interoperability has been challenging since COVID-19; the need for hygienic alternatives has only grown because of the sudden focus during the pandemic. Past work has shown issues with the interoperability of contactless prints from kiosk devices and phone fingerprint collection apps. Demographic bias in photography for facial recognition could affect photographed fingerprints. The paper focuses on evaluating match performance between contact and contactless fingerprints and evaluating match …

A Comparison Of The Failure Rate Of Two Orthodontic Light-Curable Adhesives: A Chart Review, Ian Montgomery Weaver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A Comparison of the Failure Rate of Two Orthodontic Light-Curable Adhesives: A Chart Review

Ian Montgomery Weaver, D.D.S.

Background and Objectives: The overhead costs of running a private orthodontic practice are infamously high, thus there is a notable benefit to finding the most cost effective methods of treating patients while still maintaining high quality care. A relatively new light-cure orthodontic adhesive BracePaste®^® (American Orthodontics™, Sheboygan, WI), introduced to the market in 2017, can fluoresce under UV light to assist in identifying the difference between the enamel of the tooth and the adhesive material itself, an ability which can aid …

The Transmission Of Saga At West Virginia University, James Froemel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Changes in the higher education landscape continue to bring new regulations which enforce standardization and similarities in organizational behavior. Because of these pressures, institutional identities and differentiations are more dependent on the unique way students experience an institution rather than the structure of the organization. Through focus groups and interviews, this phenomenological study seeks to understand the ways in which the traditional undergraduate experience impacts the transmission of organizational saga at West Virginia University. To do so, it examines stories told by students through thematic analysis to connect student experiences with symbols of the university. Focusing on these connections and …

“Building The Roots”: A Delphi Study Examining The Aims Of A Multicultural Competency Graduate Course In Sport And Exercise Psychology, Matthew Paul Gonzalez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Historically, opportunities to develop cultural competency in sport and exercise psychology graduate programs have been limited (Lee, 2015). Recently, major sport psychology organizations across the world have started to require cultural competency in their credentialing requirements. While this represents progress, these requirements can be met with a single course, which falls below the ideal of integrated cultural competency education (Martens et al., 2000). The present study investigated how to maximize the quality of a single course by coming to agreement on a proposed set of impactful and feasible learning outcomes and assessments in that proposed single course related to cultural …

Influence Of Maternal Nano-Titanium Dioxide Inhalation Exposure On Cyclooxygenase Metabolites: Maternal Microvascular And Sexually Dimorphic Feto-Placental Outcomes., Julie Anne Griffith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nano-titanium dioxide (nano-TiO₂) is an engineered nanomaterial (ENM), which is widely utilized in diverse products like surface coatings, cosmetics, medical devices, and filters. Inhaled nano-TiO₂ has been demonstrated to induce pulmonary inflammation, impair microvascular function, and hinder generational reproductive endpoints. These outcomes indicate why it is important to explore gestation, as it requires timely vascular adaptations to support maternal and fetal health and development. Therefore, the central hypothesis of my dissertation is: maternal nano-TiO₂ inhalation exposure will impact maternal microvascular function and fetoplacental hemodynamics and function in a sexually dimorphic manner.

The first purpose of …

A Case Study Of Makerere University In Uganda Through The Lens Of U.S. Land-Grant Higher Education, Christina L. Hand

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This case study examines Makerere University through the lens of U.S. land-grant ideal and normative domains in order to provide a deeper understanding of global higher education. A case study uses multiple types of data to create a holistic perspective. As well as interviewing Makerere stakeholders representing diverse sectors, numerous documents and different types of media were analyzed enabling a triangulation of data. Six major themes emerged focusing on Makerere’s aspiration to be a research-led institution, the impact of neoliberalism, challenges in undergraduate education, the importance of reputation and saga, the ever-present role of the Ugandan government, and the continuing …

Motion Planning In Artificial And Natural Vector Fields, Bernardo Martinez Rocamora Junior

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation advances the field of autonomous vehicle motion planning in various challenging environments, ranging from flows and planetary atmospheres to cluttered real-world scenarios. By addressing the challenge of navigating environmental flows, this work introduces the Flow-Aware Fast Marching Tree algorithm (FlowFMT*). This algorithm optimizes motion planning for unmanned vehicles, such as UAVs and AUVs, navigating in tridimensional static flows. By considering reachability constraints caused by vehicle and flow dynamics, flow-aware neighborhood sets are found and used to reduce the number of calls to the cost function. The method computes feasible and optimal trajectories from start to goal in challenging …

Fast Raising: Digital Fundraising As Interaction Rituals, Matthew P. Hartwell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Twice a year, GamesDoneQuick hosts events that showcase the Speed Running Community, a sub-set of the Video Game Community. Since its inception in 2014 through 2021 GDQ has raised $25.7 million that has been distributed to the Prevent Cancer Foundation and Médecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors without Borders). This collection of studies analyzes the Awesome Games Done Quick 2020 event utilizing the Interaction Ritual Theory framework of Randall Collins to understand how ritualistic social action of this community has been leveraged by event organizers to promote successful crowd funding efforts that benefits organizations outside of the community. Further it expands on …

The Diversity And Synaptic Connectivity Of Somatostatin-Containing Inhibitory Interneurons In The Somatosensory (Barrel) Cortex, Rachel Elaine Hostetler

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The neocortex is the most evolutionarily advanced part of the mammalian brain and is responsible for a multitude of important tasks, such as sensory processing, movement, memory and learning and, in humans, cognition, and language. Within the neocortex, there are intricate circuits of neurons that are responsible for these tasks. These circuits are comprised of a delicate balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons. Inhibitory interneurons have the crucial role of constraining and controlling the amount of excitation in the brain; disruptions in this balance can lead to a number of neuropsychiatric diseases and disorders. Our studies focused on the subpopulation …