Digital Commons Network^™

A Data-Driven Framework For Analyzing And Predicting Social Media Engagement During Rumor Propagation, Joseph E. Faza

Master's Theses

The spread of rumors on social media has become a significant concern, as platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter) enable rapid dissemination of unverified information. These rumors can shape public perception and behavior, making it crucial to understand the dynamics of their spread. The main objective of this study is to explore how users interact with rumor-related tweets and identify key factors that predict tweet engagement. By analyzing tweets from seven different rumor events, this research aims to uncover patterns in user engagement and provide insights into the spread of misinformation. The study utilized a dataset of tweets from …

Assessment Of Dune Change Using Historical Aerial And Satellite Photos, Topographic Surveys, And Wave Data At Toro Creek Beach, Owen D. Emerson

Master's Theses

Coastal sand dunes play an important role in the littoral processes of California’s coastline. Functioning as both source and sink for sand, these dunes often protect coastal infrastructure and provide a buffer between anthropogenic development and coastal forces. At Toro Creek Beach, north of Morro Bay California, recent extreme winter storms have raised concerns about the erosion of the sand dunes that front California State Highway 1. This thesis attempts to characterize the historical growth and recession patterns of the Toro Creek dunes since 1977, the dune movement over the 2023-2024 winter seasons, the wave forcings behind recent high erosion …

Seal Counting On Our Plages (S.C.O.O.P.), Kaanan Kharwa

Master's Theses

The Vertebrate Integrative Physiology (VIP) lab monitors the population of northern elephant seals at the largest mainland breeding colony, located at Piedras Blancas (San Simeon, CA). As the population expands, more human-seal interactions and conflicts over land use occur. The VIP lab's work informs California State Parks and helps with the management of the rookery. Currently, members of the VIP lab fly a drone over the beaches, capture multiple images, and manually count the seals, which takes around 14 to 21 hours of analysis per survey. Machine learning methods such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Region-based Convolutional Neural Networks …

Enabling Emg-Based Silent Speech Transcription Through Speech-To-Text Transfer Learning, Alexander T. Garcia

Master's Theses

In recent years, advances in deep learning have allowed various forms of electrographic signals, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG), to be used as a viable form of input in artificial intelligence applications, particularly for applications in the medical field. One such topic that EMG inputs have been used is in silent speech interfaces, or devices capable of processing speech without an audio-based input. The goal of this thesis is to explore a novel method of training a machine learning model to be used for silent speech interface development: using transfer learning to leverage a pre-trained speech recognition model …

Development Of Extruded Puffed Snack Utilizing Carrot Pomace, Bean Flour, And Rice Starch As Primary Ingredients, Julia Zoe

Master's Theses

Every year, the carrot industry worldwide wastes up to 50% of carrots as raw material due to processing (Šeregelj et al., 2020). When carrots are juiced, the remaining fibrous pulp is often discarded as carrot pomace. In order to redirect this food waste, the first objective of this research was to optimize formulations for an extruded puffed snack that is most similar to commercially available puffed snacks, utilizing baby lima bean flour and carrot pomace

Hardness (kg), cross-sectional expansion ratio, bulk density (g/cm³), moisture content (%), water activity, specific mechanical energy (kJ/kg), carotenoid concentration (ppm), and total dietary …

Supervised Classification Modeling On Louisiana Medicaid Data: A Comparative Study, Yead Rahman

Master's Theses

This thesis systematically optimizes and compares state-of-the-art supervised classification models for Louisiana Medicaid data targeting clinical services, COVID-19 infection, and tobacco use. These target variables are critically important as they represent key health outcomes and behaviors among Medicaid enrollees in Louisiana, a population often characterized by poverty and limited access to education. This study applies advanced machine learning techniques to identify the best model for multinomial and binary classification tasks. These include models such as Logistic Regression, XGBoost, AdaBoost, Random Forest, Decision Tree, Artificial Neural Networks, and Naïve Bayes. Extensive tuning of the hyperparameters and optimization of each classifier were …

Robotic Odor Source Localization Using Vision And Olfaction Sensing, Sunzid Hassan

Master's Theses

Robotic Odor Source Localization (ROSL) technology allows autonomous agents like robots to find an odor source in unknown environments. A successful odor source location depends crucially on an effective navigation algorithm that directs the robot towards the odor source. This thesis is a combination of three projects. First, we detail development of a versatile multi-modal robotic platform for ROSL real-world ROSL experimentation and discussed real-world validation of a traditional olfactionbased ROSL algorithm. Secondly, we introduced vision in ROSL by proposing a fusion navigation algorithm that integrates deep-learning enabled vision and olfaction-based navigation. This hybrid approach tackles challenges such as turbulent …

Evolutionary Patterns Of Anolis Lizard Skulls: An Investigation In Geometric Morphometrics And An Educational Exploration Of Structure And Function, Katherine Beyer Starr

Master's Theses

This study explores the evolutionary patterns of Anolis lizard skulls and integrates findings into a curriculum focused on elucidating the structure and function of a lizard's head. The first objective was to develop an understanding of how the evolutionary patterns, of an extraordinary group of lizards (Anolis) compares to their relatives. Most of the prior research on Anolis morphology has focused on the post-cranium because of its significance towards subdivision of the arboreal habitat. But the group’s remarkable diversity in head shape has been seriously under-investigated. By performing geometric morphometric analysis of skull shape across a large sample of anoles …

Regulation Of Sterile Inflammatory Responses By Mitochondria-Associated Proteins, Meghana Venkatesan

Master's Theses

Inflammation is an important defense mechanism through which cells respond to pathogenic insults and damage/stress signals. Immune cells mediate extracellular inflammatory responses by synthesizing and releasing small proteins called cytokines, which play critical roles in modulating these responses. Specifically, key pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta are released upon the assembly and activation of a multi-protein intracellular complex called the inflammasome, the most well-studied of which is the NLRP3 inflammasome. Several proteins have been identified as important regulators of cellular stress responses, including vacuole membrane protein 1 (VMP1). The present research shows that VMP1-depleted cells exhibit exacerbated cellular inflammation and are …

A Matter Of Life And Death: The Conceptualization And Theological Significance Of Blood In The Pentateuch, Jared Greer

Master's Theses

This 2024 Master of Theological Studies thesis at Lipscomb University analyzes the conceptualization and theological significance of blood within the Pentateuch. While the thesis does attend to various anthropological concerns (i.e., the sociocultural understandings of blood that inform the text), it is more chiefly concerned with how such understandings of blood contribute to the broader theology of the Pentateuch. Using a canonical interpretive approach that respects both the diachronic nature of the text and the theological unity intended by its final redactors, the thesis primarily explores the two principal contexts in which blood appears in the Pentateuch: Israel’s cultus and …

Testing Strategies To Develop A Mucosal T Cell Inducing Vaccine For Hiv-1, Reynolds Boone

Master's Theses

Despite numerous efforts, HIV vaccine is still not available. Because HIV Envelop protein varies among subtypes and isolates, it is impossible for one vaccine against HIV Env to induce neutralizing antibodies against all subtypes and isolates. Previous vaccine attempts inducing HIV-specific CD4+ T cells have even been shown to enhance the HIV infection because HIV preferentially infects activated CD4+ T cells. It is known that CD8+ cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) play an important role in controlling HIV infections. We hypothesize that a vaccine inducing only CD8+ CTLs but not CD4+ T cells will be effective in preventing HIV infections. Thus, …

Absolute Quantification Of Human Myosin And Titin Isoforms In Disease By A Mass Spectrometry Approach, Nitha Aima Muntu

Master's Theses

Heart failure (HF) is the leading cause of death worldwide and produces an immense economic burden. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), characterized by contractile weakness and chamber dilation, is a significant cause of HF. The sarcomeric proteins play a crucial role in regulating the contractile properties of the heart. As the primary motor protein, the expression of cardiac myosin isoforms (α-MHC and β-MHC) dictates the performance and cardiac energy utilization of the sarcomere. Titin is the giant spring protein in the sarcomere, and titin isoform expression impacts the passive stiffness of the myocardium. Small changes in the α-MHC/β-MHC and titin isoform ratios …

Sport And Environmental Issues: Ncaa Division I Student-Athletes’ Personal Experiences, Ivanna M. Anderson-Villela

Master's Theses

While sport ecology is a growing category in sport management literature, there is a lack of research exploring athletes’ experiences regarding environmental issues, and the impacts environmental issues have on student-athletes. The present study qualitatively explored the personal lived experiences of eight NCAA Division I student-athletes regarding environmental issues with the aim of identifying potential influences on values and beliefs through social norms and understanding the student-athlete perspective. Thematic analysis identified 152 raw data themes and 19 higher order themes, which were organized into four central themes: awareness, care and concern from athletic departments, implications, and advocacy. Generally, student-athletes perceived …

A Qualitative Evaluation Of Speech Sound Disorder Treatment Apps For Children, Rachel G. Barnett

Master's Theses

This research examined 20 speech sound disorder (SSD) treatment apps’ features and costs as related to the feature matching process within speech-language therapy. Methods included the development of a 67-item SSD checklist and sorted into 9 categories, including linguistic levels, speech models, software customization, cost, game types, image types, technical elements, feedback types, and engagement and manipulation. Two independent reviewers applied the checklist to randomly selected contemporary apps available on both iPhones and iPads. App cost was capped at $25. Results indicated that app cost was not a good predictor of feature quantity and contemporary apps had some relevant feature …

"We'll Handle Our Business": How Immigrant Perceptions Of Police And Police Legitmacy Influence Legal Cynicism And The Mobilization Of Law, Patricia Espiritu Advincula

Master's Theses

Using a qualitative, exploratory approach, semi-structured interviews with first-generation and second-generation immigrants residing in San José, CA who were victimized by a crime were conducted to explore immigrant perspectives of the criminal justice system and the law. The guiding research questions of this study are: (1) what influences immigrants to report crimes and what are the barriers to crime reporting? and (2) what are immigrant perceptions/attitudes of local law enforcement? A total of 39 semi-structured interviews were thematically coded to understand immigrant experiences with police officers and how these perceptions of local law enforcement influence the mobilization of law and …

Remote Sensing With Airborne Infrared Thermography For Assessment Of Landscape Scale Wildfire Spread And Intensity, Christopher C. Giesige

Master's Theses

Wildland fire is one of the most complex environmental physical processes to quantify. The way in which we observe and measure wildland fire is critical in understanding how these processes drive fire dynamics. Fire behavior can be observed in several ways including the use of ground sensors and remote sensing packages aboard aircraft and satellites. Airborne sensors provide high spatial resolution and can provide high temporal resolution. Infrared thermography takes advantage of radiant heat transfer allowing for the study of fire characteristics such as fire spread and intensity. Aircraft observations utilizing infrared cameras have been a well-established method of fire …

Language Dominance And Connected Speech In Multilingual Spanish-English Adults, Alyson Jimenez

Master's Theses

With a growing prevalence of multilingual, Spanish-English speakers in the United States, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) face limited research to learn about how to evaluate the language skills of this population. Exploring evaluation tools, more specifically, connected speech samples, and their effectiveness in assessing the dynamic nature of multilingualism with adults who speak Spanish and English can assist SLPs in making informed recommendations. This study aimed to investigate relations between language dominance and connected speech with cognitive-healthy multilingual Spanish-English adults. Language dominance was further examined by two perspectives that an SLP may utilize in their evaluation: evaluated and perceived. Correlations between …

Online Trolling, Harassment, Misinformation: The Psychological Predictors Of Dark Participation, Randy Kim

Master's Theses

This study aims to examine the reasons why certain individuals engage in “dark participation”, antisocial social participation online involving behavior such as trolling, hate speech, harassment, and spreading disinformation. Online toxicity has increasingly destabilized our ability to engage in socially important discourse online, and trolling has such a strong effect on our environment to the point where the 2016 presidential election was, in part, influenced by online trolls. We theorize that dark participation (DP) will be predicted by high levels of moral disengagement (MD), need for chaos (NFC), and meaninglessness in life (MLN) and self concept clarity (SCC). A series …

Deep-Learning Approaches To Predict Remaining Useful Life Of Hard Disks, Rohan Mohapatra

Master's Theses

On a daily basis, data centers process huge volumes of data using inexpensive hard disks. Data stored in these disks serve a range of critical functional needs from financial, and healthcare to aerospace. As such, premature disk failure and consequent loss of data can be catastrophic. To mitigate the risk of failures, cloud storage providers perform condition-based monitoring and replace hard disks before they fail. By estimating the remaining useful life (RUL) of hard disk drives, one can predict the time-to-failure of a particular device and replace it at the right time, ensuring maximum utilization whilst reducing operational costs. We …

Reinforcement Learning Based Planning And Control For Robotic Source Seeking Inspired By Fruit Flies, Gauravkumar Koradiya

Master's Theses

In the exploration of mobile sensing agents such as robots equipped with sensors, these agents have the potential to measure unknown scalar fields, ranging from chemical concentrations to temperature fluctuations. One of the primary interests is the robots’ ability to gravitate towards the peaks or troughs of these fields, a phenomenon termed as “source seeking”. This behavior is invaluable in practical scenarios, like detecting chemical leaks or locating survivors after catastrophes. However, the challenge becomes significantly more pronounced when operating in turbulent flow fields, where the erratic nature of odorant plumes makes predictions and simulations highly unreliable. Interestingly, fruit flies …

Extraction, Preparation, And Characterization Of Alginate Biopolymer Films From Natural Seaweed, David Ly

Master's Theses

This study evaluates the use of naturally harvested seaweed from the Monterey Bay to produce a biodegradable film for food packaging applications. Two different film-forming methods were evaluated: solution casting and compression molding. The solution casting method using an alginate biopolymer produced the most consistent results. The seaweed biopolymer was extracted from the seaweed biomass using a modified method, resulting in a yield of 11-25 %. The highest yield was observed when using the lowest biomass concentration of 10 wt. %. The extracted alginate was then cast into films at different levels of glycerol plasticization (15-35 wt.%). The addition of …

Confronting The Myths Of “Classical” Keyboard Improvisation: A Historical Evaluation, Examination, And Re-Incorporation Of Improvisation In Contemporary Piano Education And Performance, Kiefer Taylor

Master's Theses

Improvisation has been a highly valued skill in all periods of Western keyboard music. Many composers were also famous as keyboard improvisers and demonstrate the importance of improvisation as a tradition in “classical” keyboard performance. Strangely, today’s pianists, who perform the canonical eighteenth- and nineteenth-century works of these composers, no longer practice or incorporate improvisation into performance and instead play “only from the score.” Improvisation has also disappeared from the modern education of “classical” piano performers. Since improvisation was central to the performance practice of past keyboard repertoire, why does modern piano education not teach improvisation as a standard part …

A Simulation Framework To Understand The Error Generation And Propagation Of Quantum Algorithms, Anika Zaman

Master's Theses

In this work, we present a Python framework designed to demonstrate various error types within quantum circuits through the utilization of probabilistic data obtained from quantum computers. The framework serves as a valuable tool for monitoring and mitigating errors across all stages of quantum circuits involving multiple qubits and gates. Leveraging the Harrow-Hassidim-Lloyd (HHL) quantum circuit, we conduct an analysis of errors on an IBM quantum computer and subsequently optimize the circuit. The paper introduces an automated methodology for computing single bit-flip errors and propagation errors, and gate errors offering insights into opportunities for mitigating errors in the context of …

An Exploration Of Dimensionality Reduction Of Dynamics On Lie Groups Via Structure-Aware Canonical Correlation Analysis, Wooyoung Chung

Master's Theses

Incorporating prior knowledge into a data-driven modeling problem can drastically improve performance, reliability, and generalization outside of the training sample. The stronger the structural properties, the more effective these improvements become. Manifolds are a powerful nonlinear generalization of Euclidean space for modeling finite dimensions. When additionally assuming that the manifold carries (Lie) group structure, this imposes a drastically stricter global constraint. The range of their applications is very wide and includes the important case of robotic tasks. We apply this idea to Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA). In traditional CCA one constructs a hierarchical sequence of maximal correlations of up to …

Comparing Shade And Impervious Surface Area With Extreme Heat And Environmental Equity: An Analysis Of The Urban Heat Island Effect In Santa Clara County, California, Jamsheed R. Mistry

Master's Theses

In the modern epoch of the Anthropocene, the rapid rise in urban sprawling has prompted a disproportionate exposure to extreme heat within underserved communities. As the global populace becomes increasingly urbanized, the inevitable formation of urban heat islands is becoming an imminent cause of concern for environmental and social justice. Due to an increase in urbanization, anthropogenic activities have not only increased the energy demand for cooling initiatives but also have increased the intensity of heat-related illnesses, such as heart attacks, dehydration, and respiratory diseases. Additionally, urbanization has yielded an unequal distribution of heat exposure and heat-related illnesses, particularly in …

Domain Specific Aspect Extraction For Product Design, Divyam Sobti

Master's Theses

As technology advances, computers become increasingly proficient at interpreting and translating human language into machine-understandable text. With the help of algorithms in natural language processing (NLP), machines can now translate textual data. These algorithms help identify and extract specific text components known as aspects. The aspects represent specific attributes or topics within textual data. For instance, an Amazon review states,“ This phone has good battery life but poor camera quality,” and attributes like ‘battery life’ and ‘camera quality’ represent aspects in the text. Aspect extraction is a pivotal process involving identifying and isolating key features or topics within text. This …

The Effects Of An Acute Dose Of Cannabidiol On Health And Two-Mile Time Trial Performance, Elyssa Bell

Master's Theses

As more studies exploring the therapeutic effects of cannabidiol (CBD) in both clinical and non-clinical populations continue to increase, there is a renewed interest in the ability of CBD to affect performance. In fact, many anecdotal reports in the media and online suggest that CBD may improve performance. Unfortunately, very few studies support these claims and research in the area is limited. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effects of an acute dose of CBD on anxiety symptoms, GI distress, heart rate variability (HRV), heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), blood lactate (BL) rate of perceived …

Contrast As A Governing Principle: Topic Deployment In Selected Sonatas Of Johann Christian Bach, Morgan Hall

Master's Theses

Between the end of the Baroque era and the end of the Classical era, there was a shift in the way music was composed. This shift allowed composers to employ multiple topics in one work as opposed to the single-affect-per-movement that was standard under the Doctrine of Affections. Despite plenty of scholarship about both of the eras, the transition from one to the other has been relatively unexplored. Early musicologist Charles Burney noted in a volume of his General History of Music that there was a composer who was the first to employ “contrast as a governing principle”, and this …

Determining Spatiotemporal Regulation Of Actin Dynamics In Choroid Fissure Closure, Cristal Gonzalez

Master's Theses

There are several stages of development necessary for proper vision. During vertebrate eye development, early eye morphology progresses in three stages: optic cup morphogenesis, basement membrane breakdown, and tissue fusion. Eye development is an intricate collaboration between many cells and requires tissues to migrate and bridge together. The following research investigates the Danio Rerio eye development to understand the molecular regulation of choroid fissure closure (CFC). It is hypothesized that CFC requires temporal and spatial regulation of actin dynamics. We investigate this question using chemical inhibitors, cytochalasin D, an actin treadmilling inhibitor, and NSC23766, a Rac-GEF inhibitor of the actin …

"Doing Their Own Thing": The Impact Of Second-Wave Feminism At The University Of Southern Mississippi, Sarah Drivon

Master's Theses

Second-Wave Feminism was largely responsible for transforming American society’s beliefs about gender roles. However, there is very little attention given to the impact that feminism had on cultural transformations in the South. Much of the historiography of feminism and women’s liberation only covers the most radical events and leaders of the 1970s, and it neglects to point out the smaller forms of resistance that ultimately made the movement successful. During this period, the South, and specifically southern campuses, had the reputation of being against women’s liberation because there was not much evidence of resistance comparable to that of northern campuses. …