Digital Commons Network^™

A Vitreoretinal Surgery System Fluidics Failure Modes And Effects Analysis, Jennifer Ann Grega

Master's Theses

Eyesight is something that is vital to all human beings. The concept of vitreoretinal surgery is an amazing achievement of modem medicine to help treat patients that might otherwise be blind. Vitreoretinal surgery has enhanced and restored vision in numerous individuals due to the forefront of new instrumentation and surgical techniques. As a manufacturer of surgical equipment it is critical that an in depth analysis of potential failure modes is completed and the necessary mitigations are put in place. A complete failure mode and effects analysis on the fluidics sub-module of a vitreoretinal surgery system is an imperative part to …

The Impact Of Being Born With Cleft And Cleft Reparative Surgery On Overall Health And Speech Outcomes, Khatansuudal Evsanaa

Master's Theses

Orofacial cleft is one of the most common and treatable birth defects in the world. If left untreated, orofacial cleft can impair normal speech development, growth, and could lead to a number of health consequences later in life. The main motivation of the study is to measure the impact of being born with cleft and the cleft reparative surgery on overall speech and health cleft for teenagers in India using difference-in-differences approach along with household fixed effects method. An overall health outcome was measured using height, weight, grip strength and BMI, and the speech acceptability was measured using a “Universal …

The Reconsideration Of Jean-Michel Basquiat's Work From The Hybrid Cultural Perspective, Alaina Young Mosny

Master's Theses

In his short 27years, iconic artist Jean-Michel Basquiat produced thousands of works of art that were quickly sold and bought on the New York art market of the 1980s. During the height of the demand for his work, Basquiat was generally appreciated as a young street artist who broke his way into the main stream art world. Much of his success was due to critics/ dealers capitalizing upon his identity, rather than considering the complex cultural influences in his life and art. His primary achievement seems to be that he was a black artist, representing black themes, and successfully selling …

Three-Dimensional Scaffolds For Mammary Epithelial Cell Growth, Megan M. Barry

Master's Theses

Mammary epithelial cells are highly efficient secreting cells. This natural phenomenon has triggered research efforts to focus on using these cells to assist in the production of viable liquids. The application of this technology is nearly endless. If developed successfully, mammary epithelial cells could be used by industries from farming to pharmacology.

The feasibility of culturing epithelial mammary cells which secrete within a three-dimensional scaffold was investigated and is documented within this paper. A biocompatible film with suitable mechanical characteristics and processing properties for use in a bioreactor was developed through multiple iterations. The film that was developed also withstands …

Algorithmic Approach To Warehouse Consolidation And Optimization, Sonny Nguyen

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a new methodology for warehouse consolidation to optimize the capacity, throughput, and overall efficiency of the warehouse. The application of the methodology allows an organization to become more competitive by reducing real estate and inventory holding costs. The algorithms use various quantitative techniques including statistical inference and integer programming, and apply them to material handling and facilities layout issues. The proposed methodology is independent of the warehouse management system in use. It was implemented by a Fortune 500 company, and resulted in significant cost, capacity and productivity improvements.

A Comparative Study Related To The Effects Of Alcohol, Location And Stranger On Sexual Assault In College Women At Unc, Musleh Uddin Kalar

Master's Theses

This study explored an increase in the number of sexual assaults in students who were under the influence of alcohol. Seventy percent of students were raped when alcohol was a contributing factor at the time of assault. Location was also a major factor in the number of campus sexual assaults. Sixty-five percent of assaults were on campus; among these assaults, 90% of these sexual assaults were committed on college grounds. Acquaintance and date rapes are also very common on college campuses. Ninety percent of the victims reported by the Assault Survivors Advocacy Program (ASAP) were acquainted with the perpetrator. Chi …

Rfid Antenna Coverage Optimization, Bryce Taylor

Master's Theses

This research focuses on the problem of determining the location of RFID antennas required to read RFID tags from all items in a facility, such that the number of antennas is minimized. We formulate the problem as a Set Covering optimization problem. We develop a heuristic algorithm for this NP-Complete problem. We also develop a computerized system, RFIDMIN, which enables for the automated calculation of the minimum number and location of RFID antennas, given the size of the facility and antenna specifications. RFIDMIN can be used by companies to implement an effective RFID system at lowest hardware costs.

Automotive Suspension Parameter Estimation Using Smart Wireless Sensor Technology, Samuel Chase Hoffman

Master's Theses

This thesis project demonstrates the feasibility of using a smart sensor system to estimate vehicle parameters. It includes the development of the smart sensor system and the method for which vehicle parameters are estimated using this system. The smart sensor system is a wireless computer controlled sensor array that can be easily installed onto a vehicle. Parameter estimation was accomplished using grey box code in Matlab System Identification Toolbox, a software package from Mathworks. Front and rear suspension damping rates and pitch inertia were estimated on the 2008 Cal Poly SAE Baja Car with good accuracy during testing.

The Effects Of Stress In The Workplace : An Investigation Of The Impact Stress Has On The Personal And Work Lives Of Police Officers Of The Fairfax County Police Department, Britta A. Connolly

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the ways in which stress impacts the lives of police officers. A survey and observations were conducted at all levels of patrol within the Fairfax County Police Department to determine the impact of stress in the law enforcement environment. The results revealed stress on police officers were manageable yet several areas surfaced that increased stress. Areas where stress impacted the officers were health, absenteeism, and turnover. In order to manage the effects of stress for officers, the department must address and hold their employees as the most important asset in the organization.

Participation In The Police Promotional Process For The Rank Of Sergeant Within The Fairfax County Police Department Fairfax, Virginia, Purvis L. Dawson Jr

Master's Theses

Police Departments across the country are experiencing vast numbers of veteran supervisory and command personnel retiring from public service. Without careful planning, these retirements can create a leadership void that will be difficult to fill with well-qualified candidates. These separations pose a loss of institutional knowledge, expertise and leadership continuity. The research conducted focused on the underlying reasons why highly-competent, experienced police officers are refusing to advance their law enforcement careers in becoming supervisors. The study included a review of the published literature and surveys being administered to 105 non-supervisory Fairfax County Police Officers on their interest in becoming a …

A Defense Of The 63rd New York State Volunteer Regiment Of The Irish Brigade, Patricia Vaticano

Master's Theses

During the American Civil War, New York State’s irrepressible Irish Brigade was alternately composed of a number of infantry regiments hailing both from within New York City and from within and without the state, not all of them Irish, or even predominantly so. The Brigade’s core structure, however, remained constant throughout the war years and consisted of three all-Irish volunteer regiments with names corresponding to fighting units made famous in the annuals of Ireland’s history: the 69th, the 88th, and the 63rd. The 69th, or Fighting 69th, having won praise and homage for its actions at First Bull Run, was …

Knowledge As Conversation: Richard Rorty And The Legacy Of American Pragmatism, Patrick Brendan Smith

Master's Theses

This thesis examines the place of philosopher Richard Rorty in the American pragmatist tradition. To locate him within this rich tradition, I outline the major tenets of classical pragmatism that constitute the core aims of the early pragmatists-Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. These three figures are examined thoroughly to identify the consistencies and inconsistencies in their individual pragmatist doctrines and to define the context in which pragmatism was born. This examination serves as the jumping off point for the central portion of the thesis: Richard Rorty and the revival of American pragmatism during the 1980s.

Rorty's place …

Crazy Or Hungry: Oral Accounts Of Continuity And Change In A Mississippi Gulf Coast Commercial Fishing Fleet, Natalie Brooke Roberts Cruthirds

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Fabrication And Testing Of Non-Volatile Memory Using Chalcogenide Glass Thin Film, William Porter Dunn

Master's Theses

Silver doped chalcogenide glasses, such as Ag-Ge-Se, display resistance switching behavior under low threshold voltages, which makes these materials very promising in non-volatile memory applications. In this thesis, ternary glasses of composition (GeS3)1-xAgx (x = 0.1 and 0.2) are studied. Non-volatile memory cells based on the above compositions are fabricated and electrically characterized.

Thin films are fabricated at 3 different evaporation angles (45°, 60°, and 90°) in a vacuum thermal evaporator. Finished films are thermally annealed at 150°C and 200°C respectively. Both virgin and thermal annealed samples are examined using Raman scattering. Raman line-shapes of both virgin and thermal annealed …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Health Beliefs Among Midlife Filipino American Women In California, Lorneneth Merana

Master's Theses

Research pertaining to Filipino American health issues is growing but most remain delimited to children, college students, and older adults. The purpose of this study was two-fold. The first was to define the health beliefs of four Filipino American women who were in midlife through in-depth one-on-one interviews regarding cardiovascular diseases and in utilizing health care to prevent, diagnose, or treat those diseases. The second purpose was to conceptualize potential links between the health beliefs of those Filipino American women and their attitudes or choices about health care utilization.

Conclusively, the health beliefs of the four midlife Filipino-American women in …

Microwave Signal Generation Using Self-Heterodyning Of A Fast Wavelength Switching Sg-Dbr Laser, Michael A. Bernacil

Master's Theses

Microwave signal generation is demonstrated using a single-chip fast wavelength-tunable SG-DBR laser. Microwave signals are established by a delayed self-heterodyne technique. The optical frequency of the laser is square-wave modulated between two closely spaced wavelengths. These two wavelengths are made time coincident using a fiber based Mach-Zehnder interferometer. From the interferometer, the difference frequency is detected and amplified. The optical difference frequency takes on the form of a microwave signal that can be seen on an electrical spectrum analyzer. The hardware structure of the high-speed wavelength switching SG-DBR package is shown. The wavelength switching architecture and temperature robustness of the …

Portrayal Of Women In Kenya's Print Media: A Study Of Daily Nation, The Standard, And Kenya Times, June 2002 To June 2003, Beatrice P. Omari

Master's Theses

Problem Portrayal of women in Kenya‟s print media is replete with stereotype images that portray women only in their domestic roles at the expense of their roles in national development. This study is aimed at determining the extent o f this negative portrayal and the likely explanatory reasons. Method Content analysis of newspaper articles of a sample of three major dailies—Daily Nation, The Standard, and Kenya Times—was carried out for issues between June 2002 and June 2003. A total of 144 issues were identified, coded, and analyzed. Results Women and women‟s issues are allocated less space and portrayed more negatively …

Using Internet Simulation Games To Train Prehospital Providers For Mass Casualty Response, Meredith L. Moss

Master's Theses

During a disaster emergency medical services (EMS) plays a critical role in supporting mass casualty response. However, the processes and procedures used in a disaster are different than those which the prehospital providers encounter during routine emergency response. With limited time and resources, new approaches to training should be considered. This thesis presents research on EMS training, disaster response, distance learning, and instructional technology. Survey and interview results are analyzed providing a foundation for the development of a proposed software model using Internet simulation games to train prehospital providers for mass casualty response.

The Effects Of Target Age And Perceived Death Responsibility On Posthumous Impression Formations, Jenny Rebekah Heilborn

Master's Theses

Death positivity biases and posthumous evaluations are considered a universal normative social phenomenon which influences social judgments of the dead; we postulate that these individual biases are mediated by both sympathy and fear of mortality, or the belief in a just world. Study 1 postulated that sympathy mediates such positivity biases when target responsibility for cause of death is manipulated. We hypothesized the mediation of the just world violation on posthumous evaluatory measures when age at the time of death was manipulated in Study 2. Although results were inconclusive for both studies, alternate hypotheses and boundary conditions of death positivity …

The Burning And Reconstruction Of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania 1864-1870, Gordon Boyer Lawrence

Master's Theses

Although many studies of Chambersburg's devastation during the American Civil War have been researched, all have focused on the military actions taken by both sides during the conflict. This thesis instead attempts to explore some of the effects of military actions upon the permanent civilian population.

The Introduction develops a sense of the events which transpired in the town on the fateful day of July 30, 1864, provides an overview of potential research subjects, and details sources available to complete successfully the research parameters outlined. The early development of the community is explored in Chapter 1. This data is necessary …

Beauty Secrets, Shaquana Mitchell

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Examining The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Engagement, Ritu Koppula

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Disability, Advocacy And Coping : An Autoethnography On Non-Visible Disability, Dana L. Morella

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Exploring A Nuanced Understanding Of Safety In The Classroom, Leslie Lei Luck

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Intelligent Query For Real Estate Search, Mandeep Jandir

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Dispersal And Population Structure Of Neotrypaea Californiensis, Kenji Kozuka

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Additives On Magnetic Properties Of Electroplated Conife Films, Tiffany Yun Wen Jiang

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Ella Maillart : De L'Exotisme Au Voyage IntéRieur, Isabelle YêN-Chi Chappuis

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Expanding Javascript's Metaobject Protocol, Tom Austin

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Survey Of Open Source Integrated Library Systems, Linda M. Riewe

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.