Digital Commons Network^™

Investigations Towards Synthesis Of Cinnamaldehyde Semicarbazone Derivatives And Their Photochromicity By Modifying The Ring, The Linker, And The Semicarbazone, Xiao Xiao

Masters Theses

Cinnamaldehyde semicarbazone was varied in three ways, by altering the ring, the conjugated linker, and the semicarbazone, to investigate how changing the structure affects the photochomicity. The synthesis of 7 hetero- and 2 polycyclic- aromatic semicarbazone variants involved three steps, (a Wittig reaction, hydrolysis, and condensation to the semicarbazone) with cumulative yields of 15% to 52%. Generally, the pyridine series gave lower yields than other synthesized semicarbazones. The Wittig reaction gave cis/trans mixtures in ratios of 2 : 1 to 1 : 7 for the 6 acetals, except for the 3 that went directly to the aldehyde, due to the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Molecular Components For The Preparation Of Poly-Rotaxanes, Austin P. Welti

Masters Theses

The self-sorting ability of certain crown ethers make them important players in the field of supramolecular chemistry, especially those studying mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs). Of these MIMs, rotaxanes and catenanes are the most common. Our approach in the synthesis of poly-rotaxane systems involves the preparation of axles containing multiple recognition motifs to determine the self-sorting principles that each motif shows. These principles include narcissistic self-sorting, and also type I and type II social self-sorting principles. Using these techniques, poly-rotaxane formation can be made readily available.

A hetero-poly-rotaxane equipped with a naphthalene diimide (NDI) site and two ammonium salt sites has …

Data Classification And Forecasting Using The Mahalanobis-Taguchi Method, Adebolaji A. Jobi-Taiwo

Masters Theses

"Classification and forecasting are useful concepts in the field of condition monitoring. Condition monitoring refers to the analysis and monitoring of system characteristics to understand and identify deviations from normal operating conditions. This can be performed for prediction, diagnosis, or prognosis or a combination of any these purposes. Fault identification and diagnosis are usually achieved through data classification, while forecasting methods are usually used to accomplish the prediction objective. Data gathered from monitoring systems often consists of multiple multivariate time series and is fed into a model for data analysis using various techniques. One of the data analysis techniques used …

Effect Of Stress Concentrations On Fatigue Of Composite And Metallic Structures, Ross Henry Falen

Masters Theses

"The complex shapes of hydrokinetic turbine blades can include part features such as a fillet, step, or hole. Situations can arise where two part features, such as a hole and a fillet, may be in close proximity which can introduce stress concentrations within the blade structure, adversely affecting the structure's life. Because the interaction between the part features isn't well known, fatigue data is needed to determine the proper analysis.

In this thesis, two separate topics are discussed and investigated. The first topic deals with stress concentrations in hydrokinetic turbine blades. Several blade designs were tested and improved upon to …

Comparison Of Costs Of Personal Protective Equipment For All Workers To Avoid Costs Of Fall Accidents, Sultan Noori Al-Karawi

Masters Theses

"The construction industry is one of the most important industries in the United States. It is the biggest contributor in the growth of the U.S. economy. Despite the great achievements and prominent role for this sector in the U.S. economy, the construction industry is suffering from neglect and dereliction by related government institutions and private companies. This neglect led to formation of a negative image about the construction industry that has caused a deep impact in productivity and economic growth. One of the reasons is a high percentage of accidents that occur within the construction industry which leads to injuries …

Theoretical Analysis Of Shape Separation Of Particles Using Flow Field-Flow Fractionation, Mehrdad Alfi

Masters Theses

"Size separation of spherical and rod-like particles in Flow Field-flow Fractionation was investigated theoretically. The effect of cross flow migration and rod orientation was also investigated as a new mode of study. It has been shown that the rod local orientation makes different diffusivity values in comparison with spherical particles and helps particle separation. Additionally, a new mechanism of lift-hypelayer mode was used for rod-like particles which can be compared with steric mode of spherical particles. This mechanism is said to be due to hydrodynamic interaction of rod-like particle with wall and with other rods.

As a measure of axial …

An Investigation Of Contaminant Metal Distribution And Mineral Speciation In The Soil Near The Buick Recycling Division Smelter, Iron County, Missouri, Krista Nicole Rybacki

Masters Theses

"Trace metal contamination studies were conducted near the Buick Resource Recycling Division. This study used sequential extraction, total digestion, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) to study trace metals in two soil cores. Sequential extraction analysis of the soil cores revealed that lead was associated with either iron or manganese oxides. Zinc and copper were bound to soil components, extracted mainly from organics, sulfides, and clays. Total digestion results compared favorably to the sum of the sequential extraction results for lead, thus validating the sequential extraction methodology. The highest concentration observed for lead was 4,743 parts …

Characterization Of A Plant Gene Family Expanded In Glycine Max, Lisa Snoderly-Foster

Masters Theses

"Glycine max, commonly named the cultivated soybean, is one of the oldest and most important food crops in the world. The study of the G. max genome provides valuable insight into the molecular mechanisms that govern its reproduction and environmental responsiveness, key factors in maximizing crop yield. Since the complete sequencing of the genome in 2010, the analysis has become faster and easier, especially with the development of numerous web-based, publically accessible bioinformatics tools.

This research effort utilizes these tools to characterize a small, unannotated G. max gene family. Although no definitive evidence was uncovered for the production of a …

A Receiver Function Study Of Crust Thickness And Composition Beneath The Southwestern United States, Si Wu

Masters Theses

"Over the past decades, the seismic structure of the crust and upper mantle of the southwestern United States was examined using an array of different methods. The structure and composition of crust received special attentions, most due to the hydrocarbon reserves in this area. Here new constraints on crustal evolution and structure models are provide by systematically analyzing 37,402 receiver functions recorded at 234 seismic stations on the southwestern United States. The results reveal that the Transitional Crust is characterized by a thin (29.0±1.0 km) crust, a low Vp/Vs ratio of 1.76±0.016 and a high amplitude (R) of P-to-S converted …

An Analysis Of Burn Cut Pull Optimization Through Varying Relief Hole Depths, Michael Robert Allen

Masters Theses

"In underground blasting, the pull of the initial cut is the limiting factor for the success of the rest of the round. By improving the pull of the first cut, a critical step is made towards improving the entire round. This project attempted to optimize a burn cut's effective pull by varying the depths of the relief holes in the burn, and then analyzing the results. In testing, relief holes were drilled to depths both shorter and longer than that of the cut's charged holes. The overall objective was to consistently achieve greater pull than in a standard burn, using …

Cervical Cancer Histology Image Feature Extraction And Classification, Peng Guo

Masters Theses

"Cervical cancer, the second most common cancer affecting women worldwide and the most common in developing countries can be cured if detected early and treated. Expert pathologists routinely visually examine histology slides for cervix tissue abnormality assessment. In previous research, an automated, localized, fusion-based approach was investigated for classifying squamous epithelium into Normal, CIN1, CIN2, and CIN3 grades of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) based on image analysis of 62 digitized histology images obtained through the National Library of Medicine. In this research, CIN grade assessments from two pathologists are analyzed and are used to facilitate atypical cell concentration feature development …

Evolving Decision Trees For The Categorization Of Software, Jasenko Hosic

Masters Theses

"Current manual techniques of static reverse engineering are inefficient at providing semantic program understanding. An automated method to categorize applications was developed in order to quickly determine pertinent characteristics. Prior work in this area has had some success, but a major strength of the approach detailed in this thesis is that it produces heuristics that can be reused for quick analysis of new data. The method relies on a genetic programming algorithm to evolve decision trees which can be used to categorize software. The terminals, or leaf nodes, within the trees each contain values based on selected features from one …

Performance Analysis Of Zero Forcing And Minimum Mean Square Error Equalizers On Multiple Input Multiple Output System On A Spinning Vehicle, Aditya Kulkarni

Masters Theses

"Channel equalizers based on minimum mean square error (MMSE) and zero forcing (ZF) criteria have been formulated for a general scalable multiple input multiple output (MIMO) system and implemented for a 2x2 MIMO system with spatial multiplexing (SM) for Rayleigh channel associated with additive white Gaussian noise. A model to emulate transmitters and receivers on a spinning vehicle has been developed. A transceiver based on the BLAST architecture is developed in this work. A mathematical framework to explain the behavior of the ZF and MMSE equalizers is formulated. The performance of the equalizers has been validated for a case with …

Behavior In Air Leakage And Recirculation Under The Influence Of Booster Fans, Koziba Feledi

Masters Theses

"A booster fan is an underground mechanical ventilation equipment installed in series with a main surface fan that is used to boost the air pressure provided by the surface main fan passing through it. As mining continues to expand and go deeper, the need for improved and efficient ventilation increases. This has led to the use of booster fans and other auxiliary ventilation devices in underground mines. Research defining how system leakage and recirculation are affected by booster fans; describing how system leakage and recirculation are affected by the location, placement, and amount of air pressure from the booster fans; …

Quantifying Economic Benefits For Rail Infrastructure Projects, Akhilesh Ojha

Masters Theses

"Investment in rail infrastructure is necessary to maintain existing service and to cater for future growth in freight and passenger services. Many communities have realized the importance of investment in rail infrastructure projects and set up goals and visions to achieve economic development through investing in such projects. Due to limited funds available, communities have to select a single or very few projects from a variety of projects. It is very critical that right projects must be selected at the right time for a community to realize economic development. The limited methods for quantifying the economic benefits to the stakeholders …

Computer Vision Libraries For Trailer Truck Testbed Using Open Source Computer Vision Libraries, Krishnan Raghavan

Masters Theses

"Computer Vision is a field that aims at understanding and analyzing images from the real world to produce numerical and symbolical data. It is a first step at duplicating the capabilities of human vision by electronically understanding the image and perceiving its features. This work aims at providing some of the features of a human eye to a trailer truck. These features include getting a 3D wireframe from continuous images and prediction of the next position of the objects in view, while the truck is moving.

The thesis has been divided into 3 sections. First section is acquiring images in …

Measurements And Transient Multistep Outflow Simulation Of Soil-Water Characteristic Curve For Soils Modified With Biopolymers, Xiaoyi Zhao

Masters Theses

"In recent decades, biopolymers have shown promising applications in soil modification due to its environmental friendly nature. Most of the studies, however, focused on mechanical properties at saturated or unsaturated conditions. The study on unsaturated soil behaviors under controlled pore air and pore water pressures were limited. Soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC), relating water content with matric suction is a key property to evaluate unsaturated soils. With SWCC, other soil properties, such as hydraulic conductivity and shear strength can be estimated. In this study, SWCC of sands modified with different biopolymers were measured with both Tempe cell and Fredlund SWCC device. …

Computation Of Cross-Talk Alignment By Mixed Integer Linear Programming, Qifeng Chen

Masters Theses

"Noise analysis has been an important and difficult part of design flow of very large-scale integrated (VLSI) systems in many years. In this thesis, the problem of signal alignment resulting in possible maximum peak interconnect coupling noise and propose a variation aware technique for computing combined noise pulse taking into account timing constraints on signal transitions has been discussed. This work shows that the worst noise alignment algorithm can be formulated as mixed integer programming (MLIP) problem both in deterministic window cases and variational window cases. For deterministic window cases, it is assumed that timing windows are given for each …

Feasibility Study Of A Two-Fluid Small Modular Molten Salt Reactor With In Core Heat Removal Capability, Brandon James Lahmann

Masters Theses

"A feasibility study of a two-fluid small modular molten salt reactor (MSR) with in core heat removal was performed. The initial fuel block dimension for the configuration was based on the Fuji MSR. The fuel was a mixed fluoride salt of density 3.25 g/cc, composed of 71 LiF - 16 BeF₂ - 12 ThF₄- 1 ²³³UF₄ molar percentages. The coolant salt was Li₄(FLiBe) of density 1.94 g/cc. The work set out to establish whether or not such a reactor is thermodynamically feasible when optimized for various neutronics parameters. A Java based API was …

Software-Based Instrumentation For Analysis Of Electrostatic Discharge Effects, Antonio James Sabatini

Masters Theses

”Failures caused by electrostatic discharge (ESD) compromise the reliability of embedded systems. Peripherals such as the universal serial bus (USB) are particularly vulnerable, as isolating them to avoid electromagnetic interference would defy their purpose - facilitating communication with and/or by the embedded system. Better understanding the propagation of failures that result from ESD can facilitate defensive development of hardware and software for embedded systems, but is hampered by the lack of non-invasive and lightweight instrumentation techniques.

The original contribution of this thesis is the design and development of software-based instrumentation for monitoring the reaction of the USB peripheral of an …

Public Wars, Private Warriors: An Analysis Of Private Military Contractors In American Foreign And Domestic Policy, Phillip Andrew Roughton

Masters Theses

At the end of the Cold War, the global political arena was forever altered. One of the major changes was the introduction of private military contractors as legitimate actors of foreign policy. Despite this assertion made by scholars, private military contractors are an under studied political actor. This paper traces the historical, economic, and legal legacy of private military contractors in American history.

The Effects Of Music Instruction On Phonological Awareness In Children With Hearing Impairment, Chelsea Fitch

Masters Theses

Phonological awareness skills are essential for reading development. Children with hearing loss lack access to essential auditory information that allows development of phonological awareness (Dillon, John, & Pisoni, 2011). Music instruction is becoming a popular approach to teach reading for typically developing children, and studies have supported beneficial effects from this treatment methodology. However, there is limited research regarding the use of music to teach phonological awareness and reading skills to children with hearing impairment (Gromko, 2005).

The effectiveness of a music program on increasing phonological awareness skills in children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing was evaluated in this study. …

Evaluation Of Student Writing And Its Effects On Motivation, Scott May

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Mid-Level Student Affairs Professionals' Interpretations Of Obama's 2020 Educational Goals, Shane Thomas

Masters Theses

Utilizing qualitative methodology, participants' perceptions were examined to understand midlevel professionals' and their interpretations and understandings of Obama's 2020 Educational Goals utilized by the six participants. Through conducting one-on-one interviews with mid-level professionals at a Community College and Four-Year College, it was found that participants had some knowledge of Obama's Goals. Participant's found that Obama's Goals play a huge factor in Financial Aid, Accountability, Retention, and Access for students who chose to pursue a degree in higher education. Participants recommended further professional development to become better assets to their department and the students they serve, educate students about Financial Aid …

Curriculum Development For Computer Numerical Control Course, Brad Curry

Masters Theses

This study analyzed the past Machine Tool Advanced Skills Technology (MAST), and the National Institute for Metalworking Skills, Inc (NIMS) standards of workforce competency to be used to develop a curriculum, learning objectives and skill sets need by industry for a course on CNC machining. Instructional methods and strategies for delivery were determined for best practices. The coursework was designed and delivered, with an analysis of student learning based on learning objectives performed. Students were surveyed in regard to their understanding of the material covered in the course.

Categories of knowledge needed include machining knowledge about tooling and tool selection, …

Revitalizing Grammar Instruction For High School Juniors: Toward A Contextual, Student-Driven, And Minimalistic Method, Heather L. Lindenmeyer

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I explore best practices in grammar instruction for high school juniors. Practicing English teachers have been engaging in the great grammar debate for years, essentially arguing if and how grammar is best taught. Thoughts on teaching grammar greatly differ in the professional community, but most scholars call for a middle ground to be sought in the great grammar debate. In other words, very few scholars think traditional methods that isolate grammar instruction from the writing process are best, but even fewer scholars call for teachers to entirely rid their curriculum of all grammar instruction. I conclude that …

Emotional Intelligence, Coping Styles, And Psychopathology, Letizia Boin

Masters Theses

Despite its relatively recent origins, Emotional Intelligence (EI), which is the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one's emotions, has been shown to contribute to a variety of outcomes, including academic achievement and relationship satisfaction. Considerable support has been gathered to implicate EI in the development of mental illness such as depression and social anxiety. It has been theorized that a potential pathway in which EI affects mental health is by contributing to the development of coping styles. Stress and coping literature reports enough empirical evidence to suggest that broadly speaking, problem-focused coping is 'adaptive' while avoidant coping is 'maladaptive.' …

Building And Maintaining Legitimacy Online: Unicef's Use Of Facebook, John Kraps

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Increasing Cooking And Nutritional Knowledge Of Food Pantry Clients Via Cookbook Intervention, Joshua Kleczynski

Masters Theses

This study was designed to assess eating habits, cooking habits, and nutritional knowledge of food pantry clients. As a whole, the average American consumes a less-than-optimal intake of nutrients. This, combined with the elevated national food insecurity rate of 14.5%, produces an advantageous situation to educate food pantry clients about healthy lifestyle practice through cooking. This study utilized a quasi-experimental design including a pre-assessment, intervention, post-assessment design. Forty-nine participants were included in study, and either received a cookbook (intervention group) or were a control subject and only completed surveys. Results revealed that the cookbook intervention did not elicit any behavior …

Exploratory Factor Analysis Of Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom Clusters, Rachel A. Maxwell

Masters Theses

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a distressing condition that involves a preoccupation with a perceived defect(s) in appearance. Despite the importance of early identification, it is often misdiagnosed. The literature suggests that issues with diagnosis may be because BDD is typically defined by the single symptom of dysmorphic concern (i.e., over concern with an imagined or slight defect in physical appearance). Dysmorphic concern is insufficient to fully characterize the disturbance. This study used exploratory factor analysis to identify symptom clusters from four well-known BDD measures completed by 457 undergraduate students. The extracted content suggested the following symptoms: (a) Dysmorphic Concern, …