Digital Commons Network^™

Optimizing Sensor Placement For Drone Detection According To A Grid Pattern, António Martinho Do Rosário Marçal

Masters Theses

In applications such as drone detection, it’s essential to place sensors efficiently, not only considering the cost of placement and operation, but also the maximization of the area covered.

This study presents an algorithmic approach to a placement strategy, which can be applied over any arbitrary area by defining the parameters of the grid according to which the sensors will be placed. The problem is framed as a multi-objective optimization task, considering trade-offs between sensor count and coverage.

One of the principal decision variables chosen is the shape of the cell blocks of the grid, for which two different values …

Understanding The Fluid Source During Alteration Of Former Oceanic Lithosphere In The Polygenetic Ingalls Ophiolite Complex, Washington, Usa, Zachary Russell Stevens

Masters Theses

The Ingalls Ophiolite Complex is an ophiolite of Jurassic age in central WA, USA. Much of the complex formed in a supra-subduction zone setting in a back-arc ocean basin during subduction of the Farallon plate beginning 192 Ma. Between formation and obduction, mafic and ultramafic lithologies experienced alteration in the presence of water, which previous studies inferred to be seawater. Previously published δ¹⁸O and δD data from the Ingalls indicates isotopic depletion possibly caused by interaction with meteoric water at current latitude (~47.5 °N). The current study reports new δD, δ¹⁸O, and Δ ′¹⁷O measurements from mafic and ultramafic lithologies …

Investigation Into Intraocular Pressure Distribution Via Computer Aided Engineering (Cae), Madison Maureen Hinman

Masters Theses

The leading cause for irreversible blindness and vision loss is glaucoma - an eye condition associated with elevated intraocular pressure (IOP). Increased IOP is also seen during other pathological conditions like spaceflight-associated neuro-ocular syndrome (SANS), and non-pathological conditions as when playing a wind instrument. The study aimed to describe the influence of different vitreous cavity size as well as vitreous fluid viscosity on the IOP as measured at the back of the eye on the retina. Improved understanding of eye pressure transmission can aid in a better understanding of eye diseases. The experiment conducted included cavities of varying size and …

Apologetic Response To The Timing Contradiction In The Synoptic Gospels, Oluwaseun Ebenezer Agboola

Masters Theses

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, commonly known as the Synoptic Gospels, serve as the primary sources for understanding the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For centuries, Christians have treated these accounts as sacred and authoritative texts that shaped doctrine and devotion. However, despite their theological significance, the Synoptic Gospels present challenges when examined from a historical and literary perspective. One of the most debated issues is the apparent discrepancies in the timing of the crucifixion of Jesus. While the Gospel of Mark states that the crucifixion was at the third hour (9 a.m.), Luke emphasizes …

Curses & Versus: A Soldier's Life In Verse, Robert M. Haynes

Masters Theses

Every life is complicated. Since the Fall of Man, humans have used art to probe the tumult of the living and give meaning to the dead. The challenge comes when an artist must capture brief moments that define their work or explain the force that impelled their creations. What follows is my attempt to harness five aspects that contributed this work, the process of writing it, and its significance to the wider literary world. The snapshots presented stand on their own and do not require the others to make sense. However, when taken together they present the whole of a …

Crown Of Thorns, Sarah Mellas

Masters Theses

Crown of Thorns is a proposed historical fiction series. Set in France on the brink of the 1789 French Revolution, the story speaks to themes of belonging, brokenness, abuse, forgiveness, and navigating through trauma and impossible choices. A challenge that a writer can face when seeking to craft an emotionally resonant series for the small screen is in building a genuine audience connection. This thesis and creative manuscript for the series pilot episode, The Spurning, focuses on exploring and demonstrating the importance that authentic characters render in building audience connection between viewer and series developed for television or streaming networks. …

In A Flash: A Study Of Flash Fiction’S Ability To Create Complete And Meaningful Stories, Morgan A. Lomax

Masters Theses

In In a Flash: A Study of Flash Fiction’s Ability to Create Complete and Meaningful Stories, I seek to prove that despite flash fiction’s extreme brevity, this relatively new sub-genre of fiction is capable of producing fully delineated stories with powerful messages, especially messages that align with a Christian worldview. To do this, I first examine the various definitions and complex history of flash fiction. Then, through the critical literary lenses of formalism, structuralism, and reader response theory, I analyze the different ways flash fiction uses the following eight narrative elements to create stories within specific examples of flash fiction: …

Immersed In The Fantastical: Creating Timeless Fantasy Realms And Stories, Kirk Kraft

Masters Theses

The first section of the thesis, my artist statement, discusses my purpose as a writer, what drives me to improve, how I hope to create lasting stories that will outlive me and how this will contribute to becoming a Christian scholar. The introduction will include when I discovered my love for writing and what inspired me to become a storyteller. I’ll briefly discuss my writing process, ideas, imagination and the power of feedback. The discussion will move to my desire to create memorable stories with staying power, similar to Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, deep diving into my …

A Tragedy And A Miracle: Trauma Medicine During The U.S. Civil War, Maxwell Bailey

Masters Theses

The Civil War, in many ways, hangs in the balance between the modern and premodern, with some historians calling it the first modern war, and others calling it the last pre-modern war. This historical dilemma extends to battlefield trauma care, where the modern and the archaic exist hand in hand. While the Civil War did not represent the birth of modern trauma care, it is certainly where modern American trauma care was conceived. The advancements in the medical field during this time prepared the way for germ theory to truly develop trauma care into a modern medical science. The groundwork …

Border Crisis Impacts On United States National Security, Victoria Halyne Smith

Masters Theses

This thesis addresses how the United States (U.S.) currently faces various homeland and national security threats. A specific and substantial threat to the U.S. is the border crisis that began to escalate in later 2020 but has been an ongoing issue for decades. Several elements encompass the border crisis such as the political circumstances, policy passed by Congress and endorsed or drafted by the President, resources at borders, and law enforcement or security implementation. However, two vital elements to analyze within the current border crisis are the border security and immigration policies of the Trump and Biden administrations as well …

Mental Health Literacy In Middle School Classrooms: Be Resilient, Yolanda Michelle Travis

Masters Theses

When I first encountered the question, “Why is this important to me?” in our defense preparation assignment instructions, I felt overwhelmed. How could I answer such a loaded question? Here is my inspiration.

I have been clinically diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. My younger brother, who passed away in 2019, was the first person in California to die from a fentanyl overdose. He suffered from childhood trauma that severely impacted his mental health as an adult, and he was only 36 years old at the time of his death. Additionally, my mother struggles with panic attacks and depression, and my …

Spiritual Vitality Over Material Prosperity: The Nature Of A True Davidic King In 2 Chronicles, Stephen Allen Cooksey

Masters Theses

Three kings in 2 Chronicles are explicitly compared to David in the regnal formula, namely, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Their comparison to David is significant since David is portrayed throughout 1 Chronicles as the ideal Israelite king. This study examines the possible criteria that qualified these three kings to be positive emulations of their ideal forefather by evaluating the sacred and secular activities of each Judahite king against similar activities exemplified by David in 1 Chronicles. Naturally, closer parallels with David’s actions by certain kings implicitly tied these kings to the Davidic prototype, thereby establishing them as a true Davidic …

Recess: Utilizing Gamification To Encourage Lifelong Creativity In Emerging Adults, Julia Schneider

Masters Theses

While creative outlets are prioritized in childhood, adults in the United States are increasingly less likely to engage their creativity during leisure time, which ultimately impacts overall well-being. This project aims to explore: (1) What is creativity, and why is it beneficial? (2) What factors contribute to the decline of creative engagement? (3) How does engaging with creative outlets impact overall well-being? (4) How can play be used as a catalyst to foster creativity? Through a literature review, case studies, and visual analyses, this thesis examined and integrated existing research on creativity and play in order to effectively create a …

Curating Christmas: A Simplified Approach To Christmas Celebrations, Jillian L. Ramsey

Masters Theses

This thesis project titled Curating Christmas: A simplified approach to Christmas celebrations originated from a personal observation of rampant consumerism during the Christmas season, both in retail stores and through online haul videos. This project aims to redefine the holiday experience by shifting the focus from mass consumerism to a more intentional and meaningful celebration. Targeting elder Generation Z, particularly those with young children, the project emphasizes the curation of unique, handmade, thrifted, and sustainable items. Research for the project included a literature review, case studies, and visual analyses. The visual solution includes creating a cohesive brand identity, marketing materials …

Women And Puritanism: Establishing A Theological And Philosophical Framework For Women's Legal Rights In Seventeenth-Century New England, Karen A. Jones

Masters Theses

Using the framework of the modified germ theory, this thesis seeks to discover how the intersection of theology, philosophy, and law reveal the rationale behind the state of women’s legal rights in seventeenth century Puritan New England. The study mostly focuses on 1630-1690, since these sixty years represent the limit of Puritan hegemony in New England. During the 1690s, the Crown forced the northeastern colonies to conform to common law and subsequently expunge their laws of any hints of Puritan biblicism. The conclusion will address the ramifications of this change. The main body of this work, however, takes up Marylynn …

Seven Days With Coco (Stray Cat And War Refugee), Snjezana Marinkovic

Masters Theses

This thesis presents stories of those whose lives are governed by trauma, unfortunate life circumstances, and social pressure. It is a mixed form work that includes narrative nonfiction and poetry. It also utilizes some of the fiction techniques, such as setting, description, and inner point of view (e.g., seeing the world through the eyes of an unwanted animal).

Halcyon: Creating New Authentic Connections With Nostalgic Marketing In Small Businesses, Claire Elise Stough

Masters Theses

In an over saturated market, there are many brands that fall into the trap of uniform and formulaic marketing strategies that fail to resonate deeply with consumers. This research explores how a brand can break away from these repetitive tactics by evoking a sense of nostalgia to create emotional connections that lead to long-term loyalty with their intended audience. The importance of this topic is found in addressing a gap in contemporary marketing. The challenge is fostering genuine consumer relationships in a world that is dominated by fleeting trends and consumer engagement that is surface level. Leveraging nostalgia, which is …

Diamonds In The Shadow: Hidden Treasures From The 1930s-1970s-African American Female Guitarists In The Blues, Jamisha-Antarae Harris

Masters Theses

Culturally, African American females are recognized as vocalists in American music but are routinely overlooked as guitarists. Writers and scholars of the blues generally ignore African American female guitarists’ creative and innovative contributions to this genre of music. This thesis documents the exploration of African American females playing guitar to define their musical roles in American society. Racial and gender identity, as well as the limitations imposed by the larger society, will be explored through this instrument as an essential element of creative expression. Racism and sexism are two sides of the same coin, rendering their musicianship identities nearly invisible. …

The Colors Of Good And Evil: A Quantitative Study On The Effect Of Disney Animated Feature Films On Audience Color Association, Grace Mallory Hayes

Masters Theses

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to determine what impact Disney animated feature films have on audience color association. The problem is that Disney assigns colors to certain movie roles that are in contrast to what color theory posits or would assume. This study sought to determine if audiences that are highly saturated in Disney animated feature films receive a different message from colors than someone who does not regularly consume Disney films. This research examines the impact of Disney habitually assigning colors to characters in contrast to their traditional meaning on the emotional association of viewers through …

Authenticity In Historical Fiction, Reaghan Sara-Anne Avery

Masters Theses

Authenticity is often debated in the field of literature. It’s an element that attests to an author’s credibility and a work’s originality, specifically the measure of an author’s genuine intent and the historical veracity of the work, including the genre of historical fiction. Authenticity can be defined in twofold terminology: those being the idealism and the factual, historically based evidence of the piece. Assessing a work’s authenticity by analyzing its believability and relatability is a three-part process that includes looking at the realistic dialogue, sensory and detailed language, and historical elements in a given text. The partial novel below entitled, …

An Evaluation Of The Role Of Conditional And Unconditional Probabilities In A Precursor Functional Analysis, Cassie Ross

Masters Theses

Functional analysis assessments are extremely useful tools in determining the function of challenging behavior and designing behavior intervention plans (Iwata et al. 1982/1994), but in the case of severe challenging behavior, can be dangerous to the individual or assessor. Precursor functional analyses place the contingencies onto a precursor to the severe challenging behavior and have been shown to be an effective assessment with high correspondence to a traditional functional analyses (Rahaman et al. 2024). This study utilized a probability analysis to identify precursor behaviors and assess the time required to identify precursors. We used a modified Functional Assessment Interview to …

Ni-Mn-In Heusler Alloy Ribbon For Magnetocaloric Application, Bao Nguyen

Masters Theses

A traditional cooling system, which applies compression technology within the working fluid, has had a lot of negative impacts on the environment and has low efficiency. They have almost reached the thermodynamic efficiency; there is little room for further improvement. Therefore, solid-state cooling systems, especially those that use the magnetocaloric effect (MCE), have drawnmuch interest as an alternative solution for the vapor-compression system. The Heusler alloy, especially Ni-Mn-In in this research, can be an excellent candidate for this application due to its unique properties, such as the shape memory effect and giant MCE. Their giant MCE results from a first-order …

Analysis Of The Effects Of Extractor Orientation On The Performance Of An Electrospray System, Hannah Grace Sargent

Masters Theses

In this thesis, a single-emitter porous electrospray thruster was tested at nine different extractor electrode positions. The nine positions were: center, four slightly offset in each cardinal direction, and four significantly offset in each cardinal direction. Slightly offset was defined as ~25% of the distance from the center to the edge of the extractor orifice (~125 ± 2 μm) and significantly offset was defined as ~60% of the distance from the center to the edge of the extractor orifice (~302 ± 2 μm). Three diagnostic measurements were recorded to determine the effect of the extractor electrode position on thruster operation: …

A Climatological Analysis Of Drought And Flood In California, Kristen Faith Coston

Masters Theses

This research is investigating the climate states that produce droughts and floods and seeks to explain how a sudden shift from persistent drought to drought-alleviating flood is possible. Objectives include investigating how drought and flood in California are influenced by temperature and climate patterns, whether there are any correlation between climate/ocean indices and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), and whether Atmospheric Rivers (ARS) are influenced by certain atmospheric/oceanic states.

All data is collected for 41 years, between 1983 and 2024. The SPI dataset is obtained by coding to filter for the mean value of all pixels in Sacramento County. Monthly …

Enhancing Autonomous Vehicle Resilience Through Engineering Requirements And Snow-Adaptive Lane Detection, Alexandra Marie Masterson

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates two distinct but interrelated challenges in the development of resilient autonomous vehicle (AV) systems: the formalization of engineering requirements for AV perception subsystems and the enhancement of visual lane detection under snow-covered road conditions. In the first study, field experiments were conducted using a campus-deployed autonomous research vehicle to evaluate the impacts of perception related failures including GPS outages, HD map inconsistencies, and weather interference—on vehicle operation. These findings were used to develop a set of qualitative engineering requirements that promote AV resilience through proactive design. In the second study, a custom snow-focused lane detection dataset was …

Pfas In Naturally Occurring Surface Water Foams, Donovan S. Vitale

Masters Theses

Surface Water Foam (SWF) and underlying Surface Water (SW) were collected from six distinct sites across Michigan using a novel sampling device. PFAS were detected in all SWF samples with total PFAS concentrations (Σ41 compounds, n=14) varying widely from 2,693 to 402,172 ng/L .SWF samples were enriched in high and intermediate molecular volume PFAS relative to SW samples (n=10) which were dominated by low molecular volume, short-chain PFAS with total PFAS concentrations ranging from 4.4 to 31 ng/L. Wet and dry SWFs were distinguished by appearance, liquid content, and PFAS composition. Dry SWFs had higher total PFAS concentrations than wet …

Learning What Makes Craft Schools Successful, Christopher J. Beaudoin, Christopher James Beaudoin

Masters Theses

This thesis explores the potential of founding a craft and farming school on my family’s land in Rhode Island, grounded in the principles of experiential learning, sustainability, and inclusive community engagement. Drawing from a case study methodology and informed by autoethnographic reflection, the research investigates how traditional crafts and sustainable agriculture can be integrated into a hands-on educational model for youth and adults. Through interviews with directors at four leading craft and folk schools across the United States, the project gathers insights on curriculum design, accessibility, funding challenges, and inclusive programming. The literature review connects experiential learning theories with sustainable …

The Arch And The Looking Glass: Umbli Cu Cioara Vopsitǎ, Ana Popescu

Masters Theses

The Arch and The Looking Glass: Umbli Cu Cioara Vopsită (You Are Walking Around with a Painted Crow)

A thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Fine Arts in Ceramics in the Department of Ceramics of the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island.

By Ana Popescu, 2025

Approved by Master’s Examination Committee:

Lesley Baker, Shoji Satake (Chair), Heather Bhandari, Tucker Houlihan

Date: May 17th, 2025

Location: Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island

To be opened for self-reflection in 10 years, on May 17th, 2035:

I’ve been mulling over how to make …

Highlighting The Benefits Of Community-Based Public Art Practices: Narrating A Year Of Living And Working Amongst The Creative Communities Of Providence, Rhode Island., Keara Mchaffie

Masters Theses

This thesis investigation explores the benefits of publicly

accessible arts programming and considers the significance of art

education experiences outside the traditional classroom setting.

The social and emotional benefits of these spaces are specifically

considered as a means to build confidence, and foster meaningful,

supportive connections beyond traditional academic measures.

Embracing a qualitative, mini-case study approach, the study

details hands-on experiences collaborating with different

organizations across Providence, Rhode Island during a year-long

graduate program. The data highlights how access to public

programs in community-based settings, such as libraries, play a

pivotal role in strengthening creative ideologies and community

relations.

Mfa Confidential, Julius Cavira, Julius Cavira

Masters Theses

What happens when the studio meets the classroom? This thrilling deep-dive uncovers the untold story of artists-turned-educators, balancing creation with instruction in the high-stakes world of higher education. Packed with real voices and raw insight, it reveals how teaching isn't just a job—it's the next evolution of artistic practice.

This study offers key insights for graduate-level visual artists considering careers in higher education as art educators. It examines the dual roles of artist and faculty by outlining the foundations of an art practice and exploring the varied experiences within academic environments. Drawing on a wide range of testimonies, articles, and …