Digital Commons Network^™

Formulation Strategies And Optimization Of Poorly Water-Soluble Drugs For Preclinical And Clinical Applications, Monika Lavan

Open Access Dissertations

Successful mitigation of a disease or clinical condition requires efficacious and safe drug compounds that are designed to provide the right balance of properties including potency, specificity, safety, solubility, absorption and metabolic stability. In general, performance is governed by the physicochemical properties of the drug, the composition and properties of the dosage form, and their ability to provide release in a manner that overcomes the physiological barriers limiting exposure at the site of action. That being said, it is often very challenging to obtain a new therapeutic compound that possesses an optimal balance of these properties because of the broad …

An Examination Of Marketing Factors That Influence Nontraditional Student Enrollment Decisions, Jianping Landrum

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine marketing factors that influence the decisions of working professionals to enroll as nontraditional students in the University of their Choice. Research has shown that factors such as affordability, access, and availability matter to nontraditional students. Marketing campaigns have often focused on these three factors, perhaps to the exclusion of other factors that may be equally important and compelling in helping working professionals decide to return to college for an advanced degree. This research explored seven marketing mix factors (Price, Promotion, Physical Evidence, People, Product, Process, and Place) and the extent to which …

Large Strain Extrusion Machining Of Aa7050, Daniel R. Klenosky

Open Access Dissertations

Aluminum has remained among the most commonly-used materials for aerospace applications for the past 100 years. It is advantageous due to its relatively high strength, low weight, ease of forming, electrical and thermal conductivity, and low cost. Alloy 7050 is among highest strength aerospace-grade aluminum alloys and can be formed into a wide variety of shapes via extrusion, rolling, forging, and other processes.

Unfortunately, consistent and homogenous process control can be difficult to achieve during these bulk forming operations due to the complexity of the Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloy system. Poor process control can result in defects and/or inhomogeneous microstructures and properties, …

Investigation Of Electrochemically Li-Ion Active Materials For Li-Ion Batteries, Daw Gen Lim

Open Access Dissertations

Being the battery of the 2l8t century, Li-ion batteries have been making headway towards replacing traditional medium to large scale energy storage devices. Recent applications ranging from EVs to grid-level energy storage, have driven the design criteria of Li-ion batteries to evolve at a rapid pace. Three major goals are low cost, high electrochemical performance, and improved safety. New targets set by the DOE to make Li-ion batteries more competitive in their new market sectors have been to decrease cost to US$ 125 kWh-1 and increase gravimetric and volumetric energy density to 235 Wh kg-1 and 500 Wh L - …

Predicting Breakage Of Needle-Shaped Large Aspect Ratio Particles Using Discrete Element Method (Dem), Rohit Kumar

Open Access Dissertations

Particle attrition is inevitable during processing of granular material and has been reported to cause manufacturing inefficiencies, unpredictable product quality, dust hazards, flow problems, etc. Of particular interest to this study is attrition of large aspect ratio needle-shaped active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in an agitated filter dryer (AFD). Prior experimental works on particle attrition in AFDs have been successful at predicting the overall bulk behavior. However, for an in-depth understanding of the attrition phenomenon, particle level kinematics and dynamics information is required. The particle level details can be obtained through computational discrete element method (DEM) models, but most of the …

Web Site Analytics: The Potential For The Transformation Of A Restaurant’S Marketing Strategy - A Case Study Of A Casual Dining Restaurant In The Midwest, Stephen Rolan Leitch

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to show independent restaurateurs the value that Web site analytics can have on providing data about the visitors to their Web site and the marketing opportunities these data provide. The study surveyed customers about their restaurant Web site browsing behaviors and analyzed Web site analytical data of a casual dining restaurant in the Midwest. Analysis was conducted using t-tests and analysis of variance. Findings indicated that certain browsing behaviors were associated with an increased number of reservations and visitation to the restaurant Web site prior to dining impacted average check. The study is the …

Nested Planetary Geartrain Design For Vibration Reduction Using Augmented Direct Gear Design Methodology, Cong Liao

Open Access Dissertations

The Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) of a vehicle is one of the decisive indices of vehicle performance in terms of objective measures and subjective quality. The compact co-axial planetary geartrain of the automatic transmission, with its advantages of high gear reduction, controllable power split, distributed torque on multiple gears, and the ability to shift under load, is an irreplaceable core component in a vehicle’s powertrain. It plays an important role in providing a smooth, stable, and quiet ride. However, due to the complexity of planetary gearsets and various operating points of engine-transmission power matching, the planetary geartrain is also …

Large Scale Data Analysis In Parallel R And Its Use In Efficiently Scheduling Batch Jobs In The Cloud, Hao Lin

Open Access Dissertations

Large-scale data management and deep data analysis are increasingly important for both enterprise and scientific applications. Statistical languages provide rich functionality and ease of use for data analysis and modeling and have large user bases. R is among the most widely used of these languages, but is limited by a single threaded execution model and problem sizes that fit in a single node. We propose a highly parallel R system called RABID (R Analytics for BIg Data) that maintains R compatibility, leverages the MapReduce-like Spark framework and achieves high performance and scaling across clusters. RABID preserves the R programming model …

Enthusiastic Educators And Interested Visitors: Investigating The Relationships Between Museum Educators' Enthusiasm And Visitors' Situational Interest, Changchia James Liu

Open Access Dissertations

Informal education environments like museums have become some of the most important educational resources. Although much attention has been paid to museum settings and programs, little is known about how museum educators support visitors’ learning and intrinsic motivation. In particular, there is a need to investigate museum educators’ enthusiasm, considering that enthusiasm is a powerful way of creating an engaging learning experience across various subjects and environments. In this study, I investigate museum educators’ enthusiasm as perceived by adult visitors through the lens of interest development. The results I found (N = 209) indicate a strong positive relationship between museum …

I Just Don't Feel Like I Am The Authentic Me: Navigating Identity And Organizational Identification Through Experiences Of Workplace Incivility, Jennifer S. Linvill

Open Access Dissertations

Workplace incivility is a pervasive problem in organizations worldwide. Given the current political and social climates in the United States, it is a relevant and timely topic that requires further understanding. The current study contributes to this growing body of empirical research by examining how individuals’ multiple identities (i.e., age, gender, national origin, race, sexual orientation) and organizational identification relate to their experiences with workplace incivility. Additionally, this project explores how targets’ experiences with workplace incivility relate to power and control. Through in-depth interviews with individuals who have experienced workplace incivility, the study makes several important contributions.

This study provides …

Assessment Of Epistemic Uncertainty In Flood Inundation Modeling, Zhu Liu

Open Access Dissertations

Flooding is one of the most devastating natural disasters in the world and it exacerbated during the past decades. In order to reduce the loss of lives and properties from repeating flooding events, reliable flood predictions are required. Currently, there exist a series of hydrodynamic models that have different model structures which solve different forms of governing equations in one- (1D), two- (2D) or three- (3D) dimensions, thus providing various possible predictions for decision makers to choose from. Even for the same model, depending on how the model is implemented for a specific parameter set, input data and channel geometry …

Do You Smoke?: How Physicians Navigate Conversations About Smoking And Lung Cancer, Mary E. Marshall

Open Access Dissertations

Lung cancer, the second most commonly diagnosed cancer, is a leading cause of death among older adults (Cronin et al., 2018; Siegel, Miller, & Jemal, 2017). While there are numerous health benefits associated with smoking cessation in patients with advanced lung cancer (Gemine & Lewis, 2017; Parsons, Daley, Begh, & Aveyard, 2010), conversations about smoking cessation are infrequent and often lack physician support for cessation (Warren, Marshall, et al., 2013; Wells et al., 2017). Physicians may avoid lengthy conversations about smoking to protect patients from feeling shame and guilt due to the perceived stigma associated with smoking and a lung …

Dissolution And Redemption Of Self In Shakespeare's Four Main Tragedies, Wei Lu

Open Access Dissertations

From the Pre-Platonic Greek culture to the Renaissance, history witnesses the shift from the care of the self, to a renunciation of self, and back to an articulated concern for the self. These changes in how people understood their identity culminate in Shakespeare’s tragedies. It is the purpose of my project to investigate and extend beyond the current thinking about Shakespeare and philosophy. Current scholarship tends to agree with Stanley Cavell’s Disowning Knowledge, which sets Shakespeare’s work in a climate of skepticism. My work argues that a more positive account of moral philosophy better explains the nature of the self …

Efficient Support Of Text And Time In Spatial Data Systems, Ahmed R. Mahmood

Open Access Dissertations

The widespread use of GPS-enabled devices, e.g., smart-phones and GPS navigators has resulted in the generation of massive amounts of spatial data. This has led to the development of spatial data systems that process and manage spatial data effciently. Temporal and textual data often coexist with spatial data. This dissertation targets the effcient processing of spatio-temporal and spatio-textual data. To effciently support spatio-temporal data with limited temporal data retention, a new disk-based data structure for indexing moving objects trajectories with limited temporal data retention is introduced. To optimize the processing of spatio-textual data, a new frequency-aware spatio-textual indexing structure is …

The Effects Of Mastication And Digestion On The Bioaccessibility Of Energy From Nuts, Breanna M. Mcarthur

Open Access Dissertations

Walnuts consumption provides multiple health benefits, but the high energy and fat content of walnuts raises continued concerns regarding their role in weight management. These concerns persist despite the evidence from epidemiological and clinical studies indicating that nut consumption does not increase the risk of weight gain. The predominate factors contributing to the inverse or neutral relationship between walnut consumption and increased body weight is their high satiety properties and poor bioaccessibility of energy during digestion. Mastication is associated with each of these factors; however, its role in energy balance has not yet been clearly characterized. Moreover, mastication is modulated …

Self-Other Agreement In Person And Thing Orientations, Miranda M. Mcintyre

Open Access Dissertations

Personality judgments are inherently subjective—perceptions of one’s own traits often differ from perceptions held by others. However, research on personality relies overwhelmingly on self-reports. This lack of methodological diversity threatens the validity and reliability of individual differences research. The current work addresses this common-method bias for person orientation and thing orientation, which are personality traits that reflect interest in different aspects of individuals’ environments. Three studies investigated self-other agreement in these orientations and compared convergence with Big Five traits and vocational interests. Study 1 (N = 193) presents evidence that thirteen individual difference constructs vary in observability and desirability, which …

Biochar For Environmental Restoration: Multi-Level Investigations Into Structure And Performance, Joseph Martin

Open Access Dissertations

Biochar is a product that has been used since at least 1000 BCE for the enhancement of soil fertility. These original applications were in the Amazon jungle, where soils are naturally sub-par for most forms of conventional or industrial agriculture. Adapting this technology to other climates, soils, and farming uses requires a broad base of knowledge. The current state of biochar science seeks to understand how specific environmental behaviors arise from the physical and chemical structure of biochars, and in turn how variation in pyrolysis and feedstock can be manipulated to construct useful biochars.

This body of work seeks to …

Mechanistic Understanding Of The Design And Characterization Of Biocompatible Nanodelivery Systems For The Encapsulation And Delivery Of Curcumin, Luis Fernando Maldonado Mejia

Open Access Dissertations

Nanotechnology techniques are enabling food scientists to create functional ingredients with micro- and nanostructures, displaying unique properties that are finding applications in encapsulation of bioactive compounds/phytochemicals, food flavors, essential oils, and other important high value ingredients. The ability of edible proteins and polysaccharides to fabricate different nanostructures was investigated using three different methods: 1) desolvation using water as solvent, and acetone, ethanol and methanol as non-solvent agents, 2) complex coacervation using the combination of two biopolymer polyelectrolytes, and 3) layer-by-layer deposition technique to fabricate nanotubes using the combination of two biopolymer polyelectrolytes. These nanoparticles were evaluated for their capacity to …

A Pseudo-Rigorous Lidar System Calibration Approach And A Strategy For Stability Analysis, Megan M.G. Miller

Open Access Dissertations

With LiDAR systems being a crucial technology for near real-time mapping and spatial analysis, the user community needs standardized LiDAR system calibration procedures that are robust for the wide range of users and scenarios. More specifically, a comprehensive calibration approach should entail rigor in automation for matching and handling the irregularity of LiDAR data, as well as generality in terms of type of terrain used and of raw measurement availability. Most times, the sensor model and raw measurements are unavailable to the end user, and therefore rigorous LiDAR system calibration is not possible. For this scenario, pseudo-rigorous methods have been …

Credit Network Payment Systems: Security, Privacy And Decentralization, Pedro Moreno Sanchez

Open Access Dissertations

A credit network models transitive trust between users and enables transactions between arbitrary pairs of users. With their flexible design and robustness against intrusions, credit networks form the basis of Sybil-tolerant social networks, spam-resistant communication protocols, and payment settlement systems. For instance, the Ripple credit network is used today by various banks worldwide as their backbone for cross-currency transactions. Open credit networks, however, expose users’ credit links as well as the transaction volumes to the public. This raises a significant privacy concern, which has largely been ignored by the research on credit networks so far.

In this state of affairs, …

Visual Analytics To Support Atomistic Simulations Design, Daniel Felipe Mejia Padilla

Open Access Dissertations

Nowadays, complex simulations of a variety of processes are extensively used in academia and industry. Particularly in academia, powerful scientific software tools are constantly developed to simulate complex systems; for instance, simulations of quantum transport using the non-equilibrium greens Function formalism. The potential impact of these scientific tools in industry is huge, but it is hindered by the lack of usability of the software by those who are not deeply familiar with it. Visual analytics is a new field that has shown the positive impact of interactive visualizations in software usability and the cognitive process of the user. This research …

Framework For Assessing The Pavement Surface Evaluation And Rating Method In Pavement Management Plans, Sharlan R. Montgomery

Open Access Dissertations

With the increasing popularity and use of the pavement surface evaluation and rating (PASER) method by local agencies throughout the U.S., the variability inherent in manual condition assessments, and the lack of research pertaining to the PASER method, there is a need to better understand the PASER method and its use by local agencies. This research consisted of three research phases. Phase 1 investigated the relationship between the pavement condition index (PCI) and PASER. Corresponding PCI and PASER data were collected for both asphalt and concrete pavement segments. Both a general linear regression model and an ordered probability model were …

Hybrid Cloud Model Checking Using The Interaction Layer Of Harms For Ambient Intelligent Systems, Mauricio Alejandro Gomez Morales

Open Access Dissertations

Soon, humans will be co-living and taking advantage of the help of multi-agent systems in a broader way than the present. Such systems will involve machines or devices of any variety, including robots. These kind of solutions will adapt to the special needs of each individual. However, to the concern of this research effort, systems like the ones mentioned above might encounter situations that will not be seen before execution time. It is understood that there are two possible outcomes that could materialize; either keep working without corrective measures, which could lead to an entirely different end or completely stop …

Mapping Soils Of The Uasin Gishu Plateau, Kenya With Limited Data Using A Knowledge-Based Inference Mapping Approach, Mercy W. Ngunjiri

Open Access Dissertations

Kenya has a current population of ~47 million people living on an arable land area of ~56,000 km2 (~1.7 times the area of Indiana). With an annual growth rate of ~800,000 people, there is tremendous pressure on the soil resource to produce more food. Understanding the available soil resources is important to increase and sustain agricultural productivity. Soil surveys made with traditional approaches are too expensive, and new surveys must rely on limited data, legacy information and new digital mapping techniques. We used three knowledge-based inference soil mapping approaches to predict soil types and properties for the Uasin Gishu Plateau …

Corporate Social Responsibility Of Construction And Real Estate Development Companies In Developing Countries: An Assessment Model, Ahmed Nabil Abdel-Salam

Open Access Dissertations

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contributes significantly to the community development which is based on the principles of fairness, social justice, participation, and continuous learning with core emphasis on educating, enabling, and empowering community members. CSR not only helps to develop the community but also contributes toward sustainable development of business. Companies involved in the construction industry are serving several stakeholders internally and externally. In this dissertation, CSR, with regard to two stakeholders (company employees and the community) is studied to assess the mutual impacts between the company and the community.

The main objective of this research is to develop guidelines …

College Students And Athletes: Identity Adherence, Injury, Illness, Depression, Social Support, And Problem Behaviors, Samuel L. Nekvasil

Open Access Dissertations

College students are at pivotal time in their life for identity development. They are typically away from home for the first time, independently making decisions while also striving to maintain their academic performance. A subset of this population, college athletes, face a number of unique challenges often connected with their potentially competing identities as athletes and students (i.e., athletic and academic identities). In addition, when injury/illness occurs, identity adherence may shift for all students (i.e., athletes and non-athletes) and there is the potential that they may engage in problem behaviors (i.e., risky sexual behavior, illicit drug use, problem alcohol use, …

Cooperative Multiple Agents Based Algorithm For Optimal Evacuation Planning Under Time–Varying Uncertainty, Byung Hoon Oh

Open Access Dissertations

In the aftermath of natural disasters, the optimal evacuation planning plays a crucial role in saving people’s lives by providing plans to timely extricate victims to safe locations. For the evacuation in the aftermath, aerial vehicles (e.g., helicopters) become efficient assets when a disaster area is difficult to access by ground vehicles due to the destruction of the road network, or the large number of victims affected. In this regard, a mathematical model and efficient solution is necessary for optimal evacuation planning using a fleet of aerial vehicles, as proposed in this dissertation. The Optimal Evacuation Planning Problem (OEPP) is …

Particle Engineering For Intracellular Delivery Of Antibiotics, Yihua Pei

Open Access Dissertations

Infections by intracellular bacteria have been recognized for many years, but they are difficult to cure due to the poor intracellular penetration of most antibiotics. To overcome poor intracellular delivery of antibiotics, we developed two polymeric nanoparticle formulation (NPs) that efficiently encapsulate and deliver antibiotics to the target cells – the macrophages in the liver and spleen. The first formulation (PpZEV) was based on a blend of polymers with distinct functions: (i) poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA, P) serving as the main delivery platform, (ii) polyethylene glycol-PLGA conjugate (PEG-PLGA, p) to help maintain an appropriate level of polarity for timely release of …

Electrolytic Microsystems For Biomedical Applications, Satya V.R.V. Tejasvi Parupudi

Open Access Dissertations

With an American dying each minute due to cancer and with a global burden of over $170 billion by 2020, there is a critical need for alternate solutions, especially for deep-seated, inoperable tumors in the liver and brain. Systemic chemotherapy has side effects and radiation is expensive. Challenges of current technologies for treating the liver include poor performance near vascular structures and the inability to treat multiple nodular tumors. Brain tumor treatment suffers from inadequate intra-cerebral drug concentration and uncontrollable drug delivery. These difficulties motivate the development of low-cost solutions that have fractionated application and are localized, monitored, and compatible …

Impact Of Changing Climate On Water Resources In The Western Lake Erie Basin Using Swat, Sushant Mehan

Open Access Dissertations

Water quality impairment in the Great Lakes Region has become a major concern for the scientific community. With increasing high intensity short duration precipitation events and rise in temperatures, there is the need to determine the impacts of a changing climate on water resources in the Great Lakes region. This is especially so in the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB); Lake Erie is prone to toxic harmful algal blooms due to climate variations and large nutrient and sediment inflows from the surrounding, primarily agricultural lands. The aim of this study was to determine the implications of future climate conditions on …