Digital Commons Network^™

Heaven & Earth, Nelson Caliguia Jr.

Theses

Heaven & Earth is a graduate animated thesis film with a runtime of four minutes and 58 seconds. This animated short film is a playful take on the eternal struggle between humans and the heavenly forces that dictate weather conditions. Heaven & Earth combines elements from both Philippine folk art and classic American cartoons, exploring a stylistic hybrid borne out of influences that I have genuine affinity for.

This animated short is in full color, and was produced using digital 2D animation. It was entirely animated in TVPaint, while the backgrounds were drawn and painted in Photoshop. For compositing and …

Evaluation Of Perennial Plant Success On A Green Roof, Chris White

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF: CHRISTOPHER M. WHITE, for the Master of Science degree in PLANT, SOIL AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, presented in 2017 at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. TITLE: EVALUATION OF PERENNIAL PLANT SUCCESS ON A GREEN ROOF MAJOR PROFESSORS: Karen Stoelzle Midden, S. Alan Walters A two-year study (2011-2012) was conducted on a section of an extensive green roof of the Agriculture Building at Southern Illinois University to evaluate the adaptability of four plant species to green roof culture. Extensive green roof survival, growth, and general success of four plant species (Allium schoenoprasum L., Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Grandiflorus’ Vill., …

24 Jie Qi Journey: Learning Jie Qi Culture And Living A Healthy Life, Yuqi Xiao

Theses

This project aims to explore new ways to spread traditional culture of Jie Qi and to teach a healthy lifestyle according the theory of Jie Qi. The project provides comprehensive design solutions through a website to remedy the problem of ineffective learning of complex knowledge from books and lack of communication. The website creates a virtual visual environment through interactive design that offer users a playful journey through an introduction of Jie Qi.

Jie Qi is a historic and significant invention. Based on observations of the sun’s movement integrated with natural phenomenon, starting about 3000 years ago, the ancient Chinese …

Design For Curiosity: A Study Of Visual Design Elements, Interaction, And Motivation, Elaine Carole Montambeau

Theses

The field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) has traditionally focused on the usability of a system, but as increasing numbers of interactive products become entwined in our daily lives, so does the opportunity to understand user impacts that reach beyond usability. In particular, interaction design, a subdomain of HCI, expands the focus of HCI by looking at the aesthetic impacts a system may have on user emotions. Curiosity is one such emotion that tends to induce information-seeking and motivational behaviors. An experimental study was undertaken to determine whether an interactive, front-end graphic that incorporated curiosity principles in its design would …

Thinking About Life: Being Balanced, Xinhao Yang

Theses

My thesis work represents my thinking about life at present. It is influenced by Chinese culture and Chinese philosophy as well as my own experience. I was also inspired by the Yin Yang doctrine of Taosim. Everything is composed of a pair of contrary elements: positive and negative. Balance is the keyword of my life view currently. I believe that everyone's life should be balanced. This means enjoying the positive parts and not resenting the negative parts because they are equally important in our lives. It is the negative element of life that enhances the positive element. I suggest experiencing …

Fissures And Fractures: An Investigation In Natural Breakdowns, Joshua Dewall

Theses

Growing up in a mostly rural area in the Midwest, I spent great lengths outside as a child. Sure, I was born into the era of arcade games and Nintendo, but I remember preferring more active experiences rather than the stationary ones held within doors. Maybe it was hard to keep my focus; maybe I was a bit hyperactive. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t inside when I didn’t have to be. I recall escaping into the woods for hours when I was younger. I would take long bike rides or escape into the horse pasture deep behind our house. Not …

Heymoe: Leveraging Virtual Robot And Game Mechanics In Mobile Prototype Application Design For Chinese Language Learning, Boxiao Gong

Theses

With the growth of internet technology, individuals currently have a better experience in using interactive systems like desktop computer software or mobile device applications than ever before. Moreover, using mobile phones in learning activities is becoming increasingly popular. However, the learning applications today do not fully meet the learner’s needs, especially for young adults who have some interest but lack fundamental knowledge in their study subjects. Combining mobile phone technology and game elements could make it possible to solve this problem. In this way, the limitations of location and the sometimes boring nature of the learning activities could be efficiently …

The Graphic Design Archive: Generating Higher Levels Of Scholarship Through A User Experience Approach To Scholarly Image Database Design, Jenna Shay

Theses

Innovations in the user experiences of digital image collections have taken image-based searching from the realm of basic one-way searches and sorts and delivered users a new world of dynamic and interactive explorations that offer mechanisms for higher-level cognitive functions such as comparing, analyzing, sorting, sharing, designing, and creating in an intuitive environment. While innovations in image search functionality often occur first in non-academic applications (e.g., social media), image archives meant to amasse and preserve visual information for the ages would benefit by adopting and adapting search innovations.

Students and scholars that access image-based archives of information to gather resources …

Transcriptomics Of Learning, Pablo Iturralde

Theses

Learning is a basic and important component of behavior yet we have very little empirical information about the interaction between mechanisms of learning and evolution. In our work, we are testing hypotheses about the neurogenetic mechanisms through which animal learning abilities evolve. We are able to test this directly by using experimentally evolved populations of flies, which differ in learning ability. These populations were previously evolved within the lab by creating worlds with different patterns of change following theoretically predicted effects on which enhanced learning will evolve. How has evolution acted to modulate genes and gene expression in the brain …

Tactile Painting Easel: For People With Limited Vision, Yue Zhang

Theses

Visual art is probably the oldest art. But people with vision challenges have been held back, perhaps for many years by avoiding making art. However, it is never late to start and this painting system helps to paint with ease and joy. Through the researching about the behavior of people with visual disability, the conclusions are: Painting can help people with limited vision to face life in a more positive way; vision and touch are closely related. After the shape symbolism experiment and interview, the conclusion is people with visual disability understand the metaphors of the pictures. The mock blind …

Hotel Industry Development In Kosovo, Kaltrina Zeka

Theses

The purpose of this paper is to first analyze the hotel industry in Kosovo in depth, through qualitative and quantitative research, and then to compare it with the hotel industry in Macedonia. In this paper, I look at: what are the capacities of hotels in Kosovo, do these capacities fulfill the hotel industry and tourism needs in Kosovo, how do star ranking criteria reflect the quality of hotels in Kosovo, where do Kosovo hotels lack the most, how does the hotel industry stand in general, how does it differ and compare to the hotel industry in Macedonia, both in capacities …

Social Media And Its Impact On Users’ Decision Making To Visit A Fine Dining Restaurant, Petra Malbasa

Theses

This study focused on exploring what factors and social media tactics are important to consider when creating an effective social media strategy for a fine dining restaurant in Zagreb for Facebook and Instagram. The important factors to consider when creating an effective social media strategy and useful social media tactics to use for a fine dining restaurant in Zagreb were defined. The study used a qualitative research approach and in-depth research questions. Ten participants shared their personal experiences connected to social media and fine dining restaurants. Fifty percent of the participants were experts in marketing and the food industry who …

Anatomy Of The Rotator Cuff, Shevon Barnes

Theses

Health literacy is the level at which an individual can obtain, comprehend, and retain general health information and available health services. Health literacy determines more than just how well a person understands medical information. It affects how well they can navigate the medical world. There are problems that often reoccur in patient education materials. Most patient education materials should be written at a 5th or 6th grade level (Health Literacy, NIH 2015) whereas most materials are written at an 11th grade level, or higher. Many illustrations included in resources are complex and not designed to give a general overview of …

Modelling Of Oxygen Diffusion In Cork, Swapnil Shivputra Rane

Theses

The primary objective of this project is to better understand gas diffusion through natural cork structures by comparing simulations of gas diffusion through natural cork to experimental measurements of oxygen gas diffusion through the same structure. The cork's internal structure is measured using x-ray computed tomography (CT). From the measured internal structure, a simple mapping is assumed converting the measured x-ray computed tomography images into a 3D map of local diffusion coefficient. Specifically, it is assured that the x-ray CT pixel value is inversely proportional to the diffusion coefficient of oxygen through the cork. A diffusion model for the cork …

Halal Certification For An Industrial Machine Intended To Come In Contact With Food, Luca Caffarelli

Theses

Halal Certification is a worldwide recognition that the products are permissible under Islamic law. These products are thus edible, drinkable or usable by Muslims. It can be extended to industrial machinery and tools. This Certification must be issued by a Notified Body under the supervision of an IMAM. Focus of the Certification are GMPs and Food Contact Materials and Articles. Four main phases to achieve Certification (the scheme is the same of ISO 14001, ISO 18001 and ISO 9001):

• Pre-Audit - The activity is to evaluate the documentation describing our internal system.
• Audit - The activity is to evaluate how …

The Impact Of Copper On Non-Indigenous And Native Species Of Suspension-Feeding Bivalves In Mission Bay, San Diego, California, Brian Juhl

Theses

Native (Chione californiensis) and non-indigenous bivalve species [Musculista senhousia (now known as Arcuatula senhousia), and Venerupis philippinarum] were collected from Mission Bay, San Diego, California and exposed to copper contaminated water at estimated concentrations of 0 ppb, 25 ppb, and 50 ppb over the course of two experimental periods of 18 days and 12 days. Bivalves were placed in tanks in a temperature controlled environment, and measurements of a number of parameters were taken during and after the exposure to copper: survivorship, feeding rates, growth, mucus production, and tissue copper concentrations for the entire body, …

Geometric Properties And A Combinatorial Analysis Of Convex Polygons Constructed Of Tridrafters, Trevor Nelson

Theses

The aim of this thesis is to show how the use of parity in tandem with the triangular grid as well as a newly introduced and similar method are insufficient to provide proof for why convex regions composed using the full set of shapes known as "proper tridrafters" have a portion shifted in a fashion known as against-the-grain. These two methods are applied in a combinatorial fashion.

Investigation Of The Role Of Gene Clusters In Terpene Biosynthesis In Sorghum Bicolor, Rebecca Hay

Theses

The staple crop Sorghum bicolor shows potential as a source of secondary metabolite-based biofuels due to its diverse phenotype and chemical profile. S. bicolor produces a variety of high-energy metabolites, including terpenes which are a potential renewable source of fuel additives. Information on the biosynthetic and genetic pathways by which S. bicolor terpenes are produced is limited and these pathways must be better understood before they can be engineered for human applications. Recent work on plant biosynthetic pathways has shown that terpenes can be modified by the products of clustered genes. Identification of biosynthetic gene clusters may accelerate the elucidation …

Learning From The Past: An Analysis Of The Sustainable Features Of Hakka Tulou, Bixiao Shen

Theses

The Hakka tulou represent an ancient form of Chinese architecture common in Southeast China. In 2008, several of the tulou were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. A tulou is usually an earthen building with an enclosed circular shape serving hundreds of residents. People have inhabited such structures for centuries due, in part, to their ability to passively moderate temperature. This particular form of architecture represents an ancient wisdom: it is a sustainable design concept that has thrived for centuries. The global energy crisis has become a problem for all. The ancient concept of the Hakka tulou, which has the …

Catpanion: A Ui/Ux Ios-Based App Design To Support Cat Adoptions, Chenchen Ji

Theses

Homeless and abandoned cats are becoming an issue in urban areas around the world: a majority of them may carry illnesses that may lead to infectious diseases. Once back in the wild, cats may also harm the ecological equilibrium of urban areas as they are known to be hunters of birds and smaller mammals.

The popularity of online cat-related material has ballooned over the past decade. Within the confines of social media, cat-related matters have gained an enormous amount of attention. Due to the increase in cat enthusiasts, celebrities occasionally help post information about cats and have even helped ask …

Stage, Ying Xu

Theses

Stage is three minutes 2D/3D experimental animation. The whole story is about the growth of a person who is pursuing her dream. The story starts with a dancer practicing and learning the skills. As her skill and ability increases, her desires and needs expand. She begins to recognize, perceive and introspect everything around her deeply. After lost, confusion, self-doubt, finally, she accepts how the world is and decide not to live against her truth.

I want to use experimental animation as a way of describing how people feel when they experience their lives. This concept is based initially on my …

How To Train Your Dog, Zihao Bai

Theses

How to Train Your Dog is a 2D short animated film with a total timescale of four minutes and five seconds including credits. It is a story about what would happen if someone treats a cat as though it was a dog. The main character of the story is an alien who does not live on the earth and has never seen a dog or a cat before. He gets obsessed with this cute little animal at his first time seeing it on a TV commercial selling this kind of pet newly imported from the earth. He orders the dog …

A New Graphene Quantum Dot Sensor For Estimating An Antibiotic Concentration, Nuzhet Nihaar Nasir Ahamed

Theses

The antibiotics have impacted the human ailments by curtailing the growth of microbes and by providing relief from microbial diseases. While there are a large number of analytical methods available for the determination of antibiotics concentration, they are time consuming and impractical for usage in the fields. This thesis is aimed at overcoming the deficiencies of those methods in developing a new sensor. It reports a study of graphene quantum dots (GQD) bound ferric ion for sensing an antibiotic, ciprofloxacin (CP). The interaction of ferric ion with CP was used as a probe for the analytical estimation of CP using …

Consumer Preferences In Food Interactive Packaging, Nuchjarin Pareeratanasomporn

Theses

Interactive packaging is an innovation that has been adopted by the packaging design industry. It enables consumers to interact with packaging through their smart devices. Although the technology is already available, it is uncertain how many consumers use it or will ever find it useful.

This research measured the young Millennial (18-24 years old) consumers’ perspectives and their preferences for interactive feature on food packaging. College students between 18 to 24 years old were chosen by using a purposive sampling method. First, a questionnaire asked for information about the participants’ behavior surrounding two topics. The first topic asked about their …

Face 2 Face, Joseph Hurley

Theses

For my final year at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), I worked on my thesis film, “Face 2 Face,” which runs for 6 minutes and 22 seconds. My thesis film tells the story of a young man attending a Comic-Con convention who spends more time taking photos of what he sees in front of him for his social media page rather than living in the moment within his environment. This film was inspired by my experiences at conventions and on vacations, during which I devoted much of my energy to recording footage of unique events or taking photos of an …

Stockholms: An Artifact Of Kink As An Innocuous Method Of Bolstering Kinkster And Fetishist Populations, Kenneth Jeremy Chen

Theses

This thesis is an attempt to affect and activate the population of consumers that are open to sexual experimentation, which in turn will provoke further discussion into sexual identity and sex positivity.

Though there is a high percentage of people who engage in some form of kinky sex, there is still a lack of seriousness in accepting sexual fetishes as valid expressions of sexual behavior.

And so designing by approximating a sort of midpoint between the hardcore and the novel, it would eliminate much of the critical nature one would take with an “other” group if people may find that …

The Use Of Predicates In Fda Regulation Of Medical Devices: A Case Study Of Robotic Surgical Devices, Charlotte Lefkovich

Theses

In the last decade, a number of high profile medical device recalls have drawn attention to the regulatory approval process, particularly the streamlined process for devices considered “lower risk” known as the 510(k). Approval of medical devices through the 510(k) Process is not based on clinical data, but rather on “substantial equivalence” to predicate devices approved pre-1976 or legally marketed thereafter. A predicate device is one that shares the same intended use as the new device and technological characteristics which are either the same or different without introducing new safety hazards. Many scholars believe that the premise of approving medical …

Terra: The Earthen Refrigerator, Priyanka Bambarkar

Theses

This thesis consists of the study of reducing the overuse of technology in a modern household for a healthier lifestyle.

“The kitchen is the most important and expensive room in any household.” - Dan Harel.

It has many appliances and even though not always really appreciated, it does have technologically advanced gadgets. These gadgets were designed for convenient cooking and effective kitchen time usage.

One such appliance which has gained tremendous appreciation is the refrigerator. The refrigerator in general has undergone change over time and has evolved. Initially, satisfying the basic need of food storage and preservation to now satiating …

Machine-Insect Interface: Spatial Navigation Of A Mobile Robot By A Drosophila, Suddarsun Shivakumar

Theses

Machine-insect interfaces have been studied in detail in the past few decades. Animal-machine interfaces have been developed in various ways. In our study, we develop a machine-insect interface wherein an untethered fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) is tracked to remotely control a mobile robot. We develop the Active Omni-directional Treadmill (AOT) model, and integrate into the mobile robot to create the interface between the robot and the fruit fly. In this system, a fruit fly is allowed to walk on top of a transparent ball. As the fly tries to walk on the ball, we track the position of the fly …

Illuminating Dietary And Physiological Change In An Insectivorous Bat Community Exposed To Artificial Light At Night, Zachary Cravens

Theses

Global light pollution is increasing worldwide, nearly doubling over the past 25 years, and the encroachment of artificial light into remaining dark areas threatens to disturb natural rhythms of wildlife species, such as bats. Artificial light impacts the behaviour of insectivorous bats in numerous ways, including changing foraging behaviour and altering prey selection. I conducted two manipulative field experiments to investigate effects of light pollution on prey selection in an insectivorous bat community. In the first experiment, I collected fecal samples from 6 species of insectivorous bats in naturally dark and artificially lit conditions and identified prey items using molecular …