Digital Commons Network^™

Protein Vaccines Against Acute Otitis Media Caused By Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae In A Murine Model, Mark Zavorin

Theses

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is one of the major organisms in the upper respiratory nasopharyngeal microbiota. In addition to its role as a commensal in the nasopharynx, NTHi is also the cause of sinusitis, pneumonia, and meningitis. Most relevant to this work, NTHi is one of the major causes of otitis media (OM), an inflammatory disease of the middle ear that affects 65-300 million children globally each year. In the US, acute OM (AOM or ear infection) is the most common reason for prescribed antibiotics. Due to the dramatic increase in antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria, there is currently an …

The Story Of A Blind Wolf, Jimeng Jasmine Li

Theses

The Story of a Blind Wolf; is a 3D animated graduate thesis film, whose length is five minutes forty seconds. It was screened in the School of Animation at Rochester Institute of Technology. The film is in a realistic style and made by CG (computer graphics).

The story takes place in a small puppet theater. While a piper is playing a flute for his audience, a wolf interrupted his performance. The wolf asks the piper to help him escape the hunt. The piper has sympathy for the wolf, so he helps him, lies to the hunter, and saved the wolf. …

Somewhere Else, Xiaoxi Liu

Theses

Somewhere Else is a site-dependent, video, sound installation. Captivated by memory, landscape and time and how they affect both the physical and psychological, I construct my artwork to reflect the liminal in-between. This artwork consists of fragments of recollections of the different places, landscape, moments and locations from my past. The intermittent, jarring, and distant quality of the sounds and video fill the installation space as well as the viewers’ mental space.

Hangout! A Comprehensive Outdoor Activity Planner & Information Sharing Platform, Yani Qu

Theses

Hangout! is a mobile social-activity app, encouraging users to connect with friends and family. Users can specify their preferred leisure activity, whether that may be camping or caving, kayaking or surfing, running or rock climbing—whatever type of fun they are looking for. Combining a GPS location and a user’s history of outside recreational experiences, the app provides news about the area in real time, along with any emergency notifications for issuing caution.

As the name implies, Hangout! is an application celebrating the recreational places you frequent and the people you socialize with. High-quality imagery and video helps bolster a high …

Design For Tea, Xiaoru Chen

Theses

From a perspective of a young Chinese person, I noticed that lots of Chinese youth who like me neither drink tea daily nor understand the cultural meaning of tea. It is concerning that the lack of awareness of tea among Chinese youth might lead to the loss of Chinese tea culture. In this thesis project, I will introduce a system of portable teaware design focused on motivating users to enjoy the true beauty of tea, and so inspiring them to reassess their understanding of tea and themselves.

Application Of Plant Based Edible Coatings For Maintaining Post Harvest Quality And Extending Shelf Life Of Strawberries, Rajiv Dhital

Theses

Strawberries are a popular fruit with a pleasing color and flavor. However, its delicate tissue and high sugar content makes it highly perishable with visible mold. In this study, we have attempted to test feasibility of different edible coatings for extending shelf life of ‘Chandler’ strawberries subjected to simulated vibrations of local transportation. Six types of coatings were compared based on the quality of treated berries. Curcumin and limonene were used as natural antimicrobials and coatings were prepared from their liposomes and were over-coated with methyl cellulose. One set of each coating type were subjected to the simulated vibration of …

Effects Of Defusion And Deictic Frames Interactions On The Development Of Self-As-Context In Individuals With Disabilities, Sebastian Garcia-Zambrano

Theses

MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Ruth Anne Rehfeldt The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a defusion exercise in combination with perspective- taking interactions as a brief protocol based on the Relational Frame Theory (RFT). The protocol was designed to alter verbal statements about the self through the implementation of training on deictic frames (I-YOU, HERE-THERE, AND NOW-THEN) in conjunction with an exercise of defusion. A pre-post design with a control group was implemented to evaluate the effects of the protocol on the frequency rate of self-as-context and self-as-content statements. Adolescents with disabilities were selected and assigned to …

Interpreting Ritual In Ceramics Of Late Mississippian Southern Illinois, Alice Eileen Muntz

Theses

This research aims to understand whether and how ritual manifests in ceramic objects dating to the Late Mississippian Period (ca. late 1200s A.D. to A.D. 1500) in southern Illinois. The study focuses on ritual phenomena that occurred at two village sites: Millstone Bluff (11Pp3) and Dillow’s Ridge (11U635). Millstone Bluff has been interpreted as a site of public ritual and unusual symbolic importance evidenced by its general location and topography, spatial organization, and distinctive rock art. Though Dillow’s Ridge was the locale for an inordinate level of lithic tool production, in other ways the site is understood to be typical …

Recommendations For Redesign: Revising The Rochester Museum And Science Center's "Native Peoples Of The Americas" Exhibit, Jess Andrews

Theses

This thesis proposes methods for redesigning the Rochester Museum and Science Center’s (RMSC) Native Peoples of the Americas exhibit to ensure better representation of the Native cultures it displays. Explorations of these methods include a survey of the current exhibit, focusing on specific areas and design elements that need to be addressed, as well as brief comparative surveys of other Native American and ethnographic exhibits at the RMSC as well as exhibits at Ganondagan State Historic Site and the New York and Washington branches of the National Museum of the American Indian. The literature review considers the history of Native …

Oliver's Rumination: A Short Video Game About Failure, Shaemus Spencer

Theses

Studying and working in a creative field requires designers and artists to produce consistently high-level, novel work. In some cases, taking risks to pursue new concepts, methods, or products is highly valued. At the same time, not all companies, students, or individual artists have the resources to risk should their exploration fail. What remains is a crossroad: creative professionals and students are rewarded for taking risks, but are often unable to do so because the possibility of failure carries too much weight.

Changing the way creators see failure could revolutionize the way they work. By accepting and incorporating failure into …

Emergence Of Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae In Abu Dhabi, 2009-2015, Aqdas Bilal Butt

Theses

The rapid emergence of carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a global phenomenon that has not spared the United Arab Emirates. However, unlike in most Western countries with similarly developed health care system, very little data have been available locally on the rate and dynamics of antimicrobial resistance in general, and that of CRE, in particular. Our laboratory has been collecting CRE isolates from Abu Dhabi hospitals since 2009. In the current study we subjected 394 such independent strains, representing 34.0% of the total CRE encountered, to a detailed analysis that included the determination of their antibiotic susceptibility profile, of the …

Piggy Pennies: An Interactive Piggy Bank To Help Children Learn Money Management, Yao Tong

Theses

Wealth management skill has turned out to be one of the most crucial skills for every young people. A good habit of wealth

management would bene­t people on a larger scale in wealth growth and life quality. In this case, it would be most bene­cial to educate people as early as when they are still children. Children usually do not understand where money comes from and how to spend it by nature. However, multiple challenges arise when parents realize the importance of the education of money management skills and teach their children. These challenges include but are not limited to, …

A Conferralist Account Of Individuality, Zachary Auwerda

Theses

The individual is at the center of liberal political theory. Despite this, oppressed groups that are members of liberal societies are not respected as individuals. This paper attempts to explain one way in which this happens. I argue that some people are not treated as individuals, because they are in fact not individuals. In some cases, to be an individual requires recognition as an individual. I attempt to show that certain uses of the term “individual” refer to conferred properties. A conferred property is a property that is given to an object by a subject. Thus, conferred properties are not …

Second Safest City In America, Liam Cassidy

Theses

Second Safest City in America is a collection of short fiction set in Midwestern cities and suburbs, as well as the Gulf Coast. These stories explore the untethered expectations, broken promises, and absurdity of American life. The characters are violent, funny, emotionally unstable, politically wrong-minded, and compassionate. They implore empathy or actively avoid the pain of others. They search out security or take matters into their own hands. They sacrifice and they seek revenge. They are not outliers in this country. They are part of the mainstream weirdness that permeates everything.

Fiction And Politics: Karl May And The American West In Nineteenth Century German Sociopolitical Consciousness, Emily Scott

Theses

This thesis seeks to answer the following question: Why did the nineteenth century novels and short stories of Karl May, which take place in the American West, find such great commercial success in Germany? Through the examination of the novels themselves, in addition to various primary and secondary sources related to the life of May and the historical context in which this phenomenon took place, this question is answered. Though the novels take place in an American landscape, they are full of references to various cultural and political phenomena which took place throughout the course of May’s life in Germany. …

Share Food With Love, Bowen Liu

Theses

The home experience of serving food for friends and family, and sharing food is a significant event in my life. Furnishings play a prominent role in this circumstance. For my thesis, I created works that enhance the conditions and ambiance of the residential dining and living experience.

When sharing with friends, happiness is my primary objective. I love to create works containing peacefulness and coziness that could help people calm down and relax. For my thesis body of work, I incorporated gentle curvilinear lines and symmetric shapes to suggest peaceful and harmonious feelings. My material choice was wood as the …

Social Media: On Tech-Caves, Virtual Panopticism, And The Science Fiction-Like State In Which We Unwittingly Find Ourselves, Michael Major

Theses

Making use of three historic philosophical thought experiments, this paper blends psychological perspectives with philosophical reasoning to show how social media is corrupting our perception of reality, the result of which is ultimately detrimental to society as a whole. This is accomplished by first using Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” to analyze and discuss the ways in which social media is limiting humanity’s access to real knowledge. Next, Michel Foucault’s analysis of punishment in its social context, Discipline and Punish, is used to discuss the ways in which social media is adversely affecting our behavior. Finally, Robert Nozick’s “Experience …

In Sheep’S Clothing: Reflections On The Trickery Of Nature, Moneerah Alayar

Theses

In the realm of nature as well as in human society, things are often not what they seem. Animals, plants, and humans use endless tricks and stratagems to hide their vulnerable parts, camouflage their true strength, and survive despite hazards and predators at every turn. To exist in this world as a woman is to be a student of these protective devices, to learn and adopt the techniques and behaviors that best ensure her survival against the forces of patriarchy and institutionalized oppression. She must use whatever means she can to protect herself and secure her place in the world. …

Fanciful Animals In Captivity, Kyle Lascelle

Theses

“Poetry [or Pottery] is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.” –William Wordsworth

It is easy to romanticize the past. Driving past a dairy farm, reading animal noise books with a daughter, drawing a picture with a brother—moments that seem ordinary become more significant as time passes. Even difficult moments—sleepless nights, traffic jams, tantrums— soften and transform as they are “recollected in tranquility.”

Such everyday memories inspire my work with clay. Each object becomes a monument to moments in my personal narrative. At the same time I use elements of historical ceramics, …

Xaminer, Terry Artis

Theses

“Rocket” Rowan Bell is a young Black idealist who has an audacious notion to disseminate what he perceives as truth to his community through news publication. As an adolescent boy, he was a good kid and athlete with a good heart from a poor Black neighborhood. Rocket experienced what seemed to be an episode of sexual assault by a youth-minister/track-coach at his church. The ordeal may have shaped his young adult perspective and evolved into a philosophy through which Rocket contends:There are three Negro (P)s that perpetuate the pathetic plight of Black people — the Negro Preacher, the Negro …

Evaluation Of Vaporization Enthalpies And Vapor Pressures Of Various Aroma And Pharmacologically Active Compounds By Correlation Gas Chromatography, Daniel Simmons

Theses

Scientists in the pharmaceutical, food, and aroma industries can benefit from reliable thermochemical data. Vaporization enthalpy and vapor pressure data are not available for all compounds. Furthermore, some literature data is conflicting. The goal of this work was to use a method called correlation gas chromatography (CGC) to generate reliable vaporization enthalpy data in instances where other experimental methods are not applicable. Vapor pressures of the targets were also calculated in cases where the required literature data on the standards used in this technique were available.

CGC involves making a standard cocktail that includes a mixture of standards and one …

Analysis Of Grape Berry Epiphytic Microbiomes Via Qiime, Isabelle O'Bryon

Theses

Research in the wine industry has previously characterized many aspects of the wine making process from soil fertility to the community of microbes in must and wine, but the epiphytic bacterial and fungal communities have not been studied throughout grape development. This project aims to investigate the epiphytic grape microbiome to better understand its role in disease and grape development, and the effects of terroir on the microbiome, by examining the epiphytic microbiome of developing and sour rot infected grapes in New York and Tasmania. Sour rot is characterized by a distinct vinegar smell that is caused by the combination …

An Investigation Of Low Frequency Noise In Server Rooms, Ahmed Al Naami

Theses

Noise in a server room can have a major impact on the performance and well-being of the occupants. Sound level and low frequency noise are considered factors that influence the hearing ability of workers. This thesis is an investigation of low-frequency noise in server rooms. We conducted the field study in a server room for a large financial institution. Some employees in this study indicated that they experienced headaches from the noise and requested an analysis of the sound to determine if there were any potential adverse health effects. Attributes of the noise were investigated by evaluating the sound pressure …

A New Platform For Knee Surgery Patient Rehabilitation, Motivating Mirror: Providing An Interactive Experience To Knee Surgery Patients To Assist Them With A More Effective Rehabilitation., Yu He

Theses

There are many tools for knee injury patients to use for rehabilitation. Both Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapists work with patients on rehabilitation to help them recover, bring them back from illness or injury. For knee surgery patients, they will go through rehabilitation including CPM (Continuous passive movement) and exercises assigned by PT (Physical Therapists) to improve recovery.

CPM is a passive motion that a machine forces patients to do, and along with and after that, patients need to be active to do other exercises themselves. Lots of patients run into trouble when rehabbing. Some of them refuse to do …

Think And Stop: Share Your Knowledge To Help Others, Unez Akbar

Theses

Often, individuals develop habits that do not seem to have an adverse effect initially. However, these habits may lead to critical problems in the long run. It is important to create awareness about these critical problems as unawareness would lead to major challenges in the future.

"Think and Stop” is a social responsibility campaign that focuses on creating awareness amongst people about everyday facts.

The campaign would share some existing facts on specific topics such as eating disorder, harmful effects of wearing heels every day and excessive use of mint.

This thesis investigated how big these problems could become if …

I Need You, Hao Shen

Theses

I Need You is a 4-minute 3D-animation thesis film. This 3D animation film premiered on May 12, 2017 in the School of Film and Animation’s End-of-Semester screenings program at Rochester Institute of Technology.

This story is about a grown son who returns to his father’s house to help his father find the source of a mysterious ghost-like, screeching sound inside the house. However, the son is really confronted with his relationship with his father.

I Need You is a 3D Virtual Reality animation that combines traditional 2D, 3D software and game engine to create a new-tech 3D animation film. The …

Determination Of The Ideal Plant Density Of Tomato Solanum Lycopersicum Under An Aquaponic Production System With Tilapia Oreochromis Aureus Under Uae Conditions, Mohamed Ahmed Al Dhanhani

Theses

Aquaponics is an agricultural system that saves water and fertilization and offers a way of growing plants without soil pest infestation or pesticide residues. This system ensures the production of hazardous chemical free food for humans. This system also ensures sustainability by creating a natural relationship between fish and plants and makes gardening more productive and economical.

Aquaponics system is a dynamic ecosystem that can be integrated to achieve food security through the production of fish and vegetables without the intervention of fertilizers.

The focus of this study is optimizing planting density of tomato in an aquaponics system; with assess …

The Effect Of Β-Caryophyllene On Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiotoxicity, Hasan Al-Taee

Theses

Doxorubicin is an effective and widely used chemotherapeutic drug. However, its clinical use is limited due to cardiotoxicity which it causes that appears in the form of dilated cardiomyopathy. Many efforts have been devoted to developing/discovering agents which can counter DOX-induced cardiotoxicity. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the cardioprotective potential of β Caryophyllene (BCP), a dietary phytocannabinoid, in a rat model of DOX-induced acute and chronic cardiotoxicity. BCP is widely found in various herbs and spices and is a full agonist of the cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB₂) and exhibits potent anti-inflammatory effects. In the present …

Vrent: A New Interactive & Immersive Rental Space Experience, Wenhan Lin

Theses

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, there are more than 18.2 million college students in the United States, including both out- of-state students and international students (Drew, 2013). While trying to find a space to live is a difficult process for anyone, it is especially painful for international students. Housing agencies are also tasked with providing accurate information to potential tenants coming from different cultural backgrounds, which can be challenging on their part. This project sought to not only solve this problem, but also enhance the experience of house- hunting for international students.

The overall purpose of this …

C H R O N O S P A C E Living In The Moment: Metaphorical Motion Design, Guan-Huei Wu

Theses

Live in the present. People often put too much emphasis on their past mistakes or planning for what their future may hold. We are living in the present and should focus on “The Now.” The present is the key to our future. Everything that happened in the past has shaped where people are now in the present.

People try to erase all the bad experiences and save only the good ones. However, everything that has happened, both positive and negative, provides some intrinsic value to people. The past is unchangeable. The future is untouchable. The present is what you can …