Digital Commons Network^™

Forest Structure From Terrestrial Laser Scanning – In Support Of Remote Sensing Calibration/Validation And Operational Inventory, David Kelbe

Theses

Forests are an important part of the natural ecosystem, providing resources such as timber and fuel, performing services such as energy exchange and carbon storage, and presenting risks, such as fire damage and invasive species impacts. Improved characterization of forest structural attributes is desirable, as it could improve our understanding and management of these natural resources.

However, the traditional, systematic collection of forest information – dubbed “forest inventory” – is time-consuming, expensive, and coarse when compared to novel 3-D measurement technologies. Remote sensing estimates, on the other hand, provide synoptic coverage, but often fail to capture the fine- scale structural …

The Role Of Philornis Downsi In Avian Disease Transmission In The Galápagos Islands, Courtney Lauren Pike

Theses

Philornis downsi is a dipteran fly species known to parasitize passerine birds in the Neotropics. P. downsi is speculated to be a recently introduced species in Galápagos Islands, so it is important to understand its effects on the archipelago’s native and endemic avian species. Avian parasites and pathogens have been previously reported in the Galápagos, leading the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation to focus efforts on the study and management of potential avian disease vectors. The main goal of this study was to determine whether P. downsi is a host for avian parasites and pathogens found in …

Seasonal Variation In Chronic Stress And Energetic Condition In Three Species Of Migratory Birds, Meghan Oberkircher

Theses

Neotropical migrants face multiple challenges throughout their annual cycle. During migration, birds must avoid predation, face adverse weather, and find stopover sites with food adequate to support their needs. Upon return to the breeding grounds following migration, males must find and defend territory from other males. Females incubate eggs and both males and females may participate in feeding young leaving less time to feed themselves. After the breeding season birds undergo the energy intensive process of molt. Declines in populations of Neotropical migrants have been reported over the past several decades. In order to prevent further population declines of Neotropical …

On Your Own, Tianyi Wang

Theses

My thesis On Your Own is an 18-minute short fiction film focusing on the relationship between a daughter and her dying father. After his wife was killed in a car accident, Frank, as a single father, raises his daughter Giana who has Down syndrome on his own. Frank becomes informed that he is in the terminal stage of lung cancer. He teaches Giana how to live on her own and tries different ways to find a suitable facility to take care of Giana after his death.

The film was shot in HD format using Black Magic Pocket Cinema Camera with …

Seasons: A Motion Graphics Depicts Activities Of Ancient Chinese People In Four Seasons, Qina Chen

Theses

Seasons is a 2D motion graphics film that aims to visually depict my interpretation of seasons changing and seasonal activities of ancient Chinese people. It is an attempt to reproduce two classical arts on modern media. I mimic and mix the visual effects of Chinese shadow puppets and Chinese ink wash strokes through digital media technologies. Neither Chinese painting nor shadow puppet emphasize on reproducing the appearance of subject. It is more regarded as a form of expressionistic art, which intends to capture the spirit of the subject and illustrate the perception of the scene. My graphics are not planned …

Robot Learning Dual-Arm Manipulation Tasks By Trial-And-Error And Multiple Human Demonstrations, Sulabh Kumra

Theses

In robotics, there is a need of an interactive and expedite learning method as experience is expensive. In this research, we propose two different methods to make a humanoid robot learn manipulation tasks: Learning by trial-and-error, and Learning from demonstrations. Just like the way a child learns a new task assigned to him by trying all possible alternatives and further learning from his mistakes, the robot learns in the same manner in learning by trial-and error. We used Q-learning algorithm, in which the robot tries all the possible ways to do a task and creates a matrix that consists of …

“What’S Race Got To Do With It?” An Investigation Into The Differences Between Self-Reported Television Exposure And Self-Reported Attitudes Towards Interracial Dating, Kimberly Reeb

Theses

Television has the power to suggest what its viewers should think about and to impact individuals’ attitudes towards controversial topics. The present study examined the differences between individuals’ self-reported television exposure and self-reported interracial dating attitudes (IDA). Television viewing habits and demographics were also analyzed. A survey distributed via social media and email collected 216 responses. Cultivation theory suggests heavy viewers are likely to have more negative perceptions and attitudes. Analysis of differences for IDA between viewers was not statistically significant, but the IDA score was slightly more negative for heavy viewers. Overall, IDA scores were positive, however individuals’ attitude …

Factors Influencing Asiatic Oak Weevil Interactions With Native Ecosystem Engineers Over Time, Daniel Rothschild O'Brien

Theses

I sought to build a model to predict current and future abundance of Asiatic oak weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Cyrtepistomus castaneus) by using the relative abundance of leaf tying and leaf rolling caterpillars. The Asiatic oak weevil is an exotic species that has been observed inside leaf ties and leaf rolls made by native Lepidoptera caterpillars. Chapter one is a review of the known relationships between animal constructs and exotic species. Within this review I transition from natural structures, to animal architects, and to ecosystem engineers and how they have a population dynamic impact on the invasive species. I also discuss …

The Apnaase/Mrna Decapping Nudix Hydrolases From M. Tuberculosis And M. Leprae, Peipei Zhu

Theses

Throughout history, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) has killed more people than any other infectious agent, while Mycobacterium leprae is an ancient human pathogen that still causes disease today. Each has developed drug resistance, thus the discovery of potential novel antibiotic targets is essential. The diadenosine polyphosphatases (ApnAases) / mRNA decapping enzymes of the Nudix hydrolase superfamily have been found to be essential for a number of pathogens (Bartonella bacilliformis, Legionella pneumophila) to invade human host cells, a process often essential for pathogenesis, and thus potential novel drug targets. There are two ApnAases in MTB: Rv2985 and Rv3908 and two corresponding orthologs …

Characterization Of Cardiac Electrogram Signals During Atrial Fibrillation, Prasanth Ganesan

Theses

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia in United States. The most popular treatment for AF is a percutaneous procedure called catheter ablation. Current AF ablation procedures unfortunately have a poor success rate, primarily because the mechanisms involved in AF are incompletely understood even today. Intra-atrial electrograms have previously been shown to provide information on the mechanisms of AF. This thesis focuses on two such mechanisms – AF-sustaining sites known as sustained rotational activities (RotAs), and atrial tissue with unique electrical properties known as myocardial scars. Catheter ablation procedures today construct the 3D electroanatomic map of the left …

Phylogeographic Study Of Ctenosaura Similis, Hasret Ozturk

Theses

The genus Ctenosaura (spiny-tailed iguanas) represents the most diverse group of iguanas with 18 currently recognized species. Ctenosaura similis has the most widespread ranges of all the Ctenosaura species, and extends from southern Mexico to Panama including many coastal islands. The purpose of this study is to explore the genetic diversity within C. similis and look for correlations between genetic relationships and biogeographic patterns related to the spread of the species. This study sequenced and aligned 1140 bp from the cytochrome b (cytb) locus for 159 individuals and 847-878 bp from the rhodopsin locus for 127 individuals. A total of …

Evaluation And Assessment Of Zigbee Wireless Sensor, Kai Lei

Theses

The research evaluated a type of widely used smart wireless sensor - ZigBee sensor. This article explained the significance of monitoring key indexes of merchandise (temperature, humidity, shock and vibration - g value) during its transportation, introduced methodologies and involved equipment of evaluating an existing ZigBee sensor, and shown the analysis methods as well as the conclusions and suggestions for future researches. All data presented in this article was originally captured in Dynamics lab and APC innovation Center of the Packaging Science Department at RIT and a local company warehouse. As result of my research, the testing ZigBee sensor was …

Establishing An Effective National Environmental Information System, Rizah Hajdari

Theses

This Capstone project addresses the important problem of functional improvement of the National Environmental System in Kosovo. The main issues addressed are the legal requirements for data collection, data processing, validation, and reporting, as stipulated by the law on environment; and the practical needs for improvement in order to make the system more effective, more reliable, and more usable in order to provide timely and accurate environmental data to the policymakers and to overall public. In order to better address the problem, consideration is given to both international and national context of EIS requirements. This is very relevant given the …

Biological Significance Of Dual Oriented P6 From Nontypeable Haemophilus Influenzae: Assessing Surface P6 Levels In Different Strains Of Nthi, Cultured Under Various Physiologically Relevant Environmental Conditions, Casey Reulbach

Theses

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) or nonencapsulated Haemophilus influenzae has been connected to such diseases as pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis and sepsis in adults. NTHi is also linked to 25-35% of the roughly 25 million annual cases (within The United States) of acute otitis media (ear infections) in children. Vaccines against encapsulated strains of Haemophilus influenzae have been proven effective; yet, no vaccines have been produced to protect against NTHi infection. The 16-kDa outer membrane lipoprotein P6 has been shown to be nearly homologous between NTHi strains, making it one of the leading vaccine candidates for NTHi. However, it was recently demonstrated, …

Differentiation Of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Into Insulin-Producing Cells: Optimization To Enhance The Overall Differentiation Efficiency, Xiaotang Ma

Theses

Embryonic stem cells have the potential to differentiate into multiple cell types including insulin-producing cells (IPCs), which is becoming one of the promising cell sources for treating type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, in order to achieve functional stem cell-derived cells, it is important to generate more mature IPCs and to keep long-term viability post differentiation process. In this study, we varied several factors including different embryonic body culture conditions, digested cells seeding density and various coatings required for differentiation to optimize a previously established protocol to enhance the overall differentiation efficiency. Moreover, a three-dimensional in vitro collagen tissue culture system …

Behavior Of Deformed Dermal Fibroblasts Seeded On A Silicon Membrane Under High Levels Of Strain, Laura Osorno

Theses

The main objective of this thesis is to understand, from a molecular perspective, the morphological and functional abnormalities of human dermal fibroblasts as a response to deformation produced by a normal force that can lead to the potential formation of stretch marks in pregnant women, adolescents, and people with Cushing's syndrome. The main function of dermal fibroblasts is to produce the essential fibrous components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the skin.

In order to study the mechanism of stretch mark formation, neonatal human dermal fibroblasts were seeded on a silicon membrane for controlled deformation. Upon reaching a confluence of …

Design, Construction And Characterization Ofa Magnetic Augmented Rotation System (Mars) Based Wind Turbine, Da Li

Theses

Magnetic Augmented Rotation System (MARS) works by magnetic field coupling, to transfer torque from the driver to the rotor without contact. This characteristic has significant applications to the wind turbine but research in combination of MARS and wind turbine has not been done in the literature. In this thesis, a small-scale wind turbine is designed, built and characterized in a prototype wind tunnel. The test results are analyzed and computer-aided software simulation is used as an auxiliary method to understand the mechanism of MARS. The power coefficient of this new wind turbine is estimated to be about 40%. The “gear …

Designing Children’S Interactive Pop-Up Books: Creating Enhanced Experiences Through The Incorporation Of Animation Principles And Interactive Design., Michael Begay

Theses

This thesis, Designing Children’s Interactive Pop-up Books: Creating enhanced experiences through the incorporation of animation principles and interactive design, created by Michael Begay, explores how interactive design and computer graphics can be used to create enhanced user experiences in children’s book design. Key factors taken into consideration during the creation of this thesis include children’s book design, typography, storytelling, animation principles, and interactive design principles.

In order to explore the effect computer graphic design has on creating an enhanced user experience in pop-up book design, this project starts with research on writing a compelling, age appropriate story for children between …

Chinese International Students At Rit: A Digital Book Representing Chinese International Students’ Lives At Rochester Institute Of Technology, Muzi Meng

Theses

This thesis work is a digital book presenting Chinese international students’ lives at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The book introduces detailed information about Chinese students who are presently attending RIT. There are five main topics discussed in the book: finding housing around the campus, commuting and transportation, food and dining, education and academics at RIT, and extracurricular activities for Chinese international students at RIT.

The book content is developed based on the research of RIT Chinese students. It is designed for those who are interested in as well as those who are considering attending RIT.

Instead of another traditional …

Clarifying Techniques For Unique Robotic Surgeries, Samantha Bundy

Theses

My thesis, Clarifying Techniques for Unique Robotic Surgeries, is a teaching tool comprised of surgical video paired with medical illustrations. The intended learner is robot-asstisted surgeons who are looking to expand their skills by learning new techniques and procedures that have previously been done without robot assistance. This tool is originally the brainchild of Dr. Khurshid Guru, a urology surgeon at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, whose skills are renowned world-wide in the robotic surgery community. Dr. Guru has developed and used these techniques with great success for urological cancer treatment. As a leader in his field, he was eager to …

3d Modeling Techniques For Print And Digital Media, Megan Ashley Stephens

Theses

In developing my thesis, I looked to gain skills using ZBrush to create 3D models, 3D scanning, and 3D printing. The models created compared the hearts of several vertebrates and were intended for students attending Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy . I used several resources to create a model of the human heart and was able to work from life while creating heart models from other vertebrates.

I successfully learned ZBrush and 3D scanning, and successfully printed 3D heart models. ZBrush allowed me to create several intricate models for use in both animation and print media. The 3D scanning technique did not …

Trends In Acquiring New Members And Retaining Loyal Members At Rochester Regional Museums, Joshua L. Stapf

Theses

Membership is a very important aspect of many organizations like the Memorial Art Gallery (MAG), The Strong (TS), and the Seneca Park Zoo (SPZ). Membership gives an organization a vital source of income and museums can also use those annual members as a built-in long-term donor pool if conversion of members into donors happens. Conversion means taking a member and having them donate an additional philanthropic gift on top of paying to be a museum member. Within an organization’s membership program, two aspects are inherent: acquisition of new members to the organization as well as retention of its current members. …

Creation Of A Curatorial Plan For The Rit Archives: A Case Study Of The Frans Wildenhain Ceramic Collection, Alexander Nacca

Theses

Professionals in museums, archives, and libraries have a responsibility to maintain the quality of their collections so that the general public and scholars can enjoy and benefit from them. As such, any institution that holds, or displays objects for any period of time should have a curatorial plan in place that describes the necessary care, conservation, and preservation of those items. Without such a plan, museum professionals and their collections suffer. This thesis recognizes the importance of such documentation. In the absence of a curatorial care plan for the Wildenhain Ceramic Collection, I have created one. This collection is housed …

A Voxel-Based Approach For Imaging Voids In Three-Dimensional Point Clouds, Katie N. Salvaggio

Theses

Geographically accurate scene models have enormous potential beyond that of just simple visualizations in regard to automated scene generation. In recent years, thanks to ever increasing computational efficiencies, there has been significant growth in both the computer vision and photogrammetry communities pertaining to automatic scene reconstruction from multiple-view imagery. The result of these algorithms is a three-dimensional (3D) point cloud which can be used to derive a final model using surface reconstruction techniques. However, the fidelity of these point clouds has not been well studied, and voids often exist within the point cloud. Voids exist in texturally difficult areas, as …

Early Pioneers, Philip Szrama

Theses

Rochester, NY has a rich history of innovation and visionary ideas. Many people who hear or talk about Rochester outside of the area are not familiar with the people who called Rochester their home. These pioneers took advantage of the areas strategic placement in the United States and use it to help achieve great things. The use of a short motion graphics piece can help people get a taste of what some of the early pioneers achieved.

Content, planning, and organization of this piece has been completed through research on four specific people (George Eastman, John Jacob Bausch, Henry Lomb, …

Living Dragons: Illustrating Vfx Character Creation Techniques, Karen Vandivert

Theses

Living Dragons is a 3D character design Master’s thesis project in which four visual special effects technologies (puppetry, stop motion, CGI, and motion capture) are represented with four different characters intended to represent the archetypes of those technologies. The goal is to foster curiosity in these topics and encourage its audience to explore their new interests further. The project itself is meant to be casual and fun, an inviting place to begin learning about a new topic. This project is also meant to explore how character design can be used to convey how technology works, and to utilize that design …

Prometheus, Kyle Blalock

Theses

This paper describes my thesis body of work as it originates from my personal experiences being brought up in the Mormon Church, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder-day Saints in rural northern Arizona. Descriptions of rituals, religion, and rights of passage as a young Mormon gay man depict a lineage that leads up to forging personal salvation through art making and literature. The narrative of my paper discusses my education and illustrates my growth as an artist who has been intimately informed by sculptural processes and the materials used in creating sculpture.

Learning Beyond The Classroom: Photography As A Major Design Element In Graphic Design Layouts For Print And Web, John E. Dyer

Theses

Learning Beyond the Classroom: Photography as a major design element in Graphic Design Layouts for print and web, is a thesis which explores alternative methods for learning and the teaching of the design process through the use of shared experiences and expert testimony.

The final thesis will provide a resource for designers and students to be able to discuss the effective and ineffective application of design principles and provide some basic lessons in the use of photography in graphic design.

Elements of design that are to be discussed include, but are not limited to: typography, hierarchy, color, scale and placement. …

The International Market: Designing An E-Commerce Experience To Promote Different Cultures, Marina Minnikova

Theses

Learning different cultures and promoting international trade can be implemented through web design and marketing. Most e-commerce websites implement design and marketing strategies in an efficient way, however none of them implement the idea of exploring international cultures through purchasing experiences.

This thesis project implements a complex brand identity and determines how to effectively create an e-commerce website employing the ideas of shopping as an online trip (“out shopping”), providing several categories of products for particular user segments. A significant part of the project focuses on determining which graphic elements are applicable for a specific design situation.

Crystalline, Nicholas Buonarota, John Dunham, Alexander Herdzik, Matthew Mundell

Theses

Crystalline is a fast action arena shooter with a focus on gunplay. The core objective of this project was to create a fun multiplayer First Person Shooter. To achieve this goal as a team we had to best leverage the tools and technology available to us. As First Person Shooter games typically have teams far larger than our own, we had to work hard and smart on Crystalline. Unreal Engine 4 was used in lieu of Unity or an in-house engine, saving hours of development time and allowing us to focus on gameplay and assets more. Thanks to Unreal Engine …