Digital Commons Network^™

Love Stories, Timothy Wombles

Theses

This collection of short stories is entitled “Love Stories.” There are two shorter pieces, seven and thirteen pages respectively, two medium-length pieces, twenty-three pages, and one longer piece of thirty-six pages to bring the total to five stories at one hundred two pages. These stories all concern ‘love’ in the conventional sense of the word, focusing particularly on the love between two people. They explore ‘love’ in unusual or fantastic ways. Most of the stories are science fiction-esque, with one more realist in manner. The use of future technologies or extrapolations of current technologies and societal elements works to express …

The Use Of Visual Metaphors In Print Advertisements, Lisa M. Janos

Theses

This study examined advertisements in which metaphorical comparisons were made between cosmetic/beauty products and food. The purpose was to identify what rhetorical themes emerged among the advertisements and to determine if the visuals could provide sufficient content for a marketing message. Twelve images from four companies were chosen. An analysis was performed on each through the application of visual semiotics. Findings indicated that a visual metaphor approach can deliver involved rhetorical marketing messages to the viewer. The theme of indulgence was clear among the ads and the comparison of cosmetics to food suggested that the product should become part of …

Effects Of Sodium/Glucose Co-Transporter Inhibitors On Contractility And Ca2+ Signalling In Ventricular Myocytes From Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats., Norin Nabil Fathalla Hamouda

Theses

The prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing at an alarming rate worldwide. Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the major cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. The search for new treatments has led to developing alternative insulin-independent treatment strategies such as sodium/glucose co-transporter (SGLT) inhibitors. Inhibition of intestinal SGLT1 impairs dietary glucose absorption, while inhibition of renal SGLT2 promotes glucose excretion leading to calorie loss and improved glycemic control. In this study, we hypothesized that inhibiting cardiac SGLTs may alter Ca²⁺ mobilization in myocytes. The effects of Phlorizin (PHLOR) (non-selective SGLT1 and 2 inhibitor), Quercetin-3-O-glucoside (QUER-3-G) (selective SGLT1 inhibitor), …

Study The Quality Of Groundwater Of Al-Zoroup Area In Mahdah State, The Sultanate Of Oman, Fahad Khalifa Rashid Al-Shidi

Theses

The groundwater is the most important source of water in the Sultanate of Oman. Accordingly, the Oman Government has paid great attention commensurate with the importance of water resource in terms of their sources, quality, and ways to rationalize consumption to remain under the term of sustainability and validity of present and future generations. This study was conducted in Al Buraymi at Mahdah State in Al-Zoroub area targete a groundwater quality for 20 wells in private farms. The water samples were taken from these wells and subjected to analysis for microbial and geochemical aspects. For this analysis, the assorted devices …

Extending The Sensing Of Online Social Networks – A Healthcare Perspective, Asma’ Wasfi Fayez Mustafa

Theses

Obesity is a rising health concern in the United Arab Emirates. Obesity leads to health risks such as diabetes, heart disease, and other conditions. It may also lead to eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem. Regular exercising helps to protect from obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and better manage stress. Despite all the benefits of exercising, people are doing less of it. In this research, an effort is made to encourage people to exercise by extending the prevalent sensing abilities of Online Social Networks (OSNs). Sensors are used to collect and generate data to be processed, clustered and …

Run., Kevin Bauer

Theses

"Run" is an animated graduate thesis film that is 5 minutes in length. You will be taken on a journey with the film's main character, Ethan, as he goes out for a normal jog. While on his jog, different memories start confronting Ethan and he is forced to deal with an event that completely changed his life: the loss of his best friend.

"Run" is a combination of traditional hand-drawn animation as well as 3D animation, and was created using programs like TVPaint and Maya.

This paper will take you through the creation of the film - from storyboarding and …

Mood Watcher: Interactive Visual Guide To Increasing Awareness Of Mood Disorders, Ziyan Han

Theses

Mood disorders are the extremely negative situations of mood that cause dysfunction in people's lives. There are a number of guides currently on the market (E.g., mood disorder self-help books, websites...) to help people with this problem, but their content is usually not customized enough to deal with each user's particular situation. In addition, the formats include content that is often text-dense and overwhelming. While there are great resources of personal mood disorder tests, suggested actions, and information about professional help, there is an opportunity to create a guide that connects these resources with a better designed format so that …

Heroes: Promoting And Branding An Original Designer Toys Using Motion Graphics, Yang-Hsin Chen

Theses

"Heroes" is a series of designer toys that were designed for my future business called "T-Model." This project aims to create new types of designer toys to see how effective they can be in promoting an original business and how powerful they can be in presenting with current digital media. The "Heroes" series is inspired by simple human-like characters such as "Lego," "Mr. Potato Head," and "Kidrobot." This toy series consists of three different kinds of models representing different time periods, countries, and historical figures.

This project is divided into three major steps: 3D character design, three motion graphic pieces, …

Ultrasound Guided Robot For Human Liver Biopsy Using High Intensity Focused Ultrasound For Hemostasis, Viraj Reddy Adduru

Theses

Percutaneous liver biopsy is the gold standard among clinician's tool to diagnose and guide subsequent therapy for liver disease. Ultrasound image guidance is being increasingly used to reduce associated procedural risks but post–biopsy complications still persist. The major and most common complication is hemorrhage, which is highly unpredictable and may sometimes lead to death. Though the risk of mortality is low, it is too high for a diagnostic procedure. Post-biopsy care and additional surgical intervention to arrest hemorrhage make liver biopsy a costly procedure for health care delivery systems. Non-invasive methods to stop bleeding exist like electro–cautery, microwave, lasers, radio …

Toy Library: Nurturing Talent-Learning Through Play, Prachi Kapadia

Theses

The concept of the Toy Library originated during the Great Depression, when it was noticed that children were stealing toys, as they could not afford to buy them. Due to the concern of rising theft, a library was started where children could borrow a wide variety of toys. It also helped to encourage the values of honesty, responsibility and good citizenship. Since then, many toy libraries have sprouted across the United States. The concept, however, is not prevalent in other countries around the world. Hence, many people are, as yet unaware of its benefits, which include, providing an environment of …

Shear Inducing Device For The Testing Of Cell Fragility, Ramnath Raghunathan

Theses

Most blood pumps are designed to boost the pumping abilities of the heart by mechanical energy transfer using a rotor. Due to the nature of blood contacting devices, the various components of blood are subjected to shear stresses caused by the device. The accurate analysis and prediction of blood damage during the design phase of a device has been difficult to achieve. This has been complicated by both the inaccuracy of computer tools used to model the blood flow and the large uncertainty in the reported values of stress that damage blood components. Different components of blood, such as red …

The Movement: A Performance Venue, Matthew J. Burke

Theses

The aim for the thesis project is to design a concert venue for the City of Saint Albans, Vermont. The venue will serve as an entertainment hotspot, an educational tool, a set of rehearsal spaces, and performance halls with recording capabilities. The goal is to create a welcoming entertainment and educational environment, open to use by all, to show that music is more than entertainment, but also a hobby, an educational medium, a skill-set, and a tool.

The driving theme behind the project is the concept of "movement." Its first representation is in music. Sound itself is movement; it is …

The Star Fishing Boy, Chuanshu Shi

Theses

The Star Fishing Boy is an animated graduate thesis film that tells the story of a boy who lives in the sky and accidentally falls to Earth where he encounters situations that spark his empathy. But, these situations also put him at risk of not being able to return to his home in the sky.

This film is a hand-drawn animation using traditional animation principles, finished mostly in TV Paint Animation software. It was created in full color and combines 3D special effects and 3D modeling techniques in the background design and creation. The Star Fishing Boy has an original …

The Effects Of Cannabidiol On The Electrical And Contractile Properties Of Cardiomyocytes, Ramez Ali Mansour

Theses

In earlier studies, cannabidiol (CBD), a major nonpsychotropic cannabinoid found in cannabis plant, has been shown to influence cardiovascular functions under various physiological and pathological conditions. In the present study, the effects of CBD on contractility and electrical properties of rat ventricular myocytes were investigated. Video edge detection was used to measure myocyte shortening. Intracellular Ca2+ was measured in cells loaded with the fluorescent indicator fura-2 AM. CBD (1 μM) caused a significant decrease in the amplitudes of electrically-evoked myocyte shortening and Ca2+ transients. However, the amplitudes of caffeine-evoked Ca2+ transients and the rate of recovery of electrically-evoked Ca2+ transients …

Genotypes Frequencies Of Rs9923231 And Rs7294 Snps In The Vkorci Gene Among Emiratis And Their Implications For Warfarin Dosage, Hayat Saad Al-Jaibeji

Theses

Warfarin is the most commonly used oral anticoagulant medication given as a prophylaxis and/or treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disorders. Warfarin doses vary up to 10-fold among patients due to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenomics factors. In addition, Warfarin has a low therapeutic index with the risk of developing serious side effects such as severe bleeding or failure of therapy. Therefore, the main challenge to achieve the therapeutic goal in warfarin treatment is estimating the appropriate dose for each patient. It is estimated that pharmacogenomics factors contribute to more than 60% of dose variability. The gene encoding for the target …

Genotypes Frequencies Of Rs9923231 And Rs7294 Snps In The Vkorc1 Gene Among Emiratis And Their Implications For Warfarin Dosage, Hayat Saad Al-Jaibeji Al-Jaibeji

Theses

Warfarin is the most commonly used oral anticoagulant medication given as a prophylaxis and/or treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disorders. Warfarin doses vary up to 10-fold among patients due to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenomics factors. In addition, Warfarin has a low therapeutic index with the risk of developing serious side effects such as severe bleeding or failure of therapy. Therefore, the main challenge to achieve the therapeutic goal in Warfarin treatment is estimating the appropriate dose for each patient. It is estimated that pharmacogenomic factors contribute to more than 60% of dose variability. The gene encoding for the target …

A Methodological Framework For Evaluating The Environmental Performance Of Large-Scale Sanitation Systems In Developing Countries, Pedro Cruz-Diloné

Theses

It is 2014 and approximately 40% of the world population still has no access to adequate sanitary toilets. For these 2.6 billion people the problem is not only finding a safe and dignified place to defecate, but also trying to combat deadly diseases associated with the exposure to pathogens in feces left on the ground or near waterways. Improving sanitation is not only favorable to health, but also promotes dignity, economic benefits and environmental conservation. Although there have been numerous efforts to improve sanitation systems in the developing world, adoption rates and long term use are relatively low due to …

A Brain Computer Interface For Interactive And Intelligent Image Search And Retrieval, Shitij P. Kumar

Theses

This research proposes a Brain Computer Interface as an interactive and intelligent Image Search and Retrieval tool that allows users, disabled or otherwise to browse and search for images using brain signals. The proposed BCI system implements decoding the brain state by using a non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) signals, in combination with machine learning, artificial intelligence and automatic content and similarity analysis of images. The user can spell search queries using a mental typewriter (Hex-O-Speller), and the resulting images from the web search are shown to the user as a Rapid Serial Visual Presentations (RSVP). For each image shown, the EEG …

Translation And Transcription Are Required For Endogenous Bursting After Long Term Removal Of Neuromodulators, Stefanie Eisenbach

Theses

Motor pattern-generating networks depend on neuromodulatory inputs to regulate the network activity. The pyloric network of the Cancer borealis stomatogastric ganglion (STG), a rhythmic motor pattern-generating network, requires modulatory inputs to generate this activity. When neuromodulatory inputs are removed, the pyloric network falls silent. However, patterned pyloric activity recovers spontaneously in about 24 hours in organ culture. To determine if synthesis of new proteins are involved in the recovery of pyloric activity after prolonged elimination of neuromodulators, translation inhibitors are tested on the recovery process of pyloric activity in C. borealis. In vitro experiments are conducted; the STG is …

Formation Of Branching Angles At Bifurcations Of Ant Trail Networks, Subash Kusum Ray

Theses

Ants form dendritic trail networks around the nest to search for and exploit food sources located at the periphery of the network. Studies found these trail networks to be very efficient for the ants in terms of time and energy, which later was found stored in the bifurcation angle (θ) of the branches of these trail networks. It has been observed, that bifurcations are symmetrical when moving from the nest to the food source, while are asymmetrical when moving back towards the nest. The mean bifurcation angles have been found to be 50° - 80° for networks radiating out from …

Preparation And Characterization Of Fast Dissolving Pullulan Films Containing Griseofulvin Nanoparticles For Bioavailability Enhancement, Zhelun Ma

Theses

The aim of this study is to enhance the bioavailability of griseofulvin, a model poorly water-soluble drug, via increasing drug dissolution rate through preparation of drug nanoparticle-laden, pullulan-based strip films. The work entails (i) wet-milling griseofulvin in a stirred media mill using pullulan (polymer) along with sodium dodecyl sulfate (surfactant) as stabilizers, (i i) preparing strip films by casting-drying a precursor suspension consisting of the mixture of the milled drug suspension and a film-forming pul l ul an–xanthan gum-glycerin solution, (iii) characterizing the suspensions and the films, and (iv) exploring the effects of film thickness, drug and xanthan gum loadings, …

Reveal, Rudith Senam Abla Akorli

Theses

The thesis work named Reveal is a sculptural jewelry series that has a subtle tone of contemporary fashion. Reveal was created by studying traditional African art techniques for adorning the head and hair. The work analyzes the symbolic meaning of various hair styles and headgears within African cultures, by specifically zooming in on different threading hairstyles and free flowing sculptural headgears.

This thesis highlights the importance and evolution of color within African cultures and how color symbolically reflects status and behavior of individuals within Africa. Reveal exposes the time intensive practices characteristic of Ghanaian daily life and juxtaposes them to …

Toward Image-Based Three-Dimensional Reconstruction From Cubesats: Impacts Of Spatial Resolution And Snr On Point Cloud Quality, Jordyn Stoddard

Theses

The adoption of cube-satellites (cubesats) by the space community has drastically lowered the cost of access to space and reduced the development lifecycle from the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on traditional decade-long programs. Rapid deployment and low cost are attractive features of cubesat-based imaging that are conducive to applications such as disaster response and monitoring. One proposed application is 3D surface modeling through a high revisit rate constellation of cubesat imagers. This work begins with the characterization of an existing design for a cubesat imager based on ground sampled distance (GSD), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and smear. From this …

Technology In The Fashion Industry: Designing With Digital Media, Adima Cope

Theses

The fashion industry has advanced new technologies in the twenty-first century that has made producing apparel more cost effective with faster time-to-market capabilities and greatly reduced steps in the manufacturing process. The reasons for these improvements can be linked to new apparel computer-aided-design (CAD) technologies that have come about in the market as computers have advanced and grown in processing power and reduction in size since the 1980s. Computers are revolutionizing many industries and the way business is conducted in today’s modern workplace. The fashion industry has yet to convert all processes to digital means but advancements have been growing …

Privacy Sensitive Resource Access Monitoring For Android Systems, Leah Xinya Zhao

Theses

Mobile devices, with an extensive array of capabilities and flexibility, are sometimes said to be an extension of the human body. Enhancing device capabilities and incorporating them into everyday life have always been a huge focus of the mobile industry. In the area of mobile data collection, existing works collect various types of user behavior data via mobile device usage, and use the data to aid in further understanding of human behavior. Typical data collection utilizes application or background service installed on the mobile device with user permission to collect data such as accelerometer, call logs, location, wifi transmission, etc. …

Effect Of Optogenetic Stimulation On Neuroplasticity Of The Embryonic Chick Motor System, Ernest Kwesi Ofori

Theses

There is growing knowledge that neuronal circuitry undergoes alteration throughout development. Experience plays a key role in the reorganization of neuronal circuitry through the various mechanisms of learning. For example, when an animal is deprived of sensory input such as light in one or both sides of the eye, it can result in blindness on that side. In a study of rats placed in either isolated or enriched environments, those placed in enriched environments performed better on learning tests (maze test) than those placed in isolated environment. There was increased neurogenesis, synaptogenesis, myelination and angiogenesis in rats placed in enriched …

Empire In The American West: A New Historicist Interrogation Of Narrative In Owen Wister's The Virginian, Willa Cather's Death Comes For The Archbishop, And Cormac Mccarthy's All The Pretty Horses, Brian Patrick Steinbach

Theses

This thesis explores the evolution of American Western narrative after the 1893 closing of the Western Frontier. Formerly representing a seemingly limitless fuel of symbolic growth, the frontier's closing threatened further national prosperity. Without new Western lands to conquer, narratives about the West began to be romanticized in a new way, selectively omitting non-Anglo narrative elements and presenting a more palatable West in the form of celebratory conquest. Ignoring its imperial roots, this new twentieth-century mythologization of the West became an increasingly ubiquitous narrative of America's honorable origins. Despite its ties to the perpetuation of empire, the pervasiveness of contemporary …

A Scale To Measure The Complexity And Perceptual-Cognitive Skills In Soccer, Maurici Abraham Lopez Felip

Theses

The complexity of dynamical systems (spanning brain, body and environment) can yield complex adaptive behaviors from non-linear interactions of individuals in space and time. A lack of reliable instruments to assess these varying behaviors results in inferences of how changes in behavior occurred over an extended period of time rather than being based on direct scientific measures. The aim of this study was to develop a scale of complexity and perceptual-cognitive skills' assessment in the sport soccer and to evaluate structural and criterion reliability. Based on the embodied cognition literature, the construct of this scale was identified with three dimensions …

Putting Men Back In The Menstrual Cycle: A Qualitative Analysis Of Men's Perceptions Of Menstruation, Katherine Fishman

Theses

Although menstruation is typically regarded as an indication of health (Kissling, 1996), strong cultural messages about menstruation perpetuate the belief that it is dirty, disgusting and a state that must be managed (Ussher, 2006). Many women internalize this belief and go to great lengths to hide their menstrual status (Chrisler, 2007). Negative attitudes toward menstruation have been linked to decreased body satisfaction (Schooler, Ward, Meriwether, & Caruthers, 2005), perceptions of decreased competence and likability (Roberts, Goldenberg, Power, & Pyszynski, 2002), and the belief that menstruating women are more emotional, less attractive, and more irritable than non-menstruating women (Forbes, Adams-Curtis, White, …

Plastic Glory, Ihab Mardini

Theses

In ancient times, humans used drawing on walls as a way to express their emotions and thoughts. Then, cameras were invented to pursue that purpose through photos and videos in sharper images. And now we do animation, not just because it is pretty, but also because it is the tool that allows us to freely speak our minds, without being bothered by what we can and what we cannot do in film!

There is a Lebanese thinker, poet, artist and writer named Jubran Khaleel Jubran, who has always inspired me with his artworks and specifically his poems. Mysteriously, there was …