Digital Commons Network^™

Measurements And Control Of Noise Pollution From Dual Fuel Engine, Abdullah Ahmed Jawi Al Aseery

Theses

This study examines the effects of adding the water to the intake air of a dual fuel engine on the performance and combustion noise. Dual fuel engine is a diesel engine using small amount (5%) liquid diesel fuel as a pilot fuel and burns a liquefied petroleum gas as the main fuel. The addition of water to the combustion chamber has known effects on reducing the dangerous emission of nitrogen oxides. Previous research has attributed the observed reduction of nitrogen oxide emissions to a suppression of flame temperature due to quenching effects from the water, thereby reducing thermal NO_{x …}

Neural Characteristics Of Affectionate Communicators: Trait Affection And Asymmetry In The Prefrontal Cortex, Robert Joel Lewis

Theses

Individual differences in thresholds for affectionate communication should be reflected by differences in neurological structure and function. A theoretical schema from several overlapping literatures including evolutionary psychology, social neuroscience, fundamental personality, and communication are examined to make the case that high-affection communicators have greater relative electrical activity in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) versus the right PFC reflected in asymmetrical baseline EEG recordings. Participants (N=16) reported trait-affection levels using Floyd?s (2002) TAS-G, which measures an individual?s threshold for expressing affection. Participants? baseline electrical activity was then recorded. Asymmetry was operationalized as the difference between microvolt (μV) values of laterally opposed …

Mobility In China: A Conceptual Take On A Personal Vehicle For China In 2020 That Enhances Maneuverability, Jonathan Eziquiel-Shriro

Theses

China has the largest projected automobile market in the world, expected to surpass the United States as the largest car market in the world by 2025. The combination of large population, a mass movement of citizens to cities, and a pollution crisis creates unique opportunities in China for automobile design. The first generations of Chinese to embrace the automobile have been attracted to them by the same values that have been embraced by the West such as prestige, a reflection of personal success, and a sense of freedom of movement. This attraction has given rise to traditional brands such as …

The Use Of Molecular Scatology To Study River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Genetics, Barbara Mcelwee

Theses

North American river otters (Lontra canadensis) were extirpated throughout all of Western New York due to habitat loss, pollution, and trapping. Between 1995 and 2000, 279 river otters were released throughout Western New York, 31 of which were released in the Genesee river watershed. Since their release there have been no followup studies on the river otters until the RIT River Otter Lab was formed in 2004. Researchers surveyed three local creeks to record data on toilet site locations and collect otter feces in order to perform dietary and genetic analyses. Through the use of molecular scatology I extracted DNA …

Collector, Larissa Cleveland

Theses

This thesis compliments my photographic investigation into an individual and societal preoccupation with collecting and the narrative or symbolic power of objects. My experiences as a child surrounded by my father’s mass collection of civil war artifacts prompted my continued interest in the pursuit of collecting and also to question the nature of hobby versus obsession. In this paper, I consider the personal and social conditions present in Western society that inform an inherent need to possess, create order, gain status, knowledge and to preserve. I discuss the creation of a persona through possession, but also question to what extent …

Human Activity Recognition Using Limb Component Extraction, Jamie Boeheim

Theses

in the field of human activity recognition has existed for quite sometime, but has gained popularity in recent years for use in many areas of application. In the security industry, suspicious activities could be detected in high-profile areas. In the medical industry, systems could be trained to detect patterns of motion indicating distress or to detect a lack of motion if a person had fallen and was unable to move. However, algorithms with reliable accuracy are difficult to implement in a real-time environment due to computational complexity. This thesis developed a new way of extracting and using data from a …

The Film Title Sequence As An Influence On The Design Of Print Promotion, Rajat Khullar

Theses

Graphic design solutions for promotional purposes pose a special challenge for designers who must not only make certain that the design is conceptually strong and engaging in itself, but also that it is successful in conveying the worth of a product, a brand, an organization or company to a diverse audience. Promotional design is all about presenting its subject in the most attractive manner possible in order to draw viewer attention to that which is being promoted. Such design solutions aim at creating a need or demand for a specific type of goods or services offered by a client. Alternatively …

Homes For The Soul, James Hardy

Theses

This thesis describes the creation of a body of paintings, "Homes for the Soul," inspired by the paintings found in Retablos and home altars in Mexico. The paintings also incorporate wooden housing structures and found objects. The themes of the paintings express the artist's Christian spirituality. The thesis presents historical background on Retablos and home altars of Mexico and the southwestern U.S., then describes the themes and creation of each piece of art in the artist's thesis show.

Pattern Recognition Of Brain Fmri Images For Various Physiological States, Priyanka Bhatt

Theses

The development of fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) has led many researchers to localize brain functions using different stimuli. The use of pattern recognition techniques have made it possible to predict the stimuli being presented from the corresponding brain images and activation patterns. The primary objective of the present study was to use pattern recognition methods to develop a model using available fMRJ images and then to use the model to identify the stimulus presented from a large number of unknown images. Two different experimental conditions were used involving both binary and multi-class classification. Bilateral finger tapping data which had …

Brain Segmentation Using Endogenous Contrast Mechanism Using Breath Holding Fmri Signal For Tissue Characterization, Samata Mukesh Kakkad

Theses

MRL has fast become the modality of choice for the analysis of the complexity of the human brain. MRJ is a non-invasive method and gives high spatial resolution maps of the brain with soft tissue contrast. Conventional MRI technique modified to be used to image the functionality at high temporal resolution is known as fMRI. In fMRI the BOLD signal we measure is the hemodynamic response to neuronal and vascular changes at rest or in response to a stimulus where the various tissue types will have a different response.

While fMRI has been traditionally been used to detect and identify …

Utr Prediction Programs For Trypanosoma Brucei, Maria Moutafis

Theses

In the past few years, the field of bioinformatics has seen a rapid increase in the need for use of various sequence analysis tools. As we advance in the fields of science and technology, new programs and software are constantly being developed in this field. Rapidly expanding gene sequence databases and rapidly evolving sequence analysis tools are providing researchers with ways to search for highly similar query sequences whether they are nucleotide, protein, or gene databases. This thesis will focus on sequence alignment tools, specifically concentrating on tools that help determine/predict non-coding regions of sequences also known as untranslated regions …

Mapping Inter-Subject And Inter-Regional Brain Connectivity During Free Viewing Of Novel Natural Scenes, Sheela Nagaraj

Theses

Traditional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have used controlled tasks such as finger tapping to isolate function in distinct cortical. Recent studies have examined the mechanisms involved during natural conditions by asking subjects to freely view the presentation of a movie. The objective of our study was to further observe the extent to which similarities are present between subjects during natural vision. It was hypothesized that there would be a linear relationship between the percentage of region-specific overlap, which is the percent of the anatomical region of interest which contains spatial activation exhibited by all six subjects, and corresponding …

Ultra-Fine Particle Formation Using Principle Of Rapid Expansion Of Supercritical Solutions`, Miraj Minesh Sheth

Theses

There are indications in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries that the reduction in size of a crystalline particle can lead to better performance of the drug compound, particularly for water insoluble drugs, in the final dosage form. Many particle formation techniques have been investigated in recent years by researchers to obtain desired particulate sizes and size distributions. Supercritical fluid technologies have been successfully investigated for particle formation due to its unique gas/liquid properties in the supereritical state. In this report, results of particle formation using the principles of Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS) have been documented.

In the RESS …

The Extraction Of Type 1 Collagen And The Fabrication Of Multi-Filament Embedded Hydrogels For Guided Nerve Regeneration, Mevan Lakmal Siriwardane

Theses

Each year, there are approximately 11,000 new cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States [2]. There have been some success in pre-clinical studies to induce axonal generation, but the reconnection of axons over large distances remains the greatest challenge. Since the development of nerve conduit to facilitate general axonal regeneration, the primary focus has changed to directing the regeneration of axons while also promoting their outgrowth over very extensive lesions to ensure functional recovery of transected nerves during in vitro experiments by using natural materials such as type I collagen, which is the largest constituent of the …

Long Driving Hours And Health Of Truck Drivers, Stephen J. Benstowe

Theses

In recent time, the health of truck drivers has become a concern for regulatory agencies and safety professionals all over the world. Fatal and non-fatal injury rates for truck drivers are among the highest of all occupations. Truck driving is an important and tedious job. Driving for long hours, drivers are confined to a small space, sit with static lower and upper extremities posture, mentally focus and absorb vibrations.

This thesis provides an in-depth review of the literature related to the problems of long distance truck drivers and commercial motor vehicle operators. The Literature suggests that continuous exposure of truck …

Fracture Healing : The Effects Of Local Insulin Delivery Via Calcium Sulfate And Tricalcium Phosphate, Sarah Elizabeth Buchala

Theses

Previous studies have documented the major role played by insulin in osseous healing. This is the first study to examine local intramedullary insulin delivery to the fracture site and its effect upon the normal fracture healing process. Preceding results show that when administered at the fracture site of the impaired fracture healing model of the diabetic BB Wistar rat, insulin will regulate early cellular proliferation and chondrogenesis and late mineralized tissue, cartilage content and mechanical strength.

In this study, two novel delivery vehicles have been evaluated for sustained insulin release in the normal fracture model of the BB Wistar rat. …

Comparison Of Linear Parametric Models For Predicting Fmri Response, Parina Gandhi

Theses

In this study, five different linear parametric models including Autoregressive model (ARX), Autoregressive Moving Average Model (ARMAX), Box-Jenkins Model (BJ), Instrument Variable Model (IV) and Prediction Error Model (PEM) were used to predict the fMRI response and their performances compared. Transfer functions were computed for every voxel time series for every subject using all the parametric models. Cross-correlation was subsequently performed between the predicted response and the actual fMRI data to compare the performance of the five models. The consistency of the models and the transfer function was checked by doing a statistical analysis. Among the five models tested, PEM …

Dexamethasone- And Age-Sensitive Genes In Neonatal Small Intestine, Carla Cerqueira

Theses

Regulation of GLUT5 is dependent on the presence of its substrate, fructose, but it is also correlated with the developmental (aging) process of the intestine. To identify fructose-responsive genes whose expression also changes with age, intestines of 10 and 20 d old pups were perfused, by Ferraris et al., with fructose and then compared by microarray analysis. From this, a gene clustering analysis revealed that some age- and fructose-specific genes are regulated by corticosterones, which normally increase in pups ≥ 14 d old. Subsequent work indicated that priming the gut with Dexamethasone (Dex, a glucocorticoid analog) allowed fructose to precociously …

Penetration Force Measurements In The Central Nervous System With Silicon Electrodes, Ashwini Arun Nikam

Theses

One of the major challenges in neural engineering is the tissue damage that occurs during insertion of microelectrodes into the central nervous system. The damage occurs as a result of the dimpling effect that is due to the insertion force. A method which can reduce the penetration force can also reduce dimpling and the resulting tissue damage.

There are two objectives in this thesis. One is to measure the penetration force with Michigan electrodes, which are silicon based electrodes. The second is to reduce the penetration force by using mechanical vibrations.

First, the penetration force was measured in the rat …

Imaging The Airways, Betsy Skrip

Theses

The IMAGING THE AIRWAYS thesis project is a multidiscipline and multimedia endeavor consisting of two main parts: I. 3D Modeling of a Complete Respiratory Airway for Use in Computational Flow Dynamics Studies of Particle Deposition in the Lungs and II. Creation of an Educational Animation about the Respiratory System for Use in RIT’s Human Visualization Project and CollaboRITorium. Part I involved collaboration with RIT’s Mechanical Engineering Department to construct a 3D model of one complete respiratory pathway, from the oral cavity to the site of gas exchange between the lungs and the blood. The project is a continuation of thesis …

Lightweight Objective Quality Of Voice Estimation Through Machine Learning, Daniel Riordan

Theses

Communication systems are undergoing constant and rapid innovation, both at the design stage and in the field. This in turn has led to an inereasing need for fast, efficient, portable and economic methods for the testing of these systems. For voice carrying communication systems the quality of the transmitted voice that the system produces is a large factor in the overall performance rating of the system. This measure is known as the ‘Quality of Voice’ (QoV) and can be evaluated either subjectively or objectively.

Speech quality is a complex subjective phenomenon that can be best quantified by subjective testing. A …

Design Of A Multiplex Pcr Assay For The Detection Of Neisseria Gonorrhoeae., Elizabeth J. O'Callaghan

Theses

The incidence of N. gonorrhoeae infections in Ireland has been steadily increasing since 2003. Culture is currently the preferred method of diagnosis, however the sensitivity of culture can be low. In recent years there has been increased interest in non-culture techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Many of the PCR assays available have been shown to cross-react with commensal organisms, producing false positive results. This study aimed to improve the detection of N. gonorrhoeae by designing a multiplex PCR assay that used two N. gonorrhoeae genes as targets, thereby providing dual detection and confirmation of a positive result. PCR …

Image’Nation : The Search For A Folk Image Of Ireland In Art And Popular Culture, 1849 To 1949., Ciarán Walsh

Theses

This study considers how visual images became central to the folk imagination of Irishness between 1849 and 1949. It begins with contrasting representations in photography of the Irish in the 1890s. The political/cultural contexts of images of Irishness is established and developed with reference to the juxtaposition of contemporary visual arts, folk song and nationalism in Kilmainham Gaol in 1991. It considers whether distinct cultural systems have historically competed for legitimacy and whether, specifically, art and tradition are incompatible in terms of a nationalist construction of Irishness. The Irishness of Irish art in the nineteenth century, the role of the …

The Application Of Lc-Ms Technologies For The Detection Of Triazine Herbicides In Water, Michael Cahill

Theses

The triazine herbicides, including, simazine (6-chloro-N,N’-diethyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4- diamine), atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-l,3,5-triazine) and cyanazine were developed as selective weed killers. Their design function is to disrupt the photosynthesis of broad-leafed plants. In the intensive production of grasses (e.g. wheat, cereals, etc.) broad-leafed plants growing in the grass production area are economically costly, competitors with the grasses for nutrients; their removal is facilitated by triazines herbicides and simazine and atrazine are the predominant compounds used. Significant amounts of triazine herbicides are consumed by the agricultural industry each year. However, due to the indiscriminate use of pesticides/herbicides, traces of herbicides have been found in run-off …

Cold Drinks In The Hour Of Chaos, Matt Boerner

Theses

This creative writing thesis follows two characters on a difficult, snow covered journey through the heart of the country. They do n' t know it, but they are on a voyage of self discovery and both of their lives will be changed forever by the conclusion of the text. It is a story about how fate can transform lives in an instant . I liken their journey to two asteroids colliding in space. It is a highly unlikely occurrence with devastating results .

The characters Arlen and Edmund were partially based on people have become familiar with a great deal …

Mouse Of The Schoolyard, Kirk Stephen Lawless

Theses

This thesis consists of two parts that show the diversity and flexibility of the student as a writer.

The original story was drafted, originally culled from a vast array of childhood memories, albeit alone it was too short to fulfill the requirements for a culminating project. The richness of the characters as well as the story itself called out for additional attention. An attempt to develop the story into a larger project proved an exercise in futility, as I felt it could not survive enough additions to increase the success of the project. An attempt to do so found the …

Research In Aboriginal Contexts: Kimberley Voices, Luke Taaffe

Theses

As a result of the enduring legacy of negative Australian history and culturally inappropriate past research practices, Aboriginal peoples are generally suspicious and mistrusting of research and researchers, particularly non-Indigenous researchers. Poor relations, paternalistic policies, racial discrimination and the inherent unequal power distribution in research relationships has seen many Aboriginal communities exploited, studied as ‘the other’, robbed of intellectual property, sacred artefacts and human remains. The introduction of ethical research guidelines in recent times has since improved contemporary researcher practices; however the lack of grassroots Aboriginal community consultation regarding appropriate, culturally competent research practices led the researcher to ask Aboriginal …

Rain May Be Heavy At Times: A Collection Of Personal Essays, Natalie Mercer Worrell

Theses

Rain May Be Heavy at Times: A Collection of Personal Essays by Natalie Mercer Worrell is a candid, witty, and emotionally resonant exploration of modern womanhood, family life, and personal growth. Through a series of sharply observed and deeply personal essays, Worrell shares her experiences as a young mother, divorcee, student, and writer, balancing everyday chaos with moments of insight and humor. The collection opens with reflections on the challenges of rekindling a long-dormant writing practice, interrupted by illness, early motherhood, and financial hardship. Worrell charts a path from self-doubt to rediscovery, fueled by a return to education and a …

Is Pain Really God’S Megaphone? Responding To C.S. Lewis, Lisa Moate

Theses

In this study I will defend C.S. Lewis’ claim that people can be morally improved through experiences of pain and suffering and that, as such, attempts to avoid painful experiences are inappropriate. In explaining the context within which Lewis treats pain, a discussion of the nature of pain itself is not necessary since the importance of Lewis’ work lies in its practical application and the role it has in people’s lives; that is, in contributing towards our moral growth. The nature of pain is examined insofar as clarifying the idea it that can only be understood individually due to the …

On Imaging Air Pollutants In An Urban Street Canyon Using Tomographic-Doas, Stephen O'Driscoll

Theses

A novel imaging technique based on the combination of differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) and tomographic reconstruction is presented. This approach, called Tomographic-DOAS, makes it possible to image the spatial distribution of multiple pollutants in an arbitrary region of the atmosphere. Tomographic-DOAS relies on a mathematical model relating measurements of differential optical density to an underlying spatial distribution of pollutants. This model requires the development of an optical system capable of generating multibeam paths or sensing geometries. The optical instrumentation used to construct such sensing geometries is described and a novel scanning beam arrangement that allows a single beam DOAS …