Digital Commons Network^™

Repetition/Series, Anthony Trinchera

Theses

Not included.

Writing With Faith, Charles M. Mclean

Theses

Faith is the belief in something larger than oneself. It is not provable; it is not necessarily logical. It is a feeling, an intuition. Faith can be a belief in a god or a set of ideals, but the important part is the believing. If a person is without faith, that person is lost and remains so until such time a belief is born again.

TI1is culminating project strives to look at faith through essay and short fiction. A preface essay speaks to what I think faith is and why every human being requires it. The introduction has three purposes. …

Come Closer, Eli Marco Hall

Theses

This Culminating Project describes the design process from many different perspectives. It includes the designing of a book of poetry enabling me to apply design concepts.

Working as a graphic designer in the early twenty first century has provided opportunities to witness the effect that technology has had on the industry. Through the ongoing research, the change in roles of the modern graphic designer is established. Also during this time, print and digital media aggressively work toward a merger. When choosing to do a book for the Culminating Project, it was taken into consideration what the digital and print world …

Evolutionary Algorithms For Production Scheduling, Pio Fenton

Theses

The permutation with repetition representation is a powerful representation primarily used in the GA-JSSP domain. Recently, attention has shifted from this representation for simple GA and towards JSSP resolution using messy GA. This work returns to the permutation with repetition representation for simple GA with the intention of exploring some previously unexplored aspects. A new 1-point crossover operator is introduced which is shown to be more successful than the current standard operator for this representation. A technique known as morphogenic computation is employed with this representation for the first time and a thorough analysis of its performance is presented. While …

Catholics, Curses, And Cousins In A Cracker Box, Kathryn Wallace Iffrig

Theses

In a small sitting room of a mortuary in a rural Missouri town, the author considers the life of her recently departed cousin. Having shared a family home early in their childhood, and despite similar upbringing, their lives had ultimately diverged, with him choosing a path that many would consider self-destructive and bound to lead to an early death.

Contemplating the circumstances of her cousin's death, the author falls into ruminations on their childhood, family, and common experiences they shared during those early years. Considering the disparate paths their lives ultimately took, the author questions the influence of nature versus …

Blessed Are, Jason Martinez

Theses

On the surface this particular novel is a fairly simple one to explain. On the surface this novel is more or less a romance novel. After all, Book One is essentially about a man named Thomas Woods who meets and fall in love with a woman named Rosemary. At first his love is returned in kind, but by the end he has lost his lover to another man, a man unworthy of her tenderness. And Book Two is about more or less the same thing except in this Book the woman's name is Violet, and there is a slight question …

Modeling Design History In A Graphic Design Curriculum, Eunjin Jeong

Theses

Graphic design history can be a valuable resource, contributing to graphic design students' understanding of design theories, and applied to problem solving exploration. According to many graphic design educators, current history courses are too often taught as superficial surveys of graphic style with no examinations of social, cultural, and political contexts, and have little interaction with practical studio courses. It is essential to bridge the gap between graphic design history and practical studio classes to further enhance graphic design education. This thesis will develop a means by which to show the tangible connection between graphic design history and applied problem-solving …

Interactive, Tree-Based Graph Visualization, Andrew Pavlo

Theses

We introduce an interactive graph visualization scheme that allows users to explore graphs by viewing them as a sequence of spanning trees, rather than the entire graph all at once. The user determines which spanning trees are displayed by selecting a vertex from the graph to be the root. Our main contributions are a graph drawing algorithm that generates meaningful representations of graphs using extracted spanning trees, and a graph animation algorithm for creating smooth, continuous transitions between graph drawings. We conduct experiments to measure how well our algorithms visualize graphs and compare them to another visualization scheme.

Genetic Music, Ryan Becker

Theses

Algorithmic music composition has long been an active area of research in computer science, but the need for a human element only recently began to be more widely acknowledged. Interactive Evolutionary Computing (IEC), made popular by Karl Sims, effectively solves many high dimension problems, like music composition, involving creative and subjective elements. This work applies several Genetic Algorithm (GA) and Genetic Programming (GP) approaches, inspired by Karl Sims, to algorithmic music composition. The implementation of these IEC algorithms is described and their effectiveness compared.

Enhancing Science Education Through Engaging Visual Content, David Kavanagh

Theses

In recent years a decline in the number of Irish students choosing to study science, at second level and on into third level, has become potentially harmful to the desired creation of a science-based knowledge economy. A primary contributing factor towards this decline is a lack of interest in the subject within the classroom, as was established by The Task Force on the Physical Sciences in 2002.

The primary aim of this Masters research is to investigate the role of visualisation in making the study of science more accessible and engaging to students to counter this decline. To this end …

The Development Of Functional Food Ingredients From Yeast Cell Wall Beta Glucans, Susan Keogh

Theses

The intracellular contents of spent yeast can be used to produce flavours and flavour enhancers. However there still remains after this process, a significant quantity of cell wall material, which makes up 20-25% of the dry weight of yeast biomass. A major component of the yeast cell wall is the polysaccharide P-glucan. This project involved the investigation of the extraction and characterisation of p-glucan as well as its evaluation as a functional food ingredient. A preparation of spent yeast p-glucan was obtained from two types of spent yeast species, Saccharomyces cervisiae (brewers yeast) and Kluyveromyces marxianus (dairy yeast) obtained from …

Molecular Epidemiology Of Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Enterica Strains From Different Animal And Human Sources In Ireland, David George Lee

Theses

In this study, 176 isolates of Salmonella were collected from different laboratories in Ireland. All isolates were confirmed to be of the genus Salmonella by performing bacteriological and biochemical tests. Briefly, all isolates were cultured onto XLD agar after which pure cultures were verified and stocked at this institute. Definitive identification was carried out using the API 20-E system and a separate urease test was also performed on all isolates. After confirmation of the genus, all isolates were prepared for antibiotic susceptibility testing and r-types were determined using sixteen antibiotics. Depending on the antibiotic resistance profiles, isolates were selected for …

Silver Lining, Mary Boyer

Theses

Not Included

Preparation For Radiological Disasters: A Radiation Effects Epidemiological Database, Martha S. Raj

Theses

Not Included

Object-Oriented Lr(1) Parser Generation, Christopher Luckett

Theses

The LR parser has been around for a long time, and its workings, especially with respect to table compaction and use of the lookahead sets, have puzzled students who are new to the area of study. The aim of this project therefore is to provide an object oriented approach and discoverable algorithm to ease the difficulty of mastering these concepts. This will be accomplished by distributing the table interpreter across objects whose inter-relationships create an analogue to the state table. Hopefully this will provide a greater degree of readability and ease of trace throughout the parser generation process.

Emotion In Flocking, Katherine Law

Theses

Behavioral animation is a category of computer animation that enables objects to determine their own actions. This saves an animator from having to determine every detail of movement for each object in the animation. As the number of objects within an animation increases, specifying the position of each object becomes increasingly difficult. Flocking is an example of behavioral animation. Some examples of flocking can be seen in movies, such as the stampede of the antelopes in The Lion King, the herds of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, and the massive battle scenes in The Lord of the Rings. In this project, …

Acoustic Classification Using Independent Component Analysis, James Brock

Theses

This thesis research investigates and demonstrates the feasibility of performing computationally efficient, high-dimensional acoustic classification using Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients and independent component analysis for temporal feature extraction. A process was developed to calculate Mel-frequency cepstral coefficients from samples of acoustic data grouped by either musical genre or spoken world language. Then independent component analysis was employed to extract the higher level temporal features of the coefficients in each class. These sets of unique independent features represent themes, or patterns, over time that are the underlying signals in that class of acoustic data. The results obtained from this process clearly show …

Parallelization Of A Maximum Parsimony Branch And Bound Algorithm For Phylogenetic Inference, Curtis J. Howard

Theses

Phyiogenetic inference involves the reconstruction of evolutionary relationships among species in the form of branching diagrams called trees. Specifically, certain biological structures common to all living organisms, such as morphological characteristics, protein sequences or DNA sequences can be compared Differences and similarities in these characteristics among species are used to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships and draw trees. Many methods of tree reconstruction are currently used. The method of maximum parsimony for phyiogenetic inference is a widely used algorithm which employs the hypothesis that the most likely tree for a given group of data will be the one which uses the …

Huayru, Cristian Mogrovejo

Theses

For this project, I will design a board game based on Huayru, a traditional ritual game played by some indigenous people from the Andes mountain range for centuries. Mostly played currently at funerals, this tradition is considered to be in extinction [...]. It is not among my objectives to reintroduce the practice of the ritual; instead, I will aim to rescue its memory and trnsmit knowledge about it by designing a different game using the elements of the original as inspiration.

Corporate Culture Implications On Dam Implementation Success In The Greeting Card Industry, Philip G. Diamantis

Theses

Digital Asset Management (DAM) has become a necessary concern with the growing number of files used in the graphics industry. Organization, storage, filing, and dynamic distribution of electronic mediums is becoming increasingly more important. The ROI for DAM systems comes from time savings, expanding product offerings via the web, and organization. For testing purposes, the greeting card industry was chosen because of its need for various images across several platforms. The research started by selecting several companies in the greeting card industry to analyze their competence with DAM. From these companies, four were selected and categorized according to size and …

A Low-Power Interface Design For Intelligent Sensor Nodes Utilized In Wireless Sensor Networks, Shruti Lakdawala

Theses

This thesis describes a means for performing complex event detection at a single sensor node of a wireless sensor network (WSN) by interfacing a low-power mixed signal Programmable System on Chip (PSoC) to a MICA2 wireless sensor node. The proposed system helps to reduce the overall power consumption of the node, by lending it the advance computational capability to process a significant amount of data at the node rather than transmitting it. This allows the node to "intelligently" monitor a signal for impending events instead of transmitting the "raw" signal to the base constantly. Previous work by others has indicated …

The Relationship Between Emotional Recognition And Personality Traits, Lyndon A. Mitchell

Theses

This study investigated the relationship between personality traits and the ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions. A sample of undergraduate and graduate students (n = 52) were administered the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire 5th Edition (16PF-5) (Cattell, 1993) and an abbreviated version of Ekman's Pictures of Facial Affect (Ekman & Friesen, 1976). Pearson product-moment correlations revealed that the personality trait, Apprehension, was associated with the accurate recognition of most of the emotions. Further, regression analyses revealed that the recognition of fear was best predicted by the 16PF factors Dominance, Self Reliance and Apprehension. Personality differences were also identified between …

Photographic Strategies For Graphic Design Problem Solving, Suthida Sakulsurarat

Theses

Graphic design and photography are both forms of visual communication although they are separate disciplines. This thesis will explore the potential benefits of applying useful approaches in photography and demonstrating their potential for solving graphic design problems. ... The main goal of this project is to outline the possibilities of bringing principles of photographic approaches into graphic design. This thesis attempts to help designers understand that two different disciplines can support each other to provide a wider range of opportunities. In addition, the thesis is designed to enlighten, challenge and inspire designers. To accomplish the thesis, the designer will research …

The Consideration Of Camera Testing For Accurate Color Reproduction Within Museums And Institutions, Natalie Russo

Theses

The need for color accurate digital images for fine art reproduction is a reality faced by art museums and institutions around the world. It is the goal of most institutions to replace old, sometimes used and abused, transparency archives with digital image archives; many institutions have already begun this work. A number of different imaging systems with varied workflows, some idiosyncratic, are being used for this work. There is, therefore, an urgent need for the development and sharing of working methods that will ensure efficient, consistent, and color accurate results. These workflows must use camera systems to their fullest capability. …

Assessing The State Of Web Accessibility, Laura Cook

Theses

People with disabilities continue to be at a disadvantage in terms of opportunities on the Web. Federal laws and state policies help govern website design for federal and state agencies, but their impact thus far is unclear. This thesis addresses the issue of web accessibility and examines the compliance of state websites. A sample of state websites was evaluated for accessibility with two different methods: (1 ) using two automated accessibility validation checkers (Bobby and Entre), and (2) using a process of gradually degrading the web pages down to a text-only page. A survey was developed and administered to web …

The Effectiveness Of Captive Release Conservation Methods For Spotted Turtles (Clemmys Guttata), Kate Cassim

Theses

The spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is categorized as protected and a species of special concern in New York State (Milam 2001). Understanding the habitat use, movement patterns, and life history characteristics of this species will be essential for any future efforts to provide the necessary habitat requirements for their successful recovery and management. Rochester Institute of Technology partnered with the Seneca Park Zoo and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate the release of captive-bred spotted turtles. The goal of this study was to determine the movements, habitat use, survivorship, and growth of the captive-bred spotted turtles in …

Three's A Crowd, Paul Engin

Theses

Not included.

A Philosophical Inquiry Into The Development Of The Notion Of Kalos Kagathos From Homer To Aristotle, Geoffrey Coad

Theses

In this thesis, I shall attempt to show that the Greeks believed in the ideal of a marriage between the beautiful and the good. This important philosophical ideal rests upon the premise that beauty depends upon function, behaviour and the intention of the agent. It is the anti-modernist position. This notion known to the ancient Greeks as kalos kagathos, which dates back to the times of Homer, seems to have been forgotten in our times. This study will trace the development of this ideal from Homer to Aristotle. This world view differs from the one we have come to understand …

The Analysis And Characterisation Of Rotavirus And Norovirus Circulating In The South Of Ireland, Norma Reidy

Theses

On average more than 3,000 cases of rotavirus diarrhea are detected annually amongst Irish children less than 3 years of age. Rotavirus disease occurs mainly during the winter months, with peak infections detected from February to April. The symptoms of disease are diarrhea and dehydration, with 80% of patients requiring hospitalisation, The mean duration of hospitalisation is 3-4 days, with an average cost per day of €409. Eighteen percent of infections were detected in infants less than 6 months of age, suggesting inadequate maternal derived protection from existing strains, or the existence of novel strains in Ireland with little or …

Relationship Of Human Figure Drawing With Executive Functioning And Achievement, Julie M. Miller

Theses

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between aspects of children’s human figure drawings to their executive functioning and academic achievement. Participants consisted of 80 third and fourth graders, ages 8 to 10 years, along with their parents. Correlational analysis showed no relationship between the developmental scoring of the Goodenough-Harris or Koppitz with measures of executive functioning, as measured by the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF; Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) and the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS; Naglieri & Das, 1997). However, Koppitz’s emotional indicators were significantly correlated with all aspects of BRIEF and …