Digital Commons Network^™

Support Vector Machines For Image And Electronic Mail Classification, Matthew Woitaszek

Theses

Support Vector Machines (SVMs) have demonstrated accuracy and efficiency in a variety of binary classification applications including indoor/outdoor scene categorization of consumer photographs and distinguishing unsolicited commercial electronic mail from legitimate personal communications. This thesis examines a parallel implementation of the Sequential Minimal Optimization (SMO) method of training SVMs resulting in multiprocessor speedup subject to a decrease in accuracy dependent on the data distribution and number of processors. Subsequently the SVM classification system was applied to the image labeling and e-mail classification problems. A parallel implementation of the image classification system's color histogram, color coherence, and edge histogram feature extractors …

Agricultural Land Reform Policy In Western Ukraine : The Influence Of Environmental History And Ethics, Andrew B. Wowk

Theses

Agricultural land privatization is an important environmental and economic policy within Ukraine, which is transitioning to a market-based economy. This thesis studied the influence of bioregional environmental history and environmental ethics on land privatization in Western Ukraine, within Lviv oblast, through historical research and field research of private farmers.

Historical research showed that due to its environmental history, the study area was particularly receptive to land privatization after Ukraine's independence in 1991. Field research indicated that farmers in the study area generally see private ownership of land as better for humans and the environment than collective land ownership. The farmers …

An Evolving Approach To Learning In Problem Solving And Program Development : The Distributed Learning Model, Idania Espinosa

Theses

Technological advances are paving the way for improvements in many sectors of society. The US education system needs to undergo a transformation of existing pedagogical methods to maximize utilization of new technologies. Traditional education has primarily been teacher driven, lectured-based in one location. Advances in technology are challenging existing paradigms by developing tools and educational environments that reach diverse learning styles and surpass the boundaries of current teaching methods.

Distributed learning is an emerging paradigm today that has promise to contribute significantly to learning and improve overall academic success. This research first explores various systems that provide different modes of …

Recent Advances In Silicon Light Emitting Diodes, Aravind Balakrishnan

Theses

A silicon based light emitting diode (LED) is a new gateway for combining optoelectronics with CMOS integrated circuits. The choice of silicon is limited due to its indirect band gap nature. There are new approaches for improving emission efficiencies in Si-LED to nearly 1% at room temperature. Boron implantation has been employed to introduce dislocation array and as a p-type dopant to form p-n Junction in an n-type Si substrate. The device operates as a conventional LED under forward bias. The temperature dependence of radiative recombination rate is addressed by Varshni empirical formula. The difference between the energy at which …

Development Of A Series Of Experiences To Help Students Evaluate Their Aptitudes For The Study And Practice Of Industrial Design, Paul Skaggs

Theses

In this thesis, author tries to discover and define the aptitudes that are desirable for industrial designers, and explore ways to allow the students to experience and realize what these aptitudes are in order to help the students self-evaluate their "fit" for the study of industrial design.

Structure Of Visual Storytelling And Graphic Design, Didon Danisworo

Theses

None provided.

The Marsh, Joshua Gramse

Theses

A descriptive narration of a project to create a short 2-D/3-D computer animated film, "The Marsh." The film is a non-character-based narrative progression showing a marsh during three phases of human history. Includes original thesis proposal, original storyboard, color stills, and the original poem that inspired the film.

Present Absence: The Visible And Invisible In Graphic Design, Michelle Carfagno

Theses

None provided.

Experiencing Discovery: Designing For Visual Delight, Sandy Knight

Theses

None provided.

Teacher Perceptions Of The New York State Regents Requirements: A Pilot Study, Jennifer Lerner

Theses

This pilot study investigated teachers' perceptions of the effects of the New York State Regents requirements on teachers and students. An eight question Likert scale survey was administered to one hundred high school teachers in an upstate New York urban school district. Survey questions covered the impact of the new standards on teacher autonomy, in addition to student and teacher anxiety level. Teachers were asked about the fairness of the exams, the amount of time spent teaching to exams, and how they perceived the exams as impacting school drop-out rate. Results indicated that teachers believed that the new requirements had …

How Substance Abuse Affects Sibling Relationships: A Qualitative Study, Kellee Garney

Theses

The purpose of this research was to gain an understanding of the sibling relationship when one sibling abuses drugs and/or alcohol. It was hypothesized that a sibling relationship with a substance-abusing sibling would have lower levels of closeness and trust than non-substance abusing sibling relationships. Nineteen young adults aged 19-47 were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the sibling relationship. Nine participants had a sibling they perceived as abusing drugs or alcohol, 1 participant was a substance abuser with a non-abusing sibling, and 9 participants had a non-substance abusing sibling. The sample was not randomly selected with participants recruited from Rochester …

Intelligent Life, Jeff Spoonhower

Theses

None provided.

Analysis Of H/W & S/W Techniques For Data Reduction In High Speed Digital Image Processing, Paul Desanctis

Theses

With the widespread utilization of charge-coupled-devices, there is much interest in methods to efficiently process images. The processing, manipulation, and storage of photographic quality digital images place significant demands on today's computers. Even with today's high performance bus structure and real-time operating systems, manipulating full resolution image data may quickly overwhelm computer hardware and software. In response to this, data reduction techniques have been developed to aid in resolving this problem. Two common data reduction techniques include data sub-sampling and data averaging. Data sub-sampling approach is simplistic in nature and perhaps easiest to implement in both hardware and/or software. This …

Medical Information Design: Empowering The Patient, Jon Benjamin-Rupp

Theses

The goals of this project revolve aound the development of a cancer information source book that will provide an accessible resource for cancer patients upon or soon after diagnosis.

Southco Windscreen 2 Project Evaluation, Richard Langkamp

Theses

None provided.

Effectiveness Of Opc For Systems Integration In The Process Control Information Architecture, Philips Zachariah

Theses

A Process is defined as the progression to some particular end or objective through a logical and orderly sequence of events. Various devices (e.g., actuators, limit switches, motors, sensors, etc.) play a significant role in making sure that the process attains its objective (e.g., maintaining the furnace temperature within an acceptable limit). To do these things effectively, manufacturers need to access data from the plant floor or devices and integrate those into their control applications, which maybe one of the "off the shelf tools such as Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Distributed Control System (DCS), or Programmable Logic Controllers …

The Effects Of Life Space Crisis Intervention Training On Levels Of Teacher Stress And Time-Out Room Referrals, Michele Helfand

Theses

Student behavioral problems are often cited as factors contributing to school violence and teacher stress. School violence and teacher stress ultimately contribute to a deterioration in the quality of the educational system in our society. Life Space Crisis Intervention (LSCI) is a strategy for using student problems as an opportunity to promote insight and behavior change. The intent of this study was to empirically examine the effects of a Life Space Crisis Intervention training. The outcome variables were teacher responses to a self report measure of stress (The Teacher Stress Inventory) and number and severity of time out room referrals. …

Spring-, Andrew Mcpherson

Theses

None provided.

Msf Desalination: Modeling, Simulation, And Economic Study, Abdallah S. Al-Mazroui

Theses

Some data was collected and reported for seawater desalination in the gulf region. Some information is also given regarding the multi–stage flash (MSF) desalination plants in the United Arab Emirates. The total installed capacity of these plants is 518 MIG. It was revealed that the water demand in the Abu Dhabi Emirate alone has increased by 30 folds during the last 25 years.

A literature survey was conducted mainly on modeling and simulation of MSF desalination processes. A number of commercial software such as Speedup, Camel, and EvapoLund were reviewed with special emphasis on EvapoLund that has been used as …

Images With Meaning: A Critical Study Of The Polish Poster Collection At The Rochester Institute Of Technology Archives And Special Collections, Kristin O'Loughlin

Theses

None provided.

Reflection, Melissa Sciera

Theses

Not Included

Visual Propaganda In Editorial Design, Jarrod Gahr

Theses

The focus of this investigation is to determine how graphic design decision making can influence the understanding of information in news magazine articles ... this thesis will identify specific visual elements and show how the treatment of those elements can amplify or diffuse content bias.

Interplay: Dialogue Of The Systematic And Intuitive, Amy Fox

Theses

This thesis focuses on the congnitive activity of graphic designers, and the aim is to help the designer think about their thought developments that formulate their actions.

Three Stories Toward Creation, Rodrigo Gomez Claros

Theses

A descriptive narration of a project to create a computer animated film in both 2-D and 3-D, "Three Stories toward Creation," which depicts three stages of Latin American civilization. The film consists of three episodes: Bachué, a creation myth of the Chibcha people; Broken Pot, which depicts the coming of the Conquistadors, whom many of the native peoples mistook for gods; and Cross of Gold, a symbolic sequence which represents the blending of the Spanish and native cultures. Includes original thesis proposal, storyboards, and still images from the film.

Incongruent Perceptions And Training Styles: The Paramedic In Conflict With The Emotionally Charged Bystander, Bram Duffee

Theses

Incongruent perceptions can exacerbate conflict situations with emotionally charged patients, family members, and bystanders when the paramedic is providing treatment to a critical patient. This bestows the paramedic with the responsibility of not only working to save the life of the patient, but also working to resolve conflicts that may constrain medical treatment. Therefore, in these situations, paramedics must have the communication skills that allow them to provide quality patient care. This phenomenon is investigated through a native anthropologist perspective by asking paramedics to give their personal accounts of conflicts they have had with emotionally charged stakeholders when treating a …

Reaching The Millennial Generation, Scott Doty

Theses

In this thesis, author explores the relationship between emerging aesthetic and technology, and comes to a conclusion: the new technology can lead to new forms of expression and design.

Day In, Day Out; What Makes A Man A Man?, Justin Mcmillen

Theses

Consists of 20 slides of the M.F.A. thesis exhibition "Day in, day out what makes a man a man? ". The thesis is intended to question how society and the family has been trained or influenced into believing what makes a man a man through a series of narrative photographs.

Detoxification Of Carbonaceous Cathode Waste For The Recovery Of Usable Silicon Carbide, Khalid Jassim Ahmed Abdullah Akran

Theses

No abstract provided.

The Design And Construction Of Furniture To Enhance Love Making, Martin Hahn

Theses

Not Included

Dancing For The Actor: A Proposal For Actor Training, Anne Marie Gay-Baradic

Theses

Many college and universities across the United States offer programs in theater and dance. Training often exists to facilitate the actor or the dancer in becoming separate participants in a similar art. For the college actor, movement training typically incorporates traditional approaches as developed by Matthias Alexander, Tadashi Suzuki, or Sanford Meisener. Although these lessons in movement training hold merit, alternative strategies exist. The development of the Dancing/or the Actor program utilizes the principles of dance as the primary tools in actor movement training. By experiencing the components, theories, and techniques of dance, the college actor will focus on physical …