Digital Commons Network^™

Smart Technology For Enhancing Indoor Air Quality, Abdulaziz Mohammed

Theses

The COP28 emission reduction plan underscores the imperative of transitioning away from fossil fuels to combat climate change. Concurrently, the rapid adoption of Internet of Things technology has emerged as a transformative force in urban governance, offering cities enhanced resilience and operational frameworks through data analytics and real-time monitoring. In response to these trends, the present research focused on leveraging IoT technology to monitor indoor air quality within a “restaurant A” in an urban area in Dubai. Employing advanced data analytics and smart sensor technologies, particularly LoRa, the project aimed to analyze and monitor air quality parameters. Disposing the sensor …

Decentralisation Of Drone Authentication Within Iod Networks., Jarryd Tayler Brits

Theses

The applications of drones have become increasingly more versatile, with their popularity also increasing rapidly in the last decade. These applications span from entertainment within civilian markets to more military-based applications, including private security firms. However, with this rise in use, the security risks involved have also increased drastically, predominantly in a drone’s lack of ability to authenticate surrounding drones efficiently and securely without the aid of a third party. Although there have been copious amounts of research to support drone authentication, they predominantly rely on a single source of truth, such as a ground station server (GCS), which presents …

A Framework For Filtering Irrelevant Notams, Roudha Abdulrahman

Theses

The Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) system is essential for aviation safety, giving critical information on risks and operating limitations. However, the volume and complexity of NOTAM data complicate interpretation, which could compromise safety and efficiency. This study tries to address these issues by creating a predictive algorithm for analyzing NOTAM data and predicting whether to keep or remove them. The methodology combines effective machine learning algorithms to reveal insights that improve safety and operational efficiency. Using a dataset of NOTAM entries, multiple prediction algorithms are tested to forecast possible problems and enable proactive risk management. The study's findings help to …

Utilization And Justification Of Generative Ai Technologies For Schematic Architectural Design, Aaric Celeste

Theses

Today, architecture is heavily assisted by computer programs. As technology advances, these programs will be more impactful in the design space and will become more inseparable as a result. It is nearly certain that architectural design will no longer be as time-consuming and reiterative as it is today. Computer software and AI-assisted tools will be able to interpret information and produce practical designs that architects otherwise couldn’t. It may seem futuristic and a not-in-our-lifetime phenomenon, but it in fact already exists today. Algorithms are already developed to assist and in some cases take over design work. This thesis discovered existing …

The Babysitter, Diane Catsburrow Linnet

Theses

After producing several short animated films of different moods and visual designs, I designed the thesis film production with the challenge of telling a longer, more complex story with themes of human connection. I curated the narrative as a slice of life, favoring a somewhat nonsensical series of events rather than a clean-cut narrative, but also sought to tap into the whimsical animated humor by incorporating fantastical elements such as a bear baby. These combined to create a film about not understanding everything, but being able to see what is necessary to help someone in need, told in a form …

Exploring The Positive Impact Of Emotionally Designed Furniture On Alleviating Negative Symptoms In Individuals With Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-Ptsd): A Case Study Of Chinese Families Influenced By Traditional Confucian Culture., Guangxin Zhang

Theses

This study aims to explore whether emotionally designed furniture has a positive impact on alleviating negative symptoms in individuals with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD). Through a combination of literature review and empirical research, the characteristics of C-PTSD individuals and their common negative symptoms, including anxiety, depression, fatigue, etc., were first reviewed and analyzed. Then, the hypothesis of the positive impact of emotionally designed furniture on individuals with C-PTSD was proposed. The study further explores how emotionally designed furniture enhances environmental comfort and fosters emotional connections in personal spaces to provide psychological support and alleviate symptoms in individuals with C-PTSD. …

Autowaze: Automated, Real-Time, And Accurate Traffic Analytics, Vijay Bajracharya

Theses

A key factor leading to the inefficiency of transportation systems is the lack of real-time, fine-grained traffic analytics. An average motorist in the United States spends a significant amount of time looking for parking spots during their daily commute. Existing systems for traffic analytics are either not scal- able to large metropolitan areas or require a human-in-the-loop. This project focuses on automating the detection of fine-grained traffic analytics. Lever- aging on-board stereo cameras, Autowaze utilizes a crowd-sourced strategy to take time-windowed snapshots of the road containing 3D map points of the environment. These snapshots are used to extract changes in …

Emotional First Aid Kit Design, Wenxi Qi

Theses

In contemporary society, the shift towards holistic well-being has highlighted the critical importance of emotional health in maintaining overall quality of life. Research indicates that emotional health issues now pose a greater threat to individual well-being and productivity than physical ailments. Despite this, there exists a significant gap in awareness and emphasis between physical and emotional health across various sectors, contributing significantly to the prevalence of mental health issues. This research paper introduces the "Emotional First Aid Kit," a novel design concept aimed at addressing emotional distress in everyday scenarios similar to conventional first aid kits managing physical injuries. The …

On The Naming Of Identifiers: A Survey Of Undergraduate Students, Stacy Skalicky

Theses

Alsuhaibani et al. state that 60% of the participants do not have strict or any naming standards in the workplace and developers surveyed desired clear method naming standards to promote code comprehension [2]. Martin indi-cated identifier names are responsible for 90% of what makes software readable and understandable [25] . Borstler et al. indicated readability was important to developers at every level of experience but few report their academic influences being effectively leveraged to make quality identifiers [5]. Keuning et al. surveyed teachers in programming-related fields and found that code quality although important, was not a big part of their …

Improving Design And Physical Boundary In Temporary Post-Disaster Relief Shelters: Analysis Of Existing Literature, Min-Hye Jang

Theses

Natural disasters such as floods, hurricanes, cyclones, storms, earthquakes, wildfires, and landslides displace people. As responses at the community resilience level, the temporary post-relief shelter is critical for the community's rapid recovery. Converting existing public facilities is the fastest way to respond to a crisis. However, the Hurricane Katrina Superdome Shelter alerted society to the prevalence of sexual assault in transitory catastrophe contexts. Not only has sexual abuse occurred, but prior shelters did not equip every user with physical barriers to suit their needs. This study examined academic journals, articles, and books to identify issues with natural disaster shelters created …

Syn: Exploring Multi-Sensory Sound Experiences Through An Immersive Installation, Samara Sudhir

Theses

The project titled 'SYN.' is a thesis that explores the realm of multi-sensory experiences in visual communication by taking inspiration from synesthesia. Synesthesia is a phenomenon where sensory information is transmitted through multiple unrelated senses, causing individuals to experience more than one sense simultaneously, such as seeing music and hearing color/shapes. The project aims to create an immersive and interactive installation that evokes a feeling of being inside the music by blurring the boundaries between auditory and visual stimuli. Through meticulous mapping and projection of visuals onto various surfaces, a three-dimensional space is created where participants can interact and alter …

Pines For Progress: Empowering Rural Nicaraguan Villages, Paige Smith

Theses

In January 2023, I traveled with Linking Hands for Learning to live with host families and build a school in El Carrizo, Nicaragua, and spent time with the children in the village, even taking the same hikes through the mountain paths they traverse each day to attend school. Inspired by the resourcefulness and resilience of Nicaraguan culture, I returned to Rochester, NY focusing my MFA industrial design thesis project on addressing the pressing needs of these underprivileged communities. I aimed to develop a solution that could be manufactured locally (without electricity, running water, power tools, or modern-day shipping), utilizing materials …

Visualizing Poems, Qiran Cui

Theses

With its profound expressions of emotion and insights, Chinese poetry has long been revered as a cultural heritage. However, its intricacies often challenge non-Chinese speakers seeking to appreciate its depth. This thesis proposes an exploratory approach to interpreting Chinese poetry, using geometric shapes and motions to discover potential emotional and thematic interpretations. The geometric shapes and their associated motions—circles for continuity, squares for stability, triangles for conflict, and rounded rectangles for historical depth—reflect their psychological and cultural significance in conveying specific emotions within the poems. From Chinese poetry's subjects, structure, content, and emotional resonance, the exploration delves into how visual …

Women's Evening Wear Clothing Line, Monique Greene

Theses

Unavailable.

Glacier Lake Inventory And Lake Outburst Flood Hazard Assessment In Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, Nepal, Prabish Khadka Chhetri

Theses

This study presents a comprehensive assessment of glacial lakes and land surface temperature (LST) dynamics within the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (KCA) from 2010 to 2023. The KCA holds significant ecological importance, serving as a critical habitat for diverse flora and fauna, while also playing a vital role in regional hydrological systems. Additionally, its stunning landscapes attract tourists and mountaineers from around the world, further emphasizing the need for understanding environmental changes within the area. Utilizing medium to high-resolution satellite imagery from PlanetScope for glacial mapping and Landsat for LST analysis, the research aimed to achieve two primary objectives: creating an …

Mechelle’S Bridal Palace Business Plan, Lakendra Montgomery

Theses

This project aims to develop a comprehensive business plan for a one-of-a-kind bridal store called Mechelle's Bridal Palace, which offers an innovative and unique bridal shopping experience. The plan goes beyond the traditional bridal store concept and includes a café, which will provide customers with additional relaxation and convenience. This business plan focuses on redefining the traditional bridal shopping experience and making it more enjoyable for customers. Moreover, this project aims to address the issue of diversity, representation, and inclusion in bridal fashion. The bridal industry has historically been exclusive, and it aims to address this by creating a more …

White Cell Support Application For Expo Ops Tactical Wargame System, Zackery Joseph Milder

Theses

The purpose of this project was to create a support application for a tabletop wargame currently used for training and scenario simulation by the United States Marine Corps. The EXPO OPS Companion is meant to enhance the capabilities of the White Cell/table director, the unbiased third party responsible for running adjudication for the EXPO OPS Tactical Wargames System. EXPO OPS TWS is “…a table top wargame covering contemporary and future conflict at the platoon, company and battalion level. It is a wargame toolkit that enables wargaming scenarios in the 2020 to 2030 timeframe. The design centers on plans and decisions …

The Effects Of Social Media In The Fashion Industry, Kirsten Leigh Whitaker

Theses

This project focuses on how social media is impacting the fashion industry. The primary focus is on the inner workings of social media within the fashion industry, and how it has changed the industry. The project aims to study problems found within fashion marketing, which are causing negative effects in the industry. The negative effects can be defined as environmental and unethical working environments, which are common topics of discussion within the fashion industry as a whole, but never discussed in tandem with the influence of marketing and social media. Furthermore, the project studies how these can be solved by …

Meaning Through Materiality: Bisa Butler’S Expressive Portraits, Jacqueline D’Arco Miller

Theses

This thesis examines how Bisa Butler creates meaning through the materiality in her quilted portraits. Bisa Butler is of West African and American descent and incorporates part of her own identity in her quilted portraits using Dutch wax prints and other highly patterned textiles. Not only does Butler connect her identity in her quilted portraits, but she also connects the meaning of these textiles to the figures in her portraits. This thesis explores the materiality of Bisa Butler’s Colored Entrance (2023), along with The Passion of Questlove (2023) and Grandpa Zakani (2004), to argue that in this new development of …

A Preliminary Analysis Of Functional Communication Training Via Voice-Recorded Buttons To Reduce Undesirable Behaviors With Dogs, Mya Watson-Blake, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Undesirable behavior, such as excessive barking, jumping up, and biting, is prevalent among pet dogs with an estimate of 72%-85% of dogs exhibiting at least one type of undesirable behavior (Dinwoodie et al., 2019; Powell et al., 2021; Salonen et al., 2020). Further, canine undesirable behavior has been found to be the leading cause of owners relinquishing their dogs to rescue shelters (Powdrill-Wells et al., 2021). Functional communication training (FCT) is a method that has shown to be effective with human populations for reducing challenging behaviors by teaching an individual an alternative response that results in the same class of …

The Impact Of Ai On Ux: Challenges And Opportunities, Susan Stephanie Wells

Theses

Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in user experience (UX) design is reshaping the field of UX, offering new opportunities and challenges for designers. This thesis project explores the multifaceted relationship between AI and UX design, focusing on the challenges, opportunities, and skills demanded of UX designers in the age of AI. Through a review of academic research and real-world experiences, this project studies the impact of AI on web design processes, UX testing, and data analysis. Key findings highlight the transformative potential of AI in enhancing user experiences, from suggesting website structures to facilitating UX testing and data analysis.

Comparative analysis …

The Use Of A Token Economy To Decrease Problem Behaviors And Increase Task Completion For A Pre-Schooler With Autism, Dyana Schneider, Robbie Hanson

Theses

The execution of a token economy has been shown to be effective to decrease problem behaviors and increase task completion, communication, and other skills for individuals with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (Matson & Boisjoli, 2009). Although previous research has shown token economies to be effective, there remains criticisms regarding existing research, such as low experimental rigor, among others (Maggin et al., 2011). Additionally, although token economies embed evidence-based behavior-analytic strategies (Wong et al., 2015) there appears to be a disconnect between basic and applied research and implementation of token economies in a clinical context (e.g., relying on fixed …

A Review Of Training For First Responders When Interacting With Individuals With Diagnoses, Mackenzie Drost, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Safety is a priority for first responders when responding to calls, but there have been numerous cases in which unintentional harm was caused when interacting with individuals with diagnoses or disabilities. Thus, it seems as though effective training procedures for these professionals is critical. However, training for first responders varies from state to state and can depend on the county in which the services are provided. Although behavioral skills training (BST) has a well-established history of training non behavior-analytic professionals and although there have been some encouraging recommendations for the effective dissemination of applied behavior analysis (ABA) to those outside …

Seeing With New Eyes: A Costume Design Thesis On Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story In Black And White, Jennifer Nielson Helms

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OFJennifer N. Helms, for the Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater Design, presented on March 26, 2024, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: SEEING WITH NEW EYES: A COSTUME DESIGN THESIS ON WEDDING BAND: A LOVE/HATE STORY IN BLACK AND WHITEMAJOR PROFESSOR: Wendi R. Zea This thesis document is a presentation and exploration of the process involving the costume design for Wedding Band: A Love/Hate Story in Black and White by Alice Childress. The play was produced in the Christian H. Moe Laboratory Theatre at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and ran from November 30 …

Improvements To Testing And Packaging Technology For Silicon Photonics Research And Development, Eric Thornton

Theses

Silicon photonics is an emerging field that aims to integrate traditional digital CMOS logic with micro scale optical components made using silicon onto the same chip in order to overcome recent bottlenecks related to information transfer through copper interconnects. The end goal of silicon photonics is to use optical links, integrated together with modulators (devices that translate between the electrical and optical systems) controlled by traditional CMOS logic, packaged in familiar form factors, and interfaced using traditional digital serial protocols. However, groups involved in the research and development of silicon optical components do not work with these fully integrated designs …

Prosperity And Quality Of Life: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Economically Liberated Nations, Alia Omar Bin Touq Almarri

Theses

This project aims to employ data exploration, data analysis, visualization tools, and modelling to conduct a comprehensive research study concerning the desirability and impact of residing in economically liberalized nations, strongly focusing on their influence on human development. By leveraging advanced exploratory data analysis techniques such as principal component analysis (PCA) and modelling techniques such as multiple linear regression and random forest, this study aims to offer a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of how economic freedom correlates with and impacts various facets of human development, offering valuable policy suggestions for nations pursuing economic freedom as a development strategy. To ensure …

The Impact Of Vehicular Noise On The Effectiveness Of Acoustic Indices, Rebecca Ducay

Theses

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) is a valuable tool in wildlife research, offering non-invasive and cost-effective means to collect acoustic data. However, the processing of PAM recordings can be time-consuming, prompting the use of acoustic indices to expedite analysis. Acoustic indices are numerical values that characterize biological information in sound recordings based on an environment’s acoustic characteristics. While acoustic indices have been correlated with species richness across ecological contexts, their reliability diminishes in areas with heightened vehicular noise. However, it is unclear if index biases caused by vehicular noise are consistent across all traffic levels, and which acoustic indices are most …

Directing A Technical Cyclone, Leonard A. Lively

Theses

In October 2023, the Southern Illinois School of Theater and Dance produced Ride the Cyclone. This thesis documents the participation of the technical director, Leonard Lively, in this collaborative production process. The project involved multimedia construction, CNC technology to manufacture custom components, curtain fabrication, engineering inspiration from anatomical structures, and advanced AutoCAD drafting techniques. Chapter one explores the play’s text, past productions, and the production’s possibilities. The design process is documented in the second chapter. The third chapter covers the production process and the fourth chapter reflects and evaluates the effectiveness of the production.

Reduction Of The Length Of Stay At The Emergency Department Of The Audie L. Murphy Hospital, Arwa Al Shikrian

Theses

We implemented the DMAIC framework (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) and Lean Six Sigma methods to reduce the length of stay (LOS) in the Emergency Department (ED) at Audie L. Murphy VA Hospital, a crucial issue affecting operational efficiency and patient care quality. This project was conducted in conjunction with an internship at the Hospital; our efforts were an integral part of a Green Belt project being conducted by Mr. Roarke Verkaik-Bushby, Hospital Administration Service, to

whom this author reported.

We employed quantitative research design, meticulously observing, measuring, and analyzing ED processes. We tracked patient flow, identified bottlenecks, and …

An Analysis Of Machine Learning Hardware From Tenstorrent, Matthew Stephen Doerner

Theses

Machine learning is growing at an exponential rate in industry today, with contemporary machine learning models having parameter counts in the high hundred millions to trillions paired with a huge computing requirement. As the field continues to grow and the models get larger and more computationally expensive, there is a greater need for specialized hardware that can accelerate the inference and training computations that are required of these machine learning models. The design of a custom hardware device specifically made to accelerate machine learning models is very intricate, with software and hardware development that needs to work together at the …