Digital Commons Network^™

Monsters On The Move: Gravitational Recoil Of Supermassive Black Holes In Nearby Elliptical Galaxies, Yashashree Jadhav

Theses

It has long been assumed that Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) reside at the centers of their host galaxies, but is this really true? A galaxy merger is expected to lead to the formation of a supermassive black hole (SMBH) binary, which can shrink through dynamical processes until it eventually coalesces through the emission of gravitational waves. Numerical relativity simulations show that, depending on the initial spin-orbit configuration of the binary, the merged SMBH receives a gravitational recoil kick that may reach several 1000 km s−1. The kick causes the merged SMBH to oscillate for up to ∼ 1 Gyr in …

The Effects Of Changing Local Electricity Rate Structures To Accommodate Residential Battery Energy Storage, Based On New York's Energy Storage Roadmap Goals, Robert Gaffney

Theses

In June 2018, the New York State Energy and Research Development Authority (NYSERDA) released the Energy Storage Roadmap (ESR). The ESR detailed a plan to increase the capacity of Battery Energy Storage (BES) across the state by 2025 to reach goals for improving the electric grid. A model was created to find how the operation of a residential solar + storage system could achieve the goals in the ESR. The model used linear optimization to maximize the residential homeowner’s profit under different rate structures. Further analysis of the resulting system operation provided information on metrics directly related to the ESR …

How To Build Upon Sustainable Entrepreneurial Opportunities In Developing Economies, Sherwyn Millette

Theses

Circular economy has been promoted as an alternative to the linear production and consumption patterns prevalent since the industrial era. The implementation of circular economy has proceeded in multiple ways, with different leading actors, e.g. strong industry champions (bottom-up) or with strong government involvement (top-down) and different environmental and economic drivers. This dissertation focuses on the realization of circular economy in a developing economy where there is no strong champion to promote it. It is argued that sustainable entrepreneurship can be a key mechanism for the development of circular economy activity. A circular economy focused incubator can provide a mechanism …

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Impulsivity In Individuals With And Without Trauma Exposure, Amanda K. Hautmann

Theses

Around 80% of adults indicate being exposed to at least one traumatic event within their lifetime. Some individuals may develop PTSD, which is comprised of four main symptom clusters: Intrusions, Avoidance of event related stimuli, Negative Alterations in Mood and Cognitions (NAMC), and Alterations in Arousal and Reactivity (AAR). Impulsivity is a multi-faceted construct assessed through both self-report and behavioral measures. Prior literature has suggested an association between impulsivity and trauma/PTSD but has been limited in terms of assessment. The current study examined different facets of impulsivity through self-report and behavioral measures in individuals with and without trauma exposure while …

Stability Of Defects At Mos2/Inas Hybrid Heterostructures: Computational Modelling Of A Novel Semi-Conducting Material, Zackary Santos

Theses

Vertical van der Waals heterostructures created from two chemically different two-dimensional (2D) materials have made significant headway in the current electronic manufacturing landscape. They demonstrate enhanced electronic properties and have the potential to be used in high performance electronic devices. Among the various van der Waals heterostructures, molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) thin film on an indium arsenide (InAs) substrate has shown promising opto-electronic properties. This hybrid heterostructure gives stronger optical absorption properties than a 2D layer of graphene on InAs due to smaller equilibrium spacing. To realize the true potential of these heterostructures, it is imperative to understand not only their …

The Line, Angelica Alegria Agelviz Rodriguez

Theses

The Line is an animated fairy tale for adults, meant to ask the age-old question of “who am I?” through the lens of its main character, Espe, a child born with skin made of mirror.

With this thesis, I wanted to delve deeper into my understanding of the themes of individuality, freedom of thought, fragility of ego and the unreliability of ‘truth’, as seen through the eyes of a child. The idea for this story was simple enough: What would happen if somebody was born made out of mirror? And what if that mirror were to look at itself? Though …

Politics And Media Among Deaf And Hard Of Hearing, Charlotte Deering

Theses

This study investigated the civic engagement, political participation, and choice of news media of the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) community at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, New York. Socialization factors that contribute to civic engagement and political participation were examined and contrasted with a hearing sample of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. The Activity Orientation Scale combined with the Political Media Gratification Scale were used to measure the likelihood of political engagement among the DHH and understand their media viewing habits. Socialization factors affect where DHH individuals get their news, what media …

Music Consumption In The Dominican Republic: Technological Changes, Uses, And Gratifications, Frank R. Lantigua

Theses

Music consumption has been transformed by technological changes during the last three decades; the introduction of streaming technologies and the expansion of the global music market have changed the way people in various countries engage with music in daily life. Previous research on music consumption points to the uses and gratifications often sought by audiences, as well as the motives that drive their consumption habits. While most studies have centered on audiences from the developing world, this study focuses particularly on music consumption in the Dominican Republic. The data was collected through an online survey that inquired about the platforms …

Emely Peguero’S Case: News Frames And Gender Stereotypes In The Dominican Republic, Maria Fernanda Simo

Theses

Gender-based violence is a controversial topic in the Dominican Republic that affects many families, and is a cause of more than 200 women dying every year from it. Journalists have an important influence in the country, making information more noticeable and memorable. Using framing theory, this study analyzed news stories reported by three Dominican newspapers (El Diario Libre, Listin Diario, and Grupo Corripio) to identify news frames and gender stereotypes in Emely Peguero’s coverage, who was a pregnant young woman murdered by her boyfriend in the Duarte Province of the Dominican Republic. A quantitative content analysis of (N = 185) …

Virtual Reality Interfaces For Product Design: Finding User Interface Solutions For Design Creation Within Virtual Reality, Johanna Lopez Taveras

Theses

The focus of Virtual Reality has gone from research to widespread adoption in entertainment and practical directions, like automotive design and architectural visualization. With that, we have to take into consideration the best way to give in-experience control to the user and the interaction within the interface.

Recent studies explore the ergonomic considerations and zones of content for VR interfaces. But Virtual Reality interaction design has a long way to go and nowadays is done mainly like a projection of 2D screens, with planar interfaces in the 3D space, almost ignoring the immersive potential of the Virtual Reality medium (Alger …

How To Avoid Collisions Between Cyclists And Motorists In Urban Areas, Yinan Luan

Theses

Using a bicycle as a means of transportation is becoming more common in cities. Protecting the safety of cyclists in complex urban environments is important.

This paper discusses user research, collisions analysis, and environment. Then, the article expounds by providing the different perspectives of cyclists and motorists. Analyzing the accidents of bicycles, how to effectively avoid collisions will significantly solve the safety problems of cyclists. In terms of solutions, this paper considers theoretical methods and existing products available. It then recommends a visibility system and proposes a visibility system to enhance visibility and avoid unpredictable behavior. The whole system makes …

The Legal Experiences Of The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Community, Dillon Curren

Theses

The criminal justice system serves in many different ways for people. Sometimes, groups of people are underserved by the criminal justice system and cannot achieve the goals being set up by the criminal justice system to be a watchful guardian who is swift, certain, and fair. The following project will look at the Deaf/Hard of Hearing Community (D/HH) and their experiences with the criminal justice system in a series of working papers including a literature review of studies, papers, and documentation of experiences within the system. There are several obstacles between the two communities that causes tension and unfairness for …

The Way Back Home, Bichen Yang

Theses

After traveling, Ming (38) and Qinyi (35) pack their stuff to catch the flight. A sudden email destroys Ming’s mood: he lost his new job. Then he sees his share price fall. He is upset with his wife and vents his anger to his son, Tommy (6). Qinyi thinks that Ming still has a grudge because she is unable to have another baby. They start to go to the airport in an awkward atmosphere.

On the road, Ming refuses to stop the car, which makes Tommy urinating on the seat. A STRANGER follows their car and keeps flashing him. Ming …

Parameter Estimation Of A Cardiac Model Using The Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter, Nathan Holt

Theses

Cardiac arrhythmias are irregularities in the electrical activity in the heart; the electrical impulses in the heart become chaotic or disorganized, which can cause a possibly lethal problem to the contraction of the heart. In order to understand the dynamics of arrhythmias and to be able to predict and treat them, numerical models have been developed to capture the dynamics of the electrical impulses in the heart. In a clinical setting, optical mapping technologies — using cameras and voltage-sensitive dyes to capture the electrical impulses propagating across the heart — have been used to capture the dynamics of the electrical …

Swift, Certain, And Fair: A Pilot Program Of The Probation Department In Monroe County, New York, Luisa R. Swan

Theses

For my capstone, I will be breaking down some components of the evaluation of the Swift, Certain, and Fair probation program in Monroe County, New York. Monroe County Probation’s Swift, Certain & Fair Model Pilot Program focuses on offenders between 16–24 years old who have been arrested on certain gun charges (more specifically, Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the second degree). It is designed to help change the behaviors of those who may otherwise be unlikely to succeed under traditional probation supervision. This model extends the program development and analysis of a program known as HOPE (Hawaii Opportunity Probation …

Performing Dna Ligation On A Low-Cost Inkjet-Printed Digital Microfluidic Device, Sari Houchaimi

Theses

DNA Synthesis is a critical component in many biological and medical applications. Unfortunately, the production of DNA is tedious, time consuming, and expensive. To accelerate the production times and lower the cost, we take a closer look at the potential application of digital microfluidics for this process.

Microfluidics involves manipulating small volumes of fluid (microliters). It takes advantage of the relative dominance of forces such as surface tension and capillary forces at the submillimeter scale. This allows for lower reagent consumption and shorter reaction times. The technology is also portable and can accommodate for various functions to be performed on …

Elucidating The Effects Of Antibiotics On The Release Of Pal From Escherichia Coli, Leslie Gallardo

Theses

Sepsis, a life-threatening clinical condition affecting more than 1.5 million Americans per year, is defined as an over-exuberant immune response to infection. Currently, sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, and the incidence of sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), has been steadily increasing since the late 1990’s. While the detailed mechanism of sepsis is not fully understood, several bacterial components are thought to contribute to the hyper-inflammatory response in humans, including lipopolysaccharide endotoxin and several other lipoproteins. Past studies suggest that one of those E. coli lipoproteins, peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (Pal), might …

The Effect Of Video Game Experience In Different Genres On Task-Switching Ability, Caitlin A. Brostek

Theses

Task-switching is an executive function that refers to an individual’s ability to shift attention between different tasks. Previous studies have examined whether video game players perform better on task-switching experiments compared to non-video game players. This study aimed to add to existing research by examining video game experience on a continuous scale. Other factors that may affect the association between video game experience and task-switching ability were also examined, including the specific video game genre(s) played and the age that an individual began actively playing. Sixty participants from the Rochester Institute of Technology completed a questionnaire assessing video game experience …

Internet And Tor Traffic Classification Using Machine Learning, Siddharth Palsambkar

Theses

Privacy has always been a concern over the internet. A new wave of privacy networks struck the world in 2002 when the TOR Project was released to the public. The core principle of TOR, popularly known as the onion routing protocol, was developed by the ‘United States Naval Research Laboratory’ in the mid-1990s. It was further developed by ‘Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’. The project that started as an attempt to create a secured communication network for the U.S. Intelligence was soon released as a general anonymous network. These anonymous networks are run with the help of volunteers that serve …

Analyzing The Effects Of Individual And Team Attributes On New Product Design Outcomes - Experimental Protocol Development And Feasibility Assessment, Varun Sharma

Theses

Rapidly changing markets demand quick turnaround from creative concepts into final products. This requires firms to have extensive collaboration in their New Product Development (NPD) teams. However effective management of teams can be difficult. In order to understand the challenges of multidisciplinary product development, this study focuses on student design teams conducting engineering design projects at RIT. This study utilizes a modified team effectiveness model based on existing literature for identifying hypothesized associations using a limited number of teams enrolled in senior design. It proposes an experimental protocol for conducting this study at a larger scale and identifies the appropriate …

Juveniles And The Criminal Justice System, Tayler Ruggero

Theses

Although juvenile crime rates have been decreasing rapidly in the last three decades, 2,805 children are still arrested each day in the United States (The State of America’s Children®, 2017). A child should get to grow up feeling safe and secure, with room to grow and develop with the support of their families, schools, and communities. Of those being arrested, they are mostly children of color and those that come from lower income communities. After these youths are incarcerated, they are at risk of physical and psychological abuse, sexual assault, and suicide. They also lack proper educational instruction while in …

Predict Network, Application Performance Using Machine Learning And Predictive Analytics, Mohamed Elmasry

Theses

In this thesis, a study is performed to find the effect of applications on resource consumption in computer networks and how to make use of available technologies such as predictive analytics, machine learning and business intelligence to predict if an application can degrade the network performance or consume computer system resources. In recent years, having a healthy computer system and the network is essential for continuity of business. The study focusses on analyzing the performance metrics collected from real networks using scripts and available programs created specifically for monitoring applications and network in real-time.

This work has significant importance because …

Aerospace Fuel Flow Metering Check Valve Model, Simulation, And Validation, Trevor M. Crandell

Theses

The fuel atomizer of a gas turbine engine is a critical component of study, design, and manufacture for the gas turbine industry. Modern engines rely on consistent precise operation of fuel nozzles to achieve today’s progressive emission standards and to keep engines operating longer and to keep them overall more competitive. The previous research into this field is extensive but has left a gap where relatively computationally simple methods can be used to benefit companies that build aerospace fuel nozzles. Through simulation and experimentation, the goal of this research was to create a method of modeling aerospace fuel nozzle flow …

The Impact Of Body-Worn Cameras (Bwcs) On Adjudication, Shakierah Smith

Theses

Body-worn camera (BWC) is an emerging technology that has had a profound impact on the American legal system. This capstone explores the various ways in which BWCs are actively transforming the adjudication process of criminal cases. The first chapter discusses how BWCs have impacted the adjudication of cases in Monroe County, NY from the perspective of prosecutors, public defenders, and Rochester city court judges. The second chapter utilizes data from the previous paper to examine the evidentiary value of BWCs in Monroe County, NY. The third chapter discusses how prosecutors in Monroe County, NY, Travis County, TX, and San Diego …

Advantages And Challenges Of Online Project Based Learning, Peter Alex Kow Amissah

Theses

The purpose of this research is to outline the advantages and challenges of online project-based learning. Becoming knowledgeable about online project-based learning (PBL) is crucial at a time when there is an increased demand for education. The discussion presented here will assist faculty in the teaching of online PBL. The researcher conducted a comprehensive review of the literature and developed an open-ended interview schedule based upon his findings, which was used to interview experts in the field. The experts’ views confirmed the advantages and challenges found in the literature and brought up other factors that were not discovered in the …

Sunday In The Shop With Rob, Robert J. Anderson

Theses

On February 21st, 2019, Southern Illinois University Department of Theater produced

Act-Based Statements Effect On Bartending Tips, Mariah Patz

Theses

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviorally-based intervention that emphasizes psychological processes related to mindfulness, values, committed actions towards values, defusion from troubling thoughts, and acceptance. ACT is often used with populations who experience psychological inflexibility or stress, but not much research has been done understanding how ACT processes may affect everyday tasks within the common public or within business practices. The present study used a randomized controlled trial to determine the effect that statements related to ACT processes given while receiving a bar tending service altered the outcome tipping percentage from guests. The current research also discussed how …

Effect Of Rotational Restraints On Thermal Post Buckling Response Of Sway Columns, Kamal Regmi

Theses

The objective of this study is to examine the effect of rotational restraints on thermal post-buckling response of sway columns using geometrically nonlinear analysis. The present design approach considers columns to have failed once they buckle. However, the columns under fire load are found to exhibit significant post-buckling strength which could be utilized for more economical design. The past researchers on the nonlinear thermal analysis used isolated columns with idealized support conditions which mean the columns are assumed to be free or fully restrained in the rotation, lateral and, axial directions. However, that is seldom the case in real structures …

Forgotten Names, Nicholas William Sanders

Theses

Forgotten Names is a fifteen-minute programmatic work for wind ensemble and electronics. The piece represents my aim to express conceptually the memories of human lives being lost with the passage of time. The two salient vehicles used to convey the concept are melodic motivic development and pre-recorded electronic audio accompanying the ensemble. The prerecorded electronics work in tandem with the ensemble and provide the audience with inferable aural symbolism. These audio samples are to be triggered by a percussionist by using the free, downloadable program, Pure Data along with a performance file provided by the composer. Forgotten Names also draws …

Modeling Color Appearance In Augmented Reality, Nargess Hassani

Theses

Augmented reality (AR) is a developing technology that is expected to become the next interface between humans and computers. One of the most common designs of AR devices is the optical see-through head- mounted display (HMD). In this design, the virtual content presented on the displays embedded inside the device gets optically superimposed on the real world which results in the virtual content being transparent. Color appearance in see-through designs of AR is a complicated subject, because it depends on many factors including the ambient light, the color appearance of the virtual content and color appearance of the real background. …