Digital Commons Network^™

Adjustment Of Parametric Dynamic Scheduling Heuristics For Heterogeneous Systems To Account For Heterogeneity, Thomas G. Guerin

Theses

Modern computing applications are becoming increasingly data-hungry and computationally expensive. This trend continues even as hardware performance constraints loom with the impending death of Moore's law. Hence, systems have become increasingly heterogeneous in the pursuits of improving performance and reducing power consumption. Such a heterogeneous system relies on a variety of different specialized processors with differing architectures, rather than processing units of a single type. Given their architectural differences, any given computation will not perform equally on all processors. As such, efficient scheduling of computations to processors is an essential design consideration.

In this thesis work, a simulation of an …

Study Of Rheological, Chemical, And Microbiological Properties Of Chami, A Traditional Emirati Soft Cheese, Aysha Othman Abdullah Al Katheeri

Theses

In this work, ten Emirati Chami cheese samples were collected and analyzed to determine their chemical composition, texture, rheology, and microbiological properties. Chami cheeses showed large variations in moisture (60.9–84.1%), protein (7.5–14.6%), fat (0.5–7.8%), and ash (3.4–8.0%) contents as well as in pH (3.6–4.4), and water activity (0.977–0.999%). The variation in fat content of samples suggested that extra fat was added; this added fat was either butter or vegetable oil as indicated by the fatty acid composition. The different samples showed peaks of variable size for fat melting. The sodium content in the 10 cheese samples varied from 223–2410 mg/kg, …

The Design Of A Debugger Unit For A Risc Processor Core, Nikhil Velguenkar

Theses

Recently, there has been a significant increase in design complexity for Embedded Systems often referred to as Hardware Software Co-Design. Complexity in design is due to both hardware and firmware closely coupled together in-order to achieve features for low power, high performance and low area. Due to these demands, embedded systems consist of multiple interconnected hardware IPs with complex firmware algorithms running on the device. Often such designs are available in bare-metal form, i.e without an Operating System, which results in difficulty while debugging due to lack of insight into the system. As a result, development cycle and time to …

Social Financing And Payment By Results: Greater Driver In Efficiency, Innovation, And Impact In Tackling Social Problems?, Erin Mathis

Theses

There is mounting pressure on government to provide funding for social services; however, due to budget constraints and complex social issues, this has become a challenge (Social, 2014). With the increase of poverty, behavioral and mental health issues in America, the status quo in the social sector simply will not hold (Shah, 2013). In 2013, fourteen percent of Americans were living below the poverty line (Gongloff, 2014), with one in five children living in poverty (Shah, 2013, p.2). In 2011, under President Obama, the US government decided to try a different method in assisting the high demand for social services, …

C H R O N O S P A C E Living In The Moment: Metaphorical Motion Design, Guan-Huei Wu

Theses

Live in the present. People often put too much emphasis on their past mistakes or planning for what their future may hold. We are living in the present and should focus on “The Now.” The present is the key to our future. Everything that happened in the past has shaped where people are now in the present.

People try to erase all the bad experiences and save only the good ones. However, everything that has happened, both positive and negative, provides some intrinsic value to people. The past is unchangeable. The future is untouchable. The present is what you can …

3d Printing Of Transparent Materials For Optical Applications, Shaunak B. Gandhi

Theses

Additive manufacturing processes have been used to print a variety of polymer, metal, ceramic and composite materials for a rapidly growing range of functional applications involving printed electronics, embedded optical components and sensors. Additive manufacturing (or 3D Printing) techniques such as Stereolithography (SLA) and Inkjet Printing have been used to print stand-alone optical components and interactive optical devices respectively. To date, however, there has been relatively little focus on multi-material printing of components with embedded optical functionality.

This research focuses on printing embedded light-transmitting “pipes” within 3D structures using Fused Filament Extrusion (FFE) and inkjet 3D printing. With FFE, relatively …

Prognosis Of Equine Limb Fractures Based On Type And Location, Megan Gaffney

Theses

Horses are powerful animals: a galloping horse’s forefoot hits the ground with an average of about 2,000 pounds of force. This can result in many kinds of injuries. To work with and love a horse properly, the owner needs to understand more than just grooming and feeding. Owners must understand how the horse operates, particularly the structure and workings of the horse’s legs, to comprehend how a broken leg impairs a horse. This understanding enables the owner to work well with a veterinarian in determining the best course of treatment for an injury.

A review of the current veterinary literature …

Automating The Crowd-Mapping Workflow With Deep Learning, Lasith Niroshan

Theses

Maintaining updated maps in an ever-changing built environment is important for supporting modern society in many ways. The usage of online crowdsourced maps in particular has gained importance in a wide range of recent location-based applications (route planning/navigation, urban planning, real estate, tourism, etc). However, both traditional map production methods and updating today’s online maps suffer from early obsolescence due to their largely manual map production/update workflows. Significant research efforts have focused on refining techniques to identify changes in raster satellite images, aiming to improve and streamline map production processes. Concurrently, the surge in Internet usage has led to a …

The Design, Test And Evaluation Of A Sensing System For Process Analytical Technology (Pat), Trevor Murphy

Theses

Increased globalisation and competitiveness has given rise to a more dynamic and diverse global market that has begun to place incredible strain on manufacturing supply chains. Conventional manufacturing methods such as the batch manufacturing methods employed largely by the materials processing industries i.e. pharmaceuticals, polymers and magnesium processing plants are ill-suited to cope with the demands of today. As products evolve with technological advancements they become more complex to produce and require alternative approaches to manufacturing to ensure product quality while reducing costs and increasing manufacturing efficiencies.

A potential solution to the growing demands on today's supply chain is process …

Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging Of Populus Tremuloides Rhizosphere Nutrient Exchange Interactions With Laccaria Bicolor And Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Carli S. Salvador

Theses

Plants form interactions with other symbiotic organisms such as mycorrhizal fungus and bacteria in the rhizosphere; therefore, it is pivotal to understand the nutrient exchange that takes place. In this experiment, Populus tremuloides seedlings were grown on a thin, nutrient dense media for the control as well a limited-nitrogen media. Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging is used in this study to analyze nitrate and ammonium concentrations in the rhizosphere of P. tremuloides with Laccaria bicolor and Pseudomonas fluorescens after 7 weeks of growth. Plants were grown on low-emission slides in the first experiment; however, due to media thickness issues, Polyethylene and …

In Communion With Our Brothers : Catholic Clergy And Religious Sisters In The Civil Rights Movement, Shannon Meredith Lampton

Theses

In the history of the civil rights movement there is a great deal of research, narrative, and historiography devoted to African American men and women’s participation, and of the ways African American churches worked in the movement. I researched to find out how the Catholic Church and her people participated in the civil rights movement. My main points of focus were how these men of privilege and women got involved; how the changes in the Catholic Church encouraged or hindered its members’ civil rights’ work; and how historian perceived that work. I learned that the Catholic Church did not change …

Bicycle Safety Investigation In Alabama Using Historical Crash Data And Stated-Preference Survey, Sydnie Fiocca

Theses

The study objectives were to analyze bicycle-vehicle crash data in Alabama using a detailed review of police reports to identify specific bicycle-vehicle crash causes and patterns and develop an online stated-preference survey to examine drivers’ and bicyclists’ behavior on shared roadways and their understanding of cycling regulations in Alabama. From the crash analysis, a detailed review of 1,311 bicycle-vehicle police reports (from 2011 to 2015) in Alabama was conducted. Nighttime riding (19:01-7:00) and crashes involving males and middle-aged persons (26 to 64) were more severe. Compared to intersections, more severe crashes occurred at midblock sections. No severe crashes have occurred …

Spec Cpu2017 : Performance, Energy And Event Characterization On Modern Processors, Ranjan Hebbar Seethur Raviraj

Theses

Computer engineers in both academia and industry rely on a standardized set of benchmarks to quantitatively evaluate the performance of modern computer systems and research prototypes. The SPEC CPU2017 benchmark suites are the most recent incarnation of standard benchmarks designed to stress a system’s processor, memory subsystem, and compiler. This thesis describes the results of measurement-based studies focusing on performance and energy-efficiency of modern Intel processors using SPEC CPU2017. The studies utilize SPEC CPU2017 run utilities as well as modern Linux tools for profiling that interface on-chip performance monitoring units. The thesis encompasses the following aspects of performance evaluation: (a) …

Solid Rocket Motor Static Fire Test Stand Optimization : Load Cell Effects And Other Uncertainties, Charles W. Freeman Ii

Theses

US military legacy missile systems must be periodically tested to ensure they will perform as designed during training and in times of armed conflict. The objective of this work was to assess the overall thrust measurement uncertainty of a tactical-sized solid rocket motor static thrust stand. Motor alignment, load cell / test stand dynamics, signal conditioning, data acquisition, and calibration procedures were examined as potential sources of uncertainty. The uncertainty analysis revealed that a 5,000 lbf thrust measurement can be made to within ±0.26% of full scale with 95% confidence. The load cell / test stand / motor structural resonance …

Solid-Liquid Phase Equilibria Near A Critical Point Of Solution, Xingjian Wang

Theses

Three experiments, including the dissolution of barium chromate in the isobutyric acid (IBA) + water and the dissolution of lead sulfate and lead iodide in the IBA + water, were performed to test the Griffiths and Wheeler postulate which predicts that when one density is held fixed, there should be a critical effect. The same critical effects on the solubility of both physical and chemical solid-liquid equilibria is predicted by the critical point universality. The existence and the strength of critical divergences can also be predicted by to the Griffiths and Wheeler postulates and the Gibbs phase rule analysis. The …

The Impact Of Humor On Stress Responses During A Listening Span Task, Cynthia L. Stanley

Theses

The current experiment examined how humor influences the effects of stress induced by mental workload. Participants completed a Modified Listening Span task (MLS) that was chosen to induce mental workload and measure working memory capacity. Participants also viewed a series of neutral and positive images, one of three videos, completed a workload measure before and after the MLS, and pulse wave amplitude readings were collected throughout the experiment. Participants reported higher workload ratings following completion of the MLS, demonstrating an increased mental workload. Subjective stress ratings and PWA readings were higher following the completion of the MLS, illustrating an increase …

The Impact Of Pilgrimage Upon The Faith And Faith-Based Practice Of Catholic Educators, Rachel Capets

Theses

A pilgrimage of Catholic educators from Sydney Catholic Schools served as a phenomenographic case study for an investigation into the impact of pilgrimage upon the faith and faith-based practice of Catholic educators. Forty-five Catholic educators embarked on a pilgrimage for the Canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II in April 2014. The pilgrimage itinerary led the educators through Italy, whereby the pilgrims visited the holy sites of Saints significant in the life of the Church.

Phenomenographic data collection and analysis are used to investigate the range of ways educators’ perceive the impact of pilgrimage on faith. Pilgrimage is …

Ontologia Ad Theologia: An Intellectual History Of Contemporary English Language Rahner Scholarship, Maddison Reddie-Clifford

Theses

This thesis develops the methodology of the practice of the History of Ideas for the study of English language Rahnerian literature. Drawing primarily on the Cambridge School and techniques of French analysis, it endeavours to recover the intended consequence of particular writings of Karl Rahner and to examine how this intended consequence conforms with the current English language understanding. It facilitates this with a study of several questions that arise in the current dominant hermeneutics of English language Rahner study. By deploying a rigorous intellectual history of Rahner’s theological development, it tests the extent to which the non-foundationalist approach to …

"No Sir, It’S Not Discrimination, You’Re Just Too Old". An Auto-Ethnography Of The Effects Of Perceived Age Discrimination Among Older Australian Male Professionals., Colin Brown

Theses

This thesis investigates the effects of perceived age discrimination in employment practices on Australian professional men. It commences by outlining the global setting of the age discrimination phenomenon, and then draws attention to the myths and stereotypes that have engendered this unsavoury, often hidden, form of discrimination by focusing on the attitudes of recruitment agencies, private and government employers and older workers themselves. The thesis examines the literature on the multiple negative effects of discrimination, and then presents the method used, the personal interviews, the analysis and findings, and finally, the conclusion.

There is limited ethnographic research into the psychological …

Deficiencies In Australia’S Current Merger Regime: The Call To Combat Creeping Acquisitions, Ashleigh Cavagnino

Theses

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) does not have adequate tools to prevent creeping acquisitions under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA).

Section 50 of the CCA prohibits a corporation from acquiring shares or assets if the acquisition would have the effect, or be likely to have the effect, of substantially lessening competition in any market. The expression ‘creeping acquisitions’ refers to a number of small individual mergers or acquisitions that, when considered in isolation, do not have a sufficient impact on competition to breach s 50, but when considered together, have a cumulative effect of substantially …

The Use Of Machine Learning To Detect Suckling In Pre-Weaned Calves, Sukumar Katamreddy

Theses

The weaning of cattle is a process which is known to be labour intensive and to have stressful effects on both cow and calf Common methods used in the weaning process include the temporary removal of a mother from the calf and manual observation and intervention. Early and speedy weaning is known to have a number of benefits, including health benefits for both cow and calf, additional weight gains for the calves as well as reduced labour and feed requirements. The process known as Two-Stage Weaning is recognised to be an effective low-stress approach to weaning in which the calf …

Quantifying The Offset Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions At The University Of North Alabama, Paul Dunn Graham

Theses

No abstract provided.

The Design, Test And Evaluation Of A Sensing System For Process Analytical Technology (Pat), Trevor Murphy

Theses

Increased globalisation and competitiveness has given rise to a more dynamic and diverse global market that has begun to place incredible strain on manufacturing supply chains. Conventional manufacturing methods such as the batch manufacturing methods employed largely by the materials processing industries i.e. pharmaceuticals, polymers and magnesium processing plants are ill-suited to cope with the demands of today. As products evolve with technological advancements they become more complex to produce and require alternative approaches to manufacturing to ensure product quality while reducing costs and increasing manufacturing efficiencies.

A potential solution to the growing demands on today's supply chain is process …

Improving Methods To Estimate Time Of Death From Body Temperature, Carly Berdan

Theses

By protocol, ambient and body temperatures are collected at every investigated death scene. These data has been used since 1839 to estimate the time of death, a crucial factor when it comes to cases of unnatural deaths and homicides. The Glaister Equation and Henssge's nomogram, commonly used to calculate estimated time of death, are inconsistent and often do not agree with each other. Therefore, my objective was to evaluate and improve them.

I collected data in the field and consistently measured temperature data. Furthermore, I was granted access to a database of every death in New Jersey and published data. …

Passive Planar Terahertz Retroreflectors, Dhruvkumar Desai

Theses

As the application of the Terahertz (THz) band (0.1 - 10 THz) is investigated in various settings, wireless communication stands out as an important frontier to explore. The benefits of increased bandwidth and data rates it promises will only be realized if new technology is developed to support it. Specifically, since THz wireless communication links are typically line-of-sight (LoS), the LoS can be blocked by moving obstacles, thereby requiring alternative link paths. One proposed solution for indoor wireless communications involves systems of steerable antennas, reflective "wallpaper", and steerable mirrors which would redirect THz beams around a blocking obstacle.

As an …

Development Of The Alabama Prisoner Quality Of Life Survey, Mckenzie L. Alden

Theses

Quality of life (QOL) is a subjective evaluation of an individual’s position in life, and is context dependent. No research to date focuses on QOL in general inmate populations in the United States (U.S.). The aim of this study was to develop a psychometrically sound inmate QOL scale beta version for use with inmates in the U.S. prison system. A 136- item inmate QOL questionnaire was administered to 216 inmates at Limestone Correctional Facility (LCF) in Harvest, Alabama. Items were developed based on interviews with 38 LCF Correctional Officers and 77 LCF inmates, and previous research conducted in England and …

Investigation Into The Effect Of The Upsee On The Cognitive, Social And Physical Development Of Young Children With Down Syndrome., Diana Issac

Theses

Young children with Down syndrome face developmental delay in walking compared to a typically developing child. This delay in upright exploration can in turn affect other areas of development such as cognitive, social, self- help and emotional development. Acquisition of particular motor milestones is therefore vital. UPSEE is a new mobility device designed to help children with movement delays to stand and move with the help of an adult. This research investigated the use of UPSEE and measured children’s progress covering areas such as cognitive, social and physical development. Moreover, active parental, siblings and peer group involvement during the UPSEE …

Cork International Airport: A Fulcrum For Business And Tourism Sectors In The Southern Region?, Kieran Moynihan

Theses

This research finds that aviation delivers many economic and social benefits for a region. European airports have undergone a major business transformation over the last two decades - from facilitators of air travel to fully-fledged businesses, competing for business and traffic in a liberalised market. This study focuses on Cork International Airport, in a national and international context, to assess its infrastructural importance to the economic performance of the region. A post-positivistic approach was applied to research the topic, and interviews were conducted with relevant authorities on the subject matter. The researcher interviewed twelve contributors with a fixed list of …

The Ernie Els #Gameon Autism™ Golf Program For Young People With Autism: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Jerrome Suganthy Selvaraj

Theses

The first evaluation of the #GameON Autism^^ Golf Program was conducted outside of the USA by the UNESCO Chair, I.T. Tralee in conjunction with the Els for Autism Foundation in partnership with LD Golf Ltd. The central aim of this research study was to evaluate the efficacy of the #GameON Autism^ Golf Program on young people with autism (ASD), their families, PGA golf coach, and volunteers. The two main objectives of the research were to analyse the impact of the program on the socia/communication, motor, and golf skills of individuals with autism and to assess the potential for the #GameON …

Optimisation Of Ion Exchange Chromatography Purification Protocols For A Staphylococcal Peptidoglycan Degrading Hydrolase Enzyme, Fiona Maher

Theses

Bacteriophage (phage) are the most abundant biological entities on earth and were first discovered by d’Herelle in 1917. They are found wherever their hosts live and, like all viruses they do not have the ability to make their own protein. Therefore, in order to reproduce, phage must invade and infect bacterial cells. This project focused on the optimisation of Ion Exchange Chromatography purification protocols for a staphylococcal peptidoglycan degrading hydrolase enzyme (CHAPk). The project objective was to obtain the greatest yield of enzyme from the growth of the E.coU XL 1-Blue expression system into which the vector pQE60 was previously …