Digital Commons Network^™

Formal Verification Of Receipt Validation In Chaum’S Scheme, Kyle Savarese

Theses

In the aftermath of the United States Presidential election, more and more frequently there are calls for voters to be able to place their votes from the comfort of their own home. However, many studies have found prototype systems to be either insecure or insufficiently defined for the purposes of an election on a national scale.

In this paper I will examine the security of voting applications from a different angle: the validation and verification of compiled code. There are the obvious concerns about unverified code, that we have no guarantee the protocol described by the voting procedure is the …

Tech Mds: Improving User Experience Of Electronic Health Record System, Rootwa Sagar

Theses

Electronic Healthcare record keeping can be daunting. The available software does not usually allow for clinicians to input information concordant with their clinical work- ow. This disrupts the clinician-patient encounter and can lead to frustration for both clinicians and patients. Because of this, the organic interaction between the patient and the clinician is not accurately recorded with available EHR systems. For example, the idiosyncrasies of individual patients—how and why they present certain information—as well as the clinician’s response can be signi cant but are ignored by the demands of EHR data entry. Patient

or person-centered care is increasingly recognized as …

Nickel Silicide As A Contact And Diffusion Barrier For Copper Metallization In Silicon Photovoltaics, Alexander Angus Marshall

Theses

In this study, NiSi has been formed as the contact for copper front metallization on laboratory silicon solar cells. Transfer length method (TLM) measurements were used to examine the resistive nature of the contact. The scalability of the measurement itself was also examined. Characterization of the NiSi films for thickness, resistivity and composition were performed. Single crystal silicon solar cells were fabricated and used in temperature stress tests of the degradation of the pseudo-fill factor (pFF) and quantum efficiency (QE) to assess the capabilities of the NiSi diffusion barrier. Best contact resistivities of 7.3e-6 Ohm-cm2 with NiSi only and 4.0e-5 …

Development, Implementation And Pre-Clinical Evaluation Of Medical Image Computing Tools In Support Of Computer-Aided Diagnosis: Respiratory, Orthopedic And Cardiac Applications, Yehuda K. Ben-Zikri

Theses

Over the last decade, image processing tools have become crucial components of all clinical and research efforts involving medical imaging and associated applications. The imaging data available to the radiologists continue to increase their workload, raising the need for efficient identification and visualization of the required image data necessary for clinical assessment.

Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) in medical imaging has evolved in response to the need for techniques that can assist the radiologists to increase throughput while reducing human error and bias without compromising the outcome of the screening, diagnosis or disease assessment. More intelligent, but simple, consistent and less time-consuming …

Maybe Somewhere West, Katie Efstathiou

Theses

Maybe Somewhere West is a photographic installation where a playful landscape is used as a stage to questioned how the naming of place relates to stereotypes found within the gender binary. Through found materials, photographs, and projections I am examining the interchangeable nature of virtual and material consumption of nature, while omitting any specific locale. The nameless landscape becomes an escape as well as a barrier, displaying the complexities of ingrained gender language. The term “namelessness” describe the unmarked purity of both the landscape and the androgynous self.

Evaluating Public Hearing Testimony In The Context Of A High-Risk Environmental Rulemaking: Does Public Hearing Testimony Provide The Epa With The Information The Agency Requests In Its Proposed Rulemaking?, Deborah Stein

Theses

Does public hearing testimony provide the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the information the agency requests in its proposed rulemaking? In one EPA proposed rulemaking, the agency requests public comment on approximately 140 topics specific to the proposed rulemaking. This analysis examines the testimony from two public hearings to see if the speakers provided any of the information the agency requested. Public hearings are used frequently in our democratic system and can vary substantially. The public hearings associated with a high-risk environmental proposed rulemaking are compared to characteristics that are common to public hearings in general. The public participation characteristics …

Deep Learning For Semantic Video Understanding, Sourabh Kulhare

Theses

The field of computer vision has long strived to extract understanding from images and videos sequences. The recent flood of video data along with massive increments in computing power have provided the perfect environment to generate advanced research to extract intelligence from video data. Video data is ubiquitous, occurring in numerous everyday activities such as surveillance, traffic, movies, sports, etc. This massive amount of video needs to be analyzed and processed efficiently to extract semantic features towards video understanding. Such capabilities could benefit surveillance, video analytics and visually challenged people. While watching a long video, humans have the uncanny ability …

In Vitro Apparent Ruminal Digestibility Of Diets Containing Corn Distillers Grain With Different Quantities Of Crude Fat, David Eldridge Williams

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF David Williams for the Master of Ruminant Nutrition degree in Animal Science, presented on December 12, 2016 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: IN VITRO APPARENT RUMINAL DIGESTIBILITY OF DIETS CONTAINING CORN DISTILLERS GRAIN WITH VARYING LEVELS OF CRUDE FAT MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Rebecca Atkinson
 Four dual-flow continuous fermenters were used in a Latin square design to determine the apparent ruminal digestibility and ruminal characteristics of diets containing dried distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) at various levels of fat content. Fermenters were randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: 1) 40% DDGS containing …

Hegemonic Masculinity And Transphobia, Marilyn Chung

Theses

Transphobia research has focused on predictors and correlations of prejudice toward transgender people. Consistently, male participants have higher transphobic attitudes compared to female participants in various studies. Further, males are overrepresented in crimes against transgender people. However, these studies were correlational and causation cannot be determined. Masculinity researchers outside of psychology have discussed maintenance of masculine privilege as a motivator for oppressive beliefs and actions. Thus, the goal of this study was to provide an experimental study of causes for increased transphobic attitudes in men, based on sociological and gender studies’ research on hegemonic masculinity. To test this, participants were …

Perceptions And Attitudes Of Recruitment Efforts For Undergraduate Enrollment In Southern Illinois University College Of Agricultural Sciences, Lindsay Jo Francis

Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of and improve the recruitment efforts of The College of Agricultural Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. This study surveyed a group of freshmen and first-year transfer students enrolled in the College of Agricultural Sciences (COAS) at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) in the fall of 2016 on why they chose to attend, and what factors were considered when making their choice. 184 students were sent surveys and a total of 62 students completed the survey, giving a response rate of 34%. The instrument contained a 21 item questionnaire, with …

Influence Of Media On Self-Objectification, Body Image, And Rape Myths Acceptance Among College Students, Catarina Durante Bergue Alves

Theses

This study is an investigation of how exposure to different media content influences self-objectification, body image, and rape myths acceptance (RMA) in female college students. The purpose of this study was to further explore the effects of immediate media exposure on body image, self-objectification, and RMA, as well as address the gap in the literature regarding the relationship between these variables (Dakanalis et al., 2015; Fox et al., 2015). One hundred and one students that identified as female were randomly assigned to three experimental conditions using a partially blind design. The students watched a short video pertaining to the condition …

Modeling Naturally Occurring Wildfires Across The Us Using Niche Modeling, Brandon Polk

Theses

Wildfires can cause significant damage to an area by destroying forested and agricultural areas, homes, businesses, and leading to the potential loss of life. Climate change may further increase the frequency of wildfires. Thus, developing a quick, simple, and accurate method for identifying key drivers that cause wildfires and modeling and predicting their occurrence becomes very important and urgent. Various modeling methods have been developed and applied for this purpose. The objective of this study was to identify key drivers and search for an appropriate method for modeling and predicting natural wildfire occurrence for the United States. In this thesis, …

Investigating The Impact Of Spatially-Explicit Sub-Pixel Structural Variation On The Assessment Of Vegetation Structure From Imaging Spectroscopy Data, Wei Yao

Theses

Consistent and scalable estimation of vegetation structural parameters from imaging spectroscopy is essential to remote sensing for ecosystem studies, with applications to a wide range of biophysical assessments. NASA has proposed the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) imaging spectrometer, which measures the radiance between 380-2500 nm in 10 nm contiguous bands with 60 m ground sample distance (GSD), in support of global vegetation assessment. However, because of the large pixel size on the ground, there is uncertainty as to the effects of sub-pixel vegetation structure on observed radiance. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the link between vegetation structure …

Fundoggy: Using Gamification And Social Network Services To Create A Mobile Fundraising Application For Helping Shelter Dogs, Yu Ri Na

Theses

The proliferation of new media is rapidly changing the world of philanthropy and more effective methods of raising funds and developing donor relationships must be sought. Furthermore, today’s trends indicate that the amount of giving by individuals has increased gradually, but the generation gap in donors is increasing.

Fundamentally, this thesis project seeks effective ways to attract young donors and show how to maintain a continuous connection with them by using today’s trending business and marketing buzzwords, “gamification” and “social network services.” Employing a game’s entertainment, problem-solving challenges, interactive experience, and customer loyalty improvement is expected to create significant synergy …

Assembly, David Flynn

Theses

The primary motive for this body of work was to begin an ongoing study and development of traditional craftsmanship in the realm of furniture design. While the resulting body of work is not necessarily about craft, it is certainly a conversation of understanding craft and traditional techniques. I do not consider myself a master of my own craft, though I do believe that a high level of respect should be given to tradition. In other words, before one can undergo the development of a personal perspective regarding design, I believe it is imperative to take the time to build the …

Mdd, What And How: A Motion Graphics Short Film, Yi Zhou

Theses

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a growing mental health problem these days as it creates more social issues and creates problems for families and individuals. However, people still do not know enough about this mental disorder. The purpose of this short motion film is to provide people with a quick and effective introduction to MDD. This film explores a way to deliver essential information in a short amount of time and in a clear way for the audience to understand. It tells a story through the point-of-view of those who have friends or family members suffering from MDD. This story …

Degrees Of Altruism As Dependent Upon Degrees Of Relations, Bobbi Jackson

Theses

In David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature (1738), he asserts that humans act most altruistically toward people in the closest relations to us, e.g., in family or friendship relations, and somewhat less so toward those who are merely in our own ethnic group, of our own nationality, etc., and least altruistically toward people in the most distant relations to us. But, current empirical data appears to indicate vast multitudes of exceptions to Hume's claim. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to determine the cause of this apparent conflict and suggest potential solutions that might allow Hume's theory …

Muscle & Bone, Dusty R. Freund

Theses

“Touch” is a short story set in the U.S., present day. Two young girls simultaneously explore the nature of their relationship while performing sexual acts for an online audience. The story investigates how female identity is defined through sexuality and how that affects interpersonal relationships.

“Muscle & Bone” is the beginning of a novel set in a fictional, rural town called Carrington in Southern Missouri. The story takes place on two timelines: one set in 1950, and the other in 1895. A teenage girl named Caroline is sexually assaulted, and as a result impregnated, and forced to marry her assaulter. …

The Epistemic Status Of Moral Conceptual Truths, Kara D. Boschert

Theses

Evolutionary debunking arguments assume that morality could, conceptually speaking, be about anything. A response to this contention is that there are some moral conceptual truths which counter assertions that we could be in error about basic moral truths. According to proponents of moral conceptual truths, some things, by definition, cannot count as moral. Putative moral conceptual truths, such as “stealing is wrong,” are thought to enjoy a privileged epistemic status because anyone who denies them forfeits their ability to engage in competent moral reasoning. This paper explores whether moral conceptual truths can offer a satisfactory response to the debunkers’ premise …

Automated Quality Assessment Of Printed Objects Using Subjective And Objective Methods Based On Imaging And Machine Learning Techniques., Ritu Basnet

Theses

Estimating the perceived quality of printed patterns is a complex task as quality is subjective. A study was conducted to evaluate how accurately a machine learning method can predict human judgment about printed pattern quality.

The project was executed in two phases: a subjective test to evaluate the printed pattern quality and development of the machine learning classifier-based automated objective model. In the subjective experiment, human observers ranked overall visual quality. Object quality was compared based on a normalized scoring scale. There was a high correlation between subjective evaluation ratings of objects with similar defects. Observers found the contrast of …

Justify This! The Roles Of Epistemic Justification, Tamala L. Endriss

Theses

Since Gettier's (1963) paper, epistemology has exploded with ideas of how to overcome cases where an agent has a justified true belief, and yet, does not have knowledge. Some epistemologists have tried to escape the Gettier Problem by stating knowledge is true belief plus something else, whereby removing justification, which seems to be the key player in Gettier Problems. Still, others suggest that any addition to true belief will cause issues. Timothy Williamson (2000) contends that knowledge is not analyzable. For Williamson, knowledge is the most basic state of mind; it is a factive mental state that cannot be explained …

The Defective Administrative Decision Transformation, منذر فخري الشناق

Theses

This thesis deals with the idea of transformation the defective administrative decision to another lawful decision as one of the means which lets the will of the administration survive, and reduce the administrative decision nullity cases, and its negative effects on the administration and on individuals as well.

This idea means that if the void administrative decision or the voidable one contains the elements of another correct decision, the latter one will be considered as the legal and true decision if it obviously appears that the intention of the administration would tend to the new decision if it had known …

Unwrapping Mri Phase By Using Multi-Echo Technique, Shamma Ali Rashed Ali Al Hassani

Theses

Phase unwrapping is a classic signal processing problem and an unavoidable procedure that can be faced with in a variety of applications which are interested in the phase, such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR), field mapping in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), wavefront distortion measurement of adaptive optics, interferometry, and surface shape measurement. Although phase unwrapping is one of the most challenging tasks in signal processing because of the presence of residues, noise in the data, discontinuities or other phase particularities, there are many successful phase unwrapping techniques and algorithms that have been developed in the last decades. In this thesis, …

Wave Energy Assessment In Southern Central Java Island And Control Method For Maximizing The Captured Power In Wave Energy Converters, Fatima Sultan Ghdayer Ali Alaryani

Theses

This thesis discusses the wave energy potential of the Indian Ocean on the south coast of Central Java Island, where no previous known similar study has been conducted. A control technique that involves a dynamic electrical model was established. The following objectives were achieved. The first was to determine the ideal location to implement wave energy conversion (WEC), and the second objective was to simulate the significant wave height by using the novel control method.

To achieve these goals, the following steps and procedures were implemented. Wave energy assessment was conducted for the Indian Ocean on the south coast of …

An Immersive Learning Model, Shamsa Abdulla Salem Al Mazrouei

Theses

Our overarching goal is to provide children with immersive game-based learning environments to support Arabic linguistic skills acquisition. We postulate that immersion in- creases learning. To investigate this hypothesis, we developed a model and built an implementation of an educational virtual environment (EVE) that supports immersion and thus, induces effective learning. Experimental results confirm our hypothesis.

Our model integrates learning content, learning activities, immersion and gameplay. Based on our analysis of various curricula, specifically the United Arab Emirates grade one curriculum, we identified the nature of the learning content in order to satisfy the curriculum requirements. This content is conceptually …

Situating African American Muslim Slave Narratives In American Literature, Muna Sulaiman Nasser Al Badaai

Theses

Slave narrative as a genre became popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and narratives of enslaved African American Muslims originate between 1734 and 1873. Examples of enslaved African American Muslims are Ayyub ben Suleiman (Job ben Solomon), Omar ibn Said, Abdr-Rahman Ibrahim, Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua, Lamine Kebe, Mohammad Ali ben Said (Nicolas Said) and Bilali Muhammad (Ben Ali). Their narratives are not anthologized. This dissertation explores Muslim and non-Muslim African American slave narratives from a comparative perspective. It proposes the inclusion of African American Muslim slave narratives in American literature.

Chapter one reviews critical approaches to canonization and discusses …

Bandgap Reference Design At The 14-Nanometer Finfet Node, Lucas J. Prilenski

Theses

As supply voltages continue to decrease, it becomes harder to ensure that the voltage drop across a diode-connected BJT is sufficient to conduct current without sacrificing die area. One such solution to this potential problem is the diode-connected MOSFET operating in weak inversion. In addition to conducting appreciable current at voltages significantly lower than the power supply, the diode-connected MOSFET reduces the total area for the bandgap implementation. Reference voltage variations across Monte Carlo perturbations are more pronounced as the variation of process parameters are exponentially affected in subthreshold conduction. In order for this proposed solution to be feasible, a …

Revitalizing Low Income Communities Using Carbon Neutral Buildings, Charles Rau

Theses

Rochester New York, a city which thrived on manufacturing in the 1900’s, has declined over the years. The impacts of the economic down turn, suburbanization, and the highway system impeding pedestrian access to downtown Rochester, all took their toll on the city’s once vibrant urban fabric which has now deteriorated into surface parking and buildings in disrepair. The city of Rochester has started a conscious effort to rebuild its downtown which brings with it an increased population. This increased population begins to strain an already struggling municipality and city thus spreading the services provided by the municipality thin; causing yet …

Automatic Video Captioning Using Deep Neural Network, Thang Huy Nguyen

Theses

Video understanding has become increasingly important as surveillance, social, and informational videos weave themselves into our everyday lives. Video captioning offers a simple way to summarize, index, and search the data. Most video captioning models utilize a video encoder and captioning decoder framework. Hierarchical encoders can abstractly capture clip level temporal features to represent a video, but the clips are at fixed time steps. This thesis research introduces two models: a hierarchical model with steered captioning, and a Multi-stream Hierarchical Boundary model. The steered captioning model is the first attention model to smartly guide an attention model to appropriate locations …

Mobile Big Data Analytics In Healthcare, Alramzana Nujum Navaz

Theses

Mobile and ubiquitous devices are everywhere around us generating considerable amount of data. The concept of mobile computing and analytics is expanding due to the fact that we are using mobile devices day in and out without even realizing it. These mobile devices use Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or mobile data to be intermittently connected to the world, generating, sending and receiving data on the move. Latest mobile applications incorporating graphics, video and audio are main causes of loading the mobile devices by consuming battery, memory and processing power. Mobile Big data analytics includes for instance, big health data, big location data, …