Digital Commons Network^™

Cost Saving Proposal For Dubai Main Wastewater Pumping Stations, Mohammad Mansoor, Khaled Alhosani

Theses

A city that is free of hazardous chemical and pollution is a city with safe and healthy population. Keeping a city such as Dubai safe and healthy is a never ending task with too many stakeholders and too many variables. Examples are reducing carbon footprint, timely trash disposal, wastewater management, and the list goes on. Wastewater management is one of the most important and essential requirement for keeping the city and its people safe and healthy. There is an existing sewerage system that the emirate of Dubai continues to heavily rely on. The network includes the pipelines, the wastewater pump …

Social Media Influencer Motivation: Exploring What Drives Micro-Celebrities To Produce Content Using Social Exchange Theory, Jennie Giardino

Theses

Social media influencers are online celebrities who have the power to shape the opinions of audience members due to their relatable qualities. Influencer sponsorships have changed the nature of social media platforms and the strategy by which the content is posted. But besides the potential to be sponsored, why do influencers post content? The purpose of this study was to understand what motivates influencers to post content through the lens of social exchange theory by identifying resources exchanged between the social media influencer and the audience and explain how this affects their motivation to post content. I interviewed 15 lifestyle …

Unforeseen Connections, Miranda Mattson

Theses

Using floriography within my own work, I captured the essence of human emotion and used its familiarity to bring mental health issues to the foreground of conversation. The parallels of hidden emotion and social discordance between the Victorian era and the 21st Century inspired my introspective research into "invisible" illnesses: health issues that affect both the mind and the body, respectively. Utilizing knowledge in mixed media, as well as traditional metalsmithing techniques, these ideas manifested into a series of wearable art and sculpture with the intention of prompting in-depth discussions on mental health stigmas. Without compromising the ambiguity of floriography, …

The Effects Of A Value-Affirmation Writing Exercise On Stress And Craving For Nicotine In Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Users, Justin Bell

Theses

Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) have become an increasingly popular choice to ingest nicotine, especially among adolescents. It is assumed that with a rise of ENDS usage, more people will be looking for strategies to help quit the devices. As previous research has revealed the efficacy of stress reduction interventions to aid in the cessation of nicotine, a stress reducing writing intervention based in self-affirmation, value affirmation, was evaluated for its ability to reduce anxiety and craving for nicotine in individuals using ENDS. Nicotine dependent participants (N = 92) using ENDS were randomly assigned to complete either a value affirmation …

Exploring The Impact Of Legalization Of Recreational Marijuana On Adolescent Drug Use, Camila Camps

Theses

This paper provides an overview of the history of America’s war against drugs and the impact that this figurative war has had on American society. It is clear that the war on drugs has disproportionately harmed racial/ethnic minorities. Punitive policies currently in place have diverted resources away from the social and economic growth of these communities. This is why there is a movement towards working to reform drug laws in order to address the country's drug crisis. The final section includes recommendations that can improve our current response against marijuana.

Beneath The Bandage: The Impact Of Violence On Individuals And Communities, Jessica Burt

Theses

Violence is an issue nationally and locally within the City of Rochester. It is one of the most complex issues that society faces and attempts to resolve. However, despite many efforts to combat violence, it persists. Research shows that since the early 2000’s, there have been fluctuations in the number of homicides and shootings in Rochester, but long-term analyses on the level of violence show that it has remained relatively stable over time (Altheimer et al., 2017). Although stable, there is a concentration of violence and many individuals, communities, and institutions are affected by it. This paper will discuss violence …

A Mobile App That Helps Asthmatic Patients Monitor Air Quality In Real Time, Jiani Su

Theses

Asthma is a chronic disease that cannot be cured. Every attack of asthma is a physical and mental destruction to patients, bringing pain and economic burden to patients, and seriously affecting the quality of life and happiness index of patients. But the vast majority of asthma cases can be completely controlled with appropriate treatment and intervention. Investigations at home and abroad have found that the self-health management level of asthma patients is still at a relatively low level, and more than half of asthma patients are in a state of out-of-control.

Currently, there is no online software that can effectively …

Design For Wearable Panic Aid Device, Allison Treacy

Theses

Research shows that millions of people in the United States suffer from panic disorder and/or regular panic attacks each year. On average, women are twice as likely to suffer from panic attacks and anxiety than men are. Panic attacks can be frightening, intense, and uncontrollable, and the current solutions for panic attacks often involve extensive Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or long-term medication. The market lacks discreet and tangible products that help diminish the symptoms of a panic attack, once it has already begun. By using an external wearable device, the user can quickly access the help they need to regain control …

Personal Cognitive Assistive Robot For Alzheimer’S Disease Patients’ Practicing Of Covid-19 Hygiene Measures, Jeehoon Yu

Theses

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some home-based family caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients became full-time caregivers with little or no help from medical facilities and services due to the risk of viral infection. The challenge that the new full-time family caregivers experience is not only caring for their loved one's daily routines, they also have to protect them from the infection since the weakened health condition and the dementia-related behaviors make AD patients vulnerable to the infection (Alzheimer's Association, n.d.).

To help the new full-time family caregivers to reduce their burden of preventing their loved ones from the infection, this …

Basic Police Officer Training In The U.S., Bryan Cammerino

Theses

Policing in America has grown to become a topic of paramount interest within society today. This interest has included increased attention to the role that the police play within local communities. Gaining a greater understanding of where policing started, how it has evolved, and where it is today can help us better understand the importance of police officer training. Focusing on Americas policing eras and various policing models will establish a precedent to explain why policing is the way it is today. This paper will then be able to pinpoint various current events that make the history of policing come …

A Comprehensive Feasibility Study For A Wooden Plastic Composite Project, Rami Kamal Ibrahim Elgharouri

Theses

Millions of tons of wastage are produced every year ending up in landfills or burn and causing an environmental problem as they threaten the health of creatures and cause resources depletion. 44% of wastage is organic waste, which is biodegradable. However, 17% and 12% of wastage are paper and plastic respectively, and both are non-degradable. Thus, the comprehensive solution is to recycle them. A suggested solution is to recycle them into wood plastic composite. Up to 90% of WPC raw material is a recycled material, and the final product is 100% recyclable. WPC is comparatively less energy-consuming than other substitute …

Assembly And Annotation Of The Genome Of An Invasive Bush Honeysuckle, Amur Honeysuckle (Lonicera Maackii), Erin R. Kesel

Theses

Invasive species are a global problem that cause significant environmental and economic damage. It has been estimated that the cost of invasive species in the United States is at least 120 billion dollars annually. Lonicera maackii, commonly known as Amur honeysuckle, is an invasive shrub found in New York State. In invaded regions, L. maackii has caused decreased species richness of native plant and animal species. It has also negatively affected the native migratory bird populations that eat the plant’s berries. Currently, there is no available genomic sequence for any Lonicera species. With next generation sequencing, new information can be …

Facilitating Serendipitous Communication, Interaction And Collaborative Flow In Mixed Realities While Working Remote., George Deacon Theodore Harvey

Theses

Working remotely can often lead to fatigue and stress which in turn reduces productivity. The author will explore the concept that with proper communication, environments that promote serendipitous meeting and effective collaboration, can result in happier workers. The author will also explore how speculative design can improve remote work and provide vision for future work scenarios. This concept will focus on the development of interaction design for use with mixed realities, 3D capture systems and mid-air haptic technology to create a seamless and engaging remote working environment.

This paper will show how work culture and communication can affect mental health …

Examining The Associations Between Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status And The Potential Distribution Of Four Urban Ecosystem Services In Rochester, Ny, Joshua Greene

Theses

As populations and the total area of impervious surfaces continue to grow in cities, city planners and policymakers must consider how local ecological resources can be utilized to meet the needs and develop climate-resilient and sustainable cities. Urban green spaces (UGS) have been identified as critical resources in improving the climate resiliency of cities and the quality of life for residents through the urban ecosystem services (UES) that they provide. However, certain communities within cities do not have uniform access to these UGS, and this may be due to historical legacies (i.e. redlining) and/or contemporary practices (i.e. urban planning). Therefore, …

The Racked System: A Historically Based Interactive Roleplaying Experience, Will Truran

Theses

“History repeats itself” is a saying we are all too familiar with, but why is that true? As we look at our modern society we can see that pain persists and hate crimes are on the rise, particularly those of antisemitism and those holding anti-Asian ideologies. The Racked System aims to address this by introducing a new method of learning about our past so that we can apply its lessons to our future. Classroom settings require students to memorize dates and data that often capture hard to comprehend facts, like that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust. It …

Human Augmentation: A System Engineering Conceptual Framework, Hazel Colleen R. Gamboa

Theses

In today’s literature, there is not one clear definition for ‘Human Augmentation’ and quite often, it is used interchangeably with the term ‘Human Enhancement’. Human enhancement is a field that has relatively more research and has a broader definition that encompasses both invasive and non-invasive procedures aimed at restoring or enhancing the capabilities of the human body. Medicine, implants, genetic engineering – there are some examples of procedures attributed to human enhancement. On the other hand, the word ‘augment’ is defined as the addition or making something better; this research will focus and narrow down the definition of Human Augmentation …

Evaluation Of Chili Pepper (Capsicum Annuum), Tiger Nuts (Cyperus Esculentus), And Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) As Sources Of Antioxidant Compounds For The Potential Of Antiaging-Like Activity, Chelsea Toyer

Theses

Aging is a natural process that living organisms go through as they become older. In humans and other animals, aging is accompanied by several morphological changes, including the formation of wrinkles. Wrinkles are also caused by various environmental factors such as excessive exposure to sun or pollution, and continuous sleep deprivation. These environmental factors cause oxidation of skin cells and the degradation of subcutaneous fatty acids, leading to the formation of wrinkles. Skin care and wrinkle treatment products are part of a multimillion-dollar industry. Plant-based products are an alternative method for treating wrinkles and premature aging. Several antioxidants naturally found …

What Is Depression?, Megan Wade

Theses

“What is Depression?” is a book design that investigates how simple graphical forms can be used to communicate a complex idea. It explores the principles and elements of design and how they can be abstracted to illustrate emotions, and it experiments with pushing the boundaries of what educational book pages can look like. Education regarding complicated subject matters such as depression are frequently overlooked or misunderstood within our society. People who are not affected by depression have a difficult time understanding what it feels like to suffer with the symptoms and emotions of the disease. This thesis investigates how to …

Data Analytics Methods In Preventing Smuggling Drugs, Hessa Abdulla Almarri

Theses

For the final requirements of (MS) of Data Analytics, we have to work on a capstone project as a graduate student. In the capstone project, we have to implement the data mining techniques we have learned during the program. This capstone project focuses on illicit drugs smuggling, where drugs have a massive negative effect on the countries and individuals. Data mining techniques have been applied to the drug smuggling dataset that has been captured worldwide. The data mining approach used in this capstone project is an unsupervised approach focusing on clustering. Three types of clustering models have been used: k-means, …

Complexion, Jordan Funk

Theses

Polaroids are made up of several microscopic layers that come together to form an image. Complexion investigates the ties between this structure and the way that our skin functions. Being diagnosed with eczema as an infant, I have always been hyper-aware of how my emotional stress aggravates my eczema. Complexion depicts how my emotional state alters my skin and warps my experience of reality. Similarly, my imagery undergoes a metamorphosis and influences the chemical changes I create within the Polaroid’s white border. I scan at a high resolution, crop, and reprint the Polaroids at a larger scale. The high-quality scanning …

Volume-Based Estimates Of Left Ventricular Blood Pool Volume And Ejection Fraction From Multi-Plane 2d Ultrasound Images, Dawei Liu

Theses

Accurate estimations of left ventricular (LV) blood pool volume and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are crucial for the clinical diagnosis of cardiac disease, patient management, or other therapeutic treatment decisions, especially given a patient’s LVEF often affects his or her candidacy for cardiovascular intervention. Ultrasound (US) imaging is the most common and least expensive imaging modalities used to non-invasively image the heart to estimate the LV blood pool volume and assess LVEF. Despite advances in 3D US imaging, 2D US images are routinely used by cardiologists to image the heart and their interpretation is inherently based on the 2D …

Quantifying The Risk Of Hospital Readmissions: A Data Analysis And Predictive Modeling Approach, Jigar Adhiya

Theses

Despite several improvements in various domains of healthcare systems, the inability to reduce patients’ readmission rates is still a major problem faced by healthcare providers. It is extremely important to reduce the probability of readmissions because these not only increase the burden of healthcare costs on the patient but also expose them to prolonged psychological stress (e.g., trauma, pain, and discomfort due to altered physical functions) and healthcare-associated infections. Readmissions basically lead to the use of healthcare resources by the same person twice instead of being utilized by another patient. Furthermore, the readmission rate is used as a potential measure …

Edible Negros, Unique Fair-Smith

Theses

Edible Negros is an exploration of western consumerism and its impact on African-Americans. The thesis grapples with the oppression African-Americans have systematically experienced within capitalist and consumerist society and our collective struggles toward liberation.

This analysis goes further to study the western world's consumption of the black body, how African-Americans have been abused as a commodity; and as an overall examination of the western world's dependence on both the metaphorical and literal consumption of our bodies through labor exploitation, physical mutilation, and cannibalism.

Furthermore, the investigation encompasses how the perception and value of African-American lives has transitioned. This includes a …

Safeskin: A Blockchain System Of Products’ Lifespan Development To Help The User Find Safer Products, Ru Li

Theses

Due to the escalating demand for cosmetics skincare products and a growing number of beauty products putting people’s health at risk by counterfeits or using chemical ingredients in order to give a better skincare result, people start to have more concerns about the quality of cosmetics and skincare products. Today, many companies strive to make the transparency of the ingredients by labeling on the packaging and knowledge their customers about the benefits of the ingredients they are using. However, the consumers unable to find out how does the product being produced by the original company, and being transferred to the …

Characterization Of Biochar Produced By Pyrolysis Of Biomass And Co-Pyrolysis Of Biomass And Agricultural Mulch Film, Ibrahim Cisse

Theses

Agricultural wastes can be valuable materials because they are generated in large quantities all over the world and contain a variety of feedstocks. These feedstocks include dairy manure, food wastes, solid wastes and plastics. Current waste management techniques include landfilling and incineration, both leading to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. However, alternative methods such as pyrolysis can present more sustainable pathways by transforming mixed wastes from the agricultural sector into value-added products such as biochar, bio-oil and syngas. Limited published literature has focused on producing biochar derived from co-pyrolysis of agricultural wastes with plastic wastes such as agricultural mulch …

Predicting The Required Demand Flow To A Customer, Thani Almansoori

Theses

Yearly District Cooling Company (DCC) needs to upgrade the plants to meet customer requirements. Moreover, this project will help the company to find when the demand load of flow will reach above the plant's installed capacity and how much increase is expected. So, the dataset was provided by the company for previous years. By applying ML and Arima, KNN, and SVM algorithms, it was found that the best result was the KNN algorithm with an accuracy of 94%, and the maximum flow load will be reached in summer of upcoming years. Hence, the company needs to take further action to …

The “New Normal”: A Virtual Insight From Industry Professionals On Pivoting Within The Digital Ecosystem During A Global Pandemic., Delina Corcione

Theses

This project is over industry professionals within a relative field of Digital Content Strategy, and their professional experiences as it relates to the global pandemic that hit the United States in 2020. This virus (COVID-19) has boosted us into a predominantly digital world, with little analysis on how society is to handle or adapt. The final deliverable is short documentary offering insight on industry professionals within the field of study. The “New Normal” takes a unique approach on analyzing the state of the field as it relates to the pandemic, focusing on the personal experiences these industry professionals went through …

Daylighting In Supermarket Retrofits To Improve Social & Economic Features, Kaytlyn Johnson

Theses

Supermarkets are capable of retrofits with remodeling expansions using existing infrastructure. However, most are not sustainable. The application of daylighting offers these reuse projects three equally significant benefits. First, the daylighting system enhances the shopper’s experience. Second, it offers the supermarket reduced economic costs. Third, this technique enhances environmental benefits by reducing energy loads. Because this case study is in Rochester, New York both the local climate and visiting hours of the buildings factor into the daylight design practices. The objective of the thesis is to propose a re-design of an existing supermarket by testing the light quality with Illuminance …

Mindful Consumption, Hind Ali Almualla

Theses

This study explores the impact of human behaviour on spaceship earth. It also explores the possibilities systems thinking offers to address complex problems such as climate change by influencing human behaviour. This study hypothesizes that the level of information the consumer knows about the ecological footprint of a product has an impact on his purchasing decisions in favour of the environment. The hypothesis was tested by running an experiment on an online shopping experience. Fourteen respondents completed the two phases of the experiment and answered two questionnaires. They were followed by 4 in-depth interviews. The analysis measured if there is …

Sustainable Packaging Design For Online Order Delivery, Fong-Yun Su

Theses

Due to the rising demands of package delivery, packaging for online orders has been produced rapidly in recent years. It includes plastic waste, paperboard waste, and energy waste. These wastes negatively impact the surrounding environment, natural creatures, and even human health. In this paper, a sustainable packaging design for online orders is explored that can not only help ecological systems on this planet, but also benefit the online retailers with a better package life cycle. This project is aimed to design a new packaging solution with adjustable and reusable features, which reduces packaging waste and provides a better package life …