Digital Commons Network^™

Sensitivity Enhancement Of Metal-Oxide Chemical Sensors For Detection Of Volatile Organic Compounds, John F. Hughes

Theses

Metal-oxide chemical sensor technology has been praised as a cheap and efficient method of detecting both reducing and oxidizing gases depending on the metal-oxide’s carrier type. The research conducted in this thesis explored methods of enhancing the sensitivity of an n-type metal-oxide material (indium tin oxide, ITO) to a volatile organic compound (VOC) through changes in both device and testing characteristics. Two methods of testing prototype sensors were developed which consisted of short and long-term exposure to ethanol at different temperatures and concentrations. Maximum sensitivity at 2000 ppm was achieved in devices with thin, annealed metal-oxide layers with a high …

Comparing Economic, Environmental, And Social Effects Of Central Air Conditioner Size And Thermostat Schedule Interactions, Briana Elizabeth Amoroso

Theses

Selecting the capacity of a central air conditioning (AC) system is based on a long list of structural factors within a home, but is normally chosen without considering effects on stakeholders outside of the home. Energy use by residential air conditioners is relevant to consumers as an expense, but also to utilities as a contributor to peak demand and to society by the resultant carbon dioxide and other emissions. In this article, we investigate how size and operational patterns of central residential air conditioners interact with stakeholder benefits and costs. The case study analyzes energy use for systems sized from …

Factors Influencing Snap Benefit Acceptance Program Utilization Rates At Farmers Markets, Nicole Howley

Theses

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) run under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service is the largest program aimed at addressing food access and hunger in the country. Since the conversion of benefit provision from physical "stamps" to Electronic Benefit Transfer cards (EBT cards), tracking and administering of benefits has become more efficient, but the change has also placed limits on farmers’ and farmers markets’ ability to accept these benefits as payment in exchange for affordable and nutritious food products. Within the past few decades, the federal government, states, cities, and farmers markets across the …

An Evaluation Case Study Investigating The Use Of Haptic Ultrasound Training Devices To Help Clinical Measurement Science Students Conceptualise Diagnostic Ultrasound, Jacinta Browne

Theses

The aim of this project was to investigate the use of a haptic ultrasound training device as a training aid to improve students’ learning, competency and confidence, in the conceptually and technically challenging area of diagnostic ultrasound imaging. The research question was investigated through the use of an evaluative case study using a mixed methods approach, with each method converging to ensure triangulation. The quantitative evaluations of the Multiple Choice Questions, psychometric manipulation test and direct observation of ultrasound scanning manipulation, demonstrated improvements of 12%, 29% and 94%, respectively between pre- and post-training performance. The qualitative evaluation of students’ confidence …

O’Whahsa’ - Protection, Comfort And Healing, Leah Shenandoah

Theses

Leah Shenandoah is an Oneida Nation multimedia artist, musician and scholar who conveys the concepts of protection, comfort and healing through music, sculpture, jewelry and fashion. On May 6, 2011, "O'whahsa'" which translates to "hood" in the Onya'ta:aka Oneida language, was presented at the Hungerford Building in Rochester, NY. Over 250 attendees witnessed a transcendental space consisting of: five sculptures made of fabric stretched over a welded steel rod armature-painted in a vibrant and impressionistic fashion; five sets of clothing and jewelry worn by Shenandoah and four dancers; smoke, fog, multi-colored lights and a 45-minute set of original songs written …

Optimizing The Operation Of Bulk Energy Storage Devices To Find The Trade-Offs Between Revenue And Co2 Emissions., Laura M. Arciniegas

Theses

The purpose of this research is to encourage policy makers to craft policies that support environmentally sound design practices while integrating bulk energy storage into the electricity grid. Bulk energy storage technology can regulate electricity coming into the grid from different energy sources. Grid flexibility is a powerful tool to empower the clean energy movement because it enables the integration of renewable energy into the electrical grid. However, storage technology has the potential to become another one of the many “tragedy of commons”, considering that there are no regulations forcing storage companies to pursue environmental-friendly operation. Bulk energy storage devices …

Awareness And Effectiveness Of Corporate Blogging In Companies In Kosovo, Fjoralba Krapi

Theses

The emergence of blogs as new marketing, communication and informative tool has led companies around the world to use them as an important part of their marketing strategy. It is important to note that very little research has been done on the extent of influence that blogs have for companies, and no research has been done in Kosovo regarding blogging or specifically corporate blogging. This thesis investigates how some companies in Kosovo do marketing, whether they are aware of corporate blogging, and what their future plans propose. Results suggest that using blogs as a tool in the marketing mix can …

Headstrong: Concussion Reduction Using Biomimicry, David Evenski

Theses

The objective of this project is to address the concern of traumatic brain injuries, which include concussions, by designing a product to better protect the head from damage upon impact. Concussions impact the quality of life for those who suffer one (or many), both in the short-term and long-term phases of their life. Current protective equipment on the market fall short of addressing the urgent need for higher quality and reliable headwear to reduce brain injury. Recently, high tech solutions for football helmets are under development, due to the public exposure of the risks and long-term disabilities that can evolve …

Deep Liquid State Machines With Neural Plasticity And On-Device Learning, Nicholas M. Soures

Theses

The Liquid State Machine (LSM) is a recurrent spiking neural network designed for efficient processing of spatio-temporal streams of information. LSMs have several inbuilt features such as robustness, fast training and inference speed, generalizability, continual learning (no catastrophic forgetting), and energy efficiency. These features make LSM’s an ideal network for deploying intelligence on-device.

In general, single LSMs are unable to solve complex real-world tasks. Recent literature has shown emergence of hierarchical architectures to support temporal information processing over different time scales. However, these approaches do not typically investigate the optimum topology for communication between layers in the hierarchical network, or …

Profiling The Neurovascular Cell Interactions In Alcohol Exposure And Hiv-1 Infection, Agnieszka Agas

Theses

Alcohol use is known to exacerbate the progression of human immunodeficiency virus associated acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or HIV/AIDS in the brain, known as the NeuroAIDS. The mechanisms of this accelerated progression are still poorly understood. The purpose of my thesis is to review the parameters contributing to the co-morbid effects of alcohol in the progression of NeuroAIDS. The first aim will evaluate the exacerbating effects of alcohol on HIV-1 transmission, infection, and the role of metabolic energy imbalance during NeuroAIDS progression, which will enable me to formulate the possible mechanism for NeuroAIDS progression. The second aim will help me establish …

Rca: Use And Future Possibilities, Bushra Marium Islam

Theses

Reuse and recycling of concrete is essential for construction purposes. There has been progressive development in construction projects but at the same time it has an inverse effect on the environment. Concrete structures are built and demolished continuously all over the world, generating tons of waste materials which are actually reusable in concrete production itself. This paper emphasis on recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) and many characteristics of RCA. This paper studies RCA’s different properties. RCA’s replacement in the place of natural aggregate is discussed. The proper amount and researches done on RCA improvement have also been discussed for further in …

Power Dissipation And Power Correlations For A Retreatblade Impeller Under Different Baffling Conditions, Chadakarn Sirasitthichoke

Theses

Glass-lined stirred reactors and tanks are commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry because of their corrosion resistance, ease of cleanliness and minimization of product contamination. Most industrial glass-lined tank reactors are provided with a torispherical tank bottom and a retreat curve impeller with low impeller clearance from the vessel bottom. The power, P, dissipated by the impeller is a critical process parameter to mixing processes to achieve the desired mixing effect, especially since the power per unit volume, P/V, directly controls mass transfer processes and other mixing phenomena. However, little information has been published about the power dissipation and the …

Smart Polymeric Temperature Sensors – For Biological Systems, Greenee Anilkumar Sinha

Theses

The damaged brain is vulnerable to increase in brain temperature after a severe head injury. Continuous monitoring of intracranial temperature depicts functionality essential to the treatment of brain injury Many innovations have been made in the biomedical industry relying on electronic implants in treating condition such as traumatic brain injury (TBI) or other cerebral diseases. Hence, a methodical and reliable way to measure the temperature is crucial to assess the patient’s situation. In this investigation, an analysis of various approaches to detect the change in the temperature due to resistance, current-voltage characteristics with respect to time has been evaluated. Also, …

Investigation Of Nh3 And No Adsorption Over Cu/Sapo-34 And Cu/Aloo3 Catalysts For Nh3–Scr System, Basil Rawah

Theses

In this study, Copper supported on SAPO-34 molecular sieves or alumina is prepared via an incipient wetness impregnation method for ammonia selective catalytic reduction (NH₃-SCR). These NH₃-SCR catalysts are characterized by pulse chemisorption, temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) with three different conditions (NH₃, NO, combined NH₃-NO) to evaluate the adsorption of ammonia and nitric oxide. Cu/SAPO-34 catalyst has shown higher ammonia adsorption capacity compared to Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The Cu/SAPO-34 adsorption is enhanced due to the strong acidity and high surface area of SAPO-34 molecular sieves. NO adsorption …

The Effectiveness Of Social Assistance Scheme In Kosovo, Jehona Karavidaj

Theses

Social Assistance Schemes are part of social protection systems that aim poverty alleviation. Social assistance benefits are designed with the purpose of providing the poor with minimum standards of living as means to escape from poverty. Different countries have implemented different provisions regarding the amount of social assistance benefits, the eligibility criteria, as well as the types of cash and in-kind benefits provided as part of social assistance schemes. These differences have been based on the conditions and instruments each country has used to target the marginalized groups.

The development of social protection schemes in Kosovo has started in the …

Barriers To Small And Medium Enterprises In Kosovo, Art Raifi

Theses

The aim of this research project is to identify the major barriers which restrict the growth of the SME sector in Kosovo. First, the impact of SMEs in a countries economy is established – which is then compared against two countries from different economic categories – the United Kingdom and Kosovo. Second, in accordance with primary and secondary data, the major barriers are identified and thoroughly discussed. Lastly, based on the findings, recommendations have been developed. The methods used to acquire data include: surveys, in-depth interviews and the use of secondary sources.

The Influence Of Ethnocentrism In Food Neophobic Students, Ana Carolina Jurza Rios

Theses

Economic and social changes occurring after Croatia´s entrance to European Union require a more intense research on consumers´ openness to a new and globalized market. A concept known as Consumer Ethnocentrism, when consumers prefer buying domestic rather than foreign products because is detrimental to national economy, is strongly present in post-war markets in the West Balkans. Another phenomenon related to peoples´ fear of trying new or unknown food, called Food Neophobia, has been under study in America and in some European countries. Despite the long list of articles focusing their attention on Consumer Ethnocentrism in the Balkans, none research has …

Bill Owens: A Us Craft Beer Pioneer, 1982-2001, Patrick Walls

Theses

Bill Owens is a pioneer in the United States craft brewing industry through his efforts as an advocate, writer, publisher, brewer, and entrepreneur who created a lasting legacy by influencing generations of brewers and beer fans. Owens wrote the first book on homebrewing equipment (How to Build a Small Brewery: Draft Beer in Ten Days in 1982). He opened the third brewpub in the country (Buffalo Bill's Brewery in Hayward, California in 1983) where, in 1985, he introduced the first commercial pumpkin beer among other beer style firsts. Owens published numerous brewery-focused magazines that featured many illustrious beer writers. …

The Effect Of Watershed Runoff And Sediment Resuspension On Turbidity And Sediment Deposition In St. John, Us Virgin Islands: Implications For Watershed And Marine Development And Restoration In Bays With Coral Reefs, Stephen E. Campbell

Theses

In the US Virgin Islands (USVI), land-based (terrigenous) sedimentation has been identified as a major cause of coral stress. Development, such as the building of unpaved roads in steep coastal watersheds, has increased sediment yields and marine terrigenous sedimentation by up to an order of magnitude above background levels. When activated during storm events, ephemeral streams transport sediment from the watershed to coastal waters. Once deposited on the seafloor, resuspension of benthic sediments can further increase turbidity and deposition. However, isolating the relative contributions of runoff and resuspension to turbidity and deposition using conventional sediment trap monitoring has been challenging. …

Automatic Assessment Of Medication States Of Patients With Parkinson’S Disease Using Wearable Sensors, Murtadha Dawood Hssayeni

Theses

Motor fluctuations are a major focus of clinical managements in patients with mid-stage and advance Parkinson's disease (PD). In this thesis, an automated algorithm is developed to identify those fluctuations (i.e., medication OFF and ON) using wearable sensors while PD patients are engaging in a variety of daily living activities. Four different methods are proposed which are supervised learning using Support Vector machine (SVM) with fuzzy classification, semi-supervised learning using k-means or using Self-organizing Tree Map Algorithm (SOTM) with fuzzy classification, and supervised classification using Long short-term memory (LSTM) as a deep learning method.

A set of temporal and spectral …

Entry-Level Employees’ Views Of The Skills Gap In Digital Marketing, Anita Raghuraman

Theses

This study examines which competencies are most necessary for entry-level employees in digital marketing from the perspective of employees with 0-3 years of experience. Qualitative methods were used to conduct in-depth interviews with 12 recent graduates with 0 to 3 years of industry experience in digital marketing. Transcriptions of audio recordings were organized into individual data units. These were thematically analyzed with a grounded theory framework resulting in six main themes about the most valued competencies, as well as six subthemes. Findings suggest that in the field of digital marketing, verbal and non-verbal communication skills such as interpersonal communication, public …

The Modernized Keyboard: Improving The Musician’S Experience Through User-Centered Design, Andrew James Magee

Theses

In 2016, a major part of being a gigging musician is traveling with your instrument.

For musicians with smaller instruments, such as the harmonica, traveling is no problem. Simply place it in your pocket and you are good to go anywhere with musical creation at your fingertips.

Medium-sized instruments, like the guitar, are somewhat of a hassle to travel with due to their size, but are also typically lightweight, so the traveling still somewhat tolerable.

But for musicians with large and heavy instruments, such as drums or a digital keyboard, traveling can be a nightmare. 

My thesis explores the full …

Characterization Of Optimized Si-Mosfets For Terahertz Detection, Jack D. Horowitz

Theses

Research into components needed to utilize the THz region of the electromagnetic spectrum has recently gained more attention due to advances in semiconductor technology and materials science. These advances have led to the desire of create CMOS focal plane arrays (FPA) for THz imaging in a range of applications such as astronomy, security, earth science, industry, and communications. Si-MOSFETs are being investigated as the sensing node in THz FPAs due to their ability to detect THz and their ease of integration into the CMOS process facilitating the fabrication of large format arrays. To investigate the performance of devices fabricated at …

The Real Face Of Arabic Symbols, Leena Yahya Sonbuol

Theses

This is a brief insight into my thesis: "The Real Face of Arabic Symbols". I have examined in depth the artwork I completed for my Masters of Fine Arts degree at Rochester Institute of Technology, the work for which was exhibited in the Bevier Gallery for two weeks during March 2017.

The aim of this study is to explore differences in symbolic language between the Eastern and Western cultures in visual arts and explain the misconception of Arabic symbols in the western world. It examines Arabic cultural symbols in contemporary art, and the creation of a symbolic language for a …

Welcome Home Rochester: Guiding Refugees Through Life In America, Michael Kelly

Theses

Rochester, NY is the third-largest city in New York State, situated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, with a population of 210,565. Rochester is also the third largest city—after Buffalo and Syracuse—in terms of refugee resettlement. In 2016, US government resettlement and secondary migration brought 850 new refugees here. In 2017, that number is expected to pass 1,000., When refugees are resettled in the United States, the first three months of casework and assistance are provided by a federally-funded resettlement organization. After these months, however, refugees are removed from the resettlement service’s caseload. In Rochester, it is at this …

Flux Guard: An Exploration Of Situational Rigidity, Nicholas Miclette

Theses

In 2014 there was an estimated 15 million snowboarders worldwide. Like many extreme sports there is always the possibility of injury. Extensive research has shown snowboarders sustain more wrist injuries than any other sport in the world. In particular beginner or novice snowboarders are the most susceptible to injury and often times wear no protective gear when first learning. Although there has been research into the efficacy of upper extremity protection in snowboarding, a universal standard has yet to be developed to judge current wrist protection. Due to this fact my thesis explores innovative ways to reinvent the wrist guard …

Validation Of A Method To Estimate Skin Spectral Reflectance Using A Digital Camera., Christopher Thorstenson

Theses

The accurate measurement of skin color and skin spectral reflectance is becoming increasingly desirable due to its application across several domains, including medical, cosmetics, graphic arts, automation, and social science fields. While there exist robust ways to accurately measure color and spectral reflectance, these methods typically require the use of specialized instruments which are often expensive, invasive, and require expert training. Therefore, it would clearly be advantageous to develop methods that can extract accurate colorimetric and spectral data from readily-available, inexpensive digital RGB cameras. Such methodology involves overcoming several fundamental obstacles due to the limitations of RGB camera data.

The …

Public Sector Wages: The Implications For The Private Sector, Drenusha Berisha

Theses

Acknowledging the contribution of public sector in the well-being of every country, this project focuses on the potential effects of a growing public wage bill for private sector in Kosovo. The public sector is the main employer in the country, where the increase in the staff size is also followed by wage increases which are mainly election induced. While government spending and employment can be considered as complements to private sector as they provide the infrastructure for private sector activity, they can also induce adverse effects. As such, the goal of this project was to provide an analysis of private …

Examining The New York State Gun Involved Violence Elimination Initiative’S Alignment With Several Theoretical Perspectives, Jamie Dougherty

Theses

This research examines how well New York State’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative aligns with four theoretical domains: subculture of violence, deterrence, rational choice/situational crime prevention, and implementation theories. It reviews how procedural justice and community integration align with these theories and the evidence-based strategies that GIVE sites implement. Sites are grouped for analysis, and their characteristics are described. The literature review describes each theoretical domain’s core principles as they pertain to GIVE. It shows that the theories can be compatible and that their integration is difficult but would likely make the initiative more effective. The primary research questions …

Predicting Cholera Positive Cases In Haiti, Jessica Young

Theses

While Western countries typically run census surveys frequently, poorer countries such as Haiti do not have the money to do so; thus research into how Haitians live is severely lacking. Furthermore, studies that do exist tend to be not only old and outdated, but also lacking in depth. Using new census data recently collected from Haiti, I attempt to predict if certain behaviors and living situations can be used as indicators for determining if someone has cholera. Challenges for exploring this data center on getting the surveys into a format suitable for analysis and the severe class imbalance between the …