Digital Commons Network^™

A Proposed Imaging System To Spatially And Temporally Monitor Unburned Hydrocarbons In Jet Engine Exhaust, Emily E. Berkson

Theses

The local air quality surrounding airports is significantly impacted by ground-based airplane operations, such as landing, taxiing, idling, and takeoff. In recent years, studies performed across the country revealed that people living near major airports suffer from increased cancer risks and higher likelihoods of developing respiratory issues. Jet engine emissions have been monitored extensively by direct probing of the exhaust, but there are currently no inexpensive, portable, and unobtrusive methods with which to study exhaust plume dynamics. This study assesses the feasibility of designing a multispectral imaging system to track the spatial-temporal nature of a jet engine plume. Ideally, the …

Harvesting A Sustainable Energy Future: Examining The Effect Of Chemical Composition On The Electromechanical Properties Of Polymer Gel Beads, Kaushik Kudtarkar

Theses

Clean energy is required to ensure global prosperity and economic growth. Increased industrialization is expected to increase energy demand by 50% by 2035. This will result in increased air pollution. Carbon dioxide emissions have been linked to global warming and other pollution related problems. These emissions can be reduced by recapturing the waste energy in the form of heat, vibration, and friction.

Common applications like transportation can lose as much as 78% of the energy they generate. Energy harvesters can be used to recapture energy lost through vibration, heat, etc. This recaptured energy will be reused and hence, we don’t …

Isolation Of Pharmaceutical-Degrading Bacteria From Lake Sediments Associated With Wastewater Effluents, Noreen Anne Gallagher

Theses

Many wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are not properly equipped for the removal of various compounds, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), analgesics, and hormones. These compounds are continually discharged into surface waters, which has become an emerging issue for environmental and public health. Microorganisms in the natural environment may play a crucial role in ecosystem self-purification processes such as contaminant degradation. The aim of this research was to determine if there were microorganisms from water and sediment samples located near wastewater effluent outfalls in Central and Western New York capable of degrading ibuprofen, naproxen, acetaminophen, and 17β-estradiol, and if the degradation …

Implementation Of An Object-Oriented Life Cycle Assessment Framework Using Functional Analysis And Systems Engineering Principles, Shantanu Avinash Gadre

Theses

There has been a growing awareness about the environmental impacts of producing and consuming goods and services. Among the various tools that have been developed to better understand these impacts, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most commonly used tools to estimate the environmental effects of products and services. Given that a significant percentage of a product’s impacts are defined during the design and development, it is necessary to effectively integrate LCA into these early phases of the product lifecycle. However, the lack of standardized practices, complex modelling approaches, data and time requirements, special training requirements for designers, …

A Methodology To Quantify Cumulative Damage Function (Cdf) For Integration Into An Object-Oriented Life Cycle Assessment (Lca), Devdatta Deo

Theses

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is one of the most widely used tools to determine the environmental impact of products and processes. One of the main concerns with LCA is the limited comparability of the results due to limitations in defining the functional unit. This affects goal and scope definition of the LCA studies. A result, an object-oriented framework for LCA that integrates functional analysis and systems engineering principles was developed. In this research a cumulative damage function (CDF) to quantify the life of components, subsystems and components was defined. However, the development of the methodology and underlying principles to develop …

The Effect(S) Of Media On The National Football League, Christian J. Bunce

Theses

Exemplification theory states that the sample is applied to the whole. This paper specifically look into how the media’s coverage of certain high-profile National Football League (NFL) cases may have created a negative perception about the NFL. Specifically, this paper will compare exemplars and the effects they have. The media play a large role in how players, leagues, and teams are perceived. However, our results do not support this idea. Both groups were asked the same questions, the questions were designed to gauge subject’s opinions of the NFL. After analysis, there was not a significant statistical difference in the responses …

Survival Of Various Pathogenic Microorganisms In Surface Waters And Sediments In Western New York, Lorne Farovitch

Theses

In 2005-2006, 87% of all reported cases of disease outbreak in the United States related to recreational water use was caused by bacterial infections of the gastrointestinal tract. Several locations featuring recreational bodies of water in Western New York include: Durand Eastman Beach, Charlotte Beach, the Genesee River, Black Creek, Irondequoit Bay and Oatka Creek. Adequate monitoring of water quality is necessary due to contamination with pathogenic strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and enteric pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, and Shigella sonnei that can threaten the safety of swimming in these recreational waters. Except for P. aeruginosa, which …

Interracial Advertising: A Comparative Analysis On Youtube Comments On A Controversial Interracial Commercial, Jeannine Alsous

Theses

This paper examines online comments to an interracial family portrayed in two online commercials for Cheerios. The study focused on an in-depth review of literature of history, symbolic interaction theory, critical race theory and co-creation of value, followed by comparative content analysis of online comments and intercoder reliability test. Four-hundred total comments were analyzed; 100 positive from each commercial and 100 negative from each. The comments were chosen by a filtering method the social media site YouTube has to select and analyze the top and most popular comments from each. After collection, a comparative content analysis of the comments was …

Framing Of Skill Problems, Kirk M. Winans

Theses

More frequently since the Great Recession, various concerns about a “skills gap” have been raised by industry leaders and organizations, politicians, and some economists. The most basic definition of a “skills gap” is that the workforce does not possess the skills required by employers. The most prominent concerns have been with STEM education and “middle skills” occupations, those that require more than a high school diploma but less than a 4-year degree. However, the various causes and solutions to these issues are widespread. Much of the alarm has been stimulated by reports published by industry and trade organizations asserting specific …

Design For Working Day’S Lunchtime: Lunch With Me, Han Zhang

Theses

Lunch is one of the indispensable meals to take in a day. Eating lunch energizes our bodies and makes us concentrate more on our work. Nowadays, people always have a hard time enjoying their lunch during weekdays most especially college students and office workers because of their fast working mode. These people have limited time during lunch break or working in not so ideal place to eat such as their office. Unlike having meals with families, eating lunch with colleagues can be a huge opportunity of socializing with each other. Fresh new connections can be made in these occasions.

“Lunch …

Sustainable Management Of Lithium-Ion Batteries After Use In Electric Vehicles, Kirti Richa

Theses

In recent years, many forecasts have predicted a large scale adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), which would predominantly be powered by lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), owing to their high energy and power density and long cycle life. While use of EVs could reduce dependence on fossil based transportation fuels, there is a need to understand the end-of-life (EOL) implications of retired EV LIBs entering the waste stream in future in the battery-driven vehicle regime. To proactively address impending waste management issues and inform related policy, this dissertation explored the sustainable management of LIBs after use in EVs and the challenges and …

Multi-Robot Task Allocation Using Agglomerative Clustering, Maria Shoaib

Theses

The main objective of this thesis is to solve the problem of balancing tasks in the Multi-robot Task Allocation problem domain. When allocating a large number of tasks to a multi-robot system, it is important to balance the load effectively across the robots in the system. In this thesis an algorithm is proposed in which tasks are allocated through clustering, investigating the effectiveness of agglomerative hierarchical clustering as compared to K-means clustering. Once the tasks are clustered, each agent claims a cluster through a greedy self-assignment. This thesis investigates the performance both when all tasks are known ahead of time …

Intelligent Lighting System For Health, Qunxi Huang

Theses

Lighting affects not only the way people seeing things, but also the way they feel. This thesis project surveys people’s health problems and needs related to environmental lighting changes, and aims to explore a product design solution to these problems. The outcomes of the project are a residential lighting system called INSIGHT, a mobile app interface and a key product as an example of a smart lighting system. INSIGHT helps users to control, interact with and program their home lighting in an easy way to meet their own daily needs as well as improve their visual health and emotional health. …

Tensor Decomposition Of Multi-Channel Wearable Sensors For Parkinson’S Disease Assessment, Vignesh Ramji

Theses

The cure for Parkinson’s disease is considered as one of the greatest challenges in chronic neurological disorder therapy, motivating efforts to provide information to guide therapy adjustments. This disease affects the patients day to day tasks which may vary from drinking water to a more complex task like folding laundry. Postural instability and rigidity of motion can be defined as some of the main symptoms for Parkinson’s disease.

In order to better understand and analyze the patients suffering from this disease, the patients were asked to maintain records in a diary of times when they felt an unusual behavior while …

Thesis Inquiry & Process: Something About Reality, Blayke Mackenzie Morrow

Theses

This thesis documents the employment of a system of Process and Inquiry as it serves as a structural foundation for an investigation of the manner in which Reality is represented in visual portraiture. Through a vigorous exploration of the concept of Reality and its singular nature, it is hypothesized that intrinsically unique experiences could potentially be communicated through the perceptive abilities of the emotional quotient. The effects of media, timing, complexity, abstraction, and authenticity are examined for their effect on the apparent clarity of concepts transmitted in this manner. The inquiry ultimately manifests in the daily creation of self-portraiture, as …

E-Government In Amarah: Challenges And Recommendations For Future Implementation, Reem Jabbar Abdulbaqi

Theses

The growth and changes in the 21st century in the sectors of economics, politics, and technology mean that governments must provide all the services that can serve the demands of their citizens. One way for governments to facilitate this is by implementing e-government. E-government migrates services previously implemented by government employees to internet connected systems accessible by citizens from wherever they are at whatever time they are needed. This system can connect citizens to the government ministries via rule-based systems. Amarah, a city in the south of Iraq, started to integrate electronic systems into the facilities of the city in …

Face To Face Communicating Area Design, Yuhan Wei

Theses

More and more people are using digital technology and social media in their daily lives. As a result, it seems like there is a lack of emotional interaction with each other. For example, more people prefer to stay at home and just connect with the outside world through the Internet and their digital devices. Even when they have dinner with others, they often focus on their smartphones and seldom talk with each other. Unfortunately, these scenarios indicate that many people can only communicate electronically, which is very common nowadays.

This project is focused on creating a way of communicating that …

Graph-Based Data Modeling And Analysis For Data Fusion In Remote Sensing, Lei Fan

Theses

Hyperspectral imaging provides the capability of increased sensitivity and discrimination over traditional imaging methods by combining standard digital imaging with spectroscopic methods. For each individual pixel in a hyperspectral image (HSI), a continuous spectrum is sampled as the spectral reflectance/radiance signature to facilitate identification of ground cover and surface material. The abundant spectrum knowledge allows all available information from the data to be mined. The superior qualities within hyperspectral imaging allow wide applications such as mineral exploration, agriculture monitoring, and ecological surveillance, etc. The processing of massive high-dimensional HSI datasets is a challenge since many data processing techniques have a …

Instructional Leadership Practices Of Al Ain Public Secondary School Principals From The Teachers’ Perspectives, مها عبد الله سلامة

Theses

This study aims at identifying the perceptions of teachers in public schools in

Al Ain Educational Office about the frequency of principals’ practices of instructional leadership.

It also aims to discover the effect of gender on practicing instructional leadership. This quantitative study used Hallinger Principal Instructional Management Rating Scale (PIMRS). This scale consists of (71) subscales involving (11) dimensions in instructional leadership in its final Arabic form.

This study was been applied to (258) teachers from both genders. This study sample represents 43% of the study’s population. Results of this study indicates that: the first dimension, which is framing school …

Circular Economy And System Thinking Framework In Design; Food System Design, Mehrafza Mirzazad Barijugh

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to bring the circular economy framework and system thinking into the process of design thinking. The traditional design process is made up of five steps: 1) Discover a challenge. 2) Interpret the challenge. 3) Create opportunities and ideas. 4) Develop a solution and experiment with it. 5) Evolve the idea. This project is structured upon a methodology generated to apply a circular system framework in design that begins with taking a holistic view of topic. This methodology structured into five phases. The first phase is referring to this approach as moving from Macrocosm to …

Visualization Of Comparative Anatomy: Jaw Muscles Of Theropod Dinosaurs And Their Extant Relatives; Illustrating The Story Of Functional Morphology And Evolution, Maxwell Yeager

Theses

Dinosaur anatomy is a largely unexplored subject in medical and scientific illustration. While paleo-artists produce fantastic artwork of colorful beasts in conceptualized habitats and inspire the design of fictional creatures and movie monsters, accurate research and referential materials are often limited to flat, diagrammatic and simple drawings. Using critical research, and physical evidence, more accurately rendered diagrammatic illustrations of dinosaur reconstructions are possible through the lens of modern medical and scientific illustration techniques for educational purposes. Specifically, I identify the evolutionary relationships of theropod dinosaurs with their extant relatives (bird and crocodilians), study the skulls of a series of theropod …

Glycemic Index Of Foods, Adiposity And Metabolic Syndrome Risk In Emirati Young Adults, Maysm Nezar Mohamad

Theses

This dissertation is concerned with determining the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Emirati females aged 17–25 years and its relation to overweight and obesity. It also aims to determine the glycemic index (GI) and glycemic load (GL) values for traditional Emirati foods that have not been tested yet. In a cross-sectional study design, anthropometric measurements, blood pressure and biochemical measurements were collected from a total of 555 Emirati female college students and the prevalence of MetS was concluded. Furthermore, at least fifteen healthy subjects participated in the measurement of GI and GL values for each of the twenty-three Emirati …

Integration Of Lightweight & Energy Efficient Cipher In Wireless Body Area Network Fore-Health Monitoring, Azza Zayed Aishamsi

Theses

There is an increase in the diseases of the circulatory system in United Arab Emirates, which makes it the first leading cause of death. This led to a high demand for a continuous care that can be achieved by adopting an emerging technology of e- Health monitoring system using Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) that can collect patient’s data. Since patient’s data is private, securing the communication within WBAN becomes highly essential. In this research thesis, we propose an architecture to secure the data transmission within the Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) in e-Health monitoring. More specifically, our proposed architecture …

Private Sector Emiratisation: Evaluating The Policies And Practices Designed To Achieve Abu Dhabi's Strategic Hrm Goal, Khaled Sultan Saeed Ai Kaabi

Theses

The purpose of this study is two-fold: firstly, to gauge the job satisfaction levels of UAE nationals employed in the private sector and secondly to consider the HRM policies and procedures most likely to attract and retain such individuals. The issue is of contemporary importance because the UAE has a fast growing population, an already overstaffed public sector and, a labour nationalisation program that has yet to have a significant impact on the ratio of nationals employed in the private sector visà- vis the classic public sector. Using a combination of employee survey and expert interview feedback this study provides …

Salt Gland Excretion Efficiency And Salinity Tolerance Of Sporobolus Species, Piumi Shrimani Weragodavidana

Theses

Halophytic C4 grasses, including Sporobolus species, have developed specific mechanisms to cope with salinity stress. Among these, “salt glands” which are bi- cellular leaf epidermal structures eliminating excess saline ions from shoots by excretion under salinity stress. Salt glands are morphologically visible and can potentially be used for salt tolerance breeding programs. The objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the leaf salt gland excretion rates of United Arab Emirates native halophytic chloridoid grass species, S. spicatus and S. arabicus; (2) to determine if leaf salt gland excretion rate and density can effectively predict salinity tolerance among Sporobolus genotypes, …

Role Of Epstein-Barr Virus In The Pathogenesis Of Multiple Sclerosis, Asma Hassani

Theses

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic pathology of the central nervous system, characterized by inflammation, demyelination, and neurodegeneration. The prevalence and incidence rates of MS are on the rise worldwide. What causes MS is unknown. However, it is widely accepted that MS occurs in genetically susceptible individuals exposed to certain environmental factors. Sero-epidemiological data suggest a strong association between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and MS. EBV is one of the commonest viruses in the human population with ~90% global seropositivity. EBV infects naïve B cells and immortalizes them. While some postmortem studies have shown EBV in MS lesions, others have failed …

Challenges To The Governance Of Water Security In The Uae, Shaikha Saif Mohamed Alghafli

Theses

In the recent past, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has seen tremendous economic growth, which has put pressure on its existing natural resources. Hence, the government of the UAE is working extensively on developing a strategic framework for sustainable water management. This study is aimed at analyzing the challenges to the governance of water security in the UAE. Evidence was collected from nine semi-structured interviews with senior officials and academics from different government agencies in the UAE. Quantitative data was collected on water consumption in the UAE in various sectors from a range of authorities (FCSA, DSC, MOENR, ADWEA, DEWA, …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Graphite Oxide Based Field Effect Transistors For Non­ Enzymatic Glucose-Sensor Application, Khadija Said Rahman

Theses

Graphite-oxide based metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) were fabricated and used as glucose sensor. Herein, graphite-oxide was assembled between two planer electrical electrodes. The sensitivity of the sensor has been enhanced by adding copper (Cu) or silver (Ag) nanoparticles. The nanoparticles were produced by sputtering and inert gas condensation inside an ultra-high vacuum compatible system, and they were self-assembled on the graphite-oxide. The sensitivity of the sensor was increased by an order of magnitude when the silver nanoparticles were added. The sensitivity of each MOSFET was studied at different concentrations of non-enzymatic glucose for potential use in medical and industrial applications.

An Islanding Detection Method For Micro-Grids With Grid-Connected And Islanded Capability, Hasna Mubarak Saleh Ai Seiari

Theses

With the increasing prevalence of renewable energy and distributed generation (DG) in distribution systems, micro-grids are becoming more popular and an attractive option for enhancing system operation and reliability. This can be attributed to the micro-grid ability to operate in both connected and disconnected modes. Equally important, micro-grids are the best solution to meet the increasing demand of electric power in a cost effective manner due to the close proximity to the load demand and thus minimizing system losses. Islanding detection methods have been proposed for inverter based distributed generation with only grid-connected capability. Micro-grids are composed of DGs that …

The Prevalence Of Streptococcus Pyogenes And Its Emm Gene Types Among School Children In Ai Ain, Uae, Fatima Hammad Ali Al Shamisi

Theses

Streptococcus pyogenes, also known as Group a streptococcus (GAS), causes a wide variety of diseases in children and adults, and it frequently infects the pharynx and skin; pharyngitis and tonsillitis are one of the commonest diseases caused by this pathogen. GAS evaded by many virulence factors, however, the most significant part is the M protein, which plays a major role in its pathogenicity. Over 225 M protein types have been identified so far by the emm typing technique. Identification and emm typing of GAS is an essential part of epidemiological and pathogenic studies of streptococcal diseases, as different regions of …