Digital Commons Network^™

An Ambulance Made Of Whiskey, Maria Victoria Mejia Yepes

Theses

An Ambulance Made of Whiskey is the story of Sven, a famous writer who loses his inspiration. He becomes a target of bullying by his fans and falls into a deep depression, shutting himself off completely from the public and from his family. He tries to commit suicide several times with no success.

Suddenly, after overdosing on a mixture of drugs, he enters into a surreal world in which he is confronted with his own death. While he is hallucinating, he is traveling in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. This affects his perception, mixing with the parallel …

Visualizing The News: An Analysis Of A Year In Interactive News From The New York Times And The Washington Post, Maria T. Olivo

Theses

In the past decade, newsrooms have been struggling to remain relevant while trying to keep and attract new audiences. Access to diverse online tools and big data has expanded the use of infographics and data visualization in news stories, increasing reader engagement with complex content. The increase of interactive visual content in journalism requires rethinking how journalistic and design elements are incorporated in a story. This study explores how The New York Times and The Washington Post incorporate principles of design and data visualization to present complex information for their readers. Using a mixed method approach, a sample of 275 …

Data Mining Nhanes: Utilizing A Genetic Algorithm To Detect Correlation Between Birth Sex Ratio And Epidemiological Factors, Christopher F. Fucile

Theses

In the past several decades there has been increasing research into factors that may affect the birth sex ratio of parents. These can range from nutrition to hormone levels to psychological factors. The National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) is a broadly encompassing governmental survey that captures some of these aspects making it a rich and easily exploitable data set for these purposes. In this study we utilize custom Perl scripts written to extract such information and attempt to find correlations using a genetic algorithm. Mothers are first identified through inferred relationships within the database. Variables are then analyzed …

Environmental Life Cycle Comparison Of Aluminum-Based High Barrier Flexible Packaging Laminates, Jacob A. Bayus

Theses

A common flexible packaging laminate is comprised of five constructs in sequence: printing layer, adhesive, barrier layer, adhesive, and sealing layer. Aluminum foil and metallized polymer films are commonly used gas barrier layers in flexible packaging, but their true environmental impacts are not well-represented. This study investigated the potential environmental impacts of three widely-used, five layer laminates, namely polyethylene terephthalate/aluminum foil/linear low density polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate/metallized polypropylene/linear low density polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate/metallized polyethylene terephthalate/linear low density polyethylene in which the barrier layers are aluminum foil, metallized oriented polypropylene, and metallized polyethylene terephthalate. This study, with the use of SimaPro …

Boundary Between Human And Machine, Seulgi Cho

Theses

John McCathy and Peter Wright, who are technology philosophers while also being engineers, analyzed the technology of today and found that it transcends the mere role of being everyday tools, and claim that technology has such a significant existence that it can influence the emotions of humans. The products of technology such as machines that have become everyday parts of our lives are no longer simple tools, but their meanings in our lives have expanded into something more complex. The products of technology, they point out, influence and change the sense of perception and emotional state of people. But, to …

Wireless Sensor Platform For Pulse Oximetry, Anusha Aithal

Theses

Pulse rate and oxygen saturation are two important clinical measurements that indicate the state of a person’s essential body functions. Oxygen saturation is the measurement of oxygenated hemoglobin in arterial blood i.e. it indicates the level of oxygen in the blood. Pulse oximeters, consisting of LEDs and photodetectors, offer a simple and low cost means of monitoring both pulse rate and blood oxygen saturation non-invasively.

The primary objective of this project was to develop a wireless platform for MEMS devices. For this project, a pulse oximeter was also developed as a demonstration vehicle for this wireless platform. A microcontroller and …

Water Based Inkjet Material Deposition Of Donor-Acceptor Nanoparticles For Usage In Organic Photovoltaics, Anirudh Raju Penmetcha

Theses

Significant efficiency increases are being made for bulk heterojunction organic photovoltaic prototype devices with world records at 11%. However the chlorinated solvents most frequently used in prototype manufacture would cause local health and safety concerns or large scale environmental pollution upon expansion of these techniques for commercialization. Moreover, research to bridge prototype and large-scale production of these solar cells is still in its infancy. Most prototype devices are made in inert glove box environments using spin-coating. There is a need to develop a non-toxic ink and incorporate it into a material deposition system that can be used in mass production. …

Exploring Negative Sexual Experiences, Attitudes, And Behaviors By Auditory Status, Taylor Victoria Vogt

Theses

Sexual assault is a significant problem on college campuses across the United States and an extensive amount of research has been conducted to address the issue. However, only a limited number of empirical studies have examined sexual victimization among the Deaf and hard of hearing population. Using a survey instrument with a sample of Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing students (n = 3,970) at the Rochester Institute of Technology, this study examined the associations between auditory status, prior sexual victimization, rape myths and behaviors. The results showed that Deaf and hard of hearing students are more likely to experience …

The Effects Of Thujone On The Function Of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors, Ahmed Salaheldin Mustafa Ali Sultan

Theses

Thujone is a natural compound found in plants such as “wormwood” and “sage” and it’s also found in the alcoholic drink “Absinthe”. Thujone has been suggested as a neurotoxic compound and reported to modulate GABAA receptors. In this study, we investigated the pharmacology of Thujone on nicotinic receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes using the two electrode voltage clamp method. Thujone (100μM) caused an 80% inhibition of Acetylcholine (ACh) induced currents in human α7-nAChRs expressed in frog oocytes while only 30% inhibition currents in α4β2 expressed oocytes and no effect on α3β4, α3β2 and α4β4 nAChRs. The mechanisms of Thujone effect …

Assessment Of Scientific Graphical Literacy Of 10th Grade Students In Al-Ain Educational Office, United Arab Emirates, Sarah Elheir Elhassan Hamad

Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the scientific graphical literacy level of the 10th grade science students, and explore the extent to which students at 10th grade have the essential skills to process and interpret visual scientific graphs in the private and public schools in Al Ain educational Zone. This study was exploratory survey design in which an attempt was made to explore student understanding of scientific graphs. A Graphical Literacy Test was developed for this study to evaluate the student ability to interpret, and construct graphical information. 125 grade10th science students participated in the present study. Sixty …

Anti-Colon Cancer Activity Of Origanum Majorana, Nedaa Faisal Al Tamimi

Theses

In the present project, we extend the previous studies of Origanum majorana by evaluating the anti-cancer potential of this plant extract on proliferation of colon cancer. Toward this, we first evaluated the effect of the plant extract on the proliferation and DNA damage, in vitro, of the human colon cancer HT-29 cell line. We also determine the mechanism by which Origanum majorana induced cell death by this extract using biochemical approach. Our results revealed that O. majorana inhibited the growth of HT-29 cells by effecting the cells viability. Further work showed the ability of the extract to cause DNA damage, …

Predicting Subjective Well-Being Using Social Support And Mindfulness For United Arab Emirates University Students, Sarah El Nabulsi

Theses

This thesis is concerned with assessing the psychological well-being of the United Arab Emirates University students’ community and predicting the integral factors that significantly contribute to it. Existing studies have explored pathologies such as depression and anxiety in an attempt to deduce knowledge indispensable to clinical interventions. This study deals with what the individuals with high psychological well-being are doing well and takes this knowledge to inform clinical interventions. In this context, it is noteworthy to argue that this thesis is one of the pioneering studies involving a predominantly local population, which allows for more successful and more culturally sensitive …

Effective Node Clustering And Data Dissemination In Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks, Mariam Saeed Ai Nuaimi

Theses

The denseness and random distribution of large-scale WSNs makes it quite difficult to replace or recharge nodes. Energy efficiency and management is a major design goal in these networks. In addition, reliability and scalability are two other major goals that have been identified by researchers as necessary in order to further expand the deployment of such networks for their use in various applications. This thesis aims to provide an energy efficient and effective node clustering and data dissemination algorithm in large-scale wireless sensor networks. In the area of clustering, the proposed research prolongs the lifetime of the network by saving …

The Role Of Situation Awareness Metrics In The Assessment Of Indoor Orientation Assistive Technologies That Aid Blind Individuals In Unfamiliar Indoor Environments, Abdulrhman A. Alkhanifer

Theses

The importance of raising user's situation awareness has proven to be an important factor in the successful use of systems that involve mission-critical tasks. Indoor Orientation Assistive Technology (OAT) that supports blind individuals is one of the systems that needs to be oriented to support user's situation awareness. In the tasks involved in this system, blind individuals try to maintain their spatial understanding of the environment. The current evaluation methods of Orientation Assistive Technology that aids blind travelers within indoor environments rely on the performance metrics. When enhancing such systems, evaluators conduct qualitative studies to learn where to focus their …

When Coal Was King, Rachele Trzcinski

Theses

My work is my research. Thinking and learning are a part of my process. The lessons and challenges in one project are merely stepping stones for the next. My body of work becomes a long series that shows a connection between each piece, slowly growing and exploring. My ideas stem from my immediate surroundings. I am a reporter and my artwork is my article.

I have been researching the coal mining and other related industries of Scranton, Pennsylvania and its surrounding areas. An area that helped build the industrial revolution in America’s early years, only to be neglected once the …

Communicating Vaccination Information On Facebook Utilizing The Health Belief Model, Lindsay Case

Theses

The 2014 Disney measles outbreak brought the issue of vaccinations to the forefront of health communication across all mediums, including social media sites. While the US is considered to have one of the more successful vaccination rates globally, there remain supporters of an anti-vaccination movement and regions of the country with alarming rates of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children. This content analysis study of Facebook first identified the current trend of more activity amongst those who do not support the use of vaccines than those supporting vaccines. The user generated content was also evaluated for the use of …

Treatment Of Greywater Using Bio Filtration And Permeable Pavement Systems, Assem Mahn El-Ashkar

Theses

Municipal wastewater can be divided into two categories, greywater and black water. Greywater occupies about 75% of total wastewater and are relatively less polluted than the black water. Reuse of greywater is becoming popular in many arid and semiarid regions in order to reduce the municipal water demand. They can be reused for groundwater recharge, landscape irrigation and for toilet flushing. However, the main challenges are their collection, storage and selection of the appropriate treatment system. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is located in a hyper arid region, having an annual average rainfall of less than 100 mm. Reliable survey …

Luv: To The One Beloved, Zimo Pan

Theses

Love; which is something that everyone pursues for in life, and technology; which is something that we uses everyday in life, and with both combine there is the Luv, a perfect way to express the love using technology on daily life. Luv consisted of the three main elements of love, including passion, intimacy and commitment. Not only can the user of Lux expresses their love with their partner but one can achieve self-pleasure with Luv. This was never seemed before in the combination of technology and love. Thus it would be the first in history where women can finally wear …

Heavy Ball With Friction Method For The Elastography Inverse Problem, Oladayo Eluyefa

Theses

The primary objective of this thesis is to develop a fast and efficient computational framework for the nonlinear inverse problem of identifying a variable coefficient in a system of partial differential equation modelling the response of an incompressible elastic object under some known body forces and boundary traction. The main novelty of this contribution is to use, for the first time, of the so-called heavy ball with friction method for inverse problems. The heavy ball with friction dynamical system is a nonlinear oscillator with damping. The key idea is to pose the inverse problem as an optimization problem, derive its …

Evaluation Of Reproductive Strategies In Captive California Yellowtail (Seriola Dorsalis) Using Genetic Parentage Analyses, Elizabeth K. Smith, Mark Drawbridge Ms, John Hyde Phd, Geoffrey Morse Phd

Theses

A good understanding of spawning dynamics of species in aquaculture is vital in order to maximize egg production and quality as well as efficient allocation of food and space resources. The breeding program of California yellowtail (CYT; Seriola dorsalis previously Seriola lalandi) at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI) is set up such that up to 30 wild caught brood fish can broadcast spawn in a group setting, just as CYT reproduce in the wild. The population of brood fish were originally caught offshore from Southern California, and are maintained under ambient sea water and natural lighting conditions. The spawning season …

Modeling And Analysis Of Or Nurse Scheduling Using Mathematical Programming And Simulation, Clayton Tontarski

Theses

Nurse scheduling is a complex problem. The act of assigning each nurse to a specific shift for each day of a scheduling horizon, while ensuring to fulfill the demand of the operating rooms (ORs) is very time consuming. Current methods used in practice often develop solutions that are suboptimal, resulting in low nurse utilization, low nurse satisfaction, patient delays, or overtime pay for nurses. In this paper we propose an approach that utilizes simulation, simulation-based optimization, and mathematical programming as tools for solving complex nurse scheduling problems. We discuss how the simulation-based optimization generates multiple alternative shift plans, defined as …

Insense: A Variation And Fault Tolerant Architecture For Nanoscale Devices, John A. Frye

Theses

Transistor technology scaling has been the driving force in improving the size, speed, and power consumption of digital systems. As devices approach atomic size, however, their reliability and performance are increasingly compromised due to reduced noise margins, difficulties in fabrication, and emergent nano-scale phenomena. Scaled CMOS devices, in particular, suffer from process variations such as random dopant fluctuation (RDF) and line edge roughness (LER), transistor degradation mechanisms such as negative-bias temperature instability (NBTI) and hot-carrier injection (HCI), and increased sensitivity to single event upsets (SEUs). Consequently, future devices may exhibit reduced performance, diminished lifetimes, and poor reliability.

This research proposes …

Evaluative Measures: Assessing The Effectiveness Of Exhibits And Programs In Zoos, Drew Johnson

Theses

This thesis examines program and exhibition evaluation as pertaining to zoos and aquariums in the United States from the 1960’s to the present. Research conducted for this thesis focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of zoological programs and exhibitions. Also examined are studies of zoo and aquarium visitors related to audience research, informal learning, and psychographics. Case studies as well as published procedural and evaluative methods from zoos and aquariums across the United States are used to identify best practices. In addition, two evaluation tool kits are presented to assist the Seneca Park Zoo with evaluative measures for exhibits …

Uncomfortable Bedfellows: Locke And The Libertarian Theory Of Property, Garrett Dimond

Theses

Libertarians, such as Robert Nozick, have often appealed to Locke’s labor theory as the basis in which to defend full ownership rights to property. My central claim is that this is a mistake. Locke, I argue, is not a comfortable libertarian bedfellow for the following three reasons. (1) Locke’s account of property neither implies rights to full ownership, nor was Locke himself committed to the view. (2) The conditions Locke's labor theory places on property rights would generate a state that more closely aligns with the welfare state than the libertarian minimal state. (3) Even when we ignore Locke’s theological …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Copolyesters Based On Vanillic Acid Or Syringic Acid And Dodecanedioic Acid, Michael E. Bloom

Theses

Incorporating renewable monomers derived from vanillic acid (VA) and syringic acid (SyA) into a polymer system will, in addition to reducing the amount of non-renewable feedstock necessary, alter the physical properties of the resultant polymer so that it can be better tailored to suit a specic need. First, a catalyst to optimize melt polymerization of 1,4-diacetoxybenzene (HQ), 4-acetoxybenzoic acid (BA), and dodecanedioic acid (DA) was determined. Acetylation of VA and SyA was necessary to produce compatible monomers. Then, two series of polymers based on HQ, BA, DA, and acetylated vanillic acid (AVA) or acetylated syringic acid (ASyA) were prepared by …

Statistical Study Of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections With Strong Magnetic Fields, Matthew E. Murphy

Theses

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) with strong magnetic fields (B) are typically associated with significant Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events, high solar wind speed and solar flare events. Successful prediction of the arrival time of a CME at Earth is required to maximize the time available for satellite, infrastructure, and space travel programs to take protective action against the coming flux of high-energy particles. It is known that the magnetic field strength of a CME is linked to the strength of a geomagnetic storm on Earth. Unfortunately, the correlations between strong magnetic field CMEs from the entire sun (especially from the …

Retrofitting Urban Flood Resilience: An Investigation And Evaluation Of Current Strategies, J. D. Harper

Theses

There are two trends that are creating a worldwide crisis. Firstly, cities are growing denser every day, and many of the major cities developed along the coasts or with adjacencies to water, stemming from a thriving trade industry and industrialization. On a separate track, the effects of global climate change are projected to increase sea level along with the frequency and intensity of flooding disasters. Therefore, these projections are placing cities at a highly vulnerable crux with few foreseeable solutions in sight.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) were redrawn, and buildings that previously …

Spiritus, Matthew Spaull

Theses

On February 25th, 1999, The Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Father James Callan and the parishioners of Corpus Christi Church in Rochester, NY. Covered by Media nationwide, the excommunication was portrayed as the latest struggle of progressive Catholics against the more conservative Church authorities. Growing from 200 to more than 3,000 parishioners in less than a decade, Corpus Christi became home to an impressive range of social justice programs, including a health care center, a halfway house for former prisoners, a home for recovering addicts, a hospice, and a daycare center. What got Callan and the church into trouble were the …

Analyzing Domestic Abuse Using Natural Language Processing On Social Media Data, J Nicolas Schrading

Theses

Social media and social networking play a major role in billions of lives. Publicly available posts on websites such as Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and Facebook can contain deeply personal accounts of the lives of users – and the crises they face. Health woes, family concerns, accounts of bullying, and any number of other issues that people face every day are detailed on a massive scale online. Utilizing natural language processing and machine learning techniques, these data can be analyzed to understand societal and public health issues. Expensive surveys need not be conducted with automatic understanding of social media data, allowing …

The Effect Of The Introduction Of The Euro On The Stock Price Volatility In The Belgian Equity Market, Hanne Zmierczak

Theses

This study serves to research the effect of the introduction of the Euro as a currency on the volatility in the equity market in Belgium. It particularly looks at the Bel20 index volatility, which includes the twenty largest companies listed in the Belgian stock exchange. This study incorporates ordinary least squares regressions with a time series component. Various models with a timeframe between January 1992 and December 2013 are run. The dependent variable of this research is Bel20 volatility, while the independent variables include inflation, consumer confidence, change in industrial production, GDP growth, Euro dummy variables, and a financial crisis …