Digital Commons Network^™

Female School Dropout: Gender Differences In Students’ School Retention, Edona Begu

Theses

The aim of this project is to find out whether there is a gender difference in students school retention or in the dropout rates in Kosovo, because there is a prevailing perception that the female students dropout more, or that the female school retention is lower compared to male. Moreover, many international organizations and nongovernmental institutions such as GIZ, WB, UNICEF and UNDP have been and are currently involved in treating the problem of female school dropout and gender disparities in education,1 Therefore, strengthening even more the widespread belief that there are gender differences in education in Kosovo, more exactly …

Mr. Perfect, Ruosi Han

Theses

This graduate thesis film, Mr. Perfect is a 21-minute feature film. As the progress of economic, science and education in modern society, women's lives are changing. Their become to be more ambitious in career; they started to try different ways of division of work in family; they get higher vision for life, especially for marriage. However, in such a fast-paced, multi-tasked, high-pressure, and high-energy environment, successful businesswomen become very tired and begin to lose themselves in the life of substance and money unconsciously. Under certain situations, a great number of them still remain single to an old age after achieving …

Non-­‐Invasive Fault Detection In Axial Flow Blood Pump Used As Ventricular Assistive Device, Rohit Rana

Theses

A Ventricular Assistive Device (VAD) is a mechanical pump used to assist the functioning of a weak heart. A catastrophic obstruction in the VAD system could cost the patient their life. This thesis presents a set of fault detection techniques using the commercially available Jarvik 2000 Flowmaker® VAD in a closed loop circuit that incorporates the ability to alter common causes of VAD congestion. The first goals of this research is to determine the nominal pressure-low performance of the Jarvik pump, which is a graphical presentation of the static head and guides us about the major and minor losses in …

Web Browser Private Mode Forensics Analysis, Emad Sayed Noorulla

Theses

To maintain privacy of the end consumers the browser vendors

provide a very good feature on the browser called the "Private Mode". As

per the browser vendors, the Private Mode ensures Cookies, Temporary

Internet Files, Webpage history, Form data and passwords, Anti-phishing

cache, Address bar and search AutoComplete, Automatic Crash Restore

(ACR) and Document Object Model (DOM) storage information is not

stored on the system [45].

To put to test the browser vendors claim, I had setup a test to confirm the

claims. During the first test the file system was monitored for all reads

and writes. On the second …

The Role And Responsibility Of The Environmental, Health & Safety Manager In Establishing An Organization’S Commitment Towards Environmental Stewardship And Workplace Safety [As Elements Of Social Responsibility], Arthur Nagy

Theses

Background: Effective and leading Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) Management is a topic of interest and necessity for many organizations and EHS professionals. The role and responsibility of the EHS Manager in establishing an organization's commitment towards environmental stewardship and workplace safety [as elements of social responsibility] evolves continuously. Objective: The purpose of this thesis is to identify the roles and responsibilities of an effective EHS Manager, and those roles and responsibilities that support an organization achieving environmental stewardship and workplace safety. Method: Salient elements, actions, and characteristics identified as a role or responsibility of the EHS manager within the …

Deforestation And The Islamic Stewardship Ethic, Misbah Alghamdi

Theses

Forests throughout the world continue to be in danger as a result of human activity. Although the average rate of deforestation has recently slowed, in some countries the rate of forest degradation remains high. Currently, numerous management efforts are underway to address this environmental crisis. In some cases the achievement of forest preservation has been related to ethical choices. One moral posture, anthropocentrism, which views human beings as central and the most significant species on the planet, is believed to be a primary cause of environmental degradation includes deforestation.

This paper aims to address deforestation with the reconfiguration of an …

Treatment Of Industrial Wastewater Using Electrocoagulation, Shereen W. Hasan

Theses

The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the potential use of electrocoagulation in the treatment of carbide slurry, which is wastewater generated during the production of acetylene. Several experiments using an electrochemical batch reactor were carried out at different current densities, ranging between 140-290 A/m². Pure air (EA system) and 10% of carbon dioxide in air (CA system) were supplied to ensure good mixing and solution homogeneity. Aluminum plates were used as electrodes, spaced apart and connected to a DC power supply. After 3 hours, samples from treated effluent and waste slurry were collected and analyzed for …

Growth And Nutrient Uptake Of Young Date Palms In Response To Deficit Irrigation And Partial Rootzone Drying., Noura Mubarak Al Ameri

Theses

In this study young clonal date palm plants were transferred into horizontal split-root pots filled with compost-amended soil of the UAE. The pots were constructed from two adjacent plastic containers, fastened together by adhesive tape. Once the plants had established new roots in the containers, the soil moisture level was measured every two to four days in all soil compartments. In the control treatment, the soil moisture level was brought to 30% w/w after soil moisture recording. Deficit irrigation treatments received exactly 60% of the average amount of water supplied to the pots of the control treatment. In the homogeneous …

Identification And Quantification Of Phthalates In Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet) Water Bottles Produced In The Uae, Reem Mohamed Ismail Mohamed Ahmed

Theses

This thesis highlights the criticality of phthalate esters (PEs), widely used in plastic molding and possessing carcinogenetic and toxicological effects. The thesis aims to assess the presence and abundance of these compounds in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottled water produced in the UAE.

The thesis tests for 6 types of PEs (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in widely used bottled water brands produced in the UAE. 126 bottled water samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction using petroleum ether, followed by analysis of the target compounds using Gas …

Bacteriophage Therapies As Alternatives To Antibiotics In Chicken Feed In The United Arab Emirates, Wafa Awad Al Shamsi

Theses

No abstract provided.

Water Recycling In Green Buildings: Grey Water Treatment And Reuse Benefits In Al-Wagan Residential Neighborhood In Al-Ain City, Al Dehaim Nassib Suhail Yatba Al Ameri

Theses

Water scarcity is a worldwide problem that called for a wiser and more sustainable resources' management. Grey waste water treatment is considered a widely spread technology that dominates water management in order to substitute the potential deficiencies.

Water use in the last three decades in the UAE has witnessed both a great increase and pressure on groundwater and desalinated water. This consequently has called for continuous, serious and diversified efforts to simultaneously improve the supply and sustain the water use by treatment and recycling. Besides UAE's natural population growth, the demand for water is also expected to increase significantly in …

A Comparison Between International And Us Graduate Students’ Attitudes And Experiences Using Massive Open Online Courses (Moocs), Omar Ibrahim Asiri

Theses

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have affected the pattern of learning in the last few years. Many studies have been conducted to investigate MOOCs' impact on the educational field. In this study, the researcher will compare international and US graduate students' attitudes and experiences when they use MOOCs as a resource for learning. The study used a mixed-method design to collect the data. Quantitative data was compiled by using 79 responses for an online survey, and qualitative data was gathered by 10 semi-structured interviews. Participants in the study were graduate students at Rochester Institute of Technology. They were divided into …

Hydrodynamic Cfd Modeling Of A Pharmaceutical Reactor Vessel Provided With A Retreat-Blade Impeller Under Different Baffling Conditions, Christopher G. Foehner

Theses

In the pharmaceutical industry, glass-lined reactors and vessels are often utilized to carry out a variety of different unit operations. Within these systems, both the vessel and impellers are typically glass-lined in order to provide superior corrosion resistance, prevent product contamination, and enhance cleanability. This approach, in turn, often requires the use of different, and sometimes sub-optimal, baffling conditions, which affect the hydrodynamics of the vessels and the reactor performance.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a computational tool that employs numerical methods and algorithms to discretize and numerically solve partial differential equations (PDEs) representing mass, energy, and momentum conservation equations …

Assessment Of A Marine Polysaccharide For Use As Excipient In Pharmaceutical Hot-Melt Extrusion, Qing Ye

Theses

Pharmaceutical Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) is currently investigated by both industry and academia as a method for manufacturing solid oral dosages with improved bioavailability of poorly-water soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and control drug release of water-soluble APIs. Although HME is traditionally utilizing synthetic polymers to produce such dosages, biopolymers constantly gain ground by virtue of renewability, biocompatibility and in some cases biodegradability. In this work, the possibility of using Keltone, a marine polysaccharide derived from brown seaweed, as a polymeric excipient for pharmaceutical HME is explored. Keltone is insoluble in acidic pH and soluble in basic pH, therefore making …

Dispersion And Dissolution Kinetics Of Api Particles In Pharmaceutical Hot Melt Extrusion, Wang Zhan

Theses

Pharmaceutical Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) is essentially a special case of polymer compounding. The elementary steps involved in traditional plastics melt processing are handling of particulates, melting, dispersive and distributive mixing, devolatilization and stripping, and finally pressurization and pumping. However, for pharmaceutical HME, the dissolution of the API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) is an additional and very important elementary step, along with the melting of the polymeric excipient that precedes it, and mixing which accelerates the dissolution process. A major concern in pharmaceutical HME is the thermal degradation of the API. To avoid overexposure of API to heat while ensuring complete …

Experimental Determination Of The Mixing Requirements For Solid Suspension In Pharmaceutical Stirred Tank Reactors, Anqi Zhou

Theses

Glass and glass-lined, stirred-tank reactors are of significant importance in the pharmaceutical and related industries. Because of fabrication issues, a retreat blade impeller (RBI) with a low impeller clearance off the tank bottom is commonly used in glass-lined reactors, typically combined with a single baffle (providing only partial baffling conditions) mounted from the top of the reactor. In addition, these reactors are often provided with a torispherical bottom. Other configurations are also used, including full baffling or no baffles at all, hemispherical bottoms, and different impeller types. Despite their common use, some of the most important mixing characteristics of this …

Sustainability Informed Management Of End-Of-Life Photovoltaics: Assessing Environmental And Economic Tradeoffs Of Collection And Recycling, Michele Goe

Theses

Renewable energy technologies have emerged to address the negative environmental impacts of increasing use of fossil fuels. Solar photovoltaics (PV) are an attractive renewable energy technology because they avoid significant carbon emissions during use common to non-renewables, have a long useful lifetime estimated at 20 - 30 years, and they take advantage of a stable and plentiful energy resource - the sun. However, it has been suggested that material availability is a potential constraint for broad deployment of PV. For example, solar PV's core technology depends on several primary materials i.e. indum and tellurium which were recently determined to be …

Using Least Variance For Robust Extraction Of Systolic Time Intervals, Cody R. Cziesler

Theses

Systolic time intervals (STI) are clinically used as non-invasive predictor of cardiovascular disease. However, algorithm accuracy generally suffers across subjects and physiological states, requiring parameter tuning for robust STI extraction. To address this challenge, an automated methodology of processing with varying tuning parameters was explored. In this work, two STIs were examined: the R-wave pulse transit time to the PPG foot at the ear (rPTT) and the left ventricular ejection time (LVET).

Historic feature detection algorithms were used with a range of tuning parameters over a 60 second interval, with least variance used to select the optimal parameter for robust …

To Build A Home, Gina Zetta

Theses

It is in our nature as humans to want for a home, a point of origin to start from and safe place to return at journey's end. When that place is lost, we risk becoming lost too. This body of work is an exploration of how the spaces we occupy shape us. It's location is focused on the American landscape in an attempt to explore the ideals that have developed within the psyche of the American culture, and what happens to those dreams when expectations do not mirror reality. I am particularly interested in socially and geographically vulnerable locations. Places …

An Ecological Framework To Assess Sustainability Impacts For An Evolving Consumer Electronic Product System, Erinn G. Ryen

Theses

Consumer electronics have revolutionized the manner in which we work, read, and entertain ourselves. However, this transformation comes at a high cost, with significant energy input and emissions releases across all stages of the electronic product life cycle. The limited success of per product efficiency improvements, often formulated in the field of industrial ecology, does not address the electronic product system as a whole because escalating consumption may actually offset any individual impact reductions. Additionally, existing industrial ecology models fail to effectively capture energy, material, and waste flows associated with real consumption patterns, as consumers purchase, use, and discard a …

Effect Of Herbivory On The Growth And Competitive Ability Of Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris Arundinacea), Lisa A. Kratzer

Theses

Herbivory plays an important role in plant community structure in many ecosystems through preferential selection, plant regrowth, and seed transport. Phalaris arundinacea, reed canary grass, is a prevalent wetland invasive species consumed by geese, muskrats, and snails. We lack a clear understanding of how herbivory impacts P. arundinacea's invasion potential. Therefore, I sought to understand the effect of herbivory by generalist macrograzers and micrograzers on the competitive dominance of P. arundinacea in created wetlands, especially the degree to which herbivory alters the competitive relationship between P. arundinacea and Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail). To address this enclosure/exclosure cages were constructed in …

The Lifepump: A Strategy For Introducing Affordable Clean Water To The Developing World, Kristin Mcgeorge

Theses

The intent of introducing a new technique for purifying water in the developing world is to make a healthier and easier method of collecting and cleaning water for human consumption when there is a chance of causing disease from the pathogens in the water source.

However, the currently implemented systems and products used for water filtration and purification in developing countries go unused or are abandoned once they break down; the local people go back to filtering water in less effective ways.

The reason for the lack of use of these "foreign" designed tools is because they are not accepted …

Digital Chaos: Exploring Relationships Between Technological Advancement And Visual Experience, Kevin Giaquinto

Theses

More so than any other time in history, humans are being exposed to an enormity of digital images every day. The internet, combined with accompanying technological advancements in cellular communication has created an exceptionally chaotic visual experience within the daily lives of millions of people. Through the use of digital photomontage, my artwork attempts to quantify and evaluate the impact that thousands of digital images may have on the emotional and psychological state of human beings. Concurrently, I am in interested exploring the mental repercussions of visual overload, specifically, how chaotic digital experiences may impact the quality of the human …

Correlation Between Throwing Velocity And Baseball- And Softball-Specific Performance Tests In Collegiate Baseball And Softball Players, Michael A. Reese

Theses

Throwing velocity is a critical factor in baseball and softball performance, yet its relationship with sport-specific performance tests remains unclear. This study examines correlations between common performance tests and throwing velocity in right-handed collegiate baseball and softball players. A total of 33 athletes (22 baseball, 11 softball) participated in a series of tests assessing anthropometric measurements, grip strength, agility, lower body power, and rotational power.

Results indicate that performance tests incorporating frontal and transverse plane movements, such as rotational broad jumps and medicine ball rotational scoop tosses, were the strongest predictors of throwing velocity. Notably, rotational broad jumps had the …

An Evaluation Of The International Volunteer Programme At Hope Community Resources In Alaska, Aisling Sugrue

Theses

A review of the literature identified a theme of ambiguity regarding the phenomenon of volunteerism, regarding the definition, academic perspectives and volunteer’s motives. The review also identified the Volunteer Process Model (VPM, Omoto and Snyder, 1995) and the researcher utilised this model when designing the mixed methods questionnaire to evaluate the motivations, satisfaction and attitudes towards disability of Hope’s international volunteers, both current (n=13) and previous (n=85), and also the impact the volunteer programme has on the volunteer’s careers. The attitudes towards disability of participating staff and management were also evaluated and compared with the volunteers. The impact on Hope’s …

The Effects Of Elevated Co2 On The Growth And Water Conservation Potentials Of Medicago Sativa L. And Chloris Gayana K., Asma Khan Ahmadani

Theses

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations have been increasing for many decades. The impact of such greenhouse gas has been reported to affect ecosystems at all levels. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ can affect the growth of plants and their response to water intake. But, different plants show different degrees of response depending on whether they have C₃ or C₄ photosynthetic pathway. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of CO₂ enrichment on the growth and microbial activity of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) and also its effect on the water …

Treatment Of Oil Sludge By Supercritical Water Oxidation (Scwo), Alia Ali Mubarak Busamra

Theses

The treatment and disposal of oil sludge represents major challenges for oil industries and municipalities. The oil sludge consumes high portion of oil industries' budget. Several destruction and conventional technologies such as incineration, landfill and biological treatment have been used to treat oil sludge. However, most of these technologies have not been commercially practical due to some limitations including efficiency, ease of operation and cost or not being friendly to the environment.

Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) provides a powerful means to transform toxic organic materials into simple, relatively inert oxides. In this thesis, treatment of oil sludge by using SCWO …

Home Economics Programs Within Higher Education: A Typology, Sara Holtzman

Theses

Home economics programs through the 1920s served varied purposes within higher education. This typology addresses three types of home economics programs - teaching, extension, and academia- through the lens of characteristics, curricula, and examples. Reviewing historical events that lead into the differentiation of home economics programs throughout the United States offers unique insights into the reasons for the development of each type. This typology offers a different point of view in considering what home economics programs entailed, and defines the field as an intentional and academic program of study for the women of higher education.

Predicting The Adoption Of Digital Printing In The Label Printing Industry: A Reasoned Action Study, Trevor S. Schroeder

Theses

The package printing industry is a vibrant and growing industry and digital printing technology is improving quickly--yet the adoption of digital printing has not fully penetrated the label printing market, a subset of packaging, and digital printing has seen slower adoption in its decade-long history in labels than expected. This research attempts to explain why this may be the case by understanding the factors affecting the intention to adopt digital printing. This study utilizes Fishbein and Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) in a cross-sectional survey of individuals in a decision-making role in label printing companies. The study was intended …

Abstracted Workflow Framework With A Structure From Motion Application, Adam J. Rossi

Theses

In scientific and engineering disciplines, from academia to industry, there is an increasing need for the development of custom software to perform experiments, construct systems, and develop products. The natural mindset initially is to shortcut and bypass all overhead and process rigor in order to obtain an immediate result for the problem at hand, with the misconception that the software will simply be thrown away at the end. In a majority of the cases, it turns out the software persists for many years, and likely ends up in production systems for which it was not initially intended. In the current …