Digital Commons Network^™

Determinants Of Agricultural Productivity In The Leading Producing Countries Worldwide, Seidu Musah

Theses

Agricultural production is one of the widely expanded business sectors in the world. The aim of this study is to find out the driving factors behind cereal and soybean productivity as well as the production trends in the top twenty cereal and top seven soybean producing countries, respectively. Secondary data, which include both time series and cross-sectional data, were used for the analysis of 520 observations from the top twenty cereal producing countries and 427 observations from the top seven soybean producing countries.The panel data regression model was the statistical tool adopted in this study to determine the factors driving …

The Cutting Edge: A Virtual Reality Simulation For Surgeons To Learn And Understand Carpal Tunnel Surgery, Chenhao Angel Yang

Theses

As virtual reality (VR) technology becomes increasingly popular, its applications in healthcare have gained significant traction. Many current VR training tools for surgeons lack aesthetic and functional depth; they lack an understanding of the tools needed in the operating room and have limited user experience design and interactivity. In addition, there is an opportunity for specialization with immersive training models tailored to specific procedures like carpal tunnel surgery, making it difficult for surgeons to visualize complex techniques before practicing on real patients in a realistic and guided environment. This project investigates the intersection of VR experiences and their potential to …

Prediction Of Diabetes Using Machine Learning, Walid Abdulla Abdulrahim

Theses

This research seeks to compare the overall health of diabetic patients with that of their healthy counterparts based on various heath indicators obtained from a large dataset comprising of pregnancies, glucose levels, blood pressure, skin thickness, insulin, BMI, diabetes pedigree function and age. Relative to the healthy group, increased average glucose level, higher BMI, and older age are identified in the diabetic participants. Most importantly, the results show that obesity is a significant risk factor for diabetes, and many diabetics have BMIs that are elevated above healthy levels. The data also points towards the fact that insulin resistance and prevalence …

Mundane, Ordinary And Eerie Undertones, Yixuan Xia

Theses

When people encounter fear and uncertainty, their mental and physical reactions can vary. Drawing from my personal experience and the ‘Uncanny Valley’ theory [2], I explore various materials and juxtapose ordinary elements with unsettling imagery. In this project, I focus on donuts, transforming them by adding surreal details to imbue them with eerie undertones. For example, in one of my works, a delicious-looking donut appears perfectly normal at first glance. When viewers have a close look at the donut, its surface is crawling with worms, creating an unsettling contrast between the familiar and the disturbing. By altering these familiar items, …

Effects Of Emerald Ash Borer On Temperate Wetland Ch₄ Emissions, Ethan T. Potter

Theses

Forested wetlands are a globally significant source of atmospheric methane (CH₄), and tree stems potentially contribute a large portion of emissions from these systems. However, tree stem emissions in temperate wooded wetlands, particularly those experiencing disturbance, remain largely unexamined. This study investigated the effects of emerald ash borer invasion on CH₄ fluxes from soils and tree stems in temperate wetlands of Western New York. Methane fluxes were measured from live trees, dead trees, and soils in wetlands with different emerald ash borer impact levels (high/open canopy and low/closed canopy). During eight campaigns carried out across the majority of the growing …

Urban Heat Island Mitigation: A Gis Based Analysis Of Cool Roofing, Canopy Cover, And Imperviousness In Rochester, New York, Benjamin Lyon

Theses

Urban Heat Islands (UHI’s) pose an increasing risk to public and environmental health. This phenomenon of heightened temperatures occurs in developed cities around the world, largely due to anthropogenic changes in the landscape. This study investigates the interactions of two UHI mitigation strategies, cool roofing, and altering vegetation cover and impervious surfaces, within the city of Rochester, New York. Using Landsat 9 band 10 imagery and land cover data, surface temperature patterns were analyzed in relation to roof color, imperviousness, and canopy cover across the neighborhoods within the city. GIS based statistical analyses were utilized to predict temperature changes resulting …

An Investigation Of Electrical Surface Impact As A Three-Dimensional Low-Energy Defibrillation Method, Rhiannan Ruef

Theses

Ventricular fibrillation is a medical emergency that leaves the heart unable to beat properly, and is fatal within minutes if left untreated. Furthermore, it’s the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest according to the NIH, killing over 400,000 Americans every year. Previously, we’ve proposed a new low-energy defibrillation method to restore the heart to its normal rhythm during fibrillation. Our method required further investigation due to the presence of several important dynamical processes. In this dissertation, we report the results of these investigations. First, we will present our results related to a novel behavior called “flopping,” which occurs when a …

Urban Pollinator Vertical Garden: Design Strategies For Sustainable Human - Pollinator Interaction In Urban Environments, Chungmin Park

Theses

The project focuses on the urban spaces as vibrant ecosystems, integrating pollinator habitats, vertical gardens, and green spaces. It emphasizes community engagement and education to promote environmental responsibility and calls for global urban stakeholders to prioritize collaboration and innovation for sustainable urban development. Ultimately, it aims to create resilient and vibrant cities for future generations.

Neural Patterns Of Self-Efficacy And Resulting Changes After Cognitive Rehabilitation In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Emma N. Tribbey

Theses

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) often leads to cognitive impairments, which can significantly affect recovery outcomes. Although there are many different interventions available for individuals with mTBI, evidence-based research has indicated that cognitive rehabilitation programs can lead to significant improvement in psychological symptoms as well as psychosocial and vocational functioning in mTBI. Additionally, clinical research has identified a construct, self-efficacy, or the belief in one's capacity to achieve goals, that may play a critical role in further improving cognitive rehabilitation outcomes. Current research examining self-efficacy and cognitive rehabilitation in mTBI has found that higher self-efficacy is associated with greater treatment …

Nietzschean Expressivism, Cameron Jackson

Theses

What is Nietzsche’s metaethical stance? Does he even have one? We can, I argue, reconstruct an interesting metaethical view from his writings. Rather than focusing narrowly on his claims about moral judgement, I explore Nietzsche’s philosophical psychology broadly in order to argue that he is best interpreted as holding an emotivist type of expressivism. The function of moral judgement lies within its affective and action-guiding nature, and its communal role of coordinating our evaluative attitudes with one another.

Moonstorm In The Mainstream Or On The Margins?: Constellating St. Louis Lesbian Rhetorics From The Archives, Aurora Blanchard

Theses

Combining rhetorical analysis, oral history collection, and archival study, this multi-genre research project explores lesbian feminist organizing in the 1970s. Moonstorm was a St. Louis lesbian feminist magazine that operated in the 1970s and 1980s. The sample in this research project focuses on the issues of Moonstorm published between 1973 and 1977. Issues of Moonstorm are available for viewing in the archives of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Building on V. Jo Hsu’s theory of constellating, the poems and stories found in Moonstorm serve as sites of both contested and unconditional belonging for modern LGBTQ+ activists. Constellating, specifically in …

Exploring Rural Vs. Urban Variations In Emt Scope Of Practice: Advanced Airway And Iv Access Policies, Michaela Geffert

Theses

This thesis investigates how states across the United States (US) modify the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Scope of Practice (SoP) to permit advanced skills, with a focus on advanced airway management via supraglottic airways (SGAs) and intravenous (IV) access procedures, and whether rurality plays a role in these decisions. While the National EMS SoP Model establishes minimum competencies for each emergency medical services (EMS) provider level, individual states often alter their standards in response to local demographic, geographic, and resource-based needs. This study reviewed SoP policies from all 50 states, and 44 states were included. Logistic regression analysis was utilized …

A Computational Framework For Investigating Novel Bacterial Conjugation Inhibitors, Serena Tuytschaevers

Theses

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global threat, contributing to an estimated 700,000 deaths annually. One of the main ways that AMR genes spread among bacteria is through conjugation. Therefore, it is crucial to develop conjugation inhibitors (COINs) to combat AMR. Shared characteristics between known COIN molecules are a hydrophobic tail, unsaturations, and a polar head. Considering these characteristics and accounting for the efficacy of 2-hexadecynoic acid and Tanzawaic Acids (TZAs) low toxicity, we designed a new set of TZA analogs. The predicted protein target of previously identified COINs is TrwD, an ATPase in the type IV secretion system (T4SS). …

Protpen: A Pipeline That Combines Sequence- And Structure-Based Approaches To Predict Protein Functions, Diya Mathai

Theses

Proteins of unknown function represent a significant gap in our understanding of biological processes, with many organisms, especially prokaryotes, harboring large portions of their proteomes that remain uncharacterized. For example, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major human pathogen, a large proportion of proteins are categorized as unknown or hypothetical in function. The precise number varies across species, but studies have shown that up to 30–50% of proteins in bacterial proteomes can lack functional annotations. Addressing this gap is critical to understanding the biology and pathogenicity of such organisms. Recent advancements in computational tools, particularly those in sequence and structure-based prediction, offer …

Examining The Influence Of Sports Nutrition Counseling On Collegiate Athletes, Jenelle Leon Saravia

Theses

This study explored the influence of nutrition counseling provided by registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) on collegiate athletes’ dietary behaviors, knowledge, and perceptions of nutrition. A mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating qualitative interviews with 15 athletes from six sports across four schools. Participants reflected on their counseling experiences, focusing on its impact on their nutritional habits, health, and athletic performance. Quantitative data, including a one-sample t-test on recommendation scores, revealed a mean score of 6.73 (SD = 0.46) on a 7-point scale, indicating consistently high satisfaction with nutrition counseling. Thematic analysis identified five themes: Influence of Counseling, Behavioral Changes, Self-Reported Understanding …

Application Of Science And Technology Studies To Global Medical Device Donation Policy, Jolie Crunelle

Theses

In low and middle income countries, the World Health Organization estimates that nearly 80% of medical devices and equipment are procured through donation (WHO 2000). While these donations have the potential to play a critical role in the recipient communities’ health, the donated devices sometimes fall short of their potential due to improper use or lack of support—despite the existence of a variety of guidelines and regulations for medical equipment donations. While conducting volunteer biomedical equipment technician work in Guatemala and Uganda, I came to notice the disparity between the guidelines and the reality on the ground. This study aims …

Animating The Mechanism Of Action Of The Novel Glioblastoma Vaccine Survaxm, Sheila Figel

Theses

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly type of malignant brain tumor affecting over 11,000 people in the United States each year. Treatment options for GBM are limited, with the majority of patients receiving surgery and chemoradiation, and surviving around 15 months. New therapies are desperately needed. A novel peptide vaccine, SurVaxM, has shown promise in phase I and II clinical trials, and is currently under investigation in a Phase IIb trial (the “SURVIVE” trial) for newly diagnosed GBM. As SurVaxM moves closer to FDA approval, there is a need for education about the agent and how it works. In order to …

A High-Efficiency Ldo Regulator With Adaptive Psrr And Transient Enhancements, Daniel Zeznick

Theses

Reliable power delivery is essential for all computing systems, particularly those operating with limited or constrained energy sources, such as batteries. Power management circuits must provide energy efficiency, stability, and resilience to disturbances to support accurate and consistent system performance. This thesis presents a high-efficiency low-dropout (LDO) regulator featuring adaptive power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) and transient response enhancement techniques. By leveraging adaptive analog design strategies, the proposed regulator dynamically boosts performance at high load currents, maintaining optimal efficiency across the full load range while circumventing key trade-offs inherent to conventional LDO architectures. The design incorporates several novel circuit techniques …

Mapping Accessibility In Dubai: Evaluating Al Wasl And Mirdif Against 20-Minute City Principles And The Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan, Fatima Mohammed Almulla

Theses

The 15-minute city is a planning concept that aims to give people easy access to daily services such as schools, shops, healthcare, and recreation within a short walk or bike ride. Dubai has adapted this concept into a 20-minute city model under the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan. The goal is to reduce car use, improve quality of life, and create connected and sustainable neighborhoods. This study evaluates how well two neighborhoods in Dubai, Al Wasl and Mirdif, match the 20-minute city model. It analyzes three main goals from the Urban Master Plan: having 55% of residents within 800 meters …

Insights Into Covid-19 Dynamics Via The Integration Of Subpopulations, Vaccinations, And Bayesian Calibration In A Semi-Enclosed Community Model Framework, Meghan Rowan Childs

Theses

From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, universities have experienced unique challenges due to their multifaceted nature as a place of education, residence, and employment. Previous work has used mathematical models to explore varying approaches to combating COVID-19 and tailored these models to local contexts, such as hospitals. However, previous work has not broadly incorporated pharmaceutical mitigation strategies into university models. We address this gap in research by integrating subpopulations, vaccines, and COVID-19 variants into a semi-enclosed population model framework. We further improve the quantification of uncertainty in the model parameters by implementing a formal Bayesian model calibration, fusing real-world …

Towards Robust Deep Learning For Medical Imaging With Limited And Noisy Labeled Data, Bidur Khanal

Theses

Deep learning has emerged as a powerful tool in medical imaging, assisting healthcare professionals with several decision-making tasks, such as disease diagnosis, surgical intervention, and treatment planning. Supervised deep learning methods typically require large amounts of high-quality labeled data for training. However, acquiring high-quality labeled data in the medical domain is challenging due to factors such as the high cost of expert annotation and the presence of label noise, often due to inherent user/expert annotation variability. Models trained on limited or noisy labeled data suffer from poor performance due to overfitting, thus reducing their generalizability and trustworthiness for medical applications. …

An Ultra-Low-Power, Area-Efficient All-Analog Trojan With Temporal Power Supply Triggering, Roberto Ramos-Brito

Theses

With the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things and rising concerns over intellectual property protection, hardware security has become increasingly vital—particularly in defending against hardware trojans. While much of the existing research targets digital trojans, analog hardware trojans remain largely unexplored, presenting unique opportunities for developing innovative attack vectors and mitigation strategies. This thesis introduces a novel all-analog temporal trojan that functions entirely within the analog domain. The design incorporates power supply noise detection and charge-accumulator techniques to enable precise control over attack execution and payload delivery. It also leverages novel circuit techniques to reduce power and area overhead, …

Enhancing Pedestrian Safety Around Jacksonville State University: A Gis-Based Perception And Crash Analysis, Husain O. Alegimenlen

Theses

This study uses a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based approach to assess pedestrian safety around Jacksonville State University (JSU) by combining vehicle crash data with perception surveys from 111 pedestrians and 97 drivers. The research identifies high-risk areas, explores contributing factors, and recommends targeted safety improvements.

A total of 209 geocoded crash records (2021 to 2024) were analyzed using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and hotspot analysis in ArcGIS Pro. Crash clusters appeared along Pelham Road North and Mountain Street, marking key vehicular risk zones. Three major pedestrian danger areas were found: (1) Nisbet Street NW and Cardinal Lane NW, (2) …

Flood Risk Assessment In Humanitarian Contexts: A Remote Sensing And Gis Methodology Applied To Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, Tanzania, Carolyne Vincent Mbirika

Theses

Flooding is a global challenge, with effects mostly experienced in developing countries due to insufficient data for effective flood risk assessment and management. Refugee settlements are particularly vulnerable to flooding due to their remote locations, high population density, and temporary shelters, necessitating flood susceptibility mapping to effectively mitigate risks and minimize damage prior to flooding events. This study assessed flood susceptibility in the Nyarugusu refugee camp, Tanzania, through Multi-criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process using remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) approaches. The flood susceptibility map that resulted from this process categorizes flood-prone areas into three classes: …

Implementation Of Machine Learning To Predict Cable Failures In Electrical Networks, Sultan Bader Albahri

Theses

Electrical networks are critical infrastructures that power industries, businesses, and households. Among their key components, electrical cables play a vital role in ensuring uninterrupted power distribution. However, cable failures due to aging, environmental factors, mechanical stress, and load imbalances pose significant challenges, leading to outages, financial losses, and reputational damage. Traditional maintenance approaches, which rely on periodic inspections and reactive repairs, have proven inadequate in preventing unexpected failures. In response to this challenge, predictive maintenance using Machine Learning (ML) has emerged as an effective solution. This research focuses on developing an ML-based predictive model to forecast cable failures in Dubai …

Implementation And Dissemination Of The 'About Eating' Program: Evaluating Participant Engagement, Usability, And Module Interest, Justin Konrad Walker

Theses

Abstract Background: Online nutrition education can improve food choices among underserved populations. The About Eating New York (AENY) program is a web-based, self-paced series of modules designed to enhance nutritional literacy, resource management, and confidence in healthy eating. Leveraging dissemination and implementation (D&I) science, AE partnered with community organizations across New York’s ten fiscal regions to extend its reach. Methods: This study analyzed secondary data from the AENY dissemination effort. Participants were recruited via social media and community organizations. Pre- and post-program surveys and end-of-lesson surveys assessed demographics, engagement, and perceptions of usability. Quantitative analyses included descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVAs, …

Beyond The Food: A Scoping Review Of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (Arfid)'S Comorbidities, Nutrition, And Growth Outcomes, Emily Szewczyk

Theses

Objective A scoping review design was chosen for this study to appropriately assess and understand the knowledge on ARFID and to identify psychological or developmental comorbidities, growth outcomes, and nutrient deficiencies and/or excesses in children and adolescents. Introduction Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a relatively new eating disorder, characterized by the DSM-5 in 2013.1 Individuals with ARFID exhibit selective eating due to lack of interest in eating food, sensory sensitivity, or a fear of possible vomiting or choking.2 The malnutrition seen in individuals with ARFID can result in physical health complications including weight loss, malnutrition, growth delay, decreased bone …

On Studying Transformer Networks For Volume-To-Surface Registration Of Inhomogeneous Soft Bodies For Liver Laparoscopy, Michael Adam Young

Theses

An important practical consideration in laparoscopic liver surgery is the limited visual information relative to open surgery. In laparoscopic interventions, the surgeon’s view of the liver surface is generally limited to the scene provided by a single scope with a narrow field-of-view. This limits the ability to navigate towards internal lesions previously identified through pre-procedural imaging. Surgical navigation during laparoscopy could be enhanced by registration of full preoperative liver models derived from pre-procedural imaging scans onto the partial laparoscopic view of the liver. This entails both a rigid registration to match the liver surface view to the preoperative volume, as …

Interspecific Sources Of Resistance For Neisseria Gonorrhoeae: Investigating Horizontally Transferred Antimicrobial Resistance Markers, Makenna Swartz

Theses

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health crisis, limiting treatment options and increasing the burden of infectious diseases. Bacteria can rapidly gain resistance through mutations and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Understanding these mechanisms is critical for developing strategies to mitigate resistance and preserve antibiotic efficiency. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of gonorrhea, has developed resistance to multiple antibiotics, and has only one remaining treatment option. Commensal species are constantly exposed to antibiotics in humans, and over time acquire resistant mutations that then transfer to pathogenic species through HGT. Investigating these exchanges can provide insight into how resistance evolves and spreads …

Adaptive Reuse Of Abandoned Schools, Dayana Williams

Theses

This thesis investigates the adaptive reuse of abandoned school buildings in economically declining communities, mainly focusing on how these transformations can contribute to sustainable community revitalization. The research highlights Columbus, Ohio, where school closures and grade realignments threaten to leave many school properties vacant, especially in minority neighborhoods. This adaptive reuse strategy presents an opportunity to address issues such as urban decay, resource efficiency, and social equity by repurposing these buildings into multifunctional community assets. The study adopts a multi-method approach, including literature reviews, case study analysis, and community needs assessments, to identify best practices and critical challenges in adaptive …