Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparison Of Dual Polarimetric Hail Signatures Between C-Band And S-Band Radar Systems, Roger Allen

Theses

With the growth of C-band dual-polarized radar systems in foreign weather services and research institutions, it is important for researchers and operators to understand how to use them when analyzing hail producing storms. Compared to S-band dual-polarized radars, little research has been done on the effects of hail on C-band observations. Past comparisons made between the two wavelengths consisted of small test samples. This study collected data from 35 storms with confirmed hail reports to make a comparison between S-band and C-band hail signatures. The study concluded that while Z(subscript H) was approximately the same across the two wavelengths, melting …

Lateralization Of Tempo Processing And Sensorimotor Synchronization, Robert P. Noneman

Theses

Previous neurological literature has proposed a potential specialization of the right hemisphere for tempo processes; however, this hypothesis had yet to be tested via behavioral measures within the cognitive literature. The present study was designed to investigate a potential specialization of the right hemisphere in tempo perception and production using a dichotic listening task paradigm by employing a 2 (Target Ear: left, right) x 2 (Responding Hand: left, right) x 3 (Target Stimulus: same, decreasing, increasing) in a within subjects design presenting isochronous tones. Although an ear advantage for tempo perception ability was not detected, we confirmed the left ear …

The Introduction Of Montessori Teaching And Learning Practices In An Early Childhood Classroom In A Remote Indigenous School, Catherine Holmes

Theses

The purpose of this research was to observe and describe the effect of Montessori pedagogy in a remote Aboriginal Early Childhood program to ascertain whether this alternative approach to education provides a more culturally appropriate practice than past methods. The significance of the study lies in the need to "close the gap" (Department of Premier & Cabinet [DPMC], 2016, p.1) between the achievement of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. The study endeavours to describe the effect of Montessori pedagogy through the response of those most closely associated with Aboriginal education: students, parents, caregivers, community members and educational professionals.

Three dimensions of …

An Assessment Of Campus Climate In Sexual Minority College Students: Recommendations For Creating An Inclusive Campus, Jennifer Murray

Theses

While several studies have clearly identified a link between sexual minority status and discrimination, harassment, and victimization on college campuses, less in known about sexual minority students and other indicators of campus climate. The goal of the current study was to examine the association between sexual minority status and students’ perceptions of their connection to the university, trust in the university to keep them safe, and confidence in sexual assault reporting system at their university. Contrary to the predictions, there was no significant difference between LGBTQ students and non-LGBTQ students in their connection to the university and trust in the …

Play - Lost In Transition? Teacher Beliefs About Pedagogic Continuity Across The Transition To Formal Schooling, Linda Bellen

Theses

In the current educational climate of teacher accountability, high-stakes assessment and outcomes-based learning, play as a valued pedagogy is being questioned more than ever. In Australia, the recent push-down effect of an academic curriculum has resulted in the ‘schoolification’ of prior-to-school settings, with less emphasis on play-based pedagogy. Traditionally, in early childhood education, the dominant pedagogy is play-based and is used to support and facilitate children’s learning, while in schools learning is more formalised, directed and structured with the presence of a mandated curriculum. This ideological divide in pedagogical approaches between the two contexts is first evident as children begin …

More Wobble: Daniel Dennett's Elbow Room Unscrambled, Patsy Cadareanu

Theses

Through the use of the seemingly endless metaphors in his books Elbow Room (1984), Brainstorms (1978) and Freedom Evolves (2002), Daniel Dennett is able to construct a coherent stance on what it means to be morally responsible in a world that may or may not be determined. This paper explores Dennett’s notion of responsibility and its implications. Determinism is the doctrine that all events are necessitated by previous events which have caused the only possible future. In contrast, indeterminism is the idea that events do not come about through necessity. Indeterminism is often thought of as ‘freedom,’ but this is …

Extreme Contrast Enchantment Of An All-Optical And Gate, Saif Al Graiti

Theses

We experimentally demonstrate a 31.2-dB-contrast all-optical AND gate based on a Fabry-Pérot semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). Typically, cross phase modulation is the dominant nonlinearity as it shifts a FPSOA resonance to trigger the AND-gate functionality. Cross polarization modulation (XPolM) is introduced here to produce a distinct output SOP for the high-state power that is different from the low-state power. A linear polarizer is used to block the low-state power to enhance the contrast by 24 dB, far exceeding previous demonstrations for such FPSOA gates.

Development Of Nanoelectrodes For Electrochemical Applications, Séan Barry

Theses

The demand for direct, selective and rapid determination of chemical and biological analytes has led to a growing interest in electrochemical sensor devices. Particularly the use of nanomaterials and nanoelectrodes has received increased interest due to their enhanced electrochemical properties. In this thesis these enhanced properties are exploited in order to develop multiple sensing applications.

Firstly a sensitive microband based sensor is described for the detection of trinitrotoluene and for its discrimination from other nitroaromatic compounds. Square wave voltammetry was used to identify characteristic reduction peaks for these compounds and a calibration plot for the quantification of TNT was also …

Ultrashort Pulse Generation In Inas Quantum Dot Semiconductors, Patrick Finch

Theses

In this thesis, the effect of operating two-section InAs quantum dot passively mode- locked semiconductor lasers in the random population regime is examined in detail in an attempt to achieve wide optical bandwidths and ultrashort optical pulses. It is demonstrated in this work that large increases in optical bandwidths can be observed in the random population regime. Random population was achieved with an undoped device by lowering the operating temperature to 20 K. An emission bandwidth of 27 nm was measured using an undoped device at 20 K, with corresponding pulses of 290 fs, shorter than any previously reported with …

Emission Properties And Carrier Dynamics Of Iii-V Nanostructures For Next Generation Photonic Devices, Katarzyna Komolibus

Theses

A majority of modern day applications, ranging from telecommunications, charge storage memories and solar cells to more recently silicon photonics, have at their core compound semiconductor based optoelectronic devices. Particular attention has focused on the use of Group-III and Group-V elements in these devices and thus drives a desire for improved understanding. This thesis therefore studies a variety of novel III-V nanostructures, which have shown immense promise for inclusion in next-generation photonic devices, examining in detail these structures in terms of their optical properties and inherent carrier dynamics.

Social Acceptance Of Renewable Energy : Exploring A Citizen Centric Paradigm, Paul O'Brien

Theses

The energy landscape in Ireland is being transformed. Energy policy is geared towards substantially decarbonising the electricity system by 2050. The implementation of large scale renewable energy generation remains a key policy objective. The scale of the transformation presents challenges in terms of policy and technology, as well as social acceptance.

This study was conducted to explore social acceptance of renewable energy within the context of a broader energy transition. A concurrent mixed method design integrates three distinct strands of primary research. A series of semi-structured interviews with multidisciplinary energy professionals explored contemporary social issues, from a developer, utility and …

Cloud Practical Exam Invigilation Control Systems With The Objective Of Enhancing Quality Control For Online Exams, Gordon O'Reilly

Theses

Online cloud computing courses are becoming more common place facilitating a student to study from home from anywhere in the world. Coupled with this trend is a need for educational institutions to facilitate students to take tests or exams online from home. It reduces the remote student’s time and cost of travel to an exam invigilation centre as well as reducing the educational institution’s test administration overhead. It does however introduce potential quality control concerns. A new industry called online proctoring has emerged that attempts to provide quality control in these online test scenarios.

This research provides an insight into …

Beneficial Reuse Of Marine Sediment, Sinead Tangney

Theses

Dredging is essential for ports and harbours to maintain navigational access. In Ireland approximately 1.2 million m^ is dredged annually and the management of this dredged sediment is an ongoing issue. This thesis investigates the management options available for marine dredged sediment and examines the technical, environmental and economic feasibility and social acceptability of a range of specific beneficial uses of marine sediment.

A literature review is presented on the international dredging industry and outlines why dredging is an essential infrastructural activity. Current dredged marine sediment management techniques are presented and discussed.

An overview of the Irish dredging industry is …

Exploration And Implementation Of Innovative Efficiencies/Devices In Beet Processing For Energy Production, Patrick Mcinerney

Theses

The imminent depletion of fossil fuels, as well as concerns for energy security and the obligation to respond to climate change has led to expanding worldwide popularity of Anaerobic Digestion (AD) of energy crops. Sugar beet is a popular AD feedstock due to its favourable characteristics; however it can be quite labour intensive requiring a range of specialist equipment to process the crop prior to undergoing AD. A crucial stage of this process involves the size reduction of beet by a mechanical chopper unit; this pretreatment breaks open the cellulose structure of the crop and increases the surface area available …

Land Use Regulation And Access To Amenities: Exploring Spatial Equity Using Gis, Robert B. Thompson

Theses

No abstract provided.

Contextual Experiences Of Overseas Trained Teachers Before And After Obtaining A Teaching Position In A Public Secondary School Of Western Australia And South Australia In Reference To Their Cultural Perspectives, Sushmita Datta Roy

Theses

The focus of this research was an exploration of the experiences of overseas trained teachers in the public secondary schools of Western Australia and South Australia, in reference to their cultural perspectives. Due to ongoing teacher shortage in the Australian public secondary schools (Weldon, 2015) many overseas trained teachers opt to migrate to Australia in the hope of establishing a new teaching career in the country. In the process, overseas trained teachers often undergo a range of contextual experiences, some that are challenging and some rewarding. It becomes meaningful, therefore, to explore the contextual experiences of overseas trained teachers and …

"Not Marching Now In Fields Of Thrasymene": Producing Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus For The Modern Stage, Patrick C. Barton

Theses

This thesis offers theatre practitioners a method for approaching Christopher Marlowe’s performance texts. Doctor Faustus is offered as a case study. Within it I provide a brief account of Marlowe’s education, identifying the key influencing factors that led to his resultant compositions. A discussion of the variant texts of Doctor Faustus follows, which provides the reader with an understanding of the text and its context. Various approaches to the text are explored and reviewed in their degree of success. My purpose is to identify the most significant aspects of Marlowe’s text and to offer a method of approach to production …

An Implementation Of A High Accuracy Sensor For Distributed Wireless Sensor Network Applications, Jesse Craig Frye

Theses

Biopotentials are typically small electric signals, on the order of a few microvolts to hundreds of millivolts, produced as the result of cellular electrochemical activity in living organisms. Due to high source impedance, investigation of these small electrical signals typically requires use of clinical equipment or professional data acquisition systems that are large, expensive, and utilize AC mains power. Distributed sensor network applications need a low cost, high resolution wireless sensor, suitable for measuring and logging microvolt-level DC accurate signals from high impedance sources. Issues that must be addressed include processing power, power efficiency, auxiliary data storage, and wireless communication …

Performance Of Feature Selection Methods For Machine Learning Based Automatic Malarial Cell Recognition In Wholeslide Images, Vishnu Muralidharan.

Theses

This work is on investigation of automated detection of malaria parasites in wholeslide images of peripheral blood smears. We compared and analyzed several feature-selection methods for optimization of machine learning using support vector machine (SVM). To this end, cell samples were extracted from the wholeslide image and feature extraction was performed on these samples. In order to identify the best features, a host of feature selection methods were tested. For each set of selected features, the SVM was trained and tuned for optimal model selection using cross-validation and grid-search. Subsequently, test samples were classified using the model. Each feature selection …

Computational Modeling Of Fragmentation Of Bimetallic Shells, Benjamin M. Beeker

Theses

Fragmentation of bimetallic shells under explosive loading has been modeled computationally. In particular, the effects of varying material percentages on the fragmentation characteristics (average fragment size, mass distribution of the fragments) were investigated. The two materials considered in this study are Oxygen-Free High Thermal Conductivity (OFHC) Copper (as the inner layer) and Inconel 718 (as the outer layer). Several shell dimensions were considered, and the percentage of each of the materials were varied for each shell dimension. The numerical results indicate that compared to monolithic shells, bimetallic shells with a small percentage of copper (as the inner layer) may be …

High Borate Glasses For The Controlled Release Of Therapeutic Metal Ions, Kathleen O'Connell

Theses

Within the biomaterial community significant effort has been directed towards engineering materials that induce precise host responses, which are tailored to specific applications. However, this has also seen an increase in the complexity of some biomaterials, which is being increasingly criticised within the literature, as it is attributed to hindering their clinical utility. In this context the release of therapeutic metal ions from glass-based biomaterials have been shown to promote hard tissue repair and regeneration through angiogenesis and osteogenesis processes. Within this thesis project two separate quaternary high borate glass systems were prepared containing the therapeutic metal ions strontium and …

Low-Cost Fabrication Of Nanoelectrodes For Electrochemical Applications, Colm Barrett

Theses

Compared to traditional macroelectrodes, nanoscale electrodes have tremendous potential when employed in electrochemistry due to enhanced sensitivity arising from increased mass transport to the electrode and low background charging currents. Electrochemically- based diagnostic products such as sensors require sensing elements with greatly enhanced performance and nanoelectrodes offer a viable route to attaining this performance improvement.

Firstly, the fabrication of a polymer microneedle array-based sensor is described and employed to demonstrate a mediated approach for the detection of glucose in solution. This was to demonstrate the feasibility of the system for in-vivo sensing. Cyclic voltammetry was used to achieve detection of …

Semi-Automatic Identification Of Synonyms In Structured Knowledge Representations, Thomas C. Taylor

Theses

Synonym support is an important aspect of querying knowledge bases, but current approaches to generating such support is difficult and error-prone. Automating the process of identifying synonyms in structured knowledge representations is therefore an important pursuit. This thesis presents an ensemble approach that incorporates several methods and knowledge sources heretofore used individually. A case study shows that the approach performs better than individual methods, and that it may be used to reduce efforts to identify synonyms.

The Study Of Cybersecurity Algorithms From Traditional Computing To The Internet Of Things, Daniel Davis

Theses

A progressive approach to teach students how to develop and deploy cybersecurity algorithms across a wide range of heterogeneous computing devices is proposed. Data confidentiality and data integrity can be ensured when sensitive information is transferred between various types of devices over insecure communication channels by using cybersecurity algorithms. A step-by-step procedure to teach students cybersecurity algorithms on devices ranging from personal computers to devices deployed in the Internet of Things ecosystem is needed. We develop four learning modules that offer students the opportunity to explore commonly utilized cybersecurity algorithms across several heterogeneous devices. Students are able to utilize our …

Second Order Sliding Mode Control Using Nonlinear Dynamic Sliding Manifold : A Lyapunov Approach, Bhargav Chava

Theses

Second order Sliding Mode Control (2-SMC) algorithms require knowledge of derivative of sliding variable, which is to be implemented using 2-SM differentiators. The use of 2-Sliding Mode differentiators causes loss of accuracy. Hence, the approach known as nonlinear dynamic sliding manifold (NDSM) approach is used to design a 2-SM control algorithm without the knowledge of derivative of sliding variable. The main contribution of the thesis is proof of finite time convergence of 2-SMC using NDSM approach by Lyapunov function technique. Also an adaptive 2-SM control law is proposed for perturbed systems with unknown boundaries using NDSM approach to avoid overestimation …

Philosophizing About God And Nature : Connections And Divisions In The Writings Of Isaac Newton, Joshua Riddle

Theses

For several decades, scholars have argued about the relationship between Isaac Newton’s works in science (or natural philosophy), “chymistry,” religion, and theology. Of particular interest has been how his natural philosophy and religion/theology related to each other. Some scholars claim a significant connection between them, even claiming they are part of a “seamless unity” in Newton’s thinking. Other, more skeptical, scholars call for a localized approach to his writings. By entering into this debate and analyzing many of Newton’s manuscripts, I argue that Newton held onto significant disciplinary distinctions in his writings, but also was willing to make small connections …

Heat Deposition During Turbulence Distorted Laser Irradiation, William Vaden Dent Iii

Theses

Realistically modeled heat deposition by a laser source under a variety of turbulent conditions generated from the classic Kolmogorov model is presented. Predicted heat deposition data is created from solutions to the differential heat flow equation and for representative example turbulence distorted waveforms.

Water Demand Forecasting In Al-Ain City, United Arab Emirates, Hebah Ibrahim Younis

Theses

Al-Ain city is the second largest city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the third in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Currently, desalination plants are the only source of municipal water in Al-Ain city with an average daily supply of 170 MIG. The expected natural population growth, in addition to future projects, will certainly put additional stress on the water resources in the city. Therefore, Al-Ain city seems to be in an urgent need for estimations of future water demands for achieving sustainable development. The main aim of this thesis is to introduce a water demand forecasting model to …

Numerical Investigation Of Parameters Impacting The Wall Thickness Of Carbon Nanotubes Manufactured By Template-Based Chemical Vapor Deposition, Yashar Seyed Vahedein

Theses

Template-based chemical vapor deposition (TB-CVD) is a versatile technique for manufacturing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or CNT-based devices for various applications. In this process, carbon is deposited by thermal decomposition of a carbon-based precursor gas inside the nanoscopic cylindrical pores of anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) templates to form CNTs. Experimental results show CNT formation in templates is controlled by TB-CVD process parameters, such as time, temperature and flow rate. Optimization of this process is done empirically, requiring tremendous time and effort. Moreover, there is a need for a more comprehensive and low cost way to characterize the flow in the furnace …

The Use Of Landsat 8 For Monitoring Of Fresh And Coastal Waters, Javier A. Concha

Theses

The most interaction between humankind and water occurs in coastal and inland waters (Case 2 waters) at a scale of tens or hundred of meters, but there is not yet an ocean color product (e.g. chlorophyll-a product) at this spatial scale. Landsat 8 could potentially address the remote sensing of these kinds of waters due to its improved features. This work presents an approach to obtain the color producing agents (CPAs) chlorophyll-a, colored dissolved organic material (CDOM) and suspended material (SM) from water bodies using Landsat 8. Adequate atmospheric correction becomes an important first step to accurately retrieving water parameters …