Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of Digital Printing Variation In A Production Environment, Pierre Urbain

Theses

Today, conventional printing processes such as offset lithography, gravure and flexography are not the only processes available to satisfy the print buyers' needs. Digital printing is now able to rival offset quality, and has taken a substantial position in the commercial and publication printing market. Conventional printing technologies have been extensively studied and standardized. The principal international standards for conventional technologies, the ISO12647 series, specify aims and tolerances that are process based. Digital printing is more difficult to standardize because its diversity of technologies and consumables make the creation of process-based aims nearly impossible. A new approach to standardization, conformance …

Modeling The Potential Effects Of Plasmodium Infection On The Galapagos Penguin (Spheniscus Mendiculus), Robert James Meile

Theses

The recently discovered presence of a species of Plasmodium infecting the endangered Galapagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) potentially threatens their long-term persistence. However, not much information is available on the transmission dynamics of Plasmodium in Galapagos or the impact of the parasite on infected penguins. The present work takes the model of the Galapagos penguin population devised by Vargas et al. (2007)—which did not include any impacts from disease—and adds a simple model of infection. Two variables—the probability of an individual becoming infected each year, and the increase in annual mortality caused by infection—define the dynamics of the disease …

Mathematical Modeling And Screening Of Ligand Binding Sites In Protein Using The Tetrahedral Motif Method And Double-Centroid Representation, Arkanjan Banerjee

Theses

A pharmacophore consists of the parts of the structure of the ligand that are sufficient to express the biological and pharmacological effects of the ligand. It is usually a substructure of the entire structure of the ligand. Small organic molecules called ligands or metabolites in the cell form complexes with biomolecules (usually proteins) to serve different purposes. The sites at which the ligands bind are known as ligand binding sites, which are essentially "pockets" which have complementary shapes and patterns of charge distribution with the ligands. Sometimes a pocket is induced by the ligand itself. If we study different bound …

Supercritical Co2 Extraction Of Oil From Henna Flower: Experimental, Mathematical Modeling, And Antioxidant Activity, Bushra Saeed Mohammed Dohai

Theses

Henna is a plant that has been used traditionally for coloring nail, skin, and hair, and as medicinal plant. The supercritical fluid technology offers a considerable promise as extraction media due to its advantages over other conventional extraction techniques. The extraction of volatile components from flowers of henna was studied using supercritical carbon dioxide at temperatures and pressures ranging from 35 to 55°C and 80 to 120 bar, respectively. A maximum extraction yield of 31 % from 2g of henna flowers was obtained at 45 °C and 120 bar. The composition of the extracts was investigated by gas chromatography technique. …

A Data Driven Frequency Based Method For Electrical-Mechanical Actuator Condition Monitoring, Anthony J. Chirico Iii

Theses

This research investigates a novel data driven approach to condition monitoring of Electro-Mechanical Actuators (EMAs) consisting of feature extraction and fault classification. Since many common faults in rotating machinery produce unique frequency components, the approach is based on signal analysis in the frequency domain of both inherent EMA signals and accelerometers. The feature extraction process exposes fault frequencies in signal data that are synchronous with motor position through a series of signal processing techniques consisting of digital re-sampling, Power Spectral Density (PSD) computation, and feature reduction. The resulting reduced dimension feature is then used to determine the condition of the …

Imaging Unresolved Object Using Vortex Mode Detection, Jiaxuan Han

Theses

Resolution is an imaging system's ability to distinguish object detail. The resolution ability is ultimately limited by diffraction, which is hard to avoid because it comes from the wave nature of light. The Rayleigh criterion given by the finite width of the Airy disk, is the generally accepted criterion for the minimum resolvable detail. This criterion was hard to overcome until the study of Optical Vortex Coronagraph (OVC) system. This system can eliminate the component of light that creates Airy disk. The left light, which can pass through the OVC system, contains spatial information from the observed object even if …

Design Optimization Framework To Estimate Environmental Impact Of Design Decisions In Consumer Products, Carlos M. Briceno

Theses

Most products have the potential to negatively impact the environment during all life-cycle stages. However, most environmental impact assessment methods focus on a single product life-cycle and on a specific lifecycle stage. In addition, consumer products can potentially amplify these impacts with their larger production volumes, wide dispersion, and miniaturization trends. The main objective of this project is to develop a design optimization framework that allows for estimating the environmental impact of design decisions (e.g. materials choice, etc.) across all life-cycle stages in consumer products. This work incorporates into one framework customer preferences (including preference for environmental friendliness), consumer adoption …

Classroom Habitat: Natural System Of Movement, Sandra Turner

Theses

With all the new technology in today's world, we are hard pressed to find a "sense of wonder and awe" unless it is plugged into a wall. As Jonathan Chapman describes in his book, Emotionally Durable Design; "Modern products seriously lack ... character and allure; they are too smart and precise, removing all possible surprise, mystery and, perhaps above all, charm from the process of engaging with them" (p. 49). Children spend as much, if not more time at school than at home. The classroom plays a critical role in a child's emotional development, yet the objects in the classroom …

An Agent Based Model Of A Two Good Economy On A Network, Jacqueline Lattarulo

Theses

This thesis studies the relationship between people in a two good economy on a social network. Each person in the network is allotted a certain number of firewood and a certain number of candy bars. Each person tries to increase his or her happiness through trading. Each person in the network knows at least one other person in the network. The people in the network can trade with the people they know to increase their happiness. The goal of the thesis is to be able to predict how each person's happiness is affected, just by knowing who knows whom within …

Development Of A Process For Identification Of The Operational Mode Of Industrial Sites Using High Dimensional Multi-Modal Data, Jake Clements

Theses

Many algorithms exist to determine the physical contents of an image. Target detection or anomaly detection algorithms, for example, use statistical and geometric approaches in high dimensional space to locate objects within a scene. Instead of target detection, however, it has become of interest of late to delve deeper into the field of remote sensing in order to perform textit{process detection}. Process detection refers to the ability to identify the operational mode of an industrial facility. To accurately complete this task will require a new set of analysis tools. This thesis discusses a method that can be used to perform …

Art Recording Art: Creating An Interactive Visual Document Of Personal Experience, Ben Rubin

Theses

This document was submitted to fulfill the thesis requirement for the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). The following thesis introduction includes a Quick Response Code (QR) and a Universal Resource Locator (URL), both of which point the reader to a complex, interactive website housing an online version of the thesis and artwork. This thesis explores how the notetaking process can shape personal language as it bridges the contexts of education and art. The author appropriates the medium of notetaking and adapts it for the world of fine art. The project documents the various paths …

An Integrated Physics-Based Approach To Demonstrate The Potential Of The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (Ldcm) For Monitoring Coastal/Inland Waters, Nima Pahlevan

Theses

Monitoring coastal or inland waters, recognized as case II waters, using the existing Landsat technology is somewhat restricted because of its low Signal-to-Noise ratio (SNR) as well as its relatively poor radiometric resolution. As a primary task, we introduce a novel technique, which integrates the Landsat-7 data as a surrogate for LDCM with a 3D hydrodynamic model to monitor the dynamics of coastal waters near river discharges as well as in a small lake environment. The proposed approach leverages both the thermal and the reflective Landsat-7 imagery to calibrate the model and to retrieve the concentrations of optically active components …

A Feasibility Assessment Of A New Navigation System For Unmanned Underwater Vehicles With Adaptive Gain Sliding Mode Differentiation, Steven Szklany

Theses

In this work, a highly accurate navigation device is proposed for unmanned underwater vehicle navigation. A six degree of freedom, open loop underwater vehicle model is generated and is used as the motion platform in this study. The new navigation system, previously developed at the Rochester Institute of Technology, requires real-time body angular acceleration terms as inputs to the algorithm. To address this requirement, real-time signal differentiation techniques were investigated. The differentiation of real-world, noisy signals is a difficult task due to the inherent numerical differentiation and subsequent noise amplification. A sliding mode differentiation scheme is proposed with a fuzzy …

Schedulability-Driven Scratchpad Memory Swapping For Resource-Constrained Real-Time Embedded Systems, Michael De Francis

Theses

In resource-constrained real-time embedded systems, scratchpad memory (SPM) is utilized in place of cache to increase performance and enforce consistent behavior of both hard and soft real-time tasks via software-controlled SPM management techniques (SPMMTs). Real-time systems depend on time critical (hard) tasks to complete execution before their deadline times. Many real-time systems also depend on the execution of soft tasks that do not have to complete by hard deadlines. This thesis evaluates a new SPMMT that increases both worst-case task slack time (TST) and soft task processing capabilities, by combining two existing SPMMTs. The schedulability-driven ACETRB / WCETRB swapping (SDAWS) …

An Examination Of Coordination Among Friends And Strangers From A Coordination Theory Perspective, Christopher D. Wamble

Theses

Within mobile social coordination, there is a field of study known as outeraction, the communicative processes used by people to manage future interactions. It is an important area of research because it identifies how informal interactions support complex collaboration between individuals and groups. Outeraction is primarily conducted through the interpersonal communication channels of texting, instant messaging (IM), face-to-face, and mobile phone or Skype conversations. Currently this area of research in mobile outeraction support systems is weak. It lacks a firm foundation in system building, has very few if any conceptual frameworks, and little empirical knowledge of user requirements and attitudes …

Analysis And Mitigation Of Carrier Frequency Offset For Uplink Of Ofdma, Abhishek R. Panchal

Theses

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is being used in many wireless standards because of its immunity to multipath fading, high spectral efficiency and simple implementation, making it suitable for high data rate multimedia wireless applications. One of the significant drawbacks of the OFDM is its sensitivity to Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO). CFO causes Inter Carrier Interference (ICI) between subcarriers and Multiple User Interference (MUI) at Uplink between different users. ICI and MUI at uplink cause significant degradation in the performance of the receiver, therefore, to improve the receiver performance up to acceptable level, compensation of the CFO becomes necessary.

In …

Dynamic Friction: Measurement And Results, Yanal Jij

Theses

Friction has been known as a phenomenon since Leonardo da Vinci era. From that time and through the last four centuries, scientists tried to understand this phenomenon in an effort to overcome its undesired side effects which include energy loss, parts wearing, and errors in control systems. Much has been achieved in studying friction and many experiments have been conducted in this field. These experiments resulted in a mounting evidence that friction is a dynamic phenomenon.

This thesis presents an apparatus that measures dynamic friction in linear motion and the results obtained using this apparatus. The apparatus consists of a …

Non-Destructive Evaluation Of Agglomerated Cork Products Using Thz Spectroscopy And Imaging, Han Zhang

Theses

Terahertz spectroscopy from 0.15 to 0.3 THz is used to classify agglomerated cork products. Position dependent scattering of radiation allows one to image the internal structure of cork products. Previous studies have focused on natural (solid) cork stoppers. In this study, the feasibility of classifying agglomerated cork structures using THz imaging and spectroscopy is investigated. Both THz images and spectra are used to classify the agglomerated cork samples. Classification of the samples used three methods: visible examination of the THz images, statistical analysis of the pixel intensities, and a polynomial regression of the THz spectral data averaged over all pixels. …

Performance Comparison Between Ad Hoc On Demand Distance Vector And Dynamic Source Routing Protocols With Security Encryption Using Opnet, Jaseem Jafferi

Theses

Application for wireless networking has been evolving rapidly and is becoming an integral part in our everyday life. Also with the recent performance advancement in wireless communication technologies, mobile wireless ad-hoc networks has been used in many areas such as military, health and commercial applications. Mobile ad hoc networks utilize radio waves and microwaves to maintain communication channel between computers. 802.11 (Wi-Fi) is the pre-eminent technology for building general purpose wireless networks. Mobile ad-hoc networking (MANET) utilize the Internet Protocol (IP) suite and aims at supporting robust and efficient operation by incorporating routing functionality into the mobile nodes. MANET is …

Artificial Neural Network Application In Environmental Engineering., Xiaojue Tao

Theses

The objective of this thesis research is to apply two artificial neural network (ANN) methods, back-propagation neural network (BPN) and radial basis function generalized regression neural network (RBFGRNN) in two environmental engineering case studies to explore their ability to modeling the complex environmental engineering systems. The traditional environmental engineering systems modeling are frequently using the physical-based modeling methods. . Their performance is decided by the quantity of samples and quality of sampling methods, and it is also based on the physical laws they obeyed and the system knowledge they explored. But ANN offers a unique and alternative solution to bridge …

Power System Load Modeling Using A Weighted Optimal Linear Associative Memory (Olam), Morlue Samukai Eesiah

Theses

Power system load models are very powerful tools, which have a wide range of applications in the electric power industry. These uses include scheduling system maintenance, monitoring load management policies, helping with the generator commitment problem by providing short-term forecasts, and aiding system planning [4]. Further, Power System Load Modeling is a technique used to model a power system and other essentials for the assessment of stability. In today's datacenters, power consumption is a major issue. Storage usually typically comprises a large percentage of a datacenter's power. Therefore, without mentioning that managing, understanding, and reducing storage, power consumption is an …

Use Of Controlled Release (Encapsulated Chemical Oxidant) Polymer For Remediation Of Contaminated Water Used For Intentional Biothreat Terrorism And Its Potential Application For Disinfection Of Agricultural Waste Pollution., Christopher Ross Jackson

Theses

The threat of biological agents being used to harm mass populations are of extreme importance in the 21st century. Pathogenic agents such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoan, and helminthes are of major concern in the wake that they can be used to cause death to anyone exposed. Agents like these can be disseminated by air, through water, or from animal, food, or human-to-human transmission. Controlled release methods are extensively used in the medical and agricultural industry to release chemicals at controlled rates for drug delivery in the human body or pesticide treatments for farming. Few researchers have investigated the use …

Shear Horizontal Component Of Crack Growth Related Acoustic Emission Signals, Craig Russel Supria

Theses

In this research, the acoustic emissions from simulated crack growth and incremental crack growth in a cyclically loaded aluminum panel were detected by acoustic emission sensors. One of these sensors comprised of an array of thin strips of piezoelectric material bonded to the specimen and electrically connected. The geometry of these sensor strip arrays and their orientation to the fracture site enabled the sensors to capture the shear horizontal component of the acoustic emission waveform. Cyclical loading was used to grow the crack, allowing sensor performance to be assessed and compared to bonded piezoelectric sensors and resonant frequency acoustic emission …

Modeling And Analysis Of Cascading Effects Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction (Wmd) Events On Critical Infrastructure Systems, Sliman Amrani Joutei

Theses

This research studies how the global network behaves after a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) attack. The goal is to find a reliable model that will help capture the behavior of the network in the event of a WMD attack and then proceed to a systematic analysis of that model. We discuss a hierarchical model that visualizes how a WMD attack will impact different infrastructure systems. The second level of the Hierarchical Fault Model (HFM) illustrates the failure propagation from one Critical Infrastructure System (CIS) to another CIS. Next, we construct a stochastic Petri Net for HFM of which we …

Kinetic And Mechanistic Studies On The Simultaneous Removal Of Nox And So2 By Aqueous Persulfate Activated By Temperature And Fe(Ii) Ions, Nana Y. Sakyi

Theses

Nitric Oxide (NO) is regarded as a pollutant with multiple effects. These include visibility impairment, respiratory problems, declined crop yield, greenhouse effect and stratospheric ozone depletion. Together with SO2, NO is a major contributor to acid rain, ground-level ozone and photochemical smog. Of much recent concern for NOx (all oxides of nitrogen together) is its ability to form ground-level ozone with volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the presence of heat and sunlight. Consequently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is becoming stringent in terms of standards for NOx emissions to protect human health and the environment. Past and current existing methods …

Space Radiation Countermeasures In A Life Support System Of Extraterrestrial Environments, Candice Thompson Young

Theses

A Life Support System (LSS) sustains life for an extended period of time in a closed system that includes waste recycling as a functional method of support. For future space missions, the goal is to build extraterrestrial space bases which employ the concept design of a radiation free LSS environment. Effectively maintaining a LSS in an extraterrestrial space environment is difficult without protection from harmful space radiation such as galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and solar radiation. Radiation produces high energy ions which penetrates tissue and destroys DNA. Without radiation protection, life in an extraterrestrial environment will perish. Therefore, it is …

"Why Sit Ye Here And Die?" The Abolitionist Rhetoric Of Maria W. Stewart, Sojourner Truth, And Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, Cora Mathewson

Theses

This thesis highlights the contributions to the abolitionist movement of three extremely courageous African American Women: Maria W. Stewart, Sojourner Truth, and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Though often faced with ridicule and opposition from audiences when they approached the public platform, these important historical figures rejected the narrow and hypocritical views of a woman’s place, and particularly a black woman’s place in antebellum society and demanded that their voices be heard. They realized that rhetoric is the foundation upon which the struggle for freedom rests and that to engage in rational discourse, whether to teach, preach or lecture was as …

Visualization And Collision Detection Of Direct Metal Deposition, Sufyan S.D. Fehe

Theses

Direct metal deposition (DMD) is a manufacturing technique that manufactures solid metal parts from bottom to top using powdered metal and a focused laser. In this research, the swept volume technique was used as framework to develop a computer program to perform volumetric visualization of the deposition process as a pre-processor, before the actual metal deposition commences. The program extracts coordinate values from a G-code; these extracted values constitute a point. These points are then defined as a swept path using VPython extrusion object library. A cross section is then swept through these points to perform the volumetric visualization of …

Identification Of Pan-Ligands For Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (Ppar) Using Computational Virtual Screening With Molecular Docking, Hamid Dafalla Ismail

Theses

Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated nuclear receptors known for their major role in metabolic syndrome (MS). Abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, increased glucose levels and low concentrations of high-density lipoprotein characterize MS. Numerous studies proposed developing pan-agonists as potent drug candidates for the treatment and control of metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study was to use virtual screening with molecular docking to identify potential pan-PPAR ligands from the ZINC database. The 3D structural files of the receptor ligand binding domains (LBD), obtained from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), were energetically minimized and the binding pockets on each LBD …

The Effect Of Trade Openness On Economic Growth: The Case Of African Countries, Akua Sakyiabea Akuffo

Theses

The main objective of this study was to measure the effects of trade liberalization on the economic growth of African countries. A modified Cobb-Douglas production function as in Miller & Upadhyay (2000) was employed to determine the impact of trade factors on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as the determining Returns to Scale (RTS) of the individual economies. The factors include Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), exchange rate, capital-labor ratio, and trade openness. Trade openness was computed as the ratio of total of imports and exports to total exports. Alternative panel models including the One-Way Fixed/Random Effects models and the …