Digital Commons Network^™

User Preference In Detail-Enhancement Adjustments For Images Captured By Camera Phones, Pawan Khake

Theses

Most smartphones now come with an integrated camera. Such a smartphone is called a camera phone. Popularity of camera phones is rising and it is expected that 87.8% of United States population will possess camera phones by year 2020 (Euromonitor International, 2017). A camera phone’s workflow for capturing, editing, and sharing images on social media has become very efficient. Its ease of use, accessibility, and automatic exposure settings to capture an image has contributed to its popularity. Camera phones are more compact and convenient than professional DSLR cameras. The popularity of this technology has created a need to study and …

Perceptions Of The Ethics Of Persuasive Technology, Christopher C. Branch

Theses

This thesis explores the perceptions of the ethics of persuasive technology as applied to the design of user interfaces. The intentions are to learn whether consumers of software see persuasion through technology as ethical, whether producers of software view the development of persuasive technology as ethical, and whether these opinions can be reconciled. This research consists of a review of relevant literature on the topic, a survey of software consumers, interviews with software producers, and an analysis of the data, resulting in conclusions intended to influence the responsible design of user interfaces in the future.

The results suggest a number …

Releve´, Lauren Afton Stoelzle

Theses

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

E-Government In The United Arab Emirates: A Study Of The Abu Dhabi Government Contact Centre, Hessa Mohammed Aleisaei

Theses

In this current age of information technology (IT), electronic government (e-government) has transformed the interaction between the government and the citizens. To make this transformation contextually and locally relevant, this research examines the efficiency of e-government in Abu Dhabi by undertaking a case study of the efficiency of the electronic contact channels at the Abu Dhabi Government Contact Center (ADGCC). It, also, identifies the challenges faced by the ADGCC and provides recommendations to overcome the challenges accordingly. The study model for this research is developed by reviewing the key concepts related to the implementation of the e-government. The primary research …

Understanding The Role Of Epstein-Barr Virus Encoded Rna-1 (Eber-1) In The Cell Proliferation, Yasmeen Atta Ali Abdelmowla

Theses

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human herpes virus that infects and persists in > 90% of human adults, generally without causing disease. However, EBV has oncogenic properties and is associated with several malignancies of epithelial and lymphoid origin. The details of the molecular steps leading to these different malignancies are poorly understood. It is believed that some of the EBV latent gene products are involved. Two small EBV-encoded RNAs referred to as EBER1 and EBER2 have been shown to be expressed in all forms of EBV latent infection. These non-polyadenylated and non-protein-coding RNAs are by far the most abundant transcripts expressed …

Network-Based Apt Profiler, Benjamin Bornholm

Theses

Constant innovation in attack methods presents a significant problem for the security community which struggles to remain current in attack prevention, detection and response. The practice of threat hunting provides a proactive approach to identify and mitigate attacks in real-time before the attackers complete their objective. In this research, I present a matrix of adversary techniques inspired by MITRE’s ATT&CK matrix. This study allows threat hunters to classify the actions of advanced persistent threats (APTs) according to network-based behaviors.

Deepfake Detection And Low-Resource Language Speech Recognition Using Deep Learning, Bao Thai

Theses

While deep learning algorithms have made significant progress in automatic speech recognition and natural language processing, they require a significant amount of labelled training data to perform effectively. As such, these applications have not been extended to languages that have only limited amount of data available, such as extinct or endangered languages. Another problem caused by the rise of deep learning is that individuals with malicious intents have been able to leverage these algorithms to create fake contents that can pose serious harm to security and public safety. In this work, we explore the solutions to both of these problems. …

Subjective Image Quality Assessment Of Digitally Printed Images, Gaurav Sheth

Theses

Smartphones have become ingrained in our daily activities, driving their cameras to become better with every generation. As more and more images are being taken by cell phones it has become increasingly important to assess the quality of the images taken by different phones. While many cell phone images are only viewed electronically, many images also get transformed into printed images, especially photo-books, as digital printing gets better and cheaper compared to traditional printing processes. The gap between electronic image and printed image in shrinking rapidly and it becomes important to study the transition of images from screen to paper. …

Smart Tracking For Healthier Lifestyle, Shiwen Ding

Theses

Smart Tracking for healthier lifestyle is an interactive prototyping application to monitor sugar intake. For most individuals, their amount of sugar intake is much higher than the amount they need per day. Many people like sweet food as they find that it makes them satisfied and relaxed. People tend to consume sugar unconsciously eating cakes, candies, drinking soft-drinks, juice, and even coffee. Regular consumption of these foods substantially increases the amount of sugar people consume. It has been found that people are less conscious of their sugar intake in regard to drinking liquids than eating solid foods. Parents are very …

Encouraging Children To Actively Recycle: A Mobile Application To Promote Recycling In The Dominican Republic, Noelia A. Rivera Pagan

Theses

The Dominican Republic generates 14,000 tons of solid waste daily, 49% of this is recyclable, but only 5% is. This waste is causing health problems, affecting the tourism industry, and the quality of life of its residents. Problems of confusion, lack of motivation, and lack of prioritization of the activity, affect the decision-making process when recycling.

What if there was a way to motivate the Dominican population to recycle, and change the behavior towards this activity? Children learn new behaviors faster than adults. Why not use this opportunity to incorporate the engaging factor of design and technology to help improve …

From Cast-Out To Community: Identifying Barriers In Design That Keep Lgbtq+ Youth From Accessing Homeless Shelters, Leah Przybylski

Theses

There is a gap in homeless youth services in the United States. A vulnerable population, LGBTQ+ individuals comprise nearly 40% of all homeless youth and are particularly susceptible to repeated victimization, trauma, and violence from their community. Current shelters re-traumatize and fail to address the needs of this unique population triggering an extreme aversion to the institutional design aesthetic that many of these services inhabit. LGBTQ+ youth enter a cycle of homelessness and disengagement that perpetuates into adulthood as a result. Why do existing shelters fail to meet the needs of LBGTQ+ homeless youth?

Utilizing a series of diverse theories …

Behind The Lens, Guoxiang Zhao

Theses

Time flies. I arrived at my thesis year after two years of study at RIT, and began working on my film “Behind the Lens.” The film runs for five minutes and 56 seconds, and includes hand-drawn animation, music and sound created by me. After some personal changes, I re-pitched a whole new thesis proposal in the fall semester of my thesis year because I felt passionate and committed to the important message of the film. In truth, this story didn’t have a clear outline until April in my last semester. The story is about a camera character going through his …

Hypervirulent Klebsiella Pneumoniae Bloodstream Isolates In The United Arab Emirates, Shaikha Awad Mohammed Al Kaabi

Theses

As the presence of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) has not been studied in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the aim was to determine its rate among bloodstream isolates collected in a tertiary care hospital during two years. K. pneumoniae blood isolates of 125 individual patients from Tawam Hospital, Al Ain in 2014-2015 were investigated. Clinical data on patients’ demographics and underlying medical conditions were collected. Speciation was carried out by VITEK 2, antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disc diffusion, and for colistin by microdilution. Hypermucoviscosity was assessed by string test. Genetic markers of hypervirulence (iucA, rmpA, rmpA2), …

Assessment Of Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants In Removing Pharmaceutical Compounds: A Case Study Of Al Ain City, Uae, Ahmad Mohammad I Hassan Alhalab

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the assessment of conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in removing pharmaceutical compounds (PCs). PCs have classes like analgesics, antibiotics, antiseptics, hormones, cosmetic products, personal care products. They are used extensively by humans and they don’t have actual guidelines describing their concentration in domestic wastewater discharge. Thus, they may still be present in treated sewage effluent (TSE) or sludge and could consequently pose adverse environmental effects. Limited work has been done to assess the removal of PCs at WWTPs in arid and semi-arid countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As such, this study aimed at …

The Role Of Digital Diplomacy In Uae Foreign Policy: Strategies, Challenges And Opportunities, Khadija Ali Mohammed Al Mazrouei

Theses

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is emerging as a world leader in digital diplomacy due to its excellent communication infrastructure and willingness to connect with the outside world as part of it is foreign policy goals. In spite of the UAE’s central role in this digital diplomacy phenomenon, not much by way of research has been conducted into the UAE’s efforts. Thus, this thesis seeks to fill the research gap by addressing three key research questions vis-à-vis UAE’s digital diplomacy. First, what are the UAE’s digital diplomacy strategies? Second, what are the benefits of digital diplomacy to the UAE? Third, …

United Arab Emirates Post Oil Strategy: An Examination Of Diversification Strategies And Challenges, Noura Hamad Salim Al Jaberi

Theses

For decades, oil-rich countries have been thoroughly discussed in the literature; regarding the heavy dependence on oil revenue for the state’s development, and economic diversification has become one of the main issues of oil-producing countries worldwide, due to the critical situation and different factors and pressures surrounding the global oil market. To achieve the research objectives and to answer the research questions, the paper analyzes the post-oil strategy of the United Arab Emirates and examines its challenges as a country located in a region with abundant oil wealth that has allowed it to become one of the main oil exporters …

الاستخدام التجاري للفضاء الخارجي في ضوء قواعد الفانون الدولي والتشريع الإما ا رتي, عبد الله عبد القادر عبد اللطيف

Theses

خلا ل الفترة الوجيزة الماضية، تعددت استخدامات الفضاء الخارجي، وكان الاستخدام

التجاري للفضاء الخارجي أحد أهم هذه الاستخدامات، حيث ظهرت العديد من الأنشطة التجارية

في الفضاء. كما أصبح القطاع الخاص أحد أبرز الناشطين في ميدان الفضاء، مما جعل الدول

تضع قوانين خاصة لتنظم شروط ترخيص أنشطة القطاع الخاص، وتنظم أحكام المسؤولية عن

الأضرار التي تحدثها. كما أن الأنشطة التجارية في الفضاء الخارجي تواجه العديد من

الإشكاليات المتعلقة بالحماية القانونية لها، ومقبلة على مزيد من التحديات والتطورات

المستقبلية.

وفي هذا البحث نحاول تسليط الضوء على موضوع الاستخدام التجاري للفضاء

الخارجي من خلال التعرض للأنشطة التجارية التي يتم ممارستها حاليا في الفضاء …

Exploring The Impact Of Using Storybird On 10th Grade Efl Students’ Writing Narrative Skills In United Arab Emirates, Reda Ahmed Mahmoud Mustafa

Theses

Integrating technology in the classroom is essential to develop students from this generation’s learning skills. Based on previous studies, using a collaborative digital platform to enhance writing skills within the EFL context has been advantageous to students. All in all, this study attempts to explore the impact of using Story Bird (a digital platform) on the students’ narrative writing skills and specific sequencing of events and dialogue writing. This is done by performing a pre-test and post-test design on a control and experimental ESL 10th-grade students’ group. This study would serve as a baseline for further studies and an action …

أسباب عزوف المواطنين الذكور عن الالتحاق بمهنة التعليم في امارة أبوظبي, وفاء عبد الله محمد الشحي

Theses

تُعد ظاهرة عزوف الذكور عن مهنة التدريس هاجسا يؤرق المسؤولين ومتخذي القرار في وزارة التربية والتعليم في دولة الامارات العربية المتحدة، لما لها من أثار بالغة في خطط التنمية الشاملة، وانعكاسات سلبية على واقع العملية التعليمية في المدارس، لذا جاءت هذه الدراسة سعيا في الاجابة عن التساؤل الرئيس التالي: "ما أسباب عزوف المواطنين الذكور عن الالتحاق بمهنة التعليم في إمارة أبوظبي؟ وما هي الحلول المقترحة لمعالجتها ولجذب المواطنين الذكور للعمل في هذا المجال؟. وقد تم استخدم المنهج الوصفي التحليلي )أو ما يسمى بالمسح الاجتماعي( الذي يعد أنسب المناهج العليمة لتحقيق أهداف هذه الدراسة والاجابة على تساؤلاتها، وقد تكونت عينةالدراسة من …

The Emergence Of United Arab Emirates As A Global Soft Power: Strategies And Challenges, Amira Ali Alhashmi

Theses

The thesis focuses on how the United Arab Emirates is emerging as a global soft power by examining the elements of its soft power. This is accomplished via in-depth interviews with UAE-based foreign diplomats and academics and Emirati diplomats and academics. This is supplemented with primary and secondary data from government, international agencies, and media sources. The UAE has excelled in many facets of governance, accomplished a lot in a relatively short period, and pursued domestic and foreign policies that have made it a role model for other countries. These accomplishments enable the UAE to exercise soft power influence in …

Proposed Microgrid For Hatta City-Dubai, Amna Al Ansaari, Bashaer Al Shamsi, Mariam Al Hameli

Theses

Inspired by Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai a global hub for clean energy and green economy, this research is conducted to study the feasibility of proposing a microgrid design in Hatta city, with taking into consideration its energy demand and locality. The research encompasses a detailed analysis of three successfully applied microgrid projects in three different countries to extract best practices that can be efficiently applied in Hatta and to provide guidelines that show how to develop a microgrid for this chosen city. The benefits of this project are to improve the electrical grid resiliency and efficiency …

Three Dimensional Digital Alloying With Reactive Metal Inks, Chaitanya G. Mahajan

Theses

3D printing of multifunctional components using two or more materials is a rapidly growing area of research. Metallic alloy inks have been used with various 3D printing techniques to create functional components such as antennas, inductors, resistors, and biocompatible implants. Most of these printing techniques use premixed metallic alloy inks or nanoalloy particles with a fixed composition to fabricate the functional part. Since the properties of alloys vary with changes in the elemental composition, a printing process which could digitally dispense alloy inks having specific desired compositions would enable different functionalities and be highly desirable.

Using the binary copper-nickel system …

The Legend Of Whales, Bingjie Xiao

Theses

The Legend of Whales is a 2D animated graduate thesis film. The entire film, including the credits, is 7 minutes 20 seconds long. The duration of the production went from September 2018 to May 2019.

This is a story about the cycle of destiny which takes place in an ancient Viking-inspired fishing village. The main character, Bion, is born with a special connection with the enemy of the village, a species of whale. One day he meets a beluga whale and is immediately drawn to the beautiful creature. After a friendly meeting, they build up a bonded relationship, even though …

Kick Boxing Coaching System, Wentian Chen

Theses

There are three key considerations when training for kickboxing; correct body position, motivation, and how to achieve different training goals. Training gear available on the market does not provide enough relevant feedback to the user to validate the effectiveness of their training. I will design a coaching system for recreational and avid kick boxers that records user input while also providing an interactive experience that tracks training in a more meaningful way. This is a project focused on user experience and product testing. User Experience requires me to study the response of the human body when it is hit, and …

Community Participation In City Planning And Development: Towards Enhancing The Pedestrian Experience, Amro Anabtawi

Theses

This project is about developing a digital platform that facilitates collecting, processing, and utilizing input from community members to enhance the quality and experience of their own built environment based on their life pattern, preferences, or aspiration and in consideration of the urban requirements that are associated with their needs. As such, the platform is meant to enhance public participation in planning and urban development decisions and practices aiming to meet the needs of the community members. Focused on the pedestrian experience, the proposed platform is meant to complement the ordinary channels of communication between community members and city planning …

Leap Of Faith Megaprojects: The Effect Of Civic Dialogue On Megaproject Legacies In The St. Louis Region, Nathan Theus

Theses

Megaprojects are unique capital improvements that are defined by their large-scale development plans and construction budgets. Industrial Belt cities, like St. Louis, are no stranger to these projects, and both government actors and private developers have walked hand in hand in planning and constructing megaprojects, while assuring the general public that the benefits would always outweigh the costs. Though there has been considerable quantitative research analyzing the statistical economic effects of various megaprojects, there has been relatively little discussion on other, specifically, qualitative means of analysis. This paper will examine the role civic dialogue has on the perceived and real …

Uses And Gratifications Of Watching Youtube Beauty Vlogs, Katherine Ray Lantigua

Theses

YouTube Beauty vlogs is a growing area on the YouTube platform. There are over one billion users who use this platform to watch videos about beauty products and tutorials, and they generate billions of views (YouTube, 2017). This quantitative study employs the uses and gratification theory to understand the needs of people who watch YouTube beauty vlogs on a regular basis and the gratifications they seek. A survey of 426 participants found that YouTube users seek for mostly entertainment and habit gratifications when they interact with the beauty vlogs. The audience’s age was found to be a factor in gratifications …

Integrated Marketing Communication Project For American Aerogel, Samary De La Cruz Rosado

Theses

This project created a marketing plan for a specific company “American Aerogel” to increase sales and to penetrate Clinical Research Organizations; thus, the project considered the comprehensive integrated marketing communication in the company. A survey was used to determine whether the marketing strategy selected for the project—direct marketing email—would be beneficial for the company to help it increase brand awareness in the clinical research field. More specifically, emailing a marketing campaign to a specific target audience is likely to increase results. Therefore, data from 150 surveys about email marketing was collected and analyzed to determine the usefulness of email marketing …

Aesthetics Of Food: The Role Of Visual Framing Strategies For Influence Building On Instagram, Shuhan Yang

Theses

This thesis employs quantitative content analysis to investigate how social media influencers use aesthetic image design to engage followers. The study investigates the ten most-followed food influencers on Instagram in the United States. The study looks at the effectiveness of visual framing strategies, focusing on the images (N = 120) of influencers which have received more than 10,000 likes in 2017. Results show that food influencers prefer to post images about cooked food, without any decorations, using high contrast colors and close-up shots. Raw food images were found to be associated with cluttered composition and far away shoots, whereas cooked …

A(Meme)Rican Politics: Gender Representation In Political Memes Of The 2016 Election, Taylor C. Lincoln

Theses

Utilizing the lens of feminist theory, this research examines gender representation in the political memes of the 2016 Presidential election in the United States. Using a mixed-methods approach, I first examine the use of the #election2016 on Twitter (N = 2,108) through a network analysis to understand the driving actors of discourse surrounding the election. A textual analysis was used to examine the views and opinions through the vocabulary and terms utilized within that network. Finally, a content analysis was conducted to interpret the latent messages and representations of gender within the memes (n = 100). Results show that political …