Digital Commons Network^™

Emely Peguero’S Case: News Frames And Gender Stereotypes In The Dominican Republic, Maria Fernanda Simo

Theses

Gender-based violence is a controversial topic in the Dominican Republic that affects many families, and is a cause of more than 200 women dying every year from it. Journalists have an important influence in the country, making information more noticeable and memorable. Using framing theory, this study analyzed news stories reported by three Dominican newspapers (El Diario Libre, Listin Diario, and Grupo Corripio) to identify news frames and gender stereotypes in Emely Peguero’s coverage, who was a pregnant young woman murdered by her boyfriend in the Duarte Province of the Dominican Republic. A quantitative content analysis of (N = 185) …

Trailxplorer: An Interactive Mobile Educational Tool To Promote Safety Awareness And Prevent Injuries From Outdoor Adventures., Zhuoxin Xu

Theses

This thesis seeks to introduce an interactive mobile prototype to promote safety awareness and a visualized guideline to assist outdoor adventurers.

Nature is a place where many people go to find peace and relax. According to the “Outdoor participation report 2017” (the Coleman Company, 2017), 144.4 million Americans participated in outdoor activities in 2017. Unfortunately for a multitude of reasons, people encounter some type of unfortunate event that results in either injury or death. As the number of outdoor participants has continued increased annually, safety awareness and skills training have become increasingly crucial now more than ever. This project sought …

Music Consumption In The Dominican Republic: Technological Changes, Uses, And Gratifications, Frank R. Lantigua

Theses

Music consumption has been transformed by technological changes during the last three decades; the introduction of streaming technologies and the expansion of the global music market have changed the way people in various countries engage with music in daily life. Previous research on music consumption points to the uses and gratifications often sought by audiences, as well as the motives that drive their consumption habits. While most studies have centered on audiences from the developing world, this study focuses particularly on music consumption in the Dominican Republic. The data was collected through an online survey that inquired about the platforms …

Breastfeeding Discourse On Social Media, Andrea L. Whittemore

Theses

Using feminist theory, this study focuses on discourse around breastfeeding on Twitter. Using a mixed-methods approach, I first examine the use of the hashtag #breastfeeding on Twitter to identify the networks driving the discourse. The discourse analysis was completed to explore how feminist principles and mothers’ agency were represented in tweets related to breastfeeding. The results, based on (N = 2,818) tweets, show that discourses are seen as breastfeeding as “natural” and “primary,” bottle feeding as second best, sexualization versus the natural functions of the breast, breastfeeding as a provocative act, mothering as a public or private nexus, breastfeeding related …

Politics And Media Among Deaf And Hard Of Hearing, Charlotte Deering

Theses

This study investigated the civic engagement, political participation, and choice of news media of the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) community at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, New York. Socialization factors that contribute to civic engagement and political participation were examined and contrasted with a hearing sample of students at Rochester Institute of Technology. The Activity Orientation Scale combined with the Political Media Gratification Scale were used to measure the likelihood of political engagement among the DHH and understand their media viewing habits. Socialization factors affect where DHH individuals get their news, what media …

Rovar: Authentic Travel Leveraging Local Social Media, Akshay Kumar Arun

Theses

In our era of constant technological development and an intricate network of information exchange, people tend to rely on online sources for their travels more and more. But because of the time crunch, people travel in, many places of authentic value go unnoticed. Take the ramen shop in Sankri, at the foothills of the Siwalik ranges of the Himalayas for example. It was here that I had one of the most authentic ramen noodles at a small little quaint shop which used hill spices to give it a unique flavor. This store was nowhere on the map, and if I …

Senso - A Real-Time Interactive Mobile System To Improve Users’ Overall Skin Condition, Wenyue Zhan

Theses

Healthy skin is a critical part of overall health for everyone and not only important for appearance. Useful information about the skin is often overwhelming, misleading, or difficult to obtain. There are many factors that affect the skin’s condition, from environmental conditions like UV, humidity, or lifestyle factors like diet and the amount of sleep a person gets to specific ingredients in cosmetics. All this makes the effective management of skin health time consuming and inaccurate without knowing where to find the right information.

This project explores a theoretical system that is designed to help users understand and manage their …

The Way Back Home, Bichen Yang

Theses

After traveling, Ming (38) and Qinyi (35) pack their stuff to catch the flight. A sudden email destroys Ming’s mood: he lost his new job. Then he sees his share price fall. He is upset with his wife and vents his anger to his son, Tommy (6). Qinyi thinks that Ming still has a grudge because she is unable to have another baby. They start to go to the airport in an awkward atmosphere.

On the road, Ming refuses to stop the car, which makes Tommy urinating on the seat. A STRANGER follows their car and keeps flashing him. Ming …

Parameter Estimation Of A Cardiac Model Using The Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter, Nathan Holt

Theses

Cardiac arrhythmias are irregularities in the electrical activity in the heart; the electrical impulses in the heart become chaotic or disorganized, which can cause a possibly lethal problem to the contraction of the heart. In order to understand the dynamics of arrhythmias and to be able to predict and treat them, numerical models have been developed to capture the dynamics of the electrical impulses in the heart. In a clinical setting, optical mapping technologies — using cameras and voltage-sensitive dyes to capture the electrical impulses propagating across the heart — have been used to capture the dynamics of the electrical …

The Opioid Epidemic, Abigail Hallowell

Theses

Drug abuse, addiction, and overdoses are phenomenon’s that are not new or unfamiliar to the United States. Between 1999 to 2017, there were over 700,000 drug overdose deaths in the country. About 400,000 of those drug overdoses involved an opioid. In 2017, more than 70,000 people died of a drug overdoses and 68% of them involved an opioid. This makes the number of opioid drug overdose deaths in 2017 six times higher than in 1999 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). The severity of the increase in opioid related overdose deaths that America is experiencing today did not happen …

Elucidating The Effects Of Antibiotics On The Release Of Pal From Escherichia Coli, Leslie Gallardo

Theses

Sepsis, a life-threatening clinical condition affecting more than 1.5 million Americans per year, is defined as an over-exuberant immune response to infection. Currently, sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, and the incidence of sepsis caused by Gram-negative bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), has been steadily increasing since the late 1990’s. While the detailed mechanism of sepsis is not fully understood, several bacterial components are thought to contribute to the hyper-inflammatory response in humans, including lipopolysaccharide endotoxin and several other lipoproteins. Past studies suggest that one of those E. coli lipoproteins, peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein (Pal), might …

Performing Dna Ligation On A Low-Cost Inkjet-Printed Digital Microfluidic Device, Sari Houchaimi

Theses

DNA Synthesis is a critical component in many biological and medical applications. Unfortunately, the production of DNA is tedious, time consuming, and expensive. To accelerate the production times and lower the cost, we take a closer look at the potential application of digital microfluidics for this process.

Microfluidics involves manipulating small volumes of fluid (microliters). It takes advantage of the relative dominance of forces such as surface tension and capillary forces at the submillimeter scale. This allows for lower reagent consumption and shorter reaction times. The technology is also portable and can accommodate for various functions to be performed on …

Internet And Tor Traffic Classification Using Machine Learning, Siddharth Palsambkar

Theses

Privacy has always been a concern over the internet. A new wave of privacy networks struck the world in 2002 when the TOR Project was released to the public. The core principle of TOR, popularly known as the onion routing protocol, was developed by the ‘United States Naval Research Laboratory’ in the mid-1990s. It was further developed by ‘Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’. The project that started as an attempt to create a secured communication network for the U.S. Intelligence was soon released as a general anonymous network. These anonymous networks are run with the help of volunteers that serve …

The Effect Of Video Game Experience In Different Genres On Task-Switching Ability, Caitlin A. Brostek

Theses

Task-switching is an executive function that refers to an individual’s ability to shift attention between different tasks. Previous studies have examined whether video game players perform better on task-switching experiments compared to non-video game players. This study aimed to add to existing research by examining video game experience on a continuous scale. Other factors that may affect the association between video game experience and task-switching ability were also examined, including the specific video game genre(s) played and the age that an individual began actively playing. Sixty participants from the Rochester Institute of Technology completed a questionnaire assessing video game experience …

Juveniles And The Criminal Justice System, Tayler Ruggero

Theses

Although juvenile crime rates have been decreasing rapidly in the last three decades, 2,805 children are still arrested each day in the United States (The State of America’s Children®, 2017). A child should get to grow up feeling safe and secure, with room to grow and develop with the support of their families, schools, and communities. Of those being arrested, they are mostly children of color and those that come from lower income communities. After these youths are incarcerated, they are at risk of physical and psychological abuse, sexual assault, and suicide. They also lack proper educational instruction while in …

The Impact Of Body-Worn Cameras (Bwcs) On Adjudication, Shakierah Smith

Theses

Body-worn camera (BWC) is an emerging technology that has had a profound impact on the American legal system. This capstone explores the various ways in which BWCs are actively transforming the adjudication process of criminal cases. The first chapter discusses how BWCs have impacted the adjudication of cases in Monroe County, NY from the perspective of prosecutors, public defenders, and Rochester city court judges. The second chapter utilizes data from the previous paper to examine the evidentiary value of BWCs in Monroe County, NY. The third chapter discusses how prosecutors in Monroe County, NY, Travis County, TX, and San Diego …

Advantages And Challenges Of Online Project Based Learning, Peter Alex Kow Amissah

Theses

The purpose of this research is to outline the advantages and challenges of online project-based learning. Becoming knowledgeable about online project-based learning (PBL) is crucial at a time when there is an increased demand for education. The discussion presented here will assist faculty in the teaching of online PBL. The researcher conducted a comprehensive review of the literature and developed an open-ended interview schedule based upon his findings, which was used to interview experts in the field. The experts’ views confirmed the advantages and challenges found in the literature and brought up other factors that were not discovered in the …

Act-Based Statements Effect On Bartending Tips, Mariah Patz

Theses

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviorally-based intervention that emphasizes psychological processes related to mindfulness, values, committed actions towards values, defusion from troubling thoughts, and acceptance. ACT is often used with populations who experience psychological inflexibility or stress, but not much research has been done understanding how ACT processes may affect everyday tasks within the common public or within business practices. The present study used a randomized controlled trial to determine the effect that statements related to ACT processes given while receiving a bar tending service altered the outcome tipping percentage from guests. The current research also discussed how …

Talking 80s: An Online Brand, Charles B. Mcpherson

Theses

This project focuses on the organic establishment of an online brand, from conception to execution. The primary focus is the steps taken to establish an online brand. The aim of the project is to discuss the results of steps going into the brand creation, what worked and what did not work. Furthermore, the project discusses possible solutions to avoid potential issues and problems in brand creation.

Examining The Fears, Benefits, And Applications Of Teaching Improvisation In General Music, Krystle Boyd

Theses

This project focused on identifying and resolving fears associated with teaching improvisation in the general music classroom. The primary focus was on music educators and providing them with reassurance, reasoning, and plans on how to begin the process of teaching improvisation and follow through so that it is a well-developed initiative that will be built upon and utilized for years to come. This project demonstrated plans for an entire year of 5th grade general music instruction and provided a curriculum map, lesson plans, rubrics, and a manual of explanation for the lessons and activities.

Cracking The Social Media Code Of Post-Millennials, Bailey Elizabeth Kinney

Theses

This project will investigate the way that generation z/post millennials interact and respond to digital marketing and social media. The final deliverable is a 30-minute webinar offering a wide assessment of this up and coming generation. The video will include a comparison between how advertising is currently conducted for millennials and how it will need to change their successors. The webinar will also include research, examples of successful marketing to this generation, and practical application tips.

The Development Of A Standards Based Grading Assessment Plan In The Sixth Grade Choral Classroom, Olivia Mae Howard

Theses

This project focuses on the best assessment methods for standards-based grading in the sixth grade choral classroom. In the middle school choral world, resources are limited in the area of standards-based grading in the sixth grade choral classroom. This project was created to study and focus on how the new national standards connect with assessments methods utilized by choral music educators for sixth grade and then to connect these methods to standards-based grading. The aim of the project was to create the best assessment methods to be utilized with the new national music standards in the sixth grade choral music …

Nmr Studies Of Translational And Rotational Diffusion Of A Phase Separating Eye Lens Protein: Bovine Γb-Crystallin, Aaron Thomas Fadden

Theses

Cataracts are one of the leading causes of blindness in the world. Cataracts can occur when proteins (known as “crystallins”) in the cytoplasm of the eye lens phase separate or associate, creating local fluctuations in the refractive index of the lens. Bovine γB-crystallin is analogous (in sequence, structure, and function) to the human γD-crystallin and can be isotopically labeled during growth with 13C and 15N when expressed in Escherichia coli. In this work, the two most important Brownian motions, rotational and translational diffusion, were measured under various temperatures and concentrations in an effort to better understand the intermolecular interactions and …

The Role Of Visual Identity Design In The Evolution Of Luxury Fashion Brand Strategy, Jia Cai

Theses

Fashion luxury brands have taken longer than other retail segments to understand and adapt to consumer behavior changes created by the digital revolution over the past decade. Digital and social media has created a fundamental shift in consumers expectations of their shopping experiences.

The big debate in the luxury fashion industry has been whether the integration of ‘off-line’ and ‘on-line’ actually creates value or reduces the exclusivity associated with the brands. In the past, luxury brands have relied on traditional marketing channels such as print and direct mail to engage their high-value customers. Additionally, the industry has placed an enormous …

Efficient Distribution Regression, Nicholas Wilkins

Theses

In this thesis we devise a method for performing distribution regression utilizing an extension of mixture density networks. This method will be benchmarked against other state-of-the-art methods (utilizing negative log loss) and distribution-agnostic models of similar complexity. We demonstrate that our proposed method performs at least as well as the state-of-the-art methods in distribution regression. Additionally, we show that adding distribution predictive capabilities does not significantly decrease performance in models. We illustrate how one can utilize this methodology to regress to confidence interval predictions. Finally, we demonstrate a variety of novel and interesting applications of our framework.

Global Congestion And Fault Aware Wireless Interconnection Framework For Multicore Systems, Sajeed Mohammad Shahriat

Theses

Multicore processors are getting more common in the implementation of all type of computing demands, starting from personal computers to the large server farms for high computational demanding applications. The network-on-chip provides a better alternative to the traditional bus based communication infrastructure for this multicore system. Conventional wire-based NoC interconnect faces constraints due to their long multi-hop latency and high power consumption. Furthermore high traffic generating applications sometimes creates congestion in such system further degrading the systems performance. In this thesis work, a novel two-state congestion aware wireless interconnection framework for network chip is presented. This WiNoC system was designed …

A Study On The Effect Of Fabric Structure And Finishing On Perceived Image Quality, Payal Sharma

Theses

Valued at nearly US 7.5 billion, the global textile industry continues on a growth trajectory. Printed textiles represent a major segment of the market, and are making significant contributions to the overall expansion of the industry. Historically, screen printing has dominated the printed textile market, but digital technologies continue to make inroads (Hayward, 2016).

One of the problems encountered in the textile industry is obtaining the desired color. Studies have shown that the texture and finishing of a fabric can have an impact on the way the ink sets on the fabric and in turn effect the quality of image. …

The Baadasssss And The Avant-Garde: The Radical Aesthetics And Politics Of Melvin Van Peebles, Samuel Jay Smucker

Theses

Melvin Van Peebles is best known for Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971) and that film’s role in inspiring the Blaxploitation cycle of films of the early 1970s. However, it was in France, where he had emigrated like other black creatives in the 1960s, that Van Peebles became a filmmaker. Drawing on biographical research and a close reading of his films, I connect Van Peebles to the institutions and aesthetics of the French New Wave. Van Peebles radicalizes New Wave techniques by employing them to illuminate issues of racism. I generate a new reading of Sweetback which connects the experimental aesthetics …

Understanding Prediction Of Low-Quality Comments In Online Science Discourse, Elizabeth R. Lucas

Theses

Online public forum discussion in the Reddit science community is moderated to ensure a high standard of scientific content in discourse. This thesis project creates predictive models to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable forum comments, and it seeks to interpret those models based on input from moderators. Information was collected from moderators (their demographics, moderation habits, moderation decisions and reasons for removing comments) to curate a deeper understanding of the online moderation community and predictive models for automated moderation support.

Structure Preserving Regularizer For Neural Style Transfer, Krushal Kyada

Theses

The aim of the project is to generate an image in the style of the image by a well-known artist. The experiment will use artificial neural networks to transfer the style of one image onto another. In Computer Vision context: capturing the content invariant that is the style of an image and applying it on the content of another image.

Initially captures the tensors that we need from the content and style image and then we pass the input image which will initially be an image with noise and our algorithm will try to minimize the loss between the input …