Digital Commons Network^™

Testing Of Dubai Financial Market For Weak Form Of Efficiency, Jihad Yuzbashev

Theses

The following research paper is the first research to concentrate its focus primarily on the testing of the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) for weak form of efficiency. In order to obtain best results, the Random Walk model is be used to determine whether closing prices in the DFM are reflecting historical prices. The Autocorrelation Test, Runs Test and Variance Ratio Test will be used to determine whether the Random Walk theory is applicable to the DFM General Index. A number of research studies that have focused on detecting weak forms of efficiency have used the Random Walk model and the …

Handi & V, Fenway Wei Fan

Theses

Handi & V is a 5-minute, 38-second long animated graduate thesis film that is a story about Grandpa V and his journey through time. After Grandma Handi passes away, Grandpa V lives in sadness. One day, he finds a picture is missing from their family photo album. He begins hallucinating and then travels back through the time of his life with Grandma Handi.

This film is a 2D computer animation that was mostly produced in Toon Boom animation software. It was created in full color and has an original music track. This paper outlines the whole film creation process from …

Direct E-Democracy And Political Party Websites: In The United States And Sweden, Kirk M. Winans

Theses

The Internet is seen by some as a means to foster public participation through interactivity and bring forth an e-democracy. Many past studies evaluated the implementation of interactive features on government websites; however, this study focuses on the implementation of such features on political parties’ websites, specifically in the United States and Sweden. There has been a rise of a few political parties in Sweden dedicated to the ideal of direct democracy. These so called “net parties” developed around the use of the internet for public deliberation and voting. The websites were evaluated on their implementation of 25 different features …

Tolerance Equivalency Between Δe*Ab And Δe00 Metrics, Lufei Yu

Theses

In order to be competitive and to meet global brand’s printing requirements, conventional printing is increasingly moving toward standardization. The principal international standard for offset printing is defined ISO 12647-2. The latest revision of ISO 12647-2 (2013) includes ∆E00 as the tolerance metric for deviation assessment, as the traditionally utilized ∆E*ab lacks visual uniformity. However, the tolerance value for ∆E00 from ISO 12647-2 (2013) is informative only. In addition, there is no justification given for how the published ∆E00 values were derived.

This research devised a method that uses the %Pass approach in a database to determine the equivalent tolerances …

Quantifying A Fused Deposition Modeling System’S Dimensional Performance Through Its Addressability, Nathan Ostrout

Theses

As additive manufacturing becomes widely adopted for prototyping and part manufacturing, the need for controlling quality becomes crucial for this technology to continue its development in the manufacturing industry. Many studies over the last decade have been conducted to find suitable means to gauge and improve accuracy and performance for additive manufacturing systems. Prior research has experimented with benchmark tests, printer calibration, standardized test targets, and performance optimization based on critical printer parameters to find solutions to this problem.

The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of printer parameters on dimensional accuracy through the most fundamental element …

Don’T Train In Vain: An Enterprise Information System Implementation Training Strategy, Luke Auburn

Theses

Universities often rely on complex information systems to manage student data. When higher education institutions implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to replace legacy systems, they may introduce new processes, concepts, and terminology to the students, faculty, and staff who are the system’s end users. A well-executed training plan can foster end-user adoption and increase an implementation’s chance of success. This thesis project provides a blueprint for incorporating a training plan that best fits the needs of end users into an overall system implementation project plan. To effectively train end users, the training team must identify skill gaps, ascertain the …

Tianran, Ruiqi Liu

Theses

Tianran Qian, is a 27-year-old New York University student majoring in Interactive Communications (ITP).

She is from a wealthy and renowned family in Hangzhou, China. Tianran’s parents got divorced when she was eight years old. Her father was busy running his business; so she grew up with her grandfather. Tianran’s grandfather was a respected poet in China and he told Tianran that she was the only heir in her generation with an ability to understand and practice traditional Chinese culture. With the guidance and influence of her grandfather, she got into traditional Chinese culture and wanted to find a way …

Building A Modern Myth, Michael Lacanilao

Theses

"Building a Modern Myth" is a 3-stage web campaign that combines narrative filmmaking, documentary, social media and analytic philosophy into a creative exploration of how the academic world might respond to the apparent manifestation of a logical contradiction. It is meant to be a fun, engaging, and powerful cinematic experience that challenges audiences to think.

Investigating The Effect Of Color Gamut Mapping Quantitatively And Visually, Anupam Dhopade

Theses

With the advent of various color management standards and tools, the print media industry has seen many advancements aimed towards quantitatively and qualitatively acceptable color reproduction. This research attempts to test one of the most fundamental and integral parts of a standard color management workflow, the profile. The gamut mapping techniques implemented by the ICC profiles created using different profiling application programs were tested for their congruity to the theoretical concepts, standards, and definitions documented by International Color Consortium (ICC). Once these profiling software applications were examined, the significance of the possible discrepancies were tested by establishing a visual assessment …

The Shape Of Poetry: A Typographic Exploration Of Poetry And Synesthesia, Boliang Chen

Theses

The Shape of Poetry is a thesis which explores the relationships of synesthesia, typography and poetry.

Synesthesia is a neurologically-based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. This phenomenon is common in poetry as a rhetorical device. In graphic design, we uses typography and other visual elements to make cross-sensory metaphors as well. The similarity among these three provides a new field of research possibilities.

The goal of the thesis is to visualize poetry by exploring typographic variations and implementing synesthesia findings. The final result …

Gender Negotiations Of Female Collegiate Athletes In The Strength And Conditioning Environment: A Qualitative Analysis, Rachel I'Leene Roth

Theses

Research has shown that collegiate female athletes are oftentimes faced with negotiating meanings of their femininity and their athleticism. Athleticism has traditionally been equated with masculinity, and to be a collegiate athlete requires certain levels of skill, experience, and athletic ability. Therefore, female collegiate athletes are conflicted with managing their identities in order to avoid accusations of their sexuality, which often results in being labeled as deviant. A primary indicator of athleticism is muscularity, which is also considered a masculine trait. In order to stay within gender boundaries, female athletes may go above and beyond to emphasize their femininity, or …

Landscapes From The Road, Darren B. Schroeder

Theses

LANDSCAPES FROM THE ROAD In this paper I will discuss the images from Landscapes From The Road and how they function within a canon of landscape. I will discuss these images in relation to traditional romantic and pastoral constructs of landscape as well as the ways in which the images formulate landscape as uniquely and materialistically contemporary. I will discuss landscape as a concept related to the contemplation of the Sublime, renewed individuality, and its contemporary treatment as a location of transactional and material interest. I will contextualize the images of Landscapes From the Road as representing a more inclusive …

Trans-Species Transcriptomic Comparison Of In Vitro And In Vivo Neural Cells, Peter Loverso

Theses

RNAseq has recently evolved into a powerful tool for the analysis and comparison of different cell types within and across organisms, and allows for accurate, reproducible measurements of the transcriptome of these cells. Here, RNA from three different neural cells types (oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, neurons, and astrocytes) in rats (R. norvegicus) are grown in vitro then sequenced and aligned to the rn5 genome assembly. Furthermore, RNA from two different human (H. sapiens) neural cell types (neurons and astrocytes) grown in vitro were also sequenced and aligned to the hg38 assembly. An in vivo dataset of RNAseq reads was identified from …

Broken Art, Jihwan Park

Theses

My “Broken Art” series created between 2013 and 2014 is the subject of my Thesis.

My study is focused on three characteristics: Semiotics (signs, symbols, and indices explore artwork in a series that is broken). Great changes in art history between two art movements, Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art are synthesized in one artwork.

Finally, commercialism is dealt with through symbols which I construct.

The following scholars and artists are discussed in relation to my series: Charles Sanders Pierce (1839~1914, American), Rene Magritte (1898~1967, Belgian), Rosy Keyser (1974~, Baltimore, MD), Roy Lichtenstein (1923~1997, American), and Barry Le Va (1941, Long …

Hate Speech And The Status Of Prisoners, Logan Richard Baseley

Theses

Drawing from feminist and critical race theorists’ analyses of pornography and racist speech, I advance an argument in favor of speech regulations vis-à-vis prison rape films. I call ‘prison rape films’ (PRFs) those films that depict prison rape humorously, as narrative springboards, or as unnecessary tangents. I explore why such films ought to be regulated by pointing out the harms these films have on prisoners. In doing so, I examine what it is to be a ‘historically oppressed group’ and what makes such groups particularly vulnerable to hate speech. Prisoners are a historically oppressed group that is harmed by prison …

Morphology And Characterization Of Abscission Zone Development And Its Role In Domestication In Setaria Viridis And Setaria Italica, John Gerard Hodge

Theses

Many critical agronomic traits have been selected over the course of domestication of various crops and of these, one of the most crucial for cereal crops (Poaceae) is increased seed retention or “reduced shattering”, although the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. Setaria viridis was selected to identify the underlying patterns related to abscission zone development within the previously uncharacterized tribe Paniceae (Panicoideae). For this study one line of the wild species S. viridis and two lines of S. italica , a derived domesticate of S. viridis , were used. Consistent differences were found in the phenotypic patterns and morphology of …

Leaf-Cutter Ant (Atta Cephalotes) Behavioral Ecology Of Folivory In A Mixed-Use Guyanan Lowland Rainforest, Elizabeth Brianne Karslake

Theses

I studied the foraging ecology of a Neotropical leaf-cutter ant, Atta cephalotes, at CEIBA Biological Center, Guyana to elucidate diet choice and foraging strategy. These ants are serous agricultural pests because workers harvest leaves, flowers, fruits, and other plant organs of both cultivated and native plants. The plant materials are used to feed symbiotic fungi whose mycelia tips are the sole food of A. cephalotes larvae. Leaf-cutters were usually found in human disturbed habitats especially slash-and-burned forests cleared for farms, with their higher percentage of sun-exposure and lower plant stem diameters than second growth and primary forests. When given a …

Good Kids, Bad City: The Examination Of Crime Resistance In Low Income, High Crime, Communities Of Color, Troy M. Williams

Theses

A number of criminological theories assert that individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged communities are more likely to participate in criminal activities. Given the confluence of race and class in this country Black and Latino men are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. However, less is known about men of color who grow up in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods, but do not commit crimes. In this study, the researcher examines a group of Black men who exhibited leadership to resist assimilated criminological behavior, which is the process of participating in crime in order to be revered by peers, family, or community members. …

How Real Is Reality? : An Examination Of Perceived Realism And Permissive Sexual Attitudes In Relation To Reality Dating Shows, Margaret E. Bennett

Theses

This study investigated whether exposure to reality dating shows shaped participants’ perceptions of reality and permissive sexual attitudes, with the incorporation of more recent reality dating shows. A sample of 156 college-aged students participated in an online survey. Gender predicted the amount of exposure to reality dating shows, with females watching more than males. Heavy exposure was not a predictor of permissive sexual attitudes. Heavy exposure did predict how realistic the viewers perceived the reality dating shows to be. However, perceived realism was not related to permissive sexual attitudes. Perceived realism also did not play a moderating or mediating role …

Media Audiences’ Engagement With Social Issues: A Content Analysis Of Online Daily Newspaper Articles And Audience Comments, Jessica Edgar

Theses

This study examines how articles covering social issues are highlighted on top online daily newspapers’ websites and how that influences the audiences’ emotionality and willingness to help the corresponding social issue as identified in the websites’ comment sections. The articles have been gathered from five of the top online daily newspaper media outlets: USA Today, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle and San Francisco Chronicle. Three social issues are highlighted as key topics that are relevant to today’s American society and typically require a need for orientation: gun control, cancer and animal rights. The method for conducting …

Inherent Problems With Nuclear Deterrence And The Need Of Disarmament, Hiromi Ishikawa

Theses

This paper is to discuss about the problems that nuclear deterrence has, and examine the necessity of nuclear disarmament. It starts from defining the meaning of nuclear deterrence, and explores current situations about nuclear weapons in the world. After that this paper takes a closer look at some historical cases of nuclear deterrence, and finally discusses why nuclear disarmament is the most suitable way for national security. The finding of this paper is that nuclear deterrence is not the most credible theory that states should follow because there are more demerits than merits by holding the theory. Nuclear abolition is …

Software Defined Radio Implementation Of Ds-Cdma In Inter-Satellite Communications For Small Satellites, Jr. Frank Pinto

Theses

The increased usage of CubeSats recently has changed the communication philosophy from long-range point-to-point propagations to a multi-hop network of small orbiting nodes. Separating system tasks into many dispersed satellites can increase system survivability, versatility, configurability, adaptability, and autonomy. Inter-satellite links (ISL) enable the satellites to exchange information and share resources while reducing the traffic load to the ground. Establishment and stability of the ISL are impacted by factors such as the satellite orbit and attitude, antenna configuration, constellation topology, mobility, and link range. Software Defined Radio (SDR) is beginning to be heavily used in small satellite communications for applications …

Chiral Discrimination And Enantiomeric Cytotoxicity On Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Taylor Amber Davis

Theses

The negative health impact of chiral environmental pollutants (CEPs), including mutagenicity, teratogenicity, and developmental problems, highlight the importance of chirality to the biomedical research community and the need for new techniques for accurate analysis of CEPs in humans to promote the development of biomedical protocols for CEPs poisoning therapy. This study examined the effects of chirality on 1-(9-anthryl)-2,2,2-triflouroethanol (TFE) and 1,1²binaphthyl-2,2²-diamine (BNA) enantiomers interactions with human serum albumin (HSA), the dominant serum protein and a transporter of hormones, drugs and metabolites in human. Specifically, the emission, the binding constants, stoichiometry, and thermodynamic properties of enantiomers of TFE-HSA and BNA-HSA complexes …

Modeling Consumer Behavior For High Risk Foods, Megan Elizabeth Watkins

Theses

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in six Americans become ill or die from foodborne contaminations (CDC, 2011). Contamination (intentional or unintentional) can occur at any point in the food supply chain. Flaws in security, quality control, or transportation are some examples of how food is susceptible to intentional acts of sabotage. Certain foods are more susceptible to contamination such as meats, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and eggs. In order to build a secure and resilient food supply chain network, food producers and manufacturers need to have the ability to assess contamination risks resulting from manufacturing …

A Generalizable Method To Normalize Luciferase Activity In Transiently Transfected B Cells, Ii Carl Parson

Theses

Cell-based assays are central to life science research. In many cases, these assays require transient, or stable, transfection of an exogenous DNA of the cells under study. Previous studies examining transcriptional regulation mediated by the tumor suppressor, p53, identified several putative p53-regulated promoters involved in diepoxybutene (DEB)-induced cancer progression. However, due to potential differences in transfection efficiencies among different promoter constructs, a direct comparison of these promoters was difficult to assess. Therefore, we sought to develop a generalizable normalization method that would enable direct comparison of promoter activation regardless of transfection efficiency. Specifically, we aimed to use GFP co-transfection as …

Effects Of Electrospun Scaffolds On Epithelial Cell Growth And Morphology, Divya Shankar Iyer

Theses

Regeneration of cells on a scaffold is a main aspect in tissue engineering. Nanofibrous scaffolds from electrospinning provide great potential to engineer scaffolds for desired tissue engineering applications because they can mimic in vivo extracellular matrix (ECM). However, there is little known about how the microstructure and surface properties of electrospun nanofibrous scaffold influences the migration and growth of cells. Fundamental studies is demanded to understand the interaction between nanofibrous substrate and cells. In this research, four typical electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds including polyacrylonitrile (PAN), carbon, cellulose acetate (CA) and cellulose were prepared, characterized and then employed as scaffolds for Madin …

Impact Of Medical Drugs, Commonly Administered To The Elderly, On Viability And Functionality Of Commercially Available Probiotic Supplements, Desarae Nicole Johnson

Theses

The elderly population is inherently more susceptible to gastrointestinal problems and diseases due to significant age-related gastrointestinal changes experienced in gut physiology, reactivity of the immune system, and/or diet. These factors, coupled with increased occurrence of disease and corresponding medication use, could also modify the composition of gut microbiota. The impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on the physical gastrointestinal tract has already been shown. However, the impact of these factors on the microbiota inhabiting the GI tract has not been well established. A better understanding of the relationship between medication use and gut microbiota composition may have beneficial implications …

Business Intelligence And Geographic Information System Lifecycle Architecture Using Cloud Computing For Smart Community, Rawan Sendi

Theses

Business Intelligence (BI) is a technique and IT tool that supports business decision making. BI is considered a unique source of competitive advantage in the market place and it can combine data, multimedia, and transactions all in one application to address people's needs. Using BI applications can increase both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. In addition, BI improves planning that provides the foundation for top successful performances in the future. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) deliver productivity tools that are highly beneficial for businesses. These benefits include: visualization, business capacity, analysis, and interpreting data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends. Another …

Design And Implementation Of An Autonomous Wireless Sensor-Based Smart Home, Christopher E. Osiegbu

Theses

The Smart home has gained widespread attentions due to its flexible integration into everyday life. This next generation of green home system transparently unifies various home appliances, smart sensors and wireless communication technologies. It can integrate diversified physical sensed information and control various consumer home devices, with the support of active sensor networks having both sensor and actuator components. Although smart homes are gaining popularity due to their energy saving and better living benefits, there is no standardized design for smart homes. In this thesis, a smart home design is put forward that can classify and predict the state of …

An Analytical Study Of Consumer Trust In Cloud Computing, Iii Albert Horvath

Theses

The Internet has developed to such a point that many scholarly articles are calling it the 5th utility, behind water, power, sewage, and telephone. The usefulness of the fifth utility is undeniable and will certainly only grow. Soon, common internet users will be able to do more than just use it for entertainment and shopping. Emerging technologies have the ability to intelligently connect people to the data they need to improve their lives. For instance, heart rate monitors can be connected remotely to the internet and patients can live at home knowing that if there are any problems, help will …