Digital Commons Network^™

Morphological And Electrical Variance In Polysilicon Thin Film Transistors Crystallized By Flash Lamp Annealing, Glenn Packard

Theses

This work is a wide-reaching study of the factors that impact the in-situ crystallization of thin films of amorphous silicon into low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) by flash lamp annealing (FLA) on glass substrates, which is used to develop thin film transistors (TFTs) with an eye towards display applications. The body of research surrounding FLA LTPS is thus advanced by identifying several challenges towards industrial integration and exploring solutions involving device configuration, novel methods of dopant introduction and activation, and novel TFT material systems. It is unlikely that FLA will ever produce LTPS superior to the laser-annealing techniques currently dominating the …

Examining The Universe With Galaxies: From Dynamical Models To The Inference Of Cosmological Parameters, Peter A. Craig

Theses

The mass distribution of the Milky Way (MW) has been the subject of a considerable amount of research, and yet many of its properties remain poorly constrained. We have developed two novel methods for understanding the properties of this mass distribution. The first involves using hydrodynamical simulations of the formation of the Magellanic Stream (MS), and compares the simulated streams to the observations of the MS. This comparison allows for a mass estimate of the MW because the properties of the simulated streams are sensitive to the MW mass assumed within the simulations. The second approach uses recent direct acceleration …

Design And Optimization Of Devices And Architectures For Neuromorphic Silicon Photonics, Matthew Van Niekerk

Theses

Neuromorphic photonics is an exciting field at the intersection of neuroscience, integrated photonics, and microelectronics. To realize large-scale neural network-inspired systems, we must have a toolbox of linear and nonlinear operators. Here, we review state of the art for integrated photonic linear operators, which can perform linear operations using interference or wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) techniques, and nonlinear operators, which perform nonlinear operations with a combination of photodetection and modulation. We present some devices that fit into the needed toolbox. A new type of directional coupler, using skin depth engineering of electromagnetic waves, suppresses optical crosstalk and eliminates the need for waveguide …

Phylogeny And Taxonomy Of Genus Physaria In North America, Binoshi Hettihewa

Theses

Physaria is a genus of ~108 species belonging to family Brassicaceae that is predominantly distributed in Western North America, but one species occurs in Arctic Russia and Northern Canada and several species occur in South America. Regardless of the vast number of species in the genus, the genus lacks a well-resolved phylogeny representing many taxa, partially because phylogeny reconstruction is complicated by the fact that many species of Physaria vary in chromosome numbers and ploidy levels. In chapter 1, we review how polyploids are formed and become established and summarize what is known about variation in chromosome number and ploidy …

Efficient Synchronous Byzantine Consensus, Nibesh Shrestha

Theses

With the emergence of decentralized technologies such as Blockchains, Byzantine consensus protocols have become a fundamental building block as they provide a consistent service despite some malicious and arbitrary process failures. While the Byzantine consensus problem has been extensively studied for over four decades under various settings, many challenges and open problems still exist. Improving the communication complexity and the latency or round complexity are the two key challenges in the design of efficient and scalable solutions for the Byzantine consensus problem. This thesis focuses on improving the communication complexity and the round complexity of the synchronous Byzantine consensus problem …

Large Dry Metal Electrodes For Physiological Monitoring, Krittika Goyal

Theses

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In-home physiological monitoring systems have a potential to track daily changes in cardiovascular health and to provide health care professionals data about the recovery or deterioration of their patient’s cardiac health. Various in-home monitoring systems have been designed to capture physiological signals from both standard (chest, wrist) and non-standard (palms, buttocks) locations. Unfortunately, most in-home monitoring systems provide poor signal quality due to the use of dry electrodes. Dry electrodes have an unstable electrochemical interface that results in high and variable contact impedance and poor signal quality. The …

Artificial Games, Jake Johnson

Theses

This thesis project is an attempt to create an integration of augmented reality (AR) technology and tabletop board games, with a focus on tackling the challenge of maintaining engagement and capturing the attention of modern audiences who are often drawn to more interactive forms of entertainment like movies and video games. Specifically, the project explores the concept of augmenting older tabletop games with a combination of futuristic digital graphics and overlays with original physical game elements. The project sees and recognizes the problem, which is that the disparity between the level of engagement offered by traditional tabletop games and the …

Outness Among Transgender And Non-Binary Adults: Effects Of Identity And Agency On Mental Health, Beau M. Gibbs

Theses

The present study investigated binary transgender (BT) and non-binary (NB) individuals both as an entire transgender non-binary (TNB) group and as two separate groups to examine entire group mental health trends and discern differences in mental health problems between groups. Outness, agency, experiences of transgender identity based microaggressions, and internalized transphobia in particular were investigated in relation to mental health. This study was conducted via an online survey and included 34 BT participants and 58 NB participants (92 participants in total). The correlation matrices and ANCOVAs revealed that none of the study hypotheses were supported. However, it was found that …

Development And Validation Of Epidemiological Models For Informing Intervention Strategies And Preventing Critical Resource Shortages, Kimberly A. Dautel

Theses

Epidemiological models have been used to measure, understand, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks. Both model development and model validation are important when utilizing models to help inform public health responses. The goal of this work is to advance mathematical modeling efforts of infectious diseases of current worldwide importance through model development and validation. The model development portion focuses on modeling interventions strategies for two infectious diseases. The first model formulated captures education campaign as the collective effort aimed at educating the public about the nature of the Ebola virus, its transmission routes, and the importance of early detection and …

The Implications Of Venus In The Interwar Oeuvre Of James Guy, Emily Cooper

Theses

American Social Surrealist James Guy was a Communist proletarian artist who created works of art that depicted the social inequities he witnessed and experienced during the Great Depression. As a working-class artist, Guy painted images of daily life with recognizable and accessible iconography that allowed his fellow manual laborers to relate to the depicted scene. Guy distorted commonplace experiences through the filter of Surrealism to create absurd, illogical, and nightmarish environments to critique contemporary society. Guy worked to spark the realization of the viewer that they were subjected to the same injustices as the figures in his paintings. In this …

Stacking The Deck In The Learner's Favor: Behavioral Skills Training Improves Safmeds Implementation, Lauren Olsen

Theses

“Say All Fast Minute Every Day Shuffled” (SAFMEDS) is a structured, evidence-based protocol for using flashcards. The protocol is a sequence of steps that are designed to promote accurate and quick responding to learn the information presented on flashcards. Although the benefits of using SAFMEDS have been well-documented, much of the literature fails to adequately describe the methods used to train participants on how to use the protocol. In addition, few studies measure participant procedural integrity (i.e., the extent to which the protocol is implemented as planned). To date, no study has systematically examined the effects of different training methods …

Inter-Procedural Program Synthesis For Automatic Architectural Tactic Implementation, Ali Shokri

Theses

Software architectural tactics are design decisions made by software architects to address important quality attributes of software systems such as security, availability, and reliability. Software developers incorporate API of software frameworks, as building blocks, for implementing architectural tactics in a software system to achieve the mentioned quality attributes. The correct implementation of such tactics is a challenging and error-prone task, especially for novice programmers. Component-based program synthesis aims to help such programmers by automatically constructing a code snippet from a given set of components, e.g., APIs, as well as the specification of the desired code. However, despite the advances in …

An Evolutionary Comparative Study Of Congenital Stationary Night Blindness-Associated Trpm1 Genetic Variants Of Uncertain Significance In Horses And Humans Utilizing Caenorhabditis Elegans, Gabrielle Davis

Theses

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a heterogeneous collection of genetic diseases affecting the eyes and vision in horses and humans. Current research has implicated several genetic mutations impacting different genes involved in phototransduction and signal transmission, including TRPM1. In horses, genetic mutations in TRPM1 also result in a leopard spotting pattern or leopard complex. The goal of this study is to examine the potential impact of CSNB associated TRPM1 missense variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Previous research in Caenorhabditis elegans have revealed an orthologous TRPM1 gene known as gon-2 that allows for comparative studies. The evolutionary relationship of …

Technology Takeover And Transformation: Humans Vs. Technology, Mikayla Tjeerdsma

Theses

When looking at the history of the fashion industry up to the present day, technology can easily distinguish the progress of fashion throughout the ages. The direction of this research is to gain insight and a deeper realization of how technology is taking over and transforming those in and revolving around fashion by slowly taking over and replacing human involvement or presence. Statistics and research show due to the adverse effects of COVID-19, technological development within fashion has seen a significant increase. COVID-19 was either the final push towards making technological ideas a reality or was the birth of new …

Being Authentic On Social Media With Generation Z, Soyombo-Erdene Ariunbold

Theses

This paper discusses the evolving landscape of social media and the significance of authenticity on social media platforms for Generation Z. It emphasizes the rise of social media platforms, shedding light on their authenticity and the profound influence they have on users' mental well-being. The paper also highlights the necessity for content creators and brands to adapt by incorporating more unpolished content on social media platforms.

The final deliverable will include a detailed survey analysis of the content authenticity on BeReal application. The findings of this study will offer valuable insights into the increasing demand for authenticity on social media …

Designing Automatic Speech Recognition Technologies To Improve Accessibility For Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing People In Small Group Meetings, Matthew Shoji Seita

Theses

Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) individuals face several barriers to communication in the workplace, particularly in small-group meetings with their hearing peers. The impromptu nature of these meetings makes scheduling sign-language interpreting or professional captioning services difficult. Recent advances in Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology could help remove some of these barriers that prevent DHH people from becoming involved in group meetings. However, ASR is still imperfect, and it contains errors in its output text in many real-world conversation settings. This research investigates whether there are benefits in using ASR technology to aid understanding and communication among DHH and …

Applying Homomorphic Encryption To A Cross Domain Problem, Cheyenne Dailey

Theses

The Cross Domain Problem (CDP) strives to ensure protected data transference across varying security domains. In order to accomplish this, a Cross Domain Solution (CDS) is needed. A common method to protect data is to focus on risk management between trusted parties; however, untrusted parties pose ongoing concern. The problem is determining a method that transfers classified data through various security domains without exposing any information to intermediary parties. Attempts to mitigate this problem have been made utilizing Homomorphic Encryption (HE), a type of encryption that allows for computations to be executed on encrypted data without needing to decrypt it. …

Diffractive Light And Solar Sails, Prateek Ranjan Srivastava

Theses

In the realm of space exploration, humanity has achieved remarkable feats like landing humans on the moon. However, our progress in venturing beyond our solar system has been limited. Light sails, which utilize photon momentum from laser or solar radiation, o↵er a promising propulsion technology. Unlike traditional rockets, light sails carry no fuel and can achieve high velocities and precise orbital maneuvers. In this research, we propose using an elementary space variant di↵ractive film to design passively stable light sails propelled by laser radiation. We also explore applying this concept to solar sails, enabling spiral trajectories and high orbital inclination …

A Privacy Safeguarding Framework For The Smart Grid, Gaurav Shivaji Wagh

Theses

The smart grid is an outcome of integrating communication technologies with traditional electrical systems. This enables the collection of granular metering data from the customer domain for providing grid and billing functionalities. However, the data collection process exposes the grid to various cyberattacks, posing a significant threat to customer privacy. This is a critical concern for the smart grid community and has hindered the global adoption of the smart grid technology. Although aggregation-based frameworks show promise for sharing metering data with the Electrical Service Provider while maintaining customer privacy, existing aggregation-based frameworks have several limitations. Some of these limitations include …

Cybersecurity Attacks Detection For Mqtt-Iot Networks Using Machine Learning Ensemble Techniques, Sahar Mohamed Bukhari Abdelbasit

Theses

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the technical advancements that is progressing swiftly. which promises to be revolutionary soon. IoT systems are convenient due to its device centralized and computerized control. This technology allows various physical devices, home applications, vehicles, appliances, etc., to be interconnected and exposed to the Internet. On the other hand, it entails the fundamental need to protect the network from adversarial and unwanted alterations. Machine-to-machine protocols like Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) are typically used by IoT devices to communicate. Numerous techniques to attack networks employ the lightweight messaging protocol known as MQTT (Message …

An Effective Heuristic To Reduce Total Flowtime For Randomly-Structured Flowshop Problems, Arun John Abraham

Theses

We propose a heuristic to reduce total flowtime in a six-job, four-machine permutation flowshop scheduling problem. This work contributes to the prolific research efforts reported in the permutation flowshop scheduling problem (PFSP).

The heuristic was applied to 102 randomly structured flowshop scheduling problems, with job processing times generated using an integer uniform distribution in the interval [1,100]. The results of computational experiments were deemed satisfactory after being evaluated by using the ordinal and percentile ranks of the resulting total flowtime for the six jobs.

An Examination Of The Associations Between Eating Competence, Physical Activity, Mealtime Activities And School Behavior In Adolescents, Nicole Watson

Theses

Background: An association between eating competence (EC) and physical activity, diet quality, less stress, greater weight satisfaction and many other outcomes has been identified in adult populations. However, limited research has been conducted into EC and associations in the adolescent population. Specifically, the associations between eating competence and physical activity, mealtime activities, and school behavior in adolescents has not been examined. Purpose: To examine the congruence between eating competence and physical activity, mealtime activities, and school behavior in adolescents (ages 11-16) who had participated in the Fuel for Fun study as 4th graders. Methods: Secondary data analysis of collected data …

Enhancing User Learning Experience Of A New Therapeutic Approach For Scleroderma Using Vr, Joanne Park

Theses

The transient receptor potential cation 6 (TRPC6) channel is an integral membrane protein that alters the intracellular calcium (Ca2+) concentration and is also responsible for a variety of tissue expression, physiological functions and channel properties (Ong et al., 2016). Recently, researchers at RIT have discovered a new therapeutic approach for scleroderma, also known as skin fibrosis, that involves the inhibition of the TRPC6 channel. To help spread awareness of their research and to enhance the user learning experience, an interactive virtual reality (IVR) experience was created, as well as supplemental 3D animations, that will be available through the researcher’s website. …

The Evolution Of The Nba’S Culture, Trey Jones

Theses

This project focuses on the National Basketball Association’s dress code problems from 2004-2005 to the 2022-2023 NBA season. Highlighting how a predominantly black athletes' association, run by white men, changed in multiple ways to respect the fashion and culture of its community over this 20-year period. The community that was most represented on the court, and those who support the league at home. Doing so through the influence of the media, player opinions, race, fashion, time, and executives. Showcasing how a prominent business, such as the NBA, can change it its brand to be acceptable and successful.

The Impact Of User-Generated Content On Consumer Purchase Intention, Alyssa Anderson

Theses

This project investigates how various forms of user-generated content impacts consumer purchasing decisions. Primary and secondary research is executed for a broader understanding of UGC implications on modern consumers. The final deliverable is a website that offers an in-depth analysis of the culture of creators and how the dynamic has shifted in recent years. Additionally, UGC cases are studied to determine the impact they have on consumers, and guides are offered to director brands on how ensure consistency and alignment with their brand identity and implement UGC into their marketing strategy.

A Study On How Twitch Streaming Can Impact The Success Of A Game, Nadine Kassassir

Theses

The aim of this project is to assess the variables that impact the success of a video game taken as a function of prizepool earnings awarded in tournaments. With the rise of streaming platforms like Twitch the reach for esports and online gaming has dramatically increased. After analyzing two datasets found on Kaggle, and performing linear regression on a newly created dataset, no relationship between viewership and earnings can be established. Irrespective of this, the increasing trend of earnings and viewership can be observed in both the datasets and online publications and statistics. This indicates the possibility of an existing …

Using The Hirota Method To Investigate The Integrability And New Exact Solutions Of The Non-Autonomous Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation, Islam Majed Albazlamit

Theses

In this thesis research, we investigate the existence of Hirota bilinear systems for the non-autonomous nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE) with position- and time-dependent coefficients and external potentials. To that end, we employ a semi-analytical systematic method that employs some exact solutions. The Hirota bilinear system is then employed to derive new solutions to the same nonlinear differential equation. We have applied this approach to a number of different versions of NLSEs to find that each family of solutions shares the same Hirota bilinear system. Furthermore, properties of solutions such as stability are investigated.

Screening And Genomic Characterization Of Multi-Drug Resistant (Mdr) Bacteria From Hospital Wastewater, Showq Abdelaziz Abdelaziz

Theses

Antimicrobial resistance poses an imminent global threat to public health, with multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria being particularly worrisome due to their resistance to multiple antibiotics. Hospital wastewater has been identified as a potential source of MDR bacteria and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs). This study aimed to investigate MDR bacteria's prevalence, diversity, and genomic potential in hospital wastewater samples collected from three different hospitals in the UAE. Samples were processed for culturing antibiotic-resistant bacteria using different HiCrome™ chromogenic media to screen for ESBL-producing, Vancomycin, Carbapenem, colistin, and Methicillin-resistant bacteria. The isolates were characterized using VITEk2 antibiotic profiling and identified using 16S rRNA sequencing …

Preparation Of Copper Oxide Nano-Architectures For Fog Harvesting Applications, Ola M. Abu Draz

Theses

The issue of limited freshwater resources is a significant problem for humans, especially in desert areas where water scarcity poses a serious risk to human survival. In nature, there are several species that harvest fog based on their tuned surface structure, e.g.., Cactus, desert beetles, etc. In addition to surface hydrophilic/hydrophobic architecture, another key factor in effective water collection is the porosity of the surface, which helps droplets to form, grow, and be removed. To address the challenge of water scarcity, we inspired, from nature, to design surfaces that have features that favor water collection. In this aspect, we introduced …

Heavy Metal Bioaccumulation In Benthic Flatfishes From Territorial Waters Of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Shima Mohammed Albadi

Theses

Marine pollution from anthropogenic sources is a major threat to many coastal and offshore species. A variety of potentially harmful elements are released from wastewater runoff, leached from landfills or industrial effluents. I measured trace metal concentrations in the liver, gills, and muscles of two benthic flatfish species, the halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus), and the Dover sole (Solea solea). The primary objective of this thesis was to evaluate the status of the benthic fish species in the Fujairah waters to understand the pollution status of regional waters and assess their effects on human consumption. Inductively Coupled Plasma …