Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture For Growing West Coast Venus Clams, Avery Wallace

Theses

With demand for sustainable sources of seafood on the rise, California is looking to expand aquaculture with a focus on innovative culturing methods and use of native or resident species. Therefore, this study examined the potential for culturing native North American west coast venus clams (Chione californiensis and Chione undatella) using integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA). An ITMA approach was chosen because it is a culture method that uses species from different but functionally complementary trophic levels that have been found to reduce the potential negative effects of traditional monoculture. California sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) and the seaweeds red ogo (Gracilaria …

The Impact Of Big Data Analytics On The E-Commerce Businesses, Riham Mahmoud Saad

Theses

Big data technologies are fundamental to the transformation of the E-Commerce sector in today's information-driven environment. Web server logs, geolocation services, abandoned shopping carts, transaction receipts, social media activity, and other sources of data can be used by online businesses to gather information. A lot of the time, having so much information might be daunting. However, Big data analytics capabilities may provide E-Commerce businesses with insightful information that can be used to better attract and keep customers while also boosting profitability and reducing costs. Big Data Analytics is attracting increased investment from E-Commerce firms. They can not only learn more …

Case Study: The Adoption Of Power Bi Dashboard For Improved Credit Risk Management In The Uae, Reem Saeed Ali Hassan Alnajjar

Theses

Financial institutions will be under pressure to extend loans because of the need to act promptly on loan requests while upholding quality and compliance when servicing customers with competitive banks. In this new era, it is interesting to test existing theories and factors and whether new insights could emerge. Thus, the focus of this qualitative research is to understand factors influencing technology adoption and success and hence, improve credit risk analysis with the help of new advances in technology and dashboards tools such as Power BI and other intelligent systems. This is important to achieve optimal, more secure, and faster …

Ai Chatbots In Uae Government Entities: An Empirical Investigation Of User Adoption And Acceptance Factors, Amna Ali Ghanem Alremeithi

Theses

Artificial intelligence, particularly its chatbot application, has become widely used across diverse sectors, including healthcare, commerce, and banking. Thus, the high traction of these tools led the UAE’s strategic partners to recognize the need to embrace this technology and apply it across its various governmental institutions. As such, this research explores the factors influencing UAE government employees' acceptance and utilization of AI-based chatbots, providing insights into the drivers and barriers to embracing this technology. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) model was modified and used as the basis for this quantitative research methodology. The data …

Using Machine Learning To Analyze And Predict Crimes, And Their Impact On Society, Sally Samir Matter Isbaih

Theses

Criminal activity is on the rise everywhere and it refers to an illegal act that is subject to legal penalties. Crimes can range in severity from less serious offenses like traffic infractions and smalltime larceny to more serious ones like murder, robbery, and fraud. While those who have committed such crimes and been adjudged guilty by a court of law are known as criminals. They may lack education, be underprivileged, employed, or unemployed, or they may be wealthy. Add to this, crime may be committed differently depending on a number of variables, including family history, religion, gender, and so on. …

An Examination Of The Privacy Paradox Phenomenon In The Uae Context, Maitha Majdi Al Ahbabi

Theses

The proliferation of technology and the internet has led to the collection and sharing of personal information online. Privacy breaches and data breaches have become a growing concern, leading to the emergence of the "privacy paradox" phenomenon, where by individuals express concerns about privacy, but continue to engage in behaviors that compromise their privacy. Despite the importance of this issue, relatively little research has been conducted in the UAE on the topic of the privacy paradox. This study aimed to investigate the presence of the privacy paradox in the UAE and the factors that motivate individuals to use technologies that …

Characterisation Of Selected Microbes In Terrestrial And Simulated Extraterrestrial Habitats: Human Health And Environmental Applications, Daniel Joseph Keaney

Theses

The rapid development of the Space industry and associated technologies over the past decade is leading to the inevitable consideration of establishing human-based colonies on extra-terrestrial bodies such as the moon and Mars. With Mars being the focus of not only this body of work, but current New Space Age travel (NASA and SpaceX), a significant issue posed by Martian colonists includes establishing a safe and sustainable food source. Owing to its constantly evolving prehistoric landscape, the soils of Mars are contaminated with sodium perchlorate, a water-soluble salt that is toxic to humans, leftover from once inferred brine seeps that …

Closing The Modern Irish Municipal Wastewater Phosphorus Cycle, Ciaran O’Donnell

Theses

Phosphorus (P) is an essential life-supporting nutrient for which there is no substitute. P naturally cycles within nature. Modern farming practice and food production have altered the natural P cycle. Successive crop harvests remove P from the soil as crops and transport them to urban areas to feed the population. To replace P removed from the soil through these crop harvests, mineral P fertilisers are applied to the soil to sustain crop production. Mineral P fertilisers are derived from finite phosphate rock. The European Union does not have an indigenous supply of phosphorus rock, which poses a significant issue for …

An Examination Of Bilateral Skill Proficiency And The Impact Of A Coach Mentoring Intervention In A Gaelic Football Development Academy, Kevin Murray

Theses

This programme of research had two aims which organised the research into two distinct phases. Phase one examined differences in bilateral skill proficiency and frequency of use between selected and non-selected Under 17 inter-county male academy Gaelic footballers. Phase two explored the coaching practices of three youth Gaelic football coaches in the same youth Gaelic football academy. In phase one, quantitative data from a bilateral skills test and match play analysis from 82 players which were retrospectively grouped as selected (n=19) and non-selected (n=63) to an Under 17 inter-county team revealed that selected players scored significantly higher than non-selected in …

Affordability Culture In Organizations, Taylor Yeazitzis

Theses

Affordability has been a growing interest in organizations over the years. Though affordability is an ever-present issue within organizations, there is a lack of research surrounding affordability culture as an organizational subculture. The current study aims to close this research gap by identifying organizational aspects associated with affordability in which current organizational practices can be evaluated by organization members. To accomplish this goal, 346 participants from NASA, industry, and The University of Alabama in Huntsville were surveyed to understand the organizational aspects associated with affordability. Results indicated that students tended to evaluate affordability in terms of budgets and funding, whereas …

Estimating Irrigation Potential Index (Ipi) For Ungauged Hydrological Stations In Alabama, Gelayol Mohammadnazar

Theses

This research tackles the crucial challenge of estimating low flow statistics - the 90th percentile flow duration (Q90) and the minimum 7-day, 10-year average flow (7Q10), Irrigation Potential Index (IPI)- at ungauged hydrological stations in Alabama. Given the state's variable water availability for irrigation, and lack of sustainable water resource management and agricultural planning, these statistics are essential for defining realistic and applicable criteria for water quality and quantity. Central to our study is the calculation of the Irrigation Potential Index (IPI), a key determinant of the state's water resource management capabilities. Our methodology begins with calculating Q90 and 7Q10 …

Total-Ionizing-Dose Effects On Commercial 3-D Nand Flash Memory Chips, Mondol Anik Kumar

Theses

Commercial NAND flash memories are very attractive for space applications, characterized by their compact form factor, low weight, high bit density, and energy efficient performance. Nevertheless, the vulnerability of NAND flash memories to ionizing radiation-induced data corruption through threshold voltage shifts has been a significant concern. This thesis presents a comprehensive examination of total-ionizing-dose (TID) effects on commercial 3-D NAND flash memory through irradiation experiments conducted using a Co-60 source. One of the most intriguing findings of this study is the remarkable resilience displayed by a specific fraction of memory cells to the TID effects. To shed light on this …

Connecting Bridges : A Critical Disability Reading Of A Silent Voice, Tyler Dickey

Theses

Disability scholars have read stories in the form of manga to see how their depictions of disabilities can be harmful or helpful to those possessing disabilities. Most manga examined in this way usually consists of a story where either only one character is present with a disability, or the story falls within the ‘supercrip’ narrative. Yoshitoki Ōima’s A Silent Voice differs from this trend as it displays multiple characters with different types of disabilities and falls into the slice-of-life genre. This thesis exists to do a critical disability reading of A Silent Voice as a piece of disability literature. I …

The Implications Of Information Load On Usability And Performance In Dashboards, Emily O'Hear

Theses

As learning analytics dashboards become ubiquitous in various industries, understanding how users process data and information is crucial to their design. Previous literature has brought valuable knowledge to dashboard design and cognitive load, but it is unclear how individuals perform with and digest a high or low information load. Tradeoffs are present as a dashboard with a lower information load requires more clicks and a dashboard with a higher information load could lead to information overload. This study presented a data-rich and minimalistic dashboard to active-duty airmen at Fairchild Air Force Base. Results indicated that participants largely preferred the data-rich …

Data In Action Story : Sharing And Exploring Earth Science Data, Dan Pham

Theses

To fill in the gap between the data vendors, who want to promote commercial datasets, and Earth Science researchers, who want an accessible method to the valuable datasets, the “Data in Action” story concept has been adopted by the NASA Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program to encourage creating and sharing data information in story form. To aid researchers in exploring similar stories in their fields of interest, this researcher created an “Influence Network” within the “Data in Action” framework. The Influence Network is a data visualization feature which gathers information related to story relationships using a concept called “influence.” …

Large Scale Data Transfers In Cloud-Based Systems, Uday Kumar Bommala

Theses

My dissertation focuses on developing a High-performance, Scalable, and Efficient Data Transfer Framework with Configurable and Extensible Features. The exponential growth of high-volume data poses collaboration challenges for big data providers, particularly in global-scale scientific research. The Earth’s scientific sector experiences an ongoing trend of increasing temporal and spatial data resolution, resulting in massive data archives at organizations like NASA, ESA, and JAXA. To facilitate efficient scientific study with partner agencies worldwide, data transfer solutions must handle this vast data volume across platforms at reasonable costs. The dissertation proposes a 3-phase approach (Analysis, Evaluation, and Implementation) to address the implementation …

Assessing Activity Of Iot Smart Stuff Using Inertial Sensors, Juan Tarrat

Theses

Inertial sensors, including accelerometers and gyroscopes, are commonly used for capturing and quantifying motion and orientation data. IoT devices use inertial sensors to detect user activity. In this thesis we present the use of inertial sensors for determining user interactions with smart objects of everyday use, that we refer to as Smart Stuff. We present a novel use of inertial sensor to assess the use and state of the smart water bottle configured as IoT appliance. Staying hydrated is crucial for health and wellbeing; precise monitoring of user hydration is very important for the elderly and patients with chronic conditions. …

Evaluating Transit Demand For Disadvantaged Riders And A New Performance Measure To Incorporate Disadvantaged Riders, Sahana Shankar

Theses

Access to transportation is a fundamental need for individuals to access employment, healthcare, education, and social activities. However, disadvantaged populations, such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and those with limited incomes, often face transportation challenges, resulting in social and economic disparities. The goal was to address these disparities by examining transit demand and introducing a new performance measure that factors in demographic characteristics, particularly for vulnerable populations. To achieve this, the study utilizes data from the United States Census and transit providers in Alabama. It relies on the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to pinpoint areas where vulnerable populations are …

A Comparative Analysis Of The Quality Of Homicide Evidence Provided To Law Enforcement, Reilly Calloway

Theses

The present study investigated the perceived quality of homicide evidence provided to law enforcement by the coroner versus medical examiner systems. Respondents (N=15) from county law enforcement agencies in three different Southeastern states that utilize either the coroner, medical examiner, or combination of both systems were presented with a 17-question virtual survey that included questions regarding personal background, educational background, employment history, knowledge of the medical examiner versus coroner systems, and personal experience with one or both systems involving homicide investigations. Participants who resided in the state that utilizes the medical examiner system reported mostly negative feedback regarding the collection, …

Charting And Navigating The "Scylla And Charybdis" Conundrum Of Our Ageing Hearts - Heart Failure & Atrial Fibrillation, Simon Stewart

Theses

Residing on opposite sides of the Strait of Messina between Sicily and Calabria, Scylla and Charybdis were mythical sea monsters (one a fearsome creature, the other a deadly whirlpool) described by Homer. For anyone seeking to navigate that narrow and treacherous passage, avoid one of these lethal threats and you would be devoured by the other. For many populations around the world, the conundrum of successfully preventing and/or treating heart failure (HF) to increase longevity, only to increase the probability that it will increase the number of people living with and dying from atrial fibrillation (AF), represents a conundrum of …

Resistance Training Methods And Repeated-Sprint Ability: A Meta-Analysis, Jemma Bassi

Theses

Objectives: This study sought to review and meta-analyse the effect of resistance training methods on RSA, in particular we explored different resistance training methods on specific repeated-sprint ability (RSA) associated outcomes. A secondary aim was to assess the influencing variables, namely training background, type, intensity and frequency of intervention, age and gender.

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Science Direct databases were searched for original research articles. Search terms included ‘Strength-training’, ‘resistance-training’, ‘power-training’, ‘repeat-sprint-ability’, ‘repeated-sprints’ and ‘repeat-speed’. Inclusion criteria included (1) involve resistance training intervention consisting of a range of body weight and/or loaded resistance training (40-100% 1 repetition max [1-RM]) at …

Early Movement Matters: Examining The Influence Of Early Postnatal Caregiving Experiences Of Term Infants On Motor And Head Shape Outcomes Across Infancy, Helen E. Beaton

Theses

The nurturing, handling and positioning exposures infants experience during daily caregiving contribute to their physical, motor, cognitive and social–emotional development. A relationship exists between infant sleep and wake-time positioning, the emergence of motor skills and the development of head shape deformities diagnosed as non-synostotic plagiocephaly (NSP). However, the underlying causal mechanism of the specific caregiving behaviours that may play a role remains unclear.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the association between maternal caregiving behaviours and the developmental outcomes of ‘low-risk’ term infants in the first 10 months of life. The first phase of the research involved the …

Exploration Of The Effects Of Developmental Coordination Disorder On Skeletal Development From Childhood Through To Early Adulthood, Jocelyn Tan

Theses

This thesis examined bone development from childhood into early adulthood in individuals with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) using a life course health development framework. One systematic review was conducted, and four original research studies produced with retrospective data from four unique cohorts in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Physical activity was assessed via accelerometry in Finnish child and adult populations and via self-reporting in an Australian population at 17 and 20 years. Bone was assessed via peripheral quantitative computed tomography in adolescents and dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in adults at age 20 years in two Australian cohorts. Bone was assessed cross-sectionally …

Advance Care Planning In Cancer Patient - Caregiver Dyads, Natasha Michael

Theses

For many, a cancer diagnosis signals death's inevitability and elicits much existential concern. In the quest for life prolongation, many are offered or seek life-sustaining treatments, fail to appreciate a declining trajectory and lack the opportunity to seek information or plan meaningfully for their future.

Advance care planning (ACP) provides an avenue for patients and their caregivers to plan for future care. ACP is defined ‘as a process that supports adults at any age or stage of health in understanding and sharing their personal values, life goals and preferences regarding future medical care’ and is a key quality indicator in …

The Characteristics Of Senior Leadership Teams In High Performing Western Australian Catholic Composite And Secondary Schools, Daniel Michael Groenewald

Theses

The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of principals, senior leadership team members, and middle leaders regarding the characteristics of senior leadership teams (SLTs) in high-performing Catholic Education Western Australian composite and secondary schools (CCSS). The study investigated the characteristics that enhanced and inhibited SLTs. It explored the resources and professional learning that could improve SLTs and the role of the principal in the SLT. This research is the first study of SLTs in CCSS.

The study's literature review identified six areas of literature that formed the conceptual framework of this thesis. These six areas were: the …

The Other Beginning Of Thinking: Heidegger And Neoplatonism, Emile Alexandrov

Theses

This thesis establishes an “other beginning” for thinking by repositioning Plato and Neoplatonism in Heidegger’s history of metaphysics. The thesis achieves this by revising Heidegger’s interpretation of Plato and retrieving Neoplatonist approaches to non-discursive thinking, corresponding to some of Heidegger’s post-turn concerns. The thesis begins by justifying the adoption of Heidegger’s “two beginnings” idea and illustrating what I label the “fundamentals of truth of the first beginning,” which Heidegger used to envision the other beginning of thinking. The fundamentals of truth inform Heidegger’s reading of Hölderlin and the later writings that emerged from the 1950s onwards. The second part re-thinks …

Household Recycling Behaviour In Metropolitan Australia: A Social Practice Theory Perspective, Susann Noe

Theses

Australians generate almost 545kg of annual kerbside waste per capita, one of the highest amounts compared to other OECD countries (Blue Environment, 2022). Although kerbside systems in Australian metropolitan areas are well-developed and the recycling practice is considered a social norm, residents' inaccurate handling of recyclable items send as much as 35% of valuable recyclable materials to landfill, contributing to environmental harm (Cleanaway Waste Management Limited, 2021). Furthermore, newly established recycling schemes in Australian jurisdictions are not used to their full potential.

In the context of both issues, the current thesis aims to understand the underperforming nature of recycling practices …

Professional Standards: Regulating Behaviours And Values In Nursing - Intentions Versus Outcomes, Sally Robertson

Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the Registered nurse standards for practice in relation to the policy intentions for the profession and implications for the recipients of care.

Case study methodology with Bourdieu’s field theory and theory of practice as a philosophical lens and interpretive description were used to provide a framework for data collection, analysis, and reporting. There were four units of analysis: document analysis; feedback from senior leaders; nurses working in higher education; and nurses working in clinical practice. Through both historical and contemporary document analysis, the intentions underpinning the development of the Standards policy were …

Wellbeing In The Outdoors: Exploring The Impact Of An Outdoor Adventure Education Program For The Social And Emotional Wellbeing Of Western Australian Adolescents From Selected Independent Schools, Michael Down

Theses

Outdoor adventure education (OAE) programs encompass practical outdoor activities, such as hiking or canoeing, and activities promoting interpersonal and intrapersonal development. Participants are challenged in a manner that appeals to typical risk-taking behaviours common in adolescents, resulting in benefits such as resilience development, personal growth, individual empowerment, and self-efficacy. OAE is commonly used to support positive physical, emotional, and psychological changes among adolescents.

This research aimed to determine the most impactful OAE activities for adolescent wellbeing. A sequential mixed-methods research design using a pragmatic approach was undertaken to identify the most impactful OAE elements for participant wellbeing. This research involved …

Contralateral Acl Rupture Is More Common Than Acl Graft Rupture In Australian Netballers After Acl Reconstruction, Conor Honeywill

Theses

Background: Netball is a popular sport worldwide, particularly in females. The nature of the sport makes it high-risk for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Purpose: The primary outcome was to determine the prevalence of ACL graft rupture and contralateral ACL (CACL) rupture in Australian female netballers following ACL Reconstruction (ACLR). Additionally, this study aimed to determine the rate of return to sport and psychological readiness.

Study Design: Cross-Sectional Study

Methods: From a prospective database, 332 consecutive ACLR with hamstring autograft conducted between the years 2007-2015 performed by 2 surgeons in female netball players were identified. Patients were retrospectively surveyed at …