Digital Commons Network^™

Alternative Lithographic Methods For Variable Aspect Ratio Vias, Anthony R. Schepis

Theses

The foundation of semiconductor industry has historically been driven by scaling. Device size reduction is enabled by increased pattern density, enhancing functionality and effectively reducing cost per chip. Aggressive reductions in memory cell size have resulted in systems with diminishing area between parallel bit/word lines. This affords an even greater challenge in the patterning of contact level features that are inherently difficult to resolve because of their relatively small area, a product of their two domain critical dimension image. To accommodate these trends there has been a shift toward the implementation of elliptical contact features. This empowers designers to maximize …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Role Of Geography In Sustainability Education, Makayla Jane Bonney

Theses

Many within and outside of the discipline of geography see it as a highly appropriate home for sustainability studies. Despite a history of human-environment education within geography and support from professional research or education organizations, some studies show that geography has not developed a lead role in sustainability education. This study examines the role of geography in offering "Sustainability Focused" courses as reported by AASHE STARS institutions with geography programs. The results show that although geography departments are highly utilized when available at an institution -offering the highest proportion of sustainability courses, averaging 14% of "Sustainability Focused" curriculum- there is …

A Scale To Measure The Complexity And Perceptual-Cognitive Skills In Soccer, Maurici Abraham Lopez Felip

Theses

The complexity of dynamical systems (spanning brain, body and environment) can yield complex adaptive behaviors from non-linear interactions of individuals in space and time. A lack of reliable instruments to assess these varying behaviors results in inferences of how changes in behavior occurred over an extended period of time rather than being based on direct scientific measures. The aim of this study was to develop a scale of complexity and perceptual-cognitive skills' assessment in the sport soccer and to evaluate structural and criterion reliability. Based on the embodied cognition literature, the construct of this scale was identified with three dimensions …

Putting Men Back In The Menstrual Cycle: A Qualitative Analysis Of Men's Perceptions Of Menstruation, Katherine Fishman

Theses

Although menstruation is typically regarded as an indication of health (Kissling, 1996), strong cultural messages about menstruation perpetuate the belief that it is dirty, disgusting and a state that must be managed (Ussher, 2006). Many women internalize this belief and go to great lengths to hide their menstrual status (Chrisler, 2007). Negative attitudes toward menstruation have been linked to decreased body satisfaction (Schooler, Ward, Meriwether, & Caruthers, 2005), perceptions of decreased competence and likability (Roberts, Goldenberg, Power, & Pyszynski, 2002), and the belief that menstruating women are more emotional, less attractive, and more irritable than non-menstruating women (Forbes, Adams-Curtis, White, …

The Use Of Reading Strategies In Arabic By Native And Non-Native Speakers, Fahad Alolayan

Theses

With increasing opportunities to study abroad, learning to read in a foreign language has become increasingly important for countless second language learners. International students in pursuit of higher education degrees are required and expected to read in the target language at the same level of fluency and comprehension as their native-speaking counterparts. The number of international students studying in Arabic higher education institutions has followed the general ascending trend. For these second language speakers of Arabic, good reading skills in Arabic are essential for their academic success. Since the use of reading strategies is an important component of first and …

Axe-Heads And Mississippian Political Economy: A St. Francois Provenance Study, Rosanna Yvonne Crow

Theses

Axe-heads made of a distinctive raw material are found at Mississippian sites across southern Illinois and the Ohio-Mississippi confluence region, yet little research has been done to determine their geological provenance. In this thesis, I use geochemical methods to analyze ground stone tools and debitage from across the Confluence Region in order to prove their origins in the St. Francois Mountains of Missouri. I also compare patterns of axe-head production, consumption, and deposition to Charles Cobb's (2000) model of Mill Creek chert hoes, so as to gain a greater understanding of the political economy of these objects.

Regulation Of Glucose Metabolism By Alox8, Rabindra Karki

Theses

Type II diabetes is one of the leading cause of morbidity in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Insulin resistance which precedes Type II diabetes is a complex state of the body where the body fails to respond to insulin. Its complexity lies in its multifactorial origin that is to say various environmental and polygenic components come into play. Here we try to dissect one of these components - `Alox8' in transgenic mice and try to see if it affects blood glucose homeostasis. Comparison of glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity among sixteen mice comprising of six wild type, …

Lubrication And Wear Analysis Of A Novel Squeeze Film Artificial Hip Joint, Sean A. Coots

Theses

Conventional artificial hip joints are characterized by inadequate `wedge film' lubrication due to cyclic non-reversing loading and low frequency oscillatory ball motion. A novel `squeeze film' design concept is presented which employs elastic restoring action and ellipsoidal cup geometry to enact separation of the bearing surfaces and improve lubrication behavior. Lateral and in-line design configurations were developed and analyzed using established finite element lubrication models with realistic gait cycle and bearing design specifications likely to be found in practice. An Archard-based wear formulation that relates contact pressure and sliding distance to linear wear depth was applied to the design configurations …

Phylogenetic Patterns Of Rarity In A Regional Species Pool Of Tropical Trees, Maria Isabel Loza

Theses

Species rarity is often defined in terms of: local abundance, geographic range size and habitat breadth. It is thought that each of these rarity axes has distinct effects on extinction risk. Thus, understanding phylogenetic patterns of these three axes is of considerable interest because they provide insights into the extent to which rarity is phylogenetically conserved and, in turn, how extinction risk is distributed across phylogenies. Here I examine the extent to which the three axes of rarity show phylogenetic signal (the tendency of related species to resemble each other more than species drawn at random from the same phylogenetic …

Mr. Perfect, Ruosi Han

Theses

This graduate thesis film, Mr. Perfect is a 21-minute feature film. As the progress of economic, science and education in modern society, women's lives are changing. Their become to be more ambitious in career; they started to try different ways of division of work in family; they get higher vision for life, especially for marriage. However, in such a fast-paced, multi-tasked, high-pressure, and high-energy environment, successful businesswomen become very tired and begin to lose themselves in the life of substance and money unconsciously. Under certain situations, a great number of them still remain single to an old age after achieving …

Web Browser Private Mode Forensics Analysis, Emad Sayed Noorulla

Theses

To maintain privacy of the end consumers the browser vendors

provide a very good feature on the browser called the "Private Mode". As

per the browser vendors, the Private Mode ensures Cookies, Temporary

Internet Files, Webpage history, Form data and passwords, Anti-phishing

cache, Address bar and search AutoComplete, Automatic Crash Restore

(ACR) and Document Object Model (DOM) storage information is not

stored on the system [45].

To put to test the browser vendors claim, I had setup a test to confirm the

claims. During the first test the file system was monitored for all reads

and writes. On the second …

Kosovo’S Verification Procedure For Diplomas Issued By Private Providers Of Higher Education, Mirushe Dalipi Latifaj

Theses

This capstone project addressed the issue of regulation of the verification procedures for diplomas and other documents issued by the Private Providers of Higher Education (PPHEs)[1] in Kosovo. This verification procedure has created a problematic situation. Firstly, in the legal aspect, it violates the applicable 2011 Law on Higher Education[2] which states the principles that “all institutions of higher education are equal before the Law”. “All students and personnel of the institutions of higher education should have equal opportunities without any discrimination”. Secondly, since the Kosovo Accreditation Agency (KAA) evaluates and accredits both public and private institutions of …

Treatment Of Industrial Wastewater Using Electrocoagulation, Shereen W. Hasan

Theses

The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the potential use of electrocoagulation in the treatment of carbide slurry, which is wastewater generated during the production of acetylene. Several experiments using an electrochemical batch reactor were carried out at different current densities, ranging between 140-290 A/m². Pure air (EA system) and 10% of carbon dioxide in air (CA system) were supplied to ensure good mixing and solution homogeneity. Aluminum plates were used as electrodes, spaced apart and connected to a DC power supply. After 3 hours, samples from treated effluent and waste slurry were collected and analyzed for …

Water Recycling In Green Buildings: Grey Water Treatment And Reuse Benefits In Al-Wagan Residential Neighborhood In Al-Ain City, Al Dehaim Nassib Suhail Yatba Al Ameri

Theses

Water scarcity is a worldwide problem that called for a wiser and more sustainable resources' management. Grey waste water treatment is considered a widely spread technology that dominates water management in order to substitute the potential deficiencies.

Water use in the last three decades in the UAE has witnessed both a great increase and pressure on groundwater and desalinated water. This consequently has called for continuous, serious and diversified efforts to simultaneously improve the supply and sustain the water use by treatment and recycling. Besides UAE's natural population growth, the demand for water is also expected to increase significantly in …

Bacteriophage Therapies As Alternatives To Antibiotics In Chicken Feed In The United Arab Emirates, Wafa Awad Al Shamsi

Theses

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Alginate-Chitosan Microcapsules Using Co-Axial Air Flow Method As 3d Stem Cell Microenvironment, Noel Alfonso

Theses

Microencapsulation of cells is gaining popular interest in the field of biomedical engineering because it provides a more effective 3D scaffold that can mimic the cell microenvironment. The benefits of using microcapsules are biocompatibility, biodegradability, nontoxicity, and formation under mild gelation conditions. In this study, the ability of the alginate microcapsules to control the proliferation and differentiation of mouse OCT4-GFP embryonic stem cells is investigated. Microcapsules are produced by extrusion of alginate into a calcium chloride gelation bath with the aid of a co-axial air flow. It is shown that the size of the spheres is controlled based on needle …

Hydrodynamic Cfd Modeling Of A Pharmaceutical Reactor Vessel Provided With A Retreat-Blade Impeller Under Different Baffling Conditions, Christopher G. Foehner

Theses

In the pharmaceutical industry, glass-lined reactors and vessels are often utilized to carry out a variety of different unit operations. Within these systems, both the vessel and impellers are typically glass-lined in order to provide superior corrosion resistance, prevent product contamination, and enhance cleanability. This approach, in turn, often requires the use of different, and sometimes sub-optimal, baffling conditions, which affect the hydrodynamics of the vessels and the reactor performance.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a computational tool that employs numerical methods and algorithms to discretize and numerically solve partial differential equations (PDEs) representing mass, energy, and momentum conservation equations …

Risk Prediction With Genomic Data, Bharati Jadhav

Theses

Genome wide association study (GWAS) is widely used with various machine learning algorithms to predict disease risk. This thesis investigates this widely used approach of GWAS using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotype data and a novel approach of disease risk prediction with whole exome sequencing data, namely Whole Exome Wide Association Study (WEWAS). It further applies a discriminating machine learning algorithm, namely a Support Vector Machine (SVM) with different Kernel functions. For this study, only SNPs generated using genotyping technology, which focuses more on common variants, are used initially for disease prediction. Later, the whole exome data generated using Next …

Evaluation Of Methods To Account For Release From Nanofiber Scaffolds, Jennifer Moy

Theses

Electrospinning is a common technique utilized to form fibers from the micro- to nanometer range. Nanofibers form through electrospinning can be utilized as scaffolds since the fiber structures are similar to the structures within the extracellular matrix. Researchers use additives, such as growth factors, to help facilitate cell proliferation and function. Also, researchers are attempting to use electrospun fibers for drug delivery and as wound dressings since the electrospun fibers have high surface area to volume ratio. In both situations, the release of either the additive or the drug needs to be controlled so that the fibers would release the …

Combustion Of Fine Magnesium Particles, Song Wang

Theses

Recent interest in developing Al-Mg alloys as reactive materials prompted studies of combustion mechanisms for particles of such alloys with different Al/Mg ratios. Reference experiments with pure Al and Mg powders are also desired to better understand and model combustion of the respective alloys. While combustion of pure Al powders has been addressed in many recent studies, combustion of magnesium explored mostly coarse, 50 μm, and larger particles. This effort is focused to characterize and understand combustion dynamics for fine Mg powders. Spherical, micron-sized magnesium particles were introduced in an air-acetylene flame using a custom-made screw feeder. Particles were observed …

Assessment Of A Marine Polysaccharide For Use As Excipient In Pharmaceutical Hot-Melt Extrusion, Qing Ye

Theses

Pharmaceutical Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) is currently investigated by both industry and academia as a method for manufacturing solid oral dosages with improved bioavailability of poorly-water soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and control drug release of water-soluble APIs. Although HME is traditionally utilizing synthetic polymers to produce such dosages, biopolymers constantly gain ground by virtue of renewability, biocompatibility and in some cases biodegradability. In this work, the possibility of using Keltone, a marine polysaccharide derived from brown seaweed, as a polymeric excipient for pharmaceutical HME is explored. Keltone is insoluble in acidic pH and soluble in basic pH, therefore making …

Dispersion And Dissolution Kinetics Of Api Particles In Pharmaceutical Hot Melt Extrusion, Wang Zhan

Theses

Pharmaceutical Hot Melt Extrusion (HME) is essentially a special case of polymer compounding. The elementary steps involved in traditional plastics melt processing are handling of particulates, melting, dispersive and distributive mixing, devolatilization and stripping, and finally pressurization and pumping. However, for pharmaceutical HME, the dissolution of the API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient) is an additional and very important elementary step, along with the melting of the polymeric excipient that precedes it, and mixing which accelerates the dissolution process. A major concern in pharmaceutical HME is the thermal degradation of the API. To avoid overexposure of API to heat while ensuring complete …

Experimental Determination Of The Mixing Requirements For Solid Suspension In Pharmaceutical Stirred Tank Reactors, Anqi Zhou

Theses

Glass and glass-lined, stirred-tank reactors are of significant importance in the pharmaceutical and related industries. Because of fabrication issues, a retreat blade impeller (RBI) with a low impeller clearance off the tank bottom is commonly used in glass-lined reactors, typically combined with a single baffle (providing only partial baffling conditions) mounted from the top of the reactor. In addition, these reactors are often provided with a torispherical bottom. Other configurations are also used, including full baffling or no baffles at all, hemispherical bottoms, and different impeller types. Despite their common use, some of the most important mixing characteristics of this …

Approach To Flood Mitigation - A Post Sandy Study In New Jersey Meadowlands Area, Banshari Datta

Theses

In the last decade the continuous change in the climate has resulted in an increased frequency of natural catastrophic events and the magnitude of their impact. The immense damage caused by such events brought to light the vulnerabilities of the impacted communities. Coastal communities are alarmingly vulnerable due to flood and storm surge impacts such as those caused by super storm Sandy in 2012. In order to mitigate this risk, the communities need to look beyond the short term recovery measures, and build a sustainable community by implementing long term mitigation measures. The objective of this thesis is to investigate …

Containing The Facade, Tatara Anne Siegel

Theses

What do we choose to see? Do we see what others tell us to see? If I were to tell you that something is what it isn't, would you believe me? Would your level of belief be based on our level of acquaintance? It appears that we, human beings, have developed a highly acute set of skills, which enable us to believe what we choose, whether based on fact or fiction. Our perception is dictated by what we learn and what we experience. When what we learn is controlled or influenced by others around us, and we loose sight of …

Numap: A Web Platform For Prediction Of Nucleosome Rotational And Translational Positioning At High Resolution, Bader Alharbi

Theses

Nucleosome positioning is critical for gene expression and of major biological interest. The high cost of experimental mapping of nucleosomal arrangements signifies the need for computational approaches to predict nucleosome positioning at high resolution. Here, we present a web-based application to fulfill this need by implementing two models, W/S and YR schemes, for the rotational and translational positioning of nucleosomes respectively. Our methods are based on sequence-dependent anisotropic bending that dictates how DNA is wrapped around a histone octamer. This application allows users to specify a number of options such as schemes and parameters for threading calculation providemultiple layout options …

Using Least Variance For Robust Extraction Of Systolic Time Intervals, Cody R. Cziesler

Theses

Systolic time intervals (STI) are clinically used as non-invasive predictor of cardiovascular disease. However, algorithm accuracy generally suffers across subjects and physiological states, requiring parameter tuning for robust STI extraction. To address this challenge, an automated methodology of processing with varying tuning parameters was explored. In this work, two STIs were examined: the R-wave pulse transit time to the PPG foot at the ear (rPTT) and the left ventricular ejection time (LVET).

Historic feature detection algorithms were used with a range of tuning parameters over a 60 second interval, with least variance used to select the optimal parameter for robust …

Identification Of Structural Signatures Within Transcription Factor Binding Sites And Their Flanking Regions In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Enhanced Through Δtrx Based Multiple Sequence Alignment, Katharina Schulze

Theses

Traditional transcription factor binding site analyses focus solely on the nucleotide composition of site despite the fact that more recent studies have shown transcription factors to rely on the DNA structural features within and surrounding their binding sites. In this study a metric of intrinsic DNA flexibility referred to as the TRX scale is used to assess the structural features within functionally annotated binding sites and their up- and downstream flanking regions based on their Shannon information content (IC). Two methods of sequence alignment, center and a novel delta TRX based multiple sequence alignment, are compared. The results show that …

Investigating The Interaction Between Positions And Signals Of Height-Channel Loudspeakers In Reproducing Immersive 3d Sound, Antonios Karampourniotis

Theses

Since transmission capacities have significantly increased over the past few years, researchers are now able to transmit a larger amount of data, namely multichannel audio content, in the consumer applications. What has not been investigated in a systematic way yet is how to deliver the multichannel content. Specifically, researchers' attention is focused on the quest of a standardized immersive reproduction format that incorporates height loudspeakers coupled with the new high-resolution and three-dimensional (3D) media content for a comprehensive 3D experience. To better understand and utilize the immersive audio reproduction, this research focused on the (1) interaction between the positioning of …

An Ecological Framework To Assess Sustainability Impacts For An Evolving Consumer Electronic Product System, Erinn G. Ryen

Theses

Consumer electronics have revolutionized the manner in which we work, read, and entertain ourselves. However, this transformation comes at a high cost, with significant energy input and emissions releases across all stages of the electronic product life cycle. The limited success of per product efficiency improvements, often formulated in the field of industrial ecology, does not address the electronic product system as a whole because escalating consumption may actually offset any individual impact reductions. Additionally, existing industrial ecology models fail to effectively capture energy, material, and waste flows associated with real consumption patterns, as consumers purchase, use, and discard a …