Digital Commons Network^™

Urban Pollinator Vertical Garden: Design Strategies For Sustainable Human - Pollinator Interaction In Urban Environments, Chungmin Park

Theses

The project focuses on the urban spaces as vibrant ecosystems, integrating pollinator habitats, vertical gardens, and green spaces. It emphasizes community engagement and education to promote environmental responsibility and calls for global urban stakeholders to prioritize collaboration and innovation for sustainable urban development. Ultimately, it aims to create resilient and vibrant cities for future generations.

Nietzschean Expressivism, Cameron Jackson

Theses

What is Nietzsche’s metaethical stance? Does he even have one? We can, I argue, reconstruct an interesting metaethical view from his writings. Rather than focusing narrowly on his claims about moral judgement, I explore Nietzsche’s philosophical psychology broadly in order to argue that he is best interpreted as holding an emotivist type of expressivism. The function of moral judgement lies within its affective and action-guiding nature, and its communal role of coordinating our evaluative attitudes with one another.

Moonstorm In The Mainstream Or On The Margins?: Constellating St. Louis Lesbian Rhetorics From The Archives, Aurora Blanchard

Theses

Combining rhetorical analysis, oral history collection, and archival study, this multi-genre research project explores lesbian feminist organizing in the 1970s. Moonstorm was a St. Louis lesbian feminist magazine that operated in the 1970s and 1980s. The sample in this research project focuses on the issues of Moonstorm published between 1973 and 1977. Issues of Moonstorm are available for viewing in the archives of the State Historical Society of Missouri. Building on V. Jo Hsu’s theory of constellating, the poems and stories found in Moonstorm serve as sites of both contested and unconditional belonging for modern LGBTQ+ activists. Constellating, specifically in …

Colloidal Control Via Micellar Solutions, Timothy F. Niper

Theses

Mesoscale colloids composed of polyoctahedral silsesquioxanes (POSS) are promising candidates for the self-assembly of hierarchical structures as a continuum of size and morphology can be readily synthesized. However, there are substantial challenges in creating customized colloids that exhibit specific structural features, programmable binding, and stimuli responsiveness. Here, we explore a novel route to gain structural and directable control of these colloids by pairing them with thermoresponsive, polymeric micelles. These polymeric micelles cannot only swell the interstices of oligomeric colloidal droplets with the accuracy provided by the well-defined polymer micellization transition, but also act as absorbable colloidal depletants—a new class of …

How Bats View Their Flowers: Exploring The Use Of Visual Floral Cues By Nectarivorous Neotropical Bats, Lindsey R. Dennison

Theses

Neotropical nectar bats in cloud forest ecosystems must navigate and forage in dark, complex landscapes containing an incredible diversity of flowering plants. Despite these challenges, nectar bats are extremely successful at exploiting nectar resources from plants. Much of the sensory ecology behind these bat-plant interactions has been investigated and we know from previous studies that echolocation and olfaction are critical sensory modalities to nectar bats. Echo-acoustically conspicuous floral and vegetative structures as well as sulfur-containing volatile compounds function as signals, allowing bats to sense plants. However, not all plants exhibit conspicuous echo-acoustic and/or olfactory characteristics. Furthermore, many neotropical bat-pollinated plants …

Investigating The Impact Trichoderma Virens On Maize Phytohormones During Drought, Salt, And Cold Stress, Kathryn Spencer

Theses

Abiotic stresses are becoming increasingly frequent and severe due to climate change, leading to significant reductions in crop yields. Though sessile, plants are not defenseless. They can invite plant-growth promoting microbes to colonize their rhizosphere and help reprogram their chemical defense systems. Through these partnerships, plants can more rapidly and robustly recover from environmental stressors compared to those grown in isolation. In this study, the role of the beneficial microbe Trichoderma virens in phytohormone production was explored in maize, a globally important staple crop, under drought, salt, and cold stress, with or without microbial inoculation. Using a liquid chromatography mass …

A Computational Framework For Investigating Novel Bacterial Conjugation Inhibitors, Serena Tuytschaevers

Theses

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global threat, contributing to an estimated 700,000 deaths annually. One of the main ways that AMR genes spread among bacteria is through conjugation. Therefore, it is crucial to develop conjugation inhibitors (COINs) to combat AMR. Shared characteristics between known COIN molecules are a hydrophobic tail, unsaturations, and a polar head. Considering these characteristics and accounting for the efficacy of 2-hexadecynoic acid and Tanzawaic Acids (TZAs) low toxicity, we designed a new set of TZA analogs. The predicted protein target of previously identified COINs is TrwD, an ATPase in the type IV secretion system (T4SS). …

Protpen: A Pipeline That Combines Sequence- And Structure-Based Approaches To Predict Protein Functions, Diya Mathai

Theses

Proteins of unknown function represent a significant gap in our understanding of biological processes, with many organisms, especially prokaryotes, harboring large portions of their proteomes that remain uncharacterized. For example, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a major human pathogen, a large proportion of proteins are categorized as unknown or hypothetical in function. The precise number varies across species, but studies have shown that up to 30–50% of proteins in bacterial proteomes can lack functional annotations. Addressing this gap is critical to understanding the biology and pathogenicity of such organisms. Recent advancements in computational tools, particularly those in sequence and structure-based prediction, offer …

Animating The Mechanism Of Action Of The Novel Glioblastoma Vaccine Survaxm, Sheila Figel

Theses

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly type of malignant brain tumor affecting over 11,000 people in the United States each year. Treatment options for GBM are limited, with the majority of patients receiving surgery and chemoradiation, and surviving around 15 months. New therapies are desperately needed. A novel peptide vaccine, SurVaxM, has shown promise in phase I and II clinical trials, and is currently under investigation in a Phase IIb trial (the “SURVIVE” trial) for newly diagnosed GBM. As SurVaxM moves closer to FDA approval, there is a need for education about the agent and how it works. In order to …

Basking In Abundance: Distribution And Abundance Of Alabama Map Turtles (Graptemys Pulchra) In The Upper Coosa River, Abigail Wilkins

Theses

The Alabama Map Turtle (Graptemys pulchra) is one of the least studied species of turtle in the United States. Little is known about the species distribution and abundance within the northeastern portion of its range. The aim of this study is to determine the distribution of G. pulchra in the Upper Coosa River drainage as well as estimate population sizes for G. pulchra at 6 sites accessible in the Upper Coosa River Drainage. I used a variety of methods (e.g., rapid assessment surveys, trapping, mark-resight population estimates) to determine the presence and abundance of the species in the Upper …

Combination Of Hdac And Fyn Inhibitors In Synovial Sarcoma, Kyra Parker

Theses

The SS18-SSX fusion protein is an oncogenic driver in synovial sarcoma. At the molecular level, SS18-SSX functions as both an activator and a repressor to coordinate transcription of different genes responsible for tumorigenesis. Here, we identify the proto-oncogene FYN as a new SS18-SSX target gene and examine its relation to synovial sarcoma therapy. FYN is a tyrosine kinase that promotes cancer growth, metastasis and therapeutic resistance, but SS18-SSX appears to negatively regulate FYN expression in synovial sarcoma cells. Using both genetic and histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi)-based pharmacologic approaches, we show that suppression of SS18-SSX leads to FYN reactivation. In support …

Hybrid Treatment Method Of Biofiltration Preceded With Advanced Oxidation Process For The Removal Of Emerging Contaminants From The Wastewater Treatment Plant Effluent, Anjali Mohan Payathuparambil

Theses

The global demand for potable quality water has been on a continuous rise. Consequently, water reuse is now considered as an alternative to significantly expand supplies of freshwater in communities facing water shortages. Most of the conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are not efficient in the removal of emerging contaminants from the water, which will cause serious issues to the environment, human and animal life. This research investigated the possibilities of treating wastewater for reuse. First, the feasibility of utilizing a biofiltration system without pre-treatment for removing emerging contaminants from the WWTP effluent was investigated. Two types of biofilter media- …

Culex Quinquefasciatus Mosquitoes In Abu Dhabi Emirate: Assessing Deltamethrin Insecticide Resistance And Associated Microbial Communities, Amgdsayed Ismat Ali

Theses

Culex quinquefasciatus is a major vector of West Nile virus, lymphatic filariasis, and arboviruses, which represent public health risk. Widespread application of pyrethroid insecticides has increased resistance in mosquito populations threatening the effectiveness of control strategies. This study aims to (1) assess deltamethrin resistance in Culex quinquefasciatus populations across the Abu Dhabi Emirate, (2) characterize the microbial communities associated with these mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes from sites around the Abu Dhabi Emirate were collected and genomic DNA extracted for molecular analysis. PCR and allele-specific primers were used to detect knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations in the sodium channel gene, classifying mosquitoes as susceptible …

Construction Of Stock Portfolios By Machine Learning Methods, Alfan Gehad Abulehia

Theses

We study the theory and application of two machine learning (ML) algorithms: Long-Short Term Memory Network (LSTM) and Random Forest. The study begins by providing an overview of mathematical foundation, highlighting the significance of mathematics in machine learning. We study and explain the mathematical details involved in these two algorithms. We also study closely related subjects which include but not limited to gradient descent, automatic differentiation, and recurrent neural network. The main ideas behind these topics form the foundation of any ML algorithms.

As an application of the ML algorithms, we focus on the U.S. stock market. We build stock …

A High-Efficiency Ldo Regulator With Adaptive Psrr And Transient Enhancements, Daniel Zeznick

Theses

Reliable power delivery is essential for all computing systems, particularly those operating with limited or constrained energy sources, such as batteries. Power management circuits must provide energy efficiency, stability, and resilience to disturbances to support accurate and consistent system performance. This thesis presents a high-efficiency low-dropout (LDO) regulator featuring adaptive power supply rejection ratio (PSRR) and transient response enhancement techniques. By leveraging adaptive analog design strategies, the proposed regulator dynamically boosts performance at high load currents, maintaining optimal efficiency across the full load range while circumventing key trade-offs inherent to conventional LDO architectures. The design incorporates several novel circuit techniques …

An Ultra-Low-Power, Area-Efficient All-Analog Trojan With Temporal Power Supply Triggering, Roberto Ramos-Brito

Theses

With the rapid expansion of the Internet of Things and rising concerns over intellectual property protection, hardware security has become increasingly vital—particularly in defending against hardware trojans. While much of the existing research targets digital trojans, analog hardware trojans remain largely unexplored, presenting unique opportunities for developing innovative attack vectors and mitigation strategies. This thesis introduces a novel all-analog temporal trojan that functions entirely within the analog domain. The design incorporates power supply noise detection and charge-accumulator techniques to enable precise control over attack execution and payload delivery. It also leverages novel circuit techniques to reduce power and area overhead, …

Interspecific Sources Of Resistance For Neisseria Gonorrhoeae: Investigating Horizontally Transferred Antimicrobial Resistance Markers, Makenna Swartz

Theses

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health crisis, limiting treatment options and increasing the burden of infectious diseases. Bacteria can rapidly gain resistance through mutations and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Understanding these mechanisms is critical for developing strategies to mitigate resistance and preserve antibiotic efficiency. Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causative agent of gonorrhea, has developed resistance to multiple antibiotics, and has only one remaining treatment option. Commensal species are constantly exposed to antibiotics in humans, and over time acquire resistant mutations that then transfer to pathogenic species through HGT. Investigating these exchanges can provide insight into how resistance evolves and spreads …

The Use Of Robotic Surveillance In The Uae In 2035: Balancing, Innovation, Regulation, And Privacy, Oasha Yousuf Almohier

Theses

This research explores the future of robotic surveillance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 2035, aiming to balance innovation, regulatory oversight, and privacy protection. It investigates the intersection of national security objectives, ethical AI governance, and public trust within the UAE’s rapidly advancing smart city and law enforcement environments. The focus areas include regulatory gaps in current AI laws, ethical concerns such as data privacy and algorithmic bias, and the societal perception of AI-powered surveillance systems. The background of this study stems from the UAE’s ambition to lead in AI deployment, especially within public security initiatives such as autonomous …

Monitoring Sand Migration In Al Ain City Utilizing Remote Sensing Techniques, Sanad Salem Mohammad Fareaa

Theses

Sand migration significantly impacts urban development, infrastructure, and ecosystems in arid regions such as Al Ain city, United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study employs advanced remote sensing techniques to monitor and predict sand dune migration across the Sieh Al Hama dune field, a critical area west of Al Ain. The research objectives include quantifying dune migration rates over three years (2018–2020) using monthly Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, identifying distinct dune fields, and analyzing the textural and mineralogical properties of dune sediments to infer their provenance. Field sampling from four dunes (Large Sabra Dune, Dune 1, Dune 2, and Dune 3) was …

School Leadership Insights And Practices: Understanding Bullying Prevention Strategies Among Teachers In Private And Public Schools Across The Uae, Wissal Mohsen

Theses

This thesis investigates the detrimental effects of bullying on students, including its impacts on mental health, academic performance, and overall well-being. Addressing this issue necessitates a proactive strategy involving school leaders, teachers, and parents. Data was collected via a questionnaire: selected items employed a 5-point Likert scale, while others used a multiple-choice format. Analysis was conducted in SPSS and included descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, t-tests, and binary logistic regression. The t-tests indicated that leadership practices implemented to prevent bullying in both public and private schools were highly effective and statistically significant (p < .05). This research contributes to our understanding of how school leadership and teacher involvement influence the efficacy of bullying-prevention strategies. By using quantitative methods, the study offers a comprehensive examination of school policies, bullying-awareness initiatives, and reporting systems. The findings highlight the importance of adopting context-specific approaches to bolster prevention efforts within schools. Future research that combines qualitative and quantitative analyses may yield deeper insights into the real-world challenges encountered in bullying-intervention strategies, thereby bridging the gap between policy formulation and practical implementation to ensure anti-bullying programs are both effective and culturally relevant.

Bioinformatics Pipeline For Gene Regulatory Network Discovery: A Case Study With Exercise Response, Nadia Moore

Theses

Gene regulatory networks are at the core of many biological processes, dictating how a wide range of genes, and their products, interact with one another. Gaining further understanding on how these networks are structured and how they function within the body can aid in deriving meaningful insights on the body’s inner-workings when exposed to any number of conditions. Unfortunately, the information gathered within some studies may be lacking in, for example, sample size or measurements taken at multiple time-points. This work addresses these issues and outlines a pipeline which navigates these smaller collections of data in order to still extract …

Enhancing The Immunogenicity Of Extracellular Vesicle-Based Vaccines Against Pathogenic Nthi Bacteria, Christina Ciko

Theses

Acute otitis media (AOM), or ear infections, are highly prevalent in children, with nearly 80% experiencing at least one AOM by the age of three. As such, there is an urgent need for a vaccine against Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), a main cause of AOM in the US. Most vaccines contain multiple antigens from the pathogen, inducing an immune response and antibodies to those antigens. Here, we describe a novel approach to creating a vaccine against NTHi, incorporating a unique recombinant trivalent protein (Tri) featuring three NTHi antigens (OMP26, P6, and protein F) in a single peptide chain with an …

House Flies (Musca Domestica) In Abu Dhabi Emirate: Assessing Deltamethrin Insecticide Resistance And Associated Microbial Communities, Mohamad Abdelrahim Hamdan

Theses

This study investigates the common house fly (Musca domestica), a globally important insect that serves as both a decomposer and a mechanical vector for pathogens. The emergence of insecticide resistance, particularly knockdown resistance (kdr) mutations, has been reported in house fly populations, raising concerns for pest control. Additionally, house flies exhibit diverse bacterial communities, influencing pathogen transmission and environmental microbial dynamics. The primary objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of kdr mutations associated with insecticide resistance in house flies collected from the Abu Dhabi Emirate and to analyze their microbial composition using metagenomic approaches. House flies were …

Assessment Of Physiological & Biochemical Changes In Tomato Plants Treated With Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (Pgpr) Under Salinity Stress Conditions, Mohammed Sharif Alhosani

Theses

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs) can effectively mitigate the negative impacts of salt stress on plants. The present study reports the isolation of PGPRs from a high-saline mangrove ecosystem in Abu Dhabi, with isolates exhibiting ACC deaminase (ACCD) activity to reduce stress-induced ethylene, along with additional plant growth-promoting (PGP) characteristics, including phosphate solubilization (P+). A total of 57 salt-tolerant bacterial isolates from the mangrove rhizosphere were initially screened for ACCD and P+ activities. Of these, 24 isolates tested positive for PGP characteristics and were further evaluated for their ability to enhance salt stress tolerance in tomato seedlings. In addition, seedlings inoculated …

Defining Transcriptional Signatures Of Susceptibility For Ceftriaxone And Tetracycline In Neisseria Gonorrhoeae, Sanjana Logu

Theses

Resistance to antibiotics is the ability of bacteria to survive in spite of the administration of drugs designated to kill them; and overuse of antibiotics over the past decades has led to a vast increase in resistance. Most infections are treated empirically, such that patients are given a recommended course of antibiotics, however these infections are not frequently tested for their antimicrobial susceptibility profiles (i.e., tested only in the case of treatment failure). This can lead to inappropriate prescription which can increase the selective pressure of antibiotics on other bacterial members of our microbiomes. Susceptibility testing would help determine the …

Machine Learning For Complex Networks: Generalization, Fairness, And Model Selection In Graph-Based Systems Across Social And Biological Domains, Angelina Brilliantova

Theses

Networks serve as a fundamental framework for modeling complex systems across diverse domains, from biological interactions and social structures to economic markets and information networks. Machine learning has significantly enhanced the ability to extract meaningful patterns from graph-based systems, improving predictive accuracy in applications such as market design, recommendation systems, and biomedical discovery. Despite the successes of machine learning in analyzing complex networks, several fundamental challenges remain. A major issue is the reliance on simplistic models for theoretical analysis, simulation, and benchmarking, which often fail to capture the complexities of real-world networked systems. Many theoretical studies focus on oversimplified generative …

Machinery Imbalance Failure Prediction Based On Pump – Motor Vibration Readings, Abdulrahman Albuflaseh

Theses

Predictive maintenance has emerged as a transformative solution in industrial operations, reducing unexpected machine failures and minimizing downtime. This study explores the application of machine learning in vibration analysis to detect imbalances in pump-motor units, a critical issue that accelerates equipment wear and increases maintenance costs. Traditional maintenance methods, such as scheduled inspections, often fail to identify faults early, leading to significant operational disruptions, particularly in utility, oil and gas sectors. By leveraging real-time vibration data and advanced machine learning techniques, this research aims to develop an efficient imbalance detection model that enhances maintenance efficiency and reliability. The study employs …

Design And Application Of Molecularly Imprinted Polymers For The Detection Of Bpa, Pfoa, And Caffeine, Finbarr Buckley

Theses

Molecular Imprinted Polymers (MIPs) are polymer based solid phase extraction (SPE)recognition systems. MIPs were formulated using Acrylic Acid (AA) and Ethylene glycoldimethacrylate (EGDMA) to selectively target the following compounds Bisphenol A (BPA),Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and caffeine. This study presents novel MIPs for each targetqualitatively analysed with Raman Spectroscopy with Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy(SERS) substrates. SERS can greatly enhance Raman signals allowing for detection of lowconcentration solutions. BPA, a possible carcinogen and hormone disruptor, is a very commonreagent in manufacturing as is known to leech into environmental and consumer products.PFOA, a constituent of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), can cause kidney and thyroiddisease, …

Alternative Antimicrobial Strategies For Neonatal Infections, Anna Desmond

Theses

Neonatal infections, a significant contributor to infant morbidity and mortality worldwide, are predominantly caused by pathogenic bacteria. Globally, bacterial sepsis accounts for 11.3% of neonatal deaths with Group B Streptococcus (GBS) being the leading cause, along with Escherichia coli, and coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS). Neonatal infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria is now a worldwide concern, further increasing mortality rates and associated healthcare costs. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop alternative antimicrobial strategies to combat resistance and/or enhance the efficacy of existing antibiotics. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate alternative antimicrobial strategies for treating and …

Future Scenarios Of Adoption Sustainable Materials By Construction Firms In The United Arab Emirates, Mona Albeshr

Theses

The construction industry accounts for 39% of greenhouse gas emissions, and change is required, especially with the Net Zero initiative. UAE construction companies must evaluate their current positions and update their strategies to support government regulations. Building futuristic communities is crucial for expanding the built environment within the country; however, the types of materials used should account for two aspects: sustainability and climate resilience, and both must be considered whenever these construction companies formulate their strategic response. Hence, scenario planning significantly provides valuable insights to decision-makers in construction companies’ strategic departments to envision four plausible scenarios of the external environment …