Digital Commons Network^™

What Is Assertiveness?, Mirjana Trifunovic

Theses

My main aim is to define assertiveness, to distinguish assertiveness from aggressiveness, and to raise the question of whether we should be assertive. Most articles on assertiveness are from the field of psychology. In psychology, assertiveness is defined as a healthy way of expressing oneself. But what does assertiveness mean? How should we define assertiveness and is assertiveness desirable, or is it closely connected to aggressiveness? Should we say that assertiveness is a part of our character, an innate quality, or an acquired skill? In this thesis, I will define assertiveness and show how to distinguish assertiveness from aggressiveness. Most …

The Role And Responsibility Of The Nurse In Caring For The Dying Patient, Julia M. Robinson

Theses

The problem undertaken in this study was to learn the specific nursing functions a selected sample of registered nurses performed in an effort to meet the needs of the dying patient and how adequate they felt in performing these functions.

Movement Patterns Of The Shovelnose Guitarfish (Pseudobatos Productus) And California Bat Ray (Myliobatis Californica) In The Southern California Bight, Annabel Gong

Theses

While the movement patterns of large elasmobranch species have been studied extensively, those of smaller, mesopredatory species remain understudied. The shovelnose guitarfish (Pseudobatos productus) and the California bat ray (Myliobatis californica) are among the least studied elasmobranchs in the Southern California Bight. This study quantified the broad- and fine-scale movement patterns of these species using passive acoustic telemetry. Twelve guitarfish were surgically implanted with coded acoustic transmitters at a known aggregation site off La Jolla (San Diego County), California, USA and tracked for 849.5 days each, on average. Six bat rays were also implanted here and tracked for …

Comparative Modeling And Evolutionary Comparison Of Serine Protease, A Timber Rattlesnake Venom Protein, Qawer Ayaz

Theses

The aim of this study is to create a homology model of VG35 serine protease and evaluate the evolutionary comparison of secondary structure on basis of protein model using YASARA. This method was furthermore used to predict the potential epitopes which can help in the investigation of future studies.

The VG35 was used to run a BLAST search which gave most resembled serine protease of different species which was then translated and modeled in YASARA. The modeled protein data was then used to determine the secondary structure. This was then used for evolutionary comparison of all proteins to VG35. Then …

Behavioral Choices Of Apple Snails, Pomacea Maculata, Under Varied Chemical Landscapes, Andrea Adams

Theses

Habitat choice is a critical behavior for organisms to successfully survive and reproduce. These choices are dictated by available environmental information about potential predation risks or food patches that form the organism’s sensory landscape. This study specifically focused on the behavioral choices of two invasive apple snail (Pomacea maculata) populations exposed to varying predation threats. We collected snails from Florida and Alabama which were used in laboratory experiments with varied sensory landscapes. Trials consisted of controls with no cues (FL: n = 7, AL: n= 7), an attractive treatment with introduced food cues (FL: n = 4, AL: …

Molecular Evidence Of Cryptic Hybridization In The Japanese Nezasa Bamboos (Pleioblastus Section Nezasa), Ryan Long

Theses

The genus Pleioblastus is a complex group of Southeast Asian temperate bamboos with 7-21 species, depending on taxonomic authority. This study tests the hypothesis that taxonomic complexity in this group is due in part to hybridization and subsequent backcrossing in natural populations, resulting in a reticulate evolutionary history and a contemporary species assemblage that includes cryptic hybrids. This hypothesis is supported by recent research on the temperate bamboos that revealed intergeneric hybrids involving Pleioblastus and other genera of temperate bamboos (Triplett and Clark, 2021). The objective of the current study was to use data from Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP) …

Uae Kindergarten Teachers’ Mathematical Beliefs And Self-Reported Practices, Mausmi Dilip Jadhav

Theses

Research stresses that young children must be nurtured and encouraged to develop cognitive processes of higher order thinking skills from a young age in order to excel in later years. According to the joint position statement issued by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2010), which was endorsed by the Ministry of Education, UAE, all kindergarten teachers should practice developmentally appropriate mathematics instruction to promote mathematical thinking. However, there is a paucity of research that reflects the beliefs and confidence of the UAE kindergarten teachers in facilitating developmentally appropriate …

Effect Of Natural Elicitors And Cold Storageperiod On Quality Improvement Of Uae Date Palm Fruit (Phoenix Dactylifera L. Cv. Khesab), Shamsa Salem Nasser Abdulla Alblooshi

Theses

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) is one of the most important fruit trees grown in arid and semi-arid regions. Despite the immense capabilities of date palm, it is still a challenge to maintain fruit quality, marketability, and shelf life. The objective of this study was to investigate the synergistic effect of a preharvest spray application of the natural elicitor chitosan (Ch) 1% alone and in combination with salicylic acid (SA) 2 mM and calcium chloride (Ca) 3%; (Ch, SA, Ca, Ch+Ca, Ch+ SA, Ch+ SA +Ca) on the quality parameters, shelf life and bioactive compound content of date fruit of …

Elucidation Of The Interaction Between Hemorphins And Targets In The Renin-Angiotensin System, Amie Jobe

Theses

Hemorphins, short bioactive peptides produced by the enzymatic cleavage of the hemoglobin β-chain, exhibit anti-hypertensive effects via the inhibition of the angiotensin-1 converting enzyme (ACE1), a key component of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) that governs blood pressure regulation. ACE1 and its homolog ACE2, which is also involved in the RAS, share significant similarity in their catalytic domains. The main objective of this work was to identify and compare the molecular mechanisms that underlie the interaction of hemorphins of camels and that of other mammals with ACE1 and ACE2. In silico docking and molecular dynamics simulations were employed, and in vitro …

Authenticated Key Establishment Protocol For Constrained Smart Healthcare Systems Based On Physical Unclonable Function, Abdalla Saleh Elkushli

Theses

Smart healthcare systems are one of the critical applications of the internet of things. They benefit many categories of the population and provide significant improvement to healthcare services. Smart healthcare systems are also susceptible to many threats and exploits because they run without supervision for long periods of time and communicate via open channels. Moreover, in many implementations, healthcare sensor nodes are implanted or miniaturized and are resource-constrained. The potential risks on patients/individuals’ life from the threats necessitate that securing the connections in these systems is of utmost importance. This thesis provides a solution to secure end-to-end communications in such …

Mineral Nutritional Status Of Plants Of A Public Park Under Long-Term Irrigation With Treated Sewage Effluent, Chandana Chakraborty

Theses

Treated sewage water is widely used for irrigation of urban greenery in UAE, and it contains significant number of elements that serve as nutrients for plants. The crucial unresolved question that remains, is regarding its long-term impact on the nutritional status of plants. Sulaimi Park of Al Ain was chosen as the study site. The main objective was to examine if the nutrient supply was adequate for plants. N, P, K levels were expected to exceed plant demands and micronutrient supply was assumed to be below plant requirements. To assess this, soil pH, annual nutrients input with water and elemental …

Exploring Cycle 2 English Teachers’ Beliefs Toward Assessment Practices In The United Arab Emirates, Othaiba Salem Al Dhaheri

Theses

The new language assessment policies in the UAE necessitate that English language teacher need to be cognizant about the new language assessment. The inseparable connection between learning and teaching is at the center of assessment today. This study tries to explore cycle 2 English language teachers’ beliefs toward their assessment practices in the UAE. The study seeks to understand teachers’ assessment practices, beliefs, and obstacles through two means: a semi-structured interview followed by a self-report questionnaire. The study employs an exploratory sequential mixed method design. In the first phase, a semi-structured interview is conducted with 6 cycle 2 English language …

Assessment Of High School Students’ Attitudes Towards Chemistry, Aya Hosameldeen Mostafa

Theses

The main purpose of this study is to assess the scientific attitudes of students towards Chemistry as one of the branches of science, in the context of the UAE. These attitudes are measured using three dimensions of scientific attitudes namely; social implications, the students’ Chemistry-related inquiries and their leisure interest in the subject. Additionally, this study examines the influence of categorical variables such as gender and students’ grade level on the development of the students’ attitudes towards the subject. An exploratory descriptive design is employed using a quantitative survey, to collect data from 192 high school students studying Chemistry in …

A Computational Assessment Of The Allosteric Modulation Of Gabaa Receptor, Abdel Rahman Atef Aly

Theses

γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptor (GABA_AR) is a pentameric ligand gated ion channel and a member of the Cys-loop superfamily. It is targeted by several clinically significant allosteric modulators. The role of individual subunits of the receptor has been very extensively studied. However, the exact molecular pathway upon which the receptor is activated remains elusive. The main objective of this study was to probe the molecular activation pathway for the orthosteric GABA and to understand how two of the most well-established positive (PAM) and negative (NAM) allosteric modulators tend to modulate the receptor. Three independent long scale …

Numerical And Experimental Investigation Of Aerosol Jet Printing, Srikanthan Ramesh

Theses

Bacterial contamination of medical devices remains a threat to the success of many medical interventions. Oral administration of antibiotics is a convenient, non-invasive way to treat infections. Most orally administered drugs, however, encounter biochemical and biological barriers that reduce their bioavailability at the target site. Therefore, prophylactic physico- chemical changes of biomaterial surfaces are considered alternatives to inhibit bacterial aggregation and subsequent biofilm formation. Millions of years of evolution have enabled nature to develop micro-topographical surface features specifically designed to avoid bacterial attachment and colonization. Examples of such topographies can be seen on insect cuticles, plant leaves, and the feet …

Effects Of Dc Electric Field On Particle Transportation And Deposition In Evaporating Droplets, Akshay Pratap Singh

Theses

Microfluidics(uF) is the science of manipulating and controlling the fluids usually in the range of microliters (10-6L) to picolitres (10-12L). Physical parameters, such as surface tension and contact angle do not play a significant effect on macro scale but play a crucial role at the microscopic level. Microfluidics is viewed as an essential tool for life science research and flexible electronics. A deeper understanding of physical parameters of microfluidics would result in more efficient and lower cost devices (‘Lab-on-a-Chip’ devices) and foldable electronics. In short, the concepts of microfluidics can be used to reduce the cost, size, and ease of …

Cryptic Hybridization In The Temperate Bamboos: Is Pleioblastus Simonii A Species Of Hybrid Origin?, Morgan Brown

Theses

Japanese river bamboo (Pleioblastus simonii, ‘medake,’‘kawadake’) is an ecologically important species of temperate bamboo native to Japan. This species is widely known and historically important in Japanese rural farm life. Based on morphological data, Japanese river bamboo is classified in Pleioblastus section Medakea (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) along with five other Japanese species, which are collectively considered to represent a phylogenetically distinct lineage. However, recent studies suggest that Japanese river bamboo may have arisen as a result of previously undetected hybridization (i.e., cryptic hybridization), while also calling into question the diversity of section Medakea. The role of hybridization in natural plant populations …

Learning Multi-Step Robotic Manipulation Tasks Through Visual Planning, Sulabh Kumra

Theses

Multi-step manipulation tasks in unstructured environments are extremely challenging for a robot to learn. Such tasks interlace high-level reasoning that consists of the expected states that can be attained to achieve an overall task and low-level reasoning that decides what actions will yield these states. A model-free deep reinforcement learning method is proposed to learn multi-step manipulation tasks. This work introduces a novel Generative Residual Convolutional Neural Network (GR-ConvNet) model that can generate robust antipodal grasps from n-channel image input at real-time speeds (20ms). The proposed model architecture achieved a state-of-the-art accuracy on three standard grasping datasets. The adaptability of …

Single-Input Signature Register-Based Time Delay Reservoir, David Pastuch

Theses

Machine learning continues to play a critical role in our society. The ability to automatically identify intricate relationships in large volumes of data has proven incredibly useful for problems such as automatic speech recognition and image processing. In particular, neural networks have become increasingly popular in a wide set of application domains, given their ability to solve complex problems and process high-dimensional data. However, the impressive performance of state-of-the-art neural networks comes at the cost of large area and power consumption for the computation resources used in training and inference. As a result, a growing area of research concerns hardware …

Air-Deflected Microfluidic Chip For Characterization Of Fluid-Structure Interactions, Chad Ten Pas

Theses

Millions of people suffer from dentinal pain each year caused by a pressure change and fluid shear in the dentin tubule and nerve pulp system. Dentin is made up of mostly hydroxyapatite, a hard and opaque material. In-situ characterization is extremely challenging because of the tubules that run through are high-aspect ratio micropores with a feature size of 1-2 µm. Current studies have proven that various methods can be deployed to fabricate microscale geometry using PDMS. The most used methods are three-dimensional stereolithography, fused deposited material (FDM), 3D printed sacrificial mold, FDM 3D printed molds and soft lithography molding from …

Deep Feature Learning And Adaptation For Computer Vision, Abu Md Niamul Taufique

Theses

We are living in times when a revolution of deep learning is taking place. In general, deep learning models have a backbone that extracts features from the input data followed by task-specific layers, e.g. for classification. This dissertation proposes various deep feature extraction and adaptation methods to improve task-specific learning, such as visual re-identification, tracking, and domain adaptation. The vehicle re-identification (VRID) task requires identifying a given vehicle among a set of vehicles under variations in viewpoint, illumination, partial occlusion, and background clutter. We propose a novel local graph aggregation module for feature extraction to improve VRID performance. We also …

Numerical And Theoretical Investigations Of Fractional Differential Equations, Sara Rafiq Al Fahel

Theses

Fractional calculus has been recently received huge attention from Mathematicians and engineers due to its importance in many real-life applications such as: fluid mechanics, electromagnetic, acoustics, chemistry, biology, physics and material sciences. In this thesis, we present numerical algorithms for solving fractional IVPs and system of fractional IVPs where two types of fractional derivatives are used: Caputo-Fabrizio, and Atangana-Baleanu-Caputo derivatives. These algorithms are developed based on modified Adams-Bashforth method. In addition, we discuss the theoretical solution of special class of fractional IVPs. Several examples are discussed to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the present schemes.

Towards Efficient Lifelong Machine Learning In Deep Neural Networks, Tyler L. Hayes

Theses

Humans continually learn and adapt to new knowledge and environments throughout their lifetimes. Rarely does learning new information cause humans to catastrophically forget previous knowledge. While deep neural networks (DNNs) now rival human performance on several supervised machine perception tasks, when updated on changing data distributions, they catastrophically forget previous knowledge. Enabling DNNs to learn new information over time opens the door for new applications such as self-driving cars that adapt to seasonal changes or smartphones that adapt to changing user preferences. In this dissertation, we propose new methods and experimental paradigms for efficiently training continual DNNs without forgetting. We …

Functional Evolutionary Adaptation Of Binding Dynamics In The Sars-Cov-2/Ace2 Interface From Bats To Humans, Madhusudan Rajendran

Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the substantial public health, economic, and societal consequences of virus spillover from a wildlife reservoir. Widespread human transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also presents a new set of challenges when considering viral spillover from people to naïve wildlife and other animal populations. Here, we used molecular dynamic (MD) simulations to understand the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from bats to humans and investigate the evolution of the various human variants. More specifically, we used MD simulations to understand the atomic fluctuation dampening at the receptor-binding domain (RBD)/ angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) interface …

Sustainability In Design: The Exploration Of Using Digital Design As A Tool To Promote Environmental Conservation And Sustainable Practice, Kaitlyn Maxwell

Theses

The final website deliverable functions not only as a means of presentation, but as a jumping off point for digital designers to build off of, using the carefully curated resources and informational findings that are included in, and crafted specifically for, this project. By focusing on three main aspects of how to answer the research question 1) creating awareness, 2) making a case for caring, and 3) effective messaging methods, a framework has been created that the audience can expand upon without being overwhelmed by a question with many potential routes to travel down. A digital designer can promote sustainable …

Investigating The Presence Of Cladocera Species Within The Wetlands Of Uae, Shamma Eisa Salem Shahdad Alneyadi

Theses

The wetlands ecosystems found in the Arabian Peninsula have been poorly investigated. Moreover, the available information about the presence of freshwater communities have been rarely documented. Although there are scattered records about the presence of freshwater Cladocera organisms within the Arabian Gulf countries; few of them have received proper taxonomic identification. Cladocera populations in freshwater bodies are always characterizing its water quality and other living invertebrates’ community. United Arab Emirates wetlands are among the ecosystems belonging to Ramsar convention for its conservation. The presence of both temporary and permanent freshwater area has been developed after the great interest to collect …

Multi-Scale Architectures For Human Pose Estimation, Bruno Artacho

Theses

In this dissertation we present multiple state-of-the-art deep learning methods for computer vision tasks using multi-scale approaches for two main tasks: pose estimation and semantic segmentation. For pose estimation, we introduce a complete framework expanding the fields-of-view of the network through a multi-scale approach, resulting in a significant increasing the effectiveness of conventional backbone architectures, for several pose estimation tasks without requiring a larger network or postprocessing. Our multi-scale pose estimation framework contributes to research on methods for single-person pose estimation in both 2D and 3D scenarios, pose estimation in videos, and the estimation of multiple people’s pose in a …

Application Of Natural Radioactivity For Hydrogeological And Environmental Assessment Of Groundwater In Ras Alkhaimah, Uae, Mohammed Nasser Abdullah Al-Saqri

Theses

Groundwater includes a certain concentration of natural radioactive isotopes of uranium (U) and its decay products (daughters) like radon (Rn). Defining the concentration levels, spatial distribution, and possible environmental impact of these isotopes in groundwater is vital for sustainable groundwater resources in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This dissertation focuses on documenting the distribution and determining the probable environmental impact and sources of Uranium-235 (²³⁵U), Uranium-238 (²³⁸U), and Radon-222 (²²²Rn) in groundwater in the Northern part of the UAE and specifically in the Wadi Al Bih aquifer in Ras Al Khaimah Emirate. The sampled …

Climate Change Awareness In The United Arab Emirates, Mariam Matar Abdulla Mohammed Almheiri

Theses

Climate change has focused public attention in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the role of society in environmental protection. The objective of this study was to determine the level of public awareness of climate change in the seven emirates of the UAE. The study also aimed to determine the spatial and geographical distribution and gender differences, as well as to investigate the possible influence of human activities on climate change impacts. In a cross-sectional survey, the researcher used a questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 4000 participants to answer the research questions. The drop-off pick-up (DOPU) method …

Scalable Probabilistic Model Selection For Network Representation Learning In Biological Network Inference, K C Kishan

Theses

A biological system is a complex network of heterogeneous molecular entities and their interactions contributing to various biological characteristics of the system. Although the biological networks not only provide an elegant theoretical framework but also offer a mathematical foundation to analyze, understand, and learn from complex biological systems, the reconstruction of biological networks is an important and unsolved problem. Current biological networks are noisy, sparse and incomplete, limiting the ability to create a holistic view of the biological reconstructions and thus fail to provide a system-level understanding of the biological phenomena. Experimental identification of missing interactions is both time-consuming and …