Digital Commons Network^™

Selection Of Natural Surfactants For Possible Use In Improving Oil Recovery Of Carbonate Oil Reservoirs, Hiba Hachem Limam

Theses

Middle East petroleum industry is currently searching for the most suitable enhanced oil technique to improve the oil recovery from local oil reservoirs. The biggest challenge for the application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Middle East is the harsh environment (high salinity and temperature). Surfactant (synthetic or natural) is one of the EOR major players considered for application in the Middle East. However, synthetic surfactants have several drawbacks, such as economically unattractive and environmental impacts. This study investigated the possible use of natural surfactant extracted from the leaves of three types of plants, namely Aloe Vera, Tetraena qatarensis, …

The Soft Power Impact Of International Event Hosting: The Case Of Uae And Expo 2020, Haya Mohamed Almazrouei

Theses

The study aimed at identifying and evaluating the soft power impact of international event hosting by considering the case of the UAE and Expo 2020. To attain this aim, a qualitative methodology has been incorporated, wherein data have been collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 managers involved in the organization of the Dubai Expo 2020, which were correspondingly analyzed through textual basis or content analysis. The study found that the soft power of the UAE can be measured using the six parameters of Soft Power 30 of McClory, which are Engagement, Government, Culture, Education, Enterprise and Digital. The challenges associated …

Enhancing Autism Education: Exploring Interactive Videos And Ai Integration For Effective Teaching, Fatima Ahmed Alraeesi

Theses

This research focuses on enhancing autism education by integrating interactive videos and AI solutions to improve teacher training. As the number of autistic students rises, it becomes crucial for special education teachers to employ effective teaching strategies tailored to individual needs. The most effective teaching methods for autistic students involve understanding the condition and incorporating customized instruction strategies, such as adapting assignments to suit the student's needs, assisting those with difficulty speaking, and employing visual aids for better organization. The proposed solution involves utilizing interactive video technology to train teachers, bridging the gap between research and practical implementation of educational …

Equilibrium And Active Self-Assembly And Collective Properties Of Network-Based Biomaterials, Lauren Melcher

Theses

Biological systems have the unique ability to self-organize, respond to environmental stimuli, and generate autonomous motion and work. The fields of biomaterials and synthetic biology seek to recapitulate these remarkable properties of biological systems in in-vitro reconstitutions of biological systems, and in abiotic or biotic-abiotic hybrid materials to better understand the underlying rules of life and to predict the design principles of biomimetic smart materials. Motivated by this, we create bottom-up mathematical models, rooted in experiments, of network-based synthetic and biological materials. These encompass two-dimensional colloidal networks connected by rhythmic crosslinkers, and three-dimensional biopolymer networks assembled via depletion interactions, physical …

Upgrading Biomass To Bio-Oil: Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation And Pyrolysis Of Vanillin And Anisole Biomass Model Compounds, Ahmad J. Yaghi

Theses

The purpose of this project is to investigate capacity of selected formulations of catalysts toward the hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) of biomass model compounds in the gas phase with the underlying aim to produce hydrocarbon cuts that can be directly used as transportation fuels. The first part of this project is to devoted to illustrate procedures for the synthesis of potent (HDO) catalysts. Synthesized catalysts encompass nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co) and palladium (Pd) supported on zeolite, cerium oxide (CeO₂) or alumina (Al₂O₃). Various characterization techniques such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Temperature Programmed Reduction (TPR) were deployed …

Investigating The Rheological Behavior Of A Simple Yield Stress Fluid Under Shear Flows, Francesco Accetta

Theses

Many soft materials display unique and complex rheological behavior characterized by a transition from a solid-like to a fluid-like state upon the application of a force that exceeds the threshold to flow, known as the yield stress. Yield stress fluids are found in a wide range of commonly encountered materials including microgels, emulsions, and foams, and have been widely studied by rheologists over the last several decades. Carbopol is a popular polymeric microgel system as it displays simple, non-thixotropic rheological behavior and is typically seen as an ideal yield stress fluid. Previous research has demonstrated the reproducible behavior of shear …

Design And Implementation Of Environmental Management System (Ems) Using Iso 14001:2015 Standard In A Medical/Healthcare Organization, Mohammed Rizwan Mirajkar

Theses

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) have been widely implemented by organizations across various industries since late 1980s. The system comprises of policies, procedures, processes, and various documents and formats that are essential not only to attain governance within organizations but also establish a robust management system. In the last decade, the need to enhance environmental performance and achieve sustainability objectives has become a business imperative for organizations across the world. Organizations are mandated to comply with environmental requirements and regulations through contractual agreements between customers and their business partners. Globally, the ISO 14001:2015 standard in its current version is the most …

Understanding Image Quality For Deep Learning-Based Computer Vision, Austin Bergstrom

Theses

Extensive research has gone into optimizing convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures for tasks such as image classification and object detection, but research to date on the relationship between input image quality and CNN prediction performance has been relatively limited. Additionally, while CNN generalization against out-of-distribution image distortions persists as a significant challenge and a focus of substantial research, a range of studies have suggested that CNNs can be be made robust to low visual quality images when the distortions are predictable. In this research, we systematically study the relationships between image quality and CNN performance on image classification and detection …

Generative Artificial Intelligence Program And Service: Imaginex, Mengheng Xu

Theses

The idea to facilitate the creation of personal spaces that afford privacy, comfort, and autonomy to individuals in need seems to be especially significant while availability and affordability of physical spaces are constrained. This project proposes a system called ImagineX which is a generative artificial intelligence program and service that can generate virtual 3D spaces for users. Users can create customized 3D environments tailored to their specific needs and preferences simply by inputting word prompts. By connecting the program from a tablet to a virtual reality (VR) system, users can experience and interact with these virtual spaces in an immersive …

Comparing Stand Composition And Floristic Quality Of Two Adjacent Upland Oak-Hickory Woodlands In Southern Illinois: Old-Growth And Second-Growth Dynamics, Leah Rose Kleiman

Theses

Illinois has no official parameters for old-growth oak-hickory (Quercus-Carya) forests despite oak-hickory being the historically dominant ecosystem in the forested parts of Illinois (Fralish, 1997; Thompson & Dessecker, 1997). The purpose of this study was to better understand the characteristics of old-growth oak-hickory stands, as well as make management recommendations for preserving the integrity of old-growth forests and shifting second-growth stands to old-growth status. Stand structure analysis was conducted in June and July of 2022 on an old-growth oak-hickory stand (Otey-Grisley Nature Preserve) and nearby second-growth oak-hickory stand (Grisley Woods Land and Water Reserve) near Pittsburg, Illinois using dendrochronology, various …

Understanding Natural Resource Conflicts As Causes And Consequences Of The Transition Towards Ecosystem Management: A Case Study Of The Shawnee National Forest In Southern Illinois, Usa, Nicole Mooar

Theses

Since the 1980s, approaches to managing forest resources in the US and around the world have been shifting from the conventional sustained yield approach towards ecosystem management. Ecosystem management is a resource management paradigm that seeks to employ a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach to landscape scale conservation, as well as the integration of socio-economic and biophysical considerations with the overall goal of enhancing the health and resilience of coupled social-ecological systems. While the role of natural resource conflicts as drivers of the transition towards ecosystem management has received some research attention, the potential roles of ecosystem management in emerging natural …

Optimized Generative Pre-Training Eeg To Sentiment Classification (Ogptsc), Amira Hassan

Theses

This research aims to revolutionize electroencephalogram (EEG) analysis by proposing and developing an innovative method for sentiment classification, introducing the groundbreaking "Optimized Chat Generative Pre-training EEG to Sentiment Classification (OGPTSC)." This novel approach harnesses the power of Generative Pre-training (GPT2) as the vocabulary language model while utilizing an intelligent hyper-parameter selection method to fine-tune and optimize the model's performance. Extensive testing is conducted on a widely recognized dataset to evaluate the OGPTSC's prowess, demonstrating its exceptional capabilities in sentiment classification. Notably, this research extends its scrutiny beyond the OGPTSC by applying the same hyper-parameter selection technique to well-established models such …

Reconsidering Fertility Imagery In The Murals Of Teotihuacan, Grace T.O. Ray

Theses

This thesis explores fertility imagery in the Tepantitla Paradise and Tetitla Goddess murals of ancient Teotihuacan in Mexico. In the beginning of the 1970s, these murals had been utilized as case studies in the assertion for the existence of a central female deity known as the Great Goddess, based on an abundance of fertility imagery within the scenes. Scholarship in the field has since discredited this theory, but the deity in the murals remains unidentified. In addition, the city does not offer surviving written texts to provide context for cosmological beliefs, only Teotihuacan’s vibrant material culture was left behind after …

Role Of Institutional Quality On Bilateral Exports, Sumaiya Binta Islam

Theses

This paper empirically examines the effect of institutional quality on trade considering the gravity equation model. Taking data for 252 countries covering the period of 19 years from 1996 to 2014, the research has been done with two stage regression analysis. In the first stage, we estimate the effect of gravity factors that either benefit or hinder trade along with OECD membership and Linder’s effect by Poisson-Pseudo-Maximum-Likelihood (PPML) estimator with importer- time, and exporter- time fixed effects. Taking the estimated exporter- time fixed effects from the first stage, we regress it with institutional variables in the second stage by OLS …

Agency And Matrilineal Ties; Queen Victoria And Her Daughters, Lydia Catherine Pensel

Theses

This study examines the impact of Queen Victoria's political and diplomatic power on the marriages of her five daughters. Queen Victoria's influence on her daughters' marriages highlights her enduring behind the scenes power despite some claims to the contrary. Unlike the sons’ marriages, where considerable outside political influences brought to bear, the daughters’ marriages were almost solely influenced by Victoria. Examining the Queen's five daughters offers an alternate view of her motherhood while simultaneously exploring the diverse gender dynamics between her and her daughters.

Model-Free Sliding Mode Control In The Lateral And Direction Dynamics Of An Aircraft, Nicholas Hutson

Theses

Traditional control methods require extensive tuning or a derivation of a system model making them increasingly antiquated for use on new, more complex systems. Sliding Mode Control has emerged as a more effective alternative as a control method that can directly handle nonlinear systems with increased robustness while guaranteeing stability. However, it is still limited by the need for a system model for the derivation of the controller form. This work proposes a new model-free control method based on Sliding Mode Control referred to as Model-Free Sliding Mode Control where the form of the controller is only dependent on system …

A Search Of M31 For Giant Radio Pulses From Radio Pulsars And Magnetars, David Saroff

Theses

We present results of a 40-hour survey of the nearby galaxy M31 for giant radio pulses (GRPs) from radio pulsars using the Green Bank Radio telescope (GBT) in the 300 MHz to 400 MHz band. We note that GRPs from known pulsars in the Milky Way or its nearest companion galaxies, the Magellanic clouds, if relocated to M31, would not be detectable with the GBT in the 300 MHz to 400 MHz band. However, the brightest GRPs from a pulsar in M31, like the Crab pulsar B0531+21, are within a factor of 2 of detectability. Our observations cover a projected …

Text Restoration In Palimpsested Historical Manuscripts Using Deep Learning Methods, Anna Starynska

Theses

Historical palimpsests are manuscripts that have more than one layer of text, where the original text was erased, and subsequent layers overwritten. For many centuries, palimpsested text of ancient manuscripts was considered impossible to recover. Nowadays, with new technology, such as multispectral imaging, under some portion of electromagnetic spectrum illumination, the overwritten text can become visible again. This peculiar property of faded ink and some traditional signal processing methods had already helped recover text from numerous manuscripts. Nevertheless, even showing the best performance, existing methods can only enhance the visibility of the text but not eliminate the effects of occlusion …

Lidar Voxel Segmentation Using 3d Convolutional Neural Networks, Yuval H. Levental

Theses

Light detection and ranging (lidar) forest models are important for studying forest composition in great detail, and for tracking objects in the understory. In this study we used DIRSIG, a first-principles and physics-based simulation tool, to turn the lidar data into voxels, towards classifying forest voxel types. A voxel is a 3D cube where the dimension represents a certain distance. These voxels are split into categories consisting of background, leaf, bark, ground, and object elements. Voxel content is then predicted from the provided simulated and real National Ecological Observation Network (NEON) data. The inputs are 3D neighborhood cubes which surround …

Cast Iron Repair Through Directed Energy Deposition And Ancillary Processing Modes, Jakob D. Hamilton

Theses

A cast iron repair process that restores above 80% of the original tensile strength without thermal pre-conditioning is presented. Cast iron, an integral alloy to transportation and agricultural sectors, is a difficult alloy to repair owing to the presence of discrete graphite flakes and the tendency to form brittle iron-carbide phases and porosity. Preheating and post-process annealing assist in preventing premature fracturing but are economically and environmentally impractical for large castings. Thus, methods that circumvent these limitations while avoiding defect formation are crucial. Laser-based directed energy deposition (DED) offers a highly controllable method of remanufacturing cast iron and high carbon …

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

Theses

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

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

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

Theses

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

The Evolution Of The Nba’S Culture, Trey Jones

Theses

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

Standardizing Sustainable Aquaponic Production Of Leafy Greens And Fish: A Comparison With Conventional Systems In The United Arab Emirates, Drishya Nishanth

Theses

The production of leafy green vegetables through aquaponics is established worldwide, but the production of herbs which are used in day-to-day life in the United Arab Emirates is not yet explored in this system in terms of production efficiency, water usage and the nutrient parameters. In the current study, basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) and coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.), the two commonly used herbs, were grown in a traditional aquaponics system using tilapia fish and catfish effluent water (soil-less agriculture) and an irrigation-based greenhouse cultivation system (soil cultivation). The study's major goal is to evaluate several growth techniques for …

A Magneto-Thermally Controllable Microstrip-Patch Antenna For Low Rcs Applications, Sallam Mohammad Al Hendi

Theses

This research focuses on the development of a novel technique for reducing the Radar Cross Section (RCS) of a microstrip antenna operating in the terahertz spectral regime. This can be accomplished by loading the antenna with Indium Antimonide (InSb); a thermally-magnetically controllable semi-conductor. The low-RCS feature of the antenna implies that it becomes hardly detectable by detecting radars; a desired feature in stealthy applications. For an optimal operation beside low RCS, the other antenna parameters (e.g., radiated power, gain, standing-wave ratio, and reflection coefficient) must be within tolerable ranges. Thus, a study on the effects of the temperature and the …

Numerical Simulation Of Concrete Beams With Discontinuity Regions Reinforced With Nonmetallic Reinforcing Bars, Amena Mohammad Ousama

Theses

Nonmetallic Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) reinforcing bars are considered a viable alternative to the conventional steel reinforcement because of their high strength-to-weight ratio and noncorrosive nature. This research aimed to investigate the nonlinear structural behavior of GFRP-reinforced concrete beams with discontinuity regions (D-regions) through numerical analysis. Three-dimensional (3D) numerical models were developed to simulate the nonlinear structural behavior of GFRP-reinforced deep beams with and without web openings. The models adopted realistic constitutive laws that accounted for the nonlinear behavior of the materials used. Predictions of the numerical models were validated against published experimental data. A parametric study was conducted to …

The Evaluation Of Carbon Benefits Produced By Urban Street Trees, Hanyu Wang

Theses

Urban tree service and urban forestry are important fields that focus on the care and management of trees in urban areas. Urban trees provide numerous benefits around all aspect, including carbon storage, improving air and water qualities. Carbon storage refers to the process of removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and storing it in various reservoirs, and in this case, in trees and forests.

i-Tree is a suite of software tools developed by the United States Forest Service that provides a range of resources for assessing and managing forests. i-Tree Eco is one of the more used tools from …

Emergent Properties Of Cells And Tissues In Health And Disease, Pancy T. Lwin

Theses

This dissertation uses statistical physics based mathematical models to investigate and predict the emergent properties of biological systems in both healthy and diseased states. Three projects are presented, each exploring a different aspect of biological systems. The first project focuses on modeling cartilage-like tissue systems as a double network consisting of two interconnected networks. By using rigidity percolation theory, we study the tunable mechanics and fracture resistance of such biological tissues in healthy and degraded states. Our findings show that the secondary network density can be tuned to facilitate stress relaxation, leading to robust tissue properties when the primary network …

Using Machine Learning Application For Cardiovascular Disease Prediction And Diagnosis, Abdullah As'ad Mohammad Abu Hanieh

Theses

Despite the "information rich" nature of the healthcare business, not all data are mined to reveal unseen patterns or knowledge and enable sound decision-making. Nowadays, a persistent need is increased for data mining to discover new information from different datasets and apply it in the healthcare system to help healthcare professionals in decision making for predicting diagnosis and treatment for different diseases, such as cardiovascular disease (CVDs). In the current era, it is estimated that cardiovascular diseases constitute 30% of the global mortality rate annually. Predicting cardiovascular diseases at the right moment is challenging for cardiac consultants. The medical industry …

Dubai Emirate Land Price Prediction Using Analytics And Machine Learning, Shaikha Ali Mohsin Alattar Alhashmi

Theses

The Dubai Emirate is a burgeoning and vibrant region that has gained significant attention in the real estate industry due to its rapid development. With an increase in demand for land, the region has experienced a substantial surge in land prices. Therefore, precise land price prediction has become paramount for real estate investors, developers, and government officials. The purpose of this study was to employ analytics and machine learning techniques to accurately forecast land prices in the Dubai Emirate.

The study employed a dataset that included influencing factors such as, location, amenities, infrastructure, size, and other variables that affect land …