Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Biomimetic Aerosol Exposure System For In Vitro Human Airway Exposure Studies, Samantha Emma Sarles

Theses

Tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable death in the United States, disproportionately affecting residents of rural areas, people who are financially disadvantaged, and adults who identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The impact that electronic cigarettes will have on public health is not yet fully understood. Combinations of electronic cigarette products, human airway geometries, and user behaviors create barriers to understanding products’ interaction with the human airway and their health effects. Current in vitro emissions systems, also called smoking robots, lack biomimicry, use unrealistic flow conditions, produce unrealistic aerosol dose, and provide inaccurate bio-mechanical cues to cell …

Dust Reverberation Mapping Of Active Galactic Nuclei: Effects Of Survey Duration And Sampling, Shaelyn Shadwell

Theses

In the next few years, large-scale surveys with a time domain element, such as the ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), will produce an immense data set to study variable and transient astronomical sources such as active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGN are located at the center of most galaxies and have five major components: a supermassive black hole (SMBH), an accretion disk, the broad-line region (BLR), a dusty circumnuclear torus, and the narrow-line region (NLR). The torus is believed to have a two-component structure: a geometrically thin circumnuclear disk and a hollow dusty cone along the polar axis. …

Analyzing The Atomic And Electronic Structures Of Oxide Heterostructures For Electrolyte Applications In Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, Jason D. Rakowsky

Theses

Perovskite oxide heterostructures have key applications in technologies such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), batteries, solar cells, etc. because of novel properties at the interface. Although it is well-known that this is caused by lattice mismatch and misfit dislocations, the role defects play in enhancing certain properties is unknown. We have investigated SrTiO$_3$ (STO) and BaZrO$_3$ (BZO) structures because they both experience novel oxygen vacancy formation which is desired for high ionic conductivity applications such as the thin film electrolyte of a SOFC. Through explicit density functional theory calculations of four STO/BZO interfaces, electron migration, oxygen vacancy formation energies, …

Using Natural Language Processing To Support Software Security Requirement Development, Spencer Herzog

Theses

The advent of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools has had profound effects upon the software requirements engineering process. Engineering requirements are a key part of software development, guiding the overall process and ensuring that the resulting software can properly accomplish the desired results without any issues. NLP tools have been used alongside requirements engineering for many years, in a variety of tasks. Our study investigates the uses of NLP tools, including OpenAI's large language model (LLM) tool ChatGPT as well as a novel Natural Language Inference (NLI) model that our team proposed, for the use of classification of various software …

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 …

Investigation Of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer On Modified Copper And Aluminum Surfaces, Mariam Khaled Zaghloul

Theses

This thesis presents an investigation of pool-boiling heat transfer using the surfacemodification method. The studied boiling surfaces were smooth and rough pin-fins embedded on the copper and aluminum surfaces. This study visualizes bubble formation and departure diameter. Experimental testing aims to predict the heat transfer coefficients for different heat fluxes over smooth and rough pin-finned surfaces. The surface modification method allows changing the boiling surface characteristics, which can lead to enhanced heat transfer. Several factors were studied, including the heat-transfer coefficient, heat flux, bubble departure diameter, and formation time. Four surfaces were used for conducting the pool boiling experiment: a …

Additive Manufacturing Of 4008 Aluminum Via Magnetohydrodynamic Droplet Jetting, Usama Abdullah Rifat

Theses

Liquid metal jetting is an additive manufacturing process where molten metal is ejected and deposited droplet by droplet to build a three-dimensional part. Liquid metal jetting provides significant advantages over powder-based metal additive processes in terms of faster printing time and less material wastage. The option of using feedstock material in wire form also makes the use of this process less complicated than powder-based processes. At the time of this writing, the only commercially available non-contact liquid metal jetting system is the ElemX machine sold by Xerox. The ElemX uses magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) droplet jetting technology (also termed Magnetojet) to eject …

Design Of A Current Mode Circuit For Zeroth-Order Optimization Of Memristor-Based Neuromorphic Systems, Shery George Mathews

Theses

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have become widely used over the past decade due to their excellent performance in applications such as object recognition and classification, time series forecasting, machine translation, and more. Key factors contributing to the success of ANNs in these domains include the availability of large datasets and constant improvements in powerful parallel processing architectures such as graphics processing units (GPUs). However, modern ANN models' growing size and complexity preclude their deployment on resource-constrained hardware for edge applications. Neuromorphic computing seeks to address this challenge by using brain-inspired principles to co-design the ANN hardware and algorithms for improved …

Design Of An Accelerated Lifetime Tester For Industrial Gas Compressor Poppet Valves, Michael W. Anderson

Theses

There is increasing interest within the petrochemical industry in the development of predictive maintenance algorithms for gas compressors and pipelines. To this end, this thesis outlines an analysis of the feasibility and design of a lifetime accelerator for poppet valves used in industrial gas compressors. First, we investigate the most common compressor and valve types. We then compare existing valve accelerators to determine the gap in current research on poppet valve lifetime accelerators. We demonstrate our design for a lifetime accelerator with the ability to actuate poppet valves at 100[Hz], which is more than 15 times higher than the normal …

Morphological And Electrical Variance In Polysilicon Thin Film Transistors Crystallized By Flash Lamp Annealing, Glenn Packard

Theses

This work is a wide-reaching study of the factors that impact the in-situ crystallization of thin films of amorphous silicon into low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) by flash lamp annealing (FLA) on glass substrates, which is used to develop thin film transistors (TFTs) with an eye towards display applications. The body of research surrounding FLA LTPS is thus advanced by identifying several challenges towards industrial integration and exploring solutions involving device configuration, novel methods of dopant introduction and activation, and novel TFT material systems. It is unlikely that FLA will ever produce LTPS superior to the laser-annealing techniques currently dominating the …

Rare Earth Element Extraction From Secondary Source Materials: Understanding Economics And Environmental Impacts Of Development., Ajay Kumar Gupta

Theses

Rare earth elements are an integral part of modern industry. Although not “rare” in terms of crustal abundance, concentrations in natural deposits are rarely of economic benefit. Vital to high-tech sectors and sustainable technologies, such as renewable energy, electric transportation, military, and medicine, rare earths are traditionally produced with high environmental impact and complications of economic efficiency in separating 15 – 17 chemically similar metals that occur in tandem. Given the rapid growth projected for these metals, development is expected to increase around the globe and new deposits for rare earths is of interest. Recovering them from secondary sources, such …

Design And Optimization Of Devices And Architectures For Neuromorphic Silicon Photonics, Matthew Van Niekerk

Theses

Neuromorphic photonics is an exciting field at the intersection of neuroscience, integrated photonics, and microelectronics. To realize large-scale neural network-inspired systems, we must have a toolbox of linear and nonlinear operators. Here, we review state of the art for integrated photonic linear operators, which can perform linear operations using interference or wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) techniques, and nonlinear operators, which perform nonlinear operations with a combination of photodetection and modulation. We present some devices that fit into the needed toolbox. A new type of directional coupler, using skin depth engineering of electromagnetic waves, suppresses optical crosstalk and eliminates the need for waveguide …

Focus Calibration And Point Spread Function Analysis For The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment-2, Mike Parra Ortiz

Theses

The Epoch of Reionization is the period in the evolution of the Universe that spans the birth of the first stars and galaxies. During this time early UV-bright galaxies ionized the neutral intergalactic medium, leaving an imprint on the extra-galactic background light (EBL). The Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER-1) was designed to measure the EBL in the near-infrared (NIR) at redshifts z > 6 to observe the signal from reionizing sources. CIBER-1 measured excess radiation at NIR wavelengths when compared to expectations. The Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment-2 (CIBER-2) was designed to better constrain the excess radiation observed by CIBER-1. Having the …

The Effect Of Heating Area And Wheatstone Bridge Materials On A Thermally Actuated Mems Viscosity Sensor, Connor Michael Levine

Theses

Being able to accurately measure oil viscosity in real time is critical for multiple applications. It can ensure that the oil being used to protect and lubricate gears and other mechanical elements is good. To do this a thermally actuated micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) based sensor has been previously developed. The sensor is able to measure viscosity by having the fluid couple with the oscillating diaphragm and monitoring the frequency, amplitude and quality factor of the waveform. To improve the accuracy of the sensor, 5 different versions were created to study the effects of heating area and the sensing material …

Large Dry Metal Electrodes For Physiological Monitoring, Krittika Goyal

Theses

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In-home physiological monitoring systems have a potential to track daily changes in cardiovascular health and to provide health care professionals data about the recovery or deterioration of their patient’s cardiac health. Various in-home monitoring systems have been designed to capture physiological signals from both standard (chest, wrist) and non-standard (palms, buttocks) locations. Unfortunately, most in-home monitoring systems provide poor signal quality due to the use of dry electrodes. Dry electrodes have an unstable electrochemical interface that results in high and variable contact impedance and poor signal quality. The …

Rf Device Characterization Of Graphene Transistors, Mohit Moitra

Theses

Radio Frequency performance of field-effect transistors has been explored in depth, experimented and industrially in use since a long time. Whenever one thinks of transistors which could take us to the regime of more than 1 THz in frequency it would always be the High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTS) as the perfect solution to that. The Graphene transistors have been very much in research from 2010 and promise equal results due to their huge potential in mobility. In the Semiconductor Manufacturing And Fabrication Laboratory at the Rochester Institute Of Technology our research group has been designing, fabricating and characterizing the …

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 …

An Effective Heuristic To Reduce Total Flowtime For Randomly-Structured Flowshop Problems, Arun John Abraham

Theses

We propose a heuristic to reduce total flowtime in a six-job, four-machine permutation flowshop scheduling problem. This work contributes to the prolific research efforts reported in the permutation flowshop scheduling problem (PFSP).

The heuristic was applied to 102 randomly structured flowshop scheduling problems, with job processing times generated using an integer uniform distribution in the interval [1,100]. The results of computational experiments were deemed satisfactory after being evaluated by using the ordinal and percentile ranks of the resulting total flowtime for the six jobs.

An Evolutionary Comparative Study Of Congenital Stationary Night Blindness-Associated Trpm1 Genetic Variants Of Uncertain Significance In Horses And Humans Utilizing Caenorhabditis Elegans, Gabrielle Davis

Theses

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a heterogeneous collection of genetic diseases affecting the eyes and vision in horses and humans. Current research has implicated several genetic mutations impacting different genes involved in phototransduction and signal transmission, including TRPM1. In horses, genetic mutations in TRPM1 also result in a leopard spotting pattern or leopard complex. The goal of this study is to examine the potential impact of CSNB associated TRPM1 missense variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Previous research in Caenorhabditis elegans have revealed an orthologous TRPM1 gene known as gon-2 that allows for comparative studies. The evolutionary relationship of …

Applying Homomorphic Encryption To A Cross Domain Problem, Cheyenne Dailey

Theses

The Cross Domain Problem (CDP) strives to ensure protected data transference across varying security domains. In order to accomplish this, a Cross Domain Solution (CDS) is needed. A common method to protect data is to focus on risk management between trusted parties; however, untrusted parties pose ongoing concern. The problem is determining a method that transfers classified data through various security domains without exposing any information to intermediary parties. Attempts to mitigate this problem have been made utilizing Homomorphic Encryption (HE), a type of encryption that allows for computations to be executed on encrypted data without needing to decrypt it. …

Diffractive Light And Solar Sails, Prateek Ranjan Srivastava

Theses

In the realm of space exploration, humanity has achieved remarkable feats like landing humans on the moon. However, our progress in venturing beyond our solar system has been limited. Light sails, which utilize photon momentum from laser or solar radiation, o↵er a promising propulsion technology. Unlike traditional rockets, light sails carry no fuel and can achieve high velocities and precise orbital maneuvers. In this research, we propose using an elementary space variant di↵ractive film to design passively stable light sails propelled by laser radiation. We also explore applying this concept to solar sails, enabling spiral trajectories and high orbital inclination …

Generating Adversarial Malware Examples Using Particle Swarm Optimization, Sirapat Thianphan

Theses

Adversaries develop adversarial malware examples that are designed to evade detection systems, which can significantly decrease the performance of malware classifiers. To defend against adversarial malware examples, a technique called adversarial training is implemented by additionally train the detection models with adversarial examples, making the models more robust to such attacks. This thesis discusses an approach to generating adversarial examples using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). We explore a technique called AdversarialPSO proposed by Rayan Mosli [1], which crafts adversarial malware examples by replacing API calls with alternative APIs that have equivalent functionality leveraging PSO to navigate substitutions. In this thesis, …

Fsmlock: Sequential Logic Locking Through Encryption, Matthew Krebs

Theses

As the technology node size for integrated circuit (IC) designs decreases, the cost of building and maintaining an IC foundry rapidly increases. Companies unable to afford local manufacturing have become reliant on outsourcing the physical manufacturing process. This introduces confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity security vulnerabilities into the IC design lifecycle. Even companies that manufacture in-house and use field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chips may require third-party system integrators to assemble the final product. When said product is sent to a third-party foundry or system integrator, the embodied IC/FPGA circuitry is susceptible to IP theft, Trojan insertion, and reverse engineering (RE) attacks. …

Inter-Procedural Program Synthesis For Automatic Architectural Tactic Implementation, Ali Shokri

Theses

Software architectural tactics are design decisions made by software architects to address important quality attributes of software systems such as security, availability, and reliability. Software developers incorporate API of software frameworks, as building blocks, for implementing architectural tactics in a software system to achieve the mentioned quality attributes. The correct implementation of such tactics is a challenging and error-prone task, especially for novice programmers. Component-based program synthesis aims to help such programmers by automatically constructing a code snippet from a given set of components, e.g., APIs, as well as the specification of the desired code. However, despite the advances in …

Continual Domain Adaptation Through Knowledge Distillation, Georgi Thomas

Theses

Domain Adaptation (DA) techniques aim to overcome the domain shift between a source domain used for training and the target domain used for testing and deployment. Domain adaptation methods assume the entire target domain is accessible during the adaptation process. We use efficient architectures in the continual data-constrained DA paradigm where the unlabeled data in the target domain is received continually in batches. In recent years, Vision Transformers have emerged as an alternative to traditional Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) as the feature extraction backbone for image classification and other computer vision tasks. Within the field of DA, these attention-based architectures …

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 …

Technology Takeover And Transformation: Humans Vs. Technology, Mikayla Tjeerdsma

Theses

When looking at the history of the fashion industry up to the present day, technology can easily distinguish the progress of fashion throughout the ages. The direction of this research is to gain insight and a deeper realization of how technology is taking over and transforming those in and revolving around fashion by slowly taking over and replacing human involvement or presence. Statistics and research show due to the adverse effects of COVID-19, technological development within fashion has seen a significant increase. COVID-19 was either the final push towards making technological ideas a reality or was the birth of new …

Enhancing User Learning Experience Of A New Therapeutic Approach For Scleroderma Using Vr, Joanne Park

Theses

The transient receptor potential cation 6 (TRPC6) channel is an integral membrane protein that alters the intracellular calcium (Ca2+) concentration and is also responsible for a variety of tissue expression, physiological functions and channel properties (Ong et al., 2016). Recently, researchers at RIT have discovered a new therapeutic approach for scleroderma, also known as skin fibrosis, that involves the inhibition of the TRPC6 channel. To help spread awareness of their research and to enhance the user learning experience, an interactive virtual reality (IVR) experience was created, as well as supplemental 3D animations, that will be available through the researcher’s website. …

A Study On How Twitch Streaming Can Impact The Success Of A Game, Nadine Kassassir

Theses

The aim of this project is to assess the variables that impact the success of a video game taken as a function of prizepool earnings awarded in tournaments. With the rise of streaming platforms like Twitch the reach for esports and online gaming has dramatically increased. After analyzing two datasets found on Kaggle, and performing linear regression on a newly created dataset, no relationship between viewership and earnings can be established. Irrespective of this, the increasing trend of earnings and viewership can be observed in both the datasets and online publications and statistics. This indicates the possibility of an existing …