Digital Commons Network^™

Solving An Mri Spin Relaxometry Problem Using Parallel Java, Hardik Parikh

Theses

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging technique used primarily in the medical profession to produce high quality images of the inside of the human body, without using x-rays. The process of obtaining the spin density spectrum from the time samples of the spin signal for each pixel of a magnetic resonance image is known as MRI spin relaxometry. The spin density spectrum is obtained by performing linear regularization on samples of magnetic resonance images obtained at different times. The spin density spectrum obtained from the body is used by radiologists to diagnose disease in its early stage. However, the …

Introducing Legacy Program Scripting To Molecular Biology Toolkit (Mbt), Todd Newell

Theses

Successful navigating of the ever-changing landscape of molecular visualization programs requires a common thread that can offer users an oasis from the maelstrom of new languages, proprietary applications, and miniscule software life-cycles. Crossapplication scripting remains the benchmark, allowing scientists and researchers to speak a common tongue. The introduction of a new, powerful visualization language, Molecular Biology Toolkit (MBT), has tempted many users to abandon previous methodologies and adopt a new mode of research. MBT, however, is not without drawbacks. Its lack of scripting capabilities creates unmanageable complexity for unsophisticated end-users, namely those without the ability to program. MBT, thus, lacks …

Chemistry, Hiroki Sato

Theses

Chemistry by Hiroki Sato, M.F.A Thesis, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2008 A description of the creation of a 3D computer animated film, "Chemistry," a project whose goal is to invoke an emotional response in the audience as they watch a reaction between a crystal and a light bulb in a laboratory. Includes thesis proposal, budget, timeline, original story boards, color stills, and a code for a Maya Python tool that helps to create and animate some complex geometrical objects.

The Road Ahead: A Dynamic, Interactive, And Multidimensional Flash Website, Hung-Ju Hsia

Theses

Everyone has several dreams in his/her life. To be an International student in the United States, I am fulfilling one of my dreams. At December 17th 2001, I stepped on the United States, a dream territory where I had never been to, and started a fantastic journey. Everything was so fresh to me. In California, I felt the warm sunshine, friendly people, and a vigorous life style. In New York, I found beautiful snow, a serious attitude on working, and a stylish life style. Traveling across the country, I realized why people call America a dream territory. Maybe two years …

Teachers’ Knowledge Of English Phonology And Attitudes Toward Reading Instruction As Related To Student Outcomes, Casey L. Lewis

Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if teachers’ knowledge of English phonology and attitudes toward explicit and implicit reading instruction were related to student growth in reading. First-grade teachers completed a knowledge assessment and attitudes survey, and their students were administered reading measures in the spring of kindergarten and first grade. The data were analyzed to determine relationships between teacher variables and student achievement. Moderate correlations emerged between teachers’ knowledge, attitudes toward explicit instruction, and student achievement, but there were no significant correlations between these teacher variables and student reading growth. Teachers with higher levels of knowledge were …

The Use Of Career Assessments In Transition Planning: An Exploratory Study, Annmarie J. Schimmel

Theses

The Self Directed Search (SDS) and the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF) were administered to a group of college age students who were either School Psychology graduate students or undergraduate students enrolled in a Career Exploration course at a local, private university. It was hypothesized that the SDS and the 16PF profiles for the students would differ between the two groups, showing that the profiles for those enrolled as School Psychology graduate students would be similar to the career summary codes previously identified for their chosen careers. Independent t-tests showed that on the SDS the School Psychology graduate students scored …

Career Aspirations: Similarities And Differences Between Adolescence With Learning Disabilities And Adolescence Not Receiving Special Education Services, Cara A. Stromberg

Theses

The Self-Directed Search (SDS) and Career Advisement Questionnaire: Adolescent Form were administered to a group of high school students who were either classified with a learning disability (LD) or who were not receiving special education services. The SDS and Career Advisement Questionnaire: Parent Form were administered to a subset of parents of students with LD. Results indicate that students with LD differed in their work personalities compared to students not receiving special education services and compared to their parents’ estimates of their work personalities; specifically, students with LD held lower self-estimates about their own abilities compared to peers. Students with …

Hidden Structure Revealed, Minkyu Lee

Theses

This MFA Thesis is based on the aesthetic philosophy that all forms and structures are essentially made from cubes. This premise has inspired and shaped my explorations over the last two years of graduate study. Shape and meaning of ‘cubes’ can be simplified to the smallest molecular units of objects. The geometric forms I construct reflect this. I have mostly created vessel-oriented forms, but now I find that I can also make sculptures that reflect the same point of view. The shape of the earth is a theme and inspiration for this thesis project. Craters, which show their inner side, …

Vivum Excoriari, Kristina Marie Stafford

Theses

My inspirations for this body of sculpture are implements of torture and antique tools. I am interested in the relationship between historical value and psychological response; the push and pull of the terrible and beautiful. I am exploring the emotive substance of the objects by choosing implements that evoke an emotional and psychological response. I am obsessed with objects that crush, grasp, cut, constrict, and bind such as axes, meat hooks and, most recently, medieval torture devices. I find them simultaneously beautiful and unsettling. These objects express themselves so clearly as a threat through their form, allowing the viewers to …

Reincarnating The Micro Universe, Jeong Ah Bae

Theses

My “Reincarnation Series” traces the meaning of life, rebirth and the cycle of transformation. It is an outcome of my quest to bridge the internal and external worlds of human experience, rich with polarities and full of complementary forces and opposite energies, properties, and attributes. This blending of contrasts in our world creates beauty. My work stems from my belief in Buddhism and portrays the full engagement in the world of a person’s unreserved presence, including mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual energies. My work reveals how each individual is in a fluid web, within and without consciousness, receptive to growth. …

Implementation Of Active Collections Framework Using .Net, Sushil Magdum

Theses

For many years, large distributed enterprises have faced a common problem of near real time sharing of enterprise data typically stored in databases. As these databases may be located globally, distributed nature of this data makes it difficult to access instantaneously. The Active Collections Framework (ACF) acts as a good foundation on which to build distributed applications. This framework requires distributed applications to view changes to data as events of interest. The ACF framework integrates access to data and data changes through active collections. ACF framework is based on two different research areas: event management in distributed computing and active …

An Overview Of Packaging Sustainability Topics, Alexandros Astropekakis

Theses

This thesis presents the global challenges behind the need of sustainable development. It links packaging to this need and describes the way packaging can positively contribute to this process. It presents industry examples of "green packaging" that claim to or may actually contribute to sustainable development. It monitors the understanding of packaging professionals for what is called "packaging sustainability" through a custom made on-line survey. Finally it presents a comparison of environmental impacts for different polymer materials used for the production of rigid containers (HDPE, PP, PET, PVC and PLA) through an analysis of Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) data for …

Gender, And Other Variables, Affecting Graduation Outcomes And The Future Of Science. Male Vs. Female Students 1995-2003 Rochester Institute Of Technology’S College Of Science, Catherine Mahrt-Washington

Theses

This thesis focuses on the impact of retention of undergraduate students on the future of science. If there are insufficient numbers of science students pursuing and succeeding in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education and careers, it has been argued that the United States will lose its innovative, competitive, and technological edge. The focus is on the challenges of retaining students, both male and female, in the sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology from 1995-2003. This thesis will describe and analyze existing data in an effort to develop a case specific understanding of retention metrics, student retention dynamics, and consideration …

Strategies For Success In The E-Grocery Industry, Tong Niu

Theses

US e-grocers have been testing different business models with varying results. This research conducted a meta-analysis of six online grocers (Peapod, Tesco, Safeway, FreshDirect, Webvan and Streamline) to identify the pattern of strategies that contribute to their performance. Each company's management capabilities, expansion and market selection strategy, order-picking method, delivery method, website design and Customer Relations Management (CRM) are explored and compared to identify the factors that provide these businesses with a greater chance of success. The findings suggest that knowledge of and experience in the grocery business play an important role in the success of an online grocer. Using …

The Impact Of Internet Social Networking Websites On The Gay Community: Behavior And Identity, Michael Cinquanti

Theses

The hypothesis of this thesis is that social networking website design can exert a mediating influence upon the culture of a site by supporting certain behaviors more than others; this influence can be analyzed in an active and structured way that takes into account the culture of the community it addresses. Evidence will be offered by case study, demonstration of specific mediations, and analysis. This hypothesis will be tested with specific reference to the gay male community. The scope of this paper will be limited to the analysis of gay-oriented social networking websites as new media, in general and through …

A Preliminary Analysis Of Pet Barrier Technologies And Mechanical Performance Related To A 3l Pet Wine Bottle, Colleen K. Baude

Theses

The objective of this study was to test and compare Monolayer, Amosorb 2%, and Multilayer 3% PET wine jugs for package integrity and mechanical properties. In addition, two secondary package configurations were tested and analyzed. The first a shipper with load bearing inserts, the second configuration consisted of no inserts. Further, both shipping configurations and PET material have different costs associated. A Monolayer PET bottle has a savings of 17% a case compared to Amosorb and Multilayer PET bottle substrate. Shippers not utilizing inserts are $.20 less per case. The analysis was broken into three test and result phases. Phase …

Guest Satisfaction And Guest Loyalty Study For Hotel Industry, Danijel Carev

Theses

Common perception by practitioners in the hotel industry today that a satisfied guest would become a repeat customer was considered as a major subject of this research. It determined the extent to which satisfaction fostered loyalty. Interviewing guests and demonstrating the expression of visual experience through photography illustrated the guests´ propensity for recommending and returning to the hotel as a repeat customer. Using a provided digital camera, participating guests were asked to photograph whatever caught their eye to illustrate the hotel as being meaningful. In examining factors such as ambience, service, as well as with the guest’s overall satisfaction with …

Element Analysis Of The Green Building Process, Richard Zigenfus

Theses

This thesis studied the definition of a green building and the elements associated with the construction of single family home versus an office building. There are many rating systems available across the Country both private and public. The most well known is the LEED rating system developed by the United States Green Building Council. LEED has several rating programs now available. The eight elements of LEED for Homes are used as the basis of the research to create commonality throughout the documentation. Thirty single-family homes and office projects were examined and detailed in order to determine the aspects within each …

Hydrogen Energy: A Study Of The Use Of Anaerobic Digester Gas To Generate Electricity Utilizing Stand-Alone Hydrogen Fuel Cells At Wastewater Treatment Plants, Charles W. Emerson

Theses

Not provided.

Evaluation Of Virtual Routing Appliances As Routers Virtual Environment, Ahmed Al-Amoudi

Theses

A virtual routing appliance is a system for the rapid, automated management and employment of virtual networks. Virtual routing appliances utilize virtual machines to enable virtual infrastructure, and they have been used commonly in order to implement experimental networks and devoted subnets over a virtual network. Existing research in this area such as cluster-based virtual routers, and Xen routers require the use of physical resources to establish connectivity and to guarantee efficient resource utilization. The virtual routing appliance uses dynamic routing protocols such as RIP, and OSPF to forward traffic between different subnets and manage IP packets at the IP …

The Development Of A Graduate Course On Identity Management For The Department Of Networking, Security, And Systems Administration, Marsha Mitchell

Theses

Digital identities are being utilized more than ever as a means to authenticate computer users in order to control access to systems, web services, and networks. To maintain these digital identities, administrators turn to Identity Management solutions to offer protection for users, business partners, and networks. This paper proposes an analysis of Identity Management to be accomplished in the form of a graduate level course of study for a ten-week period for the Networking, Security, and Systems Administration department at Rochester Institute of Technology. This course will be designed for this department because of its emphasis on securing, protecting, and …

Measuring And Achieving Quality Customer Service: A Study On Public Sector In Malaysia, Muhammad Hafiz Rashid

Theses

Excellent quality of customer service is so important for government agencies even though they are not-for-profit. Better service enhances productivity, and treating customer right the first time saves time and money. Creating satisfied customers reduces the likelihood irate citizens take their complaints to higher sources, or to a public forum where negative word-of-mouth can be damaging. A common criticism of the public in Malaysia has been the poor quality of customer service rendered by employees in government agencies. As the largest organization in Malaysia, the quality of service they provide has a tremendous influence on public perceptions of the quality …

Differential Virtualization For Large-Scale System Modeling, Jason Koppe

Theses

Today’s computer networks become more complex than ever with a vast number of connected host systems running a variety of different operating systems and services. Academia and industry alike realize that education in managing such complex systems is extremely important for computer professionals because, with computers, there are many levels of detailed configuration. Configuration points can occur during all facets of computer systems including system design, implementation, and maintenance stages. In order to explore various hypotheses regarding configurations, system modeling is employed – computer professionals and researchers build test environments. Modeling environments require observable systems that are easily configurable at …

The Impact Of Storage Container Materials On Iga In Human Breast Milk Stored At Two Different Temperatures, Matthew D. Jenkins

Theses

This study investigated the relationship between the type of material and the concentration of IgA in human milk stored at two temperatures over time. Twelve breastfeeding mothers participated in the study with samples of milk obtained at locations of the participant's preference and transported to the laboratory in a sterile Snappies PP container stored in a cooler filled with ice. The sample was divided up and pipetted into 12 containers. IgA concentrations were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at time zero, 9, 24, 48, 72 and 168 hours. Milk IgA concentration decreased in all containers, with the exception of polycarbonate …

Script: Handful Of Fate, Ali Vatansever

Theses

It's a special day in town. They are getting ready to welcome their first foreign teacher. However, Julia, an accidental tourist is mistaken for her. And a wind of change starts to blow in the town. Handful of Fate, tells three stories on this very day.

Young Ahmet plans to run away with his forbidden lover from the village. Everything falls apart as he is assigned to be Julia's English guide. But she doesn't speak English.

Pharmacist Zeynep's story is about her struggle with her lover Celal and the townspeople over leaving for the city. With Volkan's arrival at the …

Application Of Project Management Methodology From Idea Generation To New Bundle Development In Personal Care Packaging Projects, Fikri Bilir

Theses

The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis of the current packaging development process used by Colgate-Palmolive sub-country teams and to provide suggestions for implementing an improved process. The analysis of the current approach to packaging development and project management in the personal care business category was done using a shampoo packaging change case study. A new Stage-Gate approach, which used project management methodologies, was proposed for packaging development projects. Additionally, a series of project management template documents (such as project charter, scope of work, work breakdown structure, responsibility matrix, and project timeline) applicable to other packaging development …

Guidelines For Material Selection For Sustainable Packaging Solutions, Susan Parra

Theses

With the growing concern on environmental issues, many companies are developing research studies to reduce its negative effects on the environment and become more sustainable. Packaging has been one of the most significant issues of concern because of its environmental impact and end-of-life cycle. The overall goal of this project is to quantify how packaging material selection plays a key role in developing sustainable practices in industry. This study will evaluate the importance of the selection of materials during the packaging design process and focus on the effects of material decisions in the life cycle of the package. In particular, …

How Modes Of Interviewing Affect Self-Disclosure, Sara Elizabeth Nicholls

Theses

This study examined how different modes of interviewing affect the self-disclosure of sensitive information in emerging adults. Participants included 61 students ages 18 to 22 years old who attended a Western New York university. Internalizing behaviors such as feelings of depression and anxiety were measured using three questionnaire formats: face-to-face, computer, and paper/pencil. Results showed that participants answered significantly different between the interview modes on 6 of the 21 questions. Those in the computer group were significantly more likely to endorse "No" on questions pertaining to feelings of depression and anxiety. These results suggest that the computer mode may be …

Digital Tools For Industrial Design, Thomas Myers

Theses

Not included.

Model Evaluation And Measurement Optimization For The Reproduction Of Artist Paint Surfaces Through Computer Graphics Renderings, Ying Chen

Theses

Light reflection models for computer graphics have been developed over the past several decades. For real paint surfaces, it is possible to model their bidirectional reflectance distribution function with simple models. A framework was established to evaluate two simple reflection models, Phong and Torrance-Sparrow, which were used to render artist paint surfaces under different illumination angles. An image acquisition system was devised to capture the images under selected illuminated angles. The parameters of the specular and the diffuse components were estimated with these image sequences. At the evaluation stage, both physicallybased metrics and psychophysical techniques were used to evaluate the …