Digital Commons Network^™

Impactful Interactivity Within Video Games, Luke Robert Maeser

Theses

Despite half a century of existence and dedicated academic programs educating next generations of game developers, conclusive evidence does not exist as to if video games are beneficial to learning or costly. Examining the notion of benefit versus cost, it is important to assess the value of video games when leveraged as tools for learning as traditional educational methodologies are not infallible. This paper explores how video games can generate psychological responses; and therefore, one must conclude learning has occurred. The following is encompassed: meaningful interactivity within video games (regarding narrative and gameplay), video games as educational tools, video game …

Noises Off: A Full Length Play Master's Thesis, Amelia Morse Kolkmeyer

Theses

Amelia Morse Kolkmeyer's master's thesis, Noises Off: A Full-Length Play, explores the complexities of performing Michael Frayn’s farcical stage production. The thesis delves into the play’s structure as a “play-within-a-play,” analyzing the chaos behind the scenes of Nothing On, the fictional show within Noises Off. Kolkmeyer focuses on her portrayal of Dotty Otley, an aging actress, and her character within Nothing On, Mrs. Clackett, a Cockney housekeeper.

The thesis examines the physical and technical demands of the production, particularly its intricate blocking and fast-paced comedic timing. Kolkmeyer reflects on the challenges of maintaining distinct characterizations, switching …

Becoming A Modern-Vintage Bride: Something Old, Vintage, Borrowed, And Blue, Lea Marie Chojnacki

Theses

This project is a guidebook, demonstrating how to create a vintage bridal ensemble for a modern-day bride. Vintage fashion and brides as 21st-century bridal wear consumers are investigated. Recommendations for shopping vintage fashion and the benefits of implementing vintage clothing and accessories into one’s wedding day are analyzed. Sourcing efforts using a vintage boutique and private collections are used to create a visual guidebook of four vintage bridal styles, including bohemian, classic, glamorous, and romantic, for a 21st-century bride. This guidebook demonstrates the ease of shopping vintage bridal wear, aiding the reader in becoming a successful modern-day vintage bride.

Non-Invasive Glucose Detection Using A Triple Pole Csrr Sensor, Chibuike Nnabuife Okika

Theses

A compact, low-cost, portable, non-invasive blood glucose sensor has been designed and presented in this paper. The proposed sensor is a triple-pole square Complementary Split Ring Resonator (CSRR) sensor that is etched on an FR4 substrate. At the bottom of the sensor is coupled an etched Microstrip Transmission Line (MTL) with an impedance matching of 50 Ω, which excites the sensor elements. Utilizing the CSRR-based sensor overcomes the disadvantages of pain and discomfort that the traditional method of pricking the skin to measure blood glucose levels could pose. The sensors work in such a way that as the glucose concentration …

Tapered-Precision Numerical Formats For Deep Learning Inference And Training, Seyed Hamed Fatemi Langroudi

Theses

The demand to deploy deep learning models on edge devices has recently increased due to their pervasiveness, in applications ranging from healthcare to precision agriculture. However, a major challenge with current deep learning models, is their computational complexity. One approach to address this limitation is to compress the deep learning models by employing low-precision numerical formats. Such low-precision models often suffer from degraded inference or training accuracy. This lends itself to the question, which low-precision numerical format can meet the objective of high training accuracy with minimal resources? This research introduces tapered-precision numerical formats for deep learning inference and training. …

Software-Based Property Enforcement For Detecting Hardware Anomalies, Jacob Thomas

Theses

As the world grows more and more reliant on microcomputing systems, security becomes a greater and greater concern. Malicious code is an ever-present issue in the field of computing and hardware vulnerabilities pose a rising threat to an increasingly connected landscape. This variety in threats can be mitigated through invariant rules for device operation, which form a policy for acceptable device behavior such that policy violations can be interpreted as either erroneous or malicious. This defense architecture disregards threat source and identifies issues based on their symptoms. Such systems are usually enforced through hardware implementations, which can become expensive in …

Novel Psychophysics Of Cognitive Color Appearance Phenomena, Luke Hellwig

Theses

Color appearance models can be used as an experimental design and analysis tool to better study high-level color perception involving brightness and chromatic adaptation. We investigate the experimental basis for the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect, the contribution of chromatic intensity to our perception of brightness. A new experimental method for measuring the brightness of chromatic colors leads to a model of the Helmholtz-Kohlrausch effect, which we use to extend CIECAM16, the color appearance model recommended by the Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage. The model is tested on high-dynamic-range images. The process of building this model also leads to several improvements in CIECAM16 itself. …

Haptic2fa: A Haptic-Based 2-Factor Authentication Method For Blind And Low-Vision Users, Palavi Vinod Bhole

Theses

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is one of the widely adopted authentication methods used in almost all the latest technologies. However, 2FA methods such as one-time passcodes (OTPs) can be inaccessible for blind and low vision (BLV) people due to the requirement of multiple steps, apps and/or devices for authentication and, pose security risks as screen readers may read out the verification codes to bystanders. I propose this study which was conducted in three parts. Part one of the study focused on exploring and understanding accessibility challenges faced by BLV users when using 2FA methods. Through a survey with 62 participants (34 …

A Comprehensive Machine Learning Approach To Assess Fall Risk In Stroke Survivors: Integrating Common Clinical Tests, Motor-Cognitive Dual-Tasks, Wearable Motion Sensors, And Detailed Motion Analysis, Masoud Abdollahi

Theses

This PhD dissertation focuses on developing improved methods for assessing and reducing fall risk in stroke survivors. Falls are a major concern in this population as they occur more frequently and can lead to catastrophic injuries due to factors like hemiparesis, spasticity, impaired balance and cognitive deficits. The dissertation reviews fall risk factors (FRFs) identified in prior studies and finds balance, gait and mobility metrics to be most significant. It notes current assessment methods rely on subjective scales and lack detailed motion analysis. Dual-task testing is also overlooked despite revealing subtle deficits. To address these gaps, wearable sensors and machine …

Analysis Of Molecular Dynamics Simulations Relevant To Combining Polarized Neutron Scattering With Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Stella Van Ness

Theses

The goal of this thesis is to contribute to the study of combining nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and neutron scattering to study liquid structure. NMR could be used to polarize select atoms in a target molecule in a neutron scattering system. Molecular dynamics (MD) was used to simulate a system of thienopyridazine dissolved into deuterated methanol. A robust function was constructed to calculate the scattering cross-sections resulting from this system, as they depend on the polarization and spin states of the hyperpolarizable hydrogen atoms. This function can be used in the future to estimate signal-to-noise characteristics of specific experimental designs.

Lifelong Learning In Spiking Neural Networks Through Neural Plasticity, Nicholas Soures

Theses

Lifelong learning, the ability to learn from continually changing data distributions in real-time, is a significant challenge in artificial intelligence. The central issue is that new learning tends to interfere with previously acquired memories, a phenomenon known as catastrophic forgetting. Surrounding this are several other challenges associated with this, such as knowledge transfer and adaptation, few-shot learning, and processing of noisy data. Since humans do not seem to suffer from this problem, researchers have applied biologically inspired techniques to address it, including metaplasticity, synaptic consolidation and memory replay. Although these approaches have seen some success in traditional neural networks, there …

Prediction Of Unplanned 30-Day Readmission Of Heart Failure Patients Using Lstm, Jesdin Raphael

Theses

In the context of heart failure, a leading cause of hospitalization in the United States, approximately 15\% of patients discharged within 30 days face readmission, contributing to escalated healthcare costs and compromised clinical outcomes. This study leverages a wealth of personal information extracted from Emergency Health Records (EHRs) spanning two decades. This research aims to enhance the predictive capabilities of re-hospitalization for cardiac patients by creating a two-stage LSTM model while incorporating features into regression and time series datasets. A critical aspect of this study involves ensuring the integration of all relevant features across both datasets. Including constant data elements, …

Knowledge Integration For Human-In-The-Loop Machine Learning, Ervine Zheng

Theses

Machine learning has evolved into advanced techniques for vision, language, and applications in different areas. However, human expertise is still essential in providing meaningful interpretations of the semantics for tasks in knowledge-rich domains, such as medicine, science, and security intelligence. It is beneficial to incorporate human knowledge into a machine learning system, and we consider human-in-the-loop an increasingly important area for future research. Human-in-the-loop machine learning aims to develop a reliable prediction model with minimal costs by integrating human knowledge and experience. In this thesis, we propose human-in-the-loop methods to address knowledge-rich data understanding challenges for different machine-learning tasks. Specifically, …

The Role Of Large Language Models (Llms) Driven Chatbots In Shaping The Future Of Government Services And Communication With Citizens In Uae, Dina Fares

Theses

As technological advancements continue to redefine the landscape of Government Services and Communication with Citizens in the UAE, and in line with the UAE government's efforts towards achieving the UAE charter for future services, the integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) driven chatbots emerges as a pivotal factor in shaping the future of government services and communication with citizens in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through a comprehensive review of literature and collaboration with industry experts, this thesis explores the development of AI-based chatbots and the introduction of the breakthrough in the field of Deep Learning Language models (Transformers, and …

A Socio-Hydrological Assessment Of Illinois Levee Systems, Nicholas Keller

Theses

Recent inspections conducted on levee safety in the U.S. that participate in the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Levee Safety Program under Public-Law 84-99 have shown that the overwhelming majority (>95%) of these levees have at least some deficiency associated with them, and many being identified as having an unacceptable safety rating (≈30%). In the U.S., many levees were constructed using funding from the federal government, but the responsibility of operation and maintenance of the levees were turned over to local government bodies. Given the local funding of levee maintenance, the socioeconomic characteristics of these levee-protected communities …

Thermo-Kinetic Parameters Governing Decomposition Of Amino Acids: A Computational Study, Mubarak Taleb Alkwradi

Theses

Amino acid model compounds are important nitrogenated species that in various categories of biomass. These compounds exhibit unique fragmentation pathways because of their adjacent amino and hydroxyl groups. Comprehending the decomposition chemistry of amino acids is essential to reduce harmful nitrogen emissions during biomass thermal treatment. This research reports the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of amino acids, and sulfur-containing amino acid, based on accurate density functional theory calculations coupled with kinetic modelling. The first part of the thesis provides comprehensive thermochemical parameters for the complete set of amino acids in the gas phase. The optimized geometries of amino acid compounds …

Drone Swarms In Adversarial Environment, Bhavana Sai Yadav Akula

Theses

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated remotely with the help of cameras, GPS, and on-device SD cards. These are used for many applications including civilian as well as military. On the other hand, drone swarms are a fleet of drones that work together to achieve a special goal through swarm intelligence approaches. These provide a lot of advantages such as better coverage, accuracy, increased safety, and improved flexibility when compared to a single drone. However, the deployment of such swarms in an adversarial environment poses significant challenges. This work provides an overview of the current state of research on …

Selective Production Of Levoglucosan (Lg) From Pyrolysis Of Date Pits And Its Catalytic Transformation Into Transportation Fuels, Ala Hamid Higazi

Theses

Levoglucosan (LG) or (1,6-anhydro-β-D-glucopyranose) signifies important sugar derivatives produces in appreciable quantities from thermochemical and biochemical degradation of biomass. It is often regarded as an important platform chemical for the synthesis of value-added products, most notably styrene and furans. The work in this thesis entails two broad aims; to produce LG from pyrolysis of date pits; and then convert the LG into transportation fuels through a hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reaction. The particular choice of date pits stems from its local relative abundance as a waste biomass. Aiming to further improve the yield of levoglucosan yields from pyrolysis of date pits, pre-treatment …

The Black Garden, Madalene Klocke

Theses

“The Black Garden” is a novel-length fantasy fiction work. It follows the narrative of Ryan, an 18-year-old girl, who has great expectations for what her first year at university will hold. Her entire world view is tilted when she attends a party with her new roommate, Blair, and wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Ryan must fight to keep her sanity as she is thrust into the world of faeries, witches, and far worse creatures than she could have ever imagined: including her parents.

Renewable Energy Integration Strategy Development For Dubai South, Oshba Almheiri

Theses

Dubai South is an aerotropolis city, a global aviation and logistics hub, home to the world’s largest airport, Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC). Along with such growth, a high demand of energy is expected therefore in response to address such need for the implementation of sustainable energy practices in Dubai South’s aviation, logistics, and residential districts. The development of an integrated renewable energy strategy for the region is the subject of this capstone project. The project relies on three pillars; first environmental impact to battle climate change, secondly alignment with local and international standards like as the UN Sustainable Development …

Viability Of Rental Chillers For The Gcc Region By Using Uae As A Baseline, Kenaz Thomas George

Theses

The HVAC industry in the UAE is a lucrative business, with five companies operating in the UAE, two of which are major players in the market. COMPANY-X, is one of two and it is a multi-million-dollar company headquartered in the USA. The company has franchises in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, along with several dealerships across the country. Despite considering entering the rental market for the past six years, however, it remained just an idea until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. The pandemic resulted in a surge in demand for rental services, specifically in the testing and vaccination …

Enhancing Human-Robot Collaboration Through Intuitive Augmented Reality Interface And Precise Visualization, Wenhao Yang

Theses

In terms of changing production in the transformation to the Industry 4.0 landscape and increasing demand for customized products, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) utilizing industrial robots encounter a shortage of skilled labor. Open questions in human-robot interaction encompass the need for natural and effective interfaces, path planning within intricate environments, and the design and execution of human-robot collaborations. This dissertation aims to tackle these challenges by leveraging Augmented Reality (AR) to enhance robot operations in manufacturing scenarios, with a focus on optimizing the efficiency of the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) system, improving the bidirectional trust between humans and robots, and …

The Rise Of Heroes, Nava Barenji

Theses

The Rise Of Heroes is a body of work that represents an era in which Iranian women first revolted for their rights. This body of work incorporates my experiences, feelings, and observations of social incidents that happened during the course of my life as an artist both inside of and outside of Iran. This thesis paper explores the history, culture, and art that I was inspired by to give the visual form to my emotions. These elements clarify the use of traditional art and culture in my Paintings. The research for this body of work originated with my interests involving …

Nurses' Experience Of Family-Centered Rounds In The Intensive Care Unit, Kaitlyn King

Theses

A paradigm shift in the Canadian healthcare system has transitioned the patient and family from care recipients to integral and valued members of the multidisciplinary team. Implementation of family-centered care within the context of the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) remains slow to adopt in Canada despite evidence that open visitation and family presence offer many benefits to improve the delivery of quality care, and satisfaction with the overall patient experience. The COVID-19 pandemic has further complicated the ability of the healthcare team to effectively include patients and families into their daily multidisciplinary rounds. Restricted visitation policies, infection control and …

Exploitation Of Spatial Content For Enhancing Pansharpening And Image Fusion Performance, Rey Ducay

Theses

Designing algorithms that spatially enhance hyperspectral imagery is an active area of research due to their many wide-ranging applications such as target detection, precision agriculture, forest management, security/defense applications, among others. This body of work focuses on the effects of spatial content on one’s ability to fuse imagery. Different types of spatial content (e.g., spatial clutter of man-made structures like buildings, types of trees in a forest, different species of grain in a farm, pixels containing water, plumes/clouds, etc.) and spatial artifacts such as edges and corners are explored as to how they affect the sharpening process. This is achieved …

Biodov: A Tool Used To Encourage Discovery In Bioinformatics Through Gamification, Gregory D. Johnson Jr.

Theses

Expressing big data in a meaningful manner is exceptionally difficult. Scientists often struggle with the visualization of data due to several limitations. Currently, many scientists use two-dimensional figures to display and analyze meaningful data. However, I believe using game design theory and game technologies, we can create more robust visualizations. These visualizations will allow scientists to easily communicate science to the masses and make better discoveries. Therefore, we introduce BioDOV (Biological Data Oriented Visualization). This tool will utilize game design principles to expand upon current visualization methods in the scientific community. Through this proof of concept, we will create the …

Application Of Icp Rie Techniques To Produce Cnt Arrays, Mujtaba Yar Khan Siddiqui

Theses

Introducing biomolecules into cells is an important process in the field of gene therapy and in developing cures for debilitating illnesses such as HIV and cancer. However, the currently used methods for cellular transfection are slow, inefficient and expensive, causing them to be restrictive. A solution to this problem would be the carbon nanotube (CNT) array devices developed by our research group, which have been shown to be highly efficient at transporting biomolecules into cells. In the current manufacturing process, a sacrificial template with vertically aligned nanopores is used to deposit carbon in, the template then is etched away to …

Biochemical Charactrization Of A Fructosyltransferase Enzyme From A Halophilic Archaeon, Haloarcula Marismotui, For Biotechnological Applications, Ahlam Khalifa Al Ameri

Theses

Fructosyltransferase enzymes are involved in the production of fructans, which are polymers of fructose and naturally present in many foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, and cereals. Fructans with short chain lengths are called Fructooligosaccharides (FOS), which are small dietary fibers having low caloric values and are known as “prebiotics”. Fructans have a broad range of applications in the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and chemical industries. They have unique physiochemical properties and functionalities depending on the source of enzyme used for their production. The present study aimed at the utilization of a recently discovered unique fructosyltransferase enzyme from an extremely halophilic microorganism, …

Use Of Root Endophytic Enterobacter Sp. Sa187 For The Improvement Of Abiotic Stress Tolerance Of Tomatoes Grown Under Greenhouse Conditions, Aysha Mohammad Rahmani

Theses

Agricultural productivity is largely affected by climate change. These climatic alterations translate into adverse abiotic stress conditions, such as heat, drought, and salinity, which restrict the geographical distribution of plants and limit their crop yields. Extreme conditions primarily affect semiarid and arid regions, causing severe environmental and economic repercussions. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) have been proposed to overcome these challenges. The desert plant endophytic bacterium Enterobacter sp. SA187 has shown beneficial effects on plant growth and salt stress tolerance in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana in vitro, as well as under field conditions in different crops. This study aimed to …

Designing For A Local Brand Image Of Architecture To Achieve Cultural Sustainability: Al Ain City As A Case Study, Dana Bassam Bidoun

Theses

Cities, like Al Ain, are dynamic entities, echoing the diverse rhythms and values of their inhabitants. Urban evolution showcases a city's brand-its unique identity sculpted by historical, cultural, and local influences. A city's true essence emerges when architects collaborate with residents, blending their desires with the city's architectural legacy. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a brand-based design strategy, integrating the architecture process with insights from local residents to foster a sense of identity and belonging in the built environment. Grounded in the personal construct theory, the research applied the repertory grid technique, combining both qualitative and quantitative …