Digital Commons Network^™

Fog Harvesting Using Chemically Functionalized Porous Membranes, Afra Saif Alhumaidi

Theses

This work explores the use of chemically functionalized porous membranes for fog harvesting. Fog water has emerged as a valuable alternative water source in regions where traditional freshwater resources are scarce. However, conventional fog harvesting techniques often suffer from low collection efficiency and limited scalability. To address these challenges, this research investigates the potential of chemically functionalized porous membranes for enhanced fog water collection. The study focuses on the development and characterization of specialized membranes with surface properties optimized for efficient fog droplet capture.
/="/">The current study proposes the use of aluminum mesh for fog collection, as it stands …

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 …

Energy-Aware Resource Control For Dual Connectivity Devices Running Multipath Tcp, Ramiza Shams

Theses

The introduction of Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP) allows uninterrupted data transmission through different wireless interfaces simultaneously. It surpasses the performance and reliability of conventional Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Alternatively, Software Defined Networking (SDN) has revolutionized traditional network management and control by introducing significant changes. It enables the networks to be programmed through a centralized controller that oversees the entire network. Despite that, energy consumption is a remarkable issue when using dual-connectivity wireless devices, most of which are battery-powered. This thesis work primarily investigates the energy value differences of devices under different congestion control algorithms by using different interface configurations …

Novel Investigation Of Catalytic Hydrogenation And Oxidation Of 1,3-Butadiene, Ali M. Alabedkhalil

Theses

The hydrogenation of 1,3 Butadiene (BD) is an important industrial process that is generally used to generate butene, which is a key feedstock to produce a variety of chemicals such as polymers, plastic, and synthetic rubber. This process involves reacting BD with hydrogen using different metallic Ni-based catalysts. In this study, Ni/Al₂O₃ and Ni/Nb₂O5 catalysts were used and investigated to perform the hydrogenation reaction because of their commercial availability, effective hydrogenation activity, and affordability compared to Platinum Group Metal (PGM) catalysts.

The catalytic reactions were conducted using a quartz tube reactor between a temperature range …

Thermohydraulic Performance Of 3d Printed Metal Heat Exchanger With Zig-Zag Minichannels, Aysha Rashed Alshamsi

Theses

This work proposes using zig-zag minichannels in heat exchangers for enhancing its performance while operating under balanced (heat capacity ratio of unity) and unbalanced flow (heat capacity ratio of 0.5) conditions for counter flow and parallel flow configurations. The performance of the heat exchangers is quantified in terms of effectiveness and pressure drops and studies are done for hot fluid Reynolds number ranging from 50 to 1500. This work employs a numerical study to investigate the performance of the heat exchanger with zig-zag minichannels.
/="/">Simulation is carried out using Fluent module of Ansys Workbench. The model used for simulation …

An Efficient Strategy For Deploying Deception Technology, Noora Abdulla Alhosani

Theses

Implementations of deception technology is crucial in discovering attacks by creating a controlled and monitored environment for detecting malicious activity. This technology involves the deployment of decoys, traps, and honeypots that mimic natural systems and network assets to attract and identify attackers. The use of deception technology provides an early warning system for detecting cyber-attacks, allowing organizations to respond quickly and mitigate damage. This article proposed a framework that focuses on maximizing the efficiency of deception technology in detecting sophisticated attacks. The framework employs multi-layered deception techniques at various levels of the network, system, and application to provide comprehensive coverage …

Comparing Teaching Methods For Auditory-Visual Conditional Discrimination, Brady Conley, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Responding to spoken language is a skill that is typically acquired at a young age. However, responding to spoken language requires discrimination between stimuli. Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have demonstrated difficulty acquiring listener behavior involving conditional discrimination. Thus, the most efficient and effective teaching strategies should continue to be a focus in behavior-analytic research. The purpose of the current study was to compare teaching methods for conditional discrimination for three school-aged children with ASD. The results showed that one participant met criterion for the best practice condition only, one participant met criterion for both best practice and …

The Effects Of Antecedent And Consequence Strategies On Data Collection In A Human Service Organization, Sarah Love, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Antecedent and consequence strategies in the research literature to improve employee performance within human service organizations have included behavioral skills training (BST) and performance-based incentive programs, among others. The current study continued this line of research in which participants were members of a human service organization and were responsible for collecting data on clients’ responding during programming. The purpose was to evaluate the effects of antecedent and consequence-based strategies on the accuracy of data collected by participants. The results showed that BST was effective at increasing accurate data collection across all participants and that the consequence-based intervention, in the form …

Increasing Independence With The Picture Exchange Communication System (Pecs) For An Adult With Developmental And Intellectual Disabilities, Jessica Moore, Robbie Hanson

Theses

Numerous studies have evaluated the effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) among children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Rosales & Marin-Avelino, 2022). However, there remains limited research that indicates the same effectiveness for adults (Rosales & Marin-Avelino, 2022). The purpose of the current study was to examine the use of Phase I of PECS to increase communication with an adult with ASD and developmental disabilities. Prior to intervention, the participant independently exchanged picture icons 0% of opportunities. Following intervention, the participant reached mastery criterion for independently exchanging picture icons across preferred items. Additional data showed that the …

Characterization Of Low Power Hfo2 Based Switching Devices For In-Memory Computing, Aseel Zeinati

Theses

Oxide based Resistive Random Access Memory (RRAM) devices are investigated as one of the promising non-volatile memories to be used for in-memory computing that will replace the classical von Neumann architecture and reduce the power consumption. These applications required multilevel cell (MLC) characteristics that can be achieved in RRAM devices. One of the methods to achieve this analog switching behavior is by performing an optimized electrical pulse. The RRAM device structure is basically an insulator between two metals as metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure. Where one of the primary challenges is to assign an RRAM stack with both low power consumption and …

Bright Light Therapy And Depression: Assessing Suitability Using Entrainment Maps, Charles A. Mainwaring

Theses

Bright Light Therapy has been shown to be efficacious to mood disorders including Major Depression. Researchers use the Jewett-Forger-Kronauer model of the circadian rhythm with the Unified Model of melatonin including a mathematical term implementing feedback from the melatonin system into the circadian system to quantify the effects of bright light. Early investigations into intrinsic period, light sensitivity, and the circadian pacemaker's sensitivity to blood melatonin concentration may be indicators of subsets of patients with long intrinsic periods exhibiting symptoms of depression.

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 …

A Computational Study Of Adsorptive Desulfurization In Metal Organic Frameworks, Kyle Concha

Theses

Fossil fuel usage has been related to several concerns about the environment and human health. One of these concerns is related to fuels containing Organic Sulfur Compounds (OSCs) which upon burning produce hazardous compounds such as SO₂ which contributes to acid rain and affects respiratory health. Removal of these OSCs is an important field of study as it can prevent the production of SO_x compounds. One technique to remove OSCs is Adsorptive Desulfurization (ADS) in which Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are potential candidates to be used as adsorbents. Two archetypal MOFs, HKUST-1 and Cu₃HHTP₂, …

A Survey On Online Matching And Ad Allocation, Ryan Lee

Theses

One of the classical problems in graph theory is matching. Given an undirected graph, find a matching which is a set of edges without common vertices. In 1990s, Richard Karp, Umesh Vazirani, and Vijay Vazirani would be the first computer scientists to use matchings for online algorithms [8]. In our domain, an online algorithm operates in the online setting where a bipartite graph is given. On one side of the graph there is a set of advertisers and on the other side we have a set of impressions. During the online phase, multiple impressions will arrive and the objective of …

The Role Of Trees In Reducing The Urban Heat Island Effect On The New Jersey Institute Of Technology Campus, Newark, Nj, Dahlia Mansour

Theses

Every year, an estimated 12.3 million tons of glass are generated in the United States. Of all glass generated, only 3.1 million tons are recycled. Despite the near endless recyclability of glass waste, recycling rates in the United States remain low. This is primarily due to the lack of color separation and presence of non-recyclable materials associated with single-stream curbside collection used in many municipalities throughout the country. These factors make recycled glass unusable for many glass bottle manufacturers, causing the majority of glass placed in a recycling bin to eventually be landfilled. The purpose of this research is to …

The Impact Of Leadership Behavior On Employee Engagement: A Qualitative Study, Torie M. Bonnet

Theses

Employee engagement has been shown by previous researchers to improve the quality of work that is produced. Previous researchers have focused on how various leadership styles impact engagement. Researchers have revealed that the concepts of structural empowerment, authentic leadership, transformational leadership, and leader-empowering behavior have positively impacted employees' levels of engagement. The knowledge gap includes what behaviors lead to improved employee engagement, resulting in an upbeat team climate and decreased intention to leave a position. This study was designed to glean knowledge from experienced nurse managers regarding employee engagement and understand what skills could be taught to novice managers to …

A Novel Approach To The Treatment Of Degenerative Disc Disease, Alexandra Mckillop

Theses

Low back pain is estimated to affect 80% of the population at some point in their lives. It places a high economic burden on society, as individuals suffering from low back pain are often less productive and miss more work days, resulting in lost wages (Freburger et al., 2015; Katz, 2006; Taher et al., 2012). Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) is among the most common causes of low back pain. It is a pathological process where the intervertebral disc (IVD) undergoes structural changes and is characterized by increased inflammation within the disc, in combination with nerve ingrowth causing pain. Structural changes …

3-D Printed Microstructures With Zno Nanoflower For Antimicrobial Applications, Henry Yuqing

Theses

Many studies have been conducted to combat the bacterial infections problem by creating antimicrobial surfaces. However, the majority of them require complex manufacturing processes and expensive equipment. In this study, a cheaper and easy to be fabricated antimicrobial surface has been developed. First, a micropatterned 3D printed structure was fabricated. Then it was coated with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoflower. The study demonstrated that micropatterned structure served as an “armor” to the nanostructure from plastic scraper and finger abrasion. To test the antimicrobial performance of the surface, the chip was immersed in 2E8 CFU/mL Escherichia coli (E. coli) suspension and incubated …

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 …

Shipment Containers Tracking Optimization Using Machine Learning, Omran Al-Ali

Theses

The container tracking data is crucial for the effective management of supply chains. In

this report, we analyze container tracking data to identify areas for improvement in supply chain operations. Our study aims to provide insights into the factors affecting container movements,

identify areas where delays and bottlenecks occur, and suggest ways to optimize operations. The supply chain is a complex system involving multiple parties, including shippers,

freight forwarders, carriers, ports, and customs agencies. The timely delivery of goods is critical for maintaining customer satisfaction and reducing costs. Therefore, it is essential to have a robust tracking system that enables …

Early Detection Of Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) Using Machine Learning Techniques, Mahra Musabbah Bin Beyat Alfalasi

Theses

ASD is a neurological disorder that affects over 1 in 44 chilren and this rate has increased. The diagnosis process can be timely and costly. This will make it difficult for the patients to adhere to the prescribed treatments and will hinder the progress of the patient. This project is focused on increasing the efficiency of this diagnosis process through machine learning techniques. The proposed datasets are; ASD Screening Data for Adult, ASD screening Data for Children and ASD Screening Data for Adolescent. These datasets are a categorical, continuous, and binary data type. They have 21 common attributes and a …

Ensemble Methods For The Anomaly Detection In Enterprise Systems, Basem Torky

Theses

Ensemble methods have been widely used in the field of anomaly detection in enterprise systems to improve the accuracy and robustness of these systems. Anomaly detection aims to detect abnormal patterns deviating from the rest of the data, called anomalies or outliers. With millions of services or sub-systems to be monitored such as e-commerce platforms and governmental portals, our study is focusing on utilizing ensemble methods to develop a model to be used in this enterprise systems to avoid the enormous financial impacts, bad reputation, and customer dissatisfaction.

There are several ensemble methods that have been proposed in the literature, …

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 …

Study To Improve The Employee Experiences And Reducing The Employee Attrition, Mahra Essa Mohammed Belarai Alfalasi

Theses

Employee attrition is a significant issue that occurs in every company today, regardless of external environment changes. According to the definition of attrition, the number of employees gradually decreases due to retirement, death, and resignations (Marais, 2022). Attrition can occur when a well-trained and well-adjusted talented person leaves the company for any reason, leaving a gap in the workplace (BasuMallick, 2021). It is extremely difficult for HR employees to fill the gap that has been created. For today's managers, minimizing turnover rates is a major concern, and modern HR managers do this in several ways, the employee's decision was motivated …

Customised Investment Optimization Using Genetic Algorithms, Maythaa Al Ali, Shaikha Al Dossari

Theses

Portfolio selection is an important part of fund management as it contributes to investors’ economic growth. Investing is investing money to obtain an additional or specific advantage over money. Investment involves not only profit (return), but also risk that the investor bears. The higher the return an investor expects, the higher the risk the investor takes. Proper portfolio construction can minimize the level of risk to the expected value of an individual stock portfolio. Equity portfolio optimization, therefore, plays an important role in setting an investor’s investment portfolio strategy. In recent decades, there have been great advances in financial mathematics. …

The Effect Of Demographic Imbalance On Crime, Maher Bhadri

Theses

This study investigates demographic imbalance on crimes in the UAE by analyzing a record of crimes from 2020 to 2022 using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings reveal gender, marital status, and age imbalance among crime offenders in the UAE. Males, married individuals, and individuals in their 30s are more prevalent in committing crimes. Certain countries, accused individuals, and certain types of crimes are also more frequent in the UAE. Policymakers and law enforcement agencies can use these insights to develop targeted interventions to reduce crime rates in the country. Future studies should investigate the underlying causes of these imbalances …

Vibration Powder Dispensing And Gravity-Fed Powder Delivery For Directed Energy Deposition Additive Manufacturing Systems, Andrew Greeley

Theses

Directed energy deposition is a class of additive manufacturing processes where focused thermal energy melts and fuses material being deposited on a part. This type of process is useful for making high performance parts, remanufacturing and repair, and for making multi-material parts. However, in systems where powder feedstock is used, only a fraction of the powder ends up in the part and the rest is usually wasted. Increasing the amount of powder captured in powder-fed directed energy deposition systems is the focus of this work. The proposed solution is to combine vibration powder dispensing and gravity-fed powder delivery systems to …

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 …

All Memories Fade, Lynn Bierbaum

Theses

All Memories Fade is an installation and sculptural exhibition examining familial connection through my developed fear of forgetting. These works comprise many materials, including glass, resin, silk fabric, wet plate collodion images, and chemigrams. This installation uses light and optical variants to communicate the fear of losing one’s most cherished memories in life. All Memories Fade draws inspiration from my family farm in Minnesota that had been sold when I was young. The encapsulated sculptures and installation produce a distorted perception of home through material memory, utilizing light and shadow to highlight those distortions and abstractions that checker one’s past. …

Effects Of Biochar Content And Particle Size On Mechanical Properties Of Biochar-Plastic Composites, Anne Marie Mozrall

Theses

The recent increases in plastic pollution and consumption have put bioplastics in a strong position to expand. However, better understanding is needed for bio-fillers and their effect on popular bioplastics, such as poly (lactic acid) (PLA), in order for this to occur. Biochar (BC), a stable form of carbon derived from high temperature conversion of organic material, has potential application as a plastic filler. Although biochar’s effect on petroleum-based plastics has been widely studied, there are still major gaps in the literature surrounding biochar use as a filler in PLA/starch composites. Biochar particle size and loading are two factors that …