Digital Commons Network^™

The Use Of Actinobacteria To Improve The Efficacy Of Phytoremediation Of Heavy Metal-Polluted Soils In The United Arab Emirates, Fatima Abdulmoneim Hussain

Theses

In an effort to gain the advantages provided by actinobacterial enzyme (1- aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) (ACC) deaminase (ACCD) in the phytoremediation of heavy metals from the environment, the ability of native actinobacteria with ACC deaminase activity to promote the growth of Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon L.) in soils contaminated with nickel nitrate was evaluated under greenhouse conditions. This enzyme hydrolyzes (ACC), the immediate biosynthetic precursors of the hormone ethylene (ET) in plant tissues to ammonia and α keto-butyrate. The main objectives of this study were: (1) Isolating beneficial native heavy metal-tolerant actinobacteria from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) contaminated soil capable …

Determining Knowledge From Student Performance Prediction Using Machine Learning, Wala El Rashied Mohamed

Theses

Recent years have seen a rapid development in the field of educational data mining (EDM), enhancing the ability to trace student knowledge. Data from intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) have been analyzed and interpreted by multiple researchers seeking to measure students’ knowledge as it evolves. Human nature, as well as other factors, makes it difficult to determine whether or not students are knowledgeable. This thesis sets out to examine the level of students’ knowledge by predicting their current and future academic performance based on records of their historical interactions. By restructuring data and considering a student perspective, we can gain insight …

Physicochemical, Techno-Functional And Bioactive Properties Of Camel Whey Protein Concentrate As Affected By Spray-Drying And Ultrasonication Treatment, Alanoud Muhsen Al Thaibani

Theses

Whey protein concentrates (WPCs) are gaining importance as a functional ingredient due to their nutritional, techno-functional and bioactive properties. In this study, WPCs were prepared from skimmed camel milk, then either spray-dried (SD) at 170, 185 and 200°C, or treated by ultrasonication (US) (20 kHz) for 5, 10 and 15 min followed by freeze-drying to obtain powders. The characterization of WPC powders was carried out by Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Reverse-Phase Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-UPLC) which showed that the US treatment degraded the proteins more than SD. The morphology, particle size, and surface charge of WPC …

Mangrove Growth Promotion By Endophytic Actinobacteria And Seaweed Extract, Ameera Khalfan Salem Alkaabi

Theses

In this study, I aimed to determine the impact of the application of a commercial seaweed extract (SWE) bio-stimulant and endophytic actinobacterial isolates on growth performance and endogenous hormonal levels of mangroves. Therefore, I isolated endophytic plant growth promoting (PGP) actinobacteria (PGPA) from mangrove roots; and evaluated their potential as biological inoculants on mangrove seedlings under greenhouse and open-field nursery conditions. Seven salt tolerant isolates had the ability to produce different levels of in vitro plant growth regulators (PGRs) and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase (ACCD), and to solubilize phosphorus. Accordingly, only one isolate, Streptomyces tubercidicus UAE1 (St), was …

حمایة الخصوصیة الرقمیة في ظل تطبیقات الذكاء الاصطناعي (دراسة تحلیلیة مقارنة), ریم غریب الشامسي

Theses

مع بزوغ عصر الثورة الصناعیة الرابعة (4IR)، تزامن ذلك مع وجود حقبة جدیدة في التطور التقني والتحول الرقمي والتي أصبحت فیھا التكنولوجیا جزءاً لا یتجزأ من المجتمعات، مما أدى إلى ازدیاد ظھور تطبیقات الذكاء الاصطناعي بشكل كبیر والتي دخلت في مجالات كثیرة في حیاتنا الیومیة، فأصبح الاستغناء عنھا ضرباً من الخیال، فنرى استخدامات الطائرات بدون طیار في مجال التجارة الإلكترونیة في إیصال السلع و الخدمات، والروبوتات الجراحیة في العملیات الدقیقة، و الاستشارات المھنیة والقانونیة عن بعد، و الحكومة الذكیة في استخدام التطبیقات الحكومیة المؤتمتة - من بینھا حكومة الإمارات بوضع استراتیجیة الحكومة الرقمیة لدولة الإمارات 2025 واستراتیجیة الإمارات للذكاء الاصطناعي-، …

Deep Learning Based Segmentation And Classification For Improved Breast Cancer Detection, Bita Khosrow Asadi Khosrow Asadi

Theses

Breast Cancer is a leading killer of women globally. It is a serious health concern caused by calcifications or abnormal tissue growth in the breast. Doing a screening and identifying the nature of the tumor as benign or malignant is important to facilitate early intervention, which drastically decreases the mortality rate. Usually, it uses ultrasound images, since they are easily accessible to most people and have no drawbacks as such, unlike in the other most famous screening technique of mammograms where in some cases you may not get a clear scan. In this thesis, the approach to this problem is …

Thermal Stress Mitigation Of Single-Phase Sinewave Inverter By Using Double Switch H Bridge Configuration, Mohammad Mousa Ahmad Hushki

Theses

The increasing demand for renewable energies and the ongoing advancement in the industry require continuously evolving power converters in terms of efficiency, power density, and reliability. Furthermore, power converters’ applications in harsh and remote environments such as offshore wind turbines demand robust and reliable designs to help reduce operational costs. Power switch failure is a critical reliability issue that leads to the converter going out of service, causing an unscheduled maintenance event. The main reason behind power switch failure is thermal cycling. Therefore, the first part of this thesis attempts to develop an effective double switch H bridge inverter topology …

Impact Of Saline Water Irrigation On Date Palm (Phoenix Dactylifera) Associated Bulk Soil Bacterial Communities In Oases Agroecosystem Of Uae, Fardous Abdi Ibrahim Jibar Alhashmi

Theses

Irrigation of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) with saline groundwater is routinely practiced in the arid agroecosystems of United Arab Emirates (UAE), due to freshwater scarcity. Saline groundwater irrigation is known to deposit salts in the top layers of soil and increase soil salinization. However, how increasing soil salinization affects the belowground bacterial communities, is not well investigated. Soil samples were collected from 14 different date farms where irrigation water source was either non–saline water or saline groundwater. Soil bacterial communities were identified using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding. The results showed that bacterial diversity (including Shannon diversity, richness, and …

Factors Affecting The Antibacterial Activity Of Cefiderocol On Klebsiella Pneumoniae With Diverse Characteristics, Lana Jamal Rashed Daoud

Theses

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing serious threat that poses a burden on the healthcare system. Spread of AMR bacteria limits treatment options; thus, new antimicrobial agents are required. Cefiderocol (CFDC) is a novel siderophore cephalosporin, approved by the FDA in 2019 for use in treating infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) pathogens; but it is not yet in clinical use in the UAE. CFDC is equipped with stabilizers against β-lactamases as well as a siderophore side chain that allows it to penetrate the outer membrane of bacteria through the iron uptake pathways. The aim of this study is to …

Robust Detection Of Coronary Heart Disease Using Machine Learning Algorithms, Anas Haitham Domyati

Theses

Predicting whether or not someone will get heart or cardiac disease is now one of the most difficult jobs in the area of medicine. Heart disease is responsible for the deaths of about one person per minute in the contemporary age. Processing the vast amounts of data that are generated in the field of healthcare is an important application for data science. Because predicting cardiac disease is a difficult undertaking, there is a pressing need to automate the prediction process to minimize the dangers that are connected with it and provide the patient with timely warning. The chapter one in …

Performance Evaluation Of Glass-Fiber Reinforced Cement-Free Geopolymer Concrete, Mohammad Zuaiter

Theses

The alkali-activation of aluminosilicate materials produces a geopolymer binder that promises to be a sustainable replacement to cement in concrete. Yet, such concrete has experienced brittle behavior and poor resistance to cracking. As a means of improving its performance, this research assesses the feasibility of utilizing glass fibers in slag-fly ash blended geopolymer concrete for structural applications. A blend of slag and fly ash served as the binding material. Two types of glass fibers were used individually or as a hybrid combination. Type A and B glass fibers had similar properties but different lengths of 24 and 43 mm, respectively. …

Aerodynamics And Aeroacoustics Optimization Of Vehicle’S Side Mirror Base And Exhaust Pipe, Moath Nayef Mohamed Zaareer

Theses

This thesis is concerned with studying two different vehicle parts in terms of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics. Two main factors determine the efficiency and luxury of the vehicle, the low aerodynamic forces and low noise emission. The aerodynamic drag coefficient is concerned with how easy a vehicle can travel through the air; the lower the value, the less fuel is needed to move the vehicle forward and less air resistance the vehicle faces. The aerodynamic lift coefficient is related to vehicle ground stability, and the more negative the value is, the higher the vehicle's stability. Moreover, the aeroacoustics is concerned with …

Distribution Modelling Of Socotra Cormorant Using Maxent, Areej Mustafa Jaradat

Theses

This thesis is concerned with species distribution modeling of the Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis), a regionally endemic seabird to the Arabian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf of Aden. Socotra Cormorants are important for the marine ecosystem as they apply top-down control and maintain the balance between trophic levels. They also contribute to the cycling of nutrients significantly. The bird is categorized as vulnerable by the IUCN. Large portions of their suitable habitat are disturbed or degraded due to oil exploration and coastal development. The seabird is poorly studied in every ecological aspect. The main objective of …

Using Metal-Organic Frameworks (Mof) To Reduce The Carbon Footprint Of Concrete, Mona Ibrahim El-Hallak

Theses

The production of concrete by the construction industry has a massive impact on the environment. The process of manufacturing its main component, cement, releases a considerable amount of anthropogenic carbon dioxide. This thesis is concerned with the production of sustainable and eco-friendly concrete that integrates metal-organic frameworks (MOF) to capture and offset the CO₂ emissions emitted during the production of cement. The main objective is to synthesize a MOF capable of capturing CO₂ in concrete through accelerated carbonation curing and to assess its impact on concrete performance. Different parameters were examined, including the MOF content, initial curing duration, …

Numerical Modelling Of Externally-Bonded Fiber Reinforced Polymer Shear-Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Beams Subjected To Fatigue Loading, Nagwa Ibrahim Fares

Theses

An extensive number of existing structures persistently exposed to fatigue loading such as bridges, offshore structures, pavements, and highways, are in urgent need of repairing and strengthening. This may be attributed to the continuous increase in the load requirements, change of the structure’s function, and meeting current load standards. Among the potential methods of rehabilitation and strengthening of existing reinforced concrete structures, the externally bonding fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) composites are gaining massive popularity and becoming a viable and cost-effective method. Shear failure of reinforced concrete (RC) beams is known to be brittle, which occurs without prior sufficient warnings; therefore, …

A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (Mcdm) Approach For Data-Driven Distance Learning Recommendations, Aysha Meshaal Alshamsi

Theses

Distance learning has been adopted as an alternative learning strategy to the dominant face-to-face teaching methodology. It has been largely implemented by many governments worldwide due to the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the implication in enforcing lockdown and social distancing. In emergency situations distance learning is referred to as Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). Due to this dynamic, sudden shift, and scaling demand in distance learning, many challenges have been accentuated. These include technological adoption, student commitments, parent involvement, and teacher extra burden management, changes in the organization methodology, in addition to government development of new guidelines and regulations …

Multifunctional Bioactive Properties Of Plant-Based Protein Hydrolysates Derived From Citrullus Colocynthis (Bitter Apple) And Pennisetum Glaucum (Pearl Millet) Seeds, Munira Jassem Alblooshi

Theses

Protein hydrolysates (PH) from plant-based proteins (PBP) are gaining importance due to the availability, sustainable and economical production when compared to their an-imal origin counterpart. Therefore, this study explored under-utilized PBP hydroly-sates derived from Bitter apple (BA) and Pearl millet (PM) and determined their bio-active properties. Enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) of BA and PM proteins was carried out by enzymes such as alcalase (A), bromelain (B), and chymotrypsin (C) for 3, 6, and 9 h to produce PH possessing high bioactive properties. Highest degree of hydrolysis (DH) was reported in BAPH generated with C9 (87.8%) whereas for PMPH highest DH was …

Optimization Of Palmitic Acid Production In Chloroidium Sp. Utex 3007 As A Sustainable Source Of Palm Oil Alternative, Amnah Salem Alzahmi

Theses

The increase in palm oil consumption and production has resulted in removing up to 90% of trees in some tropical forests. The green microalgae Chloroidium sp. UTEX 3007 can be an alternative sustainable source of palm oil due to its high palmitic acid content. The objective of this study was to generate a mutant Chloroidium population that is capable of producing and accumulating elevated levels of palmitic acid and to characterize the obtained populations’ lipid contents. The palmitic acid production optimization in Chloroidium sp. UTEX 3007 was conducted via a workflow of ultraviolet (UV) mutagenesis and sorting of high-lipid producing …

Quantitative Dynamic Cellular Imaging Based On 3d Unwrapped Optical Coherence Phase Microscopy, Arunkumar Gunasekar

Theses

Phase wrapping artifacts are frequently encountered in phase resolved imaging and sensing techniques based on interferometry. When the value of the actual phase (φ) ranges beyond (-π, π], the extracted phase value (wrapped phase Ψ) is artificially increased or decreased by a multiple of 2π.

In this study, we develop a 3D phase unwrapping method that exploits the correlation of 3D phase data (φ(x,y,t)) over the other dimension (t). We validate our 3D unwrapping method using simulated data, as well as experimental data obtained by optically computed phase microscopy (OCPM) recently developed in our lab. Our results show that the …

Un-Fair Trojan: Targeted Backdoor Attacks Against Model Fairness, Nicholas Furth

Theses

Machine learning models have been shown to be vulnerable against various backdoor and data poisoning attacks that adversely affect model behavior. Additionally, these attacks have been shown to make unfair predictions with respect to certain protected features. In federated learning, multiple local models contribute to a single global model communicating only using local gradients, the issue of attacks become more prevalent and complex. Previously published works revolve around solving these issues both individually and jointly. However, there has been little study on the effects of attacks against model fairness. Demonstrated in this work, a flexible attack, which we call Un-Fair …

A Detailed Parameter Study Into The Dermal Absorption Of Chemical Warfare Agents And The Effects Of Pharmacokinetics, Koko Lear

Theses

Chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are substances of varying toxicity profiles. These chemicals exhibit complex dynamics and pose a serious health risk when released into the environment. A mathematical model based on Fick’s second law of diffusion was developed to comprehend how these compounds were absorbed into the skin. The analysis applied to both small and large doses and, successfully, predicted experimental results. This work also includes the effects of CWA physicochemical properties on evaporation and dermal absorption through the stratum corneum. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the impacts of small variations in the initial dose, environmental conditions, and …

The Interconnection Of The Vestibular And Oculomotor Systems Analyzed In Healthy Young Adults By Examining Postural Sway, Cassandra Martin

Theses

In order to study the human brain in a non-invasive way, the vestibular and oculomotor systems have been analyzed simultaneously. To achieve this, an eye movement and balance assessment was conducted for 29 (23 male; 21.6 ± 3.8 years) healthy participants with no history of concussions, brain injuries, vertigo, migraines, brain surgeries, eye surgeries, or amblyopia. The tasks consisted of eyes open, eyes closed, horizontal saccades, vertical saccades, vergence jumps, horizontal vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), and vertical VOR. Each task was completed in two stances: feet shoulder width apart and feet together. Distance, velocity, sway area, center of pressure (COP) frequency, …

Regulation Of Activity Patterns In Astyanax Mexicanus Cavefish, Udodirim Nwosu

Theses

Organisms commonly modulate their behavioral activity in relation to the 24-hour solar cycle. This modulation of behavior is driven by a combination of responses to external cues in the environment, such as light/dark visual signals, and internal pattern generators that can persist in the absence of external cues. However, there are animals that live in caves or in the deep sea that are isolated from solar circadian cues. How these animals regulate their behavioral activity in relation to external and internal rhythms is an open question in neuroscience that may help us to understand the mechanisms that other animals, including …

Smart City Operation System An Innovative Approach For A Collaborative Smart City Platform, Mohamed Gaber Abouelkassem

Theses

Command and Control Centers (CCCs) are an essential building block in the structure of smart cities. Typically, in most developed cities, CCCs are built to serve a certain function or application as a dedicated and standalone center that belongs to a certain entity or city department, such as transportation, police and security, utilities, or municipal operations departments, etc. The integrated command and control center (ICCC) has a central platform that integrates some of the city systems. The ICCC output is a sophisticated dashboard that acts as an interface to display and analyze collected data with the objective to help operators …

Inch - Unpacking Measurements, Pallavi Singh

Theses

While global efforts to close gender gaps have taken great strides in the past years, broad cultural views and social institutions still exist to place women at a subordinate level to men. It is a common scenario to trivialize a woman’s achievements or power in instances when she does not conform to gender norms taken as “a given” in a cultural context. A few elementary examples of such social inequality could include unequal pay at the workplace or menstruation in cultures where it is considered a defilement of a woman’s body instead of a female bodily process. In most of …

Distribution Patterns Of The Invasive Mussel Arcuatula Senhousia In Mission Bay, San Diego, California: Effects Of Sediment Grain Size And Byssus Thread Production On Predation, Samantha Ahlman

Theses

The ability of bivalves to avoid predation by using defensive behaviors such as burrowing and byssus production may vary depending on the sediment characteristics of a given habitat. The varying sediment characteristics that change with water velocity within estuaries may influence the distribution of bivalves and limit them to areas that optimize their ability to defend against predators. We examined the distribution patterns of the invasive Asian date mussel Arcuatula senhousia relative to the sediment grain size distribution in Mission Bay, an urban estuary located in San Diego, California, USA. Mussels and sediment were collected using an Ekman grab at …

Low-Rank Clustering Via Lp1-Pca, Matt Krol

Theses

In recent years, subspace clustering has found many practical use cases which include, for example, image segmentation, motion segmentation, and facial clustering. The image and video data that is common to these types of applications often has high dimensionality. Rather than viewing high dimensionality as a drawback, we propose a novel algorithm for subspace clustering that takes advantage of the high dimensional nature of such data. We call this algorithm LP1-PCA Spectral Clustering. Specifically, we introduce a concept that we call cluster-ID sparsity, and we propose an algorithm called LP1-PCA to attain this in low data dimensions. Our novel LP1-PCA …

Low Income Housing Residents' Perceived Competency Regarding Hypertension And Diabetes, Tiangela B. Austin

Theses

People of African-American ethnicity are affected by hypertension and diabetes at alarming rates. Prevalence of hypertension and diabetes is thought to be the result of many different factors. When considering why each or both of these diseases disproportionately affect this population of people, much focus should query around factors such as socio-economic status, culture, beliefs, diet, lifestyle, and patient perceptions. Evaluation of perception is an integral component in demystifying disease morbidity and mortality. This study evaluates the perception of low-income housing resident's perceived ability to maintain normal blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

The Origin Of Knowledge And Interest In Interpreting: Mapping Out White And Bipoc Interpreters Experiences In Rochester, Ny, Jonathan Roman

Theses

High schools across the United States, located in a range of communities, offer American Sign Language (ASL) courses as a foreign language option. Some are in 'disadvantaged communities'; a school area where there is a lack of economic resources present for students to benefit from (McKillip, M. E. E., Godfrey, K. E, & Rawls, A, 2012). As terminology would suggest, the inverse of that are schools in advantaged communities. Also in the past, there have been BIPOC recruitment efforts for associates and bachelor level signed language interpreter training programs (ITP) by organizations like the National Interpreter Education Center (NIEC). But …

The Health Impacts Of Nursing Shift Work, Amanda M. Shandor

Theses

This descriptive pilot study was intended to evaluate negative outcomes of shift work stress in nursing. Objective analysis of waist-hip-circumference ratios (WHR) and subjective survey reports were utilized to assess whether differences existed in expressed stress, stress related health disorders, and stress associated behaviors among day shift, night shift, and rotating shift registered nurses (RNs). Statistical analysis of the WHRs indicates that no statistical difference exists in the results from this study across the three nursing shifts.