Digital Commons Network^™

Human Augmentation: A System Engineering Conceptual Framework, Hazel Colleen R. Gamboa

Theses

In today’s literature, there is not one clear definition for ‘Human Augmentation’ and quite often, it is used interchangeably with the term ‘Human Enhancement’. Human enhancement is a field that has relatively more research and has a broader definition that encompasses both invasive and non-invasive procedures aimed at restoring or enhancing the capabilities of the human body. Medicine, implants, genetic engineering – there are some examples of procedures attributed to human enhancement. On the other hand, the word ‘augment’ is defined as the addition or making something better; this research will focus and narrow down the definition of Human Augmentation …

Oit: A Ux Design Project For Better Decision Making In Generative Design, Yunsheng Zhou

Theses

New technology, such as AI and Machine learning, grows fast and plays a crucial role in improving efficiency and reducing the repeated working load in our daily lives. In the Architecture and Engineering area, AI is widely used in generative design. Generative design is a design exploration process. The software explores all the possible permutations of a solution, quickly generating design alternatives. However, the problem is that the intelligence systems can generate thousands of solutions that difficult for users to distill. This situation even reduces the efficiency of the working flow. The project's approach is to help users make better …

Chek And Hava, Komal Ashfaq

Theses

Chek and Hava is an absurdist romantic comedy about using your boyfriend to rebel against your parents. While remaining light and easy to watch, it is additionally meant to have three intentionally designed layers:

1. The surface level story revolves around Hava bringing home her boyfriend Chek- an unemployed artist, that she knows her wealthy demigod parents will disapprove of. Her parents ultimately force Chek out of his carefree life and into a corporate career, accepting him and deflating Hava’s rebellion. She finally breaks free by exiting the system of their beliefs and trying to form her persona independently rather …

Evaluation Of Chili Pepper (Capsicum Annuum), Tiger Nuts (Cyperus Esculentus), And Turmeric (Curcuma Longa) As Sources Of Antioxidant Compounds For The Potential Of Antiaging-Like Activity, Chelsea Toyer

Theses

Aging is a natural process that living organisms go through as they become older. In humans and other animals, aging is accompanied by several morphological changes, including the formation of wrinkles. Wrinkles are also caused by various environmental factors such as excessive exposure to sun or pollution, and continuous sleep deprivation. These environmental factors cause oxidation of skin cells and the degradation of subcutaneous fatty acids, leading to the formation of wrinkles. Skin care and wrinkle treatment products are part of a multimillion-dollar industry. Plant-based products are an alternative method for treating wrinkles and premature aging. Several antioxidants naturally found …

Streaming Down The Stern-Brocot Tree: Finding And Expressing Solutions To Pell's Equation In Sl(2,Z), Marcus L. Shell

Theses

This paper explores and elaborates on a method of solving Pell’s equation as introduced by Norman Wildberger. In the first chapters of the paper, foundational topics are introduced in expository style including an explanation of Pell’s equation. An explanation of continued fractions and their ability to express quadratic irrationals is provided as well as a connection to the Stern-Brocot tree and a convenient means of representation for each in terms of 2×2 matrices with integer elements. This representation will provide a useful way of navigating the Stern-Brocot tree computationally and permit us a means of computing continued fractions without the …

The Journey To Crime For Drug Offenders, Jennifer Schmitz

Theses

When a person wants to purchase drugs, they are not going to randomly choose a location, many factors will impact their location choice. A seller may choose to sell drugs in an area with abandoned buildings and a lack of natural lighting to avoid being seen. A drug buyer may choose a location that is close to other places they frequent such as home or work. However, the proximity to these locations may also cause a co-worker or neighbor to identify them, so they may travel a distance from their home before seeking drugs.

To understand how drug buyers and …

What Is Depression?, Megan Wade

Theses

“What is Depression?” is a book design that investigates how simple graphical forms can be used to communicate a complex idea. It explores the principles and elements of design and how they can be abstracted to illustrate emotions, and it experiments with pushing the boundaries of what educational book pages can look like. Education regarding complicated subject matters such as depression are frequently overlooked or misunderstood within our society. People who are not affected by depression have a difficult time understanding what it feels like to suffer with the symptoms and emotions of the disease. This thesis investigates how to …

The Vascular Flora Of Cleburne County, Alabama, Melanie T. Spaulding

Theses

Cleburne County is located in Northeast Alabama and measures 145,298 hectares. Approximately one-third of the county lies within the Talladega National Forest, more than any other county covered by the Talladega National Forest. The county has two physiographic regions: Piedmont and Ridge and Valley. A floristic survey of Cleburne County, Alabama, was conducted on public and private lands from 2014– 2020. Sporadic field collections took place from March 2014 – April 2019, with extensive fieldwork conducted from May 2019 – October 2020. A total of 1,302 vascular plant taxa are reported, including 266 taxa not previously documented for the county. …

Research The Possibility Of Revitalizing Rochester By Creating A Landmark Architecture – Redesign The Abandoned Subway Bridge, Rifeng Jin

Theses

Located in upstate New York, Rochester is a city with a glorious history and rich culture. However, due to the changes in its internal and external environment, the city has slowly lost its vitality in the past few decades. Apart from the occasional holiday celebration and protest parade, it is difficult to find a bustling scene in downtown Rochester. This study proposes to create a reasonable possibility of revitalizing Rochester by designing a landmark architecture for the city. After field investigation and comparison, the abandoned subway bridge in the center of the city has become the main potential location for …

Secretepeppr: Computational Prediction And Characterization Of Effector-Like Proteins Secreted From Vitis Vinifera, Patrick Rynkiewicz

Theses

Plant pathology research has long placed a focus on pathogen-derived effector proteins: small, secreted proteins translocated into host cells where they subvert host basal immunity and promote infection. Recent studies suggest that some plant species secrete similar effector-like proteins during mutualistic plant-fungal interactions and affect fungal growth. In this project, a computational tool named SecretePEPPr (Secreted Plant Effector-like Protein Predictor) was written, evaluated, and tested for the purpose of predicting candidate plant effector-like proteins from a set of whole genome annotations. Among other factors, this prediction tool considered classical and non-classical secretion, protein size, and the prevalence and presence of …

Augmented Reality Application ‘Finder’, Yiran Li

Theses

Children are always curious and excited about the world, but there are often accidents around them. According to some previous studies, each year in the United States, more than 2,200 children – or six kids a day – die from an injury at home. To deal with this situation, parents usually set simple life safety rules for their children and be consistent about enforcing them in a reasonable manner. At the same time, they try to reduce the possibility of psychological harm to children when correcting errors. As a result, parents desperately need a way to watch and improve their …

Data Analytics Methods In Preventing Smuggling Drugs, Hessa Abdulla Almarri

Theses

For the final requirements of (MS) of Data Analytics, we have to work on a capstone project as a graduate student. In the capstone project, we have to implement the data mining techniques we have learned during the program. This capstone project focuses on illicit drugs smuggling, where drugs have a massive negative effect on the countries and individuals. Data mining techniques have been applied to the drug smuggling dataset that has been captured worldwide. The data mining approach used in this capstone project is an unsupervised approach focusing on clustering. Three types of clustering models have been used: k-means, …

Translating Macroscale Concepts To Microfluidic Devices, Nicole Hill

Theses

Electrokinetics represents an extremely versatile family of techniques that can be used to manipulate particles and fluid in microfluidic devices. This dissertation focused on taking techniques commonly used on a macroscale and developing microscale equivalents utilizing electrokinetics to effectively manipulate and separate microparticles. This analysis focuses on chromatography and separation trains as macroscale techniques translated to microfluidic insulator-based electrokinetic devices. The geometries of insulating post arrays embedded in microchannels were optimized using a combination of mathematical simulations and experimentally derived correction factors. Two particle separations were experimentally demonstrated: a separation based on differences in particle size and a separation based …

Harness, Nickolas Viele

Theses

The struggles individuals encounter in their lifetime have as many peaks and valleys as a roller coaster at an amusement park. The goal of my thesis work is to unpack the complex feelings of personal breakdowns so that the viewer can empathize with the raw emotions of these chaotic situations and establish a bridge of empathy from person to person. My investigation uses the relationship of life casting and found objects to create a personal, tangible connection for my audience. The struggle and turmoil we encounter in life can create the common ground needed for others to identify with these …

Business Data Analytics Dashboard Development For Performance Improvement Of Uae Government Service Centers, Laith Iyad Alawaysheh

Theses

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, The Vice President of UAE, The Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, once said that “Focusing on the happiness of various customers and enabling them to achieve an outstanding service experience, is a fundamental pillar for government development” and this quote was one of the main triggers for this project, which has a clear purpose to “enhance and improve the customer experience (CX) and service centers performance by implementing data analytics concept along with forecasting future demand of customers and benefit from it in the capacity planning of service centers’ resources”. Through …

Complexion, Jordan Funk

Theses

Polaroids are made up of several microscopic layers that come together to form an image. Complexion investigates the ties between this structure and the way that our skin functions. Being diagnosed with eczema as an infant, I have always been hyper-aware of how my emotional stress aggravates my eczema. Complexion depicts how my emotional state alters my skin and warps my experience of reality. Similarly, my imagery undergoes a metamorphosis and influences the chemical changes I create within the Polaroid’s white border. I scan at a high resolution, crop, and reprint the Polaroids at a larger scale. The high-quality scanning …

Exploring Historical Events Through An Interactive Timeline, Parsuree Vatanasirisuk

Theses

Learning history in school commonly takes the form of reading from textbooks and memorizing dates, places, and names. However, students have an array of different learning styles, and not everyone is good at learning by memorizing. Young students tend to lose interest in the subject and are not inspired to seek more information about what interests them in the material when they’re outside the classroom. Learning history is not only about knowing names and dates; it is more about understanding the relationships of events that occurred in the past and how they relate to and affect others. That’s why schools …

Volume-Based Estimates Of Left Ventricular Blood Pool Volume And Ejection Fraction From Multi-Plane 2d Ultrasound Images, Dawei Liu

Theses

Accurate estimations of left ventricular (LV) blood pool volume and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) are crucial for the clinical diagnosis of cardiac disease, patient management, or other therapeutic treatment decisions, especially given a patient’s LVEF often affects his or her candidacy for cardiovascular intervention. Ultrasound (US) imaging is the most common and least expensive imaging modalities used to non-invasively image the heart to estimate the LV blood pool volume and assess LVEF. Despite advances in 3D US imaging, 2D US images are routinely used by cardiologists to image the heart and their interpretation is inherently based on the 2D …

Quantifying The Risk Of Hospital Readmissions: A Data Analysis And Predictive Modeling Approach, Jigar Adhiya

Theses

Despite several improvements in various domains of healthcare systems, the inability to reduce patients’ readmission rates is still a major problem faced by healthcare providers. It is extremely important to reduce the probability of readmissions because these not only increase the burden of healthcare costs on the patient but also expose them to prolonged psychological stress (e.g., trauma, pain, and discomfort due to altered physical functions) and healthcare-associated infections. Readmissions basically lead to the use of healthcare resources by the same person twice instead of being utilized by another patient. Furthermore, the readmission rate is used as a potential measure …

Ibid., Dengfeng Yang

Theses

Ibid. is an installation of five images in juxtaposition to each other that explores expectation and interpretation on photographic images. It is a response to my struggle in finding meaning in my creative process of making images. I disrupt the representation of the images using strategies of appropriation, photo manipulation, sequencing, repetition, and performative photo handling. Highlighting the characteristics of both indexicality and ambiguity in photography, Ibid. calls attention to how we develop our phycological desire to address meaning on images. Although Ibid. is rooted in my personal creative experience, it questions image- making under a broader context. When the …

Automation And Advancement Of Non-Invasive Continuous Blood Glucose Measurements, Andrew Devries

Theses

Researching the RF application of noninvasive continuous, real time, blood glucose monitoring has been a persistent topic of interest for the research group at the electromagnetic theory and application (ETA) lab at RIT. The technique is based on the effects of glucose on the dielectric properties of blood. When the dielectric permittivity of the tissue changes due to glucose, the resonant frequency and input impedance of an antenna sensor can be related to the change in glucose level, as shown in [1] and [2]. The feasibility of this technique has been demonstrated successfully with one diabetic and one non-diabetic patient …

Edible Negros, Unique Fair-Smith

Theses

Edible Negros is an exploration of western consumerism and its impact on African-Americans. The thesis grapples with the oppression African-Americans have systematically experienced within capitalist and consumerist society and our collective struggles toward liberation.

This analysis goes further to study the western world's consumption of the black body, how African-Americans have been abused as a commodity; and as an overall examination of the western world's dependence on both the metaphorical and literal consumption of our bodies through labor exploitation, physical mutilation, and cannibalism.

Furthermore, the investigation encompasses how the perception and value of African-American lives has transitioned. This includes a …

The Application Of Echo State Networks To Atypical Speech Recognition, Daniel W. Adams

Theses

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) techniques have improved extensively over the past few years with the rise of new deep learning architectures. Recent sequence-to-sequence models have been shown to have high accuracy by utilizing the attention mechanism, which evaluates and learns the magnitude of element relationships in sequences. Despite being highly accurate, commercial ASR models have a weakness when it comes to accessibility. Current commercial deep learning ASR models find difficulty evaluating and transcribing speech for individuals with unique vocal features, such as those with dysarthria, heavy accents, as well as deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

Current methodologies for processing vocal data …

A Comparison Of Quantum Algorithms For The Maximum Clique Problem, Andrew R. Haverly

Theses

Two of the most promising computational models for quantum computing are the qubit-based model and the continuous variable model, which result in two different computational approaches, namely the qubit gate model and boson sampling. The qubit gate model is a universal form of quantum computation that relies heavily on the principles of superposition and entanglement to solve problems using qubits based on technologies ranging from magnetic fields created from superconducting materials to the spins of valence electrons in atoms. Boson sampling is a non-universal form of quantum computation that uses bosons as continuous-variable values for its computation. Both models show …

Process Investigations On Sputter Deposited Indium Tungsten Oxide Tft, Rishmithaa Sivakanthan

Theses

Indium-Tungsten Oxide (IWO) has been investigated as a potential semiconductor material for next-generation display devices. Several publications have reported on IWO thin-film transistors (TFTs) with a channel mobility μch ~ 20cm2/Vs, approximately 2X higher than typically reported for Indium-Gallium-Zinc Oxide (IGZO). However, other attributes of the device characteristics have not performed as well as IGZO such as the subthreshold behavior. This work presents a study on the electronic properties of sputtered IWO, with the sputter ambient (i.e. percent O2 ) and O2 annealing conditions as the primary factors investigated. In the early stages of the study, a problem with the …

Seeking The Sublime, Gretchen Ettlie

Theses

This thesis examines a search for the sublime. Definitions of the sublime have transformed over the centuries. In the modern era, that has come to encompass an idea of the Technological Sublime. This thesis will examine a more nature-centric idea of the sublime, with a thoughtful examination of the current digital culture and it’s impact. As we continue to become more distant from our natural world, and more immersed in the digital landscape, we miss opportunities to connect with our true nature and gain-first hand knowledge of the sublime understandings that nature can impart to us. This thesis explores our …

Safeskin: A Blockchain System Of Products’ Lifespan Development To Help The User Find Safer Products, Ru Li

Theses

Due to the escalating demand for cosmetics skincare products and a growing number of beauty products putting people’s health at risk by counterfeits or using chemical ingredients in order to give a better skincare result, people start to have more concerns about the quality of cosmetics and skincare products. Today, many companies strive to make the transparency of the ingredients by labeling on the packaging and knowledge their customers about the benefits of the ingredients they are using. However, the consumers unable to find out how does the product being produced by the original company, and being transferred to the …

Characterization Of Biochar Produced By Pyrolysis Of Biomass And Co-Pyrolysis Of Biomass And Agricultural Mulch Film, Ibrahim Cisse

Theses

Agricultural wastes can be valuable materials because they are generated in large quantities all over the world and contain a variety of feedstocks. These feedstocks include dairy manure, food wastes, solid wastes and plastics. Current waste management techniques include landfilling and incineration, both leading to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. However, alternative methods such as pyrolysis can present more sustainable pathways by transforming mixed wastes from the agricultural sector into value-added products such as biochar, bio-oil and syngas. Limited published literature has focused on producing biochar derived from co-pyrolysis of agricultural wastes with plastic wastes such as agricultural mulch …

Flexible Memory Protection With Dynamic Authentication Trees, Matthew T. Millar

Theses

As computing appliances increase in use and handle more critical information and functionalities, the importance of security grows even greater. In cases where the device processes sensitive data or performs important functionality, an attacker may be able to read or manipulate it by accessing the data bus between the processor and memory itself. As it is impossible to provide physical protection to the piece of hardware in use, it is important to provide protection against revealing confidential information and securing the device's intended operation. Defense against bus attacks such as spoofing, splicing, and replay attacks are of particular concern. Traditional …

Evaluating Performance And Efficiency Of A 16-Bit Substitution Box On An Fpga, Daniel F. Stafford

Theses

A Substitution Box (S-Box) is an integral component of modern block ciphers that provides confusion. The term "confusion" was introduced by Shannon in 1949 and it refers to the complexity of the relationship between the key and the ciphertext. Most S-Boxes are non-linear in order to promote confusion. Due to this, the S-Box is usually the most complex component of a block cipher. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) features an 8-bit S-Box where the output depends on the Galois field multiplicative inverse of the input.

MK-3 is a sponge based Authenticated Encryption (AE) algorithm which provides both authenticity and confidentiality. …