Digital Commons Network^™

Dissent By Design: Graphic Communication And The Continuity Of Resistance As A Civic Practice In The United States, Ryan "Rain" Milligan

Theses

Graphic communication has played a role in shaping civic life in the United States throughout much of its history, influencing how individuals recognize injustice, understand systems of power, and participate in collective action. Typically associated with moments of protest or political upheaval, printed materials such as pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, and posters have also functioned as everyday tools that structure public engagement. This project examines these materials through the framework of agitation, education, and organization, considering how graphic communication operates across different historical contexts to provoke recognition, make complex ideas accessible, and coordinate collective effort. Drawing from a range of historical …

An Artist’S Playground: Building Bridges Between Children’S Education And Their Knowledge Of Art Through Multi-Modal Learning, Alice J. Cauchi

Theses

Not all museums welcome children as part of their main audience with open arms. Research suggests that experiencing museums as a child supports classroom learning and development, but only when the museums engage young children properly. This paper explores how incorporating multi-modal interactives into art museums can effectively engage children, ages 4 to 8, and build a foundation that supports lifelong learning. Drawing on ideas from early-childhood education, museum visitor-engagement studies, and interactivity sciences, this project results in a framework that guides art museums on how they can overlap play, interactives, and content to incorporate this age group effectively to …

Traditional And Machine-Learning Equalization Techniques For Bandwidth-Limited Short-Reach Optical Communication Channels, Abdullah Khawatmi

Theses

This thesis investigates equalization techniques for bandwidth-limited short-reach optical communication systems, with a focus on Visible Light Communication (VLC) and Step-Index Plastic Optical Fiber (SI-POF) links. Commercial light-emitting diodes and photodiode receivers impose severe bandwidth constraints, inter-symbol interference, and noise sensitivity, which fundamentally limit achievable data rates. The work addresses these impairments through systematic evaluation of traditional digital signal processing–based equalizers and modern machine-learning-based post-equalization methods. The primary aim of this thesis is to enhance the achievable data rate and reliability of commercial short-reach optical links while maintaining practical computational complexity. Specifically, the objectives are to (i) design and experimentally …

Llm-Driven Mission Control And Autonomous Planning For Search-And-Rescue Uavs: A Simulation-Based Evaluation, Naser Bader Alsaedi

Theses

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used in search‑and‑rescue (SAR) missions, yet many systems still rely on fragmented software where mission design, perception, and flight control are configured separately. This thesis examines whether a unified AI‑driven framework can reduce configuration effort and operator workload in UAV‑based SAR operations. The proposed system integrates natural‑language mission specification using a large language model (LLM) (LLaMA 3.1), autonomous coverage planning, YOLOv8‑based victim detection, and PX4/MAVSDK control within a single architecture. Operators describe missions through free‑form text or a graphical interface; the model converts these descriptions into structured mission parameters that are automatically planned and …

Modeling And Autonomous Control Systems For A Delivery Drone Application, Dana Helal Alnuaimi

Theses

This thesis focuses on the development of a multi-drone navigation and control system, aiming to enhance payload capacities beyond the limits of single-drone systems. By integrating multiple drones to work collaboratively as a unit, this study addresses the challenges associated with lifting and transporting heavier payloads.

The primary objective is to design and evaluate a multi-drone system capable of working in tandem to transport larger payloads efficiently. The research aims to develop robust control algorithms, supported by system identification for dynamic modeling, and navigation strategies to enable effective coordination between drones.

The study employs a combination of simulation and real-world …

الوساطة الجزائية ودورها في إنهاء الدعوى الجزائية (دراسة مقارنة), فاطمة راشد السبوسي

Theses

Criminal mediation, criminal proceedings, restorative justice, UAE Criminal Procedure Law, alternatives to criminal litigation

This thesis addresses the topic of criminal mediation as one of the modern mechanisms adopted by contemporary criminal legislation as an alternative to traditional criminal proceedings. The study focuses on the United Arab Emirates, where the Federal Decree-Law No. (38) of 2022 on Criminal Procedure codified criminal mediation, particularly in Articles 352 and following. This raises questions regarding the adequacy and appropriateness of the legal framework regulating this system.

The research problem lies in assessing the extent to which the UAE legal system effectively organizes criminal …

Using Deep Learning To Increase Eye-Tracking Robustness, Accuracy, And Precision In Virtual Reality, Kevin Barkevich

Theses

Algorithms for the estimation of gaze direction from mobile and videobased eye trackers typically involve tracking a feature of the eye that moves through the eye camera image in a way that covaries with the shifting gaze direction, such as the center or boundaries of the pupil. Tracking these features using traditional computer vision techniques can be difficult due to partial occlusion and environmental reflections. Although recent efforts to use machine learning (ML) for pupil tracking have demonstrated superior results when evaluated using standard measures of segmentation performance, little is known of how these networks may affect the quality of …

Medical Detection Dogs: A Visual Exploration Of Canine Olfactory Anatomy & Volatile Organic Compounds As Applied To Non-Invasive Biomedical Detection, Kirsten Santiago

Theses

Medical detection dogs provide a non-invasive early method of disease and medical alert detection that is underrepresented in the medical visualization sector. The domesticated dog, or Canis familiaris, is known for its loving nature and has become an important member of many households, but they are also incredibly intelligent with a capacity for specialized training. Dogs have a specialized olfactory system, allowing them to detect scents with high acuity (Guest & Otto, 20). Volatile organic compounds or VOCs are molecular substances associated with metabolic processes that are often a result or byproduct of certain diseases and can be influenced by …

Horizontal Gene Transfer In Neisseria, Wen Ting Dong

Theses

Antibiotics are a special category of drugs that help treat bacterial infections by killing bacteria or hindering their growth and replication. Antibiotics are greatly significant in modern medical practices, providing an effective treatment for bacterial infections as well as enabling organ transplants, open surgeries, and chemotherapy to be possible. Unfortunately, cases of antibiotic resistance were observed shortly after the introduction of antibiotics. The appearance and spread of these resistant strains poses a significant threat to public health safety. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates there are 2,868,700 antibiotic-resistant bacterial and fungal infection cases per year in the United States, …

An Analysis Of How Nucleosomal Dna Patterns Influence Transcription Factor Binding Activities, Christopher Carson

Theses

Nucleosomal DNA has a well-documented periodic pattern known as Weak Weak/Strong Strong (WW/SS where W is A or T and S is G or C) in which WW dinucleotides preferentially occur at DNA sites that bend into minor grooves whereas SS dinucleotides are often found at sites that bend into major grooves. Recent studies found that an opposite pattern named the anti-WW/SS pattern runs inverse to the WW/SS pattern and is thought to have unfavorable histone-DNA interactions. The anti-WW/SS pattern is widespread in eukaryotic genomes and enriched in mammalian genes. Whether this unusual sequence pattern has an impact on the …

What Do Future Nutrition Professionals Think About Wic Jobs? A Study Of Nutrition Career Perceptions, Madison Degenfelder

Theses

Background: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program faces a critical workforce shortage, yet little is known about the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of nutrition students and recent graduates regarding WIC career pathways, requirements, and compensation. Understanding these factors is essential to design strategies to strengthen recruitment and build a sustainable WIC workforce. Objective: To identify and describe knowledge, attitudes and beliefs on entering the WIC workforce among college nutrition and dietetics students and recent graduates. Design: A mixed-methods, sequential study design which included a cross-sectional survey and two focus groups was employed to ascertain …

The Gospel Of Glamour: A Christian Woman's Style Blueprint, Osaromwenyeke Osemwota

Theses

The Gospel of Glamour: The Christian Woman’s Style Blueprint was a luxury-branded, sustainability-focused, faith-based style guide that addressed a gap in fashion, theology, and sustainability scholarship. Existing literature had either systematized fashion, explored the spiritual significance of dress, or examined sustainable and luxury practices—but none had integrated these dimensions into a prescriptive, actionable guide for Christian women. Drawing on Scripture as the foundational authority, including passages from Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, and Proverbs, the guide framed clothing as both practical provision and visible expression of covenantal identity. The style guide synthesized secular fashion methodology, modest-fashion scholarship, and sustainable luxury principles to …

Software Engineering In The Age Of Coding Agents: Failure Modes And Rejection Patterns, Mahd Mohd Hindi

Theses

This thesis investigates the real-world behavior of LLM-driven coding agents that generate code changes and submit pull requests (PRs) to public software repositories. As these tools evolve from autocomplete-style assistants into more autonomous agents, their contributions increasingly interact with socio-technical review processes (human reviewers, bots, CI/CD gates, and project norms). The thesis focuses on understanding why agent-generated PRs are accepted or rejected and what these outcomes reveal about current agent limitations in practical development workflows.

The main objective of this thesis is to systematically characterize rejection patterns and failure modes of agent-generated pull requests in real repositories. Specifically, the thesis …

The Disney Adult: A Consumer That Creates Free Marketing, Emily Elizabeth Kempf

Theses

This research looks at the evolving complex relationship between the Walt Disney Company, The Disney Adult content creators and the fan base. It focuses on how user-generated content (UGC) and social media can play a large role in contemporary marketing strategies. As the target audience has expanded to include Disney Adult, this new audience has become a central part in the company’s marketing strategy encouraging fan engagement across all social media platforms. This research is a qualitative case study on the Disney Adult and how social media content can be used as a core marketing strategy. The Disney Adult influencer …

Artemisia Gentileschi's Judith And Her Maidservant Serves As A Message Of Hope, Holly Kyseth

Theses

This thesis argues that through iconography and specific artistic techniques, Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith and Her Maidservant utilizes the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes to relay a distinctly female-centered narrative, reflective of the ideals of her seventeenth century Italian community. This piece stands apart from other representations of this narrative in that Judith was commonly shown as either dainty yet violent in the act of decapitating Holofernes, or as a saintly victor proudly displaying his head to her people. With Judith and Her Maidservant, Artemisia displays an obvious sororal alliance between Judith and her servant Abra, while cleverly implementing Caravaggesque …

Mediators Of The Dead: Funerary Strategies And Material Practice In The Final Jōmon Period, Celeste Marie Tran

Theses

Shakōki-dogū are prehistoric clay figurines from Japan’s Final Jōmon period, characterized by enlarged, goggle-eyed features. In both scholarship writing and museum display texts, generalized thematic labels or iconographic readings sometimes reduce the corpus’s internal variability. This study examines a focused set of Final Jōmon shakōki-dogū from northern Honshū (Tōhoku) and Hokkaidō (Figures 2–6) through their formal and material evidence—shape, surface treatment, and condition—read alongside published excavation reports and catalogue records. It asks what these figurines can be shown to do, as prehistoric artworks, within death-related practice when interpretation is anchored to observable features and documented context, rather than to a …

Art Therapy In The Art Classroom, Sherry Williams

Theses

The integration of art therapy practices within the art classroom provides a transformative framework for supporting the emotional and psychological well-being of students. Research into these strategies demonstrates that creative practices allow students to manage stress and anxiety while fostering mindfulness, reflection, and self-expression. Art educators can create safe and supportive environments by incorporating therapeutic activities such as drawing mandalas, doodling, and engaging in collaborative projects. These methods prioritize the creative process over technical achievement, allowing students to communicate complex feelings that may be difficult to articulate verbally. 

While art teachers are not licensed therapists, they can effectively implement therapeutic …

Ultrarenderer: Real-Time Heterogeneous Cpu-Gpu Memory Management And Adaptive View-Dependent Rendering For Massive 3d Environments, Huadong Zhang

Theses

Rendering large-scale 3D datasets in real-time presents significant challenges due to the widening gap between the ever-growing scale of dataset complexity and the limited memory capacity of modern GPUs. As datasets increasingly exceed available GPU memory, traditional methods encounter severe bottlenecks, such as restricted CPU-GPU bandwidth and inefficient memory usage, which significantly hinder rendering performance. This is especially problematic in interactive applications where high frame rates and low latency are critical. To address these limitations, this dissertation presents UltraRenderer, a novel out-of-core rendering method designed to maximize visual fidelity under strict memory and bandwidth constraints. The core of our approach …

Engineering Human Microphysiological Models To Investigate Bacterial Extracellular Vesicle–Driven Endothelial And Blood–Brain Barrier Dysfunction, Louis P. Widom

Theses

Pathogenic bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs) are nanoscale particles derived from bacteria that contain pro-inflammatory cargo. During bacterial infections, BEVs provoke the host inflammatory response and may cause widespread damage. Furthermore, antibiotic treatment can boost BEV production and thereby increase the number of toxic signals traveling through the circulatory system. This is especially dangerous in brain blood vessels since evidence suggests that BEVs may destabilize the protective blood–brain barrier (BBB), resulting in neuroinflammation associated with cognitive decline and development of neurological disorders. Our understanding of BEV interactions with the host remains limited, necessitating the development of in vitro models to better …

Parameter Estimation Of Eccentric Binary Black Holes Using Targeted Numerical Relativity Simulations, Patricia Mcmillin

Theses

Gravitational wave events detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) collaboration are the result of compact binary mergers which produce gravitational wave (GW) emission. The observed waveform carries information about the source properties, such as masses, spins, and orbital eccentricity. Events harboring eccentricity upon entrance of the LVK sensitivity band at 10 Hz are believed to have been formed through dynamical channels, where the binary has interacted with other astrophysical objects leading to a merger faster than an isolated binary. Therefore, the identification of eccentric gravitational wave events and accurate determination of their parameters is vital to understanding the population of binary …

Optimizing Traffic Signal Timings Using Real Time Data Analytics, Hamad Abdulla Binsultan

Theses

City traffic jams have become a major challenge for contemporary cities, causing delays, increased fuel consumption, and other environmental impacts. Conventional traffic signal controlling systems usually depend on fixed or preset signal plans that are incompetent to adjust themselves with changing traffic conditions. Traffic signal timings are optimized across the intersection health of the system by processing real-time data analytics. Through real-time data analytics, traffic flow efficiency is improved while waiting time at signalized intersections is reduced. Using traffic real-time data like vehicle counts, vehicle types, time of day and day of the week to see howtraffic behaves under different …

Model Free Sliding Mode Control For Uavs, Aashrita Mandalapu

Theses

Sliding Mode Control (SMC) is a robust and adaptable control strategy recognized for its ability to withstand uncertainties, disturbances, and parameter variations. Although the straightforward implementation of SMC along with its insensitivity to modeling inaccuracies make it effective for a wide range of applications, it still relies heavily on an accurate system model. In dynamic environments where system characteristics vary over time, a model-independent SMC framework becomes necessary. So, a Model-Free Sliding Mode Control (MFSMC) approach is proposed as a compelling solution for complex nonlinear systems where deriving an accurate model is difficult. In contrast to conventional SMC approach, MFSMC …

The Heart Seat™: An In Home Cardiovascular Monitoring Device, Archana Venkataramani

Theses

Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common disorders, affecting an estimated 64 million people globally. Although heart failure incidence is stabilizing in some countries, prevalence is rising because of an aging population, improved post-myocardial infarction survival, and advances in treatment. High mortality, morbidity, reduced quality of life, and significant healthcare costs are results of heart failure (Shahim et al., 2023). Recurrent heart failure episodes are associated with an increased risk of death. Heart monitoring systems exist in several forms, including implantable cardiac devices, wearable and portable monitors, and remote patient monitoring systems. Each type differs in monitoring needs, …

Security Evaluation Of Post-Quantum Ml-Dsa Implementations Against Software-Induced Fault Attacks, Alexis Korensky

Theses

Quantum computing is a form of computation that uses the principles of quantum mechanics to perform mathematical computations at a faster rate than classical computers. Although quantum computing is currently still in its early stages, if a general-purpose, large-scale, and fault-tolerant quantum computer were to be built, it would jeopardize the security of modern public-key cryptosystems. If these cryptosystems were broken, secure connections could not be authenticated, enabling Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks, and digital messages could not be signed. All data sent over secured HTTPS and/or TLS connections would be vulnerable and potentially malicious since its origin and integrity could not …

The Usability And Influence Of Comprehensive Sports Nutrition Handouts For Adolescent-Aged Female Athletes, Chloe Brassie

Theses

Objective: This study aimed to examine the usability and influence of comprehensive sports nutrition handouts for adolescent-aged female athletes. Design: Cross-sectional online survey incorporating post retrospective-pre self-assessment Participants: Adolescent female athletes between 13 and 17 years of age Methods: Participants received a series of digital nutrition handouts every day for seven days and completed an online survey. Variables: Age, sport, engagement, knowledge, behavior, features of interest, and experience with nutrition education. Analysis: Quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and qualitative data were examined using thematic analysis. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test assessed the change in responses for both knowledge and …

Prediction Of Methane Gas By Using Hyperspectral Imageries And Remote Sensing Techniques, Aysha Ali Alhajeri

Theses

Greenhouse gases is important for sustaining life on earth as well as in mitigating climate change. Methane (CH4) is considered as one of the most important critical gases for the global climate change and have significant influences on our life. Accordingly, the prediction of this greenhouse gas emissions is very important for avoiding the climate change effects and to maintain environmental sustainability. The objective of this study is to explore the potential applications for remote sensing to predict methane levels in the Earth’s atmosphere with a combination of local ground data and data from hyperspectral satellite imagery. By using hyperspectral …

Air Mass Trajectories Related To Dust Storms On Mars And A Comparison Study With Spacecraft Images, Mohammad Abdulla Ahli

Theses

The Martian weather system, climate, and surface evolution are strongly influenced by dust storms, which interact with the atmospheric circulation and the planet’s surface features. In this study, selected Martian dust storms are examined using data provided by the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) and the Mars Climate Database (MCD) to track the movement of air masses and improve understanding of how these storms develop and move across the Martian atmosphere.

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), together with the Mars Climate Database (MCD), provides the data needed to track the movement of air masses at different altitudes and times of the …

Inflection Points In Academic Career Trajectories: Statistical Modeling And Interactive Visualization, Aicha Malouche

Theses

This thesis examines the temporal structure of academic career trajectories, with a particular focus on identifying non-linear patterns of research productivity and moments of maximum acceleration in scientific impact. Situated within the broader context of bibliometric evaluation, the study responds to long-standing limitations of aggregate and linear career models that obscure heterogeneity across disciplines and national research systems. Drawing on theories of cumulative advantage, life-cycle productivity, and structural stratification, the research seeks to clarify how and when elite researchers experience peak growth in impact over the course of their careers. The study is guided by four research questions: (1) when …

Optimizing Motor Insurance Premiums In The Uae Using Predictive Analytics, Samar Abdelsalam

Theses

The car insurance industry in the UAE and GCC faces growing challenges including premium inflation, fraudulent claims, inconsistent pricing models, and lagging innovation in underwriting. This study investigates how predictive analytics and machine learning can enhance motor insurance premium optimization, with a focus on incorporating socio-demographic, behavioral, environmental, and vehicle-specific risk factors. Using a publicly available dataset of over 125,000 insurance policy records, this research applies a CRISP-DM framework to develop and evaluate supervised learning models including Linear Regression, Decision Trees, and Random Forests. Results highlight Linear Regression as the most effective model (RMSE = 193.62, R² = 0.9016), enabling …

Stimuli-Responsive Chemotherapy For Glioblastoma: Sequence-Dependent Synergy Of Cold Atmospheric Plasma And Ultrasound With Cationic Lipo-Doxo, Alessandro Cazzolla

Theses

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an aggressive, infiltrative astrocytic tumour in which pharmacotherapy remains constrained by the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the heterogeneously altered blood brain tumour barrier, with additional limitations imposed by active efflux and the complexity of the tumour microenvironment. In this setting, externally addressable strategies that modulate transport and uptake at the site of disease are required. A stimuli-responsive chemotherapy platform was developed in which Lipo-DOXO was combined with two non-invasive physical modalities, low-frequency ultrasound (US) and cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), to enhance intratumoural delivery while limiting off-target effects. Liposomes were produced by thin-film hydration followed by a controlled, …