Digital Commons Network^™

Improving Automatic Speech Recognition On Endangered Languages, Kruthika Prasanna Simha

Theses

As the world moves towards a more globalized scenario, it has brought along with it the extinction of several languages. It has been estimated that over the next century, over half of the world's languages will be extinct, and an alarming 43% of the world's languages are at different levels of endangerment or extinction already. The survival of many of these languages depends on the pressure imposed on the dwindling speakers of these languages. Often there is a strong correlation between endangered languages and the number and quality of recordings and documentations of each. But why do we care about …

Monolayer Doping For Fabrication Of Recessed Channel Mosfets, Veena Nudnure

Theses

Scaling of semiconductor devices has become a challenge with respect to the design, device performance, reliability, integration and fabrication schemes. For over sixty-years now, from the first design of transistor various challenges has been overcome with various integration schemes to shrink the device whilst increasing the device performance. As the devices are shrinking, there is a need to achieve shallow junctions for better performance of non-planar structures such as FinFETs and 3D FETs. The implementation of conventional doping technique ion-implantation can be a hindering process for the shallow junctions as they tend to damage the crystal due to bombardment of …

Behind The Lens, Guoxiang Zhao

Theses

Time flies. I arrived at my thesis year after two years of study at RIT, and began working on my film “Behind the Lens.” The film runs for five minutes and 56 seconds, and includes hand-drawn animation, music and sound created by me. After some personal changes, I re-pitched a whole new thesis proposal in the fall semester of my thesis year because I felt passionate and committed to the important message of the film. In truth, this story didn’t have a clear outline until April in my last semester. The story is about a camera character going through his …

Assessment Of Conventional Wastewater Treatment Plants In Removing Pharmaceutical Compounds: A Case Study Of Al Ain City, Uae, Ahmad Mohammad I Hassan Alhalab

Theses

This thesis is concerned with the assessment of conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in removing pharmaceutical compounds (PCs). PCs have classes like analgesics, antibiotics, antiseptics, hormones, cosmetic products, personal care products. They are used extensively by humans and they don’t have actual guidelines describing their concentration in domestic wastewater discharge. Thus, they may still be present in treated sewage effluent (TSE) or sludge and could consequently pose adverse environmental effects. Limited work has been done to assess the removal of PCs at WWTPs in arid and semi-arid countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As such, this study aimed at …

محاكمة الحدث في ظل القانون والقضاء الإماراتي (دراسة مقارنة), مريم عبيد محمد الراشدي

Theses

يمر الإنسان بمراحل عمرية مختلفة، و تتدرج بها مسؤوليته الجزائية، فيختلف الجزاء وفقا لكل مرحلة عمرية وذلك بناءً على ما تخضع له هذه الفئة من قوانين منظمة لها. فقانون الأحداث الاتحادي يختص بقواعد وإجراءات محاكمة الأحداث وهم الفئة العمرية المستهدفة محل الدراسة. إلا أن القانون رقم 3 لسنة 1996 بشأن اختصاص المحاكم الشرعية، نص على اختصاص هذه المحاكم بنظر الجرائم التي يرتكبها الأحداث، وتطبق أحكام الشريعة الإسلامية عليهم. هذا سيؤدي إلى حدوث ازدواجية في اختصاص هذه المحاكم والقواعد الموضوعية والإجرائية المطبقة على الأحداث. سنبحث في هذا الموضوع مع بيان موقف المحاكم العليا من ذلك، وموقف القوانين الوضعية محل المقارنة، وفقا …

United Arab Emirates Post Oil Strategy: An Examination Of Diversification Strategies And Challenges, Noura Hamad Salim Al Jaberi

Theses

For decades, oil-rich countries have been thoroughly discussed in the literature; regarding the heavy dependence on oil revenue for the state’s development, and economic diversification has become one of the main issues of oil-producing countries worldwide, due to the critical situation and different factors and pressures surrounding the global oil market. To achieve the research objectives and to answer the research questions, the paper analyzes the post-oil strategy of the United Arab Emirates and examines its challenges as a country located in a region with abundant oil wealth that has allowed it to become one of the main oil exporters …

Exploring The Impact Of Using Storybird On 10th Grade Efl Students’ Writing Narrative Skills In United Arab Emirates, Reda Ahmed Mahmoud Mustafa

Theses

Integrating technology in the classroom is essential to develop students from this generation’s learning skills. Based on previous studies, using a collaborative digital platform to enhance writing skills within the EFL context has been advantageous to students. All in all, this study attempts to explore the impact of using Story Bird (a digital platform) on the students’ narrative writing skills and specific sequencing of events and dialogue writing. This is done by performing a pre-test and post-test design on a control and experimental ESL 10th-grade students’ group. This study would serve as a baseline for further studies and an action …

تحليل جوانب استدامة النمو الاقتصادي وعلاقتها بأساليب الحوكمة السليمة في تجربة شركة بترول أبوظبي الوطنية "أدنوك", عبدالله محمد مطلق الغفلي

Theses

هدفت هذه الدراسة إلى التعرف على واقع التطبيق العملي لنظريات ا لاستدامة في عمل أدنوك حيث اعتمد الباحث المنهج الوصفي التحليلي للوصول إلى النتائج، ففي الفصل الأول تم إستعراض سبع نظريات تبحث في الاستدامة مع تحليل كل نظرية ونقدها ومدى علاقة هذه النظريا ت بأساليب الحوكمة المطبقة في شركة أدنوك .

وتظهر صعوبة هذه الدراسة بالتوفيق بين التنمية الإقتصادية والاستدامة والحوكمة من خلال إلقاء الضوء على جوانب استدامة النمو الإقتصادي من خلال بيان جوانب أخرى لهذا النمو يتمثل في الجوانب الإجتماعية وما يتعلق بها من أطر التنمية المستدامة المحلية وما يتمخض عنها من أساليب حديثة لمسؤولية الشركات الإجتماعية، كما تتمثل …

Prevalence, Antibiotic-Resistance And Growth Profile Of Vibrio Spp., Isolated From Imported Fish In The Local Markets, Tarfa Ali Mohamed

Theses

Seafood and fish are important food components for a large section of the world population. Seafood is prone to bacterial contamination, many are pathogenic to human and marine animals, and three species, Vibrio mimicus, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, and Vibrio vulnificus, are responsible for most cases of seafood-related human illness caused by Vibrio species. The study on the prevalence of these microorganisms in seafood of the United Arab Emirates is vital due to the cultural background of the Emiratis as a coastal heritage. A study was conducted to assess the prevalence of Vibrio spp. in imported fishes from local …

The Association Of Dna And Histone Methyltransferase Genes With Different Methylation Levels In Fragile X Syndrome Individuals, Sara Humaid Sembaij

Theses

Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (FMR1) gene produces an FMR protein (FMRP) which is known to regulate the translation process in various organs. It has a significant role in neurons function, maturation, and synaptic plasticity. FMR1 gene encompasses 5 - 30 CGG repeats and the greater number of repeats has the potential to expand during gametogenesis. The expansion depending on the number of CGG repeat undergoes hyper-methylation and is considered as a dynamic mutation in which the expansion increases through generation. Methylation of expanded CGG repeats results in inhibiting the transcription and silencing the gene. There are two types of …

The Emergence Of United Arab Emirates As A Global Soft Power: Strategies And Challenges, Amira Ali Alhashmi

Theses

The thesis focuses on how the United Arab Emirates is emerging as a global soft power by examining the elements of its soft power. This is accomplished via in-depth interviews with UAE-based foreign diplomats and academics and Emirati diplomats and academics. This is supplemented with primary and secondary data from government, international agencies, and media sources. The UAE has excelled in many facets of governance, accomplished a lot in a relatively short period, and pursued domestic and foreign policies that have made it a role model for other countries. These accomplishments enable the UAE to exercise soft power influence in …

The Impact Of Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback On Arab Efl Intermediate Students’ Writing Accuracy, Esraa Abdulrahman Alyousef

Theses

This thesis is concerned with finding the impact of applying dynamic written corrective feedback (DWCF) on Arab intermediate EFL learners’ writing accuracy. The current study focuses on the writing components of content, organization, grammar, vocabulary, and mechanics. The main objective of this thesis is to examine how DWCF can affect intermediate EFL learners’ writing accuracy. The research included 38 grade eight learners as participants of the study. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The quantitative data was collected via the use of pre-post test research instruments while the survey research instrument gathered the qualitative data. The study found …

الاستخدام التجاري للفضاء الخارجي في ضوء قواعد الفانون الدولي والتشريع الإما ا رتي, عبد الله عبد القادر عبد اللطيف

Theses

خلا ل الفترة الوجيزة الماضية، تعددت استخدامات الفضاء الخارجي، وكان الاستخدام

التجاري للفضاء الخارجي أحد أهم هذه الاستخدامات، حيث ظهرت العديد من الأنشطة التجارية

في الفضاء. كما أصبح القطاع الخاص أحد أبرز الناشطين في ميدان الفضاء، مما جعل الدول

تضع قوانين خاصة لتنظم شروط ترخيص أنشطة القطاع الخاص، وتنظم أحكام المسؤولية عن

الأضرار التي تحدثها. كما أن الأنشطة التجارية في الفضاء الخارجي تواجه العديد من

الإشكاليات المتعلقة بالحماية القانونية لها، ومقبلة على مزيد من التحديات والتطورات

المستقبلية.

وفي هذا البحث نحاول تسليط الضوء على موضوع الاستخدام التجاري للفضاء

الخارجي من خلال التعرض للأنشطة التجارية التي يتم ممارستها حاليا في الفضاء …

Home Energy Management System For Demand Response Purposes, Isra Adam Hussein Haroun

Theses

The growing demand for electricity has led to increasing efforts to generate and satisfy the rising demand. This led to suppliers attempting to reduce consumption with the help of the users. Requests to shift unnecessary loads off the peak hours, using other sources of generators to supply the grid while offering incentives to the users have made a significant effect. Furthermore, automated solutions were implemented with the help of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) where the user can remotely manage household loads to reduce consumption or cost. Demand Response (DR) is the process of reducing power consumption in a response …

Development Of Novel Peroxidase-Tio2/Zno Hybrid Catalysts For The Degradation Of Emerging Pollutants, Rana Fawzi Mohamed

Theses

Water pollution by different organic compounds is one of the most important environmental issues that is attracting the attention of many scientists due to its direct potential bad effect on human health. These organic pollutants include pesticides, pharmaceuticals, industrial wastes, and personal care products that are released in water bodies from domestic and industrial discharge. Various chemical, physical and biological approaches have been proposed to degrade these contaminants from the polluted water. In the present study, we immobilized versatile thermostable enzymes, Soybean peroxidase (SBP) and Horseradish peroxidase on functionalized photocatalysts—TiO₂ and ZnO to create novel bio-composite catalysts (SBP-TiO₂, SBP-ZnO, HRP-TiO₂, …

The Role Of Digital Diplomacy In Uae Foreign Policy: Strategies, Challenges And Opportunities, Khadija Ali Mohammed Al Mazrouei

Theses

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is emerging as a world leader in digital diplomacy due to its excellent communication infrastructure and willingness to connect with the outside world as part of it is foreign policy goals. In spite of the UAE’s central role in this digital diplomacy phenomenon, not much by way of research has been conducted into the UAE’s efforts. Thus, this thesis seeks to fill the research gap by addressing three key research questions vis-à-vis UAE’s digital diplomacy. First, what are the UAE’s digital diplomacy strategies? Second, what are the benefits of digital diplomacy to the UAE? Third, …

The Impact Of Biotic Characteristics Of Uae Coastal Area On Movements Of Socotra Cormorant, Nouf Sameer Abdullah Saeed Al Qadi

Theses

Monitoring Socotra Cormorant population and conducting research on their breeding biology and feeding habits are considered the top priorities for ensuring the long-term protection of their breeding colonies and feeding grounds. The research was conducted by using ArcMap Software (10.5) to map Socotra cormorant migratory movements in the Arabian Gulf Region during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 breeding seasons.; and to determine environmental variables that affect migratory movements using a GIS approach, which helps to identify areas of conservation value. The study provided needed information on the current distribution of Socotra Cormorant along with the distribution of marine ecosystems (mangroves and …

The Assessment Of Walkability As A Social Aspect Of Sustainability: The Case Of Dubai Neighborhoods, Uae, Rania Elsaed Elesawi

Theses

In an attempt to reduce car dependency, the process of planning, mainly on a neighborhood level, has recently been directed to focus on the accommodation of walkability as a significant factor of planning development. This approach contributes not only to improving urban patterns but also majorly in addressing issues of sustainability. The social aspect of sustainability has not received much attention and is considered the least described pillar. The positive association between aspects of human behavior and built environment, particularly walkability, suggests that measuring social aspects of sustainability may be conceivable especially in the context of community development. Sustainable neighborhoods …

دور الحوكمة في تفعيل سياسات الابتكار الإداري في سوق أبو ظبي للأوراق المالية, عمر مطر جمعه النيادي

Theses

أُعدت هذه الدراسة بغية التعرف على واقع ودور الحوكمة بوصفها نشاطا تقوم به الإدارة لتنسق العمليات التي تقوم بها كي تضبط وتوجه وتحدد وتوزع الحقوق والواجبات بين المشاركين والمساهمين في المؤسسات، من خلال جعل المواطنين على علمٍ تامٍ بكافة سياسات وخدمات الدولة وصُناع القرار، بحيث تُخرج القرارات بصيغة تشاركية مما يؤدي إلى زيادة الثقة في الحكومة وذلك نظراً لشفافيتها وتقديمها الخدمات والسياسات بصورة كاملة وفعالة. كما تعكس الرّؤى والطّموحات واحتياجات المجتمع باستثمار أمثل للموارد. وتناولت تأثير الحوكمة على الشركات ومساهمتها في تقوية الاقتصاد. حيث عرّ ف الباحث تاريخ الحوكمة وما يندرج تحتها من مفاهيم وما تعكسه من رؤية واضحة للعميل …

أسباب عزوف المواطنين الذكور عن الالتحاق بمهنة التعليم في امارة أبوظبي, وفاء عبد الله محمد الشحي

Theses

تُعد ظاهرة عزوف الذكور عن مهنة التدريس هاجسا يؤرق المسؤولين ومتخذي القرار في وزارة التربية والتعليم في دولة الامارات العربية المتحدة، لما لها من أثار بالغة في خطط التنمية الشاملة، وانعكاسات سلبية على واقع العملية التعليمية في المدارس، لذا جاءت هذه الدراسة سعيا في الاجابة عن التساؤل الرئيس التالي: "ما أسباب عزوف المواطنين الذكور عن الالتحاق بمهنة التعليم في إمارة أبوظبي؟ وما هي الحلول المقترحة لمعالجتها ولجذب المواطنين الذكور للعمل في هذا المجال؟. وقد تم استخدم المنهج الوصفي التحليلي )أو ما يسمى بالمسح الاجتماعي( الذي يعد أنسب المناهج العليمة لتحقيق أهداف هذه الدراسة والاجابة على تساؤلاتها، وقد تكونت عينةالدراسة من …

Evaluation Of Phytochemical Composition And Anti-Cancer Potential In Root Extracts Of Moringa Peregrina (Forssk.) Fiori, Salama Khamis Sultan Saeed Al Kaabi

Theses

Natural products provide many bioactive lead molecules for the discovery of new medicines. Naturally, derived phytochemicals have exhibited tremendous biological activities including anticancer activity. More than 60% of antitumor medicines are closely associated with natural products. In the present study, hexane, chloroform, acetone and, methanol extracts from roots of Moringa peregrina were screened for phytochemical analysis and anticancer activity. Phytochemical analysis was performed by Gas Chromatography and Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The anticancer potential of the extracts was done on the human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) and cell viability was measured using WST-1 Cell Proliferation Assay Kit. The cell line …

Hypervirulent Klebsiella Pneumoniae Bloodstream Isolates In The United Arab Emirates, Shaikha Awad Mohammed Al Kaabi

Theses

As the presence of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) has not been studied in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the aim was to determine its rate among bloodstream isolates collected in a tertiary care hospital during two years. K. pneumoniae blood isolates of 125 individual patients from Tawam Hospital, Al Ain in 2014-2015 were investigated. Clinical data on patients’ demographics and underlying medical conditions were collected. Speciation was carried out by VITEK 2, antimicrobial susceptibility was determined by disc diffusion, and for colistin by microdilution. Hypermucoviscosity was assessed by string test. Genetic markers of hypervirulence (iucA, rmpA, rmpA2), …

Deepcon-Pre: Improved Protein Contact Map Prediction Using Inverse Covariance And Deep Residual Networks, Nachammai Palaniappan

Theses

As with most domains where machine learning methods are applied, correct feature engineering is critical when developing deep learning algorithms for solving the protein folding problem. Unlike the domains such as computer vision and natural language processing, feature engineering is not rigorously studied towards solving the protein folding problem. A recent research has highlighted that input features known as precision matrix are most informative for predicting inter-residue contact map, the key for building three-dimensional models. In this work, we study the significance of the precision matrix feature when very deep residual networks are trained. Using a standard dataset of 3456 …

Characterization And Modeling Of A Plastic Film Transpired Solar Collector With And Without Perforated Glazing, Brandon Mark

Theses

Transpired solar collectors are an economical and highly efficient option for applications involving the heating of ambient air. A transpired solar collector is a type of solar air heater in which outside air is continuously pulled through a perforated absorber plate and subsequently warmed. These collectors can be used for numerous applications, including crop drying, building ventilation, and desiccant regeneration. Transpired solar collectors have minimal moving parts, typically resulting in low maintenance and operation costs. In this study, absorber plates consisting of low-cost plastic sheets are characterized through outdoor testing and are fitted to a theoretical model. Different design configurations …

Artifact, Jacob Martin

Theses

During the creation of this work, I identified and acquired various contemporary objects relating to branding, consumerism, and fads. Through a process of artificial aging, ranging from abrading, cutting, and sandblasting to burying them in soil and chemical treatments of bleach, salt and ammonia, I made the objects appear as if they had been removed from an archeological site after centuries under ground. I incorporated these apparently ancient contemporary consumer items into new compositions using mostly silver and aluminum. These new objects are created using traditional metal-smithing techniques and bearing a resemblance to classicism in form as well. The designs …

Proposed Microgrid For Hatta City-Dubai, Amna Al Ansaari, Bashaer Al Shamsi, Mariam Al Hameli

Theses

Inspired by Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to make Dubai a global hub for clean energy and green economy, this research is conducted to study the feasibility of proposing a microgrid design in Hatta city, with taking into consideration its energy demand and locality. The research encompasses a detailed analysis of three successfully applied microgrid projects in three different countries to extract best practices that can be efficiently applied in Hatta and to provide guidelines that show how to develop a microgrid for this chosen city. The benefits of this project are to improve the electrical grid resiliency and efficiency …

Study Of Human Hand-Eye Coordination Using Machine Learning Techniques In A Virtual Reality Setup, Kamran Binaee

Theses

Theories of visually guided action are characterized as closed-loop control in the presence of reliable sources of visual information, and predictive control to compensate for visuomotor delay and temporary occlusion. However, prediction is not well understood. To investigate, a series of studies was designed to characterize the role of predictive strategies in humans as they perform visually guided actions, and to guide the development of computational models that capture these strategies. During data collection, subjects were immersed in a virtual reality (VR) system and were tasked with using a paddle to intercept a virtual ball. To force subjects into a …

Protein Inter-Residue Distance Prediction Using Residual And Capsule Networks, Andrew Dillon

Theses

The protein folding problem, also known as protein structure prediction, is the task of building three-dimensional protein models given their one-dimensional amino acid sequence. New methods that have been successfully used in the most recent CASP challenge have demonstrated that predicting a protein's inter-residue distances is key to solving this problem. Various deep learning algorithms including fully convolutional neural networks and residual networks have been developed to solve the distance prediction problem. In this work, we develop a hybrid method based on residual networks and capsule networks. We demonstrate that our method can predict distances more accurately than the algorithms …

The Distribution And Demography Of The Invasive Pacific Oyster, Crassostrea Gigas, And Native Olympia Oyster, Ostrea Lurida, In The San Diego River, Jason Langevin

Theses

Even though the introduction of the Pacific Oyster, Crassostrea gigas, to the west coast of North America, happened roughly a century ago, it has only been in the past 15 to 20 years that C. gigas has started to become an established and conspicuous species along Southern California’s coast. The establishment of C. gigas in Southern California has the potential to heavily influence many native species, as it has done globally. In Southern California, this invasion is particularly relevant for the native Olympia Oyster, Ostrea lurida. The Olympia oyster has both historical and present-day threats to its population, …

Representing Mathematical Concepts Associated With Formulas Using Math Entity Cards, Abishai Dmello

Theses

We introduce Math Entity Cards, a modified version of existing Entity Cards specifically tailored for Math Information Retrieval. Math Entity Cards help connect formulas to titles and description and make the navigation between formulas and text related to formulas, seamless. These cards are populated from a new knowledge base, created by extracting and combining formulas, titles and descriptions from three different sources, Wikidata, Wiktionary & ProofWiki. We demonstrate a novel approach of using entity cards for auto-complete by integrating our cards into a Math-Aware Search Interface: MathSeer. This helps create a new ecosystem for consuming information during formula editing and …