Digital Commons Network^™

The Disposition And Metabolism Of A Novel Brain-Penetrating Oxime Reactivator Of Inhibited Acetylcholinesterase, Thomas Christopher Burke

Theses and Dissertations

Organophosphates (OPs) were initially designed as insecticides and later engineered as dangerous nerve agents that threaten our livelihood and safety. One of the treatments for OP exposure is the administration of an oxime to reactivate inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE). The currently approved oxime therapy in the US, pralidoxime (2-PAM), is unable to reactivate inhibited AChE in the brain due to its low ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) which has led our laboratory to develop novel substituted phenoxyalkyl pyridinium oximes (US Patent 9,227,937) that penetrate the BBB more effectively. Our lead oxime candidate, Oxime 20, has proven efficacious in reactivating …

Modeling Advancement In Spacefaring Through Deep Learning, Peng-Hung Tsai

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting advancement in space exploration technology allows space agencies and companies to strategically allocate resources, prioritize missions, and explore collaborations on complex projects. This foresight acts as a roadmap for future exploration, making the best use of valuable resources. The present study employs spacecraft lifetimes as an exemplar of technological progress and proposes a novel forecasting model based on Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks. Existing research often suggests an increasing exponential relationship between technology performance and time (the generalized Moore's Law). However, applying this model directly to spacecraft lifetimes has a limitation. Spacecraft lifespans are unknown at launch, and recent …

Modeling Knowledge Graphs And Its Applicability In Multi-Source Social Network Data, Abiola Sylvester Akinnubi

Theses and Dissertations

Social network analysis is becoming more relevant with the rise of Large Language Models and other AI frameworks, particularly as online content creation surges. However, analyzing social network data from different platforms to study online opinions and influence campaigns remains challenging. Even more complex is the concept of multi-source social network analysis. Knowledge graphs, an essential part of Web 4.0 and crucial in information modeling and encoding, offer a unique solution. They allow for a more concise encoding of relationships between entities and related discussions. However, there is limited investigation into using multi-source data for examining online information campaigns and …

Democratizing Social Studies Education: Testimonios Of Mexicana Youth In El Llano Grande De Aztlan, Cecile M. Caddel

Theses and Dissertations

This research presents the testimonios of Mexicana youth. Through a qualitative research design, this centered on the central question: How does testimonio in the social studies classroom serve as a decolonizing practice and how does this impact Mexicana students? and secondary question: How do Mexicana make meaning and reclaim identity using lived experiences as brown bodied women? As an individualized approach to social studies education, the testimonios give voice to the life and schooling experiences of Mexicana youth in El Llano Grande de Aztlán. As methodology, testimonio bears witness to bring about new theorizing. With intention, the theoretical frame, a …

Thermodynamic Feasibility Of Potential Nano-Energetic Systems Based On Metal Oxynitrides, Manoj Chhetri

Theses and Dissertations

A computational study was undertaken with the objective of identifying the nano-energetic systems containing aluminum as fuel and metal oxynitrides as oxidizer, aiming to achieve an exothermic reaction characterized by the maximum values of gas generation, adiabatic combustion temperature, and energy release. For the thermodynamic calculation, nine systems based on metal oxynitrides were taken using the THERMO software that works based on the Gibbs free energy minimization, together with HSC Chemistry 7 to calculate the thermodynamic equilibrium concentrations of reactants and products corresponding gas generation, temperature and energy release by varying the fuel to oxidizer ratio. Among all the chosen …

Ads-B/Gps Integrity Identification And Evaluation Using Machine Learning Models, Anton Reider Skurdal

Theses and Dissertations

Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is part of the Federal Avi-ation Authority’s (FAA) NextGen position, navigation, and timing (PNT) system, but its packets are unauthenticated and vulnerable to attack by bad actors. This re- search aims to develop methods to detect and mitigate GPS and ADS-B risks for aircraft systems. First, a Random Forest Classifier (RFC) model was trained to clas- sify categories (erroneous, noise, dropouts) of data, achieving an accuracy of 87%. Following this, many single-stage and two-stage forecasting models were tested to forecast Navigation Integrity Category (NIC) values, with the two-stage Random For- est Regressor (RFR) achieving the lowest …

Mathematical Concepts And Coding Theory In Kumārasambhavam Of Kālidāsa, Bhuvaneswari K

Theses and Dissertations

Kālidāsa, a renowned Sanskrit poet and playwright from ancient India, is known for his profound understanding and depiction of various aspects of human life, nature, and the universe in his works. While his writings primarily revolve around themes of love, romance, and human emotions, there are several instances where he incorporates mathematical concepts and astronomical references.

His meticulous usage of such abstractions and symbolism adds depth and richness to his poetry. These elements serve as tools to enhance the imagery and aesthetics of his literary works, reflecting the interplay between art and science in ancient Indian culture. These subtle allusions …

Takiri Ake Nga Haeata: Lighting A Path To Increased Indigenous Leadership In Aotearoa, Kaylee Ihimaera

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the underrepresentation of indigenous Māori people in leadership positions and pursues the need to develop a Māori leadership framework aimed at empowering the next generation of indigenous people. Several frameworks have attempted to exhibit Māori leadership dynamics, each offering unique insights into the cultural and relational aspects of Māori leadership. However, existing frameworks often exhibit limitations in fully encapsulating the breadth of Māori leadership values and practices, necessitating the development of a comprehensive Māori leadership model independent of Western frameworks. Through an extensive review of existing literature and engaging with Māori experts, I synthesized key insights to …

The Role Of Language In Identity And Mediating Connection For Fijian College Students, Grace Taito Tora

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the role of language in constructing identity and promoting belonging for seventeen Fijian college students at one U.S. based university in the Pacific Rim. Focus group interviews were analyzed for how students described the role that language played in constructing student identity and mediating connection. Analysis was grounded in post-structural perspectives of identity alongside vā – the Oceanic notion that encompasses identity and belonging. Students described themes of native language proficiency in reinforcing kinship relationships and in participating in cultural traditions and practices. They also expressed other ways of maintaining vā without proficiency in their native languages. …

Viewing Ir Through A Unicolonial Lens: A Case Study On The Effects Of Cultural Recognition On State Behavior, Andrew Viera

Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis utilizes the concept of unicoloniality, a process found within several ant species, to analyze the aggressive behavior and alliance-forming behavior of states. Through the unique lens of ant colony behavior, this study creates a new variable for quantifying culture that measures whether two states can recognize each other based on their cultural identity. Utilizing this noble variable, a logistic regression model was run to test the impact of cultural recognition on state behavior. The results indicated that cultural recognition had no effect on the decision of a state to join an alliance or engage in a militarized …

“Finally Somebody Wants To Hear Us”: Soviet Women And Political Violence In Svetlana Alexievich’S Narratives, Liubov Kartashova

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the emotional and social impact of significant Soviet historical events, including World War II, the Soviet-Afghan War, and the Chornobyl disaster, on collective memory. Svetlana Alexievich, a Belarusian Nobel Prize laureate, employs a polyphonic narrative technique to challenge official histories of these events and foreground the voices of ordinary people, particularly women. Focusing on her works – The Unwomanly Face of War, Zinky Boys, and Chernobyl Prayer – the study delves into the gendered experiences and narratives of women involved in these events. Integrating feminist scholarship on international relations and security, this research analyzes women’s roles in …

Burning Torches, Eyes, And Empires: A Visual Rhetorical Analysis Of The Modern American Fascist Aesthetic, Caleb Lawler

Theses and Dissertations

Allegiance to the ideology of fascism is growing in the United States. Racist, misogynist, and xenophobic sentiments are prevalent throughout far-right groups in America. Despite fighting fascism worldwide in World War I and World War II, powerful American figures have and still hold strong ties to fascism. To consolidate control, fascists construct an aesthetic of themselves and their ideological opponents. Using visual rhetorical theory and Marxist theory, I will conduct three visual rhetorical analyses on three images from modern American political events to examine how the fascist aesthetic expresses itself in different situations.

What Follows The Fall? Investigating The Shifting Landscape Of Political Violence In The Wake Of Regime Breakdown, Mariam Ayoub

Theses and Dissertations

While it is commonly argued the prior regime type influences regime breakdown outcomes during contested transitions of power, the observed disparity between two countries with identical prior regime types and distinct post-breakdown results poses a significant challenge to the existing theories. This thesis navigates into the complexities inherent in the post-breakdown sphere by examining how different modes of regime breakdowns can impact the level and duration of state violence instigated by the incoming regime after the breakdown. Developing a theoretical model that compares and contrasts the political environments created after military coups and popular uprisings, this thesis argues that regimes …

Historical Marker Plaques In Arkansas, Armando Arellano

Theses and Dissertations

Historical markers are made with a purpose of expanding the knowledge and recognition of individuals, events, or locations which are significant enough to contribute to the community. Historical markers should also stand firm to historical accuracy based on the verified and available scholarly resources. Historic preservation and manufacturing metal foundries have been a key element behind the process of historical markers, as they have been known for their recognition for historic significance. The recognition and remembrance of historical markers themselves, along with the historic preservation, has been a significant effort for the State of Arkansas, although it is not getting …

Rapid, Direct Screening Of Priority Metal Contaminants In Environmental Systems With Reactive 3 D-Printed Cone Spray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry ( 3 D- Pcsi-Ms ), Jonathan Nzubechi Chilaka

Theses and Dissertations

Trace metal species are relatively common in our environment, and although some are essential to sustain life, exposure to elevated levels of toxic metals can detrimentally affect both human and animal health. Correspondingly, monitoring of such contaminants in environmental systems is critical to public safety. While various methods exist for sensitive and selective metal analysis for such applications, there remains a need for a rapid, cost-effective, and, ideally, portable solution for expedited results and more impactful remediation and sustainability initiatives. Here, we investigate the use of 3D-printed cone spray ionization-mass spectrometry (3D-PCSI-MS), a newer, spray-based ambient ionization method, with specialty …

Mitre Attack Framework Adaptation In Uav Usage During Surveillance And Reconnaissance Missions, Jeffrey Greer Iv

Theses and Dissertations

As unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) increasingly become integral to surveillance and reconnaissance (S&R) operations, their susceptibility to cyber threats poses significant risks to operational integrity. The current cybersecurity protocols often fail to address UAV operations’ unique vulnerabilities and challenges in S&R contexts, highlighting a gap in specialized cybersecurity strategies. This research adapts the MITRE ATTACK framework to enhance cybersecurity approaches, safeguarding UAVs against evolving cyber threats. This thesis maps existing vulnerabilities against comprehensive tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) through a scenario-based analysis. Hypothetical and practical S&R operation case studies demonstrate the applicability of proposed cybersecurity strategies, validating their effectiveness in …

The Transnational Beat: Paramilitary Policing And America’S Associational Defense State, Ryan Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the role of Cold War-era American law enforcement and intelligence institutions in shaping U.S. grand strategy and carrying out paramilitary operations. It examines American civil-military relations through the formal and informal relationships between the U.S. military, private organizations, and American law enforcement personnel within a framework I call “associational defense.” The concept provides a framework for observing and comprehending the existence of an American garrison state. While police institutions are civil institutions and not military organizations, law enforcement possessed a paramilitary mission throughout the Cold War and into the War on Drugs and the Global War on …

Changing The Narrative: Athinai, An Illustrated Periodical For Modern Greece, 1934–35, Julie Fry

Theses and Dissertations

Athinai provided a Greek counterpart to European popular magazines of the interwar period. The integration of hand-drawn illustration with photographic imagery, collage, and multicolor printing yielded its distinctive visual language. Athinai portrayed changes in the daily life of modern Athens, attitudes to the body, and the role of women.

Chaucer’S Contradictory Representations Of Fourteenth Century Knighthood In The Canterbury Tales, Nicholas Cabrera

Theses and Dissertations

Differences in interpretation have long dominated scholarship regarding knighthood in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. But these differences fail to consider the nuance of the text and the historical realities of the period in which Chaucer wrote. Chaucer’s depiction of knighthood represents the institution as filled with tensions and contradictions.

An Investigation Into The Enoughness Mindset, Ai Nhan Thi Ngo

Theses and Dissertations

The concept of enoughness was an old but forgotten concept in human history. This research reintroduced the concept to our contemporary culture as a means to deal with consumers' endless desires by exploring the enoughness concept. Contemporarily suppressed under the development of modern capitalism, an extensive mythological trace of the enoughness concept showed its existence through more than 25 centuries across cultures with four key components: reining in desires, knowing contentment, knowing when to stop, and consideration of harmony. Building upon theories of desires, this research positioned enoughness as a means to help tame consumers' endless desires that can be …

Tarnished Glory: The Exclusion Of Buffalo Soldiers In World War I, David Michael Barron

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the exclusion of the Buffalo Soldier regiments during World War I. Due to the rise of racial discrimination in the early twentieth century, the Buffalo Soldier regiments experienced violence with civilians while stationed in the United States. The violence experienced by African American soldiers would shape decisions that would ultimately impact their involvement in World War I. By examining evidence from their war record in previous conflicts and evidence from the racial violence that occurred while stationed in the US, this thesis will show that their exclusion in World War I was due to poor conduct perpetrated …

Test And Evaluation Model For Midwater Docking Of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Parker Baillon

Theses and Dissertations

This research created a Test and Evaluation (T&E) model for midwater Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capture. The creation of this model will allow for a better assessment of the feasibility of midwater AUV capture. To achieve this, the T&E model was exposed to various flow conditions to assess stability. Capturing an AUV in midwater, the area below the wave-affected zone to the sea floor, has many benefits for an AUV and its mission. AUVs basing missions from a midwater dock will not be affected by wave motions. A midwater dock can be transported to any mission site and deployed with …

The Effect Of Extended Saltwater Absorption And Uv Cure On The Compressive Properties Of Msla 3d-Printed Photopolymer Resin Samples With Printing Variations, Suzanne Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) 3D printers, also known as Masked Stereolithography Apparatus (MSLA), is a type of vat polymerization printing technique that cures liquid resin into a solid object. This technique is relatively new. Consequently, there is a shortage of detailed research on the impact of long-term environmental exposure on the MSLA-printed materials. The research within this document informs engineers and scientists of resin compressive properties after extended exposure to saltwater and ultraviolet (UV) light. Saltwater absorption of the material was analyzed at atmospheric pressure, 30-psi, 60-psi, and 90-psi; the samples reached saturation in saltwater after 56 days. The variation …

Andromedus: A Novel, Ariel Renae Hochstrasser

Theses and Dissertations

Andromedus "Midas" Hellebore is a half-fae necromancer living in Portland, Oregon. When he was a child, he grew up in a brothel on a fae territory near the Pacific coast on an island called Duckwell. The matron of said brothel tried to sell him to be a blood pet for a man named Mr. White, both to be a sex slave and to consistently produce fae blood, which consumed by humans could give them the magic fae folk are born with. However, a few of the escorts at the brothel - including Orla, the one who chose to raise him …

Gps-Denied Localization Of Landing Evtol Aircraft, Aaron C. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a dedicated GPS-denied landing system designed for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The system employs active fiducial light pattern localization (AFLPL), which provides highly accurate and reliable navigation during critical landing phases. AFLPL utilizes images of a constellation comprised of modulating infrared lights strategically positioned on the landing site, to determine the aircraft pose through the use of a perspective-n-point (PnP) solver. The AFLPL system underwent thorough development, enhancement, and implementation to address and demonstrate its potential in navigation and its inherent limitations. A proposed method addresses the limitations of AFLPL by using an extended …

Development Of Zr(Iv) Mof-Enabled Nerve Agent Electrochemical Hydrolysis Sensors, Tyler James Marlar

Theses and Dissertations

Nerve agents are acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and among the most toxic chemical warfare agents ever synthesized. Detection of these chemicals is critical for the protection of populations and strategic resources. G-series nerve agents are volatile compounds. V-series nerve agents are persistent phosphonothioate compounds. Persistent nerve agents do not readily volatilize and can contaminate environmental resources for extended periods. While nerve agents are inherently non-electroactive, they can be hydrolyzed to electroactive products compatible with electrochemical sensing. Zr(IV) MOFs are next-generation nanoporous materials, which have been shown to rapidly catalyze nerve agent hydrolysis. In this work, the catalytic processes of MOF-808, a specific …

Civil War In Ancient Egypt? A Case Study Of The First Intermediate Period (Ca. 2120-1970 Bc), Marco Pinfari

Theses and Dissertations

The First Intermediate Period (FIP – ca. 2120-1970 BCE) is often described by Egyptologists as a period of “civil war.” In the Egyptological literature, however, little attention is paid to defining this notion (which was first introduced only in the Late Roman Republic, almost 2,000 years later) and to explaining how it could be applicable to ancient Egyptian history.

This thesis contributes to this debate by analyzing the FIP through the lenses of contemporary approaches to civil war, drawn from political science and other cognate disciplines. It first discusses how if the events of the FIP comply with contemporary definitions …

Rfi Mitigation And Discrete Digital Signal Processing Rfsoc Algorithm Implementations For Radio Astronomy And Wideband Communication Systems, Devon Christopher Ward

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the massive increase of active transmitters broadcasting over wideband frequencies, such as 5G wireless systems, LEO/MEO satellites, satellite constellations, and the increase of IoT devices in the average home, the radio frequency spectrum is becoming more and more congested by interference. Passive receivers face additional challenges due to the growing use of wideband frequency transmissions aimed at boosting communication system throughput. As a result, passive receivers must adopt more robust and intricate techniques to mitigate radio frequency interference. A proposed RFI removal system, known as the true time delay Hadamard projection algorithm, has been introduced in previous work …

S ( M ) Othering: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Republican Motherhood, Caroline King

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines seven Republican rhetors who utilize motherhood as a rhetorical strategy in speeches between the years of 1972 and 2020. Specifically, speeches, newsletters, and debate transcripts are analyzed using four theoretical lenses to curate an archetype of the “Republican Mother” – a concept constructed of an amalgamation of the historic “mother of the republic” from the nation’s conception and the ideological values assigned to women within the Republican party, such as traditional gender and spousal roles. I argue that it is the unique combination of womanhood, motherhood, and Republicanism that creates a unique rhetorical strategy seen in these …

Polyphony: Multitudes Of Vietnamese National Identity Through Experiential Documentation Of Marketplaces, Jade Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

The exhibition Polyphony brings together photographs from Trades of the Street and Commere(d) Culture, two documentary series portraying Vietnamese marketplaces and businesses across multiple cities in Việt Nam and the United States respectively to provide a cross-cultural and multisensorial perspective on how commercial practices and establishments represent Vietnamese culture and national identity. The market provides insights into Việt Nam’s multilayered history, struggles, ways of living, sense of community, and its vibrant soul and culture. The combination of these two series and the sequencing of the exhibition utilizes the relational nature of photography, which allows new meaning to emerge from a …