Digital Commons Network^™

Intrinsic Universality In Tile Automata And Related Results, Elise C. Grizzell

Theses and Dissertations

The Tile Automata (TA) model describes self-assembly systems in which monomers can build structures and transition with an adjacent monomer to change their states. This paper shows that seeded TA is a non-committal intrinsically universal model of self-assembly. We present a single universal Tile Automata system containing approximately 4600 states that can simulate (a) the output assemblies created by any other Tile Automata system Γ, (b) the dynamics involved in building Γ’s assemblies, and (c) Γ’s internal state transitions. It does so in a non-committal way: it preserves the full non-deterministic dynamics of a tile’s potential attachment or transition by …

Exploring The Dark And Gothic: An Analysis Of Edgar Allan Poe And Nathaniel Hawthorne’S Gothic Elements In American Literature, Alejandra Serna

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the significant contributions of Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne to the development of American Gothic literature. Poe’s stories “The Tell-Tale Heart” and “The Black Cat” are renowned for their psychological elements and exploration of the human psyche, while Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark” questions the nature of evil as a universal human experience. By examining the ways in which these authors engage with themes of mental disorders, symbolism, and science versus nature, this thesis explores how such work by Poe and Hawthorne play in shaping the readers' understanding of the darker elements of American Gothic literature and its …

Consumption Of Over-The-Top (Ott) Media Streaming Services In Rural Tamil Nadu, Rajarathi K

Theses and Dissertations

Over-the-top (OTT) Media Streaming Services are modern online entertainment services based on new media technologies. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, the OTT consumer base experienced exponential growth, especially in India. Currently, the Indian OTT industry is in its second growth phase, owing to increased consumption in rural India. The interests of rural consumers align with different types of OTT content, providing potential market for OTT media streaming services. Tamil Nadu is a front runner in the consumption of YouTube and other popular OTT media streaming services in the country. The Government of Tamil Nadu is making penetration efforts to establish OTT …

Development Of An Efficient Multi-Objective Approach For Secure Live Virtual Machine Migration, Venkata Subramanian N

Theses and Dissertations

Cloud computing offers organizations flexibility and cost-efficiency through pay-asyou- go services, allowing them to scale resources according to their needs and reduce expenditures. Cloud as a Service (CaaS) offloads IT management complexities, while Cloud Data Center (CDC) provides infrastructure for on-demand, scalable, and flexible services over the Internet. Virtualization improves operational efficiency by providing simultaneous access to multiple virtual machines, while Live Virtual Machine Migration enhances agility, resilience, resource allocation, and fault tolerance.

However, achieving effective VMM requires forecasting cloud resource utilization, selecting the right target host, and ensuring security. Live VM migration is inevitable for optimizing CDC resource utilization. …

Increasing The Robustness Of Machine Learning By Adversarial Attacks, Gourab Mukhopadhyay

Theses and Dissertations

By perturbation or physical attacks any machine can be fooled into predicting something else other than the intended output. There are training data based on which the model is trained to predict unknown things. The objective was to create noises and shades of different levels on the images and do experiments for measuring accuracy and making the model classify the traffic signs. When it comes to adding shades to the pictures, pixels were modified for three different layers of the pictures. The experiment also shows that with the shadows getting deeper, the accuracies drop significantly. Here, some changes in pixels …

Peer Mentoring Program For Refugee And Newcomer Children To Increase Resilience, Chloe Skyla Cooksey

Theses and Dissertations

The refugee and newcomer population faces many challenges as they arrive in their host country. Many individuals experience varying degrees of trauma in their country of origin. Trauma can lead to poor mental health outcomes and poor adjustment in host countries. Refugee children in particular may experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety as a result of traumatic experiences. Children can be resilient when given opportunities to create relationships and gain confidence. These opportunities can be fostered through various avenues, one of which is the school environment. Refugee students can benefit from various supports provided to them in the school …

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 …

Associations Between Coping Style And Perceptions Of Web-Delivered Physical Activity Messages Among Women In Midlife With Cardiovascular Health Risks, Kristen Pasko

Theses and Dissertations

Midlife women are at unique risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and benefit from increasing physical activity (PA). Many PA interventions involve social support, though fail to address related processes such as social comparison. Desire for specific types of social support and comparison may represent emotion-focused versus problem-solving coping, though little is known about women’s preferences for/responses to these coping opportunities. The present study examined women’s selections of PA content in a digital environment. Over 7 days, women in midlife ≥1 CVD risk factor (N = 60, MAge = 50.70, SD = 5.89) wore a PA monitor and visited a proprietary …

The Negative Impacts Of Parentification On Adolescents: A Systematic Review, Reilly Reid Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

While child abuse, maltreatment, and neglect are clear examples of the most maladaptive types of parent-child interactions (Borchet et al., 2022), there is considerable evidence for the damaging nature of parentification in terms of youth outcomes and parental/familial dysfunction. The research literature contains numerous studies related to parentification, but there is little research overtly demonstrating the systemic effects of parentification (Peris et al., 2008). It is imperative that researchers and clinicians learn more about the mechanisms involved in the parentification process. Therefore, this systematic review analyzed the research literature centered on both parentification and adolescent populations. This study assessed various …

Impacts Of Managed Honeybee Apiaries On Native Bee Populations, Trapping Efficiencies Of Bee Sampling Methods, And Drone Based Floral Cover Analysis In High Elevation Tall Forb Communities In Central Utah, Nicholas Val Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the impact of honeybee introductions on native bee populations, evaluates the efficiency of traditional bee sampling and monitoring methods, and explores the use of drone technology for assessing floral resources on federal lands in the United States. Federal lands, managed for multiple uses, present a valuable opportunity for the summer pasturing of honeybees. These lands produce vast floral resources and are largely free from pesticides and other pollutants that could weaken honeybee populations. The potential use of this resource is significant given the economic and agricultural concerns presented by declining pollinator trends and Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). …

Functional & Evolutionary Analysis Of Tbx2a And Tbx2b In Zebrafish Heart Development, Maliha Tasnim

Theses and Dissertations

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect, affecting approximately 1% of live births. This dissertation explores the genetic mechanisms underlying CHD, focusing on the T-box transcription factors Tbx2a and Tbx2b in zebrafish. Utilizing advanced bioinformatics techniques, we reconstructed the ancestral sequences of these genes to understand their evolutionary trajectory and functional divergence. Our analysis highlights the evolutionary conservation of the DNA-binding domain in tbx2a and tbx2b, suggesting its crucial role in maintaining correct gene expression patterns during development. We observed unique and shared amino acid substitutions in these proteins, indicating potential adaptive changes and conserved functions. Comparative …

3d Printed Mounts For Liquid Microdroplet Resonators, Parker A. Awerkamp

Theses and Dissertations

Liquid microdroplet resonators provide an excellent tool for optical studies due to their innate smoothness and high quality factors, but they can be difficult to control. By using 3D printed mounts to support the droplets, we can obtain precise control over the droplet geometries and positions. We here present our work with oil, water, and ice microdroplets, as well as tools required to enable their study. We first present methods for creating 3D printed mounts for oil microdroplet resonators. The mounts enable precise positioning of the droplets relative to a tapered optical fiber. The oil microdroplet resonators exhibited quality factors …

Robustness Of Aging Transition In Competing Effect Of Heterogeneity And Symmetry Breaking Coupling, Gowthaman I

Theses and Dissertations

The knowledge of emergent dynamics and the mechanisms by which self-organizing complex systems operate is a perennially difficult problem that can be effectively resolved by employing an ensemble of coupled dynamical units as a framework. Several intriguing collective dynamical behaviors, such as synchronization, chimera, clustering, oscillation quenching, etc., have been reported using an ensemble of coupled oscillators. Failure or degradation in the performance of even one of the local oscillators in a network of oscillators can lead to cascading failures resulting in the collapse of the entire network such as power blackouts. Similar dynamics can also be observed among neuronal …

Key Factors In Internship Selection: A Survey Study Of Non-Doctoral School Psychology Interns, Haley Erickson Hand

Theses and Dissertations

There is currently a national shortage of school psychologists (National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), 2021c). This shortage has created a job market that favors the job seeker, meaning employers must find ways to actively attract potential candidates to hire enough professionals to meet the needs of their students. However, there is little research on the factors that school psychologist practitioners consider when choosing a district to work in. This research study examined what factors non-doctoral-level school psychologist interns consider when deciding which district to intern in. Likewise, it examined what an ideal working environment looks like for non-doctoral interns. …

Striking At The Root: A Categorization Of Dns Clients, Tyler Dean

Theses and Dissertations

The Domain Name System (DNS) root servers have provided a useful look into the DNS and internet ecosystems for decades. We present a categorization of clients querying DNS root servers. Using two clustering algorithms on DNS traffic sampled in 2020, we can predict the structure and volume of queries originating from different types of clients. Previous research has used unsupervised techniques to better understand DNS traffic patterns, but none have, to our knowledge, considered clients beyond those driven by queries from end users. By performing clustering on IP addresses rather than on individual queries, we are able to examine the …

Personalized Driving Using Inverse Reinforcement Learning, Rodrigo J. Gonzalez Salinas

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces an autonomous driving controller designed to replicate individual driving behaviors based on a provided demonstration. The controller employs Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) to formulate the reward function associated with the provided demonstration. IRL is implemented through a dual-feedback loop system. The inner loop utilizes Q-learning, a model-free reinforcement learning technique, to optimize the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation and derive an appropriate control solution. The outer loop leverages this derived control solution to generate parameters for the reward function, which are subsequently integrated into the HJB equation. The ultimate control policy is deduced from the final reward function obtained …

Why Take Ap? Access To High School Advanced Placement Courses Long-Term Impact On Career/Workplace Opportunities, Gina Marie Frasca

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to understand the long-term impact of providing access and equity to highly rigorous Advanced Placement (AP) coursework to underserved and/or underrepresented high school students, and its long-term impacts on career. Using a qualitative approach, this study explored the experiences and opportunities of 6 graduates from a rural public high school in New Jersey with open access to AP courses who are now in a career/workplace environment. All six graduates took at least one AP course while in high school, graduated between 2010 and 2016, and had two or more potential barriers to opportunity while attending high school …

Comparative Performance Analysis Of Green Bond Issuers To Their Conventional Counterparts, Mai Hosam Farag

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis conducts a comparative performance analysis of green bond issuers versus their conventional counterparts. In the context of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which underscores the financial sector's role in promoting environmental sustainability, green bonds have emerged as crucial instruments for financing eco-friendly projects. This research investigates the financial performance of firms issuing green bonds using metrics such as sales growth, return on assets (ROA), and total debts through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression analysis. The analysis covers 54 publicly traded bonds issued in North America between 2018 and 2022. Despite the growing popularity of green bonds, there are …

Resisting Exploitation: A Study Of Karen Joyce Warren’S Ecofeminist Ethic In The Selected Indian Movies, Kogila S

Theses and Dissertations

According to Warren, “The exploitation of nature and animals is justified by feminising them; the exploitation of women is justified by naturalising them” (EPWP 27). Women and nature have the same right to live independently. They are not meant for exploitation. However, patriarchy has long exploited them.

The changes are happening only in the ratio, not in the act of controlling. This research aims to study the undervalued state of women and others in nature concerning Warren's eight features of ecofeminist ethic in Indian movies, namely Harish Ram L's Thumbaa (2019), Amit Masurkar’s Sherni (2021), and Rathindran Prasad R’s Boomika …

Psychotherapy Utilization And Outcomes Of Military Veteran-College Students And Student-Rotc Members Compared To Similar Nonmilitary College Students, Jacob Michael Christian Goetz

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines current trends of university counseling center (UCC) utilization among Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) students and student-military Veterans, compared to their nonmilitary-minded peers at a large, private, western university. Given likely differences in the lived experiences between these three populations, research is needed to provide insight on the treatment needs of military-minded students. We examine counseling center data for ROTC (n = 88), Veteran (n = 93), and nonmilitary-minded (n = 16,268) students who presented for counseling services from 2014-2021. A matched sample was obtained from the dataset for some of the analyses. The three groups are …

An Overview Of Contributing Frameworks To Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Sarai Clemente Soli

Theses and Dissertations

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) is a framework designed to help traditionally marginalized students. Other frameworks have previously tried to draw on culture to help students in similar ways. However, Paris (2012b) claimed that the word sustaining enclosed a meaning of maintaining and enhancing these students' language and cultural practices that no other frameworks did until that point. There is some confusion for educators and others about CSP since it is a newer framework and that there are many of these cultural frameworks analyzing similar concepts. Therefore, the purpose of this literature review was to examine these previous main frameworks that …

Effects Of Educational Leadership Behaviors And Additional Factors On Teacher Morale, Brittany S. Samaniego

Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated the impact of leadership behaviors and additional factors on teacher morale across seven schools from three Arkansas school districts. The study utilized the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) and Purdue Teacher Opinionaire (PTO) as measurement tools to explore various leadership practices and factors that contributed to or hindered teacher morale. Among the leadership practices assessed by the LPI, Enable Others to Act emerged as the majority of positively influential across the four elementary and middle schools, while Model the Way was favored among the three high schools. These practices underscored their potential to empower teachers and revealed …

Long Distance Relationships: Connections Supporting Rural Science Teachers, Tracy Marie Poulsen

Theses and Dissertations

Research regarding the social professional networks among rural educators is sparse but indicates that rural educators have few supportive connections with other educators. Programs designed to increase the social networks of rural educators use characteristics of similarities in school assignments and geographic distances to place educators into groups for professional development and support, but rarely use technology extensively as a tool to overcome barriers of time, distance, and cost. In one intervention designed in part to increase the professional connections between rural science teachers, Technology Mediated Lesson Study (TMLS) was implemented in a group of rural science teachers. The before …

An Applied Mental Health Course And Student Well-Being, Alison Nicole Anglen

Theses and Dissertations

Addressing mental health concerns and promoting well-being is imperative for university students to function optimally and to succeed academically. The demand for mental health care is exceeding the capacity of traditional counseling center resources at universities, suggesting the need for innovative interventions that can serve a broader scope of students. There is emerging evidence suggesting that mental health can be addressed, and well-being improved through psychoeducation and applied skills taught in classroom settings. Objectives: To examine a Mental Health and Well-Being course at a large, private religious university and its relationship to students’ well-being. This will be measured by assessing …

High School Sport Participation: Effects On Students' Grit And Resilience, Rory Kekoa-Israel Waldman

Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a time of transition, growth, and identity exploration. Often this great time for growth is accompanied with an increase in stressors that can be detrimental to success and health, without the necessary coping mechanisms. It is a period of life where resilience and grit are extremely important. A post-traumatic growth definition for resilience allows for the possibility of a steeling effect, in which the resilience of an adolescent can grow and develop. Sport provides an ideal environment for the development of both grit and resilience by providing a safe environment for adversity to occur without detrimental consequences. In …

Imām Al-Baghawī (D. 516/1123): Tafsīr And Sunnism During The 11th-12th Centuries In Khurāsān, Nourhan Hassanein

Theses and Dissertations

A number of recent studies have focused on the intellectual trends and debates surrounding the formation of Sunnism in the 11-12th centuries. Academics have explored various currents within the intellectual and social context of Sunni Islam during the 11th-12th centuries. George Makdisi, Richard Bulliet, Jonathan Brown, Daphna Ephrat, Mohamed Eissa, and Ahmad Khan studied topics related to the educational system, the scholarly community, heresy and Sunni orthodoxy, legal studies, ḥadīth, and theology. However, the status of scholarship on works of tafsīr differs significantly. There are few studies concentrated on the classical period, such as works on the commentaries of al-Thaʿlabī …

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 …

Exploring The Effects Of Delayed Auditory Feedback On Speech Kinematics: A Comparative Analysis Of Monologue Speech And Tongue Twisters, Abbey Corinne Persons

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of delayed auditory feedback (DAF) on speech kinematics during tongue twisters and monologues. Participants were 20 adults (10 men, 10 women) aged 18-29 with typical speech and hearing abilities. A smartphone app provided DAF latencies of 50 ms, 100 ms, and 150 ms. Kinematic measures were made of peak speed, stroke distance, and hull area for the tongue front, jaw, and lower lip under typical and the three DAF conditions. Results indicated that DAF significantly reduced peak speed and stroke distance for all articulators during tongue twisters (p < .01), with the effect magnitude increasing with longer delays. No significant DAF effects were observed in monologues (p > .05). Sex differences were noted, with women …

Strong Gelfand Pairs Of Some Finite Groups, Joseph E. Marrow

Theses and Dissertations

Strong Gelfand pairs describe a relation between a group and a subgroup, using a relation between inner products of their characters. We find all strong Gelfand pairs of the dihedral and dicyclic groups, and several of the sporadic groups. We provide some results for the strong Gelfand pairs of the affine linear groups, in addition to the exceptional classical groups $\mathrm{Sp}_4(q)$ for $q$ a power of $2$.

Information Geometric Approaches To Optimal Experimental Design And Reduced-Order Modeling In Ocean Acoustics, Jay C. Spendlove

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis demonstrates the application of information geometry to problems in underwater acoustics. Information geometry combines the fields of information theory and differential geometry by interpreting a multiparameter model as a Riemannian manifold in an ambient data space. Information geometry tools are especially powerful in context of problems of experimental design and model selection in ocean acoustics. The application area specifically considered in this research is geoacoustic inversion, where seabed parameter values are inferred from acoustical data. Chapter 2 contains a paper submitted to the Journal of Theoretical and Computational Acoustics, which introduces information geometry tools such as the model …