Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Retort Processing Factors On The Severity Of Film Surface Impression, Jirawich Panin

All Theses

Retort processing conditions of temperature, overpressure, and sterilization time were used to determine the impression depth on the pouch surface from contact with the retort rack during retort processing, also referred to as a waffling defect. Retortable flexible pouches were filled with 1,000 mL of water and processed in a horizontal water spray retort. A confocal laser scanning microscope was used to measure severity of the waffling defects. Data collected during this study showed that higher temperatures resulted in higher measured impression depth values (p<0.05) in all of the tested combinations. However, when the pouches were retorted at different temperatures, different effects of retort overpressure were observed. At a low temperature (111 deg. C), the higher overpressure resulted in higher severity of the waffling defects (p<0.05). In contrast, at a high temperature (131 deg. C), the higher overpressure resulted in lower severity of the waffling defects (p<0.05). When samples were retorted at different sterilization time settings, there was only one condition where a statistical difference in the impression depth values was observed (p<0.05). The longer sterilization time resulted in higher measured impression depth (p<0.05) only if the samples were retorted at a high temperature of 131 deg. C with a low overpressure of 26 psig. There was no statistical difference (p>0.05) in measured impression depth when samples were retorted at different sterilization time settings in …

A Patient Engaged: Examining The Benefits Of Formal Patient Engagement, Jeanne Marie Petrizzo

All Theses

Patient engagement studio models exist to create a platform for patients to offer input on research projects at health systems and academic health centers. While these models are gaining popularity, little research exists that captures the benefits for participants. In this ethnographic study, I examined the benefits of patient engagement for participants at a large Southeastern academic health center. Through individual interviews and field observation, I sought to understand the experiences of patients and what they gained, and how those benefits could be applied to other health care settings. Patients’ responses in interviews and actions in each studio indicated that …

Transcending The Essence Of Hair, Ashan Isaac Pridgon

All Theses

My work investigates the significant role and relationship that hair plays in African-American culture. Throughout history, African-Americans have used the styling of hair as a way of passing down tradition and expressing their individuality, cultural and political beliefs. Since the late 1970’s there has been a constant struggle for African-Americans to wear their hair naturally without backlash from society. In my work, I use culturally based objects such as hair combs, afro picks, head wraps and other accessories to symbolize black pride. I use this framework to generate abstracted ceramic vessels and sculptures. The content of my work becomes amplified …

The Effects Of Late Gestation Supplementation Of Rumen Protected Fat On Cow And Calf Serum Fatty Acids, Passive Immunity Transfer And Growth In Beef Calves, Ralph Earl Ricks

All Theses

The primary objective of the cow calf sector of the beef industry is to market live calves after weaning. One component to profitability in this sector is to wean healthy, productive calves with as low of an input a possible. This means not only efficiency of preweaning growth of the calf, but the dam needs to produce a more than adequate supply of milk as it is the primary nutrition of the calf. Production of an animal that can convert the milk supply offered and turn it into pounds of gain efficiently is ideal. The calf, ideally, should be born …

Analysis Of Frozen Desserts Using Low-Temperature Scanning Electron Microscopy (Lt-Sem), Kinsey Elizabeth Macdonald

All Theses

Commercial vanilla ice cream and other frozen desserts from the United States were analyzed for ice crystal length using low-temperature scanning electron microscopy (LT-SEM). Average ice crystal length was determined using multiple micrographs of each sample/product. Out of the products tested, 11 out of 15 samples had an average ice crystal length above the consumer sensory threshold limit of 55 µm. Products containing stabilizers tended to have smaller average ice crystal lengths than products without stabilizers. With a few exceptions, lower fat products tended to have larger ice crystals because there was less fat to stabilize the ice crystals. Four …

Hardware Obfuscation For Finite Field Algorithms, Ankur A. Sharma

All Theses

With the rise of computing devices, the security robustness of the devices has become of utmost importance. Companies invest huge sums of money, time and effort in security analysis and vulnerability testing of their software products. Bug bounty programs are held which incentivize security researchers for finding security holes in software. Once holes are found, software firms release security patches for their products. The semiconductor industry has flourished with accelerated innovation. Fabless manufacturing has reduced the time-to-market and lowered the cost of production of devices. Fabless paradigm has introduced trust issues among the hardware designers and manufacturers. Increasing dependence on …

Thermal Neutron Characterization And Dose Modeling Of A Plutonium-239/Beryllium Alpha-Neutron Source, Adam Hunter Willey

All Theses

Determination of neutron dose can be challenging and requires knowledge of neutron energy and neutron flux. A plutonium-239/beryllium (239PuBe) alpha-neutron source was used to irradiate bacterial samples to create neutron dose response. The goal of this project was to characterize the thermal neutron flux of the 239PuBe alpha-neutron source and model the neutron dose using version MCNPX of the Monte-Carlo N-Particle transport codes. The 37 GBq 239PuBe alpha-neutron source was placed in a neutron “howitzer,” that is, a 2-ft diameter moderating barrel with four radial irradiation ports. Multi-foil activation was used at various distances to determine thermal neutron flux, which …

Assessment Of Data Collection Techniques And White-Nose Syndrome Effects On Bat Communities Of South Carolina, Katherine Dennie Teets

All Theses

White-nose syndrome (WNS), an infectious disease that has caused massive declines in bat populations since its discovery in 2006, may be indirectly affecting bat community structure. As WNS-susceptible species populations decline, WNS-resistant species may be taking over foraging niches formerly occupied by WNS-susceptible species. We hypothesized that bat communities located in WNS-positive areas in South Carolina have experienced niche partitioning relaxation. First, because some pre-WNS acoustic data were collected using different methods than those primarily used today, we examined if sampling method affected detection probabilities and our interpretation of habitat use of bats. We collected data using passive and active …

Sanctuary: A Virtual-Reality, Immersive-Environment Mobile Application To Promote Mindfulness, Meditation, And Relaxation, Amanda Caroline Smoak

All Theses

The World Health Organization calls stress the health epidemic of the twenty-first century [40]. Finding ways to manage stress – not just for our own health, but also for the health of our communities and children – is one of our most significant challenges for wellness. Virtual-reality (VR) therapy is the use of stimulated, interactive, and immersive environments as a tool for physical and psychological healthcare applications [31]. VR therapy and mindfulness practices have both been shown to alleviate stress and anxiety. The mobile application detailed here attempts to aid in stress reduction using virtual-reality therapy by immersing the user …

Detecting Significant Genotype–Phenotype Association Rules In Bipolar Disorder: Market Research Meets Complex Genetics, René Breuer, Manuel Mattheisen, Josef Frank, Bertram Krumm, Ney Alliey Rodriguez

School of Medicine Publications

Background: Disentangling the etiology of common, complex diseases is a major challenge in genetic research. For bipolar disorder (BD), several genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been performed. Similar to other complex disorders, major breakthroughs in explaining the high heritability of BD through GWAS have remained elusive. To overcome this dilemma, genetic research into BD, has embraced a variety of strategies such as the formation of large consortia to increase sample size and sequencing approaches. Here we advocate a complementary approach making use of already existing GWAS data: a novel data mining procedure to identify yet undetected genotype–phenotype relationships. We adapted …

Instrumentation-Level Improvements In Shear-Force Near-Field Acoustic Microscopy, J. Bai, P. Devulapalli, Theodore Brockman, Andres H. La Rosa

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

The recently introduced Shear-force Near-field Acoustic Microscopy (SANM) brings a new sensing mechanism to the scanning probe microscopy family. SANM's ability to simultaneously monitor, in real time, several physical sample's responses presents some challenges for ensuring optimal operation; namely, avoid "cross-talk" among the multiple signals, address the compensation of thermal drift to ensure reproducibility of the measurements, and measuring the typical low-level signals obtained from nanometer-sized tested regions. Here, several improvements relevant to SANM, but valid for SPM in general, are addressed. i) The probe's coarse approach is performed via stepper motors, which are controlled either by a computer …

Dispersion Analysis Of Hdg Methods, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Manuel Solano, Felipe Vargas

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

This work presents a dispersion analysis of the Hybrid Discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method. Considering the Helmholtz system, we quantify the discrepancies between the exact and discrete wavenumbers. In particular, we obtain an analytic expansion for the wavenumber error for the lowest order Single Face HDG (SFH) method. The expansion shows that the SFH method exhibits convergence rates of the wavenumber errors comparable to that of the mixed hybrid Raviart–Thomas method. In addition, we observe the same behavior for the higher order cases in numerical experiments.

Tired Consultation To Improve And Maintain Teachers’ Behavior Specific Praise, Mariangely Melendez Galan-Torres

Dissertations

Many teachers are ill prepared in behavior management and literature has demonstrated the relationship between poor classroom management and academic outcomes. Common strategies to address teachers’ skill deficits in classroom management include didactic training and school-based consultation. Literature suggests that traditional didactic training can immediately increase knowledge acquisition, and school-based consultation is used to respond to ongoing academic and behavioral outcomes. However, both of these methods commonly fail to result in implementation fidelity and long-term maintenance of skill utilization. Research in the education field has demonstrated large to very large effect sizes for systems such as Response to Intervention (RtI) …

Impacts Of Sea-Level Rise And Thin-Layer Deposition On Salt Marsh Elevation Dynamics In New Hampshire, Andrew Payne

Master's Theses and Capstones

The survival of salt marshes depends largely on their ability to build in elevation, thereby preventing increases in flooding due to sea-level rise, but the rate of marsh elevation gain depends on processes that are not well-understood, i.e. belowground productivity, sedimentation, and subsidence. The application of sediment to the marsh surface (thin-layer deposition) is a potential mitigation tool for increased flooding, but its effects on plant growth and elevation gain are understudied, especially in New England marshes. A marsh organ experiment was constructed and installed in the field to examine the effects of tidal flooding and thin-layer deposition on productivity. …

Real-Time Planning As Decision-Making Under Uncertainty, Andrew James Mitchell

Master's Theses and Capstones

In real-time planning, an agent must select the next action to take within a fixed time bound.

Many popular real-time heuristic search methods approach this by expanding nodes using time-limited A* and selecting the action leading toward the frontier node with the lowest f value. In this thesis, we reconsider real-time planning as a problem of decision-making under uncertainty. We treat heuristic values as uncertain evidence and we explore several backup methods for aggregating this evidence. We then propose a novel lookahead strategy that expands nodes to minimize risk, the expected regret in case a non-optimal action is chosen. We …

Experimental Evaluation Of Fatigue Test Setup For A Gusset-Less Truss Connection, Duncan William Mcgeehan

Master's Theses and Capstones

In 2013, the newly designed Memorial bridge, located between Portsmouth, NH, and Kittery, ME, was opened to traffic. The structural system of the bridge is composed of truss elements with a unique “Gusset-less” connection which utilizes curved steel to transition from the chords to the diagonals where splice plates join the members. With such a unique connection, it is important to verify the design assumptions and assess the performance. In this study, the fatigue performance of the Gusset-less connection is investigated through an experimental fatigue test of a scale model of the connection.

In a high-cycle fatigue test, it is …

Quantifying Vertical Uncertainty And The Temporal Variability Of The Seafloor To Inform Hydrographic Survey Priorities, Cassandra Bongiovanni

Master's Theses and Capstones

As the area of U.S. coastal waters vastly exceeds the capacity of annual hydrographic surveying, prioritization is necessary to optimize survey benefits. Obtaining new survey coverage over the most vital locations allows for an efficient use of funds; however, identifying these locations is a complex task. The current model to address survey prioritization, called the Hydrographic Health Model (or HHM), was created by personnel at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the authoritative agency tasked with chart maintenance and hydrographic survey collection. While the HHM incorporates potential sources of bathymetric change, it does not include nor lend itself to …

Full Employment, Or A New Reserve Army? A Marxian Critique Of The Employer Of Last Resort, Michael Heubusch

Applied Economics Theses

The notion that the government should guarantee jobs is gaining political popularity in the United States. Over the past twenty years, a branch of post-Keynesians has developed a policy proposal known as the employer of last resort (ELR), which they argue would achieve full employment through direct government job creation. However, many have argued that this proposal is deficient, both in its design and its potential for implementation. While most critiques of this policy have come from other post-Keynesians, this thesis contributes to the controversy surrounding the ELR by examining it from a Marxian perspective. Specifically, this thesis aims to …

Whose Monster? A Study In The Rise To Power Of Al Qaeda And The Taliban, Nicholas Kotarski

History Theses

This thesis seeks to determine which factors and parties were most responsible for the transformation of the Mujahedeen who pushed the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan into what would eventually become al Qaeda and the Taliban in the 1990s. First brought to America's attention due to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, they would gain increased notoriety as the decade progressed due to the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women, and finally culminating in the tragic terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001.

Dc-Dc 4-Switch Buck-Boost Converter For Energy Harvesting From Elliptical Machines, Alexander C. Samietz, Gustavo Guzman

Electrical Engineering

The senior project report documents the process of replacing the network of resistors inside an elliptical machine with a DC-DC buck-boost converter. The buck-boost DC-DC converter accepts a wide input range of 5-60 Volts, with an output of 36 Volts for the most efficient use of the already available microinverter. The microinverter reclaims the lost energy and safely distributes it back to the electrical grid. The addition of this project reduces heat emissions from wasted energy and shrinks the carbon footprint of its users.

Test Bench Design For The Fontana Gaf Facility, Dalton Paul Wunderlich

Electrical Engineering

This senior design project consists of designing and building a test bench set up in the GAF facility located in Fontana CA. The project creates an area where testing of different configurations of equipment takes place before implementing the equipment on the production line. Having this isolated environment allows the engineers and technicians to follow several design build test iterations on new systems. The design has the versatility to handle different equipment set ups and test a large quantity of diverse situations. The test bench implements Allen Bradley ControLogix, PLC-5, multiple Powerflex drives and multiple Kinetix servo drives simultaneously. The …

Power Optimization Of Solar Powered Standalone Wireless Sensor System, Rajan Amatya

Masters Theses

Wireless sensor systems are common in applications where harsh environmental conditions or remote locations make it difficult to run wires. Having these sensor systems self-powered is essential as it is difficult for battery replacement. Using solar as an alternative source of energy can be a medium to charge the battery in such scenarios. With an increasing number of portable devices powered by battery; more and more research is focused on low-power design technique. For this thesis, a microcontroller (Texas Instruments MSP432) was used along with a digital sensor (Bosch BME280) to provide temperature, pressure and humidity information, and Wi-Fi module …

Improving Adolescent Risk Behavior Screening: Implementation Of The I-Cloud Rapid Assessment Adolescent Preventive Screening (Raaps) Tool, Donna L. Rinker

Doctoral Projects

Adolescents are engaging in risky behaviors earlier contributing to 75% of adolescent morbidity and mortality with unintentional injuries listed as the most common cause of death among this population in the United States. It is reported that engaging in more than one risk behavior will lead to other risk behaviors resulting in the rise of indirect and direct costs in society today. The scholarly project was conducted in response to a midwestern Michigan primary care clinic need to improve the early identification and documentation of adolescent risk behaviors with evidence-based technology screening. The purpose of this quality improvement project was …

Is Tpmt Testing A Predictor Of Duration Of Use Or Long-Term Benefit Of Thiopurine Agents?, Shatoya R. Wilson

Masters Theses

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects as many as 1.3 million Americans and includes both ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Recent practices have moved towards using immunomodulators early in the course of disease to prevent disease progression. Patients have shown improved outcomes on immunomodulators compared to aminosalicylates, and reduced risk for tachyphylaxis compared to corticosteroid treatment. Thiopurine agents such as azathioprine and 6-mercaptopurine are immunomodulators often used to treat IBD. Unfortunately, many patients experience cytotoxicity from thiopurine use. Recent studies have shown that patients deficient in thiopurine-S-methyltransferase (TMPT), produce an overabundance of the therapeutic end product, 6-thioguanine nucleotide …

Potential Consequences Of U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission’S Replacement Of The Quarterly Reporting Requirement For Semi-Annual Reporting, Mengchen Zhou

Accounting Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study extends the discussion of potential consequences of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s replacement of the quarterly reporting requirement for semi-annual reporting. This research summarizes the perspectives about quarterly and semi-annual reporting from reporters, critics, business executives and academic researchers, analyzes the influential parties from changing reporting regulation, and provides detailed explanation about potential impacts. Five parties are related to the replacement of the quarterly reporting requirement, including corporations, investors, analysts, auditors and Trump Administration. This research concludes that the auditor will be the least influential party and corporations will be the most impacted party.

Perfection: The Fatality Of Down Syndrome, Mallory Baucom

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Down syndrome is a condition that carries with it a negative stigma and many negative assumptions. The advancement of the medical community has begun to allow expectant parents to anticipate whether their child will have Down syndrome. However, in recent years mothers are using the results of prenatal tests as a deciding factor to decide if they will continue the pregnancy. The negative stigma associated with Down syndrome has transformed into a discrimination against people with Down syndrome. There are many influencing factors that affect the decision-making process of expectant mothers. The decision to terminate one’s pregnancy is not made …

Exploring The Practices In Developing The 21st Century Soft Skills In Secondary Schools In Tanzania: A Case Study Of A Public Secondary School In Arusha Region, Ulrick T. Passian

Master of Education

This study found out child labour in Uganda as a multi-dimensional challenge that deprives children of their childhood opportunities including right to quality education. It is a manifestation of extreme household poverty and socio-cultural practices making it to some extend invisible to detect and report. Government of Uganda accordingly, developed Legal Frameworks to combat the vice through Employment Act (2006), the National Action Plan (2012), and child labour policy (2006). These frameworks among other things allow children to do light work under the supervision of an adult and making education as a principle occupation of every child in Uganda. However, …

Assessing Peer Coaching Practices In Improving Teacher Professional Development: A Case Study Of Two Community Primary Schools In Moshi District Council: Kilimanjaro Region, Adria Calist

Master of Education

A number of efforts have been made by the government to ensure that there are professional development (PD) initiatives to improve the way teachers teach and ultimately raise the performance standards of learners. Teacher Professional Development (TPD) is therefore conducted as a strategy to help teachers find new ways of solving challenges they face in the teaching and learning process. On the other hand, TPD is conducted while introducing new projects in education such as changes made in curriculum or implementation of new curriculum. After teachers attend these PD workshops they get back to the stations to start implementing what …

Exploring The Use Of Drama In The English Language Classes, Florence Kambura Marundu

Master of Education

The ever changing world of the learner, the sway of developing technologies and the shifting demands of the world of work has amplified the need for powerful teaching. The 21st century teaching requires interactive, learner centered techniques that transform content knowledge into powerful, yet adaptive forms that can address the lofty demands of the modern classroom. The blame for the low linguistic competences among Kenyan school leavers has often been directed at the poor choices of teaching methods. This study, therefore, explored the use of drama as a learner centered method in the English language classes. It adopted a qualitative …

Examining Language Used In Science Instruction In Pupils’ Conceptualization Of Science Ideas In Secondary Schools: A Case Study Of One Tanzanian Public Secondary School, Alnaji Iddi

Master of Education

Language used in science instruction is regarded as a carrier of the science content to be delivered in the classroom. For the content to be implicit to students the language used in science instruction needs to be simple and understandable to learners during the instruction. The study was aimed at examining the language used in science instruction in conceptualization of science ideas. The study employed qualitative methodology using a case study design. The study involved three form one science teachers (Biology, Chemistry and Physics) of one secondary school who were purposefully selected. Data were collected using direct classroom observations, one-on-one …