Digital Commons Network^™

Black Networks In Smart Cities, Shaibal Chakrabarty

Computer Science and Engineering Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present the Black Networks solution to protect both the data and the metadata for mobile ad-hoc Internet of Things (IoT) networks in Smart Cities. IoT networks are gaining popularity with billions of deployed nodes, and increasingly carrying mission-critical data, whose compromise can lead to catastrophic consequences. IoT nodes are resource-constrained and often exist within insecure environments, making them vulnerable to a broad range of active and passive attacks. Black IoT networks are designed to mitigate multiple communication-based attacks by encrypting the data and the metadata, within a communication frame or packet, while remaining compatible with the …

Early Career Physical Therapy Faculty Networking And Scholarly Productivity: A Mixed-Methods Study, Betsy J. Becker

Theses & Dissertations

While it is well-known that physical therapist (PT) faculty must retain a scholarly agenda, few report being activity engaged and many programs have low scholarly dissemination. There is evidence that knowledge of the make-up of a faculty network leads to improved performance and innovation. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to explore agency (behaviors and perspectives about career advancement) and the professional network structure and composition of early career PT faculty as they relate to scholarly activity. This dissertation research study included 50 early career faculty who worked in accredited entry-level physical therapy programs.

The quantitative …

Developing Of Micellar Drug Carriers For The Treatment Of Breast Cancer Bone Metastasis, Tong Liu

Theses & Dissertations

Breast cancer (BC) remains one of the most frequently diagnosed cancer worldwide. Bone is one of the most common sites and often the first clinical indication of metastatic progression of BC. Current treatments including radiation, surgery, and chemotherapy are rarely curative with limited effect in overall survival. The challenge is true especially for patients with triple-negative BC that are not responsive to receptor-targeted therapy, or patients who had exposure to chemotherapy before and might already gain the resistance to some of the drugs.

Here we took advantage of the aminobisphosphonate, alendronate (ALN), that can bind to the bone mineral efficiently …

Under Pressure: Tailored Cpr With Stress Management For Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Amanda Lee

Master's Projects and Capstones

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to increase rates of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training and bystander response to Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA). This was accomplished by providing a short, one hour adapted CPR course with a stress management component targeting common barriers (e.g. psychological concerns) to bystander response for formerly incarcerated individuals at the Delancey Street Foundation.

Methods: The CPR course was adapted based off a literature review on the learning needs and preferences of this population. Data collection included:1) instructor evaluation of skills based on oral and simulation examination by students (adapted from the standard American Heart Association …

Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations To Understand Speciation And Solvation Structure Of Common Herbicides, Zachary W. Windom

Theses and Dissertations

The application of commercial herbicide restricts weed growth and significantly improves control over crop vitality and yield. Despite their utility in the agriculture sector, herbicides have the potential to contaminate local water sources. To minimize environmental impacts, the development of efficient separation processes to clean-up contaminated water bodies is necessary. However, complex speciation and conformational flexibility in the condensed phase poses a significant challenge. In this work, we investigate structure and speciation of three common organic herbicides (glyphosate, atrazine, and metolachlor) in aqueous solution. We employ the PBE-D3 density functional to perform ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) simulations in the …

Acquiring Knowledge About The Use Of A Newly Developed Electronic Fetal Heart Rate Monitor: A Qualitative Study Among Birth Attendants In Tanzania, Sara Rivenes Lafontan, Johanne Sundby, Hussein Kidanto, Columba Mbekenga, Hege L. Ersdal

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

In an effort to reduce newborn mortality, a newly developed strap-on electronic fetal heart rate monitor was introduced at several health facilities in Tanzania in 2015. Training sessions were organized to teach staff how to use the device in clinical settings. This study explores skilled birth attendants’ perceptions and experiences acquiring and transferring knowledge about the use of the monitor, also called Moyo. Knowledge about this learning process is crucial to further improve training programs and ensure correct, long-term use. Five Focus group discussions (FGDs) were carried out with doctors and nurse-midwives, who were using the monitor in the labor …

Modulating Hallmarks Of Cholangiocarcinoma, Cody Wehrkamp

Theses & Dissertations

How are cholangiocarcinoma cells different from non-malignant cholangiocytes?

All of the hallmarks of cancer apply- those reported in this dissertation include cell proliferation, migration, apoptosis, and evasion of growth suppression. My studies began with testing how apoptosis might be regulated through embelin, a small molecule reported to sensitize cells to apoptosis by blocking XIAP. My data however revealed that embelin reduced the proliferative capacity in cholangiocarcinoma cells, but did not increase cell death. Malignant cells exhibit dysregulation of microRNA processing and expression. Hence, my studies seeking ways that cholangiocarcinoma eludes apoptosis transitioned to the oncomiR miR-106b, which is overexpressed in …

Overall Sound Pressure Level Contours Of Jet Noise By Cartesian Acquisition Grid, Stephen Perry

Theses and Dissertations

Noise pollution from aircraft is an ever-increasing issue in urban areas. Venting exhaust over body panels could reduce perceived sound pressure levels (SPL) by absorption or redirection. This paper investigates the farield spectra and sound propagation of a flat panel held near an axis-symmetric supersonic jet. In contrast to typical radial acquisition, Overall sound pressure level (OASPL) contours are constructed from a 9 by 23 cartesian acquisition gird, spaced equidistantly at 3.67 Jet Diameters (Dj). Three panel configurations each at three nozzle pressure ratios (NPR) are discussed. Additionally, a source finding algorithm is developed and shows source locations by frequency. …

Ud In The News Dec. 1-14, University Of Dayton

News Releases

University of Dayton faculty expertise spread worldwide the first half of December via The Conversation, an international news outlet that features articles by academics, CTV in Canada, Medium.com, Eyewire and the Detroit Free Press.

Mechanical Property Development And Numerical Modeling Of Ultra-High Performance Concrete Focused On Isothermal Curing Conditions, Thomas Allard

Theses and Dissertations

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has progressively gained interest because of its favorable strength and durability properties. Literature shows that curing temperature has a significant effect on the resultant mechanical properties of UHPC, generally resulting in increased compressive strength. However, limited datasets are currently available to ascertain the degree of change related to compressive strength as a function of curing temperature and conditions. This study investigates the effect of isothermal and submerged curing temperature conditions, ranging from 10°C to 90°C, on the compressive strength and elastic modulus development of UHPC and generates a numerical model to capture these effects. The extent …

Micromechanics: Crystal Plasticity Links For Deformation Twinning, Yub Raj Paudel

Theses and Dissertations

Historically, the ability of crystal plasticity to incorporate the Schmid’s law at each integration point has been a powerful tool to simulate and predict the slip behavior at the grain level and the succeeding heterogeneous stress/strain localization and texture evolution at the macroscopic level. Unfortunately, this remarkable capability has not been replicated for materials where twinning becomes a noticeable deformation mechanism, namely in the case of low-stacking fault energy cubic, orthorhombic, and hexagonal close packed structures. This dissertation is an attempt to gain understanding on the heterogeneous deformation due to twinning through various techniques including micromechanics, discrete dislocation dipole loops, …

Models And Algorithms To Solve Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Designing And Managing Problem Under Uncertainty, Md Abdul Quddus

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies a framework in support electric vehicle (EV) charging station expansion and management decisions. In the first part of the dissertation, we present mathematical model for designing and managing electric vehicle charging stations, considering both long-term planning decisions and short-term hourly operational decisions (e.g., number of batteries charged, discharged through Battery-to-Grid (B2G), stored, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), renewable, grid power usage) over a pre-specified planning horizon and under stochastic power demand. The model captures the non-linear load congestion effect that increases exponentially as the electricity consumed by plugged-in EVs approaches the capacity of the charging station and linearizes it. The …

Numerical Study And Investigation Of A Gurney Flap Supersonic Nozzle, Mohammed El Mellouki

Theses and Dissertations

Flow separation is a common fluid dynamics phenomenon that occurs within supersonic nozzles while operating at off-design pressures. Typically, off-design pressures result in a shock formation that leads to a non-uniformity of the exiting flow and creates flow separation and flow recirculation. So far, no effective solution has been presented to eliminate flow separation and increase the total performance of the nozzle. The purpose of this work is to investigate whether a Gurney flap may beneficially affect the exiting flow pattern. For a better understanding of the Gurney flap effect, this investigation used a supersonic nozzle geometry based on a …

Finite Nuclei In Covariant Density Functional Theory: A Global View With An Assessment Of Theoretical Uncertainties, Sylvester E. Agbemava

Theses and Dissertations

Covariant density functional theory (CDFT) is a modern theoretical tool for the description of nuclear structure phenomena. Different physical observables of the ground and excited states in even-even nuclei have been studied within the CDFT framework employing three major classes of the state-of-the-art covariant energy density functionals. The global assessment of the accuracy of the description of the ground state properties and systematic theoretical uncertainties of atomic nuclei have been investigated. Large-scale axial relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) calculations are performed for all Z < 106 even-even nuclei between the two-proton and two-neutron drip lines. The sources of theoretical uncertainties in the prediction of the two-neutron drip line are analyzed in the framework of CDFT. We concentrate on single-particle and pairing properties as potential sources of these uncertainties. The major source of these uncertainties can be traced back to the differences in the underlying single-particle structure of the various CEDFs. A systematic search for axial octupole deformation in the actinides and superheavy nuclei with proton numbers Z = 88 - 126 and neutron numbers from two-proton drip line up to N = 210 has been performed in CDFT. The nuclei in the Z ~ 96, N ~ 196 region of octupole deformation have been investigated in detail and their systematic uncertainties have been quantified. The structure of superheavy nuclei has been reanalyzed with inclusion of quadrupole deformation. Theoretical uncertainties in the predictions of inner fission barrier heights in superheavy elements have been investigated in a systematic way. The correlations between global description of the ground state properties and nuclear matter properties have been studied. It was concluded that the strict enforcement of the constraints on the nuclear matter properties (NMP) defined in Ref. [1] will not necessary lead to the functionals with good description of ground state properties. The different aspects of the existence and stability of hyperheavy nuclei have been investigated. For the first time, we demonstrate the existence of three regions of spherical hyperheavy nuclei centered around (Z ~ 138, N ~ 230), (Z ~ 156, N ~ 310) and (Z ~ 174, N ~ 410) which are expected to be reasonably stable against spontaneous fission.

Functional Principal Component Analysis Of Vibrational Signal Data: A Functional Data Analytics Approach For Fault Detection And Diagnosis Of Internal Combustion Engines, Justin Blake Mcmahan

Theses and Dissertations

Fault detection and diagnosis is a critical component of operations management systems. The goal of FDD is to identify the occurrence and causes of abnormal events. While many approaches are available, data-driven approaches for FDD have proven to be robust and reliable. Exploiting these advantages, the present study applied functional principal component analysis (FPCA) to carry out feature extraction for fault detection in internal combustion engines. Furthermore, a feature subset that explained 95% of the variance of the original vibrational sensor signal was used in a multilayer perceptron to carry out prediction for fault diagnosis. Of the engine states studied …

Hypervelocity Impact Experimentation Of A Novel Micrometeoroid/Orbital Debris Shielding Concept Imbibed With Rheologically Characterized Shear Thickening Fluids, Justin Marshall Warren

Theses and Dissertations

Spacecraft are vulnerable to hypervelocity impacts (HVIs) from micrometeoroid/orbital debris (MMOD) while in space and must mitigate these using shielding. In this research aluminum honeycomb core sandwich panels filled with a shear thickening fluid (STF) were developed as a novel MMOD shielding concept. STFs display a marked rise in viscosity with increasing shear rate above a critical shear rate. The results of HVI experiments with impact velocities of ~4.8 km/s or ~6.8 km/s at 80oC or 21oC showed that incorporating a STF into shielding, as opposed to the STF’s liquid phase alone, can reduce damage to the core and the …

Implementation Of A Brassboard Prototype Of A Collision Avoidance System For Use In Ground Vehicles, Tyler James Hannis

Theses and Dissertations

Accidental collisions involving wheeled industrial ground vehicles can be costly to repair, cause serious (even fatal) human injury, and lead to setbacks with tight operation schedules. Reduction of vehicle collisions carries numerous safety and financial incentives. In this work, an integrated collision avoidance package is developed to reduce the number of vehicle collisions. Utilizing feedback from on-board sensing devices, a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm predicts control options and paths, then disallows drivers to accelerate and/or induces braking of the vehicle if a collision is imminent. A prototype system is developed, implemented, and tested on an industrial vehicle to mitigate …

The Effect Of Two-Dimensional Wall Deformations On Hypersonic Boundary Layer Disturbances, Jeremy David Sawaya

Theses and Dissertations

Previous experimental and numerical studies showed that two-dimensional roughness elements can stabilize disturbances inside a hypersonic boundary layer, and eventually delay the transition onset. The objective of the thesis is to evaluate the response of disturbances propagating inside a hypersonic boundary layer to various two-dimensional surface deformations of different shapes. The proposed deformations consist of a backward step, forward step, a combination of backward and forward steps, two types of wavy surfaces, surface dips or surface humps. Disturbances inside of a Mach 5.92 flat-plate boundary layer are excited by pulsed or periodic wall blowing and suction at an upstream location. …

Eigenvalue Analysis Of Timoshenko Beams And Mindlin Plates With Unfitted Finite Element Methods, Walid Arsalane

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the development and convergence study of finite element methods for eigenvalue analysis of arbitrarily shaped domains with multi-material and material-void interfaces. Such configurations can be found in problems with evolving discontinuities and interfaces as in fluid-structure interaction or topology optimization problems. The differential equations considered in this thesis include the elliptic operator, Timoshenko beam and Mindlin plate. The compatibility conditions at the interface are weakly imposed using either Nitsche's method or Lagrange multipliers. The variational statements are derived for each case. The analysis results are benchmarked using Galerkin finite element discretization with bodyitted grids. Nitsche's method …

Sharon Nichols Joins Small Business Center As State Director, Michelle Thompson

University of Mississippi News

New leader brings seven years' experience from Oklahoma center

Development Of A Step Counting Algorithm Using The Ambulatory Tibia Load Analysis System For Tibia Fracture Patients, Arad Lajevardi-Khosh, Ben Tresco, Ami Stuart, Sarina Sinclair, Matt Ackerman, Erik Kubiak, Tomasz Petelenz, Robert Hitchcock

School of Medicine Faculty Research

Introduction: Ambulation can be used to monitor the healing of lower extremity fractures. However, the ambulatory behavior of tibia fracture patients remains unknown due to an inability to continuously quantify ambulation outside of the clinic. The goal of this study was to design and validate an algorithm to assess ambulation in tibia fracture patients using the ambulatory tibial load analysis system during recovery, outside of the clinic. Methods Data were collected from a cyclic tester, 14 healthy volunteers performing a 2-min walk test on the treadmill, and 10 tibia fracture patients who wore the ambulatory tibial load analysis system during …

Employing Natural History Collections In The Aid Of Conservation: Streamlining An Approach To Model Species Distributions En Masse For The Preservation Of Biodiversity, Alice Fornari

Master's Projects and Capstones

Using species distribution models (SDMs) in Natural History Collections (NHCs) can influence how humans implement conservation changes in flora and fauna communities and ecosystems. Through the use of legacy data (old NHCs and their associated locality/collection information), data correction (background data or pseudo absences added to presence-only data), and the SDM software, Maxent (and its associated geographic information systems or GIS projected models), it has been shown that it is feasible to create a low budget protocol/setup to project the past, present and future of species population changes. This has been done in the past few decades as more collections …

Left Ventricular Hemodynamics With Reduced Ejection Fraction: An In-Vitro Piv Study Using An Implanted Assisting Device, Elizabeth Jermyn

Theses and Dissertations

A left ventricular assist device is a mechanical pump implanted in patients with heart failure that continuously takes blood from the left ventricle and delivers it to the aorta, thus decreasing ventricular load. The device is typically considered as a ‘bridge to transplant’, i.e. as a temporary therapy, and involves several risks. Modified ventricular hemodynamics due to a heart pump implantation is studied in-vitro using an elastic ventricle. The ventricle is incorporated into a pulse duplicator setup, which prescribes realistic pulsatile inflow/outflow to mimic a weak ejection fraction. A continuous axial pump mimics a ventricular assist device and its effect …

Extraction Kinetics, Physicochemical And Functional Properties Of Proteins Isolated From Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus) By-Products, Yuqing Tan

Theses and Dissertations

Channel catfish raising is an important aquaculture in the United States. Mississippi ranks No.1 in catfish production for continuous 4 years. However, catfish fillet processing generates huge amount of by-products, including heads, bone frames, visceras and skins, which contain significant amount of proteins. Removing and utilization of proteins from the by-product would add value to the catfish industry. Collagen was extracted from catfish skin by: (1) acid extraction; (2) homogenization-aided; and (3) pepsin-aided extraction methods. Kinetic analysis of the extraction was performed. SDS-PAGE was performed to analysis the composition of proteins in collagens extracted under different conditions. Collages extracted by …

Complex Network Analysis For Early Detection Of Failure Mechanisms In Resilient Bio-Structures, Reena R. Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Bio-structures owe their remarkable mechanical properties to their hierarchical geometrical arrangement as well as heterogeneous material properties. This dissertation presents an integrated, interdisciplinary approach that employs computational mechanics combined with flow network analysis to gain fundamental insights into the failure mechanisms of high performance, light-weight, structured composites by examining the stress flow patterns formed in the nascent stages of loading for the rostrum of the paddlefish. The data required for the flow network analysis was generated from the finite element analysis of the rostrum. The flow network was weighted based on the parameter of interest, which is stress in the …

Identifying Inclusive Practices On U.S. University Campuses That Create Engagement For Diverse Populations, Brandon Tatum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interactions between diversity and inclusion have been incompletely studied on U.S. college campuses. Previous researchers have also demonstrated an incomplete understanding of these two constructs, resulting in uneven attempts to create inclusion on college campuses. Diversity and inclusion research on college life is needed because inclusion is relatively new and unexplored, student diversity in U.S. higher education is increasing, and practical models and programs for enhancing campus inclusion are lacking. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify best practices and student attitudes regarding inclusion and group memberships with Generation Z and Millennial college students in the United States, …

Gradubique: An Academic Transcript Database Using Blockchain Architecture, Thinh Nguyen

Master's Projects

Blockchain has been widely adopted in the last few years even though it is in its infancy. The first well-known application built on blockchain technology was Bitcoin, which is a decentralized and distributed ledger to record crypto-currency transactions. All of the transactions in Bitcoin are anonymously transferred and validated by participants in the network. Bitcoin protocol and its operations are so reliable that technologists have been inspired to enhance blockchain technologies and deploy it outside of the crypto-currency world. The demand for private and non-crypto-currency solutions have surged among consortiums because of the security and fault tolerant features of blockchain. …

Combination Therapy: Parp Inhibitor Synergizes The Therapeutic Efficacy Of Doxorubicin In The Treatment Of Prostate Cancer, Momin Ansare

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Men are most susceptible to prostate cancer in the United States. The general treatment options include surgery, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. But in recent days, the nanoformulation have shown promising applications in overcoming the drawbacks of the currently available treatment options. To complement, we tried to enhance the capability of the nanoparticle formulation by loading them with a novel drug combination for the treatment of prostate cancer. Herein, we synthesized folate conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles encapsulated with doxorubicin and olaparib for imaging and targeted treatment of prostate cancer. Both drugs are approved by FDA for clinical cancer treatment. …

A New-Old Way To Explore Civic Engagement: Learning From The Past, Peter A. Nagler, Harry Basehart

eJournal of Public Affairs

No abstract provided.

Combining Patient-Centered-Care And Technology To Reduce Falls In A Medical/Telemetry Unit, Megan Mira

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

PROBLEM: From October 2017 through June 2018 there were 25 patient falls recorded on the 5^th floor medical surgical telemetry unit. Top factors contributing to this high fall rate include: poor patient-centered-care planning, and inadequate set-up for use of technology.

CONTEXT: According to the Joint Commission, 2015, each fall with injury costs $14,000. This estimate doesn’t include the potential indirect costs that account for the long-term effects of injuries such as disability, dependence on others, lost time from work, household duties, and reduced quality of life.

INTERVENTIONS: Staff education was introduced and focused on using a new mindfulness …