Risks Of Airborne Pollution Accidents In A Major Conurbation: Case Study Of Zhangjiakou, A Host City For The 2022 Winter Olympics, R Liu, J Liu, Zhijiao Zhang, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, Yanpeng Cai, Lei Dong, Xi Du

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Offshore Monopile In The Southern North Sea: Part Ii, Simulated Hydrodynamics And Loading, Ariel J. Edesess, Denis Kelliher, Alistair G.L. Borthwick, G Thomas

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

This paper considers two methods for determining the local wave particle kinematics and hydrodynamic forces on an idealised wind turbine monopile in the southern North Sea using sea-state data from Teesside Offshore Wind Farm. An assessment of local flow hydrodynamics is important with regard to safe access of personnel from a crew transfer vessel to a monopile. The hydrodynamic behaviour was calculated using an analytical solution from linear diffraction theory and numerical predictions using OpenFoam, with both slip and no-slip cylinder boundary conditions. Provided the underlying sea state is unidirectional, it was found that close agreement is obtained between analytical …

Fatigue Properties And Fracture Morphology Of Micronised Rubber Powder (Mrp) From Waste Tyres In Unfilled Elastomers, A.I.H. D Habibah, F Abraham, J Summerscales, P Brown

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Ground rubber from waste tyres may be added to elastomers with economic and environmental benefits. The untreated or treated fillers have been investigated in different types of virgin rubber matrix. A principal concern is their crosslinked structure and large particle sizes. These additives introduce flaws leading to micro-crack initiation especially under dynamic loading. The incorporation of smaller particles at a suitable concentration may avoid deterioration in the key properties. The present work studies the effect of commercial cryogenic micronised rubber particle (MRP) (apparent particle size diameter less than 100 μm) as filler at either 10 or 30 parts per hundred …

Friction Stir Welds In Aluminium: Design S-N Curves From Statistical Analysis Of Literature Data, E Maggiolini, D Benasciutti, L Susmel, Dg Hattingh, Mn James, R Tovo

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

© 2018 Wiley Publishing Ltd. Appropriate S-N fatigue design curves for friction stir welded joints in aluminium alloys are currently not specified in design codes and standards. The present paper is intended to assist in enabling standardised fatigue design for such joints, through a comprehensive statistical analysis of more than 500 individual sets of data gathered from published literature. These data are used to establish the usual design fatigue curves for welds that give a 97.7% survival probability with 95% confidence. Experimental fatigue data represent defect-free butt joints and include both flat plate and tubular joints between similar aluminium alloys …

Copula Based Generalized Additive Models For Location, Scale And Shape With Non-Random Sample Selection, M Wojtys, Giampiero Marra, Rosalba Radice

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

The Design And Evaluation Of A User-Centric Information Security Risk Assessment And Response Framework, Manal Alohali, Nathan Clarke, Steven Furnell

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Development Of Writing Task Recombination Technology Based On Dmp Segmentation Via Verbal Command For Baxter Robot, C Li, Chenguang Yang, Andy Annamalai, Qingsong Xu, S Li

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Delay Differential Equations And Their Application To Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, Asset Ospanov

Theses and Dissertations

Delay differential equations have a wide range of applications in engineering. This work is devoted to the analysis of delay Duffing equation, which plays a crucial role in modeling performance on demand Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). We start with the stability analysis of a linear delay model. We also show that in certain cases the delay model can be efficiently approximated with a much simpler model without delay. We proceed with the analysis of a non-linear Duffing equation. This model is a significantly more complex mathematical model. For instance, the existence of a periodic solution for this equation is …

An Enhanced Teaching Interface For A Robot Using Dmp And Gmr, Chunxu Li, Chenguang Yang, Zhaojie Ju, Andy S.K. Annamalai

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Decoding The Signaling Of The D2r-2ar Heteromer: Relevance To Schizophrenia, Miao Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder affecting ~1% of world population. Two G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs): Gi-coupled dopamine D2 receptor (D₂R), and Gq-coupled serotonin 2A receptor (2AR), are targeted by the typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia. These two receptors have been shown to co-localize in brain regions relevant to schizophrenia, including the ventral tegmental area (VTA), striatum, and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Studies in our lab characterized the integrated signaling of the D₂R-2AR heteromer and found that both the Gi activity of D₂R and the Gq activity of 2AR were potentiated …

Reducing Sepsis Mortality: A Cloud-Based Alert Approach, Janet A. Zink

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of a cloud-based CDS alerting system for SIRS, a precursor to sepsis, and sepsis itself, on adult patient and process outcomes at VCU Health System. The two main hypotheses are: 1) the implementation of cloud-based SIRS and sepsis alerts will lead to lower sepsis-related mortality and lower average length of stay, and 2) the implementation of cloud-based SIRS and sepsis alerts will lead to more frequent ordering of the Sepsis PowerPlan and more recording of sepsis diagnoses. To measure these outcomes, a pre-post study was conducted. A pre-implementation group diagnosed …

Characterizing The Information Needs Of Rural Healthcare Practitioners With Language Agnostic Automated Text Analysis, Melissa Resnick

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Objectives – Previous research has characterized urban healthcare providers' information needs, using various qualitative methods. However, little is known about the needs of rural primary care practitioners in Brazil. Communication exchanged during tele-consultations presents a unique data source for the study of these information needs. In this study, I characterize rural healthcare providers' information needs expressed electronically, using automated methods.

Methods – I applied automated methods to categorize messages obtained from the telehealth system from two regions in Brazil. A subset of these messages, annotated with top-level categories in the DeCS terminology (the regional equivalent of MeSH), was used to …

Combating Russian Disinformation In Ukraine: Case Studies In A Market For Loyalties, Monroe E. Price, Adam P. Barry

Articles

The article examines how Ukraine has responded to Russian disinformation through two distinct projects: the Guidelines Project and the Words and Wars Project. These initiatives represent different approaches to combating disinformation, with the Guidelines Project emphasizing international norms and consensus-building, while the Words and Wars Project focuses on directly countering Russian tactics. The analysis highlights how the structure, stakeholders, and funding of these projects shape their recommendations and outcomes, underscoring the tension between national security and freedom of expression.

A Conversation About Facts, Stories, And Truth In Mediation, James Coben, Kenneth Fox, Lela P. Love

Articles

The article explores the role of facts, truth, and storytelling in mediation, highlighting a debate among scholars about whether mediators should focus on objective truth or prioritize parties' subjective experiences and narratives. The discussion emphasizes the tension between the legal system's pursuit of objective facts and mediation's goal of fostering understanding and collaboration. The authors argue that while brute facts (objective realities) matter, institutional facts (socially constructed meanings) are equally important in resolving conflicts. They suggest that mediators should act as active listeners, helping parties understand each other's perspectives rather than imposing their own truths.

Mcconnell Family Papers – Accession 340, Mcconnell Family

Manuscript Collection

The McConnell Family Papers consist of correspondence, land plots and deeds, Fifth Regiment “E” Company Roll of the South Carolina Volunteers, program pamphlet, journal, family papers, a photograph, and recollections by John Daniel McConnell of his service in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. All of the material primarily relates to the McConnell family members in North and South Carolina, but also contains some material from families located in other states.

Forest Structural Complexity And Net Primary Production Resilience Across A Gradient Of Disturbance In A Great Lakes Ecosystem, Lisa T. Haber

Theses and Dissertations

Forests are an important component of the global carbon (C) cycle and contribute to climate change mitigation through atmospheric C uptake and storage in biomass and soils. However, the forest C sink is susceptible to disturbance, which modifies physical and biological structure and limits spatial extent of forests. Unlike severe, stand-replacing disturbances that reset forest successional trajectories and may simplify ecosystem structure, moderate severity disturbances may instead introduce complexity in ways that sustain net primary production (NPP), leading to the phenomenon of “NPP resilience.” In this study, we examined the linkage between disturbance severity and ecosystem biological and physical structural …

Mental Health Difficulties And Service Use Of Incarcerated Women: The Influence Of Violence Perpetration And Victimization, Rachel C. Casey

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to expand the knowledge base regarding incarcerated women’s experiences with violence and their mental health with the goal of identifying avenues for more tailored, compassionate responses to their mental health difficulties in both macro and direct practice contexts. To achieve this aim, a secondary data analysis was performed using data from the Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (SISCF) completed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in 2004. Six research questions pertaining to women’s experiences with violence and their mental health difficulties and service utilization guided the inquiry, which involved univariate, bivariate, and multivariate …

Gastrointestinal Microbiota Modulate Antinociceptive Tolerance Development In Mice With Chronic Morphine Exposure, Ryan A. Mischel

Theses and Dissertations

In October 2017, the United States government declared a state of public health emergency in response to the burgeoning prescription opioid epidemic. Opioid analgesics are the gold standard of therapy for moderate to severe pain, but their clinical utility is greatly limited by analgesic tolerance – a primary driver of diminished pain control and opioid dose escalations. Integral in this process are primary afferent sensory neurons in dorsal root ganglia (DRG), the first-order components of nociceptive sensation. With surmounting evidence that morphine and other narcotics can alter gut microbial composition and promote bacterial translocation to other tissues, a question arises …

Climate Change And Mountaintop Removal Mining: A Maxent Assessment Of The Potential Dual Threat To West Virginia Fishes, Lindsey R F Hendrick

Theses and Dissertations

Accounts of species’ range shifts in response to climate change, most often as latitudinal shifts towards the poles or upslope shifts to higher elevations, are rapidly accumulating. These range shifts are often attributed to species ‘tracking’ their thermal niches as temperatures in their native ranges increase. Our objective was to estimate the degree to which climate change-driven shifts in water temperature may increase the exposure of West Virginia’s native freshwater fishes to mountaintop removal surface coal mining. Mid-century shifts in habitat suitability for nine non-game West Virginia fishes were projected via Maximum Entropy species distribution modeling, using a combination of …

The Relationship Between Central Venous Catheter And Post-Operative Complications In Patients Undergoing Hepatic Resection, David C. O'Connor

Theses and Dissertations

The Relationship Between Central Venous Catheter and Post-operative Complications in Patients Undergoing Hepatic Resection

David C. O’Connor, Ph.D., DNAP, CRNA

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018

Dissertation Chair: Clarence J. Biddle, Ph.D., CRNA

Hepatic resection is indicated for primary and secondary malignancies. Use of a low central venous pressure technique is associated with decreased blood loss in these cases. This technique has evolved; central venous catheters and high dose morphine are no longer used, and patients are extubated earlier. The purpose of …

Queer Health Equity And Cervical Cancer: Identifying Social Determinants Of Papanicolaou Test Uptake In A Sample Of Sexual Minority Women And Gender Nonbinary Individuals, Ariella R. Tabaac

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) demonstrate lower rates of cervical cancer screening than heterosexual women. This is concerning as lesbian and bisexual women tend to engage in higher rates of substance-related cancer risk behaviors, unprotected sex, and tend to have higher body mass indices, all of which are risk factors for cancer development. Another major risk factor, screening avoidance, places SMW at increased risk for the development of high grade cervical lesions in the absence of early detection practices, which is likely to impact overall cervical cancer morbidity in this population. The aim of the present study was to utilize the …

Evaluation Of Fit For 3d Printed Retainers As Compared To Thermoform Retainers, David J. Cole

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EVALUATION OF FIT FOR 3D PRINTED RETAINERS AS COMPARED TO THERMOFORM RETAINERS

By David Cole, D.M.D.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University

Thesis Directors: Eser Tüfekçi, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., M.S.H.A.

Professor, Department of Orthodontics

Sompop Bencharit, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Director of Digital Dentistry, Department of General Practice

Introduction: Despite recent advances in three-dimensional (3D) printing, little information is available on 3D printed retainers

Methods: Three reference models were used to fabricate traditional vacuum formed, commercially-available vacuum formed, and 3D printed …

Change In Working Length At Different Stages Of Instrumentation As A Function Of Canal Curvature, Mei Tang

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to determine the change in working length (∆WL) before and after coronal flaring and after complete rotary instrumentation as a function of canal curvature. One mesiobuccal or mesiolingual canal from each of 43 extracted molars had coronal standardization and access performed. Once the access was completed, canal preparation was accomplished using Gates Glidden drills for coronal flaring and EndoSequence files for rotary instrumentation. WLs were obtained at 3 time points: pre-instrumentation (unflared), mid-instrumentation (flared) and post-instrumentation (concluded). Measurements were made via direct visualization (DV) and the CanalPro apex locator (EM) in triplicate by a …

I Am An Author: Performing Authorship In Literary Culture, Justin R. Greene

Theses and Dissertations

Authorship is not merely an act of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard; it is a social identity performance that includes the use of multiple media. Authors must be hyper- visible to cut through the dearth of information, entertainment options, and personae vying for attention in our supersaturated media environment. As they enter the literary world, writers consciously create characters and narratives around themselves, and through the consistent and believable enactment of these features, authors are born. In this dissertation, I analyze the performance of authorship in U.S. literary culture through an interdisciplinary framework. My work pulls from …

Functional And Cognitive Status And Medication Complexity In Older Adults: The Health And Retirement Study, Duaa Bafail

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Older adults have high prevalence of chronic illnesses that lead to have complex medication regimens. They are also more likely to have cognitive and functional impairments. Both cognitive/functional impairments and medication regimen complexity increase the risk of medication non-adherence. The objective of this study is to evaluate the association between prescription medication regimen complexity and cognitive/functional status at baseline and after two years, and to assess how changes in cognitive/functional status are associated with changes in medication regimen complexity.

Methods: This study used nationally representative sample of community-dwelling older adults from the Health and Retirement Study, followed over a …

Investigation Of Ribbed Dome Including Tuned Mass Damper, Ali Parva

Civil & Environmental Engineering Master's Projects

This research report presents the outcome of an investigation of lightweight ribbed steel dome structure. The proposed ribbed dome structure is studied both numerically and experimentally under static, natural vibration, and base excitation conditions. The base excitation is considered in the form of a sinusoidal as well as seismic loading in the form of a scaled-down 1940 El Centro earthquake. A numerical study of the ribbed dome is also conducted including a tuned mass damper (TMD). The performance of the dome is also compared with that of a hexagonal vertical structure showing a superior response of the dome under seismic …

From Babies To Robots: The Contribution Of Developmental Robotics To Developmental Psychology, A Cangelosi, M Schlesinger

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

© 2018 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. The latest developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and the parallel advances in robotics, have contributed recently to a shift in the scientific approach to modeling human intelligence. These innovations, accompanied by the new emphasis on embodied and grounded cognition in AI and psychology, have led to the establishment of the field of developmental robotics. This field features an interdisciplinary approach, built on collaboration between cognitive robotics and child psychology, to the autonomous design of behavioral and cognitive capabilities in artificial cognitive agents, such as robots, which is …

Fatigue Crack Growth Rate Curve Based On The Cjp Model And Its Application Method, B Yang

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Fatigue crack growth rate tests of commercial pure titanium specimens with 5 different height-width ratios of CT specimens using the digital imagine correlation technique are carried out. The traditional stress intensity factor range, ?K, and the new definition of the stress intensity factor range, ?KCJP, which is under the theory of the CJP model, are utilized in the analysis of the test data. Both the da/dN-?K curve and the da/dN-?KCJP curve reflect the distribution of the test data effectively and show good fitting effects. Compared to the traditional ?K, the ?KCJP is obtained directly from the displacement fields near the …

Deconstructing Abject Complacency Of Ascribed Gender, Kyle M. Hooten

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

My life has been dedicated to the relentless pursuit of masculinity throughout my transition from female to male. While originally focusing on the physical transition, my attention is now focused on the social aspects of transition. For me, this involved coming out, managing legal name/gender change paperwork, and understanding a newfound, cultural privilege. This is where I draw inspiration to create my work. My process and techniques are informed by Drag Kings and Queens as well as contemporary culture and art. After performing as a Drag King for a year I developed a sense of gender that differed from what …

The Relationships Among Trauma History, Disordered Eating, Body Dissatisfaction, And Social Anxiety, Rebekah Mitchell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Eating disorders are highly prevalent and cause significant psychological impairment, up to and including death (Arcelus, Mitchell, Wales, & Nielson, 2011). This research examined how trauma history in the general population explains variation in eating disorder risk. The purpose of the current study was to provide further evidence for the relationship between abuse history and eating disorder risk. Disordered eating behaviors, body dissatisfaction, and social anxiety are all known risk factors for the development of eating disorders (Brewerton, 2007). Trauma history is related to all three of these known risk factors (Brewerton, 2007) with sexual trauma being more linked to …