Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating Los Angeles' Urban Roadway Network From A Biologically-Formed Perspective, Sophia Deen, Tatiana Kuzmenko, Demian A. Willette, Hossein Asghari

Biology Faculty Works

The evolution of networks is constrained by spatial properties of the environment; a characterization that is true in both biological and built networks. Hence built networks such as urban streets can be compared to biological networks to reveal differences in efficiency and complexity. This study assessed foraging networks created by the slime-mold Physarium polycephalum on proportional 3D-printed topographic maps of metropolitan city of Los Angeles, California. Rapidly-generated isomorphic solutions were found to be consistently and statistically shorter than existing roadways in system length. Slime mold also allocated resources to supporting key nodes, analogous to how heavy traffic flows through major …

Big Data Classification Efficiency Based On Linear Discriminant Analysis, Ahmed Hussein Ali, Zahraa Faiz Hussain, Shamis N. Abd

Iraqi Journal for Computer Science and Mathematics

The proliferation of online platforms recently has led to unprecedented increase in data generation;this has given rise to the concept of big data which characterizes data in terms of volume, velocity, variety, andveracity. One of the common multivariate statistical data analysis tools is linear discriminant analysis (LDA) whichrelies on the concept of obtaining the separation among groups through LDA. The prediction of the class of a givenclass of data points can be achieved through classification, a supervised learning technique but prior to a classificationprocess, a classification model must first be built using classification algorithms. Several classification algorithms areavailable for prediction …

Solar-Powered Exploration Of The Venus Atmosphere, Marc Migliozzi, Cory Everman, Rebecca Buerhle, Umar Muhammed, Steven Abbate, Chase Champagne

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The objective of this study was to design a solar powered, unmanned aircraft to orbit in the upper Venus atmosphere and search for signs of alien life. Topics of flight conditions, signs of life, basic mission plan, source of power, design process, instrumentation, and final designs are covered. Solar energy is ideal for this type of mission because it is the only reliable and abundant energy source accessible for long term space travel. The target altitude, being 60 to 70 km, has winds of up to 95 m/s. The aircraft will need to remain stable under such conditions. Due to …

Fcs: The Living Curriculum, Sydni Brown

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My honors project will be a literary review arguing why schools should be promoting Family and Consumer Sciences courses for their students. My project will cover the foundation of learning through Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) that sets the tone for lifelong health for both the mind and body. The questions I will be asking in my honors proposal will include How Family and Consumer Sciences is a living curriculum. What is the body of knowledge and how does that relate to FCS? My goal is to show how the Family and Consumer Sciences body of knowledge is ever-changing and …

Metisentry E-Sports Project Honors Forum, Dylan Meyer, Michael Ciarvarella, Ben Stephens, Michael Farkas, Miya Timura

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our group, as part of the CBA Honors Integrated Business Forum, was chosen to work with the Service as a Software company MetiSentry. We are required to help them create some type of software to capitalize on the growing e-sports market. We will be researching the current state, as well as the future state, of the e-sports community and determining the most effective way to capitalize on the growing market. This will culminate in a presentation to MetiSentry at the end of the Spring 2020 semester.

A Novel Approach To Mid-Foot Reconstruction Surgery In Patients With Charcot Arthropathy, Jessi Martin, Deborah Falokun

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This honors project details the design and development of an internal orthopedic implant that surgically corrects the midfoot fracture and subsequent arch collapse in patients with Charcot arthropathy. The client of the project is Dr. David Kay, an orthopedic surgeon with the Crystal Clinic in Akron, Ohio. He presented a problem surrounding surgical implants meant to repair Charcot arthropathy. Implants that repair the midfoot fracture failed at a rate of about 60%. A team of senior biomedical engineering students attending the University of Akron developed a goal to design a new surgical implant that would reduce the failure rate of …

Galvanic Corrosion In Aluminum/Steel Joints, Maegan Saul

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

As car manufacturers seek to use lighter weight materials, aluminum is being more commonly used in the construction of vehicles. However, the strength of steel cannot be matched and both metals are necessary, leading to the joining of dissimilar metals. This connection of different metals leads to a galvanic coupling and subsequent corrosion of the less noble metal. This project aims to observe the corrosion and galvanic coupling behavior of aluminum alloys and carbon steel so that a model may be produced which can accurately predict the expected responses of the metals in various environments. Better, more accurate modeling of …

Automatic Seeder, Zachary Bunting, Nicholas Muscarella, Trevor Tout, Dalton Denny

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Our Senior Design Project is the construction and implementation of an automatic seeder that is to be used in the agricultural industry. The automatic seeder is being designed to eliminate prevalent issues within the process of planting seeds by hand, such as labor requirements and inconsistent operations. The seeder is meant to reduce time spent on planting seeds and place them in an efficient manner for optimal growth conditions.

This project will require several specific research questions to be addressed in the form of application and good usability. We will investigate the method of planting the seed, the conveyor track …

Productive Uncertainty In The Laboratory Setting: Engaging Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Abigail Hollowell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The University of Akron recently began a study by the name of “Productive Uncertainty in a Laboratory Setting (PULSe): Engaging Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Scientific Research” that has aims to promote the science, technology, engineering, or mathematic (STEM) career pathway for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder by broadening their experiences with relevant scientific research. The study involved a student enrolled in a STEM program that was also diagnosed with ASD, a student studying to be an intervention specialist, and other relevant faculty and students that could offer relevant research and learning opportunities for the students involved. Since …

Elementary Hyperreal Analysis, Logan Cebula

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This text explores elementary analysis through the lens of non-standard analysis. The hyperreals will be proven to be implied by the existence of the reals via the axiom of choice. The notion of a hyperextension will be defined, and the so-called Transfer Principle will be proved. This principle establishes equivalence between results in real and hyperreal analysis. Sequences, subsequences, and limit suprema/infima will then be explored. Finally, integration will be considered.

Legacy Traditions, Abigail Schreiner

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper discusses and examines how I planned and executed a new fall program for Girl Scouts of North East Ohio entitled, “Legacy Traditions.” This program took place in October 2019 at Camp Timberlane in Wakeman, Ohio. The attendance of the camp consisted of girls between the ages of 6 to 11 years old. After seeing there was a need for a program that discussed Girl Scout Traditions while teaching leadership and other core values of Girl Scouts, the program was created in partnership with Girl Scouts of North East Ohio. Girl Scouts is an organization where girls of all …

Gaming Lan Setup With Local And Remote Access And Downloads, Ethelyn Tran

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Gaming LAN Setup project aims to design and implement a basic functioning, hardened network that could be utilized locally and remotely to allow users access to respective servers for the option to host a session or join. Users will have the ability to securely log into the internal network to download files via a web interface. The network allows the designated user to take a management position in order to perform basic penetration testing and discover vulnerabilities through various scans to maintain the network

Tabletop Mechanical Tester, Jamie Dombroski, Brian English, Richard Leffler, Andrew Shirk

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The need for hands-on and face-to-face experiences in the engineering classroom is very great. The equations, principles, and concepts can all be learned, but without the visual and tactile application, these don’t always sink in or become concrete. A small-scale tensile test machine was designed, sourced, manufactured, and tested for the purpose of being applied in classroom settings to provide this experience to engineering students. Extensive research was performed concerning tensile machines on the market, the essential elements of which are the load cell, grips, crosshead, extensometer, motor, and frame. The raw materials for the frame were purchased and drawings …

The Role Of Influenza Infection On Cell Metabolism, Megha Mokkapati

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this particular study global metabolomics LCMS data was analyzed to determine the effect of influenza infection on host metabolic processes. Specifically, wild-type male and female mouse lung samples from mice infected with PR8 (H1N1) or both PR8 and a reinfection of X31 (H3N2) were analyzed. The LC/MS(liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) based global metabolomics will be performed on the samples using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography to separate polar analytes from the tissues (Dettmer, Aronov, 2007). Metabolites impacted by influenza infection in all samples will be analyzed to compare male and female mice, as well as differences between PR8 infection and X31 …

Comparison Of Fe(Iii) Reduction Rates By Iron-Reducing Bacteria Within Sub Muros Samples From Quadrilátero Ferrífero Iron-Ore Caves, Brazil, Summer Ellis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Previous research investigating the speleogenesis of iron-ore caves (IOC) in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, or “Iron Quadrangle,” of Brazil suggests that microbial iron reduction and subsequent dissolution of the surrounding Fe(III) rich rocks is responsible for cave formation. A soft intra-wall substance (sub muros) containing iron-reducing bacteria (FeRB) was discovered underneath the durable crusts of cave walls. The goal of the study was to determine if reduction rates were comparable between sub muros samples, while additionally observing how different electron donors affect microbial iron reduction. To do this, I compared Fe(III) reduction rates between sub muros samples collected from …

Development Of A Method For The Detection And Quantification Of Various Benzodiazepines And Z-Drugs In Human Blood And Qualitative Identification In Urine Samples Using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (Lc-Ms/Ms), Haley Michel

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This method developed in the toxicology department at the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office (CCMEO) detects 40 benzodiazepines and metabolites along with several z-drugs in blood and urine by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. A sample amount of 0.5 mL was used to detect analytes in postmortem drug facilitated sexual assault and impaired driving cases. Twenty-nine analytes met criteria for quantification while the remaining 14 were used as qualitative indicators. Bias and precision results for quality controls met criteria, staying within ±15% except for clonazolam and etizolam which were within ±20%. Quantitative reporting criteria which included dilution integrity was met …

Technology In The Classroom, Kayla Tucker

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Technology in the classroom is supposed to touch on four different aspects of learning, all of which are important for the success of the student. Those components are active engagement, participation, frequent feedback and a connection to the content and to a real world experience (Wallace, Georgina, 2014). These four things can be done through technology. Technology today is far more advanced than it was 30 years ago, especially for kids with special needs. 30 years ago, technology was limited to programs on computers for kids ( Woodward, Rieth, 1997), but today there are things like virtual reality simulators so …

Development And Field Testing Of A Mall For Filipino With A Reusable Framework For Mobile-Based Drills, Jenilyn Agapito, Dominique Marie Antoinette Manahan, Ma. Monica L. Moreno, Jose Isidro Beraquit, Ingrid Yvonne Herras, Kevin Arnel C. Mora, Johanna Marion R. Torres, Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

This paper describes the development and field testing of Ibigkas! Filipino, a mobile game that exercises learners’ fluency in identifying synonyms (kasingkahulugan) and antonyms (kasalungat) in the Filipino language. Twenty-four students from Grades 4, 5, and 6 were invited to play and answer comprehension tests to determine whether the game helped them improve their understanding of the content. Self-report questionnaires assessed the extent to which they enjoyed it. Additionally, three teachers were invited to a focus group discussion (FGD) to gather their insights about the game and how they may use it in their classes. Self-report feedback from students showed …

Troika Generative Adversarial Network (T-Gan): A Synthetic Image Generator That Improves Neural Network Training For Handwriting Classification, Joe Anthony M. Milan, Proceso L. Fernandez Jr

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Training an artificial neural network for handwriting classification requires a sufficiently sized annotated dataset in order to avoid overfitting. In the absence of sufficient instances, data augmentation techniques are normally considered. In this paper, we propose the troika generative adversarial network (T-GAN) for data augmentation to address the scarcity of publicly labeled handwriting datasets. T-GAN has three generator subnetworks architectured to have some weight-sharing in order to learn the joint distribution from three specific domains. We used T-GAN to augment the data from a subset of the IAM Handwriting Database. We then compared this with other data augmentation techniques by …

Predicting Stag And Hare Hunting Behaviors Using Hidden Markov Model, Rex Bringula, Ma. Mercedes T. Rodrigo

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this paper, we used Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to describe the gaming behaviors of students and whether they will exhibit “stag” or “hare” hunting behavior in a mobile game for mathematics learning. We found that there is a 99% probability that the students will stay either as stag or hare hunters. Our results also suggest that they would choose arithmetic problems involving addition. These game behaviors are not beneficial to learning because they are only exhibiting mathematical skills they already know. The results of the study show that stag and hare hunters have unique traits that separate the one …

Where No One Can Hear You Scream: Regulating The Commercial Space Industry To Ensure Human Safety, Kurt Harris

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

Outstanding Note of the Year (2019)

The Resurrection Of Christ: A Bayesian Analysis Of Explanatory Hypotheses, Nicola Jérôme Liebi

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to determine under which circumstances a supernatural hypothesis should be preferred over the most probable natural hypothesis to explain a set of historical facts. The supernatural hypotheses include the objective vision hypothesis and the resurrection hypothesis, while the subjective vision hypothesis is taken to be the most probable natural hypothesis. Each of them can be found in the recent literature on the Resurrection and is still advocated by major proponents. The facts by which these three hypotheses are judged are agreed upon by most scholars. They include (1) Jesus’ death by crucifixion, (2) the …

Auctioning The Upzone, Christopher S. Elmendorf, Darien Shanske

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Comment On Derolph’S Impacts On Ohio’S School-Financing System, Twenty-Five Years Later, Jessica Ice

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Single Camera 360-Degree Real Time Vision-Based Localization Method With Application To Mobile Robot Trajectory Tracking, Khomsun Singhirunnusorn

Dissertations

This dissertation proposes a new method for real time vision-based localization in the full 360-degree area around a 3D reference object. In the past, Mirage pose estimation was developed for multi-camera systems. To achieve 360-degree localization with a single camera, we introduce the Mirage-S pose estimation method that uses a single camera given a 3D reference object as input. Mirage-S finds the solution by using an iterative numerical method with non-linear equations. This dissertation splits the localization problem into three parts: 360-degree 3D object recognition, 360-degree pose estimation, and 360-degree localization application. First, 360-degree 3D object recognition is required to …

A Measurable Cybersecurity Quality Framework And Its Application To The Department Of Transportation, Mohammad Shojaeshafiei

Dissertations

Numerous organizations are running businesses around the clock and have interaction with users through computer networks. The substantial issue here is that the organizations may not be able to assure the users that all operations can be performed completely securely while the users are engaged with the system’s operations. On a broader scale, the necessity of security assurance goes beyond business affairs such that lack of system security in organizations and agencies may endanger national security and public safety. All the records, research, and scientific studies show that it is almost impossible to guarantee all services and transactions on a …

On Determination Of Curvature In Range Images And Volumes, Jacob D. Hauenstein

Dissertations

Determination of surface and hypersurface curvature is considered here. Focus is on the (1) introduction of four new methods for determining surface curvature in range images, (2) introduction of three new methods for determining surface curvature in volumes, (3) introduction of two new methods for determining hypersurface curvature in volumes, and (4) evaluative studies of such types of methods. The evaluative studies include evaluations of existing and new methods based on the accuracy of the determined curvatures, run times, and results on a set of curvature-based tasks.

Improved Modeling And Verification Of Metrology On Small Radius Optics, Reem Alsalamah

Dissertations

This dissertation employs a graphical method of laser beam propagation analysis, the yybar diagram, to develop analytical solutions for a difficult optical metrology challenge: modeling of the behaviour of an interferometric system when testing small radius objects. The method presented utilizes the yybar diagram for Gaussian beams to model interferometric systems. The method enables rapid, intuitive layout and understanding of the complex properties of beam propagation, yielding algebraic calculations producing quantitative results. We first derive a relation for minimum test radius; the smallest radius part that can produce a perfect fluffed fringe, wherein the test and reference waves are identical …

Ultrafast Time-Frequency Spectroscopy Based On Few-Cycle Pump-Probe Transient Reflectometry, Hemang Jani

Dissertations

Over the last decade, advances in novel materials such as two-dimensional (2D) materials, metamaterials, plasmonics, and negative-electron-affinity (NEA) structures have triggered rapid growth in the development of ultrafast optoelectronic devices. This calls for simple yet effective approaches to characterize ultrafast dynamics in these materials and devices. An important aspect of this thesis research is to demonstrate one such approach by amalgamation of state-of-the-art in ultrashort light pulse source with a classical pump-probe methodology to develop a Few-Cycle Pump-Probe Reflectometer (PPR) system, which can offer both high temporal resolution and broad spectral coverage. As one of its applications, this work focuses …

The American Way - Until Machine Learning Algorithm Beats The Law?, Asress Adimi Gikay

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

Algorithmic consumer credit scoring has caused anxiety among scholars and policy makers. After a significant legislative effort by the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that has provisions tailored to automated decision-making (ADM) was implemented. When the EU Commission and the US Department of Commerce negotiated for US organizations to whom data from EU data controller is transferred to comply with the key principles of EU Data Protection Law under the EU-US Privacy Shield (PS) Framework, the Department of Commerce refused to incorporate the GDPR principles governing ADM in the PS Framework. The EU Commission accepted this refusal …