Digital Commons Network^™

An Equest Based Building Energy Modeling Analysis For Energy Efficiency Of Buildings, Saroj Lamichhane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Building energy performance is a function of numerous building parameters. In this study, sensitivity analysis on twenty parameters is performed to determine the top three parameters which have the most significant impact on the energy performance of buildings. Actual data from two fully operational commercial buildings were collected and used to develop a building energy model in eQUEST. The model is calibrated using Normalized Mean Bias Error (NMBE) and Coefficient of Variation of Root Mean Square Error (CV(RMSE)) method. The model satisfies the NMBE and CV(RMSE) criteria set by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning (ASHRAE) Guideline 14, …

Virtual Reality: Prospective Catalyst For Restorative Justice, Kate Bloch

Faculty Scholarship

A 2018 U.S. Department of Justice report assessing data from thirty states found that eighty-three percent of those individuals released from state prisons in 2005 were rearrested within nine years.** When a revolving door ushers five of six individuals back into custody and decimates communities, more effective approaches to criminal justice demand attention. In countries around the world, restorative justice has been emerging as a promising candidate. It generally involves an interactive process in which stakeholders identify and grapple with harms caused by the crime. But many environments lack the resources to invoke its benefits. While restorative justice takes various …

Employing Exoglycosidase And Transferase Enzymes In Capillary Nanogel Electrophoresis For The Determination Of N-Glycan Linkages And Enzyme Michaelis-Menten Constants., Lloyd Bwanali

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As a post translational modification protein glycosylation plays a crucial role in protein signaling, binding, kinetics and folding. In disease diagnosis and prognosis, monitoring glycosylation has been identified as a biomarker. Sialylation and sialic acid linkage in N-glycans are markers of cancers including liver, pancreatic and kidney cancer. Quantification of sialic acid linkage is analytically challenging because of the diverse linkages and the presence of heterogenous branching. A capillary electrophoresis method is reported that integrates a unique combination of enzymes and lectins to modify sialylated asparagine-linked glycans (N-glycans) in real time in the capillary so that N-glycan structures containing α2–6-linked …

Soil Microbial Nitrogen-Transforming Genes Influenced By Tree Species And Fertilization In An Appalachian Hardwood Forest, Emma G. Fox-Fogle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many forest ecosystems have been receiving elevated nitrogen (N) deposition due to human activity. Increased ecosystem N threatens soil fertility, water and air quality, and modifies the soil microbially-mediated N cycle in complex ways. The current study investigates how the abundance of key functional N cycling genes within soil bacteria is altered by N deposition and further mediated by different dominant tree species at the Fernow Experimental Forest, WV. Soils were analyzed from two watersheds, where watershed 3 (WS 3) has been receiving experimental applications of N fertilizer that are 2x historic ambient N deposition and 5x the current ambient …

Analysis On Combined Heat And Power, And Combined Heat And Power Hybrid Systems For Unconventional Drilling Operations, Diego G. Dranuta Ferrer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The United States (U.S.) has experienced a natural gas “boom” due to the development of unconventional shale plays, but well development is energy intensive. Operations use electric drilling rigs typically powered by either three high-horsepower diesel engines (HHPDE) or three dedicated natural gas engines (DNGE) and associated generators. From a first law analysis, HHPDEs peak at 42% efficiency at full load, while DNGE peak at about 30%. Most of the fuel energy is lost as heat rejected by the exhaust and radiators. Concurrently, during cold seasons rigs utilize boilers to provide steam throughout the rig to prevent freezing and provide …

Hypothesis Testing On Time Series Driven By Underlying Lévy Processes, With Machine Learning Applications, Michael Roberts

Mathematics

In this dissertation, we study the testing of hypotheses on streams of observations that are driven by Lévy processes. This is applicable for sequential decision making on the state of two-sensor systems. In one case, each sensor receives or does not receive a signal obstructed by noise. In another, each sensor receives data driven by Lévy processes with large or small jumps. In either case, these give rise to four possible outcomes for the hypotheses. Infinitesimal generators are presented and analyzed. Bounds for likelihood functions in terms of super-solutions} and sub-solutions are computed. As an application, we study a change …

Atomic Force Microscopy-Based Nanomechanical Characterization Of Kenaf Microfiber And Cellulose Nanofibril, M Subbir Parvej

Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics

Kenaf fiber is increasingly getting the attention of the industries due to its excellent mechanical properties, feasibility, growth rate, and ease of cultivation. On the other hand, cellulose nanofibril is one of the important building blocks of all the bast fibers which significantly contributes to their mechanical properties. However, most of the studies in the literature have estimated the value of axial elastic modulus for fiber-bundles which has some unavoidable issues resulting in incorrect modulus. Moreover, the transverse elastic modulus is another important parameter that also needs to be studied. Hence, to compensate for the gap in the literature, a …

Chemical Modification Of Bovine Milk Exosomes, The Biological Nanoparticles Of The Future, As A Contrast Agent And Drug Delivery Vehicle, Jessica Elaine Pullan

Pharmacy

Chemically derived nanoparticles are widely used across many applications. While they showed great promise when first discovered, the main hurdles, such as clearance and targeting, have yet to be overcome. A recently discovered class of biological nanoparticles have the potential to circumvent these disadvantages. Exosomes are biological nanoparticles (30 – 150 nm) excreted from most mammalian cells. While exosomes are typically involved in cellular signaling and traditionally removed from the body to be examined for biomarkers, this work combines chemical modifications and a biological particle for diagnostics and treatment of solid tumor cancer. Exosome involvement in cancer treatment has grown …

Implementation Of Provider Education: Breast Density As An Independent Risk Factor For Breast Cancer, Molly Berger

Nursing

A woman living in the United States has a 12.4%, or one in eight lifetime risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States (U.S). The risk factors for developing breast cancer are multifactorial, and dense breast tissue has been found to be an independent risk factor for breast cancer. Women with dense breasts have a four to six times greater risk of developing breast cancer compared to women with fatty breast tissue. Screening mammography has been the gold standard in breast cancer detection and to measure breast …

Polarized Policymaking: The Effect Of Ideological Division On Legislative Outcomes In The United States Congress, Aaron Tyler Mentzer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the effect of political polarization on legislative productivity and policymaking in the United States Congress. As the ideological distance between Republicans and Democrats increases, both parties face pressure to obstruct the legislative process in order to defeat their opponent’s policy proposals. This leads to legislative gridlock and alters the means by which Congress can perform its legislative duties. This theory is not a new one, but this dissertation expands on existing literature in several ways. In Chapter 2 I ask: does polarization limit the types of policy that Congress is able to pass, and is Congress restricted …

Optimization Of Operating Conditions And Design Parameters On Coal Ultra-Fine Grinding Through Kinetic Stirred Mill Tests And Numerical Modeling, Francisco Patino

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated the ultra-fine coal grinding performance of four low- to moderate-cost grinding media: ceramic balls, granular sand, alumina beads, and silica beads. The kinetic grinding tests were conducted using a stirred mill, while different operating conditions, including the media size, solids concentration, and the addition of viscosity modifiers, were examined. Characterization studies in terms of particle size, shape, and surface morphology were further performed to support the experimental findings. Moreover, using population balance modeling, grinding simulation was performed in Matlab to forecast the particle size distribution based on the specific energy input and experimental size-related data. The results …

Geology Oriented Loading Approach For Underground Coal Mines, Deniz Tuncay

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mining-induced stresses in underground coal mines play a significant role in pillar and support design, hence in the safety of mining operations. Adequate design of pillars and roof control plans rely on the accurate assessment of the mining-induced loads, as well as the load-bearing capacities of the supports. In pillar design tools frequently used by the underground coal mining industry and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), overburden loading is estimated by geometric concepts such as the tributary area and the abutment angle method. These methods do not explicitly consider important mechanical responses such as specific overall ground behavior. The …

Planetary Rover Inertial Navigation Applications: Pseudo Measurements And Wheel Terrain Interactions, Cagri Kilic

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Accurate localization is a critical component of any robotic system. During planetary missions, these systems are often limited by energy sources and slow spacecraft computers. Using proprioceptive localization (e.g., using an inertial measurement unit and wheel encoders) without external aiding is insufficient for accurate localization. This is mainly due to the integrated and unbounded errors of the inertial navigation solutions and the drifted position information from wheel encoders caused by wheel slippage. For this reason, planetary rovers often utilize exteroceptive (e.g., vision-based) sensors. On the one hand, localization with proprioceptive sensors is straightforward, computationally efficient, and continuous. On the other …

Lawton's Bloodhounds: Indigenous Recruits In The Service Of The United States Army In The Philippine American War, 1899-1902, Carole Irene Butcher

History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies

Following the Spanish American War, the United States became embroiled in a guerrilla war with Filipino insurgents who had sought independence from Spain. They objected to the purchase of the Philippine Islands by the United States. The result was the Philippine American War, 1899-1902. At that time, the United States Army had no written doctrine and provided no formal training in the prosecution of a guerrilla war. This study traces American success in the Philippines to reliance on a proven technique utilized by colonial armies of the period: recruitment of native allies. American General Henry Ware Lawton served in the …

The Thiol-Ene Encapsulation And Photo-Physical Characterization Of Colloidal Silicon Nanocrystals Synthesized With Si6h12 Using Non-Thermal Plasma Reactor, Mahmud Ayad Sefannaser

Physics

Silicon nanocrystals (SiNCs) are nanometer-sized semiconducting materials. Their small size endows them with unique photophysical properties. Efficient photoluminescence (PL) from silicon nanocrystal (SiNC) composites has important implications for emerging solar-energy collection technologies, yet a detailed understanding of PL relaxation in non-colloidal SiNCs is still materializing. In this dissertation, we examine the photophysical properties of silicon nanocrystal/off-stoichiometry thiol-ene composites (SiNCs/OSTE hybrids). The dissertation begins with an introduction to the photophysical properties of SiNCs, their photophysical properties, how SiNC/polymer composites are made, the various SiNC preparation techniques, and the most likely application areas for these nanocrystals. A description of experimental methods such …

Fundamental Studies Of Interfacial Forces Acting On Thin Films, Timothy John Twohig

Physics

A thin film is a material that is many orders of magnitude thinner than it is long or wide. They are commonly found in many forms and have been adapted to a wide variety of uses. The art of origami uses thin films(sheets of paper) and precise folding to create complex, three-dimensional shapes out of flat, quasi two-dimensional sheets, and has emerged as a unique way to solve problems in engineering and science. As technology and devices are scaled to smaller sizes new understanding of origami methods are required to work at these small scales. The interactions between thin films …

Synthesis Of Small Silicon Carbide Nanocrystals In Low Pressure Nonthermal Plasma, Reed Jeffrey Petersen

Physics

Nanoparticles have attracted much attention because of their unusual physical properties. This work represents original, incipient research into small crystalline silicon carbide nanoparticles synthesized in a low-pressure nonthermal plasma reactor. The nonthermal plasma technique offers a route for size-tunable synthesis of high-purity silicon carbide nanocrystals. Even though it has a high sublimation point, silicon carbide is synthesized in crystalline form in a nonthermal plasma reactor since nanoparticles are intensely heated by exothermic surface reactions on a nanoscale level. Using vaporized tetramethylsilane as a precursor and molecular hydrogen as an additive, both silicon carbide and silicon- or carbon-coated silicon carbide were …

Vaccine Skeptical Mothers In The Upper Midwest And Their Kitchen-Based Care Practices, Kimberly Allison Haarstick

Sociology and Anthropology

While many Americans view vaccination and medical intervention as benefits to society and for the greater good, vaccine skeptical mothers not only reject vaccinations but most biomedical interventions as well. In place of biomedical interactions vaccine skeptical mothers here focused on daily care practices centered around a healthy diet and eating whole foods. Further, they then create alternative forms of care that are founded in their kitchens and based on their own expertise as mothers, rather than with the expertise of biomedical experts. Based on nineteen months of in-person and virtual ethnographic research in a mid-size Upper Midwestern city in …

Enhancing Health Professionals' Cultural Competence Of Gender And Sexual Minority Health, Megan Beth Thiel

Nursing

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community continues to experience worse health outcomes than their heterosexual counterparts. Inequities in health care include low health insurance rates, high rates of stress due to systemic discrimination and stigma, and a lack of cultural competency in the health care system. Gender and sexual minority (GSM) people are at higher risk of mental health disorders, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), substance use and abuse, cancer, suicide, and other disorders/diseases. A lack of cultural competency in health care systems perpetuates these health disparities and inequities in care that burden the …

Screening Adolescent Females For Eating Disorders In Primary Care, Brooke Marie Thom

Nursing

In recent decades, there has been an increased focus on the idealization of thinness and the pressure and expectancy to be thin, which contributes to a rising number of individuals that experience severe body dissatisfaction and body distortion, and in turn, eating disorders. Eating disorders are one of the most common chronic conditions within the youth population, approximately 13% of the adolescent youth population will suffer from at least one eating disorder by age 20, and a majority of those affected will be female. Rural health care providers encounter many health care disadvantages when detecting and treating eating disorders including …

Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems: Youth Prevention And Cessation Discussions By Primary Care Providers, Sarah Hutton Christianson

Nursing

Youth use of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has increased over the last several years, necessitating proactive steps by primary care providers (PCP) including discussing ENDS health effects with youth and providing cessation counseling. The CDC recommends that people under age 25 should not use ENDS. Brief counseling about use of tobacco products is cost-effective and beneficial to patients’ health. PCPs need current, accurate information about ENDS to deliver comprehensive preventive services and cessation counseling to a vulnerable adolescent population. The purposes of this practice improvement project were to increase PCPs’ knowledge, patient discussions, and cessation referrals related to ENDS …

Advanced Practice Provider Experiences Precepting Nurse Practitioner Students, Carly Rose Kaspari

Nursing

Preceptors for nurse practitioner (NP) students are in increasingly short supply. Enrollment in NP programs has increased at 14.5% from 2008-2017 each year. The increase in NP students has created an increased demand for qualified preceptors and increased competition among other healthcare professional programs for clinical placements. Additionally, clinical preceptors, specifically advanced practice providers (APP) often report feeling unsupported in the role of a preceptor. Support and understanding for preceptors from clinical leadership is imperative as the demand for preceptors continues to grow, clinic leadership must understand preceptor experiences and how to best support APPs who serve in this role.The …

Opportunities, Barriers, And Recommendations In Down Syndrome Research., James A. Hendrix, Angelika Amon, Leonard Abbeduto, Stamatis Agiovlasitis, Tarek Alsaied, Heather A. Anderson, Lisa J. Bain, Nicole Baumer, Anita Bhattacharyya, Dusan Bogunovic, Kelly N. Botteron, George Capone, Priya Chandan, Isabelle Chase, Brian Chicoine, Cécile Cieuta-Walti, Lara R. Deruisseau, Sophie Durand, Anna Esbensen, Juan Fortea, Sandra Giménez, Ann-Charlotte Granholm, Laura J. Hahn, Elizabeth Head, Hampus Hillerstrom, Lisa M. Jacola, Matthew P. Janicki, Joan M. Jasien, Angela R. Kamer, Raymond D. Kent, Bernard Khor, Jeanne B. Lawrence, Catherine Lemonnier, Amy Feldman Lewanda, William Mobley, Paul E. Moore, Linda Pollak Nelson, Nicolas M. Oreskovic, Ricardo S. Osorio, David Patterson, Sonja A. Rasmussen, Roger H. Reeves, Nancy Roizen, Stephanie Santoro, Stephanie L. Sherman, Nasreen Talib, Ignacio E. Tapia, Kyle M. Walsh, Steven F. Warren, A Nicole White, Guang William Wong, John S. Yi

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Recent advances in medical care have increased life expectancy and improved the quality of life for people with Down syndrome (DS). These advances are the result of both pre-clinical and clinical research but much about DS is still poorly understood. In 2020, the NIH announced their plan to update their DS research plan and requested input from the scientific and advocacy community.

OBJECTIVE: The National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) and the LuMind IDSC Foundation worked together with scientific and medical experts to develop recommendations for the NIH research plan.

METHODS: NDSS and LuMind IDSC assembled over 50 experts across …

Online Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Charge Transfer Dissociation-Mass Spectrometry (Uhplc-Ctd-Ms) Of Complex Mixtures Of Oligosaccharides, Praneeth M. Mendis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Abstract

Online Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Charge Transfer Dissociation-Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-CTD-MS) of Complex Mixtures of Oligosaccharides

Praneeth M. Mendis

Complex carbohydrates make up more than half the biomass on earth, and they are crucial to a wide range of processes in living organisms. When polysaccharides and glycans are enzymatically digested into manageable units called oligosaccharides, they typically consist of 2-20 linear or branched sugar units. The detailed structural analysis of oligosaccharides assists in the identification of structural and chemical properties of the polymers from which they derive. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is a key technique used in oligosaccharides structural characterization. Within …

Searching Harder, Localizing Better, Classifying Faster: Optimizing Fast Radio Burst Detection And Analysis, Kshitij Aggarwal

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fast Radio Bursts (or FRBs) are millisecond-duration transients of extragalactic origin. They exhibit dispersion caused by propagation through an ionized medium, and quantified by Dispersion Measure (DM). Around 800 FRBs (24 repeaters) have been discovered; so far, 24 FRBs have been confidently associated with a host galaxy. In this thesis, we discuss multiple new FRB search and analysis techniques and the corresponding tools that enable us to search for FRBs harder, localize them better, and classify candidates faster.

We discuss five open-source software suites that can be used in FRB analysis. These suites are used to distinguish between FRBs and …

Exploring The Effects Of Interleaving On Mind-Wandering, Alyssa Lynn Miller

Psychology

Research has shown that interleaving (a study technique where two topics are practiced in an alternating fashion) enhances learning and memory. However, it is unclear whether interleaving impacts the frequency of mind-wandering. The current research explores the extent to which interleaving reduces mind-wandering using a between-subjects design. Participants completed the experiment remotely and learned 40 bird images from 8 distinct families. Bird images were presented in pairs from two different families (e.g., interleaved) or individually from one family (e.g., blocked). After a brief distractor task, participants completed a final classification test. Participants also completed a post-assessment questionnaire regarding the level …

The Inkblot Re-Conceptualized: Developing An Implicit Situational Judgment Test Of Multiple Components Of Poor And Optimal Functioning, Roberta Linda Irvin

Psychology

Situation judgment tests (SJTs), which provide a balance between global personality measurement and context-specific social-cognitive processes, can be combined with implicit measurement approaches to limit some of the biases that are common in self-reports. Based on such considerations, the author developed an implicit SJT, called the Inkblot Scale, to investigate three components of optimal functioning – Happiness, Success, and Friendliness – that can be assessed from the same response set. Undergraduates completed the Inkblot Scale and various measures related to each component of optimal functioning (n = 184) before reporting their daily experiences and behaviors for two weeks (n = …

Identification And Characterization Of Novel Cercospora Beticola Necrosis-Inducing Effectors, Olivia Grace Hamilton

Plant Pathology

Cercospora beticola is a hemibiotrophic fungus responsible for Cercospora leaf spot disease of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). Plant pathogens such as C. beticola utilize “effector” molecules to aid in disease establishment. Effectors are generally small, secreted molecules that contribute to pathogen virulence. A culture filtrate infiltration study was conducted to identify potential effector molecules secreted by C. beticola. A variety of fungal growth conditions were pursued, one of which resulted in a necrotic phenotype when the culture filtrate was infiltrated into sugar beet leaves. The culture filtrate was fractioned using ion-exchange chromatography. Fractions were infiltrated to identify the protein responsible …

Tibial Strains And Tray-Bone Micromotions After Total Knee Arthroplasty: Computational Studies Evaluating The Tibial Fixation, Huizhou Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cemented and cementless fixation in total knee arthroplasty (TKA) have been successfully used for decades. As the number of younger and more active patients treated with TKA continues to increase, long-term implant survivorship is of increasing importance. One of the most common complications and hence the reason for revision is mechanical loosening (23.1% of all revised TKA). The loosening mechanisms have been proposed for different fixation types. For cemented fixation, bone remodeling after surgery is regulated by the changes in strain energy density (SED). The recruitment of osteoclasts and osteoblasts is controlled by SED-related signals. Insufficient stimuli can promote bone …

Past Flooding Events And A 400+ Year Ring-Width Chronology Of Bur Oak Along The Red River In North Dakota And Minnesota, Matthew Bruce Schlauderaff

Natural Resources Management

A paleoflood record of the United States portion of the Red River of the North was created utilizing rings of bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa Michx.). Emphasis was placed on the flood of 1826. Samples were collected from standing trees and historic log buildings. All samples were observed for flood rings and measurements were taken for 90% of physical samples. Flood rings for 1826 were disproportionately found at one specific site near Shelly, MN. Ring width measurements were taken from 179 physical samples and combined into a ring-width chronology spanning from modern times back to 1601. The results suggest that the …