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Public Memory And Forgetting: Making Visible The Invisibility Of Loss In The San Francisco Aids Pandemic, Beau Norby

Architecture Theses

It is well known that we depend on our memory for our individual and collective sense of identity, meaning, and purpose. We assign significance to past, present, and future events through inter-subjective and ordered memories as we make meaning in the world. And yet, as suggested by author Bradford Vivian, memory does not exist in isolation but rather in a surprising symbiotic relationship with forgetting. Utilizing the interplay of absence and presence, as well as remembering and forgetting, this thesis explores architecture as the holder and creator of memory, exposing the hidden and invisible dimension of the AIDS pandemic of …

Getting Old: A Design Solution To Improve Mental Health Post Retirement, Bailey Buschke

Architecture Theses

Individuals 65 years and older are struggling with the alarmingly high suicide rates among their peers. This is often caused by the sudden lack of purpose following retirement. Designing for community involvement while still maintaining a secure sense of independence will play a major role in increasing the quality of life in those 65 and older. The American population over 65 is projected to grow from the current 16.3% to about 19% by 2050. This means a solution to this growing problem is needed now more than ever. Retirement communities have grown all around the United states, but seem to …

Safe Harbor: Recontextualizing Architectural Design To Engage Society In Combating Human Trafficking, Anna Stroh

Architecture Theses

As one of the fastest growing and most lucrative criminal enterprises, human trafficking involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to lure victims into labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Minnesota faces widespread attention for its alarmingly increasing numbers in the sex trafficking industry with a particular focus on indigenous women and children. Despite its rich history and astonishing beauty, the Duluth harbor in Minnesota is notorious amongst the state as a site for human trafficking. With limited access to resources, women and children are incredibly vulnerable to being trafficked and face severe psychological and physical harm. Using simulation and …

The Materiality Of Time And Water: An Emotional And Cognitive Reinvigoration Of Sustainability On The Edge Of The California Coast, Bailey Cochrane

Architecture Theses

Ancient man had a full-bodied integration into the divinity of the earth that we have displaced in our modern age. We have become subjects of the technological advancements of today and as a result are tasked with replenishing a planet we have overdrawn from. This exploitation of Earth has given birth to raging forest fires, warming and rising oceans, and increased toxicity of the very air we breathe. Can the reintegration of humanity into the forces of nature be the key to saving our planet from the detrimental effects of our current environmental and social situation? My project will be …

Down To Earth, Ethan Mccullough

Architecture Theses

My thesis project dives into the question, “Can subterranean architecture create a more sustainable design?” The idea is to submerge the architecture into the landscape for the purpose of creating designs that can be more sustainable than the typical green design. The best way to answer this question with the chosen site is to design a multi-family housing multi-use facility. An apartment complex with additional purposes could support the community to achieve a healthier relationship between landscape and urban spaces. The research methods that will be used to answer this question will consist of an emphasis on case studies to …

Evacuation, Taylor Best

Architecture Theses

Globally, natural disasters are responsible for displacing thousands of families every year. With the unpredictable aspect and lack of predictability the displacements can last anywhere from a few days to a year. Though there are alternative, short term housing options available, this thesis will aim at deeper examination into the relationship between evacuees and the alternative housing available to them. Specifically focusing on availability, affordability, easy travel access, length of stay and size of space in correspondence with family size. In hopes to then take this research and create a community of rental properties that are primarily used for vacationers …

Building Blocks: Re-Framing Urban Inestment And Community Health Through Equitable Empowerment, Benjamin Djerf

Architecture Theses

The modern city is failing at embracing the value of difference and common ground is fading. The implicit effects of urban policy are dividing cities and putting their most marginalized communities in an even more vulnerable position. The narrow perspective through which city administration functions has made city policy willfully ignorant to all its implications and oversights. Consequently, these implications lie written between the lines in invisible ink and the fates of whole communities are laid out within them. Diversity is made into segregation and commonality swapped for polarization. And through this the invisible barriers to community relationship, class mobility, …

Ethical Challenges In The Middle Tier Of Covid-19 Vaccine Allocation: Guidance For Organizational Decision-Making, Nancy Berlinger, Matthew Wynia, Tia Powell, Aimee Milliken, Parinda Khatri, Fatma Marouf, Keisha Ray, Johanna Crane

Faculty Scholarship

This supplement to The Hastings Center’s “Ethical Framework” aims to help structure time-sensitive discussion of significant, foreseeable ethical concerns in responding to Covid-19 and to support collaboration across institutions throughout pandemic response and recovery. It is designed for use by county health systems and by hospitals, community health centers, and other health care organizations responsible for patient care or preventive health, including vaccine education, vaccine distribution, and vaccination. This document aims to support formal and informal convening and policy work within the same geographic region, such as a municipality, county, metropolitan area, state, or multistate area, led by public health …

Continuum, Joshua Trojan

Architecture Theses

As a contemporary society, we pursue sustainability to mitigate environmental unbalance. However, we rarely reflect on the temporal and cyclical nature of our existence, which exposes the premise of sustainability; continuance through mindfulness and stewardship. Like much of the world, cities such as San Francisco have evicted the dead from the city. The displacement of cemeteries from the urban fabric threatens to conceal our temporal nature, condemning us to mindlessly dwell in the present with little concern for the wellbeing of the future. This project seeks to reverse this trend by making room for a dynamic urban cemetery that reveals …

Healthy Architecture: Integration Of Design Strategies To Promote Positive Mental Health In Hospitals, Keegan Hovel

Architecture Theses

Healthcare facilities are made for healing. Despite this they come with a negative stigma since people attend them for conditions that can potentially be fatal. These facilities should be viewed in a more positive light as to not have an adverse effect on the mental health of patients who are there to be treated and healed, whether they are there for a few hours or a few weeks. This thesis will examine how a healthcare facility can utilize the implementation of design strategies and green spaces to create an environment that has a positive effect on patients’ mental health and …

2021 Silicon Valley Pain Index, Scott Myers-Lipton, William Armaline

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Financial Literacy, Experience, And Age Differences In Monetary Sequence Preferences, Jenna M. Wilson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The emerging research on age differences in monetary sequence preferences suggests that older adults make decisions that are normatively correct from the standpoint of economic theory when choosing to receive larger versus smaller amounts of money sooner than later, but make non-optimal decisions about paying money. In an adult life-span sample (N = 594, aged 20-88, M_age = 46.48, SD= 15.16) recruited through MTurk, the present study examined age differences in monetary sequence preferences. Participants received eight hypothetical scenarios that described monetary events, and completed measures of financial literacy and financial experience. Older age was associated with …

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Study Of Wood And Steel Materials At Project End-Of-Life Stage, Bin Bi

Construction Management and Engineering

The disposal of construction and demolition waste will have an impact on the environment. However, the currently limited research on the end-of-life stage waste is too general lacking separation and comparison of different material types. This study focuses on the end-of-life stage to assess two primary construction materials (wood and steel) and an office building, used as a case study. This study is performed applying life cycle assessment (LCA) and used Athena software to assess the impact of both materials. The software quantifies the environmental impact of two materials into nine categories, including Global Warming Potential, Acidification Potential, etc. The …

Use Of Force Policy Adequacy In Rural And Urban Agencies, Benjamin David Seyfried

Criminal Justice and Political Science

Police use of force has become one of the most widely covered topics in the media today. Especially in the past year, police use of force incidents have been heavily scrutinized and reviewed, and it was one of the most prominent topics of discussion in the 2020 presidential election. Previous studies have shown that there are factors which influence an officer’s choice to use force beyond the circumstances of the encounter itself. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the adequacy of a rural law enforcement agency’s use of force policy – the National Park Service – while comparing …

Biomechanically Inspired Assistive Technology To Restore Movement Of The Upper Limbs After Stroke, Ariel Thomas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A stroke often damages the neural structures responsible for movement. Stroke is a heterogeneous disease, affecting each survivor differently. There are common motor features of a stroke, but even these features vary across time as an individual proceeds through different stages of recovery. The different ways in which stroke motor impairment can present itself are often overlooked, but these differences are fundamental to the understanding of the disease and its recovery. When motor assessments are capable of acquiring information necessary to parse out a detailed profile of each stroke case, this will lead to an improved neuromechanical understanding of the …

Accuracy Of Implant Placement Utilizing Stereolithographic Guides Printed With And Without Cross-Arch Stabilization Struts, Caitlin Libby Dds

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of implant placement using stereolithographic guides printed with and without stabilization struts by comparing the post-operative position to the planned implant position.

Methods: A pre-operative cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) of a drillable maxillary model was obtained and data was uploaded into coDiagnostiX for preoperative planning. The implant position was planned in an edentulous space of #5 using a 3.3x10mm Bone Level Tapered (BLT) implant (Straumann). Ten surgical guides were designed utilizing a stabilization strut (Group A), while ten guides were designed without the stabilization strut (Group B). Twenty guides …

A Road Grade Based Weighting System For Calculating On-Road Distance-Specific Oxides Of Nitrogen Emissions Of Light-Duty Diesel Vehicles, Jason D. Bolyard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Light-duty diesel vehicles have received significant public and governmental scrutiny recently for violating emissions regulations. Similar to the heavy-duty diesel manufacturers during the late 1990’s, some light-duty manufacturers were implementing different control strategies between laboratory certification tests and customer on-road operation. These devices allowed the vehicle to pass certification tests but then use alternative operation on the road during normal use. The alternative operation would allow for better fuel economy but higher oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. Light-duty vehicles are currently certified in the US using chassis dynamometer testing. The effects of all on-road driving conditions are not mimicked in …

Gas Phase Reactions Of Cyclopentadiene With Ch And Oh Radicals, Kacee Lynn Caster

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and carbon-based nanoparticles in combustion environments is driven by the pyrolysis and oxidation of abundant fuel molecules. The subsequent growth of these pyrolytic byproducts is then propagated by reactions with small free radical species like OH, CH, O atoms, and C₂H. Cyclopentadiene (C₅H₆) is a significant five-member combustion intermediate that has been detected in many high temperature reactions, such as in the pyrolysis of jet fuels like JP-10. Experimental and theoretical investigations in the reactions of cyclopentadiene with these small free radical species are necessary towards understanding …

Various Operational Aspects Of The Extraction Of Critical Minerals From Acid Mine Drainage And Its Treatment By-Product, Zhongqing Xiao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is environmentally hazardous acidic water, which is continuously generated in large volumes at coal mining sites, typically when pyrite is exposed to oxygen and water. As its continuous migration under the geologic conditions, AMD tends to leach metal elements out from the surrounding minerals, leading to high concentrations of metal elements, like iron, aluminum, magnesium, manganese, lead, arsenic, as well as critical cobalt and rare earth elements (REEs). AMD must be treated and monitored to meet the effluent limits, under U.S.C §1251, the Clean Water act, before being discharged to receiving streams.

Recently, the research is …

Effects Of Multiple Stressors On Aquatic Macroinvertebrate Communities In A Mixed-Land-Use Watershed, Joellen Stivala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As urbanization continues, there is a need to identify and understand environmental stressors that impact stream condition in mixed-land-use watersheds. This study analyzed four years of aquatic macroinvertebrate community and environmental data collected from ten sites located at the mouths of first-order tributaries and along the main stem creek of a 23-km², mixed-land-use watershed in central Appalachia. The main objectives were to 1) determine stream ecological integrity by analyzing stream macroinvertebrate taxonomic and trait-based composition and 2) assess which of 23 environmental variables explained significant variability in common community composition metrics (WVSCI, GLIMPSS, Biotic Index, % clingers, etc.). …

Non-Monetary Economies: A Study On Different Governing Principles, Richard Perry Vest Ii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis examines a new economic system with a focus on non-monetary (primarily automation) aspects. Currency has been used in exchange for goods and services and this exchange has often resulted in benefits gained by any given individual. What if that wasn’t the case? How might society function if it was not influenced by currency? This thesis explores this hypothetical concept of an economy without currency with a focus given to automation. Using utility and production functions, discussion is given on how supply and demand functions behave in a non-monetary economy, how governing policy could be handled, and how society …

Investigating Nox Vs Co2 Tradeoff In Heavy Duty Emissions Through The Years Under The Scope Of Carb’S 3-Bin Moving Average Window Method, Ghadi Sadek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the rise in urban pollution level over the last few years, regulatory agencies around the world have taken multiple steps to ensure engine exhaust pollutant are well monitored and properly regulated. Yet there exists a significant difference in emissions rates in various operating conditions between US and European products which currently uses a Moving average window (MAW) approach for their in-use compliance testing and certification program. Using WVU’s vehicle data collected using PEMS devices, this study aims at investigating the NOx versus CO2 tradeoff found in heavy duty diesel engines equipped with different aftertreatment technologies, under the scope of …

Learning And Workers In Transition (Wit), Jeffrey Burgazzoli Jr

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study utilized autoethnography to generate new understandings about learning and workplace transitions. I journaled the first 90 days in a new job, writing about the notable learning events that occurred and collecting work artifacts to create a rich storyboard of the transition scene. Qualitative analysis of the storyboard revealed four broader dimensions of learning that must be considered: 1) knowledge growth and development, 2) cognition, 3) situational context, and 4) emotion. The results of the study illuminated key inflection points that happened during the transition process, conceptualized how my learning changed over time, and showed how I processed and …

The Effect Of Natural Fractures On The Mechanical Behavior Of Limestone Pillars: A Synthetic Rock Mass Approach Application, Mustafa Can Süner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In general, underground limestone mines have inherently strong rock and experience good ground stability. Also, modern pillar design guidelines developed by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have improved the design of stable layouts for modern limestone mines. However, ground control-related incidents are still an important problem. In underground limestone mines, previously mined sections stay open for the life of the mine which may be many years, and it is possible for travel ways to working faces to pass through these old sections. In a recent massive pillar collapse in an old section of a mine in Pennsylvania …

Sustainability Assessment Of Direct Energy Deposition (Ded) Based Hybrid Manufacturing Using Life Cycle Assessment (Lca) Method, Faujia Islam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As sustainability has emerged as a highlight for almost every field over the last few decades, the manufacturing field is no exception. Generally, additive manufacturing performs better than traditional manufacturing in terms of sustainability because of its lean energy- and material usage. Previous studies have compared the sustainability performance between traditional and additive manufacturing, but hybrid manufacturing was not focused upon much. In this paper, the life cycle assessment method is used to analyze and compare the energy consumption and environmental impact of direct energy deposition (DED) based hybrid manufacturing and traditional manufacturing “CNC milling” process for a turbine blade. …

Traditional And Modern Breeding Strategies Towards Developing Resilient Crops: Two Case Studies In Tomato, Estefania Tavares Flores

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Crop designing for resilience traits to produce satisfactorily under adverse conditions and scenarios is a priority for the future of global food security. In this thesis, two different approaches addressing major stress factors for tomato cropping are presented. We first aimed to domesticate tomato de novo as a high-salinity resistant crop using the wild relative, S. cheesmaniae via gene editing. We conducted single-gene and multiplex knock-out strategies using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to create loss-of-function alleles for the domestication-related genes BIF, CycB, J2, EJ2, MULTI, SP, SP5G, and FW11.3 in order to create a novel, halophyte tomato harboring an inherent high-salinity …

Three Essays In Applied Urban Economics, Alexander Cardazzi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The first chapter examines the effect of policing strategies on housing prices. Crime has been shown to negatively affect housing values. However, there is not much empirical evidence documenting the amenity value of how people are policed. Stop & Frisk was a particularly salient policing tactic employed in New York City until a judge ruled it to be unconstitutional. This chapter uses exogenous variation in Stop & Frisk behavior resulting from landmark events in a federal class action lawsuit as well as exposure to Operation Impact, a high intensity policing strategy, to explain variation in property sales. Results indicate a …

Harnessing Acoustic Streaming For Bioanalysis In Microfluidics, Xiaojun Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the past few decades, microfluidic technology has been developed rapidly in both fabrication methods and multifunctionality integrations, making it a powerful tool for a wider variety of biological applications. The device fabrication method has expanded from conventional polymer-based micro devices to 3D-printed micro devices, and allows multiple functions such as electric, optic, magnetic and acoustic to be integrated on a single platform. This dissertation focuses on method development of acoustic streaming-based microfluidics in bioanalysis such as immunoassay, enzyme kinetics and DNA fragmentation analysis. In this dissertation, a micromixer was developed based on acoustic streaming generated from sharp-edge structure vibration …

Effect Of Fecal Egg Count Estimated Breeding Value On Antibody Production In Katahdin Lambs, Kelsey L. Bentley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With current pressures to seek out genetic solutions to combat antimicrobial resistance, genetic resistance to the gastrointestinal nematode Haemonchus contortus may reduce need for prophylactic antibiotic use. The Katahdin breed has effectively utilized post-weaning fecal egg count estimated breeding value (PFEC EBV) to reduce parasitism within their flocks, but there still remains significant opportunity for selection within breed. In a previous study, Katahdin sheep sired by low PFEC sires had greater survivability to weaning than lambs sired by high PFEC rams and preweaning was caused by other diseases than parasitism. Those data lead to the hypothesis that selection for PFEC …

“Sir, We Have The Honour Most Respectfully To Submit Our Humble Petition”: Voices In Ink And The Politics Of Petitions In Colonial Igboland, Nigeria, 1892-1960, Bright Chiazam Alozie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With limited access to the traditional sources that historians typically use to document their work, it has become necessary to find new ways to explore the voices of local peoples who have been historically “denied a voice.” One way is through the study of petitions. Indeed, scholars of history have sparingly used petitions in some way while few have made systematic use of them. Even so, historians of colonial Africa have largely overlooked petitions in their studies, despite the important role that these sources played in negotiating African-European relations. This dissertation revolves around the hundreds of selected petitions, dubbed “voices …