Digital Commons Network^™

Reinforcement Learning For Process Control: Applications To Energy Systems, Elijah Ballard Hedrick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reinforcement learning (RL) is a machine learning method that has recently seen significant research activity owing to its successes in the areas of robotics and gameplaying (Silver et al., 2017). However, significant challenges exist in the extension of these control methods to process control problems, where state and input signals are nearly always continuous and more stringent performance guarantees are required. The goal of this work is to explore ways that modern RL algorithms can be adapted to handle process control problems; avenues for this work include using RL with existing controllers such as model predictive control (MPC) and adapting …

A Monte Carlo Simulation Of Rat Choice Behavior With Interdependent Outcomes, Michelle A. Frankot

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Preclinical behavioral neuroscience often uses choice paradigms to capture psychiatric symptoms. In particular, the subfield of operant research produces nested datasets with many discrete choices in a session. The standard analytic practice is to aggregate choice into a continuous variable and analyze using ANOVA or linear regression. However, choice data often have multiple interdependent outcomes of interest, violating an assumption of general linear models. The aim of the current study was to quantify the accuracy of linear mixed-effects regression (LMER) for analyzing data from a 4-choice operant task called the Rodent Gambling Task (RGT), which measures decision-making in the context …

Impact Of Haemonchus Contortus On Feed Efficiency And Feeding Behavior Of Katahdin And Suffolk Lambs, Camren L. Maierle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Nutritional impact of internal parasitism, specifically Haemonchus contortus (Hc), is a significant contributor to production losses in small ruminants. Both chronic and subclinical infections generate millions of dollars of losses worldwide. Understanding the nutritional impact of Hc on lamb performance is crucial in determining the additional nutrient requirements of infected individuals. The aim of this study was to evaluate nutritional impact of Hc on infected Katahdin lambs with extensive genetic selection for parasite resistance and susceptible Suffolk lambs. Growth, feeding behavior, and feed efficiency (RFI. F:G) were evaluated during artificial Hc infection. Katahdin ewes from the Virginia …

Investigation Of Geomechanical Behavior Of Laminated Rock Mass Through Experimental And Numerical Approach, Qingwen Shi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Roof failure in the Appalachian underground coal fields occurs often in laminated shale. Laminated shale roof in coal mines fails in unique ways, such as cutter failure or delamination failure. Extensive studies have investigated the influential factors that cause laminated roof failure, which include in-situ stress, entry layout, roof span, and roof support. However, cutter failure continues to occur frequently and erratically. This is due to the lack of in-depth understanding of the inherent properties of the laminations, such as bedding plane strength, matrix strength, and bedding plane spacing, which in turn influence the geomechanical behavior of the laminated rock. …

Performance Of Peltier Cooled Technology During Preconcentration Of Volatile Organic Compounds Analyzed By Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (Gc-Ms) Using Niosh Manual Of Analytical Methods (Nmam) 3900, Elizabeth Ann Fernandez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Using evacuated canisters for whole-air sampling allows for sampling without specific knowledge of the environment and potential analytes. Evacuated canisters are able to tolerate concentrations ranging from parts per trillion (PPT) to parts per million (PPM). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has used evacuated canisters for years to sample volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from ambient air using their method TO-15 (LeBouf, et al., 2019). The GC-MS system used for the development of NMAM 3900 used liquid nitrogen to cool sorbent traps in the preconcentrator. Liquid nitrogen allows for cooling of specified points below ambient temperature. An alternative to liquid …

Low-Temperature Hot Corrosion Of Boilers In The Coal-Fired Power Plant, Artem Gavrilev

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Hot corrosion of materials has remained a relevant topic since its introduction in the second half of the 20th century as gas turbine engines suffered severe corrosion during operation over seawater. Hot corrosion is observed in a multitude of high temperature components, such as gas turbines, power plants, refineries, fluidized bed combustion systems, pipelines, and industrial waste incinerators.

Hot corrosion experiments in the laboratory have been conducted under constant temperatures of interest, while in the actual working conditions of coal-fired power plants, boiler tubes are cooled down via water cooling from a relatively high fireside temperature, e.g., 1000°C. To investigate …

Multifunctional Organoboron Compounds And Boralactonate Salts, Randika T. Abeysinghe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Organoboron compounds have gathered an important significance within the chemistry community on account of their wide range of applications in synthesis, catalysis, and medicinal chemistry. Even though the uses of boron compounds in drug discovery have been overlooked until the last several decades, boronic acid containing molecules have garnered increased attention due to the unique chemical properties of the boron center. Boron-functionalized ��-aryl propionic acid non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug derivatives (bora-NSAIDs) can be accessed via copper(I)-catalyzed alkene boracarboxylation, using CO2 and B2pin2. To explore and expand the current synthetic and future medicinal chemistry applications of these bora-NSAIDs, methods …

Classifying Blood Glucose Levels Through Noninvasive Features, Rishi Reddy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Blood glucose monitoring is a key process in the prevention and management of certain chronic diseases, such as diabetes. Currently, glucose monitoring for those interested in their blood glucose levels are confronted with options that are primarily invasive and relatively costly. A growing topic of note is the development of non-invasive monitoring methods for blood glucose. This development holds a significant promise for improvement to the quality of life of a significant portion of the population and is overall met with great enthusiasm from the scientific community as well as commercial interest. This work aims to develop a potential pipeline …

"My 'Eh' Is Authentic"; Commodification Of Language And Identity In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Meg Elaine Perry

English

The following paper is an investigation of the historic, economic, social, and ideological processes that have shaped dialect awareness in Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. The goal of this study is to explore dialect perceptions between “Yoopers” and “Trolls” with a specific focus on the tourist industry and material items. This work performs textual analysis of various commodified dialect features in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to examine the complex relationship between language use and identity. Secondary research is used to synthesize the historical, political, and cultural circumstances resulting in present day dialect features, while textual analysis reveals that material artifacts circulate …

Investigating The Influences Of Ingredients, W/C Ratio And Dispersion Methods For Cnt Modified Smart Concrete, Tofatun Jannat

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Carbon nanotubes (CNT) have excellent electromechanical properties and can be added into cement using appropriate dispersive means to produce CNT-modified cement-based smart materials (CNTCS). This study investigates how the ingredients, W/C ratio and dispersion methods influence the sensing ability of the smart concrete. Three different dispersion methods were investigated: direct mixing, surfactant surface treated with NaDDBS, and the Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) surface modification. CMC surface modification method showed consistency for modified cement paste and cement-sand composite material. For CMC surface treatment method, 0.6 w/c ratio was found to be optimal compared to 0.4 and 0.5. Coarse aggregate was added with …

Artificial Intelligence-Empowered Structural Health Monitoring, Damage Diagnosis, And Prognosis Of Metallic Structures, Zi Zhang

Civil and Environmental Engineering

etallic structures are the key backbone of the society and economy, which are often subjected to different types of loadings resulting cracking, corrosion, and other material discontinuity, and affecting structural integrity and safety. Therefore, ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) has been widely used for structural health monitoring (SHM) to gain a deep understanding of structural performance, assess the current state of structural conditions, and avoid potential catastrophic events. Despite advances in technologies and methods in data process, microdamage detection still posts great challenges in their detectability. Different from conventional physics-based methods, artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) has recently fueled profound …

Multiscale Modeling Of Conjugated Polymers Towards Predicting Their Multifunctional Behaviors, Amirhadi Alesadi

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Easy processability, tunable mechanical and optoelectronic properties, and the endless possibilities of molecular modifications enable conjugated polymers (CPs) to be used in a wide range of lightweight, low-cost, and flexible organic electronic devices. However, despite the tremendous efforts in molecular engineering and improved electronic properties, the thermomechanical-structure-property relationship of these semiconducting materials is still less investigated. Predicting the thermal, mechanical, and photovoltaics (PV) properties of CPs is challenging due to heterogeneous chain architectures and diverse chemical building blocks. To address this critical issue, this dissertation aims to employ novel multiscale modeling and data-driven approaches to characterize the thermomechanical and optoelectronic …

Surface Modifying Amphiphilic Additives For The Improvement Of Fouling-Release Properties Of Siloxane-Polyurethane Coatings, Jackson Benda

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

Since mankind has navigated the world’s oceans, marine biofouling has been a persistent problem with several negative economic and environmental consequences. In modern times, the buildup of biofouling causes a significant reduction in vessel speed, leading to increased power consumption, higher costs of operation, and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Two of the most widely used protection strategies to combat this highly complex and dynamic phenomenon include the application of biocide containing anti-fouling (AF), or more environmentally friendly non-toxic fouling-release (FR) coatings. Traditional FR coatings utilize low surface energy components such as polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), but often suffer mechanical failure …

Anonymity, Social Identification, And Online Social Influence, Mir Md Fazla Rabby

Communication

This experiment investigated the primacy of social identification in the online social influence process with anonymity as a contextual variable. Other key variables were perceived argument strength and attitude toward abortion. Participants (N = 229) were randomly exposed to four conditions, in which they read three pro-life or pro-choice arguments from either three identifiable people (known) or three unidentifiable people (unknown). Based on the social identity model of deindividuation (SIDE), the study tested if social identification had a greater effect on attitude in unknown conditions through depersonalization. Results demonstrated that social identification predicted attitude, but anonymity did not affect the …

How Female Fans Make Sense Of Gender, Power, And Gendered Violence In Hbo’S Game Of Thrones, Mckenzie Lautt

Communication

Violence and abuse towards women are common themes in media today. HBO’s television series, Game of Thrones, is filled with scenes of women being tortured, raped, and abused. Yet, Game of Thrones was one of the most watched shows of the 2010s (Hibberd, 2014). In this study, I explore how women view the relationship between power and gender in Game of Thrones and how they make sense of justify gendered violence. Interviews were conducted with 20 women who had seen more than one season of the series. The goal of this research is to gain insight into these perceptions in …

Voting Technology, Democracy, And Propaganda: Ontological Considerations For The 2020 Presidential Election, Erik Gustafson

Communication

The 2020 United States Presidential election was considered one of the most tumultuous political contests in the 21st century. During an international pandemic, travel restrictions and social distancing requirements created uncertainty about whether to vote in person or via absentee-mail-in ballot. The present study sought to investigate how voters experience different technologies in the 2020 United States Presidential election. Selected concepts in media ecology supplemented Fox and Alldred’s (2013) framework for new materialist inquiry to explore the technical material characteristics of voting technology and the discursive elements of voter fraud propaganda. By tracing the history of voting technologies and voter …

Activism Challenges Faced By Black Student-Athletes At Predominantly White Institutions, Alexis Pitchford

Communication

For decades, black athletes have used sports as a stage to spread awareness of the injustices that are overlooked in our country. Black student-athletes are treated as ambassadors of the predominantly white universities they represent in their sports. However, they still endure prejudice from students, faculty, and local community members who are supposed to be their supporters. In this study, I investigated the factors influencing black student-athletes’ willingness to speak out on social issues. Through interviews with ten black student-athletes at NDSU, I found the concerning factors, identity issues, and levels of comfortability that black student athletes experience at this …

“You Are An Experience!”: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Transgender And Gender Nonconforming Characters In Children's Animated Series, Olivia Vogt

Communication

Western society has slowly evolved to accept the identities of LGBTQ+ people. With strides forward in laws and public opinion, queer people are overall more accepted now than they have been in previous decades. However, there remains a social resistance to accepting transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people. While queer sexualities are more widely embraced, queer genders are not. Public debate surrounding the rights of TGNC people provide evidence to the prejudice, as cisgender people discuss whether transgender people should be allowed to participate in sports or hold any position of recognition in the social sphere. This discrimination can be …

Originalism And Personal Jurisdiction: Several Questions And A Few Answers, Lawrence B. Solum, Max Crema

Faculty Scholarship

The modern constitutional law of personal jurisdiction is largely the product of living constitutionalism. International Shoe's minimum-contacts and fairness standard was not derived from the constitutional text, and it cannot be supported by the original meaning of the Due Process of Law Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. This Article explores the implications of that fact for the constitutional law of personal jurisdiction, with a focus on the federal courts.

The Article proceeds in six steps. First, it lays out the theoretical framework provided by Public Meaning Originalism, including the Fixation Thesis, the Constraint Principle, and the interpretation-construction …

An Evaluation Framework For Business Intelligence Visualization, Hankuan Zhang

Computer Science

Nowadays, data visualization is becoming an essential part of data analysis. Business Intelligence Visualization (BIV) is a powerful tool that helps modern business flows faster and smoother than ever before. However, studies on BIV evaluation are severely lacking; most evaluation studies for BIV is guided by general principles of usability, which have limited aspects covered for customers’ needs. The purpose of this research is to develop a framework that evaluates BIV, including decision-making experience. First, we did a literature review for good understanding of research progress on related fields, and established a conceptual framework. Second, we performed a user study …

Analysis Of Sdr To Detect Long Range Rfid Badge Cloners, Brett Knecht

Computer Science

This thesis proposes a way of detecting when radio frequency identification (RFID) badge credentials are being captured through the use of software defined radio (SDR). A method for using SDR to detect when badge cloning technologies are in use on the premises is presented, tested, and analyzed. This thesis presents an overview of the problem with badge systems and a background literature review. Next, the proposed method of detection and its workings are presented. Then, the strategy for evaluating the methods performance. This is discussed by discussion and evaluation of the results. Finally, the thesis concludes with a discussion of …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Music Recommendations Using Cosine Similarities Of Various Combined Feature Sets Consisting Of Metadata And User Generated Tags, Shubhit Kumar

Computer Science

This paper aims to compare and evaluate the methods for recommending songs using metadata, user generated tags, metadata and tags, and metadata and top five tags. Recommendations are calculated using cosine similarities with relevant exceptions (artist filtering, tag filtering, year to decade conversion) investigated.

#Feas Unfinished Business, Jo Pollitt, Mindy Blaise, Emily Gray

Creative Arts Research Outputs

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Cpr Performance, Self-Efficacy, And Deliberate Feedback, Caroline Martinez

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

During sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), prompt initiation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by a healthcare provider or layperson is critical to a patient’s odds of survival.4 The absence of health care providers in athletic settings often leaves coaches as the primary responder in competitive or recreational athletics. The goal of this study was to determine if coaches could provide high-quality CPR. Twenty coaches completed confidence and deliberate feedback questionnaires before and after two sessions of 5 minute compression-only CPR. Data were analyzed to compare confidence pre and post CPR assessment, as well as to determine the relationship between CPR performance, self-efficacy, …

The Effects Of Kinesiotape Star Technique In Individuals With Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain, Mickaella Langer

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Kinesio® Tape is theorized to reduce pain and aid with movement during treatment of chronic non-specific low back pain. This study investigated the effect that Kinesio® Tape has on patient-reported outcome measures and on disability in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain. Six volunteers exhibiting chronic non-specific low back pain, based on an included questionnaire, were recruited for this study. Patient-reported visual analog scores (VAS), Oswestry Disability (ODI) scores, Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) scores and postural stability measured by the Biodex balance system, as well as timed up and go scores were recorded over two randomized sessions with …

Appraising Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Risk: Single-Legged Jump-Landing Dynamic Postural Stability, Colin Bond

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Appraising anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk is of great interest to the orthopedic and sports medicine professional. Due to the high prevalence of non-contact ACL injuries, professionals have sought to identify intrinsic and modifiable neuromuscular and biomechanical risk factors to aid in the design of injury risk screens that have the discriminatory capacity to stratify ACL injury risk and the efficiency to be implemented at-scale. Prospective studies have revealed that poor dynamic postural stability (DPS), quantified as time to stabilization (TTS), following a backwards single-legged jump-landing (BSLJL) and poor hip external rotation and abduction strength relative to body weight, …

Effectiveness Of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Ventilation Devices With Protective Hockey Equipment As Performed By Certified Athletic Trainers, Lauren Konkol

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) are expected to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on athletes experiencing cardiac arrest regardless of the protective equipment worn by the athlete. Additionally, ventilation devices used by ATCs aid in the delivery of ventilations during CPR. The goal of this research was to determine which ventilation device allowed ATCs to deliver adequate ventilations and to establish recommendations for helmet removal method in hockey players requiring CPR. Twenty ATCs completed four scenarios of CPR according to the 2020 AHA guidelines using a PocketMask (PM) or FaceShield (FS) to deliver ventilations and accessing the airway by removing only the …

The Effects Of Humeral Retroversion On Range Of Motion In The Throwing Athlete, Thomas Hoskins

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between shoulder rotational range of motion once accounting for humeral retroversion (HR) and the Functional Arm Scale for Throwers (FAST). The following research questions guided the study: Is there a correlation between shoulder rotational range of motion (ROM) after HR is accounted for, and the total FAST pitcher’s subscale score? What specific questions on the FAST pitcher’s subscale can help sports medicine professionals predict the chance of rotational deficiencies in the throwing shoulder? Are pitchers with more years of college baseball more likely to see changes in total rotational ROM …

An Analysis Of Kinesio® Tape On Mitigation Of Dynamic Knee Valgum, Katelynn Smedley

Health Nutrition and Exercise Science

Kinesio® Tape has potential to be an intervention to mitigate dynamic knee valgum. This research project investigated the effect of Kinesio® Tape has on dynamic knee valgum through three-dimensional (3D) motion analysis in females with a history or current participation in competitive basketball or volleyball. Thirty volunteers preformed a Y-Balance test and drop jump landing (DJL) test with three different taping conditions. No tape, Kinesio® Performance Plus Tape for the facilitative gluteus medius application, and Kinesio® Tex Classic Tape for the spiral technique (ST). Results observed a statistically significant decrease in knee abduction valgum angle during 100 ms after initial …

Solidarity Forever: A Call For Inclusive Holocaust Memory And Coalition Building Amid Forgetting & Denial, Elisabeth Fricker

History, Philosophy, and Religious Studies

According to a recent survey, less than half of American Millennials can name a Holocaust concentration camp, and more than two-thirds of the respondents did not know the number of Jewish people the Nazis killed in the camps. This lack of knowledge is happening in a world where some people do not even admit the Holocaust event happened. This thesis will first lay out the current state of Holocaust remembrance in education, memorialization, and popular culture, particularly in America. Particular attention is given to how these remembrances overlook or silence certain victims of the Holocaust, such as LGBTQ+ victims. The …