Digital Commons Network^™

Identifying Controls On The Biodegradation Of Dissolved Organic Matter To Inform Microbial Fuel Cell Applications, Lily N. O'Hagan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) harness dissolved organic matter (DOM) biodegradation to generate power. To evaluate effects of DOM source, nutrients (nitrate and phosphate), and oxygen on DOM biodegradation, we conducted 4-day DOM biodegradation experiments with water and sediments from the Chesapeake Bay. Compared to soil-derived DOM, algal-derived DOM composition changed more and nearly doubled carbon dioxide (CO₂) production, peak CO₂ rates, and carbon removal, indicating MFC site selection should target regions with algal-rich DOM. Aerobic conditions increased CO₂ production by ca. 16%, doubled peak CO₂ rates, and reached peak rates 1 hour faster than anaerobic …

Open Source Tools For Ecological Research, Alex P. Riebe

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis presents the development of an open source wireless sensor network for hibernacula manipulation with an emphasis on accessibility and reproducibility. It addresses the design of the electrical hardware, guidance on antennas and RF implementation, and design of an application-specific communication protocol, all with the explicit goal of enabling ecologists and other conservationists to be able to manufacture, deploy, operate, and maintain the system for their research. The resulting sensor network designed in this thesis is to control the temperature inside bat hibernacula during the winter to study the relationship between temperature and bat mortality rate due to White …

Slip Kinematics And Structural Analysis Of The Keweenaw Fault System From Lake Linden To Hancock, Michigan, Katherine M. Langfield

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Keweenaw fault is a crustal-scale fault spatially associated with Mesoproterozoic rocks of the Midcontinent Rift System. Along the fault, older Portage Lake Volcanics have been thrust southeastward over younger Jacobsville sandstone. Ideas on the fault’s origin, from oldest to most recent, include that it is: (1) a reverse fault, (2) a normal fault formed during midcontinent rifting that was reactivated and inverted to a reverse fault during the Grenville orogeny, and (3) a detached thrust fault system initiated during the Grenville orogeny.

This thesis is based on a U.S. Geological Survey EdMap grant to remap a portion of the …

Using Automotive Lidar To Reduce The Energy Consumption Of An Ego Autonomous Vehicle, Logan P. Schexnaydre

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There is significant potential to reduce the energy consumption of the transportation sector through autonomous vehicles. Prior work on autonomous vehicle energy efficiency focuses on the whole system or the control subsystem. Yet, the sensing and processing components, which have direct and indirect effects on net energy use, are less explored. This dissertation fills this gap by modeling and evaluating these effects for lidar sensors, which provide high-resolution spatial data at the cost of high power and processing demands. I apply lidar to the energy-saving tasks of automated vehicle following and road surface profiling. For automated vehicle following, I model …

High-Performance Circuit Manufacturing And Testing Exercises, Benjamin S. Keppers

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

An advanced demonstrator Printed Circuit Board (PCB) has been designed and implemented providing a framework for advancing students’ knowledge in hands-on PCB design and manufacturing process through industry recognized test coupons, stack ups, and transmission lines. Students are guided through several key aspects of design and simulation relating to manufacturing and qualifications. Manufacturing allows students to refine process development and analyze performance data with respect to qualification tests specified by Global Electronics Association standards. Results are then used to build a stackup model, and complete a design activity for calculating expected test results for a series of controlled impedance electrical …

Valuing Life And Loss: Genre Analysis Of Insurance Claims Processing In Ghana, Cornelius Fuumaale Suom-Kogle

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This thesis draws on theories from rhetorical genre studies (Spinuzzi’s genre ecology and Freadman’s uptake), biopolitics, and the social justice turn in Technical and Professional Communication to examine how decisions are made in the processing of insurance claims. I adopt a qualitative, interpretive approach to analyze one hundred and twelve (112) claims processing examples from Ghana’s insurance industry. The findings indicate that insurance claims processing is a complex communicative system in which institutional power is enacted, negotiated, and, at times, contested. The findings also reveal that insurer-authored genres frequently enact forms of oppression (exploitation, marginalization, and powerlessness) through technical language …

Antenna-Based Sensors For Dielectric Characterization Of Materials, Hilary Scott Nkimbeng Cho

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This research introduces antenna-based sensors for dielectric characterization aimed at overcoming the limitations of conventional microwave sensors. Although traditional microwave sensors are widely used for their noncontact operation, high sensitivity, and ability to penetrate various materials, they often face challenges such as large size and high-power consumption. To address these issues, antenna-based sensors are explored for their compactness, ease of fabrication, and flexible design adaptability across diverse sensing applications. An in-depth analysis of multiple antenna sensor configurations is conducted, followed by the design and development of high-performance sensing structures. A saw-tooth slot antenna sensor is developed for highly sensitive liquid …

Targeted And Screening Based Approaches To Analyze Drm Transcriptional Repressor Complex Activity In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Emily Washeleski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The molecular machinery that control the eukaryotic cell cycle, specifically the processes that mediate the switch between cellular division or quiescence, are essential for cellular and organismal viability. However, how the same machinery integrates with developmental or differentiation programs is less well understood. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the 8-subunit DRM complex (for Dp, Rb and MuvB), whose subunits belong to the Synthetic Mulitivulva (SynMuv) B class genes, is a central regulator of the cell cycle but also prevents inappropriate cell fate specification. The conserved mammalian DREAM complex (for Dp, Rb, E2F, And MuvB) is best known as a transcriptional repressor …

Beyond Satisfaction: Developing A Data Storytelling Evaluation Protocol For Stem Equity Program Assessment, Karen Colbert

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Higher education institutions routinely evaluate equity initiatives using measures of participation, engagement, and satisfaction. While these approaches provide useful information about program delivery, they offer limited insight into whether interventions change how participants understand institutional inequities. As a result, important dimensions of organizational learning and awareness often remain difficult to detect, particularly within STEM higher education environments where evaluation systems frequently emphasize measurable outputs over deeper indicators of change.

This dissertation examines how awareness-related outcomes can be identified, measured, and communicated within equity intervention contexts. Using a three-study design, the research first presents a systematic review of equity intervention evaluation …

Robust State Estimation And Scene Understanding For Autonomous Ground Vehicles In Challenging Environments, Nader J. Abu-Alrub

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Autonomous ground vehicles require reliable state estimation and scene understanding to operate safely in challenging environments. Poor illumination, adverse weather, degraded visibility, snow-covered roads, and sensor noise can reduce the reliability of conventional localization and perception pipelines. Addressing these challenges requires sensing and algorithmic strategies that exploit the complementary strengths of different modalities. Radar is particularly attractive because of its resilience to lighting and weather variations, while inertial, camera, and lidar measurements provide additional motion, appearance, and geometric information. This dissertation investigates compact radar-based and sensor-fusion approaches for improving autonomous ground-vehicle state estimation and scene understanding under degraded sensing conditions. …

Coupled Shrinking Core And Bubble Dynamics Model For Enhancement Of Metal-Water Reactions With Acoustic Cavitation, Troy Metz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Hydrogen is a valuable fuel. Hydrogen can be produced in several ways including thermochemical cycles, electrolysis, and metal-water reactions. Thermochemical cycles typically use high temperatures, often with corrosive species. Electrolysis requires high purity water. Metal-water reactions do not have these drawbacks. Activators such as lithium and gallium are often used to enhance metal-water reactions. However, these activators add to the complexity of metal-water reactions and may not work for all metals. A novel method to improve metal-water reactions is cavitation. During bubble collapse, shock waves and microjets are produced that can cause surface erosion. The objective of this work is …

Physicochemical Characterization Of Small Extracellular Vesicles: Effects Of Immobilization, Isolation, And Disease State, Bianca M. Mercado Velez

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Cancer treatments and survival outcomes have improved significantly in the last couple of decades, with survival rates increasing in the U.S. Despite improvements in treatment outcomes, early detection and treatment are crucial for improving cancer prognosis and survival rates. The standard cancer diagnostic procedure of tissue biopsy is highly invasive, leading to the further spread of cancer in some cases. Alternatively, the extraction of biofluids from cancer patients, also called a liquid biopsy, is increasingly popular because it is less invasive and more representative of the tumor microenvironment, which contains cancer cells, tumor genetic material, and extracellular vesicles, including small …

Changing Snow Hydrology In The Great Lakes And Resilience Through Adaptive Management, Aradea R. Hakim

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A number of studies have found that global snow cover is generally decreasing, but a closer examination at regional scales shows greater complexity. In the Great Lakes basin, contrasting trends have been identified. While snow cover is generally decreasing basinwide, leeward (downwind) regions have experienced increases in snowfall and snow cover. Changes in snow dynamics are also associated with shifts in runoff timing and volume due to earlier snowmelt and changing precipitation patterns. Streamflow analyses at gauges across the Great Lakes basin indicate trends toward earlier peak runoff and longer runoff periods, although these patterns vary among watersheds and lake …

Exploring Fructose Mimetics As Chemotherapeutic Potentiators: Impact On Glut5-Mediated Cancer Cell Vulnerability, Vedant Buwa

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Metabolic reprogramming toward increased sugar uptake is a hallmark of cancer, and fructose-specific uptake through the facilitative transporter GLUT5 is selectively upregulated in several adenocarcinomas, including breast and lung cancer. This dissertation develops and characterizes a panel of fluorescent fructose mimetics – the coumarin-based ManCou probes and the quinolinone-based ManQuin probes – as GLUT5-targeted reporters, cytotoxic effectors, and chemosensitization adjuvants, and establishes the boundaries within which each role holds.

The central experimental strategy pairs each GLUT5-targeted glycoconjugate with its sugar-free aglycone control, isolating transporter-mediated cytotoxicity from cytotoxicity intrinsic to the fluorophore itself. In luminal (MCF7) and triple-negative (MDA-MB-231) breast carcinoma, …

Bioeconomic Optimization Of Zinc And Iron Agronomic Biofortification In Cowpea (Vigna Unguiculata [L.] Walp.) In Mozambique Under Tropical Field Conditions, Tancredo José Carlos Carlos, Leonel Domingos Moiana, Omar Jorge Sabbag, Boniface Hussein J. Massawe

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Agronomic biofortification with zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe) has emerged as a promising approach to enhance crop productivity while improving food and nutritional security. However, fertilizer recommendations based exclusively on maximum biological yield may not maximize farmers’ economic returns. This study integrated agronomic and economic analyses to identify the biologically and economically optimal Zn and Fe fertilization strategies for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata [L.] Walp.) under tropical field conditions in Mozambique. A randomized complete block design with a 3 × 4 × 4 factorial arrangement was used to evaluate three fertilization methods (soil, foliar, and combined soil + foliar) and …

Screening Anticancer Activity By Brine Shrimp Lethality Test Of Extracts Of Annona Stenophylla (Engl. & Diels), Strophanthus Petersianus (Klotzsch) And Synadenium Glaucescens (Pax), Roberto Luis Nhamussua, Faith Philemone Mabiki Mabiki, Alinanuswe Joel Mwakalesi, Lyndy Joy Mcgaw

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Cancer continues to be one of the main public health challenges, driving the search for new compounds with therapeutic potential. Medicinal plants represent a valuable promising source of bioactive metabolites, and the Brine Shrimp Lethality Test has been widely used as a preliminary tool to assess the toxicity of natural extracts, providing clues to their possible anticancer activity. In this study, the cytotoxicity of the extracts of Annona stenophylla (Engl. & Diels), Strophanthus petersianus (Klotzsch), and Synadenium glaucescens (Pax) was investigated using the BSLT as a first step in screening for potential anticancer compounds. The plant materials were harvested in …

Quantifying Power Quality In Stand-Alone Minigrids Using Fuzzy Power Quality Indices: A Case Of Illaut Minigrid In Sub-Saharan Africa, D. E D. E. Nkolokosa, Sebastian Waita, Mutugi Kiruki, Walbermark Marque Dos Santos

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Recently the concept of power quality in stand-alone minigrids is gaining wide recognition. The inherent uncertainties and dynamic operating conditions of the decentralised energy systems have promoted calls for increased research activities in power quality assessment and improvements. This study proposes an innovative approach for quantifying power quality in stand-alone minigrids. The existing conventional power quality indices have limited operational capacity; hence, they require improvement in terms of accuracy, reliability and versatility. The proposed methodology incorporates a hierarchical evaluation index comprising harmonic distortion, frequency fluctuation, voltage variation, dips and interruptions. Results indicate that interruptions got the lowest power index (0), …

A Lightweight Quantum-Secure Authentication And Key Agreement Protocol For Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks, Lasseni Coulibaly, Damien Hanyurwimfura, Evariste Twahirwa, Abubakar Diwani

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

Intelligent transportation systems, a critical pillar for smart cities, enable real-time vehicular communications to prevent human errors and improve traffic safety and efficiency. However, the open and highly dynamic nature of vehicular networks exposes them to various security threats, including message tampering, impersonation, and privacy violations. Several authentication and key agreement (AKA) protocols have been proposed to mitigate these risks, but often fail to maintain future-proof security against emerging quantum threats or introduce significant latency that affects real-time applications by relying on computationally expensive public-key cryptography, blockchain or centralized architectures. This paper proposes a new AKA protocol that combines hash-based …

Xrf And Xrd Approaches For Evaluation Of Heavy Metal Contamination And Physicochemical Properties Of Soil And Plants In Tungsten And Tin Mining Sites In Rwanda, Gaspard Bizimungu, S.K. Kolawole, D.O Afolayan

All Rsif Scholars' Publications

The increasing of tungsten (W) and tin (Sn) exploitation in some Rwandan mines requires an understanding of their distribution. It was also critical to assess the degradation of main and tertiary concentrates in soils, plants, and mining equipment. In this study, the concentration of elements, and the effect of contamination by W, Sn and other heavy metals (HMs) on soils and plants, as well as on the dump truck tyres were evaluated. The risks to humans, and the tyre composition degradation used at the mining sites, were also assessed. Metal compositions in the random samples collected at 50 m intervals …

Design And Experimental Evaluation Of A Custom Vision-Guided Approach To 2d Part Localization For Industrial Robots, Faisal Ali

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Vision-guided robots offer a clear advantage over teach-pendant programming for battery handling, where modern packs hold thousands of cells and teaching each position by hand does not scale. Commercial vision systems address this need, but their calibration, detection, and coordinate-conversion stages are closed to the user, making it hard to incorporate newer learning-based methods. This work presents a modular, custom-built vision-guided system using an Orbbec Gemini 435Le eye-in-hand camera, an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, an Allen-Bradley Micro850 PLC, and a FANUC LR Mate 200iC, communicating over Modbus TCP and EtherNet/IP. A per-hole classification model resolves each known hole into a …