Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of A Compliant Soft Gripper With Embedded Force Sensors, Ayman Abbas, Abdelrahman Said, Tamer Kahlil, Mahmoud Magdy

Mechanical Engineering

Robotic manipulators have the capability to perform repetitive tasks with a level of efficiency and precision that exceeds the capabilities of human operators. Currently, they are commonly found and extensively utilized across various disciplines. However, robotic manipulators have gradually begun to make inroads into fields beyond manufacturing, such as medicine and agriculture. Due to the diverse range of industries utilizing robotic manipulators, the nature of tasks assigned to these devices can often be more intricate and multifaceted than conventional assignments. Hence, conventional mechanical grippers may not always be suitable, prompting a growing need for grippers capable of adapting to effectively …

3d-Printed Polylactide Structures Do Not Affect The Demography Of The Threatened Coral Acropora Cervicornis, Gabriela Baerga-Jiménez, Alex E. Mercado-Molina

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The development of artificial structures using emerging 3D printing technology has been proposed as a possible strategy to promote the recovery of degraded coral reef ecosystems. Current technologies allow 3D printers to faithfully replicate the morphology of coral reef attributes (e.g., substrate and coral colonies). Thus, 3D printing can be used to create artificial structures that replicate microhabitats resembling those found by reef organisms in nature. However, the use of 3D printing technology for reef conservation and restoration purposes is still in its early developmental stages. Consequently, the potential benefits or detriments of the technology on coral reef health and …

Mysteries Of The Bryozoans, Judith E. Winston

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Marine bryozoans have about 6,000 living species and many fossil species going back to the early Ordovician. As suspension feeders they can be an important part of keeping the ocean healthy. Yet, as colonial organisms, even though present in habitats from estuaries and continental shelves to the deep sea, they are often treated as background for mobile organisms. There is still much to learn about their lives and relationships. This Ocean Reflection describes my career as a museum scientist from the 1970s to today, beginning at a time when it was often difficult as a woman to find a way …

Advancing Human-Computer Interaction Systems Through Explainable And Secure Ai Integration, Ifiok Udoidiok

Theses and Dissertations

As artificial intelligence (AI) systems increasingly shape how humans interact with digital environments, the need for transparency, security, and robustness in intelligent decision making has become critical. This thesis explores how explainable and secure AI techniques can be integrated into modern human-computer interaction (HCI) systems to enhance trust, resilience, and alignment with human operators.

We present three related studies, each addressing a distinct challenge in the design of human-centered AI. First, we apply XAI methods, specifically Local Interpretable Model-Agnostic Explanations (LIME), to deep learning (DL) based CAPTCHA solvers. By interpreting model attention patterns, we uncover exploitable weaknesses in text CAPTCHA …

My Service-Learning Experience, Conserving And Restoring Canaveral National Seashore, Thomas Cole

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2025

Thomas Cole

[email protected]

3177992

My service-learning experience, conserving and restoring Canaveral National Seashore

During my time spent completing service learning course service-learning marine conservation and restoration.. I had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of projects that benefit marine conservation and restoration. These included mangrove gardening, Beach trash removal, constructing oyster habitat structures and a wading bird camera footage experiment. Each of these experiences relate to the conservation and restoration of Canaveral National Seashore. This National park is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, with 47 of those species being federally listed as special concern, …

Inorganic Arsenite [I-As (Iii)] Represses Human Renal Progenitor Cell Characteristics And Induces Neoplastic-Like Transformation, Md Ehsanul Haque

Theses and Dissertations

Studies on populations exposed to inorganic arsenic (iAs) have shown an association between this particular exposure and the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, there are few studies addressing how acute exposure of the human kidney to iAs might lead to long-term alterations that might lead to CKD or RCC. This study’s hypothesis is that renal exposure to iAs might alter the renal cells responsible for the repair and regeneration of nephrons damaged by iAs exposure or other renal toxicants. The kidney possesses a minority epithelial cell population that co-express PROM1 and CD24 that …

Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity And Adaptive Responses In Renal Progenitor Cells: Molecular Insights From Transcriptomic And Proteomic Analyses, Eloho Ighofose

Theses and Dissertations

Cisplatin is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent known for its efficacy against various solid tumors, but its clinical utility is limited by dose-dependent nephrotoxicity. The renal proximal tubule, particularly its epithelial cell population, is highly susceptible to cisplatin-induced injury due to its role in solute transport and high metabolic activity. Recent advances suggest that renal progenitor cells play a key role in epithelial repair following nephrotoxic injury; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying their response to cisplatin remain poorly understood.This study investigates the impact of both acute and chronic cisplatin exposure on immortalized human renal progenitor cells (HRTPT, CD24⁺/CD133⁺) using a …

Sharing Your Science: Special 2025 Edition, Wilson Gonzalez-Espada

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The Sharing your Science stories were completed as part of a 2025 Science Communication Summer Internship (COMM 647), a collaboration between the Kentucky Academy of Science and the Departments of Engineering Sciences and Communication, Media, Art & Design, Morehead State University, KY. This work was made available as an Open Educational Resource thanks to the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning, the Camden-Carroll Library, and the Office of Research & Sponsored Programs, Morehead State University.

Shadows From The Double-Wide: A Reflection On Home, Brittani K. Brown

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

My studio practice acts as a personal anthropological investigation into my upbringing in the rural South. I utilize photographic, textile, print, and virtual mediums that have a unique historical and/or modern connection with the South. Almost a decade after deciding to leave my Southern Baptist religion behind and even longer after covering up my Southern accent, I find myself in a place of tension-ridden nostalgia for the place I grew up.

The community of artists in the Southeast region of the United States continues to grow and create a more cohesive picture of the South and Southern identity through their …

Evolving Perceptions Of Self And Others: The Effects Of Communing With Nature While Thru Hiking The Florida National Scenic Trail, Stella P. Arbeláez Tascón

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This body of artwork comprises a thesis that documents and exposes the artist’s inner workings as she regained balance after experiencing deep emotional trauma. This individual’s healing transformation was prompted by her immersion in nature while walking the Florida National Scenic Trail in its entirety, 1,130 miles (or 1,818 km), from the Everglades to the panhandle, in three and a half months. The artistic research conducted, and autobiographical body of work created from it, aims to help others reconnect with their own strengths and to seek wellness in the restorative properties of Nature, while advocating for an empathetic approach to …

Environmental Fate Of Trace Anionic Fission Byproducts: An Analysis Of Redox, Sorption, And Incorporation Pathways Of Iodine And Selenium, Ilana B. Szlamkowicz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The environmental chemistry and mobility of iodine and selenium contaminants were investigated through redox interactions with manganese oxides and incorporation into carbonate minerals. The study examined iodide (I^-) and selenite (SeO₃^2-) oxidation under varying pH conditions using manganese oxide minerals, which are geochemical regulators. Using tandem ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (IC-ICP-MS), the oxidation and speciation of iodine and selenium were quantified under environmentally relevant conditions. The results demonstrate that oxidation of I^- and SeO₃^2- by manganese oxides are highly concentration dependent. Acid birnessite, a common manganese oxide, exhibited significant reactivity toward …

A Greener Way To Synthesize Biodiesel: Mechanochemistry With No Added Catalyst, Amanda S. Tanner

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Biodiesel production is currently energy-demanding and produces large volumes of waste despite being marketed as a greener approach to fuel. Here, we report the development and analysis of a more environmentally friendly way of producing biodiesel via mechanochemistry. In as little as one hour, biodiesel can be produced by ball milling intact oilseeds with methanol and no added catalyst. The catalyst for transesterification of oilseeds and methanol via mechanical milling comes from within the seed shells, rather than needing to be added from a separate source. The metals found in the milling media interact with lignin in the seed shells, …

Development Of Degraders To Target Oncogenic Proteins And Efforts Towards The Total Synthesis Of Lycopodium Alkaloids Via Oxidative Dearomatization, Yujia Bian

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation focuses on the degradation of SOS1, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor upstream of KRAS, as an alternative therapeutic target for KRAS‑mutant colorectal cancer (CRC). Guided by crystal structures of SOS1 and cereblon, we designed and synthesized a series of PROTACs based on quinazoline‑linker‑lenalidomide hybrids. Among these, the lead degrader induced up to 92% degradation of SOS1 in CRC cell lines and patient‑derived organoids (PDOs), with excellent specificity. In parallel, an AICAR‑derived PROTAC targeting the transmembrane oncoprotein MUC1‑CT in EGFR‑mutant lung cancer achieved time‑dependent and partial target degradation, establishing complementary chemical tools to probe intracellular signaling and …

Evaluating Health And Immune Proxies Within And Across Sea Turtle Life Stages, Tiffany M. Dawson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Understanding variations in health and immune function across life stages or physiological states is important for population monitoring and for understanding species’ responses to anthropogenic disturbances. Sea turtles are a model species for evaluating these changes within and across life stages due to their long lifespans with ontogenetic habitat and diet shifts. In this dissertation, I tested whether health and immune hematological proxies (Packed Cell Volume [PCV], white blood cell counts, total protein [TP], biochemistry) differed: (1) across the reproductive season, (2) between species and (3) foraging groups, and (4) with reproductive output for adult female turtles (Chapter 2). In …

Trash To Textiles: The Journey Of Recycled Plastic In Fashion, Abigael Rasmussen

Honors Theses - Providence Campus

Plastic is all around us in modern America and in the world. Plastic is found in our vehicles, clothing, houses—it’s even made its way into our food, our septic systems, our oceans, and even our rain (Seferian). Plastic waste is a very pressing issue that brings up many environmental challenges: microplastics, landfill buildup, air pollution, soil contamination, water contamination etc. The textile industry is a major contributor to plastic pollution with the rise of fast fashion (Bandera). To combat this, textile and environmental scientists are exploring ways to transform plastic waste into usable textile materials through upcycling, “transforming mixed plastic …

Carleman Linearization Of Dynamical Systems, And Graph Inverse And Wiener Filtering, Cong Zheng

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Carleman linearization is a mainstream approach for transforming finite-dimensional nonlinear dynamical systems into infinite-dimensional linear systems. It provides accurate approximations of the original nonlinear system over larger regions around the equilibrium for longer time horizons, surpassing the capabilities of conventional first-order linearization. In Chapter 1, we derive explicit error bounds for the finite-section approximation, demonstrating its exponential convergence concerning the finite-section order. We illustrate that for a specific class of nonlinear systems, exponential convergence can be achieved across the entire time horizon, extending to infinity. These results hold significant practical utility, as the proposed error bounds can be used to …

Motion Extrapolation And Motion Dynamics: Are The Motion Dynamics Of Friction Utilized During Motion Extrapolation To Inform Time-To-Contact Estimations?, Genna Telschow

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Cognitive processing delays should cause us to respond too late when making time-to-contact estimations. According to the theory of constructivism, the brain accounts for these delays by supplementing sensory information with higher level cognitive information to create an accurate motion percept. Across the attention, memory, and motion extrapolation literatures there is evidence supporting the use of higher-level information, like motion dynamics, to supplement our visual input. Specifically, previous research suggests we may account for friction’s constraints on motion when interacting with dynamic stimuli. The current research utilizes features that represent friction as both a stopping agent and a motion catalyst …

The Impact Of Virtual Backgrounds In Video-Mediated Selection And The Role Of Candidate Qualifications, Mira Gruber

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Videoconferencing allows users to manage their self-presentation through virtual backgrounds that mask their immediate physical environment. Prior research suggests that backgrounds depicting professional home spaces (e.g., bookshelves) elicit more favorable impressions than those that depict personal home spaces (e.g., bedrooms). Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) provides a framework for understanding such effects. The present dissertation applied EVT to video-mediated selection interviews, that have become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the strict expectations for professionalism in interviews, virtual backgrounds that deviate from such expectations may negatively impact hiring decisions. Consequently, this work examined the impact of two virtual background types, …

Crypto Stamps And Cultural Heritage Representation: A Case Study Of Ghana's Asantehene Commemorative Stamp, Henrietta Otoo

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examined Ghana's Asantehene commemorative crypto stamp as a case of how emerging technologies intersect with cultural heritage preservation in Africa. Through qualitative textual and visual analysis, the research explores how the stamp, issued by Ghana Post to honor the 25th anniversary of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II's reign, blends traditional philatelic practices with blockchain-enabled non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The analysis uncovered how the stamp's visual rhetoric, royal iconography, and blockchain authentication collectively serve to reinforce national identity, institutional memory, and elite narrative power. The analysis uncovered how royal iconography and visual rhetoric serve nation-building and institutional memory while blockchain introduces …

Temporary Marriage In Iraq: Views And Perceptions, Zena Al Safar

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In July 2024, the Shia Muslim Parliament members proposed an amendment to the Personal Status Law. This amendment was passed on February 11, 2025. Per the amendment, the Shia Ja’afari School of Islamic jurisprudence has four months from the time the amendment was passed to submit a Personal Status Code for approval. It is speculated that this new Code will legalize mut’ah marriage, which is a type of temporary marriage. Temporary marriage within Islam is a heterosexual marriage that does not convey long-term commitment and usually has an end date. While scholarly written work in this field exists in other …

Taking God's Country: The University Of Montana, Morton J. Elrod, And Allotment On The Flathead Reservation, Dylan Tate Yonce

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the early decades of the twentieth century, the University of Montana (UM) developed from a small frontier college into an influential research institution. During its maturation process, the University relied on the acquisition of land to expand. In addition to its main campus in Missoula, the university sought land for research and recreation. When Congress passed the Flathead Allotment Act (1904), UM became one of many non-Native beneficiaries of federal land dispossession policy in the United States. Existing scholarship has largely homed in on “land grant” universities established through the Morrill Act (1862), which effectively dispossessed ten million acres …

Comparative Bioinformatic Methodologies In Paleogenetic Pathogen Identification In The Casas Grandes, Victoria Lynne Giovannangelo

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The application of metagenomic tools to further elucidate ancient DNA (aDNA) holds promise in paleopathology, particularly for inferring disease patterns in ancient populations, especially in those that are understudied. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the efficacy of taxonomic pipelines--Kraken 2, HOPS/MALT, and HAYSTAC--in detecting pathogens within highly degraded aDNA samples extracted from 22 Medio Period Paquimé individuals from the Casas Grandes archaeological site in Northwest Mexico. The taxonomic results from the pipelines are compared with contamination detection program mapDamage, although concerns arose about the latter program’s ability to work with prokaryotes. Additionally, the findings are compared against prior …

Workable Seams, Jackson Mills Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In Jackson Mills Smith’s Workable Seams, readers encounter the stories, landscapes, and lives of rural Knox County, Indiana, from the oscillating vantage of a Hoosier boy raised with a Cajun sensibility. After relocating from Louisiana to the river bottoms of the crossroad state at a young age, the speaker gradually uncovers a local history only previously understood in fragmentary shards and fading glimpses.

Alternating between semi-lyrical embodied experiences and memories, documentary pieces in conversation with the state’s historical archive, and the retelling of exaggerated local yarns, poetry is a means of inquiry in Workable Seams. Topics range from …

There's Still Time To, Lily Kip

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There's Still Time To is a body of work composed of 51 photo-derived oil paintings. Each piece illustrates a relational situation which resists straightforward interpretation and generates infinite narrative possibilities. My source images come from my adolescent engagements with smartphone photography and social media, but the painted results are not focused on "photography" as a subject. Instead, I paint the photo to re-tread old memories and old relationships. The ambiguity of each figurative situation reflects the lived experience of relating to others and also serves as an invitation to the viewer who must base any assumptions about the painting on …

Graduate School : Thesis Manual

Academic Affairs – Policy Library

No abstract provided.

A Novel Positive Allosteric Modulator Of Glun1/3 Nmda Receptors, Samuel A. Galindo

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The GluN3-containing (GluN1/3) N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are glycine activated ligand-gated ion channels that are members of the family of excitatory ionotropic glutamate receptors. Compared to the glycine/glutamate-activated GluN2- containing NMDA receptors (GluN1/2), which have been extensively studied, the GluN1/3 receptors are poorly understood, but are implicated in neuronal processes related to synaptic maturation and plasticity. GluN1/3 receptors are also implicated in a variety of neurological diseases. In addition to their poor understanding, we lack proper pharmacological tools for the study and modulation of these GluN1/3 receptors. In this study, we evaluate the activity and mechanism of action for AIMS-129 as …

Cullet, Celia Alice Easton Koehler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

“Cullet” is an industry term for the refuse and smashed-up glass added to new material in the process of making new glass. It is related to the word “cull” from the old french “to collect” or gather. This collection of poems picks up the term as a framework for investigating the piece-meal of daily life, tracing relations between the individual and collective, and also tracing vantage and scale; shifts of where and how the speaker directs their gaze. The poems are invested in assembling an ethos of the domestic that recasts “the domestic” to include more public sites of daily …

Indigenous Access And Use On Private Land: A Toolkit For Heart Of The Rockies Land Trust Members, Ian James Craighead

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Climate Variability Study For Arid Regions, Faisal Almutairi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Water is the primary source for all living species to thrive, and water scarcity has been a primary concern for biological species and plants in arid regions due to urban planning, population growth, poor water management, and overgrazing. The objective of this research was to study the climate variability in precipitation and temperature for an arid region. This research encompasses two distinct studies. The first study examined the impact of climate variability on precipitation in Phoenix. Precipitation data were acquired from NOAA from 1948 to 2023 and the study was broken down into three time scales: annually, seasonally, and monthly. …

Prospective Use Of Detection Dogs As A Screening Tool For Mycoplasma Ovipneumoniae In Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis), Michele C. Lovara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae is a bacterium that can spill over from domestic sheep (Ovis aries) to bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis), with effects in bighorn sheep ranging from low to no lamb recruitment to whole-herd all-age die-offs from resulting pneumonia. Fast and reliable pathogen or disease detection is essential for managing outbreaks in bighorn sheep and emergences in affected populations. Detection dogs are increasingly being enlisted to close gaps and further complement various disease, pathogen and virus research and response efforts. This thesis explores the use of conservation detection dogs as a potential tool for M. ovipneumoniae surveillance in bighorn sheep through …