Digital Commons Network^™

Adaptive Control For Nonlinear, Time Varying Systems, John Zelina

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

It is common for aerospace systems to exhibit nonlinear, time varying dynamics. This thesis investigates the development of adaptive control laws to stabilize and control a class of nonlinear, time varying systems. Direct adaptive control architectures are implemented in order to compensate for time varying dynamics that could, for example, be caused by varying inertia resulting from fuel slosh or settling in a tank. The direct adaptive controller can also respond to external disturbances and unmodeled or nonlinear dynamics. Simulation results are presented for a prototype system that consists of two rotating tanks with time varying inertia due to the …

Dynamic Task Allocation In Partially Defined Environments Using A* With Bounded Costs, James Hendrickson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The sector of maritime robotics has seen a boom in operations in areas such as surveying and mapping, clean-up, inspections, search and rescue, law enforcement, and national defense. As this sector has continued to grow, there has been an increased need for single unmanned systems to be able to undertake more complex and greater numbers of tasks. As the maritime domain can be particularly difficult for autonomous vehicles to operate in due to the partially defined nature of the environment, it is crucial that a method exists which is capable of dynamically accomplishing tasks within this operational domain. By considering …

Investigation Of Bio-Inspired Pin Geometries For Heat Transfer Applications, Anish Prasad

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Array of circular cylindrical pins or tubes are one of the most widely used type of convection cooling systems, profoundly used in the internal cooling of gas turbine blades. They promote heat transfer due to flow acceleration, secondary flows and wake shedding, at the expense of large pressure loss and unsteadiness in the flow. The need to reduce pressure loss and maintain the heat transfer rates are a much needed requirement for a variety of industries to improve the cooling efficiency. One such prominent line of research is conducted on optimizing the design of the circular cylindrical pins to increase …

Data-Driven Architecture To Increase Resilience In Multi-Agent Coordinated Missions, D. F.

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The rise in the use of Multi-Agent Systems (MASs) in unpredictable and changing environments has created the need for intelligent algorithms to increase their autonomy, safety and performance in the event of disturbances and threats. MASs are attractive for their flexibility, which also makes them prone to threats that may result from hardware failures (actuators, sensors, onboard computer, power source) and operational abnormal conditions (weather, GPS denied location, cyber-attacks). This dissertation presents research on a bio-inspired approach for resilience augmentation in MASs in the presence of disturbances and threats such as communication link and stealthy zero-dynamics attacks. An adaptive bio-inspired …

The Heated Fight Over One Of America's Newest National Scenic Trails, Kylie Foster Mohr

Graduate Student Portfolios, Professional Papers, and Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Marital And Maternal Mourning : Gravesite Domesticity In Sylvia Townsend Warner’S “Epitaphs”, Alexis Grainger

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Modernist writer Sylvia Townsend Warner satirically immortalizes fictive English subjects, most of whom are female, in her epitaph poetry. Writing in the voices of the deceased, their survivors, and, in some cases, the omniscient third person, Townsend Warner places each buried body back into the heterosexual domestic paradigm, thus critiquing earthly gender roles and expectations in these eternal etchings on the metaphoric gravestone. Rather than escaping their material conditions, the deceased are re-homed by Townsend Warner, though not in any romantic way. In these pithy epitaphs, the burial site mirrors the domestic site as it assumes the politics of marriage, …

Architectural Style: Distortions For Deploying And Managing Deception Technologies In Software Systems, Elijah Cantella

Theses

Deception technologies are software tools that simulate/dissimulate information as security measures in software systems. Such tools can help prevent, detect, and correct security threats in the systems they are integrated with. Despite the continued existence and use of these technologies (~20+ years) the process for integrating them into software systems remains undocumented. This is due to deception technologies varying greatly from one another in a number of different ways. To begin the process of documentation, I have proposed an architectural style that describes one possible way deception technologies may be integrated into software systems.

To develop this architectural style, I …

The Application Of Echo State Networks To Atypical Speech Recognition, Daniel W. Adams

Theses

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) techniques have improved extensively over the past few years with the rise of new deep learning architectures. Recent sequence-to-sequence models have been shown to have high accuracy by utilizing the attention mechanism, which evaluates and learns the magnitude of element relationships in sequences. Despite being highly accurate, commercial ASR models have a weakness when it comes to accessibility. Current commercial deep learning ASR models find difficulty evaluating and transcribing speech for individuals with unique vocal features, such as those with dysarthria, heavy accents, as well as deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.

Current methodologies for processing vocal data …

A Comparison Of Quantum Algorithms For The Maximum Clique Problem, Andrew R. Haverly

Theses

Two of the most promising computational models for quantum computing are the qubit-based model and the continuous variable model, which result in two different computational approaches, namely the qubit gate model and boson sampling. The qubit gate model is a universal form of quantum computation that relies heavily on the principles of superposition and entanglement to solve problems using qubits based on technologies ranging from magnetic fields created from superconducting materials to the spins of valence electrons in atoms. Boson sampling is a non-universal form of quantum computation that uses bosons as continuous-variable values for its computation. Both models show …

Medical Grade Displays In Radiation Oncology, Adi Robinson

Theses

In modern day medicine medical images are an integral part of clinical care. They are used in almost every clinical department from diagnosis to treatment and beyond. Medical images are viewed using electronic displays of various sizes, shapes, hardware, and software. Some clinical departments, like diagnostic radiology, require electronic displays with a large dynamic range, high contrast and high resolution. Other departments do not have any requirements and will use any commercially available display in their clinical workflow.

Viewing the same medical image on different electronic displays with different hardware, software or calibration setup could influence how observers perceive and …

Spatial Vs. Graph-Based Formula Retrieval, Robin Avenoso

Theses

Recently math formula search engines have become a useful tool for novice users learning a new topic. While systems exist already with the ability to do formula retrieval, they rely on prefix matching and typed query entries. This can be an obstacle for novice users who are not proficient with languages used to express formulas such as LaTeX, or do not remember the left end of a formula, or wish to match formulas at multiple locations (e.g., using `$\int \quad\quad dx$' as a query). We generalize a one dimensional spatial encoding for word spotting in handwritten document images, the Pyramidal …

An Empirical Study Of Offensive Language In Online Interactions, Diptanu Sarkar

Theses

In the past decade, usage of social media platforms has increased significantly. People use these platforms to connect with friends and family, share information, news and opinions. Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter are often used to propagate offensive and hateful content online. The open nature and anonymity of the internet fuels aggressive and inflamed conversations. The companies and federal institutions are striving to make social media cleaner, welcoming and unbiased. In this study, we first explore the underlying topics in popular offensive language datasets using statistical and neural topic modeling. The current state-of-the-art models for aggression detection only present a …

Introducing Handwriting Into A Multimodal Latex Formula Editor, Yancarlos Diaz

Theses

Handwriting has been shown to be a useful input modality for math. However, math recognizers are imperfect, especially when recognizing complex expressions. Instead of improving the recognizer itself, we explore ways to best visualize the recognizer's output to help the user fix recognition mistakes more efficiently. To do this, we propose changes to the visual editing operations in MathDeck, a math-aware search engine and formula editor, as well as the addition of an n-best list of results for each symbol in the recognizer's output. We present two experiments to help us find good ways to help users fix errors in …

Matching As Color Imaging: Thermal Feature Detection, Bhavesh Deshpande

Theses

Feature detection and extraction is considered to be one of the most important aspects when it comes to any computer vision application, especially the autonomous driving field that is highly dependent on it. Thermal imaging is less explored in the field of autonomous driving mainly due to the high cost of the cameras and inferior techniques available for detection. Due to advances in technology the former is not a major limitation and there lies tremendous scope for improvement in the latter. Autonomous driving relies heavily on multiple and sometimes redundant sensors, for which thermal sensors are a preferred addition. Thermal …

Predicting The Required Demand Flow To A Customer, Thani Almansoori

Theses

Yearly District Cooling Company (DCC) needs to upgrade the plants to meet customer requirements. Moreover, this project will help the company to find when the demand load of flow will reach above the plant's installed capacity and how much increase is expected. So, the dataset was provided by the company for previous years. By applying ML and Arima, KNN, and SVM algorithms, it was found that the best result was the KNN algorithm with an accuracy of 94%, and the maximum flow load will be reached in summer of upcoming years. Hence, the company needs to take further action to …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of The Eclipse Narrative In American Philosophy, Noah W. Collins

Theses

Philosophical pragmatism originated in the United States in the late 19th century. Some historians of philosophy have described the history of American pragmatism in terms of an “eclipse narrative”: dominant in the early 20th century, followed by a mid-century decline and, eventually, a late-century resurgence. Defenders of this narrative often point to the influx of European philosophers around WWII, and the rise of “analytic” philosophy, as the main reasons for pragmatism’s initial eclipse. While the eclipse narrative is common in the philosophical literature, it is not without controversy. Unfortunately, the contemporary debate tends to rely on anecdotal evidence and contested …

Coarse-Grained Model Of Dielectric Geometry-Modified Screened Electrostatic Protein-Protein Interactions, Joshua H. Dickie

Theses

To refine a coarse-grained model of protein interactions, we seek to conveniently represent how dielectric interface geometry and charge placement affect screened aqueous electrostatic interactions. We study two neighboring low dielectric spheres with near-surface charges, for which we solve the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation as a function of sphere-sphere separation. The spheres have ~15Å diameters and internal static dielectric coefficients of 3. The solvent’s Debye length is 6Å. These parameters are consistent with our charge-regulation model of bovine γB-Crystallin and with a wealth of previous experimental data for solutions of this protein. For a fixed on- or off-axis charge in the …

Characterization Of Si-Mosfets For Terahertz Detection: Development For A Potential Future Astrophysical Sensor Technology, Katherine E. Seery

Theses

Terahertz (THz) commonly refers to a region of the electromagnetic spectrum with frequencies ranging between 0.1 to 10 THz (wavelengths of 3 mm to 30 μm). The technology available for detection and generation in this spectral region has been less developed than in the adjoining infrared and visible domains. For the astronomy community, THz observation provides information related to various phenomena including, for example, the study of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR), emission from proto-planetary disks, and planetary atmospheric remote sensing. Many molecules have emission and absorption spectral features in the THz regime whose observation provides the ability to extract …

A Type Of Preservation: Modern Recreations Of Typeface At Genesee Country Village & Museum And The Cary Graphics Art Collection, Koda Drake

Theses

Historical objects that serve educational and interpretive purposes face frequent use and can easily be damaged, particularly when those objects are designed to be disposed of following high usage. Conserving these artifacts through both digital and physical reproductions enables museum staff, scholars, and the general public to tell a more complete history of the objects and of material culture. To demonstrate the necessity of preserving functional artifacts, this thesis examined historic wooden typefaces used for document printing to answer the following question: do digital and physical reproductions of wood type fonts allow for preservation of the original fonts while maintaining …

The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiments: Probing Large-Scale Structure Formation Using Near-Infrared Sounding Rocket Payloads, Chi Hanh Nguyen

Theses

The ensemble emission from all sources outside of the Milky Way is known as the extragalactic background light (EBL). At optical and near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, the EBL is primarily stellar emission tracing back to the Epoch of Reionization (EOR) at redshifts z > 6 when the first luminous structures formed. Given the large uncertainties in our understanding of the EOR, measurements of the EBL provide an important probe of the galaxies that were responsible for reionization. Direct observations of the EBL are challenging due to contamination from bright local foregrounds. In recent years, intensity mapping has emerged as a successful technique …

Flexible Memory Protection With Dynamic Authentication Trees, Matthew T. Millar

Theses

As computing appliances increase in use and handle more critical information and functionalities, the importance of security grows even greater. In cases where the device processes sensitive data or performs important functionality, an attacker may be able to read or manipulate it by accessing the data bus between the processor and memory itself. As it is impossible to provide physical protection to the piece of hardware in use, it is important to provide protection against revealing confidential information and securing the device's intended operation. Defense against bus attacks such as spoofing, splicing, and replay attacks are of particular concern. Traditional …

Using Advanced Analytics To Predict Vehicle Registrations And Help In Business Continuity Planning, Khalid Ibrahim Alzarouni

Theses

Dramatic changes happen in the world. People and organizations face problems with these changes. The ones who have everything planned in case of emergencies; survive, and the ones who do not plan it right, have a chance of falling. Today, a lot of organizations suffer because of the Covid-19 global pandemic, even the largest organizations in Dubai like Roads and Transport Authority. Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is one of the largest government entities and the sole planner and executer of all transport, road, and traffic projects in Dubai. It has happiness centers which register all the cars that are …

Technique To Reduce The Robbing Crime Rate In Dubai During The Event Of Expo 2020 By Analyzing Relevant Data., Abdulla Ahmed Kankzar

Theses

Dubai’s crime rate appears to be significantly lower. However, do not let this lull you into a false sense of security. Most of the crime occurs in areas populated primarily by lower-income, temporary laborers originating from other countries. Most crimes attributed to this group consist of petty theft, public offenses (e.g., fighting, public intoxication, and property damage), sexual harassment, and rare incidents of violent assault. Using advanced techniques to classify which category the crime belongs to; it will help the concerned authorities to tackle the major crime happening in the City and helpful to find out rare crimes in the …

Increasing Retention In Higher Education Institutions Through Competency-Based Education, Jévaughn J. Lancaster

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Competency-based education allows students to advance based on their ability to become proficient within a topic at their own pace. Since students can work through various learning outcomes without time constraints, statistics show that competency-based education can provide students with higher results and a greater understanding of the subject matter without the additional stress of turning in assignments late or not understanding course materials in time to obtain a passing score on the assessment.

Higher educational institutions have been struggling with not only enrollment but also retention. Students opt for micro-learning opportunities and on-the-job training rather than obtaining credentials through …

Breastfeeding In Public: Knowledge And Perceptions On A University Campus, Jessica Tracy Weiss

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Research has shown that exclusive breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for most infants and offers numerous physical and psychosocial benefits for the newborn and mother. Returning to work or attending university courses and maintaining exclusive breastfeeding is a challenge due to barriers such as time, private space, and public perception of breastfeeding in public. The aim of our study is to provide data, identify barriers and assess education needs to support breastfeeding mothers on a university campus. This study utilizes an adapted version of the Breastfeeding Behavior Questionnaire (BBQ), the Iowa Infant Feeding Attitude Scale (IIFAS), and knowledge …

Tiny Tusks Internship: An Analysis Of Exclusive Breastfeeding In Low Income Women, Brittany Jones

The Eleanor Mann School of Nursing Undergraduate Honors Theses

Due to the fact that formula feeding is often seen as the “easier” option for some women, this literature analysis was conducted to gain an understanding about factors which influence the perception of breastfeeding in low-income populations. This literature review analyzed the factors which influence reduced rates of breastfeeding in lower income populations and the importance of breastfeeding education to this population. A search through CINAHL and PubMed for journal articles dating from 2016 to 2021 was conducted. The search generated 46 studies, 40 from CINAHL and 6 from PubMed. Study eligibility was determined by looking for articles involving low …

Simulating The Cause: How Grassroots Organizations Advance Their Credibility Through The Dramaturgical Curation Of Events, Theodore A. Khoury, Yuliya Shymko, Jacob Vermeire

Business Faculty Publications and Presentations

To survive, nascent grassroots organizations—and their respective causes—must earn the trust of various audiences that can impact credibility advancement. However, it can be quite difficult for grassroots organizations to access suitable settings, times, and collocated audiences. One context that can yield this type of access is an event, as it constitutes a rare opportunity for organizations to engage in practices that impact credibility advancement. We investigate how a volunteer-based grassroots organization orchestrates a high-profile event at the United Nations to promote African diaspora entrepreneurs as a valuable force in the mitigation of development challenges in their home countries. We employ …

Students, The Complete Canvas: Building A Sel-Based Art Education Curriculum, Kaci Vanmeter

Masters Theses

Human beings are complex in their structure, requiring a variety of components to create the whole. Why is it then, that the majority of the nation’s schools lack educational standards for social-emotional learning? When student’s walk into our classroom, is there a silent request that they leave aspects of themselves at the door so as not to intrude on data-driven education? Where there is pressure in the form of funding and job security to strictly teach standards in core classrooms, luckily that pressure doesn’t exist in the art classroom. This thesis takes the National Visual Art Content Standards and directly …

The Library Of Babel, Jared Tubbs

Masters Theses

The Library of Babel is an installation that allows users to search through a sea of sonic and visual representations of alphabetical symbols and punctuation that are encompassed in an infinite textual library. Users peer through the various walls, shelves, and volumes of the library, searching for whatever they wish - be it meaning, sense within the chaos, or audiovisual euphony. The default sounds for symbols can be replaced by recordings that the user creates on location, allowing the user to provide their own sonic reconstructions of the Library’s contents. The Library of Babel breaks language into its constituent parts, …

Spatiotemporal Distributions Of Sargassum On Grand Cayman, Graeme Timmeney

Masters Theses

This mixed methods research examines individual perceptions of Sargassum on Grand Cayman’s beaches in 2020 using participant mapping, and semi – structured interviews. Results from the participant mapping are compared to satellite detection of sargassum. Sargassum poses health risks to both humans and the natural environment. Decaying Sargassum produces sulfuric gas and prevents young turtle hatchlings from reaching the ocean. Since 2011, Sargassum has diffused beyond the Sargasso Sea into entirely novel locations, spanning from the west African Coast to the Gulf of Mexico. Increased biomass has proven to be overwhelming for many Caribbean Islands, including Grand Cayman where hundreds …