Digital Commons Network^™

United Express Strategic Audit, Ryan Hakim

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

United Express is the regional brand of United Airlines, a worldwide airline from the United States. United Express provides excellent domestic and international service from smaller airports to United Airlines hubs. With a volatile and solid industry of vast competition and operational styles, this report seeks to give an industry analysis of the regional airline industry with relation to United Express’ position. It surveys the industry using a PESTLE analysis along with Michael E. Porter’s Five Competitive Forces Model. United Express has many resources and competitive advantages which headline the advantages it boasts to be a regional airline industry leader. …

In Situ Water Sensing Systems: Research On Advancements In Environmental Monitoring, Abigail Seibel

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

In this work, two sensing systems were researched in order to improve in situ environmental monitoring. The first is a pH and Total Alkalinity sensor used to determine these characteristics of sea water. I explored the facets of this sensor over a 7-week internship with Dr. Ellen Briggs in her lab in summer of 2023. The second is a more holistic sensing system that reads temperature, turbidity, and pressure used for studying environmental characteristics of Alaskan bever ponds. Both systems were developed in close collaboration with scientists who are collecting data to better understand the impacts of climate change. Better …

Fostering Youth-Led Innovations To Accelerate Progress On The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: A Guide For Policy Makers At Cop28, Brock Dickinson, Issa Gonzalez-Peltier Leogal, Radhika Iyengar, Nicholas Palaschuk, Haein Shin, Iveta Silova, Sumie Song, Hana Sahatqija, Valeria Soto, Deepak Sridhar, Wen-Wen Tung, Matthew A. Witenstein, Shriya Iyer, Eshan Akula, Suvid Bordia, Eshaan Jain, Aaryan Jain, Vidya Bindal

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

In today’s world, to address the most pressing global challenges, education must equip all learners with the values, skills, and knowledge that nurture cooperation, resilience, respect for diversity, gender justice, and human rights. This concept is called Global Citizenship Education which is a target of the Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Quality Education.

I commend the Mission 4.7 initiative facilitated by Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Development, UNESCO, UN SDSN and the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens, for playing a pivotal role in addressing SDG Target 4.7 and on the release of the “Fostering Youth-led Innovations to Accelerate Progress …

Exploring The Mechanistic Effects Of Surface Characteristics On Uv254 And Bl405 Disinfection Efficacy, Castine Annastasia Bernardy

Doctoral Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for more robust surface disinfection technologies. Photoinactivation efficacy for microbial pathogens and many surrogates has been well studied for water disinfection. However, there is a limited body of knowledge from research on surface disinfection applications of these technologies. The onset of the global pandemic resulted in a dramatic increase in surface disinfection devices being marketed to consumers, yet regulations for such devices have not been developed. This doctoral research studies the inactivation efficacy of two wavelengths, UV254 and BL405. The objective of this doctoral dissertation was to expand the body of knowledge required to …

Learning Trajectories From Human Demonstration Via Time Invariant Dynamical Systems, Paul Gesel

Doctoral Dissertations

Learning from Demonstration (LfD) is a powerful approach that enables users to program robots by simply demonstrating how to perform tasks. Rather than just mimicking the task, the robot should capture key characteristics of the task to adapt and generalize in various situations. Given that there is no explicit objective for each demonstrated task, optimal control methods cannot be directly applied. Two primary paradigms have emerged to overcome the limitation: 1) inverse learning and 2) imitation learning. In this dissertation, I formulate several time-invariant and stable dynamic system-based LfD models that leverage both inverse learning and imitation learning in the …

Exploring Protein Function And Stability: Case Studies On Cryoprotection And Thermal Stability Of Antifreeze Proteins, Enzyme Inhibition Of Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease, And B. Subtilis Protein Stability, Katarina Jovic

Doctoral Dissertations

In this work, I have explored basic questions related to protein structure, function, and stability, which are critical for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of biology. The dissertation is divided into four chapters, which are different topics I have worked on. In Chapters 1 and 2, I will discuss my work on two different antifreeze proteins, in Chapter 3 my work on the main protease from SARS-CoV-2 is presented, while Chapter 4 details the characterization of protein stability of four B. subtilis proteins. While the projects are distinct from one another, they all contribute to deciphering the molecular basis of life …

Understanding The Role Of Impounded Water Bodies In River Network Nutrient Exports In A Dynamic Landscape, Christopher Thomas Whitney

Doctoral Dissertations

Impounded water bodies are a significant component of aquatic networks and various forms have been studied extensively. However, knowledge gaps exist in the research on human-made dams and their reservoirs as well as beaver ponds as both uniquely affect water quality and nutrient exports in different ways. This study fills those knowledge gaps by investigating fluxes of all forms of dissolved nitrogen from small, human-made reservoirs at seasonal timescales. This study found that small reservoirs have a significant effect on nitrogen concentrations but this effect is seasonal and fluxes transported downstream are highly dependent on discharge. Removal of small dams …

Investigation Of Robust And Adaptive Control Methods For Systems With Uncertain Equilibrium States, Muhammad Hamad Zaheer

Doctoral Dissertations

Equilibrium states represent the natural resting point of dynamic systems in their state-space and provide vital information for the design of stabilizing feedback controllers for these systems. Stabilizing a system at an equilibrium state is desirable as it requires a zero steady-state control signal, resulting in lower energy consumption by the actuator. Mathematical models of real systems usually contain uncertainties that make it difficult to determine the exact values of these equilibrium states. Therefore, control methods requiring precise knowledge of the equilibrium state are ineffective in controlling systems when uncertainties make determining the exact value of the equilibrium state challenging …

A Global Gene Expression Approach To Exploring Rock Colonization By Blastococcus Saxobsidens, Ryan Patrick Wilmot

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Blastococcus saxobsidens is an endolithic bacterium associated with biodegradation of stone monuments across the Mediterranean basin. Recently, strains of the bacterium have been isolated from high altitude deserts in Chile, volcanic glass in Iceland, and from masonry of several cultural heritage sites across Europe and the Americas. Blastococcus saxobsidens global dispersion has been linked to patterns of wind distributed dust particles. The physiology that this bacterium uses to colonize a wide range of rock types in such distinct locations has not been previously explored however. This project has established that B. saxobsidens colonizes and respires a variety of chemically …

Displaying Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyases On Bacillus Subtilis Spore Surface For The Treatment Of Phenylketonuria Through Oral Administration, Guo Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

Bacillus subtilis spores are formed in response to adverse conditions as a survival mechanism. These spores are in a dormant state and do not require any nutrients. Their DNA is wrapped with self-assembled multilayers of protective proteins. These spores are highly resistant to various harsh conditions. B. subtilis spores serve as a well-characterized model for studying endospore formation and have been developed as a platform system for displaying heterologous proteins of various functions. It has been demonstrated that proteins displayed on the spore surface can enhance their robustness and extend their shelf-life, including enzymes as robust biocatalysts and antigens as …

Engineering Studies Of An Experimental Open Ocean Seaweed Farm Design, Zachary Moscicki

Doctoral Dissertations

An experimental seaweed cultivation system was designed for offshore and exposed locations. Novel features were incorporated to address major barriers to the expansion of seaweed, including limited nearshore and sheltered marine locations and risk of marine animal entanglement. A novel modular mooring geometry was developed to improve stability, reliability, and spatial efficiency to achieve an economical and robust structure viable in high wave energy environments. Stiff composite (e.g. fiberglass) rods were used to replace components typically made of rope, including mooring lines and seaweed growth substrate (cultivation lines), as a means to mitigate risk of marine animal entanglement.

This dissertation …

Local Government, Jacob Stalvey O'Neal

Mercer Law Review

This Article surveys a selection of noteworthy cases involving local government that Georgia courts decided between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023.

Postural Control Behavior In A Virtual Moving Room Paradigm, Hannah R. Freeman, Harish Chander, Sachini N.K. Kodithuwakku Arachchige, Alana J. Turner, J. Adam Jones, Zhujun Pan, Christopher Hudson, Adam C. Knight

Kinesiology

Background: Taking inspiration from the classical 1974, “moving room experiment” by Lee and Aronson, a “virtual moving room paradigm (Vroom)” was designed using virtual reality (VR) to assess postural control behavior. Methods: Thirty healthy adults (age: 21 ± 1 years; height: 166.5 ± 7.3 cm; mass: 71.7 ± 16.2 kg) were tested for postural stability in a virtual moving room paradigm (Vroom). The Vroom consisted of randomized virtual and visual perturbations of the virtual room moving toward and away from the individual, during both unexpected and expected trials. Objective postural sway variables and subjective experiences to VR using the simulator …

Development Of Scope Of Services For Procurement Of Professional Consultant Services On Transportation Projects – A Study Of South Carolina Department Of Transportation, Ajay Jadhav

All Dissertations

Project Scoping Process (PSP) is one of the significant steps that starts at the very beginning of the project life cycle. During project initiation phase, project scoping is kicked off which includes documenting a list of project-specific goals, deliverables, tasks, costs, and deadlines. The scoping phase duration depends on the project complexity and involves various stakeholders, establishing team, confirming the project purpose and need, initiating the environmental revie process, determining the level of environmental documentation and permit requirements, conducting survey, identifying project risks and tools to mitigate them, and evaluating public involvement strategies. A well-defined PSP is therefore essential for …

An Exploration Of Conventional Beamforming Applied To A Phase Measuring Sonar, Joao Celso Silva De Deus

Master's Theses and Capstones

Brazilian rivers are a particularly challenging navigation environment because of frequentchanges in bathymetry due to sediment transport. To accelerate the production of hydrographic information for these regions, the Brazilian Hydrographic Office has been investigating efficient ways of riverine surveying. In this context, Phase Measuring Bathymetric Sonars (PMBS) are being considered because of their potential to provide wider swaths than traditional Multibeam Echo Sounders (MBES) in shallow waters. Although these systems historically had severe limitations in sounding quality and nadir density, new models with multiple stave pairs are being built to overcome these issues, including the EdgeTech 6205, which claims to …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Tr_B1 Report Fy2023 - Book Requests (Excluding Oa_Gold) By Platform, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 Report TR_B1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023. The TR_B1 report is defined as "Book Requests (Excluding OA_Gold)." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Total Item Requests - 118,197

Unique Title Requests - 46,803

Considering An Embodied Ethic Of Care Framework To Counter Colonial Violence In International Education, Myrtle Sodhi, Sonia Martin

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Special Issue

Neoliberal Philanthropic Community Development: Do Comprehensive Community Initiatives Improve Neighborhoods?, Joshua Newton

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

Neoliberal capitalism has produced increasingly poor outcomes for low-income communities of color in the U.S. due to uneven development between neighborhoods, public sphere retrenchment, and privatization of service provision and community development. Since the 1990s, one response to the issues of neoliberal governance and development has been Comprehensive Community Initiatives led by philanthropic foundations. While Comprehensive Community Initiatives have been praised by foundation leadership as an avenue for creation of neighborhood stability and increased public engagement in low-income neighborhoods, the academic literature is far less optimistic about the prospects of these initiatives. This dissertation project utilizes a neo-Marxist framework and …

Commonthought (2023), Commonthought Staff

Commonthought

This issue features works created by Lesley University students and covers a broad range of topics. The work itself crosses many disciplines from creative writing to visual arts.

Analysis Of A Nanoparticle’S Dynamics In An Optical Tweezer, Vatsal Asitkumar Joshi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This work presents a simulation and experimental analysis of a nanoparticle's motion in an optical tweezer. Specifically, different simulation and analysis techniques are developed to investigate a suspected regime change in the dynamics of the micro/nano particles from overdamped to underdamped motion as the particle size reduces to submicron scale. Moreover, the simulation techniques developed here provide accurate prediction of the particle dynamics along with low computation time. Finally, the experimental setup developed here provides new experimental data that help answer the question of the regime change with increased certainty. Micro- and nano- scale systems, such as an optical tweezer, …

Risk Assessment Of Reinforced Concrete Sewer Pipes Under External Loading And Adverse Environmental Conditions Using An Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy System, Khaled Saleh Khaled Abuhishmeh

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Failure of sewer mains poses a significant threat to the society, necessitating a robust risk assessment tool that integrates failure likelihood and associated consequences for effective prioritization of mitigation efforts. This dissertation addresses this need through three key objectives: 1. Failure Likelihood Assessment: The study utilizes Monte-Carlo simulation to evaluate the probability of sewer main failures in common agressive environments, considering factors like sulfide and chloride exposures. It highlights that chloride-induced cracks and bond strength loss are more critical than sulfide-induced wall thickness loss. The degradation of concrete and reinforcement properties under chloride attack significantly reduces ductility, emphasizing the importance …

Experimental Investigation Of Anchor Edge Distance Effects On Concrete Breakout Strength Within Frc, Ahmed Shlash

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

This research investigates the effect of edge on concrete breakout strength within steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) under pure tension load. Single and group sets of anchors with high-strength steel-headed studs type (F1554 Grade 105) were cast in place within concrete specimens of different amounts of steel fibers and varied edge distances. Steel fibers were used in three percentages (0%, 0.5%, and 1%) by a weight-volume fraction of the mixture to produce three types of concrete mix designs in the lab. The physical and mechanical properties of steel fibers concrete were calculated and measured by testing specimens at the Civil …

Developing A Geospatial Web Application For Transportation Geotechnical Asset Management, Ayoub Mohammadi

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Spatial data has become an increasingly important tool in geotechnical engineering, allowing for managing and analyzing large amounts of spatial data. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing applications that can be accessed by geotechnical engineers from anywhere with an internet connection. This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in transportation earth structure management. It also highlights the potential benefits of these applications for geotechnical engineers, including open-source applications, database management, and user interface design. It identifies areas for future research and development. The research also discusses the various types …

Letter From The Vice President Of Research And Innovation, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Designing, Cloning, And Testing Genetically Engineered Metabolic Pathways To Produce Therapeutics In Gut Bacteria, Teresa Le

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The Potential Effects Of Ketosis Through Diet & Nutrition To Mitigate Cancer, Sandra Channeary Khoun

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Design And Modeling Of A Hybrid-Electric Drone System For Conversion, Mark Atttaalla

Electrical Engineering

With the increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the need for long range high capacity (>1kg) drones has also increased. While these drones do exist, they use complicated and complex technology that proportionately increases the price and barrier to entry for these drones. The goal of this paper is to look at different designs for hybrid electric drones, model the series-hybrid design, and create a low-cost alternative drone that uses off the shelf components. A primary purpose for this document is to present the information required to recreate a similar

Electronic Note-String Detector, Gavin Garcia-Rossi, Tommy Smail

Electrical Engineering

As the virtual space has become a dominant part of everyone’s day-to-day lives, many normal face-to-face interactions and services have not yet been facilitated by adapting technology. One of these prevailing areas is music lessons. Over Zoom meetings, or other virtual platforms, it is tremendously challenging to teach students. These challenges include recognizing student mistakes audibly and visually, and being able to give confident feedback on the incorrect notes played by learning musicians. Without having to delve into improving the complex systems that would be required to improve audio, video, and connection quality of these connections, we have another solution …

Analyses Of Mybl1 In Triple Negative Breast Cells And Validation Of Genes Colocalized To Chromosome 8q Loci, La Tajia D. Thirston

Theses (2016-Present)

Fifteen percent of breast cancer are characterized as the triple negative breast cancer subtype. The cancers are recognized as negative for estrogen, progesterone and ErRB2 receptors, genes that function as transcription and growth factor functions, respectively. Previous data show the MYBL1 transcription factor is over-expressed in some triple negative breast cancers-suggesting dysregulation of the gene in the cancers. MYBL1 gene is a strong transcriptional regulator associated with regulation of cell cycle proliferation which is a key event in cancer progression. To determine genes either directly or indirectly associating with MYBL1 in these cancers we knocked the gene down, performed microarray …

Amyloid Fibrils Of Human Fgf-1 Induced By Different Detergents, Zeina Ismael Ibrahem Alraawi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nature achieves molecular self-assembly through the ordered growth of nanoscale building blocks with high efficiency to fabricate macromolecular architectures. One example of self- assembly is peptides folding onto protein is one of the most astounding biological self-assembly processes. When proteins aggregate to form amyloid fibers, the secondary structure of the protein converts from its native state to a cross-beta-sheet. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) possess an essential role in neuronal survival during development. In addition, they are involved in neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are well known to be synthesized in the central nervous system (CNS) and …