Digital Commons Network^™

Atom Economical Reactions Of Terpenoids And Post-Consumer Plastics With Sulfur, Charini Maladeniya

All Dissertations

The production of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and its uses have a complicated environmental impact, which is influenced by infrastructure development and building operations as well as CO₂ emissions, which account for 7% of all worldwide CO₂ emissions. Due to the increasing population, production is still ongoing. The search for cement and construction materials produced with zero to low CO₂ emissions is therefore continuous. Finding recyclable, CO₂ gas-free biocomposites with high sulfur content that can rival the mechanical properties of popular building supplies like Portland cement is the primary objective of the research discussed in this …

Modeling And Solution Methodologies For Mixed-Model Sequencing In Automobile Industry, Ibrahim Ozan Yilmazlar

All Dissertations

The global competitive environment leads companies to consider how to produce high-quality products at a lower cost. Mixed-model assembly lines are often designed such that average station work satisfies the time allocated to each station, but some models with work-intensive options require more than the allocated time. Sequencing varying models in a mixed-model assembly line, mixed-model sequencing (MMS), is a short-term decision problem that has the objective of preventing line stoppage resulting from a station work overload. Accordingly, a good allocation of models is necessary to avoid work overload. The car sequencing problem (CSP) is a specific version of the …

Investigating The Potential Of A Cell-Based Gene Editing Therapy For Inherited Metabolic Liver Disease, Ilayda Ates

All Dissertations

Inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs) affecting the liver are relatively rare but collectively have a prevalence of 1 in 800 live births. These diseases result from autosomal recessive single-gene mutations, leading to organ dysfunction and potentially fatal consequences if left untreated. One potential therapeutic strategy for IMDs of the liver involves using CRISPR-Cas9-induced loss of function mutations. However, translating this approach into the clinic is limited by the need for safe and effective CRISPR delivery methods. Adeno-associated viral vectors (AAVs), commonly used for CRISPR delivery, are associated with significant safety and efficacy concerns, including risks for immunogenicity, off-target mutagenesis, and genotoxicity …

Essays On Integer Programming Approaches To Analyze Equilibrium Solutions In Games, Lucky Cho

All Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present three applications of integer programming to analyze non-cooperative games. In a non-cooperative game, players of the game act selfishly and choose the best response given every other player's decision. The game reaches a Nash equilibrium when no player can benefit by changing its decisions. Our goal is to create an integer program that can identify these Nash equilibriums by modeling the best response of the game's players in the constraints. We prove a one-to-one correspondence between the game's Nash equilibrium and the feasible solution of a corresponding integer program. The one-to-one correspondence allows us to …

Extensional Flows Of Polymer Solutions In Planar Microchannels, Mahmud Kamal Raihan

All Dissertations

Non-Newtonian fluids such as polymer solutions often flow under microscale extensional conditions in many natural and engineering flow fields such as in microfluidic chips, porous rocks, biological membranes and filters, printheads in additive manufacturing, etc. The changing cross sectional areas of the internal flow passages therein exert additional extension on the flow along with the shearing. Numerous studies have been dedicated to understanding the extensional flows of polymer solutions over the years. However, most of these studies only focused on flexible polymers exhibiting elasticity in their macroscopic rheology, whereas rigid polymers that portray shear-thinning but often elude elasticity in the …

Teaching Them To Fish: Using A Districtwide System Of Supports To Improve College And Career Readiness In A Rural School District, Lavonia Johnson-Davis

All Dissertations

This dissertation served as a case study that examined the impact of a districtwide system of support drawn from existing literature and organizational structure and management. The identified framework, the Limelight County College and Career Readiness Intervention (LCRI) Framework, utilized the Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycle of improvement science. Three reoccurring themes or focus areas were identified as significant: curriculum instructional framework redesign, comprehensive guidance, and professional development.

While the study's findings are constrained by the density of the data gathered within a limited time frame, the findings provide many opportunities for longitudinal studies and confirm the integrity of …

Recovering Coefficients Of Second-Order Hyperbolic And Plate Equations Via Finite Measurements On The Boundary, Scott Randall Scruggs

All Dissertations

Abstract In this dissertation, we consider the inverse problem for a second-order hyperbolic equation of recovering n + 3 unknown coefficients defined on an open bounded domain with a smooth enough boundary. We also consider the inverse problem of recovering an unknown coefficient on the Euler- Bernoulli plate equation on a lower-order term again defined on an open bounded domain with a smooth enough boundary. For the second-order hyperbolic equation, we show that we can uniquely and (Lipschitz) stably recover all these coefficients from only using half of the corresponding boundary measurements of their solutions, and for the plate equation, …

In Vitro And In Vivo Diabetic Models For Assessment Of Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts, Juan Carlos Carrillo Garcia

All Dissertations

Diabetes has become one of the leading causes of lower-limb loss worldwide. Every 30 seconds, a person loses a limb due to diabetic-related vascular complications. About one-third of patients needing lower-limb bypass surgery have debilitated autologous vessels unsuitable for use, and no other good long-term options are available. These detrimental effects on the vasculature are caused mainly by the hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic conditions derived from diabetes. Under these conditions, an increase in advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and reactive oxygen species leads to irreversible crosslinks of extracellular matrix proteins, accelerating vascular pathology through vascular stiffening, endothelial dysfunction, inflammation, atherosclerosis, fibrosis, …

Accurate Orientation Control Of Tendon Driven Continuum Robots That Exhibit Elasticity, Manu Srivastava

All Dissertations

This dissertation makes new contributions to the modeling and implementation of Tendon Driven Continuum Robots (TDCRs). Specifically, motivated by 3D printing of concrete using a continuum hose robot in construction applications, we focus on TDCRs featuring compliance in the robot backbone and actuating tendons, e.g. surgical robots/endoscopes/catheters with tendon actuation. We expand previous mechanics-based models to show how and why such compliance significantly restricts performance when traditional kinematics-based planning and control techniques are applied.

The main contribution of this work is a new Elasticity Compensation(EC) model that explains why the ad hoc approach of preloading/pretensioning the tendons compensates for compliance …

Acceleration Methods For Nonlinear Solvers And Application To Fluid Flow Simulations, Duygu Vargun

All Dissertations

This thesis studies nonlinear iterative solvers for the simulation of Newtonian and non- Newtonian fluid models with two different approaches: Anderson acceleration (AA), an extrapolation technique that accelerates the convergence rate and improves the robustness of fixed-point iterations schemes, and continuous data assimilation (CDA) which drives the approximate solution towards coarse data measurements or observables by adding a penalty term.

We analyze the properties of nonlinear solvers to apply the AA technique. We consider the Picard iteration for the Bingham equation which models the motion of viscoplastic materials, and the classical iterated penalty Picard and Arrow-Hurwicz iterations for the incompressible …

Role Of Phosphorylated Dicer1 In Tumor Progression, Raisa Reyes-Castro

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

DICER1 is a multidomain enzyme discovered and widely recognized for its function in small non-coding microRNA (miRNA) synthesis. In cancer development, DICER1 functions as a haploinsufficient tumor suppressor which regulates miRNAs and Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). The Arur laboratory discovered that DICER1 is phosphorylated by active ERK and that ERK-mediated phosphorylation triggers DICER1 to translocate from the cytoplasm to the nucleus of cells in worms, mice and humans. Further, a heterozygous allele of a genetically engineered mouse model of phosphomimetic Dicer1 when combined with heterozygous Kras oncogenic background contributes to lung tumor progression in vivo. Mechanisms through which phosphomimetic Dicer1 …

Auto-Segmentation In Pancreatic And Liver Radiation Therapy, Cenji Yu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background

Gastrointestinal cancers exhibit a high mortality rate compared to other cancer types. Among these, pancreatic cancer ranks as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The five-year survival rate remains alarmingly low at a mere 9%. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), another aggressive form of cancer, is rapidly becoming the primary cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The treatment of both liver cancer and pancreatic cancer heavily relies on a multidisciplinary approach. Innovative treatment strategies involving dose-escalated regimens, such as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT), are emerging as an important pillar of the management of liver and pancreatic …

Acute Manipulation Of Erna Level For Dissecting Its Roles In Transcriptional Regulation, Lanxin Bei

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Enhancers are the central genetic elements controlling cell-type and state specific transcription programs to dictate cell fates during development. Mechanistic understanding of enhancer action is important for both biology and disease research. In the human genome, more than 60k human enhancers were found to produce non-coding transcripts named enhancer RNAs (eRNAs). These created a new challenge to understand enhancer functions, which now are not only DNA elements that promote transcription but also RNA-producing transcription units themselves. Importantly, deregulation of eRNAs was associated with various diseases such as cancer, immune disorders, and neurodegeneration. However, the direct role of eRNAs in transcriptional …

Isolation Of Therapeutic Antibodies Against Microseminoprotien To Potentially Overcome Resistance To Anti-Angiogenic Therapy, Mason Ruiz

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSC) is an aggressive subtype of epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) and remains the most lethal gynecologic cancer. Angiogenesis is a vital function for both wound healing and oxygen homeostasis and is one of the hallmarks of cancer in solid tumors. To combat the formation of tumors, an anti-VEGF drug, bevacizumab, is used to starve tumors of blood that provide essential nutrients. While platinum-taxane doublet therapy in addition to cytoreductive surgery has been the gold standard treatment for patients with ovarian cancer, greater than 70% of patients will develop relapsed disease and be burdened with a terminal …

Protein L Functionalized Microparticles For Early Detection Of Surface Markers In Heterogeneous Colorectal Lesions, Saleh Ramezani

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths among both men and women worldwide, a statistic that can be improved with early detection. Increased understanding of the tumor landscape has identified surface antigens that can be utilized to distinguish normal and cancerous tissue lining the colonic lumen. Use of antibodies conjugated to nano/micromaterials offers a means to detect these antigens, however, the heterogeneous nature of tumors makes it unlikely that antibodies against a single antigen will have sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect all tumors. A versatile micromaterial able to be functionalized with more than one targeting …

Role Of Il-17/Il-17ra Signaling In The Pancreatic Tumor Microenvironment, Susana Castro Pando, Susana Castro Pando

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths. PDAC is characterized by the early establishment of a highly immunosuppressive fibro-cellular tumor microenvironment (TME). Our research has revealed the important role of IL-17 in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer, yet the specific cellular compartment responsible for IL-17-mediated tumor promotion remains unknown. We generated a transgenic mouse model with pancreatic KrasG12D activation and selective deletion of IL-17RA in the epithelial vs. immune component using either genetic manipulation or bone marrow transplantation. Deletion of IL17RA from the pancreatic epithelial compartment delayed premalignant lesion development …

Strategies To Increase Engagement In K-12 Stem Programs Among Bipoc Students Grades 3rd – 8th, Denisha C. Griffey

Dissertations

The WIRE Youth Development Programs, housed within the Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI foster two enrichment programs geared towards strengthening the gap in academic knowledge through STEM/STEAM activities. Since its inception, WIRE has impacted over 1,000 youth grades 3-8 among the BIPOC population through its programs, most notably the WIRE Math and Science Summer Camp and Saturday Academy. In 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many K-12 education school systems switched to remote learning. As a result of this transition, there was a decrease in access …

Novel Strategies For Nursing Student Clinical Exposure During Pandemic Closures, Isadora Caffe

Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE)

Nursing schools have rapidly pivoted to online modules to compensate for decreased clinical access during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a need for non-biased evaluation of these novel strategies to assess their efficacy in providing quality, alternative educational opportunities, and preparation for future nurses.

Dataset Of Single And Double Faults Scenarios Using Vibration Signals From A Rotary Machine, Larry Marshall, David Jensen

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This dataset includes vibration sensor data from accelerometers located on the support bearings on a rotary machine designed as a fault simulator. Data collection for known faulty components include: bearing inner and outer raceway faults and bent shaft. 38 singles and double fault scenarios and a one no fault scenario were collected at three different operating frequencies (shaft rpm). Data was collected for approximately 10 seconds per scenario at a rate of 6400 hertz. Data can be used for machine learning classification.

Developing Design Guidelines Of Deployable Bamboo Scissors-Like Arch Structures: For Structural Performance, Flexibility, And Constructability, Anastasia Maurina

All Dissertations

Prefabrication approaches are widely used to improve vulnerable communities building quality. It would be valuable if the prefabrication relied on locally available resources instead of depending on heavy industry. Although prefabrication approaches have many advantages, such as efficiency and consistency, they may lack flexibility, which may not be adaptable to the community's needs and preferences. The modular approach generally enhances flexibility by arranging modules into various end products. Incorporating a modular approach with deployable structures, which can transform from compact to predetermined configurations, is expected to boost flexibility. In addition, regarding constructability, developing this idea using bamboo, which is massively …

Social And Economic Changes In A Mid-Size University City: The Case Of South Fayetteville, Arkansas, Korab Vranovci

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The constant growth of the city of Fayetteville is attributed to regional economic growth and an increase in student enrollment, to name a few. As a middle-sized college city, Fayetteville is an anchor city with the University of Arkansas as its anchor institution. These changes have caused a significant increase in the city's urban development and neighborhood changes. This research identifies three areas of work with the potential to assist in the study of the urban redevelopment in the South Fayetteville neighborhoods: (1) the social demographics, economic, and land use changes in neighborhood populations, (2) the stakeholder's perceptions toward city …

The Roles Of Estrogen Receptor Alpha-Interacting Rnas And Exosomes In Breast Cancer, And E-Cadherin In Carcinomas, Brihget Catalina Sicairos-Meza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Carcinomas are malignancies of epithelial cells and account for >80% of cancer-related deaths. Approximately 75% of breast cancers express estrogen receptor alpha (ERα). ERα promotes breast cancer progression by enhancing cancer cell proliferation. Tamoxifen is commonly used to treat ERα-positive breast cancers but can result in endocrine therapy resistance. The mechanisms underlying endocrine therapy resistance remain elusive. The Du lab recently found that ERα is an RNA-binding protein. However, the significance of the ERα-RNA interaction is unknown. We fractionated ERα-positive MCF7 cells into cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions, followed by immunoprecipitation of ERα with associated RNAs and RNA-sequencing. We identified many …

Ber Analysis Of Bpsk Modulation Scheme For Multiple Combining Schemes Over Flat Fading Channel, Zuhaib Nishtar, Jamil Afzal

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Focus of the study was to provide error-free communication in mobile communication with higher data rates, spectral efficiency, and energy efficient. Basically, work was done to investigate the performance of the Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation technique for multiple combining schemes and the behavior of signal in wireless communication where multipath propagation and uncertainty in the system. We use the Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO) and antenna diversity to get many copies of the same signal; some of them were faded, but some had sufficient information. Then the next step was to combine or select the best signal to achieve the …

Generalized Double Statistical Convergence Sequences On Ideals In Neutrosophic Normed Spaces, Jeyaraman M., Iswariya S., Pandiselvi R.

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

In this present research, having view in the Neutrosophic norm (u, v, w), which we presented I2-lacunary statistical convergence and I2-lacunary convergence strongly, looked into interactions between them, and made a few findings regarding the respective categories. At least went further to look at how both of such case approaches relate to I2-statistical convergence within the relevant Neutrosophic normed space.

Hearing, Seeing, And Reading Is Believing: A Study Of Undergraduate Women And Messages About Careers, Sarah Elizabeth Isham

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to understand how undergraduate women from different racial and ethnic backgrounds make meaning of the different career messages they receive and how those messages shape their early career decisions. The study was framed by vocational anticipatory socialization (VAS) and meaning making. Participants reflected on the career messages they received from childhood through their college education. By using photos and images submitted in advance by each participant, participants were able to delve deeper into the meaning they derived from each image/photo as it related to their ideas about career paths. This study findings advance the understanding of messages …

Application Of Business Analytics Approaches To Address Climate-Change-Related Challenges, Donald J. Jenkins

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Climate change is an existential threat facing humanity, civilization, and the natural world. It poses many multi-layered challenges that call for enhanced data-driven decision support methods to help inform society of ways to address the deep uncertainty and incomplete knowledge on climate change issues. This research primarily aims to apply management, decision, information, and data science theories and techniques to propose, build, and evaluate novel data-driven methodologies to improve understanding of climate-change-related challenges. Given that we pursue this work in the College of Management, each essay applies one or more of the three distinct business analytics approaches (i.e., descriptive, prescriptive, …

Mitigate The Flood Risk At The Parking Lots At The University Of Texas Rio Grande Valley - Edinburg Campus, Mishell Carolina Mazon

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the analysis of the drainage system in the parking lots of the Edinburg campus of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The current project will use the rational method and modified rational method described in the Texas Department of Transportation manual to analyze and determine a solution for the current built drainage system. The primary objective of this study is to offer a practical and comprehensive solution to address the issue of this area that has flooded during heavy rainfall storm events. The proposed solution takes into consideration the building codes of the city of …

¿Dónde Vamos?: Exploring Neoliberal Gentrification Within An Oak Cliff Barrio, Luis E. Macias Barrientos

Theses and Dissertations

Barrio working-class Latinx populations have been historically ignored and prevented from creating sustainable roots within their own communities due to the confluence of settler colonialism, neoliberalism, and gentrification. I argue the neoliberal city creates an unsustainable predicament that seeks to marginalize working-class individuals from inner-city life, thus systematically precluding future generations of working-class Latinxs from upward mobility. Little attention has been paid to Texas cities resulting from neoliberal policies perpetuating settler colonialism and gentrification. This thesis draws from theories of neoliberalism and the neoliberal city to explore the effects of gentrification on barrio Latinx geographies. To explore the relationship between …

Design Of Topological Structures With Desired-Shape Mid-Gap State, Elnaz Hamdarsi

Theses and Dissertations

Topological systems with their robust features are of interest in different fields including electronics, acoustics, and photonics. Systems with non-trivial topological configurations are the host of the so-called edge modes with energy eigenfrequency lying at the center of the gap and are protected by the symmetries of the structure. The eigenstates associated with these mid-gap modes are exponentially localized at the boundaries. For practical applications, it is of great interest to design systems that have a protected state not necessarily squeezed towards the edges, and in some cases, it is crucial to have it as a distributed state. Here, using …

2023 Red Advisory Board Meeting Department Scrum Projects, Massood Towhidnejad, Omar Ochoa, James Pembridge, Radu Babiceanu

Presentations

No abstract provided.