Digital Commons Network^™

Identification Of Fiducial Points In Seismocardiographic Cycles Using Manual And Automated Annotation Methods, Jasmine-Vy T. Truong

Honors Undergraduate Theses

There is currently a need for complementary methods for non-invasive cardiac monitoring. Seismocardiography (SCG), the measurement of cardiac-induced vibrations at the chest surface, has shown potential clinical utility. Improving the reliability of detecting fiducial points of electrocardiography (ECG) and SCG, which collectively capture the electro-mechanical cardiac activities, could expand ECG/SCG utility as a low-cost, accessible tool for clinical assessment. This study identifies commonly accepted criteria for fiducial point detection in SCG and ECG through an extensive literature review and signal processing techniques. The previous criteria were evaluated to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Based on the findings, an improved set …

Apocalyptic Technical Communication From Clockface To Briefcase: Revealing The Spurious Coin Of Nuclear-Security Rhetoric, Ryan Cheek

English and Technical Communication Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article the Doomsday Clock and the Nuclear Football as interconnected technical communication artifacts that function as two sides of a "spurious coin" in the securitization of nuclear deterrence. While the Clock externalizes existential risk through apocalyptic rhetoric, the Football internalizes it within exclusive military command structures—together legitimizing perpetual nuclear crisis. Drawing on technical communication scholarship and critical security studies, the analysis argues that both artifacts sustain nuclearist ideology by reinforcing deterrence as common sense. The Clock's ominous countdown and the Football's ever-present launch capability are mutually validating and together normalize nuclear brinkmanship as the price of global security.

Co-Designing An International Nursing Course On Workplace Violence In Ethiopia, Sweden, And Tanzania: A Collective Autoethnography, Martin Salzmann-Erikson, Elisabet Eriksson, Tilahun Saol Tura, Tumbwene Mwansisya, Loveluck Mwasha, Malin Jordal

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

This study explores whether and how the co-creation of an international university course on workplace violence served as a site of transformative learning for us as nursing educators across Sweden, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. Using collaborative autoethnography, our team of six faculty members critically reflected on pedagogical assumptions, educator identities, and experiences of cross-cultural collaboration. The data comprised written reflections, meeting transcripts, and observational notes. Through this process, our pedagogical approaches and professional identities were reshaped, shifting from content deliverers to reflective co-learners within the cross-cultural partnership. Our analysis highlights the interplay of cultural negotiation, logistical frictions, and unspoken yet influential …

Supporting Human-Ai Interaction From User Expectations To Mental Models, Harishankar Vasudevanallur Subramanian

Doctoral Dissertations

Explainable AI (XAI) aims to unravel the "black box" nature of AI systems and provide insights into the inner workings that lead to a prediction. However, the best XAI communication varies depending on the individual, task, and broader context. It is challenging to anticipate the best XAI for a particular use case. One strategy is for users to build an appropriate mental model of AI with both prediction and system level XAI. To date, little research has focused on quantitatively measuring users interacting with system-level XAI. This dissertation has three primary contributions. The first contribution is a scoping review paper …

Spin Mechanisms In Gd-Doped Gan Implanted With Oxygen Carbon At Room Temperature, Vishal Saravade, Amirhossein Ghods, Chuanle Zhou, Ian Ferguson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Gadolinium-doped gallium nitride implanted with oxygen and carbon show carrier-mediated spin mechanisms at room temperature. As-grown Gd-doped GaN grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition using a tris(cyclopentadienyl) gadolinium precursor shows Ordinary Hall Effect and no ferromagnetism at room temperature. Upon O or C implantation in Gd-doped GaN, Anomalous Hall Effect that is indicative of carrier-mediated spin and ferromagnetism is observed. A good crystal quality is maintained even after implantation. O and C favor interstitial sites and occupy deep-level acceptor-type states in Gd-doped GaN. Room-temperature spin and ferromagnetism that is induced by gadolinium in Gd-doped GaN is activated by O and …

Quality Factor Estimation Of Additively Manufactured Frequency Selective Surfaces Via Active Microwave Thermography, Logan M. Wilcox, Alexander Hook, Emma T. Bohannon, Doyle T. Motes, Cody Morrow, Kristen M. Donnell

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Additive manufacturing (AM) has increased in popularity in recent years due to improvements in efficiency over traditional manufacturing methods. Furthermore, the availability of electrically conductive fused deposition modeling (FDM) filaments has opened the door to the manufacture of conductive structures, including frequency selective surfaces (FSSs). Traditionally, the performance of an FSS is verified experimentally through electromagnetic (EM) measurement of the FSS's reflection and/or transmission response. However, this verification approach is not ideal for rapid, in situ inspections due to the time-consuming measurement process, expensive and complicated equipment, and difficult to interpret results. To this end, active microwave thermography (AMT), a …

Mitigating And Preparing For Disasters At The Organizational Level: A Global Systematic Literature Review, Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, Ratna B. Dougherty, Rebecca Entress, Bikash Adhikari, Katherine Wilson Mccoy, Emilie Rott, Grace L. Chikoto-Schultz, Shannon Maharajh

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Organizations play significant roles in society by providing goods and services and contributing to the economies of communities, globally. Amid the predicted increase in the frequency and impact of disasters, which will invariably lead to higher disaster costs, there is an urgent need to ameliorate disaster impact on society and organizations. Disaster mitigation and preparedness are strategies for stemming disaster impact and losses within organizations. Cognizant of the importance of disaster mitigation and preparedness, researchers have conducted a myriad of studies on both concepts at the organizational level. To advance knowledge on this topic, this study conducted a comprehensive systematic …

Multi-Source Remote Sensing–Based Soil Moisture Prediction Using Machine Learning, Niraj Neupane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Soil moisture (SM) plays a central role in climatic and environmental processes, influencing shear strength of soil, agricultural productivity, land–atmosphere interactions, and hydrologic functioning. However, accurately estimating SM across diverse climatic regions remains challenging due to spatial heterogeneity, limited in situ measurements, and inconsistencies in sensor resolution. Machine learning (ML) and remote sensing offer promising avenues for improving SM prediction, yet many existing approaches struggle with generalization across climatic gradients and often fail to capture temporal variability. This study integrates multi-source satellite and climate datasets, including SMAP L4_SM, MODIS land surface temperature, Daymet meteorological variables, and in situ observations from …

Spatiotemporal Habitat Use, Sex-Specific Movement, And Site Fidelity Of Walleye In Lake Sharpe, Sd, Carter S. Dollen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Walleye Sander vitreus are a popular sportfish among anglers in South Dakota with large economic impacts to local communities. A popular destination for Walleye anglers is Lake Sharpe, a 25,000-ha reservoir on the Missouri River, in central South Dakota. Gill net catches in Lake Sharpe show high annual variation, prompting concern that gill net catch rates may be poorly related to population abundance. A better understanding of Walleye movement and distribution could lead to increased precision in annual abundance estimates and improved active management that increases angler success. The goals of this study were: 1) determine spatiotemporal movement patterns of …

Quantitative Assessment And Validation Of Thermal Profiles In The Protodune-Ii Horizontal Drift Detector Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Hunter Wallster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) aims to advance understanding of neutrino properties using large liquid Argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs). The ProtoDUNE-II Horizontal Drift (HD) detector, constructed at CERN in Switzerland, serves as 1:20 scale prototype to validate design and operational parameters for DUNE’s Far Detectors. Accurate prediction of cryostat thermal behavior is critical to predicting liquid Argon purity distributions and detector performance, motivating the development of a validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. This research extends previous work at South Dakota State University by constructing a higher-fidelity CFD simulation of ProtoDUNE-II HD using Siemens Simcenter StarCCM+® 19.04.007. Geometry …

Mid-Scale Rover Gravity Offloader (Mrgo): Design, Implementation, And Experimental Validation, Alexander Schaar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the design, implementation, and validation of the Mid Scale Rover Gravity Offloader (MRGO), a terrestrial testbed developed to simulate partial-gravity conditions for planetary rover testing within a three-dimensional environment. The MRGO enables consistent, user-defined offloading force as a rover drives freely within a 20 by 18 ft test area, while a stepper motor rail gantry autonomously tracks the rover’s motion and maintains overhead alignment. Mounted to the moving gantry is a vertical carriage column that houses the offloading mechanism, which accommodates up to 5 ft of vertical displacement without loss of force accuracy. This configuration allows realistic …

Formulation And Immunogenicity Of L1 Orf1 Mrna Vaccine In Mice, Raj Nandani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the design, formulation, and immunogenicity evaluation of a novel mRNA vaccine targeting the L1 ORF1p protein, a tumor-associated antigen. The vaccine was synthesized using in vitro transcription and encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), with both unmodified uridine and N1-methylpseudouridine variants tested. Physicochemical characterization confirmed optimal particle size (160–220 nm), acceptable zeta potential, and encapsulation efficiency ranging from 74% to 92%, with preserved RNA integrity post-formulation. These results validate the robustness of the formulation workflow and its suitability for antigen delivery. Immunogenicity studies in C57BL/6 mice revealed modest but promising immune responses. While early activation markers (CD69) and …

Asking The Right Questions About Legal Finance In United States Aggregate Dispute Resolution, J. Maria Glover

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Third-party legal finance is one of the most controversial modern developments in civil justice, both in the United States and across the globe. It is particularly controversial when mentioned in the same breath as aggregate litigation. Current debate trains on a series of repeated questions: whether and how to ban litigation finance in aggregate litigation; whether the use of litigation finance should be disclosed in discovery; and whether litigation finance is allowed under various (and often ancient) legal doctrines. Obscured from view is what I believe to be the most fundamental question: What is the proper role of litigation finance …

Law Librarians As Content Preservers And Mediators For Modern Legal Researchers, Austin Martin Williams

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Even though libraries have existed for thousands of years, one must wonder what role law libraries play and, more importantly, what roles law librarians play in supporting students, faculty, lawyers, and judges with so much information now available online? What value do law librarians add for today’s legal researchers?

At their core, law librarians continue to strive to perform two major functions: (1) “select, organize, and preserve legal information” and (2) help lawyers, judges, students, and faculty locate and use that information. This article hopes to explain just why it is important that law librarians continue to serve in these …

Just Research And Citation, Amanda Levendowski

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Contemporary research and citation practices are often unjust. Data cartels like Westlaw and Lexis have parent companies that prioritize profits in ways that threaten immigrants. Even before the Dobbs decision, search engines could be deployed to weaponize data against pregnant people seeking reproductive care. Women and people of color have been legal scholars for more than a century but, as many scholars have observed, colleagues consistently under-cite, mis-cite or appropriate those scholars’ work with minimal recourse. Citation materials are often inaccessible to disabled people, poor people, or the public due to poor design, paywalls, or unpreserved content that falls prey …

Development Of Bio-Based Coating Materials For Environmentally Friendly Controlled-Release Nitrogen Fertilizer Applications, Anne Carolyne Mendonca Cidreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Discovery Of Photosynthetic Oxic N2-Fixation In Cyanobacteria Using Wet Lab And Machine Learning Approaches, James A. Young Iii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Computation-Efficient Deep Learning Models For Computer Vision And Multimodal Vision-Language Tasks Via Network Pruning, Abir Mohammad Hadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the rapid evolution of deep neural networks over the past decade, the demand for efficient, generalizable, and task-adaptable models, especially in computer vision, has increased significantly. To address the computational and deployment challenges posed by overparameterized models, the research community has extensively explored model compression techniques such as pruning, quantization, and distillation. These approaches aim to enhance model efficiency without compromising performance, particularly when adapting to domain-specific tasks under limited resources. This dissertation investigates several underexplored yet critical aspects of task-aware deep learning model compression, spanning both convolutional and vision-language architectures. In the early part of this work, we …

Characterizing A Free-Roaming Cat Population To Predict Predation Of Threatened Species In An Island Ecosystem, Sarah Gheida

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Peel Angle And Strain Rate On The Bond Between Frcm Composite And Concrete Substrate, Lucas Robert Gervais

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fiber-reinforced cementitious matrix (FRCM) composites have gained increasing attention for the rehabilitation and strengthening of concrete and masonry structures due to their favorable mechanical properties, compatibility with existing substrates, and ease of application. The effectiveness of any strengthening procedure depends on the quality of the bond between the external reinforcement and the substrate, ensuring efficient stress transfer and enabling the system to reach its ultimate capacity without premature debonding. While research has focused on the bond performance of FRCM systems under pure shear loading and quasi-static, low strain rate conditions, the effects of mixed-mode loading and high strain rates representative …

Simulating Positive Ion Distribution In The Protodune Single Phase Detector, Vishnu Pfeiffer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work covers the validation and implementation of a model to solve for argon ion (Ar+) distribution in the ProtoDUNE-SP liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). ProtoDUNE-SP undergoes a constant flux of cosmic ray muons due to surface operation. The performance of the ProtoDUNE-SP provided valuable insights into single-phase technology, membrane cryostat technology, and calibration of cryogenic instrumentation. Still, challenges in achieving precise measurements persist due to the space charge effect—the distortion of the electric field within the detector due to the accumulation of positive argon ions generated from constant cosmic muon flux. The overarching goal of this thesis is …

Impact Of Automated Controlled Tile Drainage On Field Discharge Water, Soil Moisture, And Crop Yield In Southeastern South Dakota, Joshua Becker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Automated controlled tile drainage is an innovative approach to water management, using dynamic weir settings programmed to drain water out of the tile system if it encroaches into the root zone at pre-programmed depths and duration. While past studies have indicated potential yield and water quality benefits of controlled drainage, there has been very little research into the performance of automated controlled drainage. In addition to overall performance, there is a gap in knowledge of management settings to optimize yield and water quality benefits. Two experiments, one plot-scale and one modeling, were conducted to assess the impact of automated controlled …

Lunar Payload Logistics: Advancing Autonomous Control For Lunar Surface Transporter Vehicles, Liam Murray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Many-Objective Optimization Framework: Demonstrating Capabilities Through Suspension Design, Dylan Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Large Scale Crop Damage Mapping Using Optical And Sar Satellite Data Fusion And Deep Learning, Santosh Subedi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Bed Shear Stress In Open Channel Flow Over A Rough-To-Smooth Transition, Monika Kafle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of flow over roughness transition in an open channel is very important in the field of hydraulic engineering. Bed shear stress is the key factor in predicting sediment transport and determining the stability of hydraulic structures while flow depth, flow velocity, surface roughness are some hydraulic parameters that can affect the bed shear stress in an open channel flow. In this thesis, a detailed investigation into the development of bed shear stress in a rough-to-smooth transition is performed. Experiments were conducted on flow over a rough-to-smooth transition in an open channel flume with an M2 to S2 composite …

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Key Parameters On Thermal Properties Of Carbon Nanotube Modified Epoxy Composites, Lida Najmi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The application of carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced epoxy matrix composites (CRECs) has attracted extensive attention in various industrial sectors due to the significant improvement of material properties imparted by CNTs. The thermal behavior of these nanocomposites is governed by complex heat transfer mechanisms operating at different scales, resulting in a complex relationship between the effective thermal response and the microstructural characteristics of the composite. In this study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to investigate the thermal conductivity of CRECs, focusing on the effects of key parameters such as the length and volume fraction of CNTs, the degree of cross-linking within …

Measurement- And Simulated Annealing (Sa) Optimization-Based Inductor Model Coupled To Chassis, Junyong Park, Reza Vahdani, Donghyun Kim

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In automotive systems, a metal chassis protects the components against the external environment. However, the metal chassis is conductive, which results in unwanted conducted emission (CE) coupling to electric components. An inductor used for power factor correction (PFC) is one of the affected components. When the inductor is mated with the metal chassis, the impedance of the inductor changes. It is also hard to predict the CE coupling due to the structure-dependent characteristics. That is, the CE coupling is not negligible and hard to clarify. Therefore, this article proposes an efficient modeling method for the inductor which is mated with …

Mitigating Optical Module Emi Using Common- And Differential-Mode Filters, Shivali Singh, Rakshith Kumar Gopalaiah, Di Li, Mokshit Tejasvi, Shipra Shipra, Victor Khilkevich

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A strategy to mitigate electromagnetic interference in quad/octal small form-factor pluggable interfaces using a common-mode/differential-mode filter is presented in this research. Differential source imbalance produces significant common- and differential-mode noise in the differential pseudorandom binary sequence signal. EMI associated with this noise can be reduced by incorporating a band stop filter onto the differential line on a printed circuit board. Two kinds of filters were tested: common mode and common/differential mode. It was demonstrated that the application of a common-mode/differential-mode filter is more advantageous than a common-mode filter and allows to achieve the suppression of the total radiated power by …

Radiated Susceptibility Testing Using Near-Field Scanning, Mckennan Starkey, Aaron Harmon, Cody Goins, Kristen Donnell, Victor Khilkevich, Daryl Beetner

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Determining locations and components in a system responsible for radiated coupling is challenging. Methods, such as near field injection susceptibility scanning or direct power injection, can only find locations and frequencies where a component is sensitive to the near field or to an injected signal but cannot deduce if the component is well coupled to the far-field. In this paper, a method to experimentally determine the levels of radiated coupling within a target system is proposed. A near-field differential loop probe is scanned over the target device while measuring the radiated energy in a stirred-mode tent. By sweeping the near …