bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Creating An Acquisition Report For Six Portfolios From The School Of Photographic Arts And Sciences At Rochester Insitute Of Technology
Authors: Stickann Jacob S.
Published: May 2021

Six portfolios produced between the years 1987 and 1992 have been offered to the Deparment of Photographs at George Eastman House. Assembled by the faculty and staff of the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences (SPAS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), they contain a total of 169 photographic prints of various processes made by 52 participants. An acquisition report is needed in order for the acquisition committee to understand the portfolios and make an informed decision as to whether they should be acquired for the collection. The main focus of this thesis is an acquisition report for the six portfolios. It also includes a brief history of photographic education at RIT followed by an overview of the portfolios and their production, which relies on correspondence with many of the participants.
Applying DTGolog to Large-scale Domains
Authors: Pham Huy N
Published: May 2021

While decision theoretic planning (DTP) offers great potential benefits to elicit purposeful behavior of the agent operating in uncertain environments, state-based approaches to DTP are known to be computationally intractable in large-scale domains. DTGolog is a decision-theoretic extension of a logic-based high level programming language Golog that completes a given partial Golog program using a form of directed value iteration. DTGolog has been proposed to alleviate some of the computational difficulties associated with DTP. The main advantages of DTGolog are that a DTP problem can be formulated using a logical representation to avoid explicit state enumeration, and the programmer can encode domain-specific knowledge in terms of high-level procedural templates to partially specify behavior of an agent. These templates constrain the search space to manageable size. Despite these clear advantages, there are few studies that investigate the applicability of DTGolog to very large-scale practical domains. In this thesis, we conduct two studies. First, we apply DTGolog to the well known case-study of the London Ambulance Service to demonstrate advantages and potentials of DTGolog as a quantitative evaluation tool for designing decision making agents. Second, we develop a software interface that allows to control the well-known Sony's AIBO robotics platform using DTGolog. We show that DTGolog can be used on this platform with a minimal amount of software customization. We run experiments to test functionality of our interface. The main contribution of this thesis is demonstration of applicability of DTGolog to two different large scale domains that are both practical and interesting.
Optimal Precipitation Of Zn+₂ and Ni+₂ From Aqueous Solution: Influence Of Rapid Mixing Parameters
Authors: Hmood Ayad
Published: May 2021

Wastewater containing Zn+₂and Ni+₂is normally treated by chemical precipitation, coagulation, flocculation followed by clarification.The metal precipitation is influenced by chemical (wastewater pH, coagulant type and dose) and physical (rapid mixing speed and time) parameters. The process usually consists of the rapid dispersal of a coagulant into the wastewater followed by an intense agitation commonly defined as rapid mixing. This study focused on the most important parameters of rapid mixing design: mixing intensity and duration. Simulated aqueous solutions containing 50 ppm Zn+₂and 50 ppm Ni+₂were treated with aluminum sulphate, ferrous sulphate and ferric chloride coagulants at different doses and different rapid mixing times and speeds. Experimental results obtained indicate that ferric chloride at 30 mg/l dose was superior over aluminum sulphate and ferrous sulphate at the same dose in Zn+₂and Ni+₂removals. Rapid mixing time had a strong influence on the metal removal. An optimal combination of rapid mixing parameters was determined as: 60 s at 100 rpm for Zn+₂and 30 s at 80 rpm for Ni+₂removals. Scanning electron microscopy images for Zn+₂and Ni+₂flocs at optimum parameters of rapid mixing show that ferric chloride addition compacts the surface texture of the metals flocs. Flocs formed by Zn+₂are denser and larger than flocs formed by Ni+₂.
Sustainable Seafood: An analysis of environmental rhetoric in public education campaigns
Authors: Power Laura
Published: May 2021

This MRP looks at the communication used in environmental advocacy public education campaigns, specifically focusing on those promoting sustainable seafood consumption. Organizations such as Ocean Wise and Seafood Watch aim to educate the public about the importance of choosing ocean-friendly fish, using a variety of communication tools and techniques to achieve their goals. This MRP focuses specifically on communication materials available in the public domain. Looking at the language used by these organizations on their websites, in documents found online and through their use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter, I analyzed a variety of their communications to determine whether they employ particular environmental rhetorical strategies in their public education campaigns. I focused my analysis by using Herndl and Brown’s (1996) rhetorical model for environmental discourse, which is designed to “identify the dominant tendencies or orientation of a piece of environmental discourse” and “help clarify the connections between a text, a writer, and the setting from which a piece of writing comes in an effort to elicit the underlying motives around a text or topic” (p. 10). This model looks at the relationship between three elements of environmental rhetoric (regulatory discourse, poetic discourse and scientific discourse) potentially found in pieces of environmental discourse. My MRP examines how Ocean Wise and Seafood Watch employ deliberative environmental rhetoric throughout their public education campaigns.
MRI based physiological parameters are biomarkers of tumor and non tumor tissue response following radiation to brain metastases
Authors: Jakubovic Raphael  Y
Published: May 2021

We sought to determine the utility of early relative blood volume (rCBV), relative blood flow (rCBF) and permeability (K2 trans) measurements as biomarkers of radiation response or progression for brain metastases and to characterize early normal tissue changes following stereotactic radiosurgery. Patients were imaged with dynamic susceptibility and dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging at baseline, 1 week and 1 month post-treatment. Tumors outcomes were stratified using volumetric data obtained from structural images. K2trans at 1 week and rCBV at 1 month were identified as predictors of tumor response and progressive disease respectively. Pre-treatment localized dose planning CT images with overlaid isodose distributions outside the tumor were evaluated within all tissue, and segmented gray and white matter. rCBV and rCBF ratio differences between baseline, 1 week and 1 month were compared. Subsequent analysis identified increases in rCBF and rCBV ratios occurring in a dose, tissue, and time specific manner.
Effects of interpretation training on subjective, behavioural, and physiological measures of anxiety during a self-presentation task in an analogue social anxiety sample
Authors: Nowakowski Matilda E.
Published: May 2021

Negative interpretation biases, defined as a tendency to interpret ambiguous social situations negatively, have been theorized to play a role in the maintenance of social anxiety. Research has shown that computer-based interpretation training tasks can modify negative interpretation biases and that this modification is associated with decreases in subjective ratings of anxiety. Negative interpretation biases have also been shown to decrease following cognitive-behavioural therapy. This study investigated the effects of interpretation training and cognitive restructuring on symptomatology, cognitive processes, behaviour, and physiological reactivity in an analogue social anxiety sample. Seventy-two participants with elevated social anxiety scores were randomized to one of 3 conditions: interpretation training (n = 24), cognitive restructuring (n = 24), and control (n = 24). Although none of the conditions showed a decrease in social anxiety symptomatology, participants in the cognitive restructuring condition evidenced a significant decrease in anxiety-related cognitive processes at the 48-hour follow-up. There were no group differences on subjective distress and self-rated performance on the speech task. However, participants in the cognitive restructuring condition were rated as having higher quality speeches by an objective rater compared to participants in the interpretation training condition. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
The Moderating Role Of Diet Patterns In The Relationship Between Perceived Stress And Cognitive Function In Older Adults
Authors: D'Amico Danielle
Published: May 2021

The current study examined the moderating role of adherence to a healthy prudent diet and an unhealthy Western diet in the relationship between perceived stress and cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults. It was hypothesized that the association between perceived stress and cognition would be buffered by prudent diet and exacerbated by Western diet intake. 201 adults aged 60 and older participated in the study. Prudent diet was a significant effect-modifier, such that higher perceived stress was associated with poorer executive functioning at low levels of prudent diet. Prudent diet did not moderate the association between perceived stress and episodic memory. Western diet was not a significant effect-modifier in the perceived stress-cognition relationship. These findings provide preliminary evidence that a healthy diet may buffer the association between perceived stress and executive function in older adults. Future research with a more diverse sample is needed to confirm these findings.
Flow-Induced Vibration of a Candu Fuel String
Authors: Fadaee Mohammad
Published: May 2021

A comprehensive vibration model is developed in this thesis to simulate the dynamical behaviour of a string of CANDU fuel bundles subjected to unsteady flow of coolant inside a pressure tube. The large-scale dynamical system of interest consists of several hundreds of solid and deformable components interacting with the coolant flow, with each other and with the pressure tube through frictional contact at various interfaces. In the first stage of this thesis, the three-node higher-order mixed beam finite elements and the nine-node thick plate finite elements are employed to model the fuel bundles. The equations of motion of the fuel string system are discretised in the time domain using the Newmark integration scheme.
The CANDU fuel string behaviour is highly nonlinear and the total number of potential frictional contact exceeds thousand sets. In the second stage, a numerical scheme for efficiently handling three-dimensional friction and contact is developed. The incremental displacement is used to relate gaps with contact forces and the problem is formulated to be a linear complementarity problem (LCP). The accuracy and robustness of the presented method is tested against several numerical simulations and experimental results available in the literature.
To find the unsteady fluid forces acting on the fuel string two comprehensive computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models that include endcaps and spacer pads are developed. The models are solved using the large eddy simulation (LES) scheme. The coolant unsteady pressure is integrated over fuel rods surfaces and unsteady fluid forces are found and used as the excitation sources for fuel string vibration. The power spectral density (PSD) of unsteady fluid forces are obtained and peak frequencies are identified. A FORTRAN code consisting of approximately 13000 lines is developed and validated at different stages for use in Canadian nuclear industry to simulate the vibrational behaviour of a 12-bundle fuel string and the material loss during reactor normal operations. Free vibration analyses of a CANDU fuel string are also performed and natural frequencies of the system are obtained.
The Efficacy of Singing in Foreign-Language Learning
Authors: Good Arla
Published: May 2021

This study extends the popular notion that memory for text can be supported by song to foreign-language learning. Singing can be intrinsically motivating, attention focusing, and simply enjoyable for learners of all ages. The melodic and rhythmic context of song enhances recall of native text; however, there is limited evidence that these benefits extend to foreign text. In this study, Spanish-speaking Ecuadorian children learned a novel English passage for two weeks. Children in a
Evaluating context effects on forensic examiners: potential influences on the perception of evidence and examiners’ decision-making
Authors: Taylor Melanie
Published: May 2021

The current study aimed to investigate whether contextual information affects examiners’ perception of fingerprint evidence and/or their decision-making process regarding whether the fingerprints are a match, nonmatch, or if it is inconclusive. Undergraduates (N = 129) were trained in fingerprint examination and subsequently examined two pairs of fingerprints. The
time at which contextual information was distributed was manipulated to change what part of the examination could be influenced by the contextual information. It was hypothesized that the contextual information would affect both the examiner’s perception of the evidence as well as their decision-making process. Results were partially in line with this hypothesis; though the contextual information presented demonstrated no effect on participants’ conclusions, the timing at which the contextual information was presented did. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Guide to the Walter Johnson collection of post mortem and memorial photography and artifacts
Authors: Arnone Olivia
Published: May 2021

This thesis project is a guide to the Walter Jones Collection of post mortem and memorial photography and artifacts currently held at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. The 1,108 objects in the collection are both commercial and vernacular in content. The range of its contents span from daguerreotypes created in 1840, through color Polaroid snapshots created in approximately 1970. The museum purchased this collection from Walter Johnson in 1986, and completed its accession into their permanent collection in 1988. From February/07 to July/07, I analyzed the collection catalog records and inspected the current conditions of the objects and their housings. I determined that thought all of the objects have been catalogued, the information included in the records should be updated for improved accessibility to the objects. In order to improve accessibility, this project proposes new terminology to describe the objects to enhance interpretation of the information in the records, and assesses the condition of the objects and their housings. It concludes with recommendations for long-term preservation of the objects in the collection.
Accepted attitudes : photography's appearance in Janson's History of Art
Authors: Sherman Adam
Published: May 2021

Horst W. Janson's History of Art - often known simply as Janson - has been considered the bible in the art history textbook market since it was first published in 1962. This thesis examines how historical and contemporary photography was considered and discussed in the seven editions and three revised editions of History of Art, published between 1962 and 2007. The thesis provides a description of the successive editions, discusses what changes and what remains constant, and sketches the larger context in which these changes occurred. The thesis contains an appendix that provides a comprehensive list of each of the editions of History of Art, and records in order of their appearance, all of the reproductions of photographs.
Case study of child, parent and teacher perceptions of a school-based health clinic in the model schools paediatric health clinic in the model schools paediatric health initiative of the Toronto District School Board
Authors: Chan Jacqueline H.
Published: May 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate child, parent, and teacher perspectives of the role of a Toronto school-based health clinic (SBHC) in health care provision, as well as their experiences of accessibility, and comfort in use. This qualitative case study of a SBHC in the Toronto District School Board’s Model Schools Paediatric Health Initiative (MSPHI) uses thematic secondary data analyses informed by a grounded theory approach. The results of this study provide evidence that the SBHC plays a key role in the provision of physical health care for children; reduces health-related school absences; addresses OHIP-related barriers; and enhances the coordination of health care services. Children’s experiences of comfort over time remained stable; however, children’s perceptions of accessibility improved over time which aligned with their increased SBHC utilization.

Key terms: children, health services, school-based health clinic, Model Schools Paediatric Health
Initiative
Maternal sensitivity and infant stress system coordination and flexibility
Authors: Jamieson Brittany
Published: May 2021

Previous research has assessed the relationship between maternal sensitivity and infant hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical [HPA] axis function, yet neglected additional stress systems. Using a multi-system method (HPA measured via cortisol and sympathetic nervous system via salivary alpha-amylase; sAA), we assessed the relationship between maternal sensitivity and infant stress system coordination and flexibility in response to acute stress. A community sample of 125 mother-infant dyads participated in a toy frustration (age 15 months) and separation procedure (age 16 months). Maternal sensitivity was measured via naturalistic observation. Multilevel-modeling analyses found that maternal sensitivity moderates the relationship between infant sAA and cortisol basal activity and reactivity, such that systems were coordinated at higher, but not lower, levels of sensitivity. SAA output was greater in response to separation compared to frustration, though sensitivity did not moderate this variability. Findings suggest that the quality of early caregiving relationships is important for the development of coordinated stress physiology.
Immigrant-Early childhood educator's experience of working with immigrant children and their families: arts-informed narrative inquiry self-study
Authors: Kwok Oi Ling Helen
Published: May 2021

Early years educational settings are often the first social environment that new immigrant children and their families engage in. Research in the field of education shows that immigrant children and their families are often best served by the educators, who themselves, are also immigrants. It is believed that immigrant educators are culturally knowledgeable and responsive to the needs of the children due to the shared immigration experiences and/or mother language. To gain a better insight into an immigrant-Early Childhood Educator’s experience of working with immigrant children and their families, I engage in a self-study using Connelly and Clandinin’s Narrative Inquiry. By engaging in Narrative Reflective Process, a series of creative art activities as data collection, I gather and reflect on my lived experiences to deepen my understanding into what may be most significant to immigrants. Three narrative patterns (challenges in a new home, a sense of belonging, perseverance) emerge within and across the told stories. Through my inquiry I invite all Early Childhood Educators to consider these in their own practice, as well as to reflect upon their own personal-professional experiences, through creative self expression approaches, and so to ponder how their values and beliefs might inform their professional practice.
Pursuing permanence: former international students’ trajectories to permanent residency in Canada
Authors: Gomez Bianca
Published: May 2021

This exploratory study investigates former international students’ experiences pursuing permanent status with the use of primary data from interviews with five individuals. Guided by the question, “what characterizes former international students’ trajectories to permanent residence” and based on the understanding that discourses of exclusion and control inform immigration policies today (Fobear, 2014), personal experiences are explored as realities of temporariness in which subjects are contained by the following forms of regulation: time limits, employment specificity, and temporary legal status. Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory is employed to showcase participants as “knowledgeable” (Sewell, 1992:4) and reflexive agents (Turner, 1986); how they persevere and negotiate their way to permanent residence by enacting creative strategies and enduring the emotional labour that characterize their search for and securing of ‘skilled’ employment while mitigating the immediate need for income, in reframing their mindsets and in their reflections upon the meaning of their pursuits for permanence.
Social network analysis of climate change discussion on Twitter during COP21
Authors: Harris Brittany E.
Published: May 2021

The public is increasingly relying on Twitter for climate change information; however, to date, this social media platform is poorly understood in terms of how climate change information is shared. This study evaluates discussions on Twitter during the 2015 United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) to elucidate the social media platform’s role in communicating climate change information. For a five-day period, links embedded in a sample of tweets containing “#climatechange” were characterized, Twitter users were classified by the types of links they typically shared, and their degree centralities (the number of connections for each user) were measured. There was little skeptical content across all user categories; however, news links were more likely than non-news to contain content that is skeptical of climate change. Users who typically shared skeptical news links and users who typically shared non-skeptical non-news links exhibited a relatively high number of connections with other users.
3 Minutes to Midnight: speculative game design for nuclear disarmament
Authors: Down Nathalie Claire
Published: May 2021

This paper proposes a digital game concept designed to increase the millennial generation’s level of engagement with the campaign for nuclear disarmament. It discusses four key research findings that support the need for the development of this game, and provides helpful information to enable better understanding of the relatively specialized inspiring concepts. The paper argues that activist campaigns should design nuanced communication plans that consider the complexities of the issue and leverage the digital media tools whose affordances best match the goals of the campaign. In the case of nuclear disarmament, I propose a campaign communication strategy in the form of a
pervasive social impact game, called 3 Minutes to Midnight, as an effective way to ignite widespread public support in the 21st century.
Determining the effect of external shading strategies on energy and daylight of fully glazed office buildings in Toronto
Authors: Morakabian Maryam Sadat
Published: May 2021

With regard to overheating and heat lost potential, transparent parts of the building envelope have a significant impact on building energy consumption. The project investigates the impact of fully glazed façades on energy intensity and daylight quality of office buildings in Toronto. Also it explores the potential of various external shading strategies in minimizing energy consumption and enhancing daylight quality. Different types of external shadings including overhangs, vertical fins and diagrid screen were investigated in terms of heating, cooling and lighting energy use and daylight performance.
The diagrid screen, in comparison to conventional shading strategies, demonstrates significantly better impact on cooling load reduction and improving daylight quality in interior spaces. This study helped to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each shading system and provides guidelines for architects in the process of designing façades of glazed office buildings to widen the options for aesthetically pleasing, high performance façades.
Computing value-at-risk and expected shortfall in operational risk
Authors: Bakassa-Traore Desire Issiaka
Published: May 2021

Operational Risk has become more popular in the past fifteen years. The Basel committee
realized its importance and banks have to allocate more capital charge, yet this is still not
enough. With these new rules, banks have put in place new procedures to compute their
risk measures and allocate enough capital charge to avoid bankruptcy. The Basel
committee under Basel II has proposed different approaches to compute risk measures for
Operational Risk, namely the Basic Indicator Approach, the Advanced Measurement
Approach and the Standardized Approach. In our research, we will study the case of Loss
Distribution Approach, which has been discussed before, and will contribute to the field
by using a heavy-tailed distributed severity: g-and-h distributed. Then, we will analyze
and test some methods to compute the value-at-risk( VaR) and conditional value-at-risk
or expected shortfall (CVaR).
Living for YouTube: an analysis of the PrankvsPrank channel
Authors: Wang Jing
Published: May 2021

This major research paper aims to analyze the deteriorative effects of YouTube’s demand for performative authenticity coupled with its algorithmic model of compensation. Through a case study of PrankvsPrank’s Jesse and Jeana, this paper will identify the various critical factors that contributed to both the couple’s onscreen success and offscreen romantic failure. More specifically, it will dissect the various ways in which the pressure to maintain and increase subscribers, ‘likes’ and account monetization revenue erodes the values ordinarily sacred within healthy, long-term, romantic relationships. Through engaging in regular acts of self-disclosure and performative authenticity onscreen, Jesse and Jeana were able to foster and leverage the illusion of a genuinely reciprocal (parasocial) relationship with their viewers. Over time, however, the constant and consistent demand for identity work extended beyond their onscreen performance and into every facet of their daily lives—eventually taking precedence over their romantic relationship.
Digitizing Ibadan: explorations of the photoblogosphere as a site of resistance
Authors: Olaleye Olatokunbo
Published: May 2021

The camera has been actively involved in the framing of African people. Popular images of the African continent seldom deviate from the normalized visual rhetoric, primarily depicting exoticized images or the extremities of civil unrest, famine and disease.

Digitizing Ibadan is a photographic exploration of the city of Ibadan, Nigeria. Residents of lbadan were invited to visually (re)present their perceptions of the city. Over a period of four weeks, hundreds of digital images were recorded and stored on www.picturingnigeria.com- a website designed for the project.

The website was designed to display everyday life and everyday sights, allowing for the interpretation of these ordinary acts (of recording and displaying images) as democratic and meaningful. The idea is that a website hosting digital images (in photoblog format) could be established as a site of resistance. This website represents an
endeavour by the everyday citizen to recontextualize photography as a social discourse.
Emotion regulation in infants using maternal singing and speech
Authors: Ghazban Niusha
Published: May 2021

The interaction between a mother and her infant has been described as an intricate ‘dance’ involving coordinated singing and movement (Feldman, 2007). It is widely accepted that infant-directed (ID) speech, characterized as having higher pitch, slower tempo, and exaggerated intonation, is an effective means of communicating with infants and holding their attention (Papousek et al., 1985). Singing is another universally observed caregiving behaviour. Mothers across cultures intuitively use infant-directed (ID) singing to regulate their infants’ emotional state (de l’Etoile, 2006; Nakata & Trehub, 2004). While ID speech and singing appear to be equally successful in regulating infants’ attention (Corbeil, et al., 2013), their effects in modulating infants’ distress are less clear. More precisely, while stress and arousal are intimately connected, there is no research to date that has investigated the efficacy of speech and singing in alleviating infant distress.
Using a modified version of the Face-to-Face/Still-Face (FFSF) paradigm (Tronick et al., 1978), the current study is the first to examine 10-month-old infants’ behavioural and physiological responses, via Skin Conductance (SC), to their mother’s singing and speaking. Stress was effectively induced in the still-face episode with infants exhibiting typical “still-face” behaviours and elevated SC responses. The results indicated that in the reunion episode, mother’s singing was more effective in decreasing infant’s physiological arousal, regulating negative affect and promoting infants’ visual attention in comparison to maternal speaking.
However, the genre of songs selected (e.g., play song or lullaby) might have been contributed to the positive outcomes of singing in regulating infants’ emotions. Therefore, the second study used the same methodology to examine the effects of maternal play songs and lullabies on infants’ physiological and behavioural responses. The results indicated that maternal play songs were more effective in regulating infants’ stress as well as capturing and maintaining their attention than were soothing lullabies. Taken together, the findings indicate that maternal
singing, specifically playful performances, supports infants’ emotions and effectively regulates their stress.
Cholesterol templated polymers : are they really specific binding materials?
Authors: Tsavdaris Konstance
Published: May 2021

The technique of molecular imprinting creates template specific and selective polymer products with a large assortment of applications. For example, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) may pose as a means to separate undesirable components, such as endocrine disruptors, from the environment. Taking advantage of β-cyclodextrin's abililty to form inclusion complexes with a number of guests has led scientists to use them as scaffolds in the synthesis of MIPs. Komiyana's approach of molecularly imprinting cholesterol with β-cyclodextrin was used as a starting point to apply MIPs as potential tools for trapping endocrine disruptors. This study presents results on the re-binding of cholesterol to a cholesterol-templated MIP and to a non-MIP (NMIP), as well as the binding of a series of structurally unrelated compounds to the cholesterol-templated MIP and NMIP. The results consistently show that cholesterol-templated MIPs synthesized using Komiyama's method lack specificity and selectivity for their template. This calls into question their efficacy as a tool for trapping endocrine disruptors.
The impact of acid stress on escherichia coli O157:H7 virulence
Authors: House Belinda
Published: May 2021

Escherichia coli 0157:H7 infection is a leading cause of hemorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. Many opportunities for acid stress exposure exist for this food and waterborne pathogen, including gastric acid shock. Yet little is known how this affects E.coli 0157:H7 virulence. The effect of various acid stress protocols on E. coli 0157:H7 survival, verotoxin production, and the ability to adhere to host epithelial cells was examined. Brief acid shock alone at pH 3.0 decreased the host cell adhesion capability by a factor of 4.3-4.8, yet when the acid shock was preceded by adaptation at pH 5.0, a 1.6-3.2 fold enhanced adhesion of surviving organisms to epithelial cells relative to unstressed organisms was observed. However, acid stress did not affect verotoxin production. Pretreatment of acid stressed bacteria with erythromycin eliminated the acid-induced adhesion enhancement, suggesting that protein synthesis is a requirement for the enhanced adhesion observed with acid-adapted acid-shocked E.coli 0157:H7. Real time PCR analysis of locus for enterocyte effacement (LEE)-encoded virulence factors, intimin and EspA, revealed no significant upregulation for the acid stress treatments associated with the increased host cell adhesion. On the contrary, elevated mRNA levels for both intimin and EspA were observed for bacteria subjected to brief acid shock alone even though the host-cell adhesion was significatly decreased with these treatments. These results suggest that complex regulation mechanisms for LEE encoded virulence factors exists and that E. coli 0157:H7 virulence can be enhanced after acid stress through increased adhesion to host epithelial cells.
Resource allocation and task admission control in cloud systems
Authors: Khojasteh Haleh
Published: May 2021

The focus of this thesis is solving the problem of resource allocation in cloud datacenter using an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud model. We have investigated the behavior of IaaS cloud datacenters through detailed analytical and simulation models that model linear, transitional and saturated operation regimes. We have obtained accurate performance metrics such as task blocking probability, total delay, utilization and energy consumption. Our results show that the offered load does not offer complete characterization of datacenter operation; therefore, in our evaluations, we have considered the impact of task arrival rate and task service time separately.

To keep the cloud system in the linear operation regime, we have proposed several dynamic algorithms to control the admission of incoming tasks. In our first solution, task admission is based on task blocking probability and predefined thresholds for task arrival rate. The algorithms in our second solution are based on full rate task acceptance threshold and filtering coefficient. Our results confirm that the proposed task admission mechanisms are capable of maintaining the stability of cloud system under a wide range of input parameter values.

Finally, we have developed resource allocation solutions for mobile clouds in which offloading requests from a mobile device can lead to forking of new tasks in on-demand manner. To address this problem, we have proposed two flexible resource allocation mechanisms with different prioritization: one in which forked tasks are given full priority over newly arrived ones, and another in which a threshold is established to control the priority. Our results demonstrate that threshold-based priority scheme presents better system performance than the full priority scheme. Our proposed solution for clouds with mobile users can be also applied in other clouds which their users’ applications fork new tasks.
Pandemic 2011: Coming Soon to a Location Near You
Authors: Sacco Jennifer
Published: May 2021

"H1 N1 is a virus that has been sensationalized by the media since the first case was discovered in Mexico during the spring of 2009. People around the world feared that the virus would mutate into something as severe as the 1918 Spanish flu, one of the deadliest plagues in history. However experts had discovered by June of 2009 that the Spanish flu was not comparable to H1 N1. Yet for six months newspaper reporters continued to compare the ew epidemic to the Spanish flu, thus keeping alive the threat of an unstoppable pandemic. One year has passed since the first case of H1 N1 was confirmed. After all of the attention that H1 N1 received, it proved to be not much different than a typical seasonal flu, resulting in a lower death rate (Schabas and Rau, 2010). Recently, a number of investigations have begun to determine if the World Health Organization (WHO) overemphasized the level of risk, resulting in a large quantity of sensationalized media coverage, and citizens in a state of panic."
Challenging the lack of representation in mainstream media through the establishment of inclusive digital spaces
Authors: Zibaei Emilia
Published: May 2021

Media representations of marginalized people are a growing concern given the state of the current social climate. The origin of intolerance stems from a lack of exposure and knowledge and as a result, marginalized groups struggle to maintain adequate space and representation in mainstream media. This reflects a lack of inclusivity, diversity and safe spaces. Establishing inclusive digital environments that promote the equality of peoples rather than perpetuating stereotypes is a vital way to achieving visibility and growth among marginalized and underrepresented people. INFLUENCE Magazine is a digital publication that is committed to equality, representation and opportunity.
By providing a safe space for marginalized and underrepresented sectors of society to express every aspect of their identity, art and lived experiences, INFLUENCE Magazine fosters a positive environment for artists and individuals to freely express themselves.
The valuation of a natural gas-fired power plant with multiple turbines using clean spark spread and weather options
Authors: Elias M. Reaz-us Salam
Published: May 2021

Assessing the value of a power plant is an important issue for plant owners and prospective buyers. In a deregulated market, an owner has the option to operate the plant when the revenue from selling the electricity is higher than the cost of operating the plant. This option is known as the spark spread option. Under emission restrictions, when the carbon cost is deducted from the spark spread, the option is named as the clean spark spread option. This thesis presents an analysis on the spark spread and clean spark spread option based valuation methods for a power plant with multiple gas turbines having different input–output characteristics, emission rates, and capacities. Electricity, natural gas and carbon allowance prices are assumed to follow mean–reverting processes. Results demonstrate that CO2 allowance cost reduces the expected plant value, while the flexibility of switching among turbines adds value to the power plant.

Weather also affects the power plant operation. This thesis also presents a valuation model for a power plant integrating spark spread and weather options. A cooler winter drawing more electricity could generate a higher payoff for the plant owner. A warmer winter, however, could lead to a lower payoff. An owner holding a long position in a temperature–based put option could exercise the option when the winter is milder. The exercise is triggered by the drop of heating degree days below a strike degree day. The number of weather contracts to buy is determined by minimizing the variance of the total payoff. Pricing of the weather option is calculated based on the mean–reverting behavior of temperature. Results demonstrate that the integrating weather option along with spark spread option adds value to the downward spark spread option based valuation of the plant in a warmer winter.

A comparison of temperature modeling approaches with an aim to pricing weather option is also investigated. Regime–switching models generated from a combination of different underlying processes are utilized to determine the expected heating and cooling degree days. Weather option prices are then calculated based on a range of strike heating degree days.
Demand side management in smart grid
Authors: Trivedi Ashish
Published: May 2021

In this project report a Demand Side Management system is proposed which helps to reduce the peak demand on the grid by motivating the consumer to shift or reduce the load consumption. The proposed technique helps to manage the operating time of both schedulable and non-schedulable loads through consumer’s interaction. The consumers can save money by operating them in lower price periods. However, in spite of its privileges this approach has the tendency to accumulate more load at low electricity price time as the load is being shifted from other periods. Therefore, an addition optimization is used to formulate the second peak-generated problem by defining certain constraints for the consumption. For non-schedulable loads an optimizing scheme is proposed where the utility controls the operation of the loads like refrigeration, HVAC system with respect to the consumer comfort levels. The simulation result validates the reduction in the peak demand on the grid.
Industrial pollution in Ota Ogun State, Nigeria: the disconnect between citizen, industry and government perspectives
Authors: Onilude Olalekan Odunewu
Published: May 2021

This study examined how residents of Ota, in Ogun State Nigeria, perceive the effects of industrial pollution. It also reviewed the policies that the state government has adopted in controlling and preventing industrial pollution in the past years. Surveys and interviews were used to determine the perceptions of community members and the policy actions of government. The sampling technique used during the survey was purposeful sampling. Data were analyzed through Microsoft Excel and content analysis. Research results showed that residents perceive
that industries in Ota pollute the environment a lot. The study also revealed that air pollution through smoke is the major environmental concern for residents in comparison to water and soil pollution. The study revealed that citizens believe the government has not been effective in managing industrial pollution despite its claim that various policy options are being used to address the issue. This study makes recommendations, which could further improve
environmental issues in the communities. The successful implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of policies and involvement of residents has the potential to enhance environmental sustainability in Ota.
Aerodynamic aspects in the development of morphing winglet for a regional aircraft
Authors: Paudel Prakash
Published: May 2021

An aerodynamic analysis is conducted for morphing winglets on a regional aircraft. The optimum drag, bending moment, stall angle and maximum lift coeffcient are evaluated for various mission segments by varying winglet design parameters. Aero-elastic studies are conducted in order to incorporate wing deformation effects in addition to exploring maneuver load alleviation capability of the morphing winglet.
The results show drag benefit up to 1% in cruise and wing bending moment and winglet bending moment benefits of 2.4% and 63% at 2.5g symmetric maneuver conditions. The total aircraft drag benefit translates to additional allowable structural weight that can be applied to the design of winglet actuation system. The morphing winglet shows superior stall behavior and attenuates high wing loads. The estimated wing-winglet loads will help in proper selection of actuators. This study is also expected to help in elevating technology readiness level of the morphing winglet technology.
Growing self-organizing tree-based kernel smoother for machine learning and data mining
Authors: Zheng Bohan
Published: May 2021

With Internet of Things (IoT) being prevalently adopted in recent years, traditional machine learning and data mining methods can hardly be competent to deal with the complex big data problems if applied alone. However, hybridizing those who have complementary advantages could achieve optimized practical solutions. This work discusses how to solve multivariate regression problems and extract intrinsic knowledge by hybridizing Self-Organizing Maps (SOM) and Regression Trees. A dual-layer SOM map is developed in which the first layer accomplishes unsupervised learning and then regression tree layer performs supervised learning in the second layer to get predictions and
extract knowledge. In this framework, SOM neurons serve as kernels with similar training samples mapped so that regression tree could achieve regression locally. In this way, the difficulties of applying and visualizing local regression on high dimensional data are overcome. Further, we provide an automated growing mechanism based on a few stop criteria without adding new parameters. A case study of solving Electrical Vehicle (EV) range anxiety problem is presented and it demonstrates that our proposed hybrid model is quantitatively precise and interpretive.

key words: Multivariate Regression, Big Data, Machine Learning, Data Mining, Self-Organizing Maps (SOM), Regression Tree, Electrical Vehicle (EV), Range Estimation, Internet of Things (IoT)
Dynamic power dissipation of basic logic gates
Authors: Pourbahri Katayoun
Published: May 2021

In this thesis, a model is proposed to estimate the dynamic power dissipation of CMOS logic gate that is loaded with identical logic gates. The proposed model is based on parsitic capacitance, input capacitance and input-to-output coupling capacitance of the gate. Also, model takes into account transistor width and has a second order relation with fanout. Using 0.13um CMOS technology and netlist (Cadence), basic logic gates are designed and loaded by identical basic logic gates. Basic logic gates dynamic power are simulated and compared with the calculated values of proposed model over a range of transistor sizes and capacitive load condition. The proposed model shows a good agreement with the simulated value of dynamic power dissipation of basic logic gates that are loaded by identical basic logic gates.
Analysis of the mixing of solid particles in the slant cone and ploughshare mixers via Discrete Element Method (DEM)
Authors: Seyed-Alian Seyed-Meysam
Published: May 2021

Discrete element method (DEM) was employed to characterize the mixing of the solid particles in two different types of the powder blenders. In the first part of this study, DEM was used to investigate the effects of initial loading, drum speed, fill level, and agitator speed on the mixing efficiency of a slant cone mixer. DEM simulation results were in good agreement with the experimentally determined data, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In the second part of this study, DEM was employed to characterize the mixing of the solid particles in a Ploughshare mixer. To validate the model, the simulation results were compared to the positron emission particle tracking (PEPT) data reported in the literature. The validated DEM was then utilized to calculate the mixing index as a function of the initial loading, plough rotational speed, fill level, and particle size for a ploughshare mixer.
Network intrusion detection using machine learning
Authors: Jalali Mosallam Seyed Pedrum
Published: May 2021

In this research we have studied the use of machine learning techniques in detecting network
intrusions. Most research in the field has used the very outdated dataset (KDDCup99) which
consists of a set handcrafted features. In our research we present models that work well on both
the older dataset and on newer datasets such as ISCX2014 and ISCX2012. We also present
methods for extracting features from these datasets. Another issue we found with most research in
this field is that they do not study the effect of surges in regular network traffic and how that might
affect the model. We put our model to test in 10x traffic and show its effectiveness under these
conditions. We also study how semi-supervised models can be used in training NIDS models
without directly showing them labeled data.