Masters Theses

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    4-Bit Cellular Automata Encryption Analysis
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2017-07-13) Leitner, Dallas ; Salman, Karim ; Boles, Walter ; Sbenaty, Saleh ; Engineering Technology
    Forms of cellular automata have been used for decades in various niches. One such use is random number generation for data encryption. There are numerous ways that have been developed for this purpose, but they are largely centered on the use of the 3-bit rule space. While this rule space has been tested and proven to possess the desired traits, limiting CA to only the 3-bit rule space severely limits the potential for extreme levels of complexity. To that end, this research aims to explore the 4-bit rule space to find new potential rules that possess the desired level of complexity with the hope that the methods used can be applied to still greater rule spaces.
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    4-Bit Cellular Automata Encryption Analysis
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2017-07-13) Leitner, Dallas ; Salman, Karim ; Boles, Walter ; Sbenaty, Saleh ; Engineering Technology
    Forms of cellular automata have been used for decades in various niches. One such use is random number generation for data encryption. There are numerous ways that have been developed for this purpose, but they are largely centered on the use of the 3-bit rule space. While this rule space has been tested and proven to possess the desired traits, limiting CA to only the 3-bit rule space severely limits the potential for extreme levels of complexity. To that end, this research aims to explore the 4-bit rule space to find new potential rules that possess the desired level of complexity with the hope that the methods used can be applied to still greater rule spaces.
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    A COBALT OXIDE CARBON NANOTUBE COMPOSITE FOR DOPAMINE DETECTION
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2018) Kader, Mohammad Salauddin ; Chemistry
    Dopamine (DA) is a catecholamine and performs as a neurotransmitter in the human body. Dopamine plays an important role in the process of many biological networks. Research showed that unusual amounts of DA can cause several neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and other mental disorder. Cobalt oxide (CoO) particles were tethered to carboxylic-acid-functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (COOH-MWNT) using sonication. The resulting composite (CoO/COOH-MWNT) was applied to glassy carbon electrodes for detecting DA within the 0.5-5 µM range and 10-100 µM range. Current versus concentration was measured using cyclic voltammetry. Different parameters such as loading, pH and sonication times (0 to 60 min) were varied to optimize current response. Good selectivity was found against uric acid and ascorbic acid. The (CoO/COOH-MWNT) composite was characterized by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR), Raman spectroscopy, Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).
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    A comparative study of stress physiology in the common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon), the diamondback watersnake (Nerodia rhombifer), and the queen snake (Regina septemvittata).
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2018-04-13) McCallie, Katharine Louise ; Klukowski, Matthew ; Cobb, Vincent ; Otter, Ryan ; Biology
    Vertebrates respond to stressors in part by increasing the secretion of glucocorticoids from the adrenal gland. Both intrinsic and extrinsic factors (e.g., age, sex, season) have been shown to influence glucocorticoid secretion within a species, but understanding of species differences in glucocorticoid secretory patterns is limited. In this study, I examined corticosterone, progesterone, and testosterone levels in the common watersnake (Nerodia sipedon), the diamondback watersnake (Nerodia rhombifer), and the queen snake (Regina septemvittata) at a capture baseline and in response to an acute 30 minute confinement stress. I also examined the same steroids in Nerodia sipedon subjected to three weeks of laboratory housing, a known chronic stressor. All three species exhibited elevated corticosterone in response to acute stress but baseline and post- stress levels varied among species. Overall, Nerodia sipedon and Nerodia rhombifer exhibited similar corticosterone and testosterone levels both at capture baseline and after 30 minutes of confinement stress. Regina septemvittata had substantially higher corticosterone levels than the two Nerodia species. Nerodia sipedon subjected to chronic stress showed no significant changes in corticosterone levels from the baseline to post-lab housing, suggesting downregulation of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and glucocorticoid production.
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    A Comparative Study on Two Strategies for Distributed Classification
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2018-05-30) Xu, Honglan ; Wu, Qiang ; Hong, Don ; Liu, Yeqian ; Green, Lisa ; Basic & Applied Sciences
    Distributed learning is an effective tool to process big data. An easy and effective distributed learning approach is the divide and conquer method. It first partitions the whole data set into multiple subsets. A base learning algorithm is then applied to each subset. Finally the results from these subsets are coupled together. In the classification setting, many classification algorithms can be used in the second stage. Typical ones include the logistic regression and support vector machines. For the third stage, both voting and averaging can be used as the coupling strategies. In this thesis, empirical studies are done to thoroughly compare the effectiveness of these two coupling strategies. Averaging is found to be more effective in most scenarios.
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    A COMPARISON OF PARALLEL IMPLEMENTATIONS OF PATHFINDING ALGORITHMS
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2021) Johnson, Charles W ; Pettey, Chrisila ; Seo, Suk ; Aderholdt, Ferrol
    Pathfinding algorithms are in constant use today – be it for generating driving directions or maintaining the routing tables that are used for routing traffic around the Internet. As would be expected, a given algorithm’s performance varies depending upon both the type and the scale of the application. Additionally, the use of parallel computing techniques may or may not decrease the runtime for a given problem. This thesis examines three commonly used pathfinding algorithms – Dijkstra, Bellman-Ford, and Floyd-Warshall – and seeks to illustrate their strengths and weaknesses when analyzing graphs that range from small and sparse to large and dense in various parallel computing environments. As well, focus is given to the use of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) as parallel computing devices themselves and the consequential reduction in the amount of hardware necessary for a given task.
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    A COMPARISON OF RICE BRAN OIL AND CORN OIL IN THE EQUINE DIET
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2019) Garrick, Morgan Wright ; Agribusiness and Agriscience
    Rice bran oil (RBO) has gained attention as a fat and potential antioxidant supplement, but there is limited research examining this supplement in the equine diet. This study compared the effect of RBO versus corn oil (CO) on non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and triglyceride (TG) concentrations, rump fat (RF), forearm (ARM) and gaskin (GAS) circumference, and total antioxidant status (TAS) in lightly exercised horses. Twelve mature horses were randomly assigned to a cross-over design where they received either RBO or CO at a rate of 324 mg/kg BW/d for 35 days. After 5 weeks of supplementation, the horses were given a 3-week washout period with no oil supplement, followed by 35 days of the opposing treatment. During both periods, on days 0, 17, and 35, RF, GAS and ARM circumference, and BW were measured and blood was obtained. Serum NEFA, TAS, and TG were analyzed. No differences were found in RBO vs CO in any variables measured, BW (P = 0.11), RF (P = 0.68), GAS (P = 0.70), ARM (P = 0.33), TG (P = 0.70), NEFA (P = 0.46), or TAS (P = 0.16). The current study indicates that RBO has similar effects to CO when fed as a fat supplement to horses.
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    A COMPARISON OF SERIAL VERSUS PARALLEL ALGORITHMS FOR ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORKS
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-03-24) Reavis, Gregg ; Gu, Yi ; Pettey, Chrisila ; Yoo, Sung ; Computer Science
    The majority of low-end sensors in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) operate on batteries, which either cannot be replaced or are not practical to replace. Therefore, it is important to measure the total energy consumption in WSNs, in order to minimize power consumption and maximize network lifespan. Many researchers have been devoting their efforts into this area, which shows that a heterogeneous network produces a better solution to prolonging the network lifespan. So far as we know, the algorithms for minimizing the energy consumption have all been implemented in serial algorithms. In this work, we propose a parallel programming approach for optimizing the minimum energy consumption and maximizing the lifespan of WSNs. The results from an extensive set of experiments on a large number of simulated sensor networks illustrate the performance superiority of the proposed parallel approach over an existing serial algorithm and confirms a parallel solution will provide faster results.
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    A Comparison of the Perceptions and Experiences of Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, and Instructors in College and University Psychology Programs
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2021) Ganus, Sean Dylan ; Loveless, James ; Contreras, Bethany ; Pennington, John
    Extending the methods of previous research comparing the experiential perceptions of undergraduate and graduate psychology students by ethnic and gender identity, two survey instruments were developed for the purpose of comparing the experiential perceptions of psychology students with the experiential perceptions of psychology instructors by ethnic and gender identity. In contrast to earlier research, no significant differences were found in between undergraduate and graduate psychology student perceptions in relation to perceptions of ethnic diversity in academic environments. Additionally, no significant correlation was found between student satisfaction and reported student ethnic identity, student satisfaction and mentoring by instructors, encountered encouragement or barriers, perceived ethnic representation in psychology, and perceived ethnic and gender diversity in academic environments. Qualitatively, undergraduate and graduate students generally aligned in their experiential perceptions except with reported mentoring, with graduate students reporting having experienced greater degrees of mentoring. Additionally, graduate students reported lesser degrees of diversity in both psychology and their immediate academic environments. Instructor responses differed from undergraduate responses regarding mentoring, with undergraduates generally reporting having not been mentored by psychology instructors, and instructors reporting having mentored undergraduate and graduate students. Further refinement of the survey instruments used in the project is needed before the instruments can serve as effective tools to assist in gauging perceived representation and diversity in college and university psychology programs.
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    A Computational Electrostatic Modeling Pipeline for Comparing pH-dependent gp120-CD4 Interactions in Founder and Chronic HIV Strains
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2017-03-24) Howton, Jonathan ; Phillips, Joshua ; Barbosa, Sal ; Wright, Stephen ; Computer Science
    Though Human Immunodeficiency Virus has been studied for several decades, a consistently
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    A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-06-23) Okwera, Peter ; Beckman, Wendy ; Georgiou, Andrea ; Aerospace
    ABSTRACT
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    A Cross-Cultural Comparison of US and Chinese Students' Perceptions of School Safety
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-08-15) Gong, Rong ; Marshall, Seth ; Rust, James ; Jin, Ying ; Psychology
    There is currently a lack of international cross-cultural research that compares students’ perception of school safety. To address this, the current study compared US and Chinese high school students’ perception of school safety. Participants (N= 5,377) were recruited from three high schools in China (n= 1,289) and 12 high schools in the US students (n= 4,088). To assess students’ perceptions of school safety, each student was administered the Modified Delaware School Climate Survey-Student (Yang et al., 2013), a measure that includes a school safety subscale among others. For the cross-cultural purposes of this study, the instrument was translated into Mandarin Chinese using a double-back translation method. Using independent t tests, results indicated that Chinese high school students’ perceptions of school safety were significantly higher than US peers. This finding was consistent across grade level and gender. Results are discussed in terms of important cross-cultural outlook dimensions that may account for the school safety perception differences.
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    A DIVERGENCE TIME ANALYSIS OF BUTTERFLIES IN THE PARADIGM OF THE PLEISTOCENE REFUGIA HYPOTHESIS
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2020) Tate, Alexander Delacy
    Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the diversity and distribution of organisms. A leading hypothesis for biodiversity in the Neotropics, the Pleistocene Refugia Hypothesis (PRH), suggests that a series of climatic oscillations during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 mya – 12 kya) produced glacial cycles that periodically isolated plant communities into “islands”. These islands of suitable habitat surrounded by areas of relatively inhospitable habitat became refugia for organisms that required those specific plant communities, and speciation occurred when populations were isolated. I examined whether or not diversity of extant species of butterflies can be explained by the PRH. To do so, I identified pairs of sister species from previously published phylogenies, and used a molecular clock, based on the mitochondrial DNA CO1 sequence, to infer divergence times for each sister pair. Most species (83%) I examined diverged during the Pleistocene; thus, my data complement a growing body of evidence in support of the PRH.
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    A Duality between hypergraphs and cone lattices
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2018-03-22) French, Zack ; Hart, James ; Sarkar, Medha ; Ye, Dong ; Basic & Applied Sciences
    In this paper, we introduce and characterize the class of lattices that arise as the
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    A Flame Upon the Hearthstones: The Columbian, The Cresset, and Tennessee Catholicity, 1915-1932
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2022) Mosier, Kenneth Trent ; West, Carroll ; Pruitt, Lisa
    For nearly a hundred years, a hackberry tree dedicated to the memory of an Irish Catholic soldier who perished fighting in the First World War stood in Nashville, Tennessee. Though historians have largely overlooked its significance, the living memorial to James Simmons Timothy was symbolic of a larger struggle by Irish Catholics to integrate into Southern society. This project explores the ways in which Catholic institutions like the Knights of Columbus and Diocese of Nashville used the press to further their assimilative campaigns before, during, and after World War I. Two papers, The Columbian and The Cresset, provide a rich base of primary source material. The Columbian illuminates how Irish Catholic activism during the war years led to a regionally distinct form of assimilation that I call Southernization. The Cresset chronicles how Nashville’s Irish Catholic community harnessed its assimilative successes in World War I and the beginning of the 1920s to stake a claim to indigeneity by the end of the decade.
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    A Forgotten Appalachia: The Graham Farm of Alabama's Paint Rock Valley
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-10-26) Eatherly, Jay Bradley ; West, Carroll ; Pruitt, Lisa ; History
    Scholars have often studied Appalachia. To many, Appalachia ends in Tennessee, North Carolina, and perhaps, the northern tip of Georgia. However, the Appalachian range sees its southern most mountains terminate in north Alabama. The Paint Rock Valley, which sits within the larger Tennessee River Valley, is home to a small community of Appalachian farmers, of which many have deep familial roots. The physical landscape is beautiful but can be harsh, which dictates the type of farming allowed within the region. Despite the difficulties, families have been adopting and practicing progressive farming techniques for well over a century. The cultural landscape shares similarities with other Appalachian regions while maintaining its own unique differences.
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    A GOAL-ORIENTED EVALUATION OF THE FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAM AT THE SAINT LOUISE CLINIC
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2016-06-28) Murfree, Sarah Tomlinson ; Weatherby, Norman ; Wrye, Bethany ; Health & Human Performance
    Medical residency programs have challenges including cost, quality, and physician shortages. Family medicine residency programs provide training in many specialty areas to ensure physicians have the knowledge needed to treat the whole family. Program evaluations can identify challenges, areas for improvement, and successes in residency programs.
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    A HUMAN FOLLOWING ROBOT FOR FALL DETECTION
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2020) Adebola, Simeon Oluwafunmilore
    This thesis presents work on a human following robot for detecting falls in the home of the elderly. The goal is to have a robot that can detect a human, follow the human in a cluttered space, and determine when the human falls. A Raspberry Pi based Robot known as Fall Detection Robot (FADER) that had been developed in the Real-time and Embedded Control, Computing, and Communication (REC3) Lab at Middle Tennessee State University is used, and a number of adjustments are made to its design including adding a Pi Camera and an Arduino microcontroller board. Computer vision deep learning-based object detection is used as the means of detecting the human, and linear regression and threshold-based algorithms are used to estimate the distance to the human, navigate and to determine falls. The advantages of using FADER for fall detection include its being mobile, the user not being required to be involved for the technology to work, and its being non-invasive with respect to the user’s body. Furthermore, FADER is low-cost and easily manufacturable. Results show that the modified FADER functions with a high precision of 100% but low sensitivity of 42%.
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    A Mathematician's Guide to Fuzzy Logic with Applications in Fuzzy Additive Systems
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2021) Thomas, Zachariah Alexander ; Martin, Mary ; Margin, Mary ; Ding, Wandi ; Hart, James ; Phillips, Joshua
    Traditional set theory, or crisp set theory, is built on the concept of crisp sets. These are sets for which the membership of an element within a set is defined to be either true or false; in or out; 1 or 0. This construction is extremely useful, as the vast majority of mathematics has shown, but struggles to model concepts of our world which possess vagueness or uncertainty. Therefore, as in the style of Lotfi Zadeh [51], we explore an expansion of set theory to allow an element to be partially within a set, thus constituting what is known as a fuzzy set. These fuzzy sets are namely used in modelling this vagueness. Definitions of core mathematical constructions can be expanded to be defined for these fuzzy sets. These expanded definitions prove to be equivalent to traditional, crisp definitions when crisp sets are used. Throughout this paper, we explore the results of fuzzy research in set theory, algebra, and analysis; as well as the selected topics of fuzzy systems, an application of fuzzy logic in computer science. It is our aim that the reader, with a moderate background in theoretical mathematics, will be able to read this paper as a guided entry into the world of fuzzy mathematics. There are many reviews of fuzzy logic that have a similar goal. These reviews frequently focus on a fuzzy set theory introduction along with a specified application (see [29] and [31]). In contrast, we aim in this paper to provide a comprehensive, concise exploration of recent fuzzy research in a variety of mathematical fields, while illustrating the parallels of our fuzzy constructions to corresponding traditional ones. We do this following the recent research of the international journal, Fuzzy Sets and Systems. Additionally, we conclude this paper by illustrating the logical structure of fuzzy inference systems, as an exploration of preliminary information needed by a researcher to interact with the recent work, “Fuzzy Additive Systems” [23], by Bart Kosko.
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    A Metagenomic Analysis of the Honey Bee Gut Microbiome Following Oral Imidacloprid Exposure
    (Middle Tennessee State University, 2018) Gain, Emily ; Biology
    Thought to play a significant role in their health, the intestinal microbiota of honey bees is a growing subject of interest. Imidacloprid, one of the highest selling insecticides worldwide, is transferred to the nectar and pollen of treated plants and therefore is likely to be ingested by foraging workers. Little is known about the effects of imidacloprid (and pesticides in general) on bee microbiota. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that exposure to the pesticide imidacloprid alters the community structure of commensal bacteria in the honey bee (Apis mellifera) gut. Workers were kept in captivity and fed a sucrose solution containing imidacloprid at 5 μg/L, a field realistic dose. The relative abundance of bacterial taxa in the gut was determined using MiSeq. Oral imidacloprid exposure did not appear to impact the community structure of the honey bee gut microbiome.