Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Testing the Limits: A DC Ecoblock Creates Community for Everyone(2019) Rowedder, Patricia; Gabrielli, Julie; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Loneliness is an emotional feeling that represents disconnection. With one in five people suffering from loneliness, it has become a public health crisis. Ranked second in the nation for loneliness, Washington DC is three times the national average. The transient nature of the greater DC population has created a negative perception on the city, causing people to either move on or move out. Such a progressive and influential city seems stuck in a stagnant pattern, not reacting to the constantly changing density, mobility, and needs of the built and non-built environment. This thesis aims to explore the connections of ecology and psychology of architecture through a superblock typology in an effort to battle loneliness in the nation’s capital. A superblock is a large-scale entity both extroverted and permeable composed of business, community, and other institutional programs, each different but overlapping in a common elements and connections. The superblock throughout time has been given a negative connotation because of exploited failed attempts. When using the principles correctly, however, the superblock typology provides endless possibilities and solutions to connect, engage, and ignite community interaction through strategically placed nodes of space and diverse program. If one were to take create new principle site, culture, and health specific, could a meaningful interaction and connection through a ecoblock in DC be created?Item Dynamics of Elastic Capsules in Cross-Junction and T-Junction Microfluidic Channels(2017) Mputu udipabu, Pompon; Dimitrakopoulos, Panagiotis; Chemical Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this dissertation, we investigate via numerical computations the dynamicsof elastic capsules (made from a thin strain-hardening elastic membrane) in two microfluidic channels of cross-junction and T-junction geometries. For the cross-junction microfluidic channel, we consider an initially spherical capsule with a size smaller than the cross-section of the square channels comprising the cross-junction, and investigate the effects of the capsule size, flow rate, and lateral flow rates on the transient dynamics and deformation of low-viscosity and equiviscous capsules. In addition, we also study the effects of viscosity ratio on the transient capsule dynamics and deformation. Our investigation shows that the intersecting lateral flows at the cross-junction act like a constriction. Larger capsules, higher flow rates and higher intersecting lateral flows result in stronger hydrodynamic forces that cause a significant capsule deformation, i.e., the capsule’s length increases while its height decreases significantly. The capsule obtains different dynamic shape transitions due to the asymmetric shape of the cross-junction. Larger capsules take more time to pass through the cross-junction owning to the higher flow blocking. As the viscosity ratio decreases, the capsule’s transient deformation increases and tail formation develops transiently, especially for low-viscosity capsules owing to the normal-stress effects of the surrounding fluid on the capsule’s interface. However, the viscosity ratio does not affect much the capsule velocity due to a weak inner circulation. Our findings suggest that the tail formation of low-viscosity capsule may promote membrane breaking and thus drug release of pharmaceutical capsules in the microcirculation. Furthermore, we investigate via numerical computations the motion of an elastic capsule (made from an elastic membrane obeying the strain-hardening Skalak law) flowing inside a microfluidic T-junction device. In particular, we consider the effects of the capsule size, flow rate, lateral flow rate, and fluid viscosity ratio on the motion of the capsule in the T-junction micro-channel. As the capsule’s initial lateral position increases, the capsule moves faster and reaches different final lateral positions. As the capsule size increases, the gap between the capsule’s surface and the channel wall decreases. This results in the development of stronger hydrodynamic forces and a decrease in the capsule velocity due to flow blocking. As the capsule size increases, there is a small lateral migration towards the micro-channel centerline, which is the low-shear region of the T-junction micro-channel. This migration is in agreement with experimental and numerical studies on non-inertial lateral migration of vesicles in bounded Poiseuille flow by Coupier et al. [13] who showed that the combined effects of the walls and of the curvature of the velocity profile induce a lateral migration toward the centerline of the channel. As the capillary number Ca increases, the stronger hydrodynamic forces cause the capsule to extend along the flow direction (i.e., the capsule’s length Lx increases as the capsule enters the T-junctions and decreases as the capsule exits the T-junction). There is a small lateral migration away from the micro-channel centerline as the flow rate Ca increases. The capsule lateral position zc, main-flow velocity Ux and migration velocity Uz are practically not affected by the fluids viscosity ratio λ. As the channel’s lateral flow rate increases, the capsule migrates downwards towards the bottom of the device. Our findings on the lateral migration in the T-junction micro-channel suggest that there is a great potential for designing a T-junction microfluidic device that can be used to manipulate artificial and biological capsules.Item “Freedom in Their Hands is a Deadly Poison”: Print Culture, Legal Movements, and Slaveholding Resistance on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, 1850-61(2018) Chaires, Jacob Wayne; Bonner, Christopher; History; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The goal of this thesis is twofold: to explain the rise of slaveholding anxiety in relation to the growing free black question, as well as to articulate how slaveholders sought to regain their power. I argue that slaveholders on the Eastern Shore politically organized around ideas and concepts produced in newspapers. Slaveholders utilized new ideas about race and the law to organize, and call upon the General Assembly to enact tougher sanctions on free black mobility. Newspapers are not only a means by which to quote mine, but they are also living, breathing, cultural organisms. They both reflect slaveholding anxieties, as well as play into them. They both record local news events, as well as conspicuously pair those local stories with similar stories from other counties, states, and nations.Item Voices of the Cello: Speak, Sing, Play; An Aesthetic Examination of Style Periods in the Cello Repertoire and How They Relate to the Viability of Transcription(2019) Singer, Daniel Pecos; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)This dissertation was produced in conjunction with three cello recitals as part of a Performance Dissertation Project. Each recital focuses on music from style periods ranging from the Baroque to the twenty-first century and seeks to demonstrate how the aesthetic language of a composer or style period affects the viability of transcription. The recitals also highlight the unique qualities of the cello, both when playing music originally for another instrument and when performing music specifically written for it. The first recital includes music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Franz Schubert. Bach’s Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV 1012—performed on a five-string Baroque cello—shows how the spoken quality of the Baroque idiom in Bach’s music allows for transcription between instruments. The Sonata in A minor for Arpeggione and Piano, D. 821 by Schubert offers an opportunity to expose the vocal quality of the ello while exploring the limitations of transcription in this aesthetic language so inspired by song. The second recital focuses on transcriptions within the violin family of instruments by including a transcription of the Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78 by Johannes Brahms, as well as César Franck’s Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano. While the Franck only needs minor adjustments for the cello version (the piano part is untouched), the Brahms is transposed from G major to D major in order to be suitable for the cello. The final recital completes the arc by culminating in music written specifically for the cello—music that would be impossible to imagine on any other instrument. First the Sonata for Solo Cello, Op.8 by Zoltán Kodály develops the unique sound of scordatura by lowering the pitch of two lower strings by one half step (from C and G to B and F-sharp). Similarly, the Sonata for Solo Cello by György Ligeti is so cellistic in its conception that it is essentially unviable on any other instrument. Finally, Crest, Clutter, Clamor by Bradley S. Green was designed specifically for the physical characteristics of the cello, thus making it a quintessential example of cello specific writing. The first recital was performed on November 26, 2018, with Ruth Bright on the piano in Ulrich Recital Hall. The second recital took place on March 6, 2019 in the Gildenhorn Recital Hall with Andrew Welch and Alexei Ulitin on the piano. The final recital was completed on May 5, 2019 in Ulrich Recital Hall.Item The Clarinet Repertoire and Musical Aesthetic of William Thomas McKinley(2019) Morales, Melissa; DiLutis, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md)The clarinet repertoire of William Thomas McKinley is varied and interesting, but seldom performed today. The few recordings that exist were created by an elite contingency of soloists and chamber musicians who were close friends and colleagues with McKinley. Outside their premieres and these few recordings, his music has seldom been performed. While many of his works are challenging and engaging, most were never published and thus remain inaccessible. Through several engraving projects and performances, this dissertation brings light to a corner of the clarinet repertoire seldom explored and heard today. For this project, I have completed performance editions of several McKinley works and presented them on recital. I plan to make the editions themselves available through later publication. This will make his music more accessible for performers and audiences alike. A recital on McKinley’s influences, including Aaron Copland, Mel Powell, Gunther Schuller, and Lukas Foss, took place on December 7, 2018 in Gildenhorn Recital Hall. The recital on April 19, 2019 in Leah Smith Recital Hall concentrated on McKinley’s development and career trajectory, featuring For One, Mostly Blues, Two Romances for clarinet, violin, and piano, and Intermezzos No. 1 & 2. The final recital took place on May 4, 2019 in Ulrich Recital Hall and featured what could be considered his greatest works and clarinet duos, Clarinet Duets Book 1, Clarinet Concerto No. 2, and Clarinet Sonata. The recitals were recorded on compact discs and are archived within the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM).Item PERFORMANCE OF REPAIRED CONCRETE COLUMNS UNDER AXIAL LOADING(2019) Seyidoglu, Murat; Zhang, Yunfeng; Civil Engineering; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this research was to determine the performance and axial load capacity of repaired reinforced concrete columns under compressive loading. While various concrete column strengthening methods, using concrete or carbon fiber reinforcing polymer (CFRP) jacketing, have been exhaustively researched, there is an insufficient amount of research regarding the performance of column repairs utilizing concrete removal and replacement. To research this topic, nine reinforced, one-third scale concrete columns were cast; and, six of these columns were repaired with conventional concrete repair methods recommended by the American Concrete Institute’s Guide to Concrete Repair (546-14). Shallow (extending up to the exterior faces of column ties) and deep repairs (extending behind the vertical bars) were performed at the bases of the columns by chipping the concrete with a handheld chipping hammer and patching with a shrinkage compensated repair mortar as it is commonly done for repairing corrosion related spalls. Results of the axial compression loading tests and failure patterns of the repaired columns were compared to that of the control samples. It was found that all repaired concrete columns achieved comparable load capacity values and exhibited the same failure mode as the intact columns.Item Invisible Crisis(2018) Goldstein, Gregory; Du Puy, Karl; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Since their introduction to the built environment, mechanical systems and building technologies have been taken for granted. They are insulated, buried, removed from view, and expected to perform the single task expected of them. In 2012, David D. Cosner developed a report on University of Maryland’s continued deferred maintenance entitled “Invisible Crisis.” The University of Maryland, hosting goals to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, must make the state of its mechanical infrastructure a priority. This thesis explores the power of mechanical infrastructure to propel us into a future of integrated design. Pre-existing consolidation of mechanical elements within SCUB (satellite central utility building) structures are a point of focus. New SCUB(s) act as performative infrastructural monuments, utilizing proximity of elements to increase functionality. Occupants will be immersed in the functions necessary for campus/building operations, forming a tactile connection between university occupants and their biproducts/energy usage.Item RIKA RESILIENCE: INFORMING SUSTAINABILITY IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA(2019) Warrick, Elizabeth Muthoni; Preece, Jennifer; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The consensus in systems science is that environmental sustainability ensues from resilience, i.e., underlying capacity for preservation of core functions through adaptation in changed circumstances; and resilience itself is only sustainable when built from internal attributes of the system. Impalpability of internal resilience to external agents contributes to failures of global development in Africa, calling for analysis informed from within. This work proposes that African resilience is founded in Rika. Within Rika, ecological stewardship is integrated with noncompetitive elected representative governance and achieved through scaled modulation of systemic diversities. Eroded at macro level, Rika continues to drive grassroots enterprise. Causal attributes are, therefore, key to understanding sustainability and effecting structural reform of governance at all levels in Africa. Documented international usage of Rika concepts and terminologies has significance for research linking global expansion of Homo sapiens to the development of conceptual thinking in East Africa. Findings are based in research with the Mbeere of Kenya, East Africa, a community of 195,000, whose name Mbeere, means First Peoples. Data extracted regionally from 750,000 social media users informs context. From an indigenist method-as-theory stance (Indigenist Maths), we leverage qualitative and quantitative tools, bolstering capacity of research and practice to serve indigenous goals at the intersection of social media and Place. A dynamic indigenous information world (iWorld) ensues through community interactions interconnecting local knowledge with global information to foster economic enterprise and social ecological stewardship. We term this iWorld, Rikamedia. Examples of resilience attributes emerging from the data include: the Rika ideal of non-competitive governance, potentially impactful of conflicting democratic ideals centered in competitive governance; transcendence of natural hierarchies through unambiguous reciprocated interactions from micro to macro levels of society; design for participatory diversity, equality and inclusion with impacts on systemic divides of gender, age, and access, etc.; and lastly, a learning modality aligns governance with participatory process, emboldens risk tolerance; nurtures diversities and fosters innovation. An entrepreneurial micropilot Bamboo project ensues from community-researcher interactions, with recommendations for agroforestry citizen science, technology, funding, and diaspora capacitation. Findings are scalable in Africa South of the Sahara, and may have significance for resilience when projects incorporate Rika attributes in sustainability planning.Item St. Ann's Unity House; Architecture as a Means of Supporting Family Structure(2019) Hess, Joanna Leigh; Curry, Daniel; Architecture; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis is a transitional housing program for young mothers or expectant mothers who are ready to take the next step in their independence. This facility is an extension of an existing Catholic charity called St. Ann’s Center for Children Youth and Families. Women who find themselves in threatening situations with their child can stay at St. Ann’s while they gain their strength. This thesis acts as a stepping stone between St. Ann’s structured and protective environment to complete self-sufficiency. The main focus for this thesis is providing a safe environment that fosters growth, health, independence and a supportive community for these women and their children.Item Multivariate Multilevel Value-Added Modeling: Constructing a Teacher Effectiveness Composite(2019) Lissitz, Anna; Stapleton, Laura; Measurement, Statistics and Evaluation; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This simulation study presents a justification for evaluating teacher effectiveness with a multivariate multilevel model. It was hypothesized that the multivariate model leads to more precise effectiveness estimates when compared to separate univariate multilevel models. Then, this study investigated combining the multiple effectiveness estimates that are produced by the multivariate multilevel model and produced by separate univariate multilevel models. Given that the models could produce significantly different effectiveness estimates, it was hypothesized that the composites formed from the results of the multivariate multilevel model differ from the composites formed from the results of the separate univariate models in terms of bias. The correlations between the composites from the different models were very high, providing no evidence that the model choice was impactful. Also, the differences in bias and fit were slight. While the findings do not really support a claim for the use of the more complex multivariate model over the univariate models, the increased theoretical validity from adding outcomes to the VAM does.