NDSU Theses & Dissertations

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Research performed to achieve a formal degree from NDSU. Includes theses, dissertations, master's papers, and videos. The Libraries are currently undertaking a scanning project to include all bound student theses, dissertations, and masters papers.

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4-Dimethylamino Pyridine (DMAP) Catalyst with Fluxional Chirality: Synthesis and Applications
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Ma, Gaoyuan
Organocatalysis using small organic molecules to catalyze organic transformations, has emerged as a powerful synthetic tool that is complementary to metal-catalyzed transformations and remarkably promote stereoselective synthesis. Our group has designed useful templates, ligands, and additives that use fluxional groups to control and/or enhance stereoselectivity in a variety of asymmetric transformations. A key feature of this strategy is that the size of the fluxional substituent can be varied readily. As an extension of this strategy we became interested in developing efficient and broadly applicable and adjustable 4-dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) organocatalysts. In our design, we surmised that a fluxional group would be effective in relaying stereochemical information from the fixed chiral center to the catalytic center of DMAP. Presented herein the synthesis of novel fluxionally chiral DMAP catalysts and their application in the acylative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols and axially chiral biaryls, dynamic kinetic resolution of chiral biaryls with low rotation barriers and allylic substitution reactions. In the beginning, a comprehensive study of the chiral relay concept in enantioselective transformations was reviewed and the historic and current story of the chiral relay concept is covered. The design and synthesis of fluxionally chiral 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalysts was introduced. The key issues addressed in this chapter include the design concept regarding a stereoselective fluxionally 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalyst and muti-step synthesis strategies developed for catalyst synthesis. The development of fluxionally chiral 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalysts in the acylative kinetic resolution studies of secondary alcohols as well as axially chiral biaryls is investigated. Six different secondary alcohols are resolved with good selectivity factors (6-37) and ten biaryl substrates are resolved with moderate to high selectivity factors (10-51). Dynamic kinetic resolution has more practical applications to organic synthesis than simple kinetic resolution. The dynamic kinetic resolution of atropisomeric biaryls using the novel fluxionally chiral 4-dimethylaminopyridine catalysts was explored and the corresponding acylated products were obtained with 11-80 %ee. The newly designed DMAP catalysts containing fluxional groups as a stereocontrol unit could also be effectively applied as a nucleophilic catalyst in asymmetric allylic aminations. A range of α-methylene-β-amino esters were obtained with good yields and selectivities (up to 72 %ee).
Above and Belowground Effects of Nutrient Applications and Mowing Treatments on Restored North Dakota Grasslands
(North Dakota State University, 2015) Kobiela, Breanna Lyn Paradeis
Although more than half of the annual production within North American grasslands occurs beneath the soil surface, this portion is oftentimes overlooked in ecological studies. In this study, we investigated the above- and belowground responses in restored grassland plots that were subjected to different nutrient and mowing treatments. This study was conducted at two locations in North Dakota: the Dickinson Research Extension Center (DREC); and the Albert K. Ekre Grassland Preserve (Ekre). We evaluated the above- and belowground responses using visual surveys, biomass harvesting, and minirhizotrons. At the DREC site, we found the belowground variables to be relatively unresponsive to the nutrient and mowing treatments – there were no significant differences in root length, surface area, number of tips, or branches. The aboveground variables did exhibit responses to repeated nitrogen applications (200 kg/ha·yr). Nitrogen applications were found to increase aboveground biomass over the control (660 g/m2 vs. 265 g/m2, respectively) and decrease the species richness in comparison to the control (3.25 vs. 7.29, respectively). There was a decrease in the ratio of root volume to average aboveground biomass in the DREC nitrogen plots that resulted from the increase in aboveground biomass despite no apparent changes in the root systems, indicating that the root systems in the nitrogen plots were able to support significantly more aboveground biomass than similarly sized root systems in plots that did not receive nitrogen. At the Ekre site, there were no significant differences in the belowground variables attributed to mowing. However, aboveground biomass was higher in the mowed sub-plots (xM=530 g/m2) than in the control sub-plots (xC=485 g/m2). Species richness was lower in the nitrogen (xN=4.46) than in the phosphorus plots (xP=5.66). Species richness was also lower in the plots that received the high application rates (200 kg/ha·yr nitrogen or 40 kg/ha·yr phosphorus) (xH=4.30) than the low application rates (20 kg/ha·yr nitrogen or 4 kg/ha·yr phosphorus) (xL=5.90). Root growth was highest in the low phosphorus and the high nitrogen plots. There were different responses in the root variables throughout the growing season as a function of nutrient type and application rate.
Academic Success and Retention: Assessing Variables that Make a Difference in a Baccalaureate Nursing Program
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Kopp, Wendy
Attrition rates for both traditional and nontraditional students in nursing programs across the U.S. are of concern in light of the current and projected shortage of nurses. The lack of success advancing through the nursing curriculum affects the nursing student, the nursing program, and the healthcare of the community. As a result, nursing programs have been encouraged to make student success programs a priority; however, there has been a paucity of research that has examined the effect these programs have on student success. Framed by Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a study skills seminar on self-efficacy and academic performance in BSN students, with an emphasis on nontraditional students. A true experimental pre-test post-test control group design determined if there was a statistical relationship between a study skills seminar and students’ perceived academic self-efficacy, and performance on multiple-choice exams in their nursing courses. Data consisted of results from pre- and post-intervention administrations of a researcher designed self-appraisal tool, demographic information, and exam performance. Data was reviewed using descriptive statistics and factorial between subjects analysis of variance’s (ANOVA’s). Significant self-efficacy gain scores (p = .039) were noted for the treatment group compared to the control group. Results also revealed a lower mean gain (non-significant) in total self-efficacy for nontraditional students compared to traditional students. There was no significant relationship between academic performance as measured by mean exam scores for the treatment group compared to the control group, nor was there a significant relationship for the nontraditional student on mean exam scores. An exploratory research section revealed that as class or educational level in the program increased, both self-efficacy gain and mean exam scores decreased. This study was a step in the right direction as it confirmed the positive effect a study skills seminar had on academic self-efficacy as well as its potential to influence academic success. Further research related to the effects a study skills seminar and test taking strategies has on academic self-efficacy and academic performance is warranted.
Achieving Inclusive Excellence: The Role of Change Agents and Institutional Artifacts in Diversifying Institutions
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Gravley-Stack, Kara Elizabeth
The research presented within this disquisition is focused on the work of institutional leaders to address historical inequalities in education by creating transformational culture change towards learning environments that support Inclusive Excellence. Organized as a three-article disquisition, the first article offers a comprehensive integrative review of educational research related to problems of access, achievement, and campus climate for diverse students. This article concludes with significant recommendations for practice and further research to guide continued efforts to embrace Inclusive Excellence. The second article utilizes the Q-Method research technique to investigate the subjective perspectives and experiences of Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) who serve as senior-level administrators focused on efforts to create institutional policies and practices that support Inclusive Excellence for students, faculty, and staff in the academy. The article concludes with several recommendations for practice and further research into efforts to support and advance the role of the CDO in postsecondary settings. The third article presents a qualitative content analysis of institutional websites to assess for evidence of Inclusive Excellence presented within the organizational rhetoric and artifacts presented on these websites. The analysis reveals recommendations for further study in this area, as well as recommendations for practice to guide efforts of institutional leaders to better articulate institutional commitment to Inclusive Excellence within the information presented on these websites.
Achiral Templates in Asymmetric Catalysis: Applications in Construction of All Carbon Quaternary Centers
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Subramanian, Hariharaputhiran
Conjugated olefins are readily available and inexpensive starting materials and their functionalization offers a rapid access to many important building blocks for organic synthesis. The functionalization of these olefins by asymmetric catalytic methods for the formation of C-C and C-X bonds is an active area of research. Major advances in this field are not only triggered by the development of new catalysts but also by engineering of new acceptor olefins. In our lab we have successfully developed acceptor olefins appended to alkoxyimidazoles as a novel template. Using these templated acceptors, we demonstrated methodologies to construct all carbon-quaternary centers, one of the demanding tasks in synthetic methodology development. We have also made significant efforts towards understanding the solution structures of the intermediates involved in the catalytic asymmetric reactions developed in our lab. In chapter 1, the importance of templated acceptors in the field of chemical synthesis with special emphasis on acylimidazoles is reviewed. The versatility of the N-alkylimidazole templates is showcased by their utility in several organic transformations. In chapter 2, modes of activation of acceptor olefins by catalysts, need for templated acceptors and challenges associated with designing an asymmetric catalytic process is described. Our approach in designing novel acceptors based on imidazoles is also described. In chapter 3 the synthetic utility of these novel N-alkoxyimidazole based acceptors is shown by enantioselective construction all carbon quaternary centers by Lewis-acid catalysis. We also compare the effectiveness of other templates such as oxazolidinone and N-methylimidazoles in the Lewis-acidic catalyzed Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction. The effect of various parameters such as Lewis acid, chiral ligands, temperature, additives and solvents on the conjugate addition of Friedel-Crafts nucleophiles are presented in this chapter. In chapter 4, our research efforts toward understanding solution structures of intermediates involved in catalytic asymmetric reactions are presented. A combination of Diffusion Ordered Spectroscopy (DOSY), heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography has been used to study the solution structure of intermediates involved in asymmetric catalytic reactions. In chapter 5, a future outlook on templated chemistry developed in our laboratory is presented. Some preliminary results pertinent to future projects are presented.
Acyl Imidazole : A Promising Template for Asymmetric Lewis and Brønsted Acid Mediated 1,3-Dipolar Cycloadditions
(North Dakota State University, 2011) Rane, Digamber Sadanand
Construction of chiral complex molecules continues to be a challenge for organic chemists all over the world and to address this challenge numerous methodologies have been developed. 1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition reactions is one such simple and elegant method, which can be employed towards the construction of chiral heterocycles. The ability to construct multiple stereocenters in one operation is one of the salient features of dipolar cycloaddition reaction. Asymmetric dipolar cycloaddition via chiral Lewis or Bronsted acid catalyzed processes is aided by the development of various templates, which provide points of attachment for these catalyst. Application of acyl imidazoles as multifunctional templates has been investigated for Lewis and Bronsted acid catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine imines and nitrones. Chapter 1. A review of 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition towards to construction of chiral nitrogen containing heterocycles is discussed in this chapter. This chapter intends to provide the reader a current state of asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. Chapter 2. Development of exo and enantioselective Cu(II) catalyzed azomethine imine cycloaddition to pyrazolidinone acrylates is discussed in this chapter. The key issues approached in this chapter includes impact of metal geometry on diastereoselectivity as well as effect of N-l and C-5 substitution on enantioselectivity of cycloadducts. Investigation into the scope and limitation of azomethine imines and dipolarophiles has also been discussed. Chapter 3. This chapter introduces acyl imidazoles as multifunctional template for asymmetric azomethine imine cycloaddition. Limitation of substrate scope for azomethine imine cycloaddition encountered in the previous chapter has been resolved by the use of acyl imidazoles as templates. Synthesis of complementary diastereomers of azomethine imine cycloadducts via Lewis acid and Bronsted acid catalyzed reactions has been discussed in this chapter. Chapter 4. This chapter highlights the application of acyl imidazoles as template for first Bronsted acid catalyzed exo and enantioselective nitrone cycloaddition to electron deficient olefins. Study of appropriate chiral Bronsted acid and investigation of breadth and scope of nitrones and dipolarophiles has also been discussed here. Chapter 5. This chapter address one of the most challenging aspect of synthetic organic chemistry namely the construction of chiral quaternary stereocenters. This study highlights chiral Bronsted catalyzed nitrone cycloaddition to p,|3-disubstituted-a,P-unsaturated acyl imidazole leading to the formation of isoxazolidines with chiral quaternary stereocenter. This methodology is useful for the construction of chiral fluorinated heterocycles.
Adaptation of Quality Protein Maize (Zea Mays L.) to Northern U.S. Corn Belt
(North Dakota State University, 2015) Dong, Naiyuan
There is a need to increase the value of crops and develop the next generation of healthier products. Quality protein maize (Zea mays L.) is an option but has never been adapted to short – season environments. Quality protein maize (QPM) with homozygous embryo and endosperm for mutant allele o2 at the α-zeins regulatory gene opaque-2 shows about 60 to 100% increase in lysine and tryptophan essential amino acids when comparing with non-QPM maize. The objectives of this research were to adapt QPM genotypes to the northern U.S. through the NDSU Early QPM Program, and to evaluate the agronomic potential of early generation QPM lines and hybrids developed by the NDSU maize breeding program for the northern USA. Fifty-four inbred lines, including 47 QPM donor lines from the Iowa State University (ISU) maize breeding program, six experimental lines from the NDSU maize breeding program and one ex-PVP line from industry, were selected to produce 94 early-QPM backcross populations. Based on the earliness, protein content, and amino acid levels of lysine, 218 BC1S2 lines were selected for testcrosses with industry testers. Experiments evaluating testcrosses were arranged in 12 x 12 and 10 x 10 partially balanced lattice designs across three environments in 2013 and 2014. Based on this evaluation, totally 48 S2 lines were selected for further development, 17 of them representing the Stiff Stalk (SS) heterotic group and 31 representing the non-SS-group. Selected lines provided unique advanced inbred lines with hybrid combinations showing not only above average grain yield, dry down, and protein content but also, high levels of lysine, tryptophan, and methionine. The results of this research show, for the first time, the successful adaptation of QPM genotypes to short-season environments. The NDSU maize-breeding program has developed the first high quality maize products through the EarlyQPM and EarlyQPMF (for feedstock) national programs.
Adaptive Beamforming for Antennas on General Wedge- and Cylindrical-Shaped Surfaces
(North Dakota State University, 2014) Irfanullah, Irfanullah
Adaptive beamforming antennas capable of accommodating the growing number of wireless subscribers throughout the world has become an essential part of modern wireless systems. In this work, the beamforming of a conformal antenna on a changing conformal surface is studied by relating the varying position of each antenna element in the array to the weighting coefficients (i.e, array weights) required to give a desired antenna beam formation. In particular, the beamforming of a 1 x 4 array on a changing wedge- and cylindrical-shaped surface is studied using the projection method on a wavefront of a transmitted wave in a particular direction. To validate the theory, a 1 x 4 prototype antenna with individual voltage-controlled phase shifters and attenuators is used to implement the computed weights of each individual antenna element for measurements in an anechoic chamber. Overall agreement between theory, simulations and measurements is shown throughout the work. Furthermore, the effects of mutual coupling and changing conformal surfaces on the behavior of the beamforming pattern and array weights is investigated and summarized.
Adaptive Differential Evolution and its Application to Machine Vision
(North Dakota State University, 2016) Dawar, Deepak
Over recent years, Evolutionary Algorithms (EA) have emerged as a practical approach for solving hard optimization problems ubiquitously presented in real life. The inherent advantage of EA over other types of numerical optimization methods lies in the fact that they require much less or no prior knowledge of the objective function. Differential Evolution (DE) has emerged as a highly competitive and powerful real parameter optimizer in the diverse community of evolutionary algorithms. The study of this dissertation is focused on two main approaches. The first approach focuses on studying and improving DE by creating its variants that aim at altering/adapting its control parameters and mutation strategies during the course of the search. The performance of DE depends largely upon the mutation strategy used, its control parameters namely the scale factor F, the crossover rate Cr, and the population size NP, and is quite sensitive to their appropriate settings. A simple and effective technique that alters F in stages, first through random perturbations and then through the application of an annealing schedule, is proposed. After that, the impact and efficacy of adapting mutation strategies with or without adapting the control parameters is investigated. The second approach is concerned with the application side of DE which is used as an optimizer either as the primary algorithm or as a surrogate to improve the performance of the overall system. The focus area is video based vehicle classification. A DE based vehicle classification system is proposed. The system in its essence, aims to classify a vehicle, based on the number of circles (axles) in an image using Hough Transform which is a popular parameter based feature detection method. Differential Evolution (DE) is coupled with Hough Transform to improve the overall accuracy of the classification system. DE is further employed as an optimizer in an extension of the previous vehicle detector and classifier. This system has a novel appearance based model utilizing pixel color information and is capable of classifying multi-lane moving vehicles into seven different classes. Five different variants of DE on varied videos are tested, and a performance profile of all the variants is provided.
Adaptive Regression Testing Strategies for Cost-Effective Regression Testing
(North Dakota State University, 2013) Schwartz, Amanda Jo
Regression testing is an important but expensive part of the software development life-cycle. Many different techniques have been proposed for reducing the cost of regression testing. To date, much research has been performed comparing regression testing techniques, but very little research has been performed to aid practitioners and researchers in choosing the most cost-effective technique for a particular regression testing session. One recent study investigated this problem and proposed Adaptive Regression Testing (ART) strategies to aid practitioners in choosing the most cost-effective technique for a specific version of a software system. The results of this study showed that the techniques chosen by the ART strategy were more cost-effective than techniques that did not consider system lifetime and testing processes. This work has several limitations, however. First, it only considers one ART strategy. There are many other strategies which could be developed and studied that could be more cost-effective. Second, the ART strategy used the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The AHP method is subjective to the weights made by the decision maker. Also, the AHP method is very time consuming because it requires many pairwise comparisons. Pairwise comparisons also limit the scalability of the approach and are often found to be inconsistent. This work proposes three new ART strategies to address these limitations. One strategy utilizing the fuzzy AHP method is proposed to address imprecision in the judgment made by the decision maker. A second strategy utilizing a fuzzy expert system is proposed to reduce the time required by the decision maker, eliminate inconsistencies due to pairwise comparisons, and increase scalability. A third strategy utilizing the Weighted Sum Model is proposed to study the performance of a simple, low cost strategy. Then, a series of empirical studies are performed to evaluate the new strategies. The results of the studies show that the strategies proposed in this work are more cost-effective than the strategy presented in the previous study.
Adaptive Two-Stage Optimal Design for Estimating Multiple EDps under the 4-Parameter Logistic Model
(North Dakota State University, 2018) Zhang, Anqing
In dose-finding studies, c-optimal designs provide the most efficient design to study an interesting target dose. However, there is no guarantee that a c-optimal design that works best for estimating one specific target dose still performs well for estimating other target doses. Considering the demand in estimating multiple target dose levels, the robustness of the optimal design becomes important. In this study, the 4-parameter logistic model is adopted to describe dose-response curves. Under nonlinear models, optimal design truly depends on the pre-specified nominal parameter values. If the pre-specified values of the parameters are not close to the true values, optimal designs become far from optimum. In this research, I study an optimal design that works well for estimating multiple s and for unknown parameter values. To address this parameter uncertainty, a two-stage design technique is adopted using two different approaches. One approach is to utilize a design augmentation at the second stage, the other one is to apply a Bayesian paradigm to find the optimal design at the second stage. For the Bayesian approach, one challenging task is that it requires heavy computation in the numerical calculation when searching for the Bayesian optimal design. To overcome this problem, a clustering method can be applied. These two-stage design strategies are applied to construct a robust optimal design for estimating multiple s. Through a simulation study, the proposed two-stage optimal designs are compared with the traditional uniform design and the enhanced uniform design to see how well they perform in estimating multiple s when the parameter values are mis-specified.
Addressing Advance Directive in Rural Primary Care North Dakota: Implementing a Tool for Healthcare Providers
(North Dakota State University, 2019) Heisler, Ryan Michael
Advance directives are legal documents developed as a tool to allow patients to express their wishes and allow healthcare providers to educate and converse with their patients on disease prognosis and management. Advance directives promote shared decision making, thus enhancing quality medical decisions, improving quality of care at end-of-life, and under certain circumstances, even decreasing healthcare costs by refusing aggressive treatment (Garrido, Balboni, Maciejewski, Bao, & Prigerson, 2015; Hickman & Pinto, 2014). In the United States, less than 30% of the population have a completed advance directive (De Vleminck et al., 2013; Dunlay, Swetz, Mueller, Roger, 2012). The purpose of this project was to increase advance directive rates by 20% at a rural clinic in patients older than 65 years of age with heart failure, stage IV cancer, end-stage renal disease, and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Advance directive rates and advance care planning facilitator rates were electronically gathered prior to two educational in-services. Educational in-services were given to a total of 24 healthcare professionals, and after each in-service, a confidence Likert scale survey was given to each participant. Four months after the first educational in-service, advance directive rates and advance care planning facilitators rates were electronically gathered. Four months after the first educational in-service, advance directive rates remained unchanged with 211 of 490 (43%) patients having an advance directive. A total of 11 advance care planning facilitator referrals were made. Confidence Likert scale surveys found the education increased participants’ knowledge of advance directives, confidence with initiating advance directive discussions, and likeliness of increasing advance care planning discussions.
Addressing Cervical Cancer Disparities Among American Indian Women: Implementing an Educational Module for Healthcare Providers
(North Dakota State University, 2015) Peltier, Allison Evelyn
Many minority populations throughout the United States experience significant cancer-related disparities affecting their quality of life. American Indians represent one group of individuals who experience significant disparities in cancer screening, treatment, and health outcomes (Horowitz, 2012). Although effective screening exists, American Indian women are disproportionately affected by cervical cancer compared to other demographic groups. In relation to cervical cancer, American Indian women experience a higher prevalence, a more rapidly rising incidence, and higher mortality rates, which may be related to an interplay of unique risk factors, barriers in healthcare access, and cultural influences on health seeking behaviors (Schmidt-Grimminger et al., 2011). While primary care providers have an opportunity to reduce health disparities, significant gaps exist related to awareness of cervical cancer disparities among American Indian women (Rogers & Cantu, 2008). Many healthcare providers do not routinely discuss cervical cancer screening recommendations with American Indian patients and feel their inadequate understanding of cultural beliefs serves as a barrier to increasing discussions about cervical cancer (Jim et al., 2012). Enhancing healthcare providers’ knowledge of cervical cancer disparities may help facilitate the provision of culturally competent care and improve the quality of care for American Indian women. Based on the need for enhanced awareness of cervical cancer disparities among American Indian women, a continuing education module was developed in collaboration with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Continuing Education Center. The module incorporated information on American Indian culture, contributing factors to cervical cancer, and barriers to healthcare experienced by the population. The module was evaluated through pretest, posttest, and evaluation questions. Data were collected for approximately three months with a total of 203 participants. After completing the module, nearly half of the participants (48.5%; n = 99) reported they planned to modify their practice, and approximately 71.5% (n = 145) of the participants planned to discuss screening recommendations routinely or often. Six pretest and posttest content-related questions demonstrated learning occurred as a result of the module. Overall, the results indicate the continuing education module had a positive impact on the participants and enhanced their awareness of cervical cancer disparities among American Indian women.
Addressing Challenges in Data Privacy and Security: Various Approaches to Secure Data
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Pattanayak, Sayantica
Emerging neural networks based machine learning techniques such as deep learning and its variants have shown tremendous potential in many application domains. However, the neural network models raise serious privacy concerns due to the risk of leakage of highly privacy-sensitive data. In this dissertation, we propose various techniques to hide the sensitive information and also evaluate the performance and efficacy of our proposed models. In our first research work we propose a model, which can both encrypt and decrypt a ciphertext. Our model is based on symmetric key encryption and back propagation neural network. Our model takes the decimal values and converts them to ciphertext and then again to decimal values. In our second research work, we propose a remote password authentication scheme using neural network. In this model, we have shown how an user can communicate securely with more than one server. A user registers himself / herself with a trusted authority and gets a user id and a password. The user uses the password and the user id to login to one or multiple servers. The servers can validate the legitimacy of the user. Our experiments use different classifiers to evaluate the accuracy and the efficiency of our proposed model. In our third research paper, we develop a technique to securely send patient information to different organizations. Our technique used different fuzzy membership functions to hide the sensitive information about patients. In our fourth research paper, we introduced an approach to substitute the sensitive attributes with the non-sensitive attributes. We divide the data set into three different subsets: desired, sensitive and non-sensitive subsets. The output of the denoising autoencoder will only be the desired and non-sensitive subsets. The sensitive subsets are hidden by the non-sensitive subsets. We evaluate the efficacy of our predictive model using three different flavors of autoencoders. We measure the F1-score of our model against each of the three autoencoders. As our predictive model is based on privacy, we have also used a Generative Adversarial Neural Network (GAN), which is used to show to what extend our model is secure.
Addressing Lyme Disease: An Educational Module for Healthcare Providers
(North Dakota State University, 2017) Greseth, Sheila
Since its identification over 40 years ago, Lyme disease has continually spread, and the number of cases have significantly increased in the northeastern and northcentral United States. The Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 30,000 individuals in the United States per year are diagnosed with Lyme disease (2016). Lyme disease is a vector-borne disease that is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacteria transmitted by the Ixodes scapularis tick. The disease presents in numerous ways, often making the diagnosis difficult. Healthcare providers have the opportunity to reduce and prevent health complications associated with Lyme disease, but substantial knowledge gaps are present in relation to the overall care of patients with the disease (Hill, 2013). In addition, numerous healthcare providers within the United States have reported not feeling confident in their knowledge level of tick-borne disease (Brett et al., 2014). By facilitating healthcare providers learning through a continuing education module, they may improve their practices and provide more competent, safe, and high quality care for patients with Lyme disease. With the apparent need for increased knowledge and awareness of Lyme disease among healthcare providers, a continuing education module was constructed for distribution with the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Continuing Education Center. Information on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease was incorporated into the module to educate healthcare providers. The online module evaluated Lyme disease knowledge through a pretest, posttest, and evaluation survey. Approximately 10 weeks of data were collected with a total of 305 healthcare provider participants. As a result of the continuing education module, learning was demonstrated by improvement on 17 of 18 pretest and posttest content-related questions. Additionally, approximately 93% (n = 283) of participants felt the continuing education module enhanced their current knowledge base. In summary, results demonstrated that the continuing education module impacted the participants positively by advancing their knowledge of Lyme disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Addressing Off-Nominal Behaviors in Requirements for Embedded Systems
(North Dakota State University, 2015) Aceituna, Daniel
System requirements are typically specified on the assumption that the system's operating environment will behave in what is considered to be an expected and nominal manner. When gathering requirements, one concern is whether the requirements are too ambiguous to account for every possible, unintended, Off-Nominal Behavior (ONB) that the operating environment can create, which results in an undesired system state. In this dissertation, we present two automated approaches which can expose, within a set of embedded requirements, whether an ONB can result in an undesired system state. Both approaches employ a modeling technique developed as part of this dissertation called the Causal Component Model (CCM). The first approach described, uses model checking as the means of property checking requirements using temporal logic properties specifically created to oppose ONBs. To facilitate the use of model checking by requirements engineers and non-technical stakeholders who are the system domain experts, a framework for the model checker interface was developed using the CCM. The CCM serves as both a cognitive friendly input and output to the model checker. The second approach extends the CCM into a dedicated ONB property checker, which overcomes the limitations of the model checker, by not only exposing ONBs but also facilitating the correction of those ONBs. We demonstrate how both approaches can expose and help correct potential Off-Nominal Behavior problems using requirements that represent real-world products. Our case studies show that both approaches can expose a system’s susceptibility to ONBs and provide enough information to correct the potential problems that can be caused by those ONBs.
Addressing Student Depression on Campus: Barriers and Assets
(North Dakota State University, 2015) KappelmanBeyer, Dianne
Prevalence of depression among college students is noted to be approximately 30% per college and university campus with an overall national average for severe psychological problems, including depression, at approximately 86% (Field, Diego, Pelaez, Deeds, & Delgado, (2012). Outcomes of undiagnosed depression lead to heightened levels of stress and dangerous behavior patterns, such as drug and alcohol consumption, poor academic achievement, high rates of college dropout, chronic and progressive mental illness, and suicide (Deckro et al., 2010). Depression prevention is important for college student health because of the chronic, recurrent and progressive nature of the disease along with student academic success, college retention, and overall quality of life (Buchanan, 2013). Purpose of this practice improvement project was to impact student health at North Dakota State University (NDSU). The project was accomplished by investigating students' depression-prevention practices, current practices for universities, and evidence-based practice. Several NDSU departments participated in the interviewing of staff members' investigation process for information gathering. Depression prevention is imperative for emerging adults within the college and university system. Providing depression prevention strategies would not only benefit the student, but also the university with improved student retention. Recommendations for depression prevention are to employ a nurse practitioner specialized in mental-health, as this would fulfill the overall student mental-health care needs by utilizing a depression prevention model such as the Peden cognitive behavioral group intervention, depression education for students either individualized or classroom by adding a chapter regarding depression to University Studies 189, and provide mental-health care services. Strategies for college and university student depression prevention practices were investigated at public university websites and published articles. Existing research was available through library access. Through this investigative research process, the Peden Cognitive Behavioral Group Intervention (CBGI) was determined to be a valid, evidence-based depression prevention model for college students. Results and recommendations from this practice-improvement project were presented to NDSU stakeholders to advocate for a student depression model among university students. This practice improvement project examines the importance of being proactive with depression prevention along with evidence-based recommendations leading to healthier student populations, more student safety, and improved student retention.
Adhesion With Slender Structures: Tape Loops, Crumples, and Origami
(North Dakota State University, 2021) Elder, Theresa Marie
The desire for improved adhesive systems led us to examine three geometries: tape loops, crumples, and origami shapes. The tape loop is mechanically interesting because it is stable in more than one configuration. For example, the first configuration is a circular loop. The second is an elongated oval shape that occurs after the loop is pushed into a surface. In this work we examined this cycle and derive a simple mathematical model. We found a solution to the model that only needs one input measurement, that of the loop radius, to determine a tape loop’s adhesion. We explored how a sticky but crumpled film adhered to smooth and rough surfaces. To do this we crumpled inextensible sheets because crumples have been shown to maintain a high compliance while increasing contact area through deforming around obstacles. We found that there was no significant difference in the adhesive behavior of the crumples on rough surfaces compared to flat surfaces. Finally, we designed a switchable adhesive based on thin film origami. We examined a unit cell of the Ron Resch pattern which had two different configurations (open and closed) aided by a 3-D printed device In the closed state the device had a high pull off force, and in the open state a different style of peel off occurred, lowering the peak force. We present promising results that show this to be the case.
Administrative Evaluation of Online Faculty in Community Colleges
(North Dakota State University, 2012) Darling, Douglas Duane
Policy and procedure haven’t kept up with institutional practices at community colleges. With over 5.5 million college students taking online courses, 29% of college students are taking an online course. As student numbers taking online courses have increased, so have the number of faculty teaching online. The purpose of this study is to determine if and how community college, online, faculty are administratively evaluated. The Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of the members of the American Association of Community Colleges were surveyed to determine the factors considered relevant for online, asynchronous, administrative evaluation of faculty that are currently being used by community colleges and to determine the methods by which community college, online faculty are administratively evaluated. The literature review did not identify any research directly related to the administrative evaluation of community college, online faculty. A very limited amount of research on administrative evaluation of faculty was identified, but nearly all were over a decade old. The survey results indicate that a majority of community colleges do not specifically address evaluation of online faculty in policy. The results identify the criteria and methods used to evaluate online faculty and their rated importance. The most common criteria included in the evaluations were identified and their importance ranked by CAO’s. The data was analyzed by institutional size based on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) categories and contrasted and compared with the other institutional size categories. A proposed model/method for developing a comprehensive faculty evaluation system based the survey results and best practices from the literature review is presented along with recommendations for further research.
Adolescent Mental Health: A Community Needs Assessment
(North Dakota State University, 2022) Hammer, Michael
Depression among adolescents has been trending upward with approximately 3.2 million adolescents aged 12-17 having at least one major depressive episode in the United States (U.S.) in 2016. The incidence of depression also rises with age among adolescents, with depressive episodes at 4.8% for 12-year-olds, 11.8% for 14-year-olds, and as high as 18.5% in adolescents aged 17 years. Interventions aimed at understanding mental health needs of adolescents and reducing barriers to care are essential to improve overall health outcomes for this population. The goal of this community needs assessment was to better understand adolescent mental health and determine the needs of adolescents who experience mental health problems in rural areas. A qualitative approach was used to elicit the perspectives of adolescents, healthcare providers, educators, and parents regarding the mental health needs of adolescents in rural North Dakota. Individual, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of ten participants from the four target groups. Facilitators to maintaining mental health were identified as support from family/friends, healthy diet, adequate sleep, limiting social media, avoiding video games, and physical activity. Barriers to discussing and accessing mental healthcare included stigma, confidentiality/privacy, shortage of mental health professionals, lack of routine discussion, lack of a standardized curriculum in schools, time, lack of understanding by adolescents, and healthcare provider/parent relationship. Based on the interview results, recommendations were made to school administrators and clinic personnel to address the needs of adolescents in rural areas with mental health problems. Recommendations for school administrators included a universal approach to address students about mental health and implementation of a mentor program. The clinic received recommendations for implementation of telehealth services to expand capabilities and implementation of youth-friendly services to create a more welcoming environment for adolescents. The results of this community needs assessment revealed that adolescents identify anxiety and depression as top health priorities; however, barriers, such as fears of judgement, stigma associated with mental health, and lack of access to care, may prevent them from seeking care. Further research is needed to identify resources and interventions to improve the overall health and well-being of adolescents in rural areas.

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