16484 research outputs found
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Automated Conversion of 3D Point Clouds to Solid Geometrical Computer Models
No full textWhile current engineering design and construction methods include computer aided design drawings in addition to simulation, analysis, and several visualization tools, there is still the need to create computer models of the vast number of structures found in the built environment. With the slew of point cloud collection tools now readily available, it is not dicult to create point cloud representations of real objects. However, it is a rare occurrance that raw clouds are isolated enough and clean enough to be directly converted to bounded, non-zero volume computer aided design models. In this context, this thesis proposes a method and an associated toolbox to utilize machine learning in conjunction with meshing techniques to autonomously segment raw point cloud data and reconstruct the resulting segments into computer aided design compatible surface meshes by applying a series of meshing and optimization algorithms to the point cloud. The result is a highly adjustable, generalized algorithm to convert raw point clouds of variable resolution, accuracy, and occlusion level to create uniform meshes that are computer aided design compatible.M.S., Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics -- Drexel University, 201
Essays on Bank Risk Management
No full textThis dissertation includes three chapters. The first chapter studies the impact of compensation on the types of risk taken by bank CEOs according to the time horizon when losses are realized. Bonus is recognized to encourage executives to boost short-term profits while equity compensation motivates long term growth. I use Guidance on Sound Incentive Compensation Policies ("the Guidance"), part of the Dodd-Frank Act, as an exogenous shock to the compensation structure of executives in banks with over 1billion in assets as control, I find that the treated banks pay executives with higher percentage in the stocks and engage in activities with less short-term risk and less down-side long-term risk. This paper empirically documents the effectiveness of the Guidance on the bank CEOs compensation and show that the compensation structure alters the types of risk that CEOs take. This second chapter documents the cross hedging of interest rate risk within bank holding companies (BHCs): Subsidiaries capable of risk management manage interest rate risk for themselves and for other banks in the same BHC. Bank mergers are used as exogenous shocks to address endogeneity concerns. Cross hedging increases with the complexity of BHCs, uses funds from the external capital market, and reduces exposure to interest rate risk. The paper contributes to the internal capital market literature by documenting risk management redistribution in BHCs. The third chapter examines the relation between deposit market power and several interest rate risk management tools, including interest rate derivatives hedging, wholesale funding management, and liquid asset management. Drechsler et al. (2017) document that banks can transmit monetary policy without interest rate risk because of their deposit market power. This paper hypothesizes that other risk management tools can be substitutions for market power. It finds that banks with larger market power have lower derivatives hedging level. They respond to a Fed fund rate increase with higher wholesale funding and liquid asset holding to replace the deposit outflow. This paper contributes to the banking risk management literature by documenting the mutual relation among risk management tools.Ph.D., Finance -- Drexel University, 201
Improving Attendance in Mental Health Using Text Message Appointment Reminders
No full textAbstract Background: Missed appointments interfere with treatment progress and affect patient outcomes. Additionally, there is an inefficiency in staff productivity and clinic costs. Purpose: To determine if implementing a text message appointment reminder system will improve patient attendance and clinic cost when compared to phone call reminders at an outpatient mental health clinic. Methods: A prospective cohort trial was implemented to compare attendance rates and cost among patients who receive text message appointment reminders to those who receive phone call reminders at a mental health clinic in Harris County, Texas. Evaluation: The data was cleaned, coded and checked for outliers and shape of distribution. Comparison analysis between the two intervention groups were performed using a student t-test. A total of 350 participants were included in the study. 183 (52.3%) participants chose to receive a text message appointment reminder and 167 (47.7%) chose to receive a phone call reminder. There was a total of 112, 32% (m 0.50, SD 0.50) males and 238, 68% (m 0.5, SD 0.497) females. Bivariate correlations were run on all variables. On average, people who received text message appointment reminders were more likely to attend their appointments (m = .96, SE .015) than those who received phone call appointment reminders (m = .72, SE .035). Demographic data analysis was also performed. Clinical Implications: Improving appointment attendance is critical in a multitude of medical settings; reducing failure to attend rates improves quality of patient care which improves patient outcomes. From a business perspective, text message appointment reminders may result in reducing costs.D.N.P., Nursing Practice -- Drexel University, 201
Contemporary Classical Female Composer: An Exploration of Gender Roles and Stereotypes
No full textThis work explores how working contemporary classical female composers navigate the small male-centric field of composition. It looks at gender roles and stereotypes that are associated with men and women, and how women have been viewed within the composition field. It takes a close look at the careers of six female composers, what they have accomplished as emerging or established composers, and what gender roles and stereotypes they have been subject to within their careers. Through this thesis, and with the women that were interviewed, there were no gender roles or stereotypes that deterred these composers from choosing the path of composition. Though, the limitation of composition and getting young women involved did help to implement programs for the growth of future female composers.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201
An Impact Study of Public Funding in the City of Philadelphia
No full textThe Philadelphia Cultural Fund strives to promote arts and culture and provide the funds to enhance the cultural life and vitality of the City of Philadelphia and its residents. Through examining the City of Philadelphia’s view on culture, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund itself, the Fund’s relationship with the arts and cultural non-profit organizations in Philadelphia, and information from recipients of the Fund’s services, this thesis identifies the Philadelphia Cultural Fund’s influence on its community. I have explored how this particular government funding entity affects the non-profit arts and culture sector in Philadelphia within the categories of programmatic choices, operations, financial reporting and organizational structure and can identify how Philadelphia and the United States can move forward to value and continue to support the arts and culture organizations that shape our communities. The Philadelphia Cultural Fund has been instrumental in providing resources to improve the arts and cultural sector within the City of Philadelphia. Through their grants, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund has been able to provide as much as $3.14 million in general operating support in 2017 to over 300 organizations. In addition to providing funding to the arts and cultural community, the grant application process has impacted arts and culture non-profit organizations by preparing smaller organizations for future funding opportunities.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201
Black Women's Health in the Philadelphia Promise Zone
No full textBlack women have high prevalence of co-morbidities including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and stroke (American Heart Association, 2017; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017; DHHS, 2017) From 2013 - 2014, the National Health and Nutrition Survey found 57.2% of Black women were obese (DHHS, 2017). Chronic disease prevention programs for Black women need to address their chronic disease risk factors. The problem being addressed by this study is the high prevalence of chronic disease risk factors among urban Black women. The Promise Zone neighborhoods in West Philadelphia were chosen given their high prevalence of chronic diseases among adults for a mixed methods formative assessment. A chronic disease prevention program for Black women are needed in these neighborhoods. The significance of this study lies in the unique opportunity to understand factors contributing to Black women’s poor health outcomes and address these factors in the creation of a women’s health prevention program at the Drexel affiliated community-based health promotion center, the Wellness HUB in West Philadelphia. The purpose of this mixed-methods formative assessment is to hear from community leaders' and Black female residents on Black women's health and health programming needs from the Promise Zones neighborhoods. A mixed-methods design will be used because chronic disease prevalence data alone does not explain Black women’s health disparities in the Promise Zone, thus qualitative tools will fill this gap by hearing from Black female residents and community leaders.M.P.H., Community Health and Prevention -- Drexel University, 201
Nanoindentation of Monolayer Tin+1CnTx MXenes via Atomistic Simulations
No full textSince their discovery in 2011, MXenes, two-dimensional transition metal carbides and/or nitrides, have been explored for uses in a wide range of applications due to their unique properties and facile synthesis methods. Despite this attention, there is a relative lack of understanding with regards to their fundamental mechanical properties. Here, nanoindentation of the MXene system Tin+1CnTx was studied via atomistic simulations utilizing a parametrization of the ReaxFF interatomic potential, to understand the influence of point defects. From force-displacement curves, the Young's moduli of pristine Ti3C2O2 and Ti2CO2 were calculated to be 466 GPa and 983 GPa, respectively. The influences of both titanium and carbon vacancies on Ti3C2O2 were also quantified using simulated nanoindentation of a set of samples containing both 1% VTi and 10% VC, resulting in a reduction of the calculated Young's modulus to 386 ± 31 GPa. Of particular importance, is that these results are in good agreement with recent experimental findings indicating the important role defects play in determining the mechanical behavior of MXenes. The calculated Young's modulus in this work for the defect-containing Ti3C2O2 surpasses that of graphene oxide establishing it as a new benchmark in strength for solution-processed, 2D materials. Results here also indicate improvements can be made in current MXene processing methods to better approach the theoretical strength of pristine 2D materials.M.S., Materials Science and Engineering -- Drexel University, 201
Pharmacological Study of KM822 Analogs: A Novel Class of Dopamine Transporter Inhibitors
No full textThe dopamine transporter (DAT) is a membrane protein that is responsible for the reuptake of dopamine back into the presynaptic neurons. DAT has been investigated intensively as a therapeutic target for substance abuse, depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In the category of drugs of abuse, cocaine and other psychostimulants including amphetamine competitively inhibit all monoamine transporters, including dopamine transporter, norepinephrine transporter (NET) and serotonin transporter (SERT). By this mechanism, cocaine gives a sense of euphoria, and leads to dependency in the users. Chronic cocaine users have difficulty ceasing their cocaine abuse, and this leave cocaine addiction as a severe problem to the society. DAT has stood out to be a very promising target treating cocaine addiction. In a previous study, a region within the DAT has been found to modulate the transporter allosterically by comparing human dopamine transporter (hDAT) to a catecholamine transporter from Schistosoma mansoni. An allosteric site within hDAT was found based on the S. mansoni study using virtual screening, a small compound, called KM822, was identified. This compound was later shown to be binding at the predicted allosteric binding site in hDAT. Additionally, KM822 was shown to inhibit dopamine uptake and to inhibit cocaine binding to the transporter. Herein, we tested KM822 and KM822 analogs to investigate the structure-activity relationship between the transporter and these compounds. The overall goal of this project was to study the inhibitory properties of the KM822 class of compounds on dopamine uptake, as well as their effect on cocaine inhibition of DAT using cell-based functional assays. Also, we pursued to identify the structural characteristic that favors the interaction of these analogs with hDAT by conducting biotinylation assays. Future in vivo studies will be performed by colleagues to investigate the effect of these compounds on cocaine mediated behaviors in rodent models.M.S., Pharmacology and Physiology -- Drexel University, 201
University-housed performing arts centers: Practices and impact
No full textThis thesis explores the topic of how American performing arts centers that are housed by universities and colleges function and are run. In many cases, these centers function as nearly autonomous arms of their parent organization. My purpose was to explore the extent of this autonomy, alongside the best practices that these performing arts centers have embedded in their day-to-day operations over the years. I focused my attention on four institutions: Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in Pembroke, North Carolina, and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. All of these centers mainly stage outside performances, and do not focus on student performances. In addition, I also chose to look at how university-housed performing arts centers act as an outreach program to their local communities. Often, community members' only interaction with these universities is through their performing arts centers. I wanted to take a cursory look at outreach programs and other efforts to connect with local communities. Research proved that these performing arts centers are often similar in structure, with parallels in their relationships with their corresponding universities. Additionally, I found that programming within these performing arts centers is done principally autonomously, with few stipulations from the university.M.S., Arts Administration -- Drexel University, 201
Creating Fluid Game Assets by Synchronizing Video Textures to Geometry Sequences
No full textWhen a game artist creates an asset for a game they will inevitably encounter corners to be cut. That is how game art is optimized and delivered on time. Pipelines that cut the fewest corners without slowing down development will become mainstays in the game artists’ tool kit. Fluid props and environment pieces are amongst the most difficult to create. Imagine your art director asks your team to create a monster that spits lava. For the FX artist, the first part of the problem is clear; make a fluid simulation and export out an optimized mesh sequence. The second part of the problem is difficult; how do we animate the surface? Traditionally, because UV mapping a mesh sequence is difficult, the answer would be to create a shader. With this solution, the artist’s pipeline has gone off course. Further, the surface animation cannot be fully derived from the artist’s original simulation—it’s a fix. This research presents a pipeline that a game artist can use to create a fluid simulation exactly how they want, and to then assemble it as an optimized game asset for a game engine, fully deriving all assets—geometry and texture—from the original simulation. The only texture animation method available that can be fully derived from the original simulation is an image sequence, because each image is literally rendered from each frame of the simulation. As animation duration increases, image sequences quickly become too large for game development project standards. This research sees the novel application of video to animate a geometry sequence texture as a replacement to the traditional image sequence method—it is a leaner and better optimize method to compete with shaders, especially because the animation can be fully derived. Another corner not cut. Video is rarely used as a solution because video has frame-drift at run-time, and each video frame does not reliably land on the geometry frame that has the UVs it was originally projected with. The pipeline designed in this research details a solution for this frame-drift by synchronizing each frame of the video to its corresponding geometry frame. This research presents a pipeline an artist can use to create a simulation, and to then assemble it as a ‘baked’ fluid asset in a game engine without sacrificing the original surface animation, and with marginal of loss of quality.M.S., Digital Media -- Drexel University, 201