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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Parameter Estimation For Patient Enrollment In Clinical Trials, Junyan Liu Dec 2023

Parameter Estimation For Patient Enrollment In Clinical Trials, Junyan Liu

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, we study the Poisson-gamma model for recruitment time in clinical trials. We proved several properties of this model that match our intuitions from a reliability perspective, did simulations on this model, and used different optimization methods to estimate the parameters. Although the behaviors of the optimization methods were unfavorable and unstable, we identified certain conditions and provided potential explanations for this phenomenon and further insights into the Poisson-gamma model.


Co-Planar Waveguides For Microwave Atom Chips, Morgan Logsdon May 2022

Co-Planar Waveguides For Microwave Atom Chips, Morgan Logsdon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis describes research to develop co-planar waveguides (CPW) for coupling microwaves from mm-scale coaxial cables into 50 μm-scale microstrip transmission lines of a microwave atom chip. This new atom chip confines and manipulates atoms using spin-specific microwave AC Zeeman potentials and is particularly well suited for trapped atom interferometry. The coaxial-to-microstrip coupler scheme uses a focused CPW (FCPW) that shrinks the microwave field mode while maintaining a constant 50 Ω impedance for optimal power coupling. The FCPW development includes the simulation, design, fabrication, and testing of multiple CPW and microstrip prototypes using aluminum nitride substrates. Notably, the FCPW approach …


Translating Video Recordings Of Mobile App Ui Gestures Into Replayable Scenarios For Native And Hybrid Apps, Madeleine Havranek Nov 2021

Translating Video Recordings Of Mobile App Ui Gestures Into Replayable Scenarios For Native And Hybrid Apps, Madeleine Havranek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Screen recordings of mobile applications are easy to obtain and capture a wealth of information pertinent to software developers (e.g., bugs or feature requests), making them a popular mechanism for crowdsourced app feedback. Thus, these videos are becoming a common artifact that developers must manage. In light of unique mobile development constraints, including swift release cycles and rapidly evolving platforms, automated techniques for analyzing all types of rich software artifacts provide benefit to mobile developers. Unfortunately, automatically analyzing screen recordings presents serious challenges, due to their graphical nature, compared to other types of (textual) artifacts. To address these challenges, this …


The Role Of Spider Silk In Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Langston Forbes-Jackson May 2021

The Role Of Spider Silk In Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Langston Forbes-Jackson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Spider silk neural guidance channels (NGCs) are highly important innovations in the field of regenerative medicine. This paper will discuss the evidence in the literature that supports their function in regenerative medicine and provide a template for future experiments in the field. While many studies within the past 15 years have demonstrated the validity of spider silk as a scaffold for peripheral nerve regeneration, the molecular mechanics that facilitate regeneration are poorly understood. An emphasis on using silk from orb weaving spiders in particular may have caused researchers to overlook other spiders whose silk could prove to have vastly different …


Performance Implications Of Memory Affinity On Filesystem Caches In A Non-Uniform Memory Access Environment, Jacob Adams May 2021

Performance Implications Of Memory Affinity On Filesystem Caches In A Non-Uniform Memory Access Environment, Jacob Adams

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Non-Uniform Memory Access imposes unique challenges on every component of an operating system and the applications that run on it. One such component is the filesystem which, while not directly impacted by NUMA in most cases, typically has some form of cache whose performance is constrained by the latency and bandwidth of the memory that it is stored in. One such filesystem is ZFS, which contains its own custom caching system, known as the Adaptive Replacement Cache. This work looks at the impact of NUMA on this cache via sequential read operations, shows how current solutions intended to reduce this …


Characterization Of Wireless Communications Networks Using Machine Learning And 3d Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Simulations, Margaret Mary Rooney Jan 2021

Characterization Of Wireless Communications Networks Using Machine Learning And 3d Electromagnetic Wave Propagation Simulations, Margaret Mary Rooney

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In this work, we employ machine learning, signal identification, and signal classification to infer network processes governing packet transmission in dense, non-cooperative wireless networks. We exploit signal features in radio frequency (RF) transmissions to generate fingerprints that can enable the characterization of transmission events in a non-cooperative cognitive radio network or in a cognitive adaptive electronic attack scenario. In these situations, we have anticipated a need to depend heavily on identifying RF features that correspond to the way in which devices access spectrum channels and to the interactions of transmitted signals with the devices' surroundings. We develop improved signal processing …


Nanofibrils As The Basic Building Blocks Of Spider Silk, Qijue Wang Jan 2020

Nanofibrils As The Basic Building Blocks Of Spider Silk, Qijue Wang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Spider silk is a natural high-performance biopolymer with superior mechanical properties, resulting from its hierarchical structure. With protein nanofibrils observed in various spider and silkworm silks, the critical role of nanofibrils in achieving the silk's mechanical behavior has been widely suggested by both experimental observations and numerical simulations. However, a close review of available evidence of silk nanofibrils reveals many crucial aspects are still largely ambiguous or unknown. This further hinders the development of advanced silk-based materials. The simple structure of the ribbon-like recluse (Loxosceles) silk provides an ideal opportunity to investigate silk nanofibrils. By studying the surface and internal …


Growth And Properties Of Vapor Diffused Nb3sn Coating For Superconducting Radiofrequency Accelerator Cavity Applications, Uttar Last Pudasaini Jan 2020

Growth And Properties Of Vapor Diffused Nb3sn Coating For Superconducting Radiofrequency Accelerator Cavity Applications, Uttar Last Pudasaini

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The desire to reduce construction and operating costs of future SRF accelerators motivates the search for higher-performing alternative materials. Nb3Sn (Tc ~ 18.3 K and Hsh ~ 425 mT) is the front runner. The tin vapor diffusion process is currently the technique of choice to produce promising Nb3Sn-coated cavities. Understanding Nb3Sn nucleation and growth in this process is essential to progress. Samples representing different stages of Nb3Sn formation have been produced and studied to elucidate the effects of nucleation, growth, process conditions, and impurities. Nb3Sn films with thickness …


Boron Nitride Nanotubes (Bnnts) For Thermal Management And Structural Reinforcement, Mahmoud Samy Mohamed Fahmy Amin Jan 2020

Boron Nitride Nanotubes (Bnnts) For Thermal Management And Structural Reinforcement, Mahmoud Samy Mohamed Fahmy Amin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are a fascinating material that has a lot of potential applications due to its outstanding physical and chemical properties. BNNTs synthesized using different high- and low-temperature methods, unfortunately, contain 30-70% impurities. To maximize the potential of BNNTs, new characterization techniques and purification methods are needed, especially with respect to industrial applications. Research groups have used different characterization techniques to monitor the synthesis and purity of BNNTs. Quantitative and qualitative characterization of the tubes for quality or purity control has not been previously described in the literature. In this work, we created a comprehensive set of thermogravimetric …


Additive Manufacturing Of Nanomaterial Based Hierarchical Structures, John Michael Gardner Jan 2019

Additive Manufacturing Of Nanomaterial Based Hierarchical Structures, John Michael Gardner

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Aerospace systems demand high performance materials that minimize weight while functioning under extreme environmental conditions. One way to meet these requirements is by incorporating hierarchical structures into part design. These structures are known to impart unique mechanical properties not characteristic of the bulk material such as high strength and toughness. It is difficult, however, to manufacture these structures due to the inherent trade-off between part size and feature resolution in traditional manufacturing processes. Additive manufacturing offers a potential solution to these issues by allowing material placement directly at desired locations. This loosens geometric constraints and allows for multiple contiguous materials …


Optical Characterization Of Dynamic Exchange Coupling Interaction In Ferromagnetic Heterostructures, Xiao Liu Jan 2019

Optical Characterization Of Dynamic Exchange Coupling Interaction In Ferromagnetic Heterostructures, Xiao Liu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis presents the optical characterization of interfacial exchange coupling interaction in ferromagnetic bilayer heterostructures. Both static and dynamic magnetic response are investigated in the exchange-coupled Co2FeAl/(Ga,Mn)As bilayer system using static magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) and time-resolved magneto optical Kerr effect (TRMOKE) techniques. The goal of this thesis is to understand the underlying physics of the interfacial exchange coupling effect on the ultrafast spin dynamics in a ferromagnetic metal/ferromagnetic semiconductor bilayer heterostructure. Our finding provides a viable pathway for designing advanced semiconductor spintronic devices for ultrafast low-power spin manipulation. First, a significant enhancement of the excitation efficiency of coherent magnetization …


Security Enhancements In Voice Over Ip Networks, Seyed Amir Iranmanesh Nov 2017

Security Enhancements In Voice Over Ip Networks, Seyed Amir Iranmanesh

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Voice delivery over IP networks including VoIP (Voice over IP) and VoLTE (Voice over LTE) are emerging as the alternatives to the conventional public telephony networks. With the growing number of subscribers and the global integration of 4/5G by operations, VoIP/VoLTE as the only option for voice delivery becomes an attractive target to be abused and exploited by malicious attackers. This dissertation aims to address some of the security challenges in VoIP/VoLTE. When we examine the past events to identify trends and changes in attacking strategies, we find that spam calls, caller-ID spoofing, and DoS attacks are the most imminent …


Surface Modification Of Synthetic And Natural Polymers Using Deep Uv (172 Nm) Irradiation, Lopamudra Das Nov 2017

Surface Modification Of Synthetic And Natural Polymers Using Deep Uv (172 Nm) Irradiation, Lopamudra Das

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The ability to modify the surfaces of polymers and impart desirable functionalities without affecting the bulk-mediated physical properties is vital for advanced materials development. Photochemical approaches to surface modification are particularly attractive as they minimize the need for use of hazardous materials used in conventional wet chemical technologies, and are relatively faster, efficient and convenient to use. In this research, we undertook a combined experimental and computational approach to understand the effect of deep UV irradiation on a broad range of polymeric materials, and develop a scalable and deployable surface modification strategy that could be extended to all. Four polyesters, …


Surfactant Free Emulsion Polymerization Of Poly(Styrene-Co-Methyl Methacrylate): Correlation Of Microsphere Characteristics With Monomer Reactivity And Water Solubility, Samantha Applin Oct 2017

Surfactant Free Emulsion Polymerization Of Poly(Styrene-Co-Methyl Methacrylate): Correlation Of Microsphere Characteristics With Monomer Reactivity And Water Solubility, Samantha Applin

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Polymeric microspheres have been used in a broad range of applications from chromatographic separation techniques to analysis of air flow over aerodynamic surfaces. The preparation of microspheres from many polymer families has consequently been extensively studied using a variety of synthetic approaches. Although there are a myriad of polymeric microsphere synthesis methods, free-radical initiated emulsion polymerization is one of the most common techniques. In this work, poly(styrene-co-methyl methacrylate) microspheres were synthesized via surfactant-free emulsion polymerization. The effects of the co-monomer composition and addition time on particle size distribution, particle formation, and particle morphology were investigated. Particles were characterized using dynamic …


Vertically Oriented Graphene Electric Double Layer Capacitors, Dilshan V. Premathilake Jun 2017

Vertically Oriented Graphene Electric Double Layer Capacitors, Dilshan V. Premathilake

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Vertically oriented graphene nanosheets (VOGN) synthesized by radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) have been fabricated as electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs). The relatively open morphology of the films provided good frequency response, but had limited capacitance compared to present day activated carbon EDLCs. The objective of this research was to improve the capacitance of these films to a commercially viable level while maintaining sufficient frequency response for AC filtering. The growth of VOGN on Ni and Al substrates has been studied in this work. The native oxide on Ni was thinned at temperatures above ~600ºC with the …


The Thin Ribbon Silk Of The Brown Recluse Spider: Structure, Mechanical Behavior, And Biomimicry, Sean Robert Koebley Oct 2016

The Thin Ribbon Silk Of The Brown Recluse Spider: Structure, Mechanical Behavior, And Biomimicry, Sean Robert Koebley

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Silk has enormous potential as a next-generation material: it is a biopolymer spun from protein at ambient temperature and pressure, and the best spider silks are as strong as steel and tougher than Kevlar. Because of its green production, mechanical robustness, and biocompatibility, silk has been researched for use in a range of engineering and biomedical applications. However, despite exciting recent advances in artificial silk fabrication via recombinant techniques, reserachers remain unable to fully replicate the complex assembly and hierarchical structure of native silks. Herein, we describe our morphological and mechanical characterization of a uniquely simple model silk system that …


Modeling Flocculation And Deflocculation Processes Of Cohesive Sediments, Xiaoteng Shen Jan 2016

Modeling Flocculation And Deflocculation Processes Of Cohesive Sediments, Xiaoteng Shen

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The transport and fate of cohesive sediments are responsible for many engineering, environmental, economic and policy issues that relate to, for example, siltation and dredging in navigation channels, water quality, water turbidity, pollutant transports, and biological ecosystem responses. Our current understanding, however, is insufficient to conduct accurate quantitative predictions of these processes. This is because the cohesive particles in natural waters will flocculate, which determines the settling, and thus the deposition behaviors. The simulation of flocculation processes is a primary challenge since the time variation of Floc Size Distribution (FSD) is controlled by a partial differential equation that also contains …


Canary Red: Preserving Cochineal And Contrasting Colonial Histories On Lanzarote, Sarah Mattes Jan 2015

Canary Red: Preserving Cochineal And Contrasting Colonial Histories On Lanzarote, Sarah Mattes

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Assessing The Impact Of Climate Change On Proposed Restoration Of The Lynnhaven River Ecosystem, Emily E. Skeehan Jan 2015

Assessing The Impact Of Climate Change On Proposed Restoration Of The Lynnhaven River Ecosystem, Emily E. Skeehan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Environmental degradation of the Chesapeake Bay (CB) and its sub-estuaries has been linked to population growth in the surrounding coastal zone, rapid development in the watershed and resultant nutrient loading into the Bay. Consequently, the federal government and its partners have developed restoration plans to mitigate the effects of eutrophication and improve essential ecosystem functions, though few restoration plans have considered the interactive effects of climate change. Climate change and other anthropogenic drivers are causing changes in ecosystem structure and function, thereby impacting the beneficial services ecosystems provide. While some studies have attempted to quantitatively predict the benefits of ecosystem …


Development Of Boron-Containing Polyimide Materials And Poly(Arylene Ether)S For Radiation Shielding, Brittani May Collins Jan 2015

Development Of Boron-Containing Polyimide Materials And Poly(Arylene Ether)S For Radiation Shielding, Brittani May Collins

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Magneto-Optics And Magneto-Transport Studies On Thin Films For Sensor Applications, Kaida Yang Jan 2014

Magneto-Optics And Magneto-Transport Studies On Thin Films For Sensor Applications, Kaida Yang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Recent progress and interest have bought considerable effort to bear on the synthesis and opportunities of magnetic thin films in different fields. There are applications in many fields, including remote sensing, waveguide applications, hard drive applications, etc. at the College of William and Mary, we have focused on utilizing magnetic thin films in some of these applications and are deeply involved in the optimization process of the thin films.


The Technique Of The Poquoson-Style Log Canoe, David Andrews Moran Jan 2014

The Technique Of The Poquoson-Style Log Canoe, David Andrews Moran

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Superconducting Thin Films For Srf Cavity Applications: A Route To Higher Field Gradient Linacs, Wiliam Michael Roach Jan 2014

Superconducting Thin Films For Srf Cavity Applications: A Route To Higher Field Gradient Linacs, Wiliam Michael Roach

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Many linear accelerator (linac) applications rely on the use of superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavities. In order to overcome the current field gradient limits imposed by the use of bulk niobium, a model involving the deposition of alternating superconducting-insulating-superconducting (SIS) thin films onto the interior surface of SRF cavities has been proposed. Since SRF performance is a surface phenomenon, the critical surface of these cavities is less than 1 micron thick, thus enabling the use of thin films. Before such approach can successfully be implemented fundamental studies correlating the microstructure and superconducting properties of thin films are needed. to this …


Effective Resource And Workload Management In Data Centers, Lei Lu Jan 2014

Effective Resource And Workload Management In Data Centers, Lei Lu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The increasing demand for storage, computation, and business continuity has driven the growth of data centers. Managing data centers efficiently is a difficult task because of the wide variety of datacenter applications, their ever-changing intensities, and the fact that application performance targets may differ widely. Server virtualization has been a game-changing technology for IT, providing the possibility to support multiple virtual machines (VMs) simultaneously. This dissertation focuses on how virtualization technologies can be utilized to develop new tools for maintaining high resource utilization, for achieving high application performance, and for reducing the cost of data center management.;For multi-tiered applications, bursty …


An Evaluation Of A Reduced Bar Spacing Turtle Excluder Device In The U.S Gulf Of Mexico Offshore Shrimp Trawl Fishery, Michel Anthony Nalovic Jan 2014

An Evaluation Of A Reduced Bar Spacing Turtle Excluder Device In The U.S Gulf Of Mexico Offshore Shrimp Trawl Fishery, Michel Anthony Nalovic

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Shrimp are the most economically valuable internationally-traded seafood commodity, and wild-caught, trawled shrimp make up almost half of the ~6.6 million metric tons of annual global production. Shrimp trawling is responsible for one-third of the world’s total fisheries bycatch, leading many to consider shrimp trawling to be the single most destructive fishing practice in the world. Though the bycatch of large marine animals can be significantly reduced by use of turtle excluder devices (TEDs) on shrimp trawls, current TED designs are ineffective at reducing the capture of smaller organisms which represent a large portion of the total bycatch. To further …


Use Of Pattern Classification Algorithms To Interpret Passive And Active Data Streams From A Walking-Speed Robotic Sensor Platform, Eric Allen Dieckman Jan 2014

Use Of Pattern Classification Algorithms To Interpret Passive And Active Data Streams From A Walking-Speed Robotic Sensor Platform, Eric Allen Dieckman

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In order to perform useful tasks for us, robots must have the ability to notice, recognize, and respond to objects and events in their environment. This requires the acquisition and synthesis of information from a variety of sensors. Here we investigate the performance of a number of sensor modalities in an unstructured outdoor environment, including the Microsoft Kinect, thermal infrared camera, and coffee can radar. Special attention is given to acoustic echolocation measurements of approaching vehicles, where an acoustic parametric array propagates an audible signal to the oncoming target and the Kinect microphone array records the reflected backscattered signal. Although …


Nonlinear Optical Studies Of Photoelastic Effect And Magneto-Plasmonics, Wei Zheng Jan 2014

Nonlinear Optical Studies Of Photoelastic Effect And Magneto-Plasmonics, Wei Zheng

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Nonlinear optical (NLO) processes are optical phenomena involving a nonlinear response to an applied light field. Two kinds of nonlinearities are studied in this dissertation: magnetic-induced second-harmonic generation (MSHG) interacting with surface plasmon, called "nonlinear magnetoplasmonics" (NMP), and the nonlinear index induced by a strong pump beam in Titanium doped sapphire crystal, referred to as population-induced nonlinear index effect.;The fundamentals of the major effects involved are discussed, which include: surface plasmon and its field enhancement effect, MSHG technique and phenomenological calculations, the contrast ratio of magnetic switching, the calculation of lensing effects, population induced strain, and photoelastic effect. Furthermore, the …


Optical Characterization Of Magnetism In Magnetic/Nonmagnetic Heterostructures, Yichun Fan Jan 2013

Optical Characterization Of Magnetism In Magnetic/Nonmagnetic Heterostructures, Yichun Fan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This thesis focuses on the study of the static and dynamic magnetic interactions in ferromagnetic/nonmagnetic heterostructures using interface-specific and time-resolved optical techniques. The goal of this thesis is to elucidate the interface exchange coupling, magnetic anisotropy, and coherent spin dynamics in these advanced material systems, crucial to the realization of high performance spintronic devices.;First, a pronounced exchange bias (EB) phenomenon is observed in Fe/MgO (001) by magnetic second harmonic generation. The bulk magnetization does not, in marked contrast to typical systems where EB is manifested only in the net magnetization. The magnitude of the exchange bias varies with interface oxygen …


High-Performance Nanocomposites Designed For Radiation Shielding In Space And An Application Of Gis For Analyzing Nanopowder Dispersion In Polymer Matrixes, Joseph Simcha Auslander Jan 2013

High-Performance Nanocomposites Designed For Radiation Shielding In Space And An Application Of Gis For Analyzing Nanopowder Dispersion In Polymer Matrixes, Joseph Simcha Auslander

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.


Polymeric Radiation Shielding For Applications In Space: Polyimide Synthesis And Modeling Of Multi-Layered Polymeric Shields, Clinton Cleveland Schiavone Jan 2013

Polymeric Radiation Shielding For Applications In Space: Polyimide Synthesis And Modeling Of Multi-Layered Polymeric Shields, Clinton Cleveland Schiavone

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.