Digital Commons Network^™

Making Scholarly Activity Available To The Masses: The Scaffolding Of Scholarship Throughout The Undergraduate Curriculum, Michael Savarese, Trent R. Brown, Carolyn Culbertson, Anna Carlin

Florida Statewide Symposium: Best Practices in Undergraduate Research

Florida Gulf Coast University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) focuses on improving student critical thinking, information literacy, and written communication. Rather than developing these skills through traditional methods (e.g., through senior-level, independent research), these learning outcomes are practiced through scholarly experiences. Traditional undergraduate scholarship manifests itself through terminal, senior capstone or research experiences. These, because of the economy of scale, typically reach a minority of students, often just honors students or those approached by faculty mentors. At FGCU, however, scholarly experiences are a part of the curriculum throughout the program of study, and scaffolded to build greater depth and sophistication. Presented …

Study On Adsorption For Pb2+ Of Red Mud Sintering-Expanded Haydites, Aoping He, Wenfeng Zhu, Linjiang Wang, Jianmin Zeng, Xiyong Chen

The 8th International Conference on Physical and Numerical Simulation of Materials Processing

No abstract provided.

Weights And Balances: Integrating Models For Prevention And Response To Southern California Offshore Oil Spills, Carmen Watts Clayton, Amoret Bunn

STAR Program Research Presentations

Licensing offshore oil and gas reserves in the United States waters are overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Enforcement (BSEE). The licensing application includes planning for any worst-case oil spill scenario between BSEE and the applicant based on lessons learned from historic offshore spills such as the Deepwater Horizon (2010), Exxon Valdez (1989), and the Union Oil Platform Blowout (1969). The process for planning to respond to oil spills involves coordination with multiple agencies, trustees, and stakeholders to ensure that oil spill responses consider multiple factors, including ecologically sensitive species, commercial transportation and fisheries, …

Realizing Urban Water Pollution Impact In Melbourne, Australia Through Painting, Gregory Suplinskas

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Throughout the month of November 2016, I undertook a creative environmental art project in Melbourne, Australia. I chose to create a water-soluble oil painting (dimensions 3 ft. x 4 ft.) that represents water pollution problems in the city of Melbourne, particularly in Port Phillip Bay. These problems include toxic stormwater runoff, plastics pollution and plastic nurdles, as well as nutrient buildup and algal overgrowth. The painting includes messages regarding sustainability; sustainable action limits the use of our natural resources so that humans can preserve the environment for future generations rather than degrade it. In the painting, I combine conceptual and …

Vessel Navigation Safety Analysis And Countermeasures In The Water Of Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge, Guojin Han

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Risk Assessment In Narrow Chanel, Xiaoyang Gao

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Research On Safety Evaluation Of Navigation Environment In Hangzhou Bay Bridge, Ning An

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

University Of New Mexico Bioalgal Energy, Photosynthesis Rates Of Poplar Plants - Measurements With Tdl Machine (Enriched Co2 - Enriched-Exposed - Tray 1 - Play 2 - 2016/06/07), David Hanson

Energize New Mexico (NSF EPSCoR Track 1 IV)

Collect the photosynthetic rate of poplar plants under different isotopic compositions of CO2 with the TDL machine and with the Licor equipment.

Machine Learning In Surface Ocean Co2 Mapping, Jive Zeng, Nobuko Saigusa, Tsuneo Matsunaga, Tomoko Shirai

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a major greenhouse gas affecting long term global climate change. According to the Global Carbon Budget 2013 (Quéré et al., 2014, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 6, 235–263), total global carbon emissions increased from 3.9 GtC/yr in 1959 to 10.7 GtC/yr in 2012, of which approximately 43% remained in the atmosphere, 30% went to terrestrial sinks, and 27% to the oceans. A method to estimate the oceanic sink is by calculating the air-sea CO2 exchange rate of CO2. While obtaining accurate distributions of the surface ocean CO2 (SOC) is critical to minimize uncertainty for this method, it …

From Climate Change Awareness To Energy Efficient Behaviour, Leila Niamir, Tatiana Filatova

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Understanding and predicting how climate will change, and whether and how a transition to low-carbon economies will develop over the next century is of vital importance. Nowadays there is high competition between countries to achieve a low-carbon economy. They are examining different ways e.g. different energy efficient technologies and low-carbon energy sources, however they believe that human choices and behavioural change has a crucial impact, which is many times discussed in the literature as well. In this paper, we aim to discuss challenges related to modelling behavioural changes on the demand side and show effect of the demand side activation …

An Integrated Interdisciplinary Modelling System Of Climate Change Impacts On Agriculture In Support Of Adaptation Planning: Mosaicc, Hideki Kanamaru, Mauro Evangelisti

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations developed a server-based integrated system of tools and models called MOSAICC to evaluate climate change impacts on the agriculture sectors (crops, water resources, forests, and economy). MOSAICC is designed to respond to the needs of developing countries which may benefit from institutional and individual capacity development in producing relevant information for national climate change adaptation planning. This innovative system design facilitates a participatory environment where researchers with different installations on the user's computer and makes maintenance and update of the system on the centralized server simple. MOSAICC is based on open-source technology …

Re-Examining The Abm Empirical Toolkit In A World Of Big (Behavioral) Data, Andrew Bell

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Robinson et al. (2007) identify five key modes of informing agent-based models (ABM): surveys, participant observation, field and lab experiments, companion modeling, and remotely-sensed data. Janssen and Ostrom (2006) hone in on some of the key dimensions that differentiate these approaches and the kinds of inferences that can be made from them, including the depth of capturing cognitive processes, the number of repeated observations made, and the size of the sample. A decade of technological change has occurred since these reviews were prepared, with mobile technologies in particular breaking down barriers to the scale and scope with which behavioral data …

Engineering News, Summer 2016, School Of Engineering

Engineering News

No abstract provided.

Use Of Cycling Paths Along The Morogoro Brt Line, Ford Sanger

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As the urban population continues to increase rapidly in Dar es Salaam it will become increasingly important to find sustainable means of urban transportation. With planned infrastructure improvements in the city to help alleviate traffic congestion, bicycles, which represent a largely underutilized form of urban transportation, have the potential to play a large role in the future of the city. Through background research, direct observations, community surveys, and interviews, both formal and informal, this study sought to understand the impact of the recent addition of bike lanes along the first phase of the Dar Bus Rapid Transit line. It was …

Modeling Of Soybean Under Present And Future Climates In Mozambique, Manuel António Dina Talacuece, Flávio Barbosa Justino, Rafael De Ávila Rodrigues, Milton Edgar Pereira Flores, Jéssica Garcia Nascimento, Eduardo Eduardo Santos

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

This study aims to calibrate and validate the generic crop model (CROPGRO-Soybean) and estimate the soybean yield, considering simulations with different sowing times for the current period (1990–2013) and future climate scenario (2014–2030). The database used came from observed data, nine climate models of CORDEX (Coordinated Regional climate Downscaling Experiment)-Africa framework and MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective-Analysis for Research and Applications) reanalysis. The calibration and validation data for the model were acquired in field experiments, carried out in the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 growing seasons in the experimental area of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Angónia, Mozambique. The yield …

Renovation Of El Camino Real Of Santa Clara, Thao Nguyen-Pham, John Garzee

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

In this project we focus on a section of the El Camino Real that is a major corridor that connects the South Bay to much of the Peninsula. The portion that we are looking at is by Santa Clara University from Lafayette Street to Scott Boulevard which consists of 3lanes in both directions. This is much wider than sections farther north as there are much higher traffic volumes in the spread out South Bay. As a result, El Camino Real can be dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Along with pedestrian safety concerns, our project goes into the inadequate service levels …

Nicaragua Water Distribution System, Leah Bensching, Jamie Monk

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

In developing nations, such as Nicaragua, water security issues affect a large portion of the population. A lack of clean and secure water negatively causes many public health, environmental and economic concerns. This project addresses the need to develop a water distribution system to a rural community in Nicaragua. The proposed solutions will allow the community to choose more resilient design options to ensure reliable water delivery throughout the community.

By using NeatWork, a Nicaraguan based system, and WaterGEMS, which is more commonly used in the United States, it was determined that designing for 100% reliability was the most responsible …

Determining The Most Efficient Type Of Growth Light For An Aquaponics System Using Yellow Lantern Chilies (Capsicum Chinense), Travis Mceachern

Undergraduate Theses

Abstract

Aquaponics, a type of urban agriculture, shows potential to produce large amounts of food with little water and land requirements. Thus, aquaponics could help address the issue of feeding the growing worldwide population. However, multiple challenges, both technical and economical, are associated with aquaponics, making large-scale implementation of these systems difficult – these systems can require tremendous amounts of energy. This study sought to determine the most efficient types grow lights in aquaponics systems by comparing the growth rates of yellow lantern chilies (Capsicum chinense) when grown under four different types of growth lights: light-emitting diode (LED), …

A Risk-Based Assessment Of Agricultural Water Scarcity Under Climate Change In A Semi-Arid And Snowmelt-Dominated River Basin, Hossam Moursi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water shortage is a crucial concern in the semi-arid areas that have relatively low precipitation. Given the current situation in semi-arid areas where the water supply
already does not meet the water demand, climate change is one of the important factors that is expected to exacerbate the water shortage problem and make the situation even worse in the future. There are many indicators that prove climate change is happening, like the increasing land temperature, sea level rise and decreasing snow cover. Therefore, studying climate change impacts is a vital issue, especially its impacts on water resources systems.

In this research, …

Software Defined Multi-Spectral Imaging For Arctic Sensor Networks, Sam B. Siewert, Matthew Demi Vis, Ryan Claus, Vivek Angoth, Karthikeyan Mani, Kenrick Mock, Surjith B. Singh, Saurav Srivistava, Chris Wagner

Publications

Availability of off-the-shelf infrared sensors combined with high definition visible cameras has made possible the construction of a Software Defined Multi-Spectral Imager (SDMSI) combining long-wave, near-infrared and visible imaging. The SDMSI requires a real-time embedded processor to fuse images and to create real-time depth maps for opportunistic uplink in sensor networks. Researchers at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University working with University of Alaska Anchorage at the Arctic Domain Awareness Center and the University of Colorado Boulder have built several versions of a low-cost drop-in-place SDMSI to test alternatives for power efficient image fusion. The SDMSI is intended for use in field …

Detecting And Screening Of The Prostate Cancer By Using An Optical Nanoporous Thin-Film Sensor, Salah Eldeen Mofleh Alzghoul

Doctoral Dissertations

Prostate cancer (PC) affects elderly men more than young men. The currently used cancer biomarker, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), highly overestimates PC population. Men with high PSA levels often have to go through unnecessary, but physically painful, and expensive prosesses, such as prostate biopsies. Finding a prostate cancer marker that is produced selectively by cancer, but not by normal prostate cells will increase the reliability of PC test. In 2006, our collaborator (Dr. Girish Shah) discovered a novel protein, referred as neuroendocrine marker (NEM), secreted only by malignant prostate cells and released in blood circulation.

To examine whether the combined NEM-PSA …

Energy Dashboard For Real-Time Evaluation Of A Heat Pump Assisted Solar Thermal System, David Allen Lotz

Open Access Theses

The emergence of net-zero energy buildings, buildings that generate at least as much energy as they consume, has lead to greater use of renewable energy sources such as solar thermal energy. One example is a heat pump assisted solar thermal system, which uses solar thermal collectors with an electrical heat pump backup to supply space heating and domestic hot water. The complexity of such a system can be somewhat problematic for monitoring and maintaining a high level of performance. Therefore, an energy dashboard was developed to provide comprehensive and user friendly performance metrics for a solar heat pump system. Once …

Disseminating The Sustainable City Year Program (Scyp) Education Model, Nico Larco, Marc Schlossberg

TREC Final Reports

The University of Oregon has developed a catalytic learning model that simultaneously meets the needs of both the next generation’s transportation workforce and cities looking for innovative and catalytic ways to advance a new era of transportation goals. Named the Sustainable City Year Program (SCYP), the model links local community priorities (as expressed through local plans and city council goals) with courses from a range of disciplines at a nearby university. The UO program engages 500+ multidisciplinary students annually in providing 60,000+ hours of work to city-identified projects using the existing administrative systems of both universities and local communities.

This …

Zane Middle School Waterfall Gutter Fix, Lowen Hobbs, Casey Peterson, Mario Kaluhiokalani, Annie Roberts

Undergraduate Scholarship

See how Zane Middle School solved their gutter issues creatively on Appropedia. The objective of this project was to create and implement a system that sealed the existing holes in the gutters of Zane Middle School and prevent future clogging. The solution, Fix the Flow, involved cutting the edge of the existing gutter and building pieces that patched the hole and created an angled slope and wider surface area for the water to fall into from the gutter on the roof. This will simultaneously solve the leaking problem and prevent the gutter from clogging and overflowing.

Acoustic Sequences In Non-Human Animals: A Tutorial Review And Prospectus, Arik Kershenbaum, Daniel T. Blumstein, Marie A. Roch, Çağlar Akçay, Gregory Backus, Mark A. Bee, Kirsten Bohn, Yan Cao, Gerald Carter, Cristiane Cäsar, Michael Coen, Stacy L. Deruiter, Laurance Doyle, Shimon Edelman, Ramon Ferreri Cancho, Todd M. Freeberg, Ellen C. Garland, Morgan Gustison, Heidi E. Harley, Chloé Huetz, Melissa Hughes, Julia Hyland Bruno, Amiyaal Ilany, Dezhe Z. Jin, Michael T. Johnson, Chenghui Ju, Jeremy Karnowski, Bernard Lohr, Marta B. Manser, Brenda Mccowan, Eduardo Mercado Iii, Peter M. Narins, Alex Piel, Megan Rice, Roberta Salmi, Kazutoshi Sasahara, Laela Sayigh, Yu Shiu, Charles Taylor, Edgar E. Vallejo, Sara Waller, Veronica Zamora Gutierrez

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Animal acoustic communication often takes the form of complex sequences, made up of multiple distinct acoustic units. Apart from the well-known example of birdsong, other animals such as insects, amphibians, and mammals (including bats, rodents, primates, and cetaceans) also generate complex acoustic sequences. Occasionally, such as with birdsong, the adaptive role of these sequences seems clear (e.g. mate attraction and territorial defence). More often however, researchers have only begun to characterise – let alone understand – the significance and meaning of acoustic sequences. Hypotheses abound, but there is little agreement as to how sequences should be defined and analysed. Our …

Calpoly 2015 Transportation Survey Report, William Riggs

City and Regional Planning Studios and Projects

In the spring of 2015, City & Regional Planning faculty conducted a campus-wide transportation survey as part of work on the campus Climate Action Plan. The survey represented spring 2014 commutes and was issued to a sample of full and part-time CalPoly faculty, staff, students and auxiliaries with assistance from Facilities Services and the Vice President for Administration and Finance.

The total number of responses was 3,961, roughly 17% of the entire campus population of roughly 23,000. Unsurprisingly, the majority of respondents were students, totaling 68.6%, while the rest were made up of faculty, staff, and visitors. Results are significant …

Analyses, Calibration And Validation Of Evapotranspirationmodels To Predict Grass-Reference Evapotranspiration In Thesenegal River Delta, Koffi Djaman, Hossein Tabari, Alpha B. Balde, Lamine Diop, Koichi Futakuchi, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Study region: Grass-reference evapotranspiration estimation by the Penman-Monteithmethod (PM-ETo) requires a number of climate variables which are not always availableat all weather stations. Different alternative ETo equations have been developed and theirutilization for various local climate conditions requires analyses of their accuracy as com-pared to the standardized Penman-Monteith method. There is a significant lack of data andinformation on this topic in the Senegal River Delta (SRD). Study focus: The objective of this study was to evaluate, calibrate and validate six EToequations ((Trabert, Mahringer, Penman1948, Albrecht, Valiantzas1 and Valiantzas2) forthe SRD. Although all six equations showed good agreement with the PM-ETo …

Effects Of Chemical Amendments To Swine Manure On Runoff Quality, Elizabeth L. Bullock, Dwayne R. Edwards, Phillip A. Moore Jr., Richard S. Gates

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Land-applied swine manure can be an environmental concern when runoff losses of manure constituents occur. The use of chemical amendments to mitigate these losses has been investigated for poultry litter, but materials such as swine manure have received less attention in this context, particularly at the plot scale or larger. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the impacts of aluminum sulfate (alum; Al₂(SO₄)₃), aluminum chloride (AlCl₃), and ferric chloride (FeCl₃) addition on runoff of selected constituents of land-applied swine manure. Manure was collected from feeder pigs fed a …

Polychlorinated Biphenyl Compound And Metal Contamination And Remediation In Torch Lake, Houghton County, Mi, Ankita Mandelia

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Torch Lake was subject to approximately 100 years of industrial pollution due to the dumping of waste associated with copper mining in the Keweenaw Peninsula, which lasted from approximately the 1860s through the 1960s. It is well-known that this waste included copper-containing mine tailings. What was less understood are the impacts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and heavy metals besides copper on the lake system.

The objectives of this thesis are to summarize the status of contamination and remediation activities in Torch Lake and to estimate the magnitude of potential sources of PCBs to Torch Lake. First, a brief overview of …

A Study On The Current State Of Contaminants Of Concern Research, With A Focus On Biosolids And Regulations, Maren Mariah Fulton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

Wastewater treatment plants are a major source of contaminants of emerging concern, as these facilities are the main receptors of these products via household, commercial, and industrial drains, and transport via stormwater runoff. Biosolids are composed of numerous constituents, with a number of environmentally persistent and potentially toxic contaminants of emerging concern identified as present in large concentrations. Research is needed to understand the transport and fate mechanisms of these compounds in biosolids. Additionally, this research is needed to determine a new priority framework to regulate CECs, both on the national level and regional levels. Wastewater treatment plant influent and …