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Global Hawk Systems Engineering Case Study, Air Force Center For Systems Engineering, Bill Kinzig

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

Exploring Earth-Building Technology For Liberia., Isaac Dompo Mayon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper discusses earth as a building material and the extent to which earth building technology has evolved over the years. In particular it addresses the adobe, compressed and rammed earth techniques of earth building as suitable techniques for Liberia consumption. In addition, the paper investigates the suitability of the Latosols soils of Liberia for earth building construction purposes using standardized earth building principles and requirements. A local Johnson City, Tennessee, earth sample found to have the same physical characteristics of the Latosols of Liberia was used to simulate Liberia soils to produce specimen blocks at different configurations of moisture …

Effects Of Non-Equilibrium Plasma On Eukaryotic Cells (Final Report: Grant Fa9550-06-1-0004), Mounir Laroussi, Fred C. Dobbs, Old Dominion University

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This document is our final report describing the research activities carried out under AFOSR Grant FA9550-06-1-0004. First, descriptions of our cold plasma generation systems are presented. Two systems, developed with past and present AFOSR support, are available in our laboratory. The first is a pulsed device capable of emitting a cold plasma plume in room air. The second is an air plasma generator the core of which is a dielectric barrier discharge excited by a high AC voltage. Following these brief descriptions we first present the effects of an atmospheric pressure air plasma on four different types of eukaryotic microalgae. …

Preparation And Characterization Of An Electrospun Gelatin/Dendrimer Hybrid Nanofiber Dressing, Alicia P. Smith-Freshwater

Theses and Dissertations

A novel dendritic wound dressing was designed and characterized for its potential to treat chronic wounds. Comprised of gelatin, dendrimer, synthetic polymer and antibiotics, the dressing was electrospun to mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM). Gelatin is biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic, and easily available. The antibiotic, doxycycline, has the ability to inhibit matrix metalloproteinases. Matrix metalloproteinases, which occur in excess in chronic wounds, degrade the reconstituted ECM. Starburst™ polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer G3.5, which provides a versatile and structurally controlled architecture to construct nanomedicine, was covalently bonded to the gelatin backbone and electrospun into nanofibers with gelatin, doxycycline and stabilizing polymers. The …

Diversity And Strain Specificity Of Plant Cell Wall Degrading Enzymes Revealed By The Draft Genome Of Ruminococcus Flavefaciens Fd-1, Margret E. Berg Miller, Dionysios A. Antonopoulos, Mark Brand, Albert Bari, Alvaro Hernandez, Jyothi Thimmapuram, Bryan A. White, Marco Rincon, Harry J. Flint, Bernard Henrissat, Pedro M. Coutinho

Cyber Center Publications

Ruminococcus flavefaciens is a predominant cellulolytic rumen bacterium, which forms a multi-enzyme cellulosome complex that could play an integral role in the ability of this bacterium to degrade plant cell wall polysaccharides. Identifying the major enzyme types involved in plant cell wall degradation is essential for gaining a better understanding of the cellulolytic capabilities of this organism as well as highlighting potential enzymes for application in improvement of livestock nutrition and for conversion of cellulosic biomass to liquid fuels.

Controlled Release Of Fluoride From Poly(Ethylene-Co-Vinyl Acetate) Films, Shadeed Khan

Theses and Dissertations

The development of aesthetically unattractive white spots is a concern for patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. Due to poor oral hygiene during treatment, accumulation of plaque around orthodontic brackets causes bacterial fermentation reactions producing acids that dissolve the mineral enamel. Such dissolution results in white spot formation, an early sign of dental caries. In principal, to inhibit the appearance of these spots during treatment, fluoridated elastomeric o-rings might be employed. Once placed around brackets, these o-rings should release fluoride therapeutically for at least 30 days, after which the orthodontist may replace them. At the present time, such fluoride-releasing o-rings are …

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy For Hb And Hbo₂ Detection Using Remote Sensing, Rane M. Pierson

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the work presented in this thesis is to develop a wireless, near-infrared (NIR) imaging system to provide flexibility and functionality to clinicians and researchers who require monitoring of blood profusion to tissue, muscles, or the brain. The prototype device uses a single stimulus/detection unit composed of an Epitex NIR LED with three wavelength options: 730, 805, and 850 nm, and an OPT101 photodiode detector. The device can be used to detect changes in the levels of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin in the body by measuring the amounts of absorbed and backscattered light at the wavelength associated with …

Pilot Rainwater Harvesting Study Ireland, Liam Mccarton, Sean O'Hogain, Anna Reid, Niamh Mcintyre, Jenny Pender

Conference papers

There are no National Water Quality Standards for Rainwater Harvesting supply in Ireland. The Development Technology Centre (DTC) at the Technological University Dublin was commissioned by the National Rural Water Monitoring Committee in 2005 to assess the feasibility of using rainwater harvesting to supplement treated mains water for non-potable uses. The project involved the design, installation, commissioning and monitoring of rainwater harvesting facilities for rural domestic and agricultural water supply. This paper will present the results from the domestic pilot rwh project. A dual water supply system was designed and installed to use rainwater collected from the roof surface to …

Electrocardiogram (Ecg) Signal Modeling And Noise Reduction Using Wavelet Neural Networks, Suranai Poungponsri, Xiao-Hua Yu

Electrical Engineering

Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal has been widely used in cardiac pathology to detect heart disease. In this paper, wavelet neural network (WNN) is studied for ECG signal modeling and noise reduction. WNN combines the multi-resolution nature of wavelets and the adaptive learning ability of artificial neural networks, and is trained by a hybrid algorithm that includes the adaptive diversity learning particle swarm optimization (ADLPSO) and the gradient descent optimization. Computer simulation results demonstrate this proposed approach can successfully model the ECG signal and remove high-frequency noise.

Evaluation Of Direct Diode Laser Deposited Stainless Steel 316l On 4340 Steel Substrate For Aircraft Landing Gear Application, Tian Fu, Todd E. Sparks, Frank W. Liou, Joseph William Newkirk, Zhiqiang Fan, Syamala Rani Pulugurtha, Jianzhong Ruan, Hsin-Nan Chou

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

300M steel is used extensively for aircraft landing gears because of its high strength, ductility and toughness. However, like other high-strength steels, 300M steel is vulnerable to corrosion fatigue and stress corrosion cracking, which can lead to catastrophic consequences in the landing gear. Stainless steels offer a combination of corrosion, wear, and fatigue properties. But for an aircraft landing gear application a higher surface hardness is required. A laser cladding process with fast heating and cooling rates can improve the surface hardness. AISI 4340 steel is used as a lower cost alternative to 300M due to its similar composition. In …

The Use Of A Tri-Axial Accelerometer To Measure Changes In Lower Extremity Fatigue During Functional Activity, Kristin Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

In 2004, the National Collegiate Athletic Association reported ankle sprain as the most frequent injury in soccer, basketball, and volleyball players. Further research found an increased likelihood with fatigue. Measuring fatigue during functional activities has been a longstanding problem. In this study, changes in ankle biomechanics were measured using a tri-axial accelerometer embedded in the shoe as subjects (n=12) performed a fatiguing activity. Data were collected from the accelerometer and from established devices that are considered the industry gold standard. Several kinetic and kinematic accelerometer derived variables were highly correlated with these standards (r2>0.90) and were associated with changes …

A Computer-Based Approach To Material And Process Selection Using Sustainability And Ecological Criteria, Manocher Djassemi

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Decision on selecting a material or process for a particular product is a common task in product engineering and facility planning. Such decision may have a significant impact on entire product life cycle including raw material acquisition, product manufacture, use, disposal, and environment. Traditional factors for decision making are economical, functional and aesthetical properties of the product. However, the issues of sustainability and environmental impact of materials and manufacturing processes have gained a growing attention in recent decade by general population as well as academicians and industrial practitioners. The objective of this study is to explore a software tool for …

Development Of A Low Cost Handheld Microfluidic Phosphate Colorimeter For Water Quality Analysis, Sean C. Kaylor

Master's Theses

This thesis describes the design, fabrication, and testing process for a microfluidic phosphate colorimeter utilized for water quality analysis. The device can be powered by, and interfaced for data collection with, a common cell phone or laptop to dramatically reduce costs. Unlike commercially available colorimeters, this device does not require the user to measure or mix sample and reagent. A disposable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluid chip, powered by an absorption pumping mechanism, was used to draw water samples, mix the sample at a specific ratio with a molybdovanadate reagent, and load both fluids into an onboard cuvette for colorimetric analysis. A …

Symmetry Between True, False, And Uncertain: An Explanation, Eulalia Szmidt, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In intuitionistic fuzzy sets, there is a natural symmetry between degrees of truth and falsity. As a result, for such sets, natural similarity measures are symmetric relative to an exchange of true and false values. It has been recently shown that among such measures, the most intuitively reasonable are the ones which are also symmetric relative to an arbitrary permutation of degrees of truth, falsity, and uncertainty. This intuitive reasonableness leads to a conjecture that such permutations are not simply mathematical constructions, that these permutations also have some intuitive sense. In this paper, we show that each such permutation can …

From Interval Computations To Constraint-Related Set Computations: Towards Faster Estimation Of Statistics And Odes Under Interval And P-Box Uncertainty, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

No abstract provided.

Parametric Model Of Head Related Transfer Functions Based On Systematic Movements Of Poles And Zeros With Sound Location For Pole/Zero Models, Bahaa W. Al-Sheikh Hussein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Directional transfer functions (DTFs), the directional components of the Head Related Transfer Functions (HRTFs), are generally measured at finite locations in azimuth and elevation. Thus models are needed to synthesize DTFs at finer spatial resolution than the measured data to create complete virtual auditory displays. In this research, minimum-phase all-pole and all-zero models were used for modeling both human and cat DTFs. Real cepstrum analysis has been used to represent minimum phase HRTFs in the time domain. For the human DTFs, model orders were chosen to achieve specific objective error criteria published in previous studies that were based on subjective …

Diagonalization Is Also Practically Useful: A Geometric Idea, Martine Ceberio, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

No abstract provided.

"Weird" Fuzzy Notations: An Algebraic Interpretation, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Traditionally, fuzzy logic used non-standard notations like m₁/x₁ + ... + m_n/x_n for a function that attains the value m₁ at x₁, ..., and the value m_n at x_n. In this paper, we provide an algebraic explanation for these notations.

Development Of A High Performance Micropropulsion System For Cubesats, Christopher Lorian Biddy

Master's Theses

Picosatellites are defined as satellites with a mass between 0.1 and 1kg (Miniaturized satellite). Picosatellites are typically designed to work together or function in formations (Miniaturized satellite). A specific type of Picosatellite known as CubeSats were introduced in 1999 and since then have increased in popularity so that there are now over 80 CubeSat programs around the world. CubeSats are defined as cubic units 10cm on each side and no more than 1kg in mass. CubeSats are required to conform to the CubeSat Standard created by California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University and be compatible with Cal Poly’s P-POD …

Active Human Power Generation: As A New Portion Of The Energy Supply, Robert J. Mccleary Ii

Library Research Grants

The discovery and use of energy has revolutionized society for more then two hundred years. With it we have witnessed an explosion of knowledge and technology unparallel in history. Unfortunately our main sources of energy are in limited supply. In order to continue to enjoy the progress made during these last few centuries it is necessary to know both when our supply will run out and to find alternative sources.

The question of when the fossil fuels will run out has been on the minds of many scientists for more than fifty years. In 1956 Dr. M. King Hubbert developed …

Assessing Vaginal Surgical Skills Using Video Motion Analysis, Gouri B. Diwadkar, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert, Matthew D. Barber, J. Eric Jelovsek

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility of using video motion analysis to quantitate a key step of vaginal hysterectomy and define measurable differences between novice and experienced surgical trainees during vaginal hysterectomy.

METHODS: Analyses focused on clamping, transecting, and suturing the left uterosacral ligament. Using a cutoff of 25, trainees were grouped as experienced (n=14) and novice (n=9) based on the total number of vaginal hysterectomies performed by each trainee. Contrasting-groups analysis was used to determine cutoff values that separated novices from experts.

RESULTS: Novice trainees took longer (112 seconds compared with 84 seconds) and had greater cumulative translational motion (92 …

Removal Of Boron From Produced Water By Co-Precipitation / Adsorption For Reverse Osmosis Concentrate, Imran Yusuf Rahman, Yarrow Nelson, Tryg Lundquist

Master's Theses

Co-precipitation and absorption methods were investigated for removal of boron from produced water, which is groundwater brought to the surface during oil and natural gas extraction. Boron can be toxic to many crops and often needs to be controlled to low levels in irrigation water. The present research focused on synthetic reverse osmosis (RO) concentrate modeled on concentrate expected from a future treatment facility at the Arroyo Grande Oil Field on the central coast of California. The produced water at this site is brackish with a boron concentration of 8 mg/L and an expected temperature of 80°C. The future overall …

The Tromped, A Means Of Prophylaxis For Flight Related Deep Vein Thrombosis, Carolyn Collins

Doctoral

The process of blood flow in the leg, against gravity and towards the heart is instigated by compression of the veins in the foot. Contraction of the calf muscles results in an ejection volume (EV) of blood towards the heart, completing the process. Research studies have shown an association between flight travel and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Stasis of blood flow can lead to the development of thrombus formation. Deep Vein Thrombosis occurs in situations where people are immobile for long periods of time, whether this is a result of ill health or travel on land or in the air. …

Creation Of Defined Single Cell Resolution Neuronal Circuits On Microelectrode Arrays, Russell Pirlo

All Dissertations

The way cell-cell organization of neuronal networks influences activity and facilitates function is not well understood. Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) and advancing cell patterning technologies have enabled access to and control of in vitro neuronal networks spawning much new research in neuroscience and neuroengineering. We propose that small, simple networks of neurons with defined circuitry may serve as valuable research models where every connection can be analyzed, controlled and manipulated.
Towards the goal of creating such neuronal networks we have applied microfabricated elastomeric membranes, surface modification and our unique laser cell patterning system to create defined neuronal circuits with single-cell precision …

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint (Slides With Audio) (Large File! To Speed Up Download, Right-Click On "Download" Link To Save To Own Pc.), Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This presentation sets out the very basics of ‘sustainability’, although a definition of sustainability is not attempted. Some of the very basics are the context in which the Earth and humankind exist in space and time, the Earth’s climate, the Earth’s population and humankind’s options and choices. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’. The author also argues that, in addressing the challenges that humankind faces, globally concerted effort …

A Novel Tdr-Based Coaxial Cable Sensor For Crack/Strain Sensing In Reinforced Concrete Structures, Shishuang Sun, David Pommerenke, James L. Drewniak, Genda Chen, Liang Xue, Michael A. Brower, Marina Koledintseva

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Novel coaxial cable sensors that feature high sensitivity and high spatial resolution are developed for health monitoring of concrete structures using a time-domain reflectometry (TDR). The new sensor was designed based on the topology change of its outer conductor, which was fabricated with tightly wrapped commercial tin-plated steel spiral covered with solder. The cracks that developed within concrete structures will lead to out-of-contact of local steel spirals. This topology change results in a large impedance discontinuity that can be measured with a TDR. A simplified equivalent transmission line model and numerical full-wave simulations using finite-difference time-domain techniques were used to …

National Urban Database And Access Portal Tool, Nudapt, Jason Ching, Michael Brown, Steven Burian, Fei Chen, Ron Cionco, Adel Hanna, Torrin Hultgren, Timothy Mcpherson, David J. Sailor, Haider Taha, David Williams

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Based on the need for advanced treatments of high resolution urban morphological features (e.g., buildings, trees) in meteorological, dispersion, air quality and human exposure modeling systems for future urban applications, a new project was launched called the National Urban Database and Access Portal Tool (NUDAPT). NUDAPT is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and involves collaborations and contributions from many groups including federal and state agencies and from private and academic institutions here and in other countries. It is designed to produce and provide gridded fields of urban canopy parameters for various new and advanced descriptions of model …

Effects Of Bypasses, Jon D. Fricker, Joshua B. Mills

JTRP Technical Reports

This study aims to investigate the long-term impacts of bypasses on small- and medium-sized communities in Indiana. Interviews were conducted with community officials and individuals familiar with the history of each bypassed community. Statistical models were developed to analyze economic impacts across a number of key indicators including payroll and employment in various industry sectors. Lessons learned from this study vary from county to county and across industry sectors. The findings of this study will be used to develop a concise guide that will provide guidance to both Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) officials and community officials as to how …

On The Modeling Of Energy Harvesters And Analysis Of Their Response Under Time-Varying Frequency Excitations, Thiago Seuaciuc-Osorio

All Theses

Energy harvesting is a process by which otherwise wasted ambient energy can be captured and transformed into a useful form. Historical examples of this concept include windmills, sailing ships, and waterwheels. Modern technologies and current energy needs have brought this same concept to a smaller scale wherein small wireless devices with minute energy consumption can be operated autonomously. Today, many critical electronic devices, such as health-monitoring sensors, pace makers, spinal stimulators, electric pain relievers, etc. require minimal amounts of power to function, which permits utilizing energy from their environment to power them. By exploiting the ability of active materials and …

The Effect Of Relative Humidity On The Microbial Barrier Properties Of Porous Packaging Materials Used In The Medical Device Industry, Jennifer Blocher

All Theses

Porous packaging materials, such as medical-grade paper and Tyvek¨, are used often by the medical device industry for packaging sterile devices when the products are sterilized post packaging. Their use can be attributed to the fact that multiple sterilization methods require the ability for vapors to enter and/or exit the package efficiently, while simultaneously reducing the amount of microbes entering the package. Much research as been done to study the effects of multiple material and environmental factors, such as material structure and dispersion concentration, on the microbial barrier properties of these materials, however no research had been conducted to examine …