Digital Commons Network^™

Oxidative Dissolution Potential Of Biogenic And Abiogenic Tco2 In Subsurface Sediments, James K. Fredrickson, John M. Zachara, Andrew Plymale, Steve M. Heald, James Mckinley, David Kennedy, Chongxuan Liu, Ponnusamy Nachimuthu

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Technetium-99 (Tc) is an important fission product contaminant associated with sites of nuclear fuels reprocessing and geologic nuclear waste disposal. Tc is highly mobile in its most oxidized state [Tc(VII)O₄⁻] and less mobile in the reduced form [Tc(IV)O₂•nH₂O]. Here we investigate the potential for oxidation of Tc(IV) that was heterogeneously reduced by reaction with biogenic Fe(II) in two sediments differing in mineralogy and aggregation state; unconsolidated Pliocene-age fluvial sediment from the upper Ringold (RG) Formation at the Hanford Site and a clay-rich saprolite from the Field Research Center (FRC) background site …

Artificial Insemination In South American Camelids And Wild Equids, G. P. Adams, M. H. Ratto, C. W. Collins, D. R. Bergfelt

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

An overview of the present status of the use of artificial insemination (AI) in South American camelids and wild equids is offered. Technical aspects of semen collection, dilution and cryopreservation have limited the development and use of AI in camelid and equid species. To-date, efficiency is low but progress has been made and viable offspring have been produced through the use of AI in domestic South American camelids using both fresh and frozen semen. The origin, composition, and function of the viscous component of camelid seminal plasma remain a mystery and an obvious area for future research. A better understanding …

The Solar Transformity Of Petroleum Fuels, S. Bastianoni, D. E. Campbell, R. Ridolfi, F. M. Pulselli

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Petroleum fuels are the primary energy basis for transportation and industry. They are almost always an important input to the economic and social activities of humanity. Emergy analyses require accurate estimates with specified uncertainty for the transformities of major energy and material inputs to economic and environmental systems. In this study, the oil refining processes in Italy and the United States were examined to estimate the transformity and specific emergy of petroleum derivatives. Based on our assumptions that petroleum derivatives are splits of a complex hydrocarbon mixture and that the emergy is split based on the fraction of energy in …

Foodweb Modeling For Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) In The Twelvemile Creek Arm Of Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, Usa, Brenda Rashleigh, M. Craig Barber, David M. Walters

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

PCBs from the Sangamo-Weston Superfund Site near Clemson, South Carolina, USA, were released into the Twelvemile Creek Arm of Lake Hartwell until the early 1990s. Monitoring data have shown that while PCB concentration in sediments declined since 1995, PCB concentrations in fish have remained elevated, e.g., largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) concentrations have ranged from 5 to 10 ppm. The EPA aquatic ecosystem model AQUATOX was applied to this system to better characterize foodweb dynamics that lead to biomagnification of PCBs. The model was calibrated with observed fish biomass data. Simulated PCB loading over a 12-year period provided a …

Comparing The Mutagenicity Of Toxaphene After Aging In Anoxic Soils And Accumulating In Fish, James C. Young, Anne D. Freeman, Robert M. Bruce, Douglas Williams, Keith Maruya

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

A test program was conducted to evaluate the mutagenicity of toxaphene residuals extracted from aged soils and from fish collected in creeks near a toxaphene-contaminated site. The ultimate objective was to determine if the residual toxaphene congeners were more or less mutagenic than those in technical- grade toxaphene.The study showed that the mutagenicity of the bioaccumulated toxaphenecongeners in fish, expressed as colony revertants per mg of residual toxaphene, was no greater than that of technical-grade toxaphene.Themutagenicimpactofthetoxapheneresidualsinagedsoilstatistically was less than that for technical-grade toxaphene. Two specific congeners, a hexachlorobornane(labeled Hx-Sd) and a heptachlorobornane (labeled Hp-Sd), were found to accumulate over time …

Chipless Rfid Sensor Tag System With Microstrip Transmissionline Based Id Generation Schemes, Sudhir Shrestha

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor tag system consisting of passive chipless RFID sensor tags and specialized reader. The chipless sensor tags are fabricated on a flexible substrate and contain an ID generation circuit, a sensor, and a microstrip antenna. The ID generation circuit consists of meandered microstrip transmission lines and uses a novel reflection and delay based ID generation scheme. The scheme, using an input RF pulse, constructs an on-off keying (OOK) or pulse position modulated (PPM) signal pattern representing a unique ID code. Two transmission lines and OOK representation are used and the generation …

Graduate School Academic Catalog 2009-2010, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology

AFIT Documents

The Graduate Catalog represents the offerings, programs, and requirements in effect at the time of publication.

The Ethical Phenomenon Of Gm-Corn: Anger, Anxiety, And Arrogance In Crossing American Borders, Jules Simon

Departmental Papers (Philosophy)

In terms of phenomenology, I often wonder about the relevance of what I do as a philosopher for the life of those with whom I come into contact. This ‘coming into contact’ happens for me on several levels: as one human among many, as a husband and father and son and brother, as a teacher, as a neighbor, and as country or city dweller. I remember with fondness those times in the late sultry summer months when, as a youth, I would drive with my father to this or that local farm-stand on some remote back road in the hills …

Doe Climate Change Research Program: Strategic Plan

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Advance the forefront of climate change research to provide the nation with the scientific knowledge it needs about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth's climate and biosphere to support effective energy and environmental decision making.

Towards Neural-Based Understanding Of The Cauchy Deviate Method For Processing Interval And Fuzzy Uncertainty, Vladik Kreinovich, Hung T. Nguyen

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the most efficient techniques for processing interval and fuzzy data is a Monte-Carlo type technique of Cauchy deviates that uses Cauchy distributions. This technique is mathematically valid, but somewhat counterintuitive. In this paper, following the ideas of Paul Werbos, we provide a natural neural network explanation for this technique.

Development Of Brownfield Database Using Gis, Jubair Hossain

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Brownfields are abandoned, idled or underutilized industrial or commercial sites where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination. Brownfields may be as small as a vacant city lot or as large as an abandoned manufacturing facility occupying several hundred acres. The extent of contamination encountered at brownfield sites may range from minor surface debris to extensive, dangerous soil and ground-water contamination. Concerning the communities in which brownfields are located, redevelopment may improve community appearance and image, relieve associated health and environmental concerns and produce a beneficial economic effect through increased property values and employment opportunities.The overall …

A Portable Biotelemeter For Batteryless Gerd Sensors, Sandeep Battula

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In many medical problems, a continuous monitoring of the disease in vivo is essential to prevent further deterioration of health. The monitoring usually exceeds 24 hours. With the help of current advanced technologies, micro-medical devices are built to sense the internal physiological conditions in patients. Telemetry is used to transmit information to an external monitoring device. For the convenience and comfort of the patient, these monitoring systems should have low power consumption and be portable. This work discusses the design of a low power portable biotelemeter for batteryless Gastro esophageal reflux disease (GERD) sensors which can detect acid and non-acid …

Battery Identification Methods Based On Equivalent Circuit Model, Matthew Cole Ragsdale

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Development of an intelligent battery diagnostic system is a necessity for future transportation industry. These technologies will have the potential to create profound impact in other industries such as portable electronics. This thesis reports on battery identification methods that are primarily engineered to detect the chemistry, number of cells, and state of charge in an unknown package of batteries. The proposed methods have the potential to be used for condition monitoring in a known set of batteries thereby, creating a health monitoring apparatus that can be an integral part of a battery management system using any of the prominent lead …

Investigation Of Damage Detection Methodologies For Structural Health Monitoring, Mustafa Gul

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is employed to track and evaluate damage and deterioration during regular operation as well as after extreme events for aerospace, mechanical and civil structures. A complete SHM system incorporates performance metrics, sensing, signal processing, data analysis, transmission and management for decision-making purposes. Damage detection in the context of SHM can be successful by employing a collection of robust and practical damage detection methodologies that can be used to identify, locate and quantify damage or, in general terms, changes in observable behavior. In this study, different damage detection methods are investigated for global condition assessment of structures. …

Managing Livestock Manure To Protect Environmental Quality, Brian L. Benham, Richard B. Ferguson, Christopher G. Henry, Michael A. Reynolds, Charles A. Shapiro, James P. Stack, Charles S. Wortmann

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Proper utilization of livestock manure is a major environmental concern. Livestock manure has typically been considered a ‘waste product’ of livestock production. A more accurate name for this material is a ‘recycled resource’ from the production of livestock. By managing livestock manure, the producer has a second chance to utilize the nutrients that have already been paid for but not fully utilized by the animal. Collecting, containing, and properly spreading livestock manure will incur additional costs for the producer. However, these costs can be offset or justified by the producer in terms of the yield enhancement and nutrient credits that …

Integrated Capture And Spectroscopic Detection Of Viruses, Crystal A. Vargas, Allison A. Wilhelm, Jeremy Williams, Pierre Lucas, Kelly A. Reynolds, Mark R. Riley

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The goal of this work is to develop an online monitoring scheme for detection of viruses in flowing drinking water. The approach applies an electrodeposition process that is similar to the use of charged membrane filters previously employed for collection of viruses from aqueous samples. In the present approach, charged materials are driven onto a robust optical sensing element which has high transparency to infrared light. A spectroscopic measurement is performed using the evanescent wave that penetrates no more than 1 m from the surface of an infrared optical element in an attenuated total reflectance measurement scheme. The infrared measurement …

Investigation Of River Eutrophication As Part Of A Low Dissolved Oxygen Tmdl Implementation, Gary M. Litton, W. T. Stringfellow, J. Herr, M. Brunell, S. Borglin

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

In the United States, environmentally impaired rivers are subject to regulation under total maximum daily load (TMDL) regulations that specify watershed wide water quality standards. In California, the setting of TMDL standards is accompanied by the development of scientific and management plans directed at achieving specific water quality objectives. The San Joaquin River (SJR) in the Central Valley of California now has a TMDL for dissolved oxygen (DO). Low DO conditions in the SJR are caused in part by excessive phytoplankton growth (eutrophication) in the shallow, upstream portion of the river that create oxygen demand in the deeper estuary. This …

Foreword For The Special Issue Of Selected Papers From The 1st Acm Sigspatial Workshop On Security And Privacy In Gis And Lbs, Elisa Bertino, Maria Luisa Damiani

Cyber Center Publications

The first Workshop on Security and Privacy in GIS and LBS (SPRINGL 2008) was organized on November 4, 2008 at Irvine (CA) in conjunction with the SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems (ACM GIS 2008). The goal of the SPRINGL workshop series is to provide a forum for researchers working in the area of geospatial data security and privacy. Both security and privacy are critical for geospatial applications because of the dramatic increase and dissemination of geospatial data in several application contexts including homeland security, environmental crises, and natural and industrial disasters. Furthermore, geospatial infrastructures are being …

Generalization Of Acid Properties, Brahim Medjahed, Mourad Ouzzani, Ahmed Elmagarmid

Cyber Center Publications

ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability) is a set of properties that guarantee the reliability of database transactions [2]. ACID properties were initially developed with traditional, business-oriented applications (e.g., banking) in mind. Hence, they do not fully support the functional and performance requirements of advanced database applications such as computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, office automation, network management, multidatabases, and mobile databases. For instance, transactions in computer-aided design applications are generally of long duration and preserving the traditional ACID properties in such transactions would require locking resources for long periods of time. This has lead to the generalization of ACID properties …

Location Privacy In Moving-Object Environments, Dan Lin, Elisa Bertino, Reynold Cheng, Sunil Prabhakar

Cyber Center Publications

The expanding use of location-based services has profound implications on the privacy of personal information. If no adequate protection is adopted, information about movements of specific individuals could be disclosed to unauthorized subjects or organizations, thus resulting in privacy breaches. In this paper, we propose a framework for preserving location privacy in moving-object environments. Our approach is based on the idea of sending to the service provider suitably modified location information. Such modifications, that include transformations like scaling, are performed by agents interposed between users and service providers. Agents execute data transformation and the service provider directly processes the transformed …

Private Queries And Trajectory Anonymization: A Dual Perspective On Location Privacy, Gabriel Ghinita

Cyber Center Publications

The emergence of mobile devices with Internet connectivity (e.g., Wi-Fi) and global positioning capabilities (e.g., GPS) have triggered the widespread development of location-based applications. For instance, users are able to ask queries about points of interest in their proximity. Furthermore, users can act as mobile sensors to monitor traffic flow, or levels of air pollution. However, such applications require users to disclose their locations, which raises serious privacy concerns. With knowledge of user locations, a malicious attacker can infer sensitive information, such as alternative lifestyles or political affiliations. Preserving location privacy is an essential requirement towards the successful deployment of …

Query Mesh: Multiroute, Rimma Nehme, Karen Works, Elke Rundensteiner, Elisa Bertino

Cyber Center Publications

We propose to demonstrate a practical alternative approach to the current state-of-the-art query processing techniques, called the “Query Mesh” (or QM, for short). The main idea of QM is to compute multiple routes (i.e., query plans)1, each designed for a particular subset of data with distinct statistical properties. Based on the execution routes and the data characteristics, a classifier model is induced and is used to partition new data tuples to assign the best routes for their processing. We propose to demonstrate the QM framework in the streaming context using our demo application, called the “Ubi-City”. We will illustrate the …

A Hierarchical Approach To Model Web Query Interfaces For Web Source Integration, Thomas Kabisch, Eduard Dragut, Clement Yu, Ulf Leser

Cyber Center Publications

Much data in the Web is hidden behind Web query interfaces. In most cases the only means to "surface" the content of a Web database is by formulating complex queries on such interfaces. Applications such as Deep Web crawling and Web database integration require an automatic usage of these interfaces. Therefore, an important problem to be addressed is the automatic extraction of query interfaces into an appropriate model. We hypothesize the existence of a set of domain-independent "commonsense design rules" that guides the creation of Web query interfaces. These rules transform query interfaces into schema trees. In this paper we …

The Plant Ionome Coming Into Focus, Lorraine Williams, David Salt

Cyber Center Publications

92 elements have been identified on earth and 17 of these are known to be essential to all plants. The essential elements required in relatively large amounts (>0.1% of dry mass) are called macronutrients and include C, H, O, N, S, P, Ca, K, Mg. Those required in much smaller amounts (<0.01% of dry mass) are referred to as micronutrients or trace elements and include Ni, Mo, Cu, Zn, Mn, B, Fe, and Cl. Plant growth and development depends on a balanced supply of these essential elements and thus the plant has a range of homeostatic mechanisms operating to ensure that this is maintained. Beneficial elements which promote growth and may be essential to some taxa, include Na, Co, Al, Se and Si. Elements such as the heavy metal Cd and the metalloid As have no demonstrated biological function in plants, but are nevertheless taken up and cause severe toxicity in most plant species. The concept for this special issue is the plant ionome, a word coined to encompass all these elements and allow focussed discussion and investigations on the mechanisms that co-ordinately regulate these elements in response to genetic and environmental factors reviewed in Salt et al., 2008).

Gold Nanorods As Contrast Agents For Biological Imaging: Optical Properties, Surface Conjugation And Photothermal Effects, Ling Tong, Qingshan Wei, Alexander Wei, Ji-Xin Cheng

Other Nanotechnology Publications

Gold nanorods (NRs) have plasmon-resonant absorption and scattering in the near-infrared (NIR) region, making them attractive probes for in vitro and in vivo imaging. In the cellular environment, NRs can provide scattering contrast for darkfield microscopy, or emit a strong two-photon luminescence due to plasmon-enhanced two-photon absorption. NRs have also been employed in biomedical imaging modalities such as optical coherence tomography or photoacoustic tomography. Careful control over surface chemistry enhances the capacity of NRs as biological imaging agents by enabling cell-specific targeting, and by increasing their dispersion stability and circulation lifetimes. NRs can also efficiently convert optical energy into heat, …

Beyond K-Anonymity: A Decision Theoretic Framework For Assessing Privacy Risk, Guy Lebanon, Monica Scannapieco, Mohamed Fouad, Elisa Bertino

Cyber Center Publications

An important issue any organization or individual has to face when managing data containing sensitive information, is the risk that can be incurred when releasing such data. Even though data may be sanitized before being released, it is still possible for an adversary to reconstruct the original data using additional information thus resulting in privacy violations. To date, however, a systematic approach to quantify such risks is not available. In this paper we develop a framework, based on statistical decision theory, that assesses the relationship between the disclosed data and the resulting privacy risk. We model the problem of deciding …

Universities Changing In Response To A Volatile Environment: A Case Study From Ireland, Kevin Kelly

Books/Book chapters

This paper is a short summary of a research thesis submitted for a doctoral degree in education in late 2008. The substantive issue investigated was the response of a large higher education institute (HEI) in Ireland, the Dublin Institute of Technology and hereafter referred to as the Institute, to the demands for change. The research was undertaken by an experienced academic from inside the organisation. What is happening in this institute may be significant to others because change in higher education is a key debate throughout the world at present. The research study shows that stakeholders in the Institute acknowledge …

Final Design Report: Hand-Drive Rear Wheel Drive Wheelchair Project, Colin Neunuebel, Bjorn Sorenson, Lazer Vandenhoek

Mechanical Engineering

The project described herein is a senior design project for mechanical engineering students. This report details the design, build, and test process for the development of a wheelchair hand cycle attachment that drives the wheels of the wheelchair, rather than the wheel of the attachment. The sponsor of the project, Mr. Greg O’Kelly is interested in such a device for his own use as well as having a working prototype as a “proof of concept”, should the design be successful enough to manufacture. From the sponsor’s perspective, in addition to acquiring a product he can use, this is also an …

Multifunctional Nanocomposites For High Damping Performance, Lee Algozzini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composite structures for aerospace and wind turbine applications are subjected to high acoustic and vibrational loading and exhibit very high amplitude displacements and thus premature failure. Materials with high damping or absorbing properties are crucially important to extend the life of structures. Traditional damping treatments are based on the combinations of viscoelastic, elastomeric, magnetic, and piezoelectric materials. In this work, the use of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in the form of interconnected self-supportive paper as reinforcement can significantly improve damping performance. The interfacial friction is the primary source of energy dissipation in CNF paper based nanocomposites. The approach entailed making CNF …

The Development Of A Prototype Robotic Platform On Which Awareness Strategies Can Be Implemented, Sean Kinsella

Theses

This thesis describes the design and development of the hardware and software for a prototype robotic platform on which awareness strategies can be developed. The mobile prototype platform designed over the course of work is capable of operating as a distributed or centralised system.

There is no singular definition of awareness for a robotic system and the development of awareness strategies is complex and requires expertise in many scientific disciplines. This paper describes the different types of awareness associated with robotic systems and the technology required to implement this awareness. A review of sensors critical to the development of awareness …