Digital Commons Network^™

Characterization Of Chlorinated Ethene Degradation In A Vertical Flow Constructed Wetland, James M. Waldron

Theses and Dissertations

Chlorinated solvents, including perchloroethene (PCE) and trichlorethene (TCE), are among the most common groundwater contaminants found in the United States. Once released into the environment, chlorinated solvents are extremely persistent and often require costly and lengthy remedial actions. The use of constructed wetlands has shown promise as an effective and less costly alternative for the treatment of chlorinated solvent contaminated groundwater. This study characterized and evaluated the concentration of chlorinated ethenes within a vertical flow constructed wetland, fed with PCE contaminated groundwater, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), Ohio. Chlorinated ethene concentrations were characterized within three distinct layers of the …

Selecting Electricity Generation Sources In Remote Locations, Kelly E. Kwan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of using a decision analysis technique for the selection of an electrical generation system for remote locations. Specifically, this thesis sought to answer five research questions addressing the types of energy sources used in remote locations, the decision-making processes used to identify these sources, the types of constraints incorporated in such a process, other valued factors, and their level of importance in relation to each other. The research questions were answered through a comprehensive literature review and the 10-Step Value-Focused Thinking Process on a specific case study in the National …

A Decision Model For Selecting Energy Efficient Technologies For Low -Sloping Roof Tops Using Value-Focused Thinking, Michael J. Mccourt

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has a large inventory of low-sloping built up roofs (BURs) and millions of dollars are spent each year retrofitting these systems. The DOD has been directed to reduce non-renewable energy consumption by using energy-efficient technologies. These two details present a great opportunity to use the open roof space to install energy-efficient roofing technologies. The purpose of this research is to provide Air Force decision makers with a tool to assist them in deciding what roofing technologies should be installed on facilities. Value Focused-Thinking is the methodology used to construct the model, in which values were used, instead …

Determining Logistics Ground Support Manpower Requirements For A Reusable Military Launch Vehicle, Sydney C. Michalski

Theses and Dissertations

Successful space-based technologies like satellite imagery and GPS have increased military demand for a rapid-response launch capability. AF Space Command's Operationally Responsive Spacelift program was developed to ensure that the AF has the capability to launch a payload into orbit within hours of a tasking notification, and requires development of a new space launch vehicle. The Reusable Military Launch Vehicle (RMLV) is currently in the design phase. The AF Research Laboratory sponsored development of the MILEPOST simulation model in order to assess the turnaround time, and thus responsiveness, of various design alternatives. The focus of this thesis is to improve …

Critical Infrastructure Rebuild Prioritization Using Simulation Optimization, Namsuk Cho

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the importance of a critical infrastructure rebuild strategy following a terrorist attack or natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina. Critical infrastructures are very complex and dependent systems in which their re-establishment is an essential part of the rebuilding process. A rebuild simulation model consisting of three layers (physical, information, and spatial) captures the dependency between the six critical infrastructures modeled. We employ a simulation optimization approach to evaluate rebuild prioritization combinations with a goal of minimizing the time needed to achieve an acceptable rebuild level. We use a simulated annealing heuristic as an optimization technique that works …

Crop Residue Effects On Runoff Nutrient Concentrations Following Manure Application, Jeffrey E. Nicolaisen, John E. Gilley, Bahman Eghball, David B. Marx

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Manure is applied to cropland areas managed under diverse conditions, resulting in varying amounts of residue cover. The objective of this study was to measure the effects of crop residue on nutrient concentrations in runoff from areas where beef cattle or swine manure were recently applied but not incorporated. Plots 0.75 m wide by 2 m long were established at the study site. Existing residue materials were removed, and corn, soybean, or winter wheat residue was added at rates of 2, 4, or 8 Mg ha⁻¹. Manure was then applied at rates required to meet estimated annual nitrogen …

Diffusion Of Innovation: Factors Promoting Interest In Solar Photovoltaic Generation Systems Within Air Force Installations, Daniel Diaz Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to identify factors which promote interest in solar photovoltaic generation systems for facility use within the United States Air Force. The construct model was developed based on past literature on Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The model comprised of measures defined as motivation, knowledge, experience, and familiarity as well as contextual variables. These measures were then used to determine whether any significant association existed between the measures and the overall dependent variable, interest. A phone interview was conducted on Air Force energy managers located within the continental U.S. The methods of correlation and regression analysis …

Quantification Of Risk For Usaf Fire And Emergency Services Flights As A Result Of Shortage In Manpower, Timothy D. Dalby

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force (USAF) is currently experiencing a period of high operations tempo and overseas deployments have become frequent. These deployments will leave home installations short manned. Some amount of risk is incurred by the home installation as a result of the short manning. For an organization, such as an USAF Fire and Emergency Services (FES) flight, whose primary responsibility is the protection of life and property, the incurred risk could be catastrophic. Still no attempt has been made to quantify risk in terms of manpower for the USAF FES flights. The primary purpose of this research was …

An Analysis Of Robust Workforce Scheduling Models For A Nurse Rostering Problem, Paul K. Tower

Theses and Dissertations

Disruptions impacting workforce schedules can be costly. A 1999 study of the United Kingdom's National Health Service estimated that as much as 4% of the total resources spent on staffing were lost to schedule disruptions like absenteeism. Although disruptions can not be eliminated, workforce schedules can be improved to be more responsive to disruptions. One key area of study that has expanded over the past few years is the application of traditional scheduling techniques to re-rostering problems. These efforts have provided methods for responding to schedule disruptions, but typically require deviations to the disrupted schedule. This thesis examines five workforce …

Using Value-Focused Thinking To Evaluate The Use Of Innovative Stormwater Management Technologies On Air Force Installations, Jeffrey T. Falcone

Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff occurs naturally after every storm event; however, traditional development practices have created many impervious surfaces, such as buildings, parking lots, and streets that increase runoff volume and flow rate. Conventional stormwater management practices focus on collecting runoff into centralized channels and conveying it as quickly as possible to local bodies of water. This type of conveyance system decreases the opportunity for stormwater to naturally infiltrate back into the ground. It also prevents contaminants from being naturally filtered out of stormwater flows. As a result, centralized conveyance systems can cause flooding, erosion, and terrestrial and aquatic habitat degradation. Innovative …

Damage Detection In Ambient Vibration Using Proportional Flexibility Matrix With Incomplete Measured Dofs, Zhongdong Duan, Guirong Yan, Jinping Ou, Billie F. Spencer

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Structural Damage Detections based on the Changes of Dynamic Properties Are a Major Concern Tor Structural Health Monitoring. in This Paper. Efforts Are Made to Extend the Flexibility-Based Damage Localization Methods, Especially the Damage Locating Vector (DLV) Method, to the Case of Ambient Vibration with Incomplete Measured Degree of Freedom, Where Flexibility Matrices Are Not Available. First, the Method to Assemble a Proportional Flexibility Matrix (PFM) with Arbitrarily Scaled Modal Shapes of Full Measured Degrees of Freedom (DOF) is Introduced. the PFM is within a Scalar Multiplier to the Real Flexibility Matrix, and the Multiplier is Shown to Be the …

Effects Of Prior Aging At Elevated Temperature In Air And In Argon Environments On Creep Response Of Pmr-15 Neat Resin, Joseph L. Broeckert

Theses and Dissertations

Creep behavior of PMR-15 neat resin, a polyimide thermoset polymer, aged in air or argon gaseous environments at 288 °C for up to 1000 h was evaluated. Creep tests were performed at 288 C at creep stress levels of 20 and 10 MPa. Creep periods of at least 25 h in duration were followed by recovery at zero stress. Weight loss and growth of the oxidation layer were also monitored and correlated with aging time. The aging time in both air and argon environments had a strong influence on the creep and recovery response of PMR-15 neat resin. Samples aged …

On-Demand Key Distribution For Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks, Daniel F. Graham

Theses and Dissertations

Mobile ad-hoc networks offer dynamic portable communication with little or no infrastructure. While this has many benefits, there are additional shortcomings specific to wireless communication that must be addressed. This research proposes gossip-based on-demand key distribution as a means to provide data encryption for mobile ad-hoc networks. This technique uses message keys to avoid encrypting and decrypting a message at every node. Other optimizations used include secure channel caching and joint rekey messages. The use of gossip makes the scheme robust to node failure. Experimental results show only a 15% increase in end-to-end delay with a node failure rate of …

Optimizing The Prioritization Of Natural Disaster Recovery Projects, Jason M. Aftanas

Theses and Dissertations

Prioritizing reconstruction projects to recover a base from a natural disaster is a complicated and arduous process that involves all levels of leadership. The project prioritization phase of base recovery has a direct affect on the allocation of funding, the utilization of human resources, the obligation of projects, and the overall speed and efficiency of the recovery process. The focus of this research is the development of an objective and repeatable process for optimizing the project prioritization phase of the recovery effort. This work will focus on promoting objectivity in the project prioritizing process, improving the communication of the overall …

A Value-Focused Thinking Model For The Selection Of The Best Rigid Pavement, Partial-Depth Spall Repair Material, Benjamin G. Speer

Theses and Dissertations

Concrete spalls on airfield pavements generate foreign object debris (FOD) that is damaging to aircraft engines, and may damage landing gear by roughening of the pavement surface. Repairing spalled concrete on aging and deteriorating airfields is essential for its safe operational use. Picking the best repair material from many products on the commercial market is difficult. There is wide variation on material properties, and good performance on certain criteria is critical to constructing long lasting repairs. Since there is currently no procedure for Air Force decision-makers to select the best rigid-pavement repair material, a model was created using Value-Focused Thinking …

The Relationship Between The Location Of Obstacle And Indoor Particle Deposition, Je-Ee Ho, Hong T. Young

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

An appropriate ventilation system design not only increases the indoor ventilation effect but effectively improves the particle concentration distribution. The locations of indoor furniture are used to analyze the indoor airflow and particle distribution by numerical skill in this study. Also, a 45 cm × 45 cm × 45 cm chamber is setup as experiment apparatus which is made by acrylic resin board with 16 holes connected to supply air flow. In order to simulate the furniture effect, some wooden blocks are located at the chamber. The temperature and humidity sensors are connected to the data acquisition system with a …

Hyperthermic Effects Of Gold Nanorods On Tumor Cells, Terry B. Huff, Ling Tong, Matthew N. Hansen, Ji-Xin Cheng, Alexander Wei

Other Nanotechnology Publications

Plasmon-resonant gold nanorods, which have large absorption cross sections at near-infrared frequencies, are excellent candidates as multifunctional agents for image-guided therapies based on localized hyperthermia. The controlled modification of the surface chemistry of the nanorods is of critical importance, as issues of cell-specific targeting and nonspecific uptake must be addressed prior to clinical evaluation. Nanorods coated with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (a cationic surfactant used in nanorod synthesis) are internalized within hours into KB cells by a nonspecific uptake pathway, whereas the careful removal of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide from nanorods functionalized with folate results in their accumulation on the cell surface over the …

Threshold Power Of Canonical Antennas For Inducing Sar At Compliance Limits In The 300-3000 Mhz Frequency Range, Mohammod Ali, Mark G. Douglas, Abu T.M. Sayem, Antonio Faraone, Chung-Kwang Chou

Faculty Publications

A study of the specific absorption rate (SAR) in an exposed body induced by canonical antennas is presented, with the aim of determining an upper bound for the antenna transmit power that demonstrates that a product is inherently compliant with internationally accepted radio frequency (RF) exposure limits. Starting from the fundamental limits in antenna quality factor (Q) and the corresponding bandwidth, several antenna sizes are selected, and their SAR distributions are computed using the method of moments (MoM) and finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method in the frequency range 300-3000 MHz. The threshold powers are then determined, below which the peak …

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Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Nanoparticle Formation And Coating Using Supercritical Fluids, Abhijit Aniruddha Gokhale

Dissertations

Jet breakup phenomenon and nanoparticle formation

The focus of this dissertation is to study the SAS process to manufacture nanoparticles with minimum agglomeration, controlled size and size distribution. Solution jet breakup and solvent evaporation into supercritical fluid (SC CO₂) is studied using high speed charged coupled device (CCD) camera facilitated with double shot particle image veloimetry (PIV) laser and a high pressure view cell. Particles formation using SAS is studied. Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) particles are formed using micron size capillary nozzles and combination of thermodynamically good and poor solvents in order to achieve nano-sized particles with reduced agglomeration and …

A Dynamic Supine Stander For Subjects With Disabilities Leading To Prolonged Immobility, Luis Alberto Espina

Theses

Bone tissue needs to be exposed to loading in order to stimulate the osteogenic response of the body. Disabilities that lead to prolonged immobility will result in a decrease of the osteogenic processes and an increase in resorption of bone by osteoclast cells. This disuse modeling can lead to osteopenia, osteoporosis, and subsequent non-traumatic fractures. These disabilities are varied in nature and duration, and can include load bearing bone fracture, excessive obesity, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy.

The following describes the concept and design of a novel dynamic supine stander that will provide loads simulating ambulation to the lower …

An Investigation Of Methods To Homogeneously Entrain And Suspend Abrasive Particles In A Low Pressure Dental Water Jet, Michael Sean Grygla

Theses and Dissertations

During the past several decades, the water jet cutting concept has developed from a novel concept into a well-accepted machine cutting tool. With the addition of abrasive particles and the improvement of high pressure pumps, the water jet stream is currently capable of cutting through metal, concrete, and composite materials. Water jet systems have been utilized at a wide range of different pressures. Research performed at Brigham Young University has revealed that low pressure water jets have the ability to cut human teeth. Experiments have shown that when abrasive particles are added to the water jet stream, an greater amount …

Intellectual Property Management In Health And Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook Of Best Practices, Vol. 2, Anatole Krattiger, Richard T. Mahoney, Lita Nelsen, Jennifer A. Thomson, Alan B. Bennett, Kanikaram Satyanarayana, Gregory D. Graff, Carlos Fernandez, Stanley Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

Prepared by and for policy-makers, leaders of public sector research establishments, technology transfer professionals, licensing executives, and scientists, this online resource offers up-to-date information and strategies for utilizing the power of both intellectual property and the public domain. Emphasis is placed on advancing innovation in health and agriculture, though many of the principles outlined here are broadly applicable across technology fields. Eschewing ideological debates and general proclamations, the authors always keep their eye on the practical side of IP management. The site is based on a comprehensive Handbook and Executive Guide that provide substantive discussions and analysis of the opportunities …

Electrical And Computer Engineering Research Report 2007, Department Of Electrical And Computer Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Annual Reports

• About the Department
• Graduates and Research
• NSF CAREER Award Winner
• New Faculty Spotlight
• Research Programs
• Enterprise Team Updates

Water Quality Modelling In Dublin From Bray To Balbriggan Gdsds/75407/130, Aodh Dowley, Zeinab Bedri

Reports

No abstract provided.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 49 Number 3, Winter 2007, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

14 - TOUGH CALL By Jim Shepard. Mike Carey '71 reveals what it takes to earn your stripes as a head ref in the NFL.

16 - REDEFINING NATURE By Steven Boyd Saum. Is it the end of wilderness as we know it? And could genetically modified crops be better for the environment? Read what SCU scientists are saying.

18 - THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU A transglobal photo essay by David Pace.

24 - PANETTA ON IRAQ By Farid Senzai. A Q&A with Leon Panetta '60, J.D. '63, member of the Iraq Study Group and chief of staff …

Evaluating Management Decisions To Reduce Environmental Risk Of Roadside-Applied Herbicides, Ben D. Giudice, Arash Massoudieh, Thomas M. Young

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

Management decisions concerning the spraying of herbicides on highway roadsides are evaluated on the basis of their impact on resulting environmental risk. A mathematical transport model was previously applied to the State of California with a Monte Carlo technique, and in this study the results are manipulated to evaluate the risk reduction that results from restricting herbicide application on the basis of site characteristics or changing other application practices. Results show that eliminating herbicide applications where the slope of the grass adjacent to the highway is greater than 30° has little or no effect on risk. Eliminating application where the …

Me-Em 2007 Annual Report, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• Research Expansion
• Research Groups
• Faculty & Staff
• Students
• Alumni
• Resources
• Graduates
• Publications

Intellectual Property Management In Health And Agricultural Innovation: Executive Guide, Anatole Krattiger, Richard T. Mahoney, Lita Nelsen, Jennifer A. Thomson, Alan B. Bennett, Kanikaram Satyanarayana, Gregory D. Graff, Carlos Fernandez, Stanley Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

Prepared by and for policy-makers, leaders of public sector research establishments, technology transfer professionals, licensing executives, and scientists, this online resource offers up-to-date information and strategies for utilizing the power of both intellectual property and the public domain. Emphasis is placed on advancing innovation in health and agriculture, though many of the principles outlined here are broadly applicable across technology fields. Eschewing ideological debates and general proclamations, the authors always keep their eye on the practical side of IP management. The site is based on a comprehensive Handbook and Executive Guide that provide substantive discussions and analysis of the opportunities …

Intellectual Property Management In Health And Agricultural Innovation: A Handbook Of Best Practices, Vol. 1, Anatole Krattiger, Richard T. Mahoney, Lita Nelsen, Jennifer A. Thomson, Alan B. Bennett, Kanikaram Satyanarayana, Gregory D. Graff, Carlos Fernandez, Stanley Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

Prepared by and for policy-makers, leaders of public sector research establishments, technology transfer professionals, licensing executives, and scientists, this online resource offers up-to-date information and strategies for utilizing the power of both intellectual property and the public domain. Emphasis is placed on advancing innovation in health and agriculture, though many of the principles outlined here are broadly applicable across technology fields. Eschewing ideological debates and general proclamations, the authors always keep their eye on the practical side of IP management. The site is based on a comprehensive Handbook and Executive Guide that provide substantive discussions and analysis of the opportunities …