Digital Commons Network^™

Adaptive Learning For Event Modeling And Pattern Classification, Shuangshuang Dai

Dissertations

It is crucial to detect, characterize and model events of interest in a new propulsion system. As technology advances, the amount of data being generated increases significantly with respect to time. This increase substantially strains our ability to interpret the data at an equivalent rate. It demands efficient methodologies and algorithms in the development of automated event modeling and pattern recognition to detect and characterize events of interest and correlate them to the system performance. The fact that the information required to properly evaluate system performance and health is seldom known in advance further exacerbates this issue.

Event modeling and …

Effect Of Fullerene Containing Lubricants On Wear Resistance Of Machine Components In Boundary Lubrication, Andriy Titov

Dissertations

Fullerenes, a new form of carbon nanomaterials, possess unique physical and mechanical properties that make their use as additives to liquid lubricants potentially beneficial. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of fullerene containing lubricants on wear resistance of steel-bronze couples operating under boundary lubrication conditions. A mathematical model of deformed asperity contact was built to calculate real contact area and real contact pressure. Computer controlled wear friction testing methodology and equipment were designed, developed and implemented for obtaining reliable and objective experimental data. In addition, optical and scanning electron microscopy and standard surface texture analysis were …

Studies On Improved Integrated Membrane-Based Chromatographic Process For Bioseparation, Yanke Xu

Dissertations

To improve protein separation and purification directly from a fermentation broth, a novel membrane filtration-cum-chromatography device configuration having a relatively impermeable coated zone near the hollow fiber module outlet has been developed. The integrated membrane filtration-cum-chromatography unit packed with chromatographic beads on the shell side of the hollow fiber unit enjoys the advantages of both membrane filtration and chromatography; it allows one to load the chromatographic media directly from the fermentation broth or lysate and separate the adsorbed proteins through the subsequent elution step in a cyclic process.

Interfacial polymerization was carried out to coat the bottom section of the …

The Use Of A Water Quality Model To Evaluate The Impacts Of Combined Sewer Overflows On The Lower Hudson River, Wen-Pin Shu

Dissertations

CSO discharges have long been recognized as a significant source of water pollution. While many sources of water pollution have been controlled over the past 20 years, CSOs continue to be a main environmental concern in several areas, especially in old cities. In the past, most CSO research focused on the CSO control processes, including floatables and suspended solids removal. Few studies have been conducted in the area of the impacts of CSO discharge on the receiving water quality. To achieve this purpose, a powerful water-modeling tool, WASP 6.1, is utilized in this study. The Lower Hudson River is selected …

Development Of Fmri Compatible Lower Body Negative Pressure System, Pratap Singh Kunwar

Theses

The lower body negative pressure (LBNP) system provides a controlled, measured orthostatic stress to the cardiovascular system, which can be used with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to study cardiovascular and cerebrovascular responses to graded LBNP. In the past, even though functional MRI (fMRI) was considered as one of the best modalities with which to measure small metabolic changes in the brain, it has not been used with an LBNP system to measure cerebrovascular changes. This was due to the lack of an fMRI compatible LBNP system.

In this project, an tMRI compatible LBNP system was first constructed without …

Modeling And Analysis Of Hospital Facility Layout Problem, Amol Shrikrishna Padgaonkar

Theses

The optimal solution to any facility layout problem is an important aspect and a major concem as it involves significant material handling and transportation cost. The objective is to arrange the departments within the predefined facility boundaries in the way that the interaction between the functions is efficient and the overall movement cost is minimized. While facility layout problems have traditionally focused on manufacturing facilities, there has been little work on analyzing layouts for hospitals. The thesis focuses on hospital facility layout problems (HLP) to (i) minimize the movements of patients and (ii) minimize the movements of accompanying resources such …

Transmission Of Light And Audible Sound In A Synthetic Fog Medium, Bhavin Babaria

Theses

The primary goal of the thesis was to study the propagation of visible light and auditory sound through a synthetic fog medium compared to an ambient air environment. It is known that the fog substantially decreases the visibility however; this has not been studied quantitatively. Further information regarding other energies such as sound is also needed to understand how the energy reacts in the fog medium. The extent of visual and auditory degradation in humans needs to be investigated. Researchers have studied light transmitted through water, air; however, no one has studied how light or sound is transmitted through a …

Evaluation Of Postural Stability Using Sensory Organization Test, Tiffany Sims

Theses

Poor postural stability of the elderly and other patients has been a major concern.The cost of treating injuries due to poor stability is expected to rise to $32.4 Billion by 2020. Many interventions have been proposed and used to improve stability. In order to determine the efficacy of these interventions, an objective evaluation of postural stability before and after intervention is important.

The aim of this thesis was to scientifically analyze the ambiguities in the equilibrium score (ES) given by the Neurocom Smart Equitest (NSE) machine, and compare it to a new measure of stability that has been proposed by …

Investigation Of Heart Rate Variability During Sleep Apnea, Sekar Subramanian

Theses

Sleep apnea is a disorder, where there are repetitive pauses in respiratory flow of at least 10 seconds or longer duration, and which occur more than five times per hour. Apnea has strong modulating effects on the autonomic nervous system, with prominent heart rate variation. It can be assumed that during sleep, internal influences (sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system activities) dominate the autonomic nervous system; in addition repetitive apneas are accompanied by a pronounced increase in average heart rate. The aim of this study was to investigate the heart rate variability using spectral analysis and time-frequency analysis during sleep apnea. …

Wavelet Transform Methods For Identifying Onset Of Semg Activity, Janina Wilen

Theses

Quantifying improvements in motor control is predicated on the accurate identification of the onset of surface electromyograpic (sEMG) activity. Applying methods from wavelet theory developed in the past decade to digitized signals, a robust algorithm has been designed for use with sEMG collected during reaching tasks executed with the less-affected arm of stroke patients. The method applied both Discretized Continuous Wavelet Transforms (CWT) and Discrete Wavelet Transforms (DWT) for event detection and no-lag filtering, respectively. Input parameters were extracted from the assessed signals.

The onset times found in the sEMG signals using the wavelet method were compared with physiological instants …

Florida's Energy Future: Opportunities For Our Economy, Environment And Security - Executive Summary, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The future of Florida's economy, environment and security is inextricably intertwined with our energy use decisions. Our state has one of the nation's fastest growing populations, promoting rapid expansion of an energy industry that imports its fuel supplies. Florida exports approximately $32 billion per year for these energy fuels. Moreover, the Florida economy depends critically on tourism and agriculture, and the fuels and energy products that maintain them. Our pristine environment is the primary natural resource supporting this unique economic engine and the adverse effects of our rapidly growing energy use now stress it. Our State's economic well-being and security …

Florida's Energy Future: Opportunities For Our Economy, Environment And Security, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The future of Florida's economy, environment and security is inextricably intertwined with our energy use decisions. Our state has one of the nation's fastest growing populations, promoting rapid expansion of an energy industry that imports its fuel supplies. Florida exports approximately $32 billion per year for these energy fuels. Moreover, the Florida economy depends critically on tourism and agriculture, and the fuels and energy products that maintain them. Our pristine environment is the primary natural resource supporting this unique economic engine and the adverse effects of our rapidly growing energy use now stress it. Our State's economic well-being and security …

Florida's Energy Future: Opportunities For Our Economy, Environment And Security - Appendices, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The future of Florida's economy, environment and security is inextricably intertwined with our energy use decisions. Our state has one of the nation's fastest growing populations, promoting rapid expansion of an energy industry that imports its fuel supplies. Florida exports approximately $32 billion per year for these energy fuels. Moreover, the Florida economy depends critically on tourism and agriculture, and the fuels and energy products that maintain them. Our pristine environment is the primary natural resource supporting this unique economic engine and the adverse effects of our rapidly growing energy use now stress it. Our State's economic well-being and security …

Total Reduced Sulfur Concentrations In The Vicinity Of Beef Cattle Feedlots, Richard K. Koelsch, Bryan L. Woodbury, David E. Stenberg, Daniel N. Miller, Dennis D. Schulte

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A field survey of total reduced sulfur (TRS) concentrations in the vicinity of beef cattle feedlots was conducted to compare field observations against current regulatory thresholds. In addition, environmental factors that may contribute to increased TRS emissions were evaluated. It was observed that TRS levels in the vicinity of beef cattle feedlots are not likely to exceed current regulatory thresholds used by midwestern states. It was further noted that concentration of TRS varies with air temperature and time of day. However, wet feedlot surface conditions and wind speed had almost no impact upon observed concentrations.

Interfaces, Volume 7, Issue 1 - Winter 2004

INTERFACES: Newsletter of the Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience

Facility Focus (I): Multipurpose X-Ray System Zeng Named Guggenheim Fellow Sigma Xi Honors to CMRA Faculty, Staff and Students Best Paper Awards Degree of Doctor Honoris Causa Recent Patents Facility Focus(II): Equipment Upgrade in Electron Microscopy CMRA Welcomes Fereydoon Namavar Research Spotlight: Stephen Ducharme Spinning Continuous Fibers for Nanotechnology

The Effect Of Loading On Disturbance Sounds Of The Atlantic Croaker Micropogonius Undulatus: Air Versus Water, Michael L. Fine, Justin Schrinel, Timothy M. Cameron

Biology Publications

Physiological work on fish sound production may require exposure of the swimbladder to air, which will change its loading (radiation mass and resistance) and could affect parameters of emitted sounds. This issue was examined in Atlantic croaker Micropogonius chromis by recording sounds from the same individuals in air and water. Although sonograms appear relatively similar in both cases, pulse duration is longer because of decreased damping, and sharpness of tuning (Q factor) is higher in water. However, pulse repetition rate and dominant frequency are unaffected. With appropriate caution it is suggested that sounds recorded in air can provide a useful …

A Docking Score Function For Estimating Ligand-Protein Interactions: Application To Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition, Jianxin Guo, Margaret M. Hurley, Jeffery B. Wright, Gerald H. Lushington

United States Army: Publications

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition is an important research topic because of its wide range of associated health implications. A receptor-specific scoring function was developed herein for predicting binding affinities for human AChE (huAChE) inhibitors. This method entails a statistically trained weighted sum of electrostatic and van der Waals (VDW) interactions between ligands and the receptor residues. Within the 53 ligand training set, a strong correlation was found (R² = 0.89) between computed and experimental inhibition constants. Leave-oneout cross-validation indicated high predictive power (Q² = 0.72), and analysis of a separate 16-compound test set also produced very good correlation with …

Wright State University College Of Engineering And Computer Science Bits And Pcs Newsletter, Volume 20, Number 3, January 2004, College Of Engineering And Computer Science, Wright State University

BITs and PCs Newsletter

A ten page newsletter created by the Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science that addresses the current affairs of the college.

Endocrine-Disrupting Effects Of Cattle Feedlot Effluent On An Aquatic Sentinel Species, The Fathead Minnow, Edward Orlando, Alan Kolok, Gerry Binzcick, Jennifer Gates, Megan Horton, Christy Lambright, L. Earl Gray, Jr., Ana M. Soto, Louis J. Guilette, Jr.

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Over the last decade, research has examined the endocrine-disrupting action of various environmental pollutants, including hormones, pharmaceuticals, and surfactants, in sewage treatment plant effluent. Responding to the growth of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the pollutants present in their wastewater (e.g., nutrients, pharmaceuticals, and hormones), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed a new rule that tightens the regulation of CAFOs. In this study, we collected wild fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to feedlot effluent (FLE) and observed significant alterations in their reproductive biology. Male fish were demasculinized (having lower testicular testosterone synthesis, altered head morphometrics, and smaller …

Evaluating The Human Relevance Of Chemically Induced Animal Tumors, Samuel M. Cohen, James Klaunig, M. Elizabeth Meek, Richard N. Hill, Timothy Pastoor, Lois Lehman-Mckeeman, John Bucher, David G. Longfellow, Jennifer Seed, Vicki Dellarco, Penelope Fenner-Crisp, Dorothy Patton

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Defining the mode(s) of action by which chemicals induce tumors in laboratory animals has become a key to judgments about the relevance of such tumor data for human risk assessment. Frameworks for analyzing mode of action information appear in recent U.S. EPA and IPCS publications relating to cancer risk assessment. This FORUM paper emphasizes that mode of action analytical frameworks depend on both qualitative and quantitative evaluations of relevant data and information: (1) presenting key events in the animal mode of action, (2) developing a “concordance” table for side-by-side comparison of key events as defined in animal studies with comparable …

Me-Em 2004 Annual Report, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Mission, Vision, and Strategic Plan
• Enrollment and Expenditure Data
• Faculty & Staff
• Industrial Advisory Committee
• Students
• Academic Programs
• Alumni
• Donations
• Contracts & Grants
• Graduates
• Publications

United States Air Force Posture Statement 2004, U.S. Air Force

United States Air Force: Publications

In 2003, U.S. and coalition military operations produced unprecedented mission successes - across the spectrum of conflict and around the globe. The joint warfighting team demonstated combat capability never previously witnessed in the history of conflict.

Rosenzweig's Messianic Aesthetics, Jules Simon

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

Parameter Extraction Software For Silicon Carbide Schottky, Merged Pin Schottky And Pin Power Diode Models, Edgar Cilio

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

A software program for on-state parameter extraction is presented for the realization of a high quality model for SiC Schottky, Merged PiN Schottky, and PiN Power diodes based on McNutt and Mantooth's Comprehensive SiC Diode model [ 1 ].

The Removal Of Motion Artifacts From Non-Invasive Blood Pressure Measurements, Paresh Thakkar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern Automatic Blood Pressure Measurement Techniques are based on measuring the cuff pressure and on sensing the pulsatile amplitude variations. These measurements are very sensitive to motion of the patient or the surroundings where the patient is. The slightest unexpected movements could offset the readings of the automatic Blood Pressure meter by a large amount or render the readings totally meaningless. Every effort must be taken to avoid subjecting the body of the patient or the patient's surroundings to motion for obtaining a reliable reading. But there are situations in which we need Blood Pressure Measurements with the patient or …

An Investigation Into The Actual Transfer Efficiency Of High Volume Low Pressure Spray Guns, William R. Zimmerle Jr.

Graduate Student Work

With the past research in pollution prevention for the painting and coatings industry the Iowa Waste Reduction Center has established a solid reputation of being unbiased and a leader in progressive thinking. At this point, no research has been preformed to specifically verify the TE of HVLP spray guns. The IWRC currently is preforming research and training to determine and improve spray technicians TE. In the past, research to verify other pollution prevention equipment has been performed. One example of such activity is the Environmental Technology Verification for the Laser Touch® Beta Model research project. This project verified that a …

Flight Physician - January, 2004, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A sixteen page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 46 Number 3, Winter 2004, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - AN ARTIST WITH A MISSION By Elizabeth Kelley Gillogly '93. In his latest series, Howard Anderson '71 created paintings of the 21 California missions.

10 - THE SPIRITUALITY OF GIFT GIVING By Tom Beaudoin. Is it possible to turn our gift giving into a spiritual exercise?

14 - RAISING ARIZONA By Susan Shea. Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano '79, a rising political star, uses the lessons learned at SCU to serve her state.

20 - LEAVING COMMUNISM BEHIND By Jane Curry. An SCU professor and Fulbright Scholar researches forgiveness and justice in post-communist Poland.

A Genetic Algorithms Approach To Learning Communication And Coordination In Simulated Robots, Chris Sotzing

Senior Scholar Papers

This project is motivated by an existing robot system for mapping unknown environments and attempts to improve its effectiveness through the use of genetic algorithms. Using a robot simulator, the mapping system is created using simulated robots and a simulated environment. The robots are controlled by a supervisor agent that makes the high-level decisions about tasks for individual robots to complete to accomplish the mapping effort. This research investigates the ability of adding a genetic algorithm learning component to the supervisor to improve its ability to coordinate the robotic agents.

Graduate School Of Computer And Information Sciences Master's Degree Programs 2004, Nova Southeastern University

College of Engineering and Computing Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.