Digital Commons Network^™

An Investigation Of Multi-Dimensional Evolutionary Algorithms For Virtual Reality Scenario Development, Scott Papson

Theses and Dissertations

Virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a powerful visualization tool for design, simulation, and analysis in modem complex industrial systems. The primary motivation for this thesis is to develop a framework for the effective use of VR in design-simulation-analysis cycles, particularly in situations involving large, complex, multi-dimensional data-sets. This thesis develops a framework that is intended to support not only the integration of such data for visual, interactive, and immersive displays, but also provides a method for performing risk analysis. Previously "static" VR environments are enhanced with time-evolutionary capabilities. Four candidate algorithms are evaluated for this purpose – deterministic modeling, …

Imaging Using Lateral Bending Modes Of Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers, A. Caron, U. Rabe, M. Reinstadtler, Joseph A. Turner, W. Arnold

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Using scanning probe techniques, surface properties such as shear stiffness and friction can be measured with a resolution in the nanometer range. The torsional deflection or buckling of atomic force microscope cantilevers has previously been used in order to measure the lateral forces acting on the tip. This letter shows that the flexural vibration modes of cantilevers oscillating in their width direction parallel to the sample surface can also be used for imaging. These lateral cantilever modes exhibit vertical deflection amplitudes if the cantilever is asymmetric in thickness direction, e.g., by a trapezoidal cross section.

4-Coumarate Co-Enzyme A Ligase Promoter, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Chung-Jui Tsai, Wen-Jing Hu

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention provides a Populus 4-coumarate Co-enzyme A ligase gene promoter that directs expression in the xylem of plants. The promoter is used in methods designed to alter lignin content, lignin structure, cellulose content and combinations thereof. The methods comprise operably linking said promoter to heterologous nucleic acid molecules.

New Product Launch Decisions Under Competition And Uncertainty: A Real Options And Game-Theoretic Approach To New Product Development, James O. Ostler

Theses and Dissertations

New product development is central to many firms' future success. Not only as a means to continue to maintain their piece of the market, but product development can also be a strategic means for a company to diversify, and/or alter focus to adapt to changing market conditions.

Most of the research in new product development has been on how to do it cheaper and faster than the next guy. However, early commercialization does not guarantee a position of strength in the market. Failures of EMI in CT scanners and Xerox in personal computers illustrate that being first to market does …

The Effects Of Influent Debit On Hydrodynamic Characteristic Of Bojongsoang Facultative Pond: Without Wind Effects, Rositayanti Hadisoebroto, Suprihanto Notodarmojo

Makara Journal of Technology

The Effects of Influent Debit on Hydrodynamic Characteristic of Bojongsoang Facultative Pond: Without Wind Effects. The performance of facultative pond in Bojongsoang WWTP have reported to be unstable. One of the cause of the unstable performance is the hydrodynamic characteristics that not met the criterion. The improper hydrodynamic characteristics are included the existence of dead-zone, the short-circuiting, and the turbulence due to eddy current. The study was to analyze the effect of the influent debit variation on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the pond using mathematical model. The two-dimensional hydrodynamic model was built from two hydrodynamic equations which are continuity and …

Multiobjective Optimization Of Seismic Structures, Franklin Y. Cheng, Dan Li, Jeffrey Ger

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a constrained Mult objective optimization method in the form of a robust, practical, problem-independent formulation based on genetic algorithm combined with game theory and investigates the effect of Mult objective optimization on structural design. the study includes objectives, constraints, and design variables as well as their effect on structural design and behavior. the algorithm comprises - Mult objective fitness function, niche method, and Pareto set filter. a 10-story setback building is used to illustrate the evaluation of three choices: steel frame, reinforced concrete frame, composite steel and reinforced concrete frame. Evaluation is based on economics as well …

Niel Calculations For High-Energy Heavy Ions, John W. Wilson, I. Jun, M. A. Xapsos, E. A. Burke, F. F. Badavi, L. W. Townsend

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Calculations of NIEL are reported for heavy ions prominent in the space environment for energies ranging from 200 MeV per nucleon to 2 GeV per nucleon.

Advanced Relation Model For Genome Sequence Visualization (Arm 4 Gsv): Exploratory Visualization Examples, Brian J. D'Auriol, Kavitha Tupelly

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

The Advanced Relation Model for Genome Sequence Visualization (ARM 4 GSV) is proposed in this paper. This model is adapted from an earlier visualization model which has been applied to the visualization of computer programs. A review of the fundamental model components of the earlier visualization model is given. Enhancements so as to make it applicable in genome visualization are discussed. As part of these enhancements, a relational characterization of genome sequences in terms of bases, codons, and patterns such as close inversions is developed and described. An adapted form of the Conceptual Crown Visualization (CCV) model, a part of …

Causes Of Proteolytic Degradation Of Secreted Recombinant Proteins Produced In Methylotrophic Yeast Pichia Pastoris: Case Study With Recombinant Ovine Interferon-T, Jayanta Sinha, Bradley A. Plantz, Mehmet Inan, Michael Meagher

Papers in Biotechnology

It was observed that during fermentative production of recombinant ovine interferon-H (r-oIFN-H ) in Pichia pastoris, a secreted recombinant protein, the protein was degraded increasingly after 48 h of induction and the rate of degradation increased towards the end of fermentation at 72 h, when the fermentation was stopped. Proteases, whose primary source was the vacuoles, was found in in-creasing levels in the cytoplasm and in the fermentation broth after 48 h of induction and reached maximal values when the batch was completed at 72 h. Protease levels at various cell fractions as well as in the culture supernatant …

Carbon Nanotube Based Chemical And Biological Sensors, Srikanth Singamaneni

Masters Theses

Carbon nanotubes are among those wonderful molecules man has discovered by chance. Carbon nanotubes are sheets of graphite rolled up to form seamless cylinders. Their outstanding electrical, mechanical and thermal properties form the inspiration behind this work. This work investigates the possible application of carbon nanotubes as biological sensors for the detection of various biomolecules like Streptavidin and Mouse monoclonal Immunoglobulin-G. Electrical conductance changes of Carbon nanotubes for exposure to alcohol vapors were studied. This thesis demonstrates that these quantum wires can form highly sensitive biological and chemical sensors at molecular level. Although the main focus of the-research was chemical …

Feature Detection Using Linear Structure Modeling And Pca, Kawshif Muhammed Riaz Ahmed

Masters Theses

An algorithm to extract features from digital images such as cracks in concrete bridges for automated inspection is developed. The algorithm is based on the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA). In general, PCA is used to reduce the dimensionality of a data set that consists of a large number of interrelated variables while retaining the variation present in the original data set. This ability of PCA will be used in this project to identify clusters using two training sets of images. Linear structure modeling is used to emphasize the image features (cracks) prior to applying PCA. Whole images processing …

Oxidation Of Titanium In Alpha-Calf Serum Solution, Ali Stait Ismailoglu

Masters Theses

Titanium and its alloys have been used extensively in orthopedic implants mainly because of its excellent biocompatibility. This biocompatibility is attributed to its surface oxide film (3-7 nm thickness) that forms immediately upon exposure of titanium to air. In the research, the oxidation of Ti-6Al-4V in alpha-calf serum solution was studied. Four different immersion times were tested. Characterization of surface topography and its chemical composition was examined using Atomic force microscopy (AFM), Fourier transform-infrared radiation (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The AFM results clearly show the gradual change that occurred in the samples topography which is associated with more-rounded …

Acoustic Wave Based Biosensor, Aditya A. Vijh

Masters Theses

Quartz Crystal Microbalances (QCMs) have been widely used for detection of various chemical and biological species in liquid media. In this work an improved binding of Protein A and IgG molecules on QCM biosensors by modifying the gold surface of the quartz crystal with an ultra thin polystyrene film followed by an acidic treatment has been reported. Protein A and IgG immobilizations on quartz crystals with the polystyrene film represented a 65% increase and a 40% increase respectively when compared to immobilization done directly onto the crystals. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) has been used to investigate and study the biomolecular …

Using Fine-Grained Cycle Stealing To Improve Throughput, Efficiency And Response Time On A Dedicated Cluster While Maintaining Quality Of Service, Gary Stiehr

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

For various reasons, a dedicated cluster is not always fully utilized even when all of its processors are allocated to jobs. This occurs any time that a running job does not use 100% of each of the processors allocated to it. Keeping in mind the needs of both the cluster’s system administrators and its users, we would like to increase the throughput and efficiency of the cluster while maintaining or improving the average turnaround time of the jobs and the quality of service of the “primary” jobs originally scheduled on the cluster. To increase the throughput and efficiency of the …

Indentation Of A Square Elastomeric Thin Film By A Flat-Ended Cylindrical Punch In The Presence Of Long-Range Intersurface Forces, Bing Feng Ju, Kai-Tak Wan, Kuo Kang Liu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper reports an experimental study of the elastic deformation of a 200 μm thick microfabricated square membrane with sides ranging from 8.5 mm to 15 mm as indented by a fine cylindrical, flat-ended punch with diameter 500 μm in the presence of long-range intersurface forces. an apparatus was constructed to allow simultaneously measurements of the indenter displacement and the applied force. a number of interesting phenomena such as the "jump-into-contact" and the "pull-off" between the membrane and the moving cylinder were observed. a simple theoretical analysis using linear elasticity was adopted to fit the load-displacement curve (compliance) and thus …

Wind Tunnel Investigation Of The Static Stability And Control Effectiveness Of A Rotary Tail In A Portable Uav, Jose R. Rivera Parga

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force Research Lab, Munitions Directorate, Flight Vehicles Integration Branch (AFRL/MNAV) developed a man-portable, carbon-fiber matrix UAV with a flexible rectangular wing of 24" span and 6" chord, 18.2" length. There is a need for the development of smaller and lighter UAV's to perform certain missions. The objective of this experimental study was to determine the behavior and the aerodynamic characteristics of rotary tails. The bird-inspired rotary tail mechanism studied enabled control of two degrees of freedom and was configured to provide elevator deflection and rotation. Its effects on the static stability and control effectiveness were measured using the …

Quantitative Models Of The Rat Pulmonary Arterial Tree Morphometry Applied To Hypoxia-Induced Arterial Remodeling, Robert C. Molthen, Kelly L. Karau, Christopher A. Dawson

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Little is known about the constituent hemodynamic consequences of structural changes that occur in the pulmonary arteries during the onset and progression of pulmonary arterial remodeling. Many disease processes are known to be responsible for vascular remodeling that leads to pulmonary arterial hypertension, cor pulmonale, and death. Histology has been the primary tool for evaluating pulmonary remodeling, but it does not provide information on intact vascular structure or the vessel mechanical properties. This study is an extension of our previous work in which we developed an alternative imaging technique to evaluate pulmonary arterial structure. The lungs from Sprague-Dawley rats were …

Ab Initio Calculation Of Electronic And Optical Properties Of Beryllium Chalcogenides (Bes, Bese, And Bete) Under The Effect Of Pressure, Aisha Ali Saif Bannan Al-Kaabi

Theses

There are several methods for materials simulation. Ab initio or first principles methods are used to solve the quantum mechanical equation which govern the behavior of a system. Ab initio calculation of the optical and electronic properties of solids is fundamental in solid state physics. APW+lo is used to examine different properties of BeS, BeSe and BeTe. Beryllium compounds show different features in structure under different pressures, and they also show a phase transition from Zinc blende to Hexagonal transitions in II-VI semiconductors. Little is known about the ground state properties of Beryllium Chalcogenides. The aim of this work is …

Polarimetric Temperature Sensor Using Core-Replaced Fiber, Benjamin L. Ipson

Theses and Dissertations

Optical fibers are increasingly being used to create sensing devices. The D-fiber has an elliptical core and exhibits birefringence. This birefringence can be used to create a polarimetric sensor. The elliptical core supports two orthogonal modes that have separate effective indices of refraction. The indices of refraction change with a change in temperature. Since the effective indices of refraction change differently for the two modes, the birefringence also changes. This change in birefringence can be seen as a change in detected power through the fiber through the use of polarizers. The fiber then becomes a temperature sensor. The sensitivity of …

Thermodynamic Modeling, Energy Equipartition, And Nonconservation Of Entropy For Discrete-Time Dynamical Systems, Wassim H. Haddad, Qing Hui, Sergey G. Nersesov, Vijaysekhar Chellaboina

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

We develop thermodynamic models for discrete-time large-scale dynamical systems. Specifically, using compartmental dynamical system theory, we develop energy flowmodels possessing energy conservation, energy equipartition, temperature equipartition, and entropy nonconservation principles for discrete-time, large-scale dynamical systems. Furthermore, we introduce a new and dual notion to entropy; namely, ectropy, as a measure of the tendency of a dynamical system to do useful work and grow more organized, and show that conservation of energy in an isolated thermodynamic system necessarily leads to nonconservation of ectropy and entropy. In addition, using the system ectropy as a Lyapunov function candidate, we show that our discrete-time, …

Bicistronic And Fused Monocistronic Transcripts Are Derived From Adjacent Loci In The Arabidopsis Genome, Jyothi Thimmapuram, Hui Duan, Lei Liu, Mary A. Schuler

Cyber Center Publications

Comparisons of full-length cDNAs and genomic DNAs available for Arabidopsis thaliana described here indicate that some adjacent loci are transcribed into extremely long RNAs spanning two annotated genes. Once expressed, some of these transcripts are post-transcriptionally spliced within their coding and intergenic sequences to generate bicistronic transcripts containing two complete open reading frames. Others are spliced to generate monocistronic transcripts coding for fusion proteins with sequences derived from both loci. RT-PCR of several P450 transcripts in this collection indicates that these extended transcripts exist side by side with shorter monocistronic transcripts derived from the individual loci in each pair. The …

The Impossible Dose - How Can Something Simple Be So Complex? , Lars Hode

Light Activated Tissue Regeneration and Therapy

No abstract provided.

Real-Time Registration And Display Of Confocal Microscope Imagery For Multiple-Band Analysis, Scott E. Budge, A.M. Mayampurath, J.C. Solinsky

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Multiple images acquired in real-time from a confocal microscope in different illumination wavebands are used to construct a three-dimensional understanding of living cell signal propagation. Registration, fusion, and display of these images are performed in real-time using field programmable gate array (FPGA) technology to allow the biological scientist to observe time critical signaling processes as they occur. The registration and display system operates at a rate of up to 15 frames/s, and performs dark offset correction and noise reduction, followed by non-linear correction for lens warp and focal plane tilt, and finally correction for spatial mismatch between the different wavebands. …

Developed Pumping Strategies For Mather Afb Tce Plume, Richard C. Peralta, Bassel Timani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Accomplishments prior to BCT Meeting/Phone Conference of 14 October 2004 Prior to 14 October 2004, the best pumping strategy USU achieved manually completely contains both PCE and TCE1 (within revised containment zones proposed by USU on that date), at the end of years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 5-year intervals thereafter. This strategy uses two new extraction wells (USUE3 and USUE4). The strategy did not utilize a recently constructed well EW-12B. USU did not previously know about EW-12B and the well package USU received did not indicate a well at its location, cell (3,58,43). On 14 October, USU also learned …

Genetic Engineering Of Syringyl-Enriched Lignin In Plants, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Laigeng Li

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention relates to a novel DNA sequence, which encodes a previously unidentified lignin biosynthetic pathway enzyme, sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD) that regulates the biosynthesis of syringyl lignin in plants. Also provided are methods for incorporating this novel SAD gene sequence or substantially similar sequences into a plant genome for genetic engineering of syringyl-enriched lignin in plants.

Wright State University College Of Engineering And Computer Science Bits And Pcs Newsletter, Volume 21, Number 3, November 2004, College Of Engineering And Computer Science, Wright State University

BITs and PCs Newsletter

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

Analysis Of Power Takeoff Shafts To Prevent Injuries/Fatalities, Naomi Bronson

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science by Naomi Bronson on November 1, 2004.

Foundations Of Statistical Processing Of Set-Valued Data: Towards Efficient Algorithms, Hung T. Nguyen, Vladik Kreinovich, Gang Xiang

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Due to measurement uncertainty, often, instead of the actual values xi of the measured quantities, we only know the intervals [Xi]=[Xi-Di,Xi+Di], where Xi is the measured value and Di is the upper bound on the measurement error (provided, e.g., by the manufacturer of the measuring instrument). These intervals can be viewed as random intervals, i.e., as samples from the interval-valued random variable. In such situations, instead of the exact value of a sample statistic such as covariance C(x,y), we can only have an interval [C](x,y) of possible values of this statistic.

In this paper, we extend the foundations of traditional …

Improved Quantification Of Small Objects In Near-Infrared Diffuse Optical Tomography, Subhadra Srinivasan, Brian W. Pogue, Hamid Dehghani, Shudong Jiang, Xiaomei Song, Keith D. Paulsen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Diffuse optical tomography allows quantification of hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, and water in tissue, and the fidelity in this quantification is dependent on the accuracy of optical properties determined during image reconstruction. In this study, a three-step algorithm is proposed and validated that uses the standard Newton minimization with Levenberg-Marquardt regularization as the first step. The second step is a modification to the existing algorithm using a two-parameter regularization to allow lower damping in a region of interest as compared to background. This second stage allows the recovery of the actual size of an inclusion. A region-based reconstruction is the final …

Exergy Use In Bioenergetics, Yaşar Demirel

Papers in Analytical Chemistry

Every developed and adapted biological system extracts useful energy from outside, converts, stores it, and uses for muscular contraction, substrate transport, protein synthesis, and other energy utilizing processes. This energy management in a living cell is called the bioenergetics, and the useful energy is the exergy, which is destroyed in every irreversible process because of the entropy production. The converted exergy is the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) produced through the oxidative phosphorylation coupled to respiration in which the exergy originates from oxidation of reducing equivalents of nutrients. A living cell uses the ATP for all the energy demanding activities; it has …