Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of In-Plane Compliant Bistable Microrelays, Troy Alan Gomm

Theses and Dissertations

Bistable microrelays have many possible applications and have the potential to reduce the size, weight, power consumption, and cost of products in which they are used. This research outlines the current state of microrelays, presents three new compliant bistable micromechanisms, and characterizes their performance as microrelays. The characterization includes a treatment of a new force-tester, a preliminary contact resistance study, contact-force measurements, switching time measurements, insertion loss, AC isolation, breakdown voltage, and DC isolation. This document also includes recommendations for further research.

A Self-Adapting Healthcare Information Infrastructure Using Mobile Computing Devices, James K. Archibald, Eric S. Hall, Charles D. Knutson, David K. Vawdrey

Faculty Publications

Despite recent improvements in the gathering and sharing of patient medical information among healthcare providers, there remains a gap in the electronic medical record infrastructure. Patient data is not available in some situations, either because the infrastructure is inaccessible (as in a natural disaster) or because there is no way to link the patient to the infrastructure (e.g., the patient cannot supply necessary identification information). This paper describes the Poket Doktor System, an architecture that allows an individual to carry personal electronic medical information on a wireless handheld device such as a smart card, cell phone, or PDA. Medical workers …

Appendix, On Aping Aristotle: Modern-Day Simplicios, Glen M. Cooper

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

Korean Collections Consortium Of North America Annual Meeting, Jae Yong Chang

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Selectivity: A User-Centric Content Management, Alban Kojima

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

Chinese Studies Librarians Training And The Luce Summer Insitute At The University Of Pittsburgh, Zhijia Shen, Karen Wei

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

High Resolution Wind Retrieval For Seawinds On Quikscat, Jeremy Blaine Luke

Theses and Dissertations

An algorithm has been developed that enables improved the resolution wind estimates from SeaWinds data. This thesis presents the development of three key portions of the high resolution wind retrieval algorithm: Compositing individual σ-0 measurements and Kp, Retrieved wind bias correction, and ambiguity selection for high resolution winds. The high resolution winds produced by this algorithm are expected to become a useful resource for scientists and engineers studying the ocean winds. The high resolution wind retrieval algorithm allows wind to be retrieved much closer to land than is available from the low resolution winds estimated from the same scatterometer by …

Polar Sea Ice Mapping For Seawinds, Hyrum Spencer Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the scientific community has expressed interest in the ability to observe global climate indicators such as polar sea ice. Advances in microwave remote sensing technology have allowed a large-scale and detailed study of sea ice characteristics. This thesis provides the analysis and development of sea ice mapping algorithms for the SeaWinds scatterometer. First, an in-depth analysis of the Remund Long (RL) algorithm for SeaWinds is performed. From this study, several improvements are made to the RL algorithm which enhance its performance. In addition, a new method for automated polar sea ice mapping is developed for the SeaWinds …

Yscat Backscatter Distributions, Benjamin E. Barrowes

Theses and Dissertations

YSCAT is a unique ultrawideband microwave scatterometer developed to investigate the sea surface under a variety of environmental and radar parameters. The YSCAT94 experiment consisted of a six month deployment on the WAVES research tower operated by the Canada Center for inland Waters (CCIW). Over 3500 hours of data were collected at 2Γ 3.05Γ 5.3Γ 10.02Γ and 14 GHz and at a variety of wind speeds, relative azimuth angles, and incidence angle.

A low wind speed "rolloff" of the normalized radar cross section (σ°) in YSCAT94 data is found and quantified. The rolloff wind speedΓ γΓ is estimated through regression …

An Implementation Of Field-Wise Wind Retrieval For Seawinds On Quikscat, Andrew S. Fletcher

Theses and Dissertations

Field-wise wind estimation (also known as model-based wind estimation) is a sophisticated technique to derive wind estimates from radar backscatter measurements. In contrast to the more traditional method known as point-wise wind retrieval, field-wise techniques estimate wind field model parameters. In this way, neighboring wind vectors are jointly estimated, ensuring consistency. This work presents and implementation for field-wise wind retrieval for the SeaWinds scatterometer on the QuikSCAT satellite.

Due to its sophistication, field-wise wind retrieval adds computational complexity and intensity. The tradeoffs necessary for practical implementations are examined and quantified. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm for minimizing the field-wise objective function is …

Multisensor Microwave Remote Sensing In The Cryosphere, Quinn P. Remund

Theses and Dissertations

Because the earth's cryosphere influences global weather patterns and climate, the scientific community has had great interest in monitoring this important region. Microwave remote sensing has proven to be a useful tool in estimating sea and glacial ice surface characteristics with both scatterometers and radiometers exhibiting high sensitivity to important ice properties. This dissertation presents an array of studies focused on extracting key surface features from multisensor microwave data sets. First, several enhanced resolution image reconstruction issues are addressed. Among these are the optimization of the scatterometer image reconstruction (SIR) algorithm for NASA scatterometer (NSCAT) data, an analysis of Ku-band …

A Field-Wise Retrieval Algorithm For Seawinds, Stephen L. Richards

Theses and Dissertations

In the spring of 1999 NASA will launch the scatterometer SeaWinds, beginning a 3 year mission to measure the ocean winds. SeaWinds is different from previous spaceborne scatterometers in that it employs a rotating pencil-beam antenna as opposed to fixed fan-beam antennas. The scanning beam provides greater coverage but causes the wind retrieval accuracy to vary across the swath. This thesis develops a filed-wise wind retrieval algorithm to improve the overall wind retrieval accuracy for use with SeaWinds data.

In order to test the field-wise wind retrieval algorithm, methods for simulating wind fields are developed. A realistic approach interpolates the …

Calibration Of And Attitude Error Estimation For A Spaceborne Scatterometer Using Measurements Over Land, Clarence J. Wilson Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) was launched August 20, 1996 aboard the National Space Development Agency of Japan's Advanced Earth Observing Spacecraft (ADEOS). NSCAT's primary mission was to measure radar backscatter over the world's oceans. These measurements are used to generate estimates of ocean wind speed and direction. Scatterometers must be calibrated before their measurements are scientifically useful. However, the calibration of NSCAT must be done in orbit. A new methodology for selecting land regions for use in extended target spaceborne scatterometer calibration is first developed. Next, a summary of the calibration technique used in this thesis is presented. While the …

Azimuth Modulation Of The Radar Backscatter At Near-Normal Incidence, Andrew D. Greenwood

Theses and Dissertations

Radar observations of the ocean surface are becoming increasingly important. Common applications are wind retrieval and global weather forecasting and characterization. Because of the common use of ocean radar measurements, it is important to understand the sensitivity of the backscatter to both radar parameters and surface parameters.

At near-normal incidence angles, it has been assumed that the radar backscatter exhibits little or no azimuth dependence (Colton, 1989). However, recent data taken by the BYU YSCAT radar system suggests that this is not the case. At an incidence angle of 10°, the YSCAT radar data shows from a fraction of a …

The Phase Gradient Autofocus Algorithm With Range Dependent Stripmap Sar, James S. Bates

Theses and Dissertations

The Phase Gradient Autofocus (PGA) algorithm is widely used in spotlight mode SAR for motion compensation. The Maximum Likelihood PGA (ML PGA) algorithm has been shown to be a superior autofocus method. The PGA is restricted to high altitude aircraft. Since lower altitude SARs have significant range dependencies that cannot be ignored, the PGA could not be used. This thesis eliminates the high altitude restriction and extends the PGA for use with all spotlight SARs. The new algorithm is tested with three images. Each image has a unique quality. A desert image provides a low signal to clutter ratio with …

Studies To Improve Estimation Of The Electromagnetic Bias In Radar Altimetry, Justin Dewitt Smith

Theses and Dissertations

In May of 2000 Jason-1, a joint project between NASA and the French space agency CNES, will be launched. Its mission is to continue the highly successful gathering of data which TOPEX/Poseidon has collected since August of 1992. The main goal of Jason-1 is to achieve higher accuracy in measuring the mean sea level (MSL). In order to do so, the electromagnetic (EM) bias must be estimated more accurately because it is the largest contributing error. This thesis presents two different studies which add to the knowledge and improve estimation of the EM bias, and thus assists Jason-1 in achieving …

Uncertainties In Oceanic Microwave Remote Sensing: The Radar Footprint, The Wind-Backscatter Relationship, And The Measurement Probability Density Function, Paul E. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Oceanic microwave remote sensing provides the data necessary for the estimation of significant geophysical parameters such as the near-surface vector wind. To obtain accurate estimates, a precise understanding of the measurements is critical. This work clarifies and quantifies specific uncertainties in the scattered power measured by an active radar instrument.

While there are many sources of uncertainty in remote sensing measurements, this work concentrates on three significant, yet largely unstudied effects. With a theoretical derivation of the backscatter from an ocean-like surface, results from this dissertation demonstrate that the backscatter decays with surface roughness with two distinct modes of behavior, …

A Methodology For The Design Of Spaceborne Pencil-Beam Scatterometer Systems, Michael W. Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

Spaceborne scatterometer instruments are important tools for the remote sensing of the Earth's environment. In addition to the primary goal of measuring ocean winds, data from scatterometers have proven useful in the study of a variety of land and cryopshere processes as well. Several satellites carrying scatterometers have flown in the last two decades. These previous systems have been "fan-beam" scatterometers, where multiple antennas placed in fixed positions are used. The fan-beam scatterometer approach, however, has disadvantages which limit its utility for future missions. An alternate approach, the conically-scanning "pencil-beam" scatterometer technique, alleviates many of the problems encountered with earlier …

Using Space Borne Microwave Sensors To Track Large Antarctic Icebergs, Jarom James Ballantyne

Theses and Dissertations

Studying Antarctic icebergs can provide insight into climatic changes of the Earth's frozen continent. Antarctic icebergs are regularly formed by the separations of massive sections of ice from ice shelves and glaciers.

The National Ice Center (NIC) is playing a major role in sea ice analysis and forecasts. As a part of its mission the NIC is using a variety of satellite sensors to track many large Antarctic icebergs. The NIC reports iceberg positions every 15-20 days. However, there are limitations in the NIC's iceberg tracking techniques. The areas covered by the images used by the NIC are limited to …

Designing Active Smart Features To Provide Nesting Forces In Exactly Constrained Assemblies, Eric Pearce

Theses and Dissertations

Ever since the design and manufacture of products moved from the craftsman era where individual craftsman designed and manufactured the entire product, to the mass production era, where skilled laborers were crafting interchangeable parts or in some cases single features on interchangeable parts, variation in assemblies has been a major concern to designers, manufacturers, and in a more subtle way, customers. Variation, in the end, affects quality, performance and the cost of products. One particular type of design that is particularly robust to variation is an exactly constrained design.

Several researchers have recently explored the topic of exact constraint design. …

Linking Mentoring And Electronic Portfolios For Utah Educators, Charles R. Graham, Kathleen Webb, Carol Lee Hawkins, David Harlan

Faculty Publications

Starting January 2003 Utah districts are required to provide each entry level teacher with a trained mentor (EYE, 2003). Additionally, each entry level teacher will be required to create a standards-based teaching portfolio to submit to the district as part of the Level 2 licensure process. This paper provides practical information about standards-based electronic teaching portfolios and how the portfolios can be used as a vehicle for mentoring novice teachers.

Enabling Remote Access To Personal Electronic Medical Records, James K. Archibald, Eric S. Hall, Charles D. Knutson, David K. Vawdrey

Faculty Publications

Millions of people suffer from medical conditions that should be made known to healthcare practitioners prior to treatment. Paramedics and emergency room doctors cannot provide optimal care without sufficient knowledge of a patient’s medical history. Lacking patient information such as allergies, current prescriptions, and preexisting conditions, medical professionals are often forced to either delay treatment or rely on instincts. Medical mistakes in situations like these kill thousands of people and cost an estimated US$37 billion each year in the United States [1]. With the advent of electronic medical records (EMRs), patient information can be stored in computer databases at hospitals …

Evidence For Survival Of Pleistocene Climatic Changes In Northern Refugia By The Land Snail Trochoidea Geyeri, David Posada, Markus Pfenninger, Frederic Magnin

Faculty Publications

The study of organisms with restricted dispersal abilities and presence in the fossil record is particularly adequate to understand the impact of climate changes on the distribution and genetic structure of species. Trochoidea geyeri (Soos 1926) is a land snail restricted to a patchy, insular distribution in Germany and France. Fossil evidence suggests that current populations of T. geyeri are relicts of a much more widespread distribution during more favourable climatic periods in the Pleistocene. Results: Phylogeographic analysis of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA and nuclear ITS-1 sequence variation was used to infer the history of the remnant populations of T. …

Toward A Better Understanding Of The Comparatively High Prostate Cancer Incidence Rates In Utah, Ray M. Merrill, Sterling C. Hilton, Jared D. Sturgeon, Charles L. Wiggins

Faculty Publications

This study assesses whether comparatively high prostate cancer incidence rates among white men in Utah represent higher rates among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormons), who comprise about 70% of the state's male population, and considers the potential influence screening has on these rates. Methods: Analyses are based on 14,693 histologically confirmed invasive prostate cancer cases among men aged 50 years and older identified through the Utah Cancer Registry between 1985 and 1999. Cancer records were linked to LDS Church membership records to determine LDS status. Poisson regression was used to derive rate …

Protecting Sensitive Credential Content During Trust Negotiation, Ryan D. Jarvis

Theses and Dissertations

Keeping sensitive information private in a public world is a common concern to users of digital credentials. A digital credential may contain sensitive attributes certifying characteristics about its owner. X.509v3, the most widely used certificate standard, includes support for certificate extensions that make it possible to bind multiple attributes to a public key contained in the certificate. This feature, although convenient, potentially exploits the certificate holder's private information contained in the certificate. There are currently no privacy considerations in place to protect the disclosure of attributes in a certificate. This thesis focuses on protecting sensitive credential content during trust negotiation …

An External Communication Audit Of The National Tropical Botanical Garden, Jennifer Melody Murdock

Theses and Dissertations

This study presents the results of an external communication audit of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), a congressionally chartered nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of tropical plant diversity. Information was gathered during the communication audit through interviews with NTBG's key decision makers, content analyses of NTBG's primary publications, and a questionnaire measuring the public-organization relationship.

The audit assesses NTBG's external communication policies, practices, capabilities, and needs in the context of systems theory and external relations strategic planning theories. The findings of the audit identify who NTBG considers its target publics and how well they are reaching certain audiences. …

The Pseudo-Rigid-Body Model For Dynamic Predictions Of Macro And Micro Compliant Mechanisms, Scott Marvin Lyon

Theses and Dissertations

This work discusses the dynamic predictions of compliant mechanisms using the Pseudo-Rigid-Body model (PRBM). In order to improve the number of mechanisms that can be modeled, this research develops and identifies several key concepts in the behavior of beam segments where both ends are fixed to a rigid body (fixed-fixed flexible segments). A model is presented, and several examples are discussed. The dynamic behavior of several compliant segments is predicted using the PRBM and the results are compared to finite element analysis and experimental results. Details are presented as to the transient behavior of a typical uniform rectangular cross section …

Racial Attitudes Among South African Young Adults: A Four-Year Follow-Up Study, Timothy B. Smith, Christopher R. Stones, Anthony Naidoo

Faculty Publications

Due to many social changes that have occurred in South Africa since the first democratic elections in 1994, careful scrutiny must be given to the racial attitudes of South Africa’s young adults. Their degree of acceptance of the doctrine of deracialisation and reconciliation represents a hope or a warning in regard to a stable future. A follow up study was thus carried out in order to update data collected in 1995, with the hypothesis that, over time, greater acceptance of other racial groups would be reported. The authors examined the differences among the 180 Xhosa-speaking black, 89 so-called coloured, and …

Reconstruction Of The Temperature Profile Along A Blackbody Optical Fiber Thermometer, David Gary Barker

Theses and Dissertations

A blackbody optical fiber thermometer consists of an optical fiber whose sensing tip is given a metallic coating. The sensing tip of the fiber forms an isothermal cavity, and the emission from this cavity is approximately equal to the emission from a blackbody. Standard two-color optical fiber thermometry involves measuring the spectral intensity at the end of the fiber at two wavelengths. The temperature at the sensing tip of the fiber can then be inferred using Planck's law and the ratio of the spectral intensities. If, however, the length of the optical fiber is exposed to elevated temperatures, erroneous temperature …

Family And Career Decision-Making Among Lds Women At Brigham Young University, Jennifer M. Vigil, Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Rebecca R. Nichols

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

This study explores how college-aged women who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) make decisions about choosing a career or staying home full-time. It examines how committed they are to multiple role planning, what influence their mothers have on their decision-making process, how much they know about the roles they will assume in the future, how certain they are about choosing these roles, and how involved they are in the decision-making process itself. The LDS Decision-Making (LDSDM) scale was answered by 149 junior and senior women at Brigham Young University. Four factors were found …