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Stratified Turbulence In The Nearshore Coastal Ocean: Dynamics And Evolution In The Presence Of Internal Bores, Ryan K. Walter, Michael E. Squibb, C. Brock Woodson, Jeffrey R. Koseff, Stephen G. Monismith

Physics

High-frequency measurements of stratified turbulence throughout the water column were collected over a 2 week period in the nearshore environment of southern Monterey Bay, CA, using a cabled observatory system and an underwater turbulence flux tower. The tower contained a vertical array of acoustic Doppler velocimeters and fast-response conductivity-temperature sensors, providing a nearly continuous data set of turbulent velocity and density fluctuations and a unique look into the stratified turbulence field. The evolution of various turbulence quantities and direct measurements of the vertical turbulent diffusivity is examined in the presence of nearshore internal bores, both in the near-bed region and …

December 10, 2014 Cal Poly Report, Public Affairs Office

Cal Poly Report

No abstract provided.

Cal Poly University Art Gallery To Feature Graphic Designer Aaron Draplin Jan. 9- Feb.6, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Cal Poly Announces Commitment To Help Expand College Access At White House Event, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

December 3, 2014 Cal Poly Report, Public Affairs Office

Cal Poly Report

No abstract provided.

Cal Poly Fall 2014 Commencement Set For December 13, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Determination Of Seasonal Crop Coefficients For The Cal Poly Campus Vineyard Using The “Paso Panel”, Daniel L. Vyenielo

Wine and Viticulture

Seasonal Crop Coefficients were determined using the "Paso Panel" during the summer of 2014 at the Cal Poly Trestle Vineyard in the Pinot and Syrah blocks.

Ag In Motion, Kerri Bermudez, Annelise Jensch, Michaela Stone

Agricultural Education and Communication

The purpose of this project was to gauge the interest levels of Ag in Motion for the Central Coast. Positive feedback would allow the project to continue on after this project is finished. Ag in Motion is an important asset to middle school aged children because they have the opportunity to learn about agriculture and it’s value. This is especially important considering California is number one producer of agricultural commodities in the United States.

The Central Coast is defined as these three counties: Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County. An online survey was developed and sent …

Relative Expression Of Germination Genes Sleb, Gerac, And Gpr In Heat Treated Bacillus Licheniformis And Bacillus Subtilis, Valerie Paige Arechiga

Master's Theses

Endospore-forming bacteria of the genus Bacillus are of significant importance to the food industry. Species from this genus exhibit the ability to form metabolically dormant endospores characterized by resistance to heat, UV, and chemical treatment. Spores have undetectable metabolic activity and remain impervious to the harsh conditions of their environment, but they can detect environmental cues signaling favorable growth conditions and begin the process of germination. Once germination and outgrowth are complete, the fully viable cell is capable of reproducing and forming colonies. The resistance of these endospores has been a topic of decades of research, particularly because of their …

Analyzing Alcohol Behavior In San Luis Obispo, Ariana Montes

Statistics

No abstract provided.

Viewing The Moon In Infrared, Kyle Beekman

Statistics

Man has been fascinated by the heavens since ancient times, yet there is still so much that we don’t know. This project was created by Dr. Gary Hughes with goal of obtaining information about the moon and other objects in the vicinity of the Earth. The project was mostly experimental in nature and there was no specific goal at the outset of the project. In the end the project focused on the moon and meteors that traveled through the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Throughout the month of August, students traveled to the Mount Barcroft Research Station in the Eastern Sierras to …

Bayesian Estimation Of Asymmetric Jump-Diffusion Processes, Samuel J. Frame, Cyrus A. Ramezani

Statistics

The hypothesis that asset returns are normally distributed has been widely rejected. The literature has shown that empirical a<>set returns are highly skewed and Ieptokurtic. The affine jump-diffusion (AJD) model improves upon the normal specification by adding a jump component to the price process. Two important extensions proposed by Ramezani and Zeng (1998) and Kou (2002) further improve the AJD specification by having two jump components in the price process, resulting in the asymmetric affine jump-diffusion (AAJD) specification. The AAJD specification allows the probability distribution of the returns to be asymmetrical. That is, the tails of the distribution are …

Entering A Musical Haze: How Music Festivals Have Created Their Own Culture, Kaitlyn Weaver

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

A Pareto-Frontier Analysis Of Performance Trends For Small Regional Coverage Leo Constellation Systems, Christopher Alan Hinds

Master's Theses

As satellites become smaller, cheaper, and quicker to manufacture, constellation systems will be an increasingly attractive means of meeting mission objectives. Optimizing satellite constellation geometries is therefore a topic of considerable interest. As constellation systems become more achievable, providing coverage to specific regions of the Earth will become more common place. Small countries or companies that are currently unable to afford large and expensive constellation systems will now, or in the near future, be able to afford their own constellation systems to meet their individual requirements for small coverage regions.

The focus of this thesis was to optimize constellation geometries …

Fresh Bytes - Connected Hydroponics For Small-Scale Growing, Jack Bowen

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

Many users are now transitioning to small-scale hydroponics and aquaponics at home. There can be a barrier to entry with these systems as there is a delicate balance of chemicals, pH, etc. that must be maintained. There are sensors for these various components but they are either aimed at commercial production or are un-automated. Fresh Bytes is a microcomputer with sensors to detect all of these unseen components in a hydroponic system. A prototype of this microcomputer is produced along with CAD plans for more professional versions of it. The sensors are verified and future development is contemplated.

High Speed Control Of Atom Transfer Sequence From Magneto-Optical To Dipole Trap For Quantum Computing, Jason Garvey Schray

Physics

Two circuits were designed, built, and tested for the purpose of aiding in the transfer of 87Rb atoms from a MOT to dipole traps and for characterizing the final dipole traps. The first circuit was a current switch designed to quickly turn the magnetic fields of the MOT off. The magnetic coil switch was able to reduce the magnetic field intensity to 5 % of its initial value after 81 μs. The second circuit was an analog signal switch designed to turn the modulation signal of an AOM off. The analog switch was able to reduce the modulation signal intensity …

Development Of A Digital Controller For Motor Control Experiments In The Ee472 Lab, Jeffrey David D'Amelio

Master's Theses

A digital motor controller for student lab use is designed, built, and tested. The controller uses an encoder for position measurement, and an H-bridge to drive the electromechanical plant.

A user interface is created to enhance usability of the device. The user interface is able to display key parameters of the control algorithm as well as the state of the system. It is also used to modify the gains and sample rate of the control algorithm.

The design of the system is refined, and 10 units are built for the EE472 Digital Controls Lab. The lab manuals for the first …

Lady Gaga: Performer, Persona, And Political Advocate, Cassidy Burns

Communication Studies

No abstract provided.

Using Spectral Analysis To Evaluate Flute Tone Quality, Ron Yorita

Master's Theses

Many skilled flutists place a high priority on "good" tone quality, or timbre. Timbre can be defined as the audible difference in character that a listener perceives for two notes played at the same pitch. Different timbres are determined by the combination and balance of harmonics that comprise a note. Unlike pitch and rhythm, timbre is difficult to objectively quantify. This project explores (1) how tone quality is described by skilled flutists, (2) whether the harmonic spectrum has some correlation with tone quality, (3) whether certain harmonic spectra are preferred, or considered "good".

Thirty-one flutists ranging from high school students …

The Effect Of Artery Bifurcation Angles On Fluid Flow And Wall Shear Stress In The Middle Cerebral Artery, Zachary Ramey Jones

Master's Theses

Saccular aneurysms are the abnormal plastic deformation of veins and arteries that can lead to lethal thrombus genesis or internal hemorrhaging. Medication and surgery greatly reduce the mortality rates, but treatment is limited by predicting who will develop aneurysms. A common location for saccular aneurysm genesis is at the main middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcation. The main MCA bifurcation is comprised of the M1 MCA segment, parent artery, and two M2 segments, daughter arteries. Studies have found that the lateral angle (LA) ratio of the MCA bifurcation is correlated with aneurysm formation. The LA ratio is defined as the angle …

A Novel Dual Modeling Method For Characterizing Human Nerve Fiber Activation, Frank Daniel Sugden

Master's Theses

Presented in this work is the investigation and successful illustration of a coupled model of the human nerve fiber. SPICE netlist code was utilized to describe the electrical properties of the human nervous membrane in tandem with COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element analysis software tool. The initial research concentrated on the utilization of the Hodgkin-Huxley electrical circuit representation of the nerve fiber membrane. Further development of the project identified the need for a linear circuit model that more closely resembled the McNeal linearization model augmented by the work of Szlavik which better facilitated the coupling of both SPICE and COMSOL …

Methane Production By A Packed-Bed Anaerobic Digester Fed Dairy Barn Flush Water, Sean Richard Thomson

Master's Theses

Packed-bed digesters are an alternative to covered lagoon digesters for methane production and anaerobic treatment of dilute wastewaters such as dairy barn flush water. The physical media of packed-beds retain biofilms, often allowing increased treatment rates. Previous studies have evaluated several types of media for digestion of dilute wastewaters, but cost and media fouling have setback commercial development. A major operational cost has been effluent recirculation pumping.

In the present effort, a novel approach to anaerobic digestion of flush dairy water was developed at pilot-scale: broken walnut shells were used as a low-cost packed-bed medium and effluent recirculation was replaced …

Analysis And Optimization Of The Scheffler Solar Concentrator, Simone Alberti

Master's Theses

The Scheffler reflector is a new solar concentrator design which maintains a fixed focus while only having a single axis tracking mechanism. This design makes the construction and operation of high temperature solar concentrators accessible to developing nations. In this project, I wrote computer simulation codes to better understand the dynamics and the effect of deformation or deviations from ideal conditions in order to define necessary manufacturing and operational tolerances. These tools and knowledge drove the prototyping of new reflector concepts by myself and other students on my team. A fiberglass prototype was able to drive the cost of a …

The Relationship Between Bicycles And Traffic Safety For All Road Users, Jasmine A. Martin

Master's Theses

Over the past twenty years bicycle use as a mode of transportation has grown considerably in the United States. Other studies have examined the individual bicyclist’s risk in proportion to the growth in cycling across cities, a phenomenon referred to as ‘safety in numbers.’ This study expands from that research and examines the effect of cyclists on road safety for all road users.

The study examines the roles of bicycle modal split, a city wide analysis, and bicycle infrastructure, a site based analysis, in road safety outcomes. For the city based analysis, twenty years of crash data in 12 California …

Cal Poly Wins Academic Olympiad At Society Of Hispanic Professional Engineers Conference, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Leadership - A Lifetime Quest For Excellence, Douglas D. Piirto

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This paper is written for aspiring leaders and managers. Each of us will be asked to lead, manage, and/or follow at various times and in many different situations in our journey of life. This paper is written to assist aspiring leaders and managers discover and develop their leadership and management abilities.

The paper is organized per the following outline:

• Introduction
• Establishing Credibility
• Enthusiasm and Desirable Habits of Effective People
• Leadership and Management
• Situational Analysis and Leadership Styles
• Leadership as a Student [discussed in Introduction)
• Leadership as a Forest Scientist
• Leadership as a Teacher and Professor
• Leadership as a Department Head …

Cal Poly College Of Science & Mathematics Appoints New Associate Deans, Public Affairs Office

Press Releases

No abstract provided.

November 5, 2014 Cal Poly Report, Public Affairs Office

Cal Poly Report

No abstract provided.

A Heterogeneous Compute Solution For Optimized Genomic Selection Analysis, Trevor Devore, Scott Kenneth Winkleblack, Bruce Golden, Chris Lupo

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This paper presents a heterogeneous computing solution for an optimized genetic selection analysis tool, GenSel. GenSel can be used to efficiently infer the effects of genetic markers on a desired trait or to determine the genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) of genotyped individuals. To predict which genetic markers are informational, GenSel performs Bayesian inference using Gibbs sampling, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm. Parallelizing this algorithm proves to be a technically challenging problem because there exists a loop carried dependence between each iteration of the Markov chain. The approach presented in this paper exploits both task-level parallelism (TLP) and …

Utilizing Indicator Of Reduction In Soils Tubes To Affirm A Serpentinitic Hydric Soil On The California Central Coast, Jason Demoss

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Wetlands are vital ecosystems that are crucial in maintaining the life of rare and unique soils, plants, and animals. These ecosystems are key players in water storage, water filtration, carbon storage, and harboring unique species. Since the intervention of human development on the Earth’s surface, almost 50% of the Earth’s original wetlands have either been damaged or destroyed. The identification and assessment of both new and old wetlands is crucial in the survival of these precious ecosystems and their conservation. A 3 month-long study was performed to confirm the hydric status of a soil derived from serpentinitic parent material. The …