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Compressive Strength Of Continuous Fiber Unidirectional Composites, Ronald Thompson May 2012

Compressive Strength Of Continuous Fiber Unidirectional Composites, Ronald Thompson

All Dissertations

Dow and Rosen's work in 1965 formed an intellectual framework for compressive strength of unidirectional composites. Compressive strength was explained in terms of micro-buckling, in which filaments are beams on an elastic foundation. They made simplifying assumptions, with a two dimensional idealization and linearized material properties. This study builds on their model, recognizing that the shear mode of instability drives unidirectional compressive strength. As a necessary corollary, the predictive methods developed in this study emphasize correct representation of composite shear stiffness. Non-linear effects related to matrix material properties, fiber misalignment, three dimensional representation, and thermal prestrains are taken into account. …

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On Factoring Hecke Eigenforms, Nearly Holomorphic Modular Forms, And Applications To L-Values, Jeff Beyerl May 2012

On Factoring Hecke Eigenforms, Nearly Holomorphic Modular Forms, And Applications To L-Values, Jeff Beyerl

All Dissertations

This thesis is a presentation of some of my research activities while at Clemson University. In particular this includes joint work on the factorization of eigenforms and their relationship to Rankin- Selberg L-values, and nearly holomorphic eigenforms. The main tools used on the factorization of eigenforms are linear algebra, the j function, and the Rankin-Selberg Method. The main tool used on nearly holomorphic modular forms is the Rankin-Cohen bracket operator.

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Research And Development Effort In Developing The Optimal Formulations For New Tablet Drugs, Zhe Li May 2012

Research And Development Effort In Developing The Optimal Formulations For New Tablet Drugs, Zhe Li

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Seeking the optimal pharmaceutical formulation is considered one of the most critical research components during the drug development stage. It is also an R&D effort incorporating design of experiments and optimization techniques, prior to scaling up a manufacturing process, to determine the optimal settings of ingredients so that the desirable performance of related pharmaceutical quality characteristics (QCs) specified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can be achieved. It is widely believed that process scale-up potentially results in changes in ingredients and other pharmaceutical manufacturing aspects, including site, equipment, batch size and process, with the purpose of satisfying the clinical …

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Modeling One- And Two-Dimensional Shallow Water Flows With Discontinuous Galerkin Method, Wencong Lai May 2012

Modeling One- And Two-Dimensional Shallow Water Flows With Discontinuous Galerkin Method, Wencong Lai

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Numerical models for one- and two-dimensional shallow water flows are developed using discontinuous Galerkin method. Formulation and characteristics of shallow water equations are discussed. The well-balanced property and wetting/drying treatment are provided in the numerical models. The shock-capturing property is achieved by the approximate Riemann solvers in the schemes. Effects of different approximate Riemann solvers are also investigated. The Total Variation Diminishing property is achieved by adoption of slope limiters. Different slope limiters and their effects are compared through numerical tests. Numerical tests are performed to validate the models. These tests include dam-break flows, hydraulic jump and shocks in channels, …

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A Case Study In Challenging And Validating Engineering Requirements With Value-Based Techniques, Seth Crouch May 2012

A Case Study In Challenging And Validating Engineering Requirements With Value-Based Techniques, Seth Crouch

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Requirements are an essential element to engineering design as they are used to focus idea generation during conceptual design, provide criteria for decision making during concept selection, and verify the chosen concept fulfills product needs. Because they are essential to the entire design process, great emphasis needs to be put on ensuring that they are correct. This research focuses on a value-based methodology useful for challenging and validating established requirements. A case study was conducted using this process on a project involving the design of a vehicle seat. This case study shows that this approach provides more persuasive evidence to …

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A Person Following Algorithm For Use With A Single Forward Facing Rgb-D Camera On A Mobile Robot, Sean Ficht May 2012

A Person Following Algorithm For Use With A Single Forward Facing Rgb-D Camera On A Mobile Robot, Sean Ficht

All Theses

This thesis examines the problem of person following. A person following algorithm can be separated into two distinct parts: the detection and tracking of a target and the actual following of a target. This thesis focuses mainly on the detection and tracking of a target person. For the purposes of this thesis a simple robot control architecture is used. The robot moves to follow the target in a straight line. No path planning is considered when executing robot movement.
This thesis aims to accomplish three tasks. First, the system should be able to track and follow a target when no …

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Data Driven Approach To Multi-Agent Low Level Behavior Generation In Medical Simulations, Manan Gupta May 2012

Data Driven Approach To Multi-Agent Low Level Behavior Generation In Medical Simulations, Manan Gupta

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A multi-agent scenario generation framework is designed, implemented and evaluated in the context of a preventive medicine education virtual reality system with data collected from a sensor network at the University of Iowa Hospital. An agent in the framework is a virtual human that represents a healthcare worker. The agent is able to make certain decisions based on the information it gathers from its surroundings in the virtual environment. Distributed sensor networks are becoming very commonplace in public areas for public safety and surveillance purposes. The data collected from these sensors can be visualized in a multi-agent simulation. The various …

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Charging Kinetics Of Micropores In Supercapacitors, Daniel Oberklein May 2012

Charging Kinetics Of Micropores In Supercapacitors, Daniel Oberklein

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The charging kinetics of Electric Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC) were studied using a continuum model based on the Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) Equations, with the additional modeling of the bulk fluid motion in the electrolyte using the Navier-Stokes Equations. The results demonstrate that the addition of bulk flow modeling yields a faster charging rate and higher charging current due to the additional convective component of the current resulting from the bulk fluid motion. A parametric study was conducted to determine the effect of various physical parameters of the EDLC system on the charging kinetics. Decreased fluid viscosity results in a faster charging …

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Onecloud: A Study Of Dynamic Networking In An Openflow Cloud, Gregory Stabler May 2012

Onecloud: A Study Of Dynamic Networking In An Openflow Cloud, Gregory Stabler

All Theses

Cloud computing is a popular paradigm for accessing computing resources. It provides elastic, on-demand and pay-per-use models that help reduce costs and maintain a flexible infrastructure. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) clouds are becoming increasingly popular because users do not have to purchase the hardware for a private cloud, which significantly reduces costs. However, IaaS presents networking challenges to cloud providers because cloud users want the ability to customize the cloud to match their business needs. This requires providers to offer dynamic networking capabilities, such as dynamic IP addressing. Providers must expose a method by which users can reconfigure the …

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Best Management Practices For Reducing Coyote Depredation On Loggerhead Sea Turtles In South Carolina, Trent Eskew May 2012

Best Management Practices For Reducing Coyote Depredation On Loggerhead Sea Turtles In South Carolina, Trent Eskew

All Theses

Sea turtles are one of the most recognizable and charismatic marine species worldwide that continue to be the focus of many conservationists. However, their populations and habitat continue to decline at an alarming rate due to predation, development, pollution, rising sea levels, beach erosion, and commercial fishing. Consequently, maximizing nest production in current nesting regions is fundamental to sea turtle recovery efforts. On the southeastern coast, coyotes (Canis latrans) and sea turtles have a relatively new relationship, but the presence of this latest predator has dramatically reduced sea turtle nesting success in certain areas. An active predator management strategy for …

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Application Of Microbial Fuel Cells In A Forested Wetland, Jianing Dai May 2012

Application Of Microbial Fuel Cells In A Forested Wetland, Jianing Dai

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ABSTRACT
Electricity can be generated from forest residues, especially the organic matter from litter fall, in freshwater forested wetland environments with a microbial fuel cell (MFC) system. Electricity generation efficiency was examined for cypress, tupelo, and pine litter extracts, using dual-chamber reactors. The maximum power density generated with cypress extracts was on the level of 320 mW/m2, higher than tupelo (230 mW/m2), and pine (210 mW/m2). The efficacy of cypress extracts was also higher than tupelo and
pine, demonstrating that organic matter from cypress litter is a preferred substrate for electricity generation with MFCs. Meanwhile, low aromaticity of the substrate …

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'A Sane Sense Of Loyalty To Nation In Peace And War,' Military Education And Patriotism At Wofford College, 1917-45, Andrew Baker May 2012

'A Sane Sense Of Loyalty To Nation In Peace And War,' Military Education And Patriotism At Wofford College, 1917-45, Andrew Baker

All Theses

The Upper Piedmont of South Carolina is home to a disproportionate number of Army ROTC units and citations for heroism in battle. Within the region, the story of Spartanburg, South Carolina's Wofford College provides a unique perspective on the idea of a southern military tradition. In 1917, Wofford's president Henry Nelson Snyder proved an avid supporter of the American war effort. His support culminated in the formation of an ROTC detachment on Wofford's campus in 1919. After several tenuous early years, Wofford College's voluntary detachment's ranks were filled by the majority of the all-male student body. In competition, the detachment …

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Security And Performance Verification Of Distributed Authentication And Authorization Tools, Seok Bae Yun May 2012

Security And Performance Verification Of Distributed Authentication And Authorization Tools, Seok Bae Yun

All Theses

Parallel distributed systems are widely used for dealing with massive data sets and high performance computing. Securing parallel distributed systems is problematic. Centralized security tools are likely to cause bottlenecks and introduce a single point of failure. In this paper, we introduce existing distributed authentication and authorization tools. We evaluate the quality of the security tools by verifying their security and performance.
For security tool verification, we use process calculus and mathematical modeling languages. Casper, Communicating Sequential Process (CSP) and Failure Divergence Refinement (FDR) to test for security vulnerabilities, Petri nets and Karp Miller trees are used to find performance …

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The Effects Of Coated Gold Nanorods On Porcine Atrioventricular Valve Tissues Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Heather L'Ecuyer May 2012

The Effects Of Coated Gold Nanorods On Porcine Atrioventricular Valve Tissues Using Atomic Force Microscopy, Heather L'Ecuyer

All Theses

In this Master's thesis we examine the effect of surface modified gold nanorods (AuNRs) coated with polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) on the mechanical properties of porcine mitral valve tissue ex vivo. The presence of healthy mitral valve tissue in the body is important to ensuring unidirectional flow of blood through the systemic circuit. Unfortunately, due to its anatomic complexity and unique mechanical behavior, pathological mitral valve tissue remains difficult to treat with conventional methods. We hope that the knowledge gleaned from these studies could be useful for developing new and novel treatments treating pathological mitral valve mechanical properties.
Specifically, we examine …

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Power Generation And Control Of Mechatronics Systems - Theory And Test, Kelly Austin May 2012

Power Generation And Control Of Mechatronics Systems - Theory And Test, Kelly Austin

All Theses

An integrated, multi-disciplined approach to engineering design is a broad definition of mechatronics. Though some mechatronics proponents differ in their definitions of the topic, an interdisciplinary approach to engineering is taken by many industries which should be reflected on campus in the approach to engineering education. In this thesis, two mechatronics systems are investigated. A laboratory experiment is developed for use in the mechanical engineering program at Clemson University, and a thermoelectric power generation from diesel engine exhaust heat is investigated as an automotive industry application.
An electromagnet excited masspendulum system with attached spring and damper elements is introduced as …

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Enhanced Physics Schemes For The 2d Ns-Alpha Models Of Incompressible Flow, Michael Dowling May 2012

Enhanced Physics Schemes For The 2d Ns-Alpha Models Of Incompressible Flow, Michael Dowling

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In this thesis, we study algorithms for the 2D NS-alpha model of incompressible flow. These schemes conserve both discrete energy and discrete enstrophy in the absence of viscous and external forces, and otherwise admit exact balances for them analogous to those of true fluid flow. This model belongs to a very small group that conserves both of these quantities in the continuous case, and in this work, we develop finite element algorithms for the vorticity-stream formulation of this model that will preserve numerical energy and enstrophy in the computed solutions.

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Ecology Of The American Mink & The Potential Impact On Species Of Concern In Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina, Caroline Gorga May 2012

Ecology Of The American Mink & The Potential Impact On Species Of Concern In Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina, Caroline Gorga

All Theses

Species reintroduction projects are becoming more common as a conservation tool to reestablish populations following extirpation. The implementation of these projects can be controversial due to the potential impact the reintroduced animal could have on endangered, threatened, or at risk prey species. In 1999, South Carolina's Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) reintroduced the American mink (Neovison vison), a SCDNR designated species of high conservation priority, to the northern coastal marshes of the state, including Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge (CRNWR). In order to estimate the impact of this opportunistic predator on other species, especially those of special concern to the …

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Understanding The Behavior Of A Pile Foundation In Unsaturated Soils Subjected To Lateral Loading, Brian Machmer May 2012

Understanding The Behavior Of A Pile Foundation In Unsaturated Soils Subjected To Lateral Loading, Brian Machmer

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The purpose of this research was to further understand the behavior of pile foundations in unsaturated soils subjected to lateral loading. Recent case histories show the importance of incorporating unsaturated soil mechanics in geotechnical engineering practice for the design and construction of resilient and cost effective systems. Unsaturated soils are a three phase material- solid, liquid and gas, resulting in three interfaces. Among the three interfaces the liquid-gas interface, also known as the contractile skin, plays a critical role in the mechanical and flow behaviors of unsaturated soil. The effects of the contractile skin are measured in terms of matric …

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Impressionist Rendering Of An Animated Painting, Michela Rose May 2012

Impressionist Rendering Of An Animated Painting, Michela Rose

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The following thesis documents the development of a non-traditional rendering technique, that of classic impressionist painting, and its use to create an animated three-dimensional painting. Impressionist style painting has an organic feel to it, with brush strokes that remain visible in the dried paint and a light, lively color palette that seeks to capture the light in an image. Reproducing this style in a computer-generated image is no small task. For this project a CG paint method was developed, utilizing Maya Paint Effects and particles. This method was implemented with a script, saving time by automating the process as much …

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Mr. Aull's Grand Experiment, Paul Crunkleton May 2012

Mr. Aull's Grand Experiment, Paul Crunkleton

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Institutional histories, be they about colleges, public agencies, or corporations, are generally impersonal affairs. The story of the Clemson Experimental Forest and its history, however, is intensely personal. While manning his post as head of the department of agricultural economics and rural sociology, George Aull labored daily to ensure that the people of the Fant's Grove community, the heart of the Clemson Project's land, could achieve better lives, that the land--severely damaged by overfarming and droughts--could return to productivity, and that Clemson College could apply its research initiatives in agriculture, forestry, economics, and sociology to the people living around it. …

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Using Bald Eagles To Monitor Hydroelectric Projects Liscense Requirements Along The Au Sable, Manistee And Muskegon River, Michigan, Peter Datema May 2012

Using Bald Eagles To Monitor Hydroelectric Projects Liscense Requirements Along The Au Sable, Manistee And Muskegon River, Michigan, Peter Datema

All Theses

Consumers Energy operated hydroelectric projects located along the Au Sable, Manistee, and Muskegon Rivers underwent environmental studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s as part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission relicensing. One of the questions posed during these studies was, would passage of Great Lakes' fishes over barrier dams along these rivers cause detrimental impacts to sensitive wildlife species. Relicensing also required that the operation of all hydroelectric projects on the Au Sable, Manistee, and Muskegon rivers be maintained as run-of-river. Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) were chosen as a biomonitor. This risk assessment included calculating new hazard quotients …

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The Adaptation Of 3d Video Game Production Techniques To The 2d Game Play Mechanics Of The Beat-Em-Up Genre, Donald Roeder May 2012

The Adaptation Of 3d Video Game Production Techniques To The 2d Game Play Mechanics Of The Beat-Em-Up Genre, Donald Roeder

All Theses

In this paper, we address some of the technological issues and shortcomings that led to the recession in popularity of the Beat 'em up video game genre. In particular, we adapt current technological advances and apply them to 3D video game development to mirror the mechanics of the 2D Beat 'em up genre. We describe our assembly-line approach to 3D asset production that permits quick development of multiple and varied characters and environments. Our approach to 3D camera placement provides the same viewpoint used in the 2D game approach. We have developed various scripts to streamline the animation process. In …

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An Engineering Psychology Based Analysis Of Ladder Setup Procedures, Alan Campbell May 2012

An Engineering Psychology Based Analysis Of Ladder Setup Procedures, Alan Campbell

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ABSTRACT
Accidents involving portable ladders are a common cause of serious occupational and non-occupational injuries throughout the industrialized world. Many of these injuries could be prevented with proper education, training and usage of portable ladders. This research focused on the human factors and engineering aspects of portable extension ladder usage. Results and analysis revealed evidence of unsafe acts that could lead to catastrophic ladder slide-out accidents in real-life situations. Six ladder setup methods were evaluated based on placement angles: the Basic, 75 Degree, Stand-Reach, L Sticker, 4:1, and Level methods. The level method produced the most accurate results with the …

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Subsurface Characterization Using Ground-Penetrating Radar In A Hydrologically Active Vadose Zone, Adam Mangel May 2012

Subsurface Characterization Using Ground-Penetrating Radar In A Hydrologically Active Vadose Zone, Adam Mangel

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Three experiments were conducted to measure the ability of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to non-invasively determine water content while simultaneously resolving depth to wetting fronts, buried objects, and stratigraphic boundaries during dynamic hydrologic conditions. This is particularly appealing as GPR can provide dense spatial coverage for vadose zone characterization where traditional invasive measurements are costly, destructive, and time-consuming. The vadose zone was replicated using a tank filled with 1) homogeneous river sand, 2) homogeneous river sand with an embedded land mine surrogate, and 3) homogeneous river sand with an embedded layer of silica flour. These systems were subjected to controlled irrigation …

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Mechatronic System Design - A Hydraulic-Based Engine Cooling System Design And Refinement Of A Technical Elective Mechatronics Course, Rajwardhan Patil May 2012

Mechatronic System Design - A Hydraulic-Based Engine Cooling System Design And Refinement Of A Technical Elective Mechatronics Course, Rajwardhan Patil

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The improvement of consumer products and industrial processes, in terms of functionality and reliability, has recently focused on the integration of sensors and real time controllers with attached actuators into the given physical system. The likelihood of long-term market penetration of smart devices has placed an emphasis on preparing engineering graduates for technology leadership roles in the workforce. This thesis examines mechatronic systems in two manners. First, an intelligent automotive internal combustion engine cooling system is studied for ground vehicles using hydraulic actuators which offer the opportunity for greater versatility and performance. Second, improvements to a technical elective mechatronics course …

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Hydrodynamic Evaluation And Characterization Of Capillary Channeled Polymer (C-Cp) Fibers As A Stationary Phase In Hplc Of Macromolecules, Kelum Randunu Pathirannahalage May 2012

Hydrodynamic Evaluation And Characterization Of Capillary Channeled Polymer (C-Cp) Fibers As A Stationary Phase In Hplc Of Macromolecules, Kelum Randunu Pathirannahalage

All Theses

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is the most used analytical technique for the separation of samples in solution. HPLC of has progressed with successive use of new supports such as silica, polysaccharides, monoliths, and organic polymers. Although porous silica phases are very effective in small molecule separations, they suffer from certain drawbacks including pH stability, chemical robustness, high backpressure, and slow mass transfer for macromolecule separations. Thus, the most protein separations are carried out using nonporous, partially porous, and superficially porous phases to overcome mass transfer limitations. As a competing methodology, fiber based polymer support/stationary phases are also developed for …

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Treatment Of Oilfield Produced Water Using A Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment System, Michael Pardue May 2012

Treatment Of Oilfield Produced Water Using A Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment System, Michael Pardue

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In recent years production of oil in sub-Saharan Africa has generated thousands of barrels of oilfield produced water (OPW). If water produced from oilfields in sub-Saharan Africa can be treated, this large volume of water has the potential for use in irrigation, which could decrease demand on existing water resources. In this investigation a pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) consisting of three series: a free water surface flow (FWS) series, a subsurface flow (SSF) series, and a hybrid SSF series preceded by an oil-water separator (OWS), was utilized to treat OPW. Two major objectives were to: 1) assess treatment …

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Development Of A Lower Extremity Mobility Assessment Methodology For Motor Vehicle Operation And Initial Validation, Justin Arnosky May 2012

Development Of A Lower Extremity Mobility Assessment Methodology For Motor Vehicle Operation And Initial Validation, Justin Arnosky

All Theses

Limited quantifiable data exists on lower extremity mobility and function during driving. To date, the most appropriate existing measures of successful driving function are assessed by a driving rehabilitation specialist during an on-road evaluation. Establishing the kinematic chain- or the order and magnitude in which joints are moved- during driving may prove to be a useful tool in lower extremity function assessment in drivers. To this end, a study was conducted instrumenting both the left and right legs of healthy licensed male drivers (18-26 years old) with a system of angle measuring goniometers (Biometrics, Ltd.) in a driving simulator (DriveSafety …

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Bringing Action-Adventure Gameplay To The Ipad Using The Unreal Development Kit, Jonathan Lequire May 2012

Bringing Action-Adventure Gameplay To The Ipad Using The Unreal Development Kit, Jonathan Lequire

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Mobile game development is a fast growing industry that
is primarily focused on casual games with short play sessions.
In this paper, we describe an approach to the development of a
game with a focus on lengthy, more traditional gameplay. We describe
some techniques to exploit the UDK for this purpose, even
though the UDK has been used, traditionally, for the
development of shooter games. We have implemented
these techniques, and we describe our port of the game to the
the Apple iPad. The result of our work is a playable game that runs on
the iPad 2, and features …

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Assessment Of The Rainfall Response On Headwater Streams In Lower Coastal Plain South Carolina, Thomas Epps May 2012

Assessment Of The Rainfall Response On Headwater Streams In Lower Coastal Plain South Carolina, Thomas Epps

All Theses

Toward the goal of the assessment of the rainfall response on forested headwater catchments in the Lower Coastal Plain (LCP) of South Carolina, rainfall, streamflow, and groundwater elevation were monitored on two similar streams. Upper Debidue Creek (UDC) in coastal Georgetown County, South Carolina is slated for development and Watershed 80 (WS80) in the Francis Marion National Forest serves as an undeveloped reference watershed. Spatial rainfall variability was assessed at UDC and it was concluded that a single gage was sufficient to accurately measure rainfall for this watershed. Throughfall measurements at UDC indicate a seasonal difference that may influence seasonal …

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