Digital Commons Network^™

Camera Trap Survey Suggests Forestry And Prescribed Burns Attract Wildlife, But May Not Enhance Diversity, Melissa S. Vilgats, Ryan Ott, Stephanie S. Coster

Virginia Journal of Science

This study explored whether habitat management techniques such as forest thinning and burning promoted biodiversity. Fifteen camera trap stations were established at Fort A.P. Hill in Bowling Green, VA across forest stands with low, medium, and high basal area. Camera traps were deployed for a total of 532 trap nights, and trap success and species diversity were calculated using Shannon’s index. At each site, the distance to trafficable roadways and water sources, vegetation composition, and the percent groundcover, canopy cover, and understory were measured. The cameras captured nine species and recorded a total of 398 trap events. Linear regression was …

Empirical Modeling Of Tilt-Rotor Aerodynamic Performance, Michael C. Stratton

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

There has been increasing interest into the performance of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The propellers used for the eVTOL propulsion systems experience a broad range of aerodynamic conditions, not typically experienced by propellers in forward flight, that includes large incidence angles relative to the oncoming airflow. Formal experiment design and analysis techniques featuring response surface methods were applied to a subscale, tilt-rotor wind tunnel test for three, four, five, and six blade, 16-inch diameter, propeller configurations in support of development of the NASA LA-8 aircraft. Investigation of low-speed performance included a maximum speed of 12 m/s and …

Odu Scientist Tapped To Edit National Climate Assessment, Amber Kennedy

News Items

No abstract provided.

Virginia Beach Flood Protection Program Bond Referendum Analysis, Robert Mcnab, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Afi Anuar, Jessica Whitehead

Presentations, Lectures, Posters, Reports

[First paragraph of the Executive Summary]

On November 2, 2021, voters in the City of Virginia Beach will vote on a referendum that determines whether or not the City Council should increase real estate taxes to fund a Flood Protection Program. The proposal accelerates the construction of six flood mitigation projects already in the Virginia Beach Capital Improvement Plan by 3 years, and funds design and construction of 15 additional projects that would also be completed by 2031. This report, jointly produced by Old Dominion University’s Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) and the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis …

Odu Highlights Climate Resilience Leadership During Legislators’ Visit To Campus, Amber Kennedy

News Items

No abstract provided.

Orofacial Manifestations Of Lyme Disease: A Systematic Review, Brenda Bradshaw, Kelsey M. Jones, Joleen M. Westerdale-Mcinnis, Holly Gaff

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Purpose: Orofacial manifestations of Lyme disease can affect head and neck anatomical structures that are frequently examined by dental professionals. The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the literature for types and frequencies of orofacial manifestations documented in populations in the United States (US) with Lyme disease.

Methods: Four electronic databases (Dentistry and Oral Sciences, PubMed, Cinahl Plus, and Medline) were systematically searched during the summer of 2019 using keywords and MeSH terms to identify relevant studies. Search term alterations and synonyms were cross-checked using the US National Library of Medicine Unified Medical Language System Metathesaurus. Full-text, English …

Incorporating The 10th Edition Institute Of Traffic Engineers (Ite) Trip Generation Rates Into Virginia Department Of Transportation Guidelines, Kun Xie, Mecit Cetin, Hong Yang, Xiaomeng Dong

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) released the Trip Generation (TG) 10th edition in 2017, which significantly updated its database, and some of its trip generation rates were substantially lower than those of earlier editions. This study aims to investigate the applicability of the TG 10th edition in various Virginia contexts and to recommend how to incorporate the TG 10th edition into state guidelines. The research team surveyed 31 state transportation agencies to obtain a clear understanding of current practices in the adoption of trip rates and trip estimation approaches. We systematically compared trip rates of TG 9th and 10th …

Monarch Science Observer, Volume 10, College Of Sciences, Old Dominion University

College of Sciences Newsletter

Summer 2021 issue of Monarch Science Observer, ODU College of Sciences Newsletter.

A Look Into Increasing The Number Of Veterans And Former Government Employees Converting To Career And Technical Cybersecurity Teachers, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Michael Anthony Crespo, Drew E. Brown, Deborah Marshall, Otilia Popescu, Murat Kuzlu, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Linda Vahala

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The current state of technology with recent explosions in the digital processing of paperwork, computer networking use, and online and virtual approaches to areas, which until very recently had traditional and non-computerized ways of operating, led to a steady increase in the demand for jobs in the area of computer science and cybersecurity. The education system, the pipeline for the incoming workforce, needs to keep up with this tremendous pace in technology and the job market. The current K-12 school system has been extensively challenged to fill out necessary positions in order to address the increasing need for programs that …

Finite Difference Schemes For Integral Equations With Minimal Regularity Requirements, Wesley Cameron Davis

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Volterra integral equations arise in a variety of applications in modern physics and engineering, namely in interactions that contain a memory term. Classical formulations of these problems are largely inflexible when considering non-homogeneous media, which can be problematic when considering long term interactions of real-world applications. The use of fractional derivative and integral terms naturally relax these restrictions in a natural way to consider these problems in a more general setting. One major drawback to the use of fractional derivatives and integrals in modeling is the regularity requirement for functions, where we can no longer assume that functions are as …

Electrohydrodynamic Simulations Of Capsule Deformation Using A Dual Time-Stepping Lattice Boltzmann Scheme, Charles Leland Armstrong

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Capsules are fluid-filled, elastic membranes that serve as a useful model for synthetic and biological membranes. One prominent application of capsules is their use in modeling the response of red blood cells to external forces. These models can be used to study the cell’s material properties and can also assist in the development of diagnostic equipment. In this work we develop a three dimensional model for numerical simulations of red blood cells under the combined influence of hydrodynamic and electrical forces. The red blood cell is modeled as a biconcave-shaped capsule suspended in an ambient fluid domain. Cell deformation occurs …

Analysis Of A Non-Equilibrium Vortex Pair As Aircraft Trailing Vortices, Manuel Ayala

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Shortly after the roll-up evolution of the vortex sheet behind the wings of an aircraft, a coherent counter-rotating vortex pair emerges. Presence of this vortex pair in the downstream of an aircraft, creates unsafe conditions for other aircraft, especially near airport runways. Fundamental knowledge of the physics that govern the formation, duration and dissipation of aircraft wake vortices is desirable in order to improve aircraft operational safety. This study uses non-equilibrium pressure theory to develop an accurate model describing the physical behavior of the vortex pair created by an aircraft in the early to mid-field vortex regime. An isolated aircraft …

Codar's Surface Flow At The Mouth Of The Chesapeake Bay: Relation To Bay's And Atlantic's Forcing, Shelby Kathryn Henderson

OES Theses and Dissertations

Surface currents in the lower Chesapeake Bay (CB) observed with land-based high-frequency radar antennas, or Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar (CODAR), produce hourly 2D maps of current velocities used for search and rescue, pollution tracking, and fishing operations. This study analyzes the correlations between a 9-year record of surface currents measured by CODAR to coastal sea level, local wind forcing, river discharge into CB, and water transport through the Florida Straits, representing the Gulf Stream’s control on sea level along the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast. The goal of this study is to find ways to use CODAR data to detect and …

Wiener-Fliess Composition Of Formal Power Series: Additive Static Feedback And Shuffle Rational Series, Subbarao Venkatesh Guggilam

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The problem statement for this dissertation is two-fold. The first problem considered is when does a Chen-Fliess series in an additive static feedback connection with a formal static map yield a closed-loop system with a Chen-Fliess series expansion? This work proves that such a closed-loop system always has a Chen-Fliess series representation. Furthermore, an algorithm based on the Hopf algebras for the shuffle group and the dynamic output feedback group is designed to compute the generating series of the closed-loop system. It is proved that the additive static feedback connection preserves local convergence and relative degree, but a counterexample shows …

Improvement Of Biochar Through Ozonization And Biosafety Of Genetically Engineered Cyanobacteria, Oumar Sacko

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Through the innovative technique of biochar post-production surface oxygenation by ozonization, we were able to improve certain properties of biochar. In project one, the incubation of an insoluble phosphate rock material (hydroxyapatite) with the wet ozonized pine 400 biochar and its filtrate resulted in a solubilization of 80 times more phosphate from hydroxyapatite (569.0 mg/L ± 6.4) compared to the pure water-hydroxyapatite control (7.2 mg/L ± 0.3). The ozonized biochar may provide a new possible way to unlock the phosphorus from insoluble phosphate mineral phases. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) is a key property of biochar when used as a …

Riverology: Promoting Stewardship Of Rivers Through Youth Participation In Science And Art, Robin R. Dunbar

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This project focuses on mentoring children to help reduce marine debris in their local river by implementing one of ten lessons from an inquiry-based Riverology curriculum to empower youth voice, increase geo-literacy, and spatial thinking. Eighteen participants aged seven and eight, piloted Riverology Lesson 2: What Do I Know or Imagine about the Elizabeth River? that includes six steps: inquire, visualize, draw, share, act, and reflect. The children were asked to make drawings before and after viewing an Elizabeth River Story Map presentation (Dunbar, 2021a). The drawings were then compared to see if the participants included marine debris, stewardship solutions, …

Modeling Interactions In Concentrated Ceramic Suspensions Under Ac Electric Field, Naga Bharath Gundrati

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Colloidal processing of ceramics manipulates the interaction forces using additives or external energy field between the suspending particles to fabricate complex structures. Under AC electric field, mutual dielectrophoretic (DEP) forces between particles create particle chaining. Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is adopted to control ceramic particles in the colloidal suspension, which can benefit from employing DEP forces to externally control the fabrication of ceramic materials with desired porosity and hierarchical structure. To this end, it is crucial to understand the interactions between ceramic particles in aqueous media and AC electric field. The dynamic interactions of ceramic particles under AC electric field are modelled …

Towards An Integrated Assessment Of Sea-Level Observations Along The U.S. Atlantic Coast, Brett A. Buzzanga

OES Theses and Dissertations

Sea levels are rising globally due to anthropogenic climate change. However, local sea levels that impact coastal ecosystems often differ from the global trend, sometimes by a factor of two or more. Improved understanding of this regional variability provides insights into geophysical processes and has implications for coastal communities developing resilience to ongoing sea-level rise. This dissertation conducts an investigation of sea level and its contributing processes at multiple spatial scales. Focusing on primarily interannual time-scales and data-driven approaches, new data sources and technologies are utilized to reduce current uncertainties.

First, sea-level trends are assessed over the global ocean and …

High-Order Positivity-Preserving L2-Stable Spectral Collocation Schemes For The 3-D Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations, Johnathon Keith Upperman

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

High-order entropy stable schemes are a popular method used in simulations with the compressible Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. The strength of these methods is that they formally satisfy a discrete entropy inequality which can be used to guarantee L₂ stability of the numerical solution. However, a fundamental assumption that is explicitly or implicitly used in all entropy stability proofs available in the literature for the compressible Euler and Navier-Stokes equations is that the thermodynamic variables (e.g., density and temperature) are strictly positive in the entire space{time domain considered. Without this assumption, any entropy stability proof for a numerical scheme …

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Ion Transport Through Electrically Stressed Biological Membranes, Federica Castellani

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The cell membrane is a selectively permeable barrier that controls the transport of ions, molecules, and other materials into and out of a cell. The manipulation of the cell membrane permeability is the basis for several biotechnological and biomedical applications, including electroporation. Electroporation (or electropermeabilization) occurs when the application of an external electric pulse causes water intrusion into the membrane interior and the formation of conductive transmembrane electropores. These electropores allow drugs, genetic material, and other normally impermeant molecules to enter a cell. Despite years of study, the complex mechanisms underlying this process are still not well understood. Molecular dynamics …

Development And Applications Of Adjoint-Based Aerodynamic And Aeroacoustic Multidisciplinary Optimization For Rotorcraft, Ramiz Omur Icke

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) is one of the most popular proposed solutions for alleviating traffic problems in populated areas. In this context, the proposed types of vehicles mainly consist of rotors and propellers powered by electric motors. However, those rotary-wing components can contribute excessively to noise generation. Therefore, a significant noise concern emerges due to urban air vehicles in or around residential areas. Reducing noise emitted by air vehicles is critically important to improve public acceptance of such vehicles for operations in densely populated areas.

Two main objectives of the present dissertation are: (1) to expand the multidisciplinary optimization to …

The Development Of Novel Carbohydrate-Based Gelators And Their Applications As Advanced Soft Materials, Joedian Morris

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are attractive molecules that have been explored extensively due to their practical applications in many disciplines. These small molecules self-assemble forming solid-like gels via three-dimensional cross-linked networks with the solvent as the key component within the matrix. Carbohydrate-based LMWGs are small molecules that can form solid-like gels in water, organic solvents, and aqueous solutions. They have great potential to be utilized in different applications because carbohydrates are biocompatible and can be made from easily accessible and renewable resources. Designing gelators is still a challenge within the field, even though researchers have developed tools to predict …

Move: Mobile Observers Variants And Extensions, Ryan Florin

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Traffic state estimation is a fundamental task of Intelligent Transportation Systems. Recent advances in sensor technology and emerging computer and vehicular communications paradigms have brought the task of estimating traffic state parameters in real-time within reach.

This has led to the main research question of this thesis: Can a vehicle accurately estimate traffic parameters using onboard resources shared through CV technology in a lightweight manner without utilizing centralized or roadside infrastructure?

In 1954 Wardrop and Charlesworth proposed the Moving Observer method to measure traffic parameters based on an observed number of vehicle passes. We start by proposing methods for detecting …

Methods For Detecting Floodwater On Roadways From Ground Level Images, Cem Sazara

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Recent research and statistics show that the frequency of flooding in the world has been increasing and impacting flood-prone communities severely. This natural disaster causes significant damages to human life and properties, inundates roads, overwhelms drainage systems, and disrupts essential services and economic activities. The focus of this dissertation is to use machine learning methods to automatically detect floodwater in images from ground level in support of the frequently impacted communities. The ground level images can be retrieved from multiple sources, including the ones that are taken by mobile phone cameras as communities record the state of their flooded streets. …

Improving Collection Understanding For Web Archives With Storytelling: Shining Light Into Dark And Stormy Archives, Shawn M. Jones

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Collections are the tools that people use to make sense of an ever-increasing number of archived web pages. As collections themselves grow, we need tools to make sense of them. Tools that work on the general web, like search engines, are not a good fit for these collections because search engines do not currently represent multiple document versions well. Web archive collections are vast, some containing hundreds of thousands of documents. Thousands of collections exist, many of which cover the same topic. Few collections include standardized metadata. Too many documents from too many collections with insufficient metadata makes collection understanding …

Computational Analysis Of Type 3 Iodothyronine Deiodinase: Potential Inhibitors, Substrate Binding, And Dimer Structure, Eric Scott Marsan

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Thyroid hormones (THs) in mammalian tissues are crucial for development and maintaining metabolic homeostasis. Iodothyronine deiodinases (Dios) remove iodines from THs by a selenocysteine (Sec) residue, which either activates or inactivates them. Halogen bonding (XB) has been proposed to describe the interaction between the Se and I atoms of the T4-Dio complex. Disruption of TH homeostasis by xenobiotics, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can cause deleterious effects on the endocrine system. Experimental studies have indicated that PBDEs and PCBs could disrupt TH homeostasis by inhibiting Dio through XB formation. However, no current quantitative study exists …

A Unified Framework For Parallel Anisotropic Mesh Adaptation, Christos Tsolakis

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Finite-element methods are a critical component of the design and analysis procedures of many (bio-)engineering applications. Mesh adaptation is one of the most crucial components since it discretizes the physics of the application at a relatively low cost to the solver. Highly scalable parallel mesh adaptation methods for High-Performance Computing (HPC) are essential to meet the ever-growing demand for higher fidelity simulations. Moreover, the continuous growth of the complexity of the HPC systems requires a systematic approach to exploit their full potential. Anisotropic mesh adaptation captures features of the solution at multiple scales while, minimizing the required number of elements. …

Circulation, Volume 26, No. 3, Center For Coastal Physical Oceanography, Old Dominion University

CCPO Circulation

Summer 2021 issue of CCPO Circulation featuring the article "LARRY ATKINSON: Scientist, Leader and Mentor," by John Klinck.

State Antifragility: An Agent-Based Modeling Approach To Understanding State Behavior, Rebecca Lee Law

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation takes an interdisciplinary approach to understanding what makes states antifragile and why this matters by constructing a parsimonious, first of its kind agent-based model. The model focuses on the key elements of state antifragility that reside along a spectrum of fragility and transverse bidirectionally from fragile to resilient to antifragile given a certain set of environmental conditions.

First coined by Nicholas Nassim Taleb and applied to economics, antifragility is a nascent concept. In 2015, Nassim Taleb and Gregory Treverton’s article in Foreign Affairs outlined five characteristics of state antifragility. This project aims to advance the study of anti-fragility …

Connectivism: Adopting Quantum Holism In International Relations, Grant Randal Highland

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The current scientific context of both quantum science and an ever-increasingly connected global citizenry has set the conditions for a new perspective whereby the social sciences are on the cusp of adopting a quantum approach of probability and potentiality versus the clockwork mechanistic determinism of cause-and-effect Newtonian mechanics. While a scientific realist approach toward the application of quantum science to the social sciences is germane, there is a valid reason international relations should also consider and adopt the philosophical worldviews outside the genealogical canon of our early western forbears, as well as the philosophical explorations of consciousness and humanism which …