Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of Isotope Effects Of Ozone As A Function Of Temperature, Daniel J. Mcmahon

Open Access Theses

Ozone is an important oxidizer in the atmosphere and plays a crucial role as a cleanser, removing various compounds such NOx and SOx. It also is intriguing to those that study stable isotopes as it has a unique signature found in no other oxygen containing molecule. Ozone is observed to fractionate mass independently, which means it does not follow the typical δ 17 O /δ18 O = 0.52 ratio expected for molecules enriched with 17 O and 18 O. The magnitude of ozone's mass independent enrichment has been studied in laboratory experiments and atmospheric observations but its explanation is still …

Study Of The Sustainbility Issues Of Food Production Using Vertical Farm Methods In An Urban Environment Within The State Of Indiana, Victor Mendez Perez

Open Access Theses

There are several problems around the globe related to water scarcity, energy shortages, deforestation and loss of fertile land, and food security. Climate change is making environmental and social issues arise. Issues such as, changes in the agricultural landscape, increasing population (9 billion is the expected population for 2040), rising food borne illnesses, scarcity of drinking water, and more crop failure due to plant pathogens and insect pests, among other factors make this study specially significant. Vertical farming could be a potencial solution to some of these problems.

Due to these problems the present thesis analyzed vertical farming as a …

Modeling And Optimization Of Care Transitions, Yuming Mo

Open Access Theses

More than 145 million people live with at least one chronic condition, and almost half of them have multiple conditions. As a result, many managed care and integrated delivery systems have taken a great interest in alleviating the many deficiencies in managing the current care system that spans across various care delivery settings. In addition, many Americans have to rely on some social health insurance plan to cover her care expenses. As a result, these patients often may not been sufficiently cured but have to be transitioned to less expensive but less medically intensive facilities, due to the increasing pressure …

Improving Indoor Air Quality Through Botanical Air Filtration In Energy Efficient Residences, Daniel William Newkirk

Open Access Theses

According to the U.S. EPA, the average American spends 90% of their time indoors where pollutants are two to five times more prevalent than outside. The consequences of these pollutants are estimated to cost the U.S. 125 billion dollars in lost health and productivity. Background literature suggests botanical air filtration may be able to solve this problem by leveraging the natural ability of plants to purify indoor air. By improving indoor air quality, energy consumption can also be reduced by bringing in less outside air to dilute contaminants within the space. A botanical air filter, called the Biowall, was designed …

Variability In Uv Disinfection Of Municipal Wastewater, Angela Patricia Ortiz

Open Access Theses

Variability in the performance of UV disinfection systems is hypothesized to be attributable to variability in the parameters that influence the overall performance. Predictability of process performance in UV disinfection systems should be possible, if variability in these input parameters can be defined. The objective of this project was to define variability in parameters that are known to affect the performance of UV disinfection systems so as to inform design and operation conditions for a large-scale UV disinfection system that was recently applied at the Belmont facility in Indianapolis, Indiana, and other systems. The present study focused on quantification of …

Software Architecture And Development For Controlling A Hubo Humanoid Robot, Manas Ajit Paldhe

Open Access Theses

Due to their human-like structure, humanoid robots are capable of doing some complex tasks. Since a humanoid robot has a large number of actuators and sensors, controlling it is a difficult task. For various tasks like balancing, driving a car, and interacting with humans, real-time response of the robot is essential. Efficiently controlling a humanoid robot requires a software that guarantees real-time interface and control mechanism so that real-time response of the robot is possible. Addition- ally, to reduce the development effort and time, the software should be open-source, multi-lingual and should have high-level constructs inbuilt in it.

Currently Robot …

Deforestation Of Cloud Forest In The Central Highlands Of Guatemala: Soil Erosion And Sustainability Implications For Q'Eqchi' Maya Communities, Ian Christopher Pope

Open Access Theses

Understanding the nexus between deforestation, food production, land degradation, and culture contributes knowledge that is useful for development practitioners working to enhance conservation and food security. Documenting deforestation and soil erosion in the Sierra Yalijux and Sierra Sacranix in the Central Highlands of Guatemala adds new knowledge about the rates and dynamics of deforestation and land degradation in areas with unique and sensitive cloud forest ecosystems. It also suggests possible areas of emphasis for efforts targeted at combining cloud forest conservation with sustainability for indigenous Q'eqchi' communities. In addition, this work contributes to a small but growing body of literature …

A Novel Three Degree-Of-Freedoms Oscillation System Of Insect Flapping Wings, Yi Qin

Open Access Theses

We propose an oscillation system to replicate the dynamic behavior of flapping wings, inspired by insect flight muscles. In particular, we study the flight of the fruit fly Drosophila virilis . We model the wing as a rigid body with three degree-of-freedom, described by three Euler angles: the stroke angle, the rotation angle and the deviation angle. Insect flight muscles are separated into two types: power muscles and control muscles. One actuator and one torsional spring at the stroke angle act as the power muscles. Two torsional springs at the rotation angle and the deviation angle mimic the control muscles. …

The Geologic Framework Of Acoma Pueblo And Its Cultural Context: A Western & Native Perspective, Darryl Reano

Open Access Theses

The sequence of sedimentary rocks at Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, are important both in terms of their cultural significance for the Native people of Acoma Pueblo and the insight they provide into the long term geologic history of the Colorado Plateau. In this thesis we present the first stratigraphic and provenance analysis of the Mesozoic strata at Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, based on field observations and detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology. Acoma Pueblo was located in the distal part (i.e. backbulge) of a foreland basin system during most of the Mesozoic. Acoma Pueblo has not been included in previous regional studies …

Investigating The Role Of Dem Resolution And Accuracy On Flood Inundation Mapping, Siddharth Saksena

Open Access Theses

Saksena, Siddharth. M.S.C.E., Purdue University, May 2014. Investigating the Role of DEM Resolution and Accuracy on Flood Inundation Mapping. Major Professor: Venkatesh Merwade. Topography plays an important role in determining the accuracy of flood inundation maps. A lot of the current flood inundation maps are created using topographic information derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. Although LiDAR data is very accurate, it is expensive, computationally time consuming and not available in several areas across the United States and around the world. As a result, coarser resolution DEMs which are easily available but less accurate are used for flood …

Floodplain Mapping Using Soil Survey Geographic (Ssurgo) Database, Nikhil Sangwan

Open Access Theses

Floods are the most damaging of all natural disasters, adversely affecting millions of lives and causing financial losses worth billions of dollars every year across the globe. Flood inundation maps play a key role in assessment and mitigation of the potential flood hazards. However, there are several communities in the United States for which the flood risk maps have not been published yet, as the current flood inundation mapping methods are typically very expensive and time consuming. The objective of this study is to develop and examine an economical alternative approach to floodplain mapping using widely available soil survey data. …

Analysis Of Eye Tracking Data Obtained By Customers’ Product Evaluations, Shweta Sanjay Sareen

Open Access Theses

Within the mechanical engineering discipline, product representational studies have been used to inform engineers on the suitability of their product designs for prospective customers. Mainly based in customers' oral responses, engineers would modify the product design accordingly. The incorporation of eye tracking data, in addition to the oral responses, in these product representational studies is a recent addition. This case study performs data analysis of a product representational study conducted by Reid, MacDonald and Du (2012), which considers the impact of 2D and 3D product representation on customer judgments with associated eye gaze patterns. The aim of this thesis is …

Oxidative Stress In Algae: Method Development And Effects Of Temperature On Antioxidant Nuclear Signaling Compounds, Md Noman Siddiqui

Open Access Theses

Non-enzymatic antioxidants neutralize the oxidative stress through scavenging reactive oxygen species. The structural complexity of non-enzymatic nuclear signaling antioxidants poses are more challenges for traditional quantitative analysis as these compounds have multiple forms and structurally diverse than proteins and therefore, challenge traditional analytical techniques. Current analytical methods cannot distinguish the carotenoids, and vitamin A and D metabolites within a single sample. To find an appropriate method to measure all the nuclear signaling compounds in algae, Isochrysis sp. , under thermal stress, HPLC/ESI-MS and HPLC /APPI-MS was used. Standards of those compounds were run by QQQ HPLC/ ESI-MS and HPLC /APPI-MS …

Understanding Childhood Malnutrition In Nepal: A Hierarchical Regression Approach, Timothy M. Smith

Open Access Theses

This thesis investigates the determinants of childhood malnutrition in Nepal, with a particular emphasis on the importance of district characteristics relative to household and child characteristics. Using a new dataset constructed from child and household data from the 2006 and 2011 Nepal Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and community characteristics aggregated from the 2004 and 2010 Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS), we estimate a variety of hierarchical regression models, which allow us to partition variance in height-for-age Z-scores between the levels of different hierarchical specifications, and then to partition that variance further, between group-level parameters.

Our findings suggest that the …

Evaluation And Economic Value Of Winter Weather Forecasts, Derrick William Snyder

Open Access Theses

State and local highway agencies spend millions of dollars each year to deploy winter operation teams to plow snow and de-ice roadways. Accurate and timely weather forecast information is critical for effective decision making. Students from Purdue University partnered with the Indiana Department of Transportation to create an experimental winter weather forecast service for the 2012-2013 winter season in Indiana to assist in achieving these goals. One forecast product, an hourly timeline of winter weather hazards produced daily, was evaluated for quality and economic value.

Verification of the forecasts was performed with data from the Rapid Refresh numerical weather model. …

Applications Of Calculated Second Harmonic Generation Tensors On Monomolecular And Bimolecular Systems, Gregory R. Snyder

Open Access Theses

The field of nonlinear optics (NLO) has proven itself as a relatively recent and powerful area of science in the areas of microscopy and high-sensitivity quantification measurements. In particular, symmetry selective NLO processes such as second harmonic generation (SHG) take advantage of symmetry rules to cancel background noise almost completely, leading to both high resolution images and limits of detection (LOD) in the photon counting range. Background noise in SHG is negated as result of signal cancellation in systems containing inversion symmetry; generally isotropic sources. Quantum mechanical computational chemistry has enriched the field of NLO by enabling studies on hypothetical …

Evaluating Flight Delay Benefits From The Nextgen Program, Brian M. Sperduto

Open Access Theses

This research proposes a method to simulate the flight delay effects of the NextGen program against an actual flight schedule. With the advent of the NextGen program and the substantial cost associated with the program, this research studies the impact the NextGen program may have on flight delays, an area critical to air carrier operations. This research is based on historical results from the summer of 2013 flight schedule to study the impact of a simulated NextGen implementation. The research studied aircraft on a given day looking specifically at the propagation effects of a flight delay and how it would …

Attached-Growth System For Nitrification At Low Temperature, Zhe Sun

Open Access Theses

Attached-growth biological treatment systems have potential to conduct nitrification in cold-temperature climates. In this research, in order to simulate the attached-growth nitrification process (using BOBBER biological reactor) at a real wastewater treatment facility, two laboratory-scale mini-BOBBER systems were installed in a temperature-controlled room and were operated for 101 days with pure ammonium chloride feed solution. Steady-state conditions were approached at 20°C, 15°C, 10°C, and 5°C. In addition, a series of batch experiments were conducted at temperatures of 20°C and 5°C to investigate the relationship between nitrification rate and ammonia-N concentration. Results from these experiments were analyzed and compared with the …

Moving Object Detection For Interception By A Humanoid Robot, Saltanat B. Tazhibayeva

Open Access Theses

Interception of a moving object with an autonomous robot is an important problem in robotics. It has various application areas, such as in an industrial setting where products on a conveyor would be picked up by a robotic arm, in the military to halt intruders, in robotic soccer (where the robots try to get to the moving ball and try to block an opponent's attempt to pass the ball), and in other challenging situations. Interception, in and of itself, is a complex task that demands a system with target recognition capability, proper navigation and actuation toward the moving target. There …

Characterization Of Thermal And Mechanical Properties Of Porous Material For Electronic Cooling Applications, Ninad Tushar Trifale

Open Access Theses

Metal foams are considered beneficial for several applications because of its significantly large surface area for a given volume. Foams form a high thermal conductive network in a thermal interface for electro cooling applications. The porous structures are relatively compliant and can provide for a better contact and thereby have a lower thermal resistance. Porous heat sinks made of aluminum foam have been well studied in the past. It is not only cost effective due to the unique production process, but also attractive for the theoretical modeling study to determine the performance. A study on the thermal and mechanical characterization …

Reliability Guided Resource Allocation For Large-Scale Supercomputing Systems, Shruti Umamaheshwaran

Open Access Theses

In high performance computing systems, parallel applications request a large number of resources for long time periods. In this scenario, if a resource fails during the application runtime, it would cause all applications using this resource to fail. The probability of application failure is tied to the inherent reliability of resources used by the application. Our investigation of high performance computing systems operating in the field has revealed a significant difference in the measured operational reliability of individual computing nodes. By adding awareness of the individual system nodes' reliability to the scheduler along with the predicted reliability needs of parallel …

Protein Affinity Extraction Of Prostate Specific Antigen (Psa) Using Submicron Spheres, Yao Wang

Open Access Theses

PSA has been used as a biomarker for prostate cancer for a long time. To characterize different glycoforms of PSA using techniques like UHPLC and cIEF, concentration and purification of PSA from complex samples becomes necessary. Our group has developed submicron silica spheres based affinity beads to extract PSA through immunoprecipitation. This study focuses on measuring the bead performance when antibody type/amount was varied and PSA concentration was lowered for clinical use. To better satisfy the requirement of large-scale extraction, several attempts were made to increase the bead capacity. The results will be presented and future directions of the project …

A Farm Management Information System With Task-Specific, Collaborative Mobile Apps And Cloud Storage Services, Jonathan Tyler Welte

Open Access Theses

Modern production agriculture is beginning to advance beyond deterministic, scheduled operations between relatively few people to larger scale, information-driven efficiency in order to respond to the challenges of field variability and meet the needs of a growing population. Since no two farms are the same with respect to information and management structure, a specialized farm management information system (FMIS) which is tailored to the realities on the ground of individual farms is likely to be more effective than generalized FMIS available today.

This thesis presents the design of a FMIS using proven user-centered design principles. This approach resulted in the …

Retrofiting Lid Practices Into Existing Neighborhoods: Is It Worth It?, Timothy Wright

Open Access Theses

Low impact development (LID) practices are gaining popularity as a way to manage stormwater close to the source. This reduces infrastructure requirements and helps to maintain hydrologic processes close to predevelopment conditions. Studies have shown LID practices to be effective in reducing runoff and improving water quality. However, little has been done to aid decision makers in selecting the most effective practices for their needs and budgets.

To this end, the L-THIA LID model has been applied. Using readily available data sources, multiple scenarios can quickly be examined, and then analyzed to determine the cost of implementation and the approximate …

Determinants Of Energy Efficiency Across Countries, Guolin Yao

Open Access Theses

With economic development, environmental concerns become more important. Economies cannot be developed without energy consumption, which is the major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Higher energy efficiency is one means of reducing emissions, but what determines energy efficiency?

In this research we attempt to find answers to this question by using cross-sectional country data; that is, we examine a wide range of possible determinants of energy efficiency at the country level in an attempt to find the most important causal factors. All countries are divided into three income groups: high-income countries, middle-income countries, and low-income countries. Energy intensity is used …

A Sandbox Development For Demonstrating Bom Transmission In A Plm And Erp Integrated System, Zhen Zeng

Open Access Theses

Integrating Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in a company is important. Currently, many companies have difficulties on integrating PLM and ERP systems. This study developed a prototype (sandbox) of PLM and ERP integrated system for demonstrating BOM transmission in a PLM and ERP integrated system, describing key aspects of system integration and BOM transmission. This sandbox will facilitate users' knowledge on how to process transactions in a PLM and ERP integrated system. The BOM accuracy was examined by comparing BOM data in PLM system to BOM data in ERP system after implementing engineering changes. This study …

Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products: Emerging Contaminants In Aquatic Ecosystems, Jenny E. Zenobio

Open Access Theses

In recent years, the presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in aquatic systems has led to research on their fate and effects. PPCPs have been found in mixture in wastewater effluents, surface, ground, and drinking water at low concentrations from areas of intense urbanization. Although adverse effects to human health from the current environmental concentrations are unlikely, the impacts to ecological receptors are not clear. We performed field and laboratory studies to quantify and evaluate effects of PPCPs on fish. First, a field study was conducted at the Baca National Wildlife Refuge, Colorado (2010-2012) because a portion of …

The Influence Of Gaps On The Frequency Response Of A Beamspring Contact System, Wenbin Zhang

Open Access Theses

Some mechanical systems with gaps such as in disc brakes and Cardan joints exhibit nonlinearity under certain load conditions, which is unpredictable and highly sensitive to initial conditions. Previous studies were mainly focused on either a single-degree-of-freedom (DOF) system or a flexible beam with uniform elastic foundation. The analysis of this thesis is a combination of these two where gaps are first introduced to a flexible beam model. A model of a beam resting on compliant foundation with gaps has been developed and analyzed. The assumed modes method is used to derive the equations of motion (EOM's) for the system. …

Estimating Truncated Hotel Demand: A Comparison Of Low Computational Cost Forecasting Methods, Yue Ding

Open Access Theses

The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effectiveness of six selected low computational cost hotel demand forecasting methods (SA, SMA, EMA, DEMA, BP and PU) in terms of restoring truncated demand data, and then identify a low-cost and easy to follow demand forecasting method that can be used by U.S. independent hotels. Obtaining revenue gains by applying demand forecasting techniques have been proved by many studies in hospitality and other related industries. However, few studies have focused on low computational forecasting methods' comparison in hospitality field. For this reason, the author decided to test the performance of six …

Woodification Of Polygonal Meshes, Gustavo Alejandro Guayaquiul Sosa

Open Access Theses

An evolving polygonal mesh based on stem's tree growth coupled with a physical simulation of bark's cracking is presented. This process is denominated woodification. Whereas previous approaches use a fixed resolution voxel grid, woodification is built on the deformable simplicial complex representation, which robustly simulates growth with adaptive subdivision. The approach allows any meshed object to be grown and textured. Features, such as interaction with obstacles, attributes interpolation, and sketching tools, are added to provide control during the woodifible process.