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Adsorption Behaviour Of Polyacrylic Acid On Cerium Oxide Nanostructures: Experimental And Predictive Model, Ali Haghighat Mesbahi Jan 2015

Adsorption Behaviour Of Polyacrylic Acid On Cerium Oxide Nanostructures: Experimental And Predictive Model, Ali Haghighat Mesbahi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cerium oxide-based slurries are crucial for chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) in electronic industry. For these slurry systems, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) is heavily utilized to provide colloidal stability. Some of the important parameters in the colloid stability are molecular weight (MW) and concentration of stabilizer, size of the nanoparticle in the slurry and the pH of system. By determining the colloidal stability of a discrete number of slurry formulations and relating these to certain slurry component parameters, a possible model can be produced to predict the influence of these parameters on the particle stability. Direct quantification of colloidal stability is difficult, …

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Optimization Of Glycerol And Biodiesel Waste Prefermentation To Improve Ebpr, Marzieh Ghasemi Jan 2015

Optimization Of Glycerol And Biodiesel Waste Prefermentation To Improve Ebpr, Marzieh Ghasemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) process efficiency relies on different operational and process conditions especially the type of carbon source available in the wastewater. Acetic acid and propionic acid are the two major volatile fatty acids (VFAs) found in domestic wastewater which can drive biological phosphorus (P) removal to the desired level. However, often domestic wastewater does not have a sufficient amount of VFAs. Due to high acetate and propionate production-cost, it is not economic to add acetate and propionate directly in full-scale wastewater treatment plants. This brought up the idea of using external carbon sources (e. g. molasses …

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Compressive Sensing And Recovery Of Structured Sparse Signals, Behzad Shahrasbi Jan 2015

Compressive Sensing And Recovery Of Structured Sparse Signals, Behzad Shahrasbi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the recent years, numerous disciplines including telecommunications, medical imaging, computational biology, and neuroscience benefited from increasing applications of high dimensional datasets. This calls for efficient ways of data capturing and data processing. Compressive sensing (CS), which is introduced as an efficient sampling (data capturing) method, is addressing this need. It is well-known that the signals, which belong to an ambient high-dimensional space, have much smaller dimensionality in an appropriate domain. CS taps into this principle and dramatically reduces the number of samples that is required to be captured to avoid any distortion in the information content of the data. …

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Modeling Social Norms In Real-World Agent-Based Simulations, Rahmatollah Beheshti Jan 2015

Modeling Social Norms In Real-World Agent-Based Simulations, Rahmatollah Beheshti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Studying and simulating social systems including human groups and societies can be a complex problem. In order to build a model that simulates humans' actions, it is necessary to consider the major factors that affect human behavior. Norms are one of these factors: social norms are the customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies. Norms are everywhere around us, from the way people handshake or bow to the clothes they wear. They play a large role in determining our behaviors. Studies on norms are much older than the age of computer science, since normative studies have been a …

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Optimal Distribution Network Reconfiguration Using Meta-Heuristic Algorithms, Arash Asrari Jan 2015

Optimal Distribution Network Reconfiguration Using Meta-Heuristic Algorithms, Arash Asrari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Finding optimal configuration of power distribution systems topology is an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem. It becomes more complex when time varying nature of loads in large-scale distribution systems is taken into account. In the second chapter of this dissertation, a systematic approach is proposed to tackle the computational burden of the procedure. To solve the optimization problem, a novel adaptive fuzzy based parallel genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed that employs the concept of parallel computing in identifying the optimal configuration of the network. The integration of fuzzy logic into GA enhances the efficiency of the parallel GA by adaptively modifying …

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A New Paradigm Integrating Business Process Modeling And Use Case Modeling, Barclay Brown Jan 2015

A New Paradigm Integrating Business Process Modeling And Use Case Modeling, Barclay Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to develop a new paradigm integrating the practices of business process modeling and use case modeling. These two modeling approaches describe the behavior of organizations and systems, and their interactions, but rest on different paradigms and serve different needs. The base of knowledge and information required for each approach is largely common, however, so an integrated approach has advantages in efficiency, consistency and completeness of the overall behavioral model. Both modeling methods are familiar and widely used. Business process modeling is often employed as a precursor to the development of a system to be …

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Applied Error Related Negativity: Single Electrode Electroencephalography In Complex Visual Stimuli, Benjamin Sawyer Jan 2015

Applied Error Related Negativity: Single Electrode Electroencephalography In Complex Visual Stimuli, Benjamin Sawyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Error related negativity (ERN) is a pronounced negative evoked response potential (ERP) that follows a known error. This neural pattern has the potential to communicate user awareness of incorrect actions within milliseconds. While the implications for human-machine interface and augmented cognition are exciting, the ERN has historically been evoked only in the laboratory using complex equipment while presenting simple visual stimuli such as letters and symbols. To effectively harness the applied potential of the ERN, detection must be accomplished in complex environments using simple, preferably single-electrode, EEG systems feasible for integration into field and workplace-ready equipment. The present project attempted …

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Resource Management In Large-Scale Systems, Ashkan Paya Jan 2015

Resource Management In Large-Scale Systems, Ashkan Paya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is resource management in large-scale systems. Our primary concerns are energy management and practical principles for self-organization and self-management. The main contributions of our work are: 1. Models. We proposed several models for different aspects of resource management, e.g., energy-aware load balancing and application scaling for the cloud ecosystem, hierarchical architecture model for self-organizing and self-manageable systems and a new cloud delivery model based on auction-driven self-organization approach. 2. Algorithms. We also proposed several different algorithms for the models described above. Algorithms such as coalition formation, combinatorial auctions and clustering algorithm for scale-free organizations of …

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Stability And Control In Complex Networks Of Dynamical Systems, Saeed Manaffam Jan 2015

Stability And Control In Complex Networks Of Dynamical Systems, Saeed Manaffam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stability analysis of networked dynamical systems has been of interest in many disciplines such as biology and physics and chemistry with applications such as LASER cooling and plasma stability. These large networks are often modeled to have a completely random (Erdös-Rényi) or semi-random (Small-World) topologies. The former model is often used due to mathematical tractability while the latter has been shown to be a better model for most real life networks. The recent emergence of cyber physical systems, and in particular the smart grid, has given rise to a number of engineering questions regarding the control and optimization of such …

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Worldwide Infrastructure For Neuroevolution: A Modular Library To Turn Any Evolutionary Domain Into An Online Interactive Platform, Paul Szerlip Jan 2015

Worldwide Infrastructure For Neuroevolution: A Modular Library To Turn Any Evolutionary Domain Into An Online Interactive Platform, Paul Szerlip

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Across many scientific disciplines, there has emerged an open opportunity to utilize the scale and reach of the Internet to collect scientific contributions from scientists and non-scientists alike. This process, called citizen science, has already shown great promise in the fields of biology and astronomy. Within the fields of artificial life (ALife) and evolutionary computation (EC) experiments in collaborative interactive evolution (CIE) have demonstrated the ability to collect thousands of experimental contributions from hundreds of users across the glob. However, such collaborative evolutionary systems can take nearly a year to build with a small team of researchers. This dissertation introduces …

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Enhanced Microwave Hyperthermia Using Nanoparticles, Maryory Urdaneta Jan 2015

Enhanced Microwave Hyperthermia Using Nanoparticles, Maryory Urdaneta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation a study of enhanced hyperthermia for cancer treatment through the use of magnetic nanoparticles is presented. Hyperthermia has been in use for many years, as a potential alternative method in cancer treatment, and high frequency microwave radiation has been used successfully to raise the tumor temperature to around 42°C in superficial tumors without causing damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Magnetic fluid hyperthermia involves the use of magnetic nanoparticles injected into the tumor before exposure to microwave radiation. The magnetic energy in the nanoparticles is converted into heat allowing for a more rapid rise of temperature in the …

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Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Water Footprint Of Residential Waste Collection And Management Systems, Mousa Maimoun Jan 2015

Life-Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Water Footprint Of Residential Waste Collection And Management Systems, Mousa Maimoun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three troublesome issues concerning residential curbside collection (RCC) and municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems in the United States motivated this research. First, reliance upon inefficient collection and scheduling procedures negatively affect RCC efficiency, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and cost. Second, the neglected impact of MSW management practices on water resources. Third, the implications of alternative fuels on the environmental and financial performance of waste collection where fuel plays a significant rule. The goal of this study was to select the best RCC program, MSW management practice, and collection fuel. For this study, field data were collected for RCC programs …

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A Generic Framework For Multi-Method Modeling And Simulation Of Complex Systems Using Discrete Event, System Dynamics And Agent Based Approaches., Konstantinos Mykoniatis Jan 2015

A Generic Framework For Multi-Method Modeling And Simulation Of Complex Systems Using Discrete Event, System Dynamics And Agent Based Approaches., Konstantinos Mykoniatis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Decisions about Modeling and Simulation (M&S) of Complex Systems (CS) need to be evaluated prior to implementation. Discrete Event (DE), System Dynamics (SD), and Agent Based (AB) are three different M&S approaches widely applied to enhance decision-making of complex systems. However, single type M&S approaches can face serious challenges in representing the overall multidimensional nature of CS and may result in the design of oversimplified models excluding important factors. Conceptual frameworks are necessary to offer useful guidance for combining and/or integrating different M&S approaches. Although several hybrid M&S frameworks have been described and are currently deployed, there is limited guidance …

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Research On High-Performance And Scalable Data Access In Parallel Big Data Computing, Jiangling Yin Jan 2015

Research On High-Performance And Scalable Data Access In Parallel Big Data Computing, Jiangling Yin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To facilitate big data processing, many dedicated data-intensive storage systems such as Google File System(GFS), Hadoop Distributed File System(HDFS) and Quantcast File System(QFS) have been developed. Currently, the Hadoop Distributed File System(HDFS) [20] is the state-of-art and most popular open-source distributed file system for big data processing. It is widely deployed as the bedrock for many big data processing systems/frameworks, such as the script-based pig system, MPI-based parallel programs, graph processing systems and scala/java-based Spark frameworks. These systems/applications employ parallel processes/executors to speed up data processing within scale-out clusters. Job or task schedulers in parallel big data applications such as …

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Pressurized Metal Bellows Shock Absorber For Space Applications., John Trautwein Jan 2015

Pressurized Metal Bellows Shock Absorber For Space Applications., John Trautwein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous spacecraft designs exist for exploring the surfaces of planetary bodies and each have their own advantages and disadvantages. All successful landings have been made by stationary landers or wheeled rovers that rely on one-time use mechanisms, such as crushable aluminum honeycomb shock absorbers or inflatable airbags, to reduce shock loading to the spacecraft during landing. The stationary lander is the simplest type of lander, but can only take data from one location. Wheeled rovers add complexity in exchange for mobility to explore different locations. Rovers are limited by the terrain they can traverse; rovers becoming stuck have ended missions. …

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Mathematical Modeling Of Carbon Removal In The A-Stage Activated Sludge System, Thomas Nogaj Jan 2015

Mathematical Modeling Of Carbon Removal In The A-Stage Activated Sludge System, Thomas Nogaj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research developed a dynamic activated sludge model (ASM) to better describe the overall removal of organic substrate, quantified as chemical oxygen demand (COD), from A-stage high rate activated sludge (HRAS) systems. This dynamic computer model is based on a modified ASM1 (Henze et al., 2000) model. It was determined early in the project that influent soluble COD, which is normally represented by a single state variable in ASM1, had to be subdivided into two state variables (SBs and SBf, or slow and fast fractions) to simulate the performance of A-stage systems. Also, the addition of state variables differentiating colloidal …

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Lost Voices Of Ancient Israel Reclaiming Eden: An Ecocritical Exegesis, Nazeer Bacchus Jan 2015

Lost Voices Of Ancient Israel Reclaiming Eden: An Ecocritical Exegesis, Nazeer Bacchus

HIM 1990-2015

This work addresses the historically-read despotism Genesis 1.28 has often received in its subordination of nature for the interests of human enterprise and counters the notion of reading the entire Bible as an anti-environmental, anthropocentric text. In using a combined literary lens of eco-criticism and new historicism, this work examines the Hebrew Bible with particular attention to the books of Genesis and Exodus, offering within the Torah’s oldest literary tradition (the J source) an environmental connection between humanity and the divine that promotes a reverence of natural world and, conversely, a rejection of rampant urbanization and its cultural departure from …

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The Brevard Chronicles: Short Stories, Joshua Dull Jan 2015

The Brevard Chronicles: Short Stories, Joshua Dull

HIM 1990-2015

America has a long history of making promises it can't keep, the most accessible buzz word for such promises being, "the American Dream", where everyone will enjoy some level of affluence and assimilate into the proverbial "melting pot" so long as they work hard and follow predetermined rules set by the power structure. In this model American lifestyle, the spiritual essence of humans is buried by the materialistic drive of capitalism, which drives us farther apart and alienates us from our neighbors. Yet in the mid 2000s, in the aftermath of some of the country's worst disasters, this power structure …

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Reimaging Desire: Queer Time, Liminal Space, And Narrative Anxiety, Aidan Mitchell Jan 2015

Reimaging Desire: Queer Time, Liminal Space, And Narrative Anxiety, Aidan Mitchell

HIM 1990-2015

Media shapes and supports certain ideas about how we view ourselves and others. The narratives that we consume train us to desire a particular formula of what critic Lauren Berlant calls "the good life": growing up, becoming a man or a woman, getting married, having children, and retiring. People who fail to fit into these narratives are often punished and excluded from society. However, queer theorist Jack Halberstam asks us to reconsider failure as a means of resistance. The texts that I examine fail to conform to narrative expectations or to fit formulae that are easily consumable or defined. They …

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Recursive Behavior Recording: Complex Motor Stereotypies And Anatomical Behavior Descriptions, Nathaniel Bobbitt Jan 2015

Recursive Behavior Recording: Complex Motor Stereotypies And Anatomical Behavior Descriptions, Nathaniel Bobbitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel anatomical behavioral descriptive taxonomy improves motion capture in complex motor stereotypies (CMS) by indexing precise time data without degradation in the complexity of whole body movement in CMS. The absence of etiological explanation of complex motor stereotypies warrants the aggregation of a core CMS dataset to compare regulation of repetitive behaviors in the time domain. A set of visual formalisms trap configurations of behavioral markers (lateralized movements) for behavioral phenotype discovery as paired transitions (from, to) and asymmetries within repetitive restrictive behaviors. This translational project integrates NIH MeSH (medical subject headings) taxonomy with direct biological interface (wearable sensors …

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Applying Problem-Of-Practice Methods From The Discipline Of Higher Education Within The Justice System: Turning The Concept Of Therapy Dogs For Child Victims Into A Statewide Initiative., Jessie Holton Jan 2015

Applying Problem-Of-Practice Methods From The Discipline Of Higher Education Within The Justice System: Turning The Concept Of Therapy Dogs For Child Victims Into A Statewide Initiative., Jessie Holton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This Dissertation-in-Practice introduces a law enforcement concept-to-practice model designed by combining tested methods of organizational analysis often utilized by those in the discipline of education. The model incorporates a two phase design with the first phase focusing on implementing and evaluating innovative changes within a medium size law enforcement agency for a micro-level analysis. A second phase examines the ability to replicate the concept program on a statewide, macro-level, by incorporating a re-design method utilizing organizational resource and structure frames. The concept applied to this model was the introduction of a therapy dog interaction during investigations involving crimes against children …

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Modeling And Analysis Of A Three-Species Food Web With Facilitated And Intraguild Predation, Joshua Castro Jan 2015

Modeling And Analysis Of A Three-Species Food Web With Facilitated And Intraguild Predation, Joshua Castro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biotic interactions are known to shape natural community assemblages and biodiversity. Positive interactions such as facilitation have recently received attention in ecological food webs. Mechanistic models have improved our understanding of these complex food web interactions. Here, focus is given to a three-species food web system with a beach dune natural community in mind. In the last decade, there has been a series of studies investigating intraguild predation between two major loggerhead sea turtle nest predators, North American raccoons and Atlantic ghost crabs. Studies have also highlighted that ghost crab predation assists raccoons in finding nests (i.e., facilitated predation). However, …

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The Effect Of Allocated Assessment Time And Allocated Instructional Time On Student Achievement In Small, Medium, And Large School Districts In Florida, Samuel Crupi Jr. Jan 2015

The Effect Of Allocated Assessment Time And Allocated Instructional Time On Student Achievement In Small, Medium, And Large School Districts In Florida, Samuel Crupi Jr.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, there is little current research which explores the effect of allocated assessment time and allocated instructional time as related to student achievement (Spanjers, Burns, & Wagner, 2008). Current educational reform has placed accountability and assessment at the forefront of public education (Hirsh, 2007; Jennings, 2012; Kallemeyn, 2009; NCLB, 2001; Supovitz, 2009). Research of time on task has demonstrated that there may be a positive correlation between the amount of time on task in learning activities and student achievement (Fredricks, McColskey, Meli, Mordica, Montrosse, & Mooney, (2011). There is current legislation to increase the time demands of assessment and …

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Psychometric Issues Related To The Tinker Toy Test, Daniel Guzman Jan 2015

Psychometric Issues Related To The Tinker Toy Test, Daniel Guzman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An evaluation of executive functioning is a critical component of a comprehensive assessment of higher cerebral functioning. The Tinker Toy Test (TTT) was introduced in 1982. This test allows an individual to demonstrate the extent of their executive capacities by permitting them to initiate, plan, and structure a potentially complex activity and carry it out independently in an unstructured fashion and administration is simple. This is a departure from more complex and structured tests of executive function. There is a dearth of research on the TTT and this study seeks to examine some of the psychometric properties of this instrument; …

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Liquid Crystal-Based Biosensors For The Detection Of Bile Acids, Sihui He Jan 2015

Liquid Crystal-Based Biosensors For The Detection Of Bile Acids, Sihui He

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bile acids are physiologically important metabolites, which are synthesized in liver as the end products of cholesterol metabolism and then secreted into intestine. They are amphiphilic molecules which play a critical role in the digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins through emulsification. The concentration of bile acids is an indicator for liver function. Individual suffering from liver diseases has a sharp increase in bile acid concentrations. Hence, the concentration level of bile acids has long been used as a biomarker for the early diagnosis of intestinal and liver diseases. Conventional methods of bile acid detection such as chromatography-mass …

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Resistive Pulse Study Of Vesicles And Liposomes, Yuqing Lin Jan 2015

Resistive Pulse Study Of Vesicles And Liposomes, Yuqing Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, the properties of the liposomes, the artificially created vesicles by various methods, are explored by a resistive pulse method using micropipettes. The fact that vesicles are fundamental in the wide range of functionalities they fulfill as organelles strengthen the desire of understanding the properties of them. The motivation of this work comes from the significant roles that liposomes play in the development of targeted drug delivery systems. Among other significant variables, the size of liposomes is found to be one of the dominating parameters in liposome based drug delivery, and the correlation between liposome size and delivery …

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Hard Luck Baby, Tanya Lipscomb Jan 2015

Hard Luck Baby, Tanya Lipscomb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hard Luck Baby is a collection that elucidates the life of a southern, black mother as she grapples with her culture, family, love and the complex reality of black life in America. Hannah, is a woman who was born in the bubbling 40s, raised in the racial 60s and raptured in the drug-infested 80s. It is through these decades that the rough edges of America are exposed. She discusses her life experiences in a manner that allows readers to touch, as much as empathy will allow, the feelings that contour the deepest areas of her barrel. She shares her first …

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Report Construction When Domestic Violence Surrounds Or Involves Children, Chelsea Nordham Jan 2015

Report Construction When Domestic Violence Surrounds Or Involves Children, Chelsea Nordham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Household violence that involves children can be complicated situations to understand and describe for police responding to calls. Police reports are important in prosecuting cases by informing and reminding criminal justice personnel of what occurred in incidents, and inconsistencies between reports and accounts by involved persons can result in credibility loss and case dismissal (Gregory et al. 2011). Little research has been conducted on the construction of police reports, particularly in domestic violence cases involving children. This study uses three years of domestic violence police reports from a sheriff office*s database in Florida to distinguish information recorded for three types …

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Institutionalizing Service-Learning As A Best Practice Of Community Engagement In Higher Education: Intra- And Inter-Institutional Comparisons Of The Carnegie Community Engagement Elective Classification Framework, Jarrad Plante Jan 2015

Institutionalizing Service-Learning As A Best Practice Of Community Engagement In Higher Education: Intra- And Inter-Institutional Comparisons Of The Carnegie Community Engagement Elective Classification Framework, Jarrad Plante

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Service-learning, with a longstanding history in American higher education (Burkhardt & Pasque, 2005), includes three key tenets: superior academic learning, meaningful and relevant community service, and persistent civic learning (McGoldrick and Ziegert, 2002). The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has created an elective classification system – Carnegie Community Engagement Classification – for institutions of higher education to demonstrate the breadth and depth of student involvement and learning through partnerships and engagement in the community (Dalton & Crosby, 2011; Hurtado & DeAngelo, 2012; Kuh et al., 2008; Pryor, Hurtado, Saenz, Santos, & Korn, 2007). Community engagement "is in the …

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Farm To Fork: A Culinary- And Farm-Enhanced Nutrition Education Program, Vivian Ray Jan 2015

Farm To Fork: A Culinary- And Farm-Enhanced Nutrition Education Program, Vivian Ray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With obesity in adolescents becoming a major health problem in the United States, there has been an expansion in the use of nutritional education programs as intervention. Effective nutrition education can decrease the incidence of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. This dissertation in practice proposes to design a nutrition education program, integrating farm and culinary activities into a nutrition education curriculum. The program is designed as a stand-alone program, but for this practice, implementation integrates the nutrition education program into the Film @ 6 after-school program – a STEM-focused program designed to assist …

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