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Winter 2020, University Of North Dakota Alumni Association

ALL: UND Alumni Review Master List

Winter 2020 issue of "The University of North Dakota Alumni Magazine." 52 pages

Volume 103, Number 4

The Home Program Adherence Tackle Box: A Fishing-Themed Toolkit For Rehabilitation Clinicians, Nicholas Riveland, Colter Pettit

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Background: Home programs (HPs) are an important part of the rehabilitation experience and are regularly recommended by occupational therapy practitioners (OTPs) and other rehabilitation clinicians for continuation and supplementation of care, to address a client’s continual needs at home and in the community (DeForge et al., 2008; Donoso Brown, & Fichter, 2017; Emmerson et al., 2017; Picha, & Howell, 2018; Proffitt, 2016). Home programs created by rehabilitation professionals for clients typically include therapeutic exercises, activities, and lifestyle behavior modifications to compliment treatment and/or discharge recommendations. Issuing home programs is an established standard of care to help clients meet targeted client …

Forecast Of Streamflows To The Arctic Ocean By A Bayesian Neural Network Model With Snowcover And Climate Inputs, Kabir Rasouli, Bouchra R. Nasri, Armina Soleymani, Taufique H. Mahmood, Masahiro Hori, Ali Torabi Haghighi

Geology and Geological Engineering Faculty Publications

Increasing water flowing into the Arctic Ocean affects oceanic freshwater balance, which may lead to the thermohaline circulation collapse and unpredictable climatic conditions if freshwater inputs continue to increase. Despite the crucial role of ocean inflow in the climate system, less is known about its predictability, variability, and connectivity to cryospheric and climatic patterns on different time scales. In this study, multi-scale variation modes were decomposed from observed daily and monthly snowcover and river flows to improve the predictability of Arctic Ocean inflows from the Mackenzie River Basin in Canada. Two multi-linear regression and Bayesian neural network models were used …

Removal Of Blocking Artifacts From Jpeg-Compressed Images Using Neural Network, Md Nurul Amin

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to develop a neural network that will produce considerable improvement in the quality of JPEG compressed images, irrespective of compression level present in the images. In order to develop a computationally efficient algorithm for reducing blocky and Gibbs oscillation artifacts from JPEG compressed images, we integrated artificial intelligence to remove blocky and Gibbs oscillation artifacts. In this approach, alpha blend filter [7] was used to post process JPEG compressed images to reduce noise and artifacts without losing image details. Here alpha blending was controlled by a limit factor that considers the amount of compression …

Not Your Advisor’S Doctorate: The Doctor Of Arts And The Modernization Of Higher Education 1945-1970, Andrew Faber Larson

Theses and Dissertations

The “modernization” of higher education, 1945-1970, was a transitional period in American higher education. It was marked by a number of challenges that prompted rapid change in institutions around the United States. These changes were accompanied by expedient expansion in curriculum, faculty size, and physical plant of universities. One of the changes that came out of the period of modernization was the establishment of the Doctor of Arts degree as a way to produce professional faculty to fill open positions created by the rapid expansion of the modernization. As a result, the Doctor of Arts served as a modernization solution …

A Study Of The Feasibility Of Growth, Extraction, And Industrial Scale Up Processing Of Microalgae Lipids., Jasmine Oleksik

Theses and Dissertations

The interest in microalgae as a plausible alternative to crop oils as a raw material in the form of triglycerides and free fatty acids (FA oils) for renewable fuels and chemicals is increasing and it is a widespread research topic at the lab scale. Microalgae contain a higher lipid content on a dry weight basis compared to oilseeds such as soybeans. Additionally, the growth and cultivation cycle of microalgae is 15 days, in comparison to soybeans where the cycle occurs once or twice annually. Despite these advantages, to date it has been uneconomical to produce microalgae oils in a world-scale …

Performance Evaluation Of Sustainable Pavement Materials, Robeam Solomon Melaku

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States (US), there are more than 2 million miles of paved roads. About 93 percent of those are surfaced with asphalt mixtures (flexible pavements). Shortage of natural resources, environmental impact of pavement life cycle and pavement distress are the major concerns of the pavement industry. Higher percentage Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) usage, alternative asphalt pavement additives and development of performance related pavement analysis are the major factors to improve sustainability of the pavement. In this dissertation, extensive studies were conducted on the use of sustainable materials and performance analysis. Use of Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) and Soy …

Parental Leave Policies: Implications For Higher Education Policy, Muneka Nwoko

Theses and Dissertations

A persistent disadvantage of individuals and couples navigating and negotiating parental leave policies is often embedded in biased assumptions. Oftentimes, as a result, individuals and couples inherently encounter vastly different parental leave experiences. However, recommendations from the literature and federal policy support the need for gender equity, family-focused initiatives, and workplace interventions related to individuals and couples navigating and negotiating parental leave processes. Yet because of a lack of policy standardization, policy protocols related to these recommendations have proved unsuccessful in addressing the complexities individuals and couples experience when navigating and negotiating parental leave processes. Thus, this study applies a …

Critical Contingency Eva’S For 3d-Printed Planetary Habitats, James Robert Stoffel

Theses and Dissertations

This novel pilot study evaluates the potential associated tools, methods, and concept of operations required for a Critical Contingency Extravehicular Activity (CCE) repair of a 3D-printed in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) Lunar and Martian habitat. With NASA’s current 2020 Technology Roadmap and Taxonomy for TX06: Human Health, Life Support, and Habitation Systems (e.g. Extravehicular Activities, Habitation, Human Factors), TX07: Exploration Destination Systems (e.g. ISRU, Maintenance, Repair, Operations, Safety), TX12: Materials, Structures, Mechanical Systems, and Manufacturing, and the Centennial 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, this research will provide an initial evaluation of standard repair methods on the system’s functional abilities, environmental, and human factors …

Coupled Simulation Of Hydraulic Fracturing, Production, And Refracturing For Unconventional Reservoirs, Xincheng Wan

Theses and Dissertations

Horizontal well drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing are two key techniques for the development of unconventional reservoir. However, the production from tight formation is associate with fast depletion of reservoir. When oil price is low, drilling new horizontal wells is not profitable. Creating secondary fractures from existing hydraulic fractured wells, i.e., refracture is an alternative method to increase stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) and gain additional production from existing hydraulic fractured wells. To optimize refracturing well selection and operation, it’s of economic importance to acquire knowledge from initial hydraulic fracturing operation, production history, and refracturing design perspectives. This initiated the idea …

Feasibility Of Downscaling Naaps Aerosol Fields For Incorporating More Realistic Aerosol Direct Effects In Wrf-Chem Simulations, Brittany Nikole Carson

Theses and Dissertations

When unaccounted for in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, heavy aerosol events can cause significant unrealized biases in forecasted meteorological parameters such as surface temperature. A novel concept is proposed in this study to dynamically downscale aerosol fields from a global chemical transport model into a higher resolution NWP model to improve the near-surface forecasting accuracies during heavy aerosol events like biomass burning events. This concept is tested for a major biomass burning aerosol event over the Northern Great Plains region of the United States that occurred from 28 June – 4 July 2015. Aerosol analyses from the Navy Aerosol …

Simulation Of Notch Driven Hydraulic Fracture In Open Hole Completion, Nejma Djabelkhir

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrocarbon production from unconventional plays, including shale oil and gas, has begun in the USA since nearly two decades ago and experienced a rapid growth. Horizontal drilling and multistage hydraulic fracturing (HF) are the prime technologies in development and stimulation of unconventional reservoirs. Open hole (OH) and cased hole (CH) are the primary completion methods used in unconventional reservoirs. OH compared to cased hole (CH) completion is more desired as it requires less operation cost and time while it results in more production due to larger area of wellbore exposure to the formation. However, OH completion is susceptible to near …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Lignin Nanoparticles For Potential Applications In Advanced Sustainable Materials, Steven Chandler Borrillo

Theses and Dissertations

It is no surprise to most that the use of petroleum-based plastics has caused environmental challenges at a global scale. A large percentage of plastic waste is disposed in the natural environment while a small portion of that is biodegradable. One promising solution to tackling the worlds’ dependency on non-renewable plastics is the development of alternative materials such as bioplastics. A few popular biopolymers include polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), and cellulose acetate (CA) which boast properties such as biodegradability, sourced from renewable resources, and non-toxicity. In addition, lignin is worth researching as a biopolymer because it is naturally occurring, …

Application And Development Of Advanced Atomic-Scale Analysis And Simulations For Complex Systems, Hyeonseok Lee

Theses and Dissertations

A series of studies have investigated the applicability of kerogen, which is an amorphous and insoluble organic matter abundant in unconventional shale formations. This geo−materials are known to have undergone significant alteration in chemical structure during thermal maturation which is characterized using a combination of solid−state 1H & 13C−NMR, X−ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) techniques. For these studies, four kerogen samples (type−II) from the Bakken Formation were selected based on the differences in their thermal maturity, as well as representing the pre−oil and oil window stages as measured …

Mapping And Quantifying The Spatial Characteristics Of Agricultural Drainage Systems In Red River Valley Of The North, Eohjin Lee

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to map agricultural drainage systems (ADS) at the watershed scale using remote sensing and GIS techniques and examine the effect of ADS. For achieving the purpose of the study, this study selected the Red River Valley (RRV) of the North in which agriculture is a primary industry at the region. Excessive nutrients, sediment, and pesticide from this agricultural area flow into the Red River throughout subsurface drainages. The ADS aims to remove excessed water from agricultural fields, and this ADS is divided into two systems - uncontrolled drainage system (UCDS) and controlled drainage system …

Multiscale Mechanical Characterization Of The Bakken Formation, Chunxiao Li

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the mechanical properties of the tight formation rocks has been an area of research in the past decade due to its importance in hydraulic fracturing and rock physics modeling. Most of the tight rocks are highly heterogeneous in constituent components, a detailed understanding of mechanical properties at multiple scales is important.

In this dissertation, a combination of mechanical analytical methods including atomic force microscopy, nanoindentation/microindentation, triaxial compressive tests with computational calculations including micromechanical modeling, machine learning techniques were used. In this research, the objectives are to characterize the mechanical properties of the Bakken Formation at multiple scales and to …

Safety Culture In Collegiate Aviation: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Between Multiple Universities, Robert Foster

Theses and Dissertations

A concurrent-embedded mixed method was used to evaluate observed outcomes of safety culture among multiple collegiate aviation programs in the U.S. A hypothesized model that measures the relationships between scales of safety management systems (SMS), safety motivation (mediator), and safety behaviors (safety compliance, safety reporting, and safety participation) was assessed using structural equation modeling/path analysis (SEM/PA). Demographic differences in safety culture were also evaluated. Semi-structured interviews were used further to understand the impacts of SMS on safety culture. Findings suggest significant predictive relationships between SMS and observed safety culture outcomes. There was also a significant mediation role of safety motivation …

Evaluation Of Gas Hydrate In Gas Pipeline Transportation, Paschal Ogadi Mokwenye

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrate formation and deposition is an inherent problem in the gas production industry. It causes plugging in pipelines and damages to equipment such as pumps and separators. The safest and most cost-effective strategy in preventing hydrate formation is predicting their formation temperature or pressure. This study involves the development of an empirical model to calculate the hydrate formation temperature by carrying out nonlinear regression on 460 experimental data points using MATLAB software. The values were compared to five other reputable models. The model showed superior accuracy in calculating the reference experimental temperature over the other models. Also, the model produced …

Application Of Formal Specification Technique To Microgrid Representation, Maksym Tkach

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses formal specification techniques to analyze and model a microgrid. A microgrid is a small, local electrical grid, often supplied by a single generator, that can connect to the larger electrical grid, but can also disconnect from it, going into “island mode.” Thanks to the growth in renewable energy, microgrids represent a growing segment of the electrical power generation domain. And like any member of the domain they are safety-critical systems, meaning that even a small mistake in their implementation risks damage to life and property.Formal specification is a way to abrogate the risks of safety critical systems …

Experimental Acquisition Of An Endwall Heat Distribution In A Linear Turbine Cascade, Maliha Yel Mahi

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research is the experimental acquisition of endwall heat transfer distributions for an aft loaded vane with a large leading edge. This study will investigate endwall heat transfer distributions over five inlet turbulence levels ranging from intensities of 0.7% through very high turbulence levels as high as 17.4%. The investigation will be conducted at three varying Reynolds numbers based on true chord length and exit conditions ranging from 500,000 to 2000,000. The infrared thermography technique will be applied to the acquisition of the endwall heat transfer data due to the full surface image which can be developed …

Occupational Therapy Program For Women Residing In Domestic Violence Shelters, Paige Mccullough, Kelsey Wehe

Occupational Therapy Capstones

Background Domestic violence is a public health concern that affects 43.6 million women, or greater than one in three women, each year in the United States (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence [NCADV], n.d.). Following experiences with domestic violence, victims endure various long-term physical and mental health challenges. These challenges negatively affect women’s abilities to carry out many daily occupations, as well as live independently. When a victim flees domestic violence, they often find themselves seeking support and safety from domestic violence shelters. These shelters are designed to focus on the victim’s immediate physical needs and less on their mental health …

The Effects Of Modulating Accommodative-Vergence Stress Within The Context Of Operator Performance On Automated System Tasks, Kyle Anthony Bernhardt

Theses and Dissertations

Automated systems (e.g., self-driving cars, autopilot) can reduce an operator’s (i.e., driver, pilot, baggage screener) task engagement, which can result in mind wandering, distraction, and loss of concentration. Consequently, unfavorable performance outcomes, such as missed critical signals and slow responses to emergency events, can occur. Because automation reverts the operator to a “visual monitoring” role, the oculomotor accommodative-vergence responses (the oculomotor responses that maintain a single focused image on the retina) may play a vital role in human-automation interactions. Prior research has shown that individuals with deficits in the accommodative-vergence responses can exhibit inattentive symptoms (e.g., poor concentration) characteristic of …

Automated Fractional Snow Cover Monitoring From Near-Surface Remote Sensing In Grassland, Anai Caparo Bellido

Theses and Dissertations

Snow cover is an important variable in both climatological and hydrological studies because of its relationship to environmental energy and mass flux. However, variability in snow cover can confound satellite-based efforts to monitor vegetation phenology.

This research explores the utility of the PhenoCam network cameras to estimate Fractional Snow Cover (FSC) in grassland. The goal is to operationalize FSC estimates from PhenoCams to inform and improve satellite-based determination of phenological metrics.

The study site is the Oakville Prairie Biological Field Station, located near Grand Forks, North Dakota. I developed a mostly semi-automated process to estimate FSC from PhenoCam images through …

Evaluation Of Balanced Mix Design Gyrations (Ndesign) For North Dakota's Lower Class Hma Pavement, Anjo Maurice Mate

Theses and Dissertations

The number of Superpave mix design of gyrations (Ndesign) has been adopted by North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) to produce mixes of same density representing the field conditions for a specified amount of traffic. As Superpave mix design was developed for high volume roads, various research suggests that there is a need to develop a new mix design criterion for medium and low volume traffic. For low volume roads durability performance is generally affected by the environment and not the traffic volume. Some researchers notice that the Ndesign of 75 gyrations for a 20-year traffic loading (in millions of …

Polymer Flooding: Predicting Permafrost Stability For The Wsak And Ugnu Alaska North Slope Reservoirs, Shane Namie

Theses and Dissertations

The heavy oil reserves of the Ugnu and West Sak Formations in Alaska offer major production challenges, including proximity to the permafrost layer and exceptionally high viscosities. Despite deeper reserves, most of the untouched heavy oil deposits in the West Sak and Ugnu sands are at shallow depths with a low API gravity (< 15 degrees). The objective of this study is to evaluate permafrost subsidence while extracting heavy oil from shallow reservoir using polymer flooding. The approach to this study will focus on using geological properties taken from well logs, completion logs and available core data from 32 wells and applying them to a numerical fluid flow model. Calculations were completed for eight cross-sections taking into consideration the following outcomes: Formation tops, permafrost depth, porosity, water saturation, and permeability. Eleven numerical models were created showing polymer flooding is an effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process that minimizes permafrost subsidence.

Carbon-Dioxide Pipeline Infrastructure Route Optimization And Network Modeling For Carbon Capture Storage And Utilization, Karthik Balaji

Theses and Dissertations

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) is a technology value-chain which can help reduce CO2 emissions while ensuring sustainable development of the energy and industrial sectors. However, CCUS requires large-scale deployment of infrastructure for capturing feasible amounts of CO2 that can be capital intensive for stakeholders. In addition, CCUS deployment leads to the development of extensive pipeline corridors, which can be inconsistent with the requirements for future CCUS infrastructure expansion. With the implementation and growth of CCUS technology in the states of North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah in mind, this dissertation has two major goals: (a) to identify …

The Impact Of Safety On Fleet Acquisition And Management In U.S Commercial Airlines, Dinusha Sammani Gunarathna

Theses and Dissertations

The topic of aircraft safety is pervasive in many domains of the airline industry and it influences all types of air transportation operations. Aircraft acquisition and fleet planning are key functions in a commercial airline to ensure the achievement of the airline’s operational goals such as matching capacity with demand. With fluctuations in passenger demand, it is vital to strategically plan an airline’s fleet to best accommodate these changes and to safely do so. Existent literature suggests that aircraft safety is factored into passenger decision to choose an airline which then impacts the economics of an airline. The purpose of …

Bio-Regenerative Life Support Systems Functional Stability And Limitations, A Theoretical Modeling Approach, Curt I. Holmer

Theses and Dissertations

Experiments with Ecological Closed Life Support Systems (ECLSS) for moderate sized crews have shown instability when supporting crews over long periods of time required for deep space travel. Tests such as Russia’s BIOS series, NASA’s Lunar-Mars Life Support Test Project (LMLSTP), ESA’s Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA), and Japan’s Closed Ecology Experiment Facilities (CEEF) have shown that microalgae and higher plants combined with physical-chemical material converters can be a successful part of a Biological Life Support System or a Closed Ecological Life Support System. LMLSTP, MELiSSA, and CEBAS experiments as well as commercial Ecosphere products have proven stability at …

Design Of Spouted Fluidized Bed Computational Models For Advanced Energy Applications, Ryder Shallbetter

Theses and Dissertations

Fluidization process technology has been widely studied since its first commercial uses during the 1920s. Initially, developmental progress was slow as fluidized beds are complex in design and often hard to scale up in size. However, with the emergence of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), researchers were able to simulate wide ranges of fluidization and create new fluidization designs to help solve complex problems. This study aims to determine if CFD can be effective in designing spout-fluid beds with draft tubes for advanced energy applications. CFD has been employed for studying the fluidization characteristics, design, and optimization of spouted beds. However, …

Modelling Of A Microgrid Using Z Notation, Binisha Shrestha

Theses and Dissertations

A Microgrid is a group of electrical sources and connected loads that operate energy grids in grid-connected or islanded mode. Microgrid usage has increased recently due to improved technology andthe effectiveness of renewable energy sources. To produce a balanced and stable power supply frommicrogrids and meet the load demand is a challenging research area in both the electrical engineering and software engineering fields. This work presents a formal model for representing the microgrid system to prevent failure or inconsistencies in the power generation and usage. A methodology for creating a formal model for a microgrid is a critical approach to …