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Computational Design Of Staged Pressurized Oxy-Coal Combustion, Gideon Ozioma Udochukwu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Staged pressurized oxy-coal combustion (SPOC) is nowadays a promising technology to be used for low-cost, low-emission, high-efficiency power generation. The objective of this thesis is to compliment the experiments ongoing at the Washington University, St. Louis (WUSTL) by means of numerical simulations, thereby providing better understanding of the fluid flow, turbulence, combustion characteristics, particle dynamics and heat transfer. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is injected alongside the coal, for its carriage. A small amount of methane (CH4) is also injected alongside the coal to maintain a steady flame. The simulations are performed for a 3D geometry with the following energy source distribution: …

Assessing The Reliability Of Physical End Matching And Chemical Comparison Of Pressure Sensitive Tapes, Meghan Nicole Prusinowski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Pressure sensitive tapes are a common evidence type in a variety of forensic cases, including violent crimes, drug trafficking, and terrorism. Forensic laboratories are often requested to analyze tape samples for composition and potential source identification. Tape samples manufactured from different sources are often distinguishable when using a combination of sensitive analytical techniques. Nonetheless, the interpretation of the data remains challenging due to a lack of standard criteria and guidelines from which examiners can support their conclusions. As a result, there is a need to standardize the protocols of interpretation of physical and chemical comparisons of tape evidence.

The manufacture …

Identification Of Burnt Smokeless Gunpowders Through Physical Characteristics, Cameron Taylor Hartwig

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Firearms are one of the most commonly used weapons by violent criminals throughout the United States. In crimes involving the discharge of a firearm, residues from the combustion products are deposited on the shooter and in the firing direction. Some of the residues left behind are unburnt and partially burnt particles of the propellant. The most common propellant used in modern firearms is smokeless powder. The identification of particles as smokeless powder and the determination of the brand of the powder are two ways a forensic examiner may be able to utilize smokeless powder evidence. The determination of the brand …

Stories Of Deindustrialization: Exploring Narratives In Weirton, West Virginia, Ella Jennings

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since the 1960s, cities throughout the world have confronted the phenomenon of deindustrialization, wherein economies advance and transition into a post-industrial environment. This evolution leads to complications on political, social, and economic scales, as localities struggle to find a path to the future that can guarantee the job security and community identity once offered by industry. Weirton, West Virginia, is one such place. The city, once home to Weirton Steel Corporation, a powerhouse steelmaker that employed 13,000 people, fell victim to the fall of the United States’ steel industry, and now is a shadow of its former self. This project …

New Method Of Manufacturing Carbon Foam, Matthew D. Artimez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Carbon foam is a product that has some unique features. Carbon foam is a light weight material that has a high crush strength. It is electrically conductive, but because it is composed of air space between the tendrils, it is not a thermal conductor. Since it contains no volatile content, it is noncombustible. All these features allow carbon foam to have many modern applications. Currently, there are only three methods of producing carbon foam, and all three are not cost- efficient enough to meet the demand of potential new markets.

In this thesis, a new procedure of producing carbon foam …

Implications Of Sampling Methods On Geospatial Mapping Of Methane Sources, Dakota Wesley Oliver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Natural gas is deployed as an alternative fuel due to its cost and post-combustion emissions. However, methane, the main component of natural gas, is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) of at least 28 over 100 years. Currently, natural gas and petroleum systems are the highest emitters of methane to the atmosphere. Using conventional methods, the detection of natural gas leaks is time consuming. Currently, natural gas production sites deploy the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Method 21 or optical gas imaging (OGI) for methane leak detection. Both methods require access to the natural gas site along with …

Development Of A Dynamic Model And Control System For Load-Following Operation Of Supercritical Pulverized Coal Power Plants, Parikshit S. Sarda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Thermal power plants that have been designed to operate at their rated capacity are being forced to cycle their load and operate under low-load condition to meet changing load demands due to the increased penetration of renewables into the electric grid. The rapid load-following operation is leading to challenging control problems. The goal of this research is to develop dynamic model and control system for efficient load-following operation. The focus of this work is on supercritical pulverized coal (SCPC) power plants. The steady-state model is developed using Aspen Plus and Aspen Custom Modeler and then converted to a pressure-driven Aspen …

In Situ Measurement Of Fatigue Induced Crack Growth In Inconel 718 Using Direct Current Potential Drop Method, Joel C. Lindsay

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With recent advances in air breathable engines comes more extreme temperature environments that engine components must tolerate. During the design of these engines, it is necessary to understand how material fatigue failures occur at these new, higher operating temperatures. In providing understanding, the following fundamental study focuses on the statistical nature of crack jumps (changes in crack length over time) during fatigue in a polycrystalline nickel-based superalloy, Inconel 718 (IN718). In situ measurement of the crack length at several loading conditions were conducted using a direct current potential drop (DCPD) measurement method. Experimental data was collected at six different fatigue …

Influence Of Climate Change And Prescribed Fire On Habitat Suitability And Abundance Of The High-Elevation Endemic Cow Knob Salamander (Plethodon Punctatus), Carl David Jacobsen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Amphibians are facing global declines due to climate change, loss and degradation of habitat, invasive species, and disease. The Appalachian region of the eastern USA is a global biodiversity hotspot for salamanders, which are considered keystone species that influence nutrient dynamics in terrestrial and aquatic food webs. There are high rates of salamander endemism in the Appalachian region, with many species restricted to isolated, high elevation areas. The Cow Knob Salamander (Plethodon punctatus) is one such species. It is only found at elevations >675 m (most populations are above 900 m) on Shenandoah Mountain, North Mountain, and Nathaniel …

The Relationship Between Social Skills And Problem Behaviors In Adolescent Males With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Amanda Armstrong Randall

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Adolescent males with autism spectrum disorder commonly display an increased prevalence of problem behaviors and persistent deficits in social skills when compared to their typically developing peers. The present study deployed a single subject, multiple-baseline design to investigate the use of the social skills training program Super Skills: A Social Skills Group Program for Children with Asperger Syndrome, High-Functioning Autism and Related Challengesto promote enhanced social skills and minimize problem behaviors. Two groups of adolescent males with autism (N = 6) participated in weekly social skills training groups also containing typically developing peers (N = 3) once …

Cognitive And Affective Influences On Decision-Making Strategies And Outcomes, Michaela S. Reardon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines how factors such as emotion and planning abilities, determine decision-making strategies and outcomes. Consumer-based decision tasks are one way for researchers to measure the decision-making process and outcomes of individuals, while bringing an element of reality to the task through the utilization of decisions about everyday items that someone might purchase (e.g., a car, apartment, etc.). Using these types of tasks, researchers can measure the quality of a decision (e.g., did the participant come up with the best solution?), as well as the decision or search strategy. Previous research shows that cognitive factors are important when individuals …

The Inclusion Of Organ Within The Concert Band Instrumentation With An Annotated Listing Of Original Works For Concert Band And Organ, Matthew Justin Mccurry

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is a very limited amount of information regarding musical works available for concert band and organ. When used in conjunction with the concert band, the organ can serve different roles such as soloist with concert band accompaniment, a complimentary texture within the concert band sound, or the means for creating a majestic impact point or grand finale with full forces of organ and concert band combined. Although there are only a small number of works that fall into this category, composers continue to write works for concert band that include organ in the instrumentation. This document is an attempt …

Automatic Detection Of Insecure Codes In Stack Overflow, Shifu Hou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As the popularity of modern social coding paradigm such as Stack Overflow grows, its potential security risks increase as well (e.g., insecure codes could be easily embedded and distributed). To address this largely overlooked issue, we bring a new insight to exploit social coding properties in addition to code content for automatic detection of insecure code snippets in Stack Overflow. To determine if the given code snippets are insecure, we not only analyze the code content, but also utilize various kinds of relations among users, badges, questions, answers, code snippets and keywords in Stack Overflow. To model the rich semantic …

Stockmanship Education And Evaluation, John K. Yost

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation documents two separate works. The first is an evaluation of WVU SFMS/SOIDC Large Animal Module and the second is the development and use of the Stockman’s Scorecard. The WVU SFMS/SOIDC Large Animal Module provides foundational information on food animal husbandry and veterinary procedures to SOF Combat Medic candidates. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine if the module content resulted in an increase in food animal production knowledge for the participants. Seventy-five percent of the subjects had no previous livestock exposure and only seven percent had previously participated in 4-H or FFA. Matched pair analysis determined that the …

Immunity-Based Framework For Autonomous Flight In Gps-Challenged Environment, Mohanad Al Nuaimi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this research, the artificial immune system (AIS) paradigm is used for the development of a conceptual framework for autonomous flight when vehicle position and velocity are not available from direct sources such as the global navigation satellite systems or external landmarks and systems. The AIS is expected to provide corrections of velocity and position estimations that are only based on the outputs of onboard inertial measurement units (IMU). The AIS comprises sets of artificial memory cells that simulate the function of memory T- and B-cells in the biological immune system of vertebrates. The innate immune system uses information about …

Henosis Experience In Gaming: A Metric For Adjustments To Global Schema And Appraised Meaning, Evan Robert Watts

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Meaningfulness is a media gratification distinct from enjoyment characterized by feelings of insight, contemplation, and poignancy. Video games, too, can elicit experiences of meaningfulness, but the mechanisms underlying meaningfulness are unclear and in need of further exploration. Adapting work from existential psychology, this research proposes the construct of henosis as one mechanism that might contribute to meaningful video game experiences. Henosis is a response to experiences in which a person’s fundamental schema about the world (global schema) is challenged by an event which contradicts this schema. Henosis describes the process by which this discrepancy is resolved via either reappraising the …

Efficacy Of Cognitive Training Intervention With A Coaching Component On Attention And Response Control In Emerging Adults, Thomas Craig Foster Jr

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cognitive training, a nonpharmacological intervention for attention and learning-related difficulties, is a promising treatment option for emerging adults. The aim of this study was to explore the efficacy of a cognitive training program with a coaching component on measures of attention and response control in university students. Between 2014 and 2017, 39 students with reported attention concerns engaged in a cognitive training program over ten weeks (20 sessions) at a university counseling center. Differences in participants’ attention and response control as measured by the IVA-2 Continuous Performance Test (CPT) were evaluated before and after the intervention. Demographic data, including clinician …

Untangling The Reciprocal Relation Of The Behavioral And Physiological Immune Systems, Baris Sevi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the past decade, there has been an exponential increase in the study of the Behavioral Immune System (BIS), a suite of psychological processes that serves an infectious disease avoidance function. The BIS is proposed to be inherently intertwined with the physiological immune system. However, very few studies have actually demonstrated this fundamental, theoretical assumption. The purpose of this thesis was to test the possible relation between the physiological and behavioral immune systems in two studies. In Study 1 (N = 388), the relation between implied activation of the physiological immune system and BIS sensitivity was examined. Participants who reported …

Modeling The Rising Tails Of Galaxy Rotation Curves, Fan Zhang

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

It is well known, but under-appreciated in astrophysical applications, that it is possible for gravity to take on a life of its own in the form of Weyl-curvature-only metrics (note that we are referring to the Weyl-only solutions of ordinary General Relativity; we are not considering Weyl conformal gravity or any other modified gravity theories), as numerous examples demonstrate the existence of gravitational fields not being sourced by any matter. In the weak field limit, such autonomous gravitational contents of our universe manifest as solutions to the homogeneous Poisson’s equation. In this note, we tentatively explore the possibility that they …

How Can Cities Respond To Flood Disaster Risks Under Multi-Scenario Simulation? A Case Study Of Xiamen, China, Yijun Shi, Guofang Zhai, Shutian Zhou, Yuwen Lu, Wei Chen, Jinyang Deng

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Flood disasters often have serious impacts on cities. Disaster prevention and mitigation schemes for flood disasters must be based on risk assessment. We constructed an indicator system for flood disaster risk assessment from the aspects of hazard factors, sensitivity to the environment, disaster vulnerability, flood disaster prevention, and resilience. Then we add the precipitation factor as a scenario parameter to the assessment of flood disasters, in order to assess the flood disaster risk under annual average precipitation scenarios, multi-year flood season average precipitation scenarios, and large typhoon precipitation scenarios. Xiamen is one of the cities with more serious flood disasters. …

Teacher Shortage As A Local Phenomenon: District Leader Sensemaking, Responses, And Implications For Policy, Erin Mchenry-Sorber, Matthew P. Campbell

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

While the teacher shortage is a national crisis, the manifestations of the shortage are felt most acutely at the local district level. The diversity of these micro-contexts often leads to disparities in the ways local school systems are served by large-scale initiatives. District leaders provide an important lens for understanding the localized manifestation of teacher shortages. This research contributes to the existing macro-level literature on teacher shortages through investigation of the ways in which district leaders in West Virginia make sense of and respond to the teacher shortage. As part of a broader study, we share analyses of interviews with …

Comparing Stakeholder Attitudes Toward White-Tailed Deer And Rare Plant Management In Canaan Valley, West Virginia, Kelley L. Flaherty, Philip J. Turk, James T. Anderson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Canaan Valley, West Virginia, USA provides habitat for many plants considered rare in West Virginia. The local white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimm.) are a popular attraction for visitors as well as resident and nonresident hunters. However, concerns exist over the impact of white-tailed deer herbivory on rare plant communities in the wetlands. We evaluated stakeholder attitudes regarding white-tailed deer management and rare plant conservation by mailing surveys to property owners in Canaan Valley and Tucker County, WV, and providing surveys to visitors at Canaan Valley State Park and National Wildlife Refuge. Individuals that had incurred crop damage were …

Targeted Molecular Iron Oxide Contrast Agents For Imaging Atherosclerotic Plaque, Rhiannon J. Evans, Begona Lavin, Alkystis Phinikaridou, Kok Y. Chooi, Zahra Mohri, Eunice Wong, Joseph J. Boyle, Rob Krams, Rene Botnar, Nicholas J. Long

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Overview: Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death worldwide, with vulnerable plaque rupture the underlying cause of many heart attacks and strokes. Much research is focused on identifying an imaging biomarker to differentiate stable and vulnerable plaque. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-ionising and non-invasive imaging modality with excellent soft tissue contrast. However, MRI has relatively low sensitivity (micromolar) for contrast agent detection compared to nuclear imaging techniques. There is also an increasing emphasis on developing MRI probes that are not based on gadolinium chelates because of increasing concerns over associated systemic toxicity and deposits1. To address the …

Magnetic Properties Of Fe-Doped Cualo2 And Role Of Impurities, Mina Aziziha, Seth A. Byard, Ramon Beesely, James P. Lewis, Mohindar S. Seehra, Matthew B. Johnson

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The delafossite CuAlO2 is a rare p-type semiconductor with potential applications as a thermoelectric and as a dilute magnetic semiconductor when doped with transition metal ions. Reported here are results from our investigations of CuAl1-xFexO2 (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1) with a focus on the x-dependence of structural and magnetic properties, and role of impurities. The samples prepared by the solid-state reaction at 1,100°C were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive (X-ray) spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The magnetic results show that the Curie constant (C), …

Effects Of The Sex Of The Perpetrator On Victims’ Subsequent Sexual Behaviors And Adulthood Sexual Orientations, Sandra S. Stroebel, Stephen L. O'Keefe, Karen Griffee, Karen V. Harper-Dorton, Keith W. Beard, Debra H. Young, Sam Swindell, Walter E. Stroupe, Kerri Steele, Megan Lawhon, Shih-Ya Kuo

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Data from 2,828 female and 1,556 male adult participants from a general population convenience sample were used to measure the effect of the sex of the perpetrator on the adult sexual orientation of the victims of child sexual abuse (CSA) by adult male or female perpetrators and early incest with parents or early incest with siblings. Sexual behaviors with female perpetrators tended to promote an orientation toward sex with females and analogous behaviors with male perpetrators tended to promote an orientation toward sex with males in victims of both sexes. Many forms of incest or CSA increased the likelihood the …

Identification And Crisis: An Exploration Into The Influence Of Sports Identification On Stakeholder Perceptions Of Sports-Related Crisis, Jennifer L. Harker

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

This research examines sports identification as relational history with sports entities to test its predictive influence on stakeholders’ perceptions regarding sports-related crises. Sports identification was explored as both a social identification with sport (fandom) and as an individual identification with sport (fanship). Results suggest that sports identification is indeed a predictive element to stakeholders’ crisis perceptions; however, findings track in an interesting new direction that extends crisis communication theory in sport and suggests that sports crises are perceived in a similar manner to sports rivalries.

Comparing Written Versus Pictorial Asthma Action Plans To Improve Asthma Management And Health Outcomes Among Children And Adolescents: Protocol Of A Pilot And Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial, Lisa Hynes, Kristine Durkin, Desireé N. Williford, Hope Smith, David Skoner, Christa Lilly, Viral Dilip Kothari, Jenny Mcsharry, Christina L. Duncan

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: Asthma is an important focus for pediatric health research as management of asthma symptoms is a significant challenge, and morbidity and mortality among youths with asthma remain prevalent. Treatment guidelines for asthma recommend a written asthma action plan (WAAP) that summarizes individualized instructions for daily medication use. However, WAAPs are typically written at a seventh- to ninth-grade reading level, which can be a barrier to young people in understanding their treatment, having confidence in using a WAAP, and engaging with asthma education.

Objective: Utilizing a feasibility and pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, the objective of the Take Action …

Evaluation Of Sampling And Cross-Validation Tuning Strategies For Regional-Scale Machine Learning Classification, Christopher A. Ramezan, Timothy A. Warner, Aaron E. Maxwell

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

High spatial resolution (1–5 m) remotely sensed datasets are increasingly being used to map land covers over large geographic areas using supervised machine learning algorithms. Although many studies have compared machine learning classification methods, sample selection methods for acquiring training and validation data for machine learning, and cross-validation techniques for tuning classifier parameters are rarely investigated, particularly on large, high spatial resolution datasets. This work, therefore, examines four sample selection methods—simple random, proportional stratified random, disproportional stratified random, and deliberative sampling—as well as three cross-validation tuning approaches—k-fold, leave-one-out, and Monte Carlo methods. In addition, the effect on the accuracy of …

Submarine Groundwater Discharge Data At Meter Scale (223ra, 224ra, 226ra, 228ra And 222rn) In Indian River Bay (Delaware, Us), Carlos Duque, Karen L. Knee, Christopher J. Russoniello, Mahmound Sherif, Usama A. Abu Risha, Neil C. Sturchio, Holly A. Michael

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) was sampled at high-spatial resolution in Indian River Bay, DE, USA, in July 2016 to characterize the spatial variability of the activity of the radium and radon isotopes commonly used to estimate SGD. These data were part of an investigation into the methods and challenges of characterizing SGD rates and variability, especially in the coastal aquifer transition from freshwater to saltwater (Hydrogeological processes and near shore spatial variability of radium and radon isotopes for the characterization of submarine groundwater discharge (Duque et al., 2019)). Samples were collected with seepage meters and minipiezometers to obtain sufficient …

Soil And Tree Nutrient Status Of High Elevation Mixed Red Spruce (Picea Rubens Sarg.) And Broadleaf Deciduous Forests, Phillip M. Crim, Louis M. Mcdonald, Jonathan R. Cumming

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abstract: Anthropogenic and industrial emissions have resulted in historically high levels of acidic deposition into central Appalachian forests. Despite the reduction in acidic inputs due to legislation curbing industrial emissions in the United States, continued N deposition may impact forest ecosystems. Soil and foliar samples were collected from four high elevation red spruce sites along a modeled gradient of historic N deposition. The three most abundant tree species at all sites, Acer rubrum L., Betula alleghaniensis Britt., and Picea rubens Sarg., were sampled. Bulk soil beneath the canopies of individual trees were collected from the top 15-cm and separated into …