Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Match Performance Of Non-Ideal Operational Facial Images Using 3d Image Data., Rupindrani Aila

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Biometric attributes are unique characteristics specific to an individual, which can be used in automated identification schemes. There have been considerable advancements in the field of face recognition recently, but challenges still exist. One of these challenges is pose-variation, specifically, roll, pitch, and yaw variations away from a frontal image. The goal of this problem report is to assess the improvement of facial recognition performance obtainable by commercial pose-correction software. This was done using pose-corrected images obtained in two ways: 1) non-frontal images generated and corrected using 3D facial scans (pseudo-pose-correction) and 2) the same non-frontal images corrected using FaceVACs …

Three Essays Analyzing The Pricing Of A Community Supported Agriculture System, Dwayne Bauknight

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current landscape of small farms is approaching a major shift as more and more small farms are poised to come onto open marketplace around urban areas. A different farming business model called Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has been utilized as new way for farmers to potentially earn above average revenue. However, small farmers still feel dissatisfied with their overall farm income, but when implementing the CSA business model the producers do feel that the CSA enhances their overall income satisfaction. Three essays were developed to examine this predicament. The first essay examined possible economic pricing models that a CSA …

Survival, Movement And Growth Of Juvenile Chinook ( Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) Salmon Over-Wintering In Twitter Creek, South-Central, Alaska, James Keith Boersma

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

I investigated aspects of winter ecology of juvenile stream-type Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in Twitter Creek, a small tributary of the Anchor River, South-Central Alaska. A multistate modeling approach utilizing passive integrated transponder (PIT) technology to consider both live recaptures of individuals during discrete sampling occasions, and continuous data collected by monitoring movements of PIT-tagged fish was used to characterize both movement and survival. Juveniles emigrated from the stream throughout the winter peaking in the late fall and spring. Survival rates were eight times higher for juvenile Chinook that maintained stream fidelity during the entire winter period. The probability of …

A Study Of The Energy Consumption Of A Battery Cooling System By Different Cooling Strategies, Justin A. Brumley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The High Voltage (HV) batteries that are used today in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV), Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), and Electric Vehicles (EV) utilize cooling systems to keep the battery packs within optimal operating temperature ranges. Manufacturers spend a generous amount of money to design these cooling systems to keep the batteries within these safe operating temperature requirements during harsh conditions, such as extreme cold and heat. Desert conditions can reach an average ambient temperature of 40°C. The temperature of the batteries can affect their performance, reliability, and the health of each cell. The Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery systems …

Eye Tracking To Evaluate Proficiency Of Crime Scene Investigators With Varying Levels Of Expertise: The Ability To Recognize Evidence And Understand Its Significance, Renuka Devi Watalingam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Crime scene analysts are the core of criminal investigations; decisions made at the scene greatly affect the speed of analysis and quality of conclusions that directly impact the successful resolution of a case. If an examiner does not recognize the pertinence of an item on scene, it cannot be used to support his or her theory regarding the crime. Conversely, unselective evidence collection will include irrelevant material, thus increasing a forensic laboratory's backlog and sending the investigation into an unproductive and costly direction. Therefore, it is critical that analysts recognize and properly evaluate forensic evidence that can support or disprove …

Study Of The Inorganic Substitution In A Functionalized Uio-66 Metal-Organic Framework, Alhassan Salman Yasin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have received considerable attention and fast development in the past few years. These materials have demonstrated a wide range of applications due to their porosity, tailorability of optical properties, and chemical selectivity.;This report catalogs common MOF designs based on application and diversity in various fields, as well as conduct an in-depth study of inorganic substitution in a functionalized MOF. This study investigates the band gap modulation in response to inorganic ion substitution within a thermally stable UiO-66 Metal-Organic Framework (MOF). A combination of density functional theory (DFT) predictions in conjunction with experimental predictions were used to map …

Effects Of Rumen-Protected Methionine, Choline And Betaine On Dairy Cattle Health And Performance, Yu Zang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Dairy cows experience extensive lipid mobilization in adipose tissue during the transition from gestation to lactation. A high amount of circulating non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) results in fatty liver that is associated with reduced milk production (Duffield et al., 2009), metabolic diseases (Hammon et al., 2006), and decreased reproductive performance (Walsh et al., 2007). The function of VLDL is to export TAG from liver. Previous work suggested that micronutrients supplemented may elevated VLDL export. Choline has been shown to increase milk production and milk fat yield (Erdman et al., 1991) and decrease triacylglycerol (TAG) in the liver (Pomfret et al., …

Nondestructive Methods To Characterize Rock Mechanical Properties At Low-Temperature: Applications For Asteroid Capture Technologies, Kara A. Savage

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Recent government initiatives and commercial activities have targeted asteroids for in situ material characterization, manipulation, and possible resource extraction. Most of these activities and missions have proposed significant robotic components, given the risks and costs associated with manned missions. To successfully execute these robotic activities, detailed mechanical characteristics of the target space bodies must be known prior to contact, in order to appropriately plan and direct the autonomous robotic protocols. Unfortunately, current estimates of asteroid mechanical properties are based on limited direct information, and significant uncertainty remains specifically concerning internal structures, strengths, and elastic properties of asteroids. One proposed method …

Challenging Historical Gis Through Unstructured Historical Primary Source Materials: Uncovering Sixteenth-Century St. Vincent, Aosta, Italy, James P. Schindling

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The challenge to Historical GIS examined in this study is how to enable a system to accommodate sparse, unstructured, and spatially ambiguous data. The goal of this research is to take up this challenge by developing an Historical GIS that allows researchers to gain an understanding of a geography of the past. The study area for this research is the town of St. Vincent in what is now the Italian Alps and the time period is the sixteenth century. Three primary criteria were used in the selection of sixteenth-century St. Vincent as the case study for this research. The first …

A Continuous Tale On Continuous And Separately Continuous Functions, Krzysztof Ciesielski

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Assume that you have developed a good set of tools allowing you to decide which real functions of one real variable, f : R → R, are continuous. (Q): How can such a tool-box be utilized to decide on the continuity of the functions g : R n → R of n real variables? This is one of the questions which must be faced by any student taking multivariable calculus. Of course, such a student is following the footsteps of many generations of mathematicians, which were, and still are, struggling with the same general question. The aim of this article …

Viable Influenza A Virus In Airborne Particles Expelled During Coughs Versus Exhalations, William G. Lindsley, Francoise M. Blachere, Donald H. Beezhold, Robert E. Thewlis, Bahar Noorbakhsh, Sreekumar Othumpangat, William T. Goldsmith, Cynthia M. Mcmillen, Michael E. Andrew, Carmen N. Burrell, John D. Noti

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background To prepare for a possible influenza pandemic, a better understanding of the potential for the airborne transmission of influenza from person to person is needed.

Objectives The objective of this study was to directly compare the generation of aerosol particles containing viable influenza virus during coughs and exhalations.

Methods Sixty-one adult volunteer outpatients with influenza-like symptoms were asked to cough and exhale three times into a spirometer. Aerosol particles produced during coughing and exhalation were collected into liquid media using aerosol samplers.The samples were tested for the presence of viable influenza virus using a viral replication assay (VRA).

Results …

Effect Of The Cardio First Angel™ Device On Cpr Indices: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, Amir Vahedian-Azimi, Mohammadreza Hajiesmaeili, Ali Amirsavadkouhi, Hamidreza Jamaati, Morteza Izadi, Seyed J. Madani, Seyed M. R. Hashemian, Andrew C. Miller

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background: A number of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) adjunct devices have been developed to improve the consistency and quality of manual chest compressions. We investigated whether a CPR feedback device would improve CPR quality and consistency, as well as patient survival.

Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled study of patients undergoing CPR for cardiac arrest in the mixed medical-surgical intensive care units of four academic teaching hospitals. Patients were randomized to receive either standard manual CPR or CPR using the Cardio First Angel™ CPR feedback device. Recorded variables included guideline adherence, CPR quality, return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) rates, and CPR-associated …

Cardiac Rehabilitation Using The Family-Centered Empowerment Model Versus Home-Based Cardiac Rehabilitation In Patients With Myocardial Infarction: A Randomised Controlled Trial, Amir Vahedian-Azimi, Andrew C. Miller, Mohammadreza Hajiesmaieli, Mari Kangasniemi, Fatemah Alhani, Hosseinali Jelvehmoghaddam, Mohammad Fathi, Behrooz Farzanegan, Seyed H. Ardehali, Sevak Hatamian, Mehdi Gahremani, Seyed M. M. Mosavinasab, Zohreh Rostami, Seyed J. Madani, Morteza Izadi

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Objective To determine if a hybrid cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programme using the Family-Centered Empowerment Model (FCEM) as compared with standard CR will improve patient quality of life, perceived stress and state anxiety of patients with myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods We conducted a randomised controlled trial in which patients received either standard home CR or CR using the FCEM strategy. Patient empowerment was measured with FCEM questionnaires preintervention and postintervention for a total of 9 assessments. Quality of life, perceived stress, and state and trait anxiety were assessed using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the 14-item Perceived Stress, and …

Subsolar Magnetopause Observation And Kinetic Simulation Of A Tripolar Guide Magnetic Field Perturbation Consistent With A Magnetic Island, S. Eriksson, P. A. Cassak, A. Retinò, F. S. Mozer

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

The Polar satellite recorded two reconnection exhausts within 6 min on 1 April 2001 across a subsolar magnetopause that displayed a symmetric plasma density, but different out-of-plane magnetic field signatures for similar solar wind conditions. The first magnetopause crossing displayed a bipolar guide field variation in a weak external guide field consistent with a symmetric Hall field from a single X line. The subsequent crossing represents the first observation of a tripolar guide field perturbation at Earth's magnetopause in a strong guide field. This perturbation consists of a significant guide field enhancement between two narrow guide field depressions. A particle-in-cell …

Mapping Forest Health Using Spectral And Textural Information Extracted From Spot-5 Satellite Images, Jinghui Meng, Shiming Li, Wei Wang, Qingwang Liu, Shiqin Xie, Wu Ma

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Forest health is an important variable that we need to monitor for forest management decision making. However, forest health is difficult to assess and monitor based merely on forest field surveys. In the present study, we first derived a comprehensive forest health indicator using 15 forest stand attributes extracted from forest inventory plots. Second, Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between the forest health indicator and the spectral and textural measures extracted from SPOT-5 images. Third, all-subsets regression was performed to build the predictive model by including the statistically significant image-derived measures as independent variables. Finally, the …

Recent Afforestation In The Iowa River And Vorskla River Basins: A Comparative Trends Analysis, Yury Chendev, Jason Hubbart, Edgar Terekhin, Anthony Lupo, Tom Sauer, C. Burras

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Afforestation trends were compared between two continentally-distinct, yet similar ecoregions to characterize similarities or differences in forest advancement due to natural and anthropogenic forcings. Temporal changes in forest cover were analyzed using high resolution aerial and satellite photographs for Southeast Iowa, USA, and satellite photographs for the western Belgorod Oblast, Russia. An increase in forested area was shown to occur over a 44-year period from 1970–2014 in Iowa where afforestation was reflected by the aggregation of smaller forest units. In the Belgorod region the opposite occurred in that there was an increase in the number of smaller forested units. The …

Sensitive 21 Cm Observations Of Neutral Hydrogen In The Local Group Near M31, Spencer A. Wolfe, Felix J. Lockman, D. J. Pisano

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Very sensitive 21 cm H i measurements have been made at several locations around the Local Group galaxy M31 using the Green Bank Telescope at an angular resolution of 9.′1, with a 5σ detection level of N{sub H} {sub i} = 3.9 × 10{sup 17} cm{sup −2} for a 30 km s{sup −1} line. Most of the H i in a 12 square-degree area almost equidistant between M31 and M33 is contained in nine discrete clouds that have a typical size of a few kpc and a H i mass of 10{sup 5}M{sub ⊙}. Their velocities in the Local Group …

An Analysis And Validation Of An Online Photographic Identity Exposure Evaluation System, Elliott V. Iannello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The rapid growth in volume over the last decade of personal photos placed online due to the advent of social media has made users highly susceptible to malicious forms of attack. A system was proposed and constructed using Open Source technologies capable of acquiring the necessary data to conduct a measurement of online photographic exposure to aid in assessing a user's digital privacy. The system's effectiveness at providing feedback on the level of exposure was tested by using a controlled set of three subjects. Each subject provided three training photos each that simulated what would be easily ascertainable from social …

Why Do Some Grant Proposals Win The Funds And Others Fail? Genre Analysis For The Abstracts Of Grant Proposals Submitted By The Health Science Center Researchers To The National Institutes Of Health, Yassin Ismaeel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study is an endeavor to investigate the textual linguistic factors that lead to successful grant proposals. Grant proposals have different sections. The focus was on the abstracts of grant proposals. The abstract is the first most piece read by the funding agency. There are many important contextual and situational conditions that directly affect the winning of the funds. This current study aims at the linguistic aspects of the abstracts. Twenty abstracts, chosen from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website, were used as unit samples for the analysis. The coding units were the sentences existed in these texts. The …

The Crucible Of Globalization: Latin America In The General Agreement On Tariffs And Trade 1973-1994, Madison Sergent

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Latin America has traditionally not been considered the center of global trade and economic policy, but this common perception is an inadequate view of Latin American foreign policy. Through the use of membership in intergovernmental organizations, specifically the GATT and WTO, Latin American governments were able to advance a development agenda through GATT and later the WTO. While there is a lot of literature on both of these organizations, not much of it has paid attention to the contributions of Latin American member states. Latin American governments cooperated with other developing nations and helped change the international system of trade …

The Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage Trajectories And Health Outcomes In A Large Urban Us City, Sherry Owens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neighborhood Disadvantage is the sum of a series of socioeconomic indicators that triangulate disadvantaged living conditions in a neighborhood (i.e., poverty, unemployment, home vacancies, female headed households, educational attainment, and segregation). Associations between Neighborhood Disadvantage (ND) and health outcomes have been widely explored. However, findings on mental and behavioral health outcomes remain inconclusive, and individual-level covariates often attenuate relationships between ND and health outcomes. This inconclusive evidence has denied researchers the opportunity to focus on neighborhoods as points of intervention. A potential reason for inconclusive findings is that neighborhoods and individuals are both subject to macro-level socioeconomic events, such as …

Effects Of Housing Condition And Acute Nicotine On Impulsive Choice In Lewis And Fischer 344 Rats, Jenny E. Ozga

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Impulsive choice is defined as choice for a smaller, more immediate reinforcer relative to a larger, delayed reinforcer, and is commonly studied using delay-discounting procedures. There are many variables that contribute to impulsive choice, including biological and environmental determinants. The present study examined both of these variables by evaluating effects of housing condition (single versus paired) on impulsive choice in Lewis (LEW) and Fischer 344 (F344) rats, at baseline and following acute nicotine administration. A within-session procedure was used in which choice was between one food pellet delivered immediately and three food pellets delivered after a delay. The delay to …

Role For Protein Prenylation And "Caax" Processing In Photoreceptor Neurons, Nachiket D. Pendse

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The efficient folding, assembly and trafficking of phototransduction proteins from site of synthesis in the inner segment (IS) to the site of action in the outer segment (OS) is crucial for photoreceptor cell survival and function. Defects in this process are known to cause blinding diseases in humans including retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA). The lack of a therapeutic approach for treatment of various retinal degenerations is likely due a knowledge gap in the mechanisms underlying the folding, assembly and transport of prenylated phototransduction proteins. Prenylation and " CAAX" processing is thought to be involved not only …

Errant Romanticism: Queering Gender And Sexuality In British Literature, 1790-1840, Teresa M. Pershing

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Error is both a purposeless wandering and a purposeful identification of a mistake. Each chapter analyzes texts from the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries which feature female characters and the epilogue turns to the autobiographical writing of a man in the 21st-century. Chapters on William Godwin's memoirs of Mary Wollstonecraft, Amelia Alderson Opie's Dangers of Coquetry , Anne Plumptre's Something New, Harriet Martineau's Illustrations of Political Economy, and Thomas Beatie's autography Labor of Love feature characters---both real and fictional--- who destabilize what Bourdieu calls "collective[ly] misrecogn[ized]" understandings of identity as truth/error and "either/or." Utilizing notions of error developed by Zachary Sng …

Development Of Emission Factors (Efs) Model For Coal Train Loading Operations, Bisleshana Brahma Prakash

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objectives of this research were to conduct an analysis of dust emission and to develop a dust emission factors (EFs) model for coal train loading operations. To achieve these objectives, field measurements and data collection were carried out at a facility operating along with a coal mine in West Virginia, U.S. The dust emission for the train loading point was determined by two methods: (i) the EPA AP-42 emission factor estimation equations (AP-42 Dust Emission Estimation), and (ii) the methodology used in the development of AP-42 equations (Type-2 Dust Emission Estimation). The analysis of dust emission revealed that dust …

Heat Transfer Prediction For Single Droplet Impacts On A Wetted Surface, Venkata Giriteja Punnamaraju

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The decrease in sizes of semiconductors and microelectronic devices, also decreases their ability to eject energy in the form of heat due to their small surface areas, which can lead to their failure. Spray cooling is one of the better high heat flux cooling techniques.;As an initial step, the impact of a single liquid drop on a thin liquid film has been simulated and studied, taking the energy equation into consideration. All the cases have been simulated in 3D with an open source CFD package OpenFOAM using Volume of Fluid (VOF) model. The post-processing of the data done in ParaView …

Evaluating The Effect Of Feed Mixing And Sampling Methodologies On Nutrient Analysis And The Inclusion Of A Novel Protease In Broiler Diets, Danielle A. Reese

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Proper poultry feeding requires a homogenous mixture of macro and micro ingredients to ensure feed nutrients are being supplied to meet bird requirements. Samples of complete feed may be taken during manufacture and analyzed for nutrient content in order to estimate if nutrients are present in feed in accordance to diet formulation. However, variables associated with mixing and feed sampling may influence the results of nutrient analysis, thus over or under estimating the formula comparison. The objective of this study was to vary mix time, sample location, sample number, and sample blending technique on nutrient analysis. Ingredients were mixed in …

Real-Time Drowsiness Detection Using Wearable, Lightweight Eeg Sensors, Rohit

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Driver drowsiness has always been a major concern for researchers and road use administrators. It has led to countless deaths accounting to significant percentile of deaths world over. Researchers have attempted to determine driver drowsiness using the following measures: (1) subjective measures (2) vehicle-based measures; (3) behavioral measures and (4) physiological measures.;Studies carried out to assess the efficacy of all the four measures, have brought out significant weaknesses in each of these measures. However detailed and comprehensive review has indicated that Physiological Measure namely EEG signal analysis provides most reliable and accurate information on driver drowsiness. In this paper a …

Evaluating A Staff-Child Interaction Therapy Workshop For Home-Based Mental Health Providers: Effects On Therapist Skill Change, Cree Robinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current study attempted to evaluated the effectiveness of a one-day training workshop used to train bachelor's level mental health staff in Staff-Child Interaction Therapy (SCIT), a newly developed intervention designed to reduce problem behaviors in children 2- to -9 years of age through the use of behavioral management techniques by home-basedtrained staff. A total of 39 therapists, known as Therapeutic Support Staff (TSS), were involved in this study, 20 who received training in SCIT (i.e., experimental group) and 19 who received received training in Compassion Fatigue (i.e., attention -control group). This study was a part of a larger outcome …

Imaging White Blood Cells Using A Snapshot Hyper-Spectral Imaging System, Christopher John Robison

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Automated white blood cell (WBC) counting systems process an extracted whole blood sample and provide a cell count. A step that would not be ideal for onsite screening of individuals in triage or at a security gate. Snapshot Hyper-Spectral imaging systems are capable of capturing several spectral bands simultaneously, offering co-registered images of a target. With appropriate optics, these systems are potentially able to image blood cells in vivo as they flow through a vessel, eliminating the need for a blood draw and sample staining. Our group has evaluated the capability of a commercial Snapshot Hyper-Spectral imaging system, specifically the …