Digital Commons Network^™

Early Empirical Evidence For The Effects Of Adaptive Ramp Metering On Measures Of Travel Time Reliability, Travis Charles Low

Master's Theses

Adaptive ramp metering (ARM) is a critical component of smart freeway corridors under an active traffic management portfolio. While improving capacity through smart corridors and application of proactive traffic management solutions is less costly and easier to deploy than freeway widening, conversion to smart corridors still represents a sizable investment for a state department of transportation. Early evidence of improvements following these projects can be valuable to agencies. However, in the U.S. there have been limited evaluations, of smart corridors in general and ARM in particular, based on real operational data. This thesis explores travel time reliability measures for the …

Force-System Generated By Rigid Archwires With V-Bends: A 3-D Analysis Of Varying Activations, Meenakshi Vishwanath

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Rank Aggregation Of Feature Scoring Methods For Unsupervised Learning, Tara N. Yankee

Master's Theses

The ability to collect and store large amounts of data is transforming data-driven discovery; recent technological advances in biology allow systematic data production and storage at a previously unattainable scale. It is common for biological Big Data to have an order of magnitude or more features than samples. Feature scoring with selection is therefore an essential pre-processing step to finding meaningful clusters in these data. Many feature scoring algorithms have been proposed; they are based on dramatically different ideas about what constitutes a “good” or “important” feature. Motivated by studies in data classification, we use a rank aggregation (RANKAGG) method …

Multi-Scale Assembly Methodologies Of Poly(3-Hexylthiophene) Derivative Systems For Enhanced Optoelectronic Anisotropy, David William Bilger

Master's Theses

Conjugated polymers represent a class of semi-conducting materials with numerous applications in optoelectronic devices, including organic light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and photovoltaics. Because of the numerous advantages of macromolecular systems, including solution processing and mechanical flexibility, conjugated polymers have become a burgeoning field of research with the hopes of producing cost-effective solution-based electronics. Importantly, optoelectronic device performance is heavily influenced by conjugated polymer backbone orientation and overall thin film morphology. As such, the processing conditions of these systems are important to the construction of high- performance optoelectronics. Polythiophenes are model conjugated polymers that have been studied extensively in halogenated organic …

Eignefunctions For Partial Differential Equations On Two-Dimensional Domains With Piecewise Constant Coefficients, Abdullah Muheel Momit Aurko

Master's Theses

In this thesis, we develop a highly accurate and efficient algorithm for computing the solution of a partial differential equation defined on a two-dimensional domain with discontinuous coefficients. An example of such a problem is for modeling the diffusion of heat energy in two space dimensions, in the case where the spatial domain represents a medium consisting of two different but homogeneous materials, with periodic boundary conditions.

Since diffusivity changes based on the material, it will be represented using a piecewise constant function, and this results in the formation of a complicated mathematical model. Such a model is impossible to …

Sedimentary Characteristics And Nutrient Sequestration Of Embanked Floodplains Along The Lower Mississippi River, Mississippi And Louisiana, R M Malitha Rathnayake

Master's Theses

The Mississippi River Basin is the largest river basin in North America and the third largest river basin in the world. Most of the corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, and hogs harvested in the United States come from the Mississippi River Basin and about 58% of the entire drainage basin is croplands. Runoff from these lands carries sediments and nutrients, and the Mississippi River transports these downstream and ultimately deposits them in the Gulf of Mexico. The northern Gulf of Mexico is one of largest human-caused hypoxic zones in the world. Hypoxia is the phenomena where the dissolved oxygen level decreases …

Environmentally-Driven Variation In The Population Dynamics Of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus), Grant D. Adams

Master's Theses

Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) is an abundant forage fish distributed throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Gulf Menhaden support the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States and represent a key linkage between upper and lower trophic levels. Variation in the population dynamics can, therefore, pose consequences for the ecology and economy in the NGOM. Here we aim to understand variation in the individual and population dynamics of Gulf Menhaden throughout ontogeny and how such variation relates to environmental processes. We utilized a suite of fishery-dependent and –independent, remote sensing, modeled, and in situ data …

Textural Analysis Of Historical Aerial Photography To Determine Change In Coastal Marsh Extent: Site Of The Present-Day Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (Gbnerr), Mississippi, 1955-2014, Heather Michelle Nicholson

Master's Theses

Coastal marshlands are among the world’s most highly productive ecosystems but they have diminished greatly in the past several decades owing to sea-level rise and direct anthropogenic influences. An effective means of quantifying loss or gain in marsh area is through the use of aerial image data, which offers synoptic views of the landscape at decadal-scale sampling frequencies. However, a potential problem with older panchromatic, or black-and-white, imagery is the absence of multispectral information that might be used otherwise in remote identification of vegetation types. Nevertheless, the analysis of horizontal variability in image brightness values, or image texture, can be …

The Classroom Password: An Independent Group Contingency Targeting Academic Engagement And Disruptive Behaviors In High School Classrooms, Kayla E. Bates-Brantley

Master's Theses

The classroom password, an independent class-wide group contingency, was implemented in a high school setting in effort to determine its effects on academically engaged behaviors, disruptive behaviors and passively off-task behaviors. This was done using a reversal design across three classes. The focal point of this study was to determine if the classroom password would increase academic engagement. The classroom password was implemented by having the teacher select a word of the day that was then incorporated into the classes lecture. The students were given the word for the day before the lectures began and were required to code each …

Conformation Of Transmembrane Segments Of A Protein By A Coarse Grain Model, Sunita Subedi Paudel

Master's Theses

The human voltage-gated proton channels (hH_V1) are critical in many physiological functions and control proton conduction in the cell. This process is governed by the cooperative response of different transmembrane segments of the protein. It is believed that the two subunits of the C-terminal dimer provide independent proton channel pathways through the membrane where the conformations of both monomers and dimer are key for selective proton transport. Conformational response of these transmembrane segments of the protein hH_V1 is studied by a coarse-grained model as a function of temperature where structural detail of a residue is ignored …

Comparison Of White Spot Lesions Among Clear Aligners, Self-Ligating Brackets And Conventional Brackets - A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, Hussin Alshatti

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Neurophysiological Characteristics Of Magnetic Seizure Therapy Vs. Electroconvulsive Therapy In Geriatric Patients With Severe Depression, Monica T. Ly

Master's Theses

Objective: Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) is under development as an alternative to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as it offers reduction in depression symptoms with fewer adverse cognitive effects. This study examined the feasibility and efficacy of MST versus ECT in a randomized trial of geriatric patients with severe depression, then compared the neurophysiological characteristics of seizures induced by MST or ECT and investigated potential links between seizure expression and therapeutic response.

Method: Six patients (mean age: 64.8) with severe depression were randomized to receive MST (n=3) or ECT (n=3) until maximal antidepressant effect (mean number of sessions: 14.67). Depression symptoms were …

Force And Fatigue Development Following Electrical Stimulation: The Effect Of Frequency And Fiber Type, Maria Vromans

Master's Theses

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) has been used broadly during rehabilitation and sport injuries to expedite tissue and muscle recovery. More recently, attention has been given to the use of electrical stimulation at the cellular level for muscle regeneration. One of the challenges, however, is understanding the optimal FES characteristics to stimulate a muscle without causing fatigue or adverse injury to the muscle. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effect of different FES frequencies (10, 35, and 50Hz) on the onset of skeletal muscle fatigue, defined by a drop in muscle force. Further, to evaluate the electrical activity …

In Colbert We Trust: Teenagers And Comedic Persuasion, Peter G. Kistler

Master's Theses

In this study, high school students were exposed to either a comedy or conventional television news editorial segment, and each video’s persuasive effect was compared with the other. The sample consisted of 271 high school students from Valley Christian High School in San Jose, CA, a majority of whom were juniors and seniors. Students were separated into sample groups; one group viewed a Colbert Report editorial and guest interview focused on the concept of net neutrality, while the other group viewed an All In with Chris Hayes editorial and guest interview focused on the same subject. Both sample groups were …

The Moderating Effect Of Gender And Tenure On The Relationship Between Perceived Supervisor Support And Organizational Commitment, Megan Evelyn Little

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the extent to which the demographic variables of gender and tenure influence the strength and direction of the relationship between perceived supervisor support and organizational commitment. Responses to a 2014 organization-wide employee opinion survey from 383 employees within a computer software company were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. In support of previous research, results from this study lay credence to the finding that perceived supervisor support has a positive, significant relationship with organizational commitment such that individuals who felt supported by their supervisors were more likely to report higher levels of organizational …

The Moderating Role Of Transformational Leadership And Perceived Organizational Support In The Relationship Between Openness To Experience And Creativity, Monica Luu

Master's Theses

Although openness to experience has been found to be a consistent and important determinant of creativity, organizations have been interested in ways in which they could alter the environment in order to increase creativity. Woodman, Sawyer, and Griffin (1993) argue that organizational creativity is a function of the interaction between an individual’s personality and environment. Using Woodman’s theory, the present study was conducted to test whether two organizational factors, transformational leadership and perceived organizational support (POS), would moderate the relationship between openness to experience and creativity. Data were collected from 114 fulltime and parttime employees from various organizations through use …

A Data-Driven Approach To Cubesat Health Monitoring, Serbinder Singh

Master's Theses

Spacecraft health monitoring is essential to ensure that a spacecraft is operating properly and has no anomalies that could jeopardize its mission. Many of the current methods of monitoring system health are difficult to use as the complexity of spacecraft increase, and are in many cases impractical on CubeSat satellites which have strict size and resource limitations. To overcome these problems, new data-driven techniques such as Inductive Monitoring System (IMS), use data mining and machine learning on archived system telemetry to create models that characterize nominal system behavior. The models that IMS creates are in the form of clusters that …

Complex Filters As Cascade Of Buffered Gingell Structures: Design From Band-Pass Constraints, Nicole M. Hay

Master's Theses

Complex filters are multi-input, multi-output networks designed to discriminate based upon the relative phase difference between input signals. Complex filters find application in modern wireless systems for single sideband transmission and image-reject reception. This thesis presents one active complex filter implementation using two operational amplifiers per stage, termed “type-II” topology. The “type-II” originates from the passive RC-CR polyphase topology presented by Gingell in his 1973 paper, “Single sideband modulation using sequence asymmetric polyphase networks.” This new topology gains several advantages over existing complex filter implementations, namely “cascadability” (multiple sections placed in series to create a higher-order response) without altering the …

A Modified Boost Converter With Reduced Input Current Ripple, Nathan H. Lentz

Master's Theses

Battery-powered trends in consumer electronics, transportation, and renewable energy sectors increase demands on DC/DC converter technology. Higher switching frequency and efficiency reduces solution size and cost, while increasing power capabilities. Still, switching noise remains the primary drawback associated with any DC/DC converter. Reducing a converter’s input ripple helps prevent switching noise from spreading to other systems on a shared DC power bus. This thesis covers the analysis, simulation, and implementation of a recently-proposed boost converter topology, alongside an equivalent standard boost converter, operating in steady-state, continuous conduction mode. A Matlab-based simulation predicts each converter’s input ripple performance using a state-space …

Modeling And Charging Control Of A Lithium Ion Battery System For Solar Panels, Garrett David Heinen

Master's Theses

The advancement in solar panel and battery technology makes them useful for energy supply and storage. This thesis involves the modeling and charging control of a lithium ion battery system for solar panels. The proposed model is based on the parameters and characteristics of a realistic battery and solar panel system; and the hybrid control approach combines the advantages of the adaptive incremental conductance method and the perturb and observe method to track the maximum power point of the solar panel for charging the battery unit. Computer simulation results demonstrate that this proposed approach offers a faster convergence rate than …

Hand (Motor) Movement Imagery Classification Of Eeg Using Takagi-Sugeno-Kang Fuzzy-Inference Neural Network, Rory Larson Donovan

Master's Theses

Approximately 20 million people in the United States suffer from irreversible nerve damage and would benefit from a neuroprosthetic device modulated by a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). These devices restore independence by replacing peripheral nervous system functions such as peripheral control. Although there are currently devices under investigation, contemporary methods fail to offer adaptability and proper signal recognition for output devices. Human anatomical differences prevent the use of a fixed model system from providing consistent classification performance among various subjects. Furthermore, notoriously noisy signals such as Electroencephalography (EEG) require complex measures for signal detection. Therefore, there remains a tremendous need to …

A Geospatial Assessment Of Social Vulnerability To Sea-Level Rise In Coastal San Luis Obispo, Jesse A. Carpentier

Master's Theses

This project is an assessment of social vulnerability to sea-level rise in the unincorporated coastal area of the County of San Luis Obispo (County) using geospatial and statistical analysis. The intention of this assessment is to inform local climate adaptation efforts now required by state legislation. A social vulnerability index was generated at the Census block group level using 32 variables positively correlated with social vulnerability. The social vulnerability score for each block group is the sum of scores generated for the following principle components: (1) race/ethnicity and disability status, (2) social isolation and age, (3) income, and (4) housing …

On The Impact Of Android Api Evolution On Education Materials, Kennedy Owen

Master's Theses

The recent growing popularity of mobile devices has led to the establishment of several popular mobile platforms such as the Android operating system. To foster growth in this evolving market, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) were created to enable developers to create mobile device applications that utilize mobile device features and functionality for personal or widespread commercial use. However, as a result of excessive device and API evolution, mobile development faces increasingly complex issues, including an alarmingly rapid decay of development resources.

This thesis conducts a case study around one such resource: a series of Android app development lab …

Linewidth And Ranging Characterization Of A Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (Vt-Dbr) All-Semiconductor Tunable Swept Laser System For Lidar In Autonomous Applications, Taewan Kim

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Linewidth and Ranging Characterization of a Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (VT-DBR) All-Semiconductor Tunable Swept Laser System for Lidar in Autonomous Applications

Taewan Kim

Linewidth and ranging experiments of a Insight packaged Vernier-Tuned Distributed Bragg Reflector (VT-DBR) laser across its wavelength output range of 1522.13 to 1566.18 nm is done in this work to characterize it for lidar applications. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the laser’s potential to combine the advantages of lidar and FMCW radar for autonomous systems.

Linewidth measurements were done by using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to set up a delayed self-homodyne measurement. The laser …

The Population Genetics Of Morro Bay Eelgrass (Zostera Marina), Julia Gardner Harencar

Master's Theses

Seagrass populations are in decline worldwide. Zostera marina (eelgrass), one of California’s native seagrasses, is no exception to this trend. In the last 8 years, Morro Bay, California has lost 95% of its eelgrass. Eelgrass is an ecosystem engineer, providing important ecosystem services such as sediment stabilization, nutrient cycling, and nursery habitats for fish. The failure of recent restoration efforts necessitates a better understanding of the causes of eelgrass decline in this estuary. Previous research on eelgrass in California has demonstrated a link between population genetic diversity and eelgrass bed health, ecosystem functioning, and resilience to disturbance and extreme climatic …

Eulerian On Lagrangian Cloth Simulation, Kyle C. Piddington

Master's Theses

This thesis introduces a novel Eulerian-on-Lagrangian (EoL) approach for simulating cloth. This approach allows for the simulation of traditionally difficult cloth scenarios, such as draping and sliding cloth over sharp features like the edge of a table. A traditional Lagrangian approach models a cloth as a series of connected nodes. These nodes are free to move in 3d space, but have difficulty with sliding over hard edges. The cloth cannot always bend smoothly around these edges, as motion can only occur at existing nodes. An EoL approach adds additional flexibility to a Lagrangian approach by constructing special Eulerian on Lagrangian …

An Investigation Of Avian Wing Tip Vortex Generation Using A Biomimetic Approach, David Stewart Martin

Master's Theses

An experimental study has been conducted to develop a process allowing the creation of biologically accurate aerodynamic test models mimicking the slotted primary feather geometry of the Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis). Preserved examples of both a full Brown Pelican wing and a single primary feather were 3D scanned and digitally reconstructed using a combination of MATLAB and CAD software. The final model was then 3D printed as a collection of smaller components using a LulzBot TAZ 6 printer and Taulman3D T-Glase PET filament. After using various surface finishing techniques to improve the finish of all 3D printed parts, …

Development Of A Humidity-Resistant Coating To Impart High Oxygen Barrier Performance To Food Packaging Films, Ryan Yinghua Cox

Master's Theses

Oxygen barrier coatings have the potential to greatly extend the lifetime of certain food products by incorporating them into existing food packaging. Present technologies face definite challenges of maintaining high performance, while attaining simple and inexpensive preparation methods. The oxygen barrier effect obtained with these coatings is also susceptible to a plasticization effect when exposed to high humidity, since water vapor molecules are readily soluble in typically hydrophilic resins. In this work, we demonstrate a 1 – 2 micron thick oxygen barrier coating, prepared on a 12 micron poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate, that has oxygen transmission rates as low as 1.44 …

The Investigation And Characterization Of The Reaction Of 2-Methylfuran And 2-Methyl-3-Buten-2-Ol With O(3p) And The Photodissociation Of Xylyl Bromide Isomers, Yasmin Fathi

Master's Theses

This thesis has studied the oxidation behavior of different biofuels or additives, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol and 2-methylfuran, in combustion experiments at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline held at the Advanced Light Source of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory. The oxidation of these fuels were initiated through O(³P) and the combustion experiments were analyzed using a multiplexed chemical kinetics photoionization mass spectrometer with tunable synchrotron radiation. Products of the different reactions were identified using kinetic profiles and further characterized using the photoionization spectra. The amount of each species was calculated using branching fractions.

Additionally, the unimolecular dissociation of the xylyl bromide isomers …

Facial Morphology As A Determinant Of Anchorage Control, Jonathan Norman Dzingle

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.