Digital Commons Network^™

Learning To Fly: The Untold Story Of How The Wright Brothers Learned To Be The World's First Aeronautical Engineers, Daniel Lawrence Slusser

Master's Theses

This paper examines the education, events, and experiences of the Wright brothers in order to determine how they developed the necessary skills to engineer the first viable aircraft. Without high school diplomas, and with no advanced formal education, the Wright brothers were able to develop aircraft that far exceeded the capabilities of aircraft designed and built by professional engineers that had worked on the problem of flight for much longer and with substantially larger research budgets. I argue that the Wright brothers’ success resulted from their experiences in the printing and bicycle industries as well as their formal and informal …

Development Of A Cubesat Instrument For Microgravity Particle Damper Performance Analysis, John Trevor Abel

Master's Theses

Spacecraft pointing accuracy and structural longevity requirements often necessitate auxiliary vibration dissipation mechanisms.  However, temperature sensitivity and material degradation limit the effectiveness of traditional damping techniques in space.  Robust particle damping technology offers a potential solution, driving the need for microgravity characterization.   A 1U cubesat satellite presents a low cost, low risk platform for the acquisition of data needed for this evaluation, but severely restricts available mass, volume, power and bandwidth resources.  This paper details the development of an instrument subject to these constraints that is capable of capturing high resolution frequency response measurements of highly nonlinear particle damper dynamics.

Go Farm, Goleta: Urban Agriculture Protection For Eastern Goleta Valley, Eli M. Krispi

Master's Theses

This paper explores two potential land use planning strategies that can be used to preserve and enhance the economic viability of agricultural operations surrounded by suburban development in Santa Barbara County’s Eastern Goleta Valley: buffers between agriculture and other land uses, and agritourism. In the case of buffers, academic literature is examined to determine how effective buffers are at various tasks (filtering runoff, mitigating dust and wind, providing habitat, etc.) and how to construct buffers to maximize their effectiveness. Land use plans and codes from several California jurisdictions are studied to see how buffers are put to use. Academic literature …

Intensity And Duration Of Deficit Irrigation On Erythroneura Elegantula (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) On Grape (Vitis Vinifera), Shawn T. Veysey

Master's Theses

Western grape leafhopper (WGLH) (Erythroneura elegantula Osborn) is a serious pest of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) in many commercial vineyard growing regions of California. WGLH injures vines by removing leaf photosynthetically active area, resulting in the reduction of leaf efficiency, ultimately reducing yield and fruit quality. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is a widely adopted irrigation strategy that reduces irrigation during critical phenological growing points (i.e., berry-set to verasion) to manage vegetative growth and berry size of red varieties. Leafhoppers are known to respond negatively to vine water stress. In a two year study at a commercial vineyard located in Paso …

Part A: The Use Of Nonionic Associative Polymers For The Thickening And Emulsifying Of Personal Care Products/ Part B: The Synthesis Of A Manganese Sod Mimetic For Reactive Coatings, Mallory Lynn Mcmahon

Master's Theses

Part A

The use of nonionic associative thickeners was proposed for personal care applications.  Various limitations of current rheology modifiers used in personal care were discussed.  Nonionic associative polymers were examined as both thickeners and emulsifiers.  The structure/property relationship for nonionic polymers and their ability to thicken and emulsify were fully examined.  Results showed an increase in thickening efficiency for nonionic associative polymers with higher log(P) (partition coefficient) values.  This was due to the formation of smaller aggregates and increased bridging between aggregates.  The connection between oil polarity, log(P) of the associative polymer, and emulsion stability showed no relationship however; …

Seawater/Wastewater Production Of Microalgae-Based Biofuels In Closed Loop Tubular Photobioreactors, Joshua Bradley Lowrey

Master's Theses

The push for alternatives to petroleum fuels has forced researchers to look for highly productive, renewable, non-food resources.  The advantages of using microalgae instead of traditional oil crops for biofuel production include high oil yields, rapid reproductive rates, and versatile growing requirements.  In order to reduce the cost of producing microalgae based biofuels, wastewater has been used as a nutrient source instead of specialized plant nutrients.  The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effectiveness of different combinations of microalgae strain and dairy wastewater for increasing biomass.  The methods for monitoring growth included optical density, cell counting, biomass …

Predicting Soil Erosion In The Santa Rosa Creek Watershed Using Rusle2 And Geographic Information Systems, Stacey Carol Smith

Master's Theses

The Santa Rosa Creek watershed is one of the most pristine watersheds on California’s Central Coast.  Preserving this watershed is of great interest because it provides rich soils for agriculture, vast rangelands for cattle, and flowing streams for federally threatened species such as steelhead trout.  Soil erosion could impact these resources.  Using prediction tools, it is possible to study the erosion that could be occurring in a watershed and identify locations which could contribute the highest amounts of sediment.  The objectives of this study were to use RUSLE2 and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to predict soil erosion rates for each …

Transverse Isotachophoresis Using Polyacrylamide Gel Electrodes, Mark P. Stambaugh

Master's Theses

Separation and isolation of a desired analyte from an impure sample solution containing numerous unwanted interfering agents is the first step of nearly every laboratory test performed in medicine and biology. Nucleic acids are often of particular interest to doctors and researchers, and although methods currently exist for their isolation, these procedures are costly in time, man-power, and real-estate. In addition to easing the execution of presently performed tests, mitigation or elimination of these drawbacks would make a large range of currently unperformed tests both practical and feasible.

This thesis presents a microfluidics-based approach to the isolation of nucleic acids …

Evaluation Of Drip Applications And Foliar Sprays Of The Biocontrol Product Actinovate On Powdery Mildew And Other Fungal Diseases Of Tomato, Therese Angelica Quintana-Jones

Master's Theses

The effectiveness of the biocontrol product Actinovate^® at enhancing tomato plant growth and yield, and reducing the presence of fungal pathogens was studied in greenhouse and field conditions. In the greenhouse, no differences were found among seed germination or plant survival rates, seedling heights, dry root weights, and dry shoot weights of tomato seedlings grown from seeds drenched with Actinovate^® or Rootshield^®. The effects of one initial Actinovate^® seed drench at sowing, repeated applications through the drip irrigation throughout the season, or repeated applications through the drip irrigation plus foliar applications throughout the season at …

Magnetostatic Modeling For Microfluidic Device Design, Kirsten Marie Jackson

Master's Theses

Magnetostatic Modeling for Microfluidic Device Design

Kirsten Marie Jackson

For several years, biologists have used superparamagnetic beads to facilitate biological separations. More recently, researchers have adopted this approach in microfluidic devices [1-3]. This recent development and use of superparamagnetic particles in biomedical and biological applications have resulted in a necessity for methods that enable the understanding and prediction of their properties and actions during use. Typically, such methods would involve simple experimentation prior to in vitro experimentation, animal testing, and finally clinical testing. To better understand and unleash this technology, COMSOL®, which is a finite element analysis and multiphysics simulation …

Automated Sg-Dbr Tunable Laser Calibration Optimized For Optical Coherence Tomography Applications, Christopher Louis Chiccone

Master's Theses

SG-DBR lasers look to solve many problems associated with present OCT sources by being cost effective, smaller in size, more robust, and by operating at faster repetition rates.  Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT) requires a tunable laser source that exhibits linear frequency sweeps, large frequency spans, and high repetition rates.  This work accomplishes this by using four synchronized waveforms sent to the input of a Sampled Grating-Distributed Bragg Reflector (SG-DBR) laser.  Three mirrors control the wavelength, while an internal semiconductor optical amplifier controls the laser output power.  In dealing with this complicated tuning mechanism, a manual sweep calibration is …

Investigation Of Microalgae Growth Kinetics Using Coal-Fired Flue Gas As A Carbon Source, Bryan Daniel Brooker

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Investigation of Microalgae Growth Kinetics using Coal-Fired Flue Gas as a Carbon Source

Bryan Daniel Brooker

Energy related carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions make up the majority of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions must be alleviated to reduce the effects of global climate change. Microalgae cultivation sequesters CO₂ while producing biomass. Algal biomass can provide a renewable feedstock for biofuel and electricity production, and ingredients for pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, pigments and cosmetics. Utilizing microalgae to mitigate CO₂ emissions encourages energy independence by providing a feedstock for biofuels and offers other potentially profitable avenues for the …

Cluster Thinning Effects On Methoxypyrazine, Resveratrol And Berry Chemistry In Vitis Vinifera Cv. Cabernet Sauvignon, Thomas Jerome Fertel

Master's Theses

Cabernet sauvignon is the most widely planted red wine grape in California and is valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Cabernet sauvignon grapes, when severely vigorous or overcropped, can contain vegetal aromas and flavors when harvested. 3-alkyl-methoxypyrazines are the volatile compounds responsible for this effect and can lower the perceived quality of the wine. Resveratrol is a phytoalexin that has many medical and health benefits and can be found in red wines. An experiment was conducted in Paso Robles, CA to assess the effects of five yield levels, manipulated through cluster thinning, on methoxypyrazine and resveratrol concentrations. Berry …

A Neural Network Receiver For Em-Mwd Communication, Timothy P. Whitacre

Master's Theses

Baseband digital communication in electro-magnetic measurement while drilling (EM-MWD) systems is often corrupted by non-white surface noise. The inability to reliably decode the transmitted signals in a noisy environment limits the depth at which EM-MWD systems can operate. Correlation receivers, which are optimal in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise, can be sub-optimal in the presence of various types of field noise at different drilling sites.

This thesis investigates the application of artificial neural networks (ANN) as communication receivers in EM-MWD baseband digital communication systems. The performances of various ANN architectures and training algorithms are studied and compared with …

Poroelastic Finite Element Analysis Of A Heterogeneous Articular Cartilage Explant Under Dynamic Compression In Abaqus, Kelsey Kiyo Kam

Master's Theses

A poroelastic finite element model of a heterogeneous articular cartilage disc was

created to examine the tissue response to low amplitude (± 2% strain), low

frequency (0.1 Hz) dynamic unconfined compression (UCC). A strong correlation

has been made between the relative fluid velocity and stimulation of

glycosaminoglycan synthesis. A contour plot of the model shows the relative fluid

velocity during compression exceeds a trigger value of 0.25 μm/s at the radial

periphery. Dynamic UCC biochemical results have also reported a higher

glycosaminoglycan content in this region versus that of day 0 specimens. Fluid

velocity was also found not to be …

Molecular Analysis Reveals Unique Microbiome In Ileal Pouch During Pouchitis Compared To Healthy Pouches In Ulcerative Colitis And Familial Adenomatous Polyposis, Tiffany Wallingford Glavan

Master's Theses

In severe cases of ulcerative colitis (UC) unresponsive to current treatment options, patients require a complete proctocolectomy, or surgical removal of the colon. Ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) has become the preferred surgical technique for patients who require surgery, as this method restores rectal function. This procedure is also used to treat colorectal cancers such as adenocarcinoma and familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). The surgery involves an abdominal colectomy with the construction of an ileal pouch created from folded tissue recovered from the ileal portion of the small intestine. Up to 50% of patients who require IPAA surgery experience an episode …

A Pmma Conductivity Pretreatment Microfluidics Device For The Optimization Of Electrokinetic Manipulations, Cameron Paul Purcell

Master's Theses

This project encompasses the design and development of a pretreatment microfluidic device for samples of physiological conductivity, namely a saline solution. The conductivity was reduced through the combination of dilution and ion removal using electric fields to enable downstream electro kinetic manipulations. The two major parts of this project include (1) designing a pretreatment protocol to reduce the conductivity of the sample solution to an acceptable level and (2) designing /fabricating a microchip that will effectively allow aim (1) to be performed on chip.

This project is one of the first to observe the effects of an electric field, used …

An Efficient Primer Selection Process Combining Progressive And Iterative Multiple Sequence Alignment Strategies: Clustalw And Hmmer, Michael C. Green

Master's Theses

This thesis describes a method for using a computationally efficient algorithm to identify candidate DNA primer sequences. DNA sequencing primers are a critical element of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequence analysis.  A variety of methods for deriving DNA primers exist, but such methods are often computationally intensive, or do not use available sequence data that could potentially serve as a possible resource for primer identification.  Though no current algorithm exists which will always yield a correct primer for every need, evaluation of multi-sequence alignments may provide a reliable source for primer candidates.  However, an exact mathematical solution for …

Rfid Classroom Management System, Andrew W. Wright

Master's Theses

Professors who manage large classes are unrealistically expected to grade each student fairly and accurately.  Even with all of the technological advancements that have occurred in the past thirty years, very little progress has been made in classroom management, and as a result, professors are not equipped with enough tools to successfully manage large class sizes.  Because radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is making its way into student issued identification cards, there is an opportunity to use it as a tool to aid professors in the classroom.  The focus of this paper is to discover the most effective system that …

Assessment And Improvement Of Fire Resiliency For Structures Located In The Wildland-Urban Interface, Allen L. Meskimen

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was first to study the Wildland-Urban Interface and Wildland-Urban Intermix (WUI) fire problem, and then to design, develop and implement improved fire assessment and fire protection features for structures in the these interface fire-prone areas. The findings included that several areas of the world are prone to devastating fires that claim lives and destroy property, and their fire problems continue to exacerbate. None of these compare to the property loss experienced in Southern California due to its vast development in fire prone areas. It is because of the continuing huge property loss and frequency of …

Harmful Algal Bloom (Hab) Communities And Co-Occurring Species In Relation To Near Shore Ocean Dynamics In San Luis Bay, California, Samuel Christopher Rankin

Master's Theses

The occurrence of phytoplankton taxa, with special focus on harmful algal bloom (HAB) taxa, was monitored for one year off the central coast of California to examine both their co-occurrence and physical and chemical variables influencing their temporal patterns. Bi-weekly samples were taken from October 6, 2008 to October 5, 2009 in San Luis Obispo Bay, CA. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of weekly samples indicated that 46.1% of the variability in species abundance was explained by the variables in the model, higher than previous reports. Cluster analysis divided phytoplankton communities into HAB and non-HAB groups of species, while shared distribution …

Irish Hills Natural Reserve Conservation Plan Update, Bijan N. Riley

Master's Theses

The Irish Hills Natural Reserve Conservation Plan is a unique component of the City
of San Luis Obispo’s green belt that provides a number of hiking and mountain biking
trails within a short distance from the downtown core as well as ensures that valuable
habitat be preserved into the future. As the subject of my thesis project, IHNR presented the opportunity to pursue an aspect of city planning that can often be over-looked and, conservation planning. Conservation planning is an important element of the planning profession in that it incorporates such elements into the future growth of cities. With proper …

Short-Distance Translocation Of The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus O. Oreganus): Effects On Volume And Neurogenesis In The Cortical Forebrain, Steroid Hormone Concentrations, And Behaviors, Matthew L. Holding

Master's Theses

The hippocampus of birds and mammals has been shown to play a crucial role in spatial memory and navigation. The hippocampus exhibits plasticity in adulthood in response to diverse environmental factors associated with spatial demands placed on an animal. The cortical telencephalon of squamate reptiles has been implicated as a functional homologue to the hippocampus. This study sought to experimentally manipulate the navigational demands placed on free-ranging northern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus o. oreganus) to provide direct evidence of the relationship between spatial demands and neuroplasticity in the cortical telencephalon of the squamate brain. Adult male rattlesnakes were radio-tracked …

Hydrologic Alteration And Sedimentation In The Upper Henry's Fork Watershed, Amelie Jeanne Charnaux

Master's Theses

Abstract

Hydrologic Alteration and Sedimentation in the Upper Henry’s Fork Watershed

Amelie Jeanne Charnaux

The Henry’s Fork of the Snake River is venerated by the global recreational community as one of the finest trout fishing streams on the planet. Furthermore, this remarkable waterway flows within the bounds of one of the most important ecological corridors in the equally world-renowned Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While the recreational and biological features of this corner of Idaho may capture the interest of the broader public, the waterway is equally significant to the livelihoods of local interests, such as the ranching and farming communities. With …

Impact Of Exercise On Brain Responses To Visual Food Cues: An Fmri Study, Nero Erezi Evero

Master's Theses

On the basis of a strong body of data, the Institute of Medicine currently recommends at least 60 minutes of exercise per day to prevent body weight gain overtime.  Previous studies have shown that there is no compensatory increase in food intake with this dose of exercise. Ultimately, the brain decides whether to alter food intake.  Surprisingly, no published studies have assessed the impact of exercise on brain activation.  Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and an appetite questionnaire, we investigated the effects of a single bout of aerobic exercise on brain responses to visual food cues and subjective appetite …

Studying Milk Coagulation Kinetics With Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy, Image Processing, And Computational Modeling, Richard Joseph Hennessy

Master's Theses

The kinetics of milk coagulation are complex and still not well understood. A deeper understanding of coagulation and the impact of the relevant factors would aid in both cheese manufacturing and also in determining the nutritional benefits of dairy products. A method using confocal microscopy was developed to follow the movement of milk fat globules and the formation of a milk protein network during the enzyme-induced coagulation of milk. Image processing methods were then used to quantify the rate of coagulation. It was found that the texture of the protein network is an indicator of the current status of the …

Characterization And Implementation Of A Decellularized Porcine Vessel As A Biologic Scaffold For A Blood Vessel Mimic, Aubrey N. Smith

Master's Theses

Every 34 seconds, someone in the United States suffers from a heart attack.  Most heart attacks are caused by atherosclerotic build up in the coronary arteries, occluding normal blood flow.  Balloon angioplasty procedures in combination with a metal stent often result in successful restoration of normal blood flow.  However, bare metal stents often lead to restenosis and other complications.  To compensate for this problem, industry has created drug-eluting stents to promote healing of the artery wall post stenting.  These stents are continually advancing toward better drug-eluting designs and methods, resulting in a need for fast and reliable pre-clinical testing modalities. …

Implementation And Assessment Of Hyperglycemic Conditions For The Creation Of A Diabetic Blood Vessel Mimic, Vikramaditya Mediratta

Master's Theses

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disorder that affects a person’s ability to either produce insulin (Type I diabetes mellitus) or properly use insulin (Type II diabetes mellitus) in order to maintain adequate blood glucose levels. The most severe diabetic complications arise due to hyperglycemia – a state of extremely high blood glucose levels – such as, coronary artery disease (CAD), in which coronary stent therapy is a popular method of treatment. However, research has shown a high rate of in-stent restenosis in diabetic patients with CAD, most likely due to activation of cellular adhesion molecules on endothelial cells exposed …

The Ma-10 Cell Line As A Model Of Insl3 Regulation And Leydig Cell Function, Mary E. Strong

Master's Theses

Leydig cells produce testosterone in response to luteinizing hormone (LH) via the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A pathway. Additionally, these cells are responsible for producing insulin-like peptide 3 (INSL3), a peptide hormone that is essential for testicular descent. The insl3 promoter in Leydig cells can be activated by cAMP through the transcription factor Nur77, which has also been shown to regulate the promoters of the steroidogenic enzymes, cyp17 and 3b-hsd. While the mechanism of LH action on testosterone production is well characterized, the effect of LH on insl3 abundance has yet to be shown directly. The MA-10 …

Efficacy Of Different Retention Types Post-Orthodontic Treatment, Monica Sonia Kaur Dosanjh

Master's Theses

Introduction: Despite major advances in orthodontic tooth movement, orthodontic retention still remains a major problem. It has been estimated that only 10% of the population who have received orthodontics are still in acceptable occlusion as judged by orthodontists 20 years after retention. (Little, Riedel et al. 1988) In addition, very little is known about patient’s perception in relation to orthodontic relapse. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 3 different types of retainers (Hawley removable, Essix removable and Fixed) of the mandibular and maxillary anterior sextant and to assess patient perception of crowding. Materials and …