Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Methods To Reduce Humpback Whale (Megaptera Novaeamgliae) Ship Strike Mortality In Nearshore Feeding Habitats Within The San Francisco Bay, Alisa Keenan

Master's Theses

Across our world’s oceans, whales are perpetually stuck and killed by large ships. Sea-based commercial trade is increasing on a global scale; therefore, more large ships are circumnavigating through biologically important whale habitats. This is of grave concern to marine resource managers, especially in the United States where major shipping corridors overlap critical whale habitat. It is feared that in these areas with high whale density, ship strikes are reducing populations of whales to levels below what is sustainable for threatened and endangered species, thereby hindering the recovery of depleted whale populations. Humpback whales, a species that is federally-listed as …

Sedimentary Dynamics And Water Quality In Floodplains Of The Lower Mississippi River Near Natchez, Mississippi, During The 2018 And 2019 Floods, Jansen Costello

Master's Theses

The Lower Mississippi River (LMR) near Natchez, Mississippi, experienced intervals of major flooding during the 2018 and 2019 water years. While federal agencies sample sediment and water quality in the main LMR channel, little is known about sedimentary dynamics, water quality, and nutrient concentrations of the overbank water column within the embanked LMR floodplain. These data are needed to support ecological floodplain restoration efforts and provide context for downstream concerns including sediment delivery to coastal zones and hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.

This study monitored the overbank flood pulses and associated sediment deposition along the LMR embanked floodplain during …

Nearshore Sedimentology Of Eroding Microtidal Estuaries: Bon Secour Bay, Alabama And Perdido Bay, Florida, Jennifer Simpson

Master's Theses

Estuarine shorelines along the northern Gulf of Mexico are dynamic geologic settings that provide numerous ecological and economic benefits. By definition, estuaries are semi-enclosed bodies of water that receive sediment from two sources: (1) fluvial systems feeding into the estuary and (2) sediment transported by wave action and tidal currents from adjacent marine sources. Erosion of estuarine shorelines resulting from rising sea level, storm impact, and anthropogenic influence has been increasingly evident in the microtidal Gulf Coast over recent decades. This study collects quantitative and qualitative data to better understand sedimentary dynamics associated with contemporary estuarine shoreline erosion in Bon …

Homotopy Analysis Method For Nonlinear Ordinary Eigenvalue Problems, Subagya Perera

Master's Theses

In this thesis, we solve nonlinear differential equations by the homotopy analysis method (HAM), which is a semi-analytic method first introduced by Shijun Liao in 1992. The modified HAM can be viewed as a more generalized method that encloses many perturbation and non-perturbation methods. It is different from perturbation or other analytical methods in that it allows considerable freedomformanyvariables. Using the modified HAM, especially zero-order and higher-order deformation equations, we solve a nonlinear initial value problem and a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. We adjust the convergence region of a solution by modifying auxiliary parameter values. The results converge in very few …

Maturation Spawning And Larviculture Of Atlantic Croaker (Micropogonias Undulatus) At Low Salinity, Edithrose Fairweather

Master's Theses

Atlantic Croaker is a popular baitfish among anglers targeting a variety of gamefish in the Gulf of Mexico. Aquaculture of this species could help meet the demand for Croaker, especially during winter when wild-caught Croaker are unavailable. Currently, Croaker aquaculture involves broodstock maturation, spawning, and larval culture at high salinity. This protocol prevents the direct use of coastal water for culture along the Mississippi Gulf coast where salinity is low. This study examined the feasibility of performing hatchery production of Atlantic Croaker at low salinity.

Culture of Croaker broodstock at 10, 20, and 30 psu during the maturation period was …

A Time Integration Method Of Approximate Particular Solutions For Nonlinear Ordinary Differential Equations, Cyril Ocloo

Master's Theses

We consider a time-dependent method which is coupled with the method of approximate particular solutions (MAPS) of Delta-shaped basis functions and the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) to solve nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Firstly, we convert a nonlinear problem into a sequence of time-dependent non-homogeneous boundary value problems through a fictitious time integration method. The superposition principle is applied to split the numerical solution at each time step into an approximate particular solution and a homogeneous solution. Delta-shaped basis functions are used to provide an approximation of the source function at each time step. The purpose of this is to …

Malaria Risk On Ancient Roman Roads: A Study And Application To Assessing Travel Decisions In Asia Minor By The Apostle Paul, Daniel C. Browning Jr

Master's Theses

This study models malaria risks for travelers on ancient Roman roads with the goal of providing a tool for historical assessment of travel accounts from antiquity. The project includes: identification of malaria risk factors and associated spatial datasets, malaria risk model construction, verification and validation against available pre-eradication data, overlay of ancient Roman road data, and an initial case-study application to the journeys of the Apostle Paul, as narrated in the New Testament book, Acts of the Apostles (Acts). The project is intentionally cross-disciplinary in bringing the technical capabilities of GIS to the task of evaluating nuanced textual sources for …

Investigation On The Morphology Of Charge-Transfer Complexes In Low Density Polyethylene, Wade Korf

Master's Theses

Fillers are used ubiquitously throughout the fields of polymer and material science to overcome many inherent limitations to polymeric materials (i.e. poor stiffness or strength) and to expand their potential applications. There is a need to develop controllable particle architectures to better understand fundamental structure-property relationships in particle reinforced polymer composites. Charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) can assemble in situ into various needle and dendritic shapes via simple fabrication processes and at low loading levels. In this study, the effect of tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) and 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) CTC crystallites of various shapes and sizes on composite mechanical properties was investigated in an LDPE …

Using Modern Portfolio Theory To Analyze Virgil's Aeneid (Or Any Other Poem), David Patterson

Master's Theses

This paper demonstrates that it is possible to use mathematics to study literature as it has been used to study the social sciences. By focusing on mathematically defining economic and literary terms, it can be shown that the underlying mathematical structure behind key concepts in economics and literature are analogous. This opens the possibility of applying economic models in literature. Specifically, it is demonstrated that the economic mathematical model of modern portfolio theory can answer long standing questions around the Roman epic Aeneid by Virgil. The poet died before completing his poem. The relative completeness of the books of the …

Educational Equity And Informal Stem Field Trip Programming, Sal Alper

Master's Theses

Informal STEM field trip programming is a large, yet under-researched area of the education landscape. Informal STEM education providers are often serving a more privileged section of society, leading to a risk of perpetuating inequalities seen throughout the education landscape. In an attempt to address the lack of research, this thesis explores the relationship between educational equity and informal STEM field trips. The intention was to collect data using a critical ethnography approach to the methods of qualitative questionnaire and interviews of informal STEM educators. A change in circumstances from the global pandemic of COVID-19 caused a shift in this …

Neural Network Pruning For Ecg Arrhythmia Classification, Isaac E. Labarge

Master's Theses

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are a widely accepted means of solving complex classification and detection problems in imaging and speech. However, problem complexity often leads to considerable increases in computation and parameter storage costs. Many successful attempts have been made in effectively reducing these overheads by pruning and compressing large CNNs with only a slight decline in model accuracy. In this study, two pruning methods are implemented and compared on the CIFAR-10 database and an ECG arrhythmia classification task. Each pruning method employs a pruning phase interleaved with a finetuning phase. It is shown that when performing the scale-factor pruning …

Use Of Body Composition Imaging To Calculate 3-D Inertial Parameters For Inverse Dynamic Analysis Of Youth Pitching Arm Kinetics, Dalton James Jennings

Master's Theses

The objectives of this study were to 1) calculate participant-specific segment inertial parameters using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) data (referred to as full DXA-driven parameters) and compare the pitching arm kinetic predictions using full DXA-driven inverse dynamics vs scaled, DXA mass-driven (using DXA masses but scaled centers of mass and radii of gyration), and DXA scaled inverse dynamics(ID) (using the full DXA-driven inertial parameters averaged across all participants), 2) examine associations between full DXA-driven kinetics and body mass index (BMI) and 3) examine associations between full DXA-driven kinetics and segment mass index (SMI). Eighteen 10- to 11- year-olds pitched …

Web Conference Summarization Through A System Of Flags, Annirudh M. Ankola

Master's Theses

In today’s world, we are always trying to find new ways to advance. This era has given rise to a global, distributed workforce since technology has allowed people to access and communicate with individuals all over the world. With the rise of remote workers, the need for quality communication tools has risen significantly. These communication tools come in many forms, and web-conference apps are among the most prominent for the task. Developing a system to automatically summarize the web-conference will save companies time and money, leading to more efficient meetings. Current approaches to summarizing multi-speaker web-conferences tend to yield poor …

Thermal Ecology Of The Federally Endangered Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard, Kathleen N. Ivey

Master's Theses

Recognizing how climate change will impact populations can aid in making decisions about approaches for conservation of endangered species. The Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila) is a federally endangered species that, despite protection, remains in extremely arid, hot areas and may be at risk of extirpation due to climate change. We collected data on the field-active body temperatures, preferred body temperatures, and upper thermal tolerance of G. sila. We then described available thermal habitat using biophysical models, which allowed us to (1) describe patterns in lizard body temperatures, microhabitat temperatures, and lizard microhabitat use, (2) quantify the …

Subject-Specific Finite Element Models Of The Human Knee For Transtibial Amputees To Analyze Tibial Cartilage Pressure For Gait, Cycling, And Elliptical Training, Jonathon Stearns

Master's Theses

It is estimated that approximately 10-12% of the adult population suffers from osteoarthritis (OA), with long reaching burdens personally and socioeconomically. OA also causes mild discomfort to severe pain in those suffering from the disease. The incidence rate of OA for individuals with transtibial amputations is much than average in the tibiofemoral joint (TF). It is well understood that abnormal articular cartilage stress, whether that be magnitude or location, increases the risk of developing OA. Finite element (FE) simulations can predict stress in the TF joint, many studies throughout the years have validated the technology used for this purpose. This …

Design And Implementation Of Stewart Platform Robot For Robotics Course Laboratory, Trent R. Peterson

Master's Theses

A Stewart Platform robot was designed, constructed, and programmed for use in Cal Poly’s ME 423 Robotics: Fundamentals and Applications laboratory section. A Stewart Platform is a parallel manipulator robot with six prismatic joints that has six degrees of freedom, able to be defined in both position and orientation. Its purpose is to supplement parallel robot material covered in lecture. Learning objectives include applying and verifying the Stewart Platform inverse kinematics and investigating the Stewart Platform’s operation, range of motion, and limitations. The Stewart Platform geometry and inverse kinematics were modeled and animated using MATLAB. The platform was then built …

Residual Strength Of Franciscan-Derived Clay, Yingyi Xu

Master's Theses

In February of 2017 after a period of heavy rainfall, a slope destabilized behind Fremont Hall on the campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The geology of this slope stability failure is the Franciscan Complex. The Franciscan Complex, when weathered in place, results in clay soil that makes up the typical soil mantle on the hills throughout the region. Peak strength is the typical parameter tested to assess the strength of the soil. For the Franciscan-derived clay, the residual strength is the focus of this study to understand slope failure since the clay is the weakest portion of the …

Dynamic Procedural Music Generation From Npc Attributes, Megan E. Washburn

Master's Theses

Procedural content generation for video games (PCGG) has seen a steep increase in the past decade, aiming to foster emergent gameplay as well as to address the challenge of producing large amounts of engaging content quickly. Most work in PCGG has been focused on generating art and assets such as levels, textures, and models, or on narrative design to generate storylines and progression paths. Given the difficulty of generating harmonically pleasing and interesting music, procedural music generation for games (PMGG) has not seen as much attention during this time.

Music in video games is essential for establishing developers' intended mood …

Insulative (Direct Current) Dielectrophoretic Foul-Less Filtration In Microfuidic Systems, Matthew A A Whitman

Master's Theses

Filtration is a technology that is used almost ubiquitously in society from uses raging from filtration of macroparticles from water to pharmaceutical grade filtration products to remove anything larger than a protein. However, with such a wide range of uses, most filtration products have the same issue; membrane clogging (fouling) that prevents continuous use and requires frequent maintenance. This thesis hypothesizes that by applying a direct current (DC) to an insulating array of posts, they will create a foul-less insulative dielectrophoretic filter (iDEP) that does not clog since particles will levitate above the insulating array.

This thesis tested an inherited …

Electricity Price Forecasting Using A Convolutional Neural Network, Elliott Winicki

Master's Theses

Many methods have been used to forecast real-time electricity prices in various regions around the world. The problem is difficult because of market volatility affected by a wide range of exogenous variables from weather to natural gas prices, and accurate price forecasting could help both suppliers and consumers plan effective business strategies. Statistical analysis with autoregressive moving average methods and computational intelligence approaches using artificial neural networks dominate the landscape. With the rise in popularity of convolutional neural networks to handle problems with large numbers of inputs, and convolutional neural networks conspicuously lacking from current literature in this field, convolutional …

A System Architecture For Phased Development Of Remote Suas Operation, Eric Ashley

Master's Theses

Current airspace regulations require the remote pilot-in-command of an unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to maintain visual line of sight with the vehicle for situational awareness. The future of UAS will not have these constraints as technology improves and regulations are changed. An operational model for the future of UAS is proposed where a remote operator will monitor remote vehicles with the capability to intervene if needed. One challenge facing this future operational concept is the ability for a flight data system to effectively communicate flight status to the remote operator. A system architecture has been developed to facilitate the implementation …

Methods To Increase Algae Biomass Productivity In Raceway Pond Monocultures, Ryan S. Anderson

Master's Theses

The economics of algae biofuels and bioproducts would be improved by increased biomass productivity. Two studies on this potential are described in this thesis – one on a locally isolated filamentous yellow-green alga and the other on a planktonic strain genetically improved via selective enrichment.

Polycultures have been viewed as productive, stable, and, in some cases, harvestable by natural bioflocculation. Local native strains might have higher productivity than culture collection strains because they are already adapted to local outdoor conditions. In this study, the filamentous yellow-green alga Tribonema minus was isolated from a local volunteer polyculture. Its productivity as a …

Skier's Edge: Biomechanical Analysis, Benjamin T. Johannes

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Skier’s Edge: Biomechanical Analysis

Benjamin T. Johannes

The Skier’s Edge trainer can be used by novice or expert skiers. Testing was performed to analyze if the use of the Skier’s Edge could reduce in shear forces of the valgus moment on the knee joint and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) due to lesser fatigue of muscle and a higher hamstring to quadricep (H/Q) ratio activity. This leads to a reduction of improper form and an increase in balance. Experiments performed observed the change in muscle activity with the use of the Skier’s Edge over time when compared to other forms …

Decentralized, Noncooperative Multirobot Path Planning With Sample-Basedplanners, William Le

Master's Theses

In this thesis, the viability of decentralized, noncooperative multi-robot path planning algorithms is tested. Three algorithms based on the Batch Informed Trees (BIT*) algorithm are presented. The first of these algorithms combines Optimal Reciprocal Collision Avoidance (ORCA) with BIT*. The second of these algorithms uses BIT* to create a path which the robots then follow using an artificial potential field (APF) method. The final algorithm is a version of BIT* that supports replanning. While none of these algorithms take advantage of sharing information between the robots, the algorithms are able to guide the robots to their desired goals, with the …

Using Crispr-Cas9 As A Restriction Enzyme, Zack Crawley

Master's Theses

Restriction digests are a commonly utilized process for cleaving DNA at specific, but relatively common sites. Restriction enzymes have widespread use in DNA manipulation. CRISPR/Cas9 is a recently identified endonuclease which utilizes a customizable guide sequence to recognize and cut specific ~20 bp sites located in a DNA sequence. This preliminary research aimed to exploit the potential benefit of DNA restriction using the CRISPR/Cas9 procedure through alterations of different components involved in that system. We sought to refine existing CRISPR/Cas9 protocols and make a budget friendly, user-selectable CRISPR/Cas9 restriction digest protocol. The motivation for this research was to simplify and …

Electrochemical Detection Of Reactive Oxygen Species Via A Platinum Microelectrode Array, Victor M. Carriere Jr.

Master's Theses

Oxidative stress, an excess of endogenous or exogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the body, is closely aligned with inflammatory responses. ROS such as hydrogen peroxide, superoxide, and radical hydroxyl ion serve essential functions in fighting infection, but chronic elevation of these species irreversibly damages cellular components. Given the central role of inflammation in a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease, atherosclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, a low-cost, extracellular, non-invasive assay of ROS is needed.

This work reports the use of a platinum microelectrode array (Pt MEA)-based ceramic probe to detect time- and concentration-dependent variations in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production by …

Dispersion Of Spherical Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles In Poly(Styrene-B-Methyl Methacrylate) Diblock Copolymer Domains, Joshua C. Obinwa

Master's Theses

Polymer-nanoparticle hybrids are nanomaterials in which the unique properties of the nanosized structures can be precisely tuned by choosing an appropriate combination of the polymer and the nanoparticle. However, nanoparticle dispersion in a polymer is challenging due to the aggregation tendency of nanoparticles. To improve nanoparticle dispersion and control the location of nanoparticles in block copolymer assemblies, the nanoparticle surface is modified with surface ligands compatible with the block copolymer. In this thesis, hydroxyl-terminated poly(styrene-b-methyl methacrylate) (PS-b-PMMA) was utilized to functionalize the nanoparticle surface, covalently anchoring the hydroxylterminated end of the polymer onto the silicon dioxide nanoparticles. The silicon dioxide …

Molecular Weight And Heating Value Of Lignin Extracted Using Deep Eutectic Solvent., Ekugbere Owen Owhe

Master's Theses

The molecular weight of lignin helps us to determine how lignin can be applied accurately in industry. The molecular weight can predict the behavior of lignin, and how it will function when combined with other materials. This thesis discusses how the molecular weight of lignin can be found with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) after acetylation with acetic anhydride and pyridine. Different lignins gave different number average molecular weight and weight average molecular weight values, which were likely due to the biomass source, type of extraction and solubility in the solvent of choice. How the structure of lignin changed after derivatization …

Pretreatment Of Loblolly Pine Tree Toppings (Needled) Using Dess, Prathima Gujjula

Master's Theses

Contemporary industrial development and swift urbanization require environmentally sustainable energy sources. Ethanol made from biomass provides unique environmental and economic strategic benefits and can be considered a safe and clean liquid fuel alternative to fossil fuels. Ethanol’s significant advantages, such as low cost, biodegradability, and abundance, make the application of biomass for production of biorenewable energy favorable. However, biomass must be subjected to pretreatment processes to liberate the components needed for effective enzymatic hydrolysis that converts cellulose to sugars prior to fermentation to create biofuel. Production of valueadded co-products besides biofuels, through coordinated bio refinery processes, requires selectivity during pretreatment. …

Intelligent Cinematic Camera Control For Real-Time Graphics Applications, Ian Harris Meeder

Master's Theses

E-sports is currently estimated to be a billion dollar industry which is only growing in size from year to year. However the cinematography of spectated games leaves much to be desired. In most cases, the spectator either gets to control their own freely-moving camera or they get to see the view that a specific player sees. This thesis presents a system for the generation of cinematically-pleasing views for spectating real-time graphics applications. A custom real-time engine has been built to demonstrate the effect of this system on several different game modes with varying visual cinematic constraints, such as the rule …