Digital Commons Network^™

Emc Performance Evaluation Of Various Pcb Designs Through Simulation And Measurements, Dimitri Häring

Masters Theses

The applied research presented in this thesis is intended to deepen the understanding of various concepts related to PCB design with respect to EMC and RF performance. The first topic addressed is embedded capacitance of a PCB. The work includes decoupling capacitors and their placement relative to the IC in a combination of three different PCB stack-ups. The evaluation is performed in the frequency domain and time domain. The next topic discussed is the EMC/ EMI filters which are essential measurements to protect a device or subsystem from EMI. The circuit's load is usually unknown. A generic filter design is …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Palisota (Commelinaceae) Using Chloroplast And Nuclear Regions, Alexandra H. Crum

Masters Theses

Palisota (Commelinaceae) differs from other Commelinaceae genera in androecial and pollen characters, a fleshy berry-type fruit, and anatomical characters. Palisota has been divided into two sections based on uniseriate vs. biseriate seed arrangement. Molecular phylogenetic analyses in Commelinaceae have placed Palisota near the base within the family, although its precise position is unclear. We sequenced chloroplast (matK, rbcL, rps16, and trnL-trnF, psbI-psbK, atpB-rbcL, atpF-atpH and psbA-trnH intergenic spacers) and nuclear (AT103) regions in 15 of approximately 26 species of Palisota and 15 outgroup species. Phylogenetic analyses were performed using maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods, with the …

The Association Between Dietary Niche Variation In Rodents And Climate Change Across The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Hannah K. Vermeer

Masters Theses

Mammalian teeth play a crucial role in food acquisition and breakdown and are therefore closely tied to dietary niche. This study reconstructed the diet of early Paleogene paramyid rodents across the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) climatic event in an effort to understand the role of climate in mammalian dietary niche change. Dietary niches were quantified using three dental topographic measures: Dirichlet normal energy, relief index, and orientation patch count rotated. A Kruskal-Wallis test was conducted over eight time periods to determine if each of the dental topographic measures (i.e., diet) varied over time. Regression analysis of these measures with climatic …

An Exploration Into The Controls And Extent Of Capillary Rise In Fine-Grained Sand, Neal S. Turluck

Masters Theses

Capillary rise in fine-grained sands is especially important due to the wide distribution of fine-grained sediment throughout the unconsolidated sedimentary layers blanketing the earth. The height to which water rises above the water table in porous media is known as the capillary fringe. Tension pulling on the water molecules from the solid surfaces of pores will cause water to rise in the unconsolidated fine-grained sands until the water reaches equilibrium with the downward force of gravity.

Researching the controls behind capillary rise and being able to predict the extent to which water will rise in fine-grained sand helped provide insight …

Developing 5gl Concepts From User Interactions, David Stuckless Meyer

Masters Theses

In the fulfilling of the contracts generated in Test Driven Development, a developer could be said to act as a constraint solver, similar to those used by a 5th Generation Language(5GL). This thesis presents the hypothesis that 5GL linguistic mechanics, such as facts, rules and goals, will be emergent in the communications of developer pairs performing Test Driven Development, validating that 5GL syntax is congruent with the ways that practitioners communicate. Along the way, nomenclatures and linguistic patterns may be observed that could inform the design of future 5GL languages.

Petrogenesis Of The Eagle East Gabbro In Marquette County, Mi, Usa, Kevin Rupp

Masters Theses

The Eagle East gabbroic intrusion in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is a subvertical pluglike intrusion found near the base of the Eagle East Ni-Cu-PGE deposit. U-Pb baddeleyite dating of the gabbro yields an age of 1103.4 ± 1.2 Ma, suggesting formation during the early stages of the Midcontinent Rift System (MRS). Drill core observations show that the intrusion cross-cuts the eastern most portion of the Eagle East ultramafic conduit. The internal portion of the intrusion is made up of two main rock types, gabbro and gabbro norite, which consist of plagioclase (50-60%), clinopyroxene (15-25%), orthopyroxene (0-15%), olivine (0-10%), and are generally …

Chronostratigraphic Correlation Of The Burnt Bluff Group Across The Michigan Basin, Usa, Mohammed A. Al-Musawi

Masters Theses

In the Michigan Basin, the Burnt Bluff Group (BBG) is lower Middle Silurian in age (Llandovery), and is composed of limestones and dolostones. The BBG is bounded above by the Schoolcraft Formation and below by the Cabot Head Shale. The BBG in northern Lower Michigan is composed of three formations, including the Lime Island, Byron, and Hendricks, which reflect deposition on a broad shallow marine shelf. In contrast, the BBG in central Michigan is composed of a single lithologic unit called informally the “undifferentiated BBG (UD-BBG),” which reflects deposition in a deeper marine basin. Lithostratigraphically, the three formations in the …

Where Is God In Symbolic Exchange? A Theo-Semiological Analysis Of The Sons Of Anarchy, Alex Justin Holguin

Masters Theses

This thesis attempts to uncover the religious nature of communication by re-visioning and situating French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s theory of communication within a Christian theological context. By critically engaging Lacan’s theoretical concepts of the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real within this context, the thesis is able to access the intersection of rhetorical semiotics, psychoanalysis, and Christian theology to have a more fruitful understanding of how meaning is exchanged between subjects. Lacan’s inter-disciplinary affirmation of rhetoric and psychoanalysis has been able to produce incredible explanatory potential for how meaning, as the bedrock of speech and communication, operates through the psyche …

The In-Betweens: Exploring Integration Within The Arts, Ruchi Pathak

Masters Theses

This research analyzes the possibilities of integration within the arts and its potential in affecting change in the teaching and learning environment. To approach to this larger question, I conducted two in-depth case studies as a participatory observer playing two radically different roles:- the role of a student at New Works, a performing arts program at Brown University, and the role of a curriculum planner and programming researcher at Providence CityArts. The nature and educational level of the two programs were drastically different. Providence CityArts is a youth directed community-based nonprofit organization that offers after school art programs while New …

Re-Activating Collective Memory : Museum As A Workshop, Sfoorti Sachdev

Masters Theses

Many of Delhi’s national treasures are dying due to apathy and neglect. With centuries of history embedded in these places, they lie in the heart of densely populated ‘urban villages’ and yet are isolated, increasingly subject to vandalism and encroachment - their cultural significance seemingly lost. In the last century, the collective memory of the communities around these monuments has been shaped by poverty, depression and an influx of immigrants with no prior connections to these places. This is clearly illustrated by the state these monuments are suffering.

Research suggests that sense of identity comes from a sense of place. …

Among : A Series Of Enactments, Joel F. Kern

Masters Theses

AMONG captures the practice of a constructionist designer, one who oscillates between the characteristics of typography, multi-materiality, and spatiality yet does not attach solely to the physical or digital. The fundamental principles of this practice include open platforms that foster generative collaboration through modular systems. AMONG straddles the borders of graphic design, environmental design and social sculpture. At its core, this practice encourages new ways of connecting communities.

Externalized : Origins Of Aesthetic Motivations, Tim Miller

Masters Theses

My thoughts and behaviors are influenced by a compulsive disorder. Observing this, I’ve learned how much my outlook can be shaped by my own ritualistic patterns. I live with a heightened sense of awareness toward my particular compulsions which has shaped how I see the world. In this thesis writing and collection of designed objects, I am seeking to further explore my own experience with compulsive thoughts and behaviors, unpacking how they manifest in the day-to-day, how they direct my perception, and ultimately how they serve as a driving force behind my design process. By observing these tendencies and articulating …

Awe-Struck, Emily Robertson

Masters Theses

Awe-struck is an exploration at the intersection of embodied and situated cognition, sight, sense-making and nature with an additional layer of artistic interpretation and emotional response. Adapting elements of Terrapin Bright Green’s biophilic design principles, this work pushes past the well researched benefits of incorporating nature into a designed space, to uncover an individual’s personal connection to an environment. The connection is multi-faceted—layered with observations of space, color and location, filtered through a lense of physical, philosophical and psychological reactions and then translated into an individual personal history. With a specific focus on wild spaces, where humans have designed and …

Record : From Signal To Atmosphere, And The Spaces Between Silence And Noise, Amy Auman

Masters Theses

Record is both a noun and a verb. Its meaning shifts through pronunciation, beginning with our cognitive interpretation and then emerging as a translation that we project from our mouths. This thesis book is an artifact, or record, of the past two years of artistic inquiry. My work, however, lives through movement in time—it records my impulses. This thesis is merely an open archive.

A range of stimuli competes for our conscious attention. The signals we choose to notice emerge from the periphery of our atmosphere, which includes everything from noise to silence. I use design to amplify and alter …

Softweave, Annaka Olsen

Masters Theses

The contents of this volume are a weaving.1 The text lays parallel to a graphic design practice that emerges from research into computation, digital publishing and speculative design. I ask how we can change the structures of world building to become collaborative and ethical practices — resisting hierarchy and reclaiming agency in the spaces we occupy. By making soft modifications imbued with feminist praxis across a variety of automatic processes, softwares, feeds, and streams, this thesis explores ways to open up critical avenues of making in order to speculate on fluid futures that we can co-author.

Standards, Rules, Setting, Robert Mcconnell

Masters Theses

Greetings. Welcome to Standards, Rules, Setting. This short preamble serves as a user guide to the material that follows. It is, essentially, a set of standards that govern the organization and progression of the various items in this publication.

Everything in this book has been conceived and constructed in line with the Graphic Design Thesis Book Protocol. As my body of work deals with the communication of messages and the manipulation of their governing conventions and norms, this publication — as well — has been organized along similar principles.

There are five types of components in this thesis book: sections, …

The Line That Splits, Zahra Jewanjee

Masters Theses

The body of work I have created since beginning my MFA has been informed and impacted by my research into various inter-connected subject matters: subcultural spaces, the behaviours of crowds, micro and macro and territories and systems. These have been the philosophical and conceptual rationale of my studio practice. Meditation on these concepts is an important part in the preliminary stages of my process and the praxis of my studio work has been to interpret and implement these ideas. In many ways, this process suggests its own direction. I had no exact endpoint in mind but wanted to be driven …

Bedrock Topography Mapping Of The East Leroy And Climax 7.5’ Quadrangles, Mi Using Hvsr And Other Geophysical Methods, Tyler A. Norris

Masters Theses

Geophysical methods were used to estimate bedrock depths below sedimentary cover and infer previously unknown features in two adjacent topographic quadrangles (Climax & East Leroy) in Michigan, USA. The study area contains mostly Mississippian Shale bedrock overlain by Wisconsin-aged glacial drift deposited during multiple glacial advances and retreats of the Saginaw Lobe (Laurentide Ice Sheet). These glacial events created complex landform assemblages that have only recently been mapped in detail near-surface, but are still poorly understood in the subsurface. Buried bedrock valleys typically contain coarse glacial sediment and thus are valuable aquifers, but these can be difficult to locate due …

Cfd Study Of Aerodynamic Drag Reduction Tool Of A Generic Sports Utility Vehicle (Suv), Samira Ishrat Jahan

Masters Theses

The Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) has been a popular automobile choice in North America for over 50 years due to its seating and hauling versatility and good towing capacity. This widespread popularity has resulted in manufacturers pushing for increased horsepower and cabin size. Unfortunately, the limiting factor has been fuel economy which is governed by the vehicle aerodynamics. A reduction in aerodynamic drag can result in better fuel economy. The goal of this study is to reduce the aerodynamic drag of a generic SUV and the efficient application of drag reduction devices to control flow separation. An initial study has …

A Fea/Cfd Study Of Heat Transfer To Semi-Trailer Disc Brake Wheel-End Components During A Braking Event, Justin P. Fisher

Masters Theses

Foundation air disc brakes bring Class 8 semi-trailers to a stop by converting kinetic energy into thermal energy. Recently, side skirts have been added to the underside of semi-trailers to improve fuel economy. The reduction in airflow under the trailer they create has potential to increase brake temperatures by reducing convection heat transfer. This will require an increase in conduction and radiation heat transfer to the surrounding wheel-end parts. Additional heat transfer to the surrounding parts could increase the temperatures in the hub and bearing to damaging levels.

CFD analyses were developed to model the airflow under the semi-trailer with …

Algorithm For Geodetic Positioning Based On Angle-Of-Arrival Of Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcasts, Richard Allen Gross

Masters Theses

This paper develops a non-precision, three-dimensional, geodetic positioning algorithm for airborne vehicles. The algorithm leverages the proliferation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) equipped aircraft, utilizing them as airborne navigation aids to generate an RF Angle-of-Arrival (AOA) and Angle-of-Elevation (AOE) based geodetic position. The resulting geodetic position can serve as a redundant navigation system for use during locally limited Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) availability, be used to validate on-board satellite navigation systems in an effort to detect local spoofing attempts, and be used to validate ADS-B position reports.

The navigation algorithm is an implementation of an Extended Kalman …

Integrating Visual Thinking Strategies Into Art Education: A Curriculum For The Middle School Level, Shelley K. Gibbs

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to expand and demonstrate how the integration of Visual Thinking Strategies into a middle school classroom curriculum could strengthen and benefit students’ critical thinking and art literacy. There is a growing and overwhelming use of technology and images in our world, to which students are exposed daily. By integrating a visual literacy strategy in a visual art setting, students may learn to slow down and think more critically about what they see and understand, not only in art but cross-curriculum.

Habitat Suitability Of The Mountain Pine Beetle In Alberta, Canada Under Future Climate Scenarios, Nathalie Woloszyn

Masters Theses

Mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) is the most destructive insect currently devastating North American forests (Safranyik & Carroll, 2006). Native to western North America, the mountain pine beetle has recently expanded beyond its historic range, into the novel territory of Alberta, Canada. Since its arrival in the mid-2000s, the mountain pine beetle has diffused eastward at an average rate of 80km/year (Cooke & Carroll, 2017). Poised at the doorstep of the boreal forest, current concern anticipates the potential diffusion of the mountain pine beetle to eastern North America.

The Maxent (maximum entropy) model, a presence-only spatial distribution model, …

Model Predictive Control Synthesis For The Innovative Control Effector Tailless Fighter Aircraft, Christopher Proctor

Masters Theses

A nonlinear model predictive control law was developed for the Lockheed Martin Innovative Control Effector tailless fighter aircraft to track way points. In general, aircraft are described by nonlinear dynamics that are dependent on the regime of flight. Additionally strict requirements on state and actuator constraints are common to all aircraft. Tailless aircraft are usually overdetermined systems, meaning solutions to control problems are not unique, and the system is non-affine. The proposed nonlinear control law considers those constraints during run-time, and solves the nonlinear control problem for a range of points within different flight regimes. The control law was developed …

Depositional Facies And Sequence Stratigraphic Model For The Silurian Reefs, Michigan Basin, Usa, Zaid N. Nadhim

Masters Theses

Depositional models for the Silurian reefs in the Michigan Basin suggest that internal facies are either (i) randomly distributed within a symmetrical reef structure, or (ii) highly asymmetrical and strongly controlled by paleo-wind direction. To further test the applicability of these models, internal facies distributions were mapped using high-resolution core and log data in two sets of Silurian reefs. The results suggest that the relationship between reef geometry, facies distribution and proposed paleo-wind direction is more inconsistent than recently proposed. More specifically, facies descriptions from the Silurian reefs suggest the following. First, overall reef geometry and facies distributions are not …

Modeling And Simulation With Optimal Gear Ratio For A Forward-Looking, Velocity-Driven, Power-Split Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Sonal Babasaheb Kanap

Masters Theses

Increases in vehicle demand and fossil fuel consumption are major contributors to environmental problems, such as air pollution and climate change. This has led to research on alternative, energy-efficient vehicle technologies. Automobile users are now preferring comfortable vehicles with minimal fuel consumption and with more efficient engines. Hybrid cars are becoming common because of their advantage of running cleaner and with better gas mileage. A hybrid car runs on the power of both an electric motor and a gasoline engine. This mechanism helps cut fuel consumption and conserve energy. An additional advantage is a regenerative braking system that helps recharge …

Utilizing Geophysical Attributes To Investigate The Architecture Of A Pinnacle Reef Complex, Michigan Basin, Usa, Austin M. Johnson

Masters Theses

The Silurian Niagaran Pinnacle Reefs of the Michigan Basin retain their relevance after primary recovery of hydrocarbons and are excellent candidates for carbon dioxide sequestration, natural gas storage, and enhanced oil recovery. Due to the nature of carbonate rocks, these reef complexes are heterogeneous and lateral interpolation between observations in wells, is ambiguous. Ambiguity has led to large uncertainty and disagreement regarding reef architectures and their internal facies distributions. Previous models of these reef complexes have relied almost entirely on well logs and conventional core. This study focused on integrating 3D seismic reflection data to reduce uncertainty when delineating the …

Optimal Energy Management For Forward-Looking Serial-Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicle Using Rule-Based Control Strategy, Abhijit Bhaskar Jadhav

Masters Theses

In today’s sophisticated era of technology, resolving environmental problems is a matter of grave concern. Developing hybrid electric vehicles is a good step towards environmental preservation, since they use less fuel compared to conventional vehicles because of the combination of electric and mechanical energy. A hybrid electric vehicle reduces dependence on fossil fuels and hence lowers emissions. Specifically, a hybrid powertrain that includes a conventional gasoline engine and a brushless DC motor offers great potential to meet stringent CO₂ regulations and fuel economy requirements. This thesis focuses on the effects of initial state of charge (SOC) stored in Hybrid …

The Use Of High And Medium Resolution Imagery To Detect Agricultural Land Cover In Chinese Cities: A Case Study Of Nanjing 2000 To 2015, Erik Breidinger

Masters Theses

According to McGee and Ginsburg’s desakota hypothesis, rapidly growing Asian cities differ from large Western cities in their land cover/land use (LC/LU) as they retain a significant portion of agricultural land and labor despite rapid urbanization. However, significant amounts of agricultural production within desakotas takes place in plastic greenhouses, causing a unique problem when calculating LC/LU estimates via traditional remote sensing techniques. While greenhouses appear equivalent to developed land spectrally, their purpose is entirely agricultural. This study provides an improved method of calculating greenhouse land-cover as agricultural land-use using Jiangning District in the city of Nanjing as the study area …

Thermal Maturation Modeling Of The Michigan Basin, Jack H. Hybza

Masters Theses

Given present day heat flow and burial depths in the Michigan Basin, hydrocarbons should be immature. However, oil and gas are abundant within the basin. Our hypothesis is that thermal maturation distributions in the Michigan Basin can be explained by variations in proximity to the Midcontinent Rift (MCR) system, thermal cooling, crustal convection, high temperature fluid advection, and eroded overburden.

For each of the seven wells in this study, a geohistory plot is coupled with a range of geodynamic models to calculate the thermal and maturation histories of each sediment unit within the well. Backstripping was used to generate basement …