Digital Commons Network^™

Using Delay-Differential Equations For Modeling Calcium Cycling In Cardiac Myocytes, Ryan Thompson

Theses

The cycling of calcium at the intracellular level of cardiac cells plays a key role in the excitation-contraction process. The interplay between ionic currents, buffering agents, and calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is a complex system that has been shown experimentally to exhibit complex dynamics including period-2 states (alternans) and higher-order rhythms. Many of the calcium cycling activities involve the sensing, binding, or diffusion of calcium between intracellular compartments; these are physical processes that take time and typically are modeled by “relaxation” equations where the steady-state value and time course of a particular variable are specified through an …

Stability And Entanglement In An Optomechanical System, Matthew Schumacher

Theses

Optomechanical systems are currently of great interest as they lie at the boundary between quantum and classical mechanics, promising fundamental insights as well as new technologies. The practical operation of an optomechanical system requires that it satisfy the criteria of mechanical stability. Further, for quantum applications, it is important to characterize the degree of nonclassical correlation present between the mechanical and optical subsystems. In this study, we analyze the stability and entanglement in an optomechanical system where couplings linear as well as quadratic in the mechanical displacement are present simultaneously. Such systems can be realized experimentally. Our analysis of the …

Axiom, Jon Fila, Peter Klinkon

Theses

Axiom is a short narrative video, using live-action and 3D computer graphics to re-interpret the Greek myth of Persephone through the framework of contemporary science-fiction. The aim of the video is to use narrative, approached from a design strategy that thematizes the representational role of 3D computer generated graphics, to raise questions in the minds of thoughtful viewers about the use of genetics and computer simulated worlds in the context of the vulnerable natural environment. The conceptualization of the video is explained, followed by a summary of the production pipeline, and finally an evaluation of the finished piece.

Automatic 3d Building Detection And Modeling From Airborne Lidar Point Clouds, Shaohui Sun

Theses

Urban reconstruction, with an emphasis on man-made structure modeling, is an active research area with broad impact on several potential applications. Urban reconstruction combines photogrammetry, remote sensing, computer vision, and computer graphics. Even though there is a huge volume of work that has been done, many problems still remain unsolved. Automation is one of the key focus areas in this research. In this work, a fast, completely automated method to create 3D watertight building models from airborne LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) point clouds is presented. The developed method analyzes the scene content and produces multi-layer rooftops, with complex rigorous …

A Novel Work-Sharing Protocol For U-Shaped Assembly Lines, Srinath Sriram

Theses

Companies worldwide try to employ contemporary manufacturing systems that can cope with changes in external competitive environments and internal process variability. Just In Time (JIT) philosophy helps achieve the required resilience by its policy of having people, machines, and material just-in-time for any given process. U-shaped assembly lines (U-lines) are used to implement JIT principles. Another principle that helps achieve competitive advantage by developing a flexible workforce that responds efficiently to change is that of work-sharing. Operators share work and help each other in a dynamic and floating way, requiring little management effort to distribute workload amongst operators, or balance …

Group Selection And Key Management Strategies For Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption, Russell F. Martin

Theses

Ciphertext-Policy Attribute-Based Encryption (CPABE) was introduced by Bethencourt, Sahai, and Waters, as an improvement of Identity Based Encryption, allowing fine grained control of access to encrypted files by restricting access to only users whose attributes match that of the monotonic access tree of the encrypted file. Through these modifications, encrypted files can be placed securely on an unsecure server, without fear of malicious users being able to access the files, while allowing each user to have a unique key, reducing the vulnerabilites associated with sharing a key between multiple users.

However, due to the fact that CPABE was designed for …

Analysis Of Polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar And Passive Visible Light Polarimetric Imaging Data Fusion For Remote Sensing Applications, Sanjit Maitra

Theses

The recent launch of spaceborne (TerraSAR-X, RADARSAT-2, ALOS-PALSAR, RISAT) and airborne (SIRC, AIRSAR, UAVSAR, PISAR) polarimetric radar sensors, with capability of imaging through day and night in almost all weather conditions, has made polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) image interpretation and analysis an active area of research. PolSAR image classification is sensitive to object orientation and scattering properties. In recent years, significant work has been done in many areas including agriculture, forestry, oceanography, geology, terrain analysis. Visible light passive polarimetric imaging has also emerged as a powerful tool in remote sensing for enhanced information extraction. The intensity image provides information …

Sliding Mode Control Of Mimo Non-Square Systems Via Squaring Matrix Transforms, Tim Marvin

Theses

In this thesis, a novel method for control of over- or under-actuated dynamic systems is developed. The primary control method considered here is Sliding Mode Control which requires an inversion of the control input influence matrix. However on many systems this matrix is non-square, requiring alternate methods in order to the control solution. Some existing solutions for this class of problems include pseudo-inversion such as the Moore-Penrose (which does not allow the design engineer to select the desired state to controlled), dynamic extension (which is difficult to implement on large systems), and pseudo-inverse squaring transform methods. While the squaring transform …

John Dewey's Instrumentalism: A Cultural And Humanist View Of Knowledge, Philip R. Allman

Theses

My thesis is an attempt to show the brilliance and novelty of John Dewey's theory of knowledge, instrumentalism. The main objective of my thesis is to explain Dewey's theory of knowledge, which he coined instrumentalism, and to describe how instrumentalism as a theory of knowledge overcomes the pitfalls of competing theories within the philosophical tradition. Dewey's theory of instrumentalism does not assume that ideas are mental entities nor that ideas are true if they somehow match or fit with the object in question; thus, Dewey's theory presents a different view opposed to what we have usually called coherence, or correspondence …

An Examination Of Memory In Children With Inattention, Hyperactivity, And Depressive Symptoms, Jordan Marie Constance

Theses

The purpose of the current study was to explore the relationships between Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, depression, and memory impairment in children. It was hypothesized that level of inattention would negatively correlated with performance on measures of visual-spatial short-term memory and verbal memory. Children with greater levels of depressive symptoms were predicted to perform more poorly than less depressed peers on effortful measures of verbal and visual short-term memory, measures of verbal working memory, and measures of verbal long-term memory recall. Results indicated that impaired performance on one measure of visual-spatial short-term memory was related to increased levels of inattention and depression. …

Quantum Dot Enhanced Epitaxial Lift-Off Solar Cells, Mitchell F. Bennett

Theses

Embedded nanostructures such as quantum dots (QDs) have been studied for many applications in solar cells including enhanced mini-band absorption in intermediate-band solar cells and current matching in multi junction cells. The major drawbacks of using such techniques to decrease intrinsic solar cell loss mechanisms are twofold: first, it is difficult to maintain partially populated states using QDs due to a quick thermal extraction of carriers; second, QDs have a weak absorption which necessitates a near-perfect control of QD growth mechanisms to carefully ensure a balance between dot size and density. One avenue for improving absorption into QDs is to …

Sustainability Curriculum Inventory And Literacy Assessment: The Influence Of Values On Knowledge Of And Perceived Importance Of Sustainability Components, David James Drogos

Theses

The incorporation of sustainability education and sustainable practices in higher education serves several purposes. It prepares students for work in sustainability-focused professions, fosters environmentally responsible behavior in individuals, and helps to reduce the ecological impacts of the operational aspects of educational institutions. However, contemporary definitions of sustainability, which consider social, political, ecological, and economic influences on the environment, complicate educational initiatives. Distinct educational departments often consider sustainability through their specialized lens. Trans-disciplinary initiative must be enacted in order for sustainability education to reach its full potential. This paper outlines the results of an electronically administered faculty sustainability curriculum inventory as …

A Model Of Contaminant Transport, Saline Valley Aquifer, Gallatin County Illinois, Ryan William Cox

Theses

The Saline Valley Conservancy District (SVCD) formed in 1980 to provide a stable source of water to many communities in Southern Illinois. The SVCD well field located in the thickest, most productive region of the Saline Valley Aquifer lies directly adjacent to a reclaimed coal mine. Subsurface movement and surface discharge from the mine has been shown to be responsible for deterioration of water quality in the surrounding area, including the aquifer. Previous studies conducted in the region have addressed water supply issues and simulated contaminant transport from the reclaimed mine. The limited scope of these models did not extend …

An Augmentative Gaze Directing Framework For Multi-Spectral Imagery, Libby Hsiao

Theses

Modern digital imaging techniques have made the task of imaging more prolic than ever and the volume of images and data available through multi-spectral imaging methods for exploitation is exceeding that which can be solely processed by human beings. The researchers proposed and developed a novel eye movement contingent framework and display

system through adaption of the demonstrated technique of subtle gaze direction by presenting modulations within the displayed image. The system sought to augment visual search task performance of aerial imagery by incorporating multi-spectral image processing algorithms to determine potential regions of interest within an image. The exploratory work …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Design For The Environment Tools To Help Meet Sustainability And Design Goals, Ana Maria Leal-Yepes

Theses

Environmental impacts of electronics are a growing concern because the amount and type of materials used in production of the devices, the impacts to the environment from discarded

electronics and the early retirement of products due to rapidly evolving devices, changing design trends, and perceived technological obsolescence. Design for the Environment is a sustainability strategy that aims to reduce the environmental impacts through techniques that enable sustainability solutions during the design decision-making process. In order to suit the diverse

needs of sustainable design practitioners, there has been a large number of tools for Design for the Environment (DfE) developed, confusing …

Spectral Target Detection Using Physics-Based Modeling And A Manifold Learning Technique, James A. Albano

Theses

Identification of materials from calibrated radiance data collected by an airborne imaging spectrometer depends strongly on the atmospheric and illumination conditions at the time of collection. This thesis demonstrates a methodology for identifying material spectra using the assumption that each unique material class forms a lower-dimensional manifold (surface) in the higher-dimensional spectral radiance space and that all image spectra reside on, or near, these theoretic manifolds. Using a physical model, a manifold characteristic of the target material exposed to varying illumination and atmospheric conditions is formed. A graph-based model is then applied to the radiance data to capture the intricate …

Physics-Based Surface Energy Model Optimization For Water Bodies In Cold Climates Using Visible And Calibrated Thermal Infrared Imagery, May V. Casterline

Theses

When tasked with accurately modeling a water body in a cold climate environment, the complexity of the system being simulated and the numerous parameters affecting the observable outcome pose an arduous task for any modeling effort. The task is increasingly complicated when the body of water is serving as a cooling pond for a power plant and can become partially frozen. The introduction of a heat effluent into the water creates a highly dynamic system whose physical state is not only reactionary to the surrounding environmental conditions, but the industrial facility's operating parameters as well. Both calibrated thermal and visible …

Rule-Based Conditional Trust With Openpgp., Andrew Jackson

Theses

This thesis describes a new trust model for OpenPGP encryption. This trust model uses conditional rule-based trust to establish key validity and trust. This thesis describes "Trust Rules" that may be used to sort and categorize keys automatically without user interaction. "Trust Rules" are also capable of integrating key revocation status into its calculations so it too is automated. This thesis presents that conditional trust established through "Trust Rules" can enforce stricter security while reducing the burden of use and automating the process of key validity, trust, and revocation.

Starfish Search, Ethan Criss

Theses

Starfish Search is a swarm optimization algorithm that operates in the same vein as

Particle Swarm Optimization and the Firefly Algorithm. This search algorithm attempts to find global optimal solutions to optimization problems by dispersing agents into the search space. Each agent consists of many nodes that represent candidate solutions to the problem being solved. Agent's nodes are formatted in a parent-child hierarchy, similar to tree structures, which facilitates information passing to a root node. With this structure, it becomes possible to determine the likely direction in which an optimal lies. By using a form of linear regression, the fitness …

Dense Point Cloud Extraction From Oblique Imagery, Jie Zhang

Theses

With the increasing availability of low-cost digital cameras with small or medium sized sensors, more and more airborne images are available with high resolution, which enhances the possibility in establishing three dimensional models for urban areas. The high accuracy of representation of buildings in urban areas is required for asset valuation or disaster recovery. Many automatic methods for modeling and reconstruction are applied to aerial images together with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. If LiDAR data are not provided, manual steps must be applied, which results in semi-automated technique.

The automated extraction of 3D urban models can be aided …

Investigation Of Water Droplet Dynamics In Pem Cell Gas Channels, Preethi Gopalan

Theses

Water management in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) has remained one of the most important issues that need to be addressed before its commercialization in automotive applications. Accumulation of water on the gas diffusion layer (GDL) surface in a PEMFC introduces a barrier for transport of reactant gases through the GDL to the catalyst layer. Despite the fact that the channel geometry is one of the key design parameters of a fluidic system, very limited research is available to study the effect of microchannel geometry on the two-phase flow structure. In this study, the droplet-wall dynamics and two-phase pressure …

A Forensic Comparison: Windows 7 And Windows 8, Peter J. Wilson

Theses

Whenever a new operating system or new version of an operating system is released, forensic investigators must re-examine the new operating system or new version. They do so to determine if there are significant differences that will impact and change the way they perform their investigations. With the release of Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows 8, and its update, Windows 8.1, understanding the similarities and differences between Windows 8 and previous operating systems such as Windows 7 is critical. This paper forensically examines Windows 7 and Windows 8 to determine those similarities and differences.

Image-Based Euvl Aberration Metrology, Germain Louis Fenger

Theses

A significant factor in the degradation of nanolithographic image fidelity is optical wavefront aberration. As resolution of nanolithography systems increases, effects of wavefront aberrations on aerial image become more influential. The tolerance of such aberrations is governed by the requirements of features that are being imaged, often requiring lenses that can be corrected with a high degree of accuracy and precision. Resolution of lithographic systems is driven by scaling wavelength down and numerical aperture (NA) up. However, aberrations are also affected from the changes in wavelength and NA. Reduction in wavelength or increase in NA result in greater impact of …

Quantifying Mutational Impacts On Intrinsic Dna Flexibility In Prokaryotic Genomes, Mohammed Alawad

Theses

The existence of synonymous codon biases across all taxonomic groups is a long standing problem in biology. While codon bias seems to be adequately explained by the maintenance of translation efficiency and accuracy in some organisms, there is still no adequate explanation of why codon biases universally track the intergenic gc content, as these regions of the genome would not be under selection pressures affecting translation. One part of the story may come from the triplet nature of codon in which each third position defines the minor groove width and thus affects the basic structure of the DNA by altering …

Rescue Breathing In Noisy Environments, Brianna Slutsky

Theses

This study considered rhythmic performance of rescue breathing by trained emergency responders and lay persons. Participants were asked to complete rescue breathing in 10 different scenarios. Such scenarios were intended to evaluate the effects of target rhythms and distractors on the responder's ability to administer rescue breathing ventilations at the appropriate rate and rhythm, in accordance with the standards established by the American Red Cross (2011). Current research concerning rhythmic performance with target and distractor rhythms suggests that auditory rhythms, whether target or distractor, have a greater influence on the motor behaviors of the human than visual rhythms. This research …

Solar Eclipse Observation On May 21, 2012 From Jvla, Shaheda Begum Shaik

Theses

The annular solar eclipse occurred on May 21, 2012 is studied using the radio data from the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA), Sorrocco, Mexico. The eclipse is observed in the solar minimum activity period of solar cycle 24. The centimeter wavelength observation of the Sun's surface during the solar eclipse helps in determining the spatially well resolved features not obtained by the man made advanced technology. Even though, the activity on the Sun is observed to be low in the period of eclipse, the study provides a good opportunity to understand the quiet Sun features in the regions occulted by …

Numerical Methods For Solving The Inverse Problem Of Parameter Identification In Parabolic And Fourth-Order Partial Differential Equations, Nathaniel Bush

Theses

There is a broad range of mathematical problems that can be classified under the title of inverse problems. In this thesis we concern ourselves with the inverse problem of identifying variable coefficients from observation data given an underlying fourth-order or parabolic partial differential equation. We focus on the methods that are employed to derive the gradient of the output least-squares, modified output least-squares, and equation error approach cost functionals. We show the complete derivation of equations, computation of finite element matrices necessary to find the solution of the inverse problem, and display numerical results achieved by numerical implementation of finite …

Optimization Of Inpatient Hemodialysis Scheduling Considering Efficiency And Treatment Delays To Minimize Length Of Stay, Manuel Tolentino Peña

Theses

Inpatient dialysis units face an uncertain daily demand of hemodialysis procedures for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients hospitalized for health conditions that may or may not be directly related to their renal disease. While hospitalized, these patients must receive hemodialysis in addition to any medical services needed for their primary diagnosis. As a result, when demand for inpatient dialysis is high, treatments and procedures required by these inpatients may be delayed increasing their length of stays (LOS). This research presents an optimization approach for daily scheduling of inpatient hemodialysis to maximize the efficiency of the dialysis unit while minimizing delays …

Optimization Modeling Approach To Facilitate Decision Making Process Of Energy Planning On College Campuses, Sourabh Jain

Theses

Increasing global environmental problems require a rapid response from universities (Sharp, 2002). Energy consumption of universities is increasing due to, for example, expansion in use of electronics and new building constructions (Levine, 2009; Sharp, 2002). There are increasing numbers of initiatives on university campuses to address climate change. The American College and University President's Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) is an effort by a group of colleges and universities that have pledged to eliminate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their campus operations and become carbon neutral by a target date set by each university itself (ACUPCC, 2006).

This research presented an optimization …

An Optimization-Based Approach For Vaccine Prioritization, Timothy Schmoke

Theses

An effective vaccine prioritization process is essential to prevent the many issues that currently weaken global vaccination efforts. Identifying challenges associated with vaccine development is important when considering which initiatives will provide immunization that is effective, affordable, and easy to administer. The process of establishing priorities for vaccine development is complicated, though, by the conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders involved in the vaccine market. Additionally, uncertainties exist regarding: (1) the resources and time required for vaccine development, (2) the expected benefits of development, and (3) the anticipated demand for vaccination, further complicating the prioritization process. This study proposes a decision-support …