Digital Commons Network^™

Perspectives On Epidemic: The Yellow Fever In 1793 Philadelphia, Katherine Polak

Constructing the Past

This article discusses the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793, and how there are several different accounts of what happened then. It also notes that the official descriptions given by the doctors of the time are not the entire story and that they leave some important things out.

Efficient Path Search In Intermodal Transportation Optimization, Daniel Y. Yankov

Theses

As the economies of the world become more interrelated and Supply Chains are globalizing, the need arises to create efficient transportation network. This reality in conjunction with conservation of fuel and environmental friendliness gives rise to the research of Efficient Intermodal Transportation System. In particular, the underutilization of railroads in the United States motivates us to research the development of optimal procedures in the transportation of containers in a rail network. With this thesis we search for a cost, time and capacity effective algorithm for solving transportation problem in a graph of intermodal centers (IMC's). We consider discrete model of …

In-Situ Apparent Conductivity Measurements And Microbial Population Distribution At A Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Site, Estella A. Atekwana, D. Dale Werkema, Joseph W. Duris, Silvia Rossbach, Eliot A. Atekwana, William A. Sauck, Daniel P. Cassidy, Jay Means, Franklyn D. Legall

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We investigated the bulk electrical conductivity and microbial population distribution in sediments at a site contaminated with light nonaqueous-phase liquid (LNAPL). The bulk conductivity was measured using in-situ vertical resistivity probes; the most probable number method was used to characterize the spatial distribution of aerobic heterotrophic and oil-degrading microbial populations. The purpose of this study was to assess if high conductivity observed at aged LNAPL-impacted sites may be related to microbial degradation of LNAPL. The results show higher bulk conductivity coincident with LNAPL-impacted zones, in contrast to geoelectrical models that predict lower conductivity in such zones. The highest bulk conductivity …

A Change Impact Dependency Measure For Predicting The Maintainability Of Source Code, Xiaoqing Frank Liu

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

We first articulate the theoretic difficulties with the existing metrics designed for predicting software maintainability. To overcome the difficulties, we propose to measure a purely internal and objective attribute of code, namely change impact dependency, and show how it can be modeled to predict real change impact. The proposed base measure can be further elaborated for evaluating software maintainability.

A Generic Oo Architecture Language For Semantics Analysis Of Oo Specification, Xiaoqing Frank Liu

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Formal specification enables a rigorous analysis and model checking for ensuring the correctness of specification. Formal OO specification methods are of mathematical nature and the semantics of specification is purposely defined such that it is not related to the semantics of code. We propose a new language, which will lay a common semantics ground for both specification and code.

Ergodic Capacity Of Mimo Triply Selective Rayleigh Fading Channels, Chengshan Xiao, Y. Rosa Zheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

New results are presented for the ergodic capacity of spatially-correlated, time-varying and frequency-selective (i.e., triply selective) MIMO Rayleigh fading channels. Simplified capacity formulas are also derived for special cases such as SIMO and MISO triply selective fading channels. A closed form formula is proposed that quantifies the effect of the frequency-selective fading on the ergodic capacity into an intersymbol interference (ISI) degradation factor. It is discovered that, in general frequency-selective MIMO channels, the ISI inter-tap correlations reduce the ergodic capacity compared to the frequency flat fading channel. Only in the special case when the fading does not have ISI inter-tap …

Neural Network Based Classification Of Road Pavement Structures, V. Venayagamoorthy, D. Allopi, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Roads have formed the basic infrastructure of commerce since flints and other tools and artifacts were first exchanged along the trade routes of prehistory. Roadways are very large, in volume, in extent, and in value. They also wear out, and their useful life is directly proportional to their initial strength and inversely proportional to the number of heavy goods vehicles using them. Therefore, the increasing complexity of road transportation needs advanced techniques for effective design of pavements. This paper proposes an intelligent technique using neural networks to classify different types of road pavement structures, which is essential in estimating bearing …

Data Mining Of Substation Relay Data, Badrul H. Chowdhury, Mythili Chaganti

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Data mining aims to make sense of data by revealing meaningful relationships. This paper discusses data mining techniques applied to data recorded by over current relays at several substations. The purpose is to classify faults, verify relay settings and determine fault induced trip per substations. One of the most demanding tasks at hand is to study the data residing in the relays on a statistical basis. C4.5 approach of data mining (decision tree induction) is discussed in this paper.

An Improved Optimal Elemental Method For Updating Finite Element Models, Zhongdong Duan, B. F. Spencer, Guirong Yan, Jinping Ou

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Optimal Matrix Method and Optimal Elemental Method Used to Update Finite Element Models May Not Provide Accurate Results. This Situation Occurs When the Test Modal Model is Incomplete, as is Often the Case in Practice. an Improved Optimal Elemental Method is Presented that Defines a New Objective Function, and as a Byproduct, Circumvents the Need for Mass Normalized Modal Shapes, Which Are Also Not Readily Available in Practice. to Solve the Group of Nonlinear Equations Created by the Improved Optimal Method, the Lagrange Multiplier Method and Matlab Function Fmincon Are Employed. to Deal with Actual Complex Structures, the Float-Encoding …

Learning To Learn-Concepts In A First Power Engineering Course, Badrul H. Chowdhury

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Three well-known and widely accepted concepts in educational psychology are revisited. These are "inventory of learning styles," "taxonomy of educational objectives," and "metacognition." Relationships among these concepts are highlighted. Often, a student can develop his (or her) own learning style by the process of metacognition. Ideas are borrowed from these concepts for use in a first-level power systems course. It is beyond a doubt that both cognitive and metacognitive skills are necessary for students to succeed in any course. While a semester-long power systems course leaves little time for critical thinking and passive reflection for students, certain activities may very …

Neural Network Controller For Manipulation Of Micro-Scale Objects, Vijayakumar Janardhan, Pingan He, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel reinforcement learning-based neural network (RLNN) controller is presented for the manipulation and handling of micro-scale objects in a microelectromechanical system (MEMS). In MEMS, adhesive, surface tension, friction and van der Waals forces are dominant. Moreover, these forces are typically unknown. The RLNN controller consists of an action NN for compensating the unkoown system dynamics, and a critic NN to tune the weights of the action NN. Using the Lyapunov approach, the uniformly ultimate houndedness (UUB) of the closed-loop tracking error and weight estimates are shown by using a novel weight updates. Simulation results are presented to substantiate the …

Neuroidentification Of System Parameters Of The Upfc In A Multimachine Power System, Radha P. Kalyani, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The crucial factor affecting the modern power systems today is load flow control. The Unified Power Flow Controller is an effective means for controlling the power flow. The UPFC is controlled conventionally using PI controllers. This paper presents the designs of neuroidentifiers that models the system dynamics one-time step ahead making the pathway for the design of adaptive neurocontrollers. Two neuroidentifiers are used for identifying the nonlinear dynamics of a multimachine power system and UPFC, one neuroidentifier for the shunt inverter and another for the series inverter. Simulation results carried out in the PSCAD/EMTDC environments on multimachine power system are …

Comprehensive Evaluation Of Animated Instructional Software For Mechanics Of Materials, Timothy A. Philpot, Richard H. Hall

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

During the past three years, the Basic Engineering Department at the University of Missouri--Rolla has been developing a second-generation suite of instructional software called MecMovies for the mechanics of materials course. In the Fall 2003 semester, MecMovies was integrated into assignments throughout the entire semester for one of the six UMR mechanics of materials sections. This paper presents a comparison of student performance in the experimental section with student performance in five control sections along with discussion of student qualitative ratings and comments.

Deformation Analysis Of Missouri Bridge Approach Embankments, Jonathan L. Robison, Ronaldo Luna

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Missouri has recently experienced below expectation performance or "the bump-at-the-end of the bridge" phenomena at bridge approach slab transitions. Information on approach slab performance was collected state wide to assess if the problem was limited to regional or geological distribution. Finite element analysis was then used to explore the soil embankment-bridge structure differential settlement in two Missouri bridges; MoDOT Bridge A6031 in Livingston County, and MoDOT Bridge A5834 in Pulaski County. These two cases are indicative of the types of soil conditions encountered in the Northern Glaciated Plains region (deeper compressible foundation soils) and the Southern Ozarks region (shallow rocky …

Boost Integrated Push-Pull Rectifier With Power Factor Correction And Output Voltage Regulation Using A New Digital Control Technique, Zhong Nie, Mehdi Ferdowsi, Ali Emadi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An integrated converter is a synthesized converter based on the overall system integration, which is simplified by the system objective and can implement the system functions similar to the discrete converters. An integrated converter consists of converter sets; each converter set has a special function defined by the designer. A family of DC/DC Boost based integrated rectifiers with two active switches can be derived by the integration concept. In this paper, Boost + Push-Pull integrated converter is introduced and derived. To regulate the output voltage and shape the input current, a new simple digital control method is applied. In contrast …

Cause And Effects Of Voltage Collapse -- Case Studies With Dynamic Simulations, Feng Dong, Mariesa Crow, Badrul H. Chowdhury, Levent Acar

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Voltage collapse studies are made to gain an insight into mechanisms that drive a system into collapse. The inter-play of generator controls in local and external areas are explored. Simulations are carried out on a medium sized network by a transient dynamic simulation program. Simulation results help to better understand remediation strategies. The time dependent characteristics of corrective controls are investigated.

Characterization Of Human Metal Esd Reference Discharge Event And Correlation Of Generator Parameters To Failure Levels-Part I: Reference Event, Ramachandran Chundru, David Pommerenke, Kai Wang, Thomas Van Doren, Jiu Sheng Huang, Federico Centola

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Electrostatic discharge (ESD) generators are used for testing the robustness of electronics toward ESD. Most generators are built in accordance with the IEC 61000-4-2 specifications. Using only a few parameters, this standard specifies the peak current, the rise time and the falling edge. Lacking a transient field specification, test results vary depending on which generator is used, even if the currents are quite similar. Such a specification is needed to improve the test repeatability. As for the current, the specification should be based on a reference human metal ESD event. While keeping the presently set peak current and rise time …

Space-Time Fading Correlation Functions Of A 3-D Mimo Channel Model, Sang-Yick Leong, Y. Rosa Zheng, Chengshan Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Space-time correlation functions between the links of MIMO Rayleigh fading channels are derived using a new three-dimensional (3-D) cylinder scattering model. Closed form, mathematically tractable formulas are obtained for the space-time correlation functions for general MIMO systems where the base station and mobile station antennas may be arranged in 3-D space. It is shown that the correlation functions computed by the 3-D cylinder model are of significant difference than those of the conventional 2-D Clarke''s isotropic scattering model for vertically placed antennas. The general formulas of the correlation functions includes the 2-D Clarke''s model and the 3-D SIMO, MISO models …

Building A Comprehensive Energy Model For Off-Highway Vehicles With Emphasis On Vehicle Thermal Control Systems, Ayhan Zora

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Utilizing machine and thermal system simulations (vehicle energy models) can be very helpful for vehicle manufacturing companies to develop a machine with acceptable component temperatures, less heat loads to the vehicle cooling systems, and reduced emissions that will also reduce overall product development cycle.

Energy models of vehicles were developed mostly in the automotive industry, and most of these studies were based on partial energy models.

The aim of this research study was to create a comprehensive energy model for agricultural machinery, which will be a basis for future work on similar products. A tractor model from a Midwest off-road …

Modeling And Measuring The Dispersion Of Odors From Hog Confinements, François Béra

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

A comparison was made between predicted and measured odor concentration downwind of two hog finishing confinements. Two Gaussian dispersion models, STINKBAK and AERMOD, were used. The experimental cases examined odor emanating from a mechanically-ventilated facility and a curtain-sided facility during summer 2003. A field olfactometer was used to measure odor concentration. The odor concentrations served as input to STINKBAK, which then estimated the odor emission rate from the confinement. AERMOD used this emission rate and other meteorological data to predict the peak concentration of odor around the confinement over the sampling hour.

The calculated odor emission rates are slightly higher …

Dastar Corp. V. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Carrie Jones

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

The Trademark Act of 19461 codified select portions of the common law on trademark and unfair competition. Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act, as it is more commonly known, protects consumers and competitors from the "reverse passing off' of one's work as another's. In Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., the United States Supreme Court recently considered whether section 43(a) prohibits the unattributed copying of works available in the public domain. The Ninth Circuit had found that Fox could bring a claim against Dastar (which had copied and repackaged without attribution a Fox video series) under the Lanham …

Copyright Under Siege: The First Amendment Front, Lackland H. Bloom Jr.

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

For the past twenty-five years, I have taught courses in both Copyright and Freedom of Speech. Until quite recently, these two tangentially-related subjects have co-existed in peaceful harmony. Over the years, I have traditionally devoted about ten minutes of Copyright class time to the free speech issue and no time at all in Freedom of Speech class to issues of copyright. That was then; the old world has changed. Now, we have collectively become embroiled in what some are calling the "copyright wars", with the First Amendment (specifically, freedom of speech) as one of the central battlegrounds. In 1970, two …

A Softer Side To Men, Michael J. Lenney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

“I am on time. It’s the afternoon of my medical for life-insurance suitability. The AMP building in Sydney is my destination. I arrive with about twenty minutes to spare. I don’t remember the receptionist. I don’t remember the faces of the doctors who attended me that day. All I can remember is that I could see the clouds passing over the glass ceiling as my blood pressure was taken several times. The first doctor took my blood pressure three times before seeking another opinion. The second doctor confirmed his fears. I was in the “too high” risk category. At the …

Optimisation Of John The Ripper In A Clustered Linux Environment, Christian Frichot

Theses : Honours

To aid system administrators in enforcing strict password policies, the use of password cracking tools such as Cisilia (C.I.S.I.ar, 2003) and John the Ripper (Solar Designer, 2002), have been employed as software utilities to look for "weak" passwords. John the Ripper (JtR) attempts to crack the passwords by using a dictionary, brute-force or "other" mode of attack. The computational intensity of cracking passwords has led to the utilisation of parallel-processing environments to increase the speed of the password-cracking task. Parallel-processing environments can consist of either single systems with multiple processors, or a collection of separate computers working together as a …

Child Custody Disputes: Bridging The Gap Between Psychologists And Family Court, Kate Pratsides

Theses : Honours

The number of divorce cases that come before judges and registrars within the Family Court system is steadily increasing, and so is the use of psychologists as expert witnesses. However, little is known about what the judges and registrars think of the psychologist's use of psychometric test results when writing their forensic report, this study attempts to answer that. This thesis is presented in two sections. The first is a literature review of guidelines that are available to psychologists when writing a forensic report. These guidelines include (1) broad guidelines provided by professional associations, such as the American Psychological Association; …

New Testament Theology, Scott A. Ellington

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Intermediate Accounting I, William Hahn

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Course Information/Syllabus Microbiology, Steelman Library, Victorine Alleyne Dr.

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

The Bible And Hermeneutics: Interpreting Scripture According To The Scriptures, Richard M. Davidson

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

To Ghana: February-March 2004, Keith Clouten

Faculty Publications

The first indication that Ghana might be on my travel itinerary came during the ASDAL Conference 2000 held at Andrews University. Vida Mensah, who is library director at Valley View University in Ghana, was among several librarians who came to that conference from places worldwide. As the conference workshops drew to a close, Vida stopped by my office to talk about Valley View’s need for a new library, and to ask for my help in preparing specifications for a building. Nothing was promised, but there was an underlying assumption that I would come to Valley View University sometime soon to …