Digital Commons Network^™

Structural Optimization Using Ansys And Regulated Multiquadric Response Surface Model, Ajaykumar Menon

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The high computational expense of large non-linear and complex finite element analysis limits or often prohibits the use of conventional codes in engineering design and multidisciplinary optimization. Consequently alternate methods such as Design of experiments (DOE) and Response surface approximation are commonly used to minimize the computational cost of running such analysis and simulation. The basic approach of such methods is to construct a simplified mathematical approximation of the computationally expensive simulation and analysis code, which is then used in place of the original code to facilitate multidisciplinary optimization, design space exploration, reliability analysis etc. When such codes along with …

Comparison Of Clinoptilolite With Gravel In A Recirculating Course Media Biofilter Treating Simulated Septic Tank Effluent, Adnan Sadikot

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The main objective of the pilot scale study was to compare the performance of recirulating clinoptilolite biofilter with course gravel biofilter used to treat simulated septic tank effluent by simultaneous nitrification and denitrification. For better comparison of performance of total inorganic nitrogen removal and COD removal both the biofilter were chosen of identical size and identical operating conditions were maintained in the laboratory setup. Both the biofilters were operated at recycle ratio of 6 and surface hydraulic loading rate of 7.5 gal/ft2/day without recycle and 52.5 gal/ft2/day with recycle through out the duration of the duration of the research. Results …

Effects Of Water-Cement Ratio On Deep Mixing Treated Expansive Clay Characteristics, Siva Prasad Pathivada

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

The structures built on the unstabilized expansive soils are subjected to distress due to swell shrink behavior due to seasonal fluctuations. Medium stiff expansive clays with moderate and high PI were collected from two sites located at IH 820 N bound in Fort Worth, Texas. Deep soil mixing technique was proposed as a potential solution to counter the shrink swell movements of the expansive soil. These soils were stabilized using lime and cement as a whole and in combinations at different proportions in laboratory conditions simulating field deep soil mixing. Similar studies performed on soft soils revealed several factors mainly …

Numerical Modeling And Analysis Of Pile Supported Embankments, Krishna Nag Rao

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Very soft clays are often avoided in construction due to their low shear strength and high compressibility. Special construction methods are adopted when embankments are constructed on very soft clay or peat. Design of structures on soft ground, where the structure impose large loads onto the ground raises several concerns on factors like bearing capacity failure, differential settlements, lateral pressures and structural instability. Shallow and deep stabilization of soft ground are most frequently used special construction techniques adopted in geotechnical engineering. Chemical (lime and cement) stabilization has been extensively used in both shallow and deep stabilization in order to improve …

Medicaid Third-Party Liability And Claims For Restitution: Defining The Proper Role For The Tort System In Regulating The Food Industry, Coby Warren Logan

Journal of Food Law & Policy

This comment contends that tort liability can complement legislative and administrative government regulation of the food industry, providing sellers and manufacturers of food with an incentive to prevent consumers from over-consumption and becoming obese. Specifically, this comment supports the proposition that after government regulations are promulgated by Congress, claims should be allowed by state attorneys general to recoup Medicaid costs incurred in treating health conditions and illnesses caused by obesity.

Hanging The Moonbow : Tom Wallace And The Cumberland Falls Fight, 1926-1931., Noah Garland Huffman 1981-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an examination of Louisville Times editor Tom Wallace's fight to prevent the construction of a hydroelectric dam at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky between 1926 and 1931. By mining Wallace's recently cataloged personal papers, this study provides a narrative of Wallace's lead role in the campaign that resulted in the preservation of Cumberland Falls and the establishment of a state park on the site in 1931. More importantly, however, as a case study of conservation activism during the understudied period from late 1920s and early 1930s, this thesis illustrates how Wallace developed certain arguments and strategies that were especially …

Indentation Response Of Polymer Films And Aircraft Wiring With Polymer Insulation., Kaushik Bindiganavile Nagendran 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The airline regulatory communities are interested in methods that can access degradation in the polymer insulation of aging aircraft wiring. This study investigates the response of bulk polymer films and aircraft wiring under indentation; changes in the behavior of the material may provide an indication of degradation. For this study, indentation tests are performed using a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA), which provides excellent force and displacement sensitivity and can test materials at a wide range of temperatures. Each indentation test consists of two test phases: loading and relaxation. During loading, the indenter is displaced into the material at a constant …

Fabrication Of A Microfluidic Platform For Impedance Analysis Of Cultured Endothelial Cell Monolayers., Stuart J. Williams 1981-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing the functionality of the endothelium can provide insight into the initiation and formation of arterial diseases. One of the most important functions of the endothelial layer is its permeability. The integrity of the cell monolayer and its ability to transport molecules can be assessed in vitro by investigating the electrical impedance. In this study, a microfluidic platform was created using an electrode-patterned glass substrate and microfluidic poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) substrate. The electrode glass base of the structure was fabricated with platinum square electrodes of various sizes ranging from 10x10 ìm2 to 160x160 ìm2 and a larger, common counter electrode. …

Website Optimization, Design, And Restructuring., Christopher Thomas Gibson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The website has become a staple in the business environment, to provide information and services, and connect business-to-business and business-to-customers. Many of these sites require re-engineering in order to facilitate the needed complexities and frequent changes demanded. For such efforts, it is essential for web management to be adequately quantified with relevant metrics and measures. This thesis investigates useful metrics through a case study approach and presents usability and maintainability as the two primary categories of metrics, which provide useful information for web engineering analysis and development.

Novel Processes For Large Area Gallium Nitride Single Crystal And Nanowire Growth., Hongwei Li 1975-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

III-nitrides (InN, GaN, AlN) are some of the most promising materials for making blue light emitting diodes (LED), blue laser diodes (LD) and high power, high temperature field effect transistors (FET). Current techniques produce GaN films with defect densities on the order of 107/cm2 or higher. The performance and life-time of the devices critically depend upon the defect densities and high power, high frequency devices require the defect densities to be lower than 104/cm2. So, the need for new processes to produce large size GaN crystals with defect densities less than 107/cm2 is immediate. In addition to large area single …

Explore The Murine Cardiac 20s Proteasomes : Molecular Composition And Regulation., Chenggong Zong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

20S proteasome, essential component of protein degradation mechanism, is important to maintain homeostasis. Its malfunctions have been associated with several pathological conditions. This study presents an extensive study of murine cardiac 20S proteasome. Using biochemical methods, 20S proteasome have been purified to 95%. Proteomic study identified all 20S proteasome subunits. Endogenous phosphorylation was also documented. Furthermore, several associating kinases and phosphatase were identified. They regulated its activities. In PKCå over-expression mice, 20S proteasome expression level was up-regulated, but its peptidase activities did not increase. áB crystallin were recruited to PKCå subproteome in the transgenic mice, which also associated with 20S …

Validation Of An In Vivo Model For Monitoring Trabecular Bone Quality Changes Using Finite Element Analysis., Boon Horng Kam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A combination of three techniques – high resolution micro computed tomography (micro CT) scanning, Archimedes-based volume fraction measurement and serial sectioning or milling – were used to determine the volume fraction, trabecular thickness, trabecular separation, trabecular number and micro finite element analysis combined with mechanical testing was used to determine the apparent stiffness and tissue modulus to quantify bone quality in rabbit distal femur trabecular bone. The objectives of this dissertation were two-fold. First, to develop the capabilities of micro CT scanning and micro CT image segmentation based on a slice-by-slice global thresholding technique to investigate trabecular microstructural changes in …

Statistics-Based Approaches To Stochastic Optimal Control Problems, Aihong Wen

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation develops practical approaches to stochastic optimal control problems in the absence of linear system transition functions, quadratic cost functions, and/or Gaussian random disturbances. In such type of problems, an analytical solution is impossible and numerical synthesis techniques have to be applied. The ''classic'' algorithms existing in the literature suffer from the problem of the''curse of dimensionality,'' an exponential increase of computation time and memory requirements as the dimension of the problem grows. The statistics-based numerical approaches are presented as the main tools for mitigating the ``curse of dimensionality'' phenomenon. Two approaches are explored: (A) stochastic dynamic programming (SDP), …

A New Fault Information Model For Fault-Tolerant Adaptive And Minimal Routing In 3-D Meshes, Zhen Jiang, Jie Wu, Dajin Wang

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

In this paper we rewrite Wang's Minimal-Connected-Component (MCC) model [7] in 2-D meshes without using global information so that not only the existence of a minimal path can be ensured at the source, but also such a path can be formed by routing decisions at intermediate nodes along the path. We extend this MCC model and the corresponding routing in 2-D meshes to 3-D meshes. It is based on our early work on fault tolerant adaptive and minimal routing [9] and the boundary information model [8] in 3-D meshes. We study fault tolerant adaptive and minimal routing from the source …

Lineage Path Integration For Phylogenetic Resources, Katherine G. Herbert, Shashikanth Puspati, Jason T.L. Wang, William H. Piel

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

With the increase of genome and proteome data, phylogenetic information and phylogenetic analysis tools are increasing greatly in current biological repositories. First, many repositories allow users to browse information about species through taxonomic tools. These tools present the species with its lineage path and links to the various types of information the repository provides about the species. Second, some multiple sequence alignment tools offer users basic phylogenetic data through applying basic reconstruction algorithms to the alignment. With the availability of this information in multiple locations, integrated tools are needed to allow the user to compare this data. This paper presents …

Full Issue, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

A Special Issue On Bionanotechnology - Preface, Peixuan Guo

Other Nanotechnology Publications

Nanotechnology is concerned with the creation and manipulation of functional structures having dimensions ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers. This size range encompasses a scientific and technological gap. The most effective strategy for the development of viable new technology is, therefore, to close this gap at both ends through the use of the “top-down” or “bottom-up” approaches. A top-down approach refers to the production of nanoscale structures by breaking, cutting, or etching techniques, whereas a bottom-up approach refers to the assembly of structures atom-by-atom or molecule-bymolecule. A general and simple bottom-up approach used in bionanotechnology relies upon the …

Rna Nanotechnology: Engineering, Assembly And Applications In Detection, Gene Delivery And Therapy, Peixuan Guo

Other Nanotechnology Publications

Biological macromolecules including DNA, RNA, and proteins, have intrinsic features that make W them potential building blocks for the bottom-up fabrication of nanodevices. RNA is unique in nanoscale fabrication due to its amazing diversity of function and structure. RNA molecules can be designed and manipulated with a level of simplicity characteristic of DNA while possessing versatility in structure and function similar to that of proteins. RNA molecules typically contain a large variety of single stranded loops suitable for inter- and intra-molecular interaction. These loops can serve as mounting dovetails obviating the need for external linking dowels in fabrication and assembly. …

Court Review: Volume 41, Issue 3-4 - Friends Of The Court? The Bar, The Media, And The Public, Steve Leben, John Russonello, Malcom Feeley

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

The fourth panel discussion at the National Forum on Judicial Independence explores the way the public thinks about judicial independence and ways in which the media and members of the bar may affect judicial independence. The discussion was led by then-AJA secretary Steve Leben, a state general-jurisdiction trial judge from Kansas. Panelists were John Russonello, a pollster and consultant to nonprofit organizations, political campaigns, and other clients, and Malcolm Feeley, professor at the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California-Berkeley. The National Forum on Judicial Independence was supported by a generous grant from the Joyce Foundation of …

An Automated Optimal Design Of A Fan Blade Using An Integrated Cfd/Mdo Computer Environment, Uyi O. Idahosa

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The objective of the investigation is the development of more efficient design methodologies based on the applications of established design tools including Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and non-linear Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) algorithms. Well known evolutionary type optimization algorithms include the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), Response Surface Optimization (RSO) and Genetic (GA) Algorithms. The benchmark case study is the optimal design of a low speed fan for an industrial air-conditioning application using the Response Surface Optimization (RSO) algorithm.

The optimization algorithm controls the variations of parameters that describe the three-dimensional geometry of the blade while applying performance and geometrical constraints …

Looking Beyond The Curriculum In Jamaica, Jon T. Jacobsen, Michael E. Orrison Jr.

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In August 2004, we had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica to lead a pilot workshop for Jamaican high school math teachers. The workshop focused on the importance of mathematical context in the teaching of mathematics. It was sponsored by the Gibraltar Institute, a Jamaica-based nongovernmental organization led by Trevor Campbell (Pomona College) and Reginald Nugent (Cal State Pomona), Jamaica’s College of Agriculture, Science and Education, and Harvey Mudd College.

Distributed Blowing And Suction For The Purpose Of Streak Control In A Boundary Layer Subjected To A Favorable Pressure Gradient, Eric Forgoston, Anatoli Tumin, David E. Ashpis

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

An analysis of the optimal control by blowing and suction in order to generate streamwise velocity streaks is presented. The problem is examined using an iterative process that employs the Parabolized Stability Equations for an incompressible fluid along with its adjoint equations. In particular, distributions of blowing and suction are computed for both the normal and tangential velocity perturbations for various choices of parameters.

Three-Dimensional Wave Packet In A Hypersonic Boundary Layer, Eric Forgoston, Anatoli Tumin

Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A three-dimensional wave packet generated by a local disturbance in a hypersonic boundary layer flow is studied with the aid of the previously solved initial-value problem. The solution to this problem can be expanded in a biorthogonal eigenfunction system as a sum of discrete and continuous modes. A specific disturbance consisting of an initial temperature spot is considered, and the receptivity to this initial temperature spot is computed for both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional cases. Using previous analysis of the discrete and continuous spectrum, we numerically compute the inverse Fourier transform. The two-dimensional inverse Fourier transform is found for Mode …

The Role Of Uk Local Authorities In Promoting The Bus, Michelle Morris, Stephen Ison, Marcus Enoch

Journal of Public Transportation

To deal with rising city center congestion and its associated pollution, the UK government has proposed a number of policy measures. In particular, the 1998 White Paper indicated that “the bus industry will make an important and cost-effective contribution to tackling congestion and pollution at the local level.” Since the privatization of the bus industry during the 1980s, local government—the primary agents of delivering transport policy objectives in the UK—have had relatively little control over the provision of bus services in their localities, particularly outside London. One area in which local authorities can exert influence, however, is through the promotion …

Full Issue 8(5)

Journal of Public Transportation

No abstract provided.

An Annotated Bibliography Of Faculty Mentoring Of Undergraduate Research, Anthony Stamatoplos

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

This annotated bibliography is a guide to literature on faculty mentoring of independent undergraduate research. It consists of 30 entries, each with a descriptive annotation focusing on the publication’s potential use to researchers, practitioners, and program administrators. Five prefatory paragraphs summarize the literature as of 2005.

Monitoring Health By Detecting Drifts And Outliers In Patterns Of An Inhabitant In A Smart Home, Gaurav Jain

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The elderly, along with people with disabilities or chronic illness, are most often dependent on some kind of formal or informal care. They are forced to move to a place where they can be cared for. Automatic health monitoring allows them to maintain their independence and continue living at home longer by continuously providing key health and activity information to caregivers. In this thesis, we present a novel technique, called the Health Monitoring System (HMS), which is a data-driven automated monitoring system for detecting changes in the patterns of activities/inactivity, health data and the living environment. HMS classifies these changes …

Infosearch: A System For Searching And Retrieving Documents Using Complex Queries, Nikhil Deshpande

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The colossal amount of information available online has resulted in overloading users who need to navigate this information for their routine requirements. Although search engines have been effective in reducing this information overload, they support only queries involving keywords and Boolean operators. There are certain application domains where more expressive ways of searching are necessary. Consider searching a full-text patent database for documents containing more than n occurrences of a pattern, or for documents that have a particular pattern followed by another pattern within a specified interval. Such complex patterns involving pattern frequency and sequence, as well as patterns involving …

Customization Of A Generic Search Engine By Adding User Categories, Ajay Mohandas Madkaiker

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The current search engines available on the Net are generic in nature. They do not consider user preferences and treat all users information needs in the same way. As a result they frequently return a large number of links, that do not meet the user's information need. This requires more searching to find what the user is looking for. For example if a user is interested in a particular game, e.g. cricket, and enters the query world cup, a generic search engine would return links of all the sports that hold a world cup. The user has to browse through …

Estream: An Integration Of Event And Stream Processing, Vihang Garg

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Event and stream data processing models have been researched extensively and are utilized in diverse application domains. Advanced applications require both event and stream processing, which is currently not supported. Although there are number of similarities and differences between them, a synergistic integration of their strengths will be better than the sum of their parts. In this thesis, we present EStream, an integrated event and stream processing system for monitoring changes on stream computations and for expressing and processing complex events on continuous queries (CQs). We introduce attribute-based constraints for reducing uninteresting events that are generated from CQs. We discuss …