Digital Commons Network^™

Whalesong 2009-12-09 (V.28 No.8), Randi Spray, Hollis Kitchin, Mallory Millay, Kent Kay, Taylor Murph, Jeremy Hsieh, Kendra Swearingen, Pat Race

Whalesong

No abstract provided.

Wmu Board Of Trustees Formal Session Conference Call December 9, 2009, Wmu Board Of Trustees

WMU Board of Trustees Meetings

Minutes of the WMU Board of Trustees Conference Call December 9, 2009 include:

• Sabbaticals awarded

The Bg News December 9, 2009, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. December 9, 2009. Volume 100-Issue 71.

Oculomotor Control In Patients With Parkinson's Disease, George Gitchel

Theses and Dissertations

There have been few studies investigating the eye movement behavior of Parkinson’s disease patients during fixation. This study objectively measured the eye movements of 36 patients with Parkinson’s disease, and 20 age matched controls. Stimuli consisted of ten standardized text passages first organized by Miller and Coleman. In addition, subjects followed a randomly displaced step jump target motion. Pendular nystagmus was found in all Parkinson’s subjects, with an average frequency of 7.44 Hz. Saccadic peak velocity and duration along the main sequence were not statistically different from controls. A slower rate of reading was also noted in the Parkinson’s group …

Large-Scale Distributed Coalition Formation, Daniel R. Karrels

Theses and Dissertations

The CyberCraft project is an effort to construct a large scale Distributed Multi-Agent System (DMAS) to provide autonomous Cyberspace defense and mission assurance for the DoD. It employs a small but flexible agent structure that is dynamically reconfigurable to accommodate new tasks and policies. This document describes research into developing protocols and algorithms to ensure continued mission execution in a system of one million or more agents, focusing on protocols for coalition formation and Command and Control. It begins by building large-scale routing algorithms for a Hierarchical Peer to Peer structured overlay network, called Resource-Clustered Chord (RC-Chord). RC-Chord introduces the …

Performance Analysis Of Live-Virtual-Constructive And Distributed Virtual Simulations: Defining Requirements In Terms Of Temporal Consistency, Douglas D. Hodson

Theses and Dissertations

This research extends the knowledge of live-virtual-constructive (LVC) and distributed virtual simulations (DVS) through a detailed analysis and characterization of their underlying computing architecture. LVCs are characterized as a set of asynchronous simulation applications each serving as both producers and consumers of shared state data. In terms of data aging characteristics, LVCs are found to be first-order linear systems. System performance is quantified via two opposing factors; the consistency of the distributed state space, and the response time or interaction quality of the autonomous simulation applications. A framework is developed that defines temporal data consistency requirements such that the objectives …

Electromagnetic Field Control And Optimization Using Metamaterials, Jeffrey S. Mcguirk

Theses and Dissertations

Transformation optics has shown the ability to cloak an object from incident electromagnetic radiation is possible. However, the material parameters are inhomogeneous, anisotropic, and, in some instances, singular at various locations. In order for a cloak to be practically realized, simplified parameter sets are required. However, the simplified parameters result in a degradation in the cloaking function. Constitutive parameters for simplified two-dimensional cylindrical cloaks have been developed with two material property constraints. It was initially believed satisfying these two constraints would result in the simplified cylindrical cloaks having the same wave equation as an ideal cloak. Because of this error, …

Discrete Film Cooling In A Rocket With Curved Walls, Jonathan F. Mccall

Theses and Dissertations

This study quantified the effects of discrete wall-based film cooling in a rocket with curved walls. Simulations and experiments showed decreasing with wall radius of curvature, holding jet diameter constant, improves net heat flux reduction (NHFR) and adiabatic effectiveness (η) for 90˚ compound injected cylindrical jets, though η is reduced at the highest curvature. NHFR and η improved further with a high favorable stream-wise pressure gradient (K=2.1x10^-5) at all tested blowing ratios, but were affected little by a high density ratio (DR=1.76) using carbon dioxide as the coolant. Experiments were run at a Reynolds number of 31K and …

Investigation Into Contact Resistance And Damage Of Metal Contacts Used In Rf-Mems Switches, Kevin W. Gilbert

Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the physical and electrical processes involved in lifecycle failure of Microelectromechanical (MEMS) Radio-Frequency (RF) cantilever beam ohmic contact switches. Failures of these switches generally occur at the contact, but complete details of performance of microcontacts are difficult to measure and have not been previously reported. This study investigated the mechanics of microcontact behavior by designing and constructing a novel experimental setup. Three representative contact materials of varying microstructure (Au, Au5%Ru, Au4%V₂O₅) were tested and parameters of contact during cycling were measured. The Au4%V₂O₅, a dispersion strengthened material developed at …

Fatigue Behavior Of An Advanced Sic/Sic Composite At Elevated Temperature In Air And In Steam, Devon T. Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

The fatigue behavior of an advanced Silicon Carbide/Silicon Carbide (SiC/SiC) ceramic matrix composite (CMC) was investigated at 1200 ˚C in laboratory air and in steam environments. The composite consisted of a SiC matrix reinforced with Boron Nitride (BN) coated Hi-Nicalon fibers woven into eight-harness-satin (8HS) weave plies. Tensile stress-strain behavior and tensile properties were also evaluated at 1200 ˚C. Tension-tension fatigue tests were conducted in both laboratory air and in steam at 1200 ˚C at frequencies of 0.1 Hz, 1.0 Hz, and 10 Hz. The tension-tension fatigue tests had a ratio of minimum stress to maximum stress of R = …

Flow Measurements Using Particle Image Velocimetry In The Ultra Compact Combustor, Levi M. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Velocity measurements were performed using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique on the Ultra Compact Combustor (UCC) test rig at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). Velocity patterns and time-averaged turbulence statistics were calculated for data taken with the UCC burning hydrogen fuel in the straight cavity vane and curved cavity vane configurations. The equivalence ratio was varied from 0.7 to 1.5, while the ratio of cavity air to main air was varied from 5% to 20% in testing performed on the straight vane configuration. Spanwise velocity was observed to decrease linearly with distance from the cavity vane over …

Flow Visualization Study Of Passive Flow Control Features On A Film-Cooled Turbine Blade Leading Edge, Daniel R. Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

A flow visualization study was conducted on a model of a film-cooled turbine blade leading edge in a closed-loop water channel at Re_D = 30k. The model consisted of an 8.89 cm diameter half-cylinder with flat afterbody joined at the ninety degree point. A single radial coolant hole (d_c / D = 0.054) drilled 21.5° from the stagnation line, angled 20° to the surface and 90° to the flow direction generated a coolant jet transverse to the freestream. Water channel testing assessed the hydrodynamic effects of 16 passive flow control features, to include a variety of …

An Empirical Methodology For Engineering Human Systems Integration, Nicholas S. Hardman

Theses and Dissertations

The systems engineering technical processes are not sufficiently supported by methods and tools that quantitatively integrate human considerations into early system design. Because of this, engineers must often rely on qualitative judgments or delay critical decisions until late in the system lifecycle. Studies reveal that this is likely to result in cost, schedule, and performance consequences. This dissertation presents a methodology to improve the application of systems engineering technical processes for design. This methodology is mathematically rigorous, is grounded in relevant theory, and applies extant human subjects data to critical systems development challenges. The methodology is expressed in four methods …

Heat And Current Propagation In Buffered Superconducting And Hyper-Conducting Wire, Jesse L. Lynn

Theses and Dissertations

This research models and analyzes the distribution of heat and current in a buffered superconducting or hyper-conducting wire that shows potential for use in different capacities in multiple Air Force systems including the Active Denial System. The thesis includes a brief background of the reaction-diffusion system of partial differential equations provided by AFRL/RZPG and development of the numerical scheme. It then explores solutions to the model. These solutions indicate some of the various heat-related failures that may be observed in such a wire. The nature of the solutions observed depends on the characteristics of the wire, operating temperature and efficiency …

Midwave Infrared Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometry Of Combustion Plumes, Kenneth C. Bradley

Theses and Dissertations

A midwave infrared (MWIR) imaging Fourier transform spectrometer (IFTS) was used to successfully capture and analyze hyperspectral imagery of combustion plumes. Jet engine exhaust data from a small turbojet engine burning diesel fuel at a flow rate of 300 cm³/min was collected at 1 cm⁻¹ resolution from a side-plume vantage point on a 200x64 pixel window at a range of 11.2 meters. Spectral features of water, CO, and CO² were present, and showed spatial variability within the plume structure. An array of thermocouple probes was positioned within the plume to aid in temperature analysis. A single-temperature …

Analysis Of Expedient Field Decontamination Methods For The Xmx/2l-Mil High-Volume Aerosol Sampler, Brandon C. Laroche

Theses and Dissertations

The XMX/2L-MIL is a high volume air sampler used by the Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineering community to collect biological aerosols. Without a verified decontamination technique, however, the XMX cannot be used effectively. The objective of this study was to evaluate several proposed methods for expedient field decontamination of the XMX. This study centered on the inactivation of Bacillus atrophaeus spores and vegetative Erwinia herbicola organisms from the XMX inner canister. The goals in this investigation were twofold: 1) to verify the antimicrobial efficacy of a 10% bleach solution and 2) to determine if wiping the components with a bleach-soaked paper …

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 9, 2009, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

The Colby Echo (2009-12-09), Colby College

The Colby Echo

Published by the students of Colby College since 1877, The Colby Echo is the weekly, editorially independent student-run newspaper of Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Published monthly, 1877-1886; semi-monthly, 1886-1897; and weekly, during the academic year, 1898-present.

Atomic Force Microscopy Of Dna Self-Assembled Nanostructures For Device Applications, Hieu Bui, Craig Onodera, Bernard Yurke, Elton Graugnard, Wan Kuang, Jeunghoon Lee, William B. Knowlton, William L. Hughes

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

DNA nanotechnology, which relies on Watson-Crick hybridization, is a versatile selfassembly process whereby a variety of complex nanostructures can be fabricated with sublithographic features.[1] Adopting this technology, 1012 identical devices can be synthesized to have hundreds of components with 1nm resolution. Example nanostructures include: 1) DNA motifs [2], 2) two-dimensional DNA crystals [3], and DNA origami [4]. Currently, this technology is being adopted towards electronic, optical, and opto-electronic devices.[5]

Stony Brook Press, V. 31, N. 07, Stony Brook University. Stony Brook Press.

Stony Brook Press

v. 31, n. 07, v.:ill. ; 38 cm (original analog pub.)

Laser-Induced Fluorescence And Synthetic Jet Fuel Analysis In The Ultra Compact Combustor, Aaron C. Drenth

Theses and Dissertations

The Ultra-Compact Combustor (UCC) is currently under investigation at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and Air Force Research Laboratory’s Propulsion Directorate. The combustor is a small-scale, axi-symmetric, atmospheric pressure, laboratory combustor with an outer circumferential cavity in which the flame is stabilized by a highly accelerated swirled flow. UCCs will enable aero gas turbine reheat cycle engines and significantly shorten conventional aero gas turbine engines. The experiments of this work utilized the AFIT small-scale combustion diagnostics facility, investigating a sector model of the UCC. The research objectives were to perform an addition to the COAL lab laser diagnostic …

Cellular Multilayer Perceptron For Prediction Of Voltages In A Power System, Lisa L. Grant, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the increase in renewable energy sources connected to the power grid, better identification tools are needed for power system voltage profile prediction. Current deregulation trends have led to voltages operating close to stability limits which increases the need for quick estimation tools for system security and contingency analysis. This paper presents a Cellular Multilayer Perceptron (CMLP) architecture for fast identification and prediction of bus voltages. the CMLP method is compared with a standard MLP neural network for bus voltage prediction on the 12-bus three-area test power system. CMLPs can represent a direct mapping of any power system simplifying the …

Short To Medium Range Time Series Prediction Of Solar Irradiance Using An Echo State Network, Stephen M. Ruffing, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An Echo State Network (ESN) can make multi-step predictions since it can process temporal information without the training difficulties encountered by conventional recurrent neural networks. an ESN is applied in this paper to make multistep predictions of solar irradiance, 30 minutes to 270 minutes into the future. the ESN is trained and tested using two performance metrics (correlation coefficient and mean squared error) on meteorological and solar data recorded at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Solar Radiation Research Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. When feedback of target outputs is utilized, an improvement is seen for the first performance metric, while no …

Comparison Of Enhanced-Pso And Classical Optimization Methods: A Case Study For Statcom Placement, Yamille Del Valle, Ronald G. Harley, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper validates the effectiveness of an enhanced particle swarm optimizer (Enhanced-PSO) method in solving the problem of optimal allocation of FACTS devices in a power system. the performance of the Enhanced-PSO method is compared with classical optimization approaches using a simple but realistic case study of optimal allocation of STATCOM devices, considering steady state and economic criteria. This paper also discusses the concepts and details about the optimization process that tend to be overlooked in the literature since the selection of an optimization algorithm highly depends on them. © 2009 IEEE.

An Introduction To The Echo State Network And Its Applications In Power System, Jing Dai, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Ronald G. Harley

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Echo State Network (ESN) is a new type of Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) proposed in recent years. the training process of ESN is easier and requires less computational effort than regular RNN which has the same size. Due to its high modeling capability of complex dynamic system, ESN has been used in various power system applications such as power system nonlinear load modeling and true harmonic current detection, wide area monitoring, intelligent control of an Active Power Filter (APF), overhead conductor thermal dynamics identification, wind speed or water inflow forecasting, etc. This paper introduces the basic concept and the offline …

Heuristic Algorithms For Solving Convex And Nonconvex Economic Dispatch, Yusuf Yare, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Ahmed Yousuf Saber

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Economic dispatch (ED) is a power system optimization problem, and its objective is to reduce the total generation cost of units while satisfying constraints. the presence of nonlinearities in practical generator operation makes solving the ED problem more challenging. These generator nonlinearities are modeled as constraints to be met in the form of ramp-rate limits and prohibited operating zones. This paper proposes three heuristic algorithms, namely, the genetic algorithm (GA), differential evolution (DE) and modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO) to solve this ED problem for two test systems. Simulation, numerical results and convergence performances of these three algorithms are presented …

Comparative Study Of Population Based Techniques For Power System Stabilizer Design, Pinaki Mitra, Chuan Yan, Lisa Grant, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Komla Folly

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Power System Stabilizers (PSSs) are used in interconnected power systems in order to mitigate low frequency oscillations. the comparison of the performances of four advanced population-based techniques in tuning the parameters of PSS in a three-machine-nine-bus test system is presented in this paper. the algorithms considered in this paper are A) Differential Evolution based Particle Swarm Optimization (DEPSO), b) Modified Clonal Selection Algorithm (MCSA), c) Small Population based Particle Swarm Optimization (SPPSO) and d) Population based Incremental Learning (PBIL). the comparative study is focused on the frequency domain performances. It is observed that MCSA is performing better than the other …

Tailored Systems Architecture For Design Of Space Science And Technology Missions Using Dodaf V2.0, Nicholas J. Merski

Theses and Dissertations

The use of systems architecture, following a set of integrated descriptions from an architecture framework, has been well codified in Department of Defense acquisition and systems engineering. However, in the Space Science and Technology (S&T) community, this guidance and practice is not commonly adopted. This paper outlines an approach to leverage the changes made in DoD Architecture Framework 2.0 (DoDAF2.0), and the renewed emphasis on data and support to acquisition decision analysis. After decomposing the Space S&T design lifecycle into phases, design milestones and activities using process models, a set of DoDAF prescribed and Fit-for-Purpose views are constructed into a …

A Physical Model Of Human Skin And Its Application For Search And Rescue, Abel S. Nunez

Theses and Dissertations

For this research we created a human skin reflectance model in the VIS and NIR. We then modeled sensor output for an RGB sensor based on output from the skin reflectance model. The model was also used to create a skin detection algorithm and a skin pigmentation level (skin reflectance at 685nm) estimation algorithm. The average root mean square error across the VIS and NIR between the skin reflectance model and measured data was 2%. The skin reflectance model then allowed us to generate qualitatively accurate responses for an RGB sensor for different biological and lighting conditions. To test the …

Ex. 279-Us-401, Dudley W. Reiser

Hedden-Nicely Collection, All

Curriculum Vitae of Dudley W. Reiser