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2011

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An Early Warning Monitoring System For Cnc Spindle Bearing Failure, Andrew Werner Dec 2011

An Early Warning Monitoring System For Cnc Spindle Bearing Failure, Andrew Werner

All Theses

Equipment employed in a manufacturing environment must be able to operate as long as possible having as little downtime as possible. Therefore, maintenance is crucial in order to allow for the equipment to perform its designated tasks without failure, especially on critical systems. In a CNC machine, if the spindle fails, the machine is useless. Having the ability to detect spindle degradation to the point where a replacement spindle installation can be planned, via condition monitoring, is invaluable to a manufacturer who utilizes these types of machines.
An early warning monitoring system for CNC spindle bearing failure has been developed …


A Computational Investigation For Potential Improvements, Angela Grujicic Dec 2011

A Computational Investigation For Potential Improvements, Angela Grujicic

All Theses

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), colloquially known as a concussion, is the most common injury in modern wars. This domination of mTBI is hypothesized to be due to a combination of unconventional explosives and better protection and care of the patients, increasing survivability. While the majority of the body is covered in armor, the head is left relatively unprotected. The current Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) has been designed to protect the warfighter against ballistic impacts and impacts against a hard surface, with little to no regard to blast loading. Polyureas, a class of microsegregated, elastomeric copolymers, has been shown to …


Measuring Digital System Latency From Sensing To Actuation At Continuous 1 Millisecond Resolution, Weixin Wu Dec 2011

Measuring Digital System Latency From Sensing To Actuation At Continuous 1 Millisecond Resolution, Weixin Wu

All Theses

This thesis describes a new method for measuring the end-to-end latency between sensing and actuation in a digital computing system. Compared to previous work, which generally measures the latency at 16-33 ms intervals or at discrete events separated by hundreds of ms, our new method measures the latency continuously at 1 millisecond resolution. This allows for the observation of variations in latency over sub 1 s periods, instead of relying upon averages of measurements. We have applied our method to two systems, the ?rst using a camera for sensing and an LCD monitor for actuation, and the second using an …


Printing Carbon Nanotube Based Supercapacitors For Packaging, Alexandra Hartman Dec 2011

Printing Carbon Nanotube Based Supercapacitors For Packaging, Alexandra Hartman

All Theses

Living in a world full of portable electronics, there is great need for energy storage devices. Currently, limitations for storage involve power inefficiencies as well as bulkiness. This is why printable charge storage devices that display good electrochemical performance are needed. It is for this reason that research into the production and packaging of carbon nanotube based super capacitors was carried out.
A super capacitor can be built by using high surface area multi-walled carbon nanotubes suspended in an ionic liquid. The two active electrodes are made from a combination of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes and an ionic liquid, ground …


Relating Land Cover And Channel Morphology To Stream Flow Function In The Lower Pee Dee Watershed, South Carolina, Zachary Smoot Dec 2011

Relating Land Cover And Channel Morphology To Stream Flow Function In The Lower Pee Dee Watershed, South Carolina, Zachary Smoot

All Theses

The South Carolina Pee Dee Project (SCPDP) aims to develop a method for the determination of Minimum Allowable Flows (MAFs) in streams in the Pee Dee region. This study is a portion of the larger SCPDP, focusing primarily upon analyses of geomorphic and hydrologic processes, as well as landscape and habitat analyses. Specific objectives include: 1) To distinguish the effect of various land cover classes and scales of analyses on components of stream flow function; 2) To determine trends in hydraulic geometry (regional curves) for the SCPDP region; and 3) To determine what measures of stream flow function, stream geomorphology, …


The Design Of A Haptic Device For Training And Evaluating Surgeon And Novice Laparoscopic Movement Skills, Ryan Bontreger Dec 2011

The Design Of A Haptic Device For Training And Evaluating Surgeon And Novice Laparoscopic Movement Skills, Ryan Bontreger

All Theses

As proper levels of force application are necessary to ensure patient safety, and training hours with an expert on live subjects are difficult, enhanced computer-based training is needed to teach the next generation of surgeons. Considering the role of touch in surgery, there is a need for a device capable of discerning the haptic ability of surgical trainees. This need is amplified by minimally invasive surgical techniques where a surgeon's sense of tissue properties comes not directly through their own hands but indirectly through the tools. A haptic device capable of producing a realistic range of forces and motions that …


New Analytical Bounds On The Probability Of Code-Word Error For Convolution Codes With Viterbi Decoding, Shweta Tomar Dec 2011

New Analytical Bounds On The Probability Of Code-Word Error For Convolution Codes With Viterbi Decoding, Shweta Tomar

All Theses

New analytical bounds are developed for the probability of code-word error in a communication system with convolutional coding and soft-decision Viterbi decoding. The bounds are applicable to communications in channels with asynchronous interferers which are modeled as independent, partial-time white Gaussian interference sources. This model is often used in simulations to reflect the circumstances encountered in many packet radio communication networks. The new results include both purely analytical bounds and offline-simulation-aided bounds that permit implementation of accurate communication-link models with much lower online computational and storage requirements than are required with traditional Monte Carlo simulations of link performance. They significantly …


Analysis And Parameterization Of The Flight Of Ember Generation Experiments, Hillary Harris Dec 2011

Analysis And Parameterization Of The Flight Of Ember Generation Experiments, Hillary Harris

All Theses

This thesis presents a study on ember flight modeling based on a series of wind tunnel experiments. The purpose of these experiments and the data collected was to provide the input conditions for an ember flight model in order to compare and validate the model predictions. An analysis was performed which determined the sensitivity of model predictions of downwind mass distribution to uncertainties in the model input parameters.
From the wind tunnel experiments, flight distances were measured and characteristic ember size distributions were obtained from the collected data. A flight model was developed based on standard models published in the …


Evaluation Of Bioaugmentation Strategies To Treat High Concentrations Of Chloroform And Carbon Tetrachloride, Han Wang Dec 2011

Evaluation Of Bioaugmentation Strategies To Treat High Concentrations Of Chloroform And Carbon Tetrachloride, Han Wang

All Theses

Halogenated methanes, including carbon tetrachloride (CT) and chloroform (CF), are significant groundwater contaminants. Options for bioremediation of high concentrations are limited. Previous studies have shown that an enrichment culture (designated DHM-1) that grows on corn syrup has the potential for use in bioaugmentation. DHM-1 cometabolically biotransforms high concentrations of CT and CF to nontoxic end products (mainly CO, CO2, and organic acids) in the presence of vitamin B12 (approximately 3% of chlorinated methanes on a molar basis). Sulfide is also required by this culture to function properly. However, insufficient data are available on its performance under field conditions. Also, it …


Characterization Of De Novo Fatty Acid Biosynthesis In Soybean Somatic Embryo Plastids, Karen Clark Dec 2011

Characterization Of De Novo Fatty Acid Biosynthesis In Soybean Somatic Embryo Plastids, Karen Clark

All Theses

A method for the isolation of intact physiologically active plastids from rapidly developing soybean (Glycine max L.) somatic embryos has been developed for the in vitro study of lipid metabolism. Using de novo fatty acid biosynthesis from 14C-acetate as a marker for physiological functionality, the greatest rates of fatty acid biosynthesis were recovered in 3000 x g fractions that were isolated in the presence of 0.5 M sorbitol, with essentially no activity occurring in the 3000 x g supernatant. Plastids purified on 10% Percoll were approximately 70 and 97 % free from mitochondrial and ER contamination, respectively, as judged …


The Performance Of Serial, Matched-Filter Packet Acquisition Using Transmit And Receive Antenna Diversity, Shivram Ramanathan Dec 2011

The Performance Of Serial, Matched-Filter Packet Acquisition Using Transmit And Receive Antenna Diversity, Shivram Ramanathan

All Theses

The performance of serial, matched-filter acquisition is evaluated for asynchronous packet radio communications using transmit or receive antenna diversity. Transmit diversity is achieved using dual antenna transmissions of orthogonal preamble sequences and receive diversity is achieved using dual antenna reception of a single preamble sequence. Sequential test statistics are formed using non-coherent combining of the outputs from the orthogonal preamble matched-filters if transmitter diversity is used; the test statistics are formed using non coherent combining of the outputs from the preamble matched-filter in each receiver chain if receiver diversity is used. Threshold-based acquisition of the test statistics using both fixed …


Robust Design And Monitoring Tools For Sustainable And Resilient Structural Design And Infrastructure Management, Sarah Dalton Dec 2011

Robust Design And Monitoring Tools For Sustainable And Resilient Structural Design And Infrastructure Management, Sarah Dalton

All Theses

Structural systems are subject to inherent uncertainties due to the variability in many hard-to-control `noise factors' that include but are not limited to external loads, material properties, and construction workmanship. Two design methodologies have been widely accepted in the practicing engineering realm to manage the variability associated with operational structures: Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD). These traditional approaches explicitly recognize the presence of uncertainty; however, they do not take robustness against this uncertainty into consideration. Overlooking this robustness against uncertainty in the structural design process has two drawbacks. First, the design may not satisfy …


Data-Intensive Computing For Bioinformatics Using Virtualization Technologies And Hpc Infrastructures, Pengfei Xuan Dec 2011

Data-Intensive Computing For Bioinformatics Using Virtualization Technologies And Hpc Infrastructures, Pengfei Xuan

All Theses

The bioinformatics applications often involve many computational components and massive data sets, which are very difficult to be deployed on a single computing machine. In this thesis, we designed a data-intensive computing platform for bioinformatics applications using virtualization technologies and high performance computing (HPC) infrastructures with the concept of multi-tier architecture, which can seamlessly integrate the web user interface (presentation tier), scientific workflow (logic tier) and computing infrastructure (data/computing tier). We demonstrated our platform on two bioinformatics projects. First, we redesigned and deployed the cotton marker database (CMD) (http://www.cottonmarker.org), a centralized web portal in the cotton research community, using the …


Development And Application Of A Three-Dimensional Probabilistic Wind-Borne Debris Trajectory Model, James Grayson Dec 2011

Development And Application Of A Three-Dimensional Probabilistic Wind-Borne Debris Trajectory Model, James Grayson

All Theses

This research presents a probabilistic debris trajectory model adapted from current 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DoF) deterministic models, in which the aleatoric (inherent) uncertainty is explicitly considered in the proposed probabilistic model. While the inherent randomness in the debris flight trajectory is irreducible due to the wind turbulence, variation in wind direction, gustiness of the wind event and so forth, the proposed probabilistic model seeks to address these uncertainties through Monte Carlo simulations with the appropriate statistical distributions applied to the governing equations of motion of the debris. Verification of the probabilistic debris trajectory model is performed through an analytical and visual comparison …


A Methodology For Estimating And Comparing The Lifecycles Of High-Build And Conventional Waterborne Pavement Markings On Primary And Secondary Roads In South Carolina, Joseph Robertson Dec 2011

A Methodology For Estimating And Comparing The Lifecycles Of High-Build And Conventional Waterborne Pavement Markings On Primary And Secondary Roads In South Carolina, Joseph Robertson

All Theses

Highway pavement markings constitute a vital component of roadway transportation systems and provide crucial visual cues for the basic driver task of following the road. In 2008, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) initiated a multi-year study to evaluate pavement markings on non-interstate primary and secondary roads in South Carolina. This thesis discusses development of a methodology for estimating and comparing the lifecycles of high-build and conventional waterborne pavement markings based on retroreflectivity levels. The methodology was developed using nearly 3 years of field data from 66 sites throughout South Carolina. This thesis provides an overview of data collection …


The Effects Of Solvent Mixture On The Thermal And Mechanical Properties Of Solvent Cast Poly-Lactic Acid (Pla) Film, Jeremy Hughes Dec 2011

The Effects Of Solvent Mixture On The Thermal And Mechanical Properties Of Solvent Cast Poly-Lactic Acid (Pla) Film, Jeremy Hughes

All Theses

CH 1 ABSTRACT
The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of various solvents on the crystallinity and thermal expansion stability of PLA film. Three different PLA films were produced by the solvent casting technique; PLA in chloroform (PLA-C), PLA in methylene chloride (PLA-M), and PLA in methylene chloride: acetonitrile = 50: 50 (PLA-MA). The PLA-MA had higher % crystallinity, 46.15, than the PLA-C, 24.03, and the PLA-M, 14.25. With this increase in crystallinity, the PLA-MA had improved thermal expansion stability as shown by very low accumulated dimensional changes at 20-100 ¡C. Wide angle x-ray diffraction identified multiple …


Magic Meat, Adam Stewart Dec 2011

Magic Meat, Adam Stewart

All Theses

Have you ever been really secure in what it means to be? If not, it's ok. If so,
don't be delusional. Either way, I have created a series of devices that present the
challenges of self-division and fluctuation, and reveals this complicated human
characteristic not as a product of being broken, fractured, and dysfunctional, but as an
advantageous ability to adopt complex multiple perspectives, sometimes simultaneously.
These devices can be thought of as 'gym equipment' to exercise the more
immaterial, invisible portions of ourselves. Strengthening the connections between
physicality and the mental/emotional aspects of our bodies demonstrates an ability to …


The Development Of A Far Red To Near Infrared Fluorescent Probe For Use In Optical Imaging, Margaret Fiedler Dec 2011

The Development Of A Far Red To Near Infrared Fluorescent Probe For Use In Optical Imaging, Margaret Fiedler

All Theses

New techniques for biological optical imaging are of great interest for the detection and visualization of processes and disease in both clinical and research areas. One major advancement has been the use of far red and near infrared (NIR) light, as it has the ability to penetrate tissues deeper than other parts of the spectrum which are readily scatter and absorbed by the surroundings. In order to improve the signal to noise ratio and resolution of optical images, contrast agents are used. Fluorescent markers can be modified to attach to specific molecular targets, creating small molecular probes. These targets can …


Evaluating The Usability Of System-Generated And User-Generated Passwords Of Approximately Minimum Equal Security, Sourav Bhuyan Dec 2011

Evaluating The Usability Of System-Generated And User-Generated Passwords Of Approximately Minimum Equal Security, Sourav Bhuyan

All Theses

System-generated or user-generated text-based passwords are commonly used by the users to authenticate access to their electronic assets. These passwords may vary in usability and memorability depending on the type of password generation, composition and length. However, little past research has compared usability and memorability of passwords, satisfying minimum entropy for a secure password. This study compared three password policy conditions, assigning/generating passwords of approximately equal minimum security, i.e. 6-character alphanumeric system-generated passwords, minimum 8-character restricted user-generated passwords and minimum 16-character unrestricted user-generated passwords.
The study involved 54 participants, equally divided into three groups, 18 in each password policy condition. …


Effect Of Selected Phase Change Materials Concentration And Manufacturing Process On The Properties Of Plaster Mixture Systems, Rong Cui Dec 2011

Effect Of Selected Phase Change Materials Concentration And Manufacturing Process On The Properties Of Plaster Mixture Systems, Rong Cui

All Theses

Phase change materials (PCM) are generally used in building construction materials for their ability to absorb and release large amounts of energy when their phase change happens at their specific melting temperature. This results in a significant increase in thermal mass of the building, a reduction in temperature fluctuations and therefore a reduction in heating and cooling loads. However, in order to properly select a PCM and optimize its integration in a specific building, the properties of building construction materials enhanced with PCM must be known. This research focuses on studying the effects of the concentration of a micro-encapsulated PCM …


Our Cities And The City: Incompatible Classics?, Carl Abbott Dec 2011

Our Cities And The City: Incompatible Classics?, Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

At the end of the 1930s, Americans interested in the fates and futures of their cities had the opportunity to consider two new efforts to summarize urban problems and propose solutions. The first was Our Cities: Their Role in the National Economy, published in 1937 under the auspices of the National Resources Board. The second was The City, a film sponsored by the American Institute of Planners for showing at the New York world's fair in 1939. The report and the film arose out of different analytical traditions, the first from the approach that embedded urban planning within a larger …


Application Of Genetic Algorithm For Synthesis Of Large Reversible Circuits Using Covered Set Partitions, Maher Mofeid Hawash, Baker Abdalhaq, Amjad Hawash, Marek Perkowski Dec 2011

Application Of Genetic Algorithm For Synthesis Of Large Reversible Circuits Using Covered Set Partitions, Maher Mofeid Hawash, Baker Abdalhaq, Amjad Hawash, Marek Perkowski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present the results of application of Evolutionary Algorithms to the problem of synthesizing quantum circuits which belong to the class of reversible circuits, represented as an input/output mapping vectors. The paper specifically focuses on large quantum circuits where many valid solutions exist in an exponentially inflating search space. Valid solutions represent the set of all input vector permutations (arrangements) which satisfy the circuit specification. The search space for circuits with large number of variables grows exponentially making it impossible to discover the set of optimal solutions. The paper compares three methods for selecting valid solutions of input vector sequences: …


Quantifying The Tibiofemoral Joint Space Using X-Ray Tomosynthesis, Benjamin Kalinosky, John M. Sabol, Kelly Piacsek, Beth Heckel, Taly Gilat Schmidt Dec 2011

Quantifying The Tibiofemoral Joint Space Using X-Ray Tomosynthesis, Benjamin Kalinosky, John M. Sabol, Kelly Piacsek, Beth Heckel, Taly Gilat Schmidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose: Digital x-ray tomosynthesis (DTS) has the potential to provide 3D information about the knee joint in a load-bearing posture, which may improve diagnosis and monitoring of knee osteoarthritis compared with projection radiography, the current standard of care. Manually quantifying and visualizing the joint space width (JSW) from 3D tomosynthesis datasets may be challenging. This work developed a semiautomated algorithm for quantifying the 3D tibiofemoral JSW from reconstructed DTS images. The algorithm was validated through anthropomorphic phantom experiments and applied to three clinical datasets. Methods: A user-selected volume of interest within the reconstructed DTS volume was enhanced with 1D multiscale …


A Gravitational Wave Observatory Operating Beyond The Quantum Shot-Noise Limit: Squeezed Light In Application, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Joseph D. Romano Dec 2011

A Gravitational Wave Observatory Operating Beyond The Quantum Shot-Noise Limit: Squeezed Light In Application, J. Abadie, B. P. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, Matthew Benacquista, Teviet Creighton, Mario C. Diaz, Soumya Mohanty, Soma Mukherjee, Volker Quetschke, Joseph D. Romano

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Publications

Around the globe several observatories are seeking the first direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs). These waves are predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity(1) and are generated, for example, by black-hole binary systems(2). Present GW detectors are Michelson-type kilometre-scale laser interferometers measuring the distance changes between mirrors suspended in vacuum. The sensitivity of these detectors at frequencies above several hundred hertz is limited by the vacuum (zero-point) fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. A quantum technology-the injection of squeezed light(3)-offers a solution to this problem. Here we demonstrate the squeezed-light enhancement of GEO 600, which will be the GW observatory …


Fabrication And Characterization Of Multi-Functional Non-Spherical Particles Via Mechanical Deformation, Venkata Shilpa Varahagiri Dec 2011

Fabrication And Characterization Of Multi-Functional Non-Spherical Particles Via Mechanical Deformation, Venkata Shilpa Varahagiri

All Theses

Nanoparticles bridge the gap between bulk materials and molecules. They possess exciting but contrasting mechanical, chemical, magnetic and optical properties when compared to their bulk counterparts due to their shape and size. When the size of noble metal nanoparticles is reduced to less than the wavelength of light, the particles intensely absorb and scatter light at wavelengths that depend on the particle size, shape, and local dielectric environment due to Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) modes. Recently, plasmonic particles have been used in a wide variety of sensor and optical device applications including immunoassays and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates. …


Chlorine Absorption Utilizing Caustic Sodium Sulfite, Henry Mcdonald Dec 2011

Chlorine Absorption Utilizing Caustic Sodium Sulfite, Henry Mcdonald

All Theses

A scrubber was required to abate a waste stream containing chlorine gas created in the electrolytic dissolution step of the aqueous polishing process at the Mixed Oxides Fuel Fabrication Facility at Savannah River Site, South Carolina. A method of absorption that utilized caustic sodium sulfite as the scrubbing agent was studied for implementation in the process. This method was found to be highly efficient with respect to process requirements, and it was also found to provide enhanced performance over the more conventional method of chlorine scrubbing which uses only aqueous sodium hydroxide as a reagent. Sulfite provides an additional advantage …


'Exploring The Potential Of Using Antimicrobial Peptides And Copper Nanoparticles In Tackling Surgical Site Infections', Sriram Sankar Dec 2011

'Exploring The Potential Of Using Antimicrobial Peptides And Copper Nanoparticles In Tackling Surgical Site Infections', Sriram Sankar

All Theses

Postoperative wound site infections remain a major source of illness with approximately 500,000 infections per year, among an estimated 27 million surgical procedures. Such infections account for approximately one quarter of the estimated 2 million nosocomial infections in the United States which causes about 90,000 deaths each year. More than 70% of the bacteria that causes such infections are resistant to at least one of the antibiotics and result in longer hospitalization; besides requiring second option treatments that may be less effective, more toxic and expensive. Hence, there is a frenetic search for alternatives and in this regard, antimicrobial peptides …


Influence Of Pavement Type On Near Surface Air Temperature, David Duncan Dec 2011

Influence Of Pavement Type On Near Surface Air Temperature, David Duncan

All Theses

Effects from an Urban Heat Island (UHI) can be detrimental to the world as a whole. This study examines a collection of permeable and conventional pavements in South Carolina to determine how they relate to near surface air temperatures, which is an indicator of the UHI impact of an area. Three locations were used, each with a different selection of pavement type. Permeable and conventional forms of both asphalt and concrete were tested, as were some open graded friction course samples. Air temperatures were measured and recorded from the pavement surface up to an elevation of 60-in.
Multiple days of …


A Comparison Of The Performance Of Neural Q-Learning And Soar-Rl On A Derivative Of The Block Design (Bd)/Block Design Multiple Choice (Bdmc) Subtests On The Wisc-Iv Intelligence Test, Charreau Bell Dec 2011

A Comparison Of The Performance Of Neural Q-Learning And Soar-Rl On A Derivative Of The Block Design (Bd)/Block Design Multiple Choice (Bdmc) Subtests On The Wisc-Iv Intelligence Test, Charreau Bell

All Theses

Teaching an autonomous agent to perform tasks that are simple to humans can be complex, especially when the task requires successive steps, has a low likelihood of successful completion with a brute force approach, and when the solution space is too large or too complex to be explicitly encoded. Reinforcement learning algorithms are particularly suited to such situations, and are based on rewards that help the agent to find the optimal action to execute given a certain state. The task investigated in this thesis is a modified form of the Block Design (BD) and Block Design Multiple Choice (BDMC) subtests, …


A Survey And Assessment Of The State Of Low Impact Development In The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester County Region Of Coastal South Carolina Emphasizing The Role Of Landscape Architects In Stormwater Management, Noelle Castiglia Dec 2011

A Survey And Assessment Of The State Of Low Impact Development In The Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester County Region Of Coastal South Carolina Emphasizing The Role Of Landscape Architects In Stormwater Management, Noelle Castiglia

All Theses

Watersheds across the U.S., particularly population-dense coastal regions, are being impacted by cultural development preferences which promote an increase in impervious surfaces and ultimately increase the rate and volume of stormwater runoff. Low Impact Development (LID), a site specific form of green infrastructure (GI), is being adopted by many municipalities as an alternative stormwater management solution. Taking advantage of local ecological systems, LID addresses pressing growth requirements with the fundamental need to protect waterways, while also meeting federal regulations resulting from the National Permit Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). This thesis attempts to assess the state of LID in the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester …