Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2012

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 28171 - 28200 of 28593

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Ethos-Mores Architecture, Ana-Maria Popescu Jan 2012

Ethos-Mores Architecture, Ana-Maria Popescu

Architecture Theses

This thesis provides some answers to the question, how, as an outsider, do we begin to understand cultural values that are not ours and how does one measure the degree of threat to a minority culture when cultural values are lost? The Typology for the examination of this problem is a rehab healing center. The Theoretical Premise/Unifying Idea that guides the research is, “Exhibiting architecture with identifying physical elements of a minority culture will greatly increase an outsiders understanding of the culture values.” The Project Justification is, “With the current trend of the “melting pot” many people who belong to …

Go to article

Flood Research Center, Richard Wright Jan 2012

Flood Research Center, Richard Wright

Architecture Theses

This project will outline research into the flood prevention methods in nature and in the man-made world to translate into a new innovative inland flood research center design in Moorhead, Minnesota. This project was in response to the widespread flooding epidemic in the various regions of North Dakota. I hope to give dwellers in flood prone areas a chance to dwell in harmony with nature’s natural events. The 8000 square foot research facility’s main function is to re-establish the wetlands to allow water to have space to expand and retract. The expansion of wetlands will reduce the fast paced runoff …

Go to article

Preserving Our History, Danielle Cremer Jan 2012

Preserving Our History, Danielle Cremer

Architecture Theses

This project, Preserving our History, focuses on the integration of green design strategies, energy efficient design and historical preservation for the purpose of restoring neighborhoods within our city limits. Historic preservation has been on the rise in recent years as a means to embrace the deep and rich heritage of a place. By integrating green design strategies and energy efficient design into the practice of historic preservation, the lifespan of a building can be extended. By preserving these buildings, life is brought back to the site, allowing historic preservation to act as a catalyst for the rehabilitation of surrounding neighborhoods. …

Go to article

Transporting And Disposing Of Wastewater From North Dakota Oil Producers, Qingqing Yin Jan 2012

Transporting And Disposing Of Wastewater From North Dakota Oil Producers, Qingqing Yin

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

North Dakota’s oil boom is aided by a new technology, fracking. But this technology implies large amounts of wastewater. The methods of dealing with this wastewater are now an issue. Currently, North Dakota locks it into deep injection wells in the Bakken formation. With the development of membrane technologies to treat wastewater, it may be feasible to treat the wastewater and reuse it. This study uses a mathematical programming model to minimize the total cost of dealing with wastewater using three methods - deep well injection, on-site treatment, and off-site treatment. The model results show it is cost-effective to use …

Go to article

Evaluation Of Storage Techniques To Preserve Fermentable Sugars From Sugar Beets For Ethanol Production, Juan Manuel Vargas-Ramirez Jan 2012

Evaluation Of Storage Techniques To Preserve Fermentable Sugars From Sugar Beets For Ethanol Production, Juan Manuel Vargas-Ramirez

Agribusiness and Biosystems Engineering

New sugar beet varieties may qualify as an advanced biofuel feedstock in the U.S., but new alternatives to conventional pile storage are necessary to preserve fermentable sugars and allow yearlong beet ethanol production. Fermentable sugar preservation was assessed in sugar beets stored under aerobic and anaerobic atmospheres and in raw thick juice stored at acidic (2≤ pH≤ 5) and alkaline (8≤ pH≤11) conditions. Aerobic storage of sugar beets at 4°C for 14 wk resulted in higher fermentable sugar retention (99± 4%) than at 25°C or anaerobic storage at 4° C and 25° C. Raw thick juice retained ≥ 99% of …

Go to article

Evaluation Of A Novel Means To Euthanize Piglets, Richelle Lorraine Miller Jan 2012

Evaluation Of A Novel Means To Euthanize Piglets, Richelle Lorraine Miller

Animal Sciences

Research was conducted to evaluate a novel means to euthanize piglets utilizing electromagnetic energy. Experiment 1 assessed if electromagnetic energy could result in a euthanized piglet and Experiment 2 evaluated states of consciousness of piglets. During Experiment 1, six piglets were exposed to 40 seconds of electromagnetic energy (EME). Respiration rate was reduced to zero in each piglet immediately following EME and unassisted death occurred after heart rate ceased within 4.8 minutes after EME in five of the six piglets. Treatments during Experiment 2 included EME for 3, 6, or 9 seconds. State of consciousness and treatment interaction affected (P < 0.01) electroencephalogram amplitude and power. State of consciousness affected (P < 0.01) electroencephalogram frequency and heart rate. Treatment and EME interaction also affected internal body and head surface temperatures (P < 0.01). Piglets exposed to 9 seconds EME had higher (P < 0.01) body temperature compared with other treatments.

Go to article

Sustaining Rural Communities, Samantha Parkinson Jan 2012

Sustaining Rural Communities, Samantha Parkinson

Architecture Theses

Sustaining Rural Communities This thesis analyzes the use of sustainable architecture to satisfy the socio-economic needs of a rural community. The research methodology used to create this project is a mixed-method, quantitative and qualitative, approach. A mixed-use development allows an opportunity to solve and satisfy more than one need in a rural community. Bowbells, North Dakota, is a good example of a community that can benefit from this type of project. Research was conducted on green development and its benefits; the needs of Bowbells, North Dakota; and current solutions to providing opportunities in rural North Dakota. In response to the …

Go to article

A. G.L.I.M.P.S.E; Ashland Great Lakes & Industrial Mining Pier & Shipping Exhibits, Megan Nelson Jan 2012

A. G.L.I.M.P.S.E; Ashland Great Lakes & Industrial Mining Pier & Shipping Exhibits, Megan Nelson

Architecture Theses

This thesis project, ‘A GLIMPSE’, examines the question, how does the configuration and organization of elements in a space influence the engagements of its participants? The typology for examination of this problem is a history museum located in Ashland, Wisconsin, on the shore of Lake Superior. The Theoretical Premise/Unifying Idea that guides the research is, “by using elements both designed and in nature we can engage and evoke responses in a foreseen manner.” The Project Justification is, “Instead of relying solely on the usage of signage and advice from others to navigate and perceive architecture, the use of visual cues, …

Go to article

Adapting The City, Caralyn Stevens Jan 2012

Adapting The City, Caralyn Stevens

Architecture Theses

The title of this thesis is “Adapting the City Center” and explores the question of how do the long-term effects of rapid housing development at Fargo, North Dakota’s perimeter compare to those of adaptive reuse, interwoven toward the city center. The typology for this design is residential mixed-use housing- adaptable and at the city center. In the end product this design is approximately a 51,400 square foot project located in Fargo, North Dakota. The guiding idea is, “land is perhaps our most important limited resource, and current urban development patterns are clearly consuming the landscape in unsustainable ways (Wheeler, 1998).” …

Go to article

Holoscene: High Performance Landscape Systems, Vanessa Hefti Jan 2012

Holoscene: High Performance Landscape Systems, Vanessa Hefti

Landscape Architecture Theses

This work studies landscape infrastructural solutions to community health. It addresses the health, sustainability, and resilience of habitated environments. The work suggests an interconnected working landscape system of soft engineering can serve as a civic asset and amenity while solving conventional infrastructural problems. Proven through history conventional infrastructure has been an environmental liability, whereas soft infrastructure has been in demand in the form of public parks, park systems, and city planning. The needs of the present day for improved public and environmental health lend an opportunity to explore landscape systems as ecological design solutions that would otherwise be solved with …

Go to article

Seeds To Grow | A Community Led Greenway, Jesse Riley Jan 2012

Seeds To Grow | A Community Led Greenway, Jesse Riley

Landscape Architecture Theses

Project-based learning can positively influence community in the normally reactionary design of a riparian greenway. This thesis examines how a greenway system can affect a community by allowing its residents to play an integral role in its development and mplementation. Exploring the relationship between flooding and community will provide insight into ways for the two to coexist. An ecological corridor designed for both social and ecological sustainability can provide flood protection, education, community pride, and enhance the wellbeing of the community for future generations. By taking a proactive approach these goals can be obtained and planned appropriately.

Go to article

Designing For All Seasons, Megann Long Voelkner Jan 2012

Designing For All Seasons, Megann Long Voelkner

Landscape Architecture Theses

This design project examines how a landscape design can activate a small-scale Midwestern city’s outdoor use and tourism potential during the winter season. In the city of Bemidji, MN, the winter season can start as early as October and continue into late March. This prolonged weather can cause Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in people. One of the recommended treatments for SAD is to increase outdoor activity. The premise behind this project is that if Bemidji’s landscape was more functional and appealing during the winter season, it would encourage the residents of Bemidji to increase their outdoor activity during the winter. …

Go to article

Reconnecting To A Forgotten River: An Ecological Solution, Aaron Hanson Jan 2012

Reconnecting To A Forgotten River: An Ecological Solution, Aaron Hanson

Landscape Architecture Theses

Waterways are a vital and productive resource to our environment. Rivers provide a variety of amenities and services to communities across the world such as drinking water, food, travel, recreation, wildlife habitat, connection to place, aesthetic appeal, economic development, etc. This thesis project examines the importance of the Mississippi River to its urban community and how riverfront design can function as a unifying element for the city center and its ecosystem. Over half of the world’s future population will be living in urban environments by 2030, which will dramatically increase the stress on a vulnerable network of water systems. A …

Go to article

Hollowed Ground, Danielle Gustafson Jan 2012

Hollowed Ground, Danielle Gustafson

Landscape Architecture Theses

This research explores how to enhance relationships between wetlands and toxic mining sites using phytoremediation. By creating a site that is interactive for visitors, it is intended to educate and enrich their experiences and knowledge of the phytoremediation role that wetlands can have on old mining sites.

Go to article

Albert Einstein In Switzerland: The Education Of The Most Famous Swiss American, Kurt Winkler Jan 2012

Albert Einstein In Switzerland: The Education Of The Most Famous Swiss American, Kurt Winkler

Faculty Publications

The most famous Swiss American, by far, was Albert Einstein. It is well known that Einstein worked in Germany starting in 1914, but he was forced to leave in 1933 as someone the Nazis had "not yet hanged," and he came to the United States where he taught at Princeton University for many years. However, Einstein had earlier lived in Switzerland for many years. Even though he became an American citizen in 1940, the great physicist retained ties to Switzerland, and he kept his Swiss passport all his life. Einstein spent his most productive years in Switzerland where he matured, …

Go to article

Seattle's Urban Water, Zerek Kroll Jan 2012

Seattle's Urban Water, Zerek Kroll

Landscape Architecture Theses

The issue of stormwater runoff is a major threat to the water supply of Seattle, Washington. Continual rain and great expanses of impervious surfaces cause contamination and pollution to riddle the waters of the Puget Sound. Millions of people rely on Puget Sound for its natural resources, transportation, and recreation. In developing a design solution for the waterfront areas of downtown Seattle, sustainable stormwater management practices are investigated. Specifically, the relationship between the natural environment, and how it is able to be incorporated into an urban city. Additionally, through sustainable design practices, a solution is established to develop interaction and …

Go to article

Using Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) Technology To Assess Bird-Habitat Relationships: A Case Study From The Northwoods Of Maine, Wesley Eugene Newton Jan 2012

Using Light Detection And Ranging (Lidar) Technology To Assess Bird-Habitat Relationships: A Case Study From The Northwoods Of Maine, Wesley Eugene Newton

Natural Resources Management

Airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a remote sensing technology that quantifies the travel time of photons emitted in pulses from a LiDAR instrument to travel to and reflect back from objects. Knowing the travel time for the photons and accounting for the speed of light, distances to objects from the instrument can be quantified. When LiDAR is acquired over forested areas some of the pulses will find canopy openings and "penetrate" to the ground with others striking the canopy at various heights above the ground, generating an XYZ point-cloud of eastings, northings, and elevations. Capitalizing on the information …

Go to article

Incorporating Adaptive Management And Translational Ecology Into The North Dakota Total Maximum Daily Load Program: A Case Study Of The Fordville Dam Nutrient Tmdl, Michael John Hargiss Jan 2012

Incorporating Adaptive Management And Translational Ecology Into The North Dakota Total Maximum Daily Load Program: A Case Study Of The Fordville Dam Nutrient Tmdl, Michael John Hargiss

Natural Resources Management

Translational ecology and adaptive management strategies were incorporated into the Fordville Dam Nutrient Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) case study to determine if these two techniques were compatible to the North Dakota TMDL Program. A case study summary of the Fordville Dam Nutrient TMDL was discussed to provide contrast and comparison of the current TMDL program strategy and systematic improvements that could be made with the incorporation of translational ecology and adaptive management. Translational ecology is an effective way to bridge the information barrier through open communication between the stakeholders and scientists while creating a mutual learning experience. Adaptive management …

Go to article

Using Lidar Derived Information For Predicting Beaver Dam Site Selection At Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Sean Joseph Lofgren Jan 2012

Using Lidar Derived Information For Predicting Beaver Dam Site Selection At Mingo National Wildlife Refuge, Sean Joseph Lofgren

Natural Resources Management

Characterizing features that influence beaver (Castor Canadensis) to select a site to construct a dam may have important implications for managing damage to select stands of bottomland hardwood forest by beaver activity. This study was initiated to determine and develop a quick and simple approach for managers to determine areas of most concern. Advanced Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) was collected for the study area in November of 2009. The study utilized software that has been developed to extract topographic features from a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). The extracted data was used to identify landscape variables to try and specify …

Go to article

Transferability Of Regional And Wetland Specific Assessment Methods For A Statewide Approach, Matthew P. Stasica Jan 2012

Transferability Of Regional And Wetland Specific Assessment Methods For A Statewide Approach, Matthew P. Stasica

Natural Resources Management

The transferability and expansion of current wetland assessment methods to other wetland classes and ecoregions throughout the state of North Dakota is the primary goal of this research. During the growing season of 2011, 53 wetlands ranging from lacustrine depressional, palustrine depressional and forested class wetlands were sampled. Additionally, 40 ecoregion specific "reference" wetlands sampled during the growing seasons of 2009 and 2010 were also considered. Vegetation, soil, hydrologic, and landscape attributes were collected based on the protocols for the Index of Plant Community Integrity, Hydrogeomorphic Model, and the North Dakota Rapid Assessment Method. Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling was used to …

Go to article

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Study Of The Ultraviolet Exposure Of Ballistic Resistant Polymer Matrix Composites, Drew Adam Pavlacky Jan 2012

Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Study Of The Ultraviolet Exposure Of Ballistic Resistant Polymer Matrix Composites, Drew Adam Pavlacky

Materials and Nanotechnology

This study examined the effect of ultraviolet radiation on ballistic resistant polymer matrix composites. Two composite systems studied included a phenolic matrix with either S2 Glass® or Kevlar® fiber laminates. These composites were weathered in ultraviolet conditions and the effects were quantified with multiple destructive and non-destructive testing. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used as a non-destructive evaluation method which is a commonly used experiment in the corrosion community. Circuit modeling the EIS spectra produced both resistive and capacitive characteristics inherent of the composite materials. Surface characterization was performed to determine if degradation was occurring at the composite surface. Techniques …

Go to article

The Development, Characterization And Testing Of Mg-Rich Primers, Dante Battocchi Jan 2012

The Development, Characterization And Testing Of Mg-Rich Primers, Dante Battocchi

Materials and Nanotechnology

Aluminum alloys are widely used in aircraft industry for their strength and light weight. Those alloys that are hardened by precipitation, especially the Copper-rich of the 2000 series, are prone to corrosion and are protected against it using chromate containing coatings. The primary component of these coating systems is Chromium 6+ (CrVI) that has been found to be very toxic in the environment and carcinogenic, toxic and mutagenic in humans. The Mg-rich primer development is the result of a successful multi-year project funded by the US Air-force with its objective the replacement of coatings based on CrVI with a class …

Go to article

A Synthetic Document Image Dataset For Developing And Evaluating Historical Document Processing Methods, Daniel Walker, William Lund, Eric Ringger Jan 2012

A Synthetic Document Image Dataset For Developing And Evaluating Historical Document Processing Methods, Daniel Walker, William Lund, Eric Ringger

Faculty Publications

Document images accompanied by OCR output text and ground truth transcriptions are useful for developing and evaluating document recognition and processing methods, especially for historical document images. Additionally, research into improving the performance of such methods often requires further annotation of training and test data (e.g., topical document labels). However, transcribing and labeling historical documents is expensive. As a result, existing real-world document image datasets with such accompanying resources are rare and often relatively small. We introduce synthetic document image datasets of varying levels of noise that have been created from standard (English) text corpora using an existing document degradation …

Go to article

A Material System For Reliable Low Voltage Anodic Electrowetting, Mehdi Khodayari, Jose Carballo, Nathan B. Crane Jan 2012

A Material System For Reliable Low Voltage Anodic Electrowetting, Mehdi Khodayari, Jose Carballo, Nathan B. Crane

Faculty Publications

Electrowetting on dielectric is demonstrated with a thin spin-coated fluoropolymer over an aluminum electrode. Previous efforts to use thin spin-coated dielectric layers for electrowetting have shown limited success due to defects in the layers. However, when used with a citric acid electrolyte and anodic voltages, repeatable droplet actuation is achieved for 5000 cycles with an actuation of just 10 V. This offers the potential for low voltage electrowetting systems that can be manufactured with a simple low-cost process.

Go to article

Fluidic Assembly At The Microscale: Progress And Prospects, Nathan B. Crane, Onursal Onen, Jose Carballo, Qi Ni, Rasim Guldiken Jan 2012

Fluidic Assembly At The Microscale: Progress And Prospects, Nathan B. Crane, Onursal Onen, Jose Carballo, Qi Ni, Rasim Guldiken

Faculty Publications

Assembly permits the integration of different materials and manufacturing processes to increase system functionality. It is an essential step in the fabrication of useful systems across size scales from buildings to molecules. However, at the microscale, traditional “grasp and release” assembly methods and chemically inspired self-assembly processes are less effective due to many scaling effects. Many methods have been developed for improving microscale assembly. Often these methods include fluidic forces or the use a fluidic medium in order to enhance their performance. This paper reviews basic assembly theory and modeling methods. Three basic assembly strategies (tool-directed, process-directed, and part-directed) are …

Go to article

A Numerical And Analytical Analysis Of The Physics Of Phase-Separation Fronts, Eric Merlin Foard Jan 2012

A Numerical And Analytical Analysis Of The Physics Of Phase-Separation Fronts, Eric Merlin Foard

Physics

My dissertation is an investigation into the basic Physics of phase separation fronts. Such phase-separation fronts occur in many practical applications, like the formation of immersion precipitation membranes, Temperature induced phase-separation of polymeric blends, or the formation of steel. Despite the fact that these phenomena are ubiquitous no generally acceptable theory of phase-separation front exists. I believe the reason lies in the complexity of many of these material systems where a large number of physical effects (like phase-separation, crystallization, hydrodynamics, etc) cooperate to generate these structures. As a Physicist, I was driven to develop an understanding of these systems, and …

Go to article

Transparent And Crack-Free Silica Aerogels, Kalyan Ram Athmuri Jan 2012

Transparent And Crack-Free Silica Aerogels, Kalyan Ram Athmuri

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The process of making silica aerogels has been studied in detail over the past two decades due to its usage in a wide range of low end applications such as thermal insulators, supercapacitors etc., as well as high end applications like particle physics, space explorations. These applications call for control over the properties of aerogels, such as their transparency, density, porosity, pore size, and integrity. However, despite all the past research, controlling properties of aerogels is still not a fully developed science, a lot more research needs to be done. The literature on silica aerogels does not cover the study …

Go to article

Electrical Performance Analysis Of A Novel Embedded Chip Technology, Ferdous Sarwar Jan 2012

Electrical Performance Analysis Of A Novel Embedded Chip Technology, Ferdous Sarwar

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Recently ultra-thin embedded die technology gained much attention for their reduced footprint, light weight, conformality and three-dimensional assembly capabilities. The traditional flexible circuit fabrication process showed its limitations to meet the demand for increasing packaging density. The embedded die technology can be successfully utilized to develop flexible printed circuits that will satisfy the demand for reliable and high density packaging. With a tremendous application potential in wearable and disposable electronics, the reliability of the flexible embedded die package is of paramount importance. Presented is the author's contribution to the novel fabrication process for flexible packages with ultrathin (below 50 µm) …

Go to article

The Effect Of Stress On Task Capacity And Situational Awareness, Reza Ul Karim Jan 2012

The Effect Of Stress On Task Capacity And Situational Awareness, Reza Ul Karim

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In today’s industry, many occupations require manpower resources to include both labor and cognitive resources. As the technology is rapidly changing and businesses are becoming more dependent on cognitive performance, it is essential to find any effect physical stress might have on task performance. Situational awareness is also becoming an integral part of human task performance. It is critical for many operations to design systems such that the effects of physical stress, however minute, on task performance and situational awareness are considered. The test methodology developed here measures the effect of stress on cognitive task performance as a result of …

Go to article

Impact Of Integrating Zone Bypass Conveyor On The Performance Of A Pick-To-Light Order Picking System, Xia Xu Jan 2012

Impact Of Integrating Zone Bypass Conveyor On The Performance Of A Pick-To-Light Order Picking System, Xia Xu

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This thesis investigates the impact of integrating Zone Bypass (ZBP) conveyor to a Pick-To-Light (PTL) order picking system. This integration results in a new system (PTL+Z), which could be helpful to achieve higher levels of productivity in warehousing operations. Two options have been proposed to improve the current PTL system productivity. One is to adapt the ZBP conveyor, which will help each order to bypass unnecessary zones with nothing to pick. Another one is to better plan stock keeping units (SKU) assignment by applying level loading assignment. Mathematical models are developed to evaluate system throughput of PTL system with random …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last