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A Comprehensive Assessment Methodology Based On Life Cycle Analysis For On-Board Photovoltaic Solar Modules In Vehicles, Mahmoud Abdelhamid

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents a novel comprehensive assessment methodology for using on-board photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies in vehicle applications. A well-to-wheels life cycle analysis based on a unique energy, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, and economic perspective is carried out in the context of meeting corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards through 2025 along with providing an alternative energy path for the purpose of sustainable transportation. The study includes 14 different vehicles, 3 different travel patterns, in 12 U.S. states and 16 nations using 19 different cost analysis scenarios for determining the challenges and benefits of using on-board photovoltaic (PV) solar technologies …

Elastically Mismatched Interfaces As Related To Glass-To-Metal Seals, William Horton

All Dissertations

The mechanical performance of Glass-to-Metal seals is largely dependent upon the morphology of the oxide interfaces. The interfaces of the glass-to-metal region are transition zones consisting of a metallically bonded base metal with its reduced oxide and progress to interatomic bonds which are a mixture of ionic and covalent in a glass or ceramic base material. Differences in coefficient of thermal expansion, interatomic bonding and overall physical chemistry cause a number of issues in design, manufacture and lifetime serviceability of a G/M seal. To date the primary dimensions of interface assessment are microscopy and analytical chemistry. The purpose of this …

Development Of An In Vitro Three-Dimensional Breast Tissue Model To Decipher The Effects Of Stromal Heterogeneity On Normal And Cancerous Mammary Epithelial Cells, Erin Mccave

All Dissertations

A goal of breast cancer research is to develop a detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms of disease progression and to generate approaches to improve early detection, monitoring, and treatment of breast cancerous lesions. Current breast cancer therapies are not successful for all cases as they were developed as a standard of care for 'average' breast cancer condition. To further current clinical success, the characteristics of each tumor mass must be considered. Such an individualized or personalized approach is incompatible with current understanding of 'average' breast cancer tumors and responses to treatments. The long-term objective of the present research is …

Geographic Determinants Of Rural Land Covers And The Agricultural Margin In The Central United States, Timothy J. Stoebner, Christopher L. Lant

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Geographic research on the Corn Belt and other regional landscapes of the central U.S. has not to date identified quantitatively the climatic, edaphic, topographic, and economic characteristics that determine rural land cover, and that therefore govern land cover change. Using the USDA/NASS Cropland Data Layer, this study identifies these characteristics by employing Multivariable Fractional Polynomials within a logistic regression framework. It maps the suitability distribution for corn, soybeans, spring and winter wheat, cotton, grassland, and forest, which collectively dominate the central U.S., at a 56 m resolution across 16 central U.S. states. The non-linear logistic regression models are successful in …

A Deep Proper Motion Catalog Within The Sloan Digital Sky Survey Footprint, Jeffrey A. Munn, Hugh C. Harris, Ted Von Hippel, Mukremin Kilic, James W. Liebert, Kurtis A. Williams, Steven Degenarro, Elizabeth Jeffery, Trudy M. Tilleman

Publications

A new proper motion catalog is presented, combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) with second epoch observations in the r band within a portion of the SDSS imaging footprint. The new observations were obtained with the 90prime camera on the Steward Observatory Bok 90 inch telescope, and the Array Camera on the U.S. Naval Observatory, Flagstaff Station, 1.3 m telescope. The catalog covers 1098 square degrees to r = 22.0, an additional 1521 square degrees to r = 20.9, plus a further 488 square degrees of lesser quality data. Statistical errors in the proper motions range from 5 mas …

Tomographic Image Reconstruction: Implementation, Optimization And Comparison In Digital Breast Tomosynthesis, Shiyu Xu

Dissertations

Conventional 2D mammography was the most effective approach to detecting early stage breast cancer in the past decades of years. Tomosynthetic breast imaging is a potentially more valuable 3D technique for breast cancer detection. The limitations of current tomosynthesis systems include a longer scanning time than a conventional digital X-ray modality and a low spatial resolution due to the movement of the single X-ray source. Dr.Otto Zhou's group proposed the concept of stationary digital breast tomosynthesis (s-DBT) using a Carbon Nano-Tube (CNT) based X-ray source array. Instead of mechanically moving a single X-ray tube, s-DBT applies a stationary X-ray source …

Dispersion Of Em Waves, Ronald Lovett

Topics in Quantum Mechanics

No abstract provided.

Material Requirements Planning (Mrp) For Electric Geyser Product By Using Goal Programming\ Applicative Research In The General Company Of Electrical Industrialization, Wakas Saad Khalaf, Nadia Lotfi Abdel Wahab, Manal Daoud Salman

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Material Requirements Planning System (MRP) is considered as one of the planning and controlling of production and inventory systems which is used to prepare plan of the final production requirements and its parts of subcomponents raw materials and the time at which it was needed for the purpose of preparing orders of production and purchase. The problem of the present work is represented in the general company of electrical industrialization adoption of traditional methods and personal experience of the process of the products and\or purchase quantity and inventory quantities and limiting the required time for acquiring the required quantities of …

Comparison Between Some Of Linear Classification Models With Practical Application, Hamza Ismail Shaheen

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

Linear discriminant analysis and logistic regression are the most widely used in multivariate statistical methods for analysis of data with categorical outcome variables .Both of them are appropriate for the development of linear classification models .linear discriminant analysis has been that the data of explanatory variables must be distributed multivariate normal distribution. While logistic regression no assumptions on the distribution of the explanatory data. Hence ,It is assumed that logistic regression is the more flexible and more robust method in case of violations of these assumptions. In this paper we have been focus for the comparison between three forms for …

Well Clear: General Aviation And Commercial Pilots' Perception Of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In The National Airspace System, Joseph Taylor Ott

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to determine how different pilot types perceived the subjective concept of the Well Clear Boundary (WCB) and to observe if that boundary changed when dealing with manned versus unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) as well as the effects of other variables. Pilots' perceptions of the WCB were collected objectively through simulator recordings and subjectively through questionnaires. Together, these metrics provided quantitative and qualitative data about pilot WCB perception. The objective results of this study showed significant differences in WCB perception between two different pilot types, as well as WCB significant differences when comparing two different …

An Unsaturated Zone Flux Study In A Highly-Fractured Bedrock Area: Ground Water Recharge Processes At The Masser Recharge Site, East-Central Pennsylvania, Zhengzheng Qin

Master's Theses

This study tested the applicability of the Episodic Master Recession method and utilized the source-responsive flow theory to quantify ground water recharge and simulate preferential flow in the vadose zone at the Masser Recharge Site in east-central Pennsylvania. The ground water recharge shows strong seasonal variations. The shallow fractures form preferential flow paths and predominate in the vadose zone recharge processes, as reflected in the ground water-table elevation rise. They also influence the ground water-table recession rate, reflected in the rapid water-table recession in the deeper well with a high hydraulic conductivity fractured zone. Most importantly, the source-responsive flow model …

Stereotype Threat, Self-Affirmation, And Women's Statistics Performance, Blanca Tapia

Master's Theses

Stereotype threat (fear of confirming a negative group stereotype that in turn can inhibit academic performance) has been implicated in the gender gap observed in the field of mathematics. Even though stereotype threat depresses women's performance, there has been much research reporting various interventions that ameliorate its negative effects. The current study investigated stereotype threat specifically in statistics--an unexplored area in the research literature --and the alleviating effects of self-affirmation. Participants in three conditions (control, stereotype threat, stereotype threat + affirmation) completed a statistics test. In both stereotype threat conditions participants were given a verbal prime to induce stereotype threat, …

The Role Of The Principal In Improving Student Achievement In Low-Wealth Rural Elementary Schools, Mark D. Linton

Education Doctoral

Increased levels of accountability, mandated implementation of common core learning standards, and shrinking state funds for public schools have created unique challenges for principals seeking to increase student achievement levels. Schools located in states receiving Race to the Top (RTT) funds must measure teacher and principal growth by adopting evaluation systems based on student achievement measures. These issues are more significant for rural school administrators, who must pair these demands with the confining nature of small-town life; the multiple and sometimes conflicting tasks; and the lack of opportunity for professional camaraderie and growth. Although a large body of literature has …

Professional Development For Middle School Math And New Standards Curriculum: Current Experiences Of Teachers And Administrators, Rachel M. Kluth

Education Doctoral

In 2009, President Obama, in conjunction with the National Governors Association and the Council for Chief State School Officers, supported the federally adopted Common Core State Standards Agenda (Achieve.org, 2013). The purpose of this agenda was to increase standards for all students, with provisions for student achievement to be linked to teacher performance. The teacher performance connection created a need to better prepare teachers for the new standards curriculum. As teachers implemented the Common Core State Learning Standards for Mathematics (CCSLSM), they needed to develop a deep understanding of the new mathematical practices and skills. With the short timeline for …

Sign Me Up! Determining Motivation For High School Chemistry Students Enrolling In A Second Year Chemistry Course, Nilda N. Camarena

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A sample of 108 Pre-AP Chemistry students in Texas participated in a study to determine motivational factors for enrolling in AP Chemistry and University Chemistry. The factors measured were academic attitude, perceptions of chemistry, confidence level in chemistry, and expectations/experiences in the chemistry class. Students completed two questionnaires, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end. Four high school campuses from two school districts in Texas participated. Two campuses were traditional high schools and two were smaller magnet schools. The results from this study are able to confirm that there are definite correlations between academic attitudes, …

Two Dimensional Mathematical Model Of Fluid Flow In A Growing Solid Tumor, Adriana Gracia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

We investigate the problem of steady and unsteady fluid flow in a growing solid tumor. We develop a mathematical model for the two dimensional fluid flow in a spherical tumor where the spatial variations of the interstitial velocity, interstitial pressure and the drug concentration within the tumor are, in general, with respect to the radial distance and the latitudinal angle in the spherical coordinates. The expressions for radial and latitudinal variations of the interstitial velocity, interstitial pressure, and the two investigated drug concentrations were determined analytically. We calculated these quantities in the tumor as well as in a corresponding normal …

A Preventive Maintenance Framework In Dairy Production Operations, Maria F. Vargas

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Dairy operations suffer frequent stops. Product shrinkage is a consequence of downtime, which includes losses of packaging material, scraped finish product and capacity. This work proposes a troubleshooting methodology to identify causes of downtime, estimation of waste cost, and minimization of operation disruptions by applying a combination of a cost function to assess waste, and performance measurements. The drinkable yogurt process is evaluated to find the principal areas for wasted bottles and yogurt. In order to make a decision about which of those sources to address, a General Cost Function is used to estimate waste cost which include measurements that …

Fabrication, Characterization, Optimization And Application Development Of Novel Thin-Layer Chromatography Plates, Supriya Singh Kanyal

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes advances in the microfabrication of thin layer chromatography (TLC) plates. These plates are prepared by the patterning of carbon nanotube (CNT) forests on substrates, followed by their infiltration with an inorganic material. This document is divided into ten sections or chapters. Chapter 1 reviews the basics of conventional TLC technology. This technology has not changed substantially in decades. This chapter also mentions some of the downsides of the conventional approach, which include unwanted interactions of the binder in the plates with the analytes, relatively slow development times, and only moderately high efficiencies. Chapter 2 focuses primarily on …

Role Of Epistasis In Alzheimer's Disease Genetics, Mark T. Ebbert

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease is a complex neurodegenerative disease whose basic etiology and genetic structure remains elusive, despite decades of intensive investigation. To date, the significant genetic markers identified have no obvious functional effects, and are unlikely to play a role in Alzheimer's disease etiology, themselves. These markers are likely linked to other genetic variations, rare or common. Regardless of what causal mutations are found, research has demonstrated that no single gene determines Alzheimer's disease development and progression. It is clear that Alzheimer's disease development and progression are based on a set of interactions between genes and environmental variables. This dissertation focuses …

Photoelectric Characterization Of Bacteriorhodopsin Reconstituted In Lipid Bilayer Membrane, Joel Kamwa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this work was to conduct basic research in biologically inspired energy conversion solutions. A photosynthetic protein (Bacteriorhodopsin) was reconstituted in a bi-layer membrane. Then, when a laser beam was shined on the membrane, the photon energy was used by the protein to pump protons across the membrane. The translocation of protons across the membrane was measured as photocurrent. For this purpose, a system was built to characterize the lipid bilayer membranes and to measure the photocurrent. The lipid bilayer membrane was characterized by its capacitance and resistance. A picoampere photocurrent was observed when Bacteriorhodopsin protein was present …

Atom-Based Geometrical Fingerprinting Of Conformal Two-Dimensional Materials, Mehrshad Mehboudi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The shape of two-dimensional materials plays a significant role on their chemical and physical properties. Two-dimensional materials are basic meshes that are formed by mesh points (vertices) given by atomic positions, and connecting lines (edges) between points given by chemical bonds. Therefore the study of local shape and geometry of two-dimensional materials is a fundamental prerequisite to investigate physical and chemical properties. Hereby the use of discrete geometry to discuss the shape of two-dimensional materials is initiated.

The local geometry of a surface embodied in 3D space is determined using four invariant numbers from the metric and curvature tensors which …

The Role Of Quantum Dot Size On The Performance Of Intermediate Band Solar Cells, Najla Alnami

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to understand possible mechanisms for the reported decrease of the open circuit voltage and solar cell efficiency in quantum dot (QD) intermediate band solar cells (IBSCs). More specifically, the effect of indium arsenide (InAs) QD height on the open circuit voltage and solar cell efficiency was studied in a systematic way. To explore this effect in QD solar cells, several solar cells (SCs) were grown with varying InAs QD heights. All experimental characteristics of the QD solar cells were compared to a reference structure without QDs. All samples were grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy …

Study Of Parallel Programming Models On Computer Clusters With Accelerators, Chenggang Lai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to reach exascale computing capability, accelerators have become a crucial part in developing supercomputers. This work examines the potential of two latest acceleration technologies, Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) Architecture and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). This thesis applies three benchmarks under 3 different configurations, MPI+CPU, MPI+GPU, and MPI+MIC. The benchmarks include intensely communicating application, loosely communicating application, and embarrassingly parallel application. This thesis also carries out a detailed study on the scalability and performance of MIC processors under two programming models, i.e., offload model and native model, on the Beacon computer cluster.

According to different benchmarks, the results …

Short-Term Effects Of Poultry Litter Or Woodchip Biochar Amendment In A Temperate Zone Agronomic System, Katy Elizabeth Brantley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biochar, a charcoal product produced by the anaerobic thermal decomposition of biomass, can provide agronomic benefits when soil applied. However, research is lacking in temperate region soils investigating specific biochar products and their effects on agronomically important crops. A greenhouse study utilizing poultry litter biochar and a field study utilizing pine woodchip biochar were conducted to observe the effects of biochar application to Northwest Arkansas soils on corn growth and nutrient availability. A third experiment investigated poultry litter and pine woodchip biochar influences on soil water retention. In all three experiments, biochar was applied at three rates (0, 5, and …

Oxidative Stability Of Conjugated Linoleic Acid Rich Soy Oil Obtained By Heterogeneous Ruthenium Catalysis, Saurabh Ravindra Lele

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) has multiple health benefits but it is difficult to obtain sufficient CLA in a healthy diet to obtain the clinical effects. A CLA rich-soy oil (CLARSO) with up to 20% CLA has been produced by heterogenous catalysis but no studies of its oxidative stability have been reported. CLARSO and soy oil primary and secondary oxidation products were measured at 50oC in the dark. The CLARSO was less stable than soy oil but adsorption bleaching improved its oxidative stability. However, induction times were dependent on the analytical method used. Fatty acid oxidation kinetics was determined by measuring …

"We Can't Reclaim What We Don't Understand": Teachers' Perceptions Of Advocacy And Voice In A Rural Institute Of The National Writing Project, James Anthony Anderson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines teachers' perceptions of advocacy and voice in a summer institute of the National Writing Project. The Rural Advocacy Institute, a first-time initiative through the Northwest Arkansas Writing Project, offered three weeks of professional development centered on rural education and teaching English language arts in rural public schools. The study is a grounded theory study; grounded theory forces the researcher to stay "close to the data," compare data sets, and use reflective writing to identify conceptual categories in the data. Data collection in the study included semi-structured interviews with six K-12 teachers participating in the Institute and twenty-seven …

The Response Of Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum L.) To Slow Release Foliar Fertilization And The Effect Of Environment On Absorption, James Matthews Burke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In cotton production, nitrogen (N) is the most limiting nutrient and the demand is substantial. Foliar-N fertilization is regarded as an effective and environmentally sound method of supplying cotton with N during times of deficiency and high demand. In response to the potential benefits of the foliar-N fertilization of cotton, a myriad of foliar-N based fertilizers have been created; each with their own individual chemical technology and constitution. Experiments were performed with the objectives of examining the effects of the slow-release foliar-N fertilizer, Nitamin® (1) on the growth and development of field-grown cotton, (2) on uptake under various environmental conditions, …

Gesn Devices For Short-Wave Infrared Optoelectronics, Benjamin Ryan Conley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The electronics industry has a large silicon infrastructure for the manufacture of complementary-metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) based electronics. The increasing density of Si based circuits has set a pace that is now pushing the physical limits of connectivity between devices over conventional wire based links. This has driven the increasing interest in Si based optoelectronics and to use the groundwork already established by the electronics industry for lower cost optical communications. The greatest limitation to this effort has been the incorporation of a Si based laser, which requires integration of a direct bandgap material within this CMOS process.

The Ge1-xSnx …

A Portable Impedance Biosensing System Based On A Laptop With Labview For Rapid Detection Of Avian Influenza Virus, Yixiang Wang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Avian Influenza Virus (AIV) H5N1 is a highly pathogenic virus found not only in birds but also in human. Rapid and sensitive detection method is needed to help prevent the spread of AIV H5N1. In this study, a portable impedance biosensing system based on a laptop with LabVIEW software was developed for detection of AIV H5N1. First, a virtual instrument was programmed with LabVIEW software to form a platform for impedance measurement, data processing and control. The audio card of a laptop was used as a function generator while a data acquisition card was used with the signal channels for …

2014 December, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Morehead State Press Release Archive, 1961 to the Present

Press releases for December of 2014.