Digital Commons Network^™

Rigidly Foldable Origami Twists, Thomas A. Evans, Robert J. Lang, Spencer P. Magleby, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

Rigid foldability is an important characteristic of origami structures that becomes significant with non-paper materials. A rigidly foldable origami tessellation is one where the sectors remain rigid and all deflection occurs at the crease lines. Many rigidly foldable patterns have only one degree of freedom, making them potentially useful for deployable structures. Methods have been developed to construct rigidly foldable origami tessellations using materials with finite thickness based on zero-thickness rigidly foldable patterns. [Tachi 11].

Origami methods have been considered for application in deployable structures such as solar panels [Miura 85] [Zirbel et al. 13] and sterile shrouds [Francis et …

The Application And Accuracy Of Structure From Motion Computer Vision Models With Full-Scale Geotechnical Field Tests, L. Palmer, Kevin W. Franke, R. Abraham Martin, B. E. Sines, Kyle M. Rollins, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Structure from motion (SfM) computer vision is a relatively new technology that allows engineers to reconstruct a three-dimensional (3D) model of a given scene using twodimensional digital photographs captured from a single, moving camera. SfM computer vision provides an economic and user-friendly alternative to other 3D scene-capture and modeling tools such as light distance and ranging (LiDAR). Although the resolution and accuracy of laser-based modeling methods are generally superior to vision-based modeling methods, the economic advantages associated with the latter may make it a useful and practical alternative for many geotechnical engineering applications. Although other engineering disciplines have investigated the …

Electrowetting Force And Velocity Dependence On Fluid Surface Energy, Qi Ni, Daniel E. Capecci, Nathan B. Crane

Faculty Publications

Electrowetting on Dielectric is a phenomenon in which the shape and apparent contact angle of a droplet changes when an electric field is applied across the droplet interface. If the field is asymmetric with respect to the droplet, then a net force can be applied to the droplet. In this work, we have measured the electrowetting force by confining the droplet shape beneath a glass plate and measuring the force on the plate. The force was measured as a function of voltage for a range of fluids with different surface energy. Measured forces show excellent agreement with predictions based on …

Caregiver Stress : First Person Accounts Of The Perception And Utilization Of Support Services, Debra Ann Shapiro

Human Development and Family Science

The majority of care for older adults is provided in the home. Many studies show that the daily demands placed on informal care providers produce high degrees of strain and stress. In an effort to reduce the over-arching impact care provider burnout can have on the entire family system, a number of community organizations offer resources to informal caregivers in the form of support groups, respite care and skills-training. More research is needed regarding the extent to which informal caregivers utilize these services. The objective of this paper is to assimilate more information about how care providers learn about available …

Red River Civic Plaza : An Urban Park Destination For Fargo-Moorhead Community, Joseph Starbuck

Landscape Architecture Theses

The City of Fargo, North Dakota, is funding the construction of a new City Hall to replace their current 1960s structure. This proposed development provides the largest city in North Dakota with a tremendous opportunity to design an iconic open space between their Civic Center, Public Library, and their proposed City Hall. This research focuses on the integration of low impact development into the Red River Civic Plaza to manage stormwater by utilizing bioretention, green roofs, porous pavements, and rainwater harvesting to reduce the demand for the current engineered water conveyance systems consisting of gutters, storm sewers, culverts, and detention …

Molecular Mapping Of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance In Two Adapted Spring Wheat Cultivars, Ahmed Elfatih Amin Eldoliefy

Plant Sciences

Releasing bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) cultivars with resistance to Fusarium head blight (FHB) disease can be endangered by narrowing the variation in genetic sources. However, resistance to FHB rely on five different types. FHB resistance types I, II, III, IV and V were assessed in field and greenhouse under multiple locations and years experiment’s combination. In our study, the genetic of FHB resistance in two widely cultivated hard red spring wheat varieties (‘Glenn’ and ‘Parshall’) were dissected. The specific objectives of the study were to generate recombinant inbred lines (RIL) populations, phenotypic assessment for FHB resistance, different informative genotypic marker …

Manufacturing Optimization Of Non-Traditional Pasta Products, Elena De La Peña

Plant Sciences

A study was conducted to determine the effect of including non-traditional ingredients on the flow and agglomeration properties of flour formulations, the rheological behavior of pasta dough, and the physical and cooked quality of the spaghetti. The effect of including non-traditional ingredients on the chemical changes that occurred in pasta during pasta making and cooking was also investigated. The formulations used were semolina 100% (S), whole wheat flour 100% (WW), semolina-whole wheat flour (49:51) (SWW), semolina-flaxseed flour (90:10), whole wheat flour-flaxseed flour (90:10), and semolina-whole wheat flour-flaxseed flour (39:51:10). Flaxseed flour was incorporated as fine (FF) or coarse (CF) particles. …

Modeling Light Gas And Tar Yields From Pyrolysis Of Green River Oil Shale Demineralized Kerogen Using The Chemical Percolation Devolatilization Model, Daniel Barfuss, Ronald J. Pugmire, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Recent detailed chemical structure analyses of three demineralized kerogens from Green River oil shale samples were used to generate input parameters for the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model. This model uses a lattice network to describe pyrolysis of solid hydrocarbons, such as coal and biomass. It was necessary to modify the formulation of the CPD model to account for the long aliphatic carbon chains found in oil shale, because gases formed from these long chains condense at room temperature and are counted as tar. It was initially assumed that 20% of the aliphatic material was released as light gas during …

Model For The Evolution Of Pore Structure In A Lignite Particle During Pyrolysis, Sufen Li, He Yang, Thomas H. Fletcher, Ming Dong

Faculty Publications

In this paper, on the basis of the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model and using the coal polymer network parameters to calculate the surface area and porosity of the particle, a model for the evolution of pore structure in a lignite particle during pyrolysis is established. The model connects the polymer network structure and the pore structure, and it may extend the application range of network statistical devolatilization models. Model predictions agree with experimentally observed trends reported in the literature for porosity and internal surface area with increasing mass release. Particle porosity increases during pyrolysis because of mass release and …

Simulation Of The Swelling Of High-Volatile Bituminous Coal During Pyrolysis. Part 2: Influence Of The Maximum Particle Temperature, He Yang, Thomas H. Fletcher, Ming Dong

Faculty Publications

A model was established previously to predict the swelling ratio of high-volatile bituminous coal during pyrolysis based on the assumption that the structure of bubble distribution in the particle at the beginning of the plastic stage is a central bubble surrounded by many surrounding bubbles. The initial number and size of the bubbles when the particles become plastic are calculated by the pressure in the particle, and the chemical percolation devolatilization (CPD) model is used to describe pyrolysis. In this paper, to obtain accurate results at low pyrolysis temperatures, the previous model is improved and the following parts in the …

Drug Treatment Comparison For Total Knee Replacement Surgery, Kevin Jeffrey Soderholm

Statistics

In this study, we aim to better understand how spinal block, anticoagulant, and antifibrinolytic drug treatments are associated with hospital costs, lengths of stay, prevalence of early readmissions, and prevalence of blood transfusions for total knee replacement patients. Analysis of variance, multiple comparison testing, ordinary least squares regression, and logistic regression were used to identify which combinations of these drug treatments were associated with higher or lower health outcomes. The combination of Lidocaine and Ropivacaine was the spinal block treatment associated with the highest mean hospital cost, length of stay, highest proportion of early readmissions, and required blood transfusions. The …

The Comovement Of Investor Attention, Michael S. Drake, Darren T. Roulstone, Jared Jennings, Jacob Thornock

Faculty Publications

Prior literature has documented that investor attention and constraints on that attention are associated with the pricing of stocks. We introduce the concept of attention comovement, which is the extent to which investor attention for a firm is explained by attention paid to the firm’s industry and the market in general. We find that attention comovement is non-trivial for the average firm and is related to firm characteristics, such as size and visibility. We also find that the comovement of investor attention has market consequences, in that it is positively associated with excess stock return comovement. Finally, we show that …

Development And Validation Of A New Blade Element Momentum Skewed-Wake Model Within Aerodyn, Andrew Ning, Greg Hayman, Rick Damiani, Jason Jonkman

Faculty Publications

Blade element momentum methods, though conceptually simple, are highly useful for analyzing wind turbines aerodynamics and are widely used in many design and analysis applications. A new version of AeroDyn is being developed to take advantage of new robust solution methodologies, conform to a new modularization framework for National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s FAST, utilize advanced skewed-wake analysis methods, fix limitations with previous implementations, and to enable modeling of highly flexible and nonstraight blades. This paper reviews blade element momentum theory and several of the options available for analyzing skewed inflow. AeroDyn implementation details are described for the benefit of users …

On Learning Time Delays Between The Spikes From Different Input Neurons In A Biophysical Model Of A Pyramidal Neuron, Achilleas Koutsou, Guido Bugmann, Chris Christodoulou

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Tsallis Entropy As A Biomarker For Detection Of Alzheimer's Disease, Ali H. Al-Nuaimi, Emmanuel Jammeh, Lingfen Sun, Emmanuel Ifeachor

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Individualized Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy: Next Generation Pacemaker Controls, Peter Jacob Hettwer

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Cardiac dyssynchrony (CD) causes some heart muscle regions to contract at different times, and current treatments do not help 30 – 50% of patients. In this thesis, multi-site pacing control schemes are created to quantitatively and automatically reduce the CD of ventricular wall accelerations by adjusting pacing times. Two and four left ventricular region models are investigated containing model variables that represent numerous muscle parameters. Optimization is performed using exhaustive search and genetic algorithm techniques, with particular attention paid to the latter with regard to development, parameter selection, and limitations. Relative to treatments firing all regions simultaneously, timing adjustment improves …

The Capillary-Centric Model Of Coupling-As-Thermodynamics, Andrew James David Taylor

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Models of ventricular-arterial coupling (VAC) have historically described the heart as a function of its energetic interaction with the arterial system. However, these models either represent the dynamic, adaptive cardiovascular system (CVS) in isolation or sacrifice cardiac mechanics to use simplified, time-averaged values across the cardiac cycle. In this thesis a facsimile CVS is constructed that characterizes ventricular-arterial interactions with intact cardiac mechanics as a function of whole-body thermo-fluid homeostatic regulation. Simulation results indicate proportional-integral (PI) control of heart rate and arterial resistance is conditionally sufficient to maintain body temperature during square-wave exercise, but further elements may be required to …

Power System Stability Enhancement Through Data Center Ancillary Services, Muhammad Ali

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The primary objective of a control system is stability and steady-state performance under varying dynamics, such as faults and disturbances. The stable power system should continue to function properly in case of faults and disturbances. Stability of the power systems find applications in various domains, such as power delivery through Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG), Doubly-Fed Induction Generator (DFIG), and data centers. The goal of this dissertation is to design a robust control for a power system. We propose a hybrid Fault-Ride-Through (FRT) strategy for DFIG and two new PMSG grid-interfaced models, named PMSG Boost and PMSG Rectifier-Inverter. We analyze …

Calcification Is Not The Achilles' Heel Of Cold-Water Corals In An Acidifying Ocean., Riccardo Rodolfo-Metalpa, Paolo Montagna, Stefano Aliani, Mireno Borghini, Simonepietro Canese, Jason M. Hall-Spencer, Andy Foggo, Marco Milazzo, Marco Taviani, Fanny Houlbrèque

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Ocean acidification is thought to be a major threat to coral reefs: laboratory evidence and CO2 seep research has shown adverse effects on many coral species, although a few are resilient. There are concerns that cold-water corals are even more vulnerable as they live in areas where aragonite saturation (Ωara ) is lower than in the tropics and is falling rapidly due to CO2 emissions. Here, we provide laboratory evidence that net (gross calcification minus dissolution) and gross calcification rates of three common cold-water corals, Caryophyllia smithii, Dendrophyllia cornigera, and Desmophyllum dianthus, are not affected by pCO2 levels expected for …

A Storm In A Tea-Cup? "Making A Difference' In Two Sure Start Children's Centres, Marie Lavelle

Plymouth Institute of Education

No abstract provided.

A Data Mining Approach For Identifying Pavement Distress Signatures, Megan Sue Bouret

Computer Science

This work introduces signature-based data mining of pavement distress data. The goal is to understand the factors that influence pavement distress. The presented approach maintains multiple types of flexible pavement distress scores throughout the analysis and considers them as signatures. The signatures are used to establish the relationship between distress score increases and overweight truck characteristics. Hierarchical clustering of pavement distress signatures provides insights into similarities among road segments. The use of signatures, rather than composite distress scores, is consistent with a data mining approach to the pavement distress problem. One set of experiments showed a relationship between the discovered …

Implementation And Evaluation Of Cma-Es Algorithm, Srikanth Reddy Gagganapalli

Computer Science

Over recent years, Evolutionary Algorithms have emerged as a practical approach to solve hard optimization problems in the fields of Science and Technology. The inherent advantage of EA over other types of numerical optimization methods lies in the fact that they require very little or no prior knowledge regarding differentiability or continuity of the objective function. The inspiration to learn evolutionary processes and emulate them on computer comes from varied directions, the most pertinent of which is the field of optimization. In most applications of EAs, computational complexity is a prohibiting factor. This computational complexity is due to number of …

Project Tracker And Organizer, Krishna Kanth Kambhampaty

Computer Science

A Project Tracking and Organizer is a software tool which is a simple, fast and an efficient way to assign modules of a project to employees and track the progress of a project. Using this software, project status can be tracked. Any number of module can be assigned to employees for each existing project using the Project Tracking and Organizer. In this software system, each schedule can be tracked from the start until the end of the project life cycle. The key functionalities of the software are, the developed software system is free and open source, module assignment of a …

A Map Reduce Approach Of K-Means++ Algorithm With Initial Equidistant Centers, Krittika Bhattacharyya

Computer Science

Data clustering has been received considerable attention in many applications, such as data mining, document retrieval, image segmentation and pattern classification. The enlarging volumes of information emerging by the progress of technology, makes clustering of very large scale of data a challenging task. In order to deal with the problem, many researchers try to design efficient parallel clustering algorithms. In this paper, we propose a parallel k-means++ clustering algorithm based on MapReduce, which is simple like traditional K-means, yet more powerful because the initial centroid selection process is not random. It follows a formula to plot initial centroids at equal …

Increasing Usability And Accessibility Of Gis Technology Through Extension Of Existing Software Tools, Elizabeth Joan Noel

Computer Science

As the popularity of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology increases and its use extends from specialized users to the general public, tools available to users must adapt to take these changes into account. Virtual globes, such as Google Earth, are simplified GIS tools which do not include any of the data analysis and visualization capabilities of traditional GIS. However, the use of these applications can be extended by shifting the GIS functionality out of the application and into KML, through the dynamic manipulation of KML objects, allowing for some of the functionality of GIS to be reintroduced. Because KML objects …

Domain Ontology Based Detection Approach To Identify Effect Types Of Security Requirements Upon Functional Requirements, Bilal Ibrahim Al-Ahmad

Computer Science

Requirements engineering is a subfield of software engineering that is concerned with analyzing software requirements specifications. An important process of requirement engineering is tracing requirements to investigate relationships between requirements and other software artifacts (i.e., source code, test cases, etc.). Requirements traceability is mostly manual because of difficulties automating the process. A specific mode of tracing is inter-requirements traceability, which focuses on tracing requirements with other requirements. Investigating inter-requirements traceability is very important because it has significant influence on many activities of software engineering such as requirements implementation, consistency checking, and requirements impact change management. Several studies used different approaches …

Review Mining: Hierarchy Generation For Online Reviews, Prateek Rajan

Computer Science

In the present world of ecommerce more and more products are purchased and sold online then via any other medium. With such massive drive in online shopping more and more information is being added every day on web regarding the products and how good or bad are they. From the perspective of seller (such as Amazon) this information is very vital as this insight could be very helpful in making various decisions regarding inventory management, product pricing and so on. But the problem that arises in this context is the sheer volume of the reviews being added. In this paper …

Multi-Variate Attribute Selection For Agricultural Data, Xing John Xu

Computer Science

Farmers always have been concerned about the quantity of crops (yield) as well as the quality of crops (sugar content of the sugar beets). The quality and quantity of crops are affected by various attributes, some are natural elements (rain, sunshine etc) and some are not (the amount of fertilizer, seed type etc). Some techniques have been developed to discover attributes that are important to different crops’ yield. But within those selected attributes, how can we tell one attribute is more important than the other? The proposed algorithm is aimed to utilize the advantages of multiple response attributes to select …

Training Set Selection To Improve Crop Classification, Eric John Christeson

Computer Science

In some classification problems, acquiring class label information is much more expensive than collecting attribute data. One such problem is crop classification from satellite imagery. While random sampling is one option, we demonstrate that a targeted training set selection can be beneficial, when the acquisition of class label information occurs in sets: In crop classification, the number of data points is given by the number of pixels in the imagery, while all data points within one field can be assumed to have the same class label. Each data point is constructed from multiple images throughout the growing season, and each …

Study Of Aerosols’ Characteristics And Dynamics Over The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia Using A Multisensor Approach Combined With Ground Observations, Ashraf Farahat, Hesham El-Askary, Abdulaziz Al-Shaibani

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

This study covers various aspects of the aerosol distribution and characteristics, namely, optical depth climatology, absorption characteristics, and their microphysical properties over four regions in Saudi Arabia using satellite and ground observations including MODIS/Terra and Aqua, OMI, MISR/Terra, AERONET, and CALIPSO for the period April 2003–January 2013. The study includes cities in the North Western, Western, Eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia and in the Rub al Khali desert or Empty Quarter. Satellite and ground observations showed that the dust season extends from April to August with prominent peaks yet with high anthropogenic contribution late summer and early fall. Analysis shows …