Digital Commons Network^™

Handling Relationships In A Wiki System, Yashi Kamboj

Master's Projects

Wiki software enables users to manage content on the web, and create or edit web pages freely. Most wiki systems support the creation of hyperlinks on pages and have a simple text syntax for page formatting. A common, more advanced feature is to allow pages to be grouped together as categories. Currently, wiki systems support categorization of pages in a very traditional way by specifying whether a wiki page belongs to a category or not. Categorization represents unary relationship and is not sufficient to represent n-ary relationships, those involving links between multiple wiki pages.

In this project, we extend Yioop, …

Uncertainty Quantification (Uq) For Wall Modeled Large Eddy Simulation (Wmles) Model, Zuoxian Hou, Ramesh K. Agarwal

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Independent Study

In this paper non-intrusive uncertainty quantification (UQ) method is used to improve the accuracy of Smagorinsky Large eddy simulation (LES) model and a wall-modeled large eddy simulation (WMLES) model. Detailed UQ studies focusing on the closure coefficients of these two models are performed. A Polynomial Chaos (PC) surrogate model is used to evaluate the output sensitivities and uncertainties in the entire flow domain. The proposed UQ method allows for the investigation of specific flow features and phenomena within the domain. The results of the UQ analyses are then used to identify which closure coefficients in the models most influence the …

Skull Shape Affects Susceptibility To Traumatic Brain Injury, Kashyap Arcot, Guy M. Genin

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science Independent Study

Rapid deformation of brain matter caused by skull acceleration is one of the most significant causes of concussion and severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Despite substantial research being conducted in this area of study, very little is understood regarding the mechanics of the brain when exposed to rapid acceleration. As a result, the biomechanics of TBI remain ambiguous. In the present study, we apply a new strain estimation algorithm that enables the tracking of strains on the periphery of an image onto data obtained from tagged gel phantom and human MR-images. We use this new method to quantify strain concentrations …

Deep Data Analysis On The Web, Xuanyu Liu

Master's Projects

Search engines are well known to people all over the world. People prefer to use keywords searching to open websites or retrieve information rather than type typical URLs. Therefore, collecting finite sequences of keywords that represent important concepts within a set of authors is important, in other words, we need knowledge mining. We use a simplicial concept method to speed up concept mining. Previous CS 298 project has studied this approach under Dr. Lin. This method is very fast, for example, to mine the concept, FP-growth takes 876 seconds from a database with 1257 columns 65k rows, simplicial complex only …

Predicting User's Future Requests Using Frequent Patterns, Marc Nipuna Dominic Savio

Master's Projects

In this research, we predict User's Future Request using Data Mining Algorithm. Usage of the World Wide Web has resulted in a huge amount of data and handling of this data is getting hard day by day. All this data is stored as Web Logs and each web log is stored in a different format with different Field names like search string, URL with its corresponding timestamp, User ID’s that helps for session identification, Status code, etc. Whenever a user requests for a URL there is a delay in getting the page requested and sometimes the request is denied. Our …

An Exploratory Study On The Possible Effect Of Hydraulic Fracturing Activities On Air Quality In The Eagle Ford Shale Region Of Texas., Laura B. Fimibama

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eagle Ford Shale (EFS) play is one out of five major oil and gas formations in Texas, found in the South-Eastern region with approximately 30 counties. In addition to natural gas, it produces crude oil and petroleum liquids which in recent times has resulted in a surge in drilling due to a new drilling technology – hydraulic fracturing that injects massive quantities of water along with sand and chemical additives into a well to create tiny hairline cracks in rock formations. The success of this technology has made gas extraction more economically feasible. However, this technique has generated an array …

Laboratory Tests In The Development Of Wavecat, James Allen, Konstantinos Sampanis, Jian Wan, Deborah Greaves, Jon Miles, Gregorio Iglesias

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Greenland Subglacial Drainage Evolution Regulated By Weakly Connected Regions Of The Bed, Matthew J. Hoffman, Lauren C. Andrews, Stephen A. Price, Ginny A. Catania, Thomas A. Neumann, Martin P. Luthi, Jason Gulley, Claudia Ryser, Robert L. Hawley, Blaine Morris

Dartmouth Scholarship

Penetration of surface meltwater to the bed of the Greenland Ice Sheet each summer causes an initial increase in ice speed due to elevated basal water pressure, followed by slowdown in late summer that continues into fall and winter. While this seasonal pattern is commonly explained by an evolution of the subglacial drainage system from an inefficient distributed to efficient channelized configuration, mounting evidence indicates that subglacial channels are unable to explain important aspects of hydrodynamic coupling in late summer and fall. Here we use numerical models of subglacial drainage and ice flow to show that limited, gradual leakage of …

“Serhosil” Биопрепаратининг Ғўза Ўсимлигини Ўсиши, Ривожланиши Ва Ҳосилдорлигига Таъсири, Т. З. Султанов, А. Т. Салохиддинов, Б. Ш. Исмоилходжаев, Р. И. Раззаков

Irrigation and Melioration

The paper devoted to results of the study on impact of the “SERHOSIL” and “REZOKOM-1” biological products on grows and yield of “Namangan-77” variety of cotton cultivated under condition of irrigated loamy soils. The study has shown that the biological products has positively impacted on vegetation, grows and provided higher biological yields from experimental fields that is up to 36% more than from control fields.

Моделирование Процесса Увлажнения Грунтовой Плотины При Заполнении Водохранилища, М. М. Мирсаидов, Т. З. Султанов, Д. Ф. Руми, Ж. А. Ярашев

Irrigation and Melioration

This paper presents the modeling of deformation process of earth dams for the prediction of the stress state with taking into account the soil moisture. There were created the mathematical model, the method, algorithm and computer program for calculating the evaluation of transformation of stress strain state of subsurface dams because of the spread of water in the dam body. For the solution of the problem statement there were used variations of “Lagrange” equation and finite element techniques method. For the reliability of the developed models, methods, algorithms, computer programs and the results which are obtained were confirmed the decision …

Teaching Environmental Education To Elementary Aged Home School Students At Nature Centers: An Analysis Of Best Practices, Ronald P. Wodtke

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this project was, what are the best practices for teaching environmental education to elementary aged home school students at nature centers located in a large metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest? This study, analyzes the best practices used by several nature centers that offer home school programs, and are located in the seven counties that comprise the physical limits of the study. A nature center is a designated community space where trained professionals guide and facilitate visitors in their exploration of the natural world, and in developing a relationship with nature. Additionally, this experience should …

Novel Concepts In Semiconductor Disk Lasers, Zhou Yang

Optical Science and Engineering ETDs

Optically-pumped semiconductor disk lasers (SDLs) have received much attention in recent years for a myriad of applications requiring intracavity access, good beam quality, wavelength versatility, and high output powers. The traditional scheme of these lasers feature a semiconductor distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) integrated with the active region, together forming an active mirror in an external free-space cavity. The active mirror component is fabricated by either epitaxial growth or post-growth processing. This places certain restrictions on SDL design, as material system choices become limited. It further viii hinders laser performance with regard to its thermal management and laser bandwidth (tuning range). …

Introducing Abstract Mathematics Through Digit Sums And Cyclic Patterns, Sudhir Goel, Shaun V. Ault

Georgia Journal of Science

Using simple concepts that middle and high school students should be able to grasp, including “clock face arithmetic,” the standard multiplication table, and adding the digits of a number together, more abstract concepts such as modular arithmetic and cyclic groups may be introduced at an early stage in the students’ mathematical career. We find this approach to be organic and appealing to most students, encouraging them to think in different ways about familiar objects, and we encourage educators to test the concepts in their own classrooms.

Fall Commencement [Program], December 17, 2016, University Of Northern Iowa.

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates.

Assessing The Impact Of A Constructed Wetland Biome On The Ecosystem Health Of Cedar Run, Thomas Vasilopoulos, Casey Lee

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

A wetlands ecosystem is defined as “an area saturated by surface or groundwater at a frequency or duration sufficient to support...a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions” (Batzer and Sharitz, 2007). Wetlands serve as biofilters and thus have been used to treat sewage and wastewater, as well as to restore the health of polluted water systems. Solly Walker and Lorinda Palin, owners of a certified natural and biodynamic farm called Avalon Acres located in Broadway, Virginia, constructed a wetland two years ago, using the stream, Cedar Run, that flows through their property. Pollution from agricultural …

Reintroduction Of Brook Trout To The South River Via Upwelling Springs, Sydni L. Reinhold

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Populations of brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, throughout Virginia mountain streams have seen a rapid decline due to warmer conditions, decreased oxygen levels, and changes in the main stem streambed (Hudy et al., 2008). Current solutions have stocked more tolerant adult brook trout in the main stem rivers, which is costly and must be repeated yearly (Lennon, 1967). Finding an environment conducive for stocking brook trout eggs rather than adults would be ideal because they would return to this viable location to spawn, making them a self-sustaining population which is less costly and easier to implement. Upwelling springs connected to the …

The Fate Of Icd-1 During Misfolded Protein Induced Apoptosis In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Kyle H. Perez

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Severe misfolded protein stress initiates cellular responses that often result in the death of the affected cell, typically by apoptosis. An essential aspect of apoptosis is caspase-mediated cleavage of proteins that, once cleaved, further propagate death. One heterodimeric structure putatively targeted in this process in the nascent polypeptide-associated complex (NAC), a translational chaperone thought to help prevent misfolded protein stress in the ER. The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether the beta subunit of the NAC in C. elegans (ICD-1) is cleaved during the induction of apoptosis, with the hypothesis that ICD-1 is cleaved during stressed-induced apoptosis to …

2016 Fall Commencement, Harding University

Commencement Programs

Program for the Harding University Commencement on December 17.

Commencement Speaker: Errica Rivera

Using Brain Stimulation To Enhance Working Memory: A Charged Topic, Michael Christopher Stefan Trumbo

Psychology ETDs

Although working memory (WM) training programs consistently result in improvement on the trained task, benefit is typically short-lived and extends only to tasks very similar to the trained task. Pairing repeated performance of a WM task with brain stimulation may encourage plasticity in brain networks involved in WM task performance, thereby improving the training benefit. In the current study, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) was paired with performance of a WM task. In Experiment 1, participants performed a spatial location-monitoring n-back during stimulation, while Experiment 2 used a verbal identity-monitoring n-back. In each experiment, participants received either active (2.0 mA) …

Essays On Risky Health Behavior, Bern Dealy

Economics ETDs

Risky health behaviors including substance abuse and risky sex are a significant contributor to chronic illness in the US. Efficient use of public resources to avert or mitigate the consequences of risky health behaviors requires a better understanding of the overall costs of risky health behavior to society. Additionally, a better understanding of the value and behavioral consequences of programs designed to mitigate the consequences of risky health behavior is needed. This dissertation utilizes a number of unique methodological and empirical tools to examine the consequences of risky sex and drug abuse and the value of policies which seek to …

Impacts Of Long-Term Precipitation Manipulation On Hydraulic Architecture, Xylem Function, And Canopy Status In A Piñon-Juniper Woodland, Patrick J. Hudson

Biology ETDs

The Southwestern US is predicted to become hotter and drier, as global climate change forces increasing temperatures and variability in timing and size of precipitation inputs. Drought stress has become more frequent in recent decades, and resulted in massive forest mortality in piñon-juniper woodlands. During recent severe droughts (2000-2003, 2009-2012), piñon pine (Pinus edulis Englem.) suffered disproportionately high mortality compared to co-occurring one-seed juniper (Juniperus monosperma [Engelm.] Sarg.). A large-scale precipitation manipulation experiment was established in a piñon-juniper woodland in central New Mexico to test hypotheses regarding tree survival and mortality with respect to altered water regimes. Our …

What Affects Parents’ Choice Of Milk? An Application Of Bayesian Model Averaging, Yingzhe Cheng

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

This study identifies the factors that influence parents’ choice of milk for their children, using data from a unique survey administered in 2013 in Hunan province, China. In this survey, we identified two brands of milk, which differ in their prices and safety claims by the producer. Data were collected on parents’ choice of milk between the two brands, demographics, attitude towards food safety and behaviors related to food. Stepwise model selection and Bayesian model averaging (BMA) are used to search for influential factors. The two approaches consistently select the same factors suggested by an economic theoretical model, including price …

Speciation, Transport And Mobility Of Metals In Pristine Watersheds And Contaminated Soil Systems In Alaska, Amanda J. Barker

Chemistry and Biochemistry

The fate of metal(loid)s in the environment depends on a variety of physical and geochemical factors. Assessing metal(loid) transport in soil solution and surface water requires detailed knowledge of the speciation, which can often control mobility, toxicity and bioavailability of a given element. The present study details the geochemical analyses of two end member types of systems: a 'pristine' Arctic watershed and a military shooting range with an overall focus on understanding lead (Pb) and antimony (Sb) mobility in shooting range soils. The project uses bulk speciation analyses coupled with micro-scale methods to quantify variations in metal(loid) concentration as a …

Mechanisms Of Modulation Of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors, Arianna L. Demmerly

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Inappropriate expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system is associated with nicotine addiction, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and other disorders. Modulators (drugs) have the potential to restore circuit properties that arise from inappropriate expression of nicotinic receptor's. Compounds that interact with allosteric sites have a distinct advantage over agonists and partial agonists, in that, they retain normal activation patterns by allowing binding of the endogenous ligand. Positive allosteric modulators boost the receptors ability to respond to agonist. Studies of these modulators constitute a first step toward the identification and development of better compounds that minimize signaling errors …

Elementary Stem: Integrated Lessons, John Sassman

Education

The primary purpose of this project was to increase elementary students’ STEM literacy and interest in STEM-related fields. The secondary purpose of this project was to improve educator self-efficacy to teach STEM in their own classroom. To do this, I created, tested, and revised a series of STEM lessons and kits appropriate for Intermediate elementary students. Participants in this project included: eight through twelve year-old elementary students, three “Highly Qualified” certified elementary teachers from the FNSBSD, and other teacher collaborators from California and New Jersey. This project also enlisted the help of several expert students and faculty from the University …

Experimental Investigation Of The Influence Of Various Nanoparticles On Water-Based Mud, Paritosh Dhiman

Engineering

In the oil and gas industry, drilling fluids play an important role in the success of drilling operations. Hence, it is vital to predict accurately and maintain drilling fluid properties. Drilling fluids have multitude of functions, including but not limited to balancing the formation pressure, transporting cuttings, lubricating the bit, minimizing formation damage and maintaining well stability. Efficient completion of any drilling operation is governed by the selection of the proper drilling fluid. Growing hydrocarbon demand is driving the industry to explore unconventional resources such as shale formations and deep water and ultra-deep water areas where high temperature high pressure …

Bonding Theatre And Chemistry: An Educational Exploration, Matthew Gurniak

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This paper analyzes the educational aspects of theatre and music and the impact that they have on an audience. The goal was to begin a new conversation about science and theatre and how the two can learn and gain unique insight from each other. To examine how these two antithetical fields can interact, I composed a new, innovative musical that tells the love story between two professors through the use of concepts from general chemistry. The results and responses from the performance of the play were overwhelmingly positive from members of both disciplines. They have inspired continued interest in this …

Breeding Ecology Of Whimbrels (Numenius Phaeopus) In Interior Alaska, Christopher M. Harwood

Biological Sciences

Whimbrels Numenius phaeopus breed in tundra-like habitats, both beyond treeline and within the boreal forest of interior Alaska. Despite their widespread distribution and designation as a species of conservation concern, their ecology has been particularly understudied in Alaska. During 2008--2012, I initiated the first dedicated study of Whimbrel breeding ecology in Alaska, and the first such study of any boreal-breeding shorebird in the state. Within a habitat mosaic of forest, woodlands, muskeg, scrub, and ponds within the floodplain of the Kanuti River in north-central Alaska, Whimbrels bred in the three largest (of nine) patches of discontinuous tussock tundra. These Whimbrels …

Geologic And Geochemical Characterization Of Cross-Communication Potential Within The Northern Edwards Aquifer System, Texas, Ingrid J. Eckhoff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Edwards Aquifer is a large, complex groundwater system located throughout Central Texas in association with the Balcones Fault Zone. The San Antonio and Barton Spring segments of the Edwards Aquifer have been extensively studied in the past because they provide groundwater resources to the largely urbanized areas of San Antonio and Austin, respectively, and smaller communities along the Interstate 35 corridor. Previous research has been conducted on these southern and central portions of the Edwards Aquifer system, which have characterized the structural, hydrogeological and geochemical variations within the highly karsted region. However, the Northern Segment of the Edwards Aquifer …

Efficient And Robust Methods For Quantum Tomography, Charles Baldwin

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

The development of large-scale platforms that implement quantum information processing protocols requires new methods for verification and validation of quantum behavior. Quantum tomography (QT) is the standard tool for diagnosing quantum states, process, and readout devices by providing complete information about each. However, QT is limited since it is expensive to not only implement experimentally, but also requires heavy classical post-processing of experimental data. In this dissertation, we introduce new methods for QT that are more efficient to implement and robust to noise and errors, thereby making QT a more widely practical tool for current quantum information experiments. The crucial …