Digital Commons Network^™

On Non-Parametric Confidence Intervals For Density And Hazard Rate Functions & Trends In Daily Snow Depths In The United States And Canada, Yang Xu

Theses and Dissertations

The nonparametric confidence interval for an unknown function is quite a useful tool in statistical inferential procedures; and thus, there exists a wide body of literature on the topic. The primary issues are the smoothing parameter selection using an appropriate criterion and then the coverage probability and length of the associated confidence interval. Here our focus is on the interval length in general and, in particular, on the variability in the lengths of nonparametric intervals for probability density and hazard rate functions. We start with the analysis of a nonparametric confidence interval for a probability density function noting that the …

Optimal Supply Chain Configuration For The Additive Manufacturing Of Biomedical Implants, Adindu Ahurueze Emelogu

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study two important problems related to additive manufacturing (AM). In the first part, we investigate the economic feasibility of using AM to fabricate biomedical implants at the sites of hospitals AM versus traditional manufacturing (TM). We propose a cost model to quantify the supply-chain level costs associated with the production of biomedical implants using AM technology, and formulate the problem as a two-stage stochastic programming model, which determines the number of AM facilities to be established and volume of product flow between manufacturing facilities and hospitals at a minimum cost. We use the sample average approximation …

Development Of Oscillating Heat Pipe For Waste Heat Recovery, Govinda Mahajan

Theses and Dissertations

The development and implementation of technologies that improves Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) system efficiency, including unique waste heat recovery methods, are sought while considering financial constraints and benefits. Recent studies have found that through the use of advanced waste heat recovery systems, it is possible to reduce building’s energy consumption by 30%. Oscillating heat pipes (OHP) exists as a serpentine-arranged capillary tube, possesses a desirable aerodynamic form factor, and provides for relatively high heat transfer rates via cyclic evaporation and condensation of an encapsulated working fluid with no internal wicking structure required. In last two decade, it has …

Conversion Of Industrial Waste And Wastewaters Into Lipids Suitable For Biodiesel Production, Marta Amirsadeghi

Theses and Dissertations

The potential of oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula glutinis for the sustainable production of biodiesel feedstock via fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass in pulp and paper wastewater as a fermentation media was investigated. The overall objective was to increase the levels of lipid feedstock in oleaginous yeast in order to reduce biodiesel production cost. To meet sustainable production of biodiesel, industrial wastewater and waste lignocellulose biomass were used as cultivation media and carbon source, respectively. Pulp and paper wastewater effluent was selected as a source of water and nutrients for the production of microbial lipids due to its environmental pollution as it creates …

A Study Of Wheat Flour Tortillas, Combustion, Selected Gaseous And Nuclear Surrogate Samples Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (Libs), Charles Tarshi Ghany

Theses and Dissertations

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an efficient tool for identification of elemental composition and characterization of materials. The concept of this technique is to focus a laser pulse of sufficiently high power on to a sample to create a plasma plume of atoms, ions, and molecules. The measurement of the resulting optical emission from these species provides the basis of the spectral analysis. Spectroscopic analysis of the plasma generated by Nd:YAG laser irradiation of wheat flour tortillas was carried out. A careful selection of spectral lines of Ca, Na and K which do not suffer from spectral interference was made. …

America Reads-Mississippi/Americorps Reading Program's Impact On Mississippi Community College Attendance, Charity Yarbrough

Theses and Dissertations

Since the inception of AmeriCorps programs, reading, education and civic engagement has been emphasized in a large portion of the United States. Members enlist to serve schools and communities for 1 year, possibly 2. Upon completion of a member’s year(s) of service an education award is given which can be used to attend a community college, university or repay student loans. This study showed how AmeriCorps/America Reads programs partnered with community colleges and universities which recruited members to volunteer at school sites and community centers tutoring students in classrooms to improve reading, grades, engage in community service activities, use education …

Material Characterization Using Spectrofluorometers, Charles Bruce Nettles

Theses and Dissertations

The use of spectrofluorometers to examine nanomaterials is quite popular using either fluorescence or synchronous measurements. However, understanding how a material’s optical properties can influence spectral acquisition are of great importance to accurately characterize nanomaterials. This dissertation presents a series of computational and experimental studies aimed at enhancing the quantitative understanding of nanoparticle interactions with matter and photons. This allows for more reliable spectrofluorometer based acquisition of nanoparticle containing solutions. Chapter I presents a background overview of the works described in this dissertation. Correction of the gold nanoparticle (AuNP) inner filter effect (IFE) on fluorophore fluorescence using PEGylated AuNPs as …

Mathematical Motivation Beliefs: A Study On The Influences Of The Mathematical Motivation Beliefs Of Students In A Predominantly African American Environment In Mississippi, Kendrick Laterrell Savage

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the influences certain factors have on the mathematical motivation beliefs of students in a predominantly African American setting. Mathematical motivation beliefs, for the purpose of this study, are defined as the components mathematical self-efficacy and mathematical value, both represented as dependent variables in the study. 4 independent variables were studied as potential influences regarding mathematical motivation beliefs. The variables included parental influences, teacher influences, mathematical anxiety, and the environment/setting. This research was conducted using 2 high schools in a rural area in East Mississippi. The 1st high school was predominantly African American …

Hybrid Electric Aircraft, Hajar Righi

Theses and Dissertations

The main concerns of air travel are the operating costs of general aviation aircraft. Hybrid-electric system design provides a great opportunity for future aircraft models to be environmentally friendly. The Hybrid-electric power propulsion system experienced a growing interest driven by determined targets. Electric technologies have proven promising success to achieve a successful result in the near- and long-term. Combining fuel cells and batteries, this technology can enable a significant reduction in fuel consumption, noise, and emissions. Different types of fuel cells and batteries are proposed and discussed during this work. The Cessna C-172 is a candidate to test the combination …

Multimodal Spontaneous Emotion Corpus For Human Behavior Analysis, Zheng Zhang, Jeffrey M. Girard, Yue Wu, Xing Zhang, Peng Liu, Umur Ciftci, Shaun Canavan, Michael Reale, Andrew Horowitz, Huiyuan Yang, Jeffrey F. Cohn, Qiang Ji, Lijun Yin

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Emotion is expressed in multiple modalities, yet most research has considered at most one or two. This stems in part from the lack of large, diverse, well-annotated, multimodal databases with which to develop and test algorithms. We present a well-annotated, multimodal, multidimensional spontaneous emotion corpus of 140 participants. Emotion inductions were highly varied. Data were acquired from a variety of sensors of the face that included high-resolution 3D dynamic imaging, high-resolution 2D video, and thermal (infrared) sensing, and contact physiological sensors that included electrical conductivity of the skin, respiration, blood pressure, and heart rate. Facial expression was annotated for both …

Radiometrically Accurate Thermal Vehicle Targets For Synthetic Video Development, David B. Rhodes

Theses

Collecting large scientific quality thermal infrared image and video data sets is an expensive time consuming endeavor. Thermal infrared imagers cost much more than comparable visible systems and require skilled experienced operators. Also, time and experienced personnel are required to collect quality ground truth. Often it is advantageous to perform computer simulations as an alternative to collecting image and video data with real camera systems. As long as enough physics is incorporated into the models to give accurately comparable results to real imagery, simulated data can be used interchangeably. Generating synthetic images and video has the added benefit of being …

Asset Protection In Escorting Using Multi-Robot Systems, Stephen Powers

Theses

Swarm robotics is a field dedicated to the study of the design and development of certain multi-robot systems. Often times, these groups prove to be more beneficial than a single complex robot as swarms typically provide a more robust and potentially more efficient solution. One such case is the task of escorting a specified target while addressing any potential threats discovered in the environment. In this work, a control algorithm for a high volume, decentralized, homogeneous robot swarm was developed based upon a technique commonly used to model incompressible fluids known as Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).

This proposed solution to …

Meeting Minutes, Wku University Senate

Faculty Senate

Meeting regarding charter revision, budget, committee assignments, syllabi, emeritus status, president search and Student Government Association.

The Catholic And Population Policy, Dexter L. Hanley, S.J.

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The New York State Constitution And Aid To Church-Related Schools, Charles E. Rice

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Federal Aid For Children And Teachers In All Schools, T. Raber Taylor

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

General Education Committee Report #2016-17-4: New General Education Courses., University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curricular Report No. 2016-17-2a From The Graduate Council To The Faculty Senate: Creation Of Graduate Certificate In Embedded Systems., University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

December 8, 2016, James Madison University

The Breeze, 2010-2019

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Stem Stories, December 2016, #2, Marcy Seavey

STEM Stories

Semester End Special - Fall 2016. Here Are Some Highlights

The Setonian, December 8, 2016, Seton Hall University

2016

No abstract provided.

College Senate Minutes December 8, 2016, Bronx Community College Senate

BCC Governance Archives

Minutes for the meeting of the College Senate on December 8, 2016.

University Of Northern Iowa Elementary Teacher Education Senate Meeting Minutes, December 8, 2016, University Of Northern Iowa. Elementary Teacher Education Senate.

Documents - Elementary Senate

Meeting minutes from the Elementary Teacher Education Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

The Maximum Queen’S Problem With Pawns, Doug Chatham

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

The classic n-queens problem asks for placements of just n mutually non-attacking queens on an n × n board. By adding enough pawns, we can arrange to fill roughly one-quarter of the board with mutually non-attacking queens. How many pawns do we need? We discuss that question for square boards as well as rectangular m × n boards.

Population Demographics And Sexual Reproduction Potential Of The Pillar Coral, Dendrogyra Cylindrus, On The Florida Reef Tract, Lystina Kabay

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The pillar coral, Dendrogyra cylindrus, has been commonly described as widely distributed, but rare throughout its geographical range in the Caribbean. Having recently been listed as Threatened under the US Endangered Species Act, an understanding of population status is needed to promote species conservation and population recovery. Previous to this study the status of the pillar coral population in the state waters of Florida, U.S.A, was relatively unknown primarily due to few colonies being recorded and no comprehensive summary of population abundance, distribution or health being completed. Along with various environmental and anthropogenic factors affecting the pillar coral population …

Can They Use It? Studying The Usability Of The Canvas Learning Management System At Bowling Green State University, James Faisant

Honors Projects

Students’ use of the Canvas learning management system (LMS) as implemented by Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a substantial part of their learning experience. A well designed and easy to use LMS not only allows students to be more efficient, it allows students to engage effectively with their coursework. Students’ ability to effectively use the LMS is examined to understand whether the system is usable, and if not, what changes should be made. Research included two distinct elements. First, students were asked to complete nine tasks identified as common tasks within Canvas, while being timed. Additionally, students responded to …

Hawks' Herald -- Dec. 8 , 2016, Roger Williams University

Hawk's Herald

No abstract provided.

Formulation And Characterization Of An Apigenin-Phospholipid Phytosome (Aplc) For Improved Solubility, In Vivo Bioavailability, And Antioxidant Potential, Darshan R. Telange, Arun T. Patin, Anil M. Pethe, Harshal Fegade, Sridhar Anand, Vivek S. Dave

Pharmacy Faculty/Staff Publications

The apigenin-phospholipid phytosome (APLC) was developed to improve the aqueous solubility, dissolution, in vivo bioavailability, and antioxidant activity of apigenin. The APLC synthesis was guided by a full factorial design strategy, incorporating specific formulation and process variables to deliver an optimized product. The design-optimized formulation was assayed for aqueous solubility, in vitro dissolution, pharmacokinetics, and antioxidant activity. The pharmacological evaluation was carried out by assessing its effects on carbon tetrachloride-induced elevation of liver function marker enzymes in a rat model. The antioxidant activity was assessed by studying its effects on the liver antioxidant marker enzymes. The developed model was validated …

Studies Of Inclusive Four-Jet Production With Two B-Tagged Jets In Proton-Proton Collisions At 7 Tev, V. Khachatryan, A. M. Sirunyan, A. R. Tumasyan, Marc M. Baarmand, Vallary Bhopatkar, Stefano Colafranceschi, Marcus Hohlmann, Daniel Noonan, Tuhin S. Roy, Francisco X. Yumiceva

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Measurements are presented of the cross section for the production of at least four jets, of which at least two originate from b quarks, in proton-proton collisions. Data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV are used, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 pb-1. The cross section is measured as a function of the jet transverse momentum for pT>20 GeV, and of the jet pseudorapidity for |η|<2.4 (b jets), 4.7 (untagged jets). The correlations in azimuthal angle and pT between the jets are also studied. The inclusive cross section is measured to be σ(pp→2b+2j+X)=69±3(stat)±24(syst) nb. The η and pT distributions of the four jets and the correlations between them are well reproduced by event generators that combine perturbative QCD calculations at next-to-leading-order accuracy with contributions from parton showers and multiparton interactions. © 2016 CERN.

Economic Opportunity And Young Adult Mortality: Variations By Race/Ethnicity And Gender, Jocelyn Mineo

Honors Projects

This study examines the relationship between economic opportunity and adolescent and young adult mortality in the United States. In addition, this study explores other variables, such as social support and rurality, and their link to young adult mortality rates. First, we examined the link between economic opportunity and all-cause mortality rates for youth ages 15 to 34 in the United States. Given the increasing racial and ethnic diversity of America’s youth, we pay particular attention to race/ethnic differences. We also examine the differences in mortality by gender.