Digital Commons Network^™

Landmark Based Shape Analysis For Cerebellar Ataxia Classification And Cerebellar Atrophy Pattern Visualization, Zhen Yang, S. Mazdak Abulnaga, Aaron Carass, Bruno Jedynak, Chiadi U. Onyike, Jerry L. Prince, Multiple Additional Authors

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cerebellar dysfunction can lead to a wide range of movement disorders. Studying the cerebellar atrophy pattern associated with different cerebellar disease types can potentially help in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment planning. In this paper, we present a landmark based shape analysis pipeline to classify healthy control and different ataxia types and to visualize the characteristic cerebellar atrophy patterns associated with different types. A highly informative feature representation of the cerebellar structure is constructed by extracting dense homologous landmarks on the boundary surfaces of cerebellar sub-structures. A diagnosis group classifier based on this representation is built using partial least square dimension …

Instructors' Perceptions Of Their Students' Conceptions: The Case In Undergraduate Mathematics, Wes Maciejewski

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

How a student conceives the nature of a subject they study affects the approach they take to that study and ultimately their learning outcome. This conception is shaped by prior experience with the subject and has a lasting impact on the student's learning. For subsequent education to be effective, an instructor must link the current topic to the student's prior knowledge. Short of assessing their students, an instructor relies on their subjective experience, intuitions, and perceptions about this prior knowledge. These perceptions shape the educational experience. The current study explores, in the context of undergraduate mathematics, the alignment of instructors' …

A Comprehensive Model Of The Transport Phenomena In Gas Metal Arc Welding, Junling Hu, Zhenghua Rao, Hai-Lung Tsai

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A comprehensive two-dimensional gas metal arc welding (GMAW) model was developed to take into account all the interactive events in the gas metal arc welding process, including the arc plasma, melting of the electrode, droplet formation, detachment, transfer, and impingement onto the workpiece, and the weld-pool dynamics and weld formation. The comprehensive GMAW model tracks the free surface using the volume of fluid method and directly modeled the coupling effects between the arc domain and the metal domain, thus eliminating the need to assign boundary conditions at the interface. A thorough investigation of the plasma arc characteristics was conducted to …

Brain Science And The Theory Of Juvenile Mens Rea, Jenny E. Carroll

Faculty Scholarship

The law has long recognized the distinction between adults and children. A legally designated age determines who can vote, exercise reproductive rights, voluntarily discontinue their education, buy alcohol or tobacco, marry, drive a car, or obtain a tattoo. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld such age-based restrictions, most recently constructing an Eighth Amendment jurisprudence that bars the application of certain penalties to juvenile offenders and a Fourth Amendment jurisprudence that contemplates an adolescent-based standard of reasonableness for the Miranda v. Arizona custody analysis. In the cases of Roper v. Simmons , Graham v. Florida , Miller v. Alabama , and …

Tridiagonal Matrices And Boundary Conditions, J. J. P. Veerman, David K. Hammond

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe the spectra of certain tridiagonal matrices arising from differential equations commonly used for modeling flocking behavior. In particular we consider systems resulting from allowing an arbitrary boundary condition for the end of a one-dimensional flock. We apply our results to demonstrate how asymptotic stability for consensus and flocking systems depends on the imposed boundary condition.

Full State Revivals In Linearly Coupled Chains With Commensurate Eigenspectra, J. J. P. Veerman, Jovan Petrovic

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coherent state transfer is an important requirement in the construction of quantum computer hardware. The state transfer can be realized by linear next-neighbour-coupled finite chains. Starting from the commensurability of chain eigenvalues as the general condition of periodic dynamics, we find chains that support full periodic state revivals. For short chains, exact solutions are found analytically by solving the inverse eigenvalue problem to obtain the coupling coefficients between chain elements. We apply the solutions to design optical waveguide arrays and perform numerical simulations of light propagation thorough realistic waveguide structures. Applications of the presented method to the realization of a …

Signal Velocity In Oscillator Arrays, Carlos E. Cantos, David K. Hammond, J. J. P. Veerman

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigate a system of coupled oscillators on the circle, which arises from a simple model for behavior of large numbers of autonomous vehicles. The model considers asymmetric, linear, decentralized dynamics, where the acceleration of each vehicle depends on the relative positions and velocities between itself and a set of local neighbors. We first derive necessary and sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability, then derive expressions for the phase velocity of propagation of disturbances in velocity through this system. We show that the high frequencies exhibit damping, which implies existence of well-defined signal velocities c+>0 and c−f(x−c+t) in the direction …

Associations Between Performance On An Abbreviated Cogstate Battery, Other Measures Of Cognitive Function, And Biomarkers In People At Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Annie M. Racine, Lindsay R. Clark, Sara C. Berman, Rebecca L. Koscik, Kimberly D. Mueller, Derek Norton, Christopher R. Nicholas, Kaj Blennow, Henrik Zetterberg, Bruno M. Jedynak, Murat Bilgel, Cynthia M. Carlsson, Bradley T. Christian, Sanjay Asthana, Sterling C. Johnson

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

It is not known whether computerized cognitive assessments, like the CogState battery, are sensitive to preclinical cognitive changes or pathology in people at risk for Alzheimer's disease(AD). In 469 late middle-aged participants from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention(mean age 63.8±7 years at testing; 67% female; 39% APOE4+), we examined relationships between a CogState abbreviated battery(CAB) of seven tests and demographic characteristics, traditional paper-based neuropsychological tests as well as a composite cognitive impairment index, cognitive impairment status(determined by consensus review), and biomarkers for amyloid and tau(CSF phosphorylated-tau/Aβ42 and global PET-PiB burden) and neural injury(CSF neurofilament light protein). CSF and PET-PiB …

Voxel Based Morphometry In Optical Coherence Tomography: Validation & Core Findings, Bhavna J. Antony, Min Chen, Aaron Carass, Bruno M. Jedynak, Omar Al-Louzi, Sharon D. Solomon, Shiv Saidha, Peter Calabresi, Jerry L. Prince

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the human retina is now becoming established as an important modality for the detection and tracking of various ocular diseases. Voxel based morphometry (VBM) is a long standing neuroimaging analysis technique that allows for the exploration of the regional differences in the brain. There has been limited work done in developing registration based methods for OCT, which has hampered the advancement of VBM analyses in OCT based population studies. Following on from our recent development of an OCT registration method, we explore the potential benefits of VBM analysis in cohorts of healthy controls (HCs) and …

Elaborative Retrieval: Do Semantic Mediators Improve Memory?, Melissa Lehman, Jeffrey D. Karpicke

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

The elaborative retrieval account of retrieval-based learning proposes that retrieval enhances retention because the retrieval process produces the generation of semantic mediators that link cues to target information. We tested two assumptions that form the basis of this account: that semantic mediators are more likely to be generated during retrieval than during restudy and that the generation of mediators facilitates later recall of targets. Although these assumptions are often discussed in the context of retrieval processes, we noted that there was little prior empirical evidence to support either assumption. We conducted a series of experiments to measure the generation of …

Co-Doping Of Magnesium With Indium In Nitrides: First Principle Calculation And Experiment, Zhiqiang Liu, Binglei Fu, Xiaoyan Yi, Guodong Yuan, Junxi Wang, Jinmin Li, Luna, Ian Ferguson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this work, an effective strategy for achieving efficient p-type doping in wide bandgap nitride semiconductors was proposed to overcome the fundamental issue of high activation energy. We demonstrated that a hole concentration as high as 1.4 x 1018 cm-3 could been achieved through In-Mg co-doping. The electronic structure of the system and the formation energy of impurity were analyzed via first principal calculation to clarify the underlying physics and the ambiguity in understanding of the origin of the high hole concentration. Our results indicated that the original valence band maximum of the host materials could be modified, thus improving …

Health Service Utilization And Poor Health Reporting In Asthma Patients, Joshua G. Behr, Rafael Diaz, Muge Akpinar-Elci

VMASC Publications

The management and treatment of adult asthma has been associated with utilization of health services. Objectives: First, to investigate the likelihood of health service utilization, including primary care, emergency department, and hospital stays, among persons diagnosed with an asthma condition relative to those that do not have an asthma condition. Second, to examine the likelihood of poor physical health among asthma respondents relative to those that do not have an asthma condition. Third, to demonstrate that these relationships vary with frequency of utilization. Fourth, to discuss the magnitude of differences in frequent utilization between asthma and non-asthma respondents. Data …

Building Resiliency In Response To Sea Level Rise And Recurrent Flooding: Comprehensive Planning In Hampton Roads, Joshua G. Behr, Rafael Diaz, Molly Mitchell

VMASC Publications

[Introduction]

Over the past few decades, the Hampton Roads region, with its extensive coastline, has been experiencing more frequent flooding from surges and precipitation caused by tropical storms, nor’easters and heavy thunderstorms (Figure 1). Recurrent flooding is “flooding that occurs repeatedly in the same area over time due to precipitation events, high tides or storm surge.”¹ The recurrence of tidal/surge flooding in Hampton Roads has increased from 1.7 days of “nuisance” flooding per year in 1960 to 7.3 days per year in 2014.² Although there is no definitive region-wide data to document the increases in precipitation-induced flooding, there …

Panic That Spreads Sociobehavioral Contagion In Pedestrian Evacuations, Terra Elzie, Erika Frydenlund, Andrew J. Collins, R. Michael Robinson

VMASC Publications

Crowds are a part of everyday public life, from stadiums and arenas to school hallways. Occasionally, pushing within the crowd spontaneously escalates to crushing behavior, resulting in injuries and even death. The rarity and unpredictability of these incidents provides few options to collect data for research on the prediction and prevention of hazardous emergent behaviors in crowds. This study takes a close look at the way states of agitation, such as panic, can spread through crowds. Group composition—mainly family groups composed of members with differing mobility levels—plays an important role in the spread of agitation through the crowd, ultimately affecting …

Effects Of Electrode Materials On Charge Conduction Mechanisms Of Memory Device Based On Natural Aloe Vera, Zhe Xi Lim, Sasidharan Sreenivasan, Yew Hoong Wong, Feng Zhao, Kuan Yew Cheong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Resistive switching behaviors in Aloe vera films are being explored for nonvolatile memory applications. A simple structure in which the Aloe vera films sandwiched in between a top and bottom electrode are used. The switching behaviors of the devices in which the Aloe vera film is dried at different temperatures and the roles of top electrode materials (Al and Ag) are investigated. Current density-voltage measurements reveal that filamentary conduction is the dominant conduction process inducing resistive switching characteristics in Aloe vera films. Device with Al-Top electrode requires a forming voltage higher than devices with Ag-Top electrode, due to the tendency …

Love Sip, Tianshu Liu

Theses

Love Sip is an animated graduate thesis film. The entire film, including the credits, is 4 minutes 58 seconds long. The premier of the film occurred in December 2015 in the School of Film and Animation’s end of semester screenings at Rochester Institute of Technology.

The story takes place in a vending machine. The main characters are a bottle of Soda and a bottle of Juice. They fall in love and try to escape from the vending machine. Their journey is challenging, action packed, and with the promise that their love for each will survive.

Love Sip is a 3D …

Identifying The Potential Environmental Impacts Of Engineered Nanomaterials, Therese Garvey

Theses

Engineered Nanomaterials (ENMs) are increasingly manufactured and incorporated into a diverse array of consumer products and industrial uses. While ENMs are touted for their technological and efficiency benefits, the potential impacts of increasing emissions and exposures to ENMs are poorly understood. This dissertation takes a critical look at the current knowledge in impact assessment of nanomaterials. First, the current metrics for impact assessment of traditional methods are compared with the proposed set of metrics necessary for nanomaterial impact assessment. Next, in order to understand the potential environmental impacts in context, characterization factors for four case study nanomaterials are modeled using …

Introducing Design For Six Sigma’S Dmadv Methodology To The Packaging Industry, Sumeet Deshpande

Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to introduce a standard method for designing efficient and sustainable packages to the packaging industry. This thesis has focused on how a standardized process has helped to design efficient, cost-effective and sustainable packages in the food industry. The standardized process used was the lean six-sigma methodology called DMADV.

The DMADV methodology has been implemented for inventing and innovating major new features of existing products, services or processes.

The main objective of this research was to:

1. Introduce the lean six-sigma DMADV methodology to the packaging industry.

2. Show how a DMADV methodology can be …

Extreme Contrast Enchantment Of An All-Optical And Gate, Saif Al Graiti

Theses

We experimentally demonstrate a 31.2-dB-contrast all-optical AND gate based on a Fabry-Pérot semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). Typically, cross phase modulation is the dominant nonlinearity as it shifts a FPSOA resonance to trigger the AND-gate functionality. Cross polarization modulation (XPolM) is introduced here to produce a distinct output SOP for the high-state power that is different from the low-state power. A linear polarizer is used to block the low-state power to enhance the contrast by 24 dB, far exceeding previous demonstrations for such FPSOA gates.

Toothdoll, Xiaodong Han

Theses

The 3D short animated film Toothdoll is a master degree thesis film. The film runs five minutes and ten seconds including credits. All the scenes in this film happen indoors. The story is between a little boy, Ushka and his grandmother. After the little boy’s first tooth comes out, he expects the new tooth sprout. With this little story, I wanted to recreate this normal but important first-time experience in our childhood.

Throughout the entire production, the primary goal for me to tell a clear and solid story to my audiences. No matter how interesting the story is, I think …

Forms And Relationships Inspired By The Natural World, George Dubinsky

Theses

My thesis body of work will investigate techniques and processes that can yield forms that are in harmony and sympathetic with forms and relationships found in nature. Using wood as my primary material, I will create a body of work that draws inspiration from trees, the way they grow, and the ways in which patterns can emerge from a tree when dissected in different ways. To achieve this I will explore techniques such as coopering in order to create shells that mimic the cambium layer of a tree or how a ripple in a surface makes visual reference to the …

The Role Of Economic Zones And Their Potential To Attract Diaspora Investment In Kosovo, Milot Burani

Theses

The Kosovar diaspora presents a large opportunity for the nation to utilize towards the aim of development. Through the years, the massive amount of resources sent to Kosovo from the diaspora, in the form of remittances, has been realized but has not been effectively utilized and channeled for development projects. The growing reliance on these remittances does not represent a sustainable approach for the country’s development as these inflows and could in fact prove to lead to the exact opposite. In order to make better use of Diaspora funds and increase foreign direct investments in the country, the Kosovar government …

Guidelines For The Presentation And Planning Of Cultural Heritage In The Municipal Development Plan Of Vushtrri (Mdpv), Arben Rrecaj

Theses

This capstone project addresses the lack of proper presentation of the current state of cultural heritage and the lack of proper planning of cultural heritage in the Municipal Development Plan of Vushtrri (MDPV).[1] The project involves a range of activities, such as meetings with the institution responsible for the design of MDPV and the company contracted to draw up the document, visits to cultural heritage sites, and Internet research. This project provides guidelines for amending parts of the MDPV that pertain to cultural heritage. This amendment consists of the comprehensive presentation and planning of the cultural heritage of the …

Kentucky Traffic Collision Facts 2015, Kentucky Transportation Center, Kentucky State Police

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

KENTUCKY’S TRAFFIC COLLISION FACTS report for 2015 is based on collision reports submitted to the Kentucky State Police Records Branch. As required by Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.635, “every law enforcement agency whose officers investigate a vehicle accident of which a report must be made...shall file a report of the accident...within ten days after investigation of the accident upon forms supplied by the bureau.” The stated purpose of this requirement is to utilize data on traffic collisions for such purposes as will improve the traffic safety program in the Commonwealth. Data contained in this report are based solely on the observations …

Internet Of Things To Smart Iot Through Semantic, Cognitive, And Perceptual Computing, Amit P. Sheth

Publications

Rapid growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) has resulted in a massive growth of data generated by these devices and sensors put on the Internet. Physical-cyber-social (PCS) big data consist of this IoT data, complemented by relevant Web-based and social data of various modalities. Smart data is about exploiting this PCS big data to get deep insights and make it actionable, and making it possible to facilitate building intelligent systems and applications. This article discusses key AI research in semantic computing, cognitive computing, and perceptual computing. Their synergistic use is expected to power future progress in building intelligent systems …

Seebeck Coefficient Enhancement Of Ald Pbte/Pbse Nanolaminate Structures Deposited Inside Porous Silicon Templates, Xin Chen, Pengtao Lin, Kai Zhang, Helmut Baumgart, Brian Geist, Vladimir Kochergin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, lead chalcogenide based thermoelectric nanolaminate structures were fabricated by alternately depositing PbTe and PbSe ALD layers on regular planar silicon wafers and on microporous silicon templates. Lead bis(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionato) (Pb(C₁₁H₁₉O₂) ₂), plus (trimethylsilyl) telluride ((Me₃Si)₂Te) and (trimethylsilyl) selenide ((Me₃Si)₂Se) were used as the chemical ALD precursors for lead, tellurium and selenium, respectively. The Seebeck coefficient in horizontal direction (parallel direction to the surface) to the multiple layered PbTe/PbSe nanolaminate structures was measured by an MMR Seebeck system, and benchmarked against the Seebeck coefficient …

An Improved Smote Algorithm Based On Genetic Algorithm For Imbalanced Data Collection, Qiong Gu, Xian-Ming Wang, Zhao Wu, Bing Ning, Chun-Sheng Xin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Classification of imbalanced data has been recognized as a crucial problem in machine learning and data mining. In an imbalanced dataset, minority class instances are likely to be misclassified. When the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) is applied in imbalanced dataset classification, the same sampling rate is set for all samples of the minority class in the process of synthesizing new samples, this scenario involves blindness. To overcome this problem, an improved SMOTE algorithm based on genetic algorithm (GA), namely, GASMOTE was proposed. First, GASMOTE set different sampling rates for different minority class samples. A combination of the sampling rates …

An Efficient Method For Optimizing Segmentation Parameters, Jacob D' Avy, Wei-Wen Hsu, Chung-Hao Chen, Andreas F. Koschan, Mongi Abidi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Segmenting an image into meaningful regions is an important step in many computer vision applications such as facial recognition, target tracking and medical image analysis. Because image segmentation is an ill-posed problem, parameters are needed to constrain the solution to one that is suitable for a given application. For a user, setting parameter values is often unintuitive. We present a method for automating segmentation parameter selection using an efficient search method to optimize a segmentation objective function. Efficiency is improved by utilizing prior knowledge about the relationship between a segmentation parameter and the objective function terms. An adaptive sampling of …

Ultra-Compact Raman Spectrometer For Planetary Explorations, Derek Davis, James Hornef, John Lucas, Hani Elsayed-Ali, M. Nural Abedin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

To develop a compact Raman spectroscopy system with features that will make it suitable for future space missions which require surface landing. Specifically, this system will be appropriate for any mission in which planetary surface samples need to be measured and analyzed.

Strain Distribution And Crack Detection In Thin Unbonded Concrete Pavement Overlays With Fully Distributed Fiber Optic Sensors, Yi Bao, Genda Chen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study aims at evaluating the feasibility of strain measurement and crack detection in thin unbonded concrete pavement overlays with pulse prepump Brillouin optical time domain analysis. Single-mode optical fibers with two-layer and three-layer coatings, respectively, were applied as fully distributed sensors, their performances were compared with analytical predictions. They were successfully protected from damage during concrete casting of three full-scale concrete panels when 5 to 10-cm-thick protective mortar covers had been set for 2 h. Experimental results from three-point loading tests of the panels indicated that the strain distributions measured from the two types of sensors were in good …