Digital Commons Network^™

Characterization And Cultivation Of Marine Protist, Thraustochytrium Striatum For High-Value Bioproducts, Rui Xiao

All Dissertations

DHA/EPA producing marine protists have recently become more attractive due to their additional high-value products, including extracellular enzymes, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and astaxanthin. In this study, Thraustochytrium striatum ATCC 24473 was studied and the cultivation conditions were been optimized to achieve high biomass and fatty acid yield. Results showed that seawater salinity, neutral pH and mild rotation speed favored biomass growth, while better lipid accumulation was observed under high C/N ratio, higher salinity or high pH. Comparison in different carbon sources showed starch and glycerol improved fatty acid accumulation the most, and ammonia chloride was the best nitrogen source …

Edge-Computing Deep Learning-Based Computer Vision Systems, Edwin Lee Weill

All Dissertations

Computer vision has become ubiquitous in today's society, with applications ranging from medical imaging to visual diagnostics to aerial monitoring to self-driving vehicles and many more. Common to many of these applications are visual perception systems which consist of classification, localization, detection, and segmentation components, just to name a few. Recently, the development of deep neural networks (DNN) have led to great advancements in pushing state-of-the-art performance in each of these areas. Unlike traditional computer vision algorithms, DNNs have the ability to generalize features previously hand-crafted by engineers specific to the application; this assumption models the human visual system's ability …

Improve The Recognition Of Spoken Arabic Letter Based On Statistical Features, Jabbar Salman, Thamir Rashed Saeed, Alaa Hussein Ali

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

The recognition and classification of languages represent a vital factor in the computer interaction. This paper presents Arabic Sign Language recognition, which is represented as an appealing application. The work in this paper is based on three steps; preprocessing, feature extraction and classification (Recognition). The statistical features have been used than the physical features, while Multilayer feed-forward neural network as classification methods. The recognition percent is 96.33% has been gained over-perform the earlier works. The simulation has been made by using Matlab 2015b.

Design Of Speed Controller For Three Phase Induction Motor Using Fuzzy Logic Approach, Farazdaq R., Walaa H. Nasser

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

The use of Induction Motor (IM) has been increased becuase of it’s robust construction , simple design , and low cost . This paper presents a methodology for the application and performance of Fuzzy like PI Controller to set the frequency of Space Vector Pulse-Width modualtion (SVPWM) Inverter applied to closed loop speed control of IM. When the controller is used with current controller, the quadratic component of stator current is estimated by the controller. Instead of using current controller, this paper proposes estimating the frequency of stator Voltage. The dyanamic modelling of the IM is presented by dq axis …

Design And Implementation Of A Pneumatic Servo System Using Conventional Direction Control Valve, Amer Abed, Walaa Mousa Hashim, Abbas Abdul Wahab Muhammad

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

Pneumatic servo systems are widely used in industrial applications but they are expensive, so decreasing their cost contribute in decreasing products manufacturing cost. In this research a pneumatic servo system (PSS) was designed and implemented using cheap conventional directional control valve (CDCV) instead of expensive servo or proportional valves. The CDCV was driven using pulse width modulation (PWM) technique, which was generated in the LabVIEW program and send to the CDCV via Arduino uno microcontroller board. A fuzzy PI controller was designed and implemented to overcome the nonlinearity inherent in air systems, resulting from air compressibility and dry friction, and …

Cases Of Contingent Stem Faculty Who Practice Critical Pedagogies With/In The Neoliberal University, Jeffrey Michael Kenney

All Dissertations

An increasingly neoliberal university means diminishing resources and labor security for those located in the lowest echelon, particularly those engaged in critical/radical/activist projects. The purpose of this study was to generate knowledge in an effort to sustain and advance critical pedagogical practices in college teaching. This study focused principally on the knowledge and insights of contingent STEM faculty who practice critical pedagogies in the neoliberal conditions of public universities. Utilizing critical and pragmatic perspectives, I explored both the ingenuity and practicality of the participants’ praxis as well as examined the structural machinations of neoliberal capitalism within their teaching and learning …

The Impact Of Goal Persistence And Willing To Compete On Community College Student Success In Developmental Math Coursework, Kerri Mcguire

All Dissertations

Community college practitioners are seeking innovative approaches to improve student retention and completion rates while also demonstrating the value of a community college education for students, families, and communities. Developmental education for underprepared students is a focal point for institutional reform efforts to impact student success because developmental education programs receive criticism for being a hindrance to college completion. One such criticism is that colleges use ineffective course placement practices to place students into developmental course pathways that they are unlikely to complete. In response to this criticism, institutions have adopted course placement practices that utilize multiple measures to determine …

Consequences Of Shade Management On The Taxonomic Patterns And Functional Diversity Of Termites (Blattodea: Termitidae) In Cocoa Agroforestry Systems, Ambele C. Felicitas, Bisseleua D.B. Hervé, Sunday Ekesi, Komivi S. Akutse, Christian T.C.L. Djuideu, Marie J. Meupia, Olubukola O. Babalola

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Termites have gained importance as major pests in cocoa agroforests. Proper identification of termite species and knowledge on their functional diversity are the first steps in developing environmentally compatible management strategies. We tested the hypothesis that patterns of termite species richness in different cocoa agroforests is related to responses by termite functional groups to changes in shade management. We compared termite assemblages under five cocoa agroforestry systems in Cameroon to assess the impact of shade on termite taxonomic and functional group diversity. Sampling was done using a modified standardized transect method. Two 30 × 30 m quadrates each divided into …

Flight Vehicle Design, Andrew Ning

Books

No abstract provided.

Vehicle Sensor Data (Vsd) Based Traffic Control In Connected Automated Vehicle (Cav) Environment, Xianfeng Terry Yang, Zhao Zhang, Zhehao Zhang

TREC Final Reports

Connected automated vehicles (CAVs) are typically equipped with communication devices (e.g., dedicated short range communications (DSRC)) and on-board sensors (e.g., Radar, Lidar, Camera, etc.). Communication devices would enable the exchange of real-time information between vehicles and infrastructures via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) channels. Sensors equipped in vehicles are providing various vehicle sensor data (VSD) such as the CAV’s GPS location, speed and moving direction (trajectory). Existing studies have shown the effectiveness of using CAV trajectories as input in many traffic control models.

However, it can be expected that CAVs and human-driven vehicles (HVs) will co-exist on the transportation network …

The Key To Academic Success: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study On First- Generation African American Students Who Successfully Graduated From A Predominantly White Institution, Latoya Blount

Education Doctoral

First-generation African American students are graduating from college at lower rates than their White counterparts. Researchers have identified factors such as having kids, being a minority, and socioeconomic status as reasons that may hinder a first-generation African American student from completing college. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that led to the academic success of first-generation African American students from predominantly White institutions. The study employed qualitative methodology, specifically, a phenomenological approach. It found that first-generation African American graduates succeeded by being involved in clubs, student government, being an athlete or a Resident Assistant. This study also …

An Examination Of Staff Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of The Professional Learning Community Model: A Multiple Case Study Design, Renee Martin

Education Doctoral

This qualitative multiple case study sought to understand staff members’ perceptions of the components of an effective and sustainable professional learning community. The Professional Learning Community Assessment questionnaire and interviews were the instruments utilized to attain data. The study’s results allowed the researcher to identify areas of strength and areas of weakness that were integral aspects of each learning community’s operation. Specifically, the study included 22 participants across three middle school study sites. There were 12 key findings that emerged from the data across the three study locations. The findings revealed the need for regular collaboration, supportive leadership practices, a …

The Decline In U.S. Air Traffic Controllers: A Qualitative Exploration Of Current African American Air Traffic Controller Perspectives On Diversity Recruitment In Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative Schools, Wycliffe L. Walcott Jr.

Education Doctoral

The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Air Traffic Control Specialists (ATCS) workforce has been in steady decline since 2012. The declining number of federal ATCS threatens a $1.5 trillion aviation economy in the United States. The results of fewer controllers are increased delays and cancelled flights (National Air Traffic Controllers Association [NATCA], 2018). Additionally, the controller workforce is predominantly White male (Carey, 2014). Diversity amongst ATCS is another troubling trend for the FAA (McCartin, 2011). According to Outtz and Hanges (2013), an underrepresentation of minorities, including women, exists among the candidates who were hired successfully in the FAA ATCS centralized hiring …

A Qualitative Exploration Of The Factors That Led Hispanic/Latina Middle School Students To Select A Stem High School Education In New York City, Maria Lopez

Education Doctoral

There is a significant gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers as well as in the STEM workforce that continues to expand, ultimately impacting the global economy. In response to this crisis, this qualitative study sought to identify the factors that led Hispanic/Latina middle school students to select a STEM high school education. For this study, a purposeful sample of twenty-five ninth-grade Hispanic/Latina students participated from two designated STEM private high schools located in a densely populated Hispanic/Latino area in the Bronx. Participants anonymously responded to The Middle to High School STEM Experience questionnaire (see Appendix A …

A Comparison Of Agent-Based Models And Equation Based Models For Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Elizabeth Hunter, Brian Mac Namee, John D. Kelleher

Articles

There are two main methods that are used to model the spread of an infectious disease: agent-based modelling and equation based modelling. In this paper, we compare the results from an example implementation of each method, and show that although the agent-based model takes longer to setup and run, it provides additional information that is not available when using an equation based model. Specifically, the ability of the agent-based model to capture heterogeneous mixing and agent interactions enables it to give a better overall view of an outbreak. We compare the performance of both models by simulating a measles outbreak …

Chemical Treatment To Reduce Turbidity In Pumped Construction Site Water, James Jihoon Kang, Joshua W. Vetter, Richard A. Mclaughlin

School of Earth, Environmental, & Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Many construction projects need to pump turbid water from borrow pits or other excavations into stilling basins or sediment filter bags prior to discharge. This study evaluated the effectiveness of these devices with polyacrylamide (PAM) injection to reduce effluent turbidity. Results from laboratory jar tests using two coastal plain sediments of North Carolina suggested that a cationic PAM was the most effective in reducing turbidity, followed by a nonionic PAM. Anionic PAM was effective in whole-soil jar tests but not when turbid supernatant was tested. A stilling basin was not effective in reducing the turbidity of the pumped water without …

The Use Of Tissue And Serum ”˜Omics' Methods To Characterize Disease, Ying Ding

Theses and Dissertations

Preeclampsia (PE) is a multisystem disorder that contributes to maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity worldwide. It is characterized by de-novo hypertension and proteinuria or other maternal organ damage after 20 weeks of gestation. Evidence suggested that endogenous digitalis-like factor (EDLF) contributes to the pathogenesis of PE, and that the potential source of EDLF is the placenta. EDLF can inhibit the sodium pump (SP) specifically and may lead to hypertension, it has also been associated with hypoxia, oxidative stress and other abnormalitites present in PE.We studied whether normal human placenta responded to SP inhibition casued by EDLF with a change …

Large-Scale Non-Linear Dynamic Optimization For Combining Applications Of Optimal Scheduling And Control, Logan Daniel Beal

Theses and Dissertations

Optimization has enabled automated applications in chemical manufacturing such as advanced control and scheduling. These applications have demonstrated enormous benefit over the last few decades and continue to be researched and refined. However, these applications have been developed separately with uncoordinated objectives. This dissertation investigates the unification of scheduling and control optimization schemes. The current practice is compared to early-concept, light integrations, and deeper integrations. This quantitative comparison of economic impacts encourages further investigation and tighter integration. A novel approach combines scheduling and control into a single application that can be used online. This approach implements the discrete-time paradigm from …

How Teacher Questions Affect The Development Of A Potential Hybrid Space In A Classroom With Latina/O Students, Casandra Helen Job

Theses and Dissertations

Questions have been shown to aid in student understanding of mathematics, particularly "novel" questions (Mesa, Celis, & Lande, 2013) that do not have a predetermined answer. However, students do not always understand what is intended by questions posed by teachers, particularly those students who come from different cultural and lingual backgrounds than those dominant in the classroom discourse. This project investigated the relationship between how a mathematics teacher acknowledged students funds of knowledge in her questions and how Latina/o students responded. It shows some research based questioning techniques that allow Latina/o students greater opportunity to participate in the mathematical problem-solving …

Optimization-Based Spatial Positioning And Energy Management For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Ronald Abraham Martin

Theses and Dissertations

This research applies techniques from the field of optimization to spatial positioning and energy management in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Two specific areas are treated: optimization of UAV view plans for 3D modeling of infrastructure, and trajectory optimization of solar powered high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) UAVs. Structure-from-Motion (SfM) is a computer vision technique for creating 3D models from 2D images. View planning is the process of planning image sets that will effectively model a given scene. First, a genetic algorithm based view planning approach is demonstrated. A novel terrain simulation environment is developed, and the algorithm is tested at multiple sites …

Molecular Dynamics Investigation Of The Thermodynamics Of Nanoscale Droplets And Kinetics Of Weakly Correlated Systems, Kai Yang Leong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The surface tension of nanoscale droplets of water was studied with molecular dynamics simulations using the BLYPSP-4F water potential. The internal pressure of the droplet was measured using a correlation between the pressure and density, established through a series of bulk simulations performed at pressures from 1 to 1000 bar. Such a procedure allows for reliable determination of internal pressure without the need to calculate the local Virial. The surface tension, estimated with the Young-Laplace relation, shows a good agreement with the Tolman equation with a Tolman length of -0.48 Å. The interface of a liquid water droplet is shown …

Study Of Three Potential Variables That May Impact The Maximum Shear Force And Shear Variation During The Growth And Transport Of Mixed Sex Broilers Grown In Commercial Poultry Houses, Mark Christie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Temperature conditions during the transportation to the processing facility of commercial broilers have a direct impact on the meat texture, specifically maximum shear force and shear variation of cooked breast meat. Analysis of a calendar year of flock data (N=346), reveals that the largest impact of transport conditions, specifically temperature, is on the standard deviation of the flocks range of cooked shear values. The optimal transport temperature that yields broiler breast meat with average flock minimum shear and standard deviation values is approximately 60°F. The shear values for flocks at or near 60°F are on average 1 kg less than …

Speleogenesis In Turbulent Flow, Max P. Cooper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Existing models of speleogenesis neglect the shape of cross-sections, which can hold information related to climate, tectonics, and sediment supply in their widths. The first study of this dissertation simulates cross-sections of phreatic tubes, vadose canyons, and paragenetic galleries using a method developed for bedrock channels. Successful simulation of these cross-sections depends on erosion scaling with shear stress, in conflict with speleogenesis theory. Scaling of equilibrium width in paragenetic galleries was explored through analytical derivation and simulations, showing that width scales positively with discharge to the 1/2 power, and negatively with a weak power of sediment supply. Negative scaling of …

Subsurface Stratigraphic Interpretation Of The Lower Atoka Formation, Northern Arkoma Basin, Arkansas, William Stephen Denham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arkoma Basin is a Carboniferous peripheral foreland basin creating a structural depression covering an approximate area of 33,800 miles2 that extends through east-central Oklahoma and west-central Arkansas. The entire basin fill includes Pre-Mississippian carbonate shelf deposits, Mississippian marine carbonates and black shales, and Pennsylvanian mixed carbonated/clastic and shore zone/deltaic deposits. The Lower Atoka formation (Pennsylvanian) occurs in outcrop along the southern Boston Mountain Plateau in northern Arkansas and extends into the subsurface of the Arkoma Basin over an area of 2,300 miles2. The Lower Atoka ranges from 600 to 1500 feet in thickness and represents a cyclic succession of …

The Impact Of Transfer Shock In A Dental Hygiene Program At A Four-Year Health-Sciences University, Claire Sallee Tucker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order for a student to be successful in dental hygiene education, the student must gain the required knowledge and skills necessary to perform as a hygienist and possess the ability to utilize critical thinking to apply these attributes while in the program and on the National Board of Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE) (Alzahrani, Thompson, & Bauman, 2007; Fried, Maxey, Battani, Gurenlian, Byrd, & Brunick, 2017). Dental hygiene students who attend a medical university have the option to take required pre-requisite courses at a community college or a four-year university. All dental hygiene students transfer from another institution and all …

Hartogs Domains And The Diederich-Fornæss Index, Muhenned Abdulameer Abdulsahib

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Diederich-Fornss Index has played a crucial role in studying regularity of the Bergman projection on pseudoconvex domains in Sobolov spaces as is shown by Kohn, Harrington, Pinton and Zampieri and others. In this work, we discuss the Diederich-Fornss Index on Hartogs domains, and its relation to other properties connected to regularity of the Bergman projection. An upper and lower bound for the Diederich-Fornss Index is calculated for Hartogs domains and computed sharply for worm domains. Related conditions for the existence of a strong Stein neighborhood basis for Hartogs domains are introduced.

Impedance Sensing Of Cancer Cells Directly On Sensory Bioscaffolds Of Bioceramics Nanofibers, Hanan Alismail

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer cell research has been growing for decades. In the field of cancer pathology, there is an increasing and long-unmet need to develop a new technology for low-cost, rapid, sensitive, selective, label-free (i.e. direct), simple and reliable screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of live cancer and normal cells in same shape and size from the same anatomic region. For the first time on using an impedance signal, the breast cancer and normal cells have been thus screened, diagnosed and monitored on a smart bioscaffold of entangled nanowires of bioceramics titanate grown directly on the surface of implantable Ti-metal and characterized by …

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment For Parts, Ground, And Msc Poultry Product Including Intervention Analysis And Exploration Of Enterobacteriaceae As An Indicator Organism In Poultry Processing, Leigh Ann Parette

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Samples collected at five different large bird poultry processing facilities over a period of 7 months from prescald to post debone locations were enumerated for Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp. and the results were used to create Quantitative Microbial Risk Analyses (QMRA) models for parts, ground, and mechanically separated chicken (MSC) products. Sensitivity analyses indicated the points in the process at which reductions would be most advantageous to the endpoint and simulation models were run to test reductions required to meet the current USDA performance standards.

These data were analyzed to determine the reductions from one node (location) to …

Identifying Opportunities That Promote A Habit Of Mind In The Quantitative Reasoning Classroom., David Lavie Deville

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative literacy and its role in a democratic society are emerging topics of concern to mathematics educators throughout the world. Undergraduate courses in Quantitative Reasoning (QR) are a recent addition to the growing list of resources aimed at remedying quantitative illiteracy in America. Students were interviewed after completing three different undergraduate QR courses. A qualitative analysis of the interviews as well as course texts identified opportunities and hindrances for students in developing a habit of mind toward QR, how students apply a habit of mind, and obstacles students faced in developing a habit of mind.

Plasmonic Enhancement Of Photoluminescence And Photobrightening In Cdse Quantum Dots, David Alan French

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantum dots are gaining recognition not just in the physics and chemistry community, but in the public eye as well. Quantum dot technologies are now being used in sensors, detectors, and even television displays. By exciting quantum dots with light or electricity, they can be made to emit light, and by altering the quantum dot characteristics the wavelength can be finely tuned. The light emitted can be also be made more intense by an increase in the excitation energy. The excitation light can be increased via plasmonic enhancement, leading to increased luminescence. Aside from the relatively steady-state response, quantum dots …