Digital Commons Network^™

Theory Of Ion Transport And Ion Current Rectification In Nanofluidic Diodes, Julia Ellen Proctor

All Theses

In this thesis, nanofluidic diodes were studied theoretically using fundamental physics as a basis. A comprehensive theory was constructed for ion current rectification (ICR) in nanofluidic systems, written from an engineering and physics perspective. The primary goal of this work was to clarify the fundamental theory of ICR through the interpretation and consideration of various literature sources on the topic, which often use contradictory definitions and simplifications. New figures were created for this research to more effectively convey and clarify vital concepts such as electric double layers (EDL), and included multiple definitions to compare different theoretical approaches. Lastly, a simulation …

Exploiting Multi Stability Of Compliant Locking Mechanism For Reconfigurable Articulation In Robotic Arm, Troy Justin Carhart

All Theses

This study analyzes a biology inspired approach of utilizing a compliant unit actuator to simplify the control requirements for a soft robotic arm. A robot arm is constructed from a series of compliant unit actuators that precisely actuate between two stable states. The extended state can be characterized as a rigid link with a high bending stiffness. The compressed state can be characterized as a flexible joint with a low bending stiffness. Without the use of an external power source, the bistable mechanism remains in each of the stable states. The unit actuator can demonstrate pseudo-linkage kinematics that require less …

Evaluation Of Strategies For Treatment Of Complex Waste Mixtures At An Industrial Site In South America, Jimena Paola Jimenez Garcia

All Theses

Environment pollution is a global problem that has been created through decades of industrial development. Remediation activities are needed to mitigate the resulting health and environmental impacts. Nowadays there are still numerous sites that require clean-up of complex mixtures of contaminants that exhibit an even greater challenge to scientists and engineers. Area P, located in the Camaçari industrial site, is the subject of this research. The environmental impacts created by this area is a consequence of petrochemical industries located within the zone.The main objectives of this research were to evaluate the interactions among chemicals of concern in Area P during …

A Domain Decomposition Method With Local Time Discretization For A Fluid-Structure Interaction Problem, Jacob Britton

All Theses

In this work, we investigate the accuracy and efficiency of a space-time domain decomposition algorithm applied to a fluid structure interaction problem. This two properties were investigated by comparing the results against the more standard approach whereby the problem is discretized uniformly in time. This was achieved by comparing various measures of the error and the running time between the two methods when applied to an exact solution. It was found that this approach results in comparable errors and a greater stability at the expense of longer running times.

Evaluation Of Methanotrophic Biodegradation Of Tce At Low Ph, Nicholas Anthony Szwast

All Theses

Current biological strategies of trichloroethylene (TCE) remediation often fall short in low pH aquifers (i.e., pH

Academic And Demographic Cluster Analysis Of Engineering Student Success, Farshid Marbouti, Jale Ulas, Ching Ho Wang

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Contribution: This article uses student semester grade point average (GPA) as a measure of student success to take into account the temporal effects in student success. The findings highlight the student performance based on their demographic status and use of university resources such as financial aid. College campuses should not only increase current resources but also raise awareness of current resources and make them more accessible (e.g., easier to apply or automatic applications). This is especially important for some demographics such as Hispanic first-generation students. Background: Higher education institutions are facing retention and graduation problems. One way to improve this …

A Comparative Analysis Of Delay Propagation On Departure And Arrival Flights For A Chinese Case Study, Zhe Zheng, Wenbin Wei, Minghua Hu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In recent years, flight delay costs the air transportation industry millions of dollars and has become a systematic problem. Understanding the behavior of flight delay is thus critical. This paper focuses on how flight delay is affected by operation-, time-, and weather-related factors. Different econometric models are developed to analyze departure and arrival delay. The results show that compared to departure delay, arrival delay is more likely to be affected by previous delays and the buffer effect. Block buffer presents a reduction effect seven times greater than turnaround buffer in terms of flight delays. Departure flights suffer more delays from …

Gaps And Opportunities In Accessibility Policy For Autonomous Vehicles, William Riggs, Anurag Pande

Mineta Transportation Institute

Nearly 1 in 5 people in the US have a disability (more than 57 million) (U.S. Census Bureau), and people with disabilities use the automobile as a travel mode at significantly lower rates than people without disabilities (Bureau of Transportation Statistics). For example, people aged 18 to 64 with disabilities make 28% fewer trips per day (2.6 v. 3.6 trips) on average than people without disabilities. The disparity is even more significant for non-workers. These statistics highlight the notable technological, design, and policy failings in today’s transportation system - that disabled individuals have considerable suppressed demand for travel that is …

How Do Environmental Factors Affect Drivers’ Gaze And Head Movements?, Arash Tavakoli, Vahid Balali, Arsalan Heydarian

Mineta Transportation Institute

Studies have shown that environmental factors affect driving behaviors. For instance, weather conditions and the presence of a passenger have been shown to significantly affect the speed of the driver. As one of the important measures of driving behavior is the gaze and head movements of the driver, such metrics can be potentially used towards understanding the effects of environmental factors on the driver’s behavior in real-time. In this study, using a naturalistic study platform, videos have been collected from six participants for more than four weeks of a fully naturalistic driving scenario. The videos of both the participants’ faces …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Of The Roadside Transportation Related Air Quality (Startraq) And Neighborhood Characterization, Jaymin Kwon, Yushin Ahn, Steve Chung

Mineta Transportation Institute

To promote active transportation modes (such as bike ride and walking), and to create safer communities for easier access to transit, it is essential to provide consolidated data-driven transportation information to the public. The relevant and timely information from data facilitates the improvement of decision-making processes for the establishment of public policy and urban planning for sustainable growth, and for promoting public health in the region. For the characterization of the spatial variation of transportation-emitted air pollution in the Fresno/Clovis neighborhood in California, various species of particulate matters emitted from traffic sources were measured using real-time monitors and GPS loggers …

Applications Of Deep Learning Augmented Systems For Covid-19 Predictions- A Literature Review, Cherie Noteboom, David Zeng, Rajesh Godasu, Kruttika Sutrave

Research & Publications

Covid-19 Diagnosis needs new Information Systems technologies as Deep learning methods, especially in medical image screening. We aim to review the applications of deep learning augmented systems in Covid-19 predictions with the help of a large literature collection from four major databases IEEE explore, ACM, Web of Science, and PubMed. We have identified three major research themes from the current literature, Image Classification, Image segmentation, and evaluation methods for DL models. Among the DL techniques, Transfer Learning is identified as the most popular method for different tasks on Chest X-rays and CT scans. Pre-trained models such as ResNet, VGG, DenseNet, …

Efficacy Of Invisalign Attachments: A Retrospective Study, Theresa Karras, Maharaj Singh, Emelia Karkazis, Dawei Liu, Ghada Nimeri, Bhoomika Ahuja

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of Invisalign's (Align Technology, Santa Clara, Calif) optimized and conventional attachments on rotational and extrusive tooth movements. Methods: Initial, predicted, and achieved digital dental models from 100 orthodontic patients were exported from Invisalign's ClinCheck software as stereolithography files and subsequently imported into the Slicer CMF program (version 4.7.0; http://www.slicer.org) for superimpositions on posterior teeth with no planned movement. Rotational and extrusive measurements for both optimized and conventional attachments were made on 382 teeth from the superimposition of the initial and predicted models (predicted movement) and from the superimposed initial …

Augmenting Benthic Habitat Mapping With Low-Cost Imagery: An Application Of The Coastal And Marine Ecological Classification Standard (Cmecs), Sean V. Terrill

Graduate Masters Theses

One of the first steps of ecosystem-based management should be to classify and map habitats. The Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) was adopted by the federal government to standardize habitat classification in coastal U.S. waters. CMECS provides a hierarchal framework to define and interpret benthic habitats and biotopes but does not prescribe specific sampling methods to adopt. Imagery techniques have been utilized for many decades in benthic ecology but have rarely been employed in habitat classification using CMECS. Furthermore, no study to date has quantitatively examined the benefit of incorporating benthic imagery into the classification of biotopes using …

Study Of Nonlinear Optical Properties Of Gold Nanoparticles Dispersed In Nematic Liquid Crystals, Changshuo Fu

Graduate Masters Theses

Gold nanoparticles come in various sizes and shapes. Their optical properties arise from surface plasmon resonance, collective excitation/oscillation of conduction electrons. The study of the nonlinear optical properties of these materials is essential for photonic and biomedical applications. In this thesis, nonlinear optical properties of gold nanoparticles dispersed in the nematic liquid crystal were studied using optical and photoacoustic Z-scan techniques. Results show enhanced nonlinearity when gold is dispersed in planar-oriented 5CB liquid crystals compared to when liquid crystals were not oriented (degenerate). Also, sample with low gold concentration, by weight percentage, shows the better nonlinearity. Reasons behind the influence …

A Research Project To Investigate The Instructional Preferences Of Alternatively Certified Career And Technical Education Teachers, Jessica Deceuster

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Industry career workers that have transitioned to teaching within the education sector have the knowledge base to develop “what” needs to be taught in Career and Technical Education (CTE) curriculum; however, they do not have adequate knowledge about instructional strategies or “how” the curriculum content should be taught. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to document the instructional strategies, techniques, and coursework that were taught through the Utah State University Career and Technical Education Academy, to Career and Technical Education teachers that have transitioned from industry to education, and to assess how well the instructional strategies, techniques, and coursework …

Methane Emission Treatment And Potential Upcycling Using Methylomicrobium Alcaliphilum, Jace Parkinson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Anthropogenic methane emissions are harmful to the environment and can be difficult to treat. Use of M. alcaliphilum for bioremediation of methane looks to be one of the most promising methods of reducing the negative environmental impacts of methane emissions while simultaneously providing an economic incentive. Successful bioreactor design for M. alcaliphilum based methane treatment requires biokinetic constants and microbial growth information. Methods were established for determining biokinetic constants, including growth rate, biomass yield, specific methane consumption rate, and a correlation between methane oxidation and carbon dioxide production for M. alcaliphilum. Values determined for these constants were used to …

No Evidence Of Stochastic Resonance In Postural Sway Response To Noisy Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation In Healthy Young Adults, Dominique Rice

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The transcutaneous application of a sub-sensory electrical stimulation to the vestibular afferents, known as noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS), is thought to cause a reduction in postural sway at optimal amplitude intensities due to a mechanism known as stochastic resonance (SR). SR is a phenomenon whereby the addition of low amplitude noise to a non-linear system can be beneficial rather than detrimental. In humans, behavioral markers of SR in postural sway have been inconsistent, potentially due to insufficient power or false positives. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to determine whether the frequency of observing SR-like effects improves …

Teaching In The Digital Age: Creating A Student-Centered Classroom, Becca Huber-Jackson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio compiles the work of the author during her time as a student in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU). It highlights her personal pedagogy as well as provides supporting research. The different components of this portfolio are separated into two sections: teaching perspectives and research perspectives.

In the teaching perspectives section, she introduces her desired professional environment, outlines her teaching philosophy statement, and provides an analysis based on teaching observations. Research perspectives consist of two research papers and an annotated bibliography written throughout the course of the program that support the …

The Impact Of Environmental Turbulence On The Strategic Decision-Making Process In Irish Quantity Surveying (Qs) Professional Service Firms (Psfs), Roisin Murphy Dr, Oluwasegun Seriki

Articles

Construction firms operate within a business environment characterized by uncertainty and a lack of predictability, increasing the complexity of strategic decision-making. Construction contractor firms’ strategic response to environmental turbulence is appropriately documented but evidence regarding Construction Professional Service Firms (CPSF’S) remains scarce. CPSF’s are characteristically different from contractor organizations due to the intangibility of services and high knowledge intensity. The purpose of the study is to ascertain the impact of environmental turbulence on strategic decision-making process characteristics in CPSF’s, specifically Irish Quantity Surveying (QS) practices. Using a mixed-methods research strategy, data collected over two dissimilar stages on the economic cycle …

A Biological Assessment Of Oyster Restoration Mats Throughout The Indian River Lagoon: Changes In Community Composition And Filtration Capacity Of Living Docks, Morgan Katherine Gilligan

Theses and Dissertations

Like many estuaries worldwide, the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), has seen a decline in resources and overall water quality due to human activities. There is a growing interest in implementing ecological engineering methods to restore water quality. One such method is the construction and deployment of oyster restoration mats on dock pilings, known as the Living Docks program. This community driven program was founded at Florida Tech with the goal of promoting the growth of filter feeding benthic organisms to improve local water quality. Since 2013, twelve docks have been deployed in the central IRL, spanning from Cape Canaveral (28º …

Voltage-Controlled Magnetization In Chromia-Based Magnetic Heterostructures, William Echtenkamp

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Spintronics promises a new generation of low-power, high-speed, non-volatile memory and logic devices. Heterostructures based on magnetoelectric chromia enable the direct manipulation of magnetization by applied electric fields and emerged as a promising building block for spintronic devices. In this dissertation, several interesting emergent magnetic properties arising in these device-enabling building blocks are examined. In some cases, exchange coupling at the interface between the magnetoelectric antiferromagnet and an adjacent ferromagnet stabilizes the interfacial antiferromagnetic domain state against the electrically induced rotation of the bulk spin structure. Upon magnetically cycling the ferromagnet, the magnetoelectric antiferromagnet relaxes towards a commensurate spin structure …

Manipulation Of Spin Crossover Phenomenon In An Fe(Ii) Molecular Complex And Application To Molecular Spintronics, Guanhua Hao

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Molecules with a large local magnetic moment have attracted considerable attention for application in spintronic devices. One candidate of a suitable device goes to the spin crossover molecule, where these 3d transition metal compounds are able to exhibit a robust spin state transition between distinct states. By proper design, the spintronic devices fabricated via spin crossover molecular thin films could achieve novel functionality while retaining flexibility and other traits based on its “organic” nature.

Controlling the spin state transition is a key factor of these possibilities. This thesis work investigates the manipulation of the spin state transition in [Fe{H …

The Design, Creation, And Cognitive Evaluation Of Ranking Tasks In Introductory Astronomy, Emily A. Welch

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Ranking tasks are a type of interactive formative assessment. They allow students to explore a concept by ranking similar situations for a specified variable, preferably without computation of that variable. I created two sets of introductory astronomy ranking tasks: the first connects the Hertzsprung–Russell (HR) diagram and the Stephan-Boltzmann luminosity equation; the second uses the transit method (TM) to rank exoplanets by comparing the depth, duration, and frequency of transits.

These tasks are designed within the constructivist pedagogical framework. They require students to call upon their own relevant schema to establish an assessment rule by which to rank the tasks. …

Evaluating Evapotranspiration And Management Of Glyphosate-Resistant Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri S. Watson), Jasmine M. Mausbach

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Palmer amaranth (PA) is the most problematic weed in agronomic cropping systems in the United States. Acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor-/glyphosate-resistant (GR) PA has been confirmed in Nebraska and is widespread in several counties. Soybean resistant to isoxaflutole/glufosinate/glyphosate has been developed to provide additional herbicide sites of action for control of herbicide-resistant weeds. The objectives of this study were to evaluate herbicide programs for control of ALS inhibitor/GR PA and their effect on PA density and biomass, as well as soybean injury and yield in isoxaflutole/glufosinate/glyphosate-resistant soybean. A PRE herbicide fb glufosinate controlled PA 80%–99% 21 d after late-POST in 2018 …

Covalent Immobilization Of Molecular Complexes On Metal-Organic Frameworks Towards Robust And Highly Efficient Heterogeneous Water Oxidation Catalysts, Xiangming Liang, Sizhou Yang, Junyi Yang, Wanjun Sun, Xiangyang Li, Baochun Ma, Jier Huang, Jiangwei Zhang, Lele Duan, Yong Ding

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

The major challenges to practical implementation of efficient noble metal based molecular water oxidation catalysts are their stability and recycle ability. Herein, noble metal Ru based molecular water oxidation catalysts were covalently anchored in MOFs through “amide bond” as bridges, which leads to the formation of high-efficiency and robust heterogeneous catalysts for water oxidation reaction. We show that the efficiency for Ce^IV-driven water oxidation was significantly enhanced by 120 times when the Ru molecules were immobilized on the frameworks of MIL-101(Cr). The relationship between recycle stability and the structure of the Ru complexes covalently anchored in MOFs was …

Reasons And Remedies To The Dying Plant Walls, Hayley Q. Mcgough

Construction Management

Sustainability in construction has been increasingly popular and detrimental with the state of the planet and climate change. One of the more popular solutions is the addition of plant façades to a building, which are plants that are put on the vertical of a building. The benefits that come with plant facades include and are not limited to: Reduction of the urban heat island effect, improved air quality, local job creation, improved energy efficiency, building structure protection, noise reduction, increased biodiversity, urban agriculture. These benefits are not reaching their full potential because these plant façades keep dying creating a bigger …

Studies On Milling And Baking Quality And In Vitro Protein Digestibility Of Historical And Modern Wheats, Sujun Liu

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

There is considerable controversy among the public and the scientific community about whether modern wheats are harmful for human health and responsible for the increase of Celiac disease compared with historical varieties. Therefore, the milling and baking quality, protein digestibility, and protein composition of historical and modern wheats adapted to the Great Plains of the US were evaluated in this thesis. One objective of this thesis was to determine how end-use quality of wheat changed with wheat cultivar release year. Kernel physical characteristics, milling yield, whole-wheat flour quality, flour protein content, mixing quality and baking quality of 23 hard winter …

Patterns Of Depredation In The Hawai‘I Deep-Set Longline Fishery Informed By Fishery And False Killer Whale Behavior, Joseph E. Fader, Robin W. Baird, Amanda L. Bradford, Daniel C. Dunn, Karin A. Forney, Andrew J. Read

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) depredate bait and catch in the Hawai‘i-based deep-set longline fishery, and as a result, this species is hooked or entangled more than any other cetacean in this fishery. We analyzed data collected by fisheries observers and from satellite-linked transmitters deployed on false killer whales to identify patterns of odontocete depredation that could help fishermen avoid overlap with whales. Odontocete depredation was observed on ˜6% of deep-set hauls across the fleet from 2004 to 2018. Model outcomes from binomial GAMMs suggested coarse patterns, for example, higher rates of depredation in winter, at lower latitudes, and with …

Efficient Model For Electronic Transport In High Energy-Density Matter, Liam G. Stanton, Michael S. Murillo

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

A wide-ranging effective Boltzmann approach, originally intended for ionic transport, is applied to the computation of electronic transport coefficients without modification. Comparisons with datasets that resulted from a recent transport coefficient workshop and molecular dynamics simulations are made. While this model contains correlation information through its effective potential and strong scattering through its use of cross sections, it misses details of attractive, possibly quantum, interactions; comparisons with that dataset reveal the relative importance of these physics inputs. Through comparisons of data for electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, temperature relaxation, and stopping power (including a new formula for the energy split due …

Thermomechanical Modeling In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing Using Graph Theory: Application To Prediction Of Recoater Crash, Md Humaun Kobir

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This work pertains to the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing process. The objective of this thesis is to predict a frequently occurring type of thermal-induced process failure in LPBF called recoater crash. To ascertain the likelihood of a recoater crash before the part is printed, we develop and apply a computationally efficient thermomechanical modeling approach based on graph theory.

Despite its demonstrated ability to overcome the design and processing constraints of conventional subtractive and formative manufacturing, the production-level scaleup of LPBF is hindered by frequent build failures. For example, the part often deforms as it is being printed …