Digital Commons Network^™

Biomechanical Evaluation Of An Optical System For Quantitative Human Motion Analysis, Jeffrey D. Kertis

Master's Theses (2009 -)

An eight-camera Optitrack motion capture system was evaluated by performing static, linear dynamic, and angular dynamic calibrations using marker distances associated with upper and lower extremity gait and wheelchair models. Data were analyzed to determine accuracy and resolution within a defined capture volume using a standard Cartesian reference system. Two additional cameras along with AMASS and Visual3D (C-Motion, Inc., Germantown, MD) biomechanical modeling software were used to determine joint kinematics at the pelvis, hip, knee, and ankle of ten control subjects (mean age 21.5 ± 1.65 years). The same data were processed through Nexus (Vicon Motion Systems, Oxford, England) modeling …

The Effect Of Primary Air Distribution On Emissions From A Natural Gas Water Heater, Hao Wang

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The NOx emissions of a 40,000 BTU/hr (11.7kW) natural gas water heater are studied at different primary equivalence ratios (Φ). CO emission, O2 content in the flue gas and other related parameters are measured to assess the potential for NOx emission reductions with relatively modest changes in current burner and combustion chamber designs. In addition, N2 is introduced into the primary fuel and air flow to simulate flue gas recirculation (FGR) in order to estimate what benefit such a strategy might provide. NOx concentration in the exhaust decreases from 84 ppm to 34 ppm (at 3% dry O2) when the …

Modeling And Control Of A Doubly-Fed Induction Generator For Wind Turbine-Generator Systems, Xin Jing

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Wind energy plays an increasingly important role in the world because it is friendly to the environment. During the last decades, the concept of a variable-speed wind turbine (WT) has been receiving increasing attention due to the fact that it is more controllable and efficient, and has good power quality. As the demand of controllability of variable speed WTs increases, it is therefore important and necessary to investigate the modeling for wind turbine-generator systems (WTGS) that are capable of accurately simulating the behavior of each component in the WTGS. Therefore, this thesis will provide detailed models of a grid-connected wind …

Biomechanical Model Of Pediatric Upper Extremity Dynamics During Wheelchair Mobility, Alyssa J. Paul

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Biomechanical analysis has been used by many to evaluate upper extremity (UE) motion during human movement, including during the use of assistive devices such as crutches and walkers. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the upper extremity kinetics during wheelchair mobility, specifically within the pediatric population. In 2000, 90% of wheelchair users (1.5 million people) in the United States were manual wheelchair users, requiring the use of their upper body to maneuver the wheelchair as well as perform other activities of daily living. Among children under the age of 18, the wheelchair was the most used assistive mobility …

Analysis Of The Detection Of Organophosphate Pesticides In Aqueous Solutions Using Polymer-Coated Sh-Saw Sensor Arrays, Tian Newman

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The shear horizontal surface acoustic wave (SH-SAW) device was investigated as a micro-chemical sensor for the direct, rapid and in-situ monitoring of chemical contaminants in groundwater and wastewater. The chemical contaminants of interest are organo-phosphate-based compounds (parathion, parathion-methyl, and paraoxon). The polymers used as partially chemically selective coatings are 2,2’-diallylbisphenol A - 1,1,3,3,5,5-hexamethyltrisiloxane (BPA-HMTS), and 2,2’-diallylbisphenol A- polydimethylsiloxane (BPA-PDMS), polyepichlorohydrin (PECH). The experimental results indicate that the analyte/polymer interaction is a result of mass loading and viscoelastic changes in the polymer. BPA-HMTS, BPA-PDMS, and PECH have the highest to lowest sensitivity towards parathion, parathion-methyl, and paraoxon respectively. The polymers tested …

Development And Performance Of A Sparsity-Exploiting Algorithm For Few-View Single Photon Emission Computed Tomogrpahy (Spect) Reconstruction, Paul Arthur Wolf

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) provides noninvasive images of the distribution of radiotracer molecules. Dynamic Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography provides information about tracer uptake and washout from a series of time-sequence images. Stationary ring-like multi-camera systems are being developed to provide rapid dynamic acquisitions with high temporal sampling. Reducing the number of cameras reduces the cost of such systems but also reduces the number of views acquired, limiting the angular sampling of the system. Novel few-view image reconstruction methods may be beneficial and are being investigated for the application of dynamic SPECT. A sparsity-exploiting algorithm intended for few-view …

Repair And Strengthening Of Bridge Substructures, Steven W. Ainge

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Deterioration of bridge substructures has been a serious concern throughout Wisconsin. Concrete, steel and timber members all require distinct repair methods which not only address the true causes of deterioration, but protect the member from future damage. Utilizing repair techniques that merely address the effect of the deterioration has proven costly and unreliable. Understanding the relationship between cost and service life of modern repair methods can help maintenance engineers make informed decisions that will maximize efficacy. A survey was sent to 90 maintenance engineers throughout the United States to determine the efficacy and cost of common repair methods. Unique repair …

Investigating A Horizontal Helical Antenna For Use In The Phantom Monopole Configuration, Mattison Lemieux

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Recently, the phantom monopole configuration was successfully simulated using wire loop antennas. The wire loop antennas have an undesirable input impedance, making them difficult to match and implement. A new type of antenna that has a more desirable impedance while still maintaining the same near magnetic field and far field radiation pattern is investigated in this work. The research done focuses on a horizontally placed helical antenna. There is little research done on a horizontally placed helical antenna so several different parameters of this antenna were investigated. A normal mode helical antenna was chosen because of its size and impedance. …

Manna From The Glossy Pulpit: Food Advertising In Women's Magazines, Kira-Lynn Reeves

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Women’s magazines reach millions of readers each month, and have been the subject of many academic inquires from media effects studies to feminist analyses. While many studies have investigated female readers’ experience with these texts, or examined the advertising content of women’s magazines, little research to date has focused on food advertising. This liberal feminist critique explores the experience of reading the 2011 issues of the three popular women’s magazines, Glamour, SELF, and Family Circle. Using Stern’s (1996) textual analysis method for advertisements, this study examines how food advertisements in women’s magazines encourage women to think about …

Three-Dimensional Biomechanical Model Of Wrist Dynamics During Tasks Of Daily Living, Patrick Roscher

Master's Theses (2009 -)

An understanding of wrist dynamics during functional movements is required to better diagnose and treat wrist injury and disease. Currently, there is a lack of upper extremity (UE) models that combine both the motions and resulting forces that occur in the wrist during daily activities. The purpose of this study is to create a three-dimensional (3D) model of the upper extremity that describes kinematics and wrist kinetics during functional activities. A model of this type could benefit clinical diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up care of orthopaedic and neurological disorders of the wrist. The created dynamic wrist model was used to test …

Real Time Control Framework Using Android, Aaron Pittenger

Master's Theses (2009 -)

One potential application for a smartphone-type device is a flight management and control computer for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The hardware employed in most smartphones and tablets has the capabilities necessary to fly an air vehicle without user interaction. The user can pre-program in a flight plan and the smartphone will do the rest. In the past, this real time control application has been done using many separate sensor packages and processors, but never on a single, stand-alone device. Also, capabilities such as the high definition camera present on most smartphones can take photographs and store them on the …

Hybrid Coupler Implemented As A Phase Shifter, John P. Vitale

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Phase shifters are two-port microwave devices which take an input signal and output a phase shifted version of the signal. These devices can be used in phased antenna arrays, frequency translators, and IQ modulator/demodulator systems. The goal for this work is to construct a hybrid coupler phase shifter which will provide a 90 degree phase shift to a signal with a center frequency of 1800 MHz over a 5% bandwidth. This work is novel because the hybrid coupler phase shifter has not been extensively studied. Some papers have provided rough guidelines for constructing these shifters, but there is little exploration …

Green Student Centers' Influence On The Campus Environment, Krista L. Harrell

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Green building and design is an emerging trend in institutions of higher education. It is important to consider the practices and expectations of the users of green buildings. The attitudes of faculty, staff, and students play a key role in the overall successful performance of green buildings. This study offers direction for the intentional design and use of green student centers as influential facets of the total environment on college campuses. The research presents cases of how green student center design may be connected to environmental attitudes. This qualitative study examined to what degree three green student centers influence and …

Parental Perceptions Of A Summer Esl Parent Institute: A Retrospective Case Study, John Scott Cascone

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Thresholds Of Change In Decomposition Rate Along A Dune/Swale Transect On A Virginia Barrier Island, Dominic J. Graziani

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Aboveground and belowground decomposition rates were determined along a barrier island dune/swale transect located on the Virginia Coast Reserve-Long Term Ecological Research Site using litterbags and wooden dowels. The objective was to determine the influence of fine scale changes in the environment on decomposition to identify any potential thresholds affecting decomposition rate. Wax myrtle (Morella cerifera L. Small) leaves and dowels of southern yellow pine wood were used as standard substrates to evaluate environmental influences on decay. Aboveground (F=6.494, p < 0.0001) and belowground (F=5.705, p < 0.0001) decay rates (yr^-1) showed significant variation among litterbag/dowel locations. Aboveground decay rates (yr^-1) ranged from 0.339 (Upper Dune station) …

An Examination Of Middle Manager Innovation Behaviors And Institutional Factors Impact On Organizational Innovation In The Usa And Mexico, J. Lee Brown Iii

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

Several scholars have suggested mid-level management is an important factor that explains strategic outcomes (Wooldridge, Schmidt, & Floyd, 2008), but little research has investigated how this relationship actually works in multiple institutional environments. The resource-based view of the firm argues that competitive advantage is a function of resource heterogeneity and immobility (Barney, 1991) and the discretionary decisions made by managers about resource creation, development, and allocation (Amit & Shoemaker, 1993). These boundedly-rational managers (Simon, 1957) make these decisions facing an uncertain and complex internal and external environment. Thus, this dissertation extends the current research by developing and testing a new …

Constitutional Cacophony: Federal Circuit Splits And The Fourth Amendment, Wayne A. Logan

Vanderbilt Law Review

Despite their many differences, Americans have long been bound by a shared sense of constitutional commonality. Federal constitutional rights, however, can and do often vary based on geographic location, and a chief source of this variation stems from an unexpected origin: the nation's federal circuit courts of appeals. While a rich literature exists on federal circuit splits in general, this Article provides the first empirical study of federal constitutional law circuit splits. Focusing on Fourth Amendment doctrine in particular, the Article highlights the existence of over three dozen current circuit splits, which result in the unequal allocation of liberty and …

For Their Own Good? Exploring Legislative Responses To The Commercial Sexual Exploitation Of Children And The Illinois Safe Children Act, Angela L. Bergman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Illinois has long struggled to contain what is the perfect storm for exploitation-a large city with consistent conventions, attractions with many tourists, significant amounts of population movement and immigration, access to major airports and interstates, and "entrenched gangs with an entrepreneurial bent." These factors make Chicago in particular an appealing destination for runaways and throwaways across the Midwest. In 2001, a study conservatively estimated that 16,000 to 25,000 women and girls are victims of commercial sexual exploitation in Chicago each year. By 2004, the New York Times had named Chicago a "hub" for sex trafficking. When Illinois was at the …

Foreign Direct Investment: Clearing The Infrastructure Bottlenecks, Kim Song Tan, Sim Yee Lau

Research Collection School Of Economics

No abstract provided.

Content Contribution For Revenue Sharing And Reputation: A Dynamic Structural Model, Qian Tang, Bin Gu, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study examines the incentives for content contribution in social media. We propose that exposure and reputation are the major incentives for contributors. Besides, as more and more social media Web sites offer advertising-revenue sharing with some of their contributors, shared revenue provides an extra incentive for contributors who have joined revenue-sharing programs. We develop a dynamic structural model to identify a contributor's underlying utility function from observed contribution behavior. We recognize the dynamic nature of the content-contribution decision-that contributors are forward-looking, anticipating how their decisions affect future rewards. Using data collected from YouTube, we show that content contribution is …

Unilateral Measures And Emissions Mitigation, Shurojit Chatterji, Sayantan Ghosal, Sean Walsh, John Whalley

Research Collection School Of Economics

We discuss global climate mitigation that builds on existing unilateral measures to cut emissions. We document and discuss the rationale for such unilateral measures argue that such measures have the potential to generate positive spillover effects both within and across countries. In a simple dynamic model of learning we show that while single countries on their own may never get to the point of switching completely to low emission activities, a learning process with positive spillovers across nations is more likely to deliver a global switch to low emissions. We discuss the key features of a new global Intellectual Property …

Estimation Of High-Frequency Volatility: An Autoregressive Conditional Duration Approach, Yiu Kuen Tse, Thomas Tao Yang

Research Collection School Of Economics

We propose a method to estimate the intraday volatility of a stock by integrating the instantaneous conditional return variance per unit time obtained from the autoregressive conditional duration (ACD) model, called the ACD-ICV method. We compare the daily volatility estimated using the ACD-ICV method against several versions of the realized volatility (RV) method, including the bipower variation RV with subsampling, the realized kernel estimate, and the duration-based RV. Our Monte Carlo results show that the ACD-ICV method has lower root mean-squared error than the RV methods in almost all cases considered. This article has online supplementary material.

Columbus Statue Unveiled, October 1992, Uab Archives

Images of the Month from UAB Archives

Image ID: P7.4.1, #594

A group of men pose in front of a statue of Christopher Columbus

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V08n3, Fall 2012, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Congratulations Jody Stone

--ISTS Fall Conference

--Sneak Peek at Academy’s new web design

--Getting More Science Teachers to Model “Doing” Science

--Iowa needs the Iowa Academy of Science

--Announcements, Events & Deadlines

Recovering "Protection And Security", George K. Foster

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Among the most persistent controversies in international investment law is the nature of the "'protection and security" standard found in most investment treaties. Some tribunals contend that the standard requires nothing more than physical protection of covered investments, while others maintain that it requires legal security as well. Some insist that it is entirely distinct from the fair and equitable treatment standard that is often expressed in the same sentence or paragraph, while others effectively conflate the two standards. These conflicting decisions are undermining the legitimacy of investment treaty arbitration, but this Article seeks to resolve the controversies underlying them …

Parenthood With Exposure To Mycophenolic Acid Products, Sophia M. Termimi, Megan Clary, Lisa Coscia, Carolyn Mcgrory, Vincent T. Armenti

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

Successful pregnancy outcomes have been reported in all solid-organ transplant recipients on a variety of immunosuppressive medication regimes. In October 2007, the FDA pregnancy category of mycophenolic acid products (MPA) was changed from category C to D, based on registry and post-marketing data which revealed a higher incidence of spontaneous abortions and structural birth defects. The purpose of this abstract is to describe pregnancy outcomes with exposure to MPA and pregnancies fathered by male transplant recipients conceived while taking MPA. Data were collected by the National Transportation Pregnancy Registry (NTPR) via questionnaires, telephone interview and medical records. There were 152 …

Compliance With Surgical Care Improvement Project Blood Glucose--A Marker For Euglycemia, But Does It Put Our Patients At Risk?, Isaac R Whitman, Maura Murphy, Marta M Gilson, Amy Campfield, Michel Haddad, Elizabeth Moxey, Glenn J R Whitman

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

To improve outcomes in open heart surgery (OHS) patients, the Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) requires 6 am postoperative day (POD) 1 and 2 blood glucose (BG) to be ≤200mg/dL. This study examined risk factors for SCIP noncompliance when using an insulin infusion protocol (IIP) and evaluated this SCIP metric as a surrogate for glycemic control. The authors divided 99 consecutive OHS patients, all subjected to 1 uniform IIP, into 2 groups: Group 1-SCIP compliant (n=79) and Group 2-SCIP noncompliant (n=20). They determined mean BG for the first 48 postoperative hours, percent of total time with hyperglycemia (% time BG …

Pediatric Pharmacogenomics: A Systematic Assessment Of Ontogeny And Genetic Variation To Guide The Design Of Statin Studies In Children., Jonathan B. Wagner, J Steven Leeder

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The dose-exposure-response relationship for drugs may differ in pediatric patients compared with adults. Many clinical studies have established drug dose-exposure relationships across the pediatric age spectrum; however, genetic variation was seldom included. This article applies a systematic approach to determine the relative contribution of development and genetic variation on drug disposition and response using HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors as a model. Application of the approach drives the collection of information relevant to understanding the potential contribution of ontogeny and genetic variation to statin dose-exposure-response in children, and identifies important knowledge deficits to be addressed through the design of future studies.

Cause, Timing, And Location Of Death In The Single Ventricle Reconstruction Trial., Richard G. Ohye, Julie V. Schonbeck, Pirooz Eghtesady, Peter C. Laussen, Christian Pizarro, Peter Shrader, Deborah U. Frank, Eric M. Graham, Kevin D. Hill, Jeffrey P. Jacobs, Kirk R. Kanter, Joel A. Kirsh, Linda M. Lambert, Alan B. Lewis, Chitra Ravishankar, James S. Tweddell, Ismee A. Williams, Gail D. Pearson, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVES: The Single Ventricle Reconstruction trial randomized 555 subjects with a single right ventricle undergoing the Norwood procedure at 15 North American centers to receive either a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt or right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt. Results demonstrated a rate of death or cardiac transplantation by 12 months postrandomization of 36% for the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt and 26% for the right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt, consistent with other publications. Despite this high mortality rate, little is known about the circumstances surrounding these deaths.

METHODS: There were 164 deaths within 12 months postrandomization. A committee adjudicated all deaths for cause and recorded the …

Variation In Perioperative Care Across Centers For Infants Undergoing The Norwood Procedure., Sara K. Pasquali, Richard G. Ohye, Minmin Lu, Jonathan Kaltman, Christopher A. Caldarone, Christian Pizarro, Carolyn Dunbar-Masterson, J William Gaynor, Jeffrey P. Jacobs, Aditya K. Kaza, Jane Newburger, John F. Rhodes, Mark Scheurer, Eric Silver, Lynn A. Sleeper, Sarah Tabbutt, James Tweddell, Karen Uzark, Winfield Wells, William T. Mahle, Gail D. Pearson, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators, Girish S. Shirali

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

OBJECTIVES: In the Single Ventricle Reconstruction trial, infants undergoing the Norwood procedure were randomly allocated to undergo a right ventricle-to-pulmonary artery shunt or a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt. Apart from shunt type, subjects received the local standard of care. We evaluated variation in perioperative care during the Norwood hospitalization across 14 trial sites.

METHODS: Data on preoperative, operative, and postoperative variables for 546 enrolled subjects who underwent the Norwood procedure were collected prospectively on standardized case report forms, and variation across the centers was described.

RESULTS: Gestational age, birth weight, and proportion with hypoplastic left heart syndrome were similar across sites. …