Digital Commons Network^™

Low-Reynolds-Number Locomotion Via Reinforcement Learning, Yuexin Liu

Dissertations

This dissertation summarizes computational results from applying reinforcement learning and deep neural network to the designs of artificial microswimmers in the inertialess regime, where the viscous dissipation in the surrounding fluid environment dominates and the swimmer’s inertia is completely negligible. In particular, works in this dissertation consist of four interrelated studies of the design of microswimmers for different tasks: (1) a one-dimensional microswimmer in free-space that moves towards the target via translation, (2) a one-dimensional microswimmer in a periodic domain that rotates to reach the target, (3) a two-dimensional microswimmer that switches gaits to navigate to the designated targets in …

Artificial Neural Networks And Their Applications To Intelligent Fault Diagnosis Of Power Transmission Lines, Fatemeh Mohammadi Shakiba

Dissertations

Over the past thirty years, the idea of computing based on models inspired by human brains and biological neural networks emerged. Artificial neural networks play an important role in the field of machine learning and hold the key to the success of performing many intelligent tasks by machines. They are used in various applications such as pattern recognition, data classification, stock market prediction, aerospace, weather forecasting, control systems, intelligent automation, robotics, and healthcare. Their architectures generally consist of an input layer, multiple hidden layers, and one output layer. They can be implemented on software or hardware. Nowadays, various structures with …

Behavior Of Novel Cementitious Composites For Use In Sustainable Construction And Rehabilitation, Noah A. Thibodeaux

Dissertations

Cementitious composites are a class of cement-based materials that incorporate a cement paste and other constituents to form a composite material. Cementitious composites may include coarse and/or fine aggregate, admixtures, supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), or fibers in order to achieve a desired workability, strength, or durability property.

Recently, material scientists and engineers have developed a variety of novel cementitious composites for the purpose of new construction, rehabilitation, and reconstruction applications. Such materials can be used to improve the sustainability of civil infrastructure through the use of recycled, repurposed, or low-embodied carbon materials. Since many of the qualification standards and tests …

Diagnostics Of Energy Release In Solar Flares With Radio Dynamic Imaging Spectroscopy, Yingjie Luo

Dissertations

Studies of the magnetic energy release and conversion process lie at the core of solar flare physics. Radio observations serve as a unique diagnostic method. In this dissertation, taking advantage of broadband radio dynamic imaging spectroscopy observations made by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), studies are carried out on the flare energy release processes using different types of radio emissions.

The VLA is a general-purpose radio observatory located in New Mexico, which provides high-quality radio dynamic imaging spectroscopic observations with an ultra-fast time cadence. In the first study, stochastic decimetric radio spike bursts are observed by the …

Understanding The Role Of Magnetic Field Evolution In The Initiation And Development Of Solar Eruptions, Nian Liu

Dissertations

This dissertation aims to understand the initiation and evolution of solar eruptions. The essential science questions to answer include: What is the role of magnetohydro dynamic (MHD) instabilities and magnetic reconnection in triggering and driving eruptions? What are the role of Kink Instability (KI) and Torus Instability (TI) in determining the successful and failed eruptions? What is the thermal behavior of flare precursors in the initiation stage of solar eruptions? Finally, how does the corona magnetic field respond to the flare eruptions? The dissertation mainly includes the following studies.

First, this dissertation presents a multi-instrument study of the two precursor …

Digital Image Forensics Via Meta-Learning And Few-Shot Learning, Yuxi Shi

Dissertations

Digital images are a substantial portion of the information conveyed by social media, the Internet, and television in our daily life. In recent years, digital images have become not only one of the public information carriers, but also a crucial piece of evidence. The widespread availability of low-cost, user-friendly, and potent image editing software and mobile phone applications facilitates altering images without professional expertise. Consequently, safeguarding the originality and integrity of digital images has become a difficulty. Forgers commonly use digital image manipulation to transmit misleading information. Digital image forensics investigates the irregular patterns that might result from image alteration. …

Effect Of Current Density Ramping On The Anodic Reaction And Morphology Of Aerospace Aluminum Alloys, Peter Totaro Jr.

Dissertations

Aluminum anodizing has been experimented with and studied over the last century because of its ability to form uniform, well ordered cellular coatings on aluminum alloys. Anodizing aerospace alloys has been problematic, due to the alloying elements used to add strength and resistance to stress cracking corrosion. These intermetallic compounds, i.e., copper and zinc, promote oxygen evolution and stress as they accumulate in and on the surface of the forming aluminum oxide. These inclusions lead to increased electrical resistance that forms porous and flawed coating, which can lead to industrial and field failures. The amount of voltage placed on the …

Flexibility Vs Consistency: Quantifying Differences In Neuromodulatory Elicited Patterns Of Activity, Elizabeth M. Cronin

Dissertations

Central pattern generating circuits underly fundamental behaviors such as respiration or locomotion and are under the influence of neuromodulators. The presence of neuromodulators is thought to confer flexibility to these circuits to generate distinct patterns of activity to meet distinct behavioral needs. Network output flexibility can be achieved by distinct classes of neuromodulators, those which have convergent cellular actions but divergent circuit actions or by those which have divergent cellular actions but convergent circuit actions.

Both classes of neuromodulator exist in the stomatogastric nervous system of the crab Cancer borealis and influence the activity of a central pattern generating circuit …

Sensorimotor Content Of Multi-Unit Activity In The Paramedian Lobule Of The Cerebellum, Esma Cetinkaya

Dissertations

Based on Center for Disease Control and Prevention report 2016, around 39.5 million people in the United States suffer from motor disabilities. These disabilities are due to traumatic conditions like traumatic brain injury (TBI), neurological diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or congenital conditions. One of the approaches for restoring the lost motor function is to extract the volitional information from the central nervous system (CNS) and control a mechanical device that can replace the function of a paralyzed limb through systems called Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI).

One of the major challenges being faced in BCIs and also in general …

Resource Allocation, User Association And Placement For Uav-Assisted Communications, Shuai Zhang

Dissertations

In the past few years, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-assisted heterogeneous network has attracted significant attention due to its wide range of applications, such as disaster rescue and recovery, ground macro base station (MBS) traffic offloading, communications for temporary events, and data collection for further processing in Internet of Things (IoT). A UAV can act as a flying base station (BS) to quickly recover the communication coverage in the disaster area when the regular terrestrial infrastructure is malfunctioned. The UAV-assisted heterogeneous network can effectively provision line of sight (LoS) communication links and therefore can mitigate potential signal shadowing and blockage. The …

Chanticleer | August 2022, Jacksonville State University

Chanticleer

No abstract provided.

James David Bales Papers, 1938-1991, James David Bales

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Mildred Despain Stovall Carson Papers, (1926-1944), Mildred Despain Stovall Carson

Center for Restoration Studies Archives, Manuscripts and Personal Papers Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - August 31, 2022, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the August 31, 2022 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents include:

• Meet a Med Student: Naden Kreitz
• USA scientist receives $2.3 million grant renewal for flea pathogen research

The Arts And Changing Rural Places, Bernadette Quinn Dr

Blog Posts

This blog post reflects on how recent changes to rural Ireland is influencing the arts. It recognises that rural places are very vibrant and dynamic, and that this offers many opportunities and challenges from an arts perspective. The blog also reflects on a panel discussion that the FADE project team hosted on ‘The arts and changing rural places’ at the Arts Council & Local Government’s biennial Places Matter conference in March 2022.

The research activities conducted for this publication were funded by the Irish Research Council.

Development And Evaluation Of A Hand Exoskeleton For Neurorehabilitation Post Stroke, Ashley Joyce Mont

Dissertations

Stroke affects approximately 800,000 people in the United States each year, and due to its chronic effects, it is one of the leading causes of disability. Many individuals with stroke suffer the loss of motor function in their paretic upper extremity, and longitudinal studies show that 30 — 66% of individuals with hemiplegia fail to regain arm function six months post stroke. After a stroke, the brain undergoes neuroplasticity which will promote recovery of function. Investigators and clinicians are trying to develop rehabilitation interventions that can be designed to promote neuroplasticity, enhancing the recovery outcomes of therapy.

For individuals with …

Writing For Intercultural Growth On Study Abroad In Australia, Allison J. Spenader, Joy L. H. Ruis, Catherine Bohn-Gettler

Education Faculty Publications

For students participating in study abroad programs in seemingly familiar environs, ongoing cultural mentoring is critically important. This study looks at intercultural development using both the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and qualitative analysis of reflective writing assignments. U.S. participants in a semester-long faculty-led program in Australia experienced significant intercultural growth as measured by the IDI. Four writing prompts were analyzed in terms of how well they correlated with student IDI Developmental Orientation (DO) scores. Written reflection reveals how students write about intercultural issues at different developmental stages. Some writing prompts were found to facilitate intercultural development, allowing students to ‘write …

Modeling Of Two-Dimensional And Biological Materials Towards Diverse Nano-Systems Applications, Jatin Kashyap

Dissertations

This dissertation studies the demonstration of materials ranging from two-dimensional (2D) materials to small bio-molecules using various atomistic/molecular and sub-atomic particles (electron, hole, excitons) modeling techniques for multi-domain applications. Three categories of materials/systems are investigated as follows: 2D materials, biological materials, and complexes of 2D and biological materials.

The first problem demonstrates wrinkles' ubiquitous presence in two-dimensional materials significantly alters their properties. It is observed that water molecules, sourced from ambient humidity or transfer method, can get diffused in between Graphene and the substrate during the Graphene growth. The water diffusion causes/assists wrinkle formation in Graphene, which influences its properties. …

An Intersectional Community Resilience Approach To Understanding Climate Vulnerabilities In Lynchburg, Virginia, Tracy Mallard

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

This study uses an intersectional and justice lens to analyze how economic, institutional, social, cultural, and natural factors influence resilience in historically marginalized communities. It builds on the work of previous studies that have employed a five-dimension conceptual framework of resilience at the community level by focusing the model on the factors that enable or prevent resilience to extreme heat in communities. The focus community is the City of Lynchburg, Virginia. The researcher observed groups of community organizers in the process of setting an environmental justice and sustainability agenda, who prioritized determining how to engage residents in the decision-making process …

Towards Ensuring Integrity And Authenticity Of Software Repositories, Sangat Vaidya

Dissertations

The software development process comprises a series of steps known as a software supply chain. These steps include managing the source code, testing, building and packaging it into a final product, and distributing the product to end users. Along this chain, software repositories are used for different purposes such as source code management (Git, SVN, mercurial), software distribution (PyPI, RubyGems, NPM) or for deploying software based on container images (Harbor, DockerHub, Artifact Hub). In the recent past, different types of repositories have increasingly been the target of attacks. As such, there is a need for mechanisms to ensure integrity and …

Using Electrochemical Oxidation To Remove Pfas In Simulated Investigation-Derivedwaste (Idw): Laboratory And Pilot-Scale Experiments, Amy Yanagida, Elise Webb, Clifford E. Harris, Mark Christenson, Steven Comfort

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Repeated use of aqueous firefighting foams at military aircraft training centers has contaminated groundwater with per and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). To delineate the extent of PFAS contamination, numerous site investigations have occurred, which have generated large quantities of investigation-derived wastes (IDW). The commonly used treatment of incinerating PFAS-tainted IDW is costly, and was recently suspended by the Department of Defense. Given long-term IDW storage in warehouses is not sustainable, our objective was to use electrochemical oxidation to degrade PFAS in contaminated water and then scale the technology toward IDW treatment. This was accomplished by conducting a series of laboratory …

Parent Survey 2022, Sarah C. Mckenzie, Josh B. Mcgee, Charlene A. Reid

Arkansas Education Reports

In late 2021, the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas administered a survey about education topics to a representative sample of 500 Arkansas parents of school-aged children. The students of these parents attended traditional public schools (66%), public charter schools (10%), public magnet schools (4%), and private schools (7%). Eleven percent of parents reported that their child was homeschooled, and 2% reported that their child attended school through a virtual platform.

Arkansas Parent Survey 2022, Sarah C. Mckenzie

Arkansas Education Reports

The Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas administered a survey on education topics to a representative sample of 500 Arkansas parents of school-aged children in late 2021 and addressed a variety of education-related topics.

Spartan Daily, August 31, 2022, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily, 2022

Volume 159, Issue 5

We Are ... Marshall, August 31, 2022, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

2022 Fall Engr333 Project Assignment, Matthew K. Heun

ENGR 333

The Fall 2022 ENGR333 project focused on sustainable heating for Calvin University.

I asked the students “What would it take to eliminate Calvin’s natural gas-related net CO2 emissions?”

Matt Kucinski (Calvin PR) wrote a story about the project. President Boer wrote a complementary post about the students’ work on LinkedIn.

Customer

The customer for this project was Dr. Wiebe Boer, President of Calvin University.

Fall Southtalks Explore Theme Of Race In The Classroom, Rebecca Lauck Cleary

Blog Posts

Historically, classrooms have functioned as both intensely local spaces and as broader political stages on which debates about equality, identity and access have played out -- nowhere to greater effect than at the University of Mississippi, which marks the 60th anniversary of its integration this fall.

Rodes, Robert, 1868-1963 (Mss 740), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 740. Letters, mostly to family, of Bowling Green, Kentucky banker Robert Rodes. Includes clippings and correspondence relating to Rodes’s interest in fox hunting and fox hounds.

Senate Meeting, August 31, 2022, Academic Senate

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

August 31, 2022 Greenmail, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

GreenMail (student newsletter through 2024)

No abstract provided.