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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Distributed Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control Of Nonlinear Uncertain Multi-Agent Systems, Mohsen Khalili Jan 2017

Distributed Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Control Of Nonlinear Uncertain Multi-Agent Systems, Mohsen Khalili

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The research on distributed multi-agent systems has received increasing attention due to its broad applications in numerous areas, such as unmanned ground and aerial vehicles, smart grid, sensor networks, etc. Since such distributed multi-agent systems need to operate reliably at all time, despite the possible occurrence of faulty behaviors in some agents, the development of fault-tolerant control schemes is a crucial step in achieving reliable and safe operations. The objective of this research is to develop a distributed adaptive fault-tolerant control (FTC) scheme for nonlinear uncertain multi-agent systems under intercommunication graphs with asymmetric weights. Under suitable assumptions, the closed-loop system's …


Design Of A Programmable Four-Preset Guitar Pedal, Michael Trombley Jan 2017

Design Of A Programmable Four-Preset Guitar Pedal, Michael Trombley

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Many companies in the music industry offer programmable preset guitar pedals. Presets allow musicians to save time and focus on their act by recalling predetermined settings during a performance. A majority of the companies in the music industry offer up to hundreds of presets, but realistically the substantial amount of presets may have a negative effect on the musician’s performance due to time constraints. The main contribution of this thesis is to address the musician by reducing the amount of presets offered in a guitar pedal design. Combining two systems, a digital control and audio processing circuit, will produce a …


Calibration Models And System Development For Compressive Sensing With Micromirror Arrays, Rebecca L. Profeta Jan 2017

Calibration Models And System Development For Compressive Sensing With Micromirror Arrays, Rebecca L. Profeta

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Compressive sensing (CS) is an active research field focused on finding solutions to sparse linear inverse problems, i.e. estimating a signal using fewer linear measurements than there are unknowns. The assumption of signal sparsity makes solutions to this otherwise ill-posed problem possible and has lead to a number of technological innovations such as smaller and less expensive cameras that capture high resolution imagery, low-power radar systems, and accelerated MRI scanners. In this thesis, we present the development of a hardware CS imaging system using a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) providing spatial light modulation via an array of micromirrors that can …


Data-Driven Network-Centric Threat Assessment, Dae Wook Kim Jan 2017

Data-Driven Network-Centric Threat Assessment, Dae Wook Kim

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As the Internet has grown increasingly popular as a communication and information sharing platform, it has given rise to two major types of Internet security threats related to two primary entities: end-users and network services. First, information leakages from networks can reveal sensitive information about end-users. Second, end-users systems can be compromised through attacks on network services, such as scanning-and-exploit attacks, spamming, drive-by downloads, and fake anti-virus software. Designing threat assessments to detect these threats is, therefore, of great importance, and a number of the detection systems have been proposed. However, these existing threat assessment systems face significant challenges in …


A Framework For Centralizing Inventory In Pharmaceutical Supply Chains, Kerry Kathleen Ward Jan 2017

A Framework For Centralizing Inventory In Pharmaceutical Supply Chains, Kerry Kathleen Ward

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Effectively choosing the location of inventory in a pharmaceutical supply chain is central to the mission of pharmaceutical distributors. These supply chains are a critical backbone to the healthcare delivery process: the distributors must deliver products to pharmacies, hospitals and retailers at low cost and with a high level of reliability. This thesis provides a method for analyzing demand data to gain insight on the value of centralizing the inventory into either a hub-and-spoke or national network for a pharmaceutical distribution company. Demand data is analyzed using an off-the-shelf analysis tool as well as a new tool developed in SQL …


Estimating Channel Identification Quality In Passive Radar Using Lms Algorithms, Michael J. Callahan Jan 2017

Estimating Channel Identification Quality In Passive Radar Using Lms Algorithms, Michael J. Callahan

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Passive bistatic radar can be an attractive choice relative to monostatic radar because it provides the ability to operate covertly; immunity to jamming and interference; the ability to operate outside of traditional radar bands; and reduced cost. The benefits of noise waveforms versus classic radar waveforms such as linear frequency modulation (LFM) are discussed in the literature. Noise waveforms, with their thumbtack ambiguity functions, are ideal for use in non-cooperative passive radar. Since many digital waveforms are randomized to make their spectra approximately white, noise-like waveforms may be readily available for opportunistic use by non-cooperative passive radar receivers. For instance, …


Deep Learning Approach For Intrusion Detection System (Ids) In The Internet Of Things (Iot) Network Using Gated Recurrent Neural Networks (Gru), Manoj Kumar Putchala Jan 2017

Deep Learning Approach For Intrusion Detection System (Ids) In The Internet Of Things (Iot) Network Using Gated Recurrent Neural Networks (Gru), Manoj Kumar Putchala

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is a complex paradigm where billions of devices are connected to a network. These connected devices form an intelligent system of systems that share the data without human-to-computer or human-to-human interaction. These systems extract meaningful data that can transform human lives, businesses, and the world in significant ways. However, the reality of IoT is prone to countless cyber-attacks in the extremely hostile environment like the internet. The recent hack of 2014 Jeep Cherokee, iStan pacemaker, and a German steel plant are a few notable security breaches. To secure an IoT system, the traditional high-end security …


An Experimental Investigation Of Residual Stress Development During Selective Laser Melting Of Ti-6al-4v, Nathan Charles Levkulich Jan 2017

An Experimental Investigation Of Residual Stress Development During Selective Laser Melting Of Ti-6al-4v, Nathan Charles Levkulich

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Selective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process that gives rise to large thermal gradients and rapid cooling rates that lead to the development of undesirable residual stress and distortion. In this work, a number of different techniques (i.e., x-ray-diffraction, hole-drilling, layer-removal, and contour) were utilized to establish the effect of process parameters on residual stress development during SLM of Ti-6Al-4V. The measurements indicated that higher laser power, slower scan speed, smaller stripe width, reduced substrate overhang, and reduced build plan area each reduce the level of residual stress. In addition, the correlation between microstructure, crystallographic texture, and …


Context-Dependence Of Physiological Systems: Environment-Physiology Interactions In The Respiratory Control System, Joseph M. Santin Jan 2017

Context-Dependence Of Physiological Systems: Environment-Physiology Interactions In The Respiratory Control System, Joseph M. Santin

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We know that animals are tuned to survive different environmental conditions or else life would not exist. Unfortunately, this is often forgotten or ignored when designing experiments. As Marsh Tenney articulated, "The physiologist keeps the whole always in mind. He accepts the tactical necessity of reductionism to understand parts, but, once done, for him it is only the beginning, never the end” (from Remmers, 2005). In an era when it is all too common to take environmental complexity out of the organism to understand physiology, my work puts some of that complexity back in the study of organisms. I take …


Settings Protection Add-On: A User-Interactive Browser Extension To Prevent The Exploitation Of Preferences, Venkata Naga Siva Seelam Jan 2017

Settings Protection Add-On: A User-Interactive Browser Extension To Prevent The Exploitation Of Preferences, Venkata Naga Siva Seelam

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The abuse of browser preferences is a significant application security issue, despite numerous protections against automated software changing these preferences. Browser hijackers modify user’s desired preferences by injecting malicious software into the browser. Users are not aware of these modifications, and the unwanted changes can annoy the user and circumvent security preferences. Reverting these changes is not easy, and users often have to go through complicated sequences of steps to restore their preferences to the previous values. Tasks to resolve this issue include uninstalling and re-installing the browser, resetting browser preferences, and installing malware removal tools. This thesis describes a …


Low Velocity Impact And Rf Response Of 3d Printed Heterogeneous Structures, Sandeep Keerthi Jan 2017

Low Velocity Impact And Rf Response Of 3d Printed Heterogeneous Structures, Sandeep Keerthi

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Three-dimensional (3D) printing, a form of Additive manufacturing (AM), is currently being explored to design materials or structures with required Electro-Mechanical-Physical properties. Microstrip patch antennas with a tunable radio-frequency (RF) response are a great candidate for 3D printing process. Due to the nature of extrusion based layered fabrication; the processed parts are of three-layer construction having inherent heterogeneity that affects structural and functional response. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between the anisotropy in dielectric properties of AM fabricated acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) substrates in the RF domain and resonant frequencies of associated patch antennas and …


Synthesis And Characterizations Of Lithium Aluminum Titanium Phosphate (Li1+Xalxti2-X(Po4)3) Solid Electrolytes For All-Solid-State Li-Ion Batteries, Jianping Yang Jan 2017

Synthesis And Characterizations Of Lithium Aluminum Titanium Phosphate (Li1+Xalxti2-X(Po4)3) Solid Electrolytes For All-Solid-State Li-Ion Batteries, Jianping Yang

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New-generation low-emission transportation systems demand high-performance lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries with high safety insurance at broad operable temperatures. Highly conductive solid electrolyte is one of the key components for such applications. The objective of this thesis is to synthesize and characterize aluminum doped lithium titanium phosphate, i.e. Li1+xAlxTi2-x(PO4)3 (LATP), one of the solid-state electrolytes for potential applications to all solid-state lithium-ion batteries. In this research, sol-gel method and one step solid-state reaction approaches were explored and critical processes were optimized towards maximizing lithium ion conductivities at room temperature. The impacts of the processing conditions on the structures, morphologies, compositions of …


An Engage Or Retreat Differential Game With Two Targets, Bikash Shrestha Jan 2017

An Engage Or Retreat Differential Game With Two Targets, Bikash Shrestha

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This thesis develops the equilibrium solution for a two-target engage or retreat differential game. In this game, the attacking player is modeled as a massless particle moving with simple motion about an infinite, obstacle-free plane. The opposing player, referred to as the defender, is tasked with the protection of two high-value targets. The mobile attacker must choose to either engage one of the high-value targets or retreat across a predefined boundary. Simultaneously, the defensive player must choose whether to minimize or maximize the attacker's integral utility in an effort to persuade the attacker to choose retreat from certain initial conditions. …


Friction Stir Welding Between Similar And Dissimilar Materials, Khaled Yousif Ali Jan 2017

Friction Stir Welding Between Similar And Dissimilar Materials, Khaled Yousif Ali

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This thesis focuses on the friction stir welding (FSW) between similar and dissimilar alloys. FSW is a solid state joining process that welds the work-pieces through a combination of heat generated by friction and mechanical stirring of the metals in the region of the joint. Being a solid state process, FSW can be used to weld alloys with significantly different melting points. This provides a significant benefit over traditional fusion welding process in a variety of applications in automotive, biomedical, aerospace, nuclear and petroleum industries. Two materials - an aluminum alloy (6061-T6, m.p. 582 - 652°C) and a steel (SAE …


Computational Simulations Of Biomechanical Kinematics In Wsu Total Ankle Replacement Systems, Dinesh Gundapaneni Jan 2017

Computational Simulations Of Biomechanical Kinematics In Wsu Total Ankle Replacement Systems, Dinesh Gundapaneni

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Ankle arthritis constitutes about 10% of all joint arthritis cases, however, the revision rate of ankle replacement devices is three times higher than comparable hip and knee devices. With complicated bone morphology and surrounding ligament structures, the physiological and gait characteristics of the ankle joint presents a challenge to biomechanicians. As a result, there is a lack of fundamental understanding how the ligaments and articular surfaces interact. The objective of this doctoral research is to address the pattern of contact at the joint articulation, the fundamental role of ligaments in joint mobility, and biomechanics of total ankle replacement (TAR) devices. …


Virtuo-Its: An Interactive Tutoring System To Teach Virtual Memory Concepts Of An Operating System, Venkata Krishna Kanth Musunuru Jan 2017

Virtuo-Its: An Interactive Tutoring System To Teach Virtual Memory Concepts Of An Operating System, Venkata Krishna Kanth Musunuru

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Interactive tutoring systems are software applications that help individuals to learn difficult concepts. They can allow students to interact with ideas from essential mathematics to more complicated subjects like software engineering. This thesis concentrates on one such interactive tutoring system (ITS) designed for teaching concepts related to operating system virtual memory. Operating system concepts can be troublesome to learn without having someone or something to explain them. Even when an instructor is able to provide detailed explanations, it is still exceptionally difficult for students without a computer science foundation to comprehend these concepts. Students require a sophisticated set of mental …


Enhancing Engineering Education Using Mobile Augmented Devices, Kushal Abhyankar Jan 2017

Enhancing Engineering Education Using Mobile Augmented Devices, Kushal Abhyankar

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Employing effective and modern educational systems that support augmented learning methods such as mobile-based learning, may offer a promising solution to lowering dropout rates and to improving learning interests in engineering education. Mobile-based learning is capturing tremendous attention due to the affordances mobile devices can offer. This project outlines efforts to integrate mobile-based educational technology into the classroom. Leveraging the affordances, we designed a mobile augmented education tool for basic math and physics concepts that allows access to information and additional learning content within the context of classroom learning. Results from the study indicate that there is significant improvement in …


Modeling Two Phase Flow Heat Exchangers For Next Generation Aircraft, Hayder Hasan Jaafar Al-Sarraf Jan 2017

Modeling Two Phase Flow Heat Exchangers For Next Generation Aircraft, Hayder Hasan Jaafar Al-Sarraf

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Two-phase heat exchangers offer the potential of significant energy transfer by taking advantage of the latent heat of vaporization as the working fluid changes phase. Unfortunately, the flow physics of the phase change process is very complex and there are significant gaps in the fundamental knowledge of how several key parameters are affected by the phase change process. Therefore, an initial investigation modeling a two-phase flow heat exchanger has been accomplished. Many key assumptions have been defined which are critical to modeling two-phase flows. This research lays an initial foundation on which further investigations can build upon. Two-phase heat exchangers …


Gait Analysis From Wearable Devices Using Image And Signal Processing, Bradley A. Schneider Jan 2017

Gait Analysis From Wearable Devices Using Image And Signal Processing, Bradley A. Schneider

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We present the results of analyzing gait motion in-person video taken from a commercially available wearable camera embedded in a pair of glasses. The video is analyzed with three different computer vision methods to extract motion vectors from different gait sequences from four individuals for comparison against a manually annotated ground truth dataset. Using a combination of signal processing and computer vision techniques, gait features are extracted to identify the walking pace of the individual wearing the camera and are validated using the ground truth dataset. We perform an additional data collection with both the camera and a body-worn accelerometer …


Functions Of The Apical Na+/ K+/ 2cl- Cotransporter 1 In Choroid Plexus Epithelial Cells., Jeannine Marie Crum Gregoriades Jan 2017

Functions Of The Apical Na+/ K+/ 2cl- Cotransporter 1 In Choroid Plexus Epithelial Cells., Jeannine Marie Crum Gregoriades

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Choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPECs) secrete cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and regulate its electrolyte composition. CPECs express both the Na+/ K+ ATPase and the Na+/ K+/ 2Cl- cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) on their apical membrane (CSF facing), deviating from the typical basolateral membrane location in chloride secretory epithelia. Given this unusual location of NKCC1 and the unknown intracellular Na+ and Cl- concentrations of CPECs, the cotransporter function in these cells is not understood. Further, the direction of net ion and associated water fluxes mediated by NKCC1 under basal physiological conditions in CPECs …


Assessing Effectiveness Of Information Presentation Using Wearable Augmented Display Device For Emergency Response, Sriram Raju Chandran Jan 2017

Assessing Effectiveness Of Information Presentation Using Wearable Augmented Display Device For Emergency Response, Sriram Raju Chandran

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Small screen wearable devices are becoming ubiquitous in the medical field; especially in the fields of surgery and trauma care. Technological intervention that supports data transfer of sending summary of the patient vitals through the transfer of care would be of great benefit to trauma care department. This research focuses on information presentation for wearable augmented reality device to improve human decision making during transfer of care for emergency response, and to improve user experience and reduce cognitive workload. Google Glass ™ device acts as heads up display for users, in this case being medical responders in hospital trauma care. …


Characterizing Concepts In Taxonomy For Entity Recommendations, Siva Kumar Cheekula Jan 2017

Characterizing Concepts In Taxonomy For Entity Recommendations, Siva Kumar Cheekula

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Entity recommendation systems are enormously popular on the Web. These systems harness manually crafted taxonomies for improving recommendations. For example, Yahoo created the Open Directory Project for search and recommendation, and Amazon utilizes its own product taxonomy. While these taxonomies are of high quality, it is a labor and time-intensive process to manually create and keep them up to date. Instead, in this era ofWeb 2.0 where users collaboratively create large amounts of information on the Web, it is possible to utilize user-generated content to automatically generate good quality taxonomies. However, harnessing such taxonomies for entity recommendations has not been …


Persistent Inward Currents Play A Role In Muscle Dysfunction Seen In Myotonia Congenita, Ahmed Alaa Hawash Jan 2017

Persistent Inward Currents Play A Role In Muscle Dysfunction Seen In Myotonia Congenita, Ahmed Alaa Hawash

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Myotonia congenita is a rare skeletal muscle channelopathy caused by a reduced chloride channel (ClC-1) current, which results in debilitating muscle hyperexcitability, prolonged contractions, and transient episodes of weakness. The excitatory events that trigger myotonic action potentials in the absence of stabilizing ClC-1 current are not fully understood. My in vitro intracellular recordings from a mouse homozygous knockout of ClC-1 revealed a slow after-depolarization (AfD) that triggers myotonic action potentials. The AfD is well-explained by a tetrododoxin-sensitive and voltage-dependent Na+ persistent inward current (NaPIC). Notably, this NaPIC undergoes slow inactivation over seconds, thus providing the first mechanistic explanation for the …


On The Thermal And Contact Fatigue Behavior Of Gear Contacts Under Tribo-Dynamic Condition, Anusha Anisetti Jan 2017

On The Thermal And Contact Fatigue Behavior Of Gear Contacts Under Tribo-Dynamic Condition, Anusha Anisetti

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Gears are vital power transmitting mechanical components, in both automotive and aerospace applications, and commonly operate within relatively high rotational speed ranges. Therefore, the dynamic behavior of gears is inevitable and can be quite significant under certain circumstances. The gear dynamics introduces not only noises and vibrations, but also large tooth force amplitudes, and consequently large amplitudes of bending stresses and contact stresses, and high surface temperatures, promoting the failures of tooth bending fatigue, contact fatigue, and scuffing. This study focuses on the mechanism by which the gear dynamic responses affect the flash temperature rise and contact fatigue life using …


Novel Mechanisms Underlying Warm-Up And Percussion Myotonia In Myotonia Congenita, Kevin Richard Nnovak Jan 2017

Novel Mechanisms Underlying Warm-Up And Percussion Myotonia In Myotonia Congenita, Kevin Richard Nnovak

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Patients with myotonia congenita have muscle hyperexcitability due to loss-of-function mutations in the ClC-1 chloride channel in skeletal muscle, which causes spontaneous firing of muscle action potentials (myotonia), producing muscle stiffness. Triggers for myotonia can occur voluntarily at the neuromuscular junction or involuntarily by striking the muscle with a reflex hammer (percussion myotonia). In patients, muscle stiffness lessens with exercise, a change known as the warm-up phenomenon. Our goal was to identify the mechanism underlying warm-up and percussion myotonia and to use this information to guide development of novel therapies. To determine these underlying mechanisms, we used a drug to …


Sensorimotor Deficits Following Oxaliplatin Chemotherapy, Jacob Adam Vincent Jan 2017

Sensorimotor Deficits Following Oxaliplatin Chemotherapy, Jacob Adam Vincent

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Neurotoxicity is one of the most significant side effects diminishing clinical efficacy and patient quality of life during and following chemotherapy. Oxaliplatin (OX) is a platinum based chemotherapy agent used in the treatment of colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer currently ranks as the 4th most common cancer, and the majority of patients receive OX as a part of their adjuvant therapy. OX based adjuvant therapies significantly improve 5 year survival rates, however in many cases patients must stop treatment early because of the neurotoxic side effects. OX causes two clinically distinct forms of neurotoxicity. Acutely, within hours and for days following …


Multi-Class Classification Of Textual Data: Detection And Mitigation Of Cheating In Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, Naga Sai Nikhil Maguluri Jan 2017

Multi-Class Classification Of Textual Data: Detection And Mitigation Of Cheating In Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, Naga Sai Nikhil Maguluri

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The success of any multiplayer game depends on the player’s experience. Cheating/Hacking undermines the player’s experience and thus the success of that game. Cheaters, who use hacks, bots or trainers are ruining the gaming experience of a player and are making him leave the game. As the video game industry is a constantly increasing multibillion dollar economy, it is crucial to assure and maintain a state of security. Players reflect their gaming experience in one of the following places: multiplayer chat, game reviews, and social media. This thesis is an exploratory study where our goal is to experiment and propose …


Novel Implementation Of Finite Field Multipliers Over Gf(2m) For Emerging Cryptographic Applications, Nazeem Basha Shaik Jan 2017

Novel Implementation Of Finite Field Multipliers Over Gf(2m) For Emerging Cryptographic Applications, Nazeem Basha Shaik

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Cryptographic and coding theory algorithms use arithmetic operations over finite fields. Finite field multiplications over GF(2m) are critical components for these systems. Well known irreducible polynomials are all-one-polynomials (AOP), equally spaced polynomial (ESP), trinomial and pentanomial. Due to its simple structure, AOP based multiplica- tion is easy to implement and hence the AOP based multiplication of variable length can be used as a standard computation core. In this thesis, first of all, we employ low register complexity AOP based systolic multiplication core to propose multiplication over GF(2m) based on NIST recommended pentanomials. The proposed parallel and serial ar- chitectures use …


Identification Of Novel Ligands And Structural Requirements For Heterodimerization Of The Liver X Receptor Alpha, Shimpi Bedi Jan 2017

Identification Of Novel Ligands And Structural Requirements For Heterodimerization Of The Liver X Receptor Alpha, Shimpi Bedi

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LXRs, LXRa (NR1H3) and LXRß (NR1H2), are ligand-activated transcription factors that are members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. Oxysterols and nonsteroidal synthetic compounds bind directly to LXRs and influence the expression of LXR dependent genes. The use of murine models and LXR-selective agonists have established the important role of LXRs as sterol sensors that govern the absorption, transport, and catabolism of cholesterol. Upon activation, these receptors have been shown to increase reverse cholesterol transport from the macrophage back to the liver to aid in the removal of excess cholesterol. Not surprisingly, LXR dysregulation is a feature of several human diseases, …


Sched-Its: An Interactive Tutoring System To Teach Cpu Scheduling Concepts In An Operating Systems Course, Bharath Kumar Koya Jan 2017

Sched-Its: An Interactive Tutoring System To Teach Cpu Scheduling Concepts In An Operating Systems Course, Bharath Kumar Koya

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Operating systems is an essential course in computer science curriculum, which helps students to develop a mental model of how computer operating systems work. The internal mechanisms and processes of an operating system (OS) are often complex, non-deterministic and intangible which makes them difficult for students to understand. One such concept is central processing unit (CPU) scheduling. CPU scheduling forms the basis of the multiprogramming in an OS. In practice, OS courses involve classroom lectures describing high-level abstractions of the concepts, and students complete programming assignments to apply the material in a more concrete way. Depending on the programming assignments, …