Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Atmospheric Turbulence Scintillation Effects On Wavefront Tilt Estimation, James A. Louthain

Theses and Dissertations

A new atmospheric turbulence screen generator is developed for use in performance calculations of adaptive optics systems valid over a wide range of atmospheric turbulence parameters. The screen generator accounts for diffraction effects caused by weak turbulence and incorporates the phase, amplitude, and cross statistics of the perturbed optical field. The wavefront's phase and amplitude perturbations are taken from the correlation functions developed by Lee and Harp and the cross correlation of the phase and amplitude derived in this thesis. The screen generator uses a modal representation to perform a Fourier series expansion of the wavefront phase and amplitude over …

An Examination Of Multi-Tier Designs For Legacy Data Access, Michael L. Acker

Theses and Dissertations

This work examines the application of Java and the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) to support access to remote databases via the Internet. The research applies these software technologies to assist an Air Force distance learning provider in improving the capabilities of its World Wide Web-based correspondence system. An analysis of the distance learning provider's operation revealed a strong dependency on a non-collocated legacy relational database. This dependency limits the distance learning provider's future web-based capabilities. A recommendation to improve operation by data replication is proposed, and the implementation details are provided for two alternative test systems that support …

An Incompleteness Handling Methodology For Validation Of Bayesian Knowledge Bases, David J. Bawcom

Theses and Dissertations

The PESKI (Probabilities, Expert Systems, Knowledge, and Inference) system attempts to address some of the problems in expert system design through the use of the Bayesian Knowledge Base (BKB) representation. Knowledge gathered from a domain expert is placed into this framework and inferencing is performed over it. However, by the nature of BKBs, not all knowledge is incorporated, i.e. the representation need not be a complete representation of all combinations and possibilities of the knowledge, as this would be impractical in many real-world systems. Therefore, inherent in such a system is the problem of incomplete knowledge, or spaces within the …

Developing A Corpus Specific Stoplist Using Quantitative Comparison, Craig N. Berg

Theses and Dissertations

We have become overwhelmed with electronic information and it seems our situation is not going to improve. It is becoming increasingly common for people to work with information on a daily basis. We seem to spend more and more time looking for information, and it is taking longer because more information is available. This thesis will look at how we can provide faster access to the information we want to find. Today's requirements are closely related to searching for information using queries. At the heart of the query process is the removal of search terms having little or no significance …

An Investigation Of Plume Rise From Titan Iv Rocket Launches, Joseph D. Brands

Theses and Dissertations

Space launches at Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS) and Vandenberg Air Force Base (vAFB) produce exhaust ground clouds from the solid rocket boosters and liquid hypergolic fuels containing several toxic substances. In order to estimate the health effects that would be imposed upon the public by scheduled launches, range safety officials rely on the Rocket Exhaust Effluent Diffusion Model to predict ground level concentrations of these substances. A drawback to the REEDM is its underprediction of the initial ground clouds stabilization height. This underprediction causes an overprediction of the ground level toxic substance concentrations. This thesis focused on increasing the …

Pseudorandom Code Generation For Communication And Navigation System Applications, John F. Brendle Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This research project investigated the design, construction and evaluation of a pseudorandom code generator for communication and navigation system applications. These types of codes include spreading codes, Gold codes, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) ranging codes, syncopated codes, and nonlinear codes. Such waveforms are typically used in communication and navigation system applications. The code generator uses the Stanford Telecom STEL-1032 Pseudorandom Number (PRN) coder. A coder interface was designed and constructed for manual data entry to the registers of the PRN coder. The code generator is capable of independently clocking and generating all possible codes with lengths up to 4,294,967,295 bits. …

Modeling Uptake And Translocation Of Lead (Pb) In Maize For The Purposes Of Phytoextraction, Mark A. Brennan

Theses and Dissertations

Phytoextraction is a remediation technology that uses plants to remove heavy metals from soil. This technology has the potential to decrease the costs of remediating contaminated sites by several orders of magnitude compared to traditional technologies. To effectively implement this technology requires an understanding of the plant processes that control uptake and translocation of metals from the soil. Currently these processes are poorly understood, and especially so for Pb. The purpose of this thesis was to gain insights concerning the plant mechanisms that control uptake and translocation of Pb and how these mechanisms interact to control levels of Pb accumulation …

The Fate And Transport Of Airborne Jp-4 And Jp-8 Aerosol During Cold Startup, Bradford Eugene Buckman

Theses and Dissertations

During cold startup (engine warm-up) procedures at northern tier bases, fuel aerosol (JP-4 and JP-8) is emitted before complete combustion of the fuel occurs. The time necessary for complete combustion to occur may be as long as 10 minutes. Hence, during these first few minutes, aerosol is emitted at relatively high concentrations. This research investigates the principle behavior of the emitted aerosol: advection, dispersion, evaporation, and settling. Using previous work in fuel jettisoning and evaporation as a foundation, this thesis investigates the physical factors affecting the airborne concentration of fuel aerosol at different times, the amount of fuel aerosol reaching …

Visualization And Animation Of A Missile/Target Encounter, Jeffrey T. Bush

Theses and Dissertations

Existing missile/target encounter modeling and simulation systems focus on improving probability of kill models. Little research has been done to visualize these encounters. These systems can be made more useful to the engineers by incorporating current computer graphics technology for visualizing and animating the encounter. Our research has been to develop a graphical simulation package for visualizing both endgame and full fly-out encounters. Endgame visualization includes showing the interaction of a missile, its fuze cone proximity sensors, and its target during the final fraction of a second of the missile/target encounter. Additionally, this system displays dynamic effects such as the …

A Modeling Study For The Implementation Of In Situ Cometabolic Bioremediation Of Trichloroethylene-Contaminated Groundwater, John A. Christ

Theses and Dissertations

The limitations of conventional groundwater remediation technologies have led to the development of innovative technologies which may achieve national hazardous waste site remediation goals. Before an innovative technology can be implemented in the field, remedial project managers, regulators and other stakeholders require adequate modeling tools to help assess the applicability of the technology at a particular site. This modeling study investigates how an innovative technology, in situ cometabolic bioremediation, might be implemented to remediate a TCE-contaminated site, under different site conditions. A steady-state model is developed which couples an analytical expression to simulate the effect of flow between multiple pumping …

Collisional Broadening Of Spectral Lines In The X → B System Of O2 And The First Vibrational Band Of No By The Noble Gases, John J. Cornicelli

Theses and Dissertations

Collisional broadening of the rotational spectral lines of the X to b system of O₂ and the first vibrational band of NO by the noble gases is examined by Fourier transform spectroscopy. Peaks of the individual rotational lines are modeled with a Voigt function, from which Lorentzian half widths are extracted. Lorentzian widths are plotted vs. pressure of foreign gas, from which the pressure broadening coefficients and pressure broadening cross sections are calculated. The pressure broadening coefficients are compared to theoretical values determined by past research for O₂. NO coefficients are compared to similar research using N …

Breast Cancer Mass Detection Using Difference Of Gaussians And Pulse Coupled Neural Networks, Donald A. Cournoyer

Theses and Dissertations

CAD, serving as a second reader, has been shown to improve the success of radiologists at detecting breast cancer. This thesis will develop a new algorithm to identify masses in mammograms. The system developed for this thesis will be capable of assisting a radiologist in making decisions.

Applications Of Unsupervised Clustering Algorithms To Aircraft Identification Using High Range Resolution Radar, Dzung Tri Pham

Theses and Dissertations

Identification of aircraft from high range resolution (HRR) radar range profiles requires a database of information capturing the variability of the individual range profiles as a function of viewing aspect. This database can be a collection of individual signatures or a collection of average signatures distributed over the region of viewing aspect of interest. An efficient database is one which captures the intrinsic variability of the HRR signatures without either excessive redundancy typical of single-signature databases, or without the loss of information common when averaging arbitrary groups of signatures. The identification of 'natural' clustering of similar HRR signatures provides a …

Photoluminescence Study Of Gan Implanted With Erbium And Erbium-Oxygen, Lori R. Everitt

Theses and Dissertations

Erbium emits at 1540 nm, which propagates well through fiber optic cables. This work studies the photoluminescence (PL) from GaN, GaN implanted with Er alone, and GaN implanted with both Er and O as functions of excitation laser energy and sample temperature. When the exciton bound to a neutral donor recombined, a photon was emitted at 3.47 eV. A photon emitted at 3.457 eV may have been evidence of the recombination of an exciton bound to a neutral acceptor. Second, the Er-ion transitions were observed in two groups around 0.805 and 1.25 eV. The PL intensity was measured at four …

The Rational Resolution Analysis: A Generalization Of Multi-Resolution Analyses With Application To To The Specific Emitter Identification Problem, Bruce P. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The rational resolution analysis RRA is introduced and developed as a generalization of the integer, dilation multiresolution analyses MRA developed by Mallat and Meyer. Rational dilation factors are achieved by relaxing the condition on MRAs that successive approximation spaces be embedded. Conditions for perfect reconstruction are discussed and it is shown that perfect reconstruction is possible with specific constraints on the scaling function the scaling filter must have its roots on the unit circle. Furthermore, the required arrangement of the roots indicate the scaling function must be derived from a B-spline of some degree. It is proven the only compactly …

Microelectromechanical Optical Beam Steering Systems, David M. Burns

Theses and Dissertations

The development of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has matured to the point where the fabrication of micron sized devices is feasible. State of the art MEMS construction processes now support the fabrication of novel optical devices that could not previously be built. This dissertation reports on the development of innovative micro optical devices such as Variable Blaze Gratings (VBGs) using state of the art MEMS construction processes. The principle application of the micro optical devices described in this dissertation is steering optical beams; however other applications such as spectral analysis are identified. Specific optical beam steering systems developed and characterized in …

Reactive Quantum Scattering In Two Dimensions, Roy S. Calfas

Theses and Dissertations

In an effort to develop a more efficient time dependent approach for calculating scattering matrix elements, absorbing boundary conditions are combined together with the channel packet method. As an introduction to scattering, scattering matrix elements are presented for a one-dimensional square well and a one-dimensional potential consisting of a Gaussian well with symmetric Gaussian barriers. Next, the combination of the channel packet method together with absorbing boundary conditions yields an order of magnitude savings in the time necessary to compute the correlation function for the collinear H+H

Freezing Of Confined Water: A Bilayer Ice Phase In Hydrophobic Nanopores, Kenichiro Koga, Xiao Cheng Zeng, Hideki Tanaka

Xiao Cheng Zeng Publications

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the phase behavior of a thin film of water confined to a slit nanopore with smooth walls. A first-order water-to-ice freezing transition has been observed. The resulting ice, which is a crystal of bilayer consisting of rows of distorted hexagons, does not resemble any ice crystals found so far. The confined water contracts upon freezing when the confinement load is low ( ∼0.5 kbar) and expands when the load is high (10 kbar). The residual entropy of the bilayer ice can be calculated exactly, which is about half of the entropy of the …

Elucidation Of The Pathway Required For The Stimulation Of G6pdh Gene Expression By Insulin And Its Mimetics, Asavari Wagle

Masters Theses

Insulin, an anabolic hormone, exquisitely controls cellular physiology and metabolism by modulating the activity of key proteins which regulate metabolic and mitogenic events. Insulin activates several cytosolic proteins via a phosphorylation cascade, but only some of these proteins are required for its specific action. We have elucidated the insulin signal transduction cascade in primary rat hepatocytes, and outlined some of the events that are required for the insulin induced stimulation of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) gene expression. Using well-characterized and structurally different inhibitors, we show that insulin stimulation of the gene requires the IRS-1/P13K pathway and not the RAS/RAF/MAPK pathway. Gene …

Unfolding Of The Period-Two Bifurcation In A Fiber Laser Pumped With Two Modulation Tones, Scott Glasgow, T. C. Newell, A. Gavrielides, V. Kovanis, D. Sukow, T. Erneux

Faculty Publications

The effect of a small second frequency component on a pump modulated neodymium fiber laser is investigated experimentally and theoretically. This term, whose frequency is exactly half the primary driver, incites an unfolding of the attractor. It breaks the period two pitchfork bifurcation and splits the period one orbit. The modification of the bifurcation diagram is studied analytically by employing a map derived from the class B laser rate equations. We determine specific conditions and scaling laws for this phenomenon. Our analytical predictions are in good agreement with recorded experimental data.

Pesticide-Related Health Problems And Illness In Farm-Workers In The United Arab Emirates, Mahra Mohammed Mahmood Beshwari

Theses

Arabian Gulf countries, witnessed rapid development in many aspects of life. Although these

developments have improved the quality of life in the UAE, they have drawbacks that generated

health problems and environmental hazards. One of the consequences of rapid development is the

usage of large amounts of pesticides in agricultural production for the sake of increasing the yield of crops. However, the expanded use of these pesticides is known to result in acute respiratory symptoms and changes in body metabolism. To-date, no population-based study has been conducted to investigate the effects of pesticides on plasma amino acids and liver enzyme …

A Search For Excited Fermions In E+P Collisions At Hera, J. Breitweg, M. Derrick, D. Krakauer, S. Magill, D. Mikunas, B. Musgrave, J. Repond, R. Stanek, R. L. Talaga, R. Yoshida, H. Zhang, Margarita C. K. Mattingly, F. Anselmo, P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, G. Cara Romeo, G. Castellini, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, I. Gialas, P. Giusti, G. Iacobucci, G. Laurenti

Faculty Publications

Using the ZEUS detector at HERA, we have searched for heavy excited states of electrons, neutrinos, and quarks in e+p collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 300 GeV. With an integrated luminosity of 9.4 pb-1, no evidence was found for electroweak production and decay of such states. Limits on the production cross section times branching ratio and on the characteristic couplings, f/Λ, are derived for masses up to 250 GeV. For the particular choice f/Λ = 1/Mf*, we exclude at the 95% confidence level excited electrons with mass between 30 and 200 GeV, excited electron neutrinos with mass between 40 …

Air-Snow Exchange Investigations At Summit, Greenland: An Overview, Jack E. Dibb, J L. Jaffrezo

Earth Sciences

The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) and Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP) deep drilling programs at Summit, Greenland included support (both logistical and scientific) of extensive investigation of atmospheric transport and air-snow exchange processes of gases and particles relevant to the interpretation of the ice-core records. Much of the sampling for the air-snow exchange investigations was conducted at a unique solar-powered camp 30 km southwest of the GISP2 drill camp (even further from the GRIP camp) and was characterized by a high degree of international collaboration and cooperation. The wide range of expertise and analytical capabilities of the 20-plus …

Preparation Of High Rate Discharge Foamed Ni-Cd Battery, Yuming Wang, Jinsheng Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

A novel device of SC type foamed NiCd battery is presented, in which, the innerresistance of battery is appeared to be reduced, and the electrode performance is gained to very improved, and so, this battery can be suited to using of the powerdrive pistol drill.

Study On The Oxygen Electrodes Of Alkaline Fuel Cells Effect Of Dopant On The Activity Of Ag/C Catalyst, Jiawei Teng, Linhua Jin, Luncheng Tang

Journal of Electrochemistry

A new kind of nonnoble catalyst for the oxygen electrodes of Alkaline Fuel Cells was investigated. The AgNiBiHg/C catalyst, which was prepared by chemical reduction, was active for the cathodic reduction of oxygen in alkaline fuel cells. It was found that the catalytic activity was improved by adding Ni, Bi, Hg to Ag/C catalyst, and the maximum activity was observed at Ag50%-Ni2%-Bi3%-Hg3%-C42%(wt%). XRD inconjunction with SEM indicated that the crystalline silver turned into amorphous in the presence of doping agents and the grain size of silver was reduced. No dramatic deactivation of the catalyst occured after 5200 hours of service.

Advances In Solid Polymer Electrolytes, Liming Ding, Shaojun Dong, Erkang Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The formation, classification, applications and ion-transport mechanism studies of solid polymer electrolytes were reviewed. While the recent SPE reports on the preparation of novel materials, the full structure determinations of PEO/salt complexes, the exploration of ion-transport mechanism and the applications in electrochemical devices being introduced, some prospects on the future SPE research were suggested.

Effect Of Addition Groups On The Redox Properties Of Fullerenes, Louzhen Fan, Yongfang Li, Dagui Zheng, Yuliang Li, Daoben Zhu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrochemical properties of fullerene derivatives, including five C₆₀ derivatives and four C₇₀ derivatives, were studied systematically and comparatively by cyclic voltammetry and differential pulse wave voltammetry. The addition of the electron-donating groups on the fullerenes caused negative shift of the redox potentials of the fullerenes. The extent of the negative shift depends on the number and properties of the addition groups, and on the nature of the fullerenes. 0.08～0.20 V negative shift was observed for C₆₀ and C₇₀ monoadducts, 0.30～0.32 V for bisadduct and 0.53～0.58 V for triadduct of C6₀. Meanwhile, the oxidation waves …

Li/Α-Sn(Hpo4)2 Cell And Its Reaction Mechanism, Yuan Lin, Runliang Cai, Haoqing Wu

Journal of Electrochemistry

The discharge mechanism of Li/α-Sn(HPO₄)₂ cell has been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, XPS and cyclic voltammetry methodes. It has been shown that the electrochemical intercalation reation exists in the cathode material. There is a new phase after some degree of intercalation. With potential step and galvanostatic techniques, the chemical diffusion cofficients of Li⁺ in Li_xSn(HPO₄)₂ is estimated to be 10^-12～10^-13 cm²·s^-1.

Cyclic Voltammetric Investigation Of The Axial Coordination Effects Of Pyridine On The Redox Behaviours Of (Tpp)Co, Chuanwei Yan, Xiangqui Lin, Haichao Lin, Chunan Cao

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemistry of (TPP)Co in presence of pyridine was investigated in dichloroethane solution by cyclic voltammetry. Upon the addition of pyridine to the solution, two reduction peaks of Co(Ⅲ)/Co(Ⅱ) at 0.25 and -0.40 V (SCE) were observed. It was infered that the peaks were belong to the reductions of the complex compounds with one and two axial pyridine, (TPP)Co(Ⅲ)(Py) and (TPP)Co(Ⅲ)(Py)₂. Even though the mole ratio of added pyridine was less than 1 the reduction of Co(Ⅲ)/Co(Ⅱ) still mainly occured at -0.40 V, which evidently resulted from pyridine adsorption on the electrodes. Besides, it was observed that the …

Mechanism Of Electrodeposition Of Cu/Co Multilayer Thin Films, Jiangyun Xue, Jixun Wu, Dejun Yang

Journal of Electrochemistry

The mechanism of electrodeposition of Cu/Co multilayer thin films has been studied by means of potentodynamic sweep, cyclic voltammetry sweep and AC impendance. The results indicated that the copper deposition is mass transfer controlled process and the cobalt deposition is related to the absorbed intermediate species such as Co(OH)_ads. The cobalt ions first form Co(OH)_ads, then was deoxygenated to cobalt on the electrode surface.