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- Title
- Stress-Induced Habitual Responding as a Maintenance Factor in Bulimia Nervosa Spectrum Disorders
- Creator
- Dougherty, Elizabeth Nash
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Individuals with bulimia nervosa spectrum disorders often compulsively engage in binge eating and purging, despite life threatening...
Show moreIndividuals with bulimia nervosa spectrum disorders often compulsively engage in binge eating and purging, despite life threatening consequences. Little is known about factors that contribute to compulsivity in these conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether stress and habitual control over bulimic behaviors play a role in maintaining symptoms in these disorders, using ecological momentary assessment. Women with bulimia nervosa spectrum disorders (N = 81) completed self-report baseline questionnaires and a 14-day EMA protocol which involved daily assessments of stress, negative affect, bulimic behaviors, and contextual antecedents to bulimic behaviors. The results indicated that baseline habitual control over binge eating and purging were not associated with global eating pathology or eating disorder-related clinical impairment. However, exploratory analyses revealed that habitual control over binge eating and purging were associated with more frequent engagement in these behaviors during the previous four weeks. Neither stress appraisal nor stressor frequency were associated with habitual control over bulimic behavior during the EMA period. In terms of affect trajectories surrounding bulimic behaviors, negative affect increased in the hours leading up to these behaviors, decreased in the hours following these behaviors, and was higher immediately after these behaviors compared to before. Habitual control over binge eating and purging did not moderate temporal relations between negative affect and bulimic behaviors during the EMA period. Overall, the findings suggest that habit may play a role in maintaining binge eating and purging.
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- Title
- ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR SERIOUS THERAPEUTIC GAMES FOR HEALTH
- Creator
- Damarjian, Alex G.
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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The conventional treatment of amblyopia in pediatric patients routinely experience low patient compliance due toits limitations. Therapeutic...
Show moreThe conventional treatment of amblyopia in pediatric patients routinely experience low patient compliance due toits limitations. Therapeutic games that utilize VR technology have the potential to open new avenues of medical research and treatment. A review of the prevailing literature shows the effectiveness of VR based games for therapeutic applications and the potential for increased patient compliance. A strong component of the literature is grounded in the medical humanities, specifically the way in which thought patterns, cognitive development, and perceived social rejection affect patient engagement and treatment efficacy. In order to increase the effectiveness of therapeutic games and streamline their development, a new framework has been created using existing research into therapeutic games. This framework ensures that all therapeutic games meet certain criteria within ethics, immersion, active learning, universal accessibility, aesthetics, and medicine. When applied to game development, specifically virtual and extended reality games, it can be used to transform existing therapeutic or diagnostic models into games operating as health care tools. The result is a more effective, lower cost, more accessible treatment option with increased patient compliance and greater overall outcomes.
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- Title
- Effect of heat treatment on microstructure and electrochemical behavior of laser powder bed fusion hydride- dehydride ti-6al-4v alloy
- Creator
- Delpazir, Melody Honardan
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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In powder bed additive manufacturing, feedstock and processing have an impact onfinal microstructure and properties of 3D-printed parts. While...
Show moreIn powder bed additive manufacturing, feedstock and processing have an impact onfinal microstructure and properties of 3D-printed parts. While numerous studies have evaluated 3D-printing of spherical powder, very limited research has been carried out on the processing of the non-spherical feedstock. This study is targeted specifically to the use of non-spherical Ti-6Al-4V powders in the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process. Two different post-heat-treatments including hot isostatic pressing and solution treatment are applied. The microstructure evaluation, potentiodynamic polarization, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy methods are used to characterize L-PBF processed and post- treated specimens. Though as-built part exhibits anisotropic microstructure containing acicular α′ martensite with trace amount of β phase, the heat-treated parts are composed of α+β in which length and thickness of the α-lath depends on the treatment. The below β transus heat treatment leads to the formation of a homogenized grain structures composed of α+β. Electrochemical results show that the below β transus heat-treatment had a slight positive effect on the improvement of corrosion resistivity (corrosion rate of 4.2×10-6 mmy- 1 , which is classified as an excellent ) compared to other conditions, which would be associated to the natural excellent corrosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy. This slight improvement can be ascribed by the slightly faster formation of a passive layer and its enhanced efficiency because of the presence of the fine-structured β phase in post heat- treated L-PBF processed Ti-6Al-4V alloy.
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- Title
- DOES FAMILY QUALITY OF LIFE MEDIATE THE RELATION BETWEEN AUTISM WAIVER SERVICES AND CHILD PROGRESS?
- Creator
- Desai, Shivani S.
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a child’s language, social, and behavioral development,...
Show moreAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a pervasive neurodevelopmental disorder that affects a child’s language, social, and behavioral development, and also is associated with difficulty with academics, independent completion of daily living skills, and emotion regulation. Diagnosed individuals often require comprehensive, long-term, and family-based intervention that is costly. Several states, including Maryland, have adopted Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver services that specifically serve children and young adults with ASD at no out-of-pocket cost to families. The Maryland autism waiver (AW) also includes services to support diagnosed individuals’ family members, including family consultation and respite services. Family factors, such as specific parenting behaviors and parental mental health, contribute significantly to symptom improvement in children with ASD and child development more broadly, highlighting the importance of studying family systems and targeting them in treatment. Prior research has found that AW services have a positive impact on family quality of life (FQoL), which is a multidimensional concept of family functioning. The aim of the present study was to examine if the several domains of FQoL are mediators in the relation between receipt of Maryland HCBS AW services and caregivers’ perception of their child’s improvement in several domains of functioning. The participants in this study consisted of 460 families who were enrolled in a larger study examining effects of Maryland AW services. Half of these families (n = 230) received the Maryland Medicaid AW services (n = 230) and the other half were on a registry to receive services (n = 230). Deidentified survey data were collected between 2013-2016 from caregiver informants who had a child under the age of 21 who exhibited symptoms of ASD. The survey included questions about demographics, FQoL, and their child’s progress in the areas of academics, independent living skills, social communication skills, stereotypic and repetitive behaviors, and aggressive behaviors over the past 6 months. Results of the mediation analyses revealed that FQoL in the domains of parenting, emotional well-being, and disability support services (but not in the domains of family interaction and physical/material well-being) each mediated the relations between AW services and caregiver report of improvement in all measured domains of child functioning (academics, independent living skills, social communication skills, stereotypic and repetitive behaviors, and aggressive behaviors). These findings highlight the significant role of FQoL as a mediator in the relation between waiver serves and child outcome. They also reveal the importance of increasing family quality of life when providing treatment services to children with symptoms of autism and their families.
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- Title
- WIDE BANDGAP FRACTIONAL POWER PROCESSING
- Creator
- Kundu, Aritra
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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The adoption of wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductors can improve the performance of power converters at the expense of significantly higher...
Show moreThe adoption of wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductors can improve the performance of power converters at the expense of significantly higher cost than Si at present time. In this thesis, an innovative Wide bandgap Fractional Power Processing (WFPP) design concept is introduced where silicon devices process the base power at a low switching frequency (2kHz or lower) while WBG devices are judiciously used to process only a fraction of the total power at a much higher frequency (tens of kHz). WFPP inverter is a design concept that splits the power processing into a low frequency Si base power processor and a high-frequency WBG fractional power processor. WBG devices are therefore judiciously used to process only a fraction of the total power to achieve both high-efficiency and lower cost than a full-WBG converter design. This thesis investigates an optimization strategy to minimize the total power loss while maintaining a reasonable THD and cost for a hybrid inverter design with comprehensive power loss analysis and calculation on fundamental and harmonics currents. Optimal selection of power sharing between the Si and WBG inverters and switching frequency are discussed in the thesis. The circulating current paths in topology with hybrid switching frequencies are also analyzed and presented in this thesis. Experimental results on a 9kW SiC/Si hybrid inverter prototype with isolated and non-isolated DC power supplies are presented to validate the design concept.
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- Title
- STRUCTURE AND DYNAMICS OF MODIFIED NUCLEOSOMES UNDER EPIGENETIC REGULATION
- Creator
- Kohestani, Havva
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Epigenetic regulations are critical in inducing heritable phenotype changes in biological systems without alternating their core genetic DNA...
Show moreEpigenetic regulations are critical in inducing heritable phenotype changes in biological systems without alternating their core genetic DNA sequences. In vivo, reversible epigenetic mechanisms engage various molecular structures from RNAs to larger proteins. The present thesis investigates the influence of epigenetic regulatory factors such as histone protein variants and small non-coding RNAs on the dynamics and structure of nucleosome core particles. Our results show that a histone substitution is an efficient tool in increasing or decreasing the exposure of DNA to post-translational modification (PTMs) factors or larger molecular assembly elements. Substitution of canonical H2A with H2A.B alters DNA-dimer interface resulting in increased breathing and accessibility of DNA. Replacement of canonical H3 with CENP-A variant impacts the overall core-DNA dynamics with flexibility of DNA entry/ exit sites and more rigid tetramer structure. Histone substitution also affects the micro to macro level molecular communication in the nucleosome system. The long-range correlated motions are weakened in H2A.B compared to canonical NCP. We observed a reduction in effective long-range DNA-DNA and DNA-core allosteric pathways in CENP-A NCP compared to canonical and Widom NCPs. Non-coding RNAs increase the tendency of the H3 tail histones to interact with DNA and induce the structural changes in the initial ideal B-DNA of NCP. Overall, the interaction of epigenetic regulatory factors in the form of protein or nucleic acids shifts the energetic and structural properties of the original nucleosome system. As a result, the chromatin structure is prepared to generate the proper biological response throughout spermatogenesis, chromosome segregation, or PTMs assembly.
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- Title
- Keeping the Spark Alive: Examining Associations Between Technology Use For Cybersex, Health and Relationship Satisfaction In Long-Distance Relationships
- Creator
- Khan, Humza
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Background: Technology is important to many romantic relationships, especially long-distance relationships (LDR), insofar as technology can...
Show moreBackground: Technology is important to many romantic relationships, especially long-distance relationships (LDR), insofar as technology can minimize the impact of the lack of proximity that is characteristic to LDR. Cybersex, a specific use of technology within romantic relationships, is associated with increased relationship satisfaction among partners in proximal relationships. Cybersex also relates to health broadly, and to anxiety and depression specifically, with mixed associations. Despite LDR lending themselves to cybersex, associations between cybersex, relationship satisfaction, and health have not been studied in LDR. This study has three aims: (1) to provide the first descriptive data related to cybersex behavior, relationship satisfaction and health in LDR; (2) to examine associations between cybersex behaviors and relationship satisfaction, and cybersex and health in LDR; and, (3) to test whether biological sex moderates cybersex-relationship satisfaction and cybersex-health associations among those in LDR. We predicted that cybersex behaviors would relate positively to relationship satisfaction for both males and females, although we predicted males would report stronger associations than females. We predicted cybersex behaviors would relate positively to health for both males and females, although we predicted females would report weaker associations than males. Methods: Participants (N = 146; 18 years or older; English speaking; in LDR for 3+ months) completed a paid online survey on relational experiences and health/well-being. Cybersex behaviors were assessed through an internally created “sex and cybersex behaviors” scale. Relationship satisfaction was assessed via the Couples Satisfaction Index (CSI). Both broad health, and anxiety and depression, were assessed with the PROMIS-29. Correlations were assessed between key study variables. Regression analyses were used first to test associations between cybersex and relationship satisfaction, then cybersex and health, and finally, the moderation effect of biological sex in these associations. Results: The average member of our sample was White, college aged, had no children, a full-time undergraduate student and low SES. Correlation analyses show significant correlations between core study variables (relationship satisfaction, global health, cybersex behavior, depression & anxiety) at some level. Sex-level analyses show that when compared to males, females reported significantly higher average anxiety scores, and more texting sex behavior. Linear regressions established cybersex behavior as a negative predictor of global health and a positive predictor of depression and anxiety, but not relationship satisfaction. Moderation analyses indicated that biological sex moderated the cybersex behavior-global health association such that more cybersex behavior negatively predicted global health for males but not females. Discussion: These differences among sexes and health in LDR observed within our findings may be explained by the social role theory, in which females have worse health than males however, males having worse overall physical health than females may be due to a lack of copresence from their partner. In addition, females engaging in higher levels of texting cybersex may be related to sociocultural factors. Conclusion: Overall, our study contributes to the understanding of cybersex behavior, relationship satisfaction and health outcomes by among males and females in LDR. Our findings suggest that this sample of LDR females engage in more texting cybersex, have higher anxiety symptom severity, and have equal levels of relationship satisfaction.
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- Title
- Efficacy of Organic Acid Treatments for the Reduction of Listeria Monocytogenes on Hard Boiled Eggs
- Creator
- Khouja, Bashayer
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Ready-to-eat hard-boiled eggs (HBEs) are a popular and convenient choice for consumers and food servicers. Recentrecalls of hard-boiled eggs...
Show moreReady-to-eat hard-boiled eggs (HBEs) are a popular and convenient choice for consumers and food servicers. Recentrecalls of hard-boiled eggs have highlighted the susceptibility of contamination with Listeria monocytogenes. HBEs are generally treated with antibacterials to ensure the safety and quality of the product. While citric acid is often used, research has determined it is not effective in some situations; therefore, the assessment of additional organic acids is necessary. This study examined the efficacy of acetic, lactic, and malic acid on the reduction of L. monocytogenes on HBEs after a 24- hour treatment trials and 28 days storage trials. Fresh eggs were cooked in boiling water, peeled, and stored at 4°C for 24h before use. For treatment trials, HBEs were dip- inoculated with a 4-strain cocktail of rifampicin resistant L. monocytogenes, resulting in 8 log CFU/egg. Following air drying, hard-boiled eggs were treated at 5 or 25°C with 2% acetic, lactic, or malic acid. L monocytogenes populations were enumerated in intervals up to 24h by homogenization of HBEs with BLEB and cultivation on BHIrif. For pre- treatment storage trials, HBEs were first dip- inoculated with a rifampicin- resistant 4- strain L. monocytogenes cocktail for 20 min, resulting in 1 log CFU/egg, air dried for 10 min, followed by treatment with 2% acetic, lactic, or malic acid for 24 h at either 5 or 25°C. For post- treatment inoculation trials, HBEs were first soaked in 2% acetic, lactic, or malic acid for 24 h at either 5 or 25°C, air dried for 10 min, spot-inoculated at 1 log CFU/egg, and then dried for 20 min. All HBEs were individually stored in bags at 5°C for up to 28 days. The presence of L. monocytogenes was determined at intervals during storage by enrichment with BLEB on BHIrif and Brilliance Listeria Agar. Triplicate eggs were assessed for each timepoint, and three independent trials were conducted. Data were analyzed by Student’s T-test, ANOVA, and Fisher’s exact test, p≤0.05. The initial inoculation level of L. monocytogenes on HBEs was 8.27±0.37 log CFU/egg. After 24 h treatment, all L. monocytogenes populations were significantly reduced on HBEs. At 5°C, populations were reduced by 3.15±0.70, 3.46±0.02, and 4.78±0.23 log CFU/egg. Compared to 5°C, a significantly higher population reduction occurred with acetic and lactic acid when treatment occurred at 25°C. The inactivation of L. monocytogenes on HBEs for the storage trials was associated with the order of the contamination: pre-or post-the acid treatment. Prior storage, L. monocytogenes was detected on 100% of the HBEs. Malic acid pre-treatment was significantly effective in eliminating L. monocytogenes on HBEs at 5 and 25°C, while acetic acid was effective only at 5°C. All acids did not eliminate L. monocytogenes in the case of post-treatment contamination at any tested temperature. The results of this study aid in understanding the efficacy of organic acid treatments against L. monocytogenes on HBEs. Results are useful in the development of preventive controls and guidelines to ensure the safety of HBEs.
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- Title
- ANALYTICAL APPROACH TO ESTIMATE ROTOR TEMPERATURE IN SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR
- Creator
- Koujalagi, Shweta Manohar
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Motors contribute most of the loads. Motors find major applications in automobile industries, household appliances, industrial equipment, and...
Show moreMotors contribute most of the loads. Motors find major applications in automobile industries, household appliances, industrial equipment, and other areas. With the time, engineers and industries found some of the drawbacks or disadvantages of using induction motors in certain applications. They started developing other types of motors that are more efficient than existing ones. Among those, switched reluctance motor, referred as SRM is the one. SRMs are simple in construction, rugged and highly efficient motors.Even though SRM has higher efficiency, it still contribute some losses in the form of heat which will increase the temperature of SRM. If the temperature increases beyond certain limit, cable insulation fails, degrades rotor capability of aligning characteristics, damages bearings, etc. Therefore, it is important to understand the flow of heat in SRM. This thesis focuses on heat transfer analysis from stator coil to rotor of SRM using analytical method and numerical method such as finite element analysis from available coil temperature without using any kind of sensors. Analytical and FEA models are built separately to obtained rotor temperatures at various coil temperatures and rotor speeds. Finally, analytical results are validated with FEA model results. Therefore, once the rotor temperature is estimated accurately, model can be implemented in automotive and other industrial applications to continuously monitor the rotor temperature. It is important to monitor temperature to avoid damage of SRM by thermal effects.
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- Title
- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SLUGGISH COGNITIVE TEMPO AND PERFORMANCE ON TASKS OF PROCESSING SPEED: INFLUENCE OF DEPRESSION
- Creator
- Kim, Jeong Hye
- Date
- 2021
- Description
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Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is often associated with reported difficulties in various functional areas, including daily activities,...
Show moreSluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) is often associated with reported difficulties in various functional areas, including daily activities, emotional functioning, cognitive functioning, academic performance, and sleep. However, there are only a handful of research studies on SCT and neurocognitive functioning in adult populations, and the neuropsychological profile of SCT in adults is unclear.The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of depression on the relationship between a self-reported measure of SCT and objective measures of SCT in adults by focusing on processing speed performance. The result of this research supports the previous notion that SCT is a novel and independent condition distinct from ADHD, and there are significantly positive relationships between symptoms of SCT and Inattention and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity. Furthermore, SCT and depression are also positively associated indicating the people who experience more symptoms of SCT report more symptoms of depression. However, results did not support the hypothesis that SCT significantly contribute to differences in performance on various types of neuropsychological tasks (WAIS PSI, Trail Making Test, and CPT-II Reaction Time) assessing processing speed after controlling for symptoms of ADHD (inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity) and symptoms of depression. It is notable that the significant model beta weights for SCT in the final regression model suggests that the relationship between SCT and processing speed is worthy of additional investigation.
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- Title
- MULTICRITERIA DECISION-MAKING METHODOLOGY WITH TRADEOFF ANALYSIS FOR TRANSPORTATION BUDGET ALLOCATION
- Creator
- Truong, Tung Quoc
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Transportation agencies in the United States nowadays rely on tax dollars for maintaining surface transportation infrastructure, which mainly...
Show moreTransportation agencies in the United States nowadays rely on tax dollars for maintaining surface transportation infrastructure, which mainly comes from fuel tax. However, travel behaviors are changing every day. People and businesses demand better and safer roads. Yet, consumers travel in more fuel-efficient vehicles and buy less gas, which means less revenue for fixing aging roads and highways. Meanwhile, new construction and repair costs increase for our overburdened transportation systems. Transportation agencies, therefore, must use their limited funding more wisely to optimize the service performance and minimize risks (Li, 2018). The budget allocation problem in transportation is not an easy task. The consequences of an ineffective decision in allocating resources are multi-facet both in the short- and long-term, including degrading in the condition of transportation facilities, losing public trust, and increasing backlogs in maintenance and repair. Therefore, transportation agencies are seeking more robust and comprehensive data-driven strategies that take into account of agency’s strategic goals and regulatory requirements, user expectations, nature of the asset, availability of resources, and lifecycle cost analysis in determining the optimal allocation of resources and making the best use of available funds (Li and Sinha, 2004; Sinha and Labi, 2007). The proposed research aims to utilize the concept of multicriteria decision making coupled with a holistic asset management framework to support performance-based allocations of transportation budgets and help transportation agencies achieve the future vision of the nation’s strategic planning requirements to enable sustainable management of the system. A computational study for the real-world dataset obtained by a state Department of Transportation (DOT) is conducted using the proposed budget allocation method. The results from the computational study reveal that the proposed method can derive optimal decision solutions for transportation budget allocation problems and can be utilized by transportation agencies on different scales – urban and rural, in other sectors – public and private, to effectively manage the transportation infrastructure sustainably, by effectively spending transportation budget to maximize service performance and minimize operating costs.
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- Title
- CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER: INTERPERSONAL FACTORS AND DEPRESSION AS PARALLEL-SERIAL MEDIATORS BETWEEN STIGMA AND SUICIDAL IDEATION
- Creator
- Tsen, Jonathan Y.
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Background/Objectives: This study applied Joiner's Interpersonal PsychologicalTheory to a caregiver population, by describing relationships...
Show moreBackground/Objectives: This study applied Joiner's Interpersonal PsychologicalTheory to a caregiver population, by describing relationships among affiliate stigma, thwarted-belongingess (TB), perceived-burdensomeness (PB), and depression, and suicidal ideation (SI). Participants/Setting: 243 adult caregivers participated in this study via Prolific Academic and caregiver-related websites. Design/Main Outcome Measures: This study used a cross-sectional, survey-based design including demographics, the Affiliate Stigma Scale (α=.93), Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire-15 (α=.95), Center of Epidemiology Studies–Depression-10 (α=.90), and Depressive Symptom Inventory— Suicide Subscale (α = .91) via Qualtrics. Analyses run on SPSSv27/Hayes’ PROCESS macro. Results: Parallel-serial mediation found after controlling for covariates that the total indirect effect of affiliate stigma on SI through both TB and PB then through depression was significant, B = .0271, SE = .0062, β = .1659, 95%CI [.0152, .0393]. Conclusions: Findings indicated that affiliate stigma indirectly affected SI through both TB and PB then through depression. Interventions to improve caregiver wellbeing should capitalize on both improving interpersonal functioning and depressive symptoms in tandem in order to reduce SI risk.
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- Title
- Towards Understanding the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured Ni-base Superalloys
- Creator
- Tiparti, Dhruv Reddy
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Nickel-base superalloy components such as turbine discs typically undergo numerous manufacturing steps that contribute to increasing the cost...
Show moreNickel-base superalloy components such as turbine discs typically undergo numerous manufacturing steps that contribute to increasing the cost and the waste of excess materials. With advent of fusion based additive of manufacturing (AM) techniques, such components with complex geometry can be fabricated with great efficiency. However due to characteristically high energy densities, fast cooling rate, and layer-by-layer building process associated with AM; Ni-base superalloys with higher temperature performance are difficult to be fabricated by AM due to susceptibility to composition related defect formation, which is further exacerbated by anisotropic grain structures induced by the large thermal gradients present. Crack-free material can be fabricated but, in most cases, issues such as an anisotropic microstructure will prevail, and the balance of mechanical properties achieved may not be suitable for the desired applications. Several strategies exist to mitigate the challenges posed by additive manufacturing via post-processing such as hot-isostatic processing, annealing heat treatments, application of grain refining inoculants, etc. All these strategies utilized to mitigate issues with AM of Ni-base superalloys still require further study to understand their effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties. This work aims to evaluate the use of inoculant particles, and novel heat treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of different superalloys. First, the effect of varying amounts of CoAl2O4 inoculant ranging from 0 to 2 wt.% on the microstructure evolution of Inconel 718(IN718) fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) was evaluated. The findings from this study indicated that additions of CoAl2O4 only resulted in a minor degree of grain refinement with slight increase in anisotropy; in addition, a CoAl2O4 ¬content above 0.2 wt.% resulted in the formation of agglomerate inclusions; and that to effectively utilize CoAl2O4 as a grain refining inoculant, process parameters must be further optimized while considering the formation of agglomerates, and other defects. Second, the application of CoAl2¬O4 was extended towards the Direct Energy Deposition (DED) of IN718. Here findings indicated that due to the modification of the thermophysical properties of the melt pool by oxide addition, an earlier onset of large columnar extending across multiple layers occurred while counteracting conditions required for equiaxed grain formation; and these CoAl2O4 were also found to exhibit a potent Zenner pinning effect that maintained the as-built grain structure despite application of extreme high treatment condition of 1200oC for 4 hrs. Third, the tensile and fatigue properties of the DED IN718 with CoAl2O4 were evaluated. Here, it was found that the addition of CoAl2O4 leads to a minor increase in tensile strength in the as-built condition attributed primarily to the fine oxide dispersion; a more modest increase in tensile strength in the heat-treated condition due to grain refinement induced by retaining the as-built grain structure; and that despite the increase in tensile strength with CoAl2O4 a corresponding increase in fatigue life did not occur. Lastly, the processing of René 65 conducted by laser-powder bed fusion(L-PBF) was done and compared to the conventionally cast and wrought material. Here, the effect of the difference in processing route in conjunction with heat treatments was evaluated to understand the creep and stress relaxation behavior. It was found that L-PBF of René 65 led to an overall improved resistance to deformation by creep and relaxation mechanism.
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- Title
- SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MG, NB, TI-DOPED LINIO2 CATHODE MATERIAL FOR LI-ION BATTERIES
- Creator
- Tian, Yiwen
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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In this project, the influence of several metal doping on the electrochemical properties of LiNiO2 materials was analyzed. The doping method...
Show moreIn this project, the influence of several metal doping on the electrochemical properties of LiNiO2 materials was analyzed. The doping method is aiming to improve the stability of the layered structure and inhibit the mixing of nickel and lithium by enhancing the structural stability of the layered material and replacing part of Ni with other metals in the process of intercalation/deintercalation, thereby promoting the cyclic performance and reversible capacity. The LiNiO2 powder doped with Nb, Ti and Mg is denoted as Li0.96Ni0.9Nb0.06Ti0.04Mg0.02O2 or, in short, metal-doped LiNiO2. The synthesis of the metal-doped LiNiO2 powder consists of mixing the lithium and nickel sources with various metal oxides and then being subjected to high-energy ball milling for 10 hours, followed by heating for 20 h in a metallic tube furnace at 680℃ with flowing oxygen atmosphere. The undoped LiNiO2 powder synthesized using the same process and conditions was compared with the doped LiNiO2 powder. In order to understand the doping mechanism, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the morphology, composition and crystal structure of the final product. Benefiting from the Mg, Nb, and Ti doping, the doped LiNiO2 exhibited a high reversible capacity of 130.56 mAh g-1, higher than that of undoped LiNiO2 (95.02 mAh g-1) under the 0.1C charge/discharge rate in the voltage window between 2.5 and 4.2 V. Further, the doped LiNiO2 has 86% of capacity retention over 100 cycles, better than undoped LiNiO2 (only 44% of capacity retention) under the 0.5C charge/discharge rate between 2.5 and 4.2 V.
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- Title
- Quality of Life in People with Epilepsy: The Associations of Anti-seizure Medications and Biopsychosocial Variables
- Creator
- Thomas, Julia A.
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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People with epilepsy, on average, experience lower quality of life (QOL) than healthy controls (Taylor et al., 2011). This study examined the...
Show morePeople with epilepsy, on average, experience lower quality of life (QOL) than healthy controls (Taylor et al., 2011). This study examined the associations between specific anti-seizure medication, biopsychosocial factors, and QOL in people with epilepsy. Analysis of covariance revealed that individuals taking three or more anti-seizure medications had significantly lower QOL than those taking levetiracetam. Findings also demonstrated that when looking at biopsychosocial factors as predictors of QOL in hierarchical regression, anxiety, depression, and daytime sleepiness were significant predictors of QOL. Once these factors were entered into the model, number of medications was no longer significant. The final model predicted 59.6% of the variance in QOL. Lastly, a moderation analysis to examine the moderating effect of employment on the association between number of anti-seizure medications and QOL was not significant. Additional exploratory analyses looking at individuals who were employed versus those who were not employed were completed. These findings underscore the importance of addressing psychological health and sleep factors within the epilepsy population.
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- Title
- Child and Family Outcomes Associated with Specific Maryland ASD Waiver Services and Choice and Control as Mediators of These Outcomes
- Creator
- Turchmanovych-Hienkel, Nataliya
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects 1in 44 children and is characterized by impairments in cognitive...
Show moreAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects 1in 44 children and is characterized by impairments in cognitive, behavioral, and social domains of functioning. Literature suggests that ASD not only impacts the quality of life of the individuals diagnosed with this condition, but also has a negative impact on family quality of life (FQoL). Interventions and services offered through the Medicaid 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services waiver programs can enhance child and family outcomes. The present study looked at one specific waiver program, the Maryland ASD waiver, and examined the frequency at which families received different waiver services and the associations between those service frequencies and child (i.e., academic performance, independent living skills, social communication and interaction skills, stereotypic and repetitive behavior, and aggressive behavior) and family (i.e., FQoL) outcomes, as well as explored whether the family’s perception of choice and control mediate these child and family outcomes. Results suggest that frequencies of some waiver services are associated with progress in some child outcomes, but not in FQoL. This study also suggests that the choice and control that families have over services do not mediate the relation between frequency of waiver services and child and family outcomes. Overall, results suggest that the Maryland ASD waiver program may help improve some domains of child functioning.
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- Title
- Choice-Distinguishing Colorings of Cartesian Products of Graphs
- Creator
- Tomlins, Christian James
- Date
- 2022
- Description
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A coloring $f: V(G)\rightarrow \mathbb N$ of a graph $G$ is said to be \emph{distinguishing} if no non-identity automorphism preserves every...
Show moreA coloring $f: V(G)\rightarrow \mathbb N$ of a graph $G$ is said to be \emph{distinguishing} if no non-identity automorphism preserves every vertex color. The distinguishing number, $D(G)$, of a graph $G$ is the smallest positive integer $k$ such that there exists a distinguishing coloring $f: V(G)\rightarrow [k]$ and was introduced by Albertson and Collins in their paper ``Symmetry Breaking in Graphs.'' By restricting what kinds of colorings are considered, many variations of distinguishing numbers have been studied. In this paper, we study proper list-colorings of graphs which are also distinguishing and investigate the choice-distinguishing number $\text{ch}_D(G)$ of a graph $G$. Primarily, we focus on the choice-distinguishing number of Cartesian products of graphs. We determine the exact value of $\text{ch}_D(G)$ for lattice graphs and prism graphs and provide an upper bound on the choice-distinguishing number of the Cartesian products of two relatively prime graphs, assuming a sufficient condition is satisfied. We use this result to bound the choice distinguishing number of toroidal grids and the Cartesian product of a tree with a clique. We conclude with a discussion on how, depending on the graphs $G$ and $H$, we may weaken the sufficient condition needed to bound $\text{ch}_D(G\square H)$.
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- Title
- Aerial view of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, Chicago, Illinois, 1964
- Creator
- Brandt & Associates
- Date
- 1964
- Description
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Aerial photograph of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, looking northeast.
- Collection
- IIT Campus Aerial photographs, 1940-2002
- Title
- Aerial view of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, Chicago, Illinois, 1958
- Creator
- Brandt & Associates
- Date
- 1958
- Description
-
Aerial photograph of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, looking southwest.
- Collection
- IIT Campus Aerial photographs, 1940-2002
- Title
- Aerial view of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, Chicago, Illinois, 1963
- Creator
- Brandt & Associates
- Date
- 1963
- Description
-
Aerial photograph of the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, looking north.
- Collection
- IIT Campus Aerial photographs, 1940-2002