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Title: AN EMPIRICAL APPROACH TO GASSIFICATION PROCESS MODELING AND ASSESSMENT
Creator: Rahmaninejad, Fatemeh
Date: 2013-05-01, 2013-05
Description: There has been growing interest in estimating the flow rate and composition of fuel gases produced from gasification of coal and other...
Show moreThere has been growing interest in estimating the flow rate and composition of fuel gases produced from gasification of coal and other carbonaceous solid fuels. In general, coal gasification processes are complex, and because of the high costs associated with the experimental investigations, modeling and simulation tools are needed to assist with the design, analysis, and optimization of these complex processes. Most of the efforts in the development of gasifier models have focused on two different approaches; equilibrium modeling and kinetic modeling. The chemical equilibrium approach assumes the gasification reactions have sufficiently fast kinetics and reach global chemical reaction equilibria, which leads to over-prediction of the extent of the gasification reactions [1, 2, 3]. On the other hand, the kinetic based models require detailed knowledge of hydrodynamic and reaction kinetics of the heterogeneous and homogeneous chemical reactions [4, 5]. Because of the dependence of the product gas (composition and flow rate) on a broad ranges of certain key operating variables such as gasifier design, configuration, and coal type the gasification model needs to take into account the effect of those parameters based on available experimental data. In this study, a versatile and user-friendly gasifier simulation model was developed which incorporates a MS Excel interface aiming to provide a guide to gasification process analysis, evaluation and improvement. The model uses a set of empirical “default” correlations, for the reaction conversions that were obtained from xi regression analysis of the available experimental data to predict the syngas composition, flow rate, and performance of the gasifier based on the operating conditions specified by the user. The results of the parametric studies performed for assessment of the effect of operating conditions are discussed and presented.
M.S. in Chemical Engineering, May 2013
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Title: SELF-ESTEEM AS A MEDIATOR OF ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN AFFECT AND BODY IMAGE IN A SAMPLE OF MALE AND FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES
Creator: Hansen, Meghan
Date: 2013, 2013-12
Description: Body image is a multidimensional construct that encompasses how individuals perceive their body. One frequently studied component of body...
Show moreBody image is a multidimensional construct that encompasses how individuals perceive their body. One frequently studied component of body image is body dissatisfaction. Body dissatisfaction has been associated with numerous negative outcomes including increased negative affect, increased maladaptive dieting behaviors and increased eating pathology. Psychological factors, including depression, anxiety, well-being, and self-esteem have been implicated in body dissatisfaction ; however, little is known about associations between these psychological factors and the larger construct of body image. This study examined associations among depression, social anxiety, well-being, self-esteem and body image in a diverse sample of undergraduate men and women. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to 1) examine bivariate associations between affect and body image and 2) self-esteem as a moderator or mediator of these associations. Results demonstrated significant correlations between affect, body image, and self-esteem. Additionally, self-esteem mediated the relationship between affect and various components of body image, and these results varied based on gender. Findings have important implications for treatment and prevention efforts.
M.S. in Psychology, December 2013
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Title: MOBILITY IMPROVEMENT BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SIGNAL TIMING OPTIMIZATION FOR URBAN STREET NETWORK
Creator: Zhang, Ji
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: The traffic congestion problem especially in urban areas is getting increasingly severe due to the ever-growing auto travel demand in the...
Show moreThe traffic congestion problem especially in urban areas is getting increasingly severe due to the ever-growing auto travel demand in the United States during the past few decades. In general, insufficient capacity can be solved by system expansion. However, expanding system is not feasible anymore because of the land scarcity in urban areas and its high cost. From this point of view, transportation operations that lead to the optimal system usage are more preferable thanks to their relatively low cost and remarkable consequences. Several performance indices were used in order to assess the effects of a given transportation operation. This study introduces a new method for evaluating the mobility performance of the transportation system before and after a transportation operation. And the mobility benefit is converted into monetary value. Further, a Life-Cycle Benefit Analysis is conducted to expand the evaluation process to the time dimension. An experimental study is performed to apply this method on the urban street network in Chicago downtown area that contains 917 intersections and 1675 roadway segments before and after a network-wide signal timing optimization treatment. Based on this application, the results indicate a few potential advantages and disadvantages of this system-wide signal timing optimization methodology.
M.S. in Civil Engineering, May 2015
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Title: FEM-BASED MULTIPHYSICS MODELING OF CONTAMINATION AND REMEDIATION OF VARIABLY SATURATED SOILS
Creator: Miao, Tao
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: With the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the soil contamination has been a major problem in this industrial world. This...
Show moreWith the increasing awareness of environmental protection, the soil contamination has been a major problem in this industrial world. This study aims to develop numerical tools to simulate the soil pollution process and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of remediation solutions. First of all, a mathematical model was built to describe the pollutants (chemical species) transport phenomenon in soil, especially under unsaturated states. The model is developed based on mass conversation principle and two mechanisms were taken into account, including natural diffusion and convective flow. In order to obtain the flow velocity in soil, a variety of material parameters for soil such as permeability and hydraulic conductivity should be determined. The Richard’s equation, commonly used in formulating soil-water characteristic curves, was adopted to study moisture movement in the variably saturated soils. The model was applied to predict multiple pollutant species transporting in clayey, silty and sandy soils. Second, as a new coming method, electrokinetic remediation has been proven an effective and sustainable solution to clean up contaminated soil. Resulting from the added external electrical field, electroosmosis and electromigration were generated, which can remove pollutant ions from the polluted soil domain. A second model was built to evaluate cleaning up efficiency of electrokinetic solution, and then implemented to simulate remediation of soil contaminated by nuclear waste. The last part of this study aims to focus on another remediation solution. Bioremediation is becoming an effective method for treating soils or geo-materials contaminated by organic pollutants. Bioremediation can be defined as introduction of bacteria or fungi to foster degradation and removal of pollutants. The development of the third model for determining the mobility and growth of bacterial microorganisms are presented. This model captures three major propagation mechanisms in unsaturated soils, including natural diffusion, bacterial growth and convective flow. By adding relationship between pollutant degradation rate and bacteria concentration, the fourth model was applied to study the bioremediation remediation of petroleum pollution. Finite element method was conducted to solve mathematical models, which are partial differential equations of high nonlinearity. Based on computational results from the fist model, concentrations of various pollutants for both inorganic and organic can be predicted at any interested time in different types of soils under various environmental conditions. The second and fourth models can be used as numerical tools, which greatly facilitate the designing and evaluation of cleaning efficiency and effectiveness of electrokinetic remediation and bioremediation schemes, respectively.
M.S. in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, May 2015
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Title: THERAPEUTIC MISCONCEPTION AMONG PARTICIPANTS OF THE DOBELLE VISION IMPLANT PROJECT
Creator: Nitsch, Kristian P.
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: Therapeutic misconception, as first described by Appelbaum, Roth, and Lidz (1982) is said to occur when a participant who is engaged in...
Show moreTherapeutic misconception, as first described by Appelbaum, Roth, and Lidz (1982) is said to occur when a participant who is engaged in research, erroneously conflates the purpose and goals of a given research project with those of therapeutic treatment and personal care. Therapeutic misconception is considered ethically intolerable in research as its presence is thought to undermine the process of voluntary informed consent (Appelbaum, Roth, Lidz, Benson, and Winslade, 1987). Extensive literature suggests that therapeutic misconception is a common phenomenon which occurs within a variety of research domains, and may be present in approximately 62% of research participants (Appelbaum, Lidz, & Grisso, 2004). Despite this alarming prevalence, the possibility of therapeutic misconception in neural interface research, especially projects exploring artificial vision restoration, has received little attention. Vision prosthetic trials may be particularly susceptible to engendering therapeutic misconceptions among participants, due to the intense desire to restore visual functioning, the complexity of this research context, and the dearth of information available concerning vision prosthetic devices. As a mounting number of visual neural prosthetic projects advance and reach the threshold of human-subjects research, assessing for therapeutic misconception will become increasingly essential to ensure that participants fully comprehend the nature of their involvement. The present study, which represents the first known investigation into the potential of therapeutic misconception in artificial vision research, employs semi-structured interviews and qualitative deductive content data analyses to explore the possibility that therapeutic misconception was evident, and operating, among participants of the Dobelle Vision Implant Project.
M.S. in Psychology, May 2015
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Title: NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES IN ADULTS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE
Creator: Piper, Lauren E.
Date: 2014, 2014-12
Description: Cognitive impairment is documented in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD). Studies investigating cognitive impairment in this...
Show moreCognitive impairment is documented in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD). Studies investigating cognitive impairment in this population have primarily examined group differences in neuropsychological performance, which may have overlooked the heterogeneity of cognitive functioning. The objectives of this study were to determine whether distinct cognitive profiles occur in individuals with SCD and, if so, to examine potential differences in demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics. Participants with SCD (n = 73) and similarly matched controls (n = 82), completed a brief neuropsychological protocol (Hachinski et al., 2006) and self-report measures of pain and mood-related symptoms. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of participants based on their cumulative scores across the domains of executive functioning, language, memory, and visuospatial ability. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to compare the cluster groups across the four cognitive domains. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square tests were used to compare cluster groups on demographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics. Results indicated three distinct cognitive subtypes: (1) executive and memory impaired (56% of participants); (2) globally impaired (14%); and (3) cognitively intact (30%). The three cluster groups did not differ on most demographic factors, stroke history, or pain severity, but differed on level of education and current mood-related distress. Results demonstrated the presence of distinct cognitive profiles in adults with SCD, with a proportion of cognitively intact individuals. Implications for intervention and cognitive rehabilitation are discussed.
M.S. in Psychology, December 2014
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Title: SMALL MODULAR NUCLEAR REACTORS: LEARNING AND PRODUCTION
Creator: Kotlyarevsky, Arnold
Date: 2013, 2013-07
Description: Small Modular Nuclear Reactors o er a new alternative to carbon based energy sources in the energy market of the near future. Understanding...
Show moreSmall Modular Nuclear Reactors o er a new alternative to carbon based energy sources in the energy market of the near future. Understanding the economic forces driving the industrial manufacturing process is crucial to determining the viability of SMRs. This study is a continuation of research that developed a parametric model and initial production cost estimates for a generic 100MWe SMR integrated reactor vessel. The primary goal of this study was to characterize the learning rates, lot sizes, and optimum production of SMR IRVs using the parametric model and the initial cost estimates. Three separate models were developed based on increasing levels of learning transfer: no learning transfer, partial learning transfer, and full learning transfer. Models with no learning transfer and full learning transfer bounded the values for the learning curve expected for IRV manufacture. A model with a partial transfer of learning yielded production cost estimates of $312.2 million. Production of an SMR IRV based on this model is expected to see a learning rate 95.5%. Using the information from the other two models, the expected learning rate for IRV production is expected to fall between 93.3% and 99.1% Simulations of lot sizes of 1 to 12 were conducted to determine the manufacturing lot size that optimizes the factory setting. An optimum con guration of 5 units per lot was determined to be the minimum. However, the lot size is recommended to be increased to 6 units to withstand the possibility of cancellation. In this con guration, the average unit cost is $262 million, with a learning rate of 98.1%. Another important result indicates that optimum manufacturing outcomes are not necessarily correlated with higher levels of learning. Production in larger lot sizes is bene cial, especially for components that are few in number, like the pressure vessel.
M.S. in Physics, July 2013
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Title: NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF NON-DUCTILE BRACE FRAME WITH KNIFE PLATE DUE TO DYNAMIC LOADS
Creator: Keivan Esfahani, Arshia
Date: 2014, 2014-05
Description: In recent years, typical steel construction in regions of high seismic risk has shifted from moment-resisting frames to concentrically braced...
Show moreIn recent years, typical steel construction in regions of high seismic risk has shifted from moment-resisting frames to concentrically braced frames. As a result of the increased popularity of braced frames, the poor performance of some conventionally braced frames in past earthquakes, and the limited experimental data available on the inelastic response and the failure characteristics of braced-frame systems, a series of experimental and analytical investigations were initiated. Steel concentrically braced frames are common lateral force resisting systems in both new construction and existing buildings. However, the seismic behavior of braced frames designed prior to the adoption of capacity design principles in the 1980s is generally not well understood despite their widespread presence. These older braced frames, termed non-seismic concentrically braced frames (NCBFs) are the subject of a research project titled “NEESR: Collaborative Developments for Seismic Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Braced Frames” that seeks to evaluate NCBFs and determine retrofit strategies. In this project two tests were conducted. First Test examined a full scale two story NCBF in the inverted V configuration subjected to quasistatic cyclic load and this specimen contained a bottom story beam that is considered weak in capacity design. Second Test examined a post-earthquake repair scenario using the damaged NCBF-INV-1 frame in which the bottom story braces and gusset plates were removed and replaced with seismically compact braces with connection designed for in plane buckling. In this work, finite element models developed in Abaqus were validated using data collected from these tests. The outcomes of this research will be a greater understanding of seismic performance of NCBFs, the development of rehabilitation strategies for vulnerable NCBFs, and a robust technique for modeling NCBFs.
M.S. in Civil Engineering, May 2014
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Title: MOBILITY IMPROVEMENT BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SIGNAL TIMING OPTIMIZATION FOR URBAN STREET NETWORK
Creator: Zhang, Ji
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: The traffic congestion problem especially in urban areas is getting increasingly severe due to the ever-growing auto travel demand in the...
Show moreThe traffic congestion problem especially in urban areas is getting increasingly severe due to the ever-growing auto travel demand in the United States during the past few decades. In general, insufficient capacity can be solved by system expansion. However, expanding system is not feasible anymore because of the land scarcity in urban areas and its high cost. From this point of view, transportation operations that lead to the optimal system usage are more preferable thanks to their relatively low cost and remarkable consequences. Several performance indices were used in order to assess the effects of a given transportation operation. This study introduces a new method for evaluating the mobility performance of the transportation system before and after a transportation operation. And the mobility benefit is converted into monetary value. Further, a Life-Cycle Benefit Analysis is conducted to expand the evaluation process to the time dimension. An experimental study is performed to apply this method on the urban street network in Chicago downtown area that contains 917 intersections and 1675 roadway segments before and after a network-wide signal timing optimization treatment. Based on this application, the results indicate a few potential advantages and disadvantages of this system-wide signal timing optimization methodology.
M.S. in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, May 2015
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Title: PROTOTYPE OF SUSTAINABLE NEW CITY IN CHILE
Creator: Hernandez Gomez, Soledad Macarena
Date: 2012-11-20, 2012-12
Description: In an era of global climate change and rapid urbanization, it is necessary to change the way of cities have been developed. Cities need a new...
Show moreIn an era of global climate change and rapid urbanization, it is necessary to change the way of cities have been developed. Cities need a new vision and a new strategy to reduce their impact on the environment. Therefore, it is essential to research about how to design sustainable cities, which are the main characteristics of a sustainable urban design, and how it is possible to combine all these factors in a sustainable way to develop a city which reduces impact in the ecosystem and creates a better quality of life as a place to live. For these reasons, one of the main objectives of this thesis is to develop a prototype of a sustainable new city based on the sustainable city principles, and also to understand the social, economic and environmental context where the city is located. In this proposal, the new city is located in the extreme South of Chile to replace a previous city that was destroyed by a volcanic eruption. Therefore, this new city - New Chaiten- is an opportunity in the region to build a city which represents a new vision of sustainable urban development which promotes a balance between the social and economic needs of the community and environmental conservation. Furthermore, it creates an enjoyable urban environment with a high quality of life while reducing energy consumption.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2012
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Title: NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF NON-DUCTILE BRACED FRAME DUE TO DYNAMIC LOADS
Creator: Keivan Esfahani, Ashkan
Date: 2014, 2014-05
Description: In recent years, typical steel construction in regions of high seismic risk has shifted from moment-resisting frames to concentrically braced...
Show moreIn recent years, typical steel construction in regions of high seismic risk has shifted from moment-resisting frames to concentrically braced frames. As a result of the increased popularity of braced frames, the poor performance of some conventionally braced frames in past earthquakes, and the limited experimental data available on the inelastic response and the failure characteristics of braced-frame systems, a series of experimental and analytical investigations were initiated. Steel concentrically braced frames are common lateral force resisting systems in both new construction and existing buildings. However, the seismic behavior of braced frames designed prior to the adoption of capacity design principles in the 1980s is generally not well understood despite their widespread presence. These older braced frames, termed non-seismic concentrically braced frames (NCBFs) are the subject of a research project titled “NEESR: Collaborative Developments for Seismic Rehabilitation of Vulnerable Braced Frames” that seeks to evaluate NCBFs and determine retrofit strategies. In this project two tests were conducted. First Test examined a full scale two story NCBF in the inverted V configuration subjected to quasistatic cyclic load and this specimen contained a bottom story beam that is considered weak in capacity design. Second Test examined a post-earthquake repair scenario using the damaged NCBF-INV-1 frame in which the bottom story braces and gusset plates were removed and replaced with seismically compact braces with connection designed for in plane buckling. In this work, finite element models developed in Abaqus were validated using data collected from these tests. The outcomes of this research will be a greater understanding of seismic performance of NCBFs, the development of rehabilitation strategies for vulnerable NCBFs, and a robust technique for modeling NCBFs.
M.S. in Civil Engineering, May 2014
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Title: The hydrogenation of coal tar and coal tar oils
Creator: Melichar, Robert S.
Date: 2009, 1919
Publisher: Armour Institute of Technology
Description: http://www.archive.org/details/hydrogenationofc00meli
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology; Bibliography: leaf 36

Title: CROSS-ETHNIC VARIATION IN THE RELATION BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD BEHAVIORS AND YOUNG CHILDREN’S ACADEMIC AND SOCIAL FUNCTIONING
Creator: Bae, Hyo
Date: 2011-04-20, 2011-05
Description: The aim of this study was to determine if there is cross-ethnic variation in the relationships between parent behaviors, child behaviors, and...
Show moreThe aim of this study was to determine if there is cross-ethnic variation in the relationships between parent behaviors, child behaviors, and young children’s academic and social functioning. Participants included 96 African American, 117 Hispanic, and 395 White 5-year-old children and their parents. Self-reported parenting (Support/Engagement and Hostility/Coercion) was assessed with the Parent Behavior Inventory. Observed parent (Scaffolding) and child behaviors (Engagement/Persistence) were assessed using the Three Boxes Task videotaped parent-child interaction paradigm. Children’s academic skills were measured with three subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-3rd Edition (Letter-Word Identification, Passage Comprehension, and Quantitative Concepts), and their social skills were measured with the Social Skills Rating System. Results of moderated regression analyses indicated that there were no direct effects of parenting on academic achievement, but that child Engagement/Persistence was related to academic achievement. With regard to social skills, Support/Engagement was related to Cooperation, Assertion, Responsibility, and Self-Control, while Hostility/Coercion was related to Cooperation, Responsibility, and Self-Control. Scaffolding was not directly related to social skills. Also, these analyses showed that the majority of these relationships were invariant across ethnic groups, with only a few significant interaction effects. Specifically, higher levels of Scaffolding were related to higher reading scores for African American children, while Scaffolding was not related to reading for White children. Although higher levels of Hostility/Coercion were related to lower reading scores for White children, this relationship was not significant for Hispanic children. Higher levels of Scaffolding were related to higher math scores for African American children. For White children, however, higher levels of Scaffolding were related to lower math scores. There were no ethnic differences in the relation between parent and child behaviors and social skills. Finally, results indicated that Scaffolding was indirectly related to academic and social functioning through Engagement/Persistence, and there was no ethnic variation in these relationships across African American, Hispanic, and White children. The implications of these findings and future directions for research are discussed.
Ph.D. in Psychology, May 2011.
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Title: ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO VOLATILITY FORECASTING AND EVALUATING FORECASTING PERFORMANCE
Creator: Lim, Hyungjin
Date: 2012-10-08, 2012-12
Description: Studies in the volatility process of financial markets have focused more on volatility modeling aspects, using parametric assumptions....
Show moreStudies in the volatility process of financial markets have focused more on volatility modeling aspects, using parametric assumptions. Compared with the vast amount of research in parametric modeling, there is a lack of studies in nonparametric approaches in volatility forecasting and forecasting performance evaluation. This research intends to explore alternative approaches to forecasting volatility of financial returns, and evaluation of forecasting models. This research will employ grammatical evolution to propose a hybrid forecasting model that utilizes the benefits of parametric and genetic programming models. Furthermore, an alternative methodology to handle structural breaks in volatility is examined by utilizing an adaptive approach in dynamic environments. In an extensive empirical study, the proposed models will be compared with the other models widely used in the literature using statistical and economic tests. Specifically, as an alternative to the statistical performance evaluation measure, a nontraditional method derived from the idea of speculating on asset volatility will be employed to compare the performance as well as to assess economic usefulness of competing volatility models. The hybrid model provided superior forecasting performance than traditional techniques both on economic and statistical measures.
PH.D in Management Science, December 2012
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Title: THEORETICAL ANALYSIS OF REAL-TIME SCHEDULING ON RESOURCES WITH PERFORMANCE DEGRADATION AND PERIODIC REJUVENATION
Creator: Hua, Xiayu
Date: 2017, 2017-07
Description: In 1973, Liu and Layland [81] published their seminal paper on schedulability analysis of real-time system for both EDF and RM schedulers. In...
Show moreIn 1973, Liu and Layland [81] published their seminal paper on schedulability analysis of real-time system for both EDF and RM schedulers. In this work, they provide schedulability conditions and schedulability utilization bounds for both EDF and RM scheduling algorithms, respectively. In the following four decades, scheduling algorithms, utilization bounds and schedulability analyses for real-time tasks have been studied intensively. Amongst those studies, most of the research rely on a strong assumption that the performance of a computing resource does not change during its lifetime. Unfortunately, for many long standing real-time systems, such as data acquisition systems (DAQ) [74, 99], deep-space exploration programs [120, 119] and SCADA systems for power, water and other national infrastructures [121, 26], the performance of computational resources suffer notably performance degradations after a long and continuous execution period [61]. To overcome the performance degradation in long standing systems, countermeasures, which are also called system rejuvenation approaches in the literature [123, 61, 126], were introduced and studied in depth in the last two decades. Rejuvenation approaches recover system performance when being invoked and hence benefit most long standing applications [30, 102, 11, 12, 39]. However, for applications with real-time requirements, the system downtime caused by rejuvenation process, along with the decreasing performance during the system’s available time, makes the existing real-time scheduling theories difficult to be applied directly. To address this problem, this thesis studies the schedulability issues of a realtime task set running on long standing computing systems that suffers performance degradation and uses rejuvenation mechanism to recover. Our first study in the thesis focus on a simpler resource model, i.e. the periodic resource model, which only considers periodic rejuvenations. We introduce a method, i.e., Periodic Resource Integration, to combine multiple periodic resources into a single equivalent periodic resource and provide the schedulability analysis based on the combined periodic resource for real-time tasks. By integrating multiple periodic resources into one, existing real-time scheduling researches on single periodic resource can be directly applied on multiple periodic resources. In our second study, we extend the periodic resource mode to a new resource model, the P2-resource model, in our second work to characterize resources with both the performance degradation and the periodic rejuvenation. We formally define the P2-resource and analyze the schedulability of real-time task sets on a P2-resource. In particular, we first analyze the resource supply status of a given P2-resource and provide its supply bound and linear supply bound functions. We then developed the schedulability conditions for a task set running on a P2-resource with EDF or RM scheduling algorithms, respectively. We further derive utilization bounds of both EDF and RM scheduling algorithms, respectively, for schedulability test purposes. With the P2-resource model and the schedulability analysis on a single P2- resource, we further extend our work to multiple P2-resources. In this research, we 1) analyze the schedulability of a real-time task set on multiple P2-resources under fixedpriority scheduling algorithm, 2) introduce the GP-RM-P2 algorithm and 3) provide the utilization bound for this algorithm. Simulation results show that in most cases, the sufficient bounds we provide are tight. As the rejuvenation technology keeps advancing, many systems are now able to perform rejuvenations in different system layers. To accommodate this new advances, we study the schedulability conditions of a real-time task set on a single P2-resource with both cold or warm rejuvenations. We introduce a new resource model, the P2-resource with duel-level rejuvenation, i.e., P2D-resource, to accommodate this new feature. We first study the supply bound and the linear supply bound of a given P2D-resource. We then study the sufficient utilization bounds for both RM and EDF scheduling algorithms, respectively.
Ph.D. in Computer Science, July 2017
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Title: CONTRIBUTIONS TO ALGORITHMIC MATROID PROBLEMS
Creator: Huang, Jinyu
Date: 2015, 2015-07
Description: In this thesis, we obtain several algorithms for problems related to matroids, a structure that generalizes the concept of linear independence...
Show moreIn this thesis, we obtain several algorithms for problems related to matroids, a structure that generalizes the concept of linear independence in a vector space and an acyclic subgraph structure in a graph. Matroids have been widely applied in combinatorial optimization, graph theory, coding theory and so forth. Specifically, our results include: In this thesis, we present a constant-competitive online algorithm of the matroid secretary problem for the partition matroids without information of the partition and for the paving matroids. We also introduce the multi-objective matroid secretary problem that extends the matroid secretary problem, in which the weight function is a k-vector w = [w1, · · · , wk]. We show a constant competitive algorithm of the multiobjective matroid secretary problem for the uniform matroids and for the paving matroids. Since bases of a matroid generalize many important combinatorial structures, many counting problems can be expressed as a problem that counts the number of bases of a matroid. An efficient approximate counting algorithm can be designed provided that a rapidly-mixing Markov chain that samples bases of a matroid can be constructed. Let Φ(G) be the conductance of the base-exchange graph G. Matroid- Expansion Conjecture (1989, Mihai and Vazirani) states that Φ(G) ≥ 1 for any base-exchange graph G of a matroid, which implies an FPRAS (fully-polynomial randomized approximation scheme) for counting the number of bases of a matroid. We use λ2, the second smallest eigenvalue of L, the discrete Laplacian matrix of G, to prove the Matroid-Expansion Conjecture for any paving matroid, for any balanced matroid, and for the direct sum of a paving matroid with a balanced matroid. A maximum linear matroid parity set is called a basic matroid parity set, if its size is the rank of the matroid. We show that determining the existence of a common base (basic matroid parity set) for linear matroid intersection (linear matroid parity) is in NC2, provided that there are polynomial number of common bases (basic matroid parity sets). For graphic matroids, we show that finding a common base for matroid intersection is in NC2, if the number of common bases is polynomial bounded. We also give a new RNC2 algorithm that finds a common base for graphic matroid intersection. Finally, we prove that if there is a black-box NC algorithm for PIT (Polynomial Identity Testing), then there is an NC algorithm to determine the existence of a common base (basic matroid parity set) for linear matroid intersection (linear matroid parity).
Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, July 2015
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Title: Heat treatment of high speed steels
Creator: Miller, Philip F, Bornstein, Hymen
Date: 2009, 1911
Publisher: Armour Institute of Technology
Description: http://www.archive.org/details/heattreatmentofh00mill
Thesis (B.S.)--Armour Institute of Technology, 1911 B.S. in Chemical Engineering, 1911

Title: MATERNAL-FETAL ATTACHMENT: CONSTRUCT EXAMINATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW MEASUREMENT SCALE
Creator: Hedrick, Laura
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: There has been a recent resurgence of interest in studying maternal-fetal attachment (MFA), and MFA has been correlated with several important...
Show moreThere has been a recent resurgence of interest in studying maternal-fetal attachment (MFA), and MFA has been correlated with several important variables (e.g., parenting behavior and infant attachment). However, there are differing definitions of MFA, and, as a result, widely varying questionnaires have been developed to assess it. Each of these instruments has demonstrated major weaknesses, such as inadequate operational definitions and theoretical rationales, poor reliability or validity, barriers to practical application, and inconsistent results in correlational studies. The purpose of the present study was twofold. The first aim was to examine the latent factors that underlie the existing measures of MFA in order to better understand the potential components of the construct. The second aim was to develop a new measure with greater practical applicability, more thorough and empirically-sound development procedures, and improved reliability and validity relative to existing instruments. All items from extant questionnaires were pooled with novel items based on an interview measure. This bank of 112 items was administered to a diverse sample of 292 women in their second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Exploratory factor analytic (EFA) procedures revealed underlying factors relating to perceived personhood of the fetus or richness of the mother's perceptions of her fetus, affective components, future orientation, focus on the fetus across domains, and caregiving sensitivity. Four different EFA approaches resulted in three viable models for a new measure with interpretable factor structure, acceptable face validity, good internal consistency, and some favorable results in initial concurrent validity analyses. Directions for future research are discussed.
M.S. in Psychology, May 2015
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Title: POSTPRANDIAL PLASMA POLYPHENOL PROFILE AND BIOAVAILABILITY OF ANTHOCYANINS IN INSULIN RESISTANT HUMANS AFTER CONSUMING MULTIPLE DOSES OF STRAWBERRIES BEVERAGE WITH A MEAL
Creator: Wei, Hequn
Date: 2014, 2014-05
Description: Strawberries represent a rich source of polyphenolic compounds that are purported to be important for human health. However, data on their...
Show moreStrawberries represent a rich source of polyphenolic compounds that are purported to be important for human health. However, data on their bioavailability are limited. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to assess the absorption and metabolism of strawberry polyphenols in the postprandial phase using LC-MS/MS. Plasma was collected from humans (n=17) every 30-60 min over 6 h after ingestion of a 650 kcal standard meal accompanied with a beverage containing 0, 10, 20 or 40 g freeze dried strawberry powder. Pelargonidin-O-glucuronide (PG) was the most abundant strawberry metabolite in plasma. Maximum concentrations (Cmax) of PG were achieved at 188 ± 44 min and the levels were significantly different among beverages containing 0, 10, 20, 40 g strawberry powder: 0, 66.0±4.15, 113.64±10.11 and 202.1±15.18 nmol/L, respectively (P<0.05). Area under the concentration curve (AUC) over 6 h also increased with increasing doses (P<0.05); Cmax and AUC of PG was reduced as a percent of pelargonidin-3-O-glucoside (P3G) delivered in the 4 strawberry beverages (P<0.05). The 3 major anthocyanin polyphenols (PG, Pelagonidin-3-Glucoside (P3G) and Cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (CG)) found in plasma increased significantly after consumption of all strawberry-containing beverages compared to placebo (p<0,05). Bioavailability of PG from P3G among beverages containing 10, 20, 40 g strawberry powder were 1.76%, 1.40%, 1.30%, respectively. While higher concentrations of key strawberry compounds and metabolites were achieved with consumption of more strawberry powder, adjusting for dose suggested possible saturation of absorptive capacity of pelargonidin-based anthocyanins. These data provide the basis for understanding the relationship between dose, kinetic profile and efficacy outcomes for making recommendations to deliver optimal health benefits of strawberries; and moreover, serve as a model of the type of data required for understanding the relationship between dietary phytochemical intake and their biological effects.
M.S. in Food Processing Engineering, May 2014
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Title: THE PERSPECTIVE GRID: MUSEUM AND PARK FOR THE SOUTH LOOP
Creator: Idrovo Orellana, Santiago Javier
Date: 2015, 2015-12
Description: The diverse and infinity of forces that are shaping the cities are luckily unknown. The bigness of the forces may not have a beginning nor an...
Show moreThe diverse and infinity of forces that are shaping the cities are luckily unknown. The bigness of the forces may not have a beginning nor an end. The questions and the answers are always late. Cities are always running behind, trying to code and survive through the economic condition. The speed of the fluids are always mutating, transforming and taking different shapes. We are constantly proposing and putting in practice perception in between the endless spiral of the present. Our human behavior and perceptions are being built by others and by different matters. History in the end is the only parameter from which we can rely. Our mastery of the knowledge technics keep holding the population and transforming the way we live by processing and turning resources into elements of survival. The 21st century characterizes by the transformation of matter and energy into technological tools that we unconsciously rely on while they are also being misused and manipulated, giving non-consistent answers. The thesis travels through different subjects in an attempt to construct a general perspective that will define the decisions on the urban programmatic plans and direct them into educational and cultural performances. Due to economical forces and a projected demographic growth, the near south region of Chicago is looking for a transformation and a direction to travel. Through the general perspective the proposal for the region firstly study to connect cultural collective open spaces injected on a particular area of the South Loop. The area is mainly influenced by industrial infrastructure that can be replaced or reprogrammed according to a considered value. The study will explore the cultural connection from the neighborhood to the Museum Campus as catalyzers for the future interventions of the zone. Secondly, the near south region of Chicago is looking for a transformation and a direction to travel. Through the general perspective the proposal for the region firstly study to connect cultural collective open spaces injected on a particular area of the South Loop. The area is mainly influenced by industrial infrastructure that can be replaced or reprogrammed according to a considered value. The study will explore the cultural connection from the neighborhood to the Museum Campus as catalyzers for the future interventions of the zone. Secondly, the near south region of Chicago is looking for a transformation and a direction to travel. Through the general perspective the proposal for the region firstly study to connect cultural collective open spaces injected on a particular area of the South Loop. The area is mainly influenced by industrial infrastructure that can be replaced or reprogrammed according to a considered value. The study will explore the cultural connection from the neighborhood to the Museum Campus as catalyzers for the future interventions of the zone. Secondly,, the near south region of Chicago is looking for a transformation and a direction to travel. Through the general perspective the proposal for the region firstly study to connect cultural collective open spaces injected on a particular area of the South Loop. The area is mainly influenced by industrial infrastructure that can be replaced or reprogrammed according to a considered value. The study will explore the cultural connection from the neighborhood to the Museum Campus as catalyzers for the future interventions of the zone. Secondly,the general perspective will go more specific into the museum campus and the appropriation of the abandoned McCormick Lake Site Center. An infrastructure located in a zone where the ecological systems and the cultural concern are the roots of its creation. The proposal will face the parameters to reorient the building into a filtered cultural source and as a natural connection infrastructure.
M.S. in Architecture, December 2015
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