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Title: PARENTAL RELATIONSHIP FACTORS, ACADEMIC EXPECTATIONS, AND MENTAL HEALTH OUTCOMES IN INDIVIDUALS WITH ADHD
Creator: Small, Eva E.
Date: 2022
Description: Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at a higher risk for developing comorbid psychological conditions...
Show moreIndividuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are at a higher risk for developing comorbid psychological conditions including depression and anxiety by the time they reach adulthood. While there has been some research on potentially beneficial aspects of parent-child relationships that can help to improve the mental health of pediatric populations with ADHD, less work has been done to assess the long-term influence of the parent -child relationship in adults with ADHD. The purpose of this study was to add to previous research by utilizing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to investigate how parenting relationship and family factors (i.e., parental warmth, behavioral autonomy, family cohesion, and parental academic expectations) predict symptoms of stress and depression in adults with ADHD. Using data from Waves I, III, and IV of the Add Health study, analyses examined whether positive parenting relationship factors were related to levels of depression symptoms and stress in a sample of participants with self-reported ADHD (N = 316). Results indicated that higher levels of family cohesion experienced in adolescence were associated with lower depression symptoms reported in adulthood, thus suggesting that family cohesion is a beneficial for individuals with ADHD. Future research should continue to examine the role that child-relationship factors can have on long term mental health outcomes in individuals with ADHD
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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: 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: DIAGNOSING AND TREATING ADHD: CLINICIAN CHARACTERISTICS, METHODS OF DIAGNOSIS, DIAGNOSTIC RATES, AND TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Creator: Haak, Christopher Luke
Date: 2019
Description: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the top five most common referrals among all neuropsychologists (Sweet et al. 2015)...
Show moreAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the top five most common referrals among all neuropsychologists (Sweet et al. 2015) and continues to elicit public and professional concern about over-diagnosis in children (Sciutto & Eisenberg, 2007) and under-diagnosis in adults (Asheron et al., 2012; Kooji et al., 2010). In recent years, the prevalence of ADHD has increased (Polanczyk et al., 2007 & 2014, Thomas et al., 2015). It is unclear what is driving these changes though changes in criteria may be playing a role (van de Voort et al., 2014). Further, there has been little research on whether professional training, beliefs, and practice factors can influence the likelihood to diagnose ADHD. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which neuropsychologists’ professional characteristics, training, and beliefs about ADHD diagnosis and treatment influence their likelihood to diagnose ADHD. The study also evaluated whether there are differences in assessing and treating ADHD based upon the client population focus (child, lifespan, or adult) of neuropsychologists. Participants in this study were 106 neuropsychologists from across the United States and Canada who were recruited through neuropsychology listservs to participate in an online survey. Results indicated that population focus was associated with significant differences in approach to diagnosing and treating ADHD, with child- and lifespan-focused neuropsychologists reporting higher rates of ADHD diagnosis. Additionally, having a higher percent of clinical cases in which ADHD is a referral question and greater self-reported adherence to following full diagnostic criteria for making a diagnosis were associated with higher ADHD diagnostic rates, controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and other professional characteristics. This study is among the first to examine specific clinician factors impacting diagnostic rates and its findings have several implications for practice and research.
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Title: High-latitude plasma drift structuring from a first principles ionospheric model
Creator: Kim, Heejin
Date: 2020
Description: In the high-latitude ionosphere dense plasma formations called polar cap patches are sometimes observed. These patches are often associated...
Show moreIn the high-latitude ionosphere dense plasma formations called polar cap patches are sometimes observed. These patches are often associated with ionospheric scintillation, a rapid fluctuation in the amplitude and phase of a radio signal that degrades communications and navigation systems. Predicting polar cap patch movement across the polar cap is an important subject for enabling forecasting of the scintillation.Lagrangian coherent structures (LCSs) are ridges indicating regions of maximum fluid separation in a time-varying flow. In previous studies, the Ionosphere-Thermosphere Algorithm for Lagrangian Coherent Structures (ITALCS) predicted the location of LCSs. These LCSs were shown to constrain polar cap patch source and transport regions for flow assumed to due to $\vec{E} \times \vec{B}$ plasma drift. The LCSs were predicted based on an empirical model of the high-latitude electric field for $\vec{E}$. In this thesis, the LCSs are generated using the first principles ionospheric model SAMI3 (SAMI3 is Another Model of the Ionosphere) as the model for electric field. The work relies on an understanding of various magnetic coordinate systems in space science, and includes three different approaches for attempting to generate the $\vec{E} \times \vec{B}$ drift as the flow fields that are to input to ITALCS. Finally, a representative LCS result is obtained with SAMI3 and shown to be at the high latitudes on the dayside, similar to prior work, but spanning a shorter longitudinal range.
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Title: The Development of a Measure of Public Stigma Towards Adults With Autism
Creator: Beedle, Robert Brian
Date: 2022
Description: Adults with autism (AwA) report experiences of stigma and discrimination. Yet, quantitative research suggests that public attitudes are...
Show moreAdults with autism (AwA) report experiences of stigma and discrimination. Yet, quantitative research suggests that public attitudes are relatively benign. This research discrepancy is compounded by the present lack of a stakeholder-informed, theoretically-guided measure of the stigma towards AwA. The objective of the present study was to develop a measure of stigma towards AwA following best practices survey methodology. First, existing related measures were reviewed for possible candidate items, yielding 36 draft questions related to the stigma of AwA. Next, seven stakeholders in the AwA community were recruited to provide feedback on their experiences of stigma and discrimination, as well as feedback on the draft items. Following stakeholder feedback, draft items were edited, added, or removed based on feedback from the participants with AwA and their lived experiences, resulting in a revised measure of 51 candidate items. Finally, these 51 items underwent a quantitative phase with participants recruited through MTurk (N = 357). Exploratory factor analyses were conducted in order to generate a data driven factor structure that reflected stigma theory. The end result was a 20-item, four factor solution measuring numerous components of stigma within factors including cognitive components of stigma, blame, positive and negative affect, and comfort with close contact. The resulting measurement tool was titled the Public Stigma towards Adults with Autism Scale (PSAWA) and demonstrated strong psychometric properties. The tool has utility for further studying stigma towards AwA and assessing stigma interventions.
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Title: Deep Learning Methods For Wireless Networks Optimization
Creator: Zhang, Shuai
Date: 2022
Description: The resurgence of deep learning techniques has brought forth fundamental changes to how hard problems could be solved. It used to be held that...
Show moreThe resurgence of deep learning techniques has brought forth fundamental changes to how hard problems could be solved. It used to be held that the solutions to complex wireless network problems require accurate mathematical modeling of the network operation, but now the success of deep learning has shown that a data-driven method could generate powerful and useful representations such that the problem could be solved efficiently with surprisingly competent performance. Network researchers have recognized this and started to capitalize on the learning methods’ prowess. But most works follow the existing black-box learning paradigms without much accommodation to the nature and essence of the underlying network problems. This thesis focuses on a particular type of classical problem: multiple commodity flow scheduling in an interference-limited environment. Though it does not permit efficient exact algorithms due to its NP-hard complexity, we use it as an entry point to demonstrate from three angles how the learning-based methods can help improve the network performance. In the first part, we leverage the graphical neural network (GNN) techniques and propose a two-stage topology-aware machine learning framework, which trains a graph embedding unit and a link usage prediction module jointly to discover links that are likely to be used in optimal scheduling. The second part of the thesis is an attempt to find a learning method that has a closer algorithmic affinity to the traditional DCG method. We make use of reinforcement learning to incrementally generate a better partial solution such that a high quality solution may be found in a more efficient manner. As the third part of the research, we revisit the MCF problem from a novel viewpoint: instead of leaning on the neural networks to directly generate the good solutions, we use them to associate the current problem instance with historical ones that are similar in structure. These matched instances’ solutions offer a highly useful starting point to allow efficient discovery of the new instance’s solution.
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Title: Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors for African Americans with Serious Mental Illness and Weight Concerns
Creator: Nieweglowski, Katherine
Date: 2022
Description: People with serious mental illness face greater rates of chronic illness and obesity compared to those without mental illness. These rates are...
Show morePeople with serious mental illness face greater rates of chronic illness and obesity compared to those without mental illness. These rates are disproportionately higher for those who are part of racially minoritized groups. For example, African Americans are more likely to be obese compared to their white counterparts. This study sought to test a diet and exercise program—developed through community-based participatory research—called “Behaviors for Healthy Lifestyles” (BHL) for African Americans with serious mental illness and weight concerns. The impact of this program, also combined with peer health navigation (PHN), was tested on various physical and mental health outcomes. Participants were randomly assigned to either integrated-care treatment as usual (IC-TAU), BHL, or BHL+PHN. Data was collected at baseline, 4-month, 8-month, and 12-month follow up for outcomes measuring general health, bodily pain, physical functioning, emotional well-being, depression, recovery, quality of life, weight efficacy, and emotional eating. Monthly data collection was also conducted on frequency of healthy lifestyle behaviors related to diet and physical activity. Findings from group by trial analyses of variance on these outcomes did not show any significant impact. Implications for testing diet and exercise interventions combined with PHN for this population are discussed along with future research considerations related to increasing attendance and participation for greater health improvements.
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Title: Stochastic dynamical systems with non-Gaussian and singular noises
Creator: Zhang, Qi
Date: 2022
Description: In order to describe stochastic fluctuations or random potentials arising from science and engineering, non-Gaussian or singular noises are...
Show moreIn order to describe stochastic fluctuations or random potentials arising from science and engineering, non-Gaussian or singular noises are introduced in stochastic dynamical systems. In this thesis we investigate stochastic differential equations with non-Gaussian Lévy noise, and the singular two-dimensional Anderson model equation with spatial white noise potential. This thesis consists of the following three main parts. In the first part, we establish a linear response theory for stochastic differential equations driven by an α-stable Lévy noise (1<α<2). We first prove the ergodic property of the stochastic differential equation and the regularity of the corresponding stationary Fokker-Planck equation. Then we establish the linear response theory. This result is a general fluctuation-dissipation relation between the response of the system to the external perturbations and the Lévy type fluctuations at a steady state.In the second part, we study the global well-posedness of the singular nonlinear parabolic Anderson model equation on a two-dimensional torus. This equation can be viewed as the nonlinear heat equation with a random potential. The method is based on paracontrolled distribution and renormalization. After splitting the original nonlinear parabolic Anderson model equation into two simpler equations, we prove the global existence by some a priori estimates and smooth approximations. Furthermore, we prove the uniqueness of the solution by classical energy estimates. This work improves the local well-posedness results in earlier works.In the third part, we investigate the variation problem associated with the elliptic Anderson model equation in a two-dimensional torus in the paracontrolled distribution framework. The energy functional in this variation problem is arising from the Anderson localization. We obtain the existence of minimizers by a direct method in the calculus of variations, and show that the Euler-Lagrange equation of the energy functional is an elliptic singular stochastic partial differential equation with the Anderson Hamiltonian. We further establish the L2 estimates and Schauder estimates for the minimizer as weak solution of the elliptic singular stochastic partial differential equation. Therefore, we uncover the natural connection between the variation problem and the singular stochastic partial differential equation in the paracontrolled distribution framework.Finally, we summarize our results and outline some research topics for future investigation.
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Title: Development of a Model To Investigate Inflammation Using Peripheral Blood Mononucleated Cells
Creator: Geevarghese Alex, Peter
Date: 2023
Description: Our modern culture in our society is facing one of the biggest risks in health which is high-calorie diet-related postprandial inflammation....
Show moreOur modern culture in our society is facing one of the biggest risks in health which is high-calorie diet-related postprandial inflammation. Chronic diseases may be caused if the energy-dense food is the choice meaning if it is uncontrolled, clinical studies have demonstrated this with the body's post-meal inflammatory response. We aimed to find the causes of postprandial inflammation in response to various dietary treatments and provide a model to demonstrate. We aimed to make use of in vivo and in vitro techniques and statistics to create a model. The created model would help us to design specific treatments to minimize inflammation with response to dietary. In addition to figuring out vital dietary additives, the model additionally facilitates the layout of individualized interventions to reduce inflammation, thereby improving long-time period health outcomes. We aim to understand the clinical observations of diet-induced postprandial inflammation on the molecular level. We desire to make contributions to reduce the impact of chronic inflammatory disorders that is associated with postprandial inflammation.
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Title: Quantifying the Sorption Behavior of Polypropylene Toward Methyl Salicylate and Phenylcyclohexane Under FDA Surrogate Testing Protocol for Recycled Plastics Use in Food Contact Materials
Creator: Senthilkumaran, Senthamizh Kumaran
Date: 2024
Description: The increasing use of recycled polypropylene in food packaging raises concerns about chemical migration. FDA’s surrogate testing protocol...
Show moreThe increasing use of recycled polypropylene in food packaging raises concerns about chemical migration. FDA’s surrogate testing protocol using hexane or heptane as a diluent has evaluated the efficiency of industrial recycling processes in removing contaminants from reclaimed polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Different conditions to optimize surrogate testing of polypropylene (PP) may be needed due to the different sorption behavior of PP relative to PET. This study examines how the interaction between the surrogate contaminant, diluting solvent, and polymer impacts the sorption of surrogate contaminants into PP. Methyl salicylate (MS) and phenylcyclohexane (PCH) were selected as surrogate contaminants based on the current FDA testing protocol and solubility parameters. Swelling and sorption experiments were performed at 40°C for up to 14 days on different types of PP (monophasic homopolymer polypropylene (h-PP), monophasic random copolymer (r-PP), and/or heterophasic block copolymer (heco-PP)) in n-hexane, 2-propanol, and ethanol as diluting solvents. Sorption of 1% (v/v) MS and PCH from each diluting solvent into h-PP was quantified by GC-MS. Results showed that the PP polymers in n-hexane swelled 10%-155% more than the alcohols. Both MS and PCH sorption in n-hexane required a much shorter time, approximately 12 h, to reach equilibrium in comparison to the alcohols, which required 2–10 days. The equilibrium sorption concentration of 1% MS into h-PP from n-hexane was 55% and 136% higher, respectively, compared to sorption of MS from 2-propanol and ethanol. On the other hand, the equilibrium sorption concentration of 1% PCH into h-PP from 2-propanol and ethanol was 11-12% higher compared to the sorption of MS from n-hexane. Our data indicates that solvent swelling cannot be overlooked when determining realistic initial contamination levels in PP. This research will assist the FDA in updating the Recycled Plastics Guidance for Industry and enhance the FDA’s ability to fulfill its mission of protecting and promoting public health.
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Title: A NOVEL SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR BASED PROPULSION DRIVE FOR ELECTRIC AND PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Creator: Bilgin, Berker
Date: 2011-07, 2011-07
Description: Hybrid and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs and PHEVs) have received increasing attention from the automotive industry over the recent...
Show moreHybrid and Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs and PHEVs) have received increasing attention from the automotive industry over the recent years. They are typically more efficient and they produce lower emissions than similar ICE-based vehicles, which significantly reduces their negative impact on the environment. In this study, design considerations of two fundamental parts of plug-in vehicles, traction motor and battery charger circuit, have been investigated toward the drivetrain applications in a solar assisted plug-in electric auto rickshaw. Switched reluctance motors (SRM) have been seen as potential candidates for propulsion systems over the last few years. They are robust, capable of performance in harsh operating conditions and have a wide speed range. Conventional SRM configurations have a higher number of stator poles than rotor poles. This PhD. dissertation presents the advantages of a novel SRM configuration with the number of rotor poles greater than number of stator poles and investigates the challenges in its design. Practical design considerations have been proposed and by using them a 3 phase 5 hp 6/10 SRM is designed, constructed and tested. A PHEV is a series or parallel hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a high energy density battery to extend the mileage and get better fuel efficiency. Since the capacity of the battery is higher than the sum of the energy that can be supplied by the internal combustion engine and regained from the regenerative braking, external charging from the grid is necessary. This research also investigates the requirements of the battery charger circuit and proposes low cost topology composed of a PWM boost rectifier cascaded with a bidirectional DC/DC converter. Operation of the circuit has been x xvii analyzed by deriving its mathematical model. Feedback controller requirements to control the input and output current and DC bus voltage have been studied. Critical issues to be considered in parameter selection of the voltage and current controller are explained in terms of universal input operation. In order to verify the analysis presented, an experimental hardware setup has been built and tested.
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, July 2011
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Title: IMPROVED METHODS FOR DETECTING PARTIALLY HYDROLYZED GLUTEN IN FOOD
Creator: Cao, Wanying
Date: 2016, 2016-07
Description: Celiac disease is an autoimmune disorder in susceptible individuals caused by the consumption of gluten, a class of storage proteins present...
Show moreCeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder in susceptible individuals caused by the consumption of gluten, a class of storage proteins present in wheat, barley and rye. There is no cure for celiac disease, and the only effective treatment is strict adherence to a gluten-free diet. Manufacturers who label their products as “gluten-free” must ensure that these products contain < 20 ppm gluten. Analytical methods currently exist for detecting and quantifying gluten in foods. However, quantifying gluten in fermented or hydrolyzed foods presents an analytical challenge. In order to develop reliable and accurate gluten analytical methods, a better understanding is needed with respect to gluten hydrolysis reactions that occur in fermented and hydrolyzed foods. In addition, research is needed to determine ways to control gluten in food production facilities that produce gluten-containing and gluten-free products on the same processing line. The objectives of this project were to: 1) evaluate the effectiveness of different cleaning procedures on removing gluten from a pilot-scale beer brewing line, 2) assess gluten cross-contact from a shared beer brewing line, 3) track the changes in gluten detection in traditionally brewed soy sauce at different stages of production using five commercial gluten ELISA kits and 4) evaluate the effects of an enzyme (a prolyl endopeptidase- Brewers Clarex®) on detecting gluten in beer brewed with barley malt as an ingredient. A pilot-plant scale beer brewing line located at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) was used to produce sorghum beer (gluten-free beer), barley malt-containing beer and Clarex®-treated barley malt beer. Three cleaning methods (a push-through cleaning treatment, a hot water rinse, and a full cleaning procedure involving the use of an alkaline detergent) were evaluated for effectiveness at removing gluten residue from the pilot-scale brewing line at UW-Madison. Cleaning study results indicated that a hot water rinse and a push-through cleaning treatment with sorghum beer were less effective in removing gluten from equipment in the brewing line than a full cleaning procedure that included use of an alkaline detergent solution followed by a final hot water rinse. Gluten-free sorghum beer samples used to evaluate cross-contact from an inadequately cleaned brewing line were analyzed, and up to 105.1± 9.3 ppm (μg/mL) gluten was detected using the RIDA Competitive ELISA test kit which is designed to detect hydrolyzed gluten. Model soy sauce products were produced in a pilot-plant at Kikkoman R&D Center in Japan, and samples were obtained at different stages of production. Studies that traced gluten in soy sauce products found that high levels of gluten could be detected at the early stages of production prior to fermentation. However, gluten concentrations in soy sauces after fermentation were below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) for all of the gluten ELISA kits evaluated in the study. Use of Clarex® during the production of barley malt beer resulted in substantial reductions in the amount of gluten (intact and partially hydrolyzed) detected in beer compared to the control treatment without added enzyme. Although, gluten was detected at levels >20 ppm in some Clarex®-treated beer samples, filtration treatment further reduced gluten concentrations in these beer samples below 20 ppm gluten. Results of this project indicate that use of adequate cleaning procedures is needed to control gluten in food production facilities that have shared processing lines. Some fermentation and hydrolysis reactions that occur in food result in substantial reductions in gluten content as measured by ELISA. However, more work is needed to determine if celiac-reactive peptides still remain in these products.
M.S. in Food Safety and Technology, July 2016
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Title: THE BIOENCLOS© FAÇADE PANEL: FROM SELECTION TO DESIGN, ASSESSMENT, AND BEYOND
Creator: Hassan, Ahmed Ali
Date: 2017, 2017-05
Description: Bio-polymeric materials derived from renewable biomass have successfully replaced conventional materials in many applications. Despite...
Show moreBio-polymeric materials derived from renewable biomass have successfully replaced conventional materials in many applications. Despite covering 10-15% of the current global plastic market, the application of the Bio-polymeric materials in the field of building facades has hitherto been limited. Unlike the conventional façade materials, Bio-polymeric materials can lessen the carbon footprint of the building façade significantly, reduce a considerable percentage of heat loss, and contribute in alleviating the amount of C&D waste dumped in landfills each year. This will help in saving the natural resources, conserving landfill spaces, decreasing pollution rates, and reducing the overall building weight and energy consumption. Accordingly, this research aims at developing a revolutionary lightweight building façade panel, made from Bio-polymeric agri-based materials, to replace the curtain wall glass and aluminum panel in office buildings, and to assess its impact on the environment, the building energy consumption, thermal performance and structural stability. To achieve that, the research discusses in the first place the potentiality of employing these materials while exploring the main physical and environmental challenges they may confront when introduced to the building facades realm. Secondly, the research adopts rigorous selection criteria to facilitate proposing innovative opaque/transparent materials capable of handling all the environmental, thermal, optical, functional, and economic considerations of the building facade. Thus, 1236 state-of-the-art Bio-polymeric materials have been exposed to a strict methodical screening process through structured quantifiable constraints. MCDM methods have then been employed to enable sorting and ranking the resulted set of candidates considering their order-of-preference in achieving the aforementioned performance criteria. Finally, computational simulation tests have been carried out to ensure that the BioEnclos© Façade Panel satisfies all the energy and building code requirements in terms of heat transfer, energy performance, optical properties, and structural behavior. Consequently, the simulation findings have demonstrated the great capabilities the BioEnclos© Façade Panel can provide to the future of the building façades. Through its several options, the BioEnclos© Façade Panel can reduce the weight of the entire building façade by a range of 43-53%. It also can improve the façade’s thermal resistance and energy savings by a range of 31-52%. In addition, it can maximize the visible light transmittance through the façade’s assembly by a range of 15-31%. Moreover, the BioEnclos© Façade Panel can be commissioned in different colors/textures with good UV radiation resistance, self-extinguishing abilities, exceptional 50-70% reduction in CO2 emissions, and multiple end-of-life options.
Ph.D. in Architecture, May 2017
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Title: DESIGNING SMART ARTIFACTS FOR ADAPTIVE MEDIAT~ON OF SOCIAL VISCOSITY: TRIADIC ACTOR-NETWORK ENACTMENTS AS A BASIS FOR INTERACTION DESIGN
Creator: Salamanca, Juan
Date: 2012-10-10, 2012-12
Description: With the advent of ubiquitous computing, interaction design has broadened its object of inquiry into how smart computational artifacts...
Show moreWith the advent of ubiquitous computing, interaction design has broadened its object of inquiry into how smart computational artifacts inconspicuously act in people's everyday lives. Although user-centered design approaches remain useful for exploring how people cope with interactive systems, they cannot explain how this new breed of artifacts participates in people's sociality. User-centered design approaches assume that humans control interactive systems, disregarding the agency of smart artifacts. Based on Actor-Network Theory, this research recognizes that artifacts and humans share the capacity of influencing society and meshing with each other, constituting hybrid social actors. From that standpoint, the research offers a triadic structure of networked social interaction as a methodological basis to investigate how smart devices perceive their social setting and adaptively mediate people's interactions within activities. These triadic units of analysis account for the interactions within and between human-nonhuman collectives in the actor-network. The within interactions are those that hold together humans and smart artifacts inside a collective and put forward the collective's assembled meaning for other actors in the network. The between interactions are those that occur among collectives and characterize the dominant relational model of the actor-network. This triadic approach was modeled and used to analyze the interactions of participants in three empirical studies of social activities with communal goals, each xiii mediated by a smart artifact that enacted – signified – a balanced distribution of obligations and privileges among subjects. Overall, the studies found that actor-networks exhibit a social viscosity that hinders people's interactions. This is because when people try to collectively accomplish goals, they offer resistance to one another. These design experiments also show that the intervention of smart artifacts can facilitate the achievement of cooperative and collaborative interaction between actors when the artifacts enact dominant moral principles which prompt the preservation of social balance, enhance the network's information integrity, and are located at the focus of activity. The articulation of Actor-Network Theory principles with interaction design methods opens up the traditional user-artifact dyad towards triadic collective enactments by embracing diverse kinds of participants and practices, thus facilitating the design of enhanced sociality.
PH.D in Design, December 2012
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Title: DIGITAL CONTROL OF 2-QUADRANT AND 4-QUADRANT SWITCHED RELUCTANCE MOTOR DRIVES
Creator: Shao, Baiming
Date: 2011-04-19, 2011-05
Description: Switched reluctance machines (SRMs) are attractive because of their manufacturing simplicity and high reliability. They do not have any...
Show moreSwitched reluctance machines (SRMs) are attractive because of their manufacturing simplicity and high reliability. They do not have any windings or permanent magnets on the rotor, which makes them robust and easy to maintain. On the other hand, SRMs are highly non-linear since they work in saturation. This causes problems such as high torque ripple and system noise. In addition, mutual inductance needs to be considered for the high performance systems such as electric vehicle or aerospace applications. This effect could become critical when more than one phase is conducting. This also makes them difficult for modeling and control. Significant research on different SRM control techniques has been done in order to improve the performance of the controller and present a good solution for the industrial applications with a reasonable cost. Conventional control techniques for SRMs include chopped current control (CCC), angular position control (APC), and pulse-width modulation (PWM). Proportional-integral (PI) and other linear controllers are also used in the drive systems. However, because of the non-linearity of the machine, classic linear control techniques are not ideal for SRMs as they have challenging control issues in wide speed ranges. Different methods have been presented to implement non-linear control techniques for SRM drives or linearize the SRM motor equations. Many SRM controllers are using one or more look-up tables. The behavior of the controller is adjusting in real-time depending on the data in the look-up tables. This could increase the cost and complexity of the system. In this Ph.D. dissertation, an advanced digital control concept is presented for SRMs in both motoring and generating modes. By treating the system digitally, the controller switches between two pre-defined states to get the desired output. The proposed control technique does not need any look up tables, is not sensitive to the motor parameter variations, is low cost, and has a wide speed range. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the proposed digital control approach.
Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, May 2011
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Title: THE POLYMORPHIC DIAGRAM: CONCEPTS FOR DESIGN TECHNOLOGY TO MODEL SPATIAL CRITERIA IN ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
Creator: Hamadah, Qutaibah
Date: 2012-11-03, 2012-12
Description: In Architectural design, reasoning about space and its configuration lies at the center of the conceptual design workflow. The process unfolds...
Show moreIn Architectural design, reasoning about space and its configuration lies at the center of the conceptual design workflow. The process unfolds in a reflective and adaptive modeling methodology, through which architects structure their understanding of the design problem, and mediate its responsive and sensitive resolution. Paradoxically, however, modeling and representing spatial information – knowledge about the design problem’s spatial requirements and its relational orders – is perhaps the least welldeveloped feature in modern design systems. With all its importance in architecture design, existing design technology offers only limited assistance to one of architecture’s most critical and difficult design workflows, the definition of space, its layout and configuration. Moving forward, modern design systems must extend their ability to assist the architect in modeling spatial and relational design criteria. They must profit an integrated workflow where the problem definition, and the solution proposition develop in unison. In particular, it should pay heed to the architect’s cognitive and generative parameters, which necessarily relies on an adaptively and reflective modeling workflow, one that bridges between the problem definition and its solution proposition using multiple forms of representation. Towards this end, this dissertation presents the Polymorphic Diagram: a concept for a design technology to assist the architect in modeling spatial and relational design criteria using an interactive, graph-based, multi-representational medium.
PH.D in Architecture, December 2012
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Title: THERMAL INACTIVATION OF SALMONELLA AGONA IN LOW-MOISTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AS INFLUENCED BY WATER ACTIVITY
Creator: Jin, Yuqiao
Date: 2016, 2016-07
Description: Salmonella can survive in low-moisture, high-protein and high-fat foods for several years. Despite nationwide recalls for Salmonella in low...
Show moreSalmonella can survive in low-moisture, high-protein and high-fat foods for several years. Despite nationwide recalls for Salmonella in low-moisture products, information on survival of Salmonella during high-protein and high-fat food processing is limited. This project evaluated Salmonella enterica serovar Agona 447967 thermal inactivation kinetics in a high-protein and a high-fat matrix using a defined matrix composition, varying water activities and process conditions. A high-protein matrix, composed of 60:6:25 weight ratio of flour: oil: protein, and a high-fat matrix, composed of 60:25:6 weight ratio of flour: oil: protein was studied. Each matrix was inoculated with Salmonella enterica serovar Agona 447967 at activities of 0.5, and 0.9. Samples were packed in aluminum test cells and heat treated over a range of temperatures and time intervals. Survival of Salmonella Agona was detected on trypticase soy agar with 0.6% yeast extract. The average z-values for the high-protein matrix at the water activity (aw) of 0.5 and 0.9 were 9.01ºC, and 7.51ºC, respectively. The average z-values for the high-fat matrix was 11.91ºC at aw 0.5, and 7.08ºC at aw 0.9. Results showed that the z-value at aw 0.5 was significantly different from the z-value at aw 0.9 (p < 0.05) in both the highprotein and high-fat matrices. Critical process factors associated with pathogen destruction were identified during thermal treatments in this project. Results indicated that a correlation existed between temperature and water activity and must be accounted for when predicating inactivation of Salmonella enterica in these model matrices under dynamic process conditions.
M.S. in Food Process Engineering, July 2016
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Title: MINIMIZING SALMONELLA CONTAMINATION IN SPROUTS BY CONTROLLING THE IRRIGATION CONDITIONS DURING GERMINATION
Creator: Xie, Jing
Date: 2014, 2014-07
Description: The objective of this study was to examine whether the proliferation of Salmonella can be minimized during sprouting by controlling the...
Show moreThe objective of this study was to examine whether the proliferation of Salmonella can be minimized during sprouting by controlling the irrigation conditions using seeds that have been either treated or not treated with 20,000 ppm of calcium hypochlorite, Ca(OCl)2. 200 g of alfalfa seeds spiked with 2 g (or 1 %) of inoculated seeds (containting~1 log cfu/g of Salmonella) were allowed to germinate in a glass jar or in an automatic sprouter (EasyGreen) for 5 days at room temperature. The sprouts germinated in the automatic sprouters were irrigated with either sterile tap water or chlorinated water (containing 100 ppm of calcium hypochlorite) at various frequencies (once every 1, 2 or 4 h); the sprouts germinated in glass jar were rinsed every 24 h with sterile tap water. The same growth studies were performed on seeds treated with 20,000 ppm Ca(OCl)2 for 15 min prior to sprouting. Sprout samples were taken daily and analyzed for the level of Salmonella using the three-tube most probable number method as described in the FDA BAM. Seed treatment with 20,000 ppm Ca(OCl)2 reduced Salmonella level in seeds to a level that was below the detection limit (< -2.5 log MPN/g). The pathogen was not detected during five days of germination in automatic sprouters or jars. Using untreated seeds, the level of Salmonella changed from an increase of ~ 7 log MPN/g in sprouts grown in jars and irrigated once every 24 h to an increase of ~ 4 log MPN/g during sprouting in the automated sprouters and irrigated once every 1 h. Irrigation with chlorinated water although inhibited Salmonella re-growth but affected the quality of sprouts. Overall, seed treatment combined with frequent irrigation with tap water or chlorinated water can control the level of Salmonella to an undetectable level during sprouting.
M.S. in Food Safety and Technology, July 2014
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Title: TOWARD A NATURAL GENETIC/EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM FOR MULTIOBJECTIVE OPTIMIZATION
Creator: Ramasamy, Hariharane
Date: 2013, 2013-05
Description: Practical optimization problems often have multiple objectives, which are likely to conflict with each other, and have more than one optimal...
Show morePractical optimization problems often have multiple objectives, which are likely to conflict with each other, and have more than one optimal solution representing the best trade-offs among the competing objectives. Genetic algorithms, which optimize by repeatedly applying genetic operators to a population of possible solutions, have been used recently in multiobjective optimization, but often converge to a single solution that is not necessarily optimal due to lack of diversity in the population. Current multiobjective genetic and other evolutionary methods prevent this premature convergence by promoting new members that are dissimilar in parameter or objective space. A distance measure, which calculates similarities among the members in either objective or parameter space, is used to degrade the fitness of solutions when they are crowded in a small region. This process forces the algorithm to find new but distinct trade-off points in the objective or parameter space, but is computationally expensive. As the number of objectives or parameters increases, the methods fail to scale up and they deviate from the motivating concept of the genetic algorithm—natural evolution. We extend the standard genetic algorithm through two simple, yet powerful, changes motivated by natural evolution. In the first method, the algorithm, at each step, randomly or sequentially chooses one of the objectives for optimization; hence the method is called sequential extended genetic algorithm (SEGA). In the second method, a population is maintained for each objective, and crossover is performed selecting parents from across populations. This method is called parallel extended genetic algorithm (PEGA). We applied these methods to test problems from the literature, and to two well known problems, protein folding and multiple knapsack. We discovered our methods found better trade-off solutions than current multiobjective methods, without increasing computational complexity of genetic algorithms.
PH.D in Computer Science, May 2013
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Title: LOAD RATING OF RAILWAY BRIDGES BY ANALYSIS AND TESTING
Creator: Khademi, Faezehossadat
Date: 2015, 2015-05
Description: Investigating existing structures in the real world can help us know more about their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. In this...
Show moreInvestigating existing structures in the real world can help us know more about their characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. In this thesis project, the investigation was performed on two real bridges named “Yale” Bridge, and “Valleyfield” Bridge. They were owned by the CN, one of the largest railway in the North American railroad industry. First, field testing of the bridges was performed by CN. Strain gauges (devices for indicating the strain of a material) and displacement transducers (devices for indicating movement) were placed on specific points on desired elements. Then the strain and displacement data for these specific points were recorded during the time trains were passing through the bridge. These devices record the data in voltage, so calibration constants must be applied to convert the data to stress & displacement units. After that, the bridges were modeled in “SAP2000” software, and the results were compared to the data recorded in the field. In the real world, these types of bridges are behaving something between the “Truss Model” and the “Frame Model”. Our aim is to know how they exactly behave and which model they are closer to. Results are showing that although the bridges are considered “Truss Bridges”, both of them are behaving more like a “Frame” Model than a “Truss” Model. In addition, the effect of the collision strut on L0U1 was investigated. Results shows that having this collision strut leads to the larger bending moment on L0U1 in comparison to lack of this member on the bridge. Finally, with respect to our results, “Adjustment Factors” for three different groups of diagonal, horizontal, and vertical members were provided in order to improve load rating analysis in the future.
M.S. in Civil Engineering, May 2015
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