Electrical and Computer Engineering

MODELING AUTONOMOUS AGENTS BEHAVIORUSING NEURO-IMMUNE NETWORKS(Abstract)Autonomous robots are expected to interact with their dynamic changing environment. This interactions requires certain level of behavior based Intelligence, which facilitates the dynamic adaptation of the robot behavior accordingly with his surrounding environment. Many researches have been done in biological information processing systems to model the behavior of an autonomous robot. The Artificial Immune System (AIS) provi...

Materials Science and Engineering

Manufacturing of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) and Evaluation of its Mechanical Properties<P>Daniel M. Esterly<P>Abstract<P>Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) receives an increasing amount of attention because it exhibits the strongest piezoelectric response of any commercially available polymer. These piezoelectric properties have proved useful as actuators and sensors. Current manufacturing processes limit PVDF to thin films and restricting their uses largel...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

State systems have begun to implement performance-based policies in higher education that obligate state institutions to demonstrate they are providing quality educational experiences for students in an effective and efficient manner (Hatcher, Kryter, Prus, & Fitzgerald, 1992; Redd, 1998). Quality and overall effectiveness are measured by student outcomes, such as student retention, attrition, and graduation rates (Hatcher, et al., 1992; Redd, 1998).College student satisfaction has emerg...

Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise

The purpose of the current study was to test the hypothesis that chronic hypoxia associated with sleep-disordered breathing relates to abnormal Nitric Oxide (NO) production and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression patterns that contribute to aberrancy of specific determinates of cardiovascular and cardiopulmonary function before, during, and after graded exercise. These patterns may further reflect pathologic alteration of signaling within the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)...

Electrical and Computer Engineering

With the rapid expansion of wireless communication services, ultra-miniature, lowcost RF microsystems operating at higher carrier frequencies (e.g. 5-6 GHz) are indemand for various applications. Such applications include networked wireless sensornodes and wireless local area data networks (WLANs). Integrated microstrip anten-nascoupled directly to the RF electronics, offer potential advantages of low cost,reduced parasitics, simplified assembly and design flexibility compared to systemsbased on...

Sociology

This research extends previous work on measuring eight dimensions of self-disclosure on intimate relationship satisfaction. 134 individuals answered a questionnaire concerning how they self-disclosed to their partner. I predicted that overall self-disclosure (all eight dimensions combined) would be positively related to degree of relationship satisfaction. Second, overall self-disclosure would be positively related to degree of relationship satisfaction when controlling for gender, length of rel...

Dairy Science

The overall objective of this project was to investigate the role of locally derived growth factors and extracellular matrix proteins in regulating prepubertal heifer mammary development. In the first experiment, short-term treatment of heifers with GH or E increased proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. Coinciding with increased epithelial cell proliferation, IGF-I protein increased and IGFBP-3 protein decreased within mammary tissues. Thus, proliferation was associated with an apparent ne...

Biology

In 1993, Novak and Tyson published a comprehensive mathematical model of the regulation of M-phase promoting factor (MPF) activity in Xenopus laevis eggs and egg extracts. Although this model was in agreement with existing and subsequent experimental data, fundamental predictions that the cell cycle is driven by a hysteresis loop have never been validated experimentally. The models predictions of bifurcations that create and destroy MPF activity, indicative of hysteresis, were tested in this stu...

Biology

(ABSTRACT)Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are required in the synthesis of the cell wall of bacteria. In Bacillus subtilis, PBPs play important roles in the life cycle, including both vegetative growth and sporulation, and contribute to the formation of the different structures of vegetative cell wall and spore cortex. The B. subtilis genome sequencing project revealed there were two uncharacterized genes, ykuA and yrrR, with extensive sequence similarity to class B PBPs. These two genes are ...

Economics

Prior to 1996, roughly 70% of electricity service in California was provided by investor owned utilities (IOUs). The IOUs operated as monopolies in their respective service territories, performing all of the functions necessary to generate and deliver electricity to the consumer. In exchange for service, the IOUs were paid a regulated rate which was designed to recover their cost of providing the service plus a reasonable return on their investment. In 1996, California changed the way electric s...

Mechanical Engineering

Thermal management is one of many critical tasks in the design of power electronic systems. It has become increasingly important as a result of the introduction of high power density and integrated modules. It has also been realized that higher temperatures do affect reliability due to a variety of physical failure mechanisms that involve thermal stresses and material degradation. Therefore, it is important to consider temperature as design parameter in developing power electronic modules.The NS...

Economics

This study uses a random coefficient estimation procedure to analyze the U.S. gasoline market from 1960-1995 with three main objectives: (1) provide an empirical methodology that can estimate a gasoline demand function capable of performing well in prediction; (2) evaluate the elasticities of the models presented to determine which model is more accurate at capturing supply shocks that impacted gasoline demand; and (3) evaluate the behavior of the elasticites of the beta coefficients.This resear...

Biology

Cyprinodon variegatus is a pupfish that inhabits the Atlantic coast of North America, nearly continuously, from Massachusetts to Belize. This research attempts to resolve the phlylogeography of C. variegatus by investigating the genetic sequence structure of the mitochondrial control region (D-loop, non-coding origin of replication) and cytochrome-b gene for evidence of northern and southern subspecies within the Atlantic Coast of the eastern United States. Additionally, it will be may be possib...

Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science

The occasional failure of glyphosate to control all weeds throughout the entire growing season has prompted growers to sometimes use herbicides other than glyphosate on glyphosate-tolerant soybean. Field studies were conducted in 1999 and 2000 to investigate potential crop injury from several herbicides on glyphosate-tolerant soybean, and to determine the relationship between soybean maturity, planting date, and herbicide treatment on soybean injury, leaf area index (LAI), and yield. Three glyph...

Veterinary Medical Sciences

Schizophrenia affects 1-1.5% of people in the United States alone. Haloperidol (HP), a butyrophenone and a typical antipsychotic, has been used as an antipsychotic drug in human. Unfortunately, the therapeutic effects of HP also come with severe extrapyramidal side effects, resulting in movement disorders in patients. Olanzapine, a new atypical neuroleptic, seems to have better efficacy, with less severe adverse effects. There has been increasing evidence of the role of reactive oxygen species (...

Biology

A functional immune system is a potential barrier to tumor growth and progression. Cancer is caused, in part, by the loss of immune surveillance leading to the inability of the immune system to destroy the cancer cells. Macrophages (Mfs) are essential cellular components of the immune system; they influence immune responses in diverse and fundamental ways. As a consequence, Mfs present targets for tumors to evade, thereby enhancing tumor survival and growth. An interaction between CD40 on Mfs an...

Biology

A novel strategy for site-specific DNA transformation of plants has been proposed and the first component of the system developed. The proposed method overcomes the limitations of current techniques by providing a specific integration site for the insertion of transgenes using features of the adeno-associated virus (AAV) life cycle. In the absence of helper virus, AAV integrates into a specific location on human chromosome 19, the AAVS1 locus. The sequence for AAV integration was introduced into...

GEOGRAPHY

The state of Virginia was analyzed to establish its suitability for grape culture.This investigation occurred in two phases: a small scale analysis that encompassed theentire state, and a large scale analysis which focused on site selection at the local level.After identifying regions across the state in terms of their viticulture potential, a study areawas chosen from within the highest ranking region. This study area was the focus for thelocal-scale site potential analysis.First, to delineate ...

Biology - Microbiology

<HTML><HEAD><META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"><TITLE>CwlD has sequence similarities to N-acetyl muramoyl-L-alanine amidases,a class of enzymes known to cleave the bond between the</TITLE></HEAD><BODY bgcolor="#ffffff"><P><FONT FACE="Times">CwlD has sequence similarities to N-acetyl muramoyl-L-al...

Materials Science and Engineering

Environmental response as determined by the cell-polymer interaction stands as the greatest restriction to the implementation of new polymeric materials. Cell-polymer interactions are most influenced by substrate surface free energy, surface chemistry, topography, and rigidity[1]. Alteration of these properties through surface treatment has become a common approach to attain the desired cellular interaction.This study investigates Kr-F excimer laser(248 nm) surface modification of poly(methyl me...

Geological Sciences

Currently, the application of bioremediation requires extensive and costly monitoring due to limited understanding of the terminal electron accepting processes (TEAPs) that control biodegradation, which impairs the accurate quantification of contaminant mass loss. The measurement of redox conditions and evaluation of TEAPs are critical in assessing the capacity for bioremediation at any site. A series of batch microcosm experiments, using sediment collected from a gasoline-contaminated aquifer a...

Architecture

Few would deny the importance of preserving our natural landscapes. However, the man-made landscape is just as worthy of preservation/reuse. Buildings represent a language from their past, portraying the builders concerns and values. Buildings express their characteristics in time, space, and social context. Their presence and conversely, their absence, have a direct impact on their surroundings.Architecture has been continually enriched throughchange and dialogue, such as additions,intervention...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

IN THEIR OWN WORDS:COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO ABSTAIN FROM DRINKING <p>by<p>Christopher L. Cotner<p>Dr. Steven M. Janosik, Chair<p>Educational Leadership and Policy Studies<p>ABSTRACT <p>The purpose of this study was to seek understanding of the contours of the lives of undergraduate college students who abstain from drinking alcohol. Specifically, I explored the motivations, behaviors, and outcomes related to their ch...

Economics

In current economic research, there are many problems that are difficult to solvewithout powerful computers, unique software, or novel approaches. I wrote this thesisbecause I believe that a powerful solution technique known as the Riccati Iteration issuch a novel approach, and can be applied to complex problems that would otherwise beinfeasible to solve. This thesis will demonstrate the power of the Riccati iteration byemploying the Riccati iteration with spreadsheet software to solve a difficu...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Given Virginias Standards of Learning (SOL)(1995) mandates, Virginias Algebra I teachers and school leaders should utilize research for teaching methods; further, the relationship between teaching methods and student achievement on Virginias End of Course SOL Test for Algebra I deserves investigation, since Virginias students must pass this test to earn verified credit toward high school graduation.Replicating Marcuccis (1980) methodology for meta-analysis, the present study focuses on research ...

Civil Engineering

A numerical analysis of the loop tack test is presented to study the behavior of the strip and the influence of several factors, and the results are compared with experimental ones. The numerical results can be applied to model the performance of a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA). Since the simulation of the loop tack test includes geometrical and material nonlinearities, it is solved numerically by the finite element method. The finite element program ABAQUS is used throughout the research. A...

Engineering Science and Mechanics

We use the semi-inverse method to solve a St. Venant and an Almansi-Michell problem for a prismatic body made of a homogeneous and isotropic elastic material that is stress free in the reference configuration. In the St. Venant problem, only the end faces of the prismatic body are loaded by a set of self-equilibrated forces. In the Almansi-Michell problem self equilibrated surface tractions are also applied on the mantle of the body. The St. Venant problem is also analyzed for the following two ...

Architecture

I propose to design a facility that will be both a fitness center and a community center. The building will integrate a fragmented site, making the site a cohesive whole and making all parts of the site navigable through extensive terracing, inside and outside the structure. Emphasis will be placed on making the community center more important visually than its larger counterpart, the fitness center.

Environmental Engineering

A creosote treatment facility was active during the1950 s and 1960 s at a railroad tie yard site.In 1990, creosote contamination was discovered alonga creek bank at the site. Phytoremediation was selectedas the remedial technology and hybrid poplar trees wereplanted at the site in 1997. A research project wasdesigned to: 1) characterize the site through collectionof soil and ground water samples; 2) assess phytoremediationeffects of 3 grasses, clover, fescue and rye, increosote-contaminated surf...

Dairy Science

This study was designed to determine the effects of stage of lactation and subsequent energy status on metabolic and endocrine measures, follicular development, and the quality of oocytes obtained from Holstein cows. Holstein cows were selected prior to calving and assigned to the early lactation (EL) group (n=8) while, cows at d 90 postpartum were selected for the mid-lactation (ML) group (n=7). Blood samples were taken twice weekly from 4 wk prior to the start of follicular aspirations and the...

Civil Engineering

Various methods can be used to estimate the human health risk associated with exposure to contaminants at brownfields facilities. The deterministic method has been the standard practice, but the use of probabilistic methods is increasing. Contaminant data for non-carcinogens and carcinogens from 21 brownfields sites in Pennsylvania were collected and compiled. These were used to evaluate the performance of the deterministic and several probabilistic methods for assessing exposure and risk in rel...

Economics

Japan is currently suffering its third economic downturn of the past decade. While Japan suffers from a variety of structural problems, the most acute is the crushing burden carried by the banks. They still suffer under the weight of thousands of billions of yen of bad loans resulting from the collapse in asset prices a decade ago. Japans still unsolved banking crisis constitutes a threat to a large component of the global financial system.<p>Some economists believe that these even...

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Characterization and modeling of devices at high drive levels often requires specialized equipment and measurement techniques. Many large-signal devices will never have traditional nonlinear models because model development is expensive and time-consuming. Due to the complexity of the device or the size of the application market, nonlinear modeling efforts may not be cost effective. Scattering parameters, widely used for small-signal passive and active device characterization, have received only...

Mechanical Engineering

Thermal management is a rapidly growing field in power electronics today. As power supply systems are designed with higher power density levels, keeping component temperatures within suitable ranges of their maximum operating limits becomes an increasingly challenging task. This project focuses on thermal management at the system level, using a 1.2 kW front-end power converter as a subject for case study. The establishment of a methodology for using the computer code I-deas to computationally si...

Civil Engineering

Creosote, containing many high molecular weight hydrophobic polycyclic aromatichydrocarbons (PAHs), is present in the subsurface environment at the Oneida Tie-Yardin Oneida, Tennessee. Phytoremediation using hybrid poplar trees was chosen as theremedial technology on-site. Since monitoring began, the contaminant plume has beenshrinking consistently and evidence has shown that remediation is taking place.However, remediation may be rate-limited by the desorption and dissolution kinetics ofthe PAH...

Computer Science

<p>This thesis investigates several issues in data andcomputation modeling for scientific problem solving environments(PSEs). A PSE is viewed as a software system that provides (i) alibrary of simulation components, (ii) experiment management,(iii) reasoning about simulations and data, and (iv) problem solvingabstractions. Three specific ideas, in functionalities (ii)-(iv), formthe contributions of this thesis. These include the EMDAG system forexperiment management, the BSML marku...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

<html><head><title>Katherine F. Walker Abstract</title><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"></head><p>The general purpose of this study was to both evaluate the effectiveness offilial therapy and describe the filial treatment process with parents court-referredfor maltreatment. In filial therapy, parents learn basic play therapy skillsin a group...

Economics

This dissertation is an investigation into the determinants of demand for service contracts on new vehicles. In the first chapter, I characterize the consumer decision to buy a service contract with a discrete choice model. Hypotheses and conjectures are tested empirically using survey data from new vehicle buyers. The second chapter consists of the development and testing of an instrument for measuring attitudes toward uncertainty. This tool is useful in gauging aversion toward weak ambiguity. ...

Economics

Do Oil Companies acquire Alternative Energy Patents to limit Technological Innovation, in order to maintain Economic Advantage in Fossil FuelsbyGeorge G. SimsRoger N. Waud, ChairmanEconomics(Abstract)This paper addresses the charge made by environmental groups that oil companies, since the 1970 s, have been acquiring alternative energy patents, to restrict these technologies from reaching the market. The purpose of these restrictions was to protect profits from oil, natural gas and coal. In addr...

Hospitality and Tourism Management

AbstractSocial responsibility and ethics have been shown to have a positive influence on consumer behavior, however the vast majority of related research has measured this relationship indirectly through scenario analysis of hypothetical firms rather than consumers perceptions of real-world firms. This dissertation focused on a real-world application of the theory.Each hypothesis that specified a positive relationship was supported. These results show that Brand Social Responsibility Image not o...

Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Educators across the nation are rethinking the organization of the high school day in relation to time as they face the challenges of a new century. Block scheduling, the use of extended periods of time for learning, is one response to the reorganization of the high school where in Virginia during the 2000-2001 school year, 74% of the high schools were on some form of block scheduling. Two models of block scheduling continue to receive attention in the review of educational literature. They are ...

Biological Systems Engineering

Over the last two decades, livestock operations have become highly concentrated due to growing trends towards larger, more confined facilities and a decrease in cropland on smaller farms. This has led to greater amounts of excess manure nutrients on farms, increasing the potential for nutrient pollution of water bodies from runoff. The purpose of this study was to determine if enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a viable alternative for managing excess manure nutrients on dairy farm...

Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays examining the important role of jobconnections, references, and word of mouth information in labor markets. The first essay examines the importance of job connections for internal migrants. Inthis chapter, I develop a theoretical model where labor market networks providelabor market information with less noise than information obtained in the formalmarket. This model predicts lower initial wages and greater wage growth aftermigration for migrants withou...

Teaching and Learning

A qualitative inquiry was launched to explore occupational stress among Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). Four research questions were posed:1) What are the roles and responsibilities of the CRNAs as they see them?2) What are the CRNAs perceived stressors encountered on the job?3) What are their coping strategies related to the perceived stressors?4) What is the relationship between CRNA job stress and interpersonal work connections?Twenty CRNAs, with varying anesthetic background...

English

Both Thomas Love Peacock and Plato use dialogue for their works while they differ in what they envisage and what they achieve, i.e. same form, different objectives. Thus, having Peacock and Plato writing dialogues in different framesone literary and one philosophicalraises an important question: can literary writers be more provocative of thought in the audience than writers of philosophical dialogues? If so, what then are the features of dialogical writing, whether literary or philosophical, or...

Chemical Engineering

This study examined several features of flexible polyurethane foams from a structure-property perspective. A major part of this dissertation addresses the issue of connectivity of the urea phase and its influence on mechanical and viscoelastic properties of flexible polyurethane foams and their plaque counterparts. Lithium salts (LiCl and LiBr) were used as additives to systematically alter the phase separation behavior, and hence the connectivity of the urea phase at different scale lengths. Ma...

Industrial and Systems Engineering

We study the resource investment decision faced by a firm that offers two demand-classes (i.e., products, services),while incorporating the firm s pricing decision into the investment decision.For this purpose, we consider a monopolistic situation and model the demand curve of each demand-class as a downward sloping linear function of its own price.The firm can invest in dedicated resources, which can only satisfy a specific demand-class, and/or in a more expensive, flexible resource, which can ...

Geological Sciences

Headwater streams drain the majority of the landscape, yet little is known about their form and function in comparison to lowland rivers. Better understanding of their morphology and sediment transport processes will improve understanding of landscape evolution and promote a more complete view of fluvial systems. Therefore, the goal of my project was to determine controls on headwater channel form and function in the humid, moderate-relief drainage basins of the Valley and Ridge and Blue Ridge p...

Civil Engineering

Existing minefields left over from previous conflicts pose a grave threat to humanitarian relief operations, domestic everyday life, and future military operations. The remaining minefields in Afghanistan, from the decade long war with the Soviet Union, are just one example of this global problem. The purpose of this research is to develop a methodology that will predict areas where minefields are the most likely to exist through use of a GIS model. The concept is to combine geospatial data laye...

Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine whether a newly developed Internet-based, eight-week self-change program, Self-Help Intervention Program for the Consequences of Trauma (SHICT), was effective to treat trauma consequences. The SHICT consisted of education, anxiety management skills, cognitive restructuring, and exposure modules that included writing exposure and in vivo exposure. It also provided a mastery approach where individuals begin treatment with the least anxiety-provoking compone...