2024-03-29T13:48:10Z
http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/do/oai/
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1000
2008-09-10T15:47:40Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Two-Dimensional Computer-Generated Ornamentation Using a User-Driven Global Planning Strategy
Anderson, Dustin Robert
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Zoë Wood
ornamentation
computer graphics
art
algorithmic generation
interactive application
Computational Engineering
Hand drawn ornamentation, such as floral or geometric patterns, is a tedious and time consuming task that requires much skill and training in ornamental design principles and aesthetics. Ornamental drawings both historically and presently play critical roles in all things from art to architecture; however, little work has been done in exploring their algorithmic and interactive generation. The field of computer graphics offers many algorithmic possibilities for assisting an artist in creating two-dimensional ornamental art. When computers handle the repetition and overall structure of ornament, considerable savings in time and money can result. Today, the few existing computer algorithms used to generate 2D ornament have over-generalized and over-simplified the process of ornamentation, resulting in the substitution of limited amounts of generic and static "clip art" for once personalized artistic innovations.
Two possible approaches to computational ornamentation exist: interactive tools give artists instant feedback on their work while non-interactive programs can carry out complex and sometimes lengthy computations to produce mathematically precise
ornamental compositions. Due to the importance of keeping an artist in the loop for the production of ornamentation, we present an application designed and implemented utilizing a user-driven global planning strategy, to help guide the generation
of two-dimensional ornament. The system allows for the creation of beautiful organic ornamental 2D art which follows a user-defined curve. We present the application,
the algorithmic approaches used, and the potential uses of this application.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/15
10.15368/theses.2008.13
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1009
2008-09-10T15:57:08Z
publication:theses
The Effects of Bisphosphonates on Bone Remodeling: Analysis of Microdamage Targeting by BMUs, BMU Velocity and Crack Surface Density
Hale, Daniel Wayne
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering
Scott Hazelwood
Studies have indicated that microdamage in the bone matrix both activates and "steers" BMUs (Basic Multicellular Units, the groups of osteoclasts and osteoblasts that resorb and form bone respectively) toward the damage in order to replace damaged bone with new, mechanically sound bone. Also, bisphosphonate drugs have been shown to greatly suppress the remodeling process and, with such effects, are commonly used in the treatment of osteoporosis. It was hypothesized that BMUs do indeed target microdamage around them and tunnel away from the dominant lines of force in bone in order to remove the damage. Additionally it was believed that bisphosphonates would have a suppressive force on the BMU's ability to seek out and remove microdamage. This study explored a further hypothesis that bisphosphonates would decrease BMU velocity and osteonal area while increasing crack surface density in a dose-dependent manner. Thirty-six rib bone samples were obtained from the Indiana University School of Medicine from a three year canine study in which skeletally mature beagles were administered the bisphosphonate Alendronate in doses matching, on a body weight basis, those used to treat postmenopausal osteoporosis. Control, clinical dose (Alendronate 0.2 mg/kg body weight), and five times clinical dose (Alendronate 1.0 mg/kg body weight) treatment groups were created with 12 dogs in each group. Before harvesting rib bones, the dogs were injected with calcein at two different time periods to mark areas of new bone formation. For this study, data for mean crack length, resorption space density, osteonal area, and crack surface density were obtained from Matt Allen at the Indiana University School of Medicine. BMU velocity was determined by measuring the distance between fluorescent labels in longitudinal sections of bone and dividing by the time between injections. Statistical analysis supported the hypothesis that BMUs target microdamage and bisphosphonates suppress that ability in a dose dependent manner. Also, bisphosphonates have a significant suppressive effect on BMU velocity. Analysis shows that there is no difference in osteonal area or crack surface density among the three treatment groups (CON, ALN0.2, and ALN1.0) leading to the conclusion that bisphosphonates seemed to have little effect on osteonal area or crack surface density over the three year study.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/6
10.15368/theses.2008.20
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1007
2008-09-10T15:55:33Z
publication:theses
Spectral Conversion of Light Using Cadmium Selenium Zinc Sulfide Core Shell Quantum Dots to Increase the Efficiency of Photovoltaic Cells
Marrujo, Dan Madrid
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering - Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering
Richard Savage
Photovoltaics harness energy emitted from the sun. When the sun's energy is absorbed by a photovoltaic cell array, photons of light are converted into current. The amount of current produced by a photovoltaic cell is calculated by the difference between the energy of the incoming photon and the energy required for an electron to travel across the band gap of the photovoltaic cell. Traditional solar cells are commonly manufactured from silicon, which have a bandgap energy of 1.1 eV. If the photon's energy is equal to or greater than the band gap of silicon, electrons are excited from the valence band to the conduction band. Electron excitation between these respective bands enables current flow within the photovoltaic cell. Increasing the number of photons energies equal to the bandgap of the photovoltaic material will increase the amount of current produced.
The objective of this research was to explore the utilization of quantum dots to increase the amount of light collected by a silicon-based photovoltaic cell. Although the electromagnetic spectrum of the sun is broadband, only a finite portion of the spectrum can be harnessed by current solar cell technology. For example, the excess energy of ultraviolet light, when compared to the bandgap of silicon, is generally lost to thermalization; which prevents current production. Therefore the range of the electromagnetic spectrum that is available to a solar cell for electric current is limited. One mechanism to increase the efficiency of solar cells is to increase the electromagnetic spectrum collected.
Quantum dots are known to down convert high-energy photons to lower energy
photons; thereby expanding the useable electromagnetic spectrum. This study investigated the changes associated with dispersing quantum dots above the surface of a photovoltaic cell, as well as, measuring how the electric current of the device is affected. The quantum dots were purchased from Evident Technologies and were made from CdSe/ZnS. Once acquired, the quantum dots were suspended in microfluidic channels fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Toluene and water were respectively chosen to disperse the quantum dots. The compatibility of these solvents with PDMS was explored. The change in current was investigated when the microfluidic channels filled with quantum dots were applied to the surface of the photovoltaic cell.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/8
10.15368/theses.2008.23
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1003
2008-09-10T15:51:52Z
publication:theses
Three-Dimensional Scaffolds for Mammary Epithelial Cell Growth
Barry, Megan M.
2008-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering
Robert Crockett
Mammary epithelial cells are highly efficient secreting cells. This natural phenomenon has triggered research efforts to focus on using these cells to assist in the production of viable liquids. The application of this technology is nearly endless. If developed successfully, mammary epithelial cells could be used by industries from farming to pharmacology.
The feasibility of culturing epithelial mammary cells which secrete within a three-dimensional
scaffold was investigated and is documented within this paper. A biocompatible film with suitable mechanical characteristics and processing properties for use in a bioreactor was developed through multiple iterations. The film that was developed also withstands extended periods of time in an aqueous solution at 37 degrees Celsius (the incubation temperature for epithelial cell lines) and can be optimized for cell survival (adjustable permeability). A prototype of a self-contained system that facilitates the growth of epithelial mammary cells and promotes their secretion of lipid proteins was also developed through this exploratory research.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/12
10.15368/theses.2008.4
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1001
2008-09-10T15:49:08Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
A Coupling-Complexity Metric Suite for Predicting Software Quality
Gray, Christopher L.
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
David Janzen
Coupling Between Objects and Cyclomatic Complexity have long been used to measure software quality and predict maintainability and reliability of software systems prior to release. In particular, Coupling Between Objects has been shown to correlate with fault-proneness and maintainability of a system at the class level. We propose a new set of metrics based on a fusion of Coupling Between Objects and Cyclomatic Complexity that can be superior to Coupling Between Objects alone at predicting class quality. The new metrics use Cyclomatic Complexity to 1) augment Coupling Between Objects counting to assign a strength of a coupling between two classes and 2) determine the complexity of a method invocation chain through the transitive relation of invocations involved in a coupling. This results in a measure that identifies objects that are coupled to highly complex methods or method invocation chains. The metrics were implemented as an Eclipse Plug-in
and an analysis of two industry Java projects, ConnectorJ and Hibernate, demonstrates the correlation between the new metrics and post-release defects identified in system change logs.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/14
10.15368/theses.2008.12
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1002
2008-09-10T15:49:49Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
An Exploration of Hole Filling Algorithms
Firestone, Eric
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Zoë Wood
Laser range scanning is one of the leading methods for the acquisition of 3D models from real world objects. This process, however, introduces significant excess topological handles which increases the complexity of future processing, and lowers the quality of the acquired models. Previous research has shown that the hole filling step of the model creation pipeline is the primary cause of excess handles. We explore the hole filling process in detail and discuss the limits of hole fillers that work on the reconstructed surface and of those that work in the volumetric setting. In addition, we present our algorithm which aims to reduce the excess handles by adapting and improving filters that work in the volumetric domain to fill holes in the scanned data. Using these filters we are able to reduce the topological noise by 47% and to improve the output appearance of surfaces processed by existing hole fillers.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/13
10.15368/theses.2008.11
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1008
2008-09-10T15:56:20Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Theory, Simulation, Fabrication and Testing of Double Negative and Epsilon Near Zero Metamaterials for Microwave Applications
Patel, Neil
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Dean Arakaki
Electrical and Computer Engineering
<p>Natural structures exhibiting simultaneous negative bulk permittivity and permeability have not yet been discovered. However, research interest over the past five years has grown with the proposition that artificial structures exhibiting these properties are realizable using specially-designed metallic inclusions embedded in host dielectric bodies. A periodic structure of metallic inclusions much smaller than the guided wavelength and embedded in a host dielectric medium is known in the physics and microwave communities as a "metamaterial". Such frequency-dependent effectively homogeneous materials may be designed to exhibit negative permeability and permittivity at certain frequencies. As predicted by electromagnetic theory, such negative index or "left-handed" metamaterials are shown to have unique filtering properties and exhibit negative refraction and "backward wave" propagation. The "backward wave" phenomenon describes the anti-parallel nature of phase velocity and group velocity in a negative index metamaterial and can be additionally characterized in vector theory using the left hand rule. Additionally, "epsilon-near zero" (ENZ) metamaterials are characterized by a bulk permittivity equal to zero. Applications include focusing radiation emitted by small apertures. This thesis provides the theory for metamaterial structures supported by simulations conducted with the commercial finite element method solver: Ansoft HFSS. Metallic inclusions such as the split ring resonator structure (SRR), S-shaped split ring resonator (SSRR), wire rod and capacitively loaded strip (CLS) are presented analytically and simulated in HFSS. Metamaterial structures designed to exhibit left-handed behavior in the X-band frequency region are simulated for frequency-dependent transmission, reflection and refractive properties. A test configuration for measuring a metamaterial slab's match to free space is proposed and constructed. Additionally a prism design and test plan geared for anechoic chamber testing and refraction measurement is proposed and built. Simulated inclusions are fabricated on FR-4 epoxy laminate boards, combined to form metamaterial structures, and tested in the Cal Poly Anechoic chamber. Results show that transmission properties match closely with HFSS simulations. Prism metamaterial testing shows that negative refraction is visible in the 8 to 9 GHz region. A modified form of the Nicolson Ross-Weir method for parameter extraction using S-parameter data is shown to provide an initial approximation for the permeability and permittivity of the structure under test. Finally, both negative and zero-index metamaterials are analyzed in HFSS simulations to improve the directivity of EM radiation from sub-wavelength apertures. Epsilon-near zero metamaterials placed on sub-wavelength apertures are shown to improve directivity by two fold in the far-field at design frequencies.</p>
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/7
10.15368/theses.2008.22
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1012
2008-09-09T23:19:54Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:imemt
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
A Risk Management Tool for the Reverse Supply Chain Network
Banisalam, Sheeva
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering - Integrated Technology Management
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Roya Javadpour
The forward and reverse supply chains have unique characteristics that vary among different organizations. Most organizations manage and quantify risks in the forward supply chain by utilizing various available risk management tools. These risk management tools have been developed solely for the forward supply chain. This research presents the development and implementation of a risk management tool to be used to manage and quantify risks specifically in the reverse supply chain. Implementation of this tool at Company ABC demonstrates how the risk management tool is used in order to be beneficial to the organization. The tool is designed to be easily implemented at minimal cost and serves as a valuable tool for personnel faced with important and costly decisions regarding risk occurrence in the reverse supply chain network.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/3
10.15368/theses.2008.16
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1010
2008-09-10T15:58:06Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Bone Mass Preservation and Fracture Risk Assessment with Bisphosphonate Therapy During Spaceflight
Gardina, Christopher
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
Scott Hazelwood
Space exploration and microgravity have substantial negative effects on the human body. Symptoms of space explorers include cardiovascular deconditioning, bone loss, muscular atrophy, and impairment of neurovestibular and sensory function. The great loss of bone due long-duration spaceflight increases fracture risk, jeopardizing the success of the mission and postflight recovery. Bisphosphonates may be able to counteract this bone loss by altering the remodeling process. These drugs increase bone mass, thus reducing fracture risk, but also lead to increased levels of fatigue microdamage. Fracture risk can be lowered by increasing both bone mass (quantity) and bone quality.
The purpose of this study was to create a computer model to simulate bisphosphonate treatment on astronauts while traveling in space in order to examine the ability of bisphosphonates to maintain bone mass in a microgravity environment and reduce fracture risk of bone upon return to Earth. Various bisphosphonate treatment potencies and bone balance ratios given at different time points (either at or before spaceflight) were examined. Flight duration was also varied to examine short-term (10 days) to long-term (1 year) effects of microgravity on bone mineral density (BMD), a measure commonly used to estimate bone strength, and damage accumulation. The model predicted bisphosphonate treatments with low to intermediate suppression of remodeling activation and that create higher bone balance ratios cause reductions in fracture risk. The simulation also predicted significant changes to BMD and damage upon return to Earth as the remodeling response readjusted to higher stress conditions. For treatments highly suppressing remodeling activation, these predicted postflight changes included decreased BMD and increased damage accumulation. Low levels of remodeling suppression led the model to predict substantial increases in BMD and small increases in damage postflight. Postflight changes were minimal for treatments with intermediate suppression.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/5
10.15368/theses.2008.18
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1013
2008-09-10T17:06:40Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Cal Poly SuPER System Photovoltaic Array Universal DC-DC Step Down Converter
Witts, Joseph
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
James Harris
Standard converter topologies are usually presented with a voltage source as the input supply to the converters. However, a photovoltaic (PV) array has the I-V characteristics of a current source not a voltage source. This thesis details the design process of modifying the standard Buck and synchronous Buck converter topologies to function with either a voltage or current source input, making them universal DC-DC step down converters. This is accomplished by placing a capacitor at the converter's input to supply the pulsating current required for the Buck topologies to function properly. The equations for determining the capacitor's size and RMS current rating are derived, and a prototype of each topology was constructed and analyzed. Also, the issues that arose during the integration of the converter's into the SuPER system are discussed.
The Cal Poly Sustainable Power for Electrical Resources (SuPER) project seeks to build a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) unit that can supply the energy needs of a single family home. Before the start of this thesis the SuPER project was using an off-the-shelf DC-DC converter to step down the PV array's voltage, perform maximum power point tracking, and act as a charge controller for the battery. One goal of the project is to have a Cal Poly built DC-DC converter that can perform all the functions of the off-the-shelf DC-DC converter currently being used.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2
10.15368/theses.2008.14
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1011
2008-09-10T17:05:36Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
A Vitreoretinal Surgery System Fluidics Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Grega, Jennifer Ann
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
Robert Crockett
Eyesight is something that is vital to all human beings. The concept of vitreoretinal surgery is an amazing achievement of modem medicine to help treat patients that might otherwise be blind. Vitreoretinal surgery has enhanced and restored vision in numerous individuals due to the forefront of new instrumentation and surgical techniques. As a manufacturer of surgical equipment it is critical that an in depth analysis of potential failure modes is completed and the necessary mitigations are put in place. A complete failure mode and effects analysis on the fluidics sub-module of a vitreoretinal surgery system is an imperative part to new product development.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/4
10.15368/theses.2008.17
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1015
2008-09-10T17:07:57Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:imemt
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
RFID Antenna Coverage Optimization
Taylor, Bryce
2008-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Industrial Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Tali Freed
This research focuses on the problem of determining the location of RFID antennas required to read RFID tags from all items in a facility, such that the number of antennas is minimized. We formulate the problem as a Set Covering optimization problem. We develop a heuristic algorithm for this NP-Complete problem. We also develop a computerized system, RFIDMIN, which enables for the automated calculation of the minimum number and location of RFID antennas, given the size of the facility and antenna specifications. RFIDMIN can be used by companies to implement an effective RFID system at lowest hardware costs.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/17
10.15368/theses.2008.5
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1016
2008-09-10T17:08:47Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
A Morphological and Hemodynamic Analysis of Skeletal Muscle Vasculature
Wood, Stephanie Ann
2008-07-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
Trevor Cardinal
The goal of this study was to develop analysis tools to assess skeletal muscle vasculature on a network level. In conjunction with this goal, this project also assessed whether the gracillis anterior muscle of a mouse was sufficiently thin to perform a comprehensive morphological analysis, and whether the data generated from these methods would yield reasonable computation of hemodynamic parameters. Horton's Law of Stream Numbers and the diameter-defined Strahler method were applied to assess the vasculature as a whole, and the results were comparable to previous work. The dimensional and branching characteristics of the network were similar to previous experiments; however, the ability to reference microscope slides containing the muscle to cross-reference the degree of three-dimensional branching will improve results. On a whole, a comprehensive morphological assessment was performed on the gracillis anterior muscle using two-dimensional images; however, future work should supplement the images with cross-sectional measurements assessing capillary density for vessels of 8μm and smaller. The hemodynamic analysis yielded pressure profiles and individual vessel flow rates consistent with published literature values. The elemental network provides a more realistic representation of network morphology, whereas the segmental network should be used for hemodynamic calculations. Overall, the analysis methods presented in this paper provide a solid foundational tool that has the potential to illuminate patterns on a network (or systems) level that could not otherwise be seen.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/16
10.15368/theses.2008.25
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1019
2008-09-10T17:10:38Z
publication:gradres
publication:memt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Automotive Suspension Parameter Estimation Using Smart Wireless Sensor Technology
Hoffman, Samuel Chase
2008-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
John Ridgely
This thesis project demonstrates the feasibility of using a smart sensor system to estimate
vehicle parameters. It includes the development of the smart sensor system and the method for which vehicle parameters are estimated using this system. The smart sensor system is a wireless computer controlled sensor array that can be easily installed onto a vehicle. Parameter estimation was accomplished using grey box code in Matlab System Identification Toolbox, a software package from Mathworks. Front and rear suspension damping rates and pitch inertia were estimated on the 2008 Cal Poly SAE Baja Car with good accuracy during testing.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/20
10.15368/theses.2008.8
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1018
2008-09-10T17:10:05Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Microwave Signal Generation Using Self-Heterodyning of a Fast Wavelength Switching SG-DBR Laser
Bernacil, Michael A.
2008-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Dennis Derickson
Microwave signal generation is demonstrated using a single-chip fast wavelength-tunable SG-DBR laser. Microwave signals are established by a delayed self-heterodyne technique. The optical frequency of the laser is square-wave modulated between two closely spaced wavelengths. These two wavelengths are made time coincident using a fiber based Mach-Zehnder interferometer. From the interferometer, the difference frequency is detected and amplified. The optical difference frequency takes on the form of a microwave signal that can be seen on an electrical spectrum analyzer. The hardware structure of the high-speed wavelength switching SG-DBR package is shown. The wavelength switching architecture and temperature robustness of the laser will also be presented.
Microwave signals up to 17 GHz have been generated by frequency modulating the phase section of the laser. Measured from the microwave signal spectral width, laser linewidth values as narrow as 10 MHz have been achieved for low back mirror current inputs. Linewidth results with respect to device DC bias conditions are also presented. Time resolved frequency step measurements have shown inherent thermal transients of approximately 200 ns upon wavelength switching. From the square wave switching profile, switching times of approximately 24 ns were achieved.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/19
10.15368/theses.2008.7
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1020
2008-09-10T17:11:15Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Drop Impact Reliability Testing Lead-Free Chip Scale Packages
Farris, Andrew
2008-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Albert Liddicoat
Mobile and handheld electronics devices such as digital cameras, cell phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) are prone to be dropped in their lifetime. The drop event may result in failure of solder joints inside these devices. The importance and widespread use of these devices in both business and leisure activities continues to increase, so device failure is increasingly costly and inconvenient.
Recently the European Union (EU) Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and other countries' lead-free directives banned the use of lead in consumer electronics
products. While this is a responsible environmental change for the electronics industry, it requires the introduction of new solders and soldering processes, and signals
a major change in production methods as lead-based solders are no longer used in these devices. Thus, it is critical to study the drop impact reliability of lead-free solder joints.
This thesis discusses the reliability of Chip Scale Packages (CSPs) in drop impact, with and without the CSPs being edge-bonded, using two failure detection systems and presents the component failure sequence as observed by each system. To enable
this study a high-speed data acquisition system, capable of in-situ detection of transitional solder interconnect failure, was developed at Cal Poly for drop impact
reliability testing. Edge-bonding is shown to significantly improve drop impact reliability of CSPs.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/21
10.15368/theses.2008.15
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1032
2020-06-23T18:58:04Z
publication:aeromt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Control and Sensor Development on a Four-Wheel Pyramidal Reaction Wheel Platform
Logan, Jeffery Jay
2008-11-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Eric A. Mehiel
College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences
Controls
Reaction Wheel Platform
Four-Wheel Pyramidal
Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics
<p>The Pyramidal Reaction Wheel Platform, or PRWP, is used to simulate three-axis controls in a torque free space-like environment. The primary purpose of the system will be to evaluate the effects of conjoining sensors to maximize pointing accuracy. Furthermore, the system will incorporate a star tracker in conjunction with a Simulated Star Field (SSF) to better estimate the PRWP orientation. For the sake of this document, however, the goal is to implement a gyroscope, wheel rate sensors, and a make-shift accelerometer—to the PRWP—and integrate a controls algorithm such that three-axis controls are achieved for the PRWP. Three sensors were either better integrated into the system or added altogether. Tachometers were created as a form of hardware circuitry to measure each wheel rate with an accuracy of approximately 2.5 Hz (nearly 15 radians per second). The TAC board circuitry converted each motors encoder output into a speed by use of a frequency to voltage converter. Additionally, although three gyroscopes had been implemented previously, the system was better incorporated into the model such that it was directly transformed via a ROBOSTIX ADC converter before being relayed to SIMULINK via a Bluetooth link. The MEMS gyroscopes allowed for very accurate rate measurements—with a minimum resolution of approximately 0.25 radians per second. Finally, a makeshift accelerometer was incorporated into the system for the purpose of system identification. The accelerometer was incorporated into the system by utilizing a discrete time derivative of the gyroscope readings. However, thankfully a system of two accelerometers can be later utilized to achieve an accuracy of approximately 6 degrees per second-second in the x-axis and 2-3 degrees per second-second in the y- and z-axes. A controls test was performed where the starting location was qo=[0, 0, sqrt(2)/2, sqrt(2)/2] and the target location was qc=[0, 0, 0, 1]. At 80 seconds, the pointing accuracy was 70 degrees around the target and the system was unable to settle during the 80 second trial. The inaccuracy was because of the low frequency of operation of the system—1 Hz. Additionally, the platform reacts slowly to sensor readings and commands. The coupling of these issues causes the pointing accuracy to high. Furthermore, through experimental testing, the maximum wheel rate was found to be approximately 6400 RPM at a duty cycle of 50% at an 8000Hz PWM application due to the Pololu MD01B design limitations: low voltage range (up to 16V), low limit current limiter (5A), and high susceptibility to overheating for large currents.</p>
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/27
10.15368/theses.2008.34
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1034
2008-12-03T21:28:07Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:rptamt
publication:theses
Investigating Sense of Community and Academic Success in First Year College Students in the Department of Natural Resources Management
Hackman, Kenneth Michael
2008-10-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management
Natural Resources Management
Jeffrey Jacobs
This study explored the relationship between sense of community, factors that influence sense of community, and the effect of academic success of first year students in the Natural Resources Management Department at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. An adapted version of the sense of community index was used to collect data from first year students (n=90) in the Natural Resources Management Department. Linear regression was used to determine which variables had a significant influence on sense of community and academic success. The results of the study indicated that there was not evidence that grade point average (GPA) had a significant influence on sense of community. The factors of gender, participation in recreational sports clubs, participation in ASI-sponsored clubs, living on campus, and students' major meeting their expectations all had a significant influence on students' sense of community index score. Keywords: college students, sense of community, sense of belonging, Natural Resources Management, employment, on-campus living, academic success, recreational sports.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/25
10.15368/theses.2008.32
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1039
2009-01-12T21:21:59Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:fsnmt
publication:theses
The Effects of Aging on Muscle Loss and Nuclear Factor Kappa-B Levels in Rats Fed a Diet Containing Suboptimal Leucine Levels
Kohlen, Corinne Rose
2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Food Science and Nutrition
Food Science and Nutrition
Scott Reaves
Leucine
Rats
Gastrocnemius
Tibialis Anterior
Nuclear Factor kappa B
aging
Loss of muscle due to aging is often associated with significant detrimental effects. Therefore, it is crucial to understand signaling molecules that may trigger the muscle loss or prevent the process. The transcription factor, Nuclear Factor Kappa-B (NF-κB), is associated with both catabolic and anabolic pathways of muscle metabolism and may be involved in age-related muscle loss. Leucine is an essential amino acid that is required for both protein synthesis and intracellular signaling pathways that regulate protein synthesis and degradation. The current study examined muscle NF-kB levels in male Sprague-Dawley rats, aged 6 (adult) and 21 months (old) fed a diet containing suboptimal leucine levels for 10-17 days. We found that old rats consumed less grams of food per body weight (BW) each day than adult rats (1.45% g diet/g BW vs. 2.4% g diet/g BW). Weight loss during the study was not significantly different between age groups. However the average mass of gastrocnemius and soleus muscles (g muscle/g BW) was significantly lower in old rats. Reduction in gastrocnemius (g muscle/g BW*10²) was associated with 1.8 fold higher muscle cell NF-κB in old vs. adult rats (p = 0.0443). There was also a higher level of ubiquitinated proteins in old gastrocnemius muscle cells relative to the adult gastrocnemius, however differences did not reach statistical significance. For tibialis anterior muscle, the average mass (g muscle/g BW*10²), NF-κB levels and ubiquitinated proteins were not significantly different between adult and old rats. Our findings suggest that aging affects muscle loss and NF-kB in a tissue-specific manner in rats fed a diet with suboptimal leucine levels.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/32
10.15368/theses.2009.3
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1044
2011-12-19T16:53:23Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Bioflocculation for Control of Wastewater Pond Microalgae
Frost, Daniel Thomas
2008-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Tryg Lundquist
Algae
Bioflocculation
HRP
Lagoons
Ponds
Wastewater
Environmental Engineering
<p>Investigates several hypotheses regarding the use of bioflocculation as a harvesting method for wastewater pond microalgae. Research performed on pilot-scale high rate ponds (HRPs) on the California Central Coast.</p>
2014-01-29T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/37
10.15368/theses.2008.39
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1045
2009-01-29T19:23:13Z
publication:archmt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:arcemt
publication:theses
Programming and Conceptual Design Using Building Information Modeling
Avila, Mary-Alice
2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Architecture
Arthur J. Chapman
BIM
architectural programming
basis assumption models
conceptual design
collaborative team
repository of information
Architecture
This thesis explores the benefits of using Building Information Modeling (BIM) during the programming and conceptual design phase of a project. The research was based on a case study undertaken dealing with the decisions and assumptions made during the design phases of the Center for Science at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The project team used a traditional approach to project plan development. The finding of this study was that the project process would have greatly benefited utilizing BIM tools and a collaborative team approach in the programming and conceptual design phase. Because decisions made early in the project have enormous implications to aesthetics and cost, the increase in analysis of design options afforded by the use of BIM tools would have minimized inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable information, and allowed the design team to work in a more efficient, collaborative manner transmitting through all phases of the project.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/38
10.15368/theses.2009.6
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1046
2009-01-30T19:03:20Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
High Speed Wavelength Tuning of SGDBR Lasers for Optical Coherence Tomography Applications
Maher, Benjamin
2008-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Dennis Derickson
Electromagnetics and Photonics
The application of Sample Grated Distributed Bragg Reflector (SGDBR) wavelength tunable lasers for swept-wavelength Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is explored. OCT is a method of measuring reflectivity versus distance into samples under test with a focused infrared light source. Swept wavelength OCT requires a laser light source that is capable of sweeping its wavelength quickly over the entire wavelength range of the tunable laser. Fast sweeping of the laser's wavelength enables real-time imaging of a wide surface area of the surface under test. This thesis will show that
SGDBR lasers can be designed to meet the fast wavelength ramp speeds of swept wavelength OCT and to even exceed the capability of present swept-wavelength OCT source solutions.
SGDBR lasers were originally developed for telecommunications applications using Wavelength Division Multiplexing. In the telecommunications application, the wide wavelength tuning range of the device (1520-1575 nm) is utilized but the devices are only required to change wavelength over 50 ms time intervals. Research on SGDBR lasers has shown that wavelength switching speeds of 5 ns have been obtained using pre-distortion of the current drive waveforms. This thesis explores the inherent modulation speed of chip-level and packaged SGDBR lasers and the associated capability to make high speed continuous wavelength ramps for swept wavelength OCT. It will be shown that frequency modulation speeds of over 100 MHz can be accomplished with the laser drive and packaging techniques presented in this work. The result of the work shows that SGDBR lasers are very promising sources for swept wavelength OCT applications.
In order to understand the present generation OCT application in more detail, work is first presented demonstrating the capability of white-light interferometry OCT in a meat tenderness measurement application. White light interferometer measurement OCT has been the standard solution for OCT measurements for at least 15 years. Measurement of a range of beef samples was done in conjunction with the college of Agriculture. Results show that the OCT setup has a penetration depth of up to 1.5 mm. The work did not show strong correlation between OCT measurement signatures and
meat tenderness. The work helped to understand the OCT measurement and clearly
pointed out the value of increased measurement speed using swept wavelength OCT and the potential use of SGDBR lasers as the swept wavelength source. One of the conclusions drawn from this application of OCT measurements is that the process can be improved using a faster measurement technique.
The thesis then studies the characteristics of the SGDBR laser and how they map into the characteristics needed for swept-wavelength OCT applications. A major part of the work was design of both chip-level and package-level sources that were used to evaluate the laser characteristics. Specific properties of this SGDBR laser are measured: wavelength tuning characteristics, optical laser linewidth, amplitude modulation speed, frequency modulation speed and wavelength switching speed on each of the control inputs to the SGDBR device In the end, it is shown that SGDBR lasers can improve the wavelength ramp speeds in OCT. Device concerns include the laser linewidth and its limitations for swept wavelength OCT. This work provided the basis for other graduate students to build up a more complete implementation of an OCT measurement system.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/39
10.15368/theses.2008.40
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1047
2009-02-09T16:38:13Z
publication:archmt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:arcemt
publication:theses
A Study of the Seismic Performance of Early Multi-Story Steel Frame Structures with Unreinforced Masonry Infill
Potterton, Kristin
2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Architecture
Brent Nuttall
unreinforced masonry infill
early twentieth century steel frame construction
infill walls
seismic performance of infill walls
seismic performance in different seismic risk regions
development of steel construction
Structural Engineering
Steel frame construction with unreinforced masonry infill walls is a common system found in high-rise structures built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Recorded performance of this dual system during seismic events shows that the structures are able to resist a high level of lateral loads without collapse, primarily because a majority of damage is confined to the infill walls instead of the gravity carrying frame. To better understand expected performance of this structural system in different seismic risk regions, a prototypical building was analyzed using modal and nonlinear static procedures based on currently accepted evaluation guidelines. Nonlinear results from the computer model were compared with calculated target displacements for seventeen cities likely to have steel frame construction with unreinforced masonry infill in order to determine expected damage levels at varying levels of seismic risk. It was concluded that the structural system studied could experience damage in all seismic risk regions, including post-yield damage of the structure, although in low risk regions that damage is confined entirely to the infill walls. Practicing structural engineers should be aware that in all seismic risk zones existing steel frame buildings with unreinforced masonry infill, while able to resist a high magnitude of displacement without complete structural failure, will require additional lateral support under currently accepted rehabilitation guidelines.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/41
10.15368/theses.2009.8
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1049
2009-02-11T22:33:00Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Three-Dimensional Target Modeling with Synthetic Aperture Radar
Hupton, John R
2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
John Saghri
SAR
ATR
image processing
3-D
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Signal Processing
Conventional Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) offers high-resolution imaging of a target region in the range and cross-range dimensions along the ground plane. Little or no data is available in the range-altitude dimension, however, and target functions and models are limited to two-dimensional images. This thesis first investigates some existing methods for the computation of target reflectivity data in the deficient elevation domain, and a new method is then proposed for three-dimensional (3-D) SAR target feature extraction.
Simulations are implemented to test the decoupled least-squares technique for high-resolution spectral estimation of target reflectivity, and the accuracy of the technique is assessed. The technique is shown to be sufficiently accurate at resolving targets in the third axis, but is limited in practicality due to restrictive requirements on the input data.
An attempt is then made to overcome some of the practical limitations inherent in the current 3-D SAR methods by proposing a new technique based on the direct extraction of 3-D target features from arbitrary SAR image inputs. The radar shadow present in SAR images of MSTAR vehicle targets is extracted and used in conjunction with the radar beam depression angle to compute physical target heights along the range axis. Multiple inputs of elevation data are then merged to forge rough 3-D target models.
The project is a continuation of prior SAR research at Cal Poly under Dr. John Saghri with the sponsorship of Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/40
10.15368/theses.2009.7
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1051
2009-02-26T04:13:37Z
publication:theses
Effectiveness of Thermal Oxidation in Relation to Anterior Cervical Plates
Miyashiro, Katherine A
2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Engineering - Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering
Trevor Harding
Ti-6Al-4V
anterior cervical plates
thermal oxidation
corrosion
repassivation
Other Materials Science and Engineering
Ti-6Al-4V anterior cervical plates (ACP) are used in spinal fusion surgeries to fixate cervical vertebrae during graft adhesion. However, documented cases of implant failure and the potential for ACP corrosion raise concerns regarding any degradation of material resulting from extended implantation. In addition, abrasion during implantation may damage a section of the protective oxide layer, potentially exposing surrounding tissues to the harmful effects of bare titanium, aluminum, and vanadium. Thermal oxidation has been shown to improve corrosion-resistance and wear-resistance, depending on temperature and time. To quantify the attributes of the thermally grown oxide layer, Ti-6Al-4V coupons underwent thermal oxidation treatments in an atmosphere environment at 600 and 675 ˚C for 1, 4, 8, and 16 hours. Two sample types were produced: non-abraded and abraded.
Non-abraded samples underwent potentiodynamic polarization according to ASTM F2129, which included open circuit potential tests. Open circuit potentials (EOC) increased with increasing treatment time, indicating that longer treatment time resulted in thicker oxides. All samples treated at 675˚C displayed higher EOC than samples treated at 600˚C, indicating an increase in oxide thickness with higher temperature. During the first hour of treatment at 675˚C, the rate of oxide growth was greater than the rate of oxide growth of all samples treated at 600˚C. Samples treated at 600˚C for 4 and 8 hours displayed pitting during potentiodynamic polarization, but all other samples withstood the applied potentials and surfaces were further passivated.
To simulate damage during surgery, a single abrasion was made across samples in the abraded group with a diamond-tip indenter under a load of 471g at 4.4 mm/s. Abraded samples were subjected to potential-step tests to assess repassivation ability after abrasion. All samples displayed repassivation ability, except for the sample treated at 600˚C for 4 hours.
Surface roughness was measured with atomic force microscopy before and after thermal oxidation treatments. Lower surface roughness was desired to discourage osseointegration, or the growth of bone cells. No isothermal surface roughness trends were observed, as high surface roughness outliers were seen in samples treated at 675˚C for 8 hours and 600˚C for 4 hours. Rockwell hardness and Vickers microhardness were also measured to assess bulk changes in mechanical properties and hardness of the oxidized surfaces. No statistical change was seen in Rockwell hardness. Vickers hardness increased with increasing temperature and time, with the exception of the sample treated at 600˚C for 4 hours. Metallography of the thermally oxidized samples was analyzed to determine if a change in microstructure had occurred due to thermal processing. No major change in grain size or the amount of alpha and beta grains was seen in samples treated at 600˚C, but samples treated for extended times at 675˚C showed equiaxed enlarged alpha grains and a reduction in beta grains.
The breakdown of samples treated at 600˚C exemplified possible differences in the alpha-beta oxide behavior during thermal oxidation and corrosion. Outlying surface roughness and microhardness values related to the thermal oxidation treatments and resulting oxide structure. Due to delamination of oxides grown at 675˚C for 4, 8, and 16 hours, the treatment parameters would not be effective in the ACP application. Therefore, through corrosion resistance, repassivation ability, low surface roughness, increased microhardness, and no microstructural change, thermal oxidation treatments at 600˚C for more than 16 hours, and 675˚C for 1 hour or less would be suitable treatments for anterior cervical plates.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/42
10.15368/theses.2009.9
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1054
2009-03-06T22:11:03Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:hcsmt
publication:theses
Efficacy of Botanical and Mineral Oils on Willamette Mite (Acari: Tetranychidae)
Church, Elizabeth Ruby Begonia
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Plant Protection Science
Horticulture and Crop Science
Michael J. Costello
Willamette mites
botanical oils
alternative miticides
Entomology
Willamette mite (WM), Eotetranychus willamettei, is a major pest throughout most winegrape regions in coastal California and Oregon. These mites puncture leaf tissue with their chelicerae and cause loss of photosynthetically active area. Chemical control treatments on grape include nearly ten registered synthetic miticides, plus soaps and oils. Oils can be petroleum based (mineral oil) or botanical (from seeds of various plants). There has been a lot of interest of late in the use of botanical oils other than soybean, including those derived from the seeds of plants including spearmint, rosemary and clove. This project tested for differences in the efficacy of a mineral vs. a botanical oil. The botanical oil was a blend of rosemary and peppermint oil (Ecotrol®) and was tested against a petroleum based oil (Omni Oil®), then compared to a commonly used synthetic miticide (Nexter®, common chemical name pyridaben). The field experiment (San Juan Vineyards in Shandon, CA) tested effects on adult mite and egg populations, with five treatments: Omni Oil®, Ecotrol®, Nexter®, Ecotrol® + Nexter®, and water as a control. Laboratory experiments tested effects on adult females and eggs. Treatments were Omni Oil®, Ecotrol® (1.0%), Ecotrol® (0.5%) and water as a control. Field data showed that Omni Oil® (at 1.5%) was the only effective treatment, Ecotrol® (at 0.5% or 1.0%) did not differ from the control. Omni Oil® was the most effective treatment against adult mites in the laboratory studies, followed by Ecotrol® at 1.0%, with Ecotrol® at 0.5 % not very effective. Egg mortality was high with Omni Oil® 1.5% or Ecotrol® 1.0% but low with Ecotrol® 0.5%.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/46
10.15368/theses.2009.17
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1056
2009-03-09T14:55:00Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:kinemt
publication:theses
The Effects of Alterations to Upper Limb Inertial Properties on Vertical Point-to-Point Movement
Hongo, Adrian K
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Kinesiology
Kinesiology
Robert D. Clark
inertia
upper limb
intersegmental dynamics
dominant limb
intralimb
coordination
Motor Control
Purpose: Several studies have examined intralimb coordination between the shoulder and elbow joints during target-oriented movements. These studies have observed consistent patterns in coordination despite changes in movement variables such as speed, direction, and inertia. Researchers used intersegmental dynamics to quantitatively analyze these patterns between shoulder and elbow joints while systematically changing values of these movement variables. Some studies have examined central nervous system adaptations to inertial changes at the elbow and entire arm during a movement, but none have examined inertial changes to the upper limb. Methods: Five male and five female participants aged 27 to 39 years (mean age = 33 ± 4.3 standard deviation) performed a maximal speed, point-to-point, reversal hand movement in the sagittal plane with and without a 2.2 kg. weight attached to their dominant, right upper arm. To determine the effects of the added mass, dependent t-tests were performed on elbow and shoulder peak muscular torques generated during the reversal region of the movement. Results: A significant increase in shoulder joint torque (p < 0.05), a significant increase in movement time (p < 0.05) and a non-significant decrease in elbow muscular torque (p = 0.1074) was shown to achieve the movement objective with the added weight. Conclusions: While future studies may result in more conclusive findings, this study showed a pattern of increased shoulder torque and decreased elbow torque due to the added inertia. Larger shoulder torque was needed to overcome the added inertia and move at high speed. As a result of the higher shoulder force, interaction torque at the elbow increased, and a reduction in elbow torque was needed to control the hand path and accurately hit the targets. This pattern supports Bernstein’s proposal that passively arising phenomena (i.e., interaction torque) is exploited during multi-segment movement.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/48
10.15368/theses.2009.19
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1058
2020-06-23T19:06:49Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Building an Operational Data Store for a Direct Marketing Application System
Smith, Chad
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Alexander Dekhtyar
College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences
<p>An operational data store (ODS) can be generally described as an architectural construct that is both similar and different in design and purpose to a data warehouse. It is similar in that it is subject-oriented and integrated from the various systems and sources that feed it. However, it is unique in that the data is volatile and updated on a relatively regular basis, it holds little to no archival data, and the data is kept at a detailed level with little summarization. The purpose of this thesis is to provide an overview of an ODS and the data that it holds, as well as to describe the author’s participation in a corporate project to build an ODS used to process and score customer information for a direct marketing application. This application gathers customer information from point-of-sale transactions and online orders. The author’s role on the project was to develop, test, and implement solutions concerning database performance, as well to provide database analysis and support throughout the project lifecycle. This thesis will provide an overview of the system’s functionality and the individual contributions the author made to the overall solution.</p>
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/51
10.15368/theses.2009.21
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1059
2009-03-12T20:08:04Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Phytoremediation of Weathered Petroleum in Groundwater by Arroyo Willows in Nutrient Amended On-Site Mesocosms
Bragg-Flavan, Sarah E
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Yarrow Nelson
Phytoremediation
Weathered Petroleum
Arroyo Willow
Mesocosm
Environmental Engineering
PHYTOREMEDIATION OF WEATHERED PETROLEUM IN GROUNDWATER BY ARROYO WILLOWS IN NUTRIENT AMENDED ON-SITE MESOCOSMS
SARAH BRAGG-FLAVAN
A large-scale mesocosm study was conducted to determine if vegetation with willow trees enhances biodegradation and to evaluate the mechanisms of natural biodegradation of weathered petroleum compounds under field conditions. The mesocosms were designed to model conditions at a former oil field where mid-range petroleum distillates were used as a diluent for pumping crude oil contaminated the soil and groundwater at the site with petroleum compounds. Ten mesocosms were constructed at the field site using un-impacted soil and diluent-impacted groundwater from the site. Five of the mesocosms were planted with Arroyo Willow trees native to the field site and the other five served as controls without trees. Since these willow trees are phreatophytes, their roots are capable of consuming water from the water table. A previous study was conducted using these mesocosms, however the willow trees then were in poor condition. In this study, fertilizer was added to the mesocosms to promote healthy growth of the willows. Fertilizer was added equally to mesocosms with and without willow trees to avoid introducing bias. Groundwater was circulated through the mesocosms for two 109 to 126 days runs, while the total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentrations of the groundwater were measured periodically. Dissolved oxygen concentrations were also monitored in each of the mesocosms to determine if the willow trees had any impact on oxygen transfer to the subsurface.
In the first run without nutrient amendments the trees did not enhance biodegradation. All the mesocosms started with an average TPH concentration of 6.3 mg/L and ended with a concentration of 1.0 mg/L. After this first run, nutrient amendments were added to all the mesocosms, resulting in healthy trees with robust growth. With healthy willow trees, the planted mesocosms resulted in a statistically significant increase in long-term biodegradation of dissolved-phase petroleum compounds. The planted mesocosms resulted in 29 percent more degradation. These results agree with prior lab studies using bench-scale microcosms with media from the former oil field which indicated that TPH concentrations after 100 days were lower in containers with willows or lupines compared to controls without plants. Microtox® toxicity decreased for both planted and control mesocosms, showing no toxic root exudates or by-products.
There are several potential mechanisms of the observed phytoremediation. Terminal restriction fragment analyses showed that the planted mesocosms had different microbial communities than the unplanted mesocosms. Thus, a possible mechanism of the phytoremediation is stimulation of a rhizobial microbial community that biodegrades petroleum compounds. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations were actually lower in the planted mesocosms, possibly due to consumption of oxygen during biodegradation of root exudates. The reduced DO concentrations in the planted mesocosm discounts the possibility that the plants stimulated biodegradation by increasing oxygen transfer to the subsurface. It is not known from these experiments if the petroleum compounds were taken up by the plants or if the plants stimulated bacterial biodegradation. Since it is difficult for plants to uptake non-polar compounds with a high octanol-water coefficient (Kow), it is usually unlikely that plants could uptake petroleum compounds which usually have a Kow > 3. However, the log Kow of the dissolved phase diluent determined in this research was only 0.14. Although the mechanism by which the willow trees increased biodegradation was not elucidated, this study demonstrated that phytoremediation of the polar and hydrophilic weathered petroleum compounds was successful.
Column chromatography was used to fractionate petroleum compounds extracted from the groundwater into aliphatic, aromatic and polar components so that biodegradation of each of these fractions could be determined independently. The first mesocosm experiments showed that regardless of the presence of trees, there was a decrease in TPH concentration for all three fractions. The overall unfractionated biodegradation rates averaged 41 ug/L/day over this experiment, and the biodegradation rate of the polar fraction was similar at 40 ug/L/day. In comparison, the biodegradation rates of the aliphatic and aromatic fractions were considerably lower at 1.2 and 2.6 ug/L/day, respectively.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/52
10.15368/theses.2009.22
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1064
2009-03-19T04:38:04Z
publication:gradres
publication:histmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Frances Marion and Mary Pickford
Zeidel, Christopher Scott
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MA in History
History
Kathy Cairns
This thesis attempts to find out how Frances Marion and Mary Pickford survived the film industry by having a strong working relationship. It is revealed through letters, films, autobiographies, and newspapers that Marion and Pickford were good friends and had worked closely together for years. Their friendship helped them to work hard enough to continue making films between the late 1910s and 1920s. Unfortunately, this topic is challenging because there has not been enough historical work done to give us a completely clear and accurate picture of how Marion and Pickford helped one another to continue working in the movie industry. More information is available on their careers that have nothing to do with their relationship. There were ways in which they struggled to work and reasons for why they survived the industry that have nothing to do with their working relationship.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/57
10.15368/theses.2009.25
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1066
2009-04-02T23:47:04Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Simultaneous Nitrification and Denitrification of Wastewater Using a Silicone Membrane Aerated Bioreactor
Waltz, Kirk Hjelte
2009-04-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Nirupam Pal
Membrane Aerated Biofilm Reactor
Environmental Engineering
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the use of a single reactor to biologically treat wastewater by simultaneously oxidizing ammonia, and reducing nitrate and nitrite. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) places strict discharge restrictions on these compounds due to their inherent toxicity to humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. The use of a simultaneous system can assist the conventional wastewater treatment technology that requires separate systems, by creating a system that needs less time and smaller size to reach effluent requirements. To conduct this research, a bench-scale membrane aerated biofilm reactor was built using silicone tubing for aeration. Batch and continuous-flow experiments were conducted to investigate the reactor’s capability to oxidize ammonia using a defined growth media and monitor nitrate production and reduction. Also, wastewater from a local reclamation facility was used to determine the reactor’s ability to nitrify ammonia and denitrify nitrate concentrations within wastewater. The wastewater was taken from different locations within the reclamation facility, and combinations of primary and nitrified effluent were used to monitor ammonia and nitrate concentration changes. The batch experiments showed the greatest changes, and one batch experiment showed a 79% decrease in ammonium concentrations, and followed a first-order kinetics rate constant of -0.0284 hrs-1. The continuous-flow experiments showed much greater fluctuations in results, but one of the experiments showed an ammonia oxidation efficiency of 86%. The wastewater experiments had even greater fluctuations, and the effluent concentrations of ammonia, nitrate and nitrite showed no changes when compared to the influent.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/72
10.15368/theses.2009.40
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1067
2010-08-25T17:57:09Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Impacts of Delayed Drawdown on Water Quality and Aquatic Biota in Seasonal Wetlands of the Grassland Ecological Area, Los Banos, California
Poole, Kyle Nathan
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Tryg Lundquist
Wetlands
Water Quality
Grassland Ecological Area
Algae
Environmental Engineering
The 178,000-acre Grassland Ecological Area in California’s San Joaquin Valley is
managed to provide overwintering habitat to waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway. The major
management activity is the fall flooding and spring drawdown of wetlands, timed to
optimize the availability of forage vegetation and invertebrates for ducks and shorebirds.
Wetland drainage contains salt, boron, and trace elements that are, in part, derived from
imported surface water but also concentrate during storage in the wetland impoundments.
The spring drawdown drainage contributes to occasional water quality violations in the
San Joaquin River (SJR) during dry years. Compliance with water quality objectives may
be improved by delaying the traditional wetland drawdown period approximately one
month to coincide with high SJR salt assimilative capacity during mid-March to mid-
April when reservoir releases are increased to aid salmon migration. However, this
delayed drawdown may affect the quality and quantity of wetland vegetative forage,
increase wetland soil salinity, and possibly alter the concentrations of algae,
invertebrates, and pollutants in the wetlands. In the research presented herein, initial data
were collected on the effects of delayed drawdown on algae, invertebrates, and wetland
water quality.
<p>
The experimental sites chosen were three pairs of matched wetland basins (20-100 acres
each) that are part of the larger Modified Hydrology Study being conducted in the
Grassland Ecological Area. For each pair, one wetland was managed with a traditional
March drawdown; while for the second wetland, drawdown was delayed approximately
one month to coincide with the period of high SJR assimilative capacity. During the
second year of the study, two drainage sites were sampled to characterize drainage
flowing to the SJR from an aggregated wetland area. Soil and water column samples
were collected during the flooded periods at the inlets, outlets, and along transects within
the wetlands. Water quality analyses included total/volatile suspended solids,
conductivity, nitrogen (NH<sub>4</sub>
+, NO<sub>2</sub>⁻+NO<sub>3</sub>⁻, organic), phosphorus (total, PO<sub>4</sub>
<sup>3</sup>-), organic
carbon, alkalinity, turbidity, temperature, and pH. Planktonic and benthic invertebrates
were identified and enumerated. Data were collected between February and April in 2007
and again in 2008.
<p>
Identified phytoplankton were predominantly chlorophytes and diatoms. Zooplankton
that feed on phytoplankton were found in abundance and consisted mostly of Cladocera.
Benthic invertebrate densities were also measured to help explain the differences in algal
concentrations between ponds. Benthic invertebrates were found to be predominantly
<em>Chironomidae</em>.
<p>
Seasonal loads of volatile suspended solids, total dissolved solids, and total organic
carbon were estimated at the two aggregate drainage sites and at one delayed drawdown
wetland during the 2008 season. For volatile suspended solids, the discharged load was 1500 lbs at the Buttonwillow drainage site, 2500 lbs at the Los Banos 38 drainage site,
and upstream of those sites, 770 lbs were discharged from the Mud Slough 4b wetland.
For total dissolved solids, the discharged load was 290 tons, 520 tons, and 26 tons,
respectively, for the same locations.
<p>
Of the factors potentially limiting phytoplankton concentrations, invertebrate grazing was
likely the most important. Nutrients were not limiting in either the traditional or modified
wetlands, as indicated by sufficient N and P content in the algae biomass. Likewise,
inorganic C was not limiting, as indicated by pH (most <9.0 pH). Sunlight intensity was
not significantly attenuated by water depth or turbidity, and thus light limitation was not
indicated.
2009-01-01T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/58
10.15368/theses.2009.26
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1070
2009-04-10T00:44:03Z
publication:gradres
publication:histmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
The Armor of Democracy: Volunteerism on the Home Front in World War II California
Head, Christopher Michael
2009-03-01T08:00:00Z
MA in History
History
George Cotkin
World War II
Volunteerism
California
Home Front
USO
Civil Defense
Arts and Humanities
History
Social History
United States History
This paper is an in-depth study on the role of Home Front Volunteerism in California during World War II. It argues that Volunteerism was integral to America’s eventual victory. This paper fills a gap in historical writings on World War II and shows that Volunteerism is a topic worthy of study. Volunteerism played a major role in California. It helped to keep morale high even when the war was progressing poorly. Volunteerism also helped to create new communities out of those shattered by the upheaval of the Great Depression. It provided a patriotic outlet for Americans desperate to aid the war effort. Minority groups took part in volunteer activities in order to show that they too were Americans and in doing so raised their status in society. Throughout the war, volunteers collected scrap metal which was melted down into weaponry. “Radishy victory gardens” sprung up throughout California. The Red Cross experienced an unprecedented surge in volunteerism and new methods in preservation and transportation of donated blood saved thousands of lives. The USO, created during the war, provided entertainment to soldiers both on the home front and overseas. Celebrities and civilians volunteered with the USO. This paper discusses many other ways in which Californian’s volunteered. Each volunteer activity provided an outlet for Americans desperate to aid the war effort in any way that they could.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/62
10.15368/theses.2009.28
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1074
2009-04-19T22:33:43Z
publication:archmt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:arcemt
publication:theses
Bamboo: An Alternative Building Material for Urban Ethiopia
Kassa, Bewketu Z
2009-04-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Architecture
Arthur J. Chapman
Bamboo
Low cost housing
Ethiopia
Architectural Engineering
Environmental Design
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
This project explores the potential of bamboo as an alternative building material for low cost housing units suitable for urban Ethiopia. The rational for the application of bamboo comes from its abundance throughout the country, and its proven physical properties that equate it to other building material like timber, steel and concrete. The proposed bamboo based design solution concentrates on simplification of construction methods, prefabrication of structural components and vertical densification of housing units, addressing the lack of skilled labor, cost of construction time and urban land respectively. An understanding of the design solution was established by constructing a full-scale section prototype and performing laboratory tests on key structural components.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/66
10.15368/theses.2009.36
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1077
2009-04-27T19:42:03Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Pipelined Apache HTTP Server
Le, Kevin
2009-04-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Aaron Keen
apache
http
web
server
OS and Networks
Software Engineering
Web servers often become overloaded with irregular surges in web traffic. Several techniques have been explored to cope with these overloads such as distributing load throughout different servers. This thesis presents Pipelined Apache HTTP Server, a modified version of the Apache Software Foundation’s HTTP Server that utilizes a pipelined execution of Apache’s request cycle. We discuss Apache’s original architecture, the modifications necessary for implementation of pipelined execution, and analyze its run time. Ultimately, we hoped to increase throughput of Apache but fall short because of unbalanced request phases and pipelining overhead.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/69
10.15368/theses.2009.38
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1079
2009-05-13T01:08:48Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Incremental Validation of Formal Specifications
Corwin, Paul S
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Gene Fisher
lightweight formal methods
Software Engineering
This thesis presents a tool for the mechanical validation of formal software specifications. The tool is based on a novel approach to incremental validation. In this approach, small-scale aspects of a specification are validated, as part of the stepwise refinement of a formal model.
The incremental validation technique can be considered a form of "lightweight" model checking. This is in contrast to a "heavyweight" approach, wherein an entire large-scale model is validated en masse.
The validation tool is part of a formal modeling and specification language (FMSL), used in software engineering instruction. A lightweight, incremental approach to validation is beneficial in this context. Such an approach can be used to elucidate specification concepts in a step-by-step manner. A heavy-weight approach to model checking is more difficult to use in this way.
The FMSL model checker has itself been validated by evaluating portions of a medium-scale specification example. The example has been used in software engineering courses for a number of years, but has heretofore been validated only by human inspection. Evidence for the utility of the validation tool is provided by its performance during the example validation. In particular, use of the tool led to the discovery of a specification flaw that had gone undiscovered by manual validation alone.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/71
10.15368/theses.2009.44
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1080
2009-05-14T04:23:04Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:crpmt
publication:theses
City of South Lake Tahoe Subdivision Ordinance: An Opportunity for Smart Growth, Sustainability, and Application Streamlining
Hodges, Hilary Kay
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
Master of City and Regional Planning
City and Regional Planning
Michael Boswell
Subdivision
ordinance
south lake tahoe
The City of South Lake Tahoe currently does not have an adopted subdivision ordinance. This has caused confusion about the approval process and regulatory requirements as well as delays in application processing. This Professional Project will explore the opportunity for the City to adopt a subdivision ordinance that would provide direction for subdivision design and approval and further the City’s smart growth and sustainability policies. However, there would need to be careful consideration for the potential increase in costs that are associated with additional fees or off-site improvement requirements. The Subdivision Ordinance would be written with the goals of achieving a streamlined process and incorporating design standards consistent with smart growth principles and sustainability consistent with the City’s Sustainability Plan. In addition, the Subdivision Ordinance must be consistent with the goals, policies, and programs of the City of South Lake Tahoe General Plan.
The project would begin with a literature review on subdivision regulation and the regulatory environment in South Lake Tahoe. Several subdivision ordinances would be reviewed for their ability to meet the goals of the South Lake Tahoe Ordinance. Throughout the process there will be consultation with other professionals. The final product will be a draft subdivision ordinance and an analysis of how well the draft achieves the goals.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/73
10.15368/theses.2009.45
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1083
2020-01-13T22:36:22Z
publication:research
publication:spr
publication:programs
publication:theses
publication:spr_stu
Development of a Laboratory Protocol for the Micropropagation of Monterey Pines (<i>Pinus Radiata</i>), Año Nuevo Stand
Wells, Karen E
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Forestry Sciences
Natural Resources Management
Walter Mark
College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences
micropropagation
Monterey pine
radiata pine
Pinus radiata
plant tissue culture
pitch canker
spr_stu
Forest Biology
<p>Monterey pine (Pinus radiata), a native tree to California and two Mexican islands, is important both ecologically and economically. Outside native stands, Monterey pines are grown for landscaping in California and on plantations around the world. Pitch canker, a disease caused by the fungus Gibberella circinata Nirenberg & O’Donnell (Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg and O'Donnell) is threatening the survival of Monterey pines. The disease currently affects Monterey pines in many parts of the world including the native stands. No effective chemical or biological control is available but some Monterey pines show resistance to the disease. The purpose of this project was to develop a working protocol for producing genetic clones of the resistant pines through micropropagation. These genetic clones will be used for outplanting in places outside the native stands for ornamental and plantation purposes. This project analyzes the results of ten trials with varied parameters and bases the final protocol on the parameters used in the trial that induces the growth of new shoots. The final protocol developed in this project describes, step-by-step, the media preparation for the initiation, plant material collection, surface sterilization of plant material, plating in media and initiation of shoots on explants. The protocol calls for collecting shoot tips with hardened buds that have not yet elongated, then washing the shoot tips in sterile water with Tween 20 for 15 minutes. The shoots tips are then surface sterilized in a 50% bleach solution for 20 minutes. The explants are broken into disks (to minimize damage to the cells) by inserting the tip of a scalpel and tilting it slightly. The initiation media shown to induce growth consists of ½ strength LePoivre basal salt mixture, 5mg/L benzylaminopurine, 3% sucrose and 0.8% agar and is adjusted to a pH of 5.7, then autoclaved for 20 minutes. The explants are inserted into solidified media and incubated in a growth chamber programmed for 16 hours of light and 8 hours of dark with temperatures of 27ºC and 22ºC and light irradiance of 80µEm-2s-1. After 1 month the protocol calls for transferring the growing shoots to elongation media with full LP basal salts and transferring every month. When the number of desired shoots has been reached the forthcoming protocol for rooting can be followed.</p>
2014-02-03T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/76
10.15368/theses.2009.47
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1085
2009-05-22T19:43:21Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Development of an In-Vitro Tissue Engineered Blood Vessel Mimic Using Human Large Vessel Cell Sources
Delagrammaticas, Dimitri E
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
Kristen O'Halloran Cardinal
Tissue Engineering
Blood Vessel Mimic
Human Umbilical Vein
Large Vessel
Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering
Tissue engineering is an emerging field that offers novel and unmatched potential medical therapies and treatments. While the vast aim of tissue engineering endeavors is to provide clinically implantable constructs, secondary applications have been developed to utilize tissue-engineered constructs for in-vitro evaluation of devices and therapies. Specifically, in-vitro blood vessel mimics (BVM) have been developed to create a bench-top blood vessel model using human cells that can be used to test and evaluate vascular disease treatments and intravascular devices. Previous BVM work has used fat derived human microvascular endothelial cells (EC) sodded on an ePTFE scaffold. To create a more physiologically accurate model, a dual layer of large vessel endothelial and smooth muscle cells (SMC) on an ePTFE tube is investigated throughout this thesis. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and human umbilical vein smooth muscle cells (HUVSMC) were chosen as the large vessel cell types and cultivated according to standard procedures. Before dual sodding, sodding density experiments with HUVSMC were performed to determine the number of cells required to create a confluent cell layer. HUVSMC sodded by trans-luminal pressure at densities ranging from 3.5x10^5 cells/cm^2 to 1.0x10^6 cells/cm^2 were run for one day to observe luminal coverage. After determining the desirable range for HUVSMC sodding, HUVSMC experiments with 5.0x10^5 cells/cm^2 and 7.5x10^5 cells/cm^2 were run over seven days to evaluate progression of the graft over time. Histology and SEM methods were used for analysis. A HUVEC study was next conducted over 7 days to confirm that the large vessel endothelial cell could be sodded and sustained on ePTFE in-vitro. Next, dual sodding was performed by pressure sodding HUVSMC at 7.5x10^5 cells/cm^2 followed by trans-luminal flow for 30 minutes. HUVECs were subsequently trans-luminally pressure sodded at 5.0x10^5 cells/cm^2 followed by an additional 30 minutes of trans-luminal flow; perfusion flow began following the final 30 minutes of trans-luminal flow. Experiments for the dual layered grafts were run for both one and seven days to evaluate and develop the dual sodding protocol as well as observe the co-culture over time. Analysis of the dual layered grafts was performed by SEM, histology, and fluorescence microscopy. HUVECs were incubated with Cell Tracker™ prior to dual sodding and both cell types with bisbenzimide after graft harvest to attempt to distinguish between cell types. Results from the thesis illustrate that large vessel smooth muscle and endothelial cells can be sodded onto ePTFE scaffolds and sustained within the in-vitro BVM system for up to 7 days. Furthermore, cost analysis demonstrates that the addition of a smooth muscle cell layer adds minimal costs to the BVM system. In conclusion, the studies contained within this thesis culminate in a protocol for the dual sodding of smooth muscle and endothelial cells with the aim of creating a physiologically representative co-culture blood vessel mimic.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/79
10.15368/theses.2009.50
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1087
2009-05-25T01:07:37Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:crpmt
publication:theses
Agricultural Buffer Criteria for the City of Arroyo Grande
Pennebaker, Laura A.
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
Master of City and Regional Planning
City and Regional Planning
Paul Wack
The conservation of agricultural land is an important and challenging part of local and regional planning. Prime agricultural soils and viable agricultural operations serve as a vital part of California’s identity and economy. The conversion of land from farming to non-agricultural use significantly increases the potential for conflict between adjoining land uses and intensifies the pressure to develop adjacent farmland. Agricultural buffers serve as a tool to mitigate potential conflict between adjacent non-compatible land uses and protect both farming operations and residents from nuisance complaints.
The City of Arroyo Grande has agricultural buffer policies which apply to development taking place adjacent to agricultural land. The City’s general plan requires a minimum100 foot buffer between all parcels proposed for non-agricultural development adjacent to agricultural land. The buffer area is also required to contain a minimum 20 foot wide landscaped area. City policy however, does not provide any specific direction or criteria regarding the actual construction of an agricultural buffer. The purpose of this project is to evaluate agricultural buffer policies present in other jurisdictions throughout California and determine appropriate criteria for the construction and maintenance of an agricultural buffer in the City of Arroyo Grande.
The project involves literature review as well as review of general plan and development code policies throughout California. The project concludes with a draft document entitled Criteria for Agricultural Buffers in the City of Arroyo Grande which includes agricultural buffer specifications such as plant palette and planting density which will be incorporated by reference into the City of Arroyo Grande Municipal Code.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/77
10.15368/theses.2009.48
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1090
2009-05-29T21:29:23Z
publication:aeromt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Design and Control Considerations for a Skid-to-Turn Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
Sims, Tanner Austin
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Daniel J. Biezad
Aeronautical Vehicles
Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics
The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are rapidly expanding and taking on new roles in the military. In the area of training and targeting vehicles, control systems are expanding the functionality of UAVs beyond their initially designed purpose. Aeromech Engineering’s NXT UAV is a high speed target drone that is intended to simulate a small aircraft threat. However, in the interest of increasing functionality, enabling NXT to accomplish wings level skidding turns provides the basis for a UAV that can simulate a threat from a missile. Research was conducted to investigate the aerodynamic and performance characteristics of a winged vehicle performing high acceleration skidding turns. Initially, a linear model was developed using small disturbance theory. The model was further improved by developing a six degree of freedom simulation. A controller using four loop closures and utilizing both rudder and aileron for control was developed. Any outside guidance system that navigates using a heading command can easily be integrated into this controller design. Simulations show this controller enables the NXT UAV to accomplish up to 3 G wings level skidding turns. Further testing, showed that the controller was able to tolerate significant turbulence, sensor noise, loop failures and changes within the plant dynamics. This research shows how it is possible for a winged UAV to easily maneuver using wings level skid turns.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/83
10.15368/theses.2009.54
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1091
2011-01-03T16:02:08Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Harmonic Analysis of a Static VAR Compensated Mixed Load System
Ruckdaschel, James David
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Taufik
Variable Frequency Drive
Power Factor
Harmonic Distortion
FACTS
Adjustable Speed Drive
Power Electronics
Power and Energy
As power electronic based controllers and loads become more prevalent in power systems, there is a growing concern about how the harmonics generated by these controllers and loads affect the power quality of the system. One widely used power electronic based load is the Variable Frequency Drive (VFDs) used to vary the speed of an induction motor; whereas a common example of a power electronic based controller used in power systems is the Static VAR Compensator (SVC) for improving a system’s power factor. In this thesis, the harmonic content and overall performance of a system including both a VFD and a SVC will be studied and analyzed. Specifically, the cases of no compensation, static capacitor compensation, and power electronic based static VAR compensation are examined.
A small-scale model of a system for study was constructed in lab. Several cases were then performed and tested to simulate a system which contained both fixed and power electronic based harmonic generating loads. The performance of each case was
determined by total harmonic current and voltage distortions, true power factor, and RMS current levels at different points in the system.
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/82
10.15368/theses.2009.53
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1092
2009-06-01T16:45:07Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Hyperspectral Image Compression Using a Two-Stage KLT
Schroeder, Seton S.
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
John Saghri
A computationally efficient, lossy, bandwidth compression scheme for hyperspectral imagery is presented. In certain cases, the direct application of the standard KLT algorithm over an entire data set is not practical. The data may be too large for efficient processing by one encoder and so portions of the entire data set may necessarily be sampled by different encoders. The algorithm proposed handles such a limitation by leveraging the standard JPEG 2000 technology. The component decorrelation of the JPEG 2000 (extension 2) is replaced with a two-stage Karhunen-Loeve Transformation (KLT) operation resulting in a reduction in the computational complexity. At the first stage the spectral data is partitioned into sets of adjacent spectral images, which are decorrelated independently of one another. At the second-stage inter-partition correlation is exploited by combining principle component images and performing a second set of KLT operations. It is shown that reconstructed image quality is improved by minimizing partition size at the first stage. The method is evaluated using the criteria of root-mean-square error as well as the performance of a terrain-classification algorithm. A relationship between partition size and minimal inter-partition decorrelation is also proposed and may act as a guide in the tuning of compression settings.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/85
10.15368/theses.2009.103
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1093
2009-06-02T04:25:04Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:rptamt
publication:theses
Does Student Leadership Participation Enhance the Development of Emotional Intelligence
Curro, Michelle Breanne
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management
Natural Resources Management
Jeffrey A. Jacobs
Emotional Intelligence
Students
Student Employment
Student Managers
Organizational Behavior and Theory
Emotional Intelligence is believed to explain how emotions may be used, monitored, and measured to predict workplace success and failure, the suggestion that if individuals can balance the emotions within themselves and others, they can use their skills to better their organization. This study explored the development of Emotional Intelligence in the ASI Student Manager Team in comparison to Student Government members at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) during the fall 2008 quarter. The Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i) was used to assess student leaders’ Emotional Intelligence (EI) development (N = 27). A two sample t-test was used to identify any significant difference in the Emotional Intelligence scores between the two groups. Findings indicated significant training effects on respondent’s scores when considering assertiveness, happiness, and empathy.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/84
10.15368/theses.2009.102
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1097
2009-06-05T08:30:11Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
A Study of Dempster-Shafer's Theory of Evidence in Comparison to Classical Probability Combination
Seims, Scott J
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
John Saghri
Other Electrical and Computer Engineering
ABSTRACT
A Study of Dempster-Shafer’s Theory of Evidence in Comparison to Classical Probability Combination
Scott J. Seims
This thesis is an assessment on the effectiveness of Dempster-Shafer’s Theory of Evidence in comparison to Classical Probabilistic Combination as it applies to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Automatic Target Recognition (ATR). A three feature based classifier (peaks, corners and edges) ATR system is presented. These classifiers are assumed to be independent. The results of both the weight-based Maximum Likelihood and Dempster-Shafer’s Theory of Evidence data fusion techniques are presented.
Using Dempster-Shafer an accuracy of 77.50 percent is obtained, which is less than the 86.25 percent accuracy of target-specific weight-based Maximum Likelihood[6]. Inagaki’s Unified Combination Rule is implemented as a means to increase SAR ATR accuracy and explore further modifications of Dempster-Shafer. Inagaki’s Unified Combination Rule contains Yager’s and Dempster’s Combination Rules as well as Inagaki’s Extra Rule[17][10]. The maximum accuracy achieved using Inagaki’s Unified Combination Rule was 75.00 percent.
It was concluded that this application lends itself better to classical probabilistic combination. Due to the single sensor (SAR) and the quasi-independence of the three feature based classifiers, Dempster-Shafer’s Theory of Evidence can not be utilized to its full potential.
This thesis is a continuation of Hausdorff Probabilistic Feature Analysis in SAR Image Recognition by Chessa Guilas[6]. Thesis research is directed by Dr. John A. Saghri and sponsored by Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems, El Segundo, California.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/89
10.15368/theses.2009.104
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1099
2009-06-09T00:27:04Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:rptamt
publication:theses
Mount San Jacinto State Park Visitor Attributes, Preferences, and Perceptions
Wassenberg, Katherine Elizabeth
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management
Natural Resources Management
William Hendricks
The purpose of the study was to assess Mount San Jacinto State Park visitor attributes, visit attributes, preferences, and perceptions. Visitor surveys were conducted at two predetermined points within Mount San Jacinto State Park Wilderness Area, the entrance to Long Valley and adjacent to the Long Valley Ranger Station, during summer 2008. Three hundred and seventy-eight subjects completed one of the two visitor surveys (97.68% response rate), 256 (67.7%) completed the Long Valley Survey and 122 (32.3%) completed the Wilderness Survey. The subjects were mostly male, married, from California, and White or Latino/Hispanic. The average age was 45 years old with some college education and relatively high levels of income (42.4% reported annual household incomes above $100,000). The mean number of previous park visits was 15 and the subjects visited the park an average of 3.74 times in 2008. The amount of time spent in the wilderness was an average of 4.68 hours. Most visitors participated in photography, wildlife viewing, shopping at the gift shop, bird watching, visiting the visitor center, eating at the snack bar, and hiking. The subjects agreed that conditions in the park are safe and that there are adequate ranger patrols. Wilderness visitors had significantly higher agreement scores for adequate ranger patrols, too many people at Mountain Station, and that they prefer to see fewer people in the park. The overall crowding mean score was slightly below “somewhat crowded” with Wilderness visitors reporting significantly higher levels of crowding than Long Valley visitors. Visitor perceptions of problems in the park were rated “not a problem” for all items; however, Wilderness visitors perceived encounters of large groups on a trail and restrooms needing cleaning to be more of a problem than was perceived by Long Valley visitors. Worn trails, side trails, and erosion along trails were the conditions most noticed by the subjects. Significantly more Wilderness visitors than Long Valley visitors noticed erosion along trails and tree root exposure on trails.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/91
10.15368/theses.2009.105
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1100
2009-06-09T03:15:31Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Synthetic Aperture Radar Imaging Simulated in MATLAB
Schlutz, Matthew
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
John Saghri
Radar
SAR
Synthetic Aperture Radar
Raytheon
MATLAB
Image Processing
Matched Filtering
Electromagnetics and Photonics
Signal Processing
Systems and Communications
This thesis further develops a method from ongoing thesis projects with the goal of generating images using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) simulations coded in MATLAB. The project is supervised by Dr. John Saghri and sponsored by Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems. SAR is a type of imaging radar in which the relative movement of the antenna with respect to the target is utilized. Through the simultaneous processing of the radar reflections over the movement of the antenna via the range Doppler algorithm (RDA), the superior resolution of a theoretical wider antenna, termed synthetic aperture, is obtained. The long term goal of this ongoing project is to develop a simulation in which realistic SAR images can be generated and used for SAR Automatic Target Recognition (ATR). Current and past Master’s theses on ATR were restricted to a small data set of Man-portable Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar (MSTAR) images as most SAR images for military ATR are not released for public use. Also, with an in-house SAR image generation scheme the parameters of noise, target orientation, the elevation angle or look angle to the antenna from the target and other parameters can be directly controlled and modified to best serve ATR purposes or other applications such as three-dimensional SAR holography.
At the start of the project in September 2007, the SAR simulation from previous Master’s theses was capable of simulating and imaging point targets in a two dimensional plane with limited mobility. The focus on improvements to this simulation through the course of this project was to improve the SAR simulation for applications to more complex two-dimensional targets and simple three-dimensional targets, such as a cube. The input to the simulation uses a selected two-dimensional, grayscale target image and generates from the input a two-dimensional target profile of reflectivity over the azimuth and range based on the intensity of the pixels in the target image. For three-dimensional simulations, multiple two-dimensional azimuth/range profiles are imported at different altitudes. The output from both the two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations is the SAR simulated and RDA processed image of the input target profile.
Future work on this ongoing project will include an algorithm to calculate line of sight limitations of point targets and processing optimization of the radar information generation implemented in the code so that more complex and realistic targets can be simulated and imaged using SAR for applications in ATR and 3D SAR holography.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/92
10.15368/theses.2009.106
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1102
2009-06-10T05:24:08Z
publication:theses
Spatial, Seasonal, and Size-Dependent Variation in the Diet of Sacramento Pikeminnow in the Main Stem of Chorro Creek, Central Coast California
Dugas, Brian G.
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
Natural Resources Management
James R. Vilkitis
Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis)
Biology
Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
This study examined the diet composition of ninety-nine Sacramento pikeminnow (150-410 mm [5.9-16 in] fork length [FL]) collected from the upper and lower main stem of Chorro Creek, Morro Bay Watershed, California in 2006. The goal of this study was to characterize the spatial and seasonal variability in the diet of Sacramento pikeminnow within Chorro Creek and to determine what proportion of the diet is represented by rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and their anadromous form (steelhead). Prey was identified in 88% of the samples collected in the early season and 84% of the samples collected in the late season. Fish and/or scales were identified in 12% of the samples collected. Sacramento pikeminnow consumed a wide variety of prey; the diversity of individual diets was higher in the lower main stem than the upper. Overall, diet diversity increased with Sacramento pikeminnow length. In both the early and late season, crayfish formed the largest part of the diet of large Sacramento pikeminnow (>250 mm [9.8 in]). There was a slight increase in the proportion of fish in the diet during the late season, and tendency for cannibalism which was primarily observed in the upper main stem of Chorro Creek. In summary, the overall results of this study support the conclusion that Sacramento pikeminnow are not significant predators of O. mykiss in natural stream conditions. However, conclusions about the ability of Sacramento pikeminnow in Chorro Creek to reduce O. mykiss populations will require further information on the prey selection of Sacramento pikeminnow when juvenile O. mykiss and adult pikeminnow are abundant.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/94
10.15368/theses.2009.108
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1107
2009-06-11T00:30:30Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
General Direction Routing Protocol
Lydon, Sean Michael
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Hugh M. Smith
Networking
Wireless Sensor Networks
GPS
Digital Communications and Networking
The General Direction Routing Protocol (GDRP) is a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN)
multi-path routing protocol which abstracts localization information (commonly GPS
coordinates) into relative direction information in order to perform routing decisions. By
generating relative direction information GDRP is able to operate with fewer precision
requirements than other protocols. This abstraction also allows the integration of other emerging
hardware-based localization techniques, for example, Beamforming Sensor Arrays.
GDRP does not specifically address the next hop a packet should take, but instead specifies a
direction it should travel. This direction abstraction allows for multiple paths to be taken through
the network thus enhancing network robustness to node mobility and failures. This indirect
addressing scheme also provides a solution to sensor node unique identification.
GDRP is simulated in a custom simulator written in Java. This simulator supports interfaces
for multiple protocols for layers 1, 2, 3, and 7 of the OSI model. For performance comparisons,
GDRP is compared against multiple WSN routing protocols. GDRP operates with a significantly
lower setup cost in terms of bytes transmitted and a lower setup latency for networks of varying
sizes. It also demonstrates an exponentially lower routing cost when compared to another multi-
path routing protocol due to a more efficient packet propagation in the network.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/97
10.15368/theses.2009.111
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1109
2009-06-11T17:54:59Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Internet-Scale Reactive Routing and Mobility
Nelson, Daniel B
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
John Bellardo
Reactive Routing
BGP
DNS
Locator-Identifier Split
Mobility
Digital Communications and Networking
Since its commercialization, the Internet has grown exponentially. A large variety of devices can communicate creating advanced services for a diverse ecosystem of applications. However, as the number of Internet hosts has grown, the size of routing tables required to correctly route data between them has also increased exponentially. This growth rate necessitates increasingly frequent upgrades to routing device hardware, providing them with additional memory for fast-access storage of route information. These upgrades are both physically and fiscally untenable, and a new Internet routing solution is necessary for future growth.
This research focuses around an incrementally deployable, reactive routing system that is scalable to projected Internet growth. It requires no hardware or software updates to Internet routers, and offoads processing to end hosts and the network's edge. Within this framework, routers can make accurate decisions about optimal data paths; incurring no increase in path length over the current routing system.
A new architecture for IP Mobility is considered as a case study within this routing system, and compared with existing standards and implementations. The new architecture eliminates the triangle routing problem, while providing legacy hosts with connectivity to mobile devices. This mobility solution can integrate with a variety of hierarchical reactive routing systems with little overhead.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/100
10.15368/theses.2009.57
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1110
2009-07-08T00:09:44Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:crpmt
publication:theses
City of Patterson Sustainability Plan
Clarke, Colin Brian
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
Master of City and Regional Planning
City and Regional Planning
Adrienne Greve
sustainability
plan
climate change
planning
energy
green building
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
This Master’s Thesis / Professional Project is a Sustainability Plan developed for the City of Patterson, California. The Patterson Sustainability Plan (PSP) was developed concurrently with the General Plan Update, and will be presented to the City for adoption within a year. The Sustainability Plan will help inform decision-making by way of its Goals and Actions for implementation to improve community sustainability. Before the plan was developed, background research was conducted that included a Best Practices Review to assess what other cities are doing to address sustainability, a Needs Assessment to evaluate existing conditions in Patterson and determine its unique strengths and challenges to improving sustainability, and a Policy Audit which includes an inventory and analysis of existing General Plan goals, objectives, policies, and programs supporting sustainability.
2010-06-11T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/99
10.15368/theses.2009.113
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1111
2009-06-11T23:22:28Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:crpmt
publication:theses
Orizaba Urban Design Plan
Kelly, Timothy J
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
Master of City and Regional Planning
City and Regional Planning
Umut Toker
Orizaba
Long Beach
Urban Design Plan
The site area for the Orizaba Design District is located in central Long Beach, California. Historically the physical development of the area has been heavily influenced by the existence of the Pacific Electric Railroad, which has a right-of-way running diagonally through the site. With the existence of the railroads, as well as the Districts proximity to the Port of Long Beach and major thoroughfares, the area has developed as an industrial site.
Despite the industrial nature of the area, starting in 2007 a small group of creative business owners, including architects, graphic designers, interior designers, and others, started to locate in the District, mainly along Coronado and Gladys Avenues. This private investment spurred further development and led to the identification of the site as having the potential to grow into a unique Design District.
Based on these realities, the Orizaba Urban Design Plan seeks to provide conceptual and design principles that will provide the City of Long Beach and local business owners with insight into development opportunities. The Plan envisions Orizaba has a safe, pedestrian friendly District that builds on the existing character of the City. To accomplish this, the Plan incorporates elements of site analysis and community meetings into conceptual development, which is further refined to create Plan objectives. The Plan objectives address elements of land use and circulation and explore ways the District can utilize sustainable design principles, particularly Low Impact Development. Finally, form-based codes incorporate Plan objectives into clearly defined design standards. The standards, which address elements of building envelopes, streetscape, visual quality, signage and wayfinding, and street furniture, are provided to aid in implementation and the realization of the District’s potential.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/98
10.15368/theses.2009.112
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1114
2020-06-23T19:09:03Z
publication:theses
Effect of Starter Cultures on Lactobacillus acidophilus Survival and Gene Expression in Yogurt
Ng, Elizabeth W
2009-05-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Dairy Products Technology
Phillip S. Tong
College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences
<p>Probiotics, especially Lactobacillus acidophilus, strains have increasingly been incorporated into food products as dietary adjuncts due to their purported health benefits. Dairy products, especially yogurt, are frequently used as probiotic delivery systems. To realize therapeutic effects, it is important to consume a high amount of probiotics. However, maintaining a sufficient amount of viable probiotics in yogurt throughout the shelf life has been a challenge as starter cultures have shown to possess some deleterious effects on probiotic survival. The main objective of this thesis project was to determine the extent of antagonistic effects imposed by yogurt starter cultures (Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus) and their metabolic products on the survival of five different L. acidophilus strains designated as ATCC700396, LA-5, NCFM, PIM703 and SBT2062. These probiotic strains were incorporated as adjuncts in yogurts, which were made with and without starter cultures. To simulate pH reduction in regular yogurt, yogurt without starter cultures was manufactured by adding an acidulant (glucono-delta-lactone). The pH of both yogurts was approximately 4.6 throughout the 28-day storage period at 4°C. Viable cell counts of the probiotic strains were enumerated weekly on a selective medium (MRS-maltose agar). While cell count of L. acidophilus PIM703 and SBT2062 remained steady (~6 x 107 CFU/g) in yogurt with starter cultures during storage period, the survival of ATCC700396 and NCFM was reduced significantly (p < 0.05) by 3 log and 4.6 log, respectively. In contrast, in yogurt without starter cultures, all L. acidophilus strains survived well with a maximum of 1-log reduction. Our results indicated that while the presence of starter cultures (especially L. delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus) had a negative effect on the survival of some probiotic strains, low pH was not an important factor impairing their viable cell counts. In addition to survival studies, gene expression of selected stress genes (dnaK and groEL) was determined using semi-quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. This preliminary study demonstrated the important of dnaK in L. acidophilus NCFM to maintain its viability under various stress in yogurt during refrigerated storage period. These studies underscore the selection criteria of probiotic strains in fermented food should include their abilities to coexist with the starter cultures. Our future work is to provide a better understanding of strain differences in survival of probiotics in yogurt.</p>
2010-06-12T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/103
10.15368/theses.2009.41
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1113
2009-06-12T21:05:23Z
publication:theses
Solar Power for Deployment in Populated Areas
Hicks, Nathan Andrew
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Craig Baltimore
solar thermal energy
concentrating solar power
flutter
open frame structure
roof response spectrum
performance-based design
Architectural Engineering
The thesis presents background on solar thermal energy and addresses the structural challenges associated with the deployment of concentrating solar power fields in urban areas. Two potential structural systems and urban locales of deployment are proposed and investigated to determine whether they have the potential to be a cost-effective renewable energy solution for urban areas. The structural issues explored in the thesis include flutter, the wind loading of open frame structures, performance-based design, and the design of flexibly mounted equipment on a building.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/141
10.15368/theses.2009.89
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1118
2009-06-16T02:22:03Z
publication:archmt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:arcemt
publication:theses
Substituting Residential Rainwater Harvesting and Greywater Reuse for Public Water Supply: Tools for Evaluating the Public Cost
Ferguson, Jennifer L
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Architecture
Jens Pohl
rainwater harvesting
greywater reuse
valuing water
sustainable
energy
Greenhouse Gas
Environmental Design
Other Architecture
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
The intent of this project is to provide tools for public administrators to implement and evaluate the cost of an alternative on-site residential water supply using rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse in their jurisdiction. These tools are then applied to the city of San Luis Obispo (SLO), California as a case study to demonstrate how rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse could be implemented to supply all residential potable and non-potable water needs, completely replacing the current centralized publicly-managed water system. Further, energy and direct fiscal costs of the alternative system are compared with the current system. A cost analysis is crucial given that sustainability is heavily linked to appropriately valuing a resource and increasing the visibility of same to the public. Pursuing sustainable water supply options is particularly important given critical water shortages and the need to decouple the energy/water equation in pursuit of reducing energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
A decision tree and other tools were developed as part of this project for use by public administrators to determine the site-specific scope of an alternative residential water supply system. For example, a key question is the capacity of such a system to supply both potable and non-potable water needs. These tools were applied to single family (SF) residences in the case study city of SLO and resulted in an alternative residential system capable of completely substituting for public water supply. Implementation requires a major adjustment of indoor water demand from the SLO average of 55 gallons per capita per day (gpcd) to a ‘best practice’ water conservation mode of 27 gpcd, including a greywater reuse system for irrigation and toilet flushing.
With demand held constant, the costs of the alternative on-site residential water supply system were then compared to the costs of the current centralized public water system for both the municipality and the consumer in SF residences in SLO. The public water supply costs were based on overall budgeted costs, including implementing a new project the city is partially financing for conveying Nacimiento Reservoir water to SLO. Consumer-billed costs include expected price increases proposed for the next year by the City largely due to the addition of the Nacimiento project. The volumetrically apportioned municipal water supply cost ($0.0049/gallon) is 37% lower than that billed to the consumer ($0.0078/gallon), but the wastewater processing cost for the City ($0.0125/gallon) is 39% greater than that billed to the consumer ($0.0076/gallon). Thus the combined water supply and wastewater processing costs for the City are only 4% greater than that billed to residential customers. It is notable that the City intends to significantly increase water prices billed to customers over the next several years which would shift the cost analysis in favor of the alternative system.
The alternative system costs were based on operating costs (such as electricity) and the cost of the installed components of the system averaged yearly according to the life of the parts (10-50 years). The municipal cost for water supply ($0.0049/gallon) was 55% less than the cost for the alternative system ($0.0111/gallon), but the cost savings of wastewater processing using the alternative system ($0.0086/gallon) is 31% less than the municipal cost ($0.0125/gallon). The alternative systems savings are mostly a result of on-site greywater reuse for irrigation and indicate the scope of the immediate fiscal benefit to the municipality to substitute residential greywater systems for current public wastewater services. To calculate the overall cost difference in terms of both water supply and wastewater costs, the total costs used are as if all SF residences in SLO used the system. Overall, the municipal costs for combined water supply and wastewater processing ($4,137,598/yr) were 20% less than the alternative decentralized on-site system ($5,376,735/yr).
The cost to the consumer for current water supply through the public water system ($0.0078/gallon) is 29% lower than the proposed alternative system ($0.0111/gallon). The wastewater processing cost to the consumer ($0.0076) is also 11% less than that of the alternative system ($0.0086/gallon). On this basis, the consumer cost using expected billing rates ($4,137,598) is 23% lower using the public water system than the cost of the alternative system ($5,376,735). Expected water and sewer rate increases may skew these results in favour of the alternative system where it is viable for the consumer to completely replace their water system and remove their household off the public water system to their financial benefit.
The overall energy for water supply and wastewater processing used by the public water system was 34% lower (1,216,849 kWh/yr) than the alternative system (1,855,894 kWh/yr). The alternative on-site system’s electrically-driven pump is mostly responsible for this energy use and could be virtually eliminated by using gravity feed, as is common in many parts of the world currently using rainwater harvesting technology. Solar energy is also an effective solution to eliminate fossil-fuel based electricity.
From a fiscal perspective, the alternative system costs are inflated given that an expected drop in supply cost would likely ensue with the economies of scale gained if an entire city was purchasing equipment for the alternative systems. This could override the results of the study showing the alternative system’s 20-23% higher fiscal cost than current public water system. Considering the ‘no fossil-fuel’ energy alternatives and the expected significant drop in supply cost with large scale purchasing, the alternative system provides a promising alternative residential water supply for SLO.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/109
10.15368/theses.2009.65
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1123
2009-06-17T00:06:03Z
publication:aeromt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of an Extreme Aspect Ratio HALE UAV
Morrisey, Bryan J
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Rob McDonald
MDO
HALE
UAV
Solar
Aircraft
Optimization
Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics
Aeronautical Vehicles
Other Aerospace Engineering
Power and Energy
Propulsion and Power
Structures and Materials
Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
ABSTRACT
Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of an Extreme Aspect Ratio HALE UAV
Bryan J. Morrisey
Development of High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) aircraft systems is part of a vision for a low cost communications/surveillance capability. Applications of a multi payload aircraft operating for extended periods at stratospheric altitudes span military and civil genres and support battlefield operations, communications, atmospheric or agricultural monitoring, surveillance, and other disciplines that may currently require satellite-based infrastructure. Presently, several development efforts are underway in this field, including a project sponsored by DARPA that aims at producing an aircraft that can sustain flight for multiple years and act as a pseudo-satellite. Design of this type of air vehicle represents a substantial challenge because of the vast number of engineering disciplines required for analysis, and its residence at the frontier of energy technology.
The central goal of this research was the development of a multidisciplinary tool for analysis, design, and optimization of HALE UAVs, facilitating the study of a novel configuration concept. Applying design ideas stemming from a unique WWII-era project, a “pinned wing” HALE aircraft would employ self-supporting wing segments assembled into one overall flying wing. The research effort began with the creation of a multidisciplinary analysis environment comprised of analysis modules, each providing information about a specific discipline. As the modules were created, attempts were made to validate and calibrate the processes against known data, culminating in a validation study of the fully integrated MDA environment. Using the NASA / AeroVironment Helios aircraft as a basis for comparison, the included MDA environment sized a vehicle to within 5% of the actual maximum gross weight for generalized Helios payload and mission data. When wrapped in an optimization routine, the same integrated design environment shows potential for a 17.3% reduction in weight when wing thickness to chord ratio, aspect ratio, wing loading, and power to weight ratio are included as optimizer-controlled design variables.
Investigation of applying the sustained day/night mission requirement and improved technology factors to the design shows that there are potential benefits associated with a segmented or pinned wing. As expected, wing structural weight is reduced, but benefits diminish as higher numbers of wing segments are considered. For an aircraft consisting of six wing segments, a maximum of 14.2% reduction in gross weight over an advanced technology optimal baseline is predicted.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/113
10.15368/theses.2009.69
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1124
2009-06-17T01:17:54Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Energetic Path Finding Across Massive Terrain Data
Tsui, Andrew N
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Zoë Wood
Graphics
Massive Data
AI
GIS
Archaeological Anthropology
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
Before there were airplanes, cars, trains, boats, or bicycles, the primary means of transportation was on foot. Unfortunately, many of the trails used by ancient travelers have long since been abandoned. We present a software tool which can help visualize and predict where these forgotten trails might lie through the use of a human-centered cost metric. By comparing the paths generated by our software with known historical trails, we demonstrate how the tool can indicate likely trails used by ancient travelers. In addition, this new tool provides novel visualizations to better help the user understand alternate paths, effect of terrain, and nearby areas of interest. Such a tool could be used by archaeologists and historians to better visualize and understand the terrain and paths around sites of historical interest.
This thesis is a continuation of previous work, with emphasis on the ability to generate paths which traverse several thousand kilometers. To accomplish this, various graph simplification and path approximation algorithms are explored to construct a real-time path finding algorithm. To this end, we show that it is possible to restrict the search space for a path finding algorithm while not disrupting accuracy. Combined with a multi-threaded variant of Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm, we present a tool capable of traversing the contiguous US, a dataset containing over 19 billion datapoints, in under three hours on a 2.5 Ghz dual core processor. The tool is demonstrated on several examples which show the potential archaeological and historical applicability, and provide avenues for future improvements.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/111
10.15368/theses.2009.67
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1125
2009-06-17T16:32:06Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
A Graphical Approach to Testing Real-Time Embedded Devices
Day, Steven M
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Tim Kearns
Hardware Systems
Software Testing is both a vital and expensive part of the software development lifecycle. Improving the testing process has the potential for large returns. Current testing methodologies used to test real-time embedded devices are examined and the weaknesses in them are exposed. This leads to the introduction of a new graphical testing methodology based on flowcharts. The new approach is both a visual test creation program and an automated execution engine that together frame a new way of testing. The new methodology incorporates flow-based diagrams, visual layouts, and simple execution rules to improve upon traditional testing approaches. The new methodology is evaluated against other methodologies and is shown to provide significant improvements in the area of software testing.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/114
10.15368/theses.2009.70
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1128
2009-06-17T21:17:05Z
publication:theses
The Effect of Particle Surface Area to Volume Ratio on Ion Release from CoCr Spheres
Grandfield, Darin J
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering - Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering
Trevor Harding
CoCr
Cobalt Chromium Alloy
Orthopaedic Implant
Corrosion
Ion Dissociation
Kinetics
Biology and Biomimetic Materials
Biomaterials
In 2005, over 200,000 Americans underwent a hip arthroplasty, the replacement of a hip joint with an artificial prosthesis. Of these arthroplasties, metal-on-metal type implants represent an increasing usage percentage. Metal-on-metal implants are selected largely for their low volumetric wear rate, durability, and resistance to corrosion. In spite of these advantages, little is known concerning the long-term consequences of heavy metal alloy use in the body, although early research indicates potentially carcinogenic results. This thesis is a preliminary investigation into these long term effects and their root causes.
An improved comprehension of the corrosion kinetics and the rate of ion production from the high surface energy wear debris released by implant articulation can assist in illustrating the relative clinical significance of exposure to these metallic bodies over time. This thesis primarily focuses on developing a test methodology for the detection and analysis of ion dissociation in simulated body fluids. In order to validate this test methodology, the ion dissociation rates and surface characteristics of several predetermined diameters of cobalt chromium alloy spherical particles were analyzed.
The effect of changing particle diameter, and thus surface area to volume ratio, on ion dissociation rate was determined to be significant when not affected by localized agglomeration. Additionally, preferential corrosion of cobalt within individual grains was observed and correlated to elevated cobalt concentrations in the electrolyte. These results suggest that ion dissociation kinetics for true wear particles can be determined through the refinement and application of the methodology developed.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/119
10.15368/theses.2009.75
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1130
2009-06-18T01:21:08Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Prestressing Concrete with Shape Memory Alloy Fibers
Orvis, Skye M
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Daniel C. Jansen
Shape Memory Alloy
Nitinol
Prestressed Concrete
Civil Engineering
Engineering
Structural Engineering
Concrete is considerably stronger in compression than it is in tension. When cracks form in concrete members, the flexural stiffness of the member decreases and the deflection increases which increases the overall size of the member. Prestressing concrete remedies this problem by inducing a compressive stress in the concrete thereby reducing the net tension in the member and increasing the load required to crack the member. Traditional prestressing is generally limited to large, straight members. During the last decade, shape memory alloys (SMA) have become more prevalent in engineering and civil engineering applications. The shape memory effect refers to the contraction of the SMA when it is heated to its austenite phase. When a prestrain is induced in the SMA, it can be recovered when it goes through the phase change. Nitinol, a NiTi shape memory alloy was used in this research. Thin, steel cables were also tested to provide a comparison. Two different Nitinol alloys were studied in this research. The alloy M wires were elongated to 8% stain while the alloy X wires were prestrained by the manufacturer. The wires were cast into thin concrete beams and once cured, the beams were heated and a phase change from martensite to austenite occurred in the Nitinol. As a result, the Nitinol contracted and compressed the concrete. The SMA fibers are randomly oriented and allow prestressing to occur along all three axis. This is ideal for thin, curved specimens. Third-point bending tests showed that the SMA fibers prestressed the concrete and upon reheating the cracked specimens, the shape memory effect provides partial crack closure.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/120
10.15368/theses.2009.76
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1131
2009-06-18T05:25:46Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Boundless Fluids Using the Lattice-Boltzmann Method
Haughey, Kyle J
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Zoe J. Wood
fluid simulation
lattice-boltzmann
lbm
blender
run-length encoding
rle
Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
Computer-generated imagery is ubiquitous in today's society, appearing in advertisements, video games, and computer-animated movies among other places. Much of this imagery needs to be as realistic as possible, and animators have turned to techniques such as fluid simulation to create scenes involving substances like smoke, fire, and water. The Lattice-Boltzmann Method (LBM) is one fluid simulation technique that has gained recent popularity due to its relatively simple basic algorithm and the ease with which it can be distributed across multiple processors. Unfortunately, current LBM simulations also suffer from high memory usage and restrict free surface fluids to domains of fixed size. This thesis modifies the LBM to utilize a recursive run-length-encoded (RLE) grid data structure instead of the standard fixed array of grid cells, which reduces the amount of memory required for LBM simulations as well as allowing the domain to grow and shrink as necessary to accomodate a liquid surface. The modified LBM is implemented within the open-source 3D animation package Blender and compared to Blender's current LBM simulator using the metrics of memory usage and time required to complete a given simulation. Results show that, although the RLE-based simulator can take several times longer than the current simulator to complete a given simulation, the memory usage is significantly reduced, making an RLE-based simulation preferable in a few specific circumstances.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/117
10.15368/theses.2009.73
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1135
2009-06-19T19:46:54Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:crpmt
publication:theses
Santa Barbara Tea Fire Multi-Hazard Mitigation Benefit Cost Analysis
Flamm, David S
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
Master of City and Regional Planning
City and Regional Planning
Mike Boswell
Hazard Mitigation
Benefit Cost Analysis
loss Avoidance
Land Acquisition
Urban, Community and Regional Planning
ABSTRACT
Santa Barbara Tea Fire Multi-Hazard Mitigation Benefit Cost Analysis
David S Flamm
This study examines the benefits and costs associated with the outright purchase of properties for hazard mitigation (“property acquisition mitigation”) in Santa Barbara, California which reduced four properties’ exposure to multiple hazards. The results indicate that the estimated overall benefit-cost ratio for property acquisition mitigation projects is 1.75:1 when the exposed properties meet a threshold of eminent threat for total loss. This study further suggests that when property acquisitions are performed in an area threatened by multiple hazards the mitigation becomes two to three times more beneficial than in an area threatened by a single hazard. Possible implications and future benefits associated with this mitigation and mitigations like this are also explored.
Multi-hazard mitigation is an action taken to reduce or eliminate long-term risks from natural or human-caused hazards. A hazard is any condition or event with the potential to cause fatalities, injuries, property damage, infrastructure damage, economic interruptions, environmental damage, or other loss. The study area for the Tea Fire BCA (Benefit Cost Analysis) is subject to multiple hazards, primarily landslides, wildfires, and earthquakes.
In an attempt to reduce the exposure to landslides a mitigation project was completed in 1998. This project included purchase of four properties by the City of Santa Barbara using federal and local funds. The undeveloped properties were left empty as open space to eliminate the exposure to risk. The project, originally intended to mitigate landslide risk, mitigated risk exposure to multiple hazards. The mitigation was put to the test during the Santa Barbara Tea Fire, a wildfire which burned approximately 2,000 acres of Santa Barbara County land in November, 2008.
The following steps were followed to determine the overall loss avoidance:
1. Obtain building values before mitigation
2. Obtain current comparable building values
3. Determine burn recurrence in study area
4. Obtain fire damage estimates from FEMA BCA tool based on “before mitigation” building and contents values
5. Calculate “loss avoidance” and adjust for inflation using FEMA BCA tool
6. Add additional avoided losses not considered in BCA (e.g., emergency management costs)
7. Subtract new losses resulting from the project
8. Determine multi-hazard recurrence in study area
Keywords: Hazard Mitigation, Benefit Cost Analysis, Loss Avoidance.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/124
10.15368/theses.2009.79
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1136
2009-07-22T19:03:46Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Do Canines Experience the Effects of Heart Rate Turbulence?
Gurunathan, Melanie Ann
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
Robert Crockett
Heart Rate Turbulence
HRT
Cardiac
PVC
Pre-Ventricular Contractions
Other Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
<p><b>Background</b></p>
<p>The canine cardiac system has been the model against which many Class III cardiac devices are validated. Thus, it is expected that the canine heart has very similar electrical model to that found in humans. In 1999, the absence of Heart Rate Turbulence (HRT) after a single Pre-Ventricular Contraction (PVC) was linked to high-risk patient after acute myocardial infarction. Studies of HRT were performed on high-risk patients with Holter-Monitors as were most subsequent HRT studies. If HRT could potentially be used as a risk factor of heart disease, it is
interesting to study whether HRT is present following a PVC in otherwise healthy canines.</p>
<p><b>Methods</p></b>
<p>For multiple months, five non-medicated, healthy canines were chronically monitored from between 1 and 8 sessions each. At each session, the canines were ventricularly paced to induce PVCs. Electrical signals, as seen through both a right-ventricular lead and Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals, were captured and analyzed to determine whether the canines displayed HRT
following each induced PVC. As a contrasting data set, for the majority of the canines, data was also collected once the canines were sedated. </p>
<p><b>Results</p></b>
HRT was noted in all non-medicated and healthy canines. Of the two factors of HRT (slope and onset), TS was the most prominent indicator of HRT. In each canine, the slope was far greater than the 2.5 ms per RR interval threshold varying from 9.8 to 68.8 ms per RR interval. The
onset was marked as HRT (onset less than 0%) in 22 of the 26 session. Additional data was analyzed for healthy yet medicated canines showed that sedation affected HRT, but that HRT was generally noted.</p>
<b><p>Conclusion</p></b>
<p>The canine model displayed a similar HRT characteristic as humans during normal and parasympathetic inhibited states. The presence of HRT in canines is most reliable when using TS. Further study in this area with naturally occurring PVCs would be of interest.</p>
2009-07-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/132
10.15368/theses.2009.84
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1139
2009-06-25T19:03:03Z
publication:aeromt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Shielding Effectiveness of Superalloy, Aluminum, and Mumetal Shielding Tapes
Cheung, Cindy Suit
2009-04-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Eric Mehiel
Shielding
Effectiveness
Aluminum
Mumetal
Superalloy
Nomographs
Aerospace Engineering
Electromagnetics and Photonics
Metallurgy
Other Engineering
Systems Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
Using MIL-HDBK-419A, MATLAB and Nomographs, Shielding Effectiveness for the Magnetic Field, Electric Field, and Plane Wave were calculated over a frequency range from 10 Hz to 1 GHz. The three shielding tapes used included superalloy, aluminum, and mumetal. Calculations for Shielding Effectiveness involve the computation of Absorption Loss, Reflection Loss, and Re-Reflection Correction Factor. From the outcome of the calculations, it was suitable to conclude that all three metals fulfill the 40 dB Shielding Effectiveness requirements for SGEMP fields for frequencies greater or equal to 1 MHz. Accordingly, all three shielding tapes provide at least 40 dB of shielding to protect certain frequencies against SGEMP Magnetic Field. However, results vary for frequencies below 1 MHz.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/126
10.15368/theses.2009.31
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1140
2009-07-01T19:16:21Z
publication:gradres
publication:memt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Cost Minimization for Hot Gas Defrost System
Dansilasirithavorn, Jarubutr
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Jesse Maddren
Frost accumulation on evaporator coils has been a serious problem that decreases the efficiency of refrigeration systems. Many defrost methods have been used and hot gas defrost is the most common for industrial refrigeration applications. However, it is not a simple task to run an efficient hot gas defrost system. The duration and frequency of the defrost cycle should be properly determined so that the frost is melted but no additional heat transfer is transferred to the refrigerated space.
An experimental investigation was conducted at the Classic Salads Facility in Salinas, California. A single coil was instrumented to study frost build up and defrost during normal operation.
The finite difference method is used to numerically model the temperature of the coil during a defrost cycle. A separate model was developed to determine the pressure drop across evaporator coil with and without frost. Both models are used to determine the presence of frost on the coil tested at Classic Salads.
The pressure drop data did not show an increase in the pressure drop over time, indicating there was no frost accumulation during testing at Classic Salads. Also, comparison between the finite difference model and the experimental temperature data indicate that there was minimal frost. These results indicate that energy savings could be achieved if an accurate defrost termination was implemented.
2019-10-22T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/144
10.15368/theses.2009.91
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1143
2009-07-09T18:47:54Z
publication:aeromt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
On-Board Orbit Determination and 3-Axis Attitude Determination for Picosatellite Applications
Bowen, John Arthur
2009-07-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Jordi Puig-Suari
orbit determination
attitude determination
CubeSat
picosatellite
IGRF
TRIAD
Navigation, Guidance, Control and Dynamics
Space Vehicles
This thesis outlines an orbit determination and 3-axis attitude determination system for use on orbit as applicable to 1U CubeSats and other picosatellites. The constraints imposed by the CubeSat form factor led to the need for a simple configuration and relaxed accuracy requirements. To design a system within the tight mass, volume, and power constraints inherent to CubeSats, a balance between hardware complexity, software complexity and accuracy is sought. The proposed solution consists of a simple orbit propagator, magnetometers with a magnetic field look-up table, Sun sensors with an analytic Sun direction model, and the TRIAD method to combine vector observations into attitude information. The orbit propagator is a simple model of a circular trajectory with several frequently updated parameters and can provide orbital position data with average and maximum errors—when compared to SGP4—of less than 3.7km and 10.7km for 14 days. The magnetic field look up table provides useful information from a small memory footprint; only 480 data points provide a mean error of approximately 0.2° and a maximum error of approximately 2°—when compared to the IGRF model. The Sun’s direction is modeled, and as expected, can be modeled simply and accurately. Combining the magnetic field and Sun direction models with inaccurate sensors and the TRIAD method results in useful attitude information from a very simple system. A system with Sun sensor error standard deviation of 1° and magnetometer error standard deviation of 5° yields results with average error of only 2.74°, and 99% of the errors in this case are less than approximately 13°. The system outlined provides crude attitude determination with software and hardware requirements that are well within the capabilities of current 1U CubeSats—something that many other systems, such as Kalman filters or star trackers, cannot do. It also provides an excellent starting point for future ADCS systems, which will significantly increase the ability of CubeSats.
2009-07-09T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/131
10.15368/theses.2009.114
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1148
2009-07-23T15:47:27Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Facility Power Usage Prediction with Artificial Neural Networks
Wan, Sunny
2009-07-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Helen Yu
Residential and commercial buildings accounted for about 68% of the total U.S. electricity consumption in 2002. Improving the energy efficiency of buildings can save energy, reduce cost, and protect the global environment.
In this research, artificial neural network is employed to model and predict the facility power usage of campus buildings. The prediction is based on the building and the weather conditions such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc. Various neural network configurations are discussed; satisfactory computer simulation results are obtained and presented.
2011-07-23T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/135
10.15368/theses.2009.115
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1149
2009-07-24T07:23:42Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
A System for Natural Language Unmarked Clausal Transformations in Text-to-Text Applications
Miller, Daniel
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Franz Kurfess
Natural Language Processing
Natural Language
Information Retrieval
Other Computer Engineering
A system is proposed which separates clauses from complex sentences into simpler stand-alone sentences. This is useful as an initial step on raw text, where the resulting processed text may be fed into text-to-text applications such as Automatic Summarization, Question Answering, and Machine Translation, where complex sentences are difficult to process. Grammatical natural language transformations provide a possible method to simplify complex sentences to enhance the results of text-to-text applications. Using shallow parsing, this system improves the performance of existing systems to identify and separate marked and unmarked embedded clauses in complex sentence structure resulting in syntactically simplified source for further processing.
2009-07-24T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/137
10.15368/theses.2009.87
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1150
2009-07-29T05:52:47Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Extraction of Causal-Association Networks from Unstructured Text Data
Bojduj, Brett N
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Franz J. Kurfess
causality
text mining
Computer Engineering
Causality is an expression of the interactions between variables in a system. Humans often explicitly express causal relations through natural language, so extracting these relations can provide insight into how a system functions. This thesis presents a system that uses a grammar parser to extract causes and effects
from unstructured text through a simple, pre-defined grammar pattern. By filtering out non-causal sentences before the extraction process begins, the presented
methodology is able to achieve a precision of 85.91% and a recall of 73.99%. The polarity of the extracted relations is then classified using a Fisher classifier. The result is a set of directed relations of causes and effects, with polarity as either increasing or decreasing. These relations can then be used to create networks of causes and effects. This “Causal-Association Network” (CAN) can be used to aid decision-making in complex domains such as economics or medicine, that rely upon dynamic interactions between many variables.
2010-07-28T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/138
10.15368/theses.2009.88
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1152
2009-07-29T20:25:16Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:hcsmt
publication:theses
Plant Growth Regulator Sprays and Girdling: Potential Horticultural Techniques to Increase Fruit Retention and Yield of Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) Trees in California
Graves, Leila Anne
2009-07-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Crop Science
Horticulture and Crop Science
Lauren Garner
Plant Growth Regulator
Girdling
Increase Fruit Retention
Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.)
Agronomy and Crop Sciences
Other Plant Sciences
Abstract
Plant Growth Regulator Sprays and Girdling:
Potential Horticultural Techniques to
Increase Fruit Retention and Yield of Longan (Dimocarpus longan Lour.) Trees in California
Leila Graves
June 2009
The longan is a subtropical fruit tree whose popularity is growing quickly among American consumers, and thus, could become a lucrative niche market for California growers. Trees planted as part of an initial variety trial conducted in commercial California orchards are beginning to bear fruit. However, fruit retention and yields are low due to excessive abscission during early fruit set. Horticultural techniques, such as plant growth regulator (PGR) sprays and girdling, often increase fruit retention and yield of fruit tree crops, though effects are typically dependent on treatment timing and PGR concentration. The objective of this study was to identify PGR and girdling techniques that result in increased longan fruit retention. The experiment was conducted in a commercial orchard using a randomized complete block design with whole-tree experimental units and five replications per treatment. Treatments included foliar applications of two synthetic auxins, 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) at 20, 60, or 100 ppm or 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at 5, 25, or 45 ppm, each applied during early or late fruit set. Girdling was also conducted at early or late fruit set, for a total of 15 treatments, including an untreated control. Factors examined at harvest included fruit number and mass per inflorescence and individual fruit mass and diameter. During the on-crop year, a significant increase in the number and mass of fruit per inflorescence was observed in response to 25 ppm 2,4-D applied at late fruit set, as compared to the control. Despite this increase in fruit number, 25 ppm 2,4-D applied at late fruit set did not result in decreased diameter and mass of individual fruit. Late fruit set applications of 25 ppm 2,4-D appear to mitigate the effects of alternate bearing in the off-crop year. Fruit abscission during early and/or late fruit set decreased in response to 5 ppm 2,4-D at early fruit set, 25 or 45 ppm 2,4-D at early or late fruit set, or 100 ppm NAA at early fruit set. Fruit loss occurred as a result of Santa Ana winds during both growing seasons. Neither leaf nor fruit nutrient concentrations of treated trees were significantly different from that of untreated controls. Results indicate that properly-timed PGR applications have the potential to be used commercially to increase yield and profit to longan growers in California.
2009-07-29T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/140
10.15368/theses.2009.118
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1157
2009-08-25T05:25:05Z
publication:theses
Development of a Low Cost Handheld Microfluidic Phosphate Colorimeter for Water Quality Analysis
Kaylor, Sean C
2009-08-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering - Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering
Linda Vanasupa
microfluidics
colorimeter
orthophosphate
polydimethylsiloxane
lab on a chip
Electro-Mechanical Systems
Semiconductor and Optical Materials
This thesis describes the design, fabrication, and testing process for a microfluidic phosphate colorimeter utilized for water quality analysis. The device can be powered by, and interfaced for data collection with, a common cell phone or laptop to dramatically reduce costs. Unlike commercially available colorimeters, this device does not require the user to measure or mix sample and reagent. A disposable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluid chip, powered by an absorption pumping mechanism, was used to draw water samples, mix the sample at a specific ratio with a molybdovanadate reagent, and load both fluids into an onboard cuvette for colorimetric analysis. A series of capillary retention valves, channels, and diffusion pumping surfaces passively controls the microfluidic chip so that no user input is required. The microfluidic chip was fabricated using a modified SU-8 soft lithography process to produce a 1.67mm light absorbance pathlength for optimal Beer Lambert Law color absorbance. Preliminary calibration curves for the device produced from standard phosphate solutions indicate a range of detection between 5 to 30mg/L for reactive orthophosphate with a linearity of R²=91.3% and precision of 2.6ppm. The performance of the PDMS absorption driven pumping process was investigated using flow image analysis and indicates an effective pumping rate up to approximately 7µL/min to load a 36µL sample.
2010-08-24T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/147
10.15368/theses.2009.122
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1158
2009-08-26T17:01:51Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
A Highly Abstracted Method of FPGA-Based Development for Secondary Surveillance Radar Transpond Detection
Watt, James Penn
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Dennis Derickson
digital design
HDL
IFF
Mode S
SSR
ViaSat
Systems and Communications
Traditional FPGA-based digital design is based on writing hardware definition language (HDL) code from scratch. Time to market, cost of development, and the level of training required for designers all can be reduced with a simplified and abstracted design strategy. This project intends to demonstrate a graphical user interface (GUI) layer of abstraction on top of existing commercially produced design aids including MATLAB, Simulink, and Xilinx System Generator. This project performs and demonstrates a specific implementation example of a Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR) message decoder as proof-of-concept for the abstracted design method. The abstracted digital design methods shown in this project can be adapted for use in other areas of development and research including digital signal processing and communications.
2009-08-26T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/148
10.15368/theses.2009.92
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1160
2009-09-02T20:39:06Z
publication:gradres
publication:memt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Development of a High Performance Micropropulsion System for CubeSats
Biddy, Christopher Lorian
2009-08-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Andrew Kean
monopropellant
bipropellant
hydrazine
rocket
Propulsion and Power
Picosatellites are defined as satellites with a mass between 0.1 and 1kg (Miniaturized satellite). Picosatellites are typically designed to work together or function in formations (Miniaturized satellite). A specific type of Picosatellite known as CubeSats were introduced in 1999 and since then have increased in popularity so that there are now over 80 CubeSat programs around the world. CubeSats are defined as cubic units 10cm on each side and no more than 1kg in mass. CubeSats are required to conform to the CubeSat Standard created by California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University and be compatible with Cal Poly’s P-POD deployment system (Toorian, 2005). Some CubeSat uses include earth imaging, communications projects and various scientific experiments. CubeSats currently require attitude control and in the future, may require, maintaining a specific orbit, or changing orbit. With this ability many new activities may be possible for CubeSats. These activities could include rendezvous, vehicle inspection, formation flying and de-orbiting. For these activities to be possible, a high performance propulsion system is required. The goal of this thesis is to design and test an affordable, safe, and effective micro-propulsion system for CubeSats.
2009-09-02T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/150
10.15368/theses.2009.124
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1164
2009-09-08T00:23:12Z
publication:theses
Fatigue of Masonry Walls with CFRP Applied Externally for Out-of-Plane Loads
Williams, Joseph Louis
2009-08-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
James Mwangi
CFRP
Masonry
Architectural Engineering
This master’s thesis presents an investigation on the effects of fatigue on fiber- reinforced polymers (FRP) when applied to masonry walls subjected to out-of-plane loading. The project aims to provide further research and add to the general testing database of FRP enhanced masonry. An introduction to the problems and solutions associated with unreinforced masonry is discussed along with a literature review on previous testing done in the field of FRP enhanced masonry. The investigation on the effects of fatigue on FRP when applied to masonry walls subjected to out-of-plane loading is performed through experimental testing. A total of four wall specimens (6 ft x 4 ft x 8 in) were constructed. One of the specimens was left unreinforced and used as a baseline for testing while the remaining three specimens were reinforced with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips designed to take the out-of-plane loads capable of creating the cracking moment in the unreinforced wall. The material testing, construction of the test specimens, and CFRP application are all presented in this thesis.
With the use of an oscillating shake table to generate the out-of-plane loading, the walls were fixed at the base and cantilevered from the shake table. By determining the frequency and amplitude that generated the cracking moment in the baseline unreinforced wall, the remaining three CFRP reinforced walls were tested at the same frequency and amplitude. The results from the testing of the three CFRP reinforced walls are presented along with time histories showing the shake table displacement and wall’s tip displacement versus time. In general, fatigue of masonry walls reinforced with CFRP strips can be managed as long as the out-of-plane reinforcement has sufficient strength and development length. Additional findings were made as a result from the testing. The development length of a vertical CFRP strip can be increased by adding a horizontal CFRP strips near the critical section and surface damage to CFRP may have severe consequences.
2009-09-07T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/153
10.15368/theses.2009.125
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1166
2009-09-09T04:14:35Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:kinemt
publication:theses
Development and Formative Implementation of a Nutrition Assessment and Peer Education Program Based on Dietary Analysis at a California State University
Jelso, Janay
2009-09-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Kinesiology
Kinesiology
Steve Davis
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition
Medicine and Health Sciences
Public Health Education and Promotion
A healthy diet has been established as a key component contributing to an individual’s quality of life. Statistics show that the diet of Americans needs improvement (Guenther et al., 2007) indicating possible lack knowledge of what healthy eating behaviors are. There is an abundance of nutrition misinformation available to the consumer (American Dietetic Association, 2002a). Dietary interventions that provide credible education based on readiness to change behaviors and goal setting have been successful in increasing awareness of what healthy eating behaviors are and changing existing behaviors over time (Ammerman et al., 2002; Evans & Sawyer-Morse, 2002; Gambera et al., 1995; Hebert et al., 1999; Oenema & Brug, 2003; Proper, et al., 2003).
In an effort to provide a college community with credible nutrition education based on dietary analysis and stage of change, a nutrition assessment and consultation program was developed and implemented at a college campus during the fall 2003 quarter. It was integrated into the existing fitness testing and prescription program, polyFIT. Seven students, referred to as fitness consultants, majoring in Nutrition or Kinesiology were recruited and trained to distribute appropriate education based on individual clients’ dietary analysis, a stage of change assessment and personal goals. Intervention materials were constructed using a variety of resources focusing on areas of nutrition. Thirty clients participated during the fall 2003 quarter; all were freshman and sophomores enrolled in a Healthy Living course. Separate survey questionnaires were designed for the consultants and the clients to gather their perceptions of the program components. PolyFIT continued to offer the program, modifying it over time, for at least 4 years after the initial implementation.
2009-09-08T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/165
10.15368/theses.2009.137
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1169
2009-09-11T15:01:07Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Investigation of the Geotechnical Properties of Municipal Solid Waste as a Function of Placement Conditions
Wong, Wilson W
2009-09-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Jim Hanson
municipal solid waste
compaction
compressibility
hydraulic conductivity
shear strength
placement conditions
Civil Engineering
Environmental Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Other Civil and Environmental Engineering
An investigation of the variability of engineering properties of municipal solid waste as a function of placement conditions was conducted. Limited data have been reported for the engineering properties of municipal solid waste (MSW) as a function of placement conditions. Wastes have high variability of engineering properties due to heterogeneity in composition and component size; influence from time based effects; and presence of compressible solids. Control of moisture content of MSW at the time of waste placement provides opportunity for increased capacity at a given landfill site due to higher compacted unit weight as well as for control of other geotechnical properties. A laboratory experimental test program was conducted on manufactured municipal solid waste (MMSW) that was representative of waste stream in the United States. Large scale test equipment was used to minimize the effects of scaling on results. The experimental program included compaction, compressibility, hydraulic conductivity, and shear strength testing over moisture contents ranging from 11% to 110%. Baseline compaction curves were developed for different compactive efforts. Similar to soils, the MMSW had bell shaped compaction curves that peaked at a maximum dry unit weight and associated optimum moisture content. The compaction curve generated at modified compactive effort had a maximum dry unit weight of 5.1 kN/m3 and optimum moisture content of 66%. Four times modified compactive effort testing resulted in a maximum dry unit weight of 5.9 kN/m3 and corresponding optimum moisture content of 56%. The compaction curve generated for four times modified compactive effort was used as a baseline for subsequent testing. Compression index was calculated from the strain-log stress curves for total stress conditions and is referred to as apparent compression index. Apparent compression index decreased from 1.1 to 0.34 with increasing moisture content. Secant modulus of elasticity was calculated between 1% and 25% strain and ranged from approximately 200 kPa to 4,800 kPa over the range of tested moisture contents. Tangent modulus ranged from 400 kPa to 6,200 kPa between 1% and 25% strain. Both the secant and tangent modulus peaked between 30% and 56% moisture content. Wet of optimum, the moduli of elasticity decreased with increasing moisture content. The hydraulic conductivity was measured under constant head at a hydraulic gradient of 1 and decreased asymptotically from approximately 1.3x10-2 cm/s to 8x10-5 cm/s as the moisture content was increased to optimum. The hydraulic conductivity of the MMSW increased slightly wet of optimum. The internal angle of friction of the MMSW was measured at 15% shear strain and decreased from approximately 40° to 30° with increasing moisture content. Test results demonstrated that both the molding moisture content and dry unit weight have significant impact on the MMSW geotechnical properties, although it appears that molding moisture content ultimately controls the behavior. Based on the results of the tests it was speculated that, similar to clay soils, increases in moisture content allowed for breakdown of the fabric and physical rearrangement of waste components which in turn controlled geotechnical behavior. Overall trends were comparable for MMSW and soil and included: increased dry density and increased stiffness to optimum moisture content; decreased hydraulic conductivity with increased compaction moisture content; and decreased shear strength with increased compaction moisture content. The results of the test program have environmental and economic implications for design and operation of landfills as well as post closure use.
2009-09-11T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/155
10.15368/theses.2009.130
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1171
2009-09-11T18:14:06Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:biomt
publication:theses
Restoration of A. fasciculatum at Rocky Canyon Granite Quarry, San Luis Obispo, CA
Roy, Catherine L
2009-09-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Biological Sciences
Biological Sciences
V.L. Holland
Adenostoma fasciculatum
chamise
restoration
fire
competition
mine
establishment
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Life Sciences
Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
The objective of this study was to assess the above-ground factors affecting the establishment and recovery of the dominant chaparral shrub Adenostoma fasciculatum (chamise) on the Rocky Canyon granite mine.
Attempts to restore the California chaparral have been challenging and few successful efforts have been documented. However, the California chaparral can fully recover from fire in as little as 10-15 years. Factors affecting chamise seedling establishment were tested by planting chamise seed in forty eight 1square meter plots managed to test the effects of interspecific competition with native postfire vegetation, post-mining volunteer vegetation, and intraspecific only competition. Plots were managed and observed from December 2004 to May 2006. Half of the 48 plots were summer irrigated throughout the first growing season to test the addition of water on growth and survivability. Nearly all chamise seedlings exposed to competition from either native or non-native vegetation perished within the first summer. Seedlings in plots where interspecific competition was removed experienced significantly higher germination and higher survival. Seedlings in the irrigated plots with competition removed, grew on average 18cm taller and had 27% more coverage per plot than non-irrigated with competition removed. They were also 4 times more likely to survive. The results of this study clearly show that chamise seedlings are not strong competitors when exposed to either native herbaceous post-fire vegetation or non-native weedy vegetation. Restoration of chamise at Rocky Canyon will require removal of all competing species during the first year of establishment. Irrigation is not required for successful germination and establishment but will result in higher survival and faster growth.
2009-09-11T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/158
10.15368/theses.2009.132
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1172
2009-09-12T00:52:49Z
publication:theses
Feasibility of Ellipsometric Sensor Development for Use During PECVD SiOx Coated Polymer Product Manufacturing
Helms, Daniel Lynn
2009-09-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Engineering - Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering
Richard Savage
ellipsometry
polarized light
spectroscopic refl ectometry
goniometry
SiO2
PECVD SiOX
PET
response surface
model fi tting
depolarization
sample tilt
crystallinity
DSC
Abeles method
Ceramic Materials
Engineering
Materials Science and Engineering
Polymer and Organic Materials
Semiconductor and Optical Materials
Polymeric materials have provided pathways to products that could not be manufactured otherwise. A new technology which merges the benefits of ceramics into these polymer products has created materials ideally suited to many different industries, like food packaging. Nano Scale Surface Systems, Inc. (NS3), a company which coats polymers with ceramic oxides like SiO2 through a process known as plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), was interested in the feasibility of an in line measurement system for monitoring the deposited films on various polymer products. This project examined two different coated polymer products, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) beverage containers and biaxially oriented PET food packaging, commonly known as plastic wrap in an effort to determine the feasibility of an ellipsometry based measurement system for NS3’s purpose.
Due to its extensive use in the semiconductor industry for monitoring films deposited on silicon, a measurement systems known as ellipsometry, adept at monitoring the thickness and refractive index of thin films deposited on various substrates, appeared to be an ideal system for the measurement of ceramic oxides deposited on various polymer substrates. This project set out to determine the feasibility of using an ellipsometry based measurement system to monitor ceramic films, specifically silicon oxides (SiOX), deposited on polymer products.
A preliminary experiment determined linearly polarized light could induce a discernible change in polarized light traversing a coated beverage container relative to an uncoated container. However, the experiment lacked repeatability due to the measurement apparatus’ cheap setup, prompting the construction of a null (conventional) ellipsometer for further research. The curved surface of the beverage containers under study unnecessarily complicated the feasibility study so further research examined PECVD SiOX on biaxially oriented PET instead.
Characterization of the PECVD SiOX-PET material was divided into three experiments, with the first two analyzing the SiOX film and PET substrate separately while the third analyzed them together. To assist with the characterization experiments, NS3 provided samples, both SiOX coated and uncoated, of various deposition thicknesses on silicon and biaxially oriented PET substrates.
Null ellipsometry was used in conjunction with spectroscopic reflectometry to characterize the refractive index and thickness of the deposited films. The combined measurement systems found the refractive index of the deposited SiOX films to be between 1.461 and 1.465. The measured thicknesses resulting from the two measurement systems coincided well and were usually 10-20 nm thicker than the predicted thicknesses by the deposition processing parameters. Abeles’ method and monochromatic goniometry were attempted; however, the results had to be discarded due to irrecoverable errors discovered in the reflectance measurement. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data provided by NS3 showed the deposited SiOX films to be homogeneous with stoichiometries between 2.15 and 2.23.
Characterization of the uncoated biaxially oriented PET required numerous measurement systems. From spectroscopic transmission, trirefringent anisotropy was discovered, intertwined with thickness variations in the PET foil. Goniometry measurements displayed distinct interference curves resulting from rear interface reflections interfering with front interface reflections from the PET sample. Subsequent goniometric models produced multiple solutions due to an unknown optical phenomenon, probably scattering, which degraded the reflection measurements. However, a combined measurement technique utilizing goniometry and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) determined the refractive indices of the polymer to be NX = 1.677, NY = 1.632 and NZ = 1.495 with a thickness of 11.343 μm and a volume fraction crystallinity of 35-41%. Utilizing the measured refractive indices, ellipsometric models produced only an adequate fit of the measured data due to the presence of depolarization caused by non-uniform PET thickness and scattering resulting from embedded microscopic crystallites. The majority of the error in the ellipsometric data was observed in the Δ measurement.
XPS measurements of SiOX deposited on polypropylene (PP) provided by NS3 showed a heterogeneous interphase layer between the deposited oxide and the polymer substrate where the composition of the layer was continually changing. A similar region, which violates the homogenous assumption the ellipsometric model relied on, was anticipated for the SiOX-PET samples under investigation. The use of an effective medium approximation (EMA) to represent the interphase region was attempted, but failed to provide a decent model fit of the measured data. Depolarization and high optical anisotropy caused by the polymer substrate in combination with a heterogeneous interphase region and the effects of the deposited SiOX layer all interacted to prevent ellipsometric modelling of the null ellipsometry measurements conducted. Goniometry measurements were conducted on the thickest deposited SiOX film (approximately 100 nm) which allowed for the refractive index of the film to be approximated through Abeles’ method (n = 1.46); however the validity of this approximation was questionable given the presence of interference fringes resulting from interference between reflections at both the front and rear interfaces of the material.
From the experiments conducted, it was concluded that null ellipsometry with conventional ellipsometric models could not adequately measure a SiOX film’s refractive index or thickness when deposited on biaxially oriented PET. The reasons for the failure were interactions between multiple sources of error which led to both measurement errors and inaccurate model assumptions. Use of generalized ellipsometry, possibly with spectroscopic ellipsometry, may overcome the failures of conventional ellipsometry when studying this complex optical material.
2009-09-11T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/162
10.15368/theses.2009.134
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1182
2009-10-08T21:26:08Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
A PDMS Sample Pretreatment Device for the Optimization of Electrokinetic Manipulations of Blood Serum
Abram, Timothy J
2009-09-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
David S. Clague
Pretreatment
Microfluidic
Micro-mixing
Diagnostic
Electrokinetic
PDMS
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
This project encompasses the design of a pretreatment protocol for blood serum and adaption of that protocol to a microfluidic environment in order to optimize key sample characteristics, namely pH, conductivity, and viscosity, to enable on-chip electrokinetic separations. The two major parts of this project include (1) designing a pretreatment protocol to optimize key parameters of the sample solution within a target range and (2) designing /fabricating a microchip that will effectively combine the sample solution with the appropriate buffers to replicate the same bench-scale protocol on the micro-scale.
Biomarker detection in complex samples such as blood necessitates appropriate sample “pretreatment” in order for specific markers to be isolated through subsequent separations. This project, though using conventional mixing techniques and buffer solutions, is one of the first to observe the effects of the combination of micro-mixing and sample pretreatment in order to create an all-in-one “pretreatment chip”.
Using previous literature related to capillary electrophoresis, a bench-scale pretreatment protocol was developed to tune these parameters to an optimal range. A PDMS device was fabricated and used to combine raw sample with specific buffer solutions. Off-chip electrodes were used to induce electrokinetic micro-mixing in the mixing chamber, where homogeneous analyte mixing was achieved in less than one second using an 800V DC pulse wave. Ultimately, we wish to incorporate this device with pre-fabricated electrokinetic devices to optimize certain bioseparations.
2009-10-08T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/172
10.15368/theses.2009.142
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1185
2009-10-14T00:54:05Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Regression Analysis of Fracture Toughness for Secondary Osteons Located in Human Cortical Bone
Fetzer, Chase A
2009-10-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
Lanny Griffin
Osteon
Fracture Toughness
Strain
Regression Analysis
Volume Fraction
Molecular, Cellular, and Tissue Engineering
An experiment was carried out in order to locate and quantify osteon types within a sample of cortical bone taken from a human tibia. This was done using a microscope-camera assembly and the BioQuant computer software. The results of this were correlated with a previous experiment’s results on fracture toughness so that an analysis could be run on the data in order to determine the factors that most affect the value of fracture toughness of this cortical bone. Results were examined closely and the analysis repeated until the author was satisfied that the best possible model for fracture toughness had been achieved. A combination of usable parameters included: region, porosity, volume fraction of lightfield osteons, volume fraction of hooped osteons, volume fraction of dark osteons, volume fraction of alternating osteons, volume fraction total, density, average diameter total, average diameter of hooped osteons, average diameter of lightfield osteons, average diameter of darkfield osteons and average diameter of alternating osteons. This model explains the parameters that most affect fracture toughness by using a regression analysis, which also provides a regression equation to show exactly how much each specific parameter affects the fracture toughness value
2009-10-13T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/174
10.15368/theses.2009.148
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1187
2009-10-26T18:48:28Z
publication:archmt
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:arcemt
publication:theses
Analysis of Stabilized Adobe in Rural East Africa
Chen, Grace Ying Yu
2009-10-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Architecture
Craig Baltimore, James Mwangi, Kevin Dong
Sustainability
East Africa
durability
cement
lime
stabilized adobe brick
Architectural Engineering
ABSTRACT
ANALYSIS OF STABILIZED ADOBE IN RURAL EAST AFRICA
Grace Ying Yu Chen
This project seeks to assist people in rural East Africa by proposing sustainable building methods which implement affordable and durable adobe bricks for construction. Adobe, one of the oldest sustainable building materials in the world, is strong when dry but lacks structural integrity when exposed to moisture. Chemical additives such as cement and lime are added into the adobe mix to protect the brick against moisture decomposition. Once the chemicals are added and the mix is formed into a brick, a stabilized adobe brick is formed.
Cement, a stabilizer, is locally available in East Africa, but is generally unaffordable for families in rural areas. Lime is also locally available and costs about half the price of cement. This project investigates reducing the amount of cement to produce an economical and stabilized brick. The tested brick mixes, measured by volume, were
• 10% cement
• 5% cement
• 5% cement+5% lime
• 7% lime with sand
• 7% lime with clay only
• 10% lime with sand
After testing these bricks by water jet, submersion, modulus of rupture, and compression, the 5% cement+5% lime mix and the 7% lime with clay mix proved to be viable options for economical and durable bricks.
The second half of this project contains summaries of research related to stabilized adobe and other soil building methods. A literature search shows that lime mixed with soil containing small particles rich in calcium carbonate and quartz produces proper cementation in the mix called carbonation.
2009-10-26T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/176
10.15368/theses.2009.149
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1188
2009-10-30T05:55:53Z
publication:theses
The Fundability and Marketability of Green Buildings at Public Universities: Transcending the Funding Paradigm at Cal Poly
Joseph, Eileen E
2009-10-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Margot McDonald
green building
public university
LEED
sustainability
marketability
funding
Architecture
While in recent years Cal Poly has moved in the direction of sustainable building, my research indicates that where other CSU’s have succeeded, Cal Poly has been challenged in developing the type of green buildings that would truly make new construction projects more sustainable. The most commonly cited barriers are cost and lack of funding. The outcome however (as evidenced by other CSU’s) is not just driven by the state’s capital outlay process that has historically supported new construction on CSU campuses. It is determined by the priorities, perceptions and values that have influenced Cal Poly’s decision makers and driven campus practices.
The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of and solution for the barriers to green buildings on the Cal Poly campus that can be used as a model for other universities. Using a qualitative analysis supported by interviews, case studies, literature and policy review, and industry reports, I identify and examine the elements of the funding paradigm beyond the traditional funding mechanisms for capital projects within the CSU to propose a solution for Cal Poly. This includes exposing the perceptions about the cost of green construction (and LEED™ certification) and identifying cost reduction strategies; addressing the university’s leadership, values and organization around sustainability priorities, including the need to approach building projects more holistically; examining the university’s ability to capitalize on alternative resources; and, finally, presenting a theory on the marketability of green construction, including use of LEED™ as a fundraising tool. If adopted, I posit that Cal Poly can (and should) transform the funding paradigm to adopt a sustainability paradigm in support of higher performing, green buildings.
2009-10-29T07:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/179
10.15368/theses.2009.150
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1190
2009-11-03T03:33:20Z
publication:gradres
publication:bmedmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Design, Fabrication, and Implementation of a Single-Cell Capture Chamber for a Microfluidic Impedance Sensor
Fadriquela, Joshua-Jed Doria
2009-06-01T07:00:00Z
Biomedical and General Engineering
David S. Clague
Single-cell analysis
BioMEMS
Microfluidics
COMSOL CFD
Biomedical Devices and Instrumentation
A microfluidic device was created for single-cell capture and analysis using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) channels and a glass substrate to develop a microfluidic single-cell impedance sensor for cell diagnostics. The device was fabricated using photolithography to create a master mold which in turn will use soft lithography to create the PDMS components for constant device production. The commercial software, COMSOLTM Multiphysics, was used to quantify the fluid dynamics in shallow micro-channels.
The device will be able to capture a cell and sequester it long enough to enable measurement of the impedance spectra that can characterize cell. The proposed device will be designed to capture a single cell and permit back-flow to flush out excess cells in the chamber. The device will be designed to use syringe pumps and the syringe-controlled channel will also be used to capture and release the cell to ensure cell control and device reusability. We hypothesize that these characteristics along with other proposed design factors will result in a unique microfluidic cell-capture device that will enable single-cell impedance sensing and characterization.
2009-11-02T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/189
10.15368/theses.2009.98
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1193
2009-11-05T20:33:40Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Lipid Productivity of Algae Grown on Dairy Wastewater as a Possible Feedstock for Biodiesel
Woertz, Ian C
2008-01-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Yarrow Nelson
algae
algal
wastewater
dairy
biofuels
lipid
Environmental Engineering
Other Civil and Environmental Engineering
Other Engineering
The objective of this thesis is to develop a biological wastewater treatment system that utilizes algal growth to simultaneously create renewable energy in the form of biodiesel and digester biogas, remove polluting nutrients, and abate greenhouse gases. Research under the Department of Energy Aquatic Species Program during 1978-1996 concluded that cultivating algae for biofuels was cost prohibitive at that time and that an integrated approach should be studied that combined wastewater treatment with algal biofuel production. Nutrient removal, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus, from wastewater is a growing regulatory need and the use of algae cultivation could create a unique marriage between waste treatment and biofuel production. To investigate this possible synergy, bench-scale tests were conducted to determine potential algal lipid productivity with mixed-cultures of algae grown on anaerobically-pretreated dairy wastewater in batch mode. The total lipid content of the algae ranged from 8% to 29% of algal mass. Maximum biomass concentration reached 920 mg/L, measured as volatile suspended solids, on Day 13 of incubation. In contrast, maximum total lipid content was reached at Day 6, corresponding to a lipid productivity of 2.8 g/m^2/day, or 1,200 gallons/acre/year if scaled up. Nutrient removal over 12 days of incubation was nearly complete. Total ammonia (NH3+NH4+) was reduced 96% to 1.1 mg/L as N, and phosphate (PO4^3-) was reduced >99% from an initial concentration of 2.5 mg/L PO4 as P.
2009-11-05T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/183
10.15368/theses.2008.1
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1195
2009-11-06T06:22:02Z
publication:gradres
publication:memt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Sensor Integration for Low-Cost Crash Avoidance
Roussel, Stephane M
2009-11-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Charles Birdsong
Crash Avoidance
Blind Spot Detection
Magnetoresistive Sensors
Sensor Fusion
Bayesian Filtering
Hardware Systems
Signal Processing
This report is a summary of the development of sensor integration for low-cost crash avoidance for over-land commercial trucks. The goal of the project was to build and test a system composed of low-cost commercially available sensors arranged on a truck trailer to monitor the environment around the truck. The system combines the data from each sensor to increase the reliability of the sensor using a probabilistic data fusion approach. A combination of ultrasonic and magnetoresistive sensors was used in this study. In addition, Radar and digital imaging were investigated as reference signals and possible candidates for additional sensor integration. However, the primary focus of this work is the integration of the ultrasonic and magnetoresistive sensors.
During the investigation the individual sensors were evaluated for their use in the system. This included communication with vendors and lab and field testing. In addition, the sensors were modeled using an analytical mathematical model to help understand and predict the sensor behavior. Next, an algorithm was developed to fuse the data from the individual sensors. A probabilistic approach was used based on Bayesian filtering with a prediction-correction algorithm. Sensor fusion was implemented using joint a probability algorithm. The output of the system is a prediction of the likelihood of the presence of a vehicle in a given region near the host truck trailer. The algorithm was demonstrated on the fusion of an ultrasonic sensor and a magnetic sensor. Testing was conducted using both a light pickup truck and also with a class 8 truck. Various scenarios were evaluated to determine the system performance. These included vehicles passing the host truck from behind and the host truck passing vehicles. Also scenarios were included to test the system at distinguishing other vehicles from objects that are not vehicles such as sign posts, walls or railroads that could produce electronic signals similar to those of vehicles and confuse the system. The test results indicate that the system was successful at predicting the presence and absence of vehicles and also successful at eliminating false positives from objects that are not vehicles with overall accuracy ranging from 90 to 100% depending on the scenario. Some additional improvements in the performance are expected with future improvements in the algorithm discussed in the report.
The report includes a discussion of the mapping of the algorithm output with the implementation of current and future safety and crash avoidance technologies based on the level of confidence of the algorithm output and the seriousness of the impending crash scenario. For example, irreversible countermeasures such as firing an airbag or engaging the brakes should only be initiated if the confidence of the signal is very high, while reversible countermeasures such as warnings to the driver or nearby vehicles can be initiated with a relatively lower confidence.
The results indicate that the system shows good potential as a low cost alternative to competing systems which require multiple, high cost sensors. Truck fleet operators will likely adopt technology only if the costs are justified by reduced damage and insurance costs, therefore developing an effective crash avoidance system at a low cost is required for the technology to be adopted on a large scale.
2009-11-05T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/184
10.15368/theses.2009.155
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1199
2009-11-17T21:46:20Z
publication:gradres
publication:memt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
The Next Generation Router System Cooling Design
Glover, Garrett A
2009-11-01T07:00:00Z
MS in Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Jesse Maddren
networking equipment
electronic cooling
liquid cooling
hybrid cooling
heat transfer
thermal
Heat Transfer, Combustion
Other Mechanical Engineering
Advancements in the networking and routing industry have created higher power electronic systems which dissipate large amounts of heat while cooling technology for these electronic systems has remained relatively unchanged. This report illustrates the development and testing of a hybrid liquid-air cooling system prototype implemented on Cisco’s 7609s router. Water was the working fluid through cold plates removing heat from line card components. The water was cooled by a compact liquid-air heat exchanger and circulated by two pumps. The testing results show that junction temperatures were maintained well below the 105°C limit for ambient conditions around 30°C at sea level. The estimated junction temperatures for Cisco’s standard ambient conditions of 50°C at 6,000 feet and 40°C at 10,000 feet were 104°C and 96°C respectively. Adjustments to the test data for Cisco’s two standard ambient conditions with expected device characteristics suggested the hybrid liquid-air cooling design could meet the projected heat load.
2009-11-17T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/191
10.15368/theses.2009.159
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1203
2009-12-03T19:43:03Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:rptamt
publication:theses
A Longitudinal Study of the Outcomes from Participation in Wilderness Adventure Education Programs
Cummings, Jason Phillip
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Recreation, Parks and Tourism Management
Natural Resources Management
Marni Goldenberg
wilderness adventure education
Outward Bound
National Outdoor Leadership School
outcomes
longitudinal study
means-end theory
transference
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research
The results from this study suggest that participants of wilderness adventure education programs offered by Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School felt challenged by many of the experiences from their programs. Interactions with their group helped in dealing with the challenges presented by the experience. The development of hard skills gave participants a confidence in their abilities to survive and feel safe in these wilderness environments, which allowed them to relax and enjoy the experience, develop new perspectives, become motivated and inspired, and develop a sense of independence. Participants developed a sense of growth and maturity from their experiences, which upon reflection led to a sense of accomplishment. This sense of accomplishment led to transference of program benefits and values into participants’ lives, particularly in greater self-respect/esteem/confidence.
The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the outcomes that individuals experienced from wilderness adventure programs and the effects they had on participants’ lives. Means-end theory was used to understand the outcomes, more specifically attributes, consequences, and values, and their connections to each other. This study was longitudinal in nature and a comparison between the original data collection and follow-up interviews was done to investigate reported change in values over time. The results from this study show that the outcomes from participation in the Outward Bound and NOLS programs were transferring into participant’s lives and leaving a lasting impression.
2009-12-03T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/192
10.15368/theses.2009.164
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1207
2009-12-08T21:51:49Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Evaluating Head Gestures for Panning 2-D Spatial Information
Derry, Matthew O
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Franz J. Kurfess
Gestures
Spatial Information
Navigation
HCI
Graphics and Human Computer Interfaces
New, often free, spatial information applications such as mapping tools, topological imaging, and geographic information systems are becoming increasingly available to the average computer user. These systems, which were once available only to government, scholastic, and corporate institutions with highly skilled operators, are driving a need for new and innovative ways for the average user to navigate and control spatial information intuitively, accurately, and efficiently. Gestures provide a method of control that is well suited to navigating the large datasets often associated with spatial information applications. Several different types of gestures and different applications that navigate spatial data are examined. This leads to the introduction of a system that uses a visual head tracking scheme for controlling of the most common navigation action in the most common type of spatial information application, panning a 2-D map. The proposed head tracking scheme uses head pointing to control the direction of panning. The head tracking control is evaluated against the traditional control methods of the mouse and touchpad, showing a significant performance increase over the touchpad and comparable performance to the mouse, despite limited practice with head tracking.
2009-12-08T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/193
10.15368/theses.2009.165
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1212
2009-12-09T04:36:29Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Two-Phase Boost Converter
Gunawan, Tadeus
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Taufik
Two-phase
Boost Converter
Frequency multiplication
Step-up converter
DC-DC Converter
A boost converter is one of the most efficient techniques to step up DC input voltage to a higher needed DC output voltage. The boost converter has many possible applications, such as in a photovoltaic system, hybrid car and battery charger. The proposed prototype in this report is a proof of concept that a Two-Phase Boost Converter is a possible improvement topology to offer higher efficiency without compromising any advantages readily offered by a basic boost. The prototype is designed to be able to handle up to 200 watts of output power with an input of 36 volts and an output of 48 volts. This paper goes through step-by-step the calculation, design, build and test of a Two-Phase Boost Converter. Calculations found in this paper were done on Mathcad and the simulations were done on LTSpice and Pspice. These include converter’s efficiency and other measures of converter’s performance. Advantages, disadvantages as well as possible improvements of the proposed topology will be presented. Data collected and analyzed from the prototype were done on a bench test, not through an actual application.
2009-12-08T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/200
10.15368/theses.2009.170
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1214
2009-12-10T08:07:51Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Latent Semantic Web Service Discovery and Composition Framework
Yick, (Winnie) Yuki
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Michael Haungs
A web service is a software system that supports interoperable machine to machine interaction over the network. It can be any kind of service provided on the web that can exchange data between applications. In simple terms, it is any program that is callable by another program across the web using standard protocols. Web services are special because they are independent of the platform, programming language, and model design. In current web applications, more businesses are gradually publishing their business as services over the web. This growing number of web services available within an organization and on the Web raises a new and challenging search problem: locating desired web services. Searching for web services with conventional web search engines is insufficient in this context. In this paper, a latent semantic web service discovery and composition framework, addressing both discovery and composition of web services, is introduced. The framework provides a graphical visualization interface that can facilitate users in finding the desired web service beyond the general keyword search and provide composition of complex services if the service does not exist. A novel approach based on an information retrieval technique known as latent semantic analysis is applied to a large web service descriptions data set collection. By using co-occurrence patterns across the entire data collection, and then using those patterns to infer semantic relationships between documents, relevant results in a ranked order can be retrieved. Moreover, a back to front algorithm is applied to the composition search interface in order to compose complex web services in full or partial terms from pre-existing web services when the requested service does not exist. An experimental study conducted on a collection of 2525 publicity available web service shows improved performance to the technique applied in obtaining much better search results.
2009-12-09T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/202
10.15368/theses.2009.172
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1216
2009-12-11T18:16:03Z
publication:theses
The Economic Impact in Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties if a Fruit and Vegetable Processor Left as a Result of Changes in the Food Processing Byproduce Use Program
Bylsma, Jessica Erin
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Agribusiness
Agribusiness
Sean Hurley
food processing industry
input-output modeling
IMPLAN
In 1978, Stanislaus County took a proactive approach to food processing byproduct waste and established the Food Processing Byproduct Use Program. It allows processors to transport byproduct to local producers, where it serves as an alternative input. There is concern that the program negatively impacts local groundwater. The Regional Water Quality Control Board proposed that the County institute water monitoring which would increase program expenses. In response to this proposal, participants investigated the impact of the cost increase and some have concluded that this increase would preclude their continued involvement. They believe the program has allowed them to maintain their competitiveness and has kept them from relocating.
This study investigates the economic impact of the food processors leaving the region due to a modification of the current program. Four economic impacts were studied—output, value-added, taxes, and employment. A sensitivity analysis was run to establish a range of possible value and the analysis yielded significantly higher results.
It was estimated that program modification would result in significant fiscal and employment effects for Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. This study determined that both Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties have a vested interest in ensuring that the program remains viable for processors.
2009-12-11T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/203
10.15368/theses.2009.173
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1218
2009-12-11T23:34:18Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
An Assessment of Indoor Infiltration Parameters for Black Carbon from Residential Wood Combustion and the Spectral Dependence of Light Absorption for Organic Carbon
Malejan, Christopher John
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Tracy Thatcher
Woodsmoke
Black Carbon
Organic Carbon
Infiltration Parameters
Environmental Engineering
Black carbon, a proxy for woodsmoke was measured indoors and outdoors for an occupied residence in Cambria, CA during the winter months of 2009. The purpose was to investigate the infiltration parameters: air exchange rate, deposition rate, and penetration factor. The second part of this study investigated the light absorption properties of organic carbon from residential wood combustion, the dominant fraction of woodsmoke.
To assess woodsmoke variation, a study conducted parallel to the one presented in this thesis (Ward, 2009), a grid array of personal emission monitors (PEMS) and aethalometers were placed in a small area, approximately one square kilometer, within a community in Cambria, California between the months of November 2008 and March 2009. In this study, PEMS were used to collect particles on filters, which were analyzed for tracers for woodsmoke, including levoglucosan, elemental carbon, and organic carbon. Aethalometers measured black carbon, an indicator of carbon combustion. Additional PEMS and aethalometers were placed inside one residential home to better understand infiltration of woodsmoke.
To model the infiltration of woodsmoke, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Air Infiltration Model was used. The home of interest was chosen such that indoor sources of particulate matter (PM) were minimal. This insures that all PM measured indoors was from outdoor sources, namely household chimneys. While indoor sources such as indoor fires and resuspension of particles were of concern, homes were chosen to minimize these sources.
To investigate the infiltration parameters, four different solution techniques were used. Two of the solution techniques used SOLVER, a Microsoft Excel program, to minimize the sum of squared differences between calculated indoor concentrations and measured indoor concentrations, with all three parameters (air exchange rate, penetration, and deposition) as independent variables. The other two solution techniques used the Air Exchange Rate (AER) model from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) (Sherman & Grimsrud, 1980) and then used SOLVER to calculate deposition rate and penetration factor.
Solution techniques 1 and 3, which used SOLVER to find all three parameters, had average penetration factors of 0.94 and 0.97 respectively, while solution techniques 2 and 4, which used the LBNL AER model had average penetration factors of 0.85 and 0.78 respectively. The deposition rates for solution techniques 1,2,3, and 4 were 0.10, 0.07, 0.08, and 0.04 hr-1 respectively. The air exchange rates varied throughout the study and ranged from 0.1 to 0.7 hr-1. The average indoor/outdoor ratio was also found to be 0.75.
The aerosols derived from the study samples were found to have light absorption properties that were heavily spectrally dependent, which is consistent with expectations for wood combustion aerosols. Conversely, traffic derived aerosols are not found to be heavily spectrally dependent and follow the power law relationship of λ-1 whereas our samples followed λ-1.7 across all wavelengths and λ-2.25 for wavelengths less than 600 nm. The reason for the difference in spectral dependence is the presence of light absorbing organic carbon in wood smoke that is not found in diesel aerosols. The optical absorbances were also calculated for our samples and average values were found to be 3 and 1 m2/g for 370 and 450 nm wavelengths respectively.
2009-12-11T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/207
10.15368/theses.2009.176
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1217
2009-12-11T23:20:06Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:ascimt
publication:theses
The Effect of Embryo Biopsy and Vitrification on the Development Potential of Equine Embryos
Gearhart, Richard O
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Agriculture - Animal Science
Animal Science
Matthew A. Burd
vitrification
embryo biopsy
microaspiration
micromanipulation
embryo culture
equine
This study investigated the development potential of equine embryos in vitro after biopsy and vitrification. Twenty embryos were obtained from Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, and mix-breed light mares between three and ten years old. The twenty embryos were divided into a biopsy (n=10) and control group (n=10). The biopsy group underwent microaspiration biopsy using a micromanipulator to obtain a small tissue sample from the embryo. Both groups were then vitrified using a commercially available technique originally described by Carnevale (2006) at Colorado State \ University.
All 20 embryos were cultured in DMEM/Hams F-12 medium under oil at 37°C in 5% CO2 in air (Hinrichs et al., 1990). Embryos were monitored for expansion and hatching. Embryo development was statistically different between the two groups (p<0.05). The biopsy procedure did result in a much lower development potential in the biopsy group as compared to the control group (20% vs. 80%). However, embryos in the biopsy group did show expansion and hatching therefore the combined procedure did not preclude development potential in vitro. Based on these findings, more research needs to be done to increase the success of the combined procedure and the ultimate viability of the embryos needs to be confirmed with the establishment of successful pregnancies.
2009-12-11T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/208
10.15368/theses.2009.177
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1221
2009-12-14T06:17:03Z
publication:theses
Performance Based Analysis of Steel Buildings
Williams, Matthew Joseph
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Architecture
Cole McDaniel
Architectural Engineering
This project investigated the performance of two separate building types, designed using ASCE 7-05, using the analysis procedures from ASCE 41-06. The results from the ASCE 41-06 analyses were compared to the expected performance level of Life Safety to determine the adequacy of the ASCE 7-05 design. ASCE 7-05 is intended to result in designs that perform to a Life Safety performance level regardless of the building type. A design using the AISC specifications for a steel Special Moment Frame and the lateral loads from ASCE 7-05 resulted in a building that slightly exceeded an Immediate Occupancy performance level for the BSE-1 Hazard Level. In comparison, a design using the AISC specifications for steel Special Concentric Braced Frame resulted in a building that performed to a Collapse Prevention performance level for the BSE-1 Hazard Level.
2009-12-13T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/209
10.15368/theses.2009.178
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1224
2009-12-16T00:32:52Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:cscimt
publication:theses
Automation in CS1 with the Factoring Problem Generator
Parker, Joshua B.
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Computer Science
Computer Science
Clinton Staley
function factoring
intelligent tutoring system
classroom automation
CS1
code generation
test case generation
Programming Languages and Compilers
Science and Mathematics Education
As the field of computer science continues to grow, the number of students enrolled in related programs will grow as well. Though one-on-one tutoring is one of the more effective means of teaching, computer science instructors will have less and less time to devote to individual students. To address this growing concern, many tools that automate parts of an instructor’s job have been proposed. These tools can assist instructors in presenting concepts and grading student work, and they can help students learn to program more effectively. A growing group of intelligent tutoring systems attempts to tie all of this functionality into a single tool that is meant to be used throughout an entire CS course or series of courses.
To contribute to this emerging area, the Factoring Problem Generator (FPG) is presented in this work. The FPG creates and grades problems in C in which students search for and extract blocks of repeated code into individual functions, learning to utilize parameters and return values as they do so. The problems created by the FPG are highly configurable by instructors such that the difficulty can be finely tuned to suit students’ individual needs. Instructors can choose whether or not to include arrays, pointers, certain elemental data types, certain operators, or certain kinds of statements, among other things. The FPG is additionally capable of generating a set of test cases for each generated problem. These test cases fully exercise students’ solutions by covering all branches of execution, and they ensure that program functionality does not change as students factor code into functions.
Initial experimentation with the system has suggested that the FPG can be integrated into a beginning CS curriculum and with further refinement could become a standard tool in the CS classroom.
2011-12-15T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/210
10.15368/theses.2009.179
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1225
2010-03-25T18:22:19Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Measurement and Modeling of Blocking Contacts for Cadmium Telluride Gamma Ray Detectors
Beck, Patrick R
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
William Ahlgren
Gamma ray detectors are important in national security applications, medicine, and astronomy. Semiconductor materials with high density and atomic number, such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), offer a small device footprint, but their performance is limited by noise at room temperature; however, improved device design can decrease detector noise by reducing leakage current.
This thesis characterizes and models two unique Schottky devices: one with an argon ion sputter etch before Schottky contact deposition and one without. Analysis of current versus voltage characteristics shows that thermionic emission alone does not describe these devices. This analysis points to reverse bias generation current or leakage through an inhomogeneous barrier. Modeling the devices in reverse bias with thermionic field emission and a leaky Schottky barrier yields good agreement with measurements. Also numerical modeling with a finite-element physics-based simulator suggests that reverse bias current is a combination of thermionic emission and generation.
This thesis proposes further experiments to determine the correct model for reverse bias conduction. Understanding conduction mechanisms in these devices will help develop more reproducible contacts, reduce leakage current, and ultimately improve detector performance.
2010-12-15T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/211
10.15368/theses.2009.180
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1226
2009-12-16T18:01:25Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:eemt
publication:theses
Drain Diverter
Kim, Hyung Joon
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Michael Cirovic
The DI water is commonly used to rinse production wafers to remove mechanical and chemical residue without any problematic chemical reaction in rinse process. The semiconductor industry wants to save their manufacture cost and reduce the industrial residue by recycling the deionized water during CPM process. The conductivity in recycled DI water is integrated over the time period.
The Drain Diverter, deionized wafer filtering system, is the automated system that detects the level of ions and controls the drain system by using conductive probes. The system contains hysteresis loop, valve feedback, relay circuit, and facility interlock. The recycled water valve is immediately closed when the contaminated water is detected by the conductive probes.
The Drain diverter is the project designed for the semiconductor equipments company, and is currently integrated and operating in semiconductor manufacture facility of a chip maker, filtering contaminated DI water from the chamber. And the time delay of the recycled water valve responses is 140mSec for 60PSI of flow pressure.
2009-12-16T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/212
10.15368/theses.2009.181
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1229
2009-12-21T19:30:11Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Design and Performance of Load Bearing Shear Walls Made from Composite Rice Straw Blocks
Camann, Kevin Robert
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Daniel C. Jansen
Stak Block
Straw Block
Straw Bale Construction
Prestressed Shear Wall
Green Construction
Sustainable Construction
Architectural Engineering
Civil Engineering
Structural Engineering
Structural Materials
Although rice straw and other grains have been used in building since pre-history, in the past two decades, there has been a move to utilize this rapidly renewable, locally available, agricultural byproduct as part of the sustainable construction movement. Up to this point, this has been done by simply stacking up the full straw bales. Stak Block, invented by Oryzatech, Inc., is a modular, interlocking block made of a composite of rice straw and binding agent that serves as an evolution in straw construction. This study investigates the feasibility of using these Stak Blocks as a structural system. The report was divided into four main parts: material testing, development of effective construction detailing, full-scale physical shear wall testing, and a comparison with wood framed shear walls.
The first section investigated the feasibility of using the Stak Blocks in a load-bearing wall application. Constitutive properties of the composite straw material such as yield strength and elastic stiffness were determined and then compared to conventional straw bale. Next, the decision was made to prestress the walls to create a more effective structural system. Various construction detailing iterations were evaluated upon the full-scale shear wall testing using a pseudo-static cyclic loading protocol. Finally, the available ductility of the prestressed Stak Block walls in a lateral force resisting application is quantified along with an approximation of potential design shear forces.
It was determined that the Stak Block material performed satisfactorily in gravity and lateral force resisting applications, in some respects better than conventional wood-framed construction, and has great potential as a seismically-resistant building material.
2009-12-21T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/218
10.15368/theses.2009.186
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1233
2009-12-22T08:26:02Z
publication:gradres
publication:histmt
publication:research
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
The War Powers Resolution: Reassessing the Constitutional Balance of Power
Cable, Kasey Elizabeth
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MA in History
History
Thomas Trice
Political History
This thesis is an analysis of the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and the impact it held on the role of Congress and the President in entering war. More specifically, this thesis takes a look at President Richard M. Nixon’s influence on the 93rd Congress’s decision to pass the War Powers Resolution after multiple failed attempts at similar legislation. Through a major domestic policy blunder, the Watergate break-in, and a foreign policy disaster, the on-going war in Vietnam, opposition to Nixon’s presidential conduct united both the House and the Senate and resulted in legislation that would attempt to restore the Constitutional balance of power.
2009-12-22T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/224
10.15368/theses.2009.191
oai:digitalcommons.calpoly.edu:theses-1234
2016-01-15T19:34:15Z
publication:gradres
publication:research
publication:cenvmt
publication:students
publication:masterstheses
publication:theses
Point-of-Use Water Treatment Device for Disaster Relief
Compas, Patricia Marie
2009-12-01T08:00:00Z
MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Tryg Lundquist
<p>A point-of-use water treatment device and an optimal method for its use were developed. The specially-designed vessel is to be used with flocculation and disinfection agents, while also providing for clean water storage. Possible applications would be disaster relief, emergency preparedness, and outdoor recreation.</p>
2018-12-22T08:00:00Z
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/223
10.15368/theses.2009.190
565962/simple-dublin-core/100//