146 research outputs found
Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2009
This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics
Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2011
This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics
Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2010
This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physic
Genetic And Evolutionary Biometrics:Multiobjective, Multimodal, Feature Selection/Weighting For Tightly Coupled Periocular And Face Recognition
The Genetic & Evolutionary Computation (GEC) research community has seen the emergence of a new subarea, referred to as Genetic & Evolutionary Biometrics (GEB), as GECs have been applied to solve a variety of biometric problems. In this dissertation, we present three new GEB techniques for multibiometric recognition: Genetic & Evolutionary Feature Selection (GEFeS), Weighting (GEFeW), and Weighting/Selection (GEFeWS). Instead of selecting the most salient individual features, these techniques evolve subsets of the most salient combinations of features and/or weight features based on their discriminative ability in an effort to increase accuracy while decreasing the overall number of features needed for recognition. We also incorporate cross validation into our best performing technique in an attempt to evolve feature masks (FMs) that also generalize well to unseen subjects and we search the value preference space in an attempt to analyze its impact in respect to optimization and generalization. Our results show that by fusing the periocular biometric with the face, we can achieve higher recognition accuracies than using the two biometric modalities independently. Our results also show that our GEB techniques are able to achieve higher recognition rates than the baseline methods, while using significantly fewer features. In addition, by incorporating machine learning, we were able to create FMs that also generalize well to unseen subjects and use less than 50% of the extracted features. Finally, by searching the value preference space, we were able to determine which weights were most effective in terms of optimization and generalization
Annual Report of the University, 2007-2008, Volumes 1-6
Project Summary and Goals Historically, affirmative action policies have evolved from initial programs aimed at providing equal educational opportunities to all students, to the legitimacy of programs that are aimed at achieving diversity in higher education. In June 2003, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action pushed higher education across the threshold toward creating a new paradigm for diversity in the 21 51 century. The court clearly stale that affirmative action is still viable but that our institutions must reconsider our traditional concepts for building diversity in the next few decades. This shift in historical context of diversity in our society has led to an important objective: If a diverse student body is an essential factor in a quality higher education, then it is imperative that elementary, secondary and undergraduate schools fulfill their missions to successfully educate a diverse population. In NM, the success of graduate programs depends on the state\u27s P-12 schools, the community and institutions of higher education, and their shared task of educating all students. Further, when the lens in broadened to view the entire P - 20 educational pipeline, it becomes apparent that the loss of students from elementary school to high school is enormous, constricting the number of students who go on to college. Not only are these of concern to what is happening in terms of their academic education but as well in terms of the communities that are affected to make critical decision and become and stay involved in the political and policy world that affects them. Guiding Principles Engaging Latino Communities for Education New Mexico (ENLACE NM) is a statewide collaboration of gente who represent the voices of underrepresented children and families- people who have historically not had a say in policy initiatives that directly impact them and their communities. Therefore, they, and others from our community, are at the forefront of this initiative. We have developed this collaboration based on a process that empowers these communities to find their voice in the pursuit of social justice and educational access, equity and success
Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2012
This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, Mathematics, Statistics and Engineering Physics
Critical Metals: From Granitic Pegmatites to the Anthropogenic Cycle
Critical metals are vital to the functionality of the modern world. The increased diversity and usage intensity of these commodities in defense-related and strategic technologies (e.g., jet engines, rocket assemblies), modern infrastructure and products (e.g., high-strength steel, cellular phones, laptop computers), and energy-related, low-emissions technologies (e.g., nuclear reactors, solar panels, wind turbines, hybrid and electric vehicles) has drastically increased our reliance on critical metals and, thus, the United States (and global) exposure to supply restrictions. Granitic pegmatites are unique mineral deposits that represent a past, present and future resource for many (approximately half) of these critical resources. Even with the significance of granitic pegmatites for critical metal resources and the plethora of research available on these systems, numerous controversies related to the formation of these deposits remain unresolved. This includes the petrogenetic origin of critical metal-mineralized pegmatite-forming melts, namely whether these melts are formed exclusively via extensive fractionation of a pluton-scale volume of magma, or also by low-degree anatexis of a critical metal-rich source. In addition, the importance of primary internal processes such as undercooling or high-temperature melt-melt-fluid immiscibility, which can induce critical metal mineralization at the regional scale within a pegmatite field and locally within a single pegmatite, remains actively debated. Understanding each of these controversies provides context for the exploration of critical metals in these deposits at both local and regional scales. Lastly, our lack of understanding of the material flow of critical metals in the anthropogenic cycle is a key factor that inhibits the resolution of supply chain restrictions. This is exemplified by the fact that we do not know how much of these metals we trade outside of raw material forms (i.e., embedded critical metals within the widely traded products generated by large-scale industries). The projects in this dissertation approach critical metals and granitic pegmatites from an economic geology perspective with consideration of igneous petrology, geochemistry, mineral economics, and industrial ecology to shed light on the above controversies that hinder our understanding of the concentration and flow of critical metals in a geologic and anthropogenic context, with the goal of outlining solutions of supply resilience for critical commodities.The first project in this dissertation (Chapter 3) focuses on the economic potential, characterization, and petrogenesis of the Virgin Mountains pegmatite field bordering Nevada and Arizona, an understudied, domestic (for the United States) critical metal-mineralized (Be, Nb) pegmatite field. Understanding the geologic processes involved in the petrogenesis of these critical metal pegmatites is necessary to determine the essential geologic criteria required to form these deposits, and to delineate areas of interest domestically and globally for the occurrence of potentially economic-grade granitic pegmatites. A combination of fieldwork and whole-rock geochemical data collected during this study highlights several indicators of critical metal-mineralized pegmatites, including the presence of green-tinted muscovite, elevated bulk rock critical metal anomalies and P2O5, and low bulk rock K/Rb, Zr/Hf, Ba, and K2O relative to barren pegmatites. These tools were used to outline a narrow pegmatite trend in the Virgin Mountains that is prospective for critical metals and as a potential domestic source of high-purity Be. In addition, field and petrographic observations undertaken during this project enable the division of critical metal pegmatites into beryl-columbite and chrysoberyl types, and barren pegmatites into multiple mineralogic varieties. This research demonstrates that chrysoberyl pegmatites are likely metamorphosed beryl-columbite pegmatites. Incomplete reactions within the critical metal pegmatites involving (1) beryl-chrysoberyl and (2) magmatic andalusite recrystallizing to subsolidus kyanite and crosscut by sillimanite constrain metamorphic pressure-temperature conditions to a sillimanite-grade metamorphic overprint. Trace element modeling undertaken during this study indicates that (1) the critical metal pegmatites in the study area are likely the result of a combination of equilibrium and fractional crystallization of a local biotite monzogranite, and (2) modal fractional melting, or non-modal muscovite fluid-fluxed or dehydration melting of local mica schist units, could not have produced these critical metal pegmatites. Importantly, the geochemical variability present in these samples indicates that other petrogenetic scenarios are possible, including the melting of a heterogenous, metasedimentary source, episodic melt extraction from a thermally maturing source, crustal contamination, or the presence of a blind pluton. An important implication of this study is that although recent and previous pegmatite classification schemes would have labeled this pegmatite field as the product of direct anatexis, our results indicate that these pegmatites may instead be pluton-related. Our results also suggest that critical metal pegmatites associated with direct anatexis urgently require a unified petrogenetic model with feasible geologic processes, rather than citing the lack of evidence for a pluton-related origin as evidence for direct anatexis. A more definitive working model would greatly assist in the exploration for these deposits, whether regionally within a pegmatite belt or locally within a pegmatite field, which may indeed be anatectic. Following this natural case study, I investigate the internal (intrapegmatite) processes responsible for the distribution of critical metal mineralization within granitic pegmatites and throughout a pegmatite field via the largest collated database of published crystallization temperatures (compiled for this study) from global pegmatite occurrences (Chapter 4). Thermometry results from different pegmatite classes and families show that decreasing temperature (increasing liquidus undercooling) is correlative with the mineralization of critical metals within granitic pegmatites. My assessment of this comprehensive dataset indicates that critical metal-mineralized pegmatite classes (i.e., Rare Element and Miarolitic classes) crystallize on average ~170°C or more below (i.e., subsolidus) the hydrous haplogranite liquidus, whereas barren pegmatite classes generally crystallize close to their liquidus temperature (i.e., suprasolidus). In addition, the different pegmatite families crystallize at different mean temperatures suggesting that a combination of melt composition and source controls may be responsible for the mineralization of the associated groups of commodities in each family. These results also are used to compare intrapegmatite crystallization temperatures, showing that undercooling is one important factor responsible for the development of complex internal zoning that results in the development of critical metal-mineralized zones that can be targeted for economic exploitation. In comparison, unzoned pegmatites typically crystallize at temperatures between their liquidus and solidus similar to typical granites. Temperature variability amongst classes and zones indicates that the magnitude of intrapegmatite temperature variation may be a factor in the development of world-class pegmatite deposits. These results, coupled with the similar textures and relatively low temperatures recorded in other economic-grade mineral deposits, strongly suggest that undercooling may also be a necessary process in the development of other types of critical mineral deposits. This chapter is currently under review for publication in Earth-Science Reviews. Finally, I examine the movement of critical metals after geologic extraction through the anthropogenic cycle (i.e., mineral concentrates to embedded forms within manufactured products) to determine the effect of the inclusion of these material flows on supply chain restrictions (Chapter 5). In particular, this project focuses on the material flow (e.g., imports and exports) of Nb in primary forms, partially derived from columbite in granitic pegmatites, and those embedded within fabricated and manufactured products, specifically the steel and automotive industries, for the United States and China. Both of these countries are large, primary consumers and high net importers of Nb. These results demonstrate that accounting for embedded Nb, which is typically not included in most critical material flow studies, significantly modifies apparent consumption estimates. The inclusion of the consideration of embedded Nb in U.S. and China imports and exports demonstrates that the United States on average actually consumes nearly double the amount of Nb that was previously reported, whereas China significantly decreases its apparent consumption of Nb because much of its imported primary Nb is re-exported within steels. In addition, the United States has a multi-stage Nb import dependence throughout its material flow cycle, while China is only import-dependent at the primary stage of the Nb flow cycle. This indicates that net import reliance of raw material or primary forms do not provide the entire picture necessary for outlining critical mineral commodity supply restrictions and that quantifying the embedded flows of critical mineral commodities would provide much-needed insights for crafting solutions to reducing the import dependence of these commodities. Solutions to reduce criticality or import dependence of critical minerals are commodity-specific and may require the discovery of domestic resources, securing non-domestic resources by incentivizing their acquisition, country-specific partnerships, or the development and expansion of domestic industries that utilize these commodities to reduce downstream imports. This chapter has been published in Resources, Conservation & Recycling. Together these projects provide insights into the controversies surrounding critical commodities, from the geologic processes that form these deposits, specifically in granitic pegmatites but possibly applicable to other critical metal deposits, to the pathway of one of these commodities in the anthropogenic cycle. Importantly, these projects illustrate that solutions to criticality require a multi-faceted approach with an understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the concentration and flow of these commodities in a geologic and anthropogenic context. A combination of the approaches undertaken in this dissertation are necessary if stated improvements to critical metal and mineral supply chain security and associated targets such as an energy-efficient, low-emissions future are to be realized
Lake Mead National Recreation Area Vegetation Monitoring and Analysis: Final Project Report
Vegetation Monitoring and Analysis at Lake Mead National Recreation Area (NRA) was funded by the Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan, Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act, Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation Program, and Lake Mead NRA base-funds. This Cooperative Task Agreement was awarded to the Public Lands Institute (PLI) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) on September 30, 2006 with the term ending December 31, 2009, as modified. The primary purpose of this Task Agreement was to work within an interagency framework towards the accomplishment of three main vegetation management objectives. These three goals were to: (1) inventory, research and monitor rare plant species of interest to the interagency partnerships focused on the Lake Mead NRA region; (2) provide monitoring, research and initial treatments of priority invasive weeds within Lake Mead NRA and on public lands in Clark County, Nevada through an interagency weed management program; and (3) provide technical assistance and support in monitoring and research related to land disturbance and ecological restoration monitoring. In addition, the task agreement deliverables were greatly exceeded by conducting supplemental monitoring and research activities that supported the broad goals of the Task Agreement. This “value added” monitoring and research included activities such as initiating scientific literature reviews (one of which, a practical review of Mojave Desert revegetation techniques, was jointly published with the NRA vegetation manager); retrospectively assessing a past NRA restoration project along a pipeline in Boulder Basin (which also was jointly published with the NRA vegetation manager) surveys to enhance rare plant monitoring and management in Clark County; a major vegetation change assessment comparing vegetation in 1979 to 2007-08 in the Newberry Mountains, conducting a major project invertebrate assessment identified as a priority by the NRA vegetation manager; implementing a federal highways project (e.g., site planning, restoration plantings) also identified as a priority by NRA managers; and assessing the feasibility of determining reference conditions for ecological restoration. All of these “value-added” activities went above and beyond the deliverables required by this Task Agreement. As presented at the December 8, 2008, CESU meeting in Reno, Nevada, this task agreement is viewed as one of the most productive and cost efficient (based on products/dollars) Agreements in the country. This Task Agreement will continue to produce products as manuscripts from this work are published in scientific journals
Annual Report of the University, 1988-1989, Volumes 1-5
Significant Developments During Academic Year, 1988-89 A. Approximately one man-year of effort was devoted to analysis to detect possible gender or racial/ethnic bias in faculty personnel operations at the university. This effort was required to support responses by the Counsel\\u27s office to queries put by OFCCP. B. Approval by the NMCHE of its statewide postsecondary education plan, Planning for the Class of 2005, required review of the plan by President May. P&PS provided that review plus all of the written institutional testimony. C. NMCHE developed a 16-page directive, Institutional Planning Guidelines, which required extensive input to the Commission\\u27s Planning Committee. Commissioner Taylor and the NMCHE staff resisted most of the institutional recommendations. Of some significance was the addition by NMCHE of a set of statewide issues in New Mexico higher education drafted in P&PS
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