Master of Science

thesisXurography is an inexpensive rapid prototyping technology for the development of microfluidic systems. Imprecision in the xurographic tape cutting process can result in undesired changes in channel dimensions near features that require a change in cutting direction, such as 90° miter bends. An experimental study of water flow in rectangular xurographic microchannels incorporating 90° miter bends with different channel widths in each leg is reported. A set of 12 microchannels, with channel depth approximately 105 micrometers and aspect ratio ranging from 0.071 to 0.435, were fabricated from double-sided adhesive Kapton® polyimide tape and two rectangular glass plates. The channels were reinforced with a mechanical clamping system, enabling high Reynolds number Re flows (up to Re = 3200) where Re was based upon hydraulic diameter and average velocity. Reported data include friction factor and critical Reynolds number for straight microchannels and loss coefficients for flow through 90° miter bends that contain either a contraction or expansion with cross-sectional area ratios of 0.5, 0.333 and 0.2. The critical Reynolds number, Recr, ranged from 1700 to 2300 and was found to be dependent on channel defects such as sidewall roughness, adhesive droplets, and corner imperfections. Loss coefficients through 90° miter bends with expansion decrease rapidly for Re Recr. For 90° miter bends with contractions, loss coefficients gradually decrease with increasing Re for 150 < Re < 1400. In addition, the loss coefficient decreases with decreasing area ratio through the contraction or expansion. The minor loss coefficient data were found to be dependent on Reynolds numbers and area ratio of contraction/expansion at the bend. The results suggest that the effect of the contraction/expansion was the dominant mechanism for minor losses in the 90° miter bend

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationWind conditions within the urban environment have been found to be more turbulent than that in rural areas, due to the increased surface roughness caused by the presence of buildings, houses, and trees. Furthermore, winds in the urban environment are typ

A general formula for the index of depth stability of edge ideals

By a classical result of Brodmann, the function $\operatorname{depth} R/I^t$ is asymptotically a constant, i.e. there is a number $s$ such that $\operatorname{depth} R/I^t = \operatorname{depth} R/I^s$ for $t > s$. One calls the smallest number $s$ with this property the index of depth stability of $I$ and denotes it by $\operatorname{dstab}(I)$. This invariant remains mysterious til now. The main result of this paper gives an explicit formula for $\operatorname{dstab}(I)$ when $I$ is an arbitrary ideal generated by squarefree monomials of degree 2. That is the first general case where one can characterize $\operatorname{dstab}(I)$ explicitly. The formula expresses $\operatorname{dstab}(I)$ in terms of the associated graph. The proof involves new techniques which relate different topics such as simplicial complexes, systems of linear inequalities, graph parallelizations, and ear decompositions. It provides an effective method for the study of powers of edge ideals.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure

Assessing Speaking Skills: The What’s and the How’s

Assessing speaking skills in TEFL has been a neglected or unmanageable area of instruction in the context of Vietnam’s senior high schools. Furthermore, administering end-of-semester speaking tests in largescale classrooms has been an impossible mission. This workshop will suggest tips and tools to make the assessment of these skills manageable

Rice monitoring using ENVISAT-ASAR data: preliminary results of a case study in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the world’s largest rice exporting countries, and the fertile Mekong River Delta at the southern tip of Vietnam accounts for more than half of the country’s rice production. Unfortunately, a large part of rice crop growing time coincides with a rainy season, resulting in a limited number of cloud-free optical remote sensing images for rice monitoring. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data allows for observations independent of weather conditions and solar illumination, and is potentially well suited for rice crop monitoring. The aim of the study was to apply new generation Envisat ASAR data with dual polarization (HH and VV) to rice cropping system mapping and monitoring in An Giang province, Mekong River Delta. Several sample areas were established on the ground, where selected rice parameters (e.g. rice height and biomass) are periodically being measured over a period of 12 months. A correlation analysis of rice parameters and radar imagery values is then being conducted to determine the significance and magnitude of the relationships. This paper describes a review of the previous research studies on rice monitoring using SAR data, the context of this on-going study, and some preliminary results that provide insights on how ASAR imagery could be useful for rice crop monitoring. More work is being done to develop algorithms for mapping and monitoring rice cropping systems, and to validate a rice yield prediction model for one year cycle using time-series SAR imagery