Wide-band doubler and sine wave quadrature generator

Phase-locked loop with photoresistive control, which provides both sine and cosine outputs for subcarrier demodulation, serves as a telemetry demodulator signal conditioner with a second harmonic signal for synchronization with the locally generated code

Signal phase switches offer greater dynamic range

Circuit, placed in the signal path of a closed-loop receiver to modulate telemetered data in the 10-MHz spectrum, improves signal-to-noise ratio by 3 db in a communication receiver. The switch enables bandwidth reduction which reduces noise overload on the following stages, giving the system greater dynamic range

Frequency discriminator/phase detector

Circuit provides dual function of frequency discriminator/phase detector which reduces frequency acquisition time without adding to circuit complexity. Both frequency discriminators, in evaluated frequency discriminator/phase detector circuits, are effective two decades above and below center frequency

Third-order phase-locked loop receiver

Third-order extension to present second-order systems extends their Doppler tracking capabilities. It widens receiver pull-in range, decreases pull-in time, lowers voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) noise (determining when no signal is present), and lessens susceptibility to VCO drift

Filter for third order phase locked loops

Filters for third-order phase-locked loops are used in receivers to acquire and track carrier signals, particularly signals subject to high doppler-rate changes in frequency. A loop filter with an open-loop transfer function and set of loop constants, setting the damping factor equal to unity are provided

Strengths of sulfur-basalt concretes

Sulfur used in bonding high strength basalt aggregates to form sulfur-basalt concrete

Utilization of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring in Adult Patients with Hypertension

Hypertension is one of the most prevalent conditions in the United States, affecting roughly 45% of adults in the country (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). The CDC (2020) reports that only an estimated 24% of patients have controlled blood pressure, which is defined as blood pressure less than 130/80 mm Hg. In 2017, the American Heart Association (AHA) and American College of Cardiology (ACC) released a comprehensive set of guidelines that aimed to assist providers with hypertension management. The Measure Accurately, Act Rapidly, and Partner with Patients (MAP) protocol was formulated as an evidence-based strategy to improve blood pressure measurement accuracy, minimize time preceding treatment initiation, and involve patients in their blood pressure care (AHA, 2016). Home blood pressure monitoring (HBPM) has been identified as an effective method for assisting both patients and providers in the blood pressure control efforts. This project focused on implementing strategies for increasing the utilization of HBPM in the treatment of adult patients with hypertension at a rural primary care clinic in West Michigan. Within this quality improvement project, medical assistants provided patients with education regarding evidencebased measurement techniques. Providers were responsible for delivering a HBPM log to patients for recording home blood pressures. The DNP student also piloted the use of health coaching visits in patients ³ 60-years-old. Of the 147 eligible patients, 64.62% received the medical assistant-delivered education and 68% received the HBPM log. Patient blood pressure measurement technique had statistically significant improvements following the health coaching visits. Patients also reported increased likelihood of lifestyle modification after the health coaching. These results suggest a similar process for hypertension management may assist with promoting partnerships with patients and providers

Cyber-Physical System Intrusion: A Case Study of Automobile Identification Vulnerabilities and Automated Approaches for Intrusion Detection

Today\u27s vehicle manufacturers do not tend to publish proprietary packet formats for the controller area network (CAN), a network protocol regularly used in automobiles and manufacturing. This is a form of security through obscurity -it makes reverse engineering efforts more difficult for would-be intruders -but obfuscating the CAN data in this way does not adequately hide the vehicle\u27s unique signature, even if these data are unprocessed or limited in scope. To prove this, we train two distinct deep learning models on data from 11 different vehicles. Our results clearly indicate that one can determine which vehicle generated a given sample of CAN data. This erodes consumer safety: a sophisticated attacker who establishes a presence on an unknown vehicle can use similar techniques to identify the vehicle and better format attacks. To protect critical cyber-physical systems (CPSs) against attacks like those enabled by this CAN vulnerability, system administrators often develop and employ intrusion detection systems (IDSs). Before developing an IDS, one requires an understanding of the behavior of the CPS and of the causality of its constituent parts. Such an understanding allows one to characterize normal behavior and, in turn, identify and report anomalous behavior. This research explores two different time series analysis techniques, Granger causality and empirical dynamic modeling (EDM), which may contribute to this understanding of a system. Our findings indicate that Granger causality is not a suitable approach to IDS development but that EDM may enable the understanding of a system required of an IDS architect. We thus encourage further research into EDM applications to IDSs for CPSs

T-PESS and Special Education Teacher Attrition and Retention: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study of Teacher Perceptions of Administrator Effectiveness

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenology study was to explore special education teacher retention in a large school district in Texas and the perception of campus principal’s support as defined through the domains from the Texas Principal Evaluation and Support System (T-PESS). Participants in the study came from 550 special education teachers in Desert ISD, a school district in North Texas. I completed semi-structured interviews with a minimum of three special education teachers from elementary, middle school, and high school levels

The Rhetoric of the Double-Voiced: Strategic Ambiguity in the Silent Protest Parade

Examinations of historical social movements offer great insight into contemporary social justice activism. In this thesis, I analyzed the Silent Protest Parade of 1917. The Silent Protest Parade consisted of approximately 10,000 African American men, women, and children who marched in complete silence to illuminate racial violence and the lynchings of African Americans. I argued that through the concept of strategic ambiguity, protesters were able to communicate between African American and powerful White audiences, many of whom held racist beliefs and attitudes