The micropolar equations of motion are developed, in a very general form, for a
mixture of fluid and solid particles. The fluid is allowed to move differently than the solids,
and the solids are modeled as a micropolar continuum. That is, the solid particles have an
additional degree of freedom...
Accurate modeling and simulation of wave propagation in dispersive dielectrics such as water, human tissue and sand, among others, has a variety of applications. For example in medical imaging, electromagnetic waves are used to interrogate human tissue in a non-invasive manner to detect anomalies that could be cancerous. In non-destructive...
This thesis contains three manuscripts addressing the application of stochastic processes to the analysis and solution of partial differential equations (PDEs) in mathematical physics.
In the first manuscript, one dimensional diffusion and Burgers equation are considered. The Fourier transform of the solution to each PDE is represented as the expected...
This thesis presents a model of legged locomotion in
which position and velocity of body are directly controlled
by positions and velocities of feet. One central
relationship between foot acceleration, leg stroke and body
velocity is developed. Procedures for determining all
parameters of a step sequence including periods of constant...
Identification of factors that affect water and sugar transport in strawberry could aid
in attempts to influence fruit size and quality. Apoplastic water potential (Ψaw) gradients
within the strawberry plant, that could influence water and assimilate transport, were
identified. Fruit expansion was very sensitive to water stress and occurred when...
A new procedure is developed for computing a root of algebraic equations with real coefficients and a degree n, where n is 2, 4, 6, 10, 14 or any positive odd integer. A heuristic procedure is added to partially lift the restrictions on the degree n. The procedures are written...
In this dissertation, we study two risk models. First, we consider the dual risk process which models the surplus of a company that incurs expenses at a constant rate and earns random positive gains at random times. When the surplus is invested in a risky asset following a geometric Brownian...
The increase in tissue extensibility and joint range of motion through stretching has often been demonstrated. However, the existence of an optimal stretch duration has not been proven and the identification of an ideal number of repetitions of a stretch has received little attention in the literature. The purpose of...