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Description
Node-link diagrams are widely used to visualize the relational structure of real world datasets. As identical data can be visualized in infinite ways by simply changing the spatial arrangement of the nodes, one of the important research topics of the graph drawing community is to visualize the data in the

Node-link diagrams are widely used to visualize the relational structure of real world datasets. As identical data can be visualized in infinite ways by simply changing the spatial arrangement of the nodes, one of the important research topics of the graph drawing community is to visualize the data in the way that can facilitate people's comprehension. The last three decades have witnessed the growth of algorithms for automatic visualization. However, despite the popularity of node-link diagrams and the enthusiasm in improving computational efficiency, little is known about how people read these graphs and what factors (layout, size, density, etc.) have impact on their effectiveness (the usability aspect of the graph, e.g., are they easy to understand?). This thesis is comprehensive research to investigate the factors that affect people's understanding of node-link diagrams using eye-tracking methods. Three experiments were conducted, including 1) a pilot study with 22 participants to explore the layout and size effect; 2) an eye tracking experiment with 43 participants to investigate the layout, size and density effect on people's graph comprehension using abstract node-link diagram and generic tasks; and 3) an eye tracking experiment with the same participants to investigate the same effects using a real visualization analytic application. Results showed that participants' spatial reasoning ability had significant impact on people's graph reading performance. Layout, size, and density were all found to be significant effects under different task circumstances. The applicability of the eye tracking methods on visualization evaluation has been confirmed by providing detailed evidence that demonstrates the cognitive process of participants' graph reading behavior.
ContributorsLiu, Qing (Author) / McKenna, Anna (Thesis advisor) / Jennifer, Jennifer (Committee member) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Biosensors aiming at detection of target analytes, such as proteins, microbes, virus, and toxins, are widely needed for various applications including detection of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents, biomedicine, environmental monitoring, and drug screening. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), as a surface-sensitive analytical tool, can very sensitively respond to minute

Biosensors aiming at detection of target analytes, such as proteins, microbes, virus, and toxins, are widely needed for various applications including detection of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents, biomedicine, environmental monitoring, and drug screening. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), as a surface-sensitive analytical tool, can very sensitively respond to minute changes of refractive index occurring adjacent to a metal film, offering detection limits up to a few ppt (pg/mL). Through SPR, the process of protein adsorption may be monitored in real-time, and transduced into an SPR angle shift. This unique technique bypasses the time-consuming, labor-intensive labeling processes, such as radioisotope and fluorescence labeling. More importantly, the method avoids the modification of the biomarker’s characteristics and behaviors by labeling that often occurs in traditional biosensors. While many transducers, including SPR, offer high sensitivity, selectivity is determined by the bio-receptors. In traditional biosensors, the selectivity is provided by bio-receptors possessing highly specific binding affinity to capture target analytes, yet their use in biosensors are often limited by their relatively-weak binding affinity with analyte, non-specific adsorption, need for optimization conditions, low reproducibility, and difficulties integrating onto the surface of transducers. In order to circumvent the use of bio-receptors, the competitive adsorption of proteins, termed the Vroman effect, is utilized in this work. The Vroman effect was first reported by Vroman and Adams in 1969. The competitive adsorption targeted here occurs among different proteins competing to adsorb to a surface, when more than one type of protein is present. When lower-affinity proteins are adsorbed on the surface first, they can be displaced by higher-affinity proteins arriving at the surface at a later point in time. Moreover, only low-affinity proteins can be displaced by high-affinity proteins, typically possessing higher molecular weight, yet the reverse sequence does not occur. The SPR biosensor based on competitive adsorption is successfully demonstrated to detect fibrinogen and thyroglobulin (Tg) in undiluted human serum and copper ions in drinking water through the denatured albumin.
ContributorsWang, Ran (Author) / Chae, Junseok (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Tsow, Tsing (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Total dose sensing systems (or radiation detection systems) have many applications,

ranging from survey monitors used to supervise the generated radioactive waste at

nuclear power plants to personal dosimeters which measure the radiation dose

accumulated in individuals. This dissertation work will present two different types of

novel devices developed at Arizona State University for

Total dose sensing systems (or radiation detection systems) have many applications,

ranging from survey monitors used to supervise the generated radioactive waste at

nuclear power plants to personal dosimeters which measure the radiation dose

accumulated in individuals. This dissertation work will present two different types of

novel devices developed at Arizona State University for total dose sensing applications.

The first detector technology is a mechanically flexible metal-chalcogenide glass (ChG)

based system which is fabricated on low cost substrates and are intended as disposable

total dose sensors. Compared to existing commercial technologies, these thin film

radiation sensors are simpler in form and function, and cheaper to produce and operate.

The sensors measure dose through resistance change and are suitable for applications

such as reactor dosimetry, radiation chemistry, and clinical dosimetry. They are ideal for

wearable devices due to the lightweight construction, inherent robustness to resist

breaking when mechanically stressed, and ability to attach to non-flat objects. Moreover,

their performance can be easily controlled by tuning design variables and changing

incorporated materials. The second detector technology is a wireless dosimeter intended

for remote total dose sensing. They are based on a capacitively loaded folded patch

antenna resonating in the range of 3 GHz to 8 GHz for which the load capacitance varies

as a function of total dose. The dosimeter does not need power to operate thus enabling

its use and implementation in the field without requiring a battery for its read-out. As a

result, the dosimeter is suitable for applications such as unattended detection systems

destined for covert monitoring of merchandise crossing borders, where nuclear material

tracking is a concern. The sensitive element can be any device exhibiting a known

variation of capacitance with total ionizing dose. The sensitivity of the dosimeter is

related to the capacitance variation of the radiation sensitive device as well as the high

frequency system used for reading. Both technologies come with the advantage that they

are easy to manufacture with reasonably low cost and sensing can be readily read-out.
ContributorsMahmud, Adnan, Ph.D (Author) / Barnaby, Hugh J. (Thesis advisor) / Kozicki, Michael N (Committee member) / Gonzalez-Velo, Yago (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
The 21st-century professional or knowledge worker spends much of the working day engaging others through electronic communication. The modes of communication available to knowledge workers have rapidly increased due to computerized technology advances: conference and video calls, instant messaging, e-mail, social media, podcasts, audio books, webinars, and much more. Professionals

The 21st-century professional or knowledge worker spends much of the working day engaging others through electronic communication. The modes of communication available to knowledge workers have rapidly increased due to computerized technology advances: conference and video calls, instant messaging, e-mail, social media, podcasts, audio books, webinars, and much more. Professionals who think for a living express feelings of stress about their ability to respond and fear missing critical tasks or information as they attempt to wade through all the electronic communication that floods their inboxes. Although many electronic communication tools compete for the attention of the contemporary knowledge worker, most professionals use an electronic personal information management (PIM) system, more commonly known as an e-mail application and often the ubiquitous Microsoft Outlook program. The aim of this research was to provide knowledge workers with solutions to manage the influx of electronic communication that arrives daily by studying the workers in their working environment. This dissertation represents a quest to understand the current strategies knowledge workers use to manage their e-mail, and if modification of e-mail management strategies can have an impact on productivity and stress levels for these professionals. Today’s knowledge workers rarely work entirely alone, justifying the importance of also exploring methods to improve electronic communications within teams.
ContributorsCounts, Virginia (Author) / Parrish, Kristen (Thesis advisor) / Allenby, Braden (Thesis advisor) / Landis, Amy (Committee member) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Over the past several decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of fluorescent probes in low-cost diagnostic devices for resource-limited environments. This dissertation details the design, development, and deployment of an inexpensive, multiplexed, and quantitative, fluorescence-based lateral flow immunoassay platform, in light of the specific constraints associated

Over the past several decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of fluorescent probes in low-cost diagnostic devices for resource-limited environments. This dissertation details the design, development, and deployment of an inexpensive, multiplexed, and quantitative, fluorescence-based lateral flow immunoassay platform, in light of the specific constraints associated with resource-limited settings.

This effort grew out of the need to develop a highly sensitive, field-deployable platform to be used as a primary screening and early detection tool for serologic biomarkers for the high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection. A hrHPV infection is a precursor for developing high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2/3+). Early detection requires high sensitivity and a low limit-of-detection (LOD). To this end, the developed platform (DxArray) takes advantage of the specificity of immunoassays and the selectivity of fluorescence for early disease detection. The long term goal is to improve the quality of life for several hundred million women globally, at risk of being infected with hrHPV.

The developed platform uses fluorescent labels over the gold-standard colorimetric labels in a compact, high-sensitivity lateral flow assay configuration. It is also compatible with POC settings as it substitutes expensive and bulky light sources for LEDs, low-light CMOS cameras, and photomultiplier tubes for photodiodes, in a transillumination architecture, and eliminates the need for expensive focusing/transfer optics. The platform uses high-quality interference filters at less than $1 each, enabling a rugged and robust design suitable for field use.

The limit of detection (LOD) of the developed platform is within an order of magnitude of centralized laboratory diagnostic instruments. It enhances the LOD of absorbance or reflectometric and visual readout lateral flow assays by 2 - 3 orders of magnitude. This system could be applied toward any chemical or bioanalytical procedure that requires a high performance at low-cost.

The knowledge and techniques developed in this effort is relevant to the community of researchers and industry developers looking to deploy inexpensive, quantitative, and highly sensitive diagnostic devices to resource-limited settings.
ContributorsObahiagbon, Uwadiae (Author) / Blain Christen, Jennifer M (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Karen S (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Smith, Barbara S. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
To date, the most popular and dominant material for commercial solar cells is

crystalline silicon (or wafer-Si). It has the highest cell efficiency and cell lifetime out

of all commercial solar cells. Although the potential of crystalline-Si solar cells in

supplying energy demands is enormous, their future growth will likely be constrained

by two

To date, the most popular and dominant material for commercial solar cells is

crystalline silicon (or wafer-Si). It has the highest cell efficiency and cell lifetime out

of all commercial solar cells. Although the potential of crystalline-Si solar cells in

supplying energy demands is enormous, their future growth will likely be constrained

by two major bottlenecks. The first is the high electricity input to produce

crystalline-Si solar cells and modules, and the second is the limited supply of silver

(Ag) reserves. These bottlenecks prevent crystalline-Si solar cells from reaching

terawatt-scale deployment, which means the electricity produced by crystalline-Si

solar cells would never fulfill a noticeable portion of our energy demands in the future.

In order to solve the issue of Ag limitation for the front metal grid, aluminum (Al)

electroplating has been developed as an alternative metallization technique in the

fabrication of crystalline-Si solar cells. The plating is carried out in a

near-room-temperature ionic liquid by means of galvanostatic electrolysis. It has been

found that dense, adherent Al deposits with resistivity in the high 10^–6 ohm-cm range

can be reproducibly obtained directly on Si substrates and nickel seed layers. An

all-Al Si solar cell, with an electroplated Al front electrode and a screen-printed Al

back electrode, has been successfully demonstrated based on commercial p-type

monocrystalline-Si solar cells, and its efficiency is approaching 15%. Further

optimization of the cell fabrication process, in particular a suitable patterning

technique for the front silicon nitride layer, is expected to increase the efficiency of

the cell to ~18%. This shows the potential of Al electroplating in cell metallization is

promising and replacing Ag with Al as the front finger electrode is feasible.
ContributorsSun, Wen-Cheng (Author) / Tao, Meng (Thesis advisor) / Vasileska, Dragica (Committee member) / Yu, Hongbin (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
Sb-based type-II superlattices (T2SLs) are potential alternative to HgCdTe for infrared detection due to their low manufacturing cost, good uniformity, high structural stability, and suppressed Auger recombination. The emerging InAs/InAsSb T2SLs have minority carrier lifetimes 1-2 orders of magnitude longer than those of the well-studied InAs/InGaSb T2SLs, and therefore have

Sb-based type-II superlattices (T2SLs) are potential alternative to HgCdTe for infrared detection due to their low manufacturing cost, good uniformity, high structural stability, and suppressed Auger recombination. The emerging InAs/InAsSb T2SLs have minority carrier lifetimes 1-2 orders of magnitude longer than those of the well-studied InAs/InGaSb T2SLs, and therefore have the potential to achieve photodetectors with higher performance. This work develops a novel method to measure the minority carrier lifetimes in infrared materials, and reports a comprehensive characterization of minority carrier lifetime and transport in InAs/InAsSb T2SLs at temperatures below 77 K.

A real-time baseline correction (RBC) method for minority carrier lifetime measurement is developed by upgrading a conventional boxcar-based time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) experimental system that suffers from low signal-to-noise ratio due to strong low frequency noise. The key is to modify the impulse response of the conventional TRPL system, and therefore the system becomes less sensitive to the dominant noise. Using this RBC method, the signal-to-noise ratio is improved by 2 orders of magnitude.

A record long minority carrier lifetime of 12.8 μs is observed in a high-quality mid-wavelength infrared InAs/InAsSb T2SLs at 15 K. It is further discovered that this long lifetime is partially due to strong carrier localization, which is revealed by temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) and TRPL measurements for InAs/InAsSb T2SLs with different period thicknesses. Moreover, the PL and TRPL results suggest that the atomic layer thickness variation is the main origin of carrier localization, which is further confirmed by a calculation using transfer matrix method.

To study the impact of the carrier localization on the device performance of InAs/InAsSb photodetectors, minority hole diffusion lengths are determined by the simulation of external quantum efficiency (EQE). A comparative study shows that carrier localization has negligible effect on the minority hole diffusion length in InAs/InAsSb T2SLs, and the long minority carrier lifetimes enhanced by carrier localization is not beneficial for photodetector operation.
ContributorsLin, Zhiyuan (Author) / Zhang, Yong-Hang (Thesis advisor) / Vasileska, Dragica (Committee member) / Johnson, Shane (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
Zinc telluride (ZnTe) is an attractive II-VI compound semiconductor with a direct

bandgap of 2.26 eV that is used in many applications in optoelectronic devices. Compared

to the two dimensional (2D) thin-film semiconductors, one-dimensional (1D)

nanowires can have different electronic properties for potential novel applications.

In this work, we present the study of ZnTe

Zinc telluride (ZnTe) is an attractive II-VI compound semiconductor with a direct

bandgap of 2.26 eV that is used in many applications in optoelectronic devices. Compared

to the two dimensional (2D) thin-film semiconductors, one-dimensional (1D)

nanowires can have different electronic properties for potential novel applications.

In this work, we present the study of ZnTe nanowires (NWs) that are synthesized

through a simple vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. By controlling the presence or

the absence of Au catalysts and controlling the growth parameters such as growth

temperature, various growth morphologies of ZnTe, such as thin films and nanowires

can be obtained. The characterization of the ZnTe nanostructures and films was

performed using scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy

(EDX), high- resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), X-ray

diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL), Raman spectroscopy and light scattering

measurement. After confirming the crystal purity of ZnTe, two-terminal diodes and

three-terminal transistors were fabricated with both nanowire and planar nano-sheet

configurations, in order to correlate the nanostructure geometry to device performance

including field effect mobility, Schottky barrier characteristics, and turn-on

characteristics. Additionally, optoelectronic properties such as photoconductive gain

and responsivity were compared against morphology. Finally, ZnTe was explored in

conjunction with ZnO in order to form type-II band alignment in a core-shell nanostructure.

Various characterization techniques including scanning electron microscopy,

energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy , x-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis

reflectance spectra and photoluminescence were used to investigate the modification

of ZnO/ZnTe core/shell structure properties. In PL spectra, the eliminated PL intensity

of ZnO wires is primarily attributed to the efficient charge transfer process

occurring between ZnO and ZnTe, due to the band alignment in the core/shell structure. Moreover, the result of UV-vis reflectance spectra corresponds to the band

gap energy of ZnO and ZnTe, respectively, which confirm that the sample consists of

ZnO/ZnTe core/shell structure of good quality.
ContributorsPeng, Jhih-hong (Author) / Yu, Hongbin (Thesis advisor) / Roedel, Ronald (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Zhao, Yuji (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
We experience spatial separation and temporal asynchrony between visual and

haptic information in many virtual-reality, augmented-reality, or teleoperation systems.

Three studies were conducted to examine the spatial and temporal characteristic of

multisensory integration. Participants interacted with virtual springs using both visual and

haptic senses, and their perception of stiffness and ability to differentiate stiffness

We experience spatial separation and temporal asynchrony between visual and

haptic information in many virtual-reality, augmented-reality, or teleoperation systems.

Three studies were conducted to examine the spatial and temporal characteristic of

multisensory integration. Participants interacted with virtual springs using both visual and

haptic senses, and their perception of stiffness and ability to differentiate stiffness were

measured. The results revealed that a constant visual delay increased the perceived stiffness,

while a variable visual delay made participants depend more on the haptic sensations in

stiffness perception. We also found that participants judged stiffness stiffer when they

interact with virtual springs at faster speeds, and interaction speed was positively correlated

with stiffness overestimation. In addition, it has been found that participants could learn an

association between visual and haptic inputs despite the fact that they were spatially

separated, resulting in the improvement of typing performance. These results show the

limitations of Maximum-Likelihood Estimation model, suggesting that a Bayesian

inference model should be used.
ContributorsSim, Sung Hun (Author) / Wu, Bing (Thesis advisor) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Branaghan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
This increasing role of highly automated and intelligent systems as team members has started a paradigm shift from human-human teaming to Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT). However, moving from human-human teaming to HAT is challenging. Teamwork requires skills that are often missing in robots and synthetic agents. It is possible that

This increasing role of highly automated and intelligent systems as team members has started a paradigm shift from human-human teaming to Human-Autonomy Teaming (HAT). However, moving from human-human teaming to HAT is challenging. Teamwork requires skills that are often missing in robots and synthetic agents. It is possible that adding a synthetic agent as a team member may lead teams to demonstrate different coordination patterns resulting in differences in team cognition and ultimately team effectiveness. The theory of Interactive Team Cognition (ITC) emphasizes the importance of team interaction behaviors over the collection of individual knowledge. In this dissertation, Nonlinear Dynamical Methods (NDMs) were applied to capture characteristics of overall team coordination and communication behaviors. The findings supported the hypothesis that coordination stability is related to team performance in a nonlinear manner with optimal performance associated with moderate stability coupled with flexibility. Thus, we need to build mechanisms in HATs to demonstrate moderately stable and flexible coordination behavior to achieve team-level goals under routine and novel task conditions.
ContributorsDemir, Mustafa, Ph.D (Author) / Cooke, Nancy J. (Thesis advisor) / Bekki, Jennifer (Committee member) / Amazeen, Polemnia G (Committee member) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017