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Design optimization of structures has become an important method to study and develop these days. Due to the fact that the world's population is increasing, and the worlds' resources are decreasing. An optimum design algorithm is a useful tool that can help to minimize the weight of a structure. Over the last four decades, several number of algorithms have been developed to solve engineering optimization problems, for example, metaheuristic algorithms. An example of metaheuristic algorithms is the Harmony Search algorithm (HS). HS algorithms make use of the analogy between the performance process of natural music and searching for solutions to optimization problems. In this research, the HS was applied on the College of Engineering Building at Temple University Main Campus in Philadelphia, PA. The HS algorithm searches for minimum cross-sectional areas that leads to find optimal steel sizes considering design constrains such as: stress, deflection, and lateral displacement limitations. The HS algorithm obtained lighter weight of steel frames by selecting a suitable steel section from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and by following the specification of Allowable Stress Design method (ASD). The results show that HS yielded lighter steel moment frames with approximately 20% weight reduction. Keywords: Harmony Search Algorithm, Steel Moment Frame, Optimization. / Civil Engineering

The partial differential equations of motion for an uncontrolled distributed structure can be transformed into a set of independent modal equations by means of the system eigenfunctions. In vibration analysis, the modal coordinates are referred to as natural coordinates. Active control forces generally recouple the modal equations so that the natural coordinates for the open-loop (uncontrolled) system cease to be natural coordinates for the closedloop (controlled) system. Control of this form is known as coupled control. In contrast, it is shown that a method known as the independent modal-space control method is a natural control method; i.e., the natural coordinates of the open-loop system and of the closed-loop system are identical. Furthermore, it is shown that natural control provides a unique and globally optimal closed-form solution to the linear optimal control problem for the distributed structure. The optimal control forces are ideally distributed. If implementation of distributed control is not feasible, then the distributed control forces can be approximated by finite-dimensional control forces. The class of self-adjoint systems are first considered following a treatment of non-self-adjoint systems. Numerical examples of a beam, a membrane and a whirling shaft are presented. In general, the eigenquantities for a distributed structure cannot be computed in closed-form, so that spatial discretization of the differential eigenvalue problem is necessary. A common discretization method is the finite element method leading to a discrete eigenvalue problem. Two bracketing theorems characterizing convergence of the discrete eigenvalue problem derived by the finite element method to the differential eigenvalue problem are formulated. The independent modal-space control method requires as many actuators as controlled modes. In contrast, coupled control is capable of controlling any number of modes using a single actuator, provided controllability is ensured. However, coupled control is sensitive to errors in the system parameters. As a compromise between coupled control and independent mbdal-space control, a block-independent control method is developed in which blocks of modes are controlled independently. The performances of independent modal-space control, coupled control and block-independent control are compared. / Ph. D.

The objectives of this experimentally and to simulate study were to implement theoretically a method of active vibration control, known as modal-space control, on a relatively simple beam-cable structure. The control was implemented in analog form and provided modal viscous damping in each of the three modes of the structure. Transient response to initial conditions was analyzed experimentally and theoretically. Control hardware included permanent magnet-coil systems for the three control force actuators and the single velocity sensor, and an analog controller built around integrated circuit operational amplifiers. This thesis compares open-loop experimental response and closed-loop experimental and theoretical response on the basis of Fast Fourier Transforms of transient time data. / M.S.

The beef cattle industry has placed increased focus on mature cow size as a result of its influence on production efficiency and profitability. The objectives of this study were to evaluate relationships among lifetime measures of body weight (BW) and frame score (FS) in commercial beef females, and to assess the value of immature measures as predictors of mature cow size. Measurements of BW, hip height (HH), body condition score (BCS), and calculated FS were recorded at weaning (WN), breeding at 13 mo age (BR), and 8 subsequent periods, ceasing at approximately 5 yr of age for 232 Angus-cross females born 2004 through 2008. Correlation analysis revealed significant (P < 0.001) relationships among BW taken at WN and BR with BW measurements taken at 2.5, 3.8, and 4.8 yr of age (WN r = 0.70, 0.51, 0.61; BR r = 0.65, 0.57, 0.64, respectively). Significant relationships (P < 0.001) existed between FS collected at WN and BR, and FS at 2.5 and 3.8 yr (WN= 0.70, 0.72; BR= 0.79, 0.82, respectively). Repeatability of lifetime FS measures was 0.73. BCS was a significant (P < 0.001) source of variation in mature BW, with a unit change in BCS accounting for 41 kg BW change at 4.8 yr (P < 0.001). BW and FS were moderately to strongly related (P < 0.001) at WN, BR, 2.5, 3.8, and 4.8 yr (r = 0.62, 0.49, 0.62, 0.62, and 0.47 respectively). Prediction models for BW at 4.8 yr were similar using weaning BW alone, or with inclusion of both weaning BW and HH (R2 = 0.57 and 0.56). Similarly, breeding BW and HH were non-additive for prediction of 4.8 yr BW (R2 = 0.68, 0.58, and 0.68 for BW, HH, and BW +HH respectively). Performance at immature ages proves to be a satisfactory indicator of mature size, supporting continued incorporation of immature BW and HH and/or FS measurements into selection practices. / Master of Science

This thesis explores the framing of graphical qualities of the passenger train and the city of Roanoke, Virginia. A passenger train station frames these icons and brings people directly to the train. This framing creates a new icon for the city. An area on the train tracks is revitalized and creates a permeable threshold into and out of the city. / Master of Architecture

Folding: A House is a study of the continuity of floor, wall and ceiling within the context of a house. With this method of continuity through folding, a strong directionality occurs within the spaces. The relationship among the different folds and between the folds and their enclosures is a syntactical relationship. Each fold slips in and past the previous fold. The forty-five degree rotation of the house on the forty-five degree sloped hill site allows for four fundamentally different relationships of house to ground and the surrounding views. The closed and open spaces inherently created within the folds directly relate to these differentiated views. / Master of Architecture

The cyclic trajectory described here exemplifies a loosely defined, continuously evolving set of questions, results, and methodologies that have emerged during the process of design by making. Through a series of prototypical building components and assemblies this collection presents a design process that began with a top-down program-specific design process that informed the development of a unique building system and enabled a bottom up formal exploration. As the design thesis for the first professional Master of Architecture degree, this exploration surrounds the design, fabrication, and deployment of a series of component-based building assemblies. One example, the SEEDS Pavilion At Hawks Ridge, serves as a remote base of operations for a local youth organization that supports field-based environmental education. The pavilion continues an investigation of user assembled construction and is based on a component group that can be assembled on-site by camp children. Each building component was manufactured using on campus fabrication laboratories and was assembled on-site by a group of supervised SEEDS camp student-volunteers during a two-day design-build workshop at the Hawk's Ridge Preserve in Floyd, Virginia. The form of the structure is derived by the limitation of component number, size, and assembly sequence and represents the conflict between a parametrically derived prescriptive shape and the forms that result from the bottom up exploration of the physical system itself. The component-based construction is made possible by a series of nodal linkage assemblies designed to accommodate variations in on-site conditions using a strategic 'sloppy detail' that enables a high degree of assembly and deployment tolerance. The following collection of sequential images outlines construction of several prototypical components and assemblies and is intended to represent a continuance, not an end, to a long-term effort. / Master of Architecture

Pastaza Quichua (PQ) is a member of the Quechua IIB branch of Quechuan languages and has a rich morphology. However, this richness is often over-simplified for the sake of simpler explanation. Most Quechuan languages have a morpheme that is usually spelt -ga, -ka or -qa, and is described as a topicalizing clitic. In this thesis, I will examine the morpheme -ga in PQ, which, like its cognates, is often said to be a topicalizing clitic, despite the fact that it frequently breaks traditional rules for both topic marking and clitic-hood. I find that -ga is a topic marker according to Büring’s (2016) description of topic, and that it is also a clitic according to Spencer & Luís’s (2012a) criteria of canonical clitics. I also describe some of the most common functions and usages of -ga, such as its frequent occurrence in topic-switching questions and its role in marking the context of a phrase.

This study used a content analysis and a rhetorical analysis to examine the strategies the Chinese government utilized for handling post-crisis issues of the 2003 SARS epidemic. The content of several media outlets — Chinese Version of Xinhua News Agency, English Version of Xinhua News Agency, The Toronto Star, The New York Times, The Times (London) — were examined on the same issue in the post-crisis period from June 25, 2003 to September 9, 2003. Chinese media and Western media were examined to test the frame correlation between media and Chinese government discourses. The use of Chinese government as information sources in media coverage was explored. Chinese post-crisis management performance was evaluated through analysis of the use of Chinese government frames by mass media and the use of the Chinese government as a trusted information source. The results showed that the Chinese government used a renewal post-crisis communication theme through communication strategies of bolstering and transcendence. The content of Chinese media had a substantial relationship with frames of Chinese government. Chinese government was used as a believable source for Chinese media. The content of Western media had no relationship with frames of Chinese government. Chinese government was employed as a skeptical information source in coverage of Western media. / Master of Arts