Industry 4.0 is the trend towards automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies and processes, which include cyber-physical systems (CPS), the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), cloud computing, cognitive computing, and artificial intelligence.  Industry 4.0 maturity is assessed by evaluating the degree of implementation of each transformation capability and, consequently, in each dimension. Maturity models are used as instruments to recognize and measure the maturity level of a company in a certain domain or a process related to a future goal. The content of each dimension can be derived from qualitative research methods, including bibliographic reviews, case studies analysis, focal groups, and other methodologies of idea generation and decision-making.  This project aims to perform an implementation status and maturity level assessment of Industry 4.0 in European Industries. The project covers an assessment of the level of readiness to accomplish the Industry 4.0 standards and requirements.

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All countries distinguish between minors and adults for various legal purposes. Recent U.S. Supreme Court cases concerning the legal status of juveniles have consulted psychological science to decide where to draw these boundaries. However, little is known about the robustness of the relevant research, because it has been conducted largely in the U.S. and other Western countries. To the extent that lawmakers look to research to guide their decisions, it is important to know how generalizable the scientific conclusions are. This dissertation examines two psychological phenomena relevant to legal questions about adolescent maturity: cognitive capacity, which undergirds logical thinking, and self-regulatory capacity, which comprises individuals’ ability to restrain themselves in the face of emotional, exciting, or risky stimuli. Age patterns of these constructs were assessed in 5,227 individuals (50.7% female), ages 10-30 (M = 17.05, SD = 5.91) from eleven countries. There were three primary aims of this work. First was to replicate previous research on age patterns in cognitive capacity within the U.S.-only sample. Second was to replicate previous research on age patterns in self-regulatory capacity within the U.S.-only sample. Third was to extend analyses to include the other ten countries in the sample, and evaluate to what degree age patterns found in the U.S. generalize to other parts of the world. I explored age patterns in the U.S. using a variety of statistical approaches, including analysis of variance, regression, and piecewise regression to better understand how these analyses shape our conclusions regarding the age of maturity of cognitive capacity and self-regulatory capacity. Age patterns found in the U.S. were consistent with past research. Specifically, whereas cognitive capacity reached adult levels around age 16, self-regulatory capacity generally continued to mature beyond age 18. When extending the analyses to the other ten countries, I found that generally cognitive capacity matured prior to self-regulatory capacity, but there were numerous deviations from this pattern. For instance, some countries evinced no discernible age pattern in one or both composites (e.g., Kenya or Jordan), while in others self-regulatory capacity reached adult levels earlier than or at the same age as cognitive capacity, inconsistent with hypotheses. In sum, juveniles may be capable of deliberative decision making by age 16, but even young adults may demonstrate “immature” decision making in arousing situations. It is therefore reasonable to have different age boundaries for different legal purposes, at least in the U.S.: one for matters in which cognitive capacity predominates, and a later one for matters in which self-regulatory capacity plays a substantial role. Whether and how these results ought to inform policy in other countries, however, is unclear. / Psychology

Though the cidermaking process is very similar to that of winemaking, there is a lack of scientific knowledge as to how orchard management practices and fruit storage affect the quality of the resulting cider. This research examined how both varying harvest maturities and post-harvest storage temperatures and durations in apple cultivars Dabinett, Brown Snout, and York impacted fruit quality as well as the chemistry of the juice and cider. Harvest intervals of two weeks before maturity, at maturity, and 2 weeks after maturity resulted in significant differences in fruit quality and juice chemistry, but few of these differences persisted in cider chemistry. Nonetheless, differences in concentration of some individual polyphenols determined by UPLC-MS were observed in ciders made from fruit harvested at different stages. For example, cider made from optimally mature Dabinett had over 250% the concentration of procyanidin B5 that was found in cider made from fruit harvested earlier or later. The storage treatments also resulted in substantial differences in fruit and juice chemistry, but fewer differences in cider chemistry. As with the harvest maturity experiment, differences in individual polyphenols were detected, with ciders made from cv. York having 20% higher epicatechin concentration when stored for 6 weeks at 1°C rather than 10°C. Finally, the accuracy of the Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) assay, commonly used for quantification of total polyphenols in fruit juices and fermented fruit beverages was critically evaluated. Reducing sugars in the sample matrix did not affect the results of the FC assay, whereas the presence of the amino acid tyrosine resulted in significant overestimation of total polyphenols in fruit juice by the FC assay. / Master of Science in Life Sciences

Grape maturity is a critical attribute impacting potential wine quality. Maturity evaluation is difficult due to the many interrelated factors that impact physicochemical changes and limitations in the understanding of these factors. Current methods of assessing grape maturity are destructive, expensive, time consuming, subjective, and do not always strongly correlated to potential wine quality. This study evaluated the applicability of a conducting polymer-based electronic nose to monitor grape maturity by analyzing headspace volatiles. In the first part of the study, system and experimental parameters affecting the electronic nose operation were investigated to optimize detection of wine grape aroma. In the second part, the ability of an electronic nose to classify Cabernet Sauvignon (Vitis vinifera L.) grapes based on maturity was investigated. Maturity of samples collected at different weeks post-bloom was evaluated by measuring berry weight, pH, Brix, titratable acidity, total phenols, color intensity, hue, total anthocyanins, and total and phenol-free glycosides. Results were compared, using discriminant and canonical discriminant analysis, with analysis of headspace volatiles via the hand-held electronic nose. The electronic nose was able to determine the difference between the sample groups. Field measurements demonstrated the potential for the electronic nose as a rapid, non-destructive tool for evaluating grape maturity. / Master of Science

Anomalously high groundwater salinities exist within the syn-impact sediment of the Chesapeake Bay impact crater, including an unexplained brine. This brine may be the result of phase-separation of seawater that occurred within the syn-impact sediments as underlying deformed and possibly melted basement rock cooled following impact. The 85 km wide crater has been described as a complex peak-ring crater; created 35.8 million years ago in the then submerged unconsolidated sediments of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and now completely buried by post-impact sediments. An annular trough with relatively undisturbed basement surrounds a ~38 km diameter inner basin with a peak ring and central uplift. The basement surface within the inner basin was modified by the impact and is projected to be approximately 1.6 km below sea level. Geothermometry and advective and conductive heat flow modeling was performed to characterize a possible post-impact hydrothermal system. Thermal maturity and radiogenic techniques were used to estimate the temperature history of the crater sediments. Core samples from one borehole just outside the crater, two within the annular trough, and one shallow borehole within the inner basin were examined. Numerical heat and fluid flow models were developed using a range of likely sediment parameters and basal heat flow values to determine if phase-separation temperatures were likely to have occurred, and to evaluate what affect, if any, lithostatic overpressures may have had on post-impact cooling. Geothermometry results indicate that no detectable thermal anomaly exists within the syn or post-impact sediments at these boreholes; however, no data are available within the deep inner basin where temperatures were likely to have been higher. Samples from existing boreholes suggest that sediment are organically immature and likely were never heated above ~40°C for a geologically significant period of time. These results support apatite He (U/Th) and previously published apatite fission track radiogenic ages indicating no Cenozoic resetting. Heat flow simulations indicate that a high temperature (>400°C) hydrothermal system could have existed within the inner basin and not caused any measurable effect on thermal maturity in the annular trough and shallow portion of the inner basin. Results also indicate that phase-separation could have occurred in the syn-impact sediments using reasonable estimates of basal heat flow, permeability, thermal conductivity, and porosity values, and that overpressures resulting from rapid deposition of syn-impact sediments dissipate within a few thousand years and are not an important heat transport mechanism. / Master of Science

One of the problem that plagues Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) software is its development cost. Many software companies forego the usability engineering aspect of their projects due to the time required to design and test user interfaces. Unfortunately, there is no "silver bullet" for user interface design and implementation because they are inherently difficult tasks. As computers are moving off the desktop, the greatest challenge for designers will be integrating these systems seamlessly into our everyday lives. The potential for reuse in user interfaces lies in reducing the time and effort required for this task, without sacrificing design quality. In this work we begin with an iterative development cycle for a claims library based on prominent literature within the HCI and software engineering fields. We constructed the Claims Library to be a repository of potentially reusable notification system claims. We examine the library through theoretical and practical perspectives. The theoretical perspective reveals tradeoffs in the initial implementation that relate to Krueger's taxonomy of reuse. The practical perspective stems from experience in designing and conducting usability testing for an in-vehicle input device using the Claims Library. While valuable, these examinations did not provide a distinct method of improving the library. Expecting to uncover a specific diagnosis for the problems in the library, it was unclear how they should be approached with further development efforts. With this realization, we saw that a more important and immediate contribution would not be another iteration of the Claims Library design. Rather, a clarification of the underlying theory that would better inform future systems development seemed a more urgent and worthy use of our experience. This clarification would need to have several characteristics to include: composed of a staged or prioritized architecture, represents an ideal model grounded in literature, and possesses intermediate development objectives and assessment points. As a solution, we propose the Claims Library Capability Maturity Model (CL-CMM), based on the theoretical deficiencies that should guide development of a claims library, as noted in the two evaluations. This thesis delivers a five-stage model to include process areas, goals, and practices that address larger threads of concern. Our capability maturity model is patterned after models in software engineering and human resource management. We include a full description of each stage, a gap analysis method of appraisal, and an example of its use. Several directions for future work are noted that are necessary to continue development and validation of the model. / Master of Science

The apple growers and packaging houses are interested in methods that can evaluate the quality of apples non-destructively. Harvested fruits are a mixture of immature, mature, and over mature fruits, thereby posing a great problem in deciding their end use and storage time. It is expected that the technique developed from the present project could be effectively used to classify the harvested fruit into immature, mature and over mature apples, rapidly and non-destructively. It would also help the growers to predict the optimum dates to harvest the fruits. York and Gala were the varieties of apples that were used in this study and were obtained from Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Kentland Farm. Apples were harvested at different times resulting in different maturity groups (immature, mature and ripe). Gala apples were harvested on three dates with an interval of 10 days, while York apples were harvested on four dates with an interval of 14 days. They were stored at 0oC until sampled. For each harvest date, the experiments were conducted in two sets (10 each) on two consecutive days. First the ethylene levels were measured, followed by gas chromatograph and electronic nose. Then the maturity indices were measured. Three maturity indices, starch index, firmness and soluble solids were used as the three variables for the statistical analysis to identify and categorize the fruits into three maturity categories referred as immature, mature and over mature fruits. Apples were also categorized into three maturity groups based on the emanation levels of the aroma compounds evolved from the fruits. Then electronic nose sensor responses were categorized into the above maturity categories, and their effectiveness was determined using a statistical procedure called Discriminant Analysis (DA). From the DA cross validation results the correct classification percentage for Gala and York apples into maturity groups was 95%. The Electronic nose sensor's effectiveness to categorize the same observations based on sensor responses in to the above classified maturity categories was 83% correct in case Gala apples and 69% for York apples. The EN sensors response data were analyzed by the EN system software and the correct classification percentage for Gala was 83% and for York was 81%. Aroma-based categorization for Gala apples was 100% correct, while the electronic nose for the same analysis was 80%. Based on the three physical parameters, an objective evaluation of maturity could be accomplished. Principal Component Analysis, Canonical Discriminant Analysis and DA results demonstrated that the electronic nose could be used to classify apples into three identified maturity-based groups. The EN sensors (Gala apples), could also classify the apples into aroma-based categories. Thus, it can be concluded that the EN system holds promise as non-destructive evaluation technique to determine the maturity of an apple. / Master of Science