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This research focuses on developing novel approaches in load balancing and restoration problems in electrical power distribution systems. The first approach introduces an inter-connected network topology, referred to as (n, k)-star topology. While power distribution systems can be constructed in different communication network topologies, the performance and fault assessment of the networked systems can be challenging to analyze. The (n, k)-star topologies have well defined performance and stability analysis metrics. Typically, these metrics are defined based on: i) degree, ii) diameter, and iii) conditional diagnosability of a faulty node. These parameters could be evaluated and assessed before a physical (n, k)-star topology power distribution system is constructed. Moreover, in the second approach, we evaluate load balancing problems by using a decentralized algorithm, i.e., the Multi-Agent System (MAS) based consensus algorithm on an (n, k)-star power topology. With aforementioned research approaches, an (n, k)-star power distribution system can be assessed with proposed metrics and assessed with encouraging results compared to other topology networked systems. Other encouraging results are found in efficiency and performance enhancement during information exchange using the decentralized algorithm. It has been proven that a load balance solution is convergent and asymptotically stable with a simple gain controller. The analysis can be achieved without constructing a physical network to help evaluate the design. Using the (n, k)-star topology and MAS, the load balancing/restoration problems can be solved much more quickly and accurately compared to other approaches shown in the literature. / Electrical and Computer Engineering

Environmental problems occur where ecosystems and human social systems converge. As a result, they are not easily resolved by science or technology because they stem from the diversity in human perceptions, expectations, and values. A decisionmaking process known as collaboration offers a method of joint problem solving that is based upon an application of social learning theory. Collaboration is inspired by the concept of participatory democracy and advanced by the exchanges inherent in a civic discourse. It can involve individuals and representatives of agencies, organizations, and other groups in open discussions where the process participants share information and power as they take joint responsibility in attempting to make decisions, reach solutions, or resolve issues. This study identifies basic elements of collaborative environmental decisionmaking through an analysis of several collaborative processes. It then examines how these collaborative processes work and whether collaboration is an effective environmental decisionmaking process. Two case studies are examined: the Chesapeake Bay Program Community Watershed Initiative Workgroup, and the Elizabeth River Project Watershed Action Team. The case studies illustrate that the presence or absence of the identified elements of collaborative environmental decisionmaking affect the results of the process. They also illustrate that the participants in these processes incur changes in the manner in which they regard the issues. Collaborative environmental decisionmaking works by establishing a dialogue among people with disparate positions, concerns, and interests in an attempt to find common ground. The process can link formal, theoretical knowledge with informal, practical wisdom through face-to-face dialogue among contending parties. It can result in social learning and build social capital. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether group performance could be significantly improved by forming groups with members heterogeneous in information-processing preferences, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and by providing those groups with instructions’ to facilitate consensus on the group’s solution to a complex, multistage decision task. Comparisons of four performance measures among undergraduate student groups (N = 38) differing in composition (homogeneous vs. heterogeneous) and mode of consensual instruction (instructed vs. not instructed) were conducted through a series of statistical procedures. The performance measures, obtained from individual and group solutions to NASA’s "Lost on the Moon" task, were: a) group scores, b) utilization of average member resources, c) utilization of the groups’ best member’s resources, and da) the proportion of groups achieving an assembly effect. The results of the analyses supported only those hypotheses predicting that groups instructed in consensus would demonstrate better performance on each of the measures. The hypotheses predicting composition main effects for the performance measures were not supported, nor were hypotheses predicting significant interaction effects. Implications of the findings and suggestions for further research are offered. / Ph. D.

The Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA) was reauthorized by Congress in 2004 (IDEA, 2004). The new legislation permits educational practitioners to identify students suspected of having a learning disability by continuing to use the ability-achievement discrepancy model or by the analysis of the child's response to prescriptive intervention delivered through a systematic multi-tiered instructional intervention approach which has become to be known as Response to Intervention (RtI). However, the change in the federal legislation does not provide specific guidelines for the planning and implementation of intervention services. The examination of the effectiveness of instructional intervention programs, the reliability of the ability-achievement discrepancy model to identify a child of having a suspected learning disability, and an introduction to the concept of Response to Intervention (RtI) is included in this work. The purpose of the present work is the development of a RtI Innovation Configuration Map that may be utilized as a guide for the planning, development, and implementation of a school-based RtI program that is also useful to assess the operationalization of a school-based RtI program in use. The procedures followed for the development of the RtI Innovation Configuration Map included the selection of a national review panel of educational practitioners from across the country to confirm the essential components and action steps to be considered when planning for the implementation of a RtI program. A RtI Innovation Configuration Map Team was selected from a school in Virginia that had successfully opertionalized a RtI program as a result of the schools participation in the Virginia Department of Education's RtI Initiative. The RtI Map Team developed a RtI Innovation Configuration Map that included varying levels of implementation of the essential components and action steps that were identified by the national review panel. To assess the utility of the RtI Innovation Configuration Map to illustrate the varying levels of implementation of a school-based RtI program, individuals from four schools taking part in the Virginia Department of Education's RtI initiative were randomly selected and interviewed regarding the RtI program being implemented in their school. Based on those interviews and other evidence obtained at the four schools, the utility of the RtI Innovation Configuration Map was revised. / Ed. D.

Many applications in biomedicine, research, and industry require recognition agents with specificity and selectivity for their target. Protein engineering enables the design of scaffolds that can bind targets of interest while increasing their stability, and expanding the scope of applications in which these scaffolds will be useful. Repeat proteins are instrumental in a wide variety of biological processes, including the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns by the immune system. A number of successes using alternative immune system repeat protein scaffolds have expanded the scope of recognition agents available for targeting glycans and glycoproteins in particular. We have analyzed the innate immune genes of a freshwater polyp and found that they contained particularly long contiguous domains with high sequence similarity between repeats in these domains. We undertook statistical design to create a binding protein based on the H. magnipapillata innate immune TPR proteins. My second research project focused on creating a protein to bind cellulose, as it is the most abundant and inexpensive source of biomass and therefore is widely considered a possible source for liquid fuel. However, processing costs have kept lignocellulosic fuels from competing commercially with starch-based biofuels. In recent years a strategy to protect processing enzymes with synergistic proteins emerged to reduce the amount of enzyme necessary for lignocellulosic biofuel production. Simultaneously, protein engineering approaches have been developed to optimize proteins for function and stability enabling the use of proteins under non-native conditions and the unique conditions required for any necessary application. We designed a consensus protein based on the carbohydrate-binding protein domain CBM1 that will bind to cellulosic materials. The resulting designed protein is a stable monomeric protein that binds to both microcrystalline cellulose and amorphous regenerated cellulose thin films. By studying small changes to the binding site, we can better understand how these proteins bind to different cellulose-based materials in nature and how to apply their use to industrial applications such as enhancing the saccharification of lignocellulosic feedstock for biofuel production. Biomaterials made from natural human hair keratin have mechanical and biochemical properties that make them ideal scaffolds for tissue engineering and wound healing. However, the extraction process leads to protein degradation and brings with it byproducts from hair, which can cause unfavorable immune responses. Recombinant keratin biomaterials are free from these disadvantages, while heterologous expression of these proteins allows us to manipulate the primary sequence. We endeavored to add an RGD sequence to facilitate cell adhesion to the recombinant keratin proteins, to demonstrate an example of useful sequence modification. / Doctor of Philosophy / Many applications in medicine and research require molecular sensors that bind their target tightly and selectively, even in complex mixtures. Mammalian antibodies are the best-studied examples of these sensors, but problems with the stability, expense, and selectivity of these antibodies have led to the development of alternatives. In the search for better sensors, repeat proteins have emerged as one promising class, as repeat proteins are relatively simple to design while being able to bind specifically and selectively to their targets. However, a drawback of commonly used designed repeat proteins is that their targets are typically restricted to proteins, while many targets of biomedical interest are sugars, such as those that are responsible for blood types. Repeat proteins from the immune system, on the other hand, bind targets of many different types. We looked at the unusual immune system of a freshwater polyp as inspiration to design a new repeat protein to recognize nonprotein targets. My second research project focused on binding cellulose, as it is the most abundant and inexpensive source of biological matter and therefore is widely considered a possible source for liquid fuel. However, processing costs have kept cellulose-based fuels from competing commercially with biofuel made from corn and other starchy plants. One strategy to lower costs relies on using helper proteins to reduce the amount of enzyme needed to break down the cellulose, as enzymes are the most expensive part of processing. We designed such a protein for this function to be more stable than natural proteins currently used. The resulting designed protein binds to multiple cellulose structures. Designing a protein from scratch also allows us to study small changes to the binding site, allowing us to better understand how these proteins bind to different cellulose-based materials in nature and how to apply their use to industrial applications. Biomaterials made from natural human hair keratin have mechanical and biochemical properties that make them ideal for tissue engineering and wound healing applications. However, the process by which these proteins are extracted from hair leads to some protein degradation and brings with it byproducts from hair, which can cause unfavorable immune responses. Making these proteins synthetically allows us to have pure starting material, and lets us add new features to the proteins, which translates into materials better tailored for their applications. We discuss here one example, in which we added a cell-binding motif to a keratin protein sequence.

This research tested the effects of an expert on strength of consensus and decision quality when the expert is a member of a consensus group. The purpose of this research is to help managers effectively use experts to increase decision quality without reducing consensus. If the expert gives the group relevant information, decision quality should increase. If group members believe the expert’s information is accurate, they'll perceive their decision is high in quality. If the group members perceive the decision is high in quality and perceive they had an opportunity to express their views, strength of consensus should be high. Subjects (110 total) in this experiment were placed in 22 groups of 5. Eleven experimental groups had one expert; 11 control groups had no expert. Experts were selected from a pool of astronomy students. The experts’ level of expertise was assessed by their score on a pre-test and score on the Lost on the Moon exercise. I measured the first dependent variable, strength of consensus, with a post-task questionnaire and two statistical measures of the closeness of rankings. I measured the second dependent variable, decision quality, by the closeness of the group’s ranking to the ranking developed by NASA experts. I measured perceptions of opportunity to express views and perceptions of decision quality with a post-task questionnaire. I also measured group members’ use of expert power and leadership emergence with a post-task questionnaire. Experts had no effect on decision quality, largely because the expert manipulation was unsuccessful. Perceptions of decision quality were correlated with strength of consensus. Perceptions of the opportunity to express views were only marginally correlated with consensus. Finally, experts tended to emerge as leaders. I concluded that experts will increase decision quality unless they give the group the wrong information or no information. I also concluded that experts won’t hurt consensus unless they dominate the group discussion. Perceptions of decision quality and perceptions of the opportunity to express views are important variables for achieving consensus. / Master of Science