Representation of sharp rifts and faults mechanics in modeling ice shelf flow dynamics: Application to Brunt/Stancomb-Wills Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Ice shelves play a major role in buttressing ice sheet flow into the ocean, hence the importance of accurate numerical modeling of their stress regime. Commonly used ice flow models assume a continuous medium and are therefore complicated by the presence of rupture features (crevasses, rifts, and faults) that significantly affect the overall flow patterns. Here we apply contact mechanics and penalty methods to develop a new ice shelf flow model that captures the impact of rifts and faults on the rheology and stress distribution of ice shelves. The model achieves a best fit solution to satellite observations of ice shelf velocities to infer the following: (1) a spatial distribution of contact and friction points along detected faults and rifts, (2) a more realistic spatial pattern of ice shelf rheology, and (3) a better representation of the stress balance in the immediate vicinity of faults and rifts. Thus, applying the model to the Brunt/Stancomb-Wills Ice Shelf, Antarctica, we quantify the state of friction inside faults and the opening rates of rifts and obtain an ice shelf rheology that remains relatively constant everywhere else on the ice shelf. We further demonstrate that better stress representation has widespread application in examining aspects affecting ice shelf structure and dynamics including the extent of ice mélange in rifts and the change in fracture configurations. All are major applications for better insight into the important question of ice shelf stability

SB17-18/19: Resolution Prompting Family Rooms

SB17-18/19: Resolution Prompting Family Rooms passed 23Y-0N-1A on a roll call vote during the December 5, 2018 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

SB Resolution Prompting Diaper Changing Stations in Restrooms

This resolution was sent back Relations & Affairs Committee 19Y-2N-3A on a roll call vote during the January 31, 2018 senate meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

SB29-17/18 Resolution Prompting Diaper Changing Stations in Restrooms

This resolution passed 25Y-1N-1A on a roll call vote during the April 25, 2018 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM)

Body, Nature and the Phenomenological Perspective

I denne avhandlingen utforsker jeg materialiseringen av fenomener, forståelse av natur og menneskets rolle i samspillet mellom verden og mening i lys av Jane Bennetts og Karen Barads nymaterialisme og Maurice-Merleau-Pontys fenomenologi. Begge teoriene kommer med svar til den moderne filosofiske forståelsen av fenomenomenet som noe som framtrer for en bevissthet og hvor mening kun skapes i bevisstheten, og ønsker å framlegge teorier hvor materialitet og verden forstås som meningsbærende og utgjør sentrale deler av dette. Nymaterialistene kritiserer likevel fenomenologien for å ikke forstå materialitetens rolle i verden. Det (symbolske) språket har fått for stor plass som meningsbærende. Bennett og Barad forstår mening som praksiser hvor aktører alltid allerede er sammenfiltret, hvor all materialitet er aktører. Det meningsskapende er intra-aksjonen de har seg imellom hvor de svarer på hverandres handlinger gjennom respons-abilitet. Alle aktører intra-agerer med hverandre på et ontologisk plan, og er ikke meningsfulle utenfor slike sammenfiltringer. Materialiseringen av fenomenet skjer gjennom disse praksisene. Jeg vil argumentere for at denne ontologien er mangelfull. Den kan ikke redegjøre tilstrekkelig for det epistemiske perspektivet og forholdet mellom menneske, språk og verden. Her kommer Merleau-Pontys kroppslige fenomenologi inn. Ifølge han vil nymaterialistenes forståelse av materialitet allerede være avhengig av en perseptuell, og menneskelig, strukturering. Det er kun gjennom strukturer at verden gir seg som meningsfull og først her kan man snakke om materialitet. Naturen blir forstått som kvalitativt forskjellige organiseringer, hvor mennesket står i en privilegert posisjon i lys av å være persiperende. Likevel blir ikke natur noe passivt i fenomenologien. Verden som kroppen utfolder seg i er en verden som allerede eksisterer og som setter rammer for den menneskelige erfaringen. Mening skapes i et dialektisk samspill mellom verden og det kroppslige subjektet. Slik evner Merleau-Ponty å redegjøre for det epistemiske perspektivet og forholdet mellom språk og materie. Av den grunn argumenterer jeg imot Diana Cooles påstand om at Merleau-Ponty kan forstås som nymaterialist. Han etablerer en ny materialisme siden mening befinner seg i verden, i materie, men nødvendigheten av et persiperende subjekt gjør at man ikke kan forstå han som nymaterialist. Videre vil jeg argumentere for, i samsvar med Coole, at Merleau-Ponty fremsetter en ny humanisme som tar materie på alvor ved å forstå kroppens sårbarhet i møte med verden, og det er slik vi må forstå materialitet, natur og samspillet mellom verden og mennesket

Finding Security Patterns to Countermeasure Software Vulnerabilities

Software security is an increasingly important part of software development as the risk from attackers is constantly evolving through increased exposure, threats and economic impact of security breaches. Emerging security literature describes expert knowledge such as secure development best practices. This knowledge is often not applied by software developers because they lack security awareness, security training and secure development methods and tools. Existing methods and tools require too much effort and security is often given less priority in the trade-off between functionality and security. This thesis defines a tool supported approach to secure software analysis and design. Possible vulnerabilities and their causes are identified through analysis of software specifications and designs, resulting in vulnerability cause graphs. The security modelling tool SeaMonster is extended to include security activity graphs; this technique is used with vulnerability cause graphs to model vulnerabilities and security improvement activities. A security activity graph is created to identify activities that keep the vulnerabilities from instantiating in the final software product. The activities in the security activity graph can be the use of security patterns. This way the above approach is used to find a security pattern as a countermeasure to a vulnerability, and can be used with the security pattern design templates implemented in a preliminary project. This is a way of providing coupling between security expertise and software developers to apply security knowledge in software development practice. The approach and tools are tested and demonstrated through a development case study of a medical patient journal system. The main contributions of this thesis are an approach to secure software analysis and design, an extension of the security modelling tool SeaMonster, a case study of the approach and tools that show how security can be incorporated in early stages of software development. The contributions are intended to improve availability of security knowledge, to increase security awareness and bridge the gap between software experts and software developers

Polarimetry using classical polarizing components and nanostructured beam splitting surfaces

Two methods for generation and analysis of the polarization state of light are studied in this thesis. The first method is based on a traditional bulk design consisting of two active components and 3 passive components in order to optimally generate 4 Stokes vectors, and analyse one complete Stokes vector, respectively. The innovative step reported in this thesis is the combination of a 600-1100 nm 2-Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal (FLC) based system with a supercontinuum laser source tuned by an Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (AOTF). The system operates as a complete spectroscopic Mueller matrix Ellipsometer for transmission measurements, using a single IngGaAs detector. It shows highly promising results in the 700 to 930 nm range with a sub 2% Mueller matrix element error. Equally good results in the 600 to 700 nm regime may also be possible. The behaviour of the AOTF and the FLCs were studied in terms of switching speed and stability. The source reached a stable state within 2 milliseconds after switching, and was stable with a variation <.2% in the short time regime. The FLCs revealed a tendency to drift a short time after switching, and a stable state was not reached until 0.2 seconds after switching was initiated. The second method for generation and analysis of the polarization state of light is the use of passive beam splitting metasurfaces. I outline the design and production steps for beam splitting surfaces, and report the preliminary results for a manufactured Au/oxide/ Au thin film stack. Production involves the deposition of a multilayered film consisting of two layers of Au with an intermediate layer of SiO2, and thin adhesive layers of Ti. Characterisation of the films is performed using spectroscopic ellipsometry, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and 3D Optical Profilometry. Important properties such as deposition rate and the resulting surface roughness have been determined, and satisfying optical models for each of the materials and the multilayered film have been constructed. This forms a solid foundation for the production of films which can later be nanostructured into beam splitting surfaces

Detection of Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaque

Heart attacks are the cause for the majority of deaths in the industrialized world. The underlying cause of most of these deaths is the rupture of vulnerable plaque. As of this day, no widely accepted clinical tool exists for detecting plaques that are prone to rupture, although several techniques are being investigated. This thesis gives an overview of detection modalities that have been proposed for detecting vulnerable plaque with special emphasis on three methods, diffuse reflection spectroscopy, thermography and multiphoton microscopy