FPGA BASED DESIGN FOR ACCELERATED FAULT-TESTING OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

In the past few decades, integrated circuits have become a major part of everyday life. Every circuit that is created needs to be tested for faults so faulty circuits are not sent to end-users. The creation of these tests is time consuming, costly and difficult to perform on larger circuits. This research presents a novel method for fault detection and test pattern reduction in integrated circuitry under test. By leveraging the FPGA's reconfigurability and parallel processing capabilities, a speed up in fault detection can be achieved over previous computer simulation techniques. This work presents the following contributions to the field of Stuck-At-Fault detection: We present a new method for inserting faults into a circuit net list. Given any circuit netlist, our tool can insert multiplexers into a circuit at correct internal nodes to aid in fault emulation on reconfigurable hardware. We present a parallel method of fault emulation. The benefit of the FPGA is not only its ability to implement any circuit, but its ability to process data in parallel. This research utilizes this to create a more efficient emulation method that implements numerous copies of the same circuit in the FPGA. A new method to organize the most efficient faults. Most methods for determinin the minimum number of inputs to cover the most faults require sophisticated softwareprograms that use heuristics. By utilizing hardware, this research is able to process data faster and use a simpler method for an efficient way of minimizing inputs.

Significance of the Deformation History within the Hinge Zone of the Pennsylvania Salient, Appalachian Mountains

Two competing models exist for the formation of the Pennsylvania salient, a widely studied area of pronounced curvature in the Appalachian mountain belt. The viability of these models can be tested by compiling and analyzing the patterns of structures within the general hinge zone of the Pennsylvania salient. One end-member model suggests a NW-directed maximum shortening direction and no rotation through time in the culmination. An alternative model requires a two-phase development of the culmination involving NNW-directed maximum shortening overprinted by WNW-directed maximum shortening. Structural analysis at 22 locations throughout the Valley and Ridge and southern Appalachian Plateau Provinces of Pennsylvania are used to constrain orientations of the maximum shortening direction and establish whether these orientations have rotated during progressive deformation in the Pennsylvania salient's hinge. Outcrops of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks contain several orders of folds, conjugate faults, steeply dipping strike-slip faults, joints, conjugate en echelon gash vein arrays, spaced cleavage, and grain-scale finite strain indicators. This suite of structures records a complex deformation history similar to the Bear Valley sequence of progressive deformation. The available structural data from the Juniata culmination do not show a consistent temporal rotation of shortening directions and generally indicate uniform,

Phonetic Aspects of Speech Communication

Nadeina set out to develop methods of speech development in Russian as a mother tongue, focusing on improving diction, training in voice quality control, intonation control, the removal of dialect, and speech etiquette. She began with training in the receptive skills of language, i.e. reading and listening, since the interpretation of someone else's language plays an important role in language production. Her studies of students' reading speed of students showed that it varies between 40 and 120 words per minute, which is normally considered very slow. She discovered a strong correlation between speed of reading and speaking skills: the slower a person reads the worse is their ability to speak and has designed exercises to improve reading skills. Nadeina also believes that listening to other people's speech is very important, both to analyse its content and in some cases as an example, so listening skills need to be developed. Many people have poor pronunciation habits acquired as children. On the basis of speech samples from young Russians (male and female, aged 17-22), Nadeina analysed the commonest speech faults - nasalisation, hesitation and hemming at the end of sense-groups, etc. Using a group of twenty listeners, she looked for a correlation between how voice quality is perceived and certain voice quality parameters, e.g. pitch range, tremulousness, fluency, whispering, harshness, sonority, tension and audible breath. She found that the less non-linguistic segment variations in speech appeared, the more attractive the speech was rated. The results are included in a textbook aimed at helping people to improve their oral skills and to communicate ideas to an audience. She believes this will assist Russian officials in their attempts to communicate their ideas to different social spheres, and also foreigners learning Russian.

Low-temperature evolution of the Morondava rift basin shoulder in western Madagascar: An apatite fission track study

[1] The evolution of the rift shoulder and the sedimentary sequence of the Morondava basin in western Madagascar was mainly influenced by a Permo-Triassic continental failed rift (Karroo rift), and the early Jurassic separation of Madagascar from Africa. Karroo deposits are restricted to a narrow corridor along the basement-basin contact and parts of this contact feature a steep escarpment. Here, apatite fission track (AFT) analysis of a series of both basement and sediment samples across the escarpment reveals the low-temperature evolution of the exhuming Precambrian basement in the rift basin shoulder and the associated thermal evolution of the sedimentary succession. Seven basement and four Karroo sediment samples yield apparent AFT ages between ∼330 and ∼215 Ma and ∼260 and ∼95 Ma, respectively. Partially annealed fission tracks and thermal modeling indicate post-depositional thermal overprinting of both basement and Karroo sediment. Rocks presently exposed in the rift shoulder indicate temperatures of >60°C associated with this reheating whereby the westernmost sample in the sedimentary plain experienced almost complete resetting of the detrital apatite grains at temperatures of about ∼90–100°C. The younging of AFT ages westward indicates activity of faults, re-activating inherited Precambrian structures during Karroo sedimentation. Furthermore, our data suggest onset of final cooling/exhumation linked to (1) the end of Madagascar's drift southward relative to Africa during the Early Cretaceous, (2) activity of the Marion hot spot and associated Late Cretaceous break-up between Madagascar and India, and (3) the collision of India with Eurasia and subsequent re-organization of spreading systems in the Indian Ocean.

Digital processing and data compilation approach for using remotely sensed imagery to identify geological lineaments in hard-rock terrains : an application for groundwater explorations in Nicaragua

Sustainable yields from water wells in hard-rock aquifers are achieved when the well bore intersects fracture networks. Fracture networks are often not readily discernable at the surface. Lineament analysis using remotely sensed satellite imagery has been employed to identify surface expressions of fracturing, and a variety of image-analysis techniques have been successfully applied in “ideal” settings. An ideal setting for lineament detection is where the influences of human development, vegetation, and climatic situations are minimal and hydrogeological conditions and geologic structure are known. There is not yet a well-accepted protocol for mapping lineaments nor have different approaches been compared in non-ideal settings. A new approach for image-processing/synthesis was developed to identify successful satellite imagery types for lineament analysis in non-ideal terrain. Four satellite sensors (ASTER, Landsat7 ETM+, QuickBird, RADARSAT-1) and a digital elevation model were evaluated for lineament analysis in Boaco, Nicaragua, where the landscape is subject to varied vegetative cover, a plethora of anthropogenic features, and frequent cloud cover that limit the availability of optical satellite data. A variety of digital image processing techniques were employed and lineament interpretations were performed to obtain 12 complementary image products that were evaluated subjectively to identify lineaments. The 12 lineament interpretations were synthesized to create a raster image of lineament zone coincidence that shows the level of agreement among the 12 interpretations. A composite lineament interpretation was made using the coincidence raster to restrict lineament observations to areas where multiple interpretations (at least 4) agree. Nine of the 11 previously mapped faults were identified from the coincidence raster. An additional 26 lineaments were identified from the coincidence raster, and the locations of 10 were confirmed by field observation. Four manual pumping tests suggest that well productivity is higher for wells proximal to lineament features. Interpretations from RADARSAT-1 products were superior to interpretations from other sensor products, suggesting that quality lineament interpretation in this region requires anthropogenic features to be minimized and topographic expressions to be maximized. The approach developed in this study has the potential to improve siting wells in non-ideal regions.

Evolution of the Southern Kenya Rift from Miocene to present with a focus on the Magadi area

The Kenya (a.k.a., Gregory) Rift is a geologically active area located within the eastern branch of the larger East African Rift System (EARS). The study area is located in the southern Kenya Rift between 1° South and the Kenya-Tanzania border (covering approximately 1.5 square degrees, semi-centered on Lake Magadi) and is predominantly filled with extrusive igneous rocks (mostly basalts, phonolites and trachytes) of Miocene age or younger. Sediments are thin, less than 1.5Ma, and are confined to small grabens. The EARS can serve both as an analogue for ancient continental rifting and as a modern laboratory to observe the geologic processes responsible for rifting. This study demonstrates that vintage (as in older, quality maps published by the Kenya Geological Survey, that may be outdated based on newer findings) quarter-degree maps can be successfully combined with recently published data, and used to interpret satellite (mainly Landsat 7) images to produce versatile, updated digital maps. The study area has been remapped using this procedure and although it covers a large area, the mapping retains a quadrangle level of detail. Additionally, all geologic mapping elements (formations, faults, etc.) have been correlated across older map boundaries so that geologic units don't end artificially at degree boundaries within the study area. These elements have also been saved as individual digital files to facilitate future analysis. A series of maps showing the evolution of the southern Kenya rift from the Miocene to the present was created by combining the updated geologic map with age dates for geologic formations and fault displacements. Over 200 age dates covering the entire length of the Kenya Rift have been compiled for this study, and 6 paleo-maps were constructed to demonstrate the evolution of the area, starting with the eruption of the Kishalduga and Lisudwa melanephelinites onto the metamorphic basement around 15Ma. These eruptions occurred before the initial rift faulting and were followed by a massive eruption of phonolites between 13-10 Ma that covered most of the Kenya dome. This was followed by a period of relative quiescence, until the initial faulting defined the western boundary of the rift around 7Ma. The resulting graben was asymmetrical until corresponding faults to the east developed around 3Ma. The rift valley was flooded by basalts and trachytes between 3Ma and 700ka, after which the volcanic activity slowed to a near halt. Since 700ka most of the deposition has been comprised of sediments, mainly from lakes occupying the various basins in the area. The main results of this study are, in addition to a detailed interpretation of the rift development, a new geologic map that correlates dozens of formations across old map boundaries and a compilation of over 300 age dates. Specific products include paleomaps, tables of fault timing and displacement, and volume estimates of volcanic formations. The study concludes with a generalization of the present environment at Magadi including discussions of lagoon chemistry, mantle gases in relation to the trona deposit, and biology of the hot springs. Several biologic samples were collected during the 2006 field season in an attempt to characterize the organisms that are commonly seen in the present Lake Magadi environment. Samples were selected to represent the different, distinctive forms that are found in the hotsprings. Each sample had it own distinctive growth habit, and analysis showed that each was formed by a different cyanobacterial. Actual algae was rare in the collected samples, and represented by a few scattered diatoms.

Seismic observations of regional gas blowdown at Teal South

A re-examination of seismic time-lapse data from the Teal South field provides support for a previously proposed model of regional pressure decline and the associated liberation of gas from nearby reservoirs due to the production from the only reservoir among them that is under production. The use of a specific attribute, instantaneous amplitude, and a series of time slices, however, provides increased detail in understanding fluid migration into or out of the reservoirs, and the path taken by pressure changes across faults. The regional decrease of pressure due to production in one reservoir has dramatic effects in nearby untapped reservoirs, one of which appears to exhibit evidence for the escape, and possible re-trapping nearby, of hydrocarbons from a spill point. The influx of water into the producing reservoir is also evidenced by a decrease in amplitude at one end of the oil-water contact.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT IN REMOTE SENSING AND INNOVATIVE APPLICATION TO VOLCANOLOGY

The integration of remote monitoring techniques at different scales is of crucial importance for monitoring of volcanoes and assessment of the associated hazard. In this optic, technological advancement and collaboration between research groups also play a key role. Vhub is a community cyberinfrastructure platform designed for collaboration in volcanology research. Within the Vhub framework, this dissertation focuses on two research themes, both representing novel applications of remotely sensed data in volcanology: advancement in the acquisition of topographic data via active techniques and application of passive multi-spectral satellite data to monitoring of vegetated volcanoes. Measuring surface deformation is a critical issue in analogue modelling of Earth science phenomena. I present a novel application of the Microsoft Kinect sensor to measurement of vertical and horizontal displacements in analogue models. Specifically, I quantified vertical displacement in a scaled analogue model of Nisyros volcano, Greece, simulating magmatic deflation and inflation and related surface deformation, and included the horizontal component to reconstruct 3D models of pit crater formation. The detection of active faults around volcanoes is of importance for seismic and volcanic hazard assessment, but not a simple task to be achieved using analogue models. I present new evidence of neotectonic deformation along a north-south trending fault from the Mt Shasta debris avalanche deposit (DAD), northern California. The fault was identified on an airborne LiDAR campaign of part of the region interested by the DAD and then confirmed in the field. High resolution LiDAR can be utilized also for geomorphological assessment of DADs, and I describe a size-distance analysis to document geomorphological aspects of hummock in the Shasta DAD. Relating the remote observations of volcanic passive degassing to conditions and impacts on the ground provides an increased understanding of volcanic degassing and how satellite-based monitoring can be used to inform hazard management strategies in nearreal time. Combining a variety of satellite-based spectral time series I aim to perform the first space-based assessment of the impacts of sulfur dioxide emissions from Turrialba volcano, Costa Rica, on vegetation in the surrounding environment, and establish whether vegetation indices could be used more broadly to detect volcanic unrest.

TIME LAPSE SEISMIC OBSERVATIONS AND EFFECTS OF RESERVOIR COMPRESSIBILITY AT TEAL SOUTH OIL FIELD

One of the original ocean-bottom time-lapse seismic studies was performed at the Teal South oil field in the Gulf of Mexico during the late 1990’s. This work reexamines some aspects of previous work using modern analysis techniques to provide improved quantitative interpretations. Using three-dimensional volume visualization of legacy data and the two phases of post-production time-lapse data, I provide additional insight into the fluid migration pathways and the pressure communication between different reservoirs, separated by faults. This work supports a conclusion from previous studies that production from one reservoir caused regional pressure decline that in turn resulted in liberation of gas from multiple surrounding unproduced reservoirs. I also provide an explanation for unusual time-lapse changes in amplitude-versus-offset (AVO) data related to the compaction of the producing reservoir which, in turn, changed an isotropic medium to an anisotropic medium. In the first part of this work, I examine regional changes in seismic response due to the production of oil and gas from one reservoir. The previous studies primarily used two post-production ocean-bottom surveys (Phase I and Phase II), and not the legacy streamer data, due to the unavailability of legacy prestack data and very different acquisition parameters. In order to incorporate the legacy data in the present study, all three poststack data sets were cross-equalized and examined using instantaneous amplitude and energy volumes. This approach appears quite effective and helps to suppress changes unrelated to production while emphasizing those large-amplitude changes that are related to production in this noisy (by current standards) suite of data. I examine the multiple data sets first by using the instantaneous amplitude and energy attributes, and then also examine specific apparent time-lapse changes through direct comparisons of seismic traces. In so doing, I identify time-delays that, when corrected for, indicate water encroachment at the base of the producing reservoir. I also identify specific sites of leakage from various unproduced reservoirs, the result of regional pressure blowdown as explained in previous studies; those earlier studies, however, were unable to identify direct evidence of fluid movement. Of particular interest is the identification of one site where oil apparently leaked from one reservoir into a “new” reservoir that did not originally contain oil, but was ideally suited as a trap for fluids leaking from the neighboring spill-point. With continued pressure drop, oil in the new reservoir increased as more oil entered into the reservoir and expanded, liberating gas from solution. Because of the limited volume available for oil and gas in that temporary trap, oil and gas also escaped from it into the surrounding formation. I also note that some of the reservoirs demonstrate time-lapse changes only in the “gas cap” and not in the oil zone, even though gas must be coming out of solution everywhere in the reservoir. This is explained by interplay between pore-fluid modulus reduction by gas saturation decrease and dry-frame modulus increase by frame stiffening. In the second part of this work, I examine various rock-physics models in an attempt to quantitatively account for frame-stiffening that results from reduced pore-fluid pressure in the producing reservoir, searching for a model that would predict the unusual AVO features observed in the time-lapse prestack and stacked data at Teal South. While several rock-physics models are successful at predicting the time-lapse response for initial production, most fail to match the observations for continued production between Phase I and Phase II. Because the reservoir was initially overpressured and unconsolidated, reservoir compaction was likely significant, and is probably accomplished largely by uniaxial strain in the vertical direction; this implies that an anisotropic model may be required. Using Walton’s model for anisotropic unconsolidated sand, I successfully model the time-lapse changes for all phases of production. This observation may be of interest for application to other unconsolidated overpressured reservoirs under production.

STATIC AND DYNAMIC STRESS CHANGE AT 27 VOLCANOES OF THE CENTRAL AMERICAN VOLCANIC ARC AFTER THE MW. 7.6 COSTA RICA EARTHQUAKE OF 5 SEPTEMBER 2012

Large earthquakes may strongly influence the activity of volcanoes through static and dynamic processes. In this study, we quantify the static and dynamic stress change on 27 volcanoes in Central America, after the Mw 7.6 Costa Rica earthquake of 5 September 2012. Following this event, 8 volcanoes showed signs of activity. We calculated the static stress change due to the earthquake on hypothetical faults under these volcanoes with Coulomb 3.3. For the dynamic stress change, we computed synthetic seismograms to simulate the waveforms at these volcanoes. We then calculated the Peak Dynamic Stress (PDS) from the modeled peak ground velocities. The resulting values are from moderate to minor changes in stress (10-1-10-2 MPa) with the PDS values generally an order of magnitude larger than the static stress change. Although these values are small, they may be enough to trigger a response by the volcanoes, and are on the order of stress changes implicated in many other studies of volcano and earthquake triggering by large earthquakes. This study provides insight into the poorly-constrained mechanism for remote triggering.

PROBABILISTIC MODELING OF RAINFALL INDUCED LANDSLIDE HAZARD ASSESSMENT IN SAN JUAN LA LAGUNA, SOLOLÁ, GUATEMALA

The municipality of San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala is home to approximately 5,200 people and located on the western side of the Lake Atitlán caldera. Steep slopes surround all but the eastern side of San Juan. The Lake Atitlán watershed is susceptible to many natural hazards, but most predictable are the landslides that can occur annually with each rainy season, especially during high-intensity events. Hurricane Stan hit Guatemala in October 2005; the resulting flooding and landslides devastated the Atitlán region. Locations of landslide and non-landslide points were obtained from field observations and orthophotos taken following Hurricane Stan. This study used data from multiple attributes, at every landslide and non-landslide point, and applied different multivariate analyses to optimize a model for landslides prediction during high-intensity precipitation events like Hurricane Stan. The attributes considered in this study are: geology, geomorphology, distance to faults and streams, land use, slope, aspect, curvature, plan curvature, profile curvature and topographic wetness index. The attributes were pre-evaluated for their ability to predict landslides using four different attribute evaluators, all available in the open source data mining software Weka: filtered subset, information gain, gain ratio and chi-squared. Three multivariate algorithms (decision tree J48, logistic regression and BayesNet) were optimized for landslide prediction using different attributes. The following statistical parameters were used to evaluate model accuracy: precision, recall, F measure and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The algorithm BayesNet yielded the most accurate model and was used to build a probability map of landslide initiation points. The probability map developed in this study was also compared to the results of a bivariate landslide susceptibility analysis conducted for the watershed, encompassing Lake Atitlán and San Juan. Landslides from Tropical Storm Agatha 2010 were used to independently validate this study’s multivariate model and the bivariate model. The ultimate aim of this study is to share the methodology and results with municipal contacts from the author's time as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, to facilitate more effective future landslide hazard planning and mitigation.

Report on Pole Canyon Area and Area Three Miles Southeast of Jefferson Island

The primary purpose of the trip was to acquaint the students with some of the problems that occur in the field, and also how to make geologic maps of sections, outcrops, faults, and other geologic features of the earths surface.

EVALUATION OF THE EVOLVING STRESS FIELD OF THE YELLOWSTONE VOLCANIC PLATEAU FROM 1988 TO 2010 FROM EARTHQUAKE FIRST MOTIONS INVERSION

Within the Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, the silicic Yellowstone volcanic field is one of the most active volcanic systems all over the world. Although the last rhyolite eruption occurred around 70,000 years ago, Yellowstone is still believed to be volcanically active, due to high hydrothermal and seismic activity. The earthquake data used in this study cover the period of time between 1988 and 2010. Earthquake relocations and a set of 369 well-constrained, double-couple, focal mechanism solutions were computed. Events were grouped according to location and time to investigate trends in faulting. The majority of the events has oblique, normal-faulting solutions. The overall direction of extension throughout the 0.64 Ma Yellowstone caldera looks nearly ENE, consistently with the direction of alignments of volcanic vents within the caldera, but detailed study revealed spatial and temporal variations. Stress-field solutions for different areas and time periods were calculated from earthquake focal mechanism inversion. A well-resolved rotation of σ3 was found, from NNE-SSW near the Hebgen Lake fault zone, to ENE-WSW near Norris Junction. In particular, the σ3 direction changed throughout the years in the Norris Junction area, from being ENE-WSW, as calculated in the study by Waite and Smith (2004), to NNE-SSW, while the other σ3 directions are mostly unchanged over time. The Yellowstone caldera was subject to periods of net uplift and subsidence over the past century, explained in previous studies as caused by expanding or contracting sills, at different depths. Based on the models used to explain these deformation periods, we investigated the relationship between variability in aseismic deformation and seismic activity and faulting styles. Focal mechanisms and P and T axes were divided into temporal and depth intervals, in order to identify spatial or temporal trends in deformation. The presence of “chocolate tablet” structures, with composite dilational faults, was identified in many stages of the deformation history both in the Norris Geyser Basin area and inside the caldera. Strike-slip component movement was found in a depth interval below a contracting sill, indicating the movement of magma towards the caldera.

Great Falls Tectonic Zone: A Perspective from Idaho

An overview of geologic constraints on the age and extent of the Great Falls tectonic zone, a northeast-trending set of faults identified in west-central Montana.

Incorporation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) transforming bacteria into explosive formulations

Pseudomonas putida GG04 and Bacillus SF have been successfully incorporated into an explosive formulation to enhance biotransformation of TNT residues and/or explosives which fail to detonate due to technical faults. The incorporation of the microorganisms into the explosive did not affect the quality of the explosive (5 years storage) in terms of detonation velocity while complete biotransformation of TNT moieties upon transfer in liquid media was observed after 5 days. The incorporated microorganisms reduced TNT sequentially leading to the formation of hydroxylaminodinitrotoluenes (HADNT), 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluenes; 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluenes, different azoxy compounds; 2,6-diaminonitrotoluenes (2,4-DAMNT) and 2,4-diaminonitrotoluenes (2,6-DAMNT). However, the accumulation of AMDNT and DAMNT (major dead-end metabolites) was effectively prevented by incorporating guaiacol and catechol during the biotransformation process.