Digital Commons Network^™

Effective Diagramming Techniques, Ralph H. Palmer

Masters Theses

There are a number of modeling techniques (e.g. E/R, UML, ORM) available to the software developer that claim to have features that facilitate communication of complex systems between the problem and solution domain expert. However, the basis for what “facilitate” means is rarely if at all defined in concrete terms. A new metric for measuring the effectiveness (e.g. comprehensibility, leamability, and facility to support conununications) of software modeling techniques based upon Noam Chomsky’s Universal Grammar is proposed.

Establishing Recording Studios For The Purpose Of Developing Indigenous Worship For Tunisian Believers, Frank Fortunato

Masters Theses

Over several decades churches worldwide have focused on recovering or discovering biblical, vibrant worship. With one brilliant statement John Piper captured the current wave of worship and connected it to missions. In what has become a classic motto of the missions movement Piper reminded the Christian community that “missions exists because worship doesn’t. Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is.” While not a new concept, these few words helped forge missions and worship into symbiotic relationship. Each morphed into the other in an ongoing continuum. The establishing of thriving, biblical churches that were also worshiping churches …

Integrated Geophysical Examination Of A Former Refinery Site, Carson City, Michigan, Kennedy Opiyo Mwanda

Masters Theses

Integrated geophysical surveys, including electromagnetic (EM-31), magnetic, dc resistivity, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) methods and soil borings were used to investigate part of a former refinery site in Carson City, Michigan, which has more than a 50-year history of hydrocarbon contamination.

Although not readily evident on the magnetic anomaly maps, the EM-31 conductivity map clearly revealed many sections of buried pipes of various lengths and orientations. Also evident on the EM maps are extensive near surface conductivity anomalies. Soil borings in zones of anomalous conductivities to the west suggest the presence of shallow clays with pooled hydrocarbons at depths …

Inorganic And Organic Chemistry Of The Former Lakeside Refinery In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kurt W. Carlson

Masters Theses

The focus of this investigation of the Lakeside Refinery site is the inorganic geochemistry because previous investigations concerned organics and heavy metals. Because little nitrate is in native groundwater, high dissolved ammonia immediately downgradient from a petroleum body suggests the source is the petroleum and/or associated byproducts. Iron reduction is most prominent immediately upgradient from the known and measurable petroleum while manganese reduction occurs mostly downgradient. Sulfate reduction occurs mostly towards the southern portion of the light petroleum LNAPL. Based on concentrations of nitrate, manganese, iron and sulfate along a groundwater flow path, there appears to be a sequential use …

Negotiated Families: Lesbians And Institutions In Southwest Michigan, Cynthia E. Foor

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I look at the practices of certain lesbians and locate them within a particular historical and cultural context. I argue that the resources, the capital, both material and social, as well as the internalized orientations and expectations each woman brings to the crafting of her family, accounts for the particular family each has negotiated. It is within the particular historical constraints and opportunities that we can understand each family's experiences. The uniqueness of family experience is predicated on differences in the women's ages linked to the particular historical trajectory of sociopolitical changes in the U. S. Yet …

Development Of Water-Based Ink System For Braille Printing, Saurabh Varma

Masters Theses

The most commonly used system of writing by and for blind persons is called Braille, named after its French inventor, Louis Braille (1809-1952). Braille is comprised of a rectangular six-dot cell on its end, with up to 63 possible combinations using one or more of the six dots. Braille is the only reliable method of literacy for blind persons, because it enables them to read and write by touch¹.

Currently, Braille is printed by special embossers that serve as a printing press. These embossers create Braille output when it is attached appropriately to computers. The speed of these …

The Sense Of The Past In Saint Antoninus Of Florence's Summa Historialis, Brian Nathaniel Becker

Masters Theses

This study examines Antoninus of Florence’s Chronicles for the presence of a "sense of the past.” Through the careful examination of those sections of the Chronicles that are original to Antoninus and the utilization of important scholarly works on medieval and Renaissance Italian literature, it is shown that the Chronicles is characteristic of both a history written in the traditional "medieval” style and the increasingly modem style of historical writing that was coming into vogue during the later part of his life in mid-fifteenth century Florence. By defining a "sense of history” as containing, and organizing the three body chapters …

Electronic Data Collection For Rockfall Hazard Evaluation, Derrick Ladon Bellamy

Masters Theses

Rockfall field data collection traditionally has used conventional stationery tools, i.e. pencil and paper, for data collection. Traditional methodologies are being revisited with the advent of PDA’s (Personal Digital Assistants) or penbased computers. With the utilization of such technology, field data can be collected electronically. An electronic data collection system using PDA’s was developed for this thesis. The advantages of the PDA approach over pencil and paper data collection include automatic error and data integrity checks during data input, and the elimination of manual data entry. The PDA’s also allow automatic branching to solicit data input based on previous data …

Investigation Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus Bearing Species In Steam Gasification Of Poultry Litter, Bratendu Bagchi

Masters Theses

The production of broiler chickens has become one of the largest sectors in United States agriculture and the growing demand for poultry has led to an annual production growth rate of five percent. Over 70 percent of the production can be traced to the Southeastern United States. With increased demand for poultry, poultry litter management has become a major challenge in the agriculture industry and for the United States Department of Agriculture.

One of the options being considered for chicken litter management is steam gasification of the litter. Detailed study and research of this option has already been carried out …

Time Series Analysis Of Bat Ultrasound Signals, Xu Cui

Masters Theses

The general objectives of this study are to develop new methods to analyze ultrasound signals recorded during field observations of bats, and relate these to bat biology. In particular, I investigate methods to determine whether or not sound pulses produced by multiple bats are independent of each other when the bats are searching for food in the same environment. Four models are proposed to explain the time series of recorded signals and it is found that the Poisson model, which assumes pulses are independent, fits the data best. A computer program, BatCount was developed as part of this study, to …

Analysis And Characterization Of Single-Poly Floating Gate Devices In 0.35um Pdsoi Process, Chandra Sekhar Acharyulu Durisety

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate a single-poly Floating Gate Device (FGD) in 0.35 m Partially Depleted Silicon On Insulator (PDSOI) process for use in analog circuits for post process trimming. Floating gate devices with different aspect ratios have been fabricated to facilitate this behavioral study in PDSOI process. Fundamentals of floating gate devices, the advantages and disadvantages of PDSOI compared to bulk CMOS with respect to single-poly floating gate devices are discussed. Various experiments on behavior and performance of threshold voltage have been conducted and its variation with programming/erasing time and amplitude has been analyzed. The single-poly …

Memory And History In The Modern French Novel: Patrick Modiano And The New Orientation, Julie D. E. Hendrix

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Calculating The Conformal Modulus Of Complex Tori And An Application To Graph Theory, Jason Howard

Masters Theses

In 1985 William Thurston conjectured that conformal mappings could be approximated using infintessimal circles. With this, the area of mathematics called Cirle Packing was born. The advantage of this technique is that it gives a computational method of understanding manifolds. In particular, we attempt to gain some insight of complex tori via Circle Packing. In practice, it is difficult to imagine what these tori look like. Computational techniques of Circle Packing will help us visualise these tori as points in moduli space by beginning with an initial triangulation of the torus. We then experiment with triangulations on a set number …

Framing Of Breast Cancer In African American Magazines, Lanise Hutchins

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Verification Of Intellectual Property Blocks Using Reconfigurable Hardware, Koay Teng Kuan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a procedure to verify intellectual property (IP)cores on the Pilchard platform which contains reconfigurable hardware. The hardware and tools used for the verification process are documented.

Two IP cores are used as examples of how the Pilchard design flow is to be applied. One core that does a simple logical function is implemented to serve as a demonstration of Pilchard read and write operations. To demonstrate the versatility of the hardware platform, a complex core that performs a Fast Fourier Transform operation was also implemented successfully.

Results from these IP implementations indicate …

Evolution Of A Monomer Concentration Field In A Micro-Fluidic Channel, Michael Francis Kirsch

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to determine how long a micro-channel could be in the production of Non-Linear Optical Thin Film Wave-Guides. In determining this length, it is necessary to compute the monomer diffusion process between two solutions of monomers in a micro channel flow. Two models of this flow were created, the first with no flow in a one dimensional channel making diffusion a function of time and position and the second of flow in a two dimensional channel with an imposed velocity profile. Using these models it was determined that the micro channel could be the longest …

Insects Associated With Southern Magnolia (Magnolia Grandiflora L.) In East Tennessee, Christopher Thomas Werle

Masters Theses

No comprehensive studies have been conducted to assess the insect fauna associated with southern magnolia, Magnolia grandiflora L. Thus, a two-year study was initiated in 2000 to: 1) determine the richness and abundance of insect species associated with southern magnolia in East Tennessee, 2) compare the insect fauna collected from upper and lower tree canopy levels during 2001, 3) compare the insect fauna collected from pitfall traps and malaise traps at two sites, 4) compare the floral insect visitors of southern magnolia, and 5) develop a species database for future studies.

The insect fauna associated with southern magnolia was evaluated …

Ultrasound And Microwave Assisted Extraction Of Soybean Oil, Haizhou Li

Masters Theses

Soybeans, one of the world’s leading cash crops, contain appropriately 20% lipid. Currently, soybean oil is the principal vegetable oil used in the U.S. and the world market, totaling 29% of the world vegetable oil production in 2001. Development of extraction technology that could increase oil yield would thus significantly enhance the profitability of the soybean industry and reduce processing costs significantly. It has been shown that both ultrasound-assisted and microwave-assisted extraction methods can enhance extraction of phytochemicals from plant sources while reducing processing time and solvent consumption. However, little is known about how ultrasound and microwave can affect the …

Composition Of The Coleoptera And Associated Insects Collected By Canopy Fogging Of Northern Red Oak (Quercus Rubra L.) Trees In The Great Smoky Mountains National Park And The University Of Tennessee Arboretum, Danny D. Trieff

Masters Theses

Oak forests dominate the forested landscape of Tennessee. These forests are vital to the economic and environmental health of the state. Northern red oak (NRO) trees, Quercus rubra L., are crucial components of these forests. Information regarding the status of coleopteran diversity associated with NRO is scattered and fragmented within the literature. Because of this, the insect fauna on NRO was assessed at three sites (Bee Tree Ridge, Mount Sterling, and Rich Mountain) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM), and at one site at The University of Tennessee Arboretum (UT arboretum) by using the fogging method. These four …

F/A-18e/F Catapult Minimum End Airspeed Testing, Michael M. Wallace

Masters Theses

The F/A-18E/F Super Hornet is the result of major upgrades to previous series of F/A-18 Hornet aircraft (F/A-18A/B/C/D). These upgrades resulted in an airplane requiring a complete Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) phase. Catapult minimum end airspeed tests took place near the end of the three and a half year EMD program to provide data for the Aircraft Launch Bulletin for Operational Evaluation and fleet operations. The tests had occurred on average only every six years for any type of aircraft and 10-15 years for the same model of aircraft in the last 30 years.

The objective of this thesis …

International News Coverage, Borrowed News And Geopolitical Focus In The New York Times During 1991, 1996 And 2001, Heather E. Rogers

Masters Theses

International news coverage by the U.S. media (and for the purpose of this study, newspaper coverage) is a heavily debated issue within the scholarly and professional worlds. Critics, both in the United States and abroad, charge that the U.S. media prescribe to an egocentric attitude about international news coverage, and that Americans do not receive the quality of news that could be expected in a nation with a free press, where citizens are, for the most part, highly educated and where access to news is not restricted.

Previous studies have focused on how much international news coverage Americans receive, and …

Individual-Based Modeling: Comparing Model Outputs To Telemetry Data With Application To The Florida Panther, Dinesh Raj Sharma

Masters Theses

Mean distance of the locations of an animal from the boundaries of its home range was presented as a measure of its space-use preference. Methods for evaluating the predictive ability of an individual-based model were also presented. These methods were applied to data on the Florida panther and some interesting results were obtained.

A strong negative correlation was observed between age and home range size of the panther, indicating constrained mobility of the panther during its old age. Space-use preference was also highly dependent on age of the panther. A general trend was found for panthers, which indicates they stay …

Modification Of Protein Structure And Functionality Using High-Intensity Ultrasound, Demet Güzey

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of high intensity ultrasound on the adsorption kinetics of proteins. Protein solutions (3x10^-4 M ) were treated with ultrasound at power intensity levels ranging from 5 to 35 Wcm^-2 and at temperatures ranging from 20 to 85 ^oC with treatment times ranging from 15 to 45 minutes. Also, the effect of pulsing versus continuous application on the ultrasound treatment was evaluated. Surface activity (adsorption and coverage) of proteins was investigated using a drop shape analysis tensiometer. The study consisted of three major parts.

The results of the …

Design Of An Adaptive Cable Equalizer Using 0.5 [Mu]M [I.E. Micrometer] Cmos Process, Mohammad Abdul Ahad

Masters Theses

Data transmitted over a long length of cable at high rates must be equalized in order to compensate for the loss and phase dispersion of the cable. The more the cable length, the more the loss is in it. As the data transfer rate is increasing, more bandwidth is needed and the data communication industries are demanding an equalizer system with more bandwidth. A pole-zero model for the coax cable- equalizer is developed which shows that the poles and zeros of the cable transfer function decrease linearly with the increase of the cable length. Thus an adaptive equalizer system has …

The Sundering Before Reconciliation : Joyce, Shakespeare, And Postcolonialism In Scylla And Charybdis, Mark S. Bernard

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to reexamine the relationship, artistic and political, between James Joyce and Shakespeare from a postcolonial perspective. More specifically, I wish to explore how the complexity of this relationship can be seen in action in "Scylla and Charybdis," chapter nine of Joyce's Ulysses. Through a close reading of the chapter and the usage of theoretical work currently being forged in the fields of Joyce and postcolonial studies, I show how Joyce is finally able to embrace Shakespeare as an artistic partner and literary forefather but only after destroying and recreating the monolithic image of "the …

Parental Understanding Of And Satisfaction With Iep Meetings, Melany Shea Bunch

Masters Theses

Federal law strongly encourages participation of parents of children with special needs in the development of their child's special education Individualized Educational Program. However, parents are not always involved and knowledgeable about the IEP. Twenty-seven parents of students with disabilities in a rural county high school were surveyed with a twenty-one item phone interview to assess their level of satisfaction with and understanding of the IEP process. Parents' level of satisfaction and understanding was relatively high, contrary to trends reported in the literature.

Metathesis Of Dicobalt Hexacarbonyl Systems And Subsequent Applications, Joseph Allen Burlison

Masters Theses

A new method for the preparation of seven to nine-membered rings using ringclosing metathesis of a dicobalt hexacarbonyl alkyne- complex as the critical step is described. Involvement of the organometallic complex introduces a conformational constraint at the metathetical stage and serves as a mask for the alkyne functionality. Metathesis of a variety of substrates containing various types of oxidation in the pseudoparpargyl position is described. Thus, silyl ethers, acetates, and ketones were found to be compatible with metathesis. Results in a homologous series of pseudopropargyllic alcohols were found to metathesize in somewhat lesser yield due to a suspected chelation mechanism. …

Therapist Actions And Corresponding Narrative Change During Therapy : A Case Study, Mary Clare Champion

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate narrative change over the course of therapy, particularly the relationship between therapist behaviors and narrative change. To explore this relationship, one family's journey through therapy was recorded. Therapist statements were coded for the presence of the therapist being responsive to the clients, asking for elaboration from the clients, and challenging what the clients said in therapy. Client narratives were coded and given scores on coherence, the extent to which the narratives made sense to the reader and were free from distracting remarks, and richness, the extent of detail in the narrative. Findings …

Induction Of The Cytochrome P450 Gene, Cyp6a8, Of Drosophila Melanogaster By Caffeine, Erika Danielle Dean

Masters Theses

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (CYPs) are enzymes involved in the metabolism of a variety of endogenous and xenobiotic compounds including steroids and drugs. In insects, CYPs are involved in conferring resistance to insecticides. In mammals, CYP1A1/1A2 enzymes have been shown to metabolize the commonly consumed xenobiotic, caffeine. In addition, the CYP1A1/1A2 gene is induced by caffeine in both rat kidney and liver. Although common drugs such as barbital and phenobarbital induce CYP genes in insects, it is not known whether these genes are also induced by caffeine. In the present investigations, the effect of caffeine on the promoter of a Drosophila …

The Effect Of Self-Directed Work Teams On Work Ethic, Johnny E. Fontan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare work ethic between machine operators in a self-directed work team manufacturing facility and machine operators in a traditional work systems manufacturing facility based on four subscales (dependable, cooperative, ambitious, considerate). Secondly, the study investigated differences between machine operators in a self-directed work team manufacturing facility and machine operators in a traditional work systems manufacturing facility based on six demographic factors (age, gender, level of education, years of full-time work experience, years of experiences as a supervisor, work shift preference). The Occupational Work Ethic Inventory (OWEI) (Petty, 1991) was the sole instrument used …