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2004

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Law 939 Of 2004 - Biofuels, Congreso De Colombia Dec 2004

Law 939 Of 2004 - Biofuels, Congreso De Colombia

Latin American Energy Policies

Creates the provisions to stimulate biofuel production and marketing of for its use in diesel engines.

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Deregulation Of The Oil And Gas Industry In Nigeria, F. Kupolokun Dec 2004

Deregulation Of The Oil And Gas Industry In Nigeria, F. Kupolokun

Economic and Financial Review

This paper examine various developmental reforms in Nigeria Oil and Gas sector. The case study adopted is the survey method approach to ascertain various reforms in the sector. The findings revealed factors such as ( a) Petroleum Products scarcity ; (b) Funding problems for NNPC leading to irregular maintenance of refining and distribution facilities ; ( c) Refining capacity under-utilization ; ( d) Smuggling of Petroleum products; ( e) Divestment by marketers; (f) Wastages; (g) Adulteration of products and fire hazards; (h) Social and political unrest; (i) Poor economic growth; and (j) Rampant pipeline ruptures and vandalization. And, in tackling …

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Privatisation Of Public Utilities In Nigeria, Mike I. Obadan Dec 2004

Privatisation Of Public Utilities In Nigeria, Mike I. Obadan

Economic and Financial Review

This paper reviews the experience so far with the privatization of public utilities. To this end, the paper is organized into five sections. In order to underscore the essence of the programme, Section II makes a strong case for the privatization of public utilities in Nigeria while Section III discuses the significance of strategy and regulation in privatizing public utilities. Section IV is a review of the privatization journey so far with respect to public utilities. The fifth Section contains the concluding remarks.

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Deregulation And Its Implications For Economic Growth, B.E. Aigbokhan Dec 2004

Deregulation And Its Implications For Economic Growth, B.E. Aigbokhan

Economic and Financial Review

The study found that real exchange rate has a positive and significant impact on growth, inflation has similar impact. Government fixed investment has negative significant impact on growth, and so does external debt. Fiscal deficit was found to have positive but insignificant impact on growth. As the period covered in the study contains twenty six pre-deregulation years, the influence of deregulation may not have been accurately captured. Partly to address this concern, a dummy variables was introduced for the SAP years. It was found not to be significant, implying that the (SAP) introduced since 1986 did not translate into long-run …

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An Overview Of Nigeria's Economic Reform In-House Seminar On "Current Economic Reforms In Nigeria: The Case Of Deregulating The Downstream Petroleum Subsector", For Cbn Executive Staff, G.J. Donli Dec 2004

An Overview Of Nigeria's Economic Reform In-House Seminar On "Current Economic Reforms In Nigeria: The Case Of Deregulating The Downstream Petroleum Subsector", For Cbn Executive Staff, G.J. Donli

Economic and Financial Review

The article discusses the different reforms adopted by different administrations in addressing the crisis faced by our economy since 1960, most especially the current reforms being pursued by the Obasanjo administration. To achieve this, the rest of the paper is divided into four parts. Part two gives an Overview of the State of the Nigerian Economy with greater emphasis on the various economic reform programs put in place by successive governments to fine tune the economy to desired results.. The third part reviews the Current Economic Reform with particular emphasis on the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), while …

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Student Government Agenda, December 20, 2004, Taos Student Government Dec 2004

Student Government Agenda, December 20, 2004, Taos Student Government

Student Government, Taos Campus

Agenda for the December 20th, 2004 Student Government meeting.

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Student Government Minutes, December 20, 2004, Taos Student Government Dec 2004

Student Government Minutes, December 20, 2004, Taos Student Government

Student Government, Taos Campus

Minutes from the December 20th, 2004 Student Government meeting.

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Effects Of Quantization, Saturation, And Sampling Time In Multi Output Systems, Chaouki T. Abdallah, R. Sandoval-Rodriguez, R. H. Byrne Dec 2004

Effects Of Quantization, Saturation, And Sampling Time In Multi Output Systems, Chaouki T. Abdallah, R. Sandoval-Rodriguez, R. H. Byrne

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We analyze the effects of sampling and quantization in the states of the plant, and the saturation of the control signal, on the behaviors of closed-loop systems. We present graphical and analytical tools to determine the minimum number of bits in the A/D converters, and the maximum sampling time to ensure stability of closed-loop LTI single input multiple output systems.

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Electifying The Electorate To Save The Government: Top Priority For Dominican Republic's President Leonel Fernandez, Noticen Dec 2004

Electifying The Electorate To Save The Government: Top Priority For Dominican Republic's President Leonel Fernandez, Noticen

NotiEn: An Analytical Digest About Energy Issues in Latin America

The Dominican Republic has been suffering an electricity shortage that now threatens, implied second-term President Leonel Fernandez (see NotiCen, 2004-05-20), to bring his government down. Blackouts have become a way of life in the country, so much so that the problem was incorporated into Fernandez's inauguration speech last Aug. 16, when he spoke of seeking private bank loans to shore up the failing power-generating and distribution system. The Superintendencia de Electricidad reported in September that the system produces less than half the country's demand. Several plants were out of service for lack of fuel, while others functioned at a fraction …

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2004-12-15 Unm News Minute, University Of New Mexico Communication And Marketing Department Dec 2004

2004-12-15 Unm News Minute, University Of New Mexico Communication And Marketing Department

UNM News Minute 2004

No abstract provided.

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Finite-Time Stability Of Discrete-Time Nonlinear Systems: Analysis And Design, Chaouki T. Abdallah, S. Mastellone, P. Dorato Dec 2004

Finite-Time Stability Of Discrete-Time Nonlinear Systems: Analysis And Design, Chaouki T. Abdallah, S. Mastellone, P. Dorato

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Finite-time stability of nonlinear discrete-time systems is studied. Some new analysis results are developed and applied to controller design.

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Implementation Of The Load Balancing Algorithm Over A Local Area Network And The Internet, Chaouki T. Abdallah, J. Ghanem, M. Hayat, S. Dhakal, J.D. Birdwell, J. Chiasson, Z. Tang Dec 2004

Implementation Of The Load Balancing Algorithm Over A Local Area Network And The Internet, Chaouki T. Abdallah, J. Ghanem, M. Hayat, S. Dhakal, J.D. Birdwell, J. Chiasson, Z. Tang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, experimental evaluation of the load balancing algorithm in real environments is presented. We emphasize the effects of delays on the exchange of information among nodes, and the constraints these effects impose on the design of a load balancing strategy. Two testbeds in two different real environments have been built; the first implementation was over a local area network whereas the second was over Planet-Lab. The results show the effect of network delays and variances in the task processing time on choosing adequate gain values for the load balancing algorithm.

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University Of New Mexico Board Of Regents Minutes For December 14, 2004, University Of New Mexico Board Of Regents Dec 2004

University Of New Mexico Board Of Regents Minutes For December 14, 2004, University Of New Mexico Board Of Regents

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

Minutes for the December 14, 2004 Board of Regents Meeting

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The Creation Of Boron Deep Levels By High Temperature Annealing Of 4h-Sic, Hrishikesh Das Dec 2004

The Creation Of Boron Deep Levels By High Temperature Annealing Of 4h-Sic, Hrishikesh Das

Theses and Dissertations

Creation of semi-insulating layers in SiC is highly desirable for high voltage device fabrication. Specifically PiN diodes can be fabricated with a compensated semi-insulating layer that would be capable of blocking a large reverse voltage. Semi-insulating (SI) behavior in SiC has been traditionally achieved via passivation of shallow dopants with vanadium-related deep levels. Degraded electrical properties of SiC devices result from the use of vanadium compensated SiC because unintentional formation of additional defects due to vanadium segregation and stress generation in the material occur. In this work, the possibility of low doped or SI epilayers via engineering of the boron …

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Gml Represntation For Interoperable Spatial Data Exchange In A Mobile Mapping Application, Venu Madhav Singh Kanaparthy Dec 2004

Gml Represntation For Interoperable Spatial Data Exchange In A Mobile Mapping Application, Venu Madhav Singh Kanaparthy

Theses and Dissertations

Geographic information is critical to GIS applications located remotely for executing business operations. GIS applications need to interoperate to be able to share information for analysis and decision making process. Heterogeneity and complexity of information models and structures limit the data flow and application interoperation. Advancements in Internet technologies provided new opportunities for delivering spatial information to remote users. However, spatial data delivered is in proprietary structures, limiting the utility to GIS applications. To enable information flow between GIS applications a portable data modeling approach is necessary. However, geographic information is inherently complex to model. A comprehensive and standardized vocabulary …

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Ecological And Genetic Consequences Of Seasonal Drought On Stream Communities Inhabiting Pool Refugia, Joseph William Love Dec 2004

Ecological And Genetic Consequences Of Seasonal Drought On Stream Communities Inhabiting Pool Refugia, Joseph William Love

Theses and Dissertations

In intermittent streams, hydrological variation is probably the single-most important factor affecting fish assemblage structure. While the response of aquatic assemblages to seasonal or annual variation in hydrology is well-known, less attention has been devoted to how assemblages respond to natural, intraseasonal drought. To explore this question, I conducted summer surveys of fish and aquatic insect assemblages occupying pool refugia in first to third order, intermittent streams in the Saline river drainage in the Ouachita highlands (central Arkansas, U.S.A.)(2001?2003). The goals of this project were: 1) to relate assemblage variability of fishes and aquatic insects to environmental gradients during summer …

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Improved Estimation Of Epitaxial Thin Film Thickness And Doping Using Fourier Transform Infrared Reflection Spectroscopy, Swapna Geetha Sunkari Dec 2004

Improved Estimation Of Epitaxial Thin Film Thickness And Doping Using Fourier Transform Infrared Reflection Spectroscopy, Swapna Geetha Sunkari

Theses and Dissertations

Film thickness, free carrier concentration and free carrier mobility are critical figures of merit for silicon carbide epitaxial growth. Room temperature Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) reflection spectroscopy can estimate these parameters non-destructively and is capable of high-resolution wafer mapping. Commercially available equipment has greatly simplified the application of this technique by coupling a high performance automated spectrometer with model-based data analysis and interpretation based on the personal computer. While powerful numerical techniques run fast and efficient on modern computers, it is essential that low-order, well-conditioned models are needed. The observed reflectance spectrum is the result of reflection and refraction of …

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Predicting Open-Source Software Quality Using Statistical And Machine Learning Techniques, Amit Ashok Phadke Dec 2004

Predicting Open-Source Software Quality Using Statistical And Machine Learning Techniques, Amit Ashok Phadke

Theses and Dissertations

Developing high quality software is the goal of every software development organization. Software quality models are commonly used to assess and improve the software quality. These models, based on the past releases of the system, can be used to identify the fault-prone modules for the next release. This information is useful to the open-source software community, including both developers and users. Developers can use this information to clean or rebuild the faulty modules thus enhancing the system. The users of the software system can make informed decisions about the quality of the product. This thesis builds quality models using logistic …

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Imposing Cyclic Strain On Osteogenic Stem Cells: The Effects Of Strain Levels And Repetition Of Cyclic Strain In An Implant Environment, Daniel Henlee Smith Dec 2004

Imposing Cyclic Strain On Osteogenic Stem Cells: The Effects Of Strain Levels And Repetition Of Cyclic Strain In An Implant Environment, Daniel Henlee Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Bone and bone cells have been shown to respond to mechanical forces placed upon them. Particularly, strain plays an important role in osteogenic differentiation of marrow cells around artificial implants in bone. These strains, depending on their magnitude, duration, and repetition, can alter the proliferation and matrix synthesis of osteoblasts. To test how strain parameters influence osteoblast behavior, a four-point bending apparatus was used to impose cyclic strain on osteogenic stem cells isolated from rats and seeded on titanium plates. Cells were stimulated at 1 Hz for 15 minutes daily and compared to an unstrained control. Stimulation occurred at two …

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Laboratory Evaluation Of Tensile And Shear Strengths Of Asphalt Tack Coats, Mark Everett Woods Dec 2004

Laboratory Evaluation Of Tensile And Shear Strengths Of Asphalt Tack Coats, Mark Everett Woods

Theses and Dissertations

Asphalt tack coats are applied during pavement construction to ensure bond between pavement layers, thus providing a more durable pavement. A prototype tack coat evaluation device (TCED) was developed to evaluate the tensile and torque-shear strength of tack coat materials. Three emulsions (SS-1, CSS-1, and CRS-2) and one asphalt binder (PG 67-22), commonly used as tack coats, were evaluated using the TCED at various application temperatures, application rates, dilutions, and set times. A laboratory bond interface strength device (LBISD) was developed to assess interface shear strength of laboratory-prepared specimens. Mass loss testing was performed to evaluate moisture evaporation and visual …

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Distributed Generation Impact On Fault Response Of A Distrubution [I.E., Distribution] Network, Venkata Ramanujam Kanduri Dec 2004

Distributed Generation Impact On Fault Response Of A Distrubution [I.E., Distribution] Network, Venkata Ramanujam Kanduri

Theses and Dissertations

Electric power systems are a key infrastructure today. Power systems can be divided into three major parts: generation, transmission, and distribution. Out of these the distribution system is the most complex part and least studied system. In order to have continuous and reliable power to all customers it is necessary to have a good protection system. Major disturbances that are caused and last for a very short duration are called faults. With the advent of distributed generation (DG), the understanding of fault response has become more difficult. This thesis presents the study of the fault response and the factors that …

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A Hybrid Model For Dtm Generation From Lidar Data, Hyun Seung Lee Dec 2004

A Hybrid Model For Dtm Generation From Lidar Data, Hyun Seung Lee

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces an innovative technique to extract ground elevation models using smallootprint LIDAR data. This technique consists of a preprocessing step, ground modeling, and interpolation. In the preprocessing step, much of the non-terrain points are eliminated using a histogram-based clustering technique. Then, in the ground modeling stage, the information such as elevation and slope between nearest neighbor points is extracted. This step corresponds to an outlier detection process. In this stage, residuals and gradient indices for elevation and slope, are introduced. These indices are investigated for a constructed 95% confidence interval to discard the remaining non-terrain points. Finally, using …

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Hispanic Students' Beliefs Regarding Emergent Literacy: A Case Study, Jacqueline L. Breland Worley Dec 2004

Hispanic Students' Beliefs Regarding Emergent Literacy: A Case Study, Jacqueline L. Breland Worley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the beliefs of the participants with regards to emergent literacy. Another purpose was to identify literacy practices employed by the participants while teaching preschool children. An additional purpose was to determine if participation in the course entitled ?Emergent Literacy? changed any beliefs of the participants regarding emergent literacy and subsequent literacy practices employed while teaching preschool children. The final purpose of this study was to determine the beliefs of the participants regarding emergent literacy and subsequent literacy practices employed while teaching preschool children, three years after completing the course entitled ?Emergent Literacy.? …

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Investigation Of Inductively Coupled Plasma As An Atomization Source For Analytical And Fundamental Measurements Using Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy, Fabio Jerome Mazzotti Dec 2004

Investigation Of Inductively Coupled Plasma As An Atomization Source For Analytical And Fundamental Measurements Using Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy, Fabio Jerome Mazzotti

Theses and Dissertations

Analytical as well as fundamental measurements were performed with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) using the novel technique of cavity ringdown spectroscopy. A newly designed ICP torch was presented. Limits of detection were measured for elemental mercury, both in an ICP as well as in a cold mercury chemical generator. The efficiency of the technique was compared with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) in the ICP. Isotopically resolved spectra of uranium were collected with this technique and results were compared to previous studies using LIF. Gas temperature and electron density estimations were done by lineshape measurements on lead atoms in the ICP. …

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Reliability-Based Optimization Of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Bridge Deck Panels, Michel D. Thompson Dec 2004

Reliability-Based Optimization Of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Bridge Deck Panels, Michel D. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

A reliability-based optimization (RBO) methodology was developed and applied to fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decks. Commercially available software was used to optimize a FRP bridge deck panel by weight with structural reliability, stress, and deflection constraints. A methodology using optimization software, finite element analysis, and probabilistic analysis software was developed to examine the effects of load and resistance uncertainties in FRP bridge deck optimization. Eight modular deck designs were considered for use in the RBO methodology. Investigations into random variable sensitivities, design variable sensitivities, wheel positions, and buckling were conducted to minimize computational effort. Five models were eventually optimized with …

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Theoretical Modeling Approach For A Common Residential Electrically Heated Oven And Proposed Oven Design Modification, Mark Allan Breen Dec 2004

Theoretical Modeling Approach For A Common Residential Electrically Heated Oven And Proposed Oven Design Modification, Mark Allan Breen

Theses and Dissertations

Current research has developed a fully predictive model of an electrically heated common residential oven. This system was modeled using a fully explicit approach and, where applicable, considered natural convective correlations, various radiation networks, and conduction relations. Two oven configurations were modeled, a conventional (unmodified) residential oven and a modified design. By comparing the theoretical results obtained through modeling with experimental results, verification of the modeling assumptions and results has been achieved. This research has produced an analytical design tool for predictive modeling of time dependant surface temperatures, maximum expected temperatures, and the baking performance of various oven designs. Thus …

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Towards A Methodology For Interactive Virtual Design Assessment, Kang Li Dec 2004

Towards A Methodology For Interactive Virtual Design Assessment, Kang Li

Theses and Dissertations

Complex interactive behaviour involves cognitive, sensation and motor behaviour and may consist of several sub interactive behaviours. It needs to be examined from different points of view. Although explaining everything in one model is not currently possible, it is possible to connect information from different sources to get a better understanding of the interaction to benefit product design. The long-term objective of our study is to develop a methodology for interactive virtual design assessment to study the interactive behaviour and achieve compatibility. This study summarized two experiments which covered many aspects of interactive behaviours in seated posture. Experiment one addressed …

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A Sliding Interface Method For Unsteady Unstructured Parallel Flow Simulations, Eric Lindsay Blades Dec 2004

A Sliding Interface Method For Unsteady Unstructured Parallel Flow Simulations, Eric Lindsay Blades

Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this study is to develop a sliding interface method for simulations involving relative rotational grid motion suitable for unstructured grid topologies. The present method alleviates computationally expensive grid deformation, remeshing, and hole cutting procedures. Rotational motion is accomplished by rigidly rotating a subdomain representing the moving component. At the subdomain interface boundary, the faces along the interfaces are extruded into the adjacent subdomain to create new volume elements and provide a one-cell overlap. These new volume elements close the control volumes for the nodes on the interface surface and allow a flux to be computed across …

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An Architecture Design For A Real-Time Web-Based Visualization In The Grid Environment, Bhargavi Sura Dec 2004

An Architecture Design For A Real-Time Web-Based Visualization In The Grid Environment, Bhargavi Sura

Theses and Dissertations

Situations like war, terrorist attacks, fire accidents, floods, storms, etc., which threaten human life and property, demand immediate action to decrease the damage caused by them. A system is needed that predicts the future events based on what has happened and notifies the concerned personnel. The situation could be better understood in less time if the data is represented as colored, shaded and moving images rather than as numbers. Such a system requires a real-time Web-based visualization system with easy and secure access to grid resources, presenting easy-to-read graphics through a simple interface provided by a Web browser, and responding …

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Multiscale Analysis Of Void Coalescence In Ductile Metals, Matthew Kenneth Jones Dec 2004

Multiscale Analysis Of Void Coalescence In Ductile Metals, Matthew Kenneth Jones

Theses and Dissertations

A mulitscale approach is used to model the coalescence of voids. At the microscale, cylindrical and spherical voids in nickel and the magnesium alloy AM60 are simulated through finite element analyses. The nickel cylindrical void simulations are compared to a set of experiments to validate this micromechanical finite element approach used to study void coalescence. At the macroscale, the coalescence portion of a microstructure-property material model is modified to reflect the behavior of three-dimensional spherical voids using results from the micromechanical simulations. An analysis of an automotive component illustrates the influence of void coalescence at the structural scale.

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