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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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An In Vitro Evaluation Of Chitosan As A Biomaterial Focusing On The Effects Of The Degree Of Deacetylation, Virginia Hamilton Dec 2004

An In Vitro Evaluation Of Chitosan As A Biomaterial Focusing On The Effects Of The Degree Of Deacetylation, Virginia Hamilton

Theses and Dissertations

The material characteristics play a role in the suitability of chitosan for biomedical applications. This is not surprising since the degree of deacetylation of chitosan influences antimicrobial activity, degradation rate, immune reaction and mechanical properties such as strength and elongation. This study examines chitosans of variable material characteristics for wound and bone healing applications. Chitosan films of 76, 78, 80, 87, 91, 92, and 95% degree of deacetylation were tested in vitro for cellular responses by fibroblast and bone cell lines. The in vitro responses were compared to the material characteristics of molecular weight, degree of deacetylation, swelling index, and …

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Cultural Awareness Levels Of Professionals And Students At Mississippi State University: International Education's Challenge, William Edward Stephen Cottrell Dec 2004

Cultural Awareness Levels Of Professionals And Students At Mississippi State University: International Education's Challenge, William Edward Stephen Cottrell

Theses and Dissertations

The literature indicates that America's demographic transformation is becoming a priority issue for higher education. Consequently, progressive educational leadership has a stake in international education development. Since enhanced cultural awareness is essential to this process, its scarcity in terms of measurable evidence has given rise to this study. Research questions included: (1) What is the level of cultural awareness among professional employees and students at Mississippi State University as measured by the Culture Shock Inventory Measurement Table? (2) Do demographic factors relate to cultural awareness levels of professional employees and students at Mississippi State University? (3) What role does international …

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Comparing Spectral-Object Based Approaches For Extracting And Classifying Transportation Features Using High Resolution Multi-Spectral Satellite Imagery, Sunil Reddy Repaka Dec 2004

Comparing Spectral-Object Based Approaches For Extracting And Classifying Transportation Features Using High Resolution Multi-Spectral Satellite Imagery, Sunil Reddy Repaka

Theses and Dissertations

Recent developments in commercial satellite products have resulted in a broader range of high quality image data, enabling detailed analysis. Transportation features have historically been difficult to accurately identify and structure into coherent networks; prior analyses have demonstrated problems in locating smaller features. One problem is that roadways in urban environments are often partly obscured by proximity to land cover or impervious objects. Ongoing research has focused on object-based methods for classification and different segmentation techniques key to this approach. For this application, software packages such as eCognition have shown encouraging results in assessing spatial and spectral patterns at varied …

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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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Development Of A Distributed Model For The Biological Water Processor Of The Water Recovery System For Nasa Advanced Life Support Program, Sachin Vishwas Puranik Dec 2004

Development Of A Distributed Model For The Biological Water Processor Of The Water Recovery System For Nasa Advanced Life Support Program, Sachin Vishwas Puranik

Theses and Dissertations

The Water Recovery System (WRS) is one of the necessary subsystems in an Advanced Life Support program. It regenerates potable water by processing wastewater generated on a space shuttle or on a space station. The Biological Water Processor (BWP) is one of the complex subsections of WRS that involves processes described by continuous time as well as discrete event dynamics. Such systems can be modeled as hybrid dynamical systems in MATLAB/Stateflow. The following state variables of the BWP have been simulated in MATLAB: Pressure drop across Organic Carbon Oxidation Reactor (OCOR), Pressure drop across nitrification reactor, nitrifier flow rate, total …

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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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A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Winter Weather Events In The Southeast United States With Correlations To Enso And Other Teleconnections, Christopher Clayborne Duke Dec 2004

A Spatial And Temporal Analysis Of Winter Weather Events In The Southeast United States With Correlations To Enso And Other Teleconnections, Christopher Clayborne Duke

Theses and Dissertations

Snow/ice events are indeed a rare occurrence in the southeast United States. As a result, residents of the Southeast often exemplify a passive attitude towards winter weather and are often unprepared when it strikes. This study analyzed every recorded winter weather event that struck the Southeast (Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia) from the winter season of 1961-'62 through 2000-'01 from both a spatial and temporal standpoint. Through the results of this study, it was evident that Georgia saw the most overall winter weather events and January seemed to be the most productive month overall. This study also analyzed teleconnection (ENSO, PNA, NAO, …

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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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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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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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Microbially Mediated Porosity Enhancement In Carbonate Reservoirs: Experiments With Samples From The Salem, Sligo, And Smackover Formations, Melody Roy Coffey Dec 2004

Microbially Mediated Porosity Enhancement In Carbonate Reservoirs: Experiments With Samples From The Salem, Sligo, And Smackover Formations, Melody Roy Coffey

Theses and Dissertations

This study used petrographic thin sections, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser microscopy to document microbially mediated dissolution of carbonate reservoir rocks. The samples studied came from three carbonate units that are hydrocarbon reservoirs; the Salem, Sligo, and Smackover formations. These samples were inoculated with bacteria, and then treated with nutrient solutions followed by ethanol to promote generation of acetic acid by bacteria. Dissolution occurred in calcite-dominated rocks and in dolomitized rocks. Noticeable changes first occurred after nine weeks of ethanol treatment and significant change only occurred after twelve weeks of ethanol treatment. The size of the vuggy pores created …

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Analysis Of The Design And Operation Of Mix-Bank Resequencing Areas, Arunkumar Subramanian Dec 2004

Analysis Of The Design And Operation Of Mix-Bank Resequencing Areas, Arunkumar Subramanian

Theses and Dissertations

Automotive assembly plants work on a pre-planned job sequence in order to optimize the performance of the assembly line. However, the job sequence becomes scrambled due to factors such as plant layout, process design, variability and uncertainty. Assembly plants use either a mix-bank or an automatic storage and retrieval system to regenerate the sequence before final assembly. A mix-bank, which is a set of parallel lanes, is the most common method used in the automotive industry to reconstruct the sequence. Only the first vehicles on the lanes are available for sequencing in a mix-bank set-up. Hence the lane selection policy …

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Visualization Of Computer-Modeled Forests For Forest Management, Mahnas Jean Mohammadi-Aragh Dec 2004

Visualization Of Computer-Modeled Forests For Forest Management, Mahnas Jean Mohammadi-Aragh

Theses and Dissertations

Forest management is a costly and time-consuming activity. Remote sensing has the potential to improve the process by making it cheaper and more efficient, but only if appropriate characteristics can be determined from computer-models. This thesis describes the implementation of a forest visualization system and a corresponding user study that tests the accuracy of parameter estimation and forest characterization. The study uses data obtained from field-surveys to generate a computer-modeled forest. Five different stands were tested. Based on the quantitative results obtained, generally, there is no statistically significant difference in parameter estimation when comparing field-recorded movies and computer-generated movies.

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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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