Engineering Commons^™

Design And Evaluation Of An Augmentative Communication Aid For Multiply Impaired Individuals, Mark S. Annett

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with sensory and multiple physical impairments, which may include the loss of the ability to speak, have very specialized communication needs. Based on the belief that the current technology does not fully meet these needs, a prototype communication aid was developed for an individual who is cortically blind, dysphonic, and motor impaired. Furthermore, the communication device has broader applications beyond the present individual.

The prototype system has a direct selection of "Yes" and "No" responses, scanning access to daily phrases, rate enhancement of all scans, prompted encoding for selection of letters, two letter codes for complete sentences, access to …

Exposure To Phosphine Gas During Application Of Magnesium Phosphide In Stored Product Warehouses, Mark Anthony Harrison

Theses and Dissertations

The use of phosphine gas requires that respiratory protection be used if exposures exceed the OSHA permissible exposure limit. As with other chemical exposures limits many of the references used to establish occupational health guidelines date back to the 1930’s and 1940’s. This is quite common and is the case with phosphine gas. Initial planning for fumigations involving magnesium phosphide requires that a hazard assessment be performed. Expected worker exposures based on previous monitoring or test data was not readily available. Many current practices and procedures for fumigations are based on recommendations from applicators who used the product in the …

Organ Doses In Routine Radiographic Procedures, Yang Han

Theses and Dissertations

There is general agreement that the extent of the risk from x-ray examination is related in some way to the radiation dose. As the dose increases, the likelihood of significant biological effects also increases. If a clear correlation between dose and effect is to be established, a convenient and reasonably accurate method of estimating patient’s absorbed doses during common radiographic examinations will be highly needed. A simple method is developed in this project to determine the two important parameters e exposure at skin entrance (ESE) and half value layer (IIVL), which is essential to get reasonably accurate estimates of absorbed …