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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Adaptive Ds-Cdma Multiuser Detection For Time Variant Frequency Selective Rayleigh Fading Channel, Xin Tang Aug 2002

Adaptive Ds-Cdma Multiuser Detection For Time Variant Frequency Selective Rayleigh Fading Channel, Xin Tang

Dissertations

The current digital wireless mobile system such as IS-95, which is based on direct sequence Code Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA) technology, will not be able to meet the growing demands for multimedia service due to low information exchanging rate. Its capacity is also limited by multiple accessed interference (MAI) signals.

This work focuses on the development of adaptive algorithms for multiuser detection (MUD) and interference suppression for wideband direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems over time-variant frequency selective fading channels. In addition, channel acquisition and delay estimation techniques are developed to combat the uncertainty introduced by the wireless …


Multicast Outing Protocols And Architectures In Mobile Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks, Beongku An Aug 2002

Multicast Outing Protocols And Architectures In Mobile Ad-Hoc Wireless Networks, Beongku An

Dissertations

The basic philosophy of personal communication services is to provide user-to-user, location independent communication services. The emerging group communication wireless applications, such as multipoint data dissemination and multiparty conferencing tools have made the design and development of efficient multicast techniques in mobile ad-hoc networking environments a necessity and not just a desire. Multicast protocols in mobile adhoc networks have been an area of active research for the past few years.

In this dissertation, protocols and architectures for supporting multicast services are proposed, analyzed and evaluated in mobile ad-hoc wireless networks. In the first chapter, the activities and recent advances are …


Synthesis And Enzymatic Resolution Of Amino Acid Esters In "Green" Solvents -- Ionic Liquids, Hua Zhao Aug 2002

Synthesis And Enzymatic Resolution Of Amino Acid Esters In "Green" Solvents -- Ionic Liquids, Hua Zhao

Dissertations

Chiral separation has attracted tremendous attention in pharmaceutical and chemical fields, especially in the area of chiral drug development. Chiral amino acids are among the most important intermediates in the asymmetric synthesis of modem drugs. This research has developed an effective method for obtaining optically pure amino acids by enzymatic resolution using a "green" solvent, named an ionic liquid.

Ionic liquids, a new type of "green" solvents, have been used in many organic reactions and other chemical processes (such as liquid-liquid extraction) with improved performance. This is mainly due to their favorable properties for chemical applications, such as low vapor …


Em-Based Iterative Channel Estimation And Sequence Detection For Space-Time Coded Modulation, Zbigniew Baranski Aug 2002

Em-Based Iterative Channel Estimation And Sequence Detection For Space-Time Coded Modulation, Zbigniew Baranski

Dissertations

Reliable detection of signals transmitted over a wireless communication channel requires knowledge of the channel estimate. In this work, the application of expectationmaximization (EM) algorithm to estimation of unknown channel and detection of space-time coded modulation (STCM) signals is investigated. An STCM communication system is presented which includes symbol interleaving at the transmitter and iterative EM-based soft-output decoding at the receiver. The channel and signal model are introduced with a quasi-static and time-varying Rayleigh fading channels considered to evaluate the performance of the communication system. Performance of the system employing Kalman filter with per-survivor processing to do the channel estimation …


Remediation Of Chromium Contaminated Soils With Colloidal Silica, Netnapid Yossapol Aug 2002

Remediation Of Chromium Contaminated Soils With Colloidal Silica, Netnapid Yossapol

Dissertations

The low-viscosity stabilizer, colloidal silica, is extensively used as a grouting material in the construction of grout curtains. It has low viscosity and is non-toxic, which is suitable for injection to stabilize fine-grained soils. It is also applied as a stabilizer in the in-situ treatment of hazardous waste. Once the colloidal silica solution is injected into contaminated soil, it moves through the pores inside the soil matrix, initiating the stabilization process. The viscosity of the colloidal silica mixture increases while it moves until solidifications. This process is called gelation and results in the creation of a gel barrier around contaminated …


Protection And Restoration Algorithms For Wdm Optical Networks, Pitipatana Sakarindr Aug 2002

Protection And Restoration Algorithms For Wdm Optical Networks, Pitipatana Sakarindr

Theses

Currently, Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) optical networks play a major role in supporting the outbreak in demand for high bandwidth networks driven by the Internet. It can be a catastrophe to millions of users if a single optical fiber is somehow cut off from the network, and there is no protection in the design of the logical topology for a restorative mechanism. Many protection and restoration algorithms are needed to prevent, reroute, and/or reconfigure the network from damages in such a situation. In the past few years, many works dealing with these issues have been reported. Those algorithms can be …


Masseter Muscle Activity Resulting From Stimulation Of Hypothalamic Behavioral Sites : Wavelet Analysis, Anne Marie Petrock Aug 2002

Masseter Muscle Activity Resulting From Stimulation Of Hypothalamic Behavioral Sites : Wavelet Analysis, Anne Marie Petrock

Theses

Patterns of electromyographic (EMG) activity can give an insight into muscle activity associated with a given behavioral state. The masseter muscle is positioned closely to the temporomandibular joint and controls the position and movement of the jaw. The hypothalamus is the region of the brain associated with emotional behavior. In an effort to further understand the muscle activity underlying emotional display, the hypothalamus in two cats was stimulated to evoke a stereotyped emotional response, known as the "rage response." Unsheathing of the claws, retraction of the ears, significant pupillary dilation and vocalization (hissing) characterize this behavior. EMG data obtained at …


Crystallographic Structure And Mechanical Properties Of Tantalum Coatings On Steel Deposited By Dc Magnetron Sputtering, Charanjeet Singh Paur Aug 2002

Crystallographic Structure And Mechanical Properties Of Tantalum Coatings On Steel Deposited By Dc Magnetron Sputtering, Charanjeet Singh Paur

Theses

Tantalum metal exhibits excellent erosion and corrosion resistance property. Hence, tantalum coatings are investigated for protection of steel surface exposed to mechanical stresses, high temperature, and corrosive environment. Such conditions exist inside large army gun barrels. The goal of this work was to contribute to the development of technology for tantalum coating of steel, which would replace the presently used electrochemical chromium deposition. A DC magnetron sputtering process was used to deposit tantalum coatings on steel substrates. In sputtering, tantalum is deposited in two phases: ductile, body-centered cubic (bcc) phase (a-phase) and a metastable, brittle tetragonal ß-phase. Only a-phase of …


Quantitative Assessment Of Reflex Blood Pressure Regulation Using A Dynamic Model Of The Cardiovascular System, Tanha Patel Aug 2002

Quantitative Assessment Of Reflex Blood Pressure Regulation Using A Dynamic Model Of The Cardiovascular System, Tanha Patel

Theses

A quantitative understanding of the changes in coronary, pulmonary and systemic hemodynamic variables and their effects on the regulation mechanism is important to the better postoperative management of patients with impaired cardiac function. The arterial baroreflex plays a key role in blood pressure homeostasis, and its impairment may result in exaggerated blood pressure fluctuations and an increased risk of cardiovascular morbid events.

The objective of this work was to construct a mathematical model of the cardiovascular system, which will allow us to simulate the effects of the baroreceptor reflex regulation on sudden changes in blood pressure, caused by sudden changes …


Electrical Properties Of Ultra Thin Al2o3 And Hfo2 Films As Gate Dielectrics In Mos Technology, Vishal R. Mehta Aug 2002

Electrical Properties Of Ultra Thin Al2o3 And Hfo2 Films As Gate Dielectrics In Mos Technology, Vishal R. Mehta

Theses

The rapidly evolving silicon industry demands devices with high-speed and low power consumption. This has led to aggressive scaling of the dimensions in metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs). The channel length has been reduced as a result of this scaling. The industry favorite, SlO2, has reached limitations in the thickness regime of 1-1.5 nm as a gate dielectric. High-κ gate dielectrics such as Al203 and HfO2 and their silicates are some of the materials that may, probably, replace SlO2, as gate dielectric in the next four to five years. …


Formation And Characterization Of N/P Shallow Junctions In Sub-Micron Mosfets, Sridhar Madishetty Aug 2002

Formation And Characterization Of N/P Shallow Junctions In Sub-Micron Mosfets, Sridhar Madishetty

Theses

Semiconductors are the burgeoning industries in today's information age. Silicon based microelectronic devices are shrinking day-by-day in accord with the scaling dimensions reported by the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). There have been many semiconductor models and simulation programs constantly keeping pace with the continuously evolving scaling dimensions, process technology, performance and cost. Electrical characterization plays a vital role in determining the electrical properties of materials and device structures. Silicon based Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) forms the basis of Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) circuits. Today's aggressive scaling approaches in silicon Integrated Circuit (IC) technology require …


Atomic Force Microscopy Used To Determine The Young's Modulus Of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells, Samuel C. Lieber Aug 2002

Atomic Force Microscopy Used To Determine The Young's Modulus Of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells, Samuel C. Lieber

Theses

The Young's modulus of cultured mouse and rat vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) was measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The AFM can image the three-dimensional structure of biological cells in a physiological environment enabling real-time biochemical and physiological processes to be monitored at a resolution similar to that obtained for the electron microscope (EM). Cellular mechanical properties were determined by indenting the cell's body, and analyzing the indentation data with classical infinitesimal strain theory. This calculation was accomplished by modeling the AFM probe as a cone. as well as a blunted cone. The blunted cone geometry fits the …


Formation & Characterization Of P/N Shallow Junctions In Sub-Micron Mosfets, Samrat G. Chawda Aug 2002

Formation & Characterization Of P/N Shallow Junctions In Sub-Micron Mosfets, Samrat G. Chawda

Theses

The formation of shallow junctions in the source and drain regions is a major challenge to the continued success of scaling of complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) circuits. The formation of these device structures requires low-energy ion implantation and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). One of the processes which has been shown to be advantageous is spike annealing, with fast ramping and short dwell time at maximum temperature. This work is a study of the effects of implant energy, implant dose and annealing cycles on the reverse-bias leakage current in the diode junction. The reversebias leakage is the study of junction …


Cortical Response To Facial Expressions Of Young Adult Males With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Controls Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Fmri), Jagriti Arora Aug 2002

Cortical Response To Facial Expressions Of Young Adult Males With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Controls Using Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Fmri), Jagriti Arora

Theses

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is defined by deficits in social and emotional impairments and this study aims to identify specific brain regions involved during facial processing. The simple task of focusing on the face during social interactions for the normal group is found difficult by the autistic group.

In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used as subjects performed two experimental tasks (EXPLICIT and IMPLICIT) in which a series of photographs of nine males and nine females displaying three affective states (6 fear, 6 happy and 6 neutral) and six scrambled- face control stimuli were presented …


Dimensional Study Of Desaminotyrosyl Polyarylates, Kalsank Vaishali Pai Aug 2002

Dimensional Study Of Desaminotyrosyl Polyarylates, Kalsank Vaishali Pai

Theses

Synthetic polymers have found widespread usage and acceptance in various areas of the medical device industry. The recognition that no polymeric biornaterials are truly biocompatible has led to the search for bioerodible materials with desirable biological and physical properties for use as tissue engineering scaffolds and to enable in-vivo devices. Several methodologies have been tried and tested to invent the "ideal" biopolymer. The ideal polymeric biomaterial would be one that offers a favorable response at both the cellular and the systemic level with minimum alteration to its mechanical properties and chemistry. The systematic investigation of process-structure-property space to determine the …


On Chip Implement Of Deadlock Avoidance In Wormhole Networks, Kiran K. Gururaj Aug 2002

On Chip Implement Of Deadlock Avoidance In Wormhole Networks, Kiran K. Gururaj

Theses

This thesis gives a detailed description of the Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) design to avoid deadlocks in Wormhole Networks. Deadlock avoidance is the most critical issue while considering wormhole networks and should be avoided by any routing protocol and algorithm. A novel architecture for the Turn Prohibition Based Routing (TPBR) protocol has been proved to be efficient and was developed as a part of this work. This architecture for implementing the algorithm is divided into three parts. The first part determines the order of selccuon of the nodes, in the network to run the algorithm. The second part deals …


Probability Of A Hazardous Material Truck Accident In New Jersey, Mahesh Damodaran Aug 2002

Probability Of A Hazardous Material Truck Accident In New Jersey, Mahesh Damodaran

Theses

Accident prediction modeling is a powerful tool for determining the frequency of accidents under certain circumstances. Nationwide, direct damages from highway hazardous material spills for the year 2000 were tallied at over $31billion. This thesis determines the probability of an accident involving hazardous materials on the roads of New Jersey. The methodology is based on a British predictive equation used by their Highways Agency to determine the probability of a hazardous spill over a section of a roadway. The parameters used by the British's Highways Agency, which is obtained from their accident data, were modified to reflect conditions that best …


Bi-Axially Loaded Slender Reinforced Concrete Columns Subjected To Sustained Loads, Song Gu May 2002

Bi-Axially Loaded Slender Reinforced Concrete Columns Subjected To Sustained Loads, Song Gu

Dissertations

A generalized analytical approach is presented in this research to predict the behavior both of slender and short reinforced concrete columns under sustained biaxial eccentric load.

The present analysis proposes equations established at a cross section of a reinforced concrete column by combining force equilibrium, constitutive law, and compatibility conditions. The strain and curvature of each section and the deflection of the column can then be obtained and resolved.

The established creep computation models, recommended separately by American Concrete Institute (ACI) 209R-92 and the Comite' Euro-International du Be'ton (CEB)-FIP 1990 Model Code have been used to calculate creep and shrinkage …


The Development Of H Homogeneous Nucleation Rate Model For Thermoplastic Foams Based On A Molecular Partition Function And Fickian Diffusion, Ronald G. Gabbard May 2002

The Development Of H Homogeneous Nucleation Rate Model For Thermoplastic Foams Based On A Molecular Partition Function And Fickian Diffusion, Ronald G. Gabbard

Dissertations

An improved homogeneous nucleation rate model for thermoplastic foams has been developed. This model does not rely on experimentally determined parameters and only uses pure component physical property data and a binary diffusion coefficient. This model, like those derived from classical nucleation theory, is made up of two parts, one that determines the size of the energy barrier in the nucleation process and one that estimates the forward rate of the process. A statistical-mechanical approach was used to create an energy term that is based on a molecular partition function. In this approach, the bulk phase (polymer and blowing, agent …


Destructive Disassembly Of Bolts And Screws Using Impact, Kyung Geun Pak May 2002

Destructive Disassembly Of Bolts And Screws Using Impact, Kyung Geun Pak

Dissertations

Disassembly, the process of separating parts or components at the end of their useful life is complex due to a variety of fastener shapes and variability in their damage during use. As a natural solution, mechanical impact has been suggested as a cost-effective method for destructive disassembly of joining elements.

The objective of this research is to improve the efficiency of impact disassembly process by studying the characteristics of elastic waves caused by impact. This research presents a new method for increasing the shear stress applied on the bolt head without increasing the energy input invested on launching striker. The …


Complete Stress-Strain Characteristics Of High Performance Concrete, Insang Lee May 2002

Complete Stress-Strain Characteristics Of High Performance Concrete, Insang Lee

Dissertations

High performance concrete (HPQ has recently become a widely used concrete construction material for modem buildings, bridges, and pavements, etc. To produce such a better quality of concrete, chemical and mineral admixtures such as fly ash, slag cement, and silica fume, ground granulated blast furnace slag, as well as air-entraining agents are commonly used in the field construction. It has been found that high perforinance concrete can improve the workability, ultimate strength and durability of the concrete. However, the enhancement of ductility in concrete, and concrete structures as a whole is still inconclusive and needs more research. The ductility can …


Theory And Design Of Mixed Lumped-Distributed Cross-Coupled Filters With Applications To Linear Phase Shifter And Tunable Filters, Sanghoon Shin May 2002

Theory And Design Of Mixed Lumped-Distributed Cross-Coupled Filters With Applications To Linear Phase Shifter And Tunable Filters, Sanghoon Shin

Dissertations

Using cross-coupled networks of a new concept, transmission zeros were efficiently located in the complex frequency-domain. With this approach, the group delay and attenuation slope of the circuit network can be controlled to get both sharp rejection characteristics and linear phase slopes. In order to achieve this performance, various types of combline filters are suggested. Various simulation tools (commercial linear circuit and E-M simulators), as well as the developed pole-zero locator program, were used to design a new class of cross-coupled networks. In particular, the polezero locator program can be used to extract an equivalent circuit of the topology that …


Process Control Of A Laboratory Combustor Using Neural Networks, Thana Slanvetpan May 2002

Process Control Of A Laboratory Combustor Using Neural Networks, Thana Slanvetpan

Dissertations

Active feedback and feedforward-feedback control systems based on static-trained feedforward multi-layer-perceptron (FMLP) neural networks were designed and demonstrated, by experiment and simulation, for selected species from a laboratory two stage combustor. These virtual controllers functioned through a Visual Basic platform. A proportional neural network controller (PNNC) was developed for a monotonic control problem - the variation of outlet oxygen level with overall equivalence ratio (Φ0). The FMLP neural network maps the control variable to the manipulated variable. This information is in turn transferred to a proportional controller, through the variable control bias value. The proposed feedback control methodology …


Analysis Of Costs And Delivery Intervals For Multiple-Release Software, High-Way Sun May 2002

Analysis Of Costs And Delivery Intervals For Multiple-Release Software, High-Way Sun

Dissertations

Project managers of large software projects, and particularly those associated with Internet Business-to-Business (B2B) or Business-to-Customer (B2C) applications, are under pressure to capture market share by delivering reliable software with cost and timing constraints. An earlier delivery time may help the E-commerce software capture a larger market share. However, early delivery sometimes means lower quality. In addition, most of the time the scale of the software is so large that incremental multiple releases are warranted.

A Multiple-Release methodology has been developed to optimize the most efficient and effective delivery intervals of the various releases of software products, taking into consideration …


Experimental Studies Of Wave Propagation In Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals, John M. Tobias May 2002

Experimental Studies Of Wave Propagation In Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals, John M. Tobias

Dissertations

Photonic crystals were proposed fifteen years ago. Propagation is selectively prevented through these crystals resulting in a photonic band gap, that is, a frequency region where light cannot propagate. These frequency bands are analogous to electronic band gaps in solid-state crystals.

The optical properties of the photonic crystal in regions near the band gap remain relatively unexplored. Yet, there is significant evidence to suggest that this avenue of investigation can provide useful optical and microwave applications. Numerical studies have predicted that the effective permittivity near the photonic band gap approaches zero and becomes negative. Selfcollimation of the propagating beam and …


Concurrent Evaporating Spray Jets In Dilute Gas-Solid Pipe Flows, Xiaohua Wang May 2002

Concurrent Evaporating Spray Jets In Dilute Gas-Solid Pipe Flows, Xiaohua Wang

Dissertations

Evaporating spray jets into gas-solids suspensions are encountered in many industrial applications. The rapid evaporation of spray jets has significant effects on the gas-solids mixing near the jet nozzle regions, including non-uniform solids concentration dilution, gas/solids temperature reduction, and gas/solids velocity acceleration. Furthermore, the jet structure is altered by the change of solids loading, jet mass flow rate and initial droplet size distribution. These interactions of gas, solids and evaporating droplets dominate the process efficiency and product quality. There is an urgent need for exploring fundamental mechanisms of the multi-phase interactions with heat and mass transfer as there are few …


A Bi-Level Programming Approach For The Shipper-Carrier Network Problem, Ya Wang May 2002

A Bi-Level Programming Approach For The Shipper-Carrier Network Problem, Ya Wang

Dissertations

The Stackelberg game betweenshippers and carriers in an intermodal network is formulated as a bi-levelprogram. In this network, shippers make production, consumption, androuting decisions while carriers make pricing and routing decisions.The oligopolistic carrier pricing and routing problem, which comprisesthe upper level of the bi-level program, is formulated either as a nonlinearconstrained optimization problem or as a variational inequality problem,depending on whether the oligopolistic carriers choose to collude orcompete with each other in their pricing decision. The shippers' decisionbehavior is defined by the spatial price equilibrium principle. Forthe spatial price equilibrium problem, which is the lower level of thebi-level program, a …


Development Of Icejet-Based Surface Processing Technology, Dimitri V. Shishkin May 2002

Development Of Icejet-Based Surface Processing Technology, Dimitri V. Shishkin

Dissertations

The objective of the proposed work is to acquire knowledge needed for the development and deployment of manufacturing processes utilizing the enormous technological potential of water ice. Material removal by blasting with ice media such as particles, pellets and slugs was investigated. The ice media was accelerated by entrainment in a fluid stream (air, steam, liquid water, supercritical C02), impact of rotating blades, fluid expansion, etc. The ice-airjet has to replace sand blasting and the ice-waterjet has to replace the abrasive waterjet. Based on these results, technical approaches for surface processing and machining will be improved. A primary …


Current Requirements By Electro Hydrodynamic Filter Systems Under Shipboard Operation Conditions, Ravi Shankar Attri May 2002

Current Requirements By Electro Hydrodynamic Filter Systems Under Shipboard Operation Conditions, Ravi Shankar Attri

Theses

An experimental study was performed to determine the current required by an ElectroHydrodynamic (EHD) filter system to clean contaminants from Diesel Engine Lubrication Oil under normal shipboard operation conditions. The amount of current at a set predetermined voltage, which together means Power, was needed in order to anticipate the power required to perform a Shipboard Site Test Evaluation of the EHD filter.

The filter uses the effect of dielectrophoresis to separate contaminants from the lubrication oil. The filter operates at two thousand volts (2KV ac-rms) and thus requires substantial current to energize its electrodes. This type of Power is not …


Flexible Manufacturing System Utilizing Computer Integrated Control And Modeling, Yahia Mohammed Al-Smadi May 2002

Flexible Manufacturing System Utilizing Computer Integrated Control And Modeling, Yahia Mohammed Al-Smadi

Theses

In today's fast-automated production, Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) play a very important role by processing a variety of different types of workpieces simultaneously. This study provides valuable information about existing FMS workcells and brings to light a unique concept called Programmable Automation.

Another integrated concept of programmable automation that is discussed is the use of two feasibility approaches towards modeling and controlling FMS operations; the most commonly used is programmable logic controllers (PLC), and the other one, which has not yet implemented in many industrial applications is Petri Net controllers (PN). This latter method is a unique powerful technique to …