Digital Commons Network^™

Ontologies For Agents, Michael N. Huhns, Munindar P. Singh

Faculty Publications

An ontology is a computational model of some portion of the world. It is often captured in some form of a semantic network-a graph whose nodes are concepts or individual objects and whose arcs represent relationships or associations among the concepts. This network is augmented by properties and attributes, constraints, functions, and rules that govern the behavior of the concepts. Formally, an ontology is an agreement about a shared conceptualization, which includes frameworks for modeling domain knowledge and agreements about the representation of particular domain theories. Definitions associate the names of entities in a universe of discourse (for example, classes, …

A Monte Carlo Model Of Uncertainty In A Deterministic Hazardous Waste Transportation Risk Assessment, Michael A. Cowen

Masters Theses

This thesis is aimed at developing and applying advanced modeling tools in the prediction of risk to the general public from transportation of chemical waste on public highways. The modeling tools developed can then be used to compare alternative waste management scenarios. The application considered is related to the transport of hazardous waste generated by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to current treatment, storage, and disposal facilities. DOE is currently considering four different scenarios.

The application considered can be more specifically defined as an analysis of the risk to the general public from transporting the 63 shipments of …

Mechanical And Tribological Properties Of Composites Of Recycled High Density Polyethylene And Recycled Rubber, Jason G. Boulanger

Masters Theses

This thesis presents a study on the mechanical and tribological properties of composite materials of recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) and recycled rubber tire particles. The materials were compounded by extrusion and formed into test specimens by injection molding.

The first experiment studied the effect of recycled rubber percentage on mechanical properties of composites of recycled HDPE and recycled rubber. The mechanical properties included tensile strength, percent elongation, hardness, and impact resistance. Recycled rubber concentrations of 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 percent were tested. The second experiment investigated the tribological properties of recycled HDPE and recycled rubber …

New Objective Classification System For Nuclear Opacification, Donald D. Duncan, O. B. Shukla, Sheila West, Oliver D. Schein

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

We have developed an autonomous objective classification scheme for degree of nuclear opacification. The algorithm was developed by using a series of color 35-mm slides acquired with a Topcon photo slit-lamp microscope and use of standard camera settings. The photographs were digitized, and first, and second-order gray-level statistics were extracted from within circular regions of the nucleus. Classifications of severity were performed by using these features as input to a neural network. Training versus classification performance was tested by using photographs of different eyes, and test/retest classification reproducibility was evaluated by using paired photographs of the same eyes. We demonstrate …

Urban Infrastructure: Transportation, Public Utilities, Waste Management And Pollution Control, A. Bruce Bishop

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Paris, tube under the channel -- London, satellite spinning above cables on the ocean floor -- New York, concrete ribbons across undulating land -- San Francisco, silver wings soaring across the Pacific -- Tokyo and Seoul. Etched against the sky are the graceful towers of mighty bridges, the broad glass and steel fronts to massive buildings, the tall slender stacks of industries exhaling; and traced on the surface are the intricate patterns of people and their machines; and buried below are the tubes and tunnels, water pipes and power conduits and communication networks along with concrete caissons and piles that …

Service Quality Using The Deviation-Score Approach To Fit In Contingency Theory In A U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Setting, Donald Robert Groh

Doctoral Dissertations

"The purpose of this study is to learn how organizational work unit context, structure, and processes relate to service quality. The theoretical basis for the research is that organizational work units should be structured based on the work that they perform. If the work that a unit performs is highly variable, then the work unit should be structured in such a way as to provide flexibility, that is, few rules and procedures and highly decentralized decision making. If the work that a unit performs is not variable, then the work unit should be structured to provide a non-varying product or …

Perceptions Of Businesses On Environmental Regulatory Information, Kimberly K. Gunderson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine the source and amount of information that a sample of businesses receive on environmental regulatory topics and from what sources they would prefer to receive this information. More specifically, the study demonstrated the discrepancy between the sources from which businesses currently receive their information and the sources from which they would prefer to receive it. The study also addressed how relevant this information was to the businesses and with which regulations the businesses were the most and least knowledgeable. The study was done by conducting a mail-back survey of 500 Iowa small …

The Use Of Solid Waste Materials As Alternative Compositions In The Development Of Wood/Cement Blocks, Haig Mamas Vahradian

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

As the population of the planet Earth increases, the need for affordable housing becomes a paramount issue in construction. This need is further complicated by the rising cost of basic building materials due to the depletion of natural resources throughout the world. These problems have caused the construction industry to refocus its attention on the elimination of waste through a comprehensive strategy to: (a) reclaim and recycle these resources into usable materials, and (b) develop products and markets in construction for recycled materials through research and testing to prove their integrity.

The purpose of this study is to determine the …

Characterization Of Iron Oxides And Atmospheric Corrosion Of Steel, Sei Jin Oh

Physics Theses & Dissertations

The study of corrosion behavior was performed using three different analytical techniques, which provided information on the formation, development and layering of iron oxides on the corrosion products as a function of atmospheric conditions, exposure time and type of steel. In particular, the protective layer formed on weathering steel was investigated as a function of different amounts of alloying elements in the steel, atmospheric conditions and exposure times. Combined together, the results provided a better understanding of the atmospheric corrosion behavior of steel, and formed a part of database of the atmospheric corrosion characteristics.

Accurate characterization of the iron oxides …

The Effects Of Human-Computer Communication Mode, Task Complexity, And Desire For Control On Performance And Discourse Organization In An Adaptive Task, Cristina Bubb-Lewis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined how different communication patterns affected task performance with an adaptive interface. A Wizard-of-Oz simulation (Gould, Conti, & Hovanyecz, 1983) was used to create the impression of a talking and listening computer that acted as a teammate to help participants interact with a computer application.

Four levels of communication mode were used which differed in the level of restriction placed on human-computer communication. In addition, participants completed two sets of tasks (simple and complex). Further, a personality trait, Desire for Control (DC), was measured and participants were split into high and low groups for analysis. Dependent measures …

A Study Of Teaching Automation For Marine Engineers, Myat Moe

World Maritime University Dissertations

This dissertation is a research into a study of teaching automation for marine engineers which is conducted at the Institute of Marine Technology (IMT)of the Union of Myanmar as related to the Fundamentals of Automation, Instrumentation and Control systems, module 9 of IMO model course 7.02. This course is now included in the mandatory part of STCW Code A of the revised STCW Convention. An examination is made of the fundamentals of ship automation and a brief overview is given of the modem developments in ship automation system. This includes modem developments in main engine automation, navigation/ bridge control, integrated …

Acuta Enews December 1996, Vol. 25, No. 12

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

Fifth Annual Institutional Excellence Awards Competition

ACUTA News will have a new look

Welcome New Members

President's Message

Emergency Phone Provide Security

DC at a Glance

Fiber Optic Video Systems for Campus Networking

Campus News Briefs

Industry Insights

From ACUTA Headquarters

A Specialization Toolkit To Increase The Diversity Of Operating Systems, Calton Pu, Andrew P. Black, Crispin Cowan, Jonathan Walpole, Charles Consel

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Virus and worm attacks that exploit system implementation details can be countered with a diversified set of implementations. Furthermore, immune systems show that attacks from previously unknown organisms require effective dynamic response. In the Synthetix project, we have been developing a specialization toolkit to improve the performance of operating system kernels. The toolkit helps programmers generate and manage diverse specialized implementations of software modules. The Tempo-C specializer tool generates different versions for both compile-time and run-time specialization. We are now adapting the toolkit to improve operating system survivability against implementations attacks.

An Investigation Of Instantaneous Plume Rise From Rocket Exhaust, Paul F. Sand

Theses and Dissertations

Rocket launches at Vandenburg Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Station produce exhaust clouds containing several toxic by-products, including HC1 and A12O3. These clouds rise to atmospheric stabilization heights, and then start dispersing and diffusing through the air. Upon reaching the ground, concentration levels of the toxins may present a human health risk. To predict these risks and concentration levels, range officials use a computer program titled the Rocket Effluent Exhaust Diffusion Model (REEDM). The version currently in use has been shown to underpredict the stabilization height of the exhaust cloud. This thesis examines the theory and algorithms used …

Applying Probabilistic Risk Assessment And Decision Analysis Techniques To Avoid Excessive Remedial Investigation Costs, Alejandro Hinojos

Theses and Dissertations

The majority of remediation resources have been consumed by costly and lengthy remedial investigation studies to characterize the human health risk. Unable to deal directly with the uncertainty resulting from the convolution of the uncertainties in a multitude of variables, and heavily persuaded by the liabilities, decision makers and regulators have relied on conservative assumptions and more studies to take appropriate actions. The main objective of this research is to provide tools and techniques to aid risk analysts in determining whether it would be beneficial to gather additional information or whether the decision to take an appropriate action can be …

Economic Valuation Of Air Force Environmental Resources: A Contingent Valuation Case Study, Timothy P. Haynie

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force spends $1 billion each year to preserve, maintain, and restore environmental resources under its control (Budget of the United States Government, 1994). Assessing the benefit of this spending is a central issue in federal environmental management. As federal environmental management moves from a "clean it up at any cost" mentality to one which carefully considers the costs and benefits of spending, a fundamental question arises: What value of environmental resources does our environmental spending provide? As in any rational economic exchange benefits must exceed costs; the value of an environmental resource which benefits from public spending must …

Study Of Desorption Of Contaminant From Synthetic Soil, Kung-Fu Hwang

Theses and Dissertations

A better understanding of sorption and desorption processes could improve estimates of time and cost required for remedial activities, exposure times and health risk, and bioavailability. Conventional rate-limited sorption models do not accurately define the diffusion domain at the grain scale. Heyse (1994) proposed the multiple sites in series (MSS) model, which allows more general description of the geometry of the sorption domain than the classical spherical or discrete distributions. A version of this model was tested by deVenoge (1996). The model was able to accurately simulate sorption rate data, but could not estimate unique geometry parameters. This research is …

A Comparative Analysis Of Two Alternatives To Chemical Aircraft Paint Stripping, George P. Joyce Ii

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force must periodically strip and paint its aircraft to prevent the damaging effects of corrosion. The paint removal process typically involves the use of toxic chemicals such as methylene chloride which are soon to be banned as a result of impending environmental regulations and increased costs associated with handling and disposing of such material. The Air Force must choose an alternative to methylene chloride chemical stripping which complies with environmental regulations and reduces costs. This thesis compares the life cycle costs and environmental impacts of two alternatives to chemical aircraft stripping. Plastic Media Blasting (PMB) and Modified Medium …

Clustered Microcalcification Detection Using Optimized Difference Of Gaussians, Edward M. Ochoa

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to design an automated microcalcification detection system to be used as an aid in radiologic mammogram interpretation. This research proposes the following methodology for clustered microcalcification detection. First, preprocess the digitized film mammogram to reduce digitization noise. Second, spatially filter the image with a difference of Gaussians (DoG) kernel. To detect potential microcalcifications, segment the filtered image using global and local thresholding. Next, cluster and index these detections into regions of interest (ROIs). Identify ROIs on the digitized image (or hardcopy printout) for final radiologic diagnosis.

Evaluation Of A Regional Traffic Safety Improvement Program, Kenneth R. Agent

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objectives of this report were to document the activities and evaluate the effectiveness of a regional traffic safety improvement program in the Green River Area Development District (GRADD). This is a seven county region in western Kentucky. The goals of the program were to reduce the numbers of motor vehicle fatalities and injuries, to increase safety belt usage, and to increase public awareness of the effects of alcohol-related and high speed driving in rural areas.

A full-time employee was hired by GRADD to manage the program. A Citizen Advisory Board (CAB) was established in each county. Each CAB formulated …

Survey Of High School Driver Safety Programs, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The over representation of teenage drivers in traffic collisions has been a cause of concern and the basis for the recent graduated license legislation. A subcommittee of the Safety Management System has the objective of improving teenage driver safety through development and implementation of education and training programs. The objective of this study was to obtain information on current and desired traffic safety related programs for high schools. A survey was sent to all high schools. Information was obtained from 189 of 432 schools. Current activity in the area of traffic safety was summarized. The activity with the most participation …

The Psychopolitics Of Language And Communication, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The editor discusses political issues connected by linguistic and communicative discord and controversy.

Modern Water Control And Management Practices In Irrigation: Methodoloy And Criteria For Evaluating The Impact On Performance, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Acuta Enews November 1996, Vol. 25, No. 11

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

Univ. of Idaho: Homepage Sweet Homepage

Institutional Excellence Award

Committee Member Approved

More Angles for 809 Fraud

Welcome New Members

President's Message

The '90s: New Challenges for Telecom

DC at a Glance

Campus News Briefs

Industry Insights

Wright State University College Of Engineering And Computer Science Bits And Pcs Newsletter, Volume 12, Number 9, November 1996, College Of Engineering And Computer Science, Wright State University

BITs and PCs Newsletter

A ten page newsletter created by the Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science that addresses the current affairs of the college.

The Preliminary Design Of A Standardized Spacecraft Bus For Small Tactical Satellites, Gerald Ashby, Darren Buck, Robert Carneal Iv, Tansel Cokuysal, Ahmet Donmez, James From, Todd Krueger, Brian Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Current satellite design philosophies concentrate on optimizing and tailoring a particular satellite bus to a specific payload or mission. Today's satellites take a long time to build, checkout, and launch. An alternate approach shifts the design paradigm to one that focuses on access to space, enabling tactical deployment on demand and the capability to put current payload technology into orbit, versus several years by today's standards, by which time the technology is already obsolete. This design study applied systems engineering methods to create a satellite bus architecture that can accommodate a range of remote sensing mission modules. System-level and subsystem-level …

Modeling Of Cardiovascular System To Simulate Ventricular Septal Defect, Adarsh Kumar Gupta

Theses

The hemodynamics of the ventricular septa] defect is studied using a mathematical modeling technique. A twelve-compartment windkessel model of cardiovascular system is used to study the hemodynamics of the ventricular septal defect. The VSD is incorporated into the model via a parallel flow from the left to right ventricles (left-to-right shunt). The resistance to flow through the shunt is used to characterize the severity of the defect. Changes in the severity of the shunt flow produces changes in the ratio of pulmonary to systemic flow in the circulation. When the pulmonary to systemic flow ratio is more than 2:1, the …

Removal Of Gasoline-Based Hydrocarbons By Vapor Permeation Membranes, Shivashanker Bagavandoss

Theses

Removal and recovery of evaporated lighter gasoline fractions can be effectively implemented by selectively permeating the hydrocarbons (HCs) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the vented air streams through nonporous hydrophobic polymeric membranes subjected to vacuum on the permeate side and then condensing these organics from the permeate. Such a vapor permeation process employing spiral-wound membranes has already been commercialized for VOCs. In this study, attention has been focused on removal of hydrocarbons from nitrogen flowing through the bore of microporous hydrophobic hollow fibers with a specially engineered nonporous silicone coating on the outside surface with a view to …

Acuta Enews October 1996, Vol. 25, No. 10

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

President's Message

FlexSourcing

Desk Top Video

Overheard on the Listserve

From ACUTA Headquarters

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 38 Number 4, Fall 1996, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

4 - ENTER THE CLASS OF 2000 They're committed, they're ambitious, they're adventurous-and they're here! By Christine Courard '97 Photographs by Charles Barry

10 - A COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS FOR THE COMMON GOOD Unique gifts of students, facu lty, staff, and alumni advance University efforts to integrate learning and living. By Paul Locatelli, S.J, '60

13 - HEADY DAYS, MYLANTA NIGHTS Riding the roller coaster of high tech investing. Coming out on top. By Therese Poletti '81

18 - THE TAO OF PERSONAL LEADERSHIP New book by English Department chair describes how ancient Chinese philosophy can help leaders bring a …