Digital Commons Network^™

Differential Reflection Phase Shift Under Conditions Of Attenuated Internal Reflection, R. M.A. Azzam

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

The angle-of-incidence dependence of the differential reflection phase shift Δ between p and s polarizations is considered a function of the real and imaginary parts of the relative complex dielectric function ε of an interface in the domain of fractional optical constants, i.e., under conditions of internal reflection. The constraint on complex ε such that oscillatory and monotonic angular responses are obtained is determined. A sensitive and stable technique, which is based on attenuated internal reflection ellipsometry between the Brewster angle and the critical angle, is proposed for measuring small induced absorption (ε_i∼10⁻⁵) in the medium …

1-Butaneboronic Acid Binding To Aeromonas Proteolytica Aminopeptidase:  A Case Of Arrested Development, Carin C. De Paola, Brian Bennett, Richard C. Holz, Dagmar Ringe, Gregory A. Petsko

Physics Faculty Research and Publications

Hydrolases containing two metal ions connected by a bridging ligand catalyze reactions important in carcinogensis, tissue repair, post-translational modification, control and regulation of biochemical pathways, and protein degradation. The aminopeptidase from Aeromonas proteolytica serves as a paradigm for the study of such bridged bimetallic proteases since its three-dimensional structure is known to very high resolution and its catalytic reaction is amenable to spectroscopic examination. Herein, we report the X-ray crystal structure at 1.9 Å resolution of AAP complexed with 1-butaneboronic acid (BuBA). This structure suggests that this complex represents a snapshot of the proteolytic reaction in an arrested form between …

Analysis Of N-Tier Architecture Applied To Distributed-Database Systems, Alexandre G. Valente

Theses and Dissertations

N-tier architecture has been more commonly used as a methodology for developing large database applications. This work evaluates the use of this architecture instead of the classical Client/Server architecture in developing corporate applications based on distributed databases. The comparison between architectures is performed using applications that execute transactions similar to those defined in the Transaction Process Council Type C benchmark (TPC-C). The environment used for development and testing was the AFIT Bimodal Cluster (ABC); a heterogeneous cluster of PCs, running Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 OS. The comparative experimental analysis demonstrated that the N-tier architecture allows more efficient bandwidth utilization between …

An Environmental Perspective On Collaboration In Large Ecosystem Restoration Processes, Daniel F. Luecke

Strategies in Western Water Law and Policy: Courts, Coercion and Collaboration (Summer Conference, June 8-11)

13 pages (includes illustration).

Contains 3 pages of references.

Computers, Art And Smart Rooms: A Smart Picture Frame That Senses The Weather And Genetically Evolves Images, Marisa E. Kolodny

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

By using sensors to sense the environment and genetic programming to evolve images, this thesis explores two methods for developing smart pictures that can be integrated with a living space. The system presented senses the weather and indoor conditions, displays current weather and forecast information retrieved from the web, and displays genetically evolved images. Sensing the weather not only provides the user with information they might find useful, but also allows the computer to gain a better understanding of the user which in turn allows the computer to respond more accurately. Genetic programming allows the computer to better respond to …

Ismis: A Military Transportation Decision-Support Framework, Stephen Goodman, Jens G. Pohl

Collaborative Agent Design (CAD) Research Center

This paper discusses the challenges that the Information Revolution poses to transportation planning, execution and training in the US military services. Attention is drawn to the opportunities provided by global connectivity and the manner in which these opportunities can be applied to advantage in an integrated, collaborative, decision-support framework. The characteristics of military deployment operations are discussed in respect to system requirements such as parallel activities, internal representation of information (rather than data), intelligent assistance, and the integration of planning, execution and training functions.

The Integrated Strategic Mobility Interface System (ISMIS) is described as a framework that is designed to …

A Multilevel Secure Workflow Management System, Myong H. Kang, Judith N. Froscher, Amit P. Sheth, Krzysztof J. Kochut, John A. Miller

Kno.e.sis Publications

The Department of Defense (DoD) needs multilevel secure (MLS) workflow management systems to enable globally distributed users and applications to cooperate across classification levels to achieve mission critical goals. An MLS workflow management system that allows a user to program multilevel mission logic, to securely coordinate widely distributed tasks, and to monitor the progress of the workflow across classification levels is required. In this paper, we present a roadmap for implementing MLS workflows and focus on a workflow builder that is a graphical design tool for specifying such workflows.

Table Of Contents Volume 10, Number Three, Summer 1999, Risk Editorial Board

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Table of contents for the journal RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (ISSN: 1073-8673)

A Process Model Of Risk Communication: The Case Of Global Climate Change, Fiona Clark, Keith R. Stamm, Paula Reynolds Eblacas

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

The authors describe a survey of public media use as it relates to different stages of awareness and concern regarding risk issues.

A Model Of Organizational Responsiveness To Stakeholders, Caron Chess

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Dr. Chess explores the relationship between risk management and risk communication and its affect on an organization/stakeholder relationship.

Investigating Measures For Pairwise Document Similarity, Jeffrey D. Isaacs

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

The need for a more effective similarity measure is growing as a result of the astonishing amount of information being placed online. Most existing similarity measures are defined by empirically derived formulas and cannot easily be extended to new applications. We present a pairwise document similarity measure based on Information Theory, and present corpus dependent and independent applications of this measure. When ranked with existing similarity measures over TREC FBIS data, our corpus dependent information theoretic similarity measure ranked first.

Considerations For An Effective Telecommunications-Use Policy, Michael E. Whitman, Anthony M. Townsend, Robert J. Aalberts

Faculty Articles

Recent changes in federal telecommunications legislation have underscored the importance of an up-to-date and effective telecommunications-use policy in business organizations. With the proliferation of the Internet, intranets, and email as commonplace business tools, the potential for misuse and subsequent liability has become an increasing concern. Even though the recent Supreme Court decision struck down the obscenity provisions of the Communications Decency Act (CDA), it left intact legislation that effectively mandates development of a sound telecommunications-use policy. In addition to potential liability for systems misuse, organizations have also had to address issues of individual employee privacy within the new systems.

This …

The Probe, Issue 201 – June 1999

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

Reflections On NADCA's Two Decades -- Robert M. Timm, PROBE Editor
Video review: "Whitetails at the Crossroads" Northeast Deer Technical Committee, Griff en Productions (produced with a grant from Wildlife Restoration Funds, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). 1996. 30 minutes.
Coyote Subdued in Central Park, New York
Supplement: The insert in this issue is a retrospective, gleaned from the 100+ issues of THE PROBE that 'Fitz' composed and published. For some of you long-time NADCA members, this will bring back memories and recollections of the issues of the 80s, as the federal ADC agency (and all ADC practitioners) struggled to …

The Probe, Issue 201 - June 1999

The Probe: Newsletter of the National Animal Damage Control Association

CONTENTS:
GENESIS
THE SECRETARY'S DECISION
PROBING FOR THE PROBE
THE BLACK DEATH
COMPLAINTS
OL'TIMER'S CORNER
BATS IN THE BELFRY?
IT IS NICE TO KNOW YOUR ARE NOT ALONE!!!
ADOPT A 1080 STATION
LETTERS TO YE ED
GOOD GNUS FOR EWES
MEMBERSHIP
ANIMAL RIGHTS
A LAST PLEA FOR MEMBERS
KISSED BY A RAT
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING - Sept. 21. 1985
HUNTERS BEWARE
ON BEING MASOCHISTIC
EPA DOUBLE TALK
IN THE CAT HOUSE - - AGAIN ? !
CATS AND MORE CATS
ON ADC'S TRANSFER TO USDA
AHH! A KINDRED SPIRIT
MONTEREY PEST CONF.
HUMANS GOT RIGHTS???
THAT SMARTS!
ALL THE NEWS …

Sketch-Based Image Queries In Topographic Databases, James Carswell

Articles

In this paper we present the development of a system prototype for sketch-based queries for the content-based retrieval of digital images from topographic databases. We discuss our overall strategy and associated algorithmic and implementation aspects, and present associated database design issues. The query tools devised in this research are employing user-provided sketches of the shape and spatial configuration of the object(s) which should appear in the images to be retrieved. Our matching tool is inspired by least-squares matching (lsm), and represents an extension of lsm to function with a variety of raster representations. Our strategy makes use of a hierarchical …

Water Current, Volume 31, No. 3, June 1999

Water Current Newsletter

Summer Water Tour Visits Northeast and North Central Nebraska July 19-21
From the Director: International Center for Ground Water Research and Education Proposed for NU
Northern Wyoming Hosts Four States Summer Tour
SOAR and PROJECT WET Together!
Earth Wellness Festival, Master Navigator Program Win Annual IANR Team Awards
Poll Shows Rural Nebraskans Wary of Large Hog Operations
Tips to Washing Pesticide-Contaminated Clothing
Missouri Named River In Peril for Second Straight Year by American Rivers Group
Water News Brief
Call for Papers - Bison Symposium
Constructed Wetlands Video
Wetlands Tabloids
National Water Quality Database
Planet Protector's Club

Camera Break Detection By Partitioning Of 2d Spatio-Temporal Images In Mpeg Domain, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we propose a new approach to detect camera cuts and wipes. The approach projects a video into two images representing the spatio-temporal continuity of a video life. Visually, these images are composed by regions of different patterns, each region represents the temporal location of a shot. The shape of a region boundary inherently classifies cut and wipe, and most importantly, marks the start and end of a wipe sequence. We hence formulate algorithms to locate the color and texture discontinuities occurring at the boundaries of image regions.

A Comprehensive Approach For Evaluation Of Groundwater Vulnerability To Contamination, Shafiul H. Chowdhury

Dissertations

Groundwater vulnerability to contamination from surface sources was evaluated for Nottawa Creek Watershed, Calhoun County Michigan using AQUIPRO and DRASTIC vulnerability methods. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to analyze and map the data. Forty groundwater samples were collected following a statistical sampling protocol from private wells. Samples were analyzed for nitrate-N and atrazine. Atrazine was not detected (detection limit 0.1 ppb) in any of the samples. Five samples contained detectable nitrate-N (detection limit 0.05 mg/L). Due to insufficient chemical data, the relative AQUIPRO and DRASTIC vulnerability scores could not be compared with the frequency of occurrences o f …

Media Coverage Of Epa's Draft Dioxin Reassessment Report, Sharon M. Friedman, Megan A. Fitzpatrick, Brenda P. Egolf

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Using content analysis, the authors examine the utility of news media in democratic decision making.

Spectroscopic And Kinetic Investigation Of Carbocation Reactivity In Supercritical Carbon Dioxide, Hongshu Jin

Masters Theses

Recent interest in the use of supercritical CO₂ as an environmentally benign reaction medium has included the development of solvent systems that may support polar and ionic chemistry. Carbocations are key intermediate in a variety of synthetically important reactions and characterization of their reactivity is the focus of this work. UV-visible absorption, and steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy has been used to identify and monitor the reaction kinetics of 9- phenylxanthenium carbocation. The arylcarbocation is conveniently generated from 9- phenylxanthen-9-ol in supercritical CO₂ under mildly acidic conditions. Under these conditions 9-phenylxanthenium ion is extremely stable and persists for …

The Arab Republic Of Egypt: Initial National Communication On Climate Change, Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency

Egypt & Libya

Although Egypt’s contribution to Green House Gases is relatively minimal, yet given Egypt’s growing population, its limited fertile land, and its large area of desert, and the concentration of its economic activities in the coastal zones, the potential social and economic impact of climate change could be devastating for the country’s future.

Removal Of Trace Contaminants From Wastewater Effluents Using Local Adsorbents, Kasim Ghulam Haider Ghulam

Theses

Wastewater reclamation must ensure removal of residual pollutants to a high degree so as to make the water acceptable for the designated reuse. There has been a growing interest worldwide to employ cost-effective treatment methods for polishing secondary treatment wastewater effluents. Carbon adsorption has proved to be an effective method for effluent polishing but treatment costs are relatively high.

AI-Ain wastewater treatment plant at Zakher has a design capacity of 54,000 m³/day and incorporates preliminary treatment, followed by extended aeration and dual-media filtration for effluent polishing before water reuse in irrigation. The chemical quality of the treated effluent …

Effect Of Culturing Time And Hormonal Combinations On Organogenesis Of Date Palm (Phoenix Dactylifera L., Cv. Khnazi) In Vitro, Helal Homaid S. Al-Kaabi

Theses

Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) monocotyledon dioecious tree is one of the most important fruit crop trees in the Arabian Gulf region in general and in the UAE in particular.

Date palm is propagated sexually by seeds or vegetative by offshoots. Seed propagation is not appropriate for commercial production because of the high genetic heterozygosity, which resulted in not true-to-type male and female seedlings. The vegetative propagation utilizing offshoots is slow and inefficient for rapidly growing demands of the date industry. Therefore, it seems essential to use plant tissue culture techniques for propagating and producing date palms.

The present …

Growth And Performance Of Some Forage And Landscape Species Directly Irrigated With Saline Water, Mohammed Abdul Muhsen Ali Salem

Theses

This work aimed to study the growth and physiological performance of SIX forage and

landscape species grown in Nahshalah farm , Zayed International Agricultural and Environmental Research Program Among these species 4 mangrove plants were first Introduced to U. A. E cli mate and soils In addition, Acacia ampliceps and Atriplex amnicola The study covered 1- 7 years plants were irrigated With 25 ppt . Saline water. The study investigated also the changes in the soil chemical characteristics and mineral composition during the 1 -9 years direct irrigation with saline water

The growth performance was measured based on the sufficient …

Cadmium, Chromium And Lead In Environmental Samples : Speciation And Determination, Hsing-Hui Yu

Dissertations

Heavy metals are important contaminants in many environmental media. This work focuses on the improvement of current methods for water and sediment analysis for three metals, cadmium, chromium and lead. Batch ion exchange was used for water speciation and a microwave assisted sequential extraction scheme was developed for sediment characterization. The developed methods were applied to a group of environmental samples.

The exchangeable species of these metals in water were preconcentrated on ion exchange resins. These include the bioavailable free ions and weakly complexed ions. Metals sorbed on particles and strongly complexed ions, less bioavailable, were eliminated. The method was …

Applications Of A Microtrap For On-Line Monitoring Of Volatile Organics, Chaohua Feng

Dissertations

Microtrap is made by packing a narrow metal tubing with adsorbents. The advantage of a microtrap is that it can be heated and cooled in the order of seconds. It has been used previously as a concentration cum injection device for on-line gas chromatography and also monitoring non-methane organic carbon in air emissions. In this research breakthrough and desorption characteristics of the microtrap were studied. A two-stage microtrap system was developed to reduce breakthrough while making sharp injection for GC separation. Microtrap was also used as a concentrator cum injector in on-line mass spectrometry. Finally, a microtrap based, continuous non-methane …

Development Of Membrane Extraction Systems For Measuring Trace Level Organic Compounds In Water, Xuemei Guo

Dissertations

The presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in ground and surface water resources poses a threat to public health. The measurement of these trace level contaminants in water is of significant importance. Conventional methods for analysis of trace volatile organic compounds in water include purge and trap, head space analysis, and solid phase microextraction (SPME). While these are excellent laboratory techniques, none of them can be used for continuous, on-line monitoring of water streams. Membrane separation of organic compounds from water provides an exciting possibility for on-line extraction and analysis. In previous investigations, water continuously flowed on the feed side …

Automatic Document Classification And Extraction System (Adoces), Xuhong Li

Dissertations

Document processing is a critical element of office automation. Document image processing begins from the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) phase with complex processing for document classification and extraction. Document classification is a process that classifies an incoming document into a particular predefined document type. Document extraction is a process that extracts information pertinent to the users from the content of a document and assigns the information as the values of the “logical structure” of the document type. Therefore, after document classification and extraction, a paper document will be represented in its digital form instead of its original image file format, …

History Of Oxygenated Gasoline Use In New Jersey 1992-1998, Jean Niebuhr Borne

Theses

New Jersey has been required to use oxygenated gasoline from November 1 to March 30 since 1992 in order to reduce carbon monoxide from vehicles. This requirement was part of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. For the past six winters, New Jersey has utilized gasoline with methyl butyl tertiary ether, MTBE, as the oxygenate. In New Jersey, and in many states across the country, health complaints were reported after oxygenated fuel started flowing from gas pumps.

Oxybusters is a grassroots organization dedicated to the removal of oxygenated gasoline off the market. The group has pressured Governor Whitman to …

Effect Of Inhibitor On Electrochemical Behavior Of 1cr18 Stainless Steel In Acidic Solution Under Friction, Jin-Ping Xiong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The electrochemical behavior of 1Cr18 stainless steel had been studied using a reciprocating triboelectrochemical equipment under friction in 0.2 mol/L H₂SO₄ solution with and without addition of thiourea, the frictionized surface of 1Cr18 stainless steel had been examined by the SEM, XPS and IR. The results showed that the loss rate of 1Cr18 stainless steel in the solution could be reduced by addition of thiourea. The adsorption of thiourea on the surface of 1Cr18 stainless steel prohibited the oxidization of Cr³⁺ to form Cr(Ⅵ) and formation of passive film consisting of CrO₄^2- or/and Cr(Ⅵ), …