Digital Commons Network^™

Hydrogeology And Stable Isotope Investigations Of A Landfill Impacted Site In Southwest Michigan, Eliot Anong Atekwana

Dissertations

The Cork Street landfill in the City of Kalamazoo is unlined and constructed in glacial drift material. Although water quality in some of the landfill monitoring wells is poor, the degree of the landfill’s influence to groundwater, wetlands and Davis Creek located downgradient of the landfill is unknown. The objective of this study is to evaluate the degree of the landfill’s impact in this region through hydrologic and stable isotope analysis.

Site characterization using geophysical surveys and specific conductance measurements indicates highly conductive shallow groundwater probably attributable to groundwater contamination. Hydrologic evaluation of this region shows that groundwater flows towards …

Integrity Of Digraphs, Robert Charles Vandell

Dissertations

The vertex-integrity of a digraph D, denoted I(D), is defined to be the minimum over aIII subsets X of the vertex set of D for the quantity IXI + m(D - X), w here IXI is the number of vertices in X and m(D - X) is the maximum order of a strong component in the digraph D - X. In a like manner, the arc-integrity of the digraph D, denoted I’(D), is defined to be the minimum over all subsets Y of the arc set of D for the quantity IYI + m(D - Y), where IYI is the …

Helper Woman: A Biography Of Elinor Delight Gregg, Jacqueline S. Pflaum Dnsc, Mph, Ms

Dissertations

The intent of this investigation was to conduct an extensive study of the life and character of Elinor Gregg (1886-1970) in order to identify the contributions she made to professional nursing and to humanity. Nurse, educator, administrator, beloved relative, and friend, Elinor Gregg was an outstanding person whom nurses today might well emulate. Historical method provided the context for the study. Data were collected from the National Archives; National Library of Medicine Historical Section; Nursing Archives at Mugar Library, Boston University; Nursing Archives at Simmons College; National Headquarters of the American Red Cross; Archives of Colorado College; and Archives of …

A Controlled Release Technique Using Microporous Membranes, Stephanie Farrell

Dissertations

A novel controlled release device based on aqueous-organic partitioning is described. The device comprises a reservoir, bounded by a microporous or porous membrane in the form of a hollow fiber or flat film. The reservoir liquid phase and the pore liquid phase are immiscible. The agent partitions between the phases at the aqueous-organic interface of the reservoir and the pore mouth, and then diffuses through the membrane pore liquid into a surrounding aqueous solution. The partition coefficient significantly influences the rate of release of the agent by reducing the driving force for diffusion across the fluid-filled membrane pore. The performance …

Local Stresses On Lateral Pipe-Nozzle With 45 Degree Angle Intersection, James Jin Xu

Dissertations

This dissertation presents a comprehensive study of local stresses, due to internal pressure around a pipe-nozzle with 45 degree angle intersection_ The resulting circumferential and longitudinal stresses on the pipe around the pipe-nozzle region are normalized as local stress factors and plotted as function of beta, β, (the radius of the nozzle/the radius of the pipe) and gamma, y, (the radius of the pipe/the thickness of the pipe) through the finite element method. The range of beta, [3, is from 0.1, to 1.0, and gamma, y, from 10 to 300. Comprehensive studies were made for the boundary parameters, such as …

Reductive Dehalogenation Of Chlorinated Aromatic And Aliphatic Hydrocarbons Under Anaerobic Conditions, Monica Turner Togna

Dissertations

The process of reductive dehalogenation involves the removal of a halogen substituent from a molecule with the concurrent addition of electrons to the molecule, resulting in a more reduced and often less toxic product. Anaerobic bacteria have the potential to utilize hazardous chlorinated aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons as electron acceptors in metabolic reductive dehalogenation processes.

In experiments performed with chlorinated aromatic compounds a highly enriched anaerobic culture stoichiometrically converted 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TCP) to 4-monochlorophenol. Dehalogenation occurred only in alkaline media (pH 8-9) at concentrations of 2,4,6-TCP up to 1 mM. Data indicated that the dehalogenating organism did not fit into any …

Scaling Up Of Water-Based Organic Reactions, Chen Gu

Dissertations

Three water-based organic reactions, Diels-Alder, epoxidation of olefins, and free-radical bromination have been investigated as an approach to pollution prevention. The first two systems were scaled-up by at least a factor of 20. These reactions are of special interest to the pharmaceutical and speciality chemical industries. The photo-induced free-radical bromination of alkanes with bromine in water was studied in a two-phase system. Experimental results show that all reactions have advantages resulting from being conducted in water, such as reaction rate acceleration, reaction selectivity increase, and the absorption of water-soluble gas byproduct by solvent water.

The effects of stirring rates, temperature, …

Effect Of Vitamin Supplementation On Biodegradation Of Aliphatic Hydrocarbons And Diesel Fuel, Susmita Guptapal

Dissertations

Bioremediation of hazardous wastes is proven to be environmentally benign and most cost effective technology when proper conditions are provided. However, commercialization of this method still requires comprehensive research to enhance the degradation rate to make the technology more acceptable for implementation. In this research a unique approach to increase the rate of biodegradation by vitamins supplementation was studied.

Five vitamins, niacin, biotin, folic acid, thiamin and pantothenic acid were selected for the present study. Different short chain (C₈ and C₉), and long chain (C₁₆ and C₁₇) aliphatic hydrocarbons and diesel fuel (a mixture …

Scheduling And Discrete Event Control Of Flexible Manufacturing Systems Based On Petri Nets, Huanxin Henry Xiong

Dissertations

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) is a computerized production system that can simultaneously manufacture multiple types of products using various resources such as robots and multi-purpose machines. The central problems associated with design of flexible manufacturing systems are related to process planning, scheduling, coordination control, and monitoring. Many methods exist for scheduling and control of flexible manufacturing systems, although very few methods have addressed the complexity of whole FMS operations. This thesis presents a Petri net based method for deadlock-free scheduling and discrete event control of flexible manufacturing systems. A significant advantage of Petri net based methods is their powerful …

Study Of Stress In Microelectronic Materials By Photoelasticity, Hancheng Liang

Dissertations

The study of stress is playing an important role in microelectronic technology. In comparison with other techniques, the photoelasticity technique has the advantages of having high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. It can be used in qualitative observation in real-time and quantitative determination of stress distribution in the microelectronic materials and devices.

This dissertation presents a systematic study of photoelastic stress analysis in microelectronic materials and devices, ranged from theoretical study to practical system setup, from measurement methods to their applications. At first, based on the detailed survey on the piezo-optic properties of the crystals used in microelectronics, we apply …

Reaction Kinetics Of Methanol And Mtbe Oxidation And Pyrolysis, Wen-Chiun Ing

Dissertations

This study presents experimental data on the decomposition of methanol in several different reaction environments - fuel lean to stoichiometric at a temperature range of 873 and 1073 K and a pressure range of I and 5 atm. Methane fuel is also added in several of the systems studied in order to provide experimental data to understand the methanol addition effect on the methane oxidation.

Computer codes: ThermCal, ThermSrt and ThermCvt have been developed for the thermal property calculations of stable molecules by the Benson group additivity method and of radicals by the NJIT hydrogen bond increment method.

Pressure dependent …

A Comparison Of The Spontaneous Utterances Of Students With Autism Across Two Educational Settings, Mary E. Peterson

Dissertations

Students with autism are being mainstreamed into general education classes in increasing numbers. This practice is based on the largely theoretical assumptions that normal peers will provide models of appropriate communication skills as well as increased opportunities for social interaction. However, there are few empirical studies available to corroborate these beliefs.

The purpose of this study was to compare the functional communication of the same group of students with autism across two settings, their general education classrooms and their self-contained, special education classrooms. Each of the students spent time in both settings during each school day. Their spontaneous language was …

An Analysis Of The Auditory-Verbal And Visual-Figural Learning And Memory Patterns Of College Students With Learning Disabilities, Robert K. Eckert

Dissertations

The validity of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) has been established with most clinical neuropsychological populations; however, no published work in the area of CVLT performance in adults with learning disabilities (LD) exists, despite the authors' assertion that the test is a useful psychometric measure for this population (Delis, Kramer, Kaplan, & Ober, 1987). Likewise, the validity of a recently restandardized test of visual-figural learning, the Rey Visual Design Learning Test (RVDLT; Spreen & Strauss, 1991), has yet to be investigated in LD populations. Motor deficiencies have been associated with LD in children, but little evidence exists to extend …

A Graph Theoretic Study Of The Similarity Of Discrete Structures, Heather D. Gavlas

Dissertations

A basic problem in drug design consists of finding a compound that satisfies a spectrum of biological and chemical properties. Although drug design problems are central to pharmaceutical research, statisticians have yet to become involved in this area as these problems are viewed statistically as optimization problems. Before statistical optimization procedures can be defined on these spaces whose points are structures and not vectors, very basic mathematical notions of distance must be defined. Graphs have been used as mathematical models to represent the bonding arrangements of molecules for quite some time. In fact, if some of the methodology used by …

Random Cayley Maps, Michelle Schultz

Dissertations

Determining the orientable surfaces on which a given graph can be imbedded is the central problem of topological graph theory. The natural setting for studying this problem is random topological graph theory, where a probability model is defined on the space of all labeled 2-cell imbeddings of a connected graph. The major focus of this dissertation is the study of Cayley maps in the setting of random topological graph theory.

A Cayley graph provides a representation of a finite group and a fixed generating set for the group. A Cayley map is an imbedding of a Cayley graph whose vertex …

Ionization And Charge Changing In 0.5 - 8 Qmev Li^Q+ + He (Q=1,2,3) Collisions And Setup Of An Electron Spectrometer Control System, Oliver Woitke

Dissertations

Projectile charge changing and target ionization cross sections are measured for 0.5 to 8 qMeV Li^q+ + He (q=1,2,3) collisions. Total cross sections for single-electron capture (for L i^1,2,3+) and single-electron loss (for L i^1,2+) are obtained and compared to existing experimental and theoretical data. Also, single and double target ionization of He associated with specific outgoing projectile charge states are identified using coincidence techniques. Cross sections for target ionization associated with no projectile charge change (direct ionization), single-electron capture, and single-electron loss are measured and compared to existing experimental data and to available calculations. Double-to-single target ionization ratios R …

The Status Of Middle Level Schools In Berrien County, Michigan Following Michigan Public Act 25, Judith A. Burns

Dissertations

Michigan Public Act 25 of 1990 mandated public school reform. One of 4 components of Public Act 25 is the development of a 3 to 5 year School Improvement Plan (SIP). The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine middle level school improvement in Berrien County, Michigan, for evidence that developmentally appropriate middle level education is promoted.

This 2-part investigation involved analyzing SIPs submitted for 1992-93 school year using a content analysis format and interviews with each building principal or designee. The content analysis format was developed by Sweeney and Cooper in 1992 to analyze SIPs of Wayne County, …

Experimental And Analytical Investigation Of Waterjet Cleaning Process, Ping Meng

Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation is concerned with the development of water based cleaning technology required by industry which may substitute the traditional approach based upon the use of various chemical cleansers.

The experimental study involves the waterjet removal of various coatings (rust, oil and epoxy based paints, etc.). Cleaning was carried out under a wide range of operational and geometrical conditions (standoff distance, travel speed, water pressure, diameters of sapphire nozzle and focusing tube, nozzle body type). A new designed spiral nozzle body was tested in this work. The use of surfactant was also investigated. Microscope and SEM surface were used …

Characterization And Fabrication Of A (6h)-Sic As A Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor For High Temperature Applications, Robert Sylvester Okojie

Dissertations

A prototype monolithic 6H-SiC pressure sensor operational up to 350°C, with potential to operate up to 600°C, was batch fabricated and tested. At temperatures higher than 450°C, silicon diaphragms creep under minimal load. To operate beyond 450°C, therefore, the use of 6H-SiC was proposed. However, three key technological issues - fabrication, high temperature metallization, and gage factor characterization - had to be resolved. Since conventional fabrication technology is not applicable to SiC due to its near inert chemistry, photoconductive selectivity techniques to etch the piezoresistors were developed. Techniques to wet etch the cavities in a dark current mode were developed, …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Abrasive Waterjet Polishing Technology, Fenggang Li

Dissertations

The objective of this investigation is the development of the abrasive waterjet (AWJ) based polishing technology. The result of the investigation will assist the implementation of AWJ polishing for manufacturing processes and procedures.

Experimental exploration of AWl polishing involving processing of difficultmachine materials such as Alumina ceramic and stainless steel. Surface improvement due to this processing is evaluated by measuring the roughness of the generated surfaces and examining the microhardness and micro-topography of the surfaces using Scanning Electronic Microscopy (SEM). The surface roughness of 0.3 micron was obtained at samples of ceramic and metal alloys at a reasonable rate using …

The Constant Fracture Angle Model For Cementitious Materials, Suk Ki Kim

Dissertations

Fracture mechanics of concrete has been investigated for the past two decades using linear elastic and nonlinear fracture mechanics concepts. The models proposed so far remain questionable largely due to specimen dependency of the proposed fracture parameters.

In this study, a new approach for modeling the fracture characteristics of concrete and fiber reinforced concrete is proposed. The model depends on the load CMOD relationship rather than the traditional load-deflection principle. Although energy consumed during fracture is definitely a direct function of the load displacement response, it was observed that traditional displacement measurement included an extraneous and erratic portion due to …

Towards Designing A Knowledge-Based Tutoring System : Sql-Tutor As An Example, Gang Zhou

Dissertations

A Knowledge-Based Tutoring System, also sometimes called an Intelligent Tutoring System, is a computer based instructional system that uses artificial intelligence techniques to help people learn some subject. The goal of the system is to provide private tutoring to its students based on their different backgrounds, requests, and interests. The system knows what subject materials it should teach, when and how to teach them, and can diagnose the mistakes made by the students and help them correct the mistakes.

The major objective of this dissertation is to investigate and develop a generic framework upon which we can build a Knowledge-Based …

Emulsion Liquid Membrane Removal Of Arsenic And Strontium From Wastewater : An Experimental And Theoretical Study, Ding-Wei Zhou

Dissertations

The emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) technique has been successfully applied on the removal of arsenic (As) from metallurgical wastewater and the removal of strontium (Sr) horn radioactive wastewater. This study consisted of experimental work and mathematical modeling.

Extraction of arsenic by an emulsion liquid membrane was firstly investigated. The liquid membrane used was composed of 2-ethylhexyl alcohol (2EHA) as the extractant, ECA436OJ as the surfactant, and Exxsol D-8O solvent (or heptane) the diluent. The sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide solutions were use I as the external and internal phases, respectively. The arsenic removal efficiency reached 92% within 15 minutes in …

Explicit Congestion Control Algorithms For Available Bit Rate Services In Asynchronous Transfer Mode Networks, Ambalavanar Arulambalam

Dissertations

Congestion control of available bit rate (ABR) services in asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks has been the recent focus of the ATM Forum. The focus of this dissertation is to study the impact of queueing disciplines on ABR service congestion control, and to develop an explicit rate control algorithm.

Two queueing disciplines, namely, First-In-First-Out (FIFO) and per-VC (virtual connection) queueing, are examined. Performance in terms of fairness, throughput, cell loss rate, buffer size and network utilization are benchmarked via extensive simulations. Implementation complexity analysis and trade-offs associated with each queueing implementation are addressed. Contrary to the common belief, our investigation …

Pattern Discovery In Sequence Databases : Algorithms And Applications To Dna/Protein Classification, Gung-Wei Chirn

Dissertations

Sequence databases comprise sequence data, which are linear structural descriptions of many natural entities. Approximate pattern discovery in a sequence database can lead to important conclusions or prediction of new phenomena. Traditional database technology is not suitable for accomplishing the task, and new techniques need to be developed.

In this dissertation, we propose several new techniques for discovering patterns in sequence databases. Our techniques incorporate pattern matching algorithms and novel heuristics for discovery and optimization. Experimental results of applying the techniques to both generated data and DNA/proteins show the effectiveness of the proposed techniques.

We then develop several classifiers using …

Global Fuzzy Control Based On Cell Mapping, Tea-Quin Kim

Dissertations

Cell mapping methods can generate global optimal controls for nonlinear dynamic systems. However, the implementation of this approach for on-line control is difficult due to its use of a table-based controller which requires a large amount of memory.

In this dissertation, a cell mapping based systematic method is developed to construct a fuzzy controller to replace the table-based controller for global optimal control of dynamic systems. The method consists of four steps: 1) An optimal control table is generated using a cell mapping algorithm. 2) The cells are linked into trajectories to characterize the optimal dynamic evolution of various cell. …

Knowledge Discovering For Document Classification Using Tree Matching In Texpros, Ching-Song Wei

Dissertations

This dissertation describes a knowledge-based system for classifying documents based upon the layout structure and conceptual information extracted from the content of the document. The spatial elements in a document are laid out in rectangular blocks which are represented by nodes in an ordered labelled tree, called the "layout structure tree" (L-S Tree). Each leaf node of a L-S Tree points to its corresponding block content. A knowledge Acquisition Tool (KAT) is devised to create a Document Sample Tree from L-S Tree, in which each of its leaves contains a node content conceptually describing its corresponding block content. Then, applying …

Integrating Hypertext With Information Systems Through Dynamic Mapping, Jiangling Wan

Dissertations

This dissertation presents a general hypertext model (GHMI) supporting integration of hypertext and information systems through dynamic mapping. Information systems integrated based on this model benefit from hypertext function-alities (such as linking, backtracking, history, guided tours, annotations, etc.) while preserving their own computation capabilities. Although systems supporting integration of hypertext and interface-oriented information systems do exist in hypertext literature, there is no existing model or system effectively supporting integration of hypertext and computation-oriented information systems. GHMI makes its major contributions by both extending and specifying the well-known Dexter Hypertext Reference Model. GHMI extends the Dexter model to overcome its limitations. …

Theory And Design Of Portable Parallel Programs For Heterogeneous Computing Systems And Networks, Ying-Chieh Wu

Dissertations

A recurring problem with high-performance computing is that advanced architectures generally achieve only a small fraction of their peak performance on many portions of real applications sets. The Amdahl's law corollary of this is that such architectures often spend most of their time on tasks (codes/algorithms and the data sets upon which they operate) for which they are unsuited. Heterogeneous Computing (HC) is needed in the mid 90's and beyond due to ever increasing super-speed requirements and the number of projects with these requirements. HC is defined as a special form of parallel and distributed computing that performs computations using …

Development Of A Multivariate Qsar Model To Predict Desorption Of Halogenated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons From Activated Sludge Solids, Sudhi Ranjan Mukherjee

Dissertations

Data collected from different wastewater treatment processes have provided statistically significant evidence that many toxic organic contaminants on EPA's list of priority pollutants concentrate several orders of magnitude greater than influent concentrations in industrial and municipal wastewater sludges. Because of the reversibility of sorption processes, it is possible for sorbed organic compounds to desorb at a later time, hence making disposal of these sludges a potential problem. Although a number of models have been developed to predict sorption parameters, they have all been based on empirically derived descriptors whose validity is seriously compromised by the variation in available data for …