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"In Passion And In Hope:" The Pilgrimage Of An American Radical, Martha Dodd Stern And Family, 1933--1990, John Francis Fox Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the literary/political pilgrimage of Martha Dodd Stern (1908--1990), an unusually promising writer. Using Martha's writings, government intelligence files like the Venona Transcripts, I develop a narrative and analytic family biography to analyze the faith of this leftist and develop a typology of the fellow traveler that shows its roots in the Progressive Era and their radicalization under the Great Depression and growth of fascism.

Martha's father, historian William E. Dodd (1869 to 1940), imparted to Martha his Wilsonian progressivism and resentment of social distinctions. Martha's experience in Nazi Germany (1933 to 1937) radicalized these roots. She placed …

A Model For Backscattering Angular Response Of Gassy Sediments: Applications To Petroleum Exploration And Development Programs, Luciano Emidio Neves Da. Fonseca

Doctoral Dissertations

The location and distribution of near-surface gas in continental margins is of particular interest for oil exploration and development programs. The presence of gas seepages can be evidence of the possible existence of subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. Gas is also a potential hazard for offshore facilities, as it decreases the strength of unconsolidated sediments increasing the risk of seafloor failures and slumps.

Acoustic remote sensing systems such as multibeam and sidescan sonars can be used for mapping and detection of near-surface gas in marine sediments. These systems provide a realistic depiction of the seafloor by means of the simultaneous acquisition of …

Numerical Simulation Of Acoustic Waves In A Rectangular Chamber, Normah Mohd. Ghazali

Doctoral Dissertations

Numerical simulation of acoustic waves in a closed two-dimensional rectangular chamber is considered. The waves are generated by a membrane or piston boundary condition on one wall. The simulations are performed through many acoustic cycles. A stack of heat exchanger plates are sometimes included. The study is motivated by thermoacoustic refrigeration, a phenomena which uses soundwaves in a chamber to achieve a cooling effect.

The present study treats the flow numerically. The governing equations are the viscous compressible Navier-Stokes system, assuming a perfect gas. The numerical method employs a finite difference spatial discretization and semi-implicit time-marching procedure. Verification is accomplished …

Estimating The Environmental Costs Of The Hydro Fuel Cycle Using Life Cycle Assessment Techniques And Economic Valuation, Benjamin Harwood Ellis

Doctoral Dissertations

A Life Cycle Assessment model, with an integrated impact assessment, is used to estimate average external economic damages from the hydro fuel cycle. Aggregated average damage assessments of the hydro fuel cycle are complementary to marginal and site specific assessments, and are useful for general energy policy planning. For the upstream inventory assessment, detailed material input data from the Morrow Point Dam is used to estimate material inputs at 174 New England, and 4 Quebec, concrete hydroelectric projects. LCNetBase input-output life cycle assessment software, developed by Dr. Gregory Norris at Sylvatica, is used to estimate upstream emissions associated with material …

Regulation Of Mammalian Photoreceptor Phosphodiesterase (Pde) By Its Noncatalytic Gaf Domains And Its Two Small Subunits, Gamma And Delta, Hongmei Mou

Doctoral Dissertations

cGMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) is the central effector of visual transduction in retinal rod photoreceptors. The overall goal of this work was to investigate the possible regulatory mechanisms of PDE in mammalian rod photoreceptors by its noncatalytic cGMP binding sites on the PDE catalytic dimer (Palphabeta), and by the interactions between the inhibitory Pgamma subunit and Palphabeta in their phosphorylated and non-phosphorylated states.

First, the binding of cGMP to the noncatalytic sites on membrane-associated PDE (PDE-M) and soluble PDE (PDE-S) was characterized. We found that PDE-M holoenzyme contains 2 non-identical high-affinity cGMP binding sites; one of the cGMP binding sites is …

Multi -Mission Attitude Determination System For Balloon Flight, Liping Mo

Doctoral Dissertations

MADS (Multi-mission Attitude Determination System) is a new software package used to determine the attitude of instruments on a high-altitude balloon employed for scientific experiments. There is no existing system for the automated determination of the attitude of instruments in balloon experiments, so we have developed MADS to do the data analysis for balloon experiments to find the location of astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray or x-ray sources.

The two areas that required most work were modeling star trackers and modeling the motion of the balloon. Star trackers are used on satellites, but are far too expensive and sophisticated to …

Mathematical Modeling For Fabricating A Microstructure With A Pre-Specified Geometry Using Laser -Induced Chemical Vapor Deposition, Chaoyang Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

Laser-induced chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) is an emerging new technique with many practical applications. To optimize the system for fabricating a microstructure with a pre-specified geometry in pyrolytic LCVD, a three-dimensional mathematical model is developed for predicting temperature distributions and laser dwell times across the substrate scanned by the laser beam. A microstructure is fabricated layer by layer, and for each layer the laser beam moves from one pixel to the next. The complicated correlations among temperature distribution, deposit growth rate, and laser dwell time are investigated. A purely heterogeneous reaction is assumed and any gas-phase transport is ignored.

A …

The Importance Of Communication Skills: Perceptions Of Is Professionals, Is Managers, And Users, Ruth A. Spurlock Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

Information systems (IS) research has shown that communication skills tend to be more important than technical skills to IS staff in project development activities. Yet, research findings indicate that IS staff are lacking in the communication skills they need to interact successfully with users and managers during systems development. Thus, the two purposes of this research were (1) to determine whether IS staff, IS managers, and IS users differ in their perceptions of important communication skills that IS staff need and (2) if differences do exist, to assess the impact of the differences on user satisfaction with IS product and …

Fluid Flow In Micro-Channels: A Stochastic Approach, Hilda Marino Black

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study free molecular flow in a micro-channel was modeled using a stochastic approach, namely the Kolmogorov forward equation in three dimensions. Model equations were discretized using Central Difference and Backward Difference methods and solved using the Jacobi method. Parameters were used that reflect the characteristic geometry of experimental work performed at the Louisiana Tech University Institute for Micromanufacturing.

The solution to the model equations provided the probability density function of the distance traveled by a particle in the micro-channel. From this distribution we obtained the distribution of the residence time of a particle in the micro-channel. Knowledge of …

Examining The Impact Of Control Systems On The Implementation Of Market -Oriented And Customer-Oriented Strategies, Tara Burnthorne Lopez

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined the notion that firm control systems for managers and salespeople might impact the degree to which market oriented and customer oriented strategies are implemented throughout a firm's activities. In other words, the firm's control systems might facilitate or mitigate the execution of these particular strategies. This dissertation empirically addressed this concern by examining the impact of the management control system on the level of firm market orientation, and the impact of the salesperson control system on both salesperson customer orientation and the level of firm market orientation. In addition, it replicated previous research by testing the relationship …

Swarm Engineering, S. Kazadi '90

Doctoral Dissertations

Swarm engineering is the natural evolution of the use of swarm-based techniques in the accomplishment of high level tasks using a number of simple robots. In this approach, one seeks not to generate a class of behaviors designed to accomplish a given global goal, as is the approach typically found in mainstream robotics. Once the class of behaviors has been understood and decided upon, specific behaviors designed to accomplish this goal may be generated that will complete the desired task without any concern about whether or not the final goal will actually be completed. As long as the generated behaviors …

A Hybrid Finite Element-Finite Difference Method For Thermal Analysis In A Double-Layered Thin Film, Teng Zhu

Doctoral Dissertations

Thin film technology is of vital importance in microtechnology applications. For instance, thin films of metals, of dielectrics such as SiO2, or Si semiconductors are important components of microelectronic devices. The reduction of the device size to the microscale has the advantage of enhancing the switching speed of the device. The reduction, on the other hand, increases the rate of heat generation that leads to a high thermal load on the microdevice. Heat transfer at the microscale with an ultrafast pulsed-laser is also a very important process for thin films. Hence, studying the thermal behavior of thin films or of …

Orthogonal Grid Generation, Non-Reflecting Boundary Condition, And Parallel Computation For Fluid Flow, Shaopeng Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate one of the most interesting areas in computational fluid dynamics. The content of this paper is divided into three parts. The first part is the orthogonal grid generation. The second part is the non-reflecting boundary condition in curvilinear coordinates. The third part is parallel computation by Message Passing Interface.

The grid generation method is presented by solving elliptic partial difference equations. The elliptic grid generation method is based on the use of composite mapping, which consists of a non-linear algebraic transformation and an elliptic transformation. The elliptic transformation is based on the …

Bulk Micromachining Of Silicon For Moems Prototype, Sung-Dong Suh

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, the optical application of silicon micromachining technology was investigated in order to create the three-dimensional microstructures that can be used as the components for the MOEMS prototype. These microstructures were designed and fabricated by utilizing corner compensation techniques and silicon bulk micromachining technologies. The fabricated microstructures are silicon mirror arrays that have a 1250 μm etch depth and through-holes across the OE-MCM substrate that has sixteen-fan-out OCDN on front side and a 1mm thickness.

Guided-wave OCDN on MCMs are designed and fabricated to meet the high-speed clocking requirements of next-generation digital systems through a realization of superior …

Kinetics Of Laser Chemical Vapor Deposition Of Carbon And Refractory Metals, Feng Gao

Doctoral Dissertations

Three-dimensional laser chemical vapor deposition (3D-LCVD) has been used to grow rods of carbon, tungsten, titanium, and hafnium from a variety of hydrocarbons and metal halide-based precursors. A novel computerized 3D-LCVD system was designed and successfully used in the experiments. A focused Nd:Yag laser beam (λ = 1.06 μm) was utilized to locally heat up a substrate to deposition temperature. The rods, which grew along the axis of the laser beam, had a typical diameter of 30–80 μm and a length of about 1 mm. The precursors for carbon deposition were the alkynes: propyne, butyne, pentyne, hexyne, and octyne. Propyne …

Computational Investigation Of Stress, Contact Conditions, And Buckling Of Thin-Walled Pipe Liners, Meihuan Zhu

Doctoral Dissertations

Thin walled polymeric liners are often used to rehabilitate deteriorated pipe lines. The host pipes into which these liners are installed are typically assumed to be structurally sound, and the liner is only expected to carry the external pressure exerted by the groundwater. This external pressure will induce creep deformation and radial deflections that may eventually result in collapse of the liner within the host pipe. The aim of this work is use computational modeling to better understand the evolution of conditions leading up to collapse so that improved liner design models can be developed. Emphasis is placed on a …

Cramer-Rao Bound And Optimal Amplitude Estimator Of Superimposed Sinusoidal Signals With Unknown Frequencies, Shaohui Jia

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses optimally estimating the amplitudes of superimposed sinusoidal signals with unknown frequencies. The Cramer-Rao Bound of estimating the amplitudes in white Gaussian noise is given, and the maximum likelihood estimator of the amplitudes in this case is shown to be asymptotically efficient at high signal to noise ratio but finite sample size. Applying the theoretical results to signal resolutions, it is shown that the optimal resolution of multiple signals using a finite sample is given by the maximum likelihood estimator of the amplitudes of signals.

Efficient Algorithms And Implementations For Signal Processing, Changbai Xiao

Doctoral Dissertations

A scheme is presented to regain a finite number of lost samples from a Nyquist-rate-sampled band-limited signal f of finite energy by replenishing new sample values of the same number. The result can also be viewed as the solution to a special non-uniform sampling problem.

A scheme is also presented to recover a band-limited function f of finite energy from its sampling values on real sequences with an accumulation point. The result given here can also be viewed as an approach to the extrapolation problem of determination a band-limited function in terms of its given values on a finite interval. …

Bottom-Up Design Of Artificial Neural Network For Single-Lead Electrocardiogram Beat And Rhythm Classification, Srikanth Thiagarajan

Doctoral Dissertations

Performance improvement in computerized Electrocardiogram (ECG) classification is vital to improve reliability in this life-saving technology. The non-linearly overlapping nature of the ECG classification task prevents the statistical and the syntactic procedures from reaching the maximum performance. A new approach, a neural network-based classification scheme, has been implemented in clinical ECG problems with much success. The focus, however, has been on narrow clinical problem domains and the implementations lacked engineering precision. An optimal utilization of frequency information was missing. This dissertation attempts to improve the accuracy of neural network-based single-lead (lead-II) ECG beat and rhythm classification. A bottom-up approach defined …

Modeling The Friction Effects Of Eelgrass On The Tidal Flow In Great Bay, New Hampshire, Safak Nur Erturk

Doctoral Dissertations

In this study the frictional effects of eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) on the tidal flow in Great Bay, NH is modeled using a bottom friction coefficient adjustment approach. A two-dimensional, non-linear, time stepping, finite element model, ADAM is used. ADAM model incorporates two-dimensional wave physics, with a porous medium beneath the sediment surface to simulate wetting and drying process on the tidal flats. The effectiveness of ADAM model in simulating the tidal flow in Great Bay with wetting and drying on the tidal flats is verified. The model is calibrated by adjusting the bottom friction coefficient for the M2, M2S2 …

Finite Element Modeling Of Tidal Flow And Bed -Load Transport In The Great Bay Estuarine System, New Hampshire, Ata Bilgili

Doctoral Dissertations

Current, sea level and bed-load transport are investigated in the Great Bay Estuary, New Hampshire---a shallow, well-mixed system with low freshwater input. Main channel tidal currents are over 2 m/sec, and its dynamic balance is dominated by the pressure gradient and bottom friction. Current and sea level forced by the M2, M4, M6 tides at the estuary mouth are simulated by two numerical models---a three-dimensional, harmonic model that solves the linearized shallow water equations (FUNDY5); and a vertically averaged, time stepping, non-linear model (ADAM). ADAM makes use of a kinematic assumption (that is, the local and advective accelerations are neglected) …

Exploring Other Worlds: Margaret Fox, Elisha Kane, And The Antebellum Culture Of Curiosity, David Alexander Chapin

Doctoral Dissertations

Antebellum Americans had a strong interest in the unknown, which manifested itself simultaneously in highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow culture. Venues such as scientific institutions, lyceums, lecture halls, the "penny-press," and the dime-museum all catered to American curiosity. Exploring Other Worlds examines this "culture of curiosity," arguing that curiosity was a defining trait of antebellum America, transcending many of the boundaries we often associate with the era. Curiosity promoted intellectual interest in science, but it also led to the sensationalism of modern commercial popular culture.

The inter-related lives of Elisha Kane and Margaret Fox demonstrate this thesis. Kane was America's first …

Shelley And The Nature Of Nonviolence, William James Stroup

Doctoral Dissertations

This is a study of the English Romantic poet and essayist Percy Bysshe Shelley's conception of the role and function of humans in the natural world, and of his influence on later reformers. Shelley's long poems Queen Mab, Laon and Cythna, and Prometheus Unbound are discussed as a trilogy where his themes of political nonviolence and protoecological awareness became integrated; also discussed at length are Mont Blanc, The Mask of Anarchy, and The Triumph of Life. The legacy of Shelley's poetry and ideas is discussed through two key figures who met in the 1880s: the now obscure Shelleyan and animal …

A Non-Derivatization Approach To Hplc Fluorescence Detection For Some Important Amino Group-Containing Compounds Based On A Ligand Displacement Reaction, Min Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

Detection of some important amino group-containing compounds such as amino acids, aliphatic biogenic amines and aminoglycosides can present difficulties since these compounds do not possess strong fluorophores or chromophores. A novel indirect fluorescence detection method for these compounds has been developed, taking advantage of the fact they form complexes with Cu 2+ ions. The reaction between these compounds and a Cu(II)-L-tryptophan complex (Cu(L-Trp)2) in solution results in the displacement of L-Trp from the complex and an increase in L-Trp fluorescence, since the fluorescence of L-Trp is quenched in the Cu(II) complex. The increase in L-Trp fluorescence is taken as the …

Rational Design And Syntheses Of 4-Phosphino-Catechol Hybrid Ligands For Mixed -Metal Clusters, Xiankai Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

Based on the concepts of Incommensurate Symmetry-Driven Cluster Formation, an approach to mixed-metal cluster formation has been proposed and realized by using the incommensurate symmetry requirements at two different metal centers bridged by a hybrid ligand. Critical to this strategy is the proper design and synthesis of hybrid ligands with coordination sites selective towards each metal. 4-Phosphino-Catechol hybrid ligands with both hard catecholate and soft phosphine donor sites have been shown to serve such a role. Three new ligands; 4-PPh2-Catechol (H2L), 4-PH2-Catechol (H2 2) and 4-P(CH2OH)2-Catechol (H23) as well as their precursors 4-PPh2-Veratrole and 4-PH2-Veratrole have been synthesized and characterized. …

Multipoint Measurements Of Large Electric Fields And Shears In The Auroral Zone, David Pietrowski

Doctoral Dissertations

This work presents results from the Auroral Turbulence II (AT II) sounding rocket launched from the Poker Flat Research Range, near Fairbanks, Alaska, on February 11, 1997. The rocket consisted of three identically instrumented payloads that reached an apogee of 550 km and flew through several arc structures in a pre-midnight auroral breakup. Three payload measurements were desired to separate the temporal from spatial aspects of auroral forms, and to investigate three dimensional flows and fields that cannot be resolved using traditional single point measurements. The focus of this study has been in the structure and changes in the dc …

Nitrated Poly(4 -Hydroxystyrene) Microspheres For Optical Ph And Potassium Ion Sensing Based On Turbidity Changes Accompanying Polymer Sweller, Hongming Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

Porous poly(4-acetoxystyrene) swellable microspheres with diameters approximately 1∼2 mum were prepared by seeded emulsion polymerization. Toluene was used as the porogenic solvent and divinylbenzene was used as the crosslinker. The seed particles with diameters approximately 0.5∼1 mum were prepared by dispersion polymerization without adding porogenic solvent and crosslinker. Functionality was introduced by two derivatization reactions, hydrolysis and nitration, to form nitrated poly(4-hydroxystyrene). These polymer microspheres swell at high pH due to the deprotonation of the hydroxyl group on the polymer backbone. Swelling is accompanied by an increase in water content which causes the polymer refractive index to decrease. These microspheres, …

Transition Metal Complexes Of Novel Ligands Derived From The Cis,Cis-1,3,5-Triaminocyclohexane (Tach) Framework: Structural And Biological Studies, Gyungse Park

Doctoral Dissertations

Transition and Group IIB metal complexes of novel ligands derived from cis,cis-1,3,5-triaminocyclohexane (tach) were prepared for structural and biological activity study. Copper(II) complexes of N,N ',N″-trialkylated derivatives of tach [Cu(tach-R3)Cl2] (R = Me, Et, Pr, furanyl, and thiophenyl) were prepared from CuCl2 in MeOH or MeOH/Et2O solvent. The structures of [Cu(tach-R3)Cl2] in the solid and solution (aqueous and methanolic) states were extensively studied by UV-vis and EPR spectroscopies and were consistent to X-ray structure of [Cu(tach-Et 3)Br0.8Cl1.2] which reveals a slightly distorted square-based pyramidal geometry. Displacement of halide ions with water molecules in aqueous media was observed by the band …

Swellable Polymer Substrates For Use In Magnetochemical And Optical Chemical Sensing, Stephen Arnold Doherty

Doctoral Dissertations

Lightly cross-linked, animated polymers that swell and shrink with changing pH were prepared and evaluated. At low pHs amine sites protonate causing charge to accumulate along the polymer backbone. The polymer then swells to maximize the charge separation. The swelling of the polymer causes a change in a magnetic or optical property that can be measured and related to pH.

Animated hydrogel membranes were prepared by copolymerizing dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate(DMAEMA) with various comonomer hydrogels. Experiments were conducted to examine the effect of formulation on the ability of the hydrogel membrane to swell. Factors examined included cross-linker type, cross-linker concentration, …

Remote Sensing Of Forest Damage In The Czech Republic Using Hyperspectral Methods, Petya K. Entcheva

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study assesses the potential of hyperspectral data for monitoring the initial stages of damage in Norway spruce forests characterized by subtle changes in foliar chlorophyll and chemistry. Both field and airborne high spectral resolution reflectance measurements were obtained for selected study sites in the Krusne hory, Czech Republic.

High spectral resolution airborne canopy data and field foliar samples were acquired simultaneously in August 1998 for a total of 51 study sites within the Krusne hory. The sites were selected to represent a full range of damage conditions in even-aged Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) stands located between …