Digital Commons Network^™

Modern Techniques Used To Improve A Hearing Conservation Program In A Power Generating Plant, Eilyn Fabregas

Theses

A noise survey was conducted on the pump floor of a power generating plant, which included measuring noise levels at 261 areas of the floor (6,000 square feet) and the employees' noise doses, or 8-hour time-weighted average (TWAs). The noise levels of the 261 areas were recorded using a Sound Level Meter, and the noise doses (i.e., TWAs) were measured using a noise Dosimeter. It was found that both noise levels and TWAs were higher than the OSHA's permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 90 dBA and the action level of 85 dBA. According to the data gathered, it was determined …

Design Of A 320x122 Mwir-Ccd Ptsi-Si Imaging Radiometer With Automatic Optical Integration Time Control, Nathaniel Joseph Mccaffrey

Theses

An infrared CCD camera system was designed and developed to operate a 320X244 Schottky-barrier IR-CCD Focal Plane Array (FPA) as an imaging radiometer. The goal of this research was to develop a reliable radiometer capable of resolving temperatures between 50 and 1000°C to within 1°C accuracy using non-contact spectral thermographic methods. To accomodate this wide dynamic range, the imager was operated in a non-interlaced format with variable optical integration times ranging from 120µsec to 122msec. Variable integration control was achieved by employing a "dump and read" timing procedure. To facilitate this operation, novel circuitry was developed for dynamically controlling the …

Mixed Culture Biodegradation Of Pentachlorophenol, Hexachlorobenzene, And Tetrachloromethane Under Anaerobic Conditions, Jesse Zahn

Theses

Three chlorinated compounds, namely, Pentachlorophenol(PCP), Hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and Carbon tetrachloride were biodegraded under anaerobic conditions using a (CCl₄)mixed culture obtained from an anaerobic sewage sludge digestor in Linden, NJ.

Three sets of cultures capable of degrading each of the target compounds were established. Primary Enrichment Cultures (PECs) from the anaerobic sludge were exposed to each one of the target compounds. The cultures were able to degrade each target compound as follows: HCB, 0 to 1.2 ppm; PCP from 0 to 3-4 PPM; CCl₄, 0.5 to 15.5 PPM

One culture from each PEC group (CCl₄, …

The Design Thing : A Study Of Design In Practice And Theory, Magd Donia

Theses

The main purpose of this study was to present an overview of design practices and theories in different domains that would enrich the perspective of architectural design. To achieve this purpose, the study presented the initial purpose of architectural design which is providing an adequate shelter for different human activities. Positive and negative aspects of shelter were briefly discussed to trace the evolution of the concept of shelter. Change, as an essential aspect of design was presented in the context of problem formulation and problem resolution.

A presentation of design practices followed. It started by presenting design practices that are …

Adaptive Two-Stage Detection Scheme In Synchronous Two-User Cdma Systems, Yong Jiang

Theses

A conventional single user detector is not optimum in the multiuser environment because the multiuser interference can not be modeled as an additive Gaussian process. Such a receiver is very vulnerable to the near far situation. The receiver that is optimum for multiuser environment has high complexity and requires a knowledge of the received signal energies. Various versions of the receiver that handle the near far situation have been proposed in the literature. In this work, an adaptive two stage scheme for a synchronous two user environment with unknown received energies is proposed. It consists of a, tandem of the …

Mechanism Of Pneumatic Fracturing, Trevor Compton King

Theses

This thesis investigates the mechanism of pneumatic fracturing in geologic materials such as soil and rock. Pneumatic fracturing is a recently developed technique for increasing the permeability of geologic formations by the controlled injection of high pressure air. Present applications are focusing on the in situ remediation of contaminated soil and ground water, although pneumatic fracturing has other geotechnical uses such as pumping well enhancement.

A comprehensive literature review of a related technology known as hydraulic fracturing is presented, which serves as background for development of a pneumatic fracturing model. Pressure-time histories from actual pneumatic injections are analyzed in detail …

Integration Of Pneumatic Fracturing To Enhance In Situ Bioremediation, Conan Dante Fitzgerald

Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to study the anticipated benefits of integrating pneumatic fracturing with in situ bioremediation. Since pneumatic fracturing increases subsurface air flow in low permeability formations, it has the potential to overcome many of the major limiting factors of microbial growth and activity. A new innovation called pneumatic bio-injection can further enhance in situ bioremediation by efficiently dispersing biological solutions, including microorganisms, into a formation.

Bench scale experiments were conducted to examine the ability of microorganisms to survive the pressures and stresses associated with pneumatic injection. Tests conducted at pressures ranging from 60 to 500 psi …

Tantalum Silicide Variable Capacitance Rotary Micromotors : Design And Fabrication, Michael Steven Berry

Theses

Tantalum silicide was studied as an alternative microelectromechanical material by fabricating a rotary micromotor utilizing a proven design. This material was used for the rotor, stators, and bearing over a silicon substrate. It has the attraction of potentially reducing the friction which is a major problem with polysilicon-to-polysilicon bearings.

The necessity of high aspect ratio features required that a plasma or reactive ion etch with a high degree of anisotropy be developed to etch tantalum silicide films in excess of 1.5μm. A sulfur hexafluoride/Freon 115 plasma provided the necessary process control during the etches. The stress present in annealed tantalum …

Investigation Of The Effects Of Methyl Chloride Addition On Premixed, Laminar, Methane/Air Flat Flames, Limin Wang

Theses

Temperatures and the concentrations of stable species, such as CO, CO₂, CH₄, and CH3Cl, have been measured over the height above burner at equivalence ratio of 0.79 (fuel lean) and 1.20 (fuel rich) for premixed, laminar CH₄/air and CH₃Cl/CH₄/air flat flames. A water-cooled quartz sampling micro-probe and gas chromatographic analysis were used for the concentration measurements. Chemical kinetic modeling of these flames with a 279-reaction, 63-species elementary reaction mechanism is performed using the CHEMKIN premixed flat flame code. The results of rate-of-production calculations are analyzed to determine the most important …

Laboratory Health And Safety Compliance Guide For Private Colleges And Universities, Gina Marie Ochs

Theses

Academic laboratories are presented with the unique challenge of ensuring the health and safety of all people involved in daily activities. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently enacted the regulation 29 CFR 1910.1450, "Occupational Exposure to Hazardous Chemicals in Laboratories," which applies to all private employers (including colleges and universities). In this work, a guide is developed to assist private colleges and universities comply with applicable governmental regulations and to ensure the health and safety of all individuals involved with laboratory activities.

Academic laboratories warrant special consideration because of the nature of experimentation (variation in research and classroom …

Aluminum Epitaxy On Silicon, Samuel Cruz Ramac

Theses

The purpose of this work was to study the effect of 4° miscut and chem¬ical pretreatment of Si(111) wafers on the epitaxial growth of Al by thermal evaporation in a UHV environment (~ 10^-9 Torr). Two chemical pretreatments of the wafers were used. One included HF only and the other included NH₄F after an initial HF treatment. The substrates were not heated dur¬ing deposition. XRD measurements of the films were done before and after annealing in a high vacuum oven for one hour at temperatures between 200 and 350°C.

The A1(200) films deposited on wafers pretreated with …

Simulation Of Manufacturing Cell Using Hoops Graphic Software And Siman Simulation Language, Parikh Vipul

Theses

Control of jobs being processed in manufacturing shop floor is important to management. The performance of job shop is affected by shop congestion due to arrival rate, batch size, number of machines, buffer capacity, process time variation, and dispatching rules use to load the jobs on the machine.

The job shop is a very complex system and hence, it is difficult as well as time consuming to obtained result using analytical method. A SIMAN simulation language is used to create generic model of a manufacturing cell and simulation analysis of those parameters variation such as job shop efficiency, the average …

Reducing Health And Safety Risks By Replacing Compressed Air With An Electromechanical System, Joseph Michael Schwed

Theses

The continuous use of compressed air in many applications can often be expensive and very noisy. When compressed air is blowing freely from a nozzle, it can be used in a variety of processes. One of these is checking for the presence of a product inside a box.

In the manufacturing field, a facility has been using compressed air as a quality assurance inspector, to make certain that products are shipped properly. As the products go by on a conveyor, two employees must insert them into a carton as it is transferred to another conveyor. If an employee does not …

Multilevel Embeddings For Massively-Parallel Hypercubes, Devenkuma P. Shah

Theses

Hierarchically structured arrays of processors have widely been used in the low and intermediate phases of image processing and computer vision. Since the pyramid structure efficiently supports local and global operations extensively required by these phases, it has been widely used for relevant algorithms. Multilevel systems keep all the advantages of the pyramid structure while providing a general hierarchical structure that is easier to be used for the development of several algorithms and may also provide higher performance.

Although the cost of pyramid machines may be tremendously high, they have limited applications. In contrast, the hypercube network is widely used …

Bayesian Methods In Preoperative Risk Assessment For Cardiac Surgery, Huey-Chung Teng

Theses

Many strides have been made in the last decade to improve the accuracy of preoperative risk estimation, particular for cardiovascular surgery. It is our goal to estimate the preoperative risk associated with cardiac bypass surgery for patients in different risk categories. These risk categories are determined by the Parsonett model.

The Parsonett model assigns a risk value to a range of risk factors consisting of patient attributes and disease parameters. Logistic modeling is applied to generate a comprehensive risk function. The database being utilized contains over 3,000 patients who have had cardiovascular surgery within the last 5 years.

This thesis …

Computer Simulation Of Intracranial Hemodynamics During The Induction Phase Of Anesthesia, Gopinath P. Sundaram

Theses

The induction of general anesthesia is associated with severe hemodynamic compromises which, in turn, may cause acute elevation of intracranial pressure (ICP). Quantitative assessment of cerebrovascular responses arising from multiple mechanical and pharmacological interventions occurring in a short time interval require a large number of human studies which are difficult to perform. The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effect of various stimuli on the intracranial hemodynamics during induction using a mathematical model of cerebrovascular circulation.

A five compartmental model of the cerebrovascular system is used for our simulation. Autoregulation is modeled by adjusting arterial-arteriolar resistance in order …

Compliance Documentation For Osha's Bloodborne Pathogen Standard Including Exposure Control Plan And Training, Edward Lloyd Tyerman

Theses

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) regulation on Bloodborne Pathogens is in full effect since its introduction on December, 1991. This standard mandates that every company whose workers may expect to come into contact with human blood, or other body fluids, during the course of their work develop an Exposure Control Plan, train employees about Bloodborne Pathogens and establish work practice controls. All hospitals, physician and dental offices, ambulance companies, emergency medical technicians, medical laboratories, fire departments, and sites with their own first aid and response teams must comply with the standard.

Bloodborne pathogens include, among others, the human …

A Multicompartmental Model For The Simulation Of Soluble Gas Exchange In The Lungs, Chitaranjan Varadhan

Theses

No abstract provided.

The Contemporary Development Of A Historical Building, Melody Shinn

Theses

The history of Columbus Hall began with the enactment of a bill by the state legislature to found the Mississippi Industrial Institute and College at Columbus, Mississippi, on March 12, 1884. Among those who were instrumental in the chartering of the institute were as follows: Senator John McC. Martin, Col. W. H. McCardle, Dr. G. S. Roudebush, Mrs. Annie C. Peyton, and Mrs. John C. Hastings. John McC. Martin of Port Gibson was responsible for the introduction of the bill which sought to "secure an institution for the broader and higher education of Mississippi women." The city of Columbus offered …

Experiential Design, Laurel Sisson

Theses

None provided.

Humor As An Element In Graphic Design, Jason J. Snape

Theses

This documentation of my MFA thesis presents my process and progress through an investigation of the relationships between humor and graphic design. Notations in the side column provide resource information and refer to appendices located in the second section of the document.

Graphic Design Archive: Masterworks Portfolio, Daniel Pocock

Theses

None provided.

Iisma: An Interactive Information System, Connie Winfield Harvey

Theses

None provided.

Encountered Surfaces, Hyerim Choi Min

Theses

Throughout the course of civilization man has sought to leave his marks in the form of designs. At first these were just crude scratches on stones or inscriptions on cave walls, but over the centuries he has developed many methods to his artistic sensibilities. Textile decoration is the branch of the creative arts that embraces any method of applying color or design to a woven fabric, and the maker of such decorated textiles has been an important element in cultural development down through the ages. He or she has provided man with a means of making manifest his aesthetic sentiments …

Color Technology, Denise Rule

Theses

None provided.

The Design And Production Of The Printed Materials For The Goudy International Center For Font Technology And Aesthetics, Mark Benjamin

Theses

The increased use of personal computers in the 1980's has contributed to a sudden awareness of typefaces. This type consciousness has spread not only through the graphic arts industry, but beyond, to people who never before gave much thought to typefaces and their use. Now they are using them and making decisions regarding their use on a daily basis. Graphic artists and designers now have the tools on their desktops that give them the capability to create professional-quality digital type fonts. Even with all the attention and discussion given to the subject of typefaces, there has been no place, either …

Global Housekeepers, Mary Arp

Theses

It all began with a small, clipped image from a 1940' s Good Housekeeping magazine. There she was: a two inch tall housewife, prim in both her apron and hair style. Her arms were extended: one for balance and one with a cloth for cleaning. I took this "cleaning woman" image to Kinko ' s , the 24 -hour copy center where I spend too much time. There, I made successive photocopies and enlargements until I had a stack of grainy, obviously mechanically reproduced "drawings". Back in the studio, with a 4B charcoal pencil and paper, I vigorously drew backgrounds …

3d Alchemy: A Guide To 3d Realistic Computer Graphics, Ching-Pei B. Han

Theses

Last year, many films and commercials took advantage of computer technology to create astonishing 3D animations. Examples such as the Listerine commercial series, the NBA logo on TV, and the Chip & Pepper TV cartoon, featured unique and vibrant computer images. Among the various animations, some were made by high end computer systems, but some simply by personal computers. Small, fast, and more capable personal computers are now performing professional-level video production roles and, in fact, they are a staple of many feature film productions and broadcast television facilities.

Virtual Reality, Education And The Macintosh, Paul Cofrancesco

Theses

The purpose of my thesis is to present Virtual Reality as a tool in aiding Education. I used the Macintosh computer as the driving base of my project, and configured inexpensive commercially available computer peripherals as input devices. I investigated the effectiveness with which virtual worlds can present information, as well as studied the use of low cost software, input devices and drivers currently avail able on the Macintosh Computer. In addition, this thesis describes the strength, weaknesses and concerns involving the use of Virtual Reality in learning and the limitations of the current technology.

Prepress Selection Of Typeface Styles And Sizes For Gravure Printing, Eric Henty

Theses

The hypothesis of this study supposes that it is possible to design a more accurate prepress, "user friendly" method of type selection for gravure printing than the system used today.The experimental methods chosen for this project were based on the suggestions made by the Gravure Association of America, the professors at Rochester Institute of Technology, and the technical staff at Areata Graphics, Buffalo, NY. The purpose of these methods was to gather technical information about how the gravure printing process generates type images. More specifically, this meant investigating the effects of the gravure screen on type. To accomplish this, line …