Digital Commons Network^™

Design And Simulation Of A Mems Long Distance Traveling Micro-Actuator, Younes Elkacimi

Theses

This thesis is primarily concerned with the design, synthesis, modeling, and simulation of a linear micro-actuator that is able to travel relatively long distances upon the application of a bias voltage. The theoretical investigation addresses the functionality of this device in a certain setting given fixed and variable parameters. The objective of this investigation is to lay out a mathematical model, which explains the physics behind the workings of this device. It is not the objective of this investigation to study all the possible different scenarios that would result by changing certain or all the variable parameters, rather to prove …

Revealing At The Unraveling, Marie Florence Griffin

Theses

This thesis paper exhibits the progression of my photographic studies over the last two years at The Rochester Institute of Technology. This thesis paper explains the thought process behind the art work and defines the influences and interpretation within each body of work. Through digital processes the work portrays issues of identity that revolve around the body politic through the dictates of Western culture, particularly advertising, on the body's surface. The images also emphasize the emotional responses resulting from the violence, seduction and manipulation that culture presumes on an individual's identity.

Extraction Of Frequency-Dependent Electrical Characteristics Of Biological Tissues Using Ultra-Wideband Electromagnetic Pulse, Michael D. Seymour

Theses

There have been many important contributions to imaging for biomedical applications. The most popular methods include X-ray mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, and most recently, microwave imaging. While the first three of these have been used for biomedical applications for over three decades, microwave imaging has seen many developments over the last few years. This is primarily due to the large contrast in electrical parameters between different body tissues (including differences between healthy and diseased tissues) at microwave frequencies. There are also vast improvements possible for the comfort of the patient undergoing such imaging as compared to mammography. However, …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration In Graphic Design, Jill M. Kepler

Theses

Not Included

Tangerine Sours, Gisèle N. Couturier

Theses

My thesis work will explore the use of the ceramic object as metaphor for the self. Due to my strong background and interest in science and mathematics, I have a tendency to process my surroundings through logical order and pattern. I am continuously searching for this order and trying to classify and organize data so that it makes sense to me. Finding this order within chaos, particularly in the natural world, is fascinating. My intention is to reference these biological elements in a form that has a clear delineation between interior and exterior. The dialogue between the two is where …

Forecasting Hospital Bed Availability Using Computer Simulation And Neural Networks, Matthew J. Daniels

Theses

The success of hospitals in treating patients and staying in business relies on their efficient use of resources. In particular, the utilization of hospital beds is a critical concern, since over-crowding will result in delays or transfers of patients, and under-utilization will result in lost opportunity to treat patients and generate profit. To this end, hospital decision makers must have reliable forecasts of patient demand and bed availability. The objective of this thesis was to create a general method to forecast the availability of hospital beds in the short term, up to 2 days into the future. Specifically, this thesis …

Investigation Of Pulse Compression Technique And Time-Frequency Analysis In Medical Ultrasound Imaging, Shyam Venkataraman

Theses

Linear frequency modulation (LFM) followed by pulse Compression processing has been

Laboratory Investigation Of Transport And Treatment Of Chromium In Groundwater At Liwa District, Abu Dhabi, Wali-Ur-Rahman Din Badshah

Theses

Groundwater quality is a critical aspect affecting utilization of this source for certain purposes. In the UAE, utilization of groundwater for domestic purposes is well practiced. While the quality of groundwater at some locations does not permit direct utilization of this source, groundwater, in many cases, is mixed with desalinated water at certain proportion before being disinfected and then distributed to customers.

Groundwater of Liwa aquifer contains high level of Cr(VI) which is believed to originate from natural sources. However, little has been done to investigate the fate of this contaminant. Spreading of chromium to nearby aquifers may render the …

Insect Control Using Chitinolytic Soil Actinomycetes As Biocontrol Agents, Fatma Khamis Al-Kaabi

Theses

No abstract provided.

Using System Call Analysis To Stop Evasion Attacks In Anomaly Based Intrusion Detection System, Ashish Liladhar Samant

Theses

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDSs) that operate on the principle of system call monitoring are known to be susceptible to mimicry or evasion attacks. It has been shown that an intelligent adversary armed with comprehensive knowledge of the target system or network, can penetrate these targets, hide his presence from the IDS, and continue to carry out damage. IDSs, which use system calls to define normal behavior, often leave out complimentary information about them, and intruders use precisely this drawback, to deceive the IDS. This thesis investigates the vulnerabilities of a system call based IDS and carries out a theoretical and …

Development Of A Human Visual System With The Ability To Detect Inconsistent Events, Jeremiah D. Brazeau

Theses

Current research has shown that it is possible to create a general purpose learning system that models the first few layers of the human visual system. The goal of this thesis is to build upon that idea and produce a computational model capable of learning different aspects of visual information. Simulations show that the system is capable of learning and distinguishing different types of motion. Results also give one explanation, consistent with current experiments, explaining how the human visual system learns information and as such may produce the capability to predict behavior in future experiments.

Integrating Experiments And Simulators Into A Distributed E-Learning Environment, Frank Koehler

Theses

New information and communication technologies have emerged in the last few years which have made an impact on learning at all levels. At universities, the spectrum of learning support ranges from enriching traditional lectures and courses with multi- media elements to complete web-based interactive learning environments. A special aspect based on the new media technologies is learning within model worlds by use of simulations or real-life experiments. There are normally no links between these applications and the learning content, so it is impossible to tap the full potential of these applications. Research activities in the area of e-learning underline the …

The Convergence Of Traditional Higher Education And E-Learning: Organisational, Societal, Technological And Pedagogical Trends, Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin

Theses

The thesis is about the coming together of two traditions and how they are both changing dynamically in relation to each other, giving rise to a number of discernable organisational, societal, technological and pedagogical trends. Each tradition is examined in turn in the first two chapters, which deal with issues such as what the definitional characteristics of each tradition are and what factors have determined them. Organisational and societal trends in the convergence of traditional higher education and e-learning, as described in chapter three, highlight the tensions between the two traditions, as evidenced in the specific challenges e- learning represents …

The Diarrheic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins In Marine Environment Determined Using Liquid Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry Techniques, Patricia Fernández Puente

Theses

A highly specific and sensitive LC-MS/MS analytical method was developed and validated using gradient reversed phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC- MS/MS), interfaced using turbo-assisted electrospray ionisation (ESI) in negative mode for the analysis of DSP (okadaic acid (OA), dinophysistoxins (DTXs) and pectenotoxins (PTXs)) toxins in a variety of samples. There were no matrix effects present, proved by the good reproducibility achieved and the linearity of the calibration curves (r" > 0.999) in spiked mussel samples and standards. A DSP toxin profile study was conducted with bulk phytoplankton and mussels samples from the west coast of Ireland. All the samples were …

An Investigation Of Weed Pest Problems In The Emerging Foliage Industry In Kerry, Tom Houlihan

Theses

The rapidly expanding cut foliage industry in the southwest of Ireland aims to satisfy the demands of an exacting market requiring quality stems for use in the manufacture of flower and foliage bouquets.

The studies identified, in detail, the type of weed pests that cause problems for growers of cultivated foliage crops and examined current weed control practice. Residual herbicides with potential for use within the sector were screened and trials were set up in a number of important foliage species.

Recommendations on weed management regimes based on the findings from these trials and economic criteria are presented for Paeony …

The Application Of Proteomics To Pseudomonas Putida F1, Han Hoang

Theses

Through years of technology development, the drug industry has been able to synthesize many valuable medicines to provide better health care. However, any time a new medication (or industrial chemical for that matter) is made; it must be tested to ensure that it is not carcinogenic. For years, scientists have worked to design a screening method that is fast, efficient, and reliable. Currently, the most widely-used method used is the Ames test [1]. This test has both strengths and weaknesses which will be discussed. In this project, Two Dimensional Electrophoresis (2DE) is used to monitor protein expression in Pseudomonas putida …

Emotional Recogition Ability Among Incarcerated Youth, Aubrey S. Elmore

Theses

The purpose of this study was to consider emotional recognition ability among incarcerated youth. Specifically, thirty-eight inmates who were eligible for a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) under New York State law participated in the study. Participants were administered Ekman's facial discrimination task (1976), the Sociomoral Reflection Measure-Short Form (SRM-SF; Gibbs, Basinger, &Fuller, 1992), and an Emotional Intelligence Survey (Schutte et al., 1998). Results showed the incarcerated youth were less accurate in identifying emotions from facial expressions than were non-incarcerated young adults. Further, incarcerated youth with identified learning disabilities were even less accurate in their ability to recognize emotions than …

Faulty Femininity, Kristin Gleason

Theses

Not provided.

Techno-Whimsy, Liz Dodds

Theses

None provided.

Nativity, So Young Park

Theses

None provided.

Twixt, Karen Schlesinger

Theses

This thesis discusses photographs exhibited at the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences Gallery at Rochester Institute of Technology from April 28 - May 10, 2003. In these photographs of desecrated landscapes at liminal times of day, the eerie light and vibrant colors of dusk and dawn enable me to create views of my personal world, a foreign and perilous place for some audiences, an intoxicating and disquieting environment for others. As the light gives way to darkness, the deepening shadows of the vegetation come alive as monstrous figures. Fears lurk in the darkness and become threatening creatures of the …

An Automated Procedure For Simulating Complex Arrival Processes: A Web-Based Approach, Sachin Sumant

Theses

In industry, simulation is one of the most widely used probabilistic modeling tools for modeling highly complex systems. Major sources of complexity include the inputs that drive the logic of the model. Effective simulation input modeling requires the use of accurate and efficient input modeling procedures. This research focuses on nonstationary arrival processes. The fundamental stochastic model on which this study is conducted is the nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) which has successfully been used to characterize arrival processes where the arrival rate changes over time. Although a number of methods exist for modeling the rate and mean value functions that …

Identification And Prediction Of Nonlinear Dynamics, Andrew Dick

Theses

Chaos theory and associated analyses are being applied to a growing number of disciplines. Studies of biological and ecological systems have shown the widest application of chaotic analyses thus far. When studying these systems, it is often only possible to measure a subset of the system's many variables. To effectively perform a number of the analyses required to study a chaotic system, it is necessary to identify a complete strange attractor for the system. Consequently, it is necessary to reconstruct the system's strange attractor from the available data. Many different methods exist for reconstructing strange attractors, but the effectiveness of …

Seeing, Sensing, And Selection: Modeling Visual Perception In Complex Environments, Roxanne Canosa

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate human visual perception at the level of eye movements by describing the interaction between vision and action during natural, everyday tasks in a real-world environment. The results of the investigation provide motivation for the development of a biologically-based model of selective visual perception that relies on the relative perceptual conspicuity of certain regions within the field of view. Several experiments were designed and conducted that form the basis for the model. The experiments provide evidence that the visual system is not passive, nor is it general-purpose, but rather it is active and …

Kinetic And Analytical Studies On Catalytic And Noncatalytic Oxidative Degradation Of Some Hazardous Organic Dyes Using Hydrogen Peroxide, Salem Hmoud Salem Al-Ameri

Theses

Dyes have become a very important part to countless modem applications. As a result of this huge consumption of dyes in manufacturing processes, huge amounts of wastewater contaminated with dyes are released into different natural dumps like rivers and seas. These dyes contaminated wastes have dangerous impacts on the environment and toxic affects. Two problems are facing scientists concerned about this environmental task. First, dyes vary in their chemical and physical natures and different waste treatments are needed which sometime are not available. Second, getting rid of these pollutants from its sources is costly, that many manufactures can not afford. …

At The Dark End Of Eros: The Dark Side Of Love And Desire, Chia-Wen Hsieh

Theses

Exploration of the dark side of human intimacy and sexuality in the author's paintings and cinematography.

An Experimental Study On Network Intrusion Detection Systems, Peng Fu

Theses

A signature database is the key component of an elaborate intrusion detection system. The efficiency of signature generation for an intrusion detection system is a crucial requirement because of the rapid appearance of new attacks on the World Wide Web. However, in the commercial applications, signature generation is still a manual process, which requires professional skills and heavy human effort. Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining methods may be a solution to this problem. Data Mining and Machine Learning algorithms can be applied to the network traffic databases, in order to automatically generate signatures.

The purpose of this thesis and the …

The Influence Of Exercise On Oxygen Uptake In Mild Hypertension, Matthew Joseph Herban

Theses

The amount of oxygen used by muscle cells increase with exercise. The two body systems that influence the amount of oxygen delivered are the cardiovascular system and the pulmonary system. Two groups of patients were studied, those that were mildly hypertensive (but are not taking prescription medication for hypertension) and the control or normal group. The two groups exercised on a bicycle ergometer. Work rate was increased in steps (multiples of thirty watts) until anaerobic threshold (as measured by an ear oximeter) was reached. Heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production were measured during exercise. Their data …

Deposition And Characterization Of Laser-Ablated Silicon, Wenwen Luo

Theses

Laser ablation is a powerful thin film deposition and material processing technology. In the Nonlinear Nanostructure Lab at NJIT, silicon films deposited by laser ablation have been studied for the potential applications in nonlinear optoelectronic devices. The previous studies have suggested that the deposited silicon has a hexagonal symmetry, being a polymorph of silicon that previously has been obtained only at very high pressure. This thesis is part of the continuous study and characterization of this new structure. The objective of the research was to gain better understanding of the hexagonal silicon properties as well as the mechanism that lead …

A Biologically Inspired Joint Model Using Engineering Methods To Enhance Understanding Of Muscle Activity, Richard Paradiso

Theses

Compliant actuators and control methods have been known to exhibit similarities in human musculoskeletal systems. In order to better understand and improve the effects of force optimization under closed- loop conditions, a physical joint model was constructed with an agonist and an antagonist muscle operating under linear control. Utilizing LabVIEW software, compliant McKibben air muscles and Merlin stretch sensors, the author was able to incorporate a Bang-Bang controller and propose the inclusion of pulse width modulation (PWM) as well as a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PD) controller to study the reflex loops under various levels of feedback sensitivity. The feedback mechanism, similar to …