Digital Commons Network^™

Vibration Of Hollow Cylindrical Shells With Partial Constrained Layer Damping, Nathan E. Smith

Theses

A theoretical analysis is presented for determining the natural frequencies and damping factors for isotropic circular cylindrical shell type structures. Equations of motion for a cylindrical shell and a three-layer cylindrical shell fully and partially treated, with a viscoelastic core, are derived from equilibrium. The assumed mode method or Galerkin method are used to find the equivalent mass and stiffness matrices from which the natural frequencies can then be obtained. The effects on the natural frequency and damping factor due to various viscoelastic core thicknesses, viscoelastic shear moduli, constraining layer thickness, constraining layer Young's moduli, and viscoelastic coverage length are …

Experimental Investigation Of Surface Roughness Microstructures And Their Effects On Pressure Drop Characteristics In Rectangular Minichannels, Derek J. Schmitt

Theses

A literature review has been conducted on pressure drop in mini/microchannels to evaluate major discrepancies in experimental work dealing with pressure drop in these small passages. The aim of the present work is to investigate the effects of surface roughness elements on pressure drop in minichannels in an effort to determine if conventional friction factor equations are valid in predicting the friction factor in minichannels. In the present work, an experimental study is carried out to investigate the effects of surface roughness on air and water flow through rectangular channels with hydraulic diameters ranging from 325µm to 1819µm. Smooth surface …

Multi-Timeline Randomized Story Based Web Animation, Jonathan Fahnestock

Theses

Multi-Timeline Randomized Story Based Web Animation is the investigation of the use of randomness as a creative element and production tool for animations produced for the internet using Macromedia FlashTM. It discusses the process of utilizing Actionscript to create animations more efficiently, production techniques for animating with Flash, writing for randomized animations, directing voice talent, optimization for web output, and advantages and limitations of the application. The application discussed, titled "Random Life," is an animation which incorporates randomness while remaining coherent by adhering to a traditional story line format.

Collapsible Furniture For The Contemporary Work Environment, Yoko Taniguchi

Theses

Not Included

Modeling Of Probe-And-Drogue Part Of An In-Flight Refueling System, Jie Yan

Theses

In this work, a finite element model of an in-flight aircraft refueling system is developed. The model is a first attempt to describe the dynamics of a probe-and-drogue refueling system commonly used by Navy aircraft. The purpose of this work is to develop a model of the drogue system to be able to study control and sensor system requirements for an autonomous refueling system. This work is intended as a first introduction to an automated in-flight refueling system with special concentration on the modeling of a probe-and-drogue in-flight refueling system for aircrafts. An understanding of what is an in-flight refueling …

Spirituality Of Labor, Krisaya Luenganantakul

Theses

Not Included

Intrinsic Motivation In The Classroom: Increasing Learning And Retention, Emily K. Hesek

Theses

A growing body of research suggests that intrinsic motivation and self-determination are key factors in academic achievement and success. The present study investigated whether children learned and retained information better when taught a social skills lesson using a self-determining approach, rather than a traditional directive lesson plan. In particular, this study examined whether lesson plans that included choice and autonomy support would affect students' intrinsic motivation for the task, and improve their learning and retention over time. Fifty-six fourth grade students from a large suburban school district in upstate New York participated. Significant group differences were found on a pre-test …

The East Wing Beat: The Changing Role Of First Lady, Jacqueline M. Scheible

Theses

First Ladies take on highly visible public roles within the American political system. They serve as role models for American women, symbolically representing the upper-middle-class-white American woman. The mass media cover extensively the women who become first ladies and symbolism associated with the firstladyship. The purpose of the present study is to provide a systematic examination of New York Times coverage of first ladies to understand and interpret change that has occurred in coverage. The findings suggest that first ladies have the opportunity to take advantage of the first lady podium and use it to meet public expectations and fulfill …

Task Influence Of Scene Content Selected By Active Vision, Marianne A. Lipps

Theses

This thesis investigated possible features that are used to guide saccadic eye movements in specific tasks, including a visual search task, answering questions about an image, and freely viewing images. Current eyetracking technology was used to gather eye movement records of subjects as they viewed images. A classical experiment that shows the influence of task on eye movements conducted by Alfred Yarbus was replicated under natural viewing conditions. In this experiment, 17 viewers were given a set of different instructions before viewing a Russian painting. Eye movement records were compared between tasks, and it was found that the instruction a …

Enhanced Spectral Modeling Of Sparse Aperture Imaging Systems, Robert E. Introne

Theses

The remote sensing community continues to pursue advanced sensor designs and post processing techniques that improve upon the spatial quality of collected overhead imagery. Unfortunately, spaceborne applications frequently encounter launch vehicle fairing and weight constraints that limit the size of the primary aperture that can be utilized for a given application. Sparse aperture telescopes provide a potential avenue for overcoming some of the size and weight issues associated with deploying a large monolithic mirror system. These telescope systems are constructed of smaller subapertures which are phased to form a common image field and thereby synthesize a larger effective primary diameter …

Designing Risk Messages In Response To Human-Caused Disasters, Michael E. Hellinger

Theses

Not Included

Image Sequence Restoration By Median Filtering, Shawn R. Jackson

Theses

Median filters are non-linear filters that fit in the generic category of order-statistic filters. Median filters are widely used for reducing random defects, commonly characterized by impulse or "salt and pepper" noise in a single image. Motion estimation is the process of estimating the displacement vector between like pixels in the current frame and the reference frame. When dealing with a motion sequence, the motion vectors are the key for operating on corresponding pixels in several frames. This work explores the use of various motion estimation algorithms in combination with various median filter algorithms to provide noise suppression. The results …

Technology Management In The Effective Implementation Of Change, Molly B. Kearns

Theses

Organizational fitness is often achieved by making changes in business operations. These changes frequently involve the use of a new technology. The effective implementation of change is achieved by examining the benefits and challenges of technology management when making decisions. Important elements for consideration in technology management are technology evaluation, integration, planning, implementation, training, and change. A solution is proposed to combine and encompass all the elements of technology management to allow for the positive aspects and avoid the negative aspects of change implementation. The tool consists of principles to be addressed for each element.

Trouble Report Decrease At An It Help Desk, Nori Montero

Theses

The purpose of this project is to help improve the internal customer service for the PRECISE. IT help desk. Specifically, this report will determine the root cause, or causes, of increased trouble reports after the installation of a new Wireless application. We will define the challenges the IT managers faced regarding the ability to embrace best practices for a complex IT environment. By this we will cover problems related to process assessment, mission, training, policy and how other companies are confronting the challenges of a service centered culture and TQM methodologies. This will help in understanding how these managers must …

Use Of System Dynamics And Easel For Simulation Of The Software Development Process, Alicia Strupp

Theses

Team software development is a complex and mostly unpredictable process and is characterized by inefficient use of staff and calendar resources. Given the magnitude of software development costs, a deeper understanding of the process may suggest ways to improve resource utilization. Simulation modeling is a useful approach to study the dynamics of complex systems. System dynamics characterizes systems as collections of interacting, non-linear feedback loops. The foundations of system dynamics were developed at MIT in the early 1950s. Since that time, system dynamics has been applied to a large number of complex system domains. In the early 1980s, the system …

Acoustic Signature For Chaos And Fractal Geometries, Obadiah M. Kilonzo

Theses

One discipline of study that has been coming up in the recent years is the study in the behavior of nonlinear systems. Most of these exhibit chaos traits and this has spurred much interest. Fractal geometries, which are as a result of chaos behavior, have been more feasible to research on, with the recent computer technology. Most of these fractal behaviors can be mapped into the sound domain. This 'sound domain' is referred to as acoustic signature. This thesis majors on a way to map out the fractals to the sound domain without much change in the parameters that define …

What Happened Thursday, Anastasia Cerankosky

Theses

Not included.

Monster Maker, Eddie Iii Davis

Theses

None provided.

Improved Methods And System For Watermarking Halftone Images, Phil Sherry

Theses

Watermarking is becoming increasingly important for content control and authentication. Watermarking seamlessly embeds data in media that provide additional information about that media. Unfortunately, watermarking schemes that have been developed for continuous tone images cannot be directly applied to halftone images. Many of the existing watermarking methods require characteristics that are implicit in continuous tone images, but are absent from halftone images. With this in mind, it seems reasonable to develop watermarking techniques specific to halftones that are equipped to work in the binary image domain. In this thesis, existing techniques for halftone watermarking are reviewed and improvements are developed …

A Study Of Company-Initiated Training In Us And Swedish Printing Firms Relative To Prepress, Press, And Finishing Operations, Jonas Hedman

Theses

Company-initiated training has become an increasingly important activity in printing firms because of the digital revolution in the industry which started in the mid 1980's. Previously, almost every step in prepress, press and finishing was analog, but today the workflow can be 100 percent digital until the information reaches the paper on the press. The computer is the principal part of the workflow, and it is essential for a printing firm to continuously train its workforce in the new technologies in order to develop the company's human resources, and thereby to improve the workflow and even ultimately to ensure the …

Location/Dislocation: Temporal Environments, Erin Holscher

Theses

Not Included

Location/Dislocation: Temporal Environments, Erin Holscher

Theses

None provided.

The Effects Of The Viscidity Of The Client-Agency Relationship And The Agency's Expert Power On The Level Of Personalization In Advertising Campaigns, Svetlana Kirpichenko

Theses

This study examines the effect of the viscidity of the corporate client-advertising agency relationship and of the expert power exercised by the agency on the level of personalization in the resultant print campaign. A phone survey of 250 advertising agencies nationwide provides statistical support to the findings. The results indicate that for those advertising agencies that perform a significant volume of work on a retainer basis, the expert power exercised by the agencies and the level of the viscidity of the relationship between the clients and the agencies are in close correlation to the level of personalization employed by the …

Design Of Asphalt Concrete Mixtures For Pavement Maintenance And Rehabilitation, Mubarak Bakheet Gaith Al-Falahi

Theses

The main objective of the thesis is to develop a knowledge base for the design of asphalt concrete mixtures suiting various types and causes of pavement distress and to develop supporting guidelines for the selection of aggregate types, gradation and binder contents for desirable mixture properties.

To achieve this objective, a two-level model was developed. The upper-level is a Factorial Experimental Design Model (FEDM) for the pavement condition evaluation. It can be used as a prediction tool to estimate the Pavement Condition Index (PCI), and determine the percentages of the types of distresses (Load, Environmental, Others). The upper-level model was …

Aerodynamic Force And Moment Balance Design, Fabrication, And Testing For Use In Low Reynolds Flow Applications, Corey Abe

Theses

The aerodynamic performance of airfoils operating at Reynolds numbers below 105 has been of interest due to its variety of applications in areas such as unmanned remotely piloted vehicles, small-scale machinery, and more recently, Micro Air Vehicles (MAV's). Design and testing of airfoils to meet these applications is challenging due to the lack of experimental data in low Reynolds flow, compared to airfoils tested at higher Reynolds numbers. Two mechanical balance devices are designed and evaluated to provide a quick and simple method to test small airfoil aerodynamic loads. Each device measures two degrees of freedom; a force balance measures …

Maximizing The Capability Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Cory Cress

Theses

Wireless micro-sensors introduce a new frontier in sensing devices and data acquisition capabilities. These sensors, capable of sensing, processing data, and short-range communication, can be spread over regions to form ad hoc wireless sensor networks (WSN) so as to deliver aggregate information from geographically diverse areas. This aggregate data gathering and processing induces a synergistic effect and enables a sensor network to complete sensing tasks that may never be feasible using a single, perhaps powerful, sensor. This new paradigm in sensing devices is not without many fundamental challenges, one being a constrained energy resource, which first need to be solved …

Preserving Conformance For Gcra Regulated Flows, Deryck Hong

Theses

Traffic policing/shaping has been employed at the edge of networks to ensure proper provisioning of network resources and Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. As shown in this thesis, however, network flows that have been regulated at the network edge based on traffic descriptors, e.g., GCRA, may still become non-conforming in the network core, depending on the packet scheduling algorithm used. Two supplemental schemes to scheduling algorithms are proposed and analyzed in this thesis to ensure conformance for GCRA regulated flows. The first scheme is to add an additional traffic regulator to shape the traffic more aggressively than required constraints before …

Thoughts On Fragility And Impermanence, Elizabeth Howe

Theses

This thesis project consists of two sections. The first of these sections is the creation of four physically separate, conceptually linked sculptures installed in the Dyer Arts Center Gallery in the Lyndon B. Johnson building on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus. The latter part of the project exists in the form of this written thesis, which will explore various concepts, processes and concerns associated with the individual sculptures and the prevailing ideas inherent to them all. Within both the sculptural work and the written work I am exploring the fragility and vulnerability of being human. The reality of impermanence …

3-D Image Segmentation And Rendering, Hui Wang

Theses

Finding methods for detecting objects in computer tomography images has been an active area of research in the medical and industrial imaging communities. While the raw image can be readily displayed as 2-D slices, 3-D analysis and visualization require explicitly defined object boundaries when creating 3-D models. A basic task in 3-D image processing is the segmentation of an image that classifies voxels/pixels into objects or groups. It is very computation intensive for processing because of the huge volume of data. The objective of this research is to find an efficient way to identify, isolate and enumerate 3-D objects in …

Differences In Privacy Policies Among Commercial, Educational And Governmental Web Sites: A Cross-Sectional Content Analysis, Rashad Bayramov

Theses

The present study investigates the differences in the way commercial, educational and governmental Web sites communicate their informational privacy practices through the privacy policies posted on the Web. Specifically, the research identifies differences in the coverage of the Fair Information Practice principles within the analyzed privacy policies. The study suggests that the sharpest dissimilarity exists in the coverage of the principles of Access (allowing Web users to review and update the data collected about them) and Security (protecting users' personal information during transmission and subsequent storage), where commercial sites greatly outnumber educational and governmental sites. However, governmental and educational sites …