Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

An Experimental Investigation Of Wear Behavior Of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Under Sliding Motion, Elham Zand-Moghaddam

Theses

This project investigates the effect of sliding motion on the materials that are used as bearing surfaces of human total-joint replacement prostheses.

The tests are performed with a specially designed equipment based on pin-on-disk machine. The testing machine is designed and constructed to reproduce sliding motion, applied to spherical ended metal "Canine-Head" components such as dog hip acting on a flat polyethylene surface. The sliding motion is performed by applying different constant loads for 5,000,000 cycles. The tests are carried out with the wear specimen lubricated by deionized water.

The purpose is to produce delamination, which is the severe wear …

Coordinate Measuring Machines : A Modern Inspection Tool In Manufacturing, Matthias Richard Mantel

Theses

Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM) are flexible and universal dimensional measuring devices with the capability for full integration into a CIM information network. Developed as highly precise measuring machines for specially designed measuring rooms, today's CMMs are more and more used in shop floor applications which is a hostile environment for a precise measuring tool. CMMs are offered in a variety of configurations and levels of automation. For the CMM buyer it is therefore essential to have an overview of the different types of CMMs and their subsystems before making a purchasing decision.

To obtain reliable measuring results that are used …

Techniques Of Petri Net Reduction, Sreeranga Kalavapalli

Theses

Petri Nets have the capability to analyze large and complex concurrent systems. However, there is one constraint. The number of reachability states of the concurrent systems outweighs the capability of Petri Nets. Previous Petri Net reduction techniques focussed on reducing a subnet to a single transition and hence not powerful enough to reduce a Petri Net. This paper presents six reduction rules and discusses their drawbacks. A new reduction technique called Knitting Technique to delete paths of a Petri Net while retaining all the properties of the original net is presented. Further Structural matrix which facilitates reduction is presented.

A Mathematical Model For The Prediction Of Depth Of Cut In The Course Of Awj Machining, Naijian Ma

Theses

The objective of this study is to develop a practical mathematical model for prediction of the depth of cut in the course of Abrasive Water Jet (AWJ) machining. Semi-empirical method which is an integration of theoretical derivation and statistical analysis is used for process description. A theoretical model was constructed based on kinetic energy conservation equation, physical relationship among operating parameters, abrasive size, material properties and cutting results. Then, correlation between the depth of cut and operational parameters was analyzed in order to improve the theoretical model. Finally, a regression equation representing 1000 samples was constructed.

Three statistical criteria were …

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 …

Graphical Deep Knowledge Representation In Vodak/Vml Object-Oriented Database, Jue Wang

Theses

Applying Object-oriented concepts to the design of complex graphical interface has received great attention in the database and knowledge representation disciplines. Traditional CAD systems can not support efficient environments for design processes because they store information about all the objects for display purposes but do not store any knowledge for reasoning purposes. They are called "knowledge poor". "Graphical Deep Knowledge" in Artificial Intelligence has been proven successful to represent knowledge about objects for display purposes as well as reasoning purposes. We introduwd the theory of "Graphical Deep Knowledge" into the object-oriented database s stem VML to design a "Knowledge rich" …

Modeling And Simulation Of Magnetic Micromotor Performance, Ping Wang

Theses

The objective of this research was to model the performance and optimize geometries for two types of magnetic micromotors: yoke-type (YTMM) and yokeless (YSMM). The two selected micromotor types matched the designs that have been described in the recent research literature. Modeling was accomplished using MAXWELL, an advanced 2-D and 3-D simulator. The micromotors with nickel and nickel-iron magnetic thin films for the rotor and stator were simulated for torque performance. Three-phase power supplies with overlapping and non-overlapping phases were used. Rotor diameter dimensions were varied from 285 to 600µm, and the rotor-stator air gap was varied from 3 to …

Modeling And Analysis Of Semiconductor Manufacturing Processes Using Petri Nets, Xinyao Wang

Theses

This thesis addresses the issues in modeling and analysis of multichip module (MCM) manufacturing processes using Petri nets. Building such graphical and mathematical models is a crucial step to understand MCM technologies and to enhance their application scope.

In this thesis, the application of Petri nets is presented with top-down and bottom-up approaches. The theory of Petri nets is summarized with its basic notations and properties at first. After that, the capability of calculating and analyzing Petri nets with deterministic timing information is extended to meet the requirements of the MCM models. Then, using top-down refining and system decomposition, MCM …

Blur Identification And Restoration Of Images Of Coronary Microvessel, Kuen Tak Wong

Theses

The objective of this research was to identify the blur characteristics of the blurred images of the rat coronary microvessel, and the information of the blur characteristics was used to restore the blurred images. The blur characteristics were analyzed by using the image power cepstrum. The Wiener filter was implemented to restore the images. There were two types of point spread functions proposed and studied for the restoration. They were: defocus blur PSF and motion blur PSF. The images were transferred from HP A900 system to an AVS workstation. The images were processed and manipulated by the AVS, and showed …

Modeling And Investigation Of Current Transport Phenomena In Schottky Structures, Yan Zeng

Theses

We have used a numerical method to describe the importance of the contribution of generation-recombination current to the I-V characteristics of Schottky barrier contacts. The current-voltage relationship is derived directly from the fundamental set of equations such as Poisson; current-density and continuity equations, without having to make many simplifications or approximations. The final result includes not only the thermionic emission or drift diffusion mechanisms of current flow, but also the generation recombination processes.

The experimental devices used for this work are very common low barrier height Schottky structures, Al/T_0.3W_0.7/n-Si/A1 and Ti_0.3W_0.7/n-Si/Al. The …

Microengineered Mass Spectrometer With Field Emission Ionization Source, Chao Sun

Theses

This thesis describes a design for a microengineered mass spectrometer. This mass spectrometer device uses VLSI processing techniques to scale down the dimensions of an existing mass spectrometer and make it portable. It can be manufactured economically and has the potential to be integrated with more complex structures and including transistor integrated circuits. An optimized device is proposed. This device is to be fabricated using two silicon substrates approximately 1cm by 1cm, where one is a cathode electron source and the other is the ion collector. External ion sources are not needed. Electrons are emitted from the array of cathode …

Classification Of Patterns In Eeg Recordings : A Comparison Of Back-Propagation Networks Vs. Predictive Autoencoder Networks, Brian Armieri

Theses

Recent research exploring the use of neural networks for electro-encephalogram (EEG) pattern classification has found that a three-layer back-propagation network could be successfully trained to identify high voltage spike-and-wave spindle (HVS) patterns caused by epileptic seizures (Jando et. al., in press). However, there is no reason to predict that back-propagation is the best possible network architecture for EEG classification. A back-propagation neural network and a predictive autoencoder neural network were compared to determine which network was better at correct classifying both HVS and non-HVS patterns.

Both networks were able to classify 88%-89% of all patterns using a limited set of …

Power Consumption In Single-Phase Agitated Vessels Provided With Multiple Impellers, Gwo-Ming Chang

Theses

A significant amount of data can be found in the literature on power consumption of single-impeller agitation systems. However, little and incomplete information is available for power consumption in multiple-impeller systems. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to experimentally determine the power consumed by multiple impellers in mixing vessels as a function of impeller type, impeller off-bottom clearance, impeller spacing, and agitation speed.

In this work, the power dissipated by combinations of one, two or three impellers of either identical types or different types was studied. The power drawn by each individual impeller was measured by means of …

Implementing A Tool For Designing Portable Parallel Programs, Geetha Chitti

Theses

The Implementation aspects of a novel parallel programming model called Cluster-M is presented in this thesis. This model provides an environment for efficiently designing highly parallel portable software. The two main components of this model are Cluster-M Specifications and Cluster-M Representations. A Cluster-M Specification consists of a number of clustering levels emphasizing computation and communication requirements of a parallel solution to a given problem. A Cluster-M Representation on the other hand, represents a multi-layered partitioning of a system graph corresponding to the topology of the target architecture. A set of basic constructs essential for writing Cluster-M Specifications using PCN are …

A Review Of Acetabular Prostheses For Total Hip Arthroplasty, Jennifer Anne Citarella

Theses

This study explores the evolution, design, and clinical progress of contemporary prostheses used in orthopaedic reconstruction of the socket of the hip joint. A literature search was performed to study acetabular implants, as used in total hip arthroplasty. The history of the design of these implants is chronicled. Next, the anatomy of the acetabular region and the surgical technique performed to replace the hip socket are presented. A comprehensive discussion of the design features, rationale, and clinical results for commercially available cemented and cementless prostheses follows.

Hydroxyapatite, a bioceramic which has just recently been approved for applications in total hip …

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 …

Study Of Emg Frequency Behavior, Mark Steven Fiedorowicz

Theses

It has previously been determined that the power spectral density of an electromyogram shifts towards lower frequencies over time during an isometric contraction. In this study the power spectral density curve was examined to see if changes would occur over a period of time as a subject walked on a treadmill at various speeds. The shapes of the power spectral densities recorded from the soleus shifted to the lower frequencies over time. The parameters associated with the curves showed trends. One of the parameters, zero crossing, demonstrated adaptation and fatigue in all four patients, for the first portion of the …

Properties And Determination Of Optimal Decentralized Feedback Structure, Kangsong Han

Theses

In this thesis, the decentralized feedback structure for large scale, linear time invariant systems is studied. The internal differences and the relationship between decentralized feedback structure and centralized feedback structure are discussed. The conventional diagonal feedback structure. corresponding to the classical single loop design strategy, is first analyzed. This is followed by an arbitrary decentralized information flow constraint which is dependent upon the actual plant characteristics. Although signal flow graphs have limited use in describing decentralized control systems. the concept of a control cycle unit based on signal flow is introduced as a supplementary tool to characterize some fixed modes …

Geometric Dimensioning And Tolerancing A Tool For Concurrent Engineering, Tapan Kumar S. K. Jain

Theses

The concept of Concurrent Engineering recognizes an immediate need for a new design environment and technology and so requires extensive interdisciplinary cooperation and integration of diverse functions of a manufacturing organization such as marketing, design, manufacturing and finance. One of the key factors to achieve successful integration among the departments is better communication and it becomes imperative in cases of varying levels of communication needs, especially in interdepartmental cases.

Concurrent Engineering is a philosophy which provides certain benefits. There are various tools and methods available for implementation of Concurrent Engineering concepts. One of the tools is Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing …

A Simulation Of A Monitoring And Alarm System In An Energy Management System, Hui-Jen Liu

Theses

This is a simulation for an energy system's monitoring and alarm and working under KEE's environment. Because of KEE's powerful capabilities, we can monitor and get warning signals from several active windows that we attaching them from KEE's system knowledge base to our source code.

It is very convenient for us to set every member of the energy system on an image panel. We can monitor the entire conditions of that member and get highlighted warning signals from its own image panel. Also we can initialize them by a kind of method-actuators windows if we want to restore the system.

Improving The Jitter Performance Of Timing Recovery By Employing Delay Shifts, Xin De Lu

Theses

Many methods have been developed for evaluating the jitter performance of timing recovery circuits for binary synchronous transmission systems. These circuits consist of a nonlinear device followed by a narrowband filter tuned to the pulse repetition frequency. This thesis introduce delay shifts in the timing recovery circuits to improve the jitter performance. The function of the delay shifts is analyzed and mathematical proof of jitter performance improvement is given for the system using square-law device. Finally, the numerical results obtained from the specific examples serve to illustrate the significant improvement between the system with and without delay shifts. That is, …

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 …

Polarimetric Fiber Optic Sensor For The Measurement Of Strain, Wei Ma

Theses

In this thesis, development of a Polarimetric Fiber-Optic strain sensor is presented. The sensor uses the phenomenon that strain can deform the probing part of the fiber and hence change the polarization of the transmitted light signal. By counting the resulting fringes, we can measure the exact strain in the material. Calibration of the sensor was achieved by setting up tension tests. Optical fibers were glued on the surface of the specimen. Reference strain gages were used to record the strain in the specimens. Resulting fringes from the fiber optic sensors were then related to the strain measured by the …

An Implementation Of A Versatile Camera Calibration Technique For High-Accuracy 3d Machine Vision Metrology Using Off-The-Shelf Tv Camera And Lenses, Bolang Li

Theses

This thesis studies and implements a new versatile camera calibration technique for high-accuracy 3D machine vision metrology using off-the-shelf TV camera and lenses developed by Roger Tsai [1]. This technique builds up a unique relationship from the world coordinate system to the computer image coordinate system of calibration points by using a radial alignment constraint. The technique has advantage in terms of accuracy, speed, and versatility over existing techniques.

The fundamental knowledge for using this technique is presented in this thesis first, followed by an overview of the existing calibration techniques, and a detailed description of the new technique. The …

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 …

Recursive Soft Morphological Filters, Padmaja Puttagunta

Theses

Mathematical morphology which is based on set-theoretic concept, extracts object features by choosing a suitable structuring shape as a probe. Morphological filters are set operations that transform an image into a quantitative description of its geometrical structure: Appropriately used, they can eliminate noises or irrelevancies while preserv¬ing the details of the original image. The applications of morphological filters in image processing and analysis are numerous, which include shape recognition, industrial parts inspection, nonlinear filtering, and biomedical image processing.

Soft morphological filters are used for smoothing signals with the advantage of being less sensitive to additive noises and to small variations …