Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation Of Major Mutagenic Substances In Airborne Particulate Matter : Biologically-Driven Analysis Of Fractions And Analysis Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Pahs) Nitro-Pahs And Other Classes Of Compounds, Jung-Hen Lwo

Theses

A modified fractionation scheme involving acid-base partitioning and silica gel column chromatography has been used as the first step in the bioassay-directed search for significant levels of mutagenic compounds in extracts of inhalable (IP10) ambient air particulates. The biologically "hot" fractions were separated and analyzed chemically or subfractionated to isolate and concentrate "hot" subfractions which were then chemically analyzed by GC/MS FTIR, and HPLC equipped with UV, Fluorescence and Photodiode Array UV detectors.

The Ames assay of mutagenicity has involved the unactivated TA98 strain of Salmonella and enzyme-activated (TA98+S9) assays. In addition, some assays have been performed in this present …

Management Of Construction Jobsite Productivity : A Self Assessment Approach, Nicos Poliviou Nicolaou

Theses

A critical component of construction project management is the improvement of jobsite productivity. This paper proposes a procedure for use by project managers to assess jobsite productivity performance. The methodology provides a framework which when applied will identify specific aspects of the jobsite where potential productivity improvement is possible. A major feature is its systematic approach which will direct the project manager to the specific resources which when better managed will lead to lower construction costs.

Mathematical Model Of A Continuous Sterilization System For Fermentation Media Containing Suspended Solids, Mark A. Leskowicz

Theses

A mathematical model has been developed for a continuous sterilization system where the role of suspended solids on the overall degree of sterilization achieved is taken into account. Evaluation of a "typical" commercial continuous sterilization system showed the role of suspended solids to have little effect on the overall sterilization obtained. For continuous sterilization systems operating in a total residence time of less than one minute, the role of solids may become important and should be evaluated.

A Study Of The Effect Of Some Inhibitors On The Corrosion Rates Of Austenitic Stainless Steels In Sulfuric Acid, Shang-Yinn Chiou

Theses

Four sulfur-containing and three nitrogen-containing organic compounds have been tested as inhibitors for four different austenitic stainless steels-SS304, S5316, SS317L, and SS41O-in 10-50 weight% sulfuric acid solutions respectively. Results confirmed that the sulfur-containing compounds were more effective than the nitrogen-containing compounds. The effect of sodium iodide additions on the behaviours of two of the nitrogen-containing compounds was also studied. The synergistic effect caused by the 1 ion was essential for nitrogen-containing compounds as inhibitors in sulfuric acid solution.

Adsorption And Desorption Of Chromium On Clayey Soils, Ker-Shu Tan

Theses

Chromium residue waste was produced during sixties in the chromium production process. It was used as construction fill. Problems associated with chromium waste sites include structure distress and surface and groundwater contamination.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the adsorption and desorption of chromium on soil. In order to achieve this purpose, experiments were conducted to study the effect of pH, type of chromium compound, and type of soil on adsorption and desorption.

Experiments were performed on kaolinite, bentonite and sand. In our study, it was found that sand had almost no adsorption for chromium. Kaolinite had less …

Microwave Treatment Of Organic Contaminated Soil, Suning Fan

Theses

The development of microwave technology to treat hazardous wastes hasbeen in progress at NJIT for the past three years. The initial stagesof this program have focused on determining the' breadth of hazardouswaste problems that are amenable to microwave technology applications.Benchscale studies have shown the following processes are technicallypossible:

a. It is possible to steam strip organic volatiles from soil;

b. Volatiles can be destroyed by impact upon lossy so lids

c. Heavy metal ions can be immobilized in soil;

d. It is possible to regenerate GAC on-site.

e. It is possible to pyrolyze polyarmotic compounds in soil in-site,and, thereby, effect …

Characterization Of Activated Sludge Immobilized In Calcium Alginate Gel With Respect To Biodegradation Of 2-Chlorophenol And Benzene, Manjari Singh

Theses

Activated sludges acclimated with phenol and 2-chlorophenol in one case, and a mixture of benzene, toluene, and o, in and p-xylene in another case, were characterized for biodegradation of 2-chlorophenol and benzene, respectively. Activated sludge was obtained from the Parsippany-Troy Hills Water Pollution Control Plant (NJ).

For both cases colonies were isolated before acclimation, after acclimation, and at the end of biodegradation studies. Since the unacclimated group was the same in both cases, there were a total of five different groups for which characterization was carried out.

For all the five groups together, a total of 54 isolates were obtained …

Recirculation Flow Bioreactor For The Synthesis Of Nitroxide And N-Oxide Pharmaceuticals, Douglas Lischick

Theses

An investigation of the properties of calcium alginate immobilized hog liver microsomes, rich in FAD-containing mixed function oxidase, was performed. Studies involving catalyst storage, immobilization of cofactors within the matrix, and alginate gel concentration were performed using a 1.8 ml mixed flow micro assay reactor. A recirculation flow reactor was designed and used for the biochemical production of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-oxazolidine-l-oxyl, a potentially useful MRI contrast agent.

The activity of the immobilized microsomes was found to increase over time when stored in CaCl₂ or in buffer at 4-8°C. The increase in activity is a result of the removal of inherent inhibitors …

Estimation Of Thermodynamic Properties Of Petroleum Fractions To Supplement The Aspen Simulator, Steven E. Sund

Theses

The objective of this study was to develop a method of estimating hydrocarbon pseudocomponent data in a format that is consistent with the ASPEN simulator. Although algorithms exist to estimate the pseudocomponent properties, no comprehensive program exists for the public version of ASPEN. A computer program was developed which will take a minimum of input data and can generate the necessary pure component properties for an ASPEN simulation. The program is meant to complement the ASPEN simulator, so the input is similar to ASPEN's input. The output can be incorporated directly into an ASPEN input or can be of the …

Substituent Effects On Strained Rings. Part A ; The Kinetics Of Hydrolysis Of A Quinuclidone Using Ftir. Part B, Yeu-Yi Chiu

Theses

PART A: The energies of a series of monosubstitued propane, cyclopropane and cyclopropene compounds were calculated using ab initio molecular orbital calculations optimized at the 3-21G level using Gaussian 82 and Gaussian 86 programs. The effects of substituents on stabilization energies and geometries are rationalized with respect to the parent molecules. The result is presented which indicated that for substituted cyclopropyl and cyclopropenyl compounds, most of the substituents induce stabilization except the —NC substituent group is destabilizing in cyclopropyl and cyclopropenyl systems. Indications of relative electrostatic and resonance effects are also analyzed. A linear free energy relationship has been exam-ined …

Study Of An Analytical Method For Benzo(A)Pyrene Metabolites In Human Urine, Zheng Ouyang

Theses

A method developed by Becher and Bjorseth for analysis of PAH metabolites in urine was employed to investigate human exposure to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) - an ubiquitous environmental carcinogen. Preliminary results are presented showing the relationship between exposure to BaP and urinary elimination. Although the correlation between the two variables is not statistically significant, there appears to be a positive association with selected exposure varibles such as smoking. The identification of an association may establish urinary BaP as a marker of exposure.

However, detailed study of the analytical procedure indicated that recoveries with this method were as low as 3-8% for …

Reactor Design For Hazardous Waste Treatment Using Immobilized Phanerochaete Chrysosporium, Ikram Ul Haq

Theses

The degradation of 2-Chlorophenol by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a white rot fungus, was studied in three different reactor configurations, namely a batch reactor, a chemostatic reactor with the fungus immobilized on a silica based porous biocatalyst, and a packed bed reactor utilizing balsa wood chips as packing.

Preliminary experiments indicated that the use of porous solid support improved the degradation rate in batch reactor and chemostatic reactor. However, the packed bed configuration was found to be superior, and was studied in greater detail. The apparent Michaelis-Menten kinetic constants were obtained for the packed bed reactor.

Thermal Decomposition Of 1,1,1-Thrichloroethane-Methane-Oxygen Mixture In Tubular Flow Reactor, Yo-Ping Wu

Theses

The thermal decomposition of 1,1,1-trichloroethane in methane/oxygen mixtures and argon bath gas was carried out at 1 atmosphere total pressure in a tubular flow reactors. The thermal degradation of 1,1,1-trichloroethane and methane were analyzed systematically over temperature ranges from 500 to 800°C, with average residence times in the range of 0.05 to 2.5 seconds. Five reactants ratio sets in three different size flow reactors were studied.

It was found that the complete decay (99%) of the 1,1,1-trichloroethane at 1 second residence time occurs at about 600°C for all the reactants ratio sets. The major product for 1,1,1-trichloroethane decomposition are 1,1-dichloroethylene …

Organics In Ambient Air By Collection On Tenax, Thermal Desorption,And Capillary Chromatography With Parallel Fid/Ecd Analysis, Chih-Hsiang Liao

Theses

Volatile organics in ambient air were regularly collected on Tenax cartridges at high (10 ml/min) and low (5 ml/min) intake flows. These Tenax samples were analyzed by using a Tekmar Automatic Thermal Desorber and capillary GC system with parallel flame ionization (FID) and electron capture detectors (ECD). A series of quality assurance procedures has been established to improve and assure the accuracy and precision of sample collector and analysis. These procedures relate to performance of the Tekmar thermal desorber, recovery efficiency from the Tenax, and include studies on breakthrough and co-elution. The results demonstrate (1) that from ambient air data …

Prediction And Correlation Of Liquid-Liquid Equilibria, Jose Simonetty Jr.

Theses

The NRTL, LEMF, and UNIQUAC models are used in the prediction and correlation of liquid-liquid equilibrium data for ten type I systems. The results indicate that best predictions are obtained with the LEMF equation, with an overall average absolute percentage error in distribution coefficients of 19.5 as compared to 23.0 and 24.7 with the NRTL and UNIQUAC equations, respectively. Good correlation of liquid-liquid equilibrium data alone is obtained with all three models; the LEMF equation is slightly better with an overall average absolute percentage error in distribution coefficients of 5.5 as compared to 6.7 and 5.9 for the NRTL and …

In Vitro Biocompatibility Study To Determine The Synergistic Effect Of Components For An Artificial Bone Graft Material, Levelle Elise Burr Alexander

Theses

A composite bone graft material which can induce or promote new bone growth has potential orthopaedic applications in the repair of bone defects or the stabilization of surgically implanted devices. This material should be biocompatible, have good handling properties, promote osteoinduction and/or osteoconduction and have a good shelf life. Demineralized bone matrix and bone morphogenetic protein have been demonstrated to promote osteoinduction in vitro and in vivo.

This in vitro study examined the inductive ability of an osteoinductive protein, bone morphogenetic protein, when absorbed on non-active devitalized bone matrix. In culture, fetal rat muscle was grown on powdered rabbit demineralized …

Thermal Desorption Of Hazardous And Toxic Organic Compounds From Soil Matrices, Sarah Calandra

Theses

The purpose of this research project was to determine feasiblity to remove organic contaminants from various soil matrices by thermal desorption and gas purge. The volatization and gas purge of organic contaminants from the soil increases under the influence of heat and inert gas.

The work was done in two parts. First, under isothermal conditions, organic compounds were injected as a plug unto columns that contained real or simulated soil matrices. These columns were continuously purged with a carrier gas (nitrogen) and a gas chromatogragh equipped with Flame Ionization Detector but no added column other than the soil was used …

Investigation Of Surface Formation In Abrasive Waterjet Cutting, Shy-Shyan Chen

Theses

This study is concerned with experimental and numerical investigation of the dynamics of surface generation during the impingement of the abrasive waterjet on a workpiece.

A series of erosion zones were generated by the abrasive waterjet on the polished surface of stainless steel samples. The impingement was carried out at different traverse speeds and abrasive flow rates. An optical, a scanning electron microscope and a laser displacement sensor were used to investigate the developed surface.

The microscopical examination of the surface enabled determination of the shape of asperities created by individual particles, distribution of asperities on the surface and the …

Investigation Of Benzo(A)Pyrene In Outdoor Air, Indoor Air And Personal Inhalation Air, Hsiu-Wen Chen

Theses

The assessment of human exposure to an environmental contaminant requires the measurement of the concentrations levels present in each pathway of possible contact.

This was an investigation of human exposure to an environmental pollutant, benzo(a)pyrene, in outdoor air, indoor air and personal inhalation air samples. The analytical procedure involved extraction by ultrasonic and separation by thin layer chromatography, and detection by fluorescence. The resulting data was used to develop a profile of indoor and outdoor human exposure to B(a)P during the year.

The Applicability Of Parametric Inverse Scattering For Optical Waveguides With Imperfect Boundaries, Hyoung Jin Choi

Theses

In this thesis, the applicability of an inverse scattering technique for an optical waveguide with imperfect boundaries is investigated. The inversion of imperfect boundaries of waveguides is different from usual inverse scattering algorithms because only eigenmodes can propagate in a waveguide. We suggest a parametric inversion method based on the first-order coupled mode equation. The validity and usefulness of the method are demonstrated using examples of periodic and almost periodic imperfect boundaries.

Robotic Safety Utilizing A Safety Engineering Approach, Brian Gallagher

Theses

Robotic safety is examined and explained using a safety engineering perspective. After reviewing robot fundamentals and defining the need for safety, hazard assessment and risk analysis techniques are studied. Reasons for a comprehensive robot safety program are discussed. Currently available accident statistics are examined to better understand the hazards associated with robot installations. Robotic safety procedures and methods are listed which can help reduce the severity or frequency of hazards. Various safeguarding sensors and types are analyzed for they are the "last line of defense" to reduce hazards to an acceptable level. The American Robot Safety Standard, ANSI/RIA R15.06 - …

A Decomposition Algorithm For The State Transition Lattices Of Certain Non-Product Queueing Protocols, Cheng-Kuo Hong

Theses

In this thesis, an algorithm is developed to decompose the state transition lattice of a class of non-product form queueing models. Here only the lattices of regular type A structure are considered. By applying the algorithm, the lattice is decomposed into solvable subsets which can be solved sequentially.

Modelling And Parameter Estimation In Clinical Electrooculography, Shengche Hsu

Theses

The Corneoretinal potential (CRP) was discovered in 1848. Its response to changes in light intensity can provide information relevant in the diagnosis of some retinal degenerative disorders. The indirectly measured CRP is referred to as electro-oculography (EOG). A system for automatic data acquisition and modelling, providing graphic presentation, data processing and file management, has been developed. A linear feedback model is proposed to represent the dynamics of the EOG signal. Model parameters are estimated by the nonlinear least-square method. The effect of measurement time on the reliability of parameter estimation is discussed.

An Interactive Graphics Capability For Numerical Design Optimization, Abbay P. Joshi

Theses

Hierarchical Object Oriented Program Software [HOOPS] is used here to develop an interactive graphical interface for the design optimization program CADOP5. A preprocessor provides the user with button menu options. Using various buttons like Variable Button, Obj Button, Parameter Button, etc. the user can interactively define problem variables, parameters and limits as well as interactively modify the behavior and the constraint functions. The post processor displays variable values for three consecutive design cycle in the form of bar charts. Objective function values are plotted against the number of design cycle. Using this information the user can determine if the solution …

Adaptive Subband Video Coding With Motion Compensation, Manjunatha S. Kadur

Theses

An efficient scheme for video sequence coding is presented here. The interframe redundancy present in the video sequence is exploited by motion compensation using the efficient independent orthogonal search technique, which requires least number of computations in the worst case. The motion compensated frame difference signal is encoded with a new technique — subband adaptive vector quantization.

Subband coding like transform coding results in signals of unequal energy patterns, which is efficiently utilized for bit allocation. In addition, the subband approach offers means for efficient (but suboptimal) Vector Quantization (VQ) by splitting the signal into several signals. By rate distortion …

Variations Of Alkalinity, Ph, Oxidation Reduction Potential, And Conductivity In Single And Multi-Stage Sludge Digestion Systems, Nasser M. Kamazani

Theses

Anaerobic digestion is used at many municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. Recent increase in the cost of energy and search for an alternative source of energy for the future have prompted renewed interest in anaerobic digestion for energy recovery by production of methane from waste materials, including wastewater sludges and agricultural and municipal solid wastes. Accordingly, a large literature exist on the subject, most of it dealing with more physical aspects of different process design. Little or not enough attention has been paid to its highly complex biochemical characteristics.

The purpose of this study is a preliminary investigation regarding …

Output Feedback Applied To Observer Based Controller, Nainn-Ping Ke

Theses

This thesis presented the results of an investigation on the stability robustness issues of the Infinite-horizon linear-quadratic-Gaussian (IH-LQG) control system design methodology. The goal of this research deals with the design of Observer based controller using Output Feedback (00F), and this is a new method to solve estimation problems. The primary difference of this method from others is that the estimator is considered as a system. The results of this research shows that the optimal output feedback control law and the optimal state estimator can be designed by the optimal output feedback control method, and shows that the OOF Weighting …

The Kinetics Of Degradation Of 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane And 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane In A Photoreactor Using Ozone, Hydrogen-Peroxide And Ultraviolet Radiation, Yuan-Shen Li

Theses

The experiments to oxidize the refractory chemicals, 1,2- Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichlotoethane and 1,1,2,2- Tetrachloroethane using Ozone, Hydrogen Peroxide and Ultraviolet Radiation have been conducted in a ss-304 photoreactor. The reaction kinetic models have been proposed and through the experiments we demonstrate that these models for these compounds perfectly. Analysis is done by gas chromatograph for the substrate concentration and the gas/liquid mass transfer coefficients are calculated. The reaction late constants are determined by use of the Rosenbrock Hillclimb Optimization Algorithm in conjunction with the Fourth-Order Runge- Kutta method on a digital computer. By comparing the effects of O₃,O_{3 …}

User Interactive Compensation For Si/So Systems Via Root-Locus, Shih-Mim Liu

Theses

A powerful computer-aided root-locus method is described and applied to the compensation for SI/SO systems. The approach is based on the concept of continuation methods in which the solution of a parameterized family of algebraic problems is converted into the solution of a differential equation and incorporates the quadratic synthetic division technique. The root-locus is obtained in a systematic manner by numerical integration. Breakaway points are analyzed and classified according to the properties of higher order derivatives. A Turbo Pascal(4.0) program which utilizes the algorithm has been written.

Red Blood Cell Deformability Testing By Using A Rheological Method, Zhenglei Ma

Theses

A rheological model of blood has been used for testing red cell deformability. The result of the testing is characterized by five parameters of the model. We suggested that the rheological behavior of blood is affected by red cell deformability. The result of the parameter C of the model, which is the kinetic rate constant of the structural breakdown of rouleaux into individual erythrocytes induced by shearing, from decreased red cell deformability group higher than that from normal control group lead to a criterion for separating normal subjects from decreased red cell deformability. The easy experiment method of using whole …