Digital Commons Network^™

The Advantages Of Affiliation With A Multibank Holding Company, Corey Freije

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Economic Analysis Of Costs Incurred From Chemical Exposures In The Workplace Resulting In Non-Carcinogenic Responses As Additional Justification For Pollution Prevention Projects, Michael L. Forcht, Timothy D. Neu

Theses and Dissertations

This research determines the applicability of using costs associated with chemical exposures in the workplace for financial justification of pollution prevention projects. Specifically, this thesis looks at costs incurred due to noncarcinogenic effects caused by chemical exposures. Average costs are determined through researching applicable statistical cost data. Acute effects are analyzed using an analysis of available statistical accident data from multiple sources. Expected values are then calculated based upon the projected cost of an accident and the probability of having an accident. Chronic effects are analyzed using an empirical analysis. A risk assessment is used to determine the likelihood of …

Impact Of Changes In Ocean Freight Rates On United States Rice Exports, Jorge Alfonso Alarcon

Theses and Dissertations

The direction and magnitude of the future world rice market is of vital consideration for the rice industries of both exporting and importing countries. Many studies have analyzed the international rice trade; however, there has been no published research that attempted to examine the effects of ocean freight rates on international rice trade. The major objective of this study was to analyze the effects of ocean freight rates on the flows, supplies, demands, and prices of world rice shipments. A reactive programming model, within a spatial equilibrium analysis framework, was developed to obtain equilibrium level estimates of the variables mentioned …

Photochemical And Spectroscopic Studies Of Citric Acid And Selected Alphahydroxydi- And Tricarboxylic Acid Complexes Of Iron(Iii)., Ahmad Rezvani

Theses and Dissertations

The overall objective of this work was: (1) to determine the chemistry of organic acids formic, acetic, succinic, malic, tartaric, isocitric, and citric acid in the photoinduced-reduction of iron(III) to iron(II), and (2) to determine some of the factors influencing the quantum yield for production of iron(II) from iron(III) in the presence of citric acid.It was shown that the quantum yields for photoreduction of iron(III) to iron(II) in the presence of the selected organic acids acid depends on the structure and concentration of the carboxylate ligand as well as the pH of the solution. The quantum yields for the photoreduction …

Self-Selecting Literature: A Qualitative Study In A Sixth-Grade Classroom., Dale L. Sakrison

Theses and Dissertations

Self-selection of literature, one of the foundations of whole language philosophy, has received increased attention in recent years. It was the intent of this study to examine questions related to the practice of allowing students in a sixth grade classroom to select their own reading material in a literature-based reading program. The books, authors, and genre selected by the students in the study were identified. In addition, the difficulty level of material selected, the selection techniques used by students, and influences upon the book selections were also studied.The study was conducted in a self-contained, sixth grade classroom with fourteen students. …

Use Of Chlorine For Removal Of Fish Pathogens From Garrison Diversion Water, David Bruschwein

Theses and Dissertations

Chlorination is a water treatment process that involves the addition of chlorine to water to kill potentially disease causing organisms. This process is referred to as disinfection.

The objective of this project was to perform a preliminary cost estimate on the disinfection of fish pathogens by chlorination of Garrison Diversion Unit waters. The cost estimate was used to find the most economical chlorination option. The cost estimate used cost curves developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 1979 that are updated to current price levels. Because of possible harm to the aquatic environment by chlorine, a cost estimate …

The Effects Of Time Of Testing And Elevated Blood Glucose On Cognitive Performance., Mark Randolph Hill

Theses and Dissertations

Previous findings have suggested that glucose may enhance performance on memory tasks in rats and humans. However, other studies have shown that the effects of carbohydrates may vary by the time of their ingestion. The present investigation examined accuracy and latencies on a semantic task performed in the morning or evening and under two levels of blood glucose. The task consisted of three subtests. In the first subtest, subjects discerned the physical differences between word pairs. In the second subtest, they looked for word matches, regardless of typographical case. On the third subtest, subjects compared words for membership in the …

Potentials To Increase The Supply Of Mathematics And Science Teachers: An Examination Of A Cohort., Richard Dennis Balsley

Theses and Dissertations

This country has a great need for qualified high school mathematics and science teachers. The shortage has been attributed to low pay and low public esteem for teachers among other factors. To meet the need for these teachers, perhaps consideration should be given to students and to former students who majored in mathematics or one of the sciences while in college. A central purpose of the present study was to learn about these cohorts.The study reports the results of a survey of students and alumni from a single, medium-sized, public university--the University of North Dakota--who majored in mathematics or one …

Application Of Sequence Comparison Methods To Multisensor Data Fusion And Target Recognition, Edmund W. Libby

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses methods for exploiting the joint likelihood of observed kinematic and nonkinematic (sensor signature) physical events to improve dynamic object and target recognition. A principal direction is the application of dynamic programming sequence comparison techniques to condition matching of object signatures to known models according to observed kinematics. A second direction is the application of kinematic/aspect-angle Kalman filter trackers to condition kinematic tracking according to observed signatures. These conditioning processes dramatically reduce ambiguity in object recognition, and can be used together or separately to allow computation of a posterior probabilities of object class membership using Bayesian methods. Proposals …

Comparison Of A Distributed Kalman Filter Versus A Centralized Kalman Filter With Fault Detection Considerations, Paul J. Lawrence Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This project examined the results obtained by simulating an aircraft navigation system with a partial complement of a typical avionics sensor array. Two different techniques of estimation processes were utilized and compared: the conventional Kalman and the federated filter architectures. Areas of interest include error state estimation accuracy and overall performance, residual behavior under normal and induced sensor failure conditions, and potential for failure detection and isolation. Several simulations were accomplished for each filter design and the results were compared in order to verify the validity of the newly developed federated filter architecture. Comparison of the error state estimation accuracies …

Effects Of Mood Induction On The Visual Attention Of The Dysphoric And The Nondysphoric., Griffith Robert Matthews

Theses and Dissertations

Matthews and Antes (1992) tested the hypothesis that dysphoric people possess a negative attentional bias while the nondysphoric possess a positive attentional bias. They found that both dysphoric and nondysphoric subjects fixated regions of dual-mood pictorial stimuli rated happy more often, longer, and sooner than regions of the stimuli rated sad. It was also found that the dysphoric fixated sad regions more often than did the nondysphoric. The present study was an attempt to replicate and extend these findings by employing the Velten Mood Induction Procedure to induce sad, elated, and neutral mood in dysphoric and nondysphoric subjects. It was …

Experimental And Analytical Analysis Of The Response Of A Smart Beam To Rate Feedback, Terance J. Hoffman

Theses and Dissertations

A smart beam with embedded sensors and actuators was analyzed and tested. The smart beam studied was constructed from graphite and epoxy with piezoceramic actuators and NiTiNOL sensors embedded. It was mounted vertically and subjected to transverse dynamic loading at the free end. Analytic expressions for the open loop and closed loop response (using strain rate feedback control) of the beam (including internal damping) to external forcing were derived in detail. Experimental testing of the beam verified the accuracy of the predicted open loop response.

Experimental Investigation Of The Effects Of Blowing Ratio Parameter On Heat Transfer To A Film-Cooled Flat Plate, Marco R. Valencia

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of blowing ratio on film cooling effectiveness were investigated. Two round-nosed test plates were used. One made of aluminum and the second of corian (low thermal conductivity). Injection at 35 degrees in the downstream direction was studied. Helium was mixed with air to produce a density ratio (coolant to mainstream) of 1.6 and 2.0, while the blowing ratio varied from 0.3 to 2.2. Surface temperature was measured by thin film gages located up to a nondimensional downstream distance X/D of 30. Two injection regimes, weak and strong, were found. In the weak regime, film cooling reduced gage heat …

A Comparison Of Computational And Experimental Data For A Subscale High Speed Propulsive Nozzle At Low Mach Numbers, Yonghee Hyun

Theses and Dissertations

This computational study of a hypersonic sub-scale nozzle/cowl configuration compares numerical solutions with experimental data for nozzle performance at off design conditions (subsonic through supersonic Mach numbers. A combination of Van Leer and Roe flux-splitting algorithms was used to solve the flow field. The explicit formulation assumed laminar planar flow and the perfect gas equation of state. A validation for the numerical algorithm was accomplished by comparing with experimental data for a variety of cases. Grid refinement, geometry, and operating conditions all influenced the comparison of the experimental and computational data. Generally, as the Mach number and nozzle pressure ratio …

Anns An X Window Based Version Of The Afit Neural Network Simulator, Ching-Seh Wu

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents an X Window based neural network simulation environment developed at Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) using the techniques of modern software engineering. This artificial neural network simulator is a tool running on Sun SPARCstations and supporting two user modes: end-users and client-programmers. End-users interact with neural network paradigms developed by client-programmers for the purpose of studying and analyzing the execution of a particular Neural Network (NN) paradigm, or class of NN algorithms. Client programmers maintain the system and use this environment for the development of new NN paradigms or algorithms for end-users. The development follows a …

Development Of An Air-To-Air Refueling Automatic Flight Control System Using Quantitative Feedback Theory, Dennis W. Trosen

Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative Feedback Theory and the improved method Quantitative Feedback Theory are enhanced to include the rejection of disturbance at the system output. The enhanced Quantitative Feedback Theory and improved method Quantitative Feedback Theory processes are applied to the design of an automatic flight control system to regulate position of the C-135B fuel receiving aircraft relative to the tanker during air-to-air refueling. A simple feedback control system is developed that will achieve stable position regulation. State-space aircraft models &re generated. An inner loop autopilot is designed to reduce the plant cutoff frequency and provide the system inputs for the Quantitative Feedback …

A Decision Criteria To Select An Associative-Memory Organization That Minimizes The Execution Time Of A Mix Of Associative-Search Operations, David W. Banton

Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation develops a decision criteria to select an associative-memory organization that minimizes the execution time of a mix of associative-search operations and a decision criteria to estimate the layout dimensions of each organization for a specified memory size. The dissertation reclassifies Feng's associative-search operations into three hardware-influenced categories: bit-position independent (BPI), record-content independent (RCI); bit-position dependent (BPD), RCI; and BPD, record-content dependent (RCD). It develops a relationship between the categories and three associative-memory organizations: the CAM, the bit-serial word-parallel associative memory (BSWPAM) , and the extreme-search associative memory (ESAM). A version of the CAM, three versions of the BSWPAM, …

Radome Depolarization Effects On Monopulse Receiver Tracking Performance, Michael A. Temple

Theses and Dissertations

Boresight Error (BSE), defined as the angular deviation between the true position and the apparent position of a target as indicated by a radar, is an important figure of merit for a tracking radar. A significant contributor to system BSE is the protective radome. This research effort employed a GO technique to investigate the effects of a radome on BSE, expanding previous ray- trace receive techniques to include: (1) a uniquely defined/developed mathematical description for each surface within arbitrary multi-layer tapered radomes, (2) an 'ideal' taper function concept for obtaining optimum BSE prediction performance, (3) a generalized technique for calculating …

Phased Array Antenna Analysis Using Hybrid Finite Element Methods, Daniel T. Mcgrath

Theses and Dissertations

This research in computational electromagnetics developed a new method for predicting the near-field mutual coupling effects in phased array antennas, using the finite element method (FEM) in combination with integral equations. Accurate feed modeling is accomplished by enforcing continuity between the FEM solution and an arbitrary number of wave guide models across a ground plane aperture. A periodic integral equation is imposed above the antenna's physical structure in order to enforce the radiation condition and to confine the analysis to an array unit cell. The electric field is expanded in terms of vector finite elements, and Galerkin's method is used …

Linear Characteristic Spatial Quadrature For Discrete Ordinates Neutral Particle Transport On Arbitrary Triangles, Dennis J. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

A new discrete ordinates spatial quadrature for arbitrary triangular cells is derived and compared to its rectangular cell linear characteristic counterpart. The triangular mesh is more flexible, allowing curved surfaces and off-axis angles to be approximated with many fewer spatial cells. The triangle method is consistently more accurate on example problems tested here. Arbitrary orientation and size of the triangles allow non-patterned meshes to be developed which appears to ameliorate numerical diffusion. The triangle linear characteristic quadrature converges at nearly the same rate as rectangular Linear characteristic on Lathrop's problem. Mesh sensitivity measurements show large variations in triangle vertex locations …

A Modern Isaiah: Henry A. Wallace And The 1948 Presidential Campaign., Allan Chandler Young

Theses and Dissertations

Henry Agar Wallace (1888-1965), a native of Iowa, served as Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Agriculture from 1933 to 1941 and as Vice President of the United States from 1941 to 1945. FDR personally liked and trusted Wallace and made Wallace his liaison with the very small committee that set top policy for building of the first atomic bomb. Nevertheless, the Democratic National Convention of 1940 accepted him as the Vice Presidential nominee only reluctantly, at Roosevelt's insistence, and, in 1944, concerned about his own re-election chances, the President concluded that the Iowan would not again be his running mate.The …

Parables For Long Knives. (Original Writing)., Gordon Donald Henry Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Parables for Long Knives is a creative work which includes short stories, poems, mini-dramas and farcical essays on life in a mythological American Indian community in the Midwest. The work finds literary direction from Native oral traditions and culture, Midwest tribal histories, contemporary tribal issues and lifestyle, and personal experiences in Indian and non-Indian communities. In addition, parts of this work employ oblique allusions to American and English literature past and present.

Elementary Student Teaching: Patterns Of Concerns., Shirley Jean Aafedt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the patterns of expressed concerns of elementary student teachers. The questions which guided this study were: (1) What are the concerns of elementary student teachers during their experiences? (2) Are there common patterns demonstrated in the data? If so, do they change over time? (3) Do the patterns match one or more of the theories of stage development for student teaching?The principal method of investigation was a qualitative analysis of journals written by 12 student teachers. Informal interviews were conducted with the student teachers to clarify their journal entries. The patterns of …

Catholic High School Students: Better Prepared For The Future?, Michael Patrick Depuglio

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Adult Children Of Victims Of Alzheimer's Disease And Related Disorders Towards Their Well-Being , Commnity Support, Knowledge Of The Disease, Decision-Making And Family Relationships, Marilyn H. Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Coal Water Slurry Combustion In A Simulated Diesel Engine Cylinder, Allan Robert Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

Uncertainty about the reliability of the imported oil supply to the United States has led to research into alternative sources for domestic energy needs. Because of the relative abundance of coal reserves in the United States, much of this research has focused on developing methods of using coal for fuel where oil products have traditionally been used. This thesis reports results of a study to determine the suitability of using coal water slurry fuels in diesel engine operation.

The primary focus of this study was to determine if the ignition and combustion characteristics of a coal water slurry are comparable …

The Motivations For Meaning: A Study Of Persuasive Appeals In Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, Lawrence Arthur Lannoo

Theses and Dissertations

In 1976, one of the most violent and controversial films of that decade was released in American movie theaters. The film, Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, was heralded by some film scholars as a masterpiece.

However, others criticized the film for its graphic presentation of urban violence. This criticism intensified when John Hinckley, Jr. attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981, apparently motivated by his love for a character in the film, played by Jodie Foster.

The director of Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese, responded to the criticisms of the violence in his film. He suggested that he was not trying …

Divining Place In The Manawaka Fiction Of Margaret Laurence: A Study Of The Five Female Protagonists, Shirley Vaughn Greves

Theses and Dissertations

The problem to be explored is to discover the reason(s) some of her readers find connections to place in the Manawaka fiction of Margaret Laurence. The problem also includes the determination of the meaning of place to Laurence, her female characters, and her readers, both casual and critical.

This exploration includes the examination of her five Manawaka works of fiction, the review of critical analyses of her work, a consideration of reader-response and feminist theories, and a visit to Neepawa, Manitoba, the physical place after which the fictional Manawaka is modeled.

Laurence defines place by geography and people. The physical …

Transmission Of 17 Ghz Microwaves Through Metglas* 2605sc At 296 K, Carlo Waldfried

Theses and Dissertations

A new apparatus was built to study the transmission properties of microwaves through ferromagnetic metals. Experiments were done at room temperature with samples of Metglas* 2605SC 22 μm thick and the results were compared with the theoretical model. The microwaves were generated by a dielectric resonant oscillator and coupled into an (input) cavity which was tuned to resonate at 16.95 GHz. The specimen was part of the common wall between two identical resonant cavities, the second cavity being the receiver. The sample-field configuration was chosen in such a way that the static and the microwave magnetic field were perpendicular to …

Factors Affecting The Disclosure Of Child Sexual Abuse, Renae A. Broden

Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that the identification and subsequent treatment of child sexual abuse victims often rests on the ability of the child to disclose the abuse. However, many victims never disclose sexual abuse, thereby increasing the potential for long-term victimization during childhood. There is a pressing need for information regarding factors which facilitate disclosure and factors which hinder this process, so that strategies can be developed to address the pervasive problem of child sexual abuse.

In this study, information regarding sexual abuse incidents and the disclosure of the abuse was obtained through a questionnaire completed by 71 adult survivors of child …