Digital Commons Network^™

Exercising Real Unit Operational Options Under Price Uncertainty, Chung-Li Tseng

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we use the real options framework to value the operation flexibility of a power plant. The power plant operation is formulated as a multi-stage stochastic problem. We assume that there are hourly spot markets for both electricity and the fuel used by the generator, and that their prices follow some Ito processes. At each hour, the power plant operator must decide whether or not to run the unit so as to maximize expected profit. However, the unit operation is subject to decision lead times and minimum uptime and downtime constraints, so the commitment decision must take into …

Dolomitization And Dolomite Neomorphism: Trenton And Black River Limestones (Middle Ordovician) Northern Indiana, U.S.A., M. I N Chan, Jay M. Gregg, Kevin L. Shelton

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Trenton and Black River Limestones are dolomitized extensively along the axis of the Kankakee Arch in Indiana, with the proportion of dolomite decreasing to the south and southeast of the arch. Planar and nonplanar dolomite replacement textures and rhombic (type 1) and saddle (type 2) void-filling dolomite cements are present. Three stages of dolomitization, involving different fluids, are inferred on the basis of petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the dolomites. Nonferroan planar dolomite has relatively high δ18O values (-1.8 to -6.1‰ PDB) and has ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0.70833 to 0.70856) that overlap those of Middle Ordovician seawater. …

Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods In Cash Flow Testing Simulations, Michael Gene Hilgers

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

What actuaries call cash flow testing is a large-scale simulation pitting a company''s current policy obligation against future earnings based on interest rates. While life contingency issues associated with contract payoff are a mainstay of the actuarial sciences, modeling the random fluctuations of US Treasury rates is less studied. Furthermore, applying standard simulation techniques, such as the Monte Carlo method, to actual multi-billion dollar companies produce a simulation that can be computationally prohibitive. In practice, only hundreds of sample paths can be considered, not the usual hundreds of thousands one might expect for a simulation of this complexity. Hence, insurance …

Controlled Comparison Of Emergency Department Charting Software With A Case Simulation Comparator Model, Kirt Walker, Sridhar Rajappan, Todd R. Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Abbreviated Injury Scale (Ais) And International Classification Of Diseases In Severe Trama Patients, Noriaki Aoki, Molly C. Shek, Todd R. Johnson, Martin A. Shreiber, John B. Holcomb, Matthew J. Wall, Richard W. Cone, Robert Beck

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Population Status And Distribution Of The Harbor Seal In Rhode Island Waters, Cheryl L. Schroeder

Open Access Master's Theses

The population of harbor seals has increased in Maine and Massachusetts since bounty hunting was discontinued in the 1960s and the advent of the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1972. Little is known about the migrant population of harbor seals in southern New England. Until recently, only one long-duration census survey and occasional counts have recorded the number of harbor seals in Rhode Island waters. Since 1993, regular surveys of the locations where harbor seals come ashore or haul out semi-diurnally have provided the first estimates of local harbor seal abundance and distribution.

The western Atlantic harbor seal, Phoca vitulina …

Nutritional Therapies For Ulcerative Colitis: Literature Review, Chart Review Study, And Future Research, Joel S. Edman, William (Bill) H. Williams, Robert C. Atkins

Publications and Research

Few clinical studies suggest a significant influence of diet or nutritional supplementation on ulcerative colitis. One reason is that ulcerative colitis, like many chronic diseases, is multifactorial. This article reviews the relevant literature and presents the results of a retrospective chart review study that was done at a complimentary medicine office.

Plastic Manufacturing Process Selection Methodology Using Self-Organizing Map (Som)/Fuzzy Analysis, R. Raviwongse, Venkat Allada, T. Sandidge

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For plastic products, one of the crucial decisions made during the preliminary design stage is the selection of an appropriate manufacturing process. In many industries, the selection of the manufacturing process is primarily based on the empirical knowledge and past experience of the manufacturing personnel. This selection procedure may result in inconsistent or poor choices if the manufacturing personnel fail to map correctly the product characteristics with the manufacturing efficacy of various manufacturing processes. This paper presents an intelligent self-organizing map (SOM)/fuzzy-based model to aid designers in the selection of an appropriate plastic manufacturing process. The plastic part attributes are …

Inappropriate Medication Use In An Elderly Nursing Home Population, Jyotsna Dhall

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: This study was designed to study the inappropriate medication utilization in patients aged 65 years or older residing in a long term care facility; to examine patterns in the use of inappropriate medications during the stay in the facility; and to determine predictors of inappropriate medication use.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Methods: We used the Systematic Assessment of Geriatric Drug Use via Epidemiology (SAGE) database that includes data from all Medicaid/Medicare certified nursing homes located in 5 US states. We examined data collected with the federally mandated Minimum Data Set along with the sociodemographic, clinical and …

Relative Impact Of Various Sources Of Pharmacokinetic And Pharmacodynamic Variability On Warfarin Response, Shashikanth Gannu

Open Access Master's Theses

Warfarin is widely used oral anticoagulant and its pharrnacokinetic (PK) and pharrnacodynamic (PD) properties have been extensively studied. It has a narrow therapeutic index and displays poor quality of treatment due to its complex pharmacology and wide inter and intraindividual variability in the dose-response relationship.

This study developed an integrated PK-PD model using STELLA® to describe the dose concentration- effect relationship for warfarin. This model used previously reported\ population PK and PD models and parameter values to generate dose-response data. A one compartment stereo-specific semi-physiological PK model with zero-order drug input was linked to an indirect PD model describing the …

Dan Cooper, American Designer (1901-1965), Diane Joyce Montenegro

Open Access Master's Theses

Dan Cooper (1901-1965) merits greater attention than he has received for his contributions to twentieth-century American interior design. During his forty-one-year career, he was a keen observer of changes in American society and was in the vanguard of interior designers offering attractive and usable products.

From 1924 to 1965, Cooper decorated the interiors of large private residences, hotels, public spaces, government housing projects, and corporate headquarters as well as several modes of transport. He helped validate his chosen profession by setting standards and advocating solid business practices. He offered furniture, fabrics, and accessories for almost every pocket book.

With an …

The Impact Of Decision Making On Tourism And The Environment In St. Kitts, William Rodney Gerdsen

Open Access Master's Theses

The wider Caribbean region is at a critical juncture in its development as a tourism dependent regional economy. After more than twenty years of outstanding growth in tourist arrivals and foreign currency earning, the prospects for continued growth depends on maintaining the pristine environment on which tourism has come to rely. However, with more tourists comes increased pressure on the finite natural resources. It is ironic that the tourism industry has become one of the biggest causes of environmental decay and stands to be one of its first victims.

In planning to develop an island economy based on tourism, it …

The Colors And Shadows Of My Word(S), Lydia A. Saravia

Open Access Master's Theses

If I find my voice, I will find my identity. Voice gives identity meaning. The acquisition of language (voice) means an acquisition of subjectivity (identity). A search for an identity is a search for voice. But formation of identity is difficult when multiple layers of subjectivity are to be considered: the layer of dual culture, in this case Guatemala and the United States, the layer of an urban environment, the layer of a working-class status, the layer of being female, which are all major players in the development of voice. To make sense of, and find a voice for, a …

Analysis Of A Traffic Diversion Strategy Using Corism Traffic Micro-Simulation Software, Daniel Ryan Abedon

Open Access Master's Theses

Throughout the United States metropolitan area freeways are operating at or near capacity. Any disturbance in the traffic flow on these freeways, planned or unplanned, can result in varying degrees of congestion. Incident management programs have been established in urban areas nationwide to help reduce the magnitude of incident induced congestion. These programs focus mainly on the incident identification and response stage, and have only recently begun to develop the tools and techniques needed to manage the recovery stage. One technique that has been becoming more widely employed, with the increased focus incident management and overall traffic systems management, is …

Needs Assessment Of Vietnamese Students And Families At Santa Teresa High School, Lynh T. Ngo

Master's Projects

No abstract provided.

Simple Ensemble-Averaging Model Based On Generalized Regression Neural Network In Financial Forecasting Problems, Cihan H. Dagli, Parinya Disorntetiwat

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Introduces an ensemble-averaging model based on a GRNN (generalized regression neural network) for financial forecasting. The model trains all input individually using GRNNs and uses a simple ensemble-averaging committee machine to improve the accuracy performance. In a financial problem, there are many different factors that can effect the asset price movement at different times. An experiment is implemented in two different data sets, S&P 500 index and currency exchange rate. The predictive abilities of the model are evaluated on the basis of root mean squared error, standard deviation and percent direction correctness. The study shows a promising result of the …

Strategy Planning For Technological Discontinuities In A Changing Regulatory Environment, William Ralph Kehr, Halvard E. Nystrom

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper describes an approach to the analysis of publicly available financial data for individual industries. These methods enable the analyst to assess past practices and the historical rate of technological diffusion during the transition period of discontinuous technological change. This assessment can provide a basis of comparison for current changes in their industry. These methods are applied to small rural telephone companies during the period of 1960 to 1996. Annual data is presented detailing the change from aerial distribution cable to buried cable by the roughly 600 rural telephone companies financed through loans from the Rural Utilities Services, a …

A Comparative Study Of The Compression Strength Of Corrugated Shipping Containers And Corrugated Board, Based On Different Corrugation Directions, Richard Curatalo

Theses

This study evaluates compression damage to corrugated shipping containers used in the small parcel delivery system. A client is experiencing an unacceptable level of end-to-end compression resistance during shipment through small parcel companies, while never experiencing any top-to-bottom compression damage. According to small parcel company workers, there is a need for more end-to-end compression strength in corrugated shipping containers. This study examines the effect of corrugation direction on corrugated shipping containers and corrugated board. Box compression testing (BCT) is performed on regular-slotted containers with different corrugation directions. Edgewise compression testing (ECT) is also used in comparing the compression strengths of …

Evaluation Of Environmental, Health And Safety Management At Small Colleges, Ann Rippe

Theses

Environmental, health and safety management approaches and practices at small colleges are investigated. Awareness of environmental, health and safety initiatives among colleges is also investigated. Surveys were distributed to twelve colleges that accepted an invitation to participate in this study. The colleges were divided into two groups: an experimental group that consisted of small colleges that had made an envirpnmental claim or commitment and a control group that consisted of small colleges that were not known to have made such a claim or commitment. The results did not reveal a significant difference between the experimental and control group colleges that …

Migration From Client/Server Architecture To Internet Computing Architecture, Fauzan Ahmad

Theses

The Internet Computing Architecture helps in providing a object-based infrastructure that can be used by the application developers to design, develop, and deploy the ntiered enterprise applications and services. For years of distributed application development, the Internet Computing Architecture has helped in providing various techniques and infrastructure software for the successful deployment of various systems, and established a foundation for the promotion of re-use and component oriented development. Object-oriented analysis is at the beginning of this architecture, which is carried through deploying and managing of finished systems. This architecture is multi-platform, multi-lingual, standards-based, and open that offers unparalleled integration capability. …

Comparative Analysis Of Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate Data: Mocon Vs. Usp, Anthony Maiola

Theses

The primary objective of this study was to directly compare two distinctly diverse package moisture permeation test methods. The two methods that were compared were the USP <671> Containers Permeation: Single Unit Container and Unit Dose Containers for Capsules and Tablets and the MOCON Modulated Infrared Sensor Method (ASTM F 1249). The tests generate a value known as an MVTR (Moisture Vapor Transmission Rate) value. The focus of this study was to determine whether there is a significant statistical difference between results of the two methods, specifically for unit dose blister packaging. Since MVTR is a package integrity characteristic, it is …

Traditional Classroom Versus Distance Learning Approaches In Providing Eduactaion For Students At The College Of Applied Science And Technology At Rit, Ryan Griske

Theses

This thesis discusses the current controversial issue of traditional classroom vs. distance learning approaches in higher education institutions using a case study in the College of Applied Science and Technology at RIT. The most important question addressed in the thesis is, "Are distance learning methods effective for addressing university-level learning goals?" (Kathleen Davey, 1999, p. 45). There are currently many disputes between educational researchers on this issue. The first four chapters cover details of the proposal stage as previously approved by the Thesis Committee. Chapter One briefly introduces this issue and several important terms used throughout the thesis (e.g., distance …

Sustainability And The Next Industrial Revolution: A Revolutionary Approach, Sarah Nesbitt-Rutkowski

Theses

The concept of the Next Industrial Revolution is relatively new. Information regarding this topic is not mainstream. There is little literature on how design, and the scientific principles, outlined in the Natural Step, are interconnected within the concept of the Next Industrial Revolution. In this thesis, I explore the big picture of where companies are today regarding sustainability issues, and how some companies are taking the lead in participating in this revolutionary new idea of the Next Industrial Revolution. How are these companies different? What are the similarities? Why and when do some companies choose to take revolutionary approaches, while …

A Study Discussing The Future Outlook Of Reits After The Reit Modernization Act, Amit Verma

Theses

Real Estate Investment Trust, which originated in 1960, gained popularity since 1991, when a large number of real estate companies went public. Paired Share structure, has been underscored throughout this thesis, as the whole research was limited to few companies named Starwood, Patriot American, Meditrust, and First Union who used this structure aggressively to acquire corporations. Paired Share REIT Structure refers to the REIT and a C-corporation being traded together under one symbol in the stock market. So, the investors get the combined profits from both the companies, which makes this structure extremely popular among the shareholders. Paired Share REIT …

Protocol And Etiquette For Doing Business In Italy, Howard Dixon

Theses

This project builds a basic knowledge for the business traveler visiting Italy about protocol and cultural awareness. For those who have not been to Italy or lived there, this guide will enlighten those contemplating a trip to Italy and advise them about what to expect. The protocol and cultural characteristics will be addressed. This will include: country familiarization, culture differences, cultural awareness, language briefing, social dos and don'ts, business practices, procedures and knowledge of business in Italy. In addition, this project builds added awareness from several seasoned travelers. Each of these travelers have spent considerable time doing business in Italy. …

The Tale Of The Firefly, Weerana Talodsuk

Theses

This thesis describes the idea conception, story formulation, technical details, and presentation of a computer animated film entitled "The tale of the firefly". The story was produced in 2D animation, then composed into sequences in AfterEffects, then rendered to a Quick Time movie as an individual clip. Sound and music will be recorded and edited with SoundEdit 16 and Deck II. Finally, images and sound editing will be done on an AVID station and then transferred to SVHS videotape.

Oculoplastic Surgery, Curtis W. Perone

Theses

Not Included

Mechanical Supported Adaptable Wing, Cory Pike

Theses

There are several advantages to the incorporation of an adaptable wing on an aircraft. Among these are increased fuel efficiency, greater maneuverability, and an improved ability to negotiate adverse conditions. This thesis explores the concept of a mechanically supported adaptable wing, where the supports are in the form of virtual spars running lengthwise along a wing of uniform cross-section. With no cross-sectional support to the wing, the skin spanning the area between the virtual spars experiences a certain amount of deflection due to the various aerodynamic forces acting on the wing. This thesis develops a process for optimizing (minimizing) the …

Electro-Optic Spectral Tuning Of A Periodically Poled Linbo₃ Optical Parametric Oscillator And Generator, Ned Francis O'Brien

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Theory And Research In Social Education, Volume 28, No. 2, Spring 2000, E. Wayne Ross

Theory and Research in Social Education

No abstract provided.