Digital Commons Network^™

Scientific Visualization Of Bioheat Process/ Rosnani Ramin, Ramen Rosnani

Student Works (2000-2009)

Development in visualization technology is changing the way science is undertaken in many areas of research. This project is a system specifically designed to manage and visualize the temperature data of the human body. Knowledge in certain domains is very important in developing the visualization of bioheat process system. There are two main areas of research needed to carry out in order to marks the whole project succeed, research on the visualization program tools and research on the bioheat process in the human body. As the result of research, MATLAB was chosen to be the core-programming tool. An important aspect …

Hybrid System For Botany Recognition/ Yew Kok Weng, Kok Weng Yew

Student Works (2000-2009)

Hybrid System for Botany Recognition is a system that aims to be use as a botany expert system to aid students or other used of botanical field on plant identification. It contain a leaf recognition module where the system will be recognized a leaf template image and identify the features, fuzzy logic module that refine the recognition module's output data and an image database consist of the detail of species build based on Case Based Reasoning concept. This project proposal contains mainly the leaf recognition module. It contains a study of the current recognition technology, including both image processing field …

Smart Transducer Interface Module (Main State Machine Vhdl) / Marina Haryati Mohammad, Haryati Mohammad Marina

Student Works (2000-2009)

This project is about the development of Smart Transducer Interface Module in hardware. The IEEE1451.2 smart sensor approach specifies a 'plug and play' capability in a transducer module, which is achieved through transducer electronic data sheet (TEDS). It specifies a digital interface to access TEDS and transducer are defined. This STIM will be implemented using VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL). Peak FPGA software. This report will comprise the ST1M phase from the design phase of main state machine until the end of testing phase.

Java Tutor / Shanmuganathan Supramaniam, Supramaniam Shanmuganathan

Student Works (2000-2009)

This documentation is an exercise submitted to the Faculty of Science Computer and Information Technology (FSCIT), University of Malaya as a report for the final year project and also as a fulfillment to Computer Science Degree Program in University of Malaya. In this document, it will explain about the Java Tutor project in detail. Java Tutor is a web-based courseware that is developed for anyone who is interested in learning Java programming language The Waterfall model with prototyping is used to develop Java Tutor system because it is simple and easy to understand. The programming language operation system, web server, …

The Car Parking Simulator / Hong Lai Chin, Lai Chin Hong

Student Works (2000-2009)

As a fulfillment to our Computer Science Degree Program in University of Malaya, all undergraduates students are required to accomplish a final year project (thesis) which is divided into 2 parts; there are thesis I and thesis II. In this semester, all undergraduate need to finish their thesis part I follow by thesis part II. The purpose or final year project is to let the undergraduate to put all theoretical knowledge learnt in past two years into practical before going to work. It is also as a scale to measure how much they learnt and put into practice. I have …

Molecular Visualization / Foong Yee Peng, Yee Peng Foong

Student Works (2000-2009)

There are many programs for molecular visualization such as RasMol, Quanta, GRASP, SETOR. Amira, etc. They all perform many of the same basic tasks; they read in molecular structure data, perform some analysis, and display the results Visualization programs usually analyze the data to display some aspects of it, while programs for analysis often return their results as detailed textual information. As visualization and analysis tasks become more complex and the expectations for programs continues to rise, it has become crucial to build a powerful molecular visualization system that can speed up the researches in chemical, pharmaceutical and medical areas. …

Drama Discovery: The Effect Of Dramatic Arts In Combination With Bibliotherapy On The Self-Efficacy Of Students With Emotional And/Or Behavioral Disabilities Regarding Their Understanding Of Their Own Exceptionalities, Michele Jacobs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of dramatic arts in combination with bibliotherapy, which is the use of literary sources to help people solve complex problems and find understanding about a topic (Sullivan and Strang, 2003). The Drama Discovery curriculum was piloted in a middle school classroom for eleven students with emotional/ behavioral disabilities and one student with delinquent behaviors at a small private alternative education school in Western Pennsylvania. Students with emotional/ behavioral disabilities often have low self-efficacy when it comes to explaining their own disabilities, coping with the label of having a disability, and …

The Us Government-Sponsored Graduate-Level Exchange Programs: The Goals Of The Major Stakeholders And The Students' Academic Interests, Ekaterina Kharlamova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A steady increase in student mobility levels has become a widely recognized component of general globalization trends in the modern world. Yet, internationalization of education is not merely a product of bigger globalization processes. Educational exchange, in many instances sponsored and administered by national governments, is an effective tool in governmental foreign policies. The shift of focus in governmental policies towards the political rather than educational purposes of educational international exchange could lead for lack of attention paid to the issues of foreign students' academic interests. At the same time, universities, although prompted by the globalization tendencies to internationalize their …

The Role Of Histidine-Rich Proteins In The Biomineralization Of Hemozoin, Lisa Pasierb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hemozoin formation, the consequential end product of the proteolysis of hemoglobin by Plasmodium falciparum, is essentially a biomineralization process whereby toxic free heme is aggregated into an inert crystalline solid, also known as malaria pigment or ß-hematin. The histidine-rich protein II (HPR II), isolated from the digestive vacuole of the parasite, has been implicated in the mediation of this biomineral through the protein's ability to bind heme, aggregate the biomineral, and be effectively inhibited by known antimalarials, including chloroquine. The HRP II sequence, which is comprised of 76% of histidine and alanine residues, has a specific amino acid repeat motif …

Effects Of Weight Loss On Visceral Adiposity And Metabolic Adaptations In Diabetic Versus Non-Diabetic Women, Elizabeth C. Konz

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity increases the risk for the development of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and other co-morbid conditions. Type 2 diabetes also is often associated with excessive visceral abdominal fat. Weight loss in obese individuals decreases the risk for developing the co-morbid conditions. Individuals with type 2 diabetes often have a greater difficulty in controlling these complications compared to individuals without type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate adherence to a medically-supervised low-energy diet (LED) weight loss program and changes in body composition and metabolic parameters after weight loss in women with and without type 2 diabetes. …

Error Bounds Between The Minimum Distance Energy Of An Equilateral Knot And The Mobius Energy Of An Inscribed Smooth Knot, Joseph Worthington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores mathematical knots and energy functions defined for them. Specifically, we explore the question of whether or not the Minimum Distance Energy of an equilateral knot is close to the Mobius Energy of a smooth knot where the smooth knot is inscribed in the equilateral knot in a specific way.

Investigation Of The Optical, Thermal, And Mechanical Properties Of A Bulk Polymer Using The Surface Thermal Lensing Technique, Bushra Hussain

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The sensitive and simple photothermal technique of Surface Thermal Lensing (STL) was employed to study the thermo-mechanical response of an amorphous polycarbonate as a bulk. A discussion is given of how previously developed theories did not fit well with the present work. Therefore, only qualitative analysis and discussion of the experimental results is made, emphasizing the influence of various factors on the STL signal. The work here is mainly a study of the dependence of the STL signal on the modulated pump beam frequency. The effect on the STL signal of thermal and mechanical relaxation in the thermally stimulated area …

Characterization Of Black Deposit Associated With Rock Paintings In Little Lost River Cave, Idaho Using Pyrolysis Gc, Sarah Therese Fezzey

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A black, shiny coating overlies rock paintings in Little Lost River Cave no. 1, located in southeastern Idaho. If this coating is the result of human activity within the cave – a condensate from cooking fires, for example – then a radiocarbon date on the coating would provide a minimum age for the underlying paintings. The work reported here was undertaken to test the assumption that the coating has an anthropomorphic origin. Using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (py-GC-MS) and thermally-assisted hydrolysis/methylation-GC-MS, we have compared samples of the black coating from Idaho to humic acid, a geologic material; an experimental cooking residue; …

An Investigation Into The Ring-Enlargement Reactions Of Boron Subphthalocyanine And Boron Subnaphthalocyanine, Andrew Jeremiah Jones

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Ring enlargement syntheses of axially substituted boron subphthalocyanine and boron subnaphthalocyanine were investigated. The trihexylsiloxy derivatives of subphthalocyanine and subnaphthalocyanine were synthesized. These derivatives were then used in the ring-enlargement trials. Symmetrical and asymmetrical ring-enlargement reactions were carried out in a mixture of toluene and dimethylsulfoxide at room temperature. This study represents the first synthesis of boron subphthalocyanine with trihexylsiloxy group in the axial position and the first investigation into the ring enlargement of boron subnaphthalocyanine in which the axial ligand is a trihexylsiloxy group. Precipitates were formed, and it is believed that the precipitates are the metalfree ring-enlarged products. …

In Praise Of Carbon: Genre And The 1996 Nobel Lectures In Chemistry By Christian Fredrick Casper, Christian Fredrick Casper

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Using genre theory along with the hierarchy of scientific statement types of Latour and Woolgar (1979) and the scientific stases and scientific topoi of Prelli (1989), this thesis analyzes the three Nobel lectures in chemistry from 1996 to discern the characteristics of ceremonial discourse in science and its relation to scientific ethos. Throughout, the Nobel lectures are analyzed in reference to the original research reports published in the scientific literature. The unique social context of the Nobel lectures results in a distinct genre with textual characteristics that include statements with little moderation or hedging, arguments for the long-term significance of …

Differentiating Biology Homework To Enhance Academic Achievement, Genevieve Finch Bertsos

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to determine if differentiating homework for biology will motivate students to complete and turn in homework, address the needs of diverse learners, and improve academic achievement. The rationale assumes there is a positive relationship between homework completion and academic achievement and that students have different learning styles that can be addressed by allowing choice of homework assignment based on Gardner’s multiple intelligences and Bloom’s taxonomy.

The research employs an experimental design composed of a control group (consisting of two classes) that received the traditional homework, and an experimental group (two classes) that was offered …

The Limits Of Philosophy: Plato's Sophist And Statesman, Mark Brouwer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plato's Sophist and Statesman articulate the limits or definition of philosophy. My selective interpretation begins with a problem from Sophist 259e-260a and 252e-253e: Is it possible to express correctly (in logos) the necessary conditions of logos? This is an instance of a universal problem: Is it possible for any expertise to define itself and have expert inspired confidence in this definition? I articulate this universal problem with recourse to Kantian meta-philosophy, Chomsky's generative grammar and Schoenberg's theory of harmony. Rudolph Carnap's distinction between questions internal and external to a scientific framework is the means of addressing this universal problem. Questions …

Bio-Inspired Approaches For Critical Infrastructure Protection: Application Of Clonal Selection Principle For Intrusion Detection And Facts Placement, Kasthurirangan Parthasarathy

Masters Theses

"In this research, Clonal Selection, an immune system inspired approach, is utilized along with Evolutionary Algorithms to solve complex engineering problems such as Intrusion Detection and optimization of Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) device placement in a power grid. The clonal selection principle increases the strength of good solutions and alters their properties to find better solutions in a problem space. A special class of evolutionary algorithms that utilizes the clonal selection principle to guide its heuristic search process is termed Clonal EA. Clonal EAs can be used to solve complex pattern recognition and function optimization problems, which involve searching …

Characteristics Of Laser Forming Austenitic Stainless Steel Alloys, Jack Robert Pennuto

Masters Theses

"This thesis discusses the investigation of laser forming austenitic stainless-steel alloys for the development of free curve and complex shapes...Previous work in this area has focused on the development of single angle laser forming and process optimization for the development of multi-dimensional shapes. This thesis seeks to discuss the relationship of multiple parallel laser passes and any coupling effects that may exist for the class of austenitic stainless steels, including any metallurgical implications"--Abstract, page iii.

Non-Repudiation In Pure Mobile Ad Hoc Network, Yi-Chi Lin, Jill Slay

Research outputs pre 2011

Within the last decade, the use of wireless technologies has become more prevalent. Wireless networks have flexible architectures with data transferred via radio waves and can be divided into two categories; infrastructure-based wireless networks and mobile ad hoc network.

The mobile ad hoc network (MANET) is an autonomous system which can be dynamically built without pre-existing infrastructure or a trusted third party (TTP). Due to these infrastructure-less and self-organized characteristics, MANET encounters different problems from infrastructure-based wired network, such as key management, power shortage, and security issues. This paper will further divide MANETs into pure ad hoc networks which do …

Image Segmentation Using Neuromorphic Integrate And Fire Cells, Gregory Crebbin

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper introduces an electronic circuit implementation of an integrate-and-fire cell. The cell generates output current pulses when the input light intensity exceeds a given threshold. A firing cell also transmits its firing pattern to neighbouring cells, thereby causing blocks of cells to fire in synchrony when their detectors receive similar input light intensities. The synchronicity and frequency of the pulses can be used to code an image into separate regions or objects. The actions of the cell are demonstrated with the simulation of a linear 8-cell array

Nitrate Reductase Activity In Macroalgae And Its Vertical Distribution In Macroalgal Epiphytes Of Seagrasses, Erica Young, Paul Lavery, Beverley Van Elven, Mat Dring, John A Berges

Research outputs pre 2011

Macroalgal epiphytes within seagrass meadows make a significant contribution to total primary production by assimilating water column N and transferring organic N to sediments. Assimilation of NO3 – requires nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.6.6.1); NR activity represents the capacity for NO3 – assimilation. An optimised in vitro assay for determining NR activity in algal extracts was applied to a wide range of macroalgae and detected NR activity in all 22 species tested with activity 2 to 290 nmolNO3 – min–1 g–1 frozen thallus. With liquid-N2 freezing immediately after sample collection, this method was practical for estimating NR activity in field …

Ten More Years Of Educational Technologies In Education: How Far Have We Travelled?, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes the advancements that have occurred in the use of educational technologies over the past ten years (1995-2005) and argues that progress has been slow and reminiscent of the slow progress observed in the previous decade (1985-1995). The paper argues that one of the principal reasons for the less than spectacular results stems from the top-down approaches that always seem to drive technology use in education and schools. It argues the need for applications and activities to be driven by bottom-up forces, by the teachers and students themselves and presents the argument that more applied and grounded research …

Benchmarking E-Business Security: A Model And Framework, Graeme Pye, Matthew J. Warren

Research outputs pre 2011

The dynamic nature of threats and vulnerabilities within the E-business environment can impede online functionality, compromise organisational or customer information, contravene security implementations and thereby undermine online customer confidence. To negate these problems, E-business security has to become proactive, by reviewing and continuously improving security to strengthen E-business security measures and policies. This can be achieved through benchmarking the security measures and policies utilised within the E-business, against recognised information technology (IT) and information security (IS) security standards.

Diversity In Information And Communication Technologies: The Cost Of Lost Opportunities, Susan Gail Webb

Research outputs pre 2011

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry develops products that are used by many people regardless of gender, age, social status, ethnicity, or religion. Technology has had a significant impact on the way that information is produced, stored and communicated, especially in the fields that have traditionally been heavy producers of information such as libraries and education institutions. Though all types of people use technology, not all types of people are involved in the design and development of technology. Women represent just twenty percent of Australian ICT professionals. They often receive less pay than their male colleagues and are greatly …

The Underestimation Of Threats To Patients Data In Clinical Practice, Patricia Williams

Research outputs pre 2011

Issues in the security of medical data present a greater challenge than in other data security environments. The complexity of the threats and ethics involved, coupled with the poor management of these threats makes the protection of data in clinical practice problematic. This paper discusses the security threats to medical data in terms of confidentiality, privacy, integrity, misuse and availability, and reviews the issue of responsibility with reference to clinical governance. Finally. the paper uncovers some of the underlying reasons for the underestimation of the threats to medical data by the medical profession.

Leadership Development In Albania: Equipping Young Pastors For Apostolic Leadership, Leigh Rice

Doctor of Ministry Projects

Problem

Albania opened to Christian missions in 1992. The church is new and the pastors are young and with limited experience. Initial rapid growth has been followed by slow decline. Leadership and leadership development is in the hands of foreign missionaries with limited experience in Albania. There is a need to develop culturally-appropriate, apostolic leadership for a country with a predominately Muslim population.

Method

Library research, questionnaires, interviews, and observations were conducted to develop an understanding of the Project Director, the Albanian culture, a theology of leadership and church, and methods in leadership development. An appreciative inquiry approach was used …

Essays On Precision Agriculture Technology Adoption And Risk Management, Jean-Marc A. Gandonou

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Precision agriculture (PA) can be defined as a set of technologies that have helped propel agriculture into the computerized information-based world, and is designed to help farmers get greater control over the management of farm operations. Because of its potential to spatially reduce yield variability within the field through variable rate application of nutrients it is thought to be a production risk management instrument. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is another production risk management technology that is generating interest from the farming community as a result of new technological improvements that facilitate equipment maintenance and reduces water consumption.In the first article …

Studies Of Unusual Packing And Of Polymorphism In Two Crystal Systems, Xiang Hao

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Crystal structures of anhydrous pinacol, the hexagonal pinacol, pinacol monohydrate, and pinacol hexahydrate were studied. In all the structures crystal packing is unusual and complicated. The origin of the complexity may be the difficulty in filling space densely and while also satisfying the H-bonding requirements when the molecule has few internal degrees of freedom.

Five 15-crown-5 complexes of M(NO₃)₂ (M = Cu, Zn, Mg, Co, Mn) were synthesized and characterized using X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The system is rich in polymorphs. Nine definite solid-state phases were identified. More phases probably exist in the solid state …

Controlled Synthesis And Functionalization Of Nanoporous Solgel Silica Particles And Gels, Bing Tan

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses three research areas in the sol-gel synthesis of functionalmaterials. The first is the kinetics of hydrolysis and condensation of variousorganoalkoxysilanes. Two mathematical models are developed for the sol-gel reaction inbasic conditions with and without nearest-neighbor effects. Effects on reactivity aremeasured with systematic changes in the organic group structure. Replacing onemethoxy group on the precursor with a methyl group decelerates hydrolysis under basicconditions, but accelerates condensation under acidic conditions. Replacing two methylfunctionalprecursors with one ethylene-bridged precursor accelerates hydrolysis in base,but decelerates condensation in acid. Replacing an ethylene bridge with a hexylenebridge always decelerates the sol-gel reactions. Adding an …