Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Pace And Stress On Upper-Extremity Biomechanical Responses In Sign Language Interpreters, Jin Qin

Theses

Repetitive motion injuries (RMIs) are disorders of the soft tissues due to repeated exertion and excessive movement of the body. Sign language interpreters who have to move their fingers, hands, wrists and arms repeatedly are susceptible to RMIs. One of the major research voids in the studies of RMIs in sign language interpreters is the lack of quantification of biomechanical exposures. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of pace and psychosocial stress of sign language interpreting on the biomechanical responses in a quantitative manner and compare the results with the industrial high risk benchmarks.

Twelve professional …

Compact Realizations Of Embedded Filters In Organic Substrates, William Lambert

Theses

Making communication devices smaller, lighter, and cheaper has been the driving force behind the development of new technologies which have made the cellular phones and wireless networks we now take for granted possible. The frequent emphasis on miniaturization particularly has required the development of a variety of new approaches to creating communications circuits. One such technology that has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years is passives that are embedded into the package of communications integrated circuits. Using these devices reduces the amount of surface area required to implement a communications device, in addition to potentially improving performance …

Development Of Control Algorithm And A Simulation Tool For Self-Assembly Of Microsystems Based On Swarm Technology, Siddharth Mestry

Theses

"Chunxel" Technology is a novel concept of constructing 3-dimensional structures using a group of intelligent, autonomous, and cooperating micro robots. Chunxels are small robotic modules, cubical in shape, which are immersed in a tank containing a viscous fluid. The chunxels are propelled by the electromagnetic forces created by passing direct current through a set of large coils placed on each face of the tank and small coils embedded in the micro device. The chunxels follow a set of rules which mimic a swarm behavior and selfassemble in the liquid to form a 3-D structure. Swarm behavior is a dynamic problem …

Polarimetric Remote Sensing In The Visible To Near Infrared, James R. Shell Ii

Theses

Polarization adds another dimension to the spatial intensity and spectral information typ ically acquired in remote sensing. Polarization imparted by surface reflections contains unique and discriminatory signatures which may augment spectral target-detection tech niques. Benefits such as improving man-made object detection are often touted, as well as possible improvements to spectral algorithms used for detection and identification. How ever, virtually all efforts fail to cast polarimetric remote sensing within a cohesive framework in which a priori predictions of polarized radiance are made, as is done with spectral remote sensing techniques. This is due, in part, to the challenges of measuring …

Effect Of Flexing On The Barrier Properties Of Metallized Films, Anjum Parkar

Theses

One of the major concerns with respect to metallized films is the effect of flexing on their barrier properties. Films encounter a series of mechanical stress situations during manufacturing, processing, handling, and distribution. These mechanical stresses often result in flexing of the packaging film, which is more prominent with metallized films. The first part of my study evaluates the effect of real stresses of flex by using packages already manufactured and that have been through the distribution cycle. Metallized film samples from these packages were tested to see the effect of real stress on their barrier properties. The results showed …

Designing Medical Legal Exhibits: A Guide To Creating Successful Presentations, Sara M. Krause

Theses

This thesis provides design instruction for medical illustrators, including ideas and facts about design, literacy, attention, retention, and recall. It is designed to help illustrators create persuasive printed exhibits to serve as demonstrative evidence in court cases.

An Investigation Of Verbal Versus Visual Persuasive Elements In Travel And Gambling Pop-Up Advertisements, Elizabeth Karras

Theses

Although pop-up advertisements generate ill will, these ads, have an above average clickthrough rate compared to other forms of Internet advertising such as the banner ad, illustrating the significance this form has in modern day advertising. Travel and gambling ads are analyzed in the following study. Previous literature includes studies on factors that play an integral role in the success or failure of an online advertisement, the effectiveness of internet marketing on internet users, persuasive appeals used in advertising, and experiential consumption. Research on pop-up advertisements has focused primarily on tactics, their effects on the consumer, and their failures and …

Novel Vlsi Architecture For Quantization And Variable Length Coding For H-264/Avc Video Compression Standard, Suneetha Kosaraju

Theses

Integrated multimedia systems process text, graphics, and other discrete media such as digital audio and video streams. In an uncompressed state, graphics, audio and video data, especially moving pictures, require large transmission and storage capacities which can be very expensive. Hence video compression has become a key component of any multimedia system or application. The ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) have combined efforts to put together the next generation of video compression standard, the H.264/MPEG-4 PartlO/AVC, which was finalized in 2003. The H.264/AVC uses significantly improved and computationally intensive compression techniques to maximize performance. H.264/AVC …

Data Aggregation And Cross-Layer Design In Wsns, Carter May

Theses

Over the past few years, advances in electrical engineering have allowed electronic devices to shrink in both size and cost. It has become possible to incorporate environmental sensors into a single device with a microprocessor and memory to interpret the data and wireless transceivers to communicate the data. These "sensor nodes" have become small and cheap enough that they can be distributed in very large numbers into the area to be monitored and can be considered disposable. Once deployed, these sensor nodes should be able to self-organize themselves into a usable network. These "wireless sensor networks," or WSNs, differ from …

The Development And Performance Evaluation Of Pif Logic Functional Blocks, Sheetal Suresh Sonar-Pardeshi

Theses

In the deep submicron range of integrated circuit design, interconnects and not the logical gates are causing the performance bottleneck. The number of available transistors increase by a factor of 2 every technology node but interconnects do not scale with devices, devices scale down faster and thus the present designs need to be scalable and reusable. Pipeline interconnect free (PIF) logic methodology has a potential to solve these current design problems. In PIF logic methodology the global interconnects are replaced by a chain of logical gates. PIF logic uses only one type of gate which can be connected only to …

Breeding Contempt, Amanda C. Lee

Theses

The thesis describes the artist's sculptural exhibition, Breeding Contempt, a body of work that explores the artist's struggle for individuation and creative empowerment, against the restrictions of a dysfunctional environment. The author details how she incorporates her life experiences into the thematic basis of this artwork, as well as the techniques used in the making of the sculptures.

Five Year Study Of The Effectiveness Of Safety Incentive Programs Instituted At Bj's Wholesale Club, Peter D. Van Derlyke

Theses

Safety incentive programs have been employed for many years as a means of keeping employee injuries under control. There are many ways incentives can be implemented and little is known about which are the most effective. This thesis project reports on a study conducted over five (5) years at some of BJ's Wholesale Club's highest accident frequency rate locations. Each year several locations with high accident frequency rates were chosen to be on what was called the Safety Task Force. The purpose of this thesis was to determine if safety incentives would aid in the reduction of workplace accidents. This …

An Investigation Of The Dynamics Of Human Metamorphosis Triggered By Perception And Environment, Stacey Parker

Theses

This thesis describes the artist's sculptural work, a body of sculpture which explores the interactions between humans and their environment, and how they undergo metamorphoses triggered by internal and external forces.

Interview, Stacy Finkelstein

Theses

By means of digital imaging tools, specifically Adobe Photoshop, my art work uses painterly references to explore diverse themes. Using painting as a filter, my work explores the tradition of landscape in painting and photography, panorama suburbia through a photographic lens and surrealist art. The convergence of these ideas is captured in the constructed digital images that comprise my thesis work.

The interview format is the beginning of my progression into performance art, where I am exploring more avant-garde avenues of artistic representation that seeks to eliminate the viewer.

The Relationship Between Young Women's Large And Small Friendship Networks, Self-Reported Preferences And The Influence Of Popular Fashion Magazine Readership, Meghann E. Connor

Theses

Friendship networks impact self-perceived body images, appearance, popularity, attractiveness, style, pressure, and self-consciousness. This study examines both large and small friendship networks and young women's popular fashion magazine readership. Eighty-seven senior high school young women completed a 22-question survey to determine placement in large or small networks. The survey was used to determine questions later discussed in the report. Significant differences were found between females in large and small networks with regard to attractiveness and style after reading fashion magazines. No other variables were found to be significant.

Women In The Printing Industry: The Challenges Of Women Press Operators, Margaret Przelski

Theses

There appear to be very few women press operators in the printing industry. Unfortunately, the reasons for this situation are not clearly understood. To investigate this phenomenon, three different questionnaires were administered to the following groups:

• human resource managers selected from the top local Rochester commercial printing companies listed in the Rochester Business Journal,

• alumni from RIT's School of Print Media, and

• women with press operation experience.

The main purpose of the first survey was to determine how many women were actually employed as press operators in Rochester, New York. If women weren't working as press operators, what positions did …

Total Synthesis Of Montiporyne E, Jian Chen

Theses

Montiporyne A-F is a family of new diacetylenic natural products recently isolated from stony coral Montipora sp. Biological study shows that these compounds exhibit bioactivity against certain solid tumor cells. Of particular interest is Montiporyne E, whose molecular structure is comprised of an interesting seven-membered lactam ring and a diacetylenic sidechain, which is a common structural feature among the Montiporyne family members.

An efficient synthesis of Montiporyne E is described in this paper. The seven-membered lactam ring was constructed using a Beckmann rearrangement. The desired natural product was synthesized using a Sonograshira coupling of the seven-membered lactam vinyl triflate with …

Coexisting, Hyun Jung Lee

Theses

This thesis describes the artist's sculpture and jewelry/wall composition, which uses figurative forms representing simplified and exaggerated parts of the human body. The author describes how this artwork expresses the themes of community and coexistence in the human condition.

Asthma Brochure And Logo For Rochester General Hospital's Camp Bronchopower And Pediatric Associates, Christine Marie Curtiss

Theses

This thesis describes the creation of a lay public educational brochure for Rochester General Hospital, showing asthmatic children how to use a spacer device with a metered dose inhaler. The thesis was created using the author's original artwork and was translated and adapted for a Spanish version. The second part of the thesis describes the revision of the logo for Camp Bronchopower, a children's asthma camp run by Rochester General Hospital.

Expanding Deictic Shift Theory: Person Deixis In Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, Anna Laura Bennett

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Deictic shift theory (DST) was developed as a model of the construction and comprehension of all types of fictional narrative. With respect to the participant structures of texts, however, DST researchers have focused their attention on deictic shifts in third-person narratives, leaving first-person narratives unanalyzed from this theoretical perspective. As a result, DST in its present form does not adequately account for the variety of manipulations of a range of perspectives that may be achieved in first-person narratives. Nor has DST been systematically applied to texts whose participant structures undergo extensive reorganization as the result of a surprise ending or …

Effects Of A Restored Elk Population On Soils, Vegetation, And Water Quality In Eastern Kentucky, Julia M. Ter Beest

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

A restored elk (Cervus elaphus) population in eastern Kentucky may be affecting ecosystem processes in a landscape composed of reclaimed grassland expanses and isolated forest remnants. Elk routinely select forested ridge-tops as resting and ruminating sites. These locations are characterized by sparse or absent leaf litter, trampled and diminished vegetation, large deposits of dung, and urine-saturated soils. In fall 2003, a series of fenced ungulate exclosures were constructed; 8 on highly disturbed forested ridge-tops and 8 on reclaimed grasslands. Soil analyses measured % moisture, pH, total nitrogen, total carbon, ammonium, nitrate, phosphorus, and major extractable cations in 0-10 cm and …

Cfd Modeling Of Heat Recovery Steam Generator And Its Components Using Fluent, Veera Venkata Sunil Kumar Vytla

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Combined Cycle power plants have recently become a serious alternative for standard coal- and oil-fired power plants because of their high thermal efficiency, environmentally friendly operation, and short time to construct. The combined cycle plant is an integration of the gas turbine and the steam turbine, combining many of the advantages of both thermodynamic cycles using a single fuel. By recovering the heat energy in the gas turbine exhaust and using it to generate steam, the combined cycle leverages the conversion of the fuel energy at a very high efficiency. The heat recovery steam generator forms the backbone of combined …

Numerical Investigation Of The Influence Of Front Camber On The Stability Of A Compressor Airfoil, Rui Li

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

With the advent of smart materials it is becoming possible to alter the structural characteristics of turbomachine airfoils. This change in structural characteristics can include, but is not limited to, changes in the shape (morphing) of the airfoil. Through changes in the airfoil shape, aerodynamic performance can be improved. Moreover, this technique has the potential to act as a flutter suppressant. In this investigation changes in the airfoil front camber while maintaining the airfoil thickness distribution are made to increase airfoil stability. The airfoil section is representative of current low aspect ratio fan blade tip sections. To assess the influence …

Role Of Weak Zone Geometry And Rheology In The Generation Of Intraplate Seismicity, Abhishek Joshi

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

In intraplate seismic zones (e.g. the New Madrid Seismic Zone, NMSZ, in the southcentral United States), the source of stress that drives earthquake is very complex. Data from the NMSZ indicate 3 earthquake of magnitude M~7, occurring at an approximate interval of 500 years during the last 2000 years. One hypothesis that satisfies these conditions proposes that short-lived bursts of earthquakes may result from perturbations in the local or regional stress field. This causes relaxation of a lower crustal weak zone which drive repeated earthquakes. The number of earthquakes is dependent on the geometry and rheology of the weak zone. …

Quantification Of Surface Defects Using Primary Highlight In Diffuse Angle Gray Scale Images, Subburengan Ganapathiraman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The thesis presented is an effort to gather all possible information of one particular type of common paint defect the seed defect, from gray scale images of highly specular painted surface. The proposed approach in the thesis utilizes a white light source to illuminate the surface and utilizes a camera to capture its gray scale image at different diffused angles. While attempting to explain the physics of highlight formation in terms of location on the surface of a seed defect, the thesis also extends to utilize this information from gray scale images to accurately predict the parameters of seed defects …

Experimental And Analytical Study Of Friction Stir Processing, Basil M. Darras

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Friction stir processing (FSP) has recently become an effective microstructural modifications technique. Reported results showed that for different alloys, FSP produces very fine equiaxed and homogeneous grain structure. FSP is considered to be a new processing technique and more experimental and analytical investigations are needed to advance the industrial utilization of FSP. Most of the work that has been done in the friction stir processing field is experimental and limited modeling activities have been conducted. Attempts to develop a predictive model to correlate the resulting microstructure with process parameters are scarce. In this work, commercial 5052 Aluminum alloy sheets are …

Modeling And Optimization Of Machining Performance Measures In Face Milling Of Automotive Aluminum Alloy A380 Under Different Lubrication/Cooling Conditions For Sustainable Manufacturing, Abhijit Dilip Kardekar

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The use of cutting fluids in machining process is very essential for achieving desired machining performance. Due to the strict environmental protection laws now in effect, there is a wide-scale evaluation of the use of cutting fluids in machining. Consequently, minimal quantity lubrication (MQL), which uses very small quantity of cutting fluids and still offers the same functionality as flood cooling, can be considered as an alternative solution. This thesis presents an experimental study of face milling of automotive aluminum alloy A380 under four different lubrication/cooling conditions: dry cutting, flood cooling, MQL (Oil), and MQL (Water). Experiments were design using …

Polyaniline Nanotubes: Catalysis And Their Conversion To Carbon Nanotubes, Stephen Paquette

Theses

Polyaniline nanotubes, first synthesized by Parasarathy and Martin in 1994, have been studied extensively in recent years.[1] The study of these nanodimensional particles has been oriented mostly toward an attempt to understand the electrical and magnetic properties surrounding these semi-one dimensional objects and also toward applications for their utilization.[2] The ability to produce these nano-particles chemically but, without a template was first discovered by Wan in 1999.[3] The use of chemical oxidants often produces undesirable byproducts during the reaction. Therefore, we have used this as a launching point in order to first mirror this template-less synthesis in our lab and …

Automated Extraction Of Disease-Gene Relationships From Medline, Jennifer R. Paine

Theses

The increasing amount of scientific information available to researchers in the form of biomedical literature is beginning to bring about a need for the development of tools to extract information automatically from these sources. One segment of information of particular interest to researchers is the linkage information between genes and diseases. These linkages can help researchers interpret large-scale genomics studies as well as make logical connections between gene expression levels and certain phenotypes. To make the finding and collecting of this information practical, automated methods of information extraction are required. In this paper, I propose a method for the automated …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Kentucky Strains Of Xylella Fastidiosa, J. Nicole Mundell

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Phytopathogenic bacterium, Xylella fastidiosa, causes a number of economically important diseases, including Pierces disease (PD) of grape and bacterial leaf scorch (BLS) of a number of landscape trees. In Kentucky (KY), BLS affects a number of shade trees including many oak and maple species. In 2001, PD was diagnosed in grapevines in western KY. Xylella fastidiosa is also detected in many asymptomatic landscape plants and grasses. It was the goal of this research to identify hosts of X. fastidiosa around KY and use phylogenetic analysis to compare sequences of the 16S rDNA and gyrase B (gyrB) genes between samples. This …