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The Micropivot : An Integrated Particle Image Velocimeter And Optical Tweezers Instrument For Microscale Investigations, Nathalie Neve De Mevergnies

Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation describes the development of a device capable of suspending a microscale object in a controlled flow. The uPIVOT is a system integrating two laser-based techniques: micron particle image velocimetry (uPIV) and optical tweezers (OT). The OT allows the suspension and manipulation of micron-sized objects such as microspheres or biological cells. uPIV provides imaging of the suspended object and velocity measurements from which fluid induced stresses can be determined. Using this device, we measured fluid velocities around an optically suspended polystyrene microsphere (an experimental first) and studied the interaction between two particles suspended in a uniform flow. The results …

Investigating Freeway Speed-Flow Relationships For Traffic Assignment Applications, Meead Saberi Kalaee

Dissertations and Theses

Developments in high resolution traffic sensors over the past decades are providing a wealth of empirical speed-flow data. Travel demand models use speed-flow relationships to assign traffic flows to network links. However, speed-flow relationships have not been revalidated against new detailed traffic sensor data. Therefore, it is necessary to revisit speed-flow relationships based on actual measured conditions on network links rather than assuming constant speed-flow relationships over entire highway network systems. Speed-flow relationships have been particularly difficult to calibrate and estimate when traffic volumes approach capacity, i.e. when the v/c ratio approaches one. This thesis empirically evaluates the speed-flow relationships …

Stability Of Nucleic Acid Secondary Structures And Their Contribution To Gene Expression, Maged A. Darwish

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is a highly expressed transmembrane protein that acts as a light-driven proton pump converting light energy into a proton gradient. The extraordinary levels of expression achieved (15-30 mg per liter of culture) are a result of very efficient biogenesis that originates from molecular information encoded in the bacterio-opsin gene {bop) (1). DNA sequence analysis and predictive folding algorithms suggest that the first twenty-five bases of the bop gene mRNA can form a secondary structural element (a "stem-loop"). Using biophysical methods, the goal was to determine if the stem-loop structure exists in solution conditions that mimic the in vivo …

Synthesis Of Novel Glycosylidene-Based Quinolines, Peter H. Dobbelaar

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Leo Strauss And The Problem Of Sein: The Search For A "Universal Structure Common To All Historical Worlds", Jennifer Renee Stanford

Dissertations and Theses

Leo Strauss resurrected a life-approach of the ancient Greeks and reformulated it as an alternative to the existentialism of his age that grew out of a radicalized historicism. He attempted to resuscitate the tenability of a universal grounded in nature (nature understood in a comprehensive experiential sense not delimited to the physical, sensibly-perceived world alone) that was historically malleable. Through reengagement with Plato and Socrates and by addressing the basic premises built into the thought of Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin Heidegger, Strauss resurrected poetry (art, or the mythos) that Enlightenment thinkers had discarded, and displayed its reasonableness on a par …

S-Nitrosothiols: Formation, Decomposition, Reactivity And Possible Physiological Effects, Moshood Kayode Morakinyo

Dissertations and Theses

Three biologically-active aminothiols cysteamine (CA), DL-cysteine (CYSH) and DL-homocysteine, were studied in this thesis. These aminothiols react with nitrous acid (HNO₂), prepared in situ, to produce S-nitrosothiols (RSNOs): S-nitrosocyteamine (CANO), S-nitrosocysteine (CYSNO) and S-nitrosohomocysteine (HCYSNO). They also react with S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) through a transnitrosation reaction to produce their corresponding RSNOs. A detailed kinetics and mechanistic study on the formation of these RSNOs and their subsequent decomposition to release nitric oxide (NO) were studied.

For all three aminothiols the stoichiometry of their reaction with nitrous acid is strictly 1:1 with the formation of one mole …

Confirmation Bias And Related Errors, Geoffrey Ludlow Borthwick

Dissertations and Theses

This study attempted to replicate and extend the study of Doherty, Mynatt, Tweney, and Schiavo (1979), which introduced what is here called the Bayesian conditionals selection paradigm. The present study used this paradigm (and a script similar to that used by Doherty et al.) to explore confirmation bias and related errors that can appear in both search and integration in probability revision. Despite selection differences and weak manipulations, this study provided information relevant to four important questions. First, by asking participants to estimate the values of the conditional probabilities they did not learn, this study was able to examine the …

Vertical Noise Structure And Target Detection Performance In Deep Ocean Environments, Zizheng Li

Dissertations and Theses

In passive sonar systems, knowledge of low-frequency shipping noise is an important factor for target detection performance. However, an accurate model for the shipping noise structure is difficult to obtain, due to the varying distributions of ships and complicated underwater environment. This work characterizes low-frequency distant shipping noise observed in deep water environments as a function of receiver depth and vertical arrival structure for the case of a receiver below the conjugate depth. Surface shipping noise is examined using Monte Carlo simulations using a normal mode propagation model based on random distribution of ships and realistic parameters. The depth dependence …

The Influence Of An Interactive Reading Program On Adolescent Students In Middle School, Bernadette L. Casey

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Influence Of Small Class Size, Duration, Intensity, And Heterogeneity On Head Start Fade, Christopher D. Huss

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Model-Based Material Parameter Estimation For Terahertz Reflection Spectroscopy, Gabriel Paul Kniffin

Dissertations and Theses

Many materials such as drugs and explosives have characteristic spectral signatures in the terahertz (THz) band. These unique signatures imply great promise for spectral detection and classification using THz radiation. While such spectral features are most easily observed in transmission, real-life imaging systems will need to identify materials of interest from reflection measurements, often in non-ideal geometries. One important, yet commonly overlooked source of signal corruption is the etalon effect - interference phenomena caused by multiple reflections from dielectric layers of packaging and clothing likely to be concealing materials of interest in real-life scenarios. This thesis focuses on the development …

The Impact Of Prinicipal Training In Diffusion Of Innovation Theory On Fidelity Of Implementation, Anthony Petruzzelli

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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A Criterion-Related Validity Study Of The Grade Eight Assessment And The High School Profiency Assessment In Mathematics For A B District Factor Group School In New Jersey, George J. Solter Jr

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Scalable Event Tracking On High-End Parallel Systems, Kathryn Marie Mohror

Dissertations and Theses

Accurate performance analysis of high end systems requires event-based traces to correctly identify the root cause of a number of the complex performance problems that arise on these highly parallel systems. These high-end architectures contain tens to hundreds of thousands of processors, pushing application scalability challenges to new heights. Unfortunately, the collection of event-based data presents scalability challenges itself: the large volume of collected data increases tool overhead, and results in data files that are difficult to store and analyze. Our solution to these problems is a new measurement technique called trace profiling that collects the information needed to diagnose …

Interactions Of Synthetic Metal Porphyrinates With Phus, A Cytoplasmic Heme Trafficking Protein From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Amber Elise Moberg

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic, Gram negative, bacterial pathogen that commonly establishes infection in immunocompromised individuals. It contains protein-based, iron uptake pathways that target both heme and nonheme iron sources in the host. When the Pseudomonas heme uptake system is compromised by genetic knockout of the cytoplasmic heme trafficking protein, PhuS, the ability to establish infection is lost. PhuS functions to transfer heme to a heme oxygenase, an 02 dependent heme metabolizing enzyme, so that it can be degraded to a usable form for the organism. Within the long-term goal of developing pharmaceutical agents to inhibit heme uptake by bacterial …

Influence Of Active Site Ligands And Nanoparticle Surfaces On Human Carbonic Anhydrase Isozymes, Sumathra Manokaran

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is an ubiquitously distributed zinc containing metallo enzyme that catalyzes the reversible hydration of carbon dioxide to form bicarbonate and a proton. Existence of 16 isoenzymes of CA in the animal kingdom has been known so far with varying subcellular and tissue distributions. Due to their involvement in many physiological and pathological processes, these isozymes have been the target for drug designing for the past 6 decades. The present study was designed with the aim of understanding the effect of active site ligands and nanoparticle surfaces on human carbonic anhydrase isozymes. In an effort to identify a …

Globalization And Obesity, Anais Liogier

Agribusiness and Applied Economics

Obesity has been growing around the world during the last few decades leading the World Health Organization to announce the global obesity epidemic. This study focuses on identifying the impacts of different economic and socio-economic variables on the growth of obesity, as well as forecasting and monitoring this growth. A static model is developed using foreign direct investments (FDI) and trade openness as proxies for economic globalization factors and globalization social index as a proxy for social globalization. Data are collected for 76 countries over the period 1986-2008. The fixed effects model and quantile regression were used to analyze the …

Construction Management Education In Canada: The History Of The Establishment Of Ontario's First Bachelor's Degree In Construction Management, Herman Durazno

Construction Management and Engineering

This study examines the establishment of the first construction science and management degree program in Ontario. It illustrates the circumstances that led the Ontario construction industry to recognize the need for such an undergraduate degree program and to seek an educational institution as a partner in the planning, development and establishment of the undergraduate program. The paper displays how the industry faced obstacles such as a plan to regulate the industry by the Ontario government and the lack of incoming construction management degreed professionals from overseas. In addition, the paper displays the differences between existing engineering technology diplomas and the …

Success And Sustainability Of The Tricollege University Consortium, Candice Allar

Education

The purpose of this study was to document the history of the Tri-College University (TCU) consortium from 1969 to the present. The two research objectives are to: 1. Identify the factors which played an important role in the success and sustainability of the Tri-College University Consortium. 2. Conduct an evaluation of the needs, satisfaction, and concerns of current and past faculty and administration involved with the Tri-College University Consortium. Both research questions were addressed with the use of a structural equation model developed and tested by Schmidt (2000) to identify the conditions, common values, attitudes, themes, and patterns of behaviors …

Teacher Burnout In North Dakota, Erin N. Mowers

Education

The purpose of this mixed study dissertation was to determine if teachers in North Dakota public schools show signs of teacher burnout and the extent to which NCLB is a 111 major stress factor. The research questions were: To what extent are teachers experiencing symptoms of burnout? What are the factors of burnout? The research hypothesis was: The policies of No Child Left Behind are the highest stress factor for teachers in North Dakota public schools. This study used an electronic, web-based data collection procedure. This was accomplished by surveying members of the North Dakota Education Association. The target population …

Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Practices To Increase The Academic Achievement Of Economically Disadvantaged Rural Students In High Poverty Schools, Debra Kay Follman

Education

Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty, beginning with children in their earliest years. The greatest challenge facing public education has been the education of all students to proficiency, with the most difficult aspect of this challenge as teaching the underachieving children of poverty. The enactment of No Child Left Behind, Public Law 107-110 (NCLB) has brought increased accountability standards for public schools to the forefront. Narrowing the achievement gap for poor and minority students has become a concentrated focus. It is necessary that elementary school teachers are knowledgeable of the instructional strategies, interventions, best practices, and …

The Synthesis, Characterization, And Evaluation Of A Polypyrrole/ Aluminum Flake Composite Pigment, Christopher Alan Vetter

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

The goal of this study was to synthesize a polypyrrole/aluminum flake composite pigment to inhibit corrosion on aluminum alloy 2024 T3. This was done in order to remedy some of the problems associated with the application of pure polypyrrole as a coating. Namely these problems are insolubility in common solvents, brittleness, poor adhesion to metal substrates, and catastrophic failure in some conditions due to fast ion incorporation. By incorporating the polypyrrole composite pigment into an epoxy primer, the superior mechanical properties of the epoxy binder can be combined with the corrosion inhibiting properties of the polypyrrole. Results indicated that the …

Electrochemical And Mechanical Properties Studies Of Flexible Mg-Rich Primers, Tiantian Chen

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

The coating systems for military aircraft must protect the aluminum skin and frame, and associated fastening and joining from corrosion in a variety of aggressive environments. Excessive grinding is often needed to remove the corrosion products at the cracks formed around the seams and fasteners on the aircraft resulting from poor system flexibility of coatings, which causes high maintenance cost and damages the integrity of the aircraft's body. Thus the U.S. Air Force wants to develop an advanced performance coating system with a primer that can provide superior flexibility and good corrosion protection. Currently commercialized magnesium-rich corrosion protection primers were …

Magnesium Alloy Particulates Used As Pigments In Metal-Rich Primer System For Aa2024 T3 Corrosion Protection, Hong Xu

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

As an alternative to the present toxic chromate-based coating system now in use, the Mg-rich primer technology has been designed to protect A1 alloys (in particular A1 2024 T3) and developed in analogy to Zn-rich primers for steel substrate. As an expansion of this concept, metal-rich primer systems based on Mg alloy particles as pigments were studied. Five different Mg alloy pigments. AM60, A719B, LNR91, AM503 and AZG, were characterized by using the same epoxy-polyamide polymer as binder, a same dispersion additive and the same solvent. Different Mg alloy-rich primers were formulated by varying the Mg alloy particles and their …

Surface Property Modification Of Coatings Via Self-Stratification, Robert Joseph Pieper

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

Biological fouling occurs everywhere in the marine environment and is a significant problem for marine vessels. Anti-fouling coatings have been used effectively to prevent fouling; however, these coatings harm non-targeted sea-life. Fouling-release coatings (FRC) appear to be an alternative way to combat fouling. FRC do not necessarily prevent the settlement of marine organisms but rather allow their easy removal with application of shear to the coatings surface. These coatings must be non-toxic, non-leaching, have low surface energy, low modulus, and durability to provide easy removal of marine organisms. Here the goal is to develop FRC based on thermosetting siloxane-polyurethane, amphiphilic …

Low Voc Coating Systems From Novel Glycidyl Carbamate Resins, Umesh Deepak Harkal

Coatings and Polymeric Materials

The goal of the research presented in this dissertation was to design and synthesize novel glycidyl carbamate (GC) resins for low VOC applications and study the structure property relationships of their coatings. Primarily GC resins are synthesized using aliphatic polyisocyanate resins such as biuret and isocyanurate of hexamethylene diisocyanate. Polyisocyanate based GC resins had extremely high viscosity. Biuret glycidyl carbamate (BGC) resin was modified by replacing part of the glycidol with alcohols. The alcohol composition and the extent of alcohol composition in the resin were systematically varied. The alcohol modification reduced the resin viscosity dramatically. Performance of amine and self-crosslinked …

Hermeneutics- The Path Of The Hermeneutic-Ontological Shift And The Decolonial Shift, Celso Luiz Ludwig

Nevada Law Journal

The purpose of the reflections that follow is to highlight the meaning and importance of the hermeneutic shift produced by the work of Gadamer, to consider some of his themes and categories, and to extend the meaning of this hermeneutic rationality to the legal field in terms of a new conception of interpretation. A second objective is to catch sight of new theoretical perspectives, having as a starting point the unfolding of practical philosophy into hermeneutic philosophy carried out by Gadamer. This article aims at recuperating, among other things, the fundamental hermeneutic problem, so as to obtain a glimpse into …

Desperate Doctors And Antitrust Laws: The Best Ways For Lawmakers To Simulate Physician Collective Bargaining, Cristina Olson

Nevada Law Journal

This Note will examine the legality of bills that open up physician collective bargaining—and what kind of provisions lawmakers should include to ensure legality and good policy. Given the current economic downturn, states must look for ways to make health insurance more affordable; a low-cost adjustment of collective bargaining rules may be a good solution. Such an adjustment would not be the only, or necessarily the best, solution to the healthcare cost crisis that exists in America, but it would be worthwhile for legislators to consider. Furthermore, if lawmakers craft legislation that puts state governments in charge of actively supervising …

Verification Of Synchronous Elastic Pipelined Systems, Koushik Sarker

Electrical and Computer Engineering

The constant shrinking of technology has lead to several design challenges that the synchronous design paradigm is unable to cope with. Elastic design is a novel and promising design paradigm that overcomes many of these challenges by using components that are insensitive to the latencies of its inputs. Verification is a critical problem for any design paradigm. The complexity of elastic designs arises when the system is pipelined. We develop formal verification techniques to verify synchronous elastic pipelined systems. Note that the goal of verification is not to establish the correctness of the algorithm for synthesizing elastic circuits, but instead, …

Joint Compression And Encryption, Ahana Ghosh

Electrical and Computer Engineering

This research work proposes two techniques of joint compression and encryption using Shanon Fano Elias coding and Arithmetic coding respectively. The first scheme proposed is called Adaptive Shannon-Fano-Elias code where it has been observed that the complexity of attacks is exponential in m, where m is the length of the string being compressed. Since mis usually very large (> 220 ), the security of our scheme is very high. The main reason why our scheme's security depends on m is the fact that all attacks require the ciphertext to be scanned from left to right. The algorithm proposed does not …