Digital Commons Network^™

Application Of Expert System Approach In Designing Knowledge Engineering System, A. Sanaa

Research Publications (2006 to 2010)

No abstract provided.

Building Condition Survey And Assessment Report: The Use And Benefits In Sub-Sale Housing Property Valuation, N.K.F. Mustafa, A. Alias, N.A. Ismail, A.I. Che-Ani

Research Publications (2006 to 2010)

The levels of defects and deteriorations in a building are the great influence to indicate the building performance instead of the service systems provided. The interaction for both people and surroundings towards the life cycle of a building gives impact on the property values. Dealing with the sub-sale housing properties, it require for Valuers expertise, experience and knowledge in property Valuation in which the fourteen procedures of conducting inspection and referencing of the property were highlighted in Malaysian valuation Standard. It is understand that the scope of inspection· is limited for the purpose of valuation only. Due to integration of …

Designer's Attributes In Refurbishment Projects: Case Study In Malaysia, A.S. Ali, A. Alias

Research Publications (2006 to 2010)

for refurbishment works featuring in the ninth Malaysia Plan and the resultant high demand for refurbishment works. Refurbishment works are mainly contributed to by an increase in the number of building renovation projects, extensions and projects featuring extensive repair works, However, refurbishment designs are difficult to manage compared to new-build projects. In refurbishment design, the individual ues~gneris the one who ultimately determines the quality and performance of a project, not his or her o~ganization. Hence, various specific attributes are essentiel 10 designers undertaking refurbishment projects; these directly influence the refurbishment project's performance. The Illam objectives of this paper are to …

Effect Of Addition Cobalt Nanoparticles On Sn-Ag-Cu Lead-Free Solder, S.L. Tay, A.S. Md. Abdul Haseeb, Mohd Rafie Johan

Research Publications (2006 to 2010)

Nowadays, nanoelectroctronic, electro-nanotechnologies environmental friendly products become the roadmap in industry. Hence, nanoscale of reinforcement into lead-free solder becomes more popular rather than the micro size of reinforcement. In this paper, Cobalt nanoparticles-reinforced Sn-Ag-Cu composite solders were prepared by thoroughly blending 0.75 wt% of cobalt nanoparticles with near eutectic cement tended to suppress the growth of Cu3Sn intermetallic layer. However, upon addition of Co nanoparticles, the growth of Cu6Sn5 was enhanced. The distribution of the Co nanoparticles was observed by the elemental mapping which was carried out by using electron micro probe analysis (EPMA) and transmission electron microscopy which equipped …

Role And Authority: An Empirical Study On Internal Auditors In Malaysia, S. Umor, N. Mahzan, N. Zulkifli

Research Publications (2006 to 2010)

This paper addresses the relationship between the roles of the internal auditor (IA) and authority. The internal auditor's varying roles that include control oversight, decision support, risk management support, governance, system involvement, technical and intimidation, are determined by how the internal auditor himself perceives his work and the extent of which he enjoys role clarity. The results show that although the management intimidation role is dominant in explaining the variance in authority, this construct only explains l3.7 percent variance in authority. These results support the need for the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) to provide internal auditors with adequate interpretation …

Eagleville Times, Volume 8, Issue 12, Debbie Ryan

Eagleville Times

No abstract provided.

Tight Double-Change Covering Designs, Kristen A. Lindbloom

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

The Practices Of A Non-Diversity-Focused Organization And Their Impact On Its Members' Intercultural Behavioral Comfort, Learning, And Competence, Ruth Sessler Bernstein

Student Scholarship

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact that university student groups' practices have on their members' intercultural behavioral comfort and interactions and their cultural learning. We surveyed 360 undergraduate members of a national voluntary service organization at 50 U.S. four-year colleges. Findings indicate that an organization's ability to nurture a sense of feeling welcome and identification with organizational purpose predict skills and confidence in dealing with diverse intra-group members' a competency we call behavioral comfort. An additional practice using proactive efforts to promote social interaction predicts behavioral comfort when mediated by a sense of belonging. While high …

Improvement Of Hydraulic And Water Quality Renovation Functions By Intermittent Aeration Of Soil Treatment Areas In Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, José A. Amador, David A. Potts, George W. Loomis, David V. Kalen, Erika L. Patenaude, Josef H. Görres

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

We tested intermittent aeration of the soil treatment area (STA) of onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) for its ability to restore and maintain STA hydraulic flow and improve the water quality functions of conventional OWTS. Evaluation was conducted on hydraulically-failed conventional OWTS at three state-owned medical group homes in Washington County, RI, USA. Testing was conducted in two phases, with Phase I (before intermittent soil aeration (ISA)) comprising the first 6 months of the study, and Phase II (during ISA) the remaining 7 months. Intermittent soil aeration restored STA hydraulic function in all three systems despite a marked reduction in …

Transportation Energy Analysis For Single-Family Residential Construction In California, Tyler Langley

Master's Theses

Transportation Energy Analysis for Single-Family Residential Construction in California

Tyler Langley

Since the oil crisis of 1973, energy use in the United States of America has been a growing area of concern. Studies have shown that the construction industry is responsible for almost half of all annual energy consumption. With this awareness, the analysis of energy use within the related construction fields has become an emergent subject. One facet of construction energy use that has been less studied than others is that of the energy consumed in transporting building materials from manufacturing plants to construction sites. This thesis proposes a …

Control Of Longitudinal Pitch Rate As Aircraft Center Of Gravity Changes, John Andres Cadwell Jr.

Master's Theses

In order for an aircraft to remain in stable flight, the center of gravity (CG) of an aircraft must be located in front of the center of lift (CL). As the center of gravity moves rearward, pitch stability decreases and the sensitivity to control input increases. This increase in sensitivity is known as pitch gain variance. Minimizing the pitch gain variance results in an aircraft with consistent handling characteristics across a broad range of center of gravity locations.

This thesis focuses on the development and testing of an open loop computer simulation model and a closed loop control system to …

Artificial Skin Tactile Sensor For Prosthetic And Robotic Applications, Ross James Miller

Master's Theses

To solve the problem of limited tactile sensing in humanoid robotics as well as provide for future planned mechanical prostheses, an innovative tactile sensor system was created and embedded into two realistic-looking artificial skin gloves. These artificial skin tactile sensors used small piezoelectric ceramic disks to measure applied force at multiple points on each glove. The gloves were created using silicone rubber to simulate both the texture and look of human skin, while maintaining both flexibility and durability. The sensor outputs were buffered by high-impedance voltage-following operational amplifiers, and then read sequentially using a multiplexing scheme by a microcontroller. Sensor …

The Effectiveness Of Damage Arrestment Devices In Delaying Fastener-Hole Interaction Failures In Carbon Fiber Polyurethane Foam Composite Sandwich Panels Subjected To Static And Dynamic Loading Under Increased Temperatures, Dominic E. Surano

Master's Theses

A study was conducted to investigate simple, cost-effective manufacturing techniques to delay skin-core delamination, micro-buckling and bearing stress failures resulting from fastener-hole interactions. Composite sandwich panels, with and without damage arrestment devices (DADs), were subjected to monotonic compression at a rate of 5mm per second, and compression-compression fatigue at 50% yield at an amplitude of 65%, under temperatures of 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, and 200 °F.

The sandwiches tested were composed of two-layer cross-weave carbon fiber facesheets, a polyurethane foam core, and an epoxy film adhesive to join the two materials. The most successful method to delay the aforementioned …

Terrain Impostors, William Hamilton Hess

Master's Theses

Interactive software applications which need to render large terrain meshes can suffer from slow frame rates if the geometry of the terrain is sufficiently dense. However, the viewing angle to many distant features of the terrain does not change rapidly with respect to time. If the movement of the viewing position is limited to continuous motion and restrained to a known speed, many terrain features may be rendered once in high detail and reused for several frames.

This thesis proposes a method to increase the rendering speed of large complex terrains by splitting the terrain into contiguous chunks. If a …

Development Of Cubesat Vibration Testing Capabilities For The Naval Postgraduate School And Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Marissa Brummitt

Master's Theses

The Naval Postgraduate School is currently developing their first CubeSat, the Solar Cell Array Tester CubeSat, or NPS-SCAT. Launching a CubeSat, such as NPS-SCAT, requires environmental testing to ensure not only the success of the mission, but also the safety of other CubeSats housed in the same deployer. This thesis will address the development of CubeSat vibration testing methodology at NPS, including subsystem testing, engineering unit qualification, and flight unit testing. In addition, the new Cal Poly CubeSat Test POD Mk III will be introduced and evaluated based upon comparison with the Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD). Using examples from …

J Am Coll Dent 2010 77 4

Journal of the American College of Dentists

The Journal of the American College of Dentists (JACD) publishes scholarly articles, editorials, essays, and reflections addressing the ethical, professional, and social dimensions of dentistry. The Journal serves as a forum for advancing ethics, professionalism, leadership, and excellence within the dental community. By fostering dialogue across disciplines and perspectives, JACD provides readers with insights that encourage ethical, professional practice, lifelong learning, and service to the public, reinforcing dentistry’s commitment to advancing oral healthcare and the common good.

Research Project For Rokenbok Educational Foundation, Brian Becker-Tirrill, Paul Eichen, Stefanie Kurtz-Harris, Jennifer Tracy

Program Design and Evaluation

Research project on Equipo de Ingenieros en Accion (Team of Engineers in Action), a collaborative program of Rokenbok Educational Foundation and Center for Academic and Social Advancement.

Evaluating The Technical Efficiency Of Trolley Buses In Athens, Greece, Panayotis G. Michaelides, Athena Belegri-Roboli, Theocharis Marinos

Journal of Public Transportation

Efficiency measurement traditionally has been an important approach of evaluating public firm performance. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the technical efficiency of Trolley Buses of the Athens and Piraeus Area (TBAPA) in Greece for the year 2003. The estimation of technical efficiency is based on the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and employs the Cobb-Douglas specification of the production function. Meanwhile, an attempt is made to investigate the explanatory power of other factors on the organization’s technical efficiency, such as the impact of other competitive means of transportation and the distance of the areas that each line connects. …

Explore: An Attraction Search Tool For Transit Trip Planning, Kari Edison Watkins, Brian Ferris, G. Scott Rutherford

Journal of Public Transportation

Publishing information about a transit agency’s stops, routes, schedules, and status in a variety of formats and delivery methods is an essential part of improving the usability of a transit system and the satisfaction of a system’s riders. A key staple of most transit traveler information systems is the trip planner, a tool that serves travelers well if the both origin and destination are known. However, sometimes the availability of transit at a location is more important than the actual destination. Given this premise, we developed an Attractions Search Tool to make use of an underlying trip planner to search …

Journal Of Cave And Karst Studies, Volume 72, No. 3, December 2010, Malcom S. Field

KIP Articles

Contents: Fast, Regional Conduit Flow to an Exceptional-Value Spring-Fed Creek: Implications for Source-Water Protection in Mantled Karst of South-Central Pennsylvania -- Symmetrical Cone-Shaped Hills, Abaco Island, Bahamas: Karst or Pseudokarst? -- Scale Analysis of the Significance of Dispersion in Mixing-Transport in Conduits -- Comparison of Conduit Volumes Obtained from Direct Measures and Artificial Tracer Tests -- A New Genus of the Subfamily Cubacubaninae (Insecta: Zygentoma: Nicoletiidae) from Caves in South-Central and Southwestern USA -- Microclimate Monitoring of Pozalagua Cave (Vizcaya, Spain): Application to Management and Protection of Show Caves -- Guide to Authors

Center For Renewable Energy Newsletter, December 2010, Illinois State University, Center For Renewable Energy

Center for Renewable Energy Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Campus Chronicle, Brian Osborn, Mandy Bornhoft, Mariah Mack, Jason Messer, Jay Warren, C.J. Eilers, Johnathan Krueger, April Kustanborter, Jill Majerus, Mike Mcgregor, Trevor Stroup, Glen Cosner, Katie Hermann, Julie Roosa

Campus Chronicle

No abstract provided.

Variational Kinematic Geometry For Task Centered Design Of Mechanisms And Robotic Systems, Jun Wu

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This dissertation deals with the problem of task centered design of mechanisms and robotic systems via novel concept of variational kinematic geometry. The results can be extended to other field such as biomechanics, structure chemistry and protein kinematics, as well as micro- and nano- systems, in which kinematics playsan important roles. Since the early days of Industrial Revolution, machine theorists and kinematicians have sought to develop a theory to analyze and synthesize mechanisms so that engineers could approach the problem in a rational way. This dissertation introduces a task-centered approach to mechanism design using a constraint basedparadigm, and conducts a …

Microstructure Investigation Of Thermoelectric Materials, Juan Zhou

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Thermoelectric materials can convert heat directly into electricity and hence may play an important role in the future of energy conversion. In the last decade, the performance of thermoelectric materials has been enhanced substantially. Most of the progress is obtained through a control of the microstructure of a material. Especially, nanometer scale substructures present in the materials are thought to play a critical role for the significant reduction of lattice thermal conductivity and enhancement of figure of merit. A comprehensive understanding of the role of the micro- and nano- scale structural features on the electron and phonon transport would facilitate …

Assessing The Nature Of Rip Currents Along The South Shore Of Long Island, Ny: Dominant Rip Type And Insights Into Possible Forcing Mechanisms, Michael Patrick Slattery

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The south shore of Long Island experiences periodic rip currents that pose a human threat as well as generate scientific intrigue. To address the type of rip currents present along Long Island's south shore, an integrated monitoring system that includes use of beach cameras, the SWAN wave model, and seismic recording stations was implemented. The original site was in East Hampton, NY in a private residence while a second camera was established in the Fire Island lighthouse and a second seismic station was placed in the Maidstone club (also in East Hampton, NY). Statistics from camera observations indicate that rip …

December 1, 2010 Faculty Senate Minutes, University Of South Carolina

Faculty Senate

No abstract provided.

Hydroelectric System Design, Timothy Mcdonnell Brown

Master's Theses

Hydroelectric power generation is not a viable option as a prime source of electrical energy for the Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp, as determined by this thesis. The hydroelectric power system can only provide a maximum power capacity of 17kW as limited by the available mechanical energy of the water source. This power capacity is inadequate to reliably supply power to the electrical loads at the camp during peak demand periods. The purpose of this thesis was to study the feasibility of supplying the Boy Scout Camp with a renewable source of electrical energy through an exploration of various hydroelectric …

Emerging Trends In Greenhouse Gas Thresholds Of Significance For Use Under The California Environmental Quality Act, Nancy E. Mathison

Master's Theses

This study determined the state of the practice and emerging trends in developing greenhouse gas (GHG) thresholds of significance for use under the California Environmental Policy Act (CEQA). To describe the adopted, proposed or considered approaches for developing thresholds of significance by air districts and the thought processes behind these decisions, information was obtained through surveys and phone interviews from twelve employees of air districts in California, State agencies, and consultants that are considered experts on this issue. The results of this study include a comparison matrix of the approaches of the three air districts that have adopted or proposed …

Modeling Of A Gyro-Stabilized Helicopter Camera System Using Neural Networks, Nicholas Joseph Layshot

Master's Theses

On-board gimbal systems for camera stabilization in helicopters are typically based on linear models. Such models, however, are inaccurate due to system nonlinearities and complexities. As an alternative approach, artificial neural networks can provide a more accurate model of the gimbal system based on their non-linear mapping and generalization capabilities.

This thesis investigates the applications of artificial neural networks to model the inertial characteristics (on the azimuth axis) of the inner gimbal in a gyro-stabilized multi-gimbal system. The neural network is trained with time-domain data obtained from gyro rate sensors of an actual camera system. The network performance is evaluated …

Epicardial Wireless Pacemaker For Improved Left Ventricular Resynchronization (Conceptual Design), Rodney J. Hawkins

Master's Theses

The human body is a well tuned mechanism where systems work in synergy to provide a healthy quality of life. The human circulatory system transports oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body delivering the proper nutrients for cells to function. When the heart malfunctions, serious complications can arise leading to sudden cardiac arrest. Congestive heart failure (CHF) is one heart disease that affects the synchrony of the heart’s ventricles.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been widely accepted as a treatment for CHF. Similar to traditional dual chamber pacing techniques, CRT adds a pacing lead to stimulate …