Balancing an air distribution system consists primarily of measuring airflow and adjusting volume control devices to get specified airflow. Flow calculation methods are not accurate enough to ensure proper balancing by duct design alone. To assure proper balancing, dampers within an air distribution system must be adjusted until design flows are met throughout the system to within + 10%. By properly balancing an air distribution system, operating costs in the system will be reduced, comfort for the occupants in the building will be increased, and the life of the HVAC equipment will be improved. Existing balancing techniques are iterative methods that require several measurements and damper adjustments. The flows and pressures are first measured, and then the dampers are adjusted to match design airflow. The flows are measured again and the measuring and adjusting process is repeated on a trial-and-error process until design flow is achieved. This iterative process is time consuming and expensive. The proposed new balancing technique is to use a computer program that, based on a few measurements, determines damper adjustments that will achieve design airflow throughout the system. Each terminal damper is adjusted only once to a specified flowrate that is determined by the computer program, making the balancing process quicker and less expensive. No iteration is required. / Master of Science

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<p> In the past two decades or so. microsatellites have become a very widely used genetic tool in many disciplines of biology. Their major downfalL however. is that they often need to be isolated de novo before they can be applied to molecular studies. Traditional shotgun cloning can be successfuL but it is often overly costly and time consuming. Compounding this downfall, isolating microsatellites from some taxa has been shown to be difficult. For example. on average only 0.46% of all clones screened using avian genomes will yield positive clones. This is thought to be a result of a smaller avian genome, a requirement for flight. Several alternative methods have been developed for isolating microsatellites, but the choice as to which isolation method to use is often arbitrary. To address this. four species of birds. the smooth-billed ani (Crotophaga ani). herring gull (Larus argentatus), yellow-bellied elaenia (Elaenia flavogaster), and pukeko (Porphyria porphyria), representing four different orders were used to compare two alternative isolation methods. Enrichment via selective hybridization versus cloning with Lambda Zap phage vector were compared in terms of monetary requirements (total startup cost as well as per isolation attempt cost). and time requirements (total time from start to finish and hands-on experimentation time). No significant difference was detected in terms of number of polymorphic microsatellite loci isolated by each method (p = 0.57), with enrichment yielding more for the anis and elaenias, Lambda Zap yielding more for herring gulls. and both methods isolating equal numbers for pukekos. Nor was any difference found between the methods for dollars spent per sequence with repeat (SWR) using the startup cost (p = 0.30). Enrichment. however. proved to be significantly more effective in terms of dollars per SWR isolated using the per use cost (p = 0.004) as well as hands-on minutes per SWR (p = 0.01) and total minutes per SWR (p < 0.01 ). Based on these tindings. selective hybridization is the better choice for microsatellite isolation. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

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The purpose of this study was to determine the potential contribution of vocational and technical education to the future social-economic development of Albania. To achieve this purpose, a panel of experts was involved in the formulation of statements and the determination of each statement's value as a contributor to future social-economic development. This study was conducted using a Modified Delphi Technique to identify and prioritize statements generated as part of this research methodology. The study was accomplished through solicitation of responses from a 17 member panel of experts. The panel consisted of individuals representing government service, non-government organizations, Albanian educators, and international educators involved in different educational projects in Albania in the last ten years. Each of the experts was asked to identify statements that vocational and technical education can contribute to the future social-economic development of Albania. Responses provided by the panel members and the statements added by the researcher were edited and organized into a list with 71 statements. The panel of experts was asked to rate this list and means and standard deviations were calculated for each statement. The criterion to determine the importance of statements was defined as a mean being equal or higher than 3.5 on a 5-point Likert scale. The criteria employed to determine panel consensus was defined as a standard deviation being equal or less than 1.00. From the list of 71 statements, 68 were concluded to have been important and have reached consensus by the panel. The 68 statements on which the panel of experts reached consensus were rank ordered according to their means.A content analysis of the ranked statements revealed that statements clustered around common themes. These themes included VTE's Planning Procedures and Policy, Program and Institutional Development, Values and Work Ethics, Productivity, Communication and Analytical Skills, and Linkages.From these results, it was concluded that the process for the development of an effective VTE program that will contribute to the social-economic development of Albania will be long and complex. This process will involve many people, agencies, and organizations all working together. Hence, it was recommended that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs take the lead in this process. / Ph. D.