Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-103) Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-54). Also available in electronic version.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 201-205). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

M.Tech. (Industrial Engineering) / Material handling is never value-adding, but always increases the production costs. The objective of any new handling system should therefore be to reduce handling and then to find cost-effective solutions for those operations that cannot be eliminated. The systems approach can be used to analyse and solve material handling problems, ensuring that all alternatives are considered. This increases the likelihood of a successful project. The feasibility study should be used at the outset of a project to ensure that a shortlist of the best solutions can be made. This is done before major capital expense is incurred. Thereafter, a systematic procedure guides the project from a concept design, to a few selected option, then to the simulation of the proposed system and finally to the installation plan and construction. The systems approach is often preferred by management, because the financial and technical issues are quantified and therefore reduce the risk of a bad investment. Ultimately, a new material handling system, if required at all, should minimise production costs and therefore be an asset instead of a liability to the company.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The U.S. Navy's Transformation Roadmap is leading the fleet in a smaller, faster, and more technologically advanced direction. Smaller platforms and reduced manpower resources create opportunities to fill important positions, including ship-handling control, with technology. This thesis investigates the feasibility of using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) speech recognition software (SRS) for conning a Navy ship. Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 6.0 software and a SHURE wireless microphone were selected for this study. An experiment, with a limited number of subjects, was conducted at the Marine Safety International, San Diego, California ship-handling simulation facility. It measured the software error rate during conning operations. Data analysis sought to determine the types and significant causes of error. Analysis includes factors such as iteration number, subject, scenario, setting and ambient noise. Their significance provides key insights for future experimentation. The selected COTS technology for this study proved promising overcoming irregularities particular to conning, but the software vocabulary and grammar were problematic. The use of SRS for conning ships merits additional research, using a limited lexicon and a modified grammar which supports conning commands. Cooperative research between the Navy and industry could produce the "Helmsman" of the future. / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Vários trabalhos têm mostrado que a ingestão deficiente de ferro pode causar alterações nos parâmetros morfológicos e bioquímicos do Sistema Nervoso Central (SNC) do rato assim como em seu comportamento. Também, os animais deficientes em ferro mostram redução no número de lamelas de mielina e déficits de aprendizado. Por outro lado, a estimulação tátil pode reduzir e/ou evitar os danos causados pela má nutrição sobre o SNC e comportamento. Entretanto, os danos no processo de mielinização têm também sido vistos na anemia ferro-deficiente e, uma vez que o nervo óptico é em grande parte formado pelos axônios mielinizados, o objetivo deste estudo é verificar os efeitos da anemia ferropriva e estimulação tátil sobre a morfologia do nervo óptico de ratos Wistar machos aos 18, 22 e 32 dias de idade. Os animais foram divididos em 2 grupos: Controles ( C ) (35 mg Fe / Kg de dieta), Anêmicos ( A ) (4 mg Fe / Kg de dieta). Cada grupo foi subdividido em Estimulado ( E ) e Não Estimulado ( N ). O peso corporal, hemoglobina, hematócrito, área, perímetro, diâmetro mínimo, densidade de células gliais e número de vasos no nervo óptico foram avaliados. Os animais foram anestesiados com éter sulfúrico e sacrificados por perfusão cardíaca com PBS 0,05 M em pH 7,3, seguido por paraformaldeído 2% mais glutaraldeído 1% em tampão fosfato 0,1 M (pH 7,3). O nervo óptico foi dissecado e imerso em solução de tetróxido de ósmio a 1% por duas horas a 40C, desidratado em acetona com graus de diluição crescentes e incluído em araldite. As amostras de nervo óptico foram orientadas para permitir cortes transversos de suas fibras. Secções de 0,5 m foram obtidas e coradas com azul de toluidina 1% antes de serem examinadas na microscopia de luz. Os estudos morfométricos foram feitos com um sistema analisador de imagens semi-automático (MiniMop). Os resultados mostram que a anemia levou a deficiências no peso corporal, hematócrito, hemoglobina, área, perímetro, diâmetro mínimo, número de células gliais e número de vasos do nervo óptico entre os anêmicos, e que a estimulação melhorou significativamente estes itens tanto em anêmicos quanto em controles (à exceção de hematócrito e hemoglobina) porém não recuperando totalmente os estes prejuízos provocados pela anemia. / Several works have been shown that the deficient ingestion of iron can cause alterations in the morphologic and biochemical parameters of the Central Nervous System (CNS) of the rat as well as in its behavior. Also, the iron deficient animals show reduction in the number of myelin lamellae and learning deficits. On the other hand, the tactile stimulation can reduce and/or to avoid the damages caused by the bad nutrition about CNS and behavior. However, the damages in the myelinization process have been seen also in the iron-deficient anemia and, at once that the optical nerve is formed largely by the myelinated axons, the objective of this study is to verify the effects of the anemia and tactile stimulation on the morphology of the optical nerve of Wistar males rats at the 18th, 22 nd and 32 nd days of age. The animals were divided in 2 groups: Controls © (35 mg Fe / diet Kg), Anemic (A) (4 mg Fe / diet Kg). Each group was subdivided in Stimulated (S) and No Stimulated (N). The corporal weight, haemoglobin, haematocrit, area, perimeter, minimum diameter, density of glial cells and number of vases were evaluated. The animals were anesthetized and sacrificed by heart perfusion with PBS 0,05 M in pH 7,3, following for paraformaldheyde 2% plus glutaraldheyde 1% in a phosphate buffer 0,1 M (pH 7,3). The optic nerve was dissected and submerged in solution of osmium tetroxide 1% for two hours at 40C, dehydrated in acetone with decreasing dilution degrees and included in araldite. The samples of optic nerve were guided to allow transverse cuts of their fibers. Sections sized 0,5 m were obtained and stained with toluidin blue 1% prior examinations in the light microscopy. The morphometric studies were made with a semiautomatic analyzing system of images (MiniMop). The results show that the anaemia caused differences in the corporal weight, haematocrit, haemoglobin, area, perimeter, minimum diameter, number of glial cells and vassels of the optical nerve among controls and anaemic, and that the stimulation influenced significantly on these items taking to the conclusion that it improves the damaged structures due to anaemia, but it doesn’t recover them totally.