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M.A.

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Eight male subjects searched for target alphanumeric characters using a touch-input equipped CRT under four levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), 0.0, 0.05, 0.07, and 0.09 percent. Participants visually searched randomly generated 108-character arrays for imbedded target characters, touching the CRT surface at target locations when located. Half of the search trials used arrays containing no target, providing the opportunity for "giving up" any search trial at the discretion of the participant. A monetary incentive/penalty system was used to define low- and high-criticality search trials. Search time, touch accuracy, the number of trials completed, percent "give-ups," and hand travel time were all significantly degraded by the alcohol dosages used. An alcohol-by-criticality interaction was observed for percent give-ups, and an alcohol-by-target presence interaction was observed for mean search times. Changes in search time due to alcohol were observed only for trials containing no target. / M.S.

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M.S.

The Hillside Fourplex, a structurally innovative housing unit which won a HUD competition “Building Value Into Housing”, was conducted in Blacksburg, VA, in 1982. The purpose of this study was to evaluate public acceptance of the unit as evidenced at open house sessions, to evaluate user satisfaction as evidence of livability, and to make recommendations for design changes before replication. An 80 item questionnaire, with a five point acceptable/non-acceptable range, was used to assess public acceptance. User satisfaction was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire containing sections related to residents’ opinions of exterior characteristics, interior characteristics, innovative features, and design decisions. The questionnaire, a modification of the one used to assess public acceptance (with the addition of a five point not important/important and a five point dissatisfied/satisfied range), was administered to student residents–as a pre-test (before occupancy), as an initial post-test (after 4 weeks occupancy), and as a second post-test (after 20 weeks occupancy). A matrix was created to combine responses to unimportant-important and dissatisfied-satisfied ratings. Descriptive and statistical analysis indicated a general acceptance of and satisfaction with the fourplex; however, problems were noted with the heating systems and audile privacy. / M.S.

An algorithm is described for extracting lines from grey level digitizations of industrial drawings. The algorithm is robust, noniterative, sequential, and includes procedures for differentiating shaded areas from lines. Examples are given for complex regions of a typical mechanical drawing. / M.S.