New radiometric ages and field relations within the Coastal Maine Magmatic Province suggest a bimodal distribution of igneous rocks in both space and time. The earlier magmatic event is represented by the development of large igneous complexes which occur along a magmatic axis extending from Calais to Penobscot Bay, Maine. These complexes are dominated by mafic magmatism ranging in composition from olivine norite through quartz diorite and granodiorite. Partially crystallized mafic magmas are often intruded by slightly peraluminous biotite ± hornblende granites as demonstrated by the occurrence of a wide range of enclave-host relationships. The igneous complexes are commonly cut by younger voluminous biotite ± hornblende granites and represent the development of a new tectonothermal perturbation of the crust. New radiometric data on igneous rocks from the Moosehorn Igneous Complex (MIC) near Calais, Maine indicate that the earlier magmatic event occurred during the interval of 440-420 m.y. This magmatic event in the MIC is marked by the emplacement of a large, complex assemblage of olivine norite, hypersthene gabbro, gabbro, biotite ± hornblende diorite, quartz diorite, and granodiorite. Compositional layering is present in many mafic bodies, and most commonly strikes northwest and dips gently to the southwest. The Moosehorn complex was intruded by the Baring granite before complete crystallization, resulting in the development of texturally diverse enclave swarms within the granite. / Master of Science

An attempt is made to understand the phenomenon of aeroelasticity as applied to the helicopter rotors, specifically laminated composite rotor blades. Realizing the immense complexity of the problem, a beginning has been made by developing a structural model for a rotating composite beam. Present work has three objectives; 1) To carry out an extensive survey of research related to the aeroelastic analysis of rotor blades, 2) To expand an existing finite element model by introducing new degrees of freedom and validate the changes, 3) and, finally using this model to carry out a linear static and dynamic analysis for a rotating composite beam. It was found that the rotation and fiber orientations have a pronounced effect on the static deflections and the natural frequencies of vibration of the laminated beam. / Master of Science

The study of focal shift in focused beams using unapodized apertures has been well documented. However, not much work has been done on apodized apertures. In this thesis we use a Fourier-Optic approach to analyze the field distribution of a focused beam around the region of geometrical focus. The analytical formulation developed is general in nature as it is valid for any arbitrary aperture functions. This is then applied to some specific cases. Two cases of interest that are considered are the unapodized and the Gaussian apodized annular apertures. In order to study the intensity distributions around the geometrical focus, simulation results are presented using closed form analytical expressions and approximate integral forms. Specific emphasis is placed on the focal shift in the two apertures and on the effect of changing various parameters. A prognosis for future work using a-Modulation on Gaussian apodized annular apertures is also presented. / Master of Science

This thesis summarizes the results of an experimental study on transonic turbine blades in the presence of ejection of coolant in the direction of the flow from slots near the trailing edge. I t presents the effect of the trailing edge coolant ejection on the turbine blade aerodynamic efficiency.¹ The objective of this work is to contribute to the design of new turbine blades by giving loss data for cooled blades. Data were taken in the Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University wind tunnel, which includes a two-dimensional transonic turbine cascade. The tunnel simulates supersonic discharge flows of turbine rotor blading in a linear cascade with trailing edges designed for ejection of cooling flow. Two blade designs, named Baseline and ULTRE, were tested. Experiments were performed on a transonic turbine cascade designed for a deflection of approximately 68 degrees and outlet Mach number of 1.14 for the Baseline blade and 1.2 for the ULTRE blade. Tests were carried out with CO₂ as coolant in order to ensure the proper simulation of the density ratio between coolant flow and main flow. Data were obtained for both the Baseline and ULTRE cascades with a good periodicity. The content of this thesis is limited to the aerodynamic aspects of coolant ejection. Heat transfer aspects are mentioned but not developed. The first part of this thesis reports on the theoretical considerations necessary for the understanding of the work done and describes the arrangement, instrumentation, and data acquisition system of the wind tunneL The second part of the thesis presents experimental results from tests carried out on both Baseline and ULTRE blades. The cascade tests cover an exit isentropic Mach number range of M2,it = 0.72 to 1.34 and four different ejection rates. 1 The efficiency being characterized by the total pressure loss in this work / Master of Science

The characteristics of 5’deiodinase (5’D) were studied in the postmitochondrial fraction (PMF) of liver homogenates from adult and developing ring doves (Streptopelia risoria). The 5’D assays were performed in the presence of abundant substrate, reverse triiodothyronine (rT3), cofactor (dithiothreitol) and trace amounts of I¹²⁵-rT3. 5’D activity was measured as I¹²⁵ released from the labelled rT3 during the assay incubation time. The 5’D assay was validated for all ages studied to assure that the initial reaction velocity of the enzyme was measured. Using the validated assay conditions the following characteristics were found in adult doves: the apparent K_m was 0.44 μM rT3, V_max was 255 pmol rT3 degraded/min-mg PMF protein. The 5’D activity was completely inhibited by 1.0 mM PTU and 50% inhibited by the addition of 18.0 μM thyroxine (T4) in the presence of 4.0 μM rT3. Activity was maximal at pH 8.04 and at 37.5 C. The K_m of the enzyme did not change throughout development (1 day prehatch to adult). The 5’D specific activity (rT3 degraded/min-mg PMF protein) was highest during early development (1 day prehatch to 7 days post-hatch), after which it gradually decreased with increasing age. The liver 5’D activity/gram of body weight was highest during the first seven days posthatch. This period of high potential triiodothyronine (T3) production corresponds with the observed period of greatest increase in plasma thyroid hormone concentrations during the first 6-8 days posthatch in ring doves. These results are the first demonstration of initial velocity 5’D activity during development in an altricial bird species and demonstrate a correlation between hepatic 5’D activity and plasma thyroid hormone concentrations during development in ring doves. / Master of Science

This work examines creation science and its relationship to American Protestant fundamentalism. The thesis argues that scientific creationism is inextricably linked to American Protestant fundamentalism. More specifically, this thesis demonstrates that creation science is a direct historical product of fundamentalist thought, theology, social character, and organizational structure. Indeed, creation science is most clearly understood in light of its historical and social relationship to fundamentalism. Scientific creationism is the newest phase in the fundamentalist rejection of modernist thought and evolutionary theory. The thesis concludes that creation science is not a valid scientific endeavor, and is in instead a form of Biblical apologetics. / Master of Arts

For a particular equilibrium point, the local performance is determined by the partial derivatives of the control law evaluated at the equilibrium point. For a linear controller, the derivatives are equal to the state-feedback gains and the gains on the external inputs. These gains can be changed to vary the local performance of the system. An extended-linear controller links together the desired local controllers of various equilibrium points producing a nonlinear controller with the desired characteristics in a neighborhood of the equilibrium curve. Global performance is the behavior of the system away from the equilibrium curve. Although the extended-linear controller has good local performance, the global performance might be poor or even unstable. This thesis uses cubic spline techniques to investigate the coupling of global information into local controllers without affecting the local performance. Although “stand-alone” interpolative spline structures do not give the desired local performance, global information can be splined into linear and extended-linear controllers to provide both good global and good local performance. / Master of Science

In-storage losses of seed vigor, i.e., aging, that occur between harvest and planting may leave soybeans essentially worthless as seed. Peroxidation of lipids, with resultant loss of membrane integrity, is theorized to be a primary event in seed aging. Lipid antioxidants might have the potential to protect dry seed by neutralizing free radicals, which propagate lipid peroxidation and other destructive events. Seed were treated with antioxidants in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to investigate possible protective effects of antioxidants during storage and thus also provide evidence for the lipid peroxidation model of seed aging. The toxicity of DMSO to soybean seed was found to be minimal at treatment times of 15 min or less. Seed were treated for 15 min with 0, 5, 25, and 50 mM solutions in DMSO of propyl gallate (PG), butylated hydroxyanisore (BHA), butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), and tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ). Germination, seed leakage, seedling vigor, and phospholipids in the embryonic axis were monitored following storage at 40 C for up to 90 days. / Master of Science

The airport capacity problem has recently received a great deal of attention due to airport congestion and delays. Capacity improvements of airfield and airspace component of an airport are currently being addressed by several researchers and federal and state agencies. The optimal location of runway turnoffs is the focus of this research. Although the current airport capacity limitations are dictated by airspace separation rules, it is expected that runway occupancy time (ROT) will become an important factor In the near future as the interarrival separations between landing aircraft are reduced. The intent of this research is to show that the use of high speed exits on runway contributes to the reduction of ROT, and therefore provides enhancement in runway capacity. However, locating the high speed exits is a complex and dynamic problem stemming from the aircraft landing behavior. The landing behavior of an aircraft is affected by many factors such as approach speed, deceleration rate, design exit speed, airport elevation, wind, temperature, etc .. Some of these factors are probabilistic in nature. A simulation model and an optimization algorithm that take into consideration all above factors developed to address the problem. The simulation model consists of a series of dynamic equations of motion that models the aircraft landing behavior under various airport conditions, and determines the best exit location for that aircraft. The optimization model takes the simulation results as input for various aircraft mix, and finds a given number of exit locations which minimize the average ROT for the total aircraft fleet. / Master of Science

Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) films can be easily etched into sensor devices. Since these sensors are relatively inexpensive, thin and light-weight, they can be attached to adhesively bonded joints permanently to measure bond integrity. The present study shows the different steps to design such sensors and proper techniques to attach them near the adhesive bondline. PVDF sensors have been successfully used as NDT transducers in pulse-echo, through-transmission, and acousto-ultrasonic techniques to monitor curing, to detect porosity and crack propagation in different model joint geometries. The potential of using these techniques for practical bonded structures has then been evaluated. / Master of Science