A novel variable optical attenuator based on buried polymer waveguides and waveguide bends is proposed. The attenuator consists of three waveguide sections, separated for waveguide bending by two embedded micorprisms. The attenuation of device was achieved by steering the beam propagation direction in the waveguide by thermo-optical effects. Detailed simulation results using the Beam Propagation Method are presented. In addition, radiation losses of the waveguide bends are experimentally investigated. After two-10¢X bends, the normalized insertion losses as low as 65.7¢H are obtained. The propagation loss of the buried waveguide is 0.47dB/cm at l=1.3 mm.

The Battle of Big Bend was the last significant battle of the Rogue River Indian Wars. The battle occurred 27-28 May 1856 in the Oregon Territory. The location of the battle was along the Rogue River at a place known as the Big Bend, approximately eight miles up river from the modern town of Agness, in Curry County, Oregon. The battle was fought between one reinforced Army company; Company "C", 1st Dragoons, and a large group of Indians from many different bands. Captain Andrew Jackson Smith was the commanding officer of Company "C" during the battle, and Chief John, a member of the Dakubetede Indian band, lead all the warriors. After the first few hours of fighting, the soldiers had suffered so many casualties that they could not break out of their surrounded position without abandoning their dead and wounded. But on the other hand, the soldiers had established their defensive position on a ridge line which provided them a strong tactical advantage which the Indians could not overcome in spite of their early battle success. After thirty hours of combat, Company "G", 1st Infantry, under the command of Captain Christopher C. Augur, came to the aid of the surrounded soldiers. When Company "G" entered the fight, the Indian warriors elected to quit fighting, and under moderate pressure moved off the field of battle into the surrounding mountains. The purpose of this research was to definitively identify the location of the defensive position used by Company "C", and perform data recovery for the Forest Service using archaeological field methods. The field strategy relied heavily on metal detectors to locate battle related artifacts over the battle area. Using data collected during fieldwork, and correlating it to primary reference sources and materials, the battle position of Company "C" was located for the United States Forest Service. / Graduation date: 1998

This thesis presents an experimental and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study on a rectangular S-bend with straight and diffusing passages with passive effusion cooling. Experimental tests were performed at both cold and hot flow conditions over a range of Reynolds numbers from 2.5e5 to 4.5e5. Hot flow testing was conducted with the primary flow temperature up to 300 °C. Severe backpressure penalties occurred with full-surface passive effusion injection in cold flow tests. Moderate penalties occurred with reduced surface coverage whereby the performance was affected by the S-bend secondary fields with injection at different locations. High surface cooling effectiveness with full-coverage of cooling film was measured; the impacts from the S-bend secondary flow fields were measured to be minimal. The CFD study revealed the importance of using experimental flow boundary conditions for simulations. Using the standard k-ε model with wall functions was confirmed as appropriate for simulating the S-bend flow with effusion cooling. A coarse-grid CFD methodology using a porous wall boundary condition to simulate the effects of effusion cooling was investigated. From a design perspective, this model is preferable for quantifying the injection flow rate since the actual mass flow rate is not known. Comparison to the alternative solution using uniform mass flow boundary conditions showed that both models incorrectly predicted the momentum. The porous wall model, however, is promising for practical design applications of S-duct flow fields with effusion injections. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-12-23 14:20:32.38

No description available.

Current scoliosis corrective surgeries may include the use of multiple instrumentation devices including screws, wires, nuts, and rods. The instrumentation in most cases is implemented in its native form. However, the instrumentation rods must be contoured to a desired shape prior to fixation to the spine. The contouring of the instrumentation rod is currently performed manually and may require significant time for completion. This results in an increase of operation time and reduced accuracy of the instrumentation rod. The feasibility of automating the contouring process was studied to determine if the time required to contour a rod could be reduced and if the accuracy of the rod could be improved. This study built upon a previous effort to construct a prototype that would automate the manufacture of spinal instrumentation rods. The Spinal Instrumentation Bending Prototype (SIBP) focused on ease of use, time of manufacture, and accuracy. In order to complete the manufacturing process, the current SIBP uses a set of three dimensional control points that represent the desired contour of the rod. These control points are translated into manufacturing inputs that control the SIBP. The control application for the SIBP contains local and global feedback routines that correct for any manufacturing errors. A comparative study was made between the SIBP and an experienced orthopedic surgeon to determine the level of bending accuracy improvement. / Master of Science

Civic engagement is a critical function of a democratic society. Citizens have a civic duty to participate in processes- simple and complex- that contribute to a healthy and successful quality of life. Planning provides the necessary structure for citizens to prioritize the issues that need to be addressed by government. Without planning, policies and programs cannot be created and implemented that enhance the quality of life of citizens. The Neighborhood Partnership Center Program and the Neighborhood Resources and Technical Services Corporation were created by the City of South Bend, Indiana as opportunities for residents to affect change in neighborhoods. This study examined the theory and practice of civic engagement and planning, and then applied them to the NPC Program and NRTSC in the Rum Village Neighborhood in South Bend, Indiana to determine if they were models for fostering civic engagement. The selected criteria were inconclusive in proving the NPC Program and NRTSC fostered the degree of civic engagement activity that the City of South Bend intended the programs to produce. / Department of Urban Planning

In the southwestern United States there is a delicate balance between the existing grasslands and the rodent fauna. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the influence of secondary succession of native grasslands upon the ecology and distribution of small rodents. Two methods of determining the rodent species were plot quadrates and trap lines using Sherman live traps.

The purpose of the study was to measure student attitudes toward Clay Middle School and selected components of the school in South Bend, Indiana, and to compare the results of student achievement, attendance, and dropout rate from the two years prior to the implementation of the intermediate school program with the results of student achievement, attendance, and dropout rate three years following the implementation of the intermediate school program. The study was limited to include all students in grades 7-9 in the Clay attendance district from 1970-75 and to a sample of all Clay Middle School certified staff members with school-wide responsibility.Two questionnaires, together with computer scored standardized tests, computer-generated attendance data, and a tally form for recording dropouts were used to collect the data. The first questionnaire was administered to the sample of Clay Middle School staff and was used to establish the credibility of the Clay Middle School program as a middle school. The second questionnaire was administered to Clay Middle School students in grades 7-9 from 1972-75 to collect data on attitudes toward school. The standardized tests were the Cooperative School and College Ability Tests and the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress from Educational Testing Service and were administered to seventh and ninth grade students in the Clay attendance district to evaluate any change in student achievement. The attendance data and ninth grade dropout data were collected for all students in grades 7-9 from the Clay attendance district from 1970-75 and were used to determine any change in student attendance and ninth grade student dropout rate.The data collected throughout the study indicated:The following basic middle school principles were implemented to a high degree in the Clay middle School program: student services, exploratory and enrichment programs, continuous progress, auxiliary staffing, team teaching, use of multimedia, and physical experiences. The following basic middle school principles were implemented to a low degree in the Clay Middle School program: student security factors, flexible schedule, intramural activity, and planned gradualism.Most students held positive attitudes toward the open concept intermediate school program as implemented at Clay Middle School.Almost all of the Clay Middle School students were able to become well-adjusted and effectively oriented toward Clay Middle School.Most Clay Middle School students considered the course offerings at Clay Middle School adequate.A sizeable minority of Clay Middle School students was dissatisfied in regard to certain aspects of the courses offered in the open classroom areas and suggested more teacher involvement in student learning problems.Nearly one-half of the Clay Middle School students considered the faculty and staff at Clay Middle School unresponsive and unavailable.A majority of the Clay Middle School students had an overall positive feeling toward the school. The physical layout of the Clay Middle School building was serviceable to the basic needs of students.The changes in student achievement as measured by the standardized tests at Clay Middle School from two years prior to the implementation of the intermediate school program to three years following the implementation of the intermediate school program were minor and could not be attributed to the Clay Middle School Program.The changes in student attendance in the Clay attendance district from two years prior to the implementation of the intermediate school program to three years following the implementation of the intermediate school program were minor and could not be attributed to the Clay Middle School program.12. The percentage of ninth grade dropouts in the Clay attendance district decreased as a result of the ninth grade being a part of the intermediate school unit.

"Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) is a medical imaging modality that allows us to visualize functional information about a patient's specific organ or body systems. During 20 minute scan, patients may move. Such motion will cause misalignment in the reconstruction, degrade the quality of 3D images and potentially lead to errors in diagnosis. Body bend and twist are types of patient motion that may occur during SPECT imaging and which has been generally ignored in SPECT motion correction strategies. To correct for these types of motion we propose a deformation model and its inclusion within an iterative reconstruction algorithm. One simulation and three experiments were conducted to investigate the applicability of our model. The simulation employed simulated projections of the MCAT phantom formed using an analytical projector which includes attenuation and distance-dependent resolution to investigate applications of our model in reconstruction. We demonstrate in the simulation studies that twist and bend can significantly degrade SPECT image quality visually. Our correction strategy is shown to be able to greatly diminish the degradation seen in the slices, provided the parameters are estimated accurately. To verify the correctness of our deformation model, we design the first experiment. In this experiment, the return of the post-motion-compensation locations of markers on the body-surface of a volunteer to approximate their original coordinates is used to examine our method of estimating the parameters of our model and the parameters' use in undoing deformation. Then, we design an MRI based experiment to validate our deformation model without any reconstruction. We use the surface marker motion to alter an MRI body volume to compensate the deformation the volunteer undergoes during data acquisition, and compare the motion-compensated volume with the motionless volume. Finally, an experiment with SPECT acquisitions and modified MLEM algorithm is designed to show the contribution of our deformation correction for clinical SPECT imaging. We view this work as a first step towards being able to estimate and correct patient deformation based on information obtained from marker tracking data."

Two-week sampling periods during the spring, summer, and fall of 2003, and the winter of 2004 were conducted utilizing a tandem differential mobility analyzer (TDMA) and, during the spring and summer, an aerodynamic particle sizer (APS), to characterize the seasonal variability of the Big Bend regions aerosol optical properties. Mass extinction efficiencies and relative humidity scattering enhancement factors were calculated for both externally and internally mixed aerosol populations for all size distributions collected, in an effort to possibly improve upon the default EPA mass extinction efficiencies used for all Class 1 areas across the United States. The mass extinction efficiencies calculated differed to some extent form the default values employed by the EPA. Sulfate, nitrate, and light absorbing carbon (LAC) exhibited a strong dependence on assumed mixing state, while, additionally, sulfate was also dependent on the assumed dominant aerosol. Seasonal variability was seen with all particle types, excluding LAC, with sulfate mass extinction efficiencies displaying the greatest variability with season. Calculated back trajectories indicated that air masses originating from the southeast had elevated mass extinction efficiencies, while, conversely, air masses originating from the southwest and northwest had the smallest mass extinction efficiencies.