Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of heart diseases and mortality around the world. Recently cryoplasty has emerged as a potentially effective method to treat atherosclerosis. Finite element heat transfer and mass transfer models are developed in ANSYS in this study. The heat transfer model analyzes the heat transfer within the atherosclerotic plaque and arterial wall during the cryopalsty procedure. The model is useful in predicting the transient temperature through diseased wall tissues. The measurements can be used to decide the required treatment procedure effectively for freezing the plaque with minimal damage to the healthy arterial tissues. The model investigates the parameters that may effect temperature distribution within the tissue during the ablative procedure. A mass transfer model is developed using ANSYS to study the pressure effects on molecular diffusion across the arterial wall and the permeability effects of endothelial membrane during the molecular diffusion process. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 89-95)

Many studies of hyper saline environments have been performed, mainly on aquatic systems. However, the microbial community in terrestrial thallasohaline environments has not been studied extensively. To our knowledge, this is the first study of a natural terrestrial thallasohaline environment using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). We studied the great salt plains (GSP) for this purpose. The GSP is a perfect example of an extreme environment. The environment of the GSP changes frequently due to rain events that can change the salinity of the soil. Salt gradient samples and core samples were collected from the GSP in different years and DNA extractions were performed. 16S rRNA genes were amplified using PCR and examined on DGGE gels. Banding patterns of the DGGE gels were analyzed using Quantity One-Versa Doc software. Based on the banding patterns after DGGE, it was shown that the low- and high-salt soil samples had greater band richness than medium-salt soil samples. A dendrogram of relatedness was made and the samples were placed in different phenons using NTSYS. Core samples collected from the same locations exhibited similar microbial communities, and samples collected in different years from same location exhibited different microbial communities. Environmental factors such as soil salinity, water flow, and temperature, vary from year to year and from place to place on the GSP, which can select for different microbial communities in soil samples collected from the same place in different years and soil samples collected from different places on the GSP. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Biological Sciences. / "May 2006."

This thesis presents a cost analysis of grid-connected electric energy storage. Various battery energy storage technologies are considered in the analysis. Life-cycle cost analysis is used. The results are presented in term of incremental cost of electricity stored and discharged, in US$/kWh / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 47-49)

Parents’ relationships with their adolescents certainly have an impact on their adolescents’ behavior at school. Two factors in these relationships include (a) Parenting styles, a construct that measures the level of involvement and control of parent, and is an indicator of an adolescent’s well-being; and (b) Family structure in the form of two parents and single parent families differ in the support that each inherently offers also affecting the adolescent’s behavior. This study sampled 332 male and female high school seniors from three local suburban schools of Wichita that addressed incidence of aggression and its relationship to parenting styles and family structure. Seniors completed a demographic survey that gathered family structure information and number of disciplinary incidents; and they also completed a parenting style survey that measured parents’ parenting style level. The study found that adolescents from two parent families were less likely to receive disciplinary incidents compared to adolescents from other family structures. Also, analysis revealed that adolescents living with parents using an authoritative parenting style were less likely to receive disciplinary incidents compared to adolescents living with parents using non-authoritative parenting styles (authoritarian, permissive, neglectful). This study did not find an interaction between family structure and parenting style which previous research had suggested that authoritative parenting style tends to benefit adolescents regardless of the family structure. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept, of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and School Psychology. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 46-57)

Compared to the large body of research on female gender roles, little research has focused on male gender representation. This study addresses male and female gender representation as portrayed on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. This research studies both male and female gender representation throughout the publication from 1967 to 2004. Using Erving Goffman’s gender displays and Mee-Eun Kang’s body displays, as a guideline from the underlining theme, the data shows that gender displays for females have remained fairly consistent, but body displays have increased. However, men’s gender stereotypes increased when they were in the presence of a woman, and a woman’s gender displays decreased when presented with a man. The findings also indicated a significant increase in body displays for female cover subjects but a significant decrease for males. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Elliott School of Communication. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 76-84)

In conventional pipelined circuits there is only one data wave active in any pipeline stage at any time; therefore, the clock speed of the circuit is limited by the maximum stage delay in the circuit. In wave pipelining, the clock speed depends mostly on the difference between the longest and shortest path delays. In some circuit designs there are redundant elements to make the circuit less sensitive to noise, to provide higher signal driving capability, or other purposes. Also, some circuit designs include logic to detect the early completion of a computation, or to guarantee that the worst physical path delay does not equate to the worst computational delay. Prior tools for wave-pipelined circuits do not account for such design features. This research develops a computer-aided design tool to determine the maximum clock speed for wave pipelined circuits with redundant logic or where otherwise the internal circuit timing depends on the input signal values. Moreover, alternative design techniques are proposed to improve the performance of wave pipelined circuits. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 39-41) / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 39-41)

Rollovers tend to be very severe crashes because of the energy required to roll a vehicle over unlike front and side crashes. This study is an effort towards reducing the severity of a rollover crash by strengthening the roof of a passenger car. The main focus of this thesis is to study the effect of reinforcing the roof of a car, in the event of a rollover. An Eglass/polypropylene isogrid composite panel, which is known for high specific energy absorption under impact, is used in reinforcing the roof of a ford Taurus car and the force-displacement response of the roof structure is observed in contrast to the same while without the roof reinforcement. The non-linear Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulation of this rollover event is performed in LS DYNA computer code. The simulation setup is done in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Standard (FMVSS) No. 216, which is a static study of roof strength in the case of rollover accidents. A study of roof strength characteristics under dynamic loading, involving rollover forces and velocities, is also carried out. The simulation in the latter case involves dropping the car, inverted at a certain pitch and roll offset against gravity from a certain predetermined height onto a concrete surface. The results of the above simulations show that Isogrid composite panels are excellent reinforcements for a car roof, stiffening the roof and increasing its resistance to crush in a rollover accident. This study will help in recommending the use of isogrid panels in the design of car roofs with better roof crush characteristics. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 57-59)

Women with untreated phenylketonuria (PKU), tend to give birth to infants with multiple congenital anomalies, as elevated maternal phenylalanine (Phe) level is teratogenic. The best outcomes occur when strict control of maternal Phe levels is achieved before conception and maintained throughout pregnancy. Such diets are not highly palatable and therefore there is often loss of dietary compliance. An alternative to low Phe diet would be a more normal diet that is altered so that the Phe content is less problematic. Hence, there is an interest in the use of large neutral amino acids (LNAA), which compete with Phe for membrane transport sites in the intestines and the placental barrier and thus alleviate the problems associated with PKU. In our research we used a PKU mouse model to examine the effect of LNAA supplementation on the maternal and fetal blood Phe levels. 3 different doses of LNAA supplementation were given to different animal groups to observe its effect on the blood Phe levels. Results showed that 16.7% and 33.4% LNAA supplementation caused significant decrease in the blood Phe levels over a period of time, but was associated with adverse effects. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Biological Sciences. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 36-40)

This thesis attempts to develop a synthesis of two traditionally conflicting epistemological approaches to literary theory and criticism. Over the past ten years, poststructuralist theory and the developing branch of cognitive and evolutionary literary theory have been at odds with one another. The overall purpose of this thesis strives to find a common ground between the two epistemological approaches to literature. In recent years, the emergence of a third epistemological position, situated between the two binary dichotomies, has sought to resolve the realist/relativist polemic through biocultural approaches to literature. This thesis will attempt to apply the bio-cultural approach to literature. The thesis first evaluates an existing poststructuralist argument, Jacqueline Howard’s Bakhtinian analysis of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. Following this evaluation, an overview of cognitive and evolutionary theories’ connection to the Romantic period’s development of a brain-science will establish a biocultural approach to Austen’s Northanger Abbey and will situate cognitive and evolutionary theory within a cultural context. Finally, an analysis of Northanger Abbey from a cognitive and evolutionary standpoint will provide a synthesis of Howard’s basic premise and achieve a bio-cultural deconstruction of the realist/relativist polemic. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of English. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 36-39)

As an alternative to the numerous distinct controller design algorithms in continuous-time and discrete-time classical control textbooks, a simple, unified design approach is presented for all standard continuous-time and discrete-time, classical compensators independent of the form of the system information. This approach is based on a simple root locus design procedure for a proportional-derivative (PD) compensator. From this procedure, design procedures for unified notation lead, proportional-integral (PI), proportional-integral--derivative (PID), and PI-lead compensator are developed. The delta operator, which serves as a link between the continuous-time and discrete-time procedures, offers improved numerical properties to the traditional discrete--time shift operator. With this proposed approach, designers can concentrate on the larger control system design issues, such as compensator selection and closed-loop performance, rather than the intricacies of a particular design procedure. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Electrical Engineering. / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 89-91)