Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 52-55)

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Wilmington, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 104-106)

The effects of instruction in self-questioning skills on comprehension of expository text and on ideas and content and organization traits in writing were explored. The expository reading and writing performance of 19 second grade students in an urban, low SES elementary school receiving instruction in a questioning strategy was compared with a stratified sampling of students from other classrooms in the same school. Pre and post assessments include a graphic organizer to record topic, main idea, and supporting details when reading an article and writing samples scored using the 6 trait analytical rating guide. Students using the strategy made significant progress in reading comprehension of expository text and the ability to use the trait of ideas and content in their writing. However, the positive effect of self-questioning on the use of the ability to use organization in their writing was not supported. / by Jo A. Dunlap. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 24-26). / "May 2006."

As explicit finite element codes improve and advanced material models become available, such tools find more widespread application in many industries. This thesis reports the research study of the low velocity impact simulation on carbon reinforced polymer epoxy composite tube using nonlinear explicit finite element software LS-Dyna. Validation of the experimental results is done with the proposed finite element model in LS-Dyna. A finite element model is implemented on quadratic stress based global failure progressive damage formulation to model the response and damage progression through carbon epoxy tube. Belytschko-Tsay shell quadrilateral shell element is used to model the eight layer unidirectional lamina’s composite cylinder with [30/-30/90/90/30/-30/90/90] lay up configuration. Also parametric studies were done to find their effects on the low velocity impact damage process. Comparisons of the finite element simulations to the experimental data include degradation, as well as the time history responses. Results indicate that the general shapes of the force versus time curve histories are correlate well with the experimental test data results. Parametric study results are also co related with the results in the published literature and papers and good agreement was found between the simulation results and the published data. Parameters such as impactor velocity, lay-up configurations, boundary conditions on composite tube, and different impactor velocity were considered which affect the impact damage process. Thus this study work demonstrates the accuracy and effectiveness of finite element simulation of low velocity impact test on composite cylinder with LS-Dyna and predicting good simulation results with published data for various parameters. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering. / "May 2006."

The household division of labor and the pay gap between men and women is examined using the 2003 American Time Use Survey. There are three components to an income determination model: individual, structural and gender level components. The individual component argues that people are rational human beings who make conscious decisions on how to maximize their utility, with increased investments in human capital possibly leading to increases in income. The structural component views society as organized into a hierarchy of economic positions, with different positions carrying different levels of income, independent of individual attributes. The gender component, based on feminist theory, views gender as a process of devaluation and sorting. It is predicted that women will complete the majority of household labor, resulting in a decrease in income. It is further predicted that women will earn less than men, net of other factors. An OLS regression analysis is performed. Women earn $108.24 less per week than men, net of other factors. The structural level component accounts for the most variance at 40.8%, followed by the individual component at 10.1% and then the gender component at 5.8%. Increased participation in household labor results in a slight decrease in income. This relationship, however, is only significant for married women, who receive a decrease of $1.01 per week for each additional hour of household labor performed. Policy implications are discussed, including stricter enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, development of a comparable worth policy, changes in societal views on gender, and more family-friendly work policies. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Sociology. / "May 2006." / vii, 63 leaves : ill., digital, PDF file.

Recent interest in advanced materials has paved the way for exploring joining options besides the traditional mechanical or thermal methods such as riveting or welding. Because of the availability of highly advanced materials, mass production rates and demands for more aesthetic products, adhesive bonding is being used in more applications. Today, interstate signs, semi-trailer panels, aircraft structures, and many other commonly used products are adhesively bonded. Some of the common misconceptions about adhesives are that they are inherently weak, require high operator skill, and are too expensive for production. However, these assumptions are true only when the adhesive joint design is faulty and/or the bonding process is performed incorrectly. This report includes testing, using single lap joints, of some adhesives both at room and elevated temperatures. Experimental setups for performing the tests are discussed. The shear strengths of various adhesives are determined with titanium adherents. A methodology was developed to determine the approximate value of shear modulus of the adhesive using finite element modeling (FEM) from the ASTM D 3165 test. This was completed in conjunction with experiments using a laser extensometer. Later in the report, correction factors that are used with the laser extensometer data to determine the shear moduli are determined. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of Aerospace Engineering. / "July 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 87-89)

The used couch -- Indian graveyard -- Heart disease -- Tree house -- Cravings -- Henderson’s grocery. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of English. / "May 2006."

Impact force and deformation behavior of adhesively bonded single lap composite joints for transverse impact are studied through a pilot project and validated using Finite Element Analysis (FEA). At present there is no standard which provides guidelines in testing adhesively bonded joints or structures at coupon level. An attempt is made here to formulate the testing procedure through an experiment. Adhesively bonded glass-epoxy lap joints are transversely impacted using three different hemispherical impactors at three different energy levels. The effect of impactor diameter on impact force, target deformation and energy absorption are of particular interest. An explicit non-linear contact analysis using LS-Dyna-3D is carried out. FEA results are observed to be in close agreement with the experimental results. The results show that for a same impact energy level larger impactor generates more force whereas smallest diameter produces highest deformation and most through thickness damage. The same finite element model is used to investigate the effect of lay-up schedules and number of plies on impact force and deformation in composite lap joint. The study of various lay-up schedules reveals that fibers in [0/90] direction have better control on target deformation than fibers in [45/-45] direction for the given boundary condition in transverse impact. Also as the numbers of plies are increased the system becomes stiffer resulting in high impact force. The target deformation is observed to become more localized with increase in laminate thickness. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 62-64).

Thesis (M.F. A.)--Wichita State University, Dept. of English. / "May 2006."

Binding studies were performed with a bisurea-picket porphyrin host receptor (a,a)-5,10- Bis-(2-(4-fuorophenyl)phenylurea)-15,20-diphenylporphyrin (1a) and TBA salts as its guest. Previously our group reported1 on the binding studies of tetrakis-urea-picket porphyrin (a,a,a,a)-5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(2-(4-fuorophenyl)phenylurea)porphyrin (3) and tris-urea-picket porphyrin (a,a,a)-5,10,15-tri(2-(4-fuorophenyl)phenylurea)-20-phenylporphyrin (2) using polar solvent, DMSO, where a strong binding preference was observed for Cl¯ anion over H2PO4 ¯, CH3CO2 ¯, and NO3 ¯. A crystal structure (Figure 1- 1, Chapter 1) of the tetrakisurea-picket porphyrin 3 - chloride anion complex showed the anion bound between two adjacent ureas and hydrogen bonded to the four NH protons. It also showed the presence of one DMSO molecule bound to a third urea. Previously it was hypothesized that the ubiquitous DMSO solvent molecule bound to the third urea arm of the receptor was facilitating the anion binding by coordination utilizing columbic force. Through the investigation described in this thesis it was confirmed that the system of tetrakis- and trisurea-picket porphyrin exhibit a binding selectivity that is facilitated by the incorporation of a solvent molecule in the binding cavity. This was evident by the reversal of binding constant that was observed for the bisurea-picket porphyrin • anion complexation in contrast to that of tris-urea-picket porphyrin • anion complexation and tetrakis-urea-picket porphyrin • anion complexation. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Chemistry / "May 2006." / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 71-73).