Bibliography: leaves 213-234.

There are many inadequate high school facilities in Texas, and unfortunately many of these are found in areas of low socioeconomic status and high minority percentages. According to a Texas Comptroller’s Office (2006) report on the conditions of school facilities in Texas, roughly 40% were considered in the categories of fair, poor, or needs replacing, with the average age of these facilities being 34.5 years old. Most states, including Texas, have not properly assessed high school buildings for indoor air quality, lighting, acoustical control, heating and air conditioning, electrical systems, or secondary science laboratories. It is also not clear if these conditions and the age of the building have an impact on student academic achievement in Texas. This study investigated three research questions: (a) the relationship between the building condition of public high schools in Texas and student achievement scores in science, mathematics, and English language arts as measured by the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS); (b) the relationship between the building age of public high schools in Texas and student achievement scores in science, mathematics, and English language arts as measured by TAKS; and (c) the relationship between building age and condition of public high schools in Texas and graduation rate? This quantitative study utilized an ex post facto methodology to examine the relationship between the high school facilities and standardized test scores. This study sampled high schools whose data were presented in the 2006 Texas Comptrollers report and compared to TAKS data. The instrument utilized was developed and tested by the Texas Comptroller’s Office. This study utilized an analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a regression model. Statistically significant findings showed a relationship between excellent condition of a school, as compared to schools in lesser condition, and student TAKS scores in science, math, and English language arts scores. Age of the school also had a significant relationship: Schools over 49 years old had a significant impact on student TAKS scores in science, math, and English language arts. Similar findings showed a negative correlation between schools over 49 years old and graduation rate. Schools in excellent condition had a positive correlation to student graduation rate. Determining the effect of inadequate high school facilities on student achievement can help inform the education and legislative communities of any correlations between the condition and age of a high school building and the academic achievement of the students in these buildings. Providing school facilities that are safe and provide quality learning conditions are issues that must be addressed in Texas. / text

The purpose of this research was to develop a simplified analytical procedure for determining the optimal timing for upgrading low-volume roads in developing countries. Most roadway upgradings from gravel to surface treated and to asphaltic concrete are carried out when total transport cost on a road becomes high as a result of high traffic and the consequent rapid deterioration of the roadway. Adequate timing of upgrading strategies ensures effective use of resources and lower total transport cost. This study examined existing systems, models, and approaches for estimating total transport cost components. An analytical procedure was then developed using a decision-tree concept to delineate all possible upgrading strategies within a plan period. The decision-tree concept depicts all the possible upgrading strategies within a plan period with decisions on roadway upgrading made at certain decision intervals. The total transport cost of the upgrading strategies is evaluated to establish the optimal strategies and traffic warrants for improving a roadway surface. A computer program PVMNT was written to facilitate the computation of the total transport cost. A case study was presented to demonstrate the application of the analytical procedure. The case study revealed interesting results on the changes of optimal upgrading strategies with changes in base traffic volume and growth rate. However, general conclusions could not be drawn based on the results of the case study. These results, as well as the analytical procedure, should be of interest to engineers responsible for providing low-volume roads in developing countries.

This thesis is a contribution to the existing knowledge of the nature of the scour hole around bridge piers. The analysis is based on the fictitious, long contraction concept developed by Dr. Emmett M. Laursen. This concept and its equation has been used herein to determine the size of rip-rap particles which will reduce the local scour at bridge piers. Evaluation of the parameters involved in it is required for sizing the rocks in a prototype. Values such as approach velocity, water depth, average diameter of the rip-rap particles in the scour, and geometry of the pier are among the values to be known. Both a graphic and an analytical procedure are proposed as a means to find the size of particles to be used as protection. The discussion and conclusions derived from this investigation will be of great help to civil engineers working in the field of river engineering.

D. Tech. Electrical Engineering. / Aims to develop a mathematical maintenance model for medical equipment for the purpose of analysing maintenance strategies to optimise maintenance of medical equipment.

M. Tech. Electrical Engineering. / Explores classification and tracking algorithms for the purpose of automated power line overhead inspection.

published_or_final_version / Mechanical Engineering / Master / Master of Philosophy

This item was digitized as part of the Million Books Project led by Carnegie Mellon University and supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Cornell University coordinated the participation of land-grant and agricultural libraries in providing historical agricultural information for the digitization project; the University of Arizona Libraries, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Office of Arid Lands Studies collaborated in the selection and provision of material for the digitization project.

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This thesis is based on an industry project with Teekay Shipping Co ., which is an international transportation service provider for oil companies, refiners and traders. Teekay is interested in knowing which factors contribute most to its operating incidents and accidents. Based on available data, namely vessel name, team, type, hull, and age, as well as incident and accident records, we quantified in this thesis the effects of these factors on the incident and accident frequency. The thesis presented the technical details of the Poisson regression analysis, which we used for quantifying the risk factors. Teekay is also interested in having a consistent method to present Teekay's overall risk picture, and to indicate best investment areas for its risk reducing purpose. Teekay has already implemented an Online Root Cause Analyses (ORCA) system, which collects the direct cause and root cause soon after an incident happens. We reviewed the ORCA system and made suggestions about certain parts of the system which were subsequently revised. Furthermore, we designed a bubble chart tool to present the overall risk faced by Teekay. The bubble chart tool has the capacity to indicate best investment areas clearly, and it is consistent over time, thereby enabling Teekay to evaluate easily the risk mitigation effect of its earlier investment in risk management. Finally, we designed a continuous monitoring tool, which allows Teekay managers to interactively explore the relationships among near misses, incidents and accidents, and to compare event frequencies of various vessel groups, such as vessel team, age, type and hull structure. The powerful continuous monitoring tool provides Teekay managers a full- range view of the risks the company faces. The design and the sample usage of this continuous monitoring tool are discussed in this thesis.