No description available.

This thesis topic was selected in order to explore a connection between a passion for the beauty of gemstones and craftsmanship of jewelry making to provide a metaphor for making beautiful architecture. The direction of the thesis made manifest connections and similarities between integrating art, craft and making beautiful jewel pieces and architectural spaces for a building devoted to housing the kinds of precious items that would be reflected in a city such as Washington DC. The appreciation of outstanding factors in gems and jewel making would be analogous to the precision, design and level of detail explored in an architectural thesis which aims to celebrate these relationships by applying them to the design for a museum of jewels and gemstones for Rock Creek Park in Washington DC. / Master of Architecture

Trends in USV research will continue on the path toward a fully autonomous USV capable of troop transport or enemy engagement. Imaging sonar will be an integral part of this development. However, due in part to sonar's inherent physical limitations, as well as its sensitivity to environmental factors, sonar technology represents a bottleneck to the development of situationally aware USVs capable of high-speed maneuvers. The work presented in this thesis is intended to provide a platform to bridge this gap, which is the design, analysis, and field testing of a mount for an imaging sonar intended as a retrofit for an existing vessel. The result of this work represents a step toward the ultimate goal of a fully autonomous USV, and will enable the advancement of research in the use of imaging sonar on surface vehicles. This thesis examines the problem of mounting a sonar on a surface vehicle from a fundamental perspective. It describes the development of a list of customer needs, presents a prototype design, and presents the important analyses for the prototype. The prototype mount was built, and field testing for proof of concept was carried out on the Virginia Tech USV, which is a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat (RHIB), and the Navy Special Operations Craft - Riverine (SOC-R) on the Pearl River at Stennis Space Center. Testing showed the mount to be highly effective at limiting risk to personnel and equipment while operating in difficult environments like swamps. However, it also exposed some limitations associated with the mount's breakaway device, and the mounting location at the side in 2012, and at the stern in 2013. Based on experience gained from testing, a new mount design is presented for use at the bow. The bow location offers better impact protection to the sonar as long as the sonar can be positioned above the boat's draft. Field tests also exposed the need for an omnidirectional breakaway device which limits impact loads on the sonar during collisions. The Ball and Socket Breakaway (BSB) device was designed to satisfy this need. The BSB is acts as a "mechanical fuse," which holds the sonar rigidly under normal operating conditions, but will slip and rotate when the sonar strikes an object. It is designed to respond to impact loads on the sonar from the front, sides, or back, resulting in improved sonar protection during the varied maneuvers necessary for operation in shallow, narrow passageways. The expected moment holding capacity of the BSB as it is currently designed is 300 N-m (2650 lb-in), which should allow for speeds up to 3 m/s (6 kt) before drag-induced breakaway. / Master of Science

Process planning is an important and integral part of operating a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly system effectively. The focus of this research is to develop a new solution approach to determine the component placement sequence and feeder assignment for a turret style Chip Shooter machine often used in PCB assembly systems. This solution approach can be integrated into a process planning system to reduce assembly time and improve productivity. The Chip Shooter machine consists of three primary mechanisms: the turret head, a moving table, and the feeder carriage. These mechanisms move simultaneously in a cyclic manner to mount the components on the PCB. The mechanism with the longest movement time determines the placement time of a component. Therefore, the placement sequence of the components and the arrangement of the feeders in the feeder carriage directly affect the time required to mount all the components on a PCB. A placement time estimator function that accounts for the functional characteristic of the Chip Shooter machine is developed and is used to evaluate the performance of the solution approach presented in this research. The solution approach consists of a construction algorithm that uses a set of knowledge-based rules to construct an initial placement sequence and feeder assignment, and an improvement procedure to improve the initial solution. A case study is presented to validate the proposed solution approach. A Fuji CP4-3 machine and actual PCB data are used to test the performance of the proposed solution approach for different machine setup scenarios. The solutions obtained using the proposed solution approach are compared to those obtained using state of the art PCB assembly process optimization software. For all PCBs in the case study, the proposed solution approach yielded lower placement times than the commercial software, thus generating additional valuable production capacity. / Master of Science

Mount Graham, in Southern Arizona supports valuable, ecological communities and at least one endangered species, the Mt. Graham red squirrel. The area is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Elevation, dryness, sky clarity and freedom from light pollution at Mt. Graham make it a desirable site for astronomy. The University of Arizona presented a proposal to the Forest Service for the development of a multi-telescope observatory on the mountain. This has generated much controversy due to the opposition of environmentalists who fear the potential impacts of development on the mountain. Eleven potential sites for astrophysical development have been identified, with varying impacts on the ecosystem. They are ranked according to their suitability for development, using multiple criteria decision making techniques. The results are very consistent and robust, both within and across techniques and can be useful for decision support and conflict management purposes.

Ten mountain lakes were analyzed in order that they be assigned a trophic status. The lakes which are located in the Mount Hood National Forest of Oregon are Anvil, Beaver Pond, Cripple Creek, Fish, Gifford, Monon, Ollalie, Rimrock, Round, and Sportsman. The purpose of this report is to determine the productivity of these waters. Data were collected for analyses of temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, Secchi depth, major ion concentration, light intensity versus depth, alkalinity, phytoplanktcn species composition/total density, and zooplankton species composition/total density. Samples were collected in Van Darn sampling bottles and returned to the laboratory for chemical analyses and taxonomic identification of biological organisms. Field profiles were taken for light intensity, temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, specific conductivity, and depth using portable electronic equipment. A Secchi disk was used in the field for obtaining light extinction data. The lakes were assigned a trophic status according to carlson's Trophic State Index (Carlson, 1977). Beaver Pond Lake which is the most productive lake of the 10 surveyed had an average Secchi depth of 1.7 meters, an average soluble reactive phosphorous concentration of 59.8 ug/L, and an average chlorophyll-a concentration of 29.3 ug/L for the dates sampled. These values are consistent with lakes which are eutrophic. Ollalie Lake had an average Secchi depth of 13.2 meters, an average soluble reactive phosphorous concentration of 1.64 ug/L, and an average chlorophyll-a concentration of 0.28 ugfL. This lake is ultraoligotrophic-to-oligotrophic according to the Carlson index. The other lakes of the study were assigned values for trophic state which are somewhere between those assigned to Beaver Pond and Ollalie lakes. The 10 lakes studied for this report were compared to lakes studied for the compilation of the Western Lake survey (Landers, et. al. 1987). It was noted that Beaver Pond, Round, and Sportsman lakes are nutrient rich while Monon, Ollalie, and Gifford, are nutrient poor when compared to other lakes located in the Pacific Northwest. Anvil, Cripple Creek, Fish, and Rimrock lakes have profiles consistent with the majority of mountain lakes located in the area.

This report investigated the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve in Victoria, There were several aims: to describe the lichens of the region, to produce a pictorial key enabling field identification and to determine any distribution patterns. A floristic survey covering approximately 50 square km was undertaken to determine lichen diversity of the region generally. Lichens were sampled along roads, tracks, walking trails and in sections of bush, taking into account forest type and, particularly, areas that were lichen rich. Seventy-five lichen species in 43 genera and 27 families were identified and described from the region. An unknown, species H, also was described. Of the 76 lichen species, 22 were crastose and the remainder macrolichens. The best represented families were: Cladoniaceae (8 species), Hypogymniaceae (6), Lobariaceae (7), Lecideaceae (6), Pannariaceae (6) and Parmeliaccae (6). This study described 12 species (17%) which previously were not known for Victoria and which are a first record for the state. These include: Cladonia sarmentosa (J.D. Hook & Taylor) Dodge, Graphis librata Knight, Parmelinopsis neodamaziana (Elix & Johnston) Elix & Hale, Pertusaria novaezelandiae Szatala, Placopsis pardlina f. microphylla Lamb, Porina leptalea AX. Sm., Pseudocyphellaria ardesiaca Galloway, Trapeliopsis congregant (Zahlbr.) Brako, Menegazzia myriotrema (Mull. Arg.) P. James, Bunodophoron scrobiculatum (Church. Bab,) Wedin, Parmelia testacea Stirton and Menegazzia purpurascens S. Louwhoff sp. nov.. The last eight species are new to the mainland and, apart from Menegazzia purpurascens, previously were known only from Tasmania. Five main elements of distribution were identified for the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve: cosmopolitan, austral/australasian, paleotropical, pantropical and western pacific. The majority of species (68%) had austral/australasian distributions, eleven (16%) were endemic to Australia and nine (13%) occurred only in Tasmania , Victoria and New Zealand. A pictorial, dichotomous key was constructed for the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve. Previously, keys to the lichen flora of Tasmanian rainforests were suggested as appropriate to similar areas in Victoria, however, the Victorian forests include a significant sclerophyll element The key presented is specific for the study site but is appropriate to similar regions in Victoria and has been tested in a number of these areas. The key was designed to be ‘user-friendly’ so that the experienced and inexperienced alike are able to use it. A more detailed investigation of the lichen flora of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve was carried out in order to determine distribution. A total of 50 quadrats, each 20m x 20m in size, were sampled. Within each, the dominant vegetation type was determined and individuals were identified and location noted. The cover abundance of each lichen species on each individual tree was estimated using a modified Braun-Blanquet scale. A total of 710 trees, representing 13 different species, were examined. Nothofagus cunninghamii (Hook.) Oerst, Eucalyptus regnans R Mull., Acacia dealbata Link, A. melanoxylon R. Br., Hedycarya angustifolia A. Cunn. and Atherosperma moschatum Labill. were the six most common tree species encountered at the study site. Nothofagus cunninghamii supported the greatest lichen diversity (39 species), although most species occurred on less than 10% of the trees. The majority of lichens occurring on N. cunninghamii A. melanoxylon, A. dealbata and H. angustifolia were foliose or crustose, those on £. regnans fruticose and foliose and those on A moschatum crustose. Bunodophoron australe was the only lichen species at the study site to occur on one host, Nothofagus cunninghamiL Many occurred on a number of different hosts, but were most common on one particular tree species. The distribution of lichens at the study site was analysed with a rnultivariate statistical package (PATN) which dealt with ‘pattern analysis’. The program ‘SSH’ in PATN which uses the Bray-Curtis ordination technique, was used to create scatterplots displaying the degree of dissimilarity between quadrats in terms of presence/absence of lichen species. The program ‘TWAY’ in PATN was used to construct a two way table to display which lichen species occurred in each vegetation type. The pattern analysis revealed that the lichens of the Mt Donna Buang Scenic Reserve were not restricted to any particular forest type, but particular lichens, or groups of lichens, tended to predominate in certain vegetation communities. This concurs with work done by others in Tasmanian forests. Quadrats which were situated in cool temperate rainforest were grouped more closely with each other than with quadrats in other vegetation types. These also supported the greatest number of lichen species. This was not surprising since N. cunninghamii the dominant tree species in cool temperate rainforest, supported the greatest lichen diversity.

"February, 2005" / Bibliography: leaves 259-272. / ix, 272 leaves : ill. (some col.), maps (col.), plates (col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / "The Mount Lofty Ranges and flanking St Vincent and Western Murray Basins preserve a rich record of Australian intraplate neotectonic movements and their effects of landscape evolution and sedimentary basin development in this region of South Australia." "The major goal of this study is to develop a new tectonic model that contributes to our fundamental understanding of how neotectonic motions and deformations operate within this sector of the southern Australian Earth crust. The other main aim of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the effects those neotectonic movements imposed on landscape evolution and sedimentation." --Introd. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Faculty of Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Discipline of Geology and Geophysics, 2005

Thesis (B. S.)--University of Wisconsin -- La Crosse, 2008. / Also available online. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-138).

No description available.