The thesis describes a new method for measuring the viscosity of liquids in a pressure vessel capable of reaching 14 000 bar, and results are presented for six liquids at 30°C, up to viscosities of 3000 P. The technique is based on the well-tried principle of a cylindrical sinker falling in a viscometer tube. It departs from earlier systems in that the sinker is retrieved electromagnetically rather than by rotating the whole pressure vessel, and the sinker is held by a semi-permanent magnet before a fall time measurement is made. The sinkers do not have guiding pins, but rely on self-centering forces to ensure concentric fall. Another novel aspect is that a sinker with a central hole to produce faster fall times has been introduced for the first time. An analysis for such a sinker is presented, and when the diameter of the hole is mathematically reduced to zero, the equation of motion for the solid sinker is obtained. The solution for the solid cylinder is compared with earlier approximate analyses. The whole cycle of operation - retrieval, holding, releasing, sinker detection, and recording is remotely controlled and entirely automated. With unguided falling weights it is essential that the viscometer tube is aligned vertically. The effects of non-vertical alignment are assessed both experimentally and theoretically. An original analysis is presented to explain the rather surprising finding that when a viscometer tube is inclined from the vertical, the sinker falls much more quickly. The agreement between experiment and theory is to within one per cent. From the analysis of sinker motion, appropriate allowances for the change in sinker and viscometer tube dimensions under pressure are calculated; these are substantially linear with pressure. The viscometer was calibrated at atmospheric pressure with a variety of liquids whose viscosities were ascertained with calibrated suspended-level viscometers. Excellent linearity over three decades of viscosity was found for both sinkers. A careful analysis of errors shows that the absolute accuracy of measurement is to within ±1.8 per cent. The fall time of the sinker is also a function of the buoyancy of the test liquid. Therefore a knowledge of the liquid density is required, both at atmospheric pressure and at elevated pressures. The linear differential transformer method for density measurement formed the basis of a new apparatus designed to fit into the high pressure vessel. Up to pressures of 5 kbar measurements are estimated to be within ±0.14 per cent, and above this pressure uncertainty could be as high as 0.25 per cent. The last chapter deals with empirical and semi-theoretical viscosity-pressure equations. Two significant contributions are offered. The first is a new interpretation of the free volume equation in which physically realistic values of the limiting specific volume, vo, are derived by applying viscosity and density data to the equation iso-barically, not isothermally as most have done in the past. This led to a further simplification of the free volume equation to a two constant equation. The second contribution is a purely empirical equation which describes the variation of viscosity as a function of pressure: ln(η/ηo)t = A(eBP - e-KP) where no is the viscosity at atmospheric pressure, and A, B and K are constants. This 'double-exponential' equation is shown to describe data to within experimental error for viscosities which vary by as much as four decades with pressure. It also describes the different curvatures which the logarithm of viscosity exhibits when plotted as a function of pressure: concave towards the pressure axis, convex, straight line, or concave and then convex. The many other equations in existence cannot describe this variety of behaviour.

Thesis (Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS))--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-331). / This dissertation engages with two analytical frameworks to explore questions of social transformation and structures of power in rural society in India. The first is a specific critique of various types of development discourse and development projects that have been elaborated by national and international elites during the last forty years, focusing on the dry land Malwa region in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. This includes a project to introduce soyabean cultivation to the region in the 1970s, which has been post-facto labeled as a yellow revolution, and a discourse which argues that providing market information through new information and communication technologies is empowering farmers. I argue that these projects and discourse have mostly steered away from engaging with the structures of power framing rural society, and thus, have failed to bring about much change in the condition of rural people in central India. The second analytical framework is a recovery and foregrounding of alternate arenas of struggle that rural people in the Malwa region have been participating in. The platform of democratic politics is one such avenue that marginalized groups have used to make demands upon the state to provide them with support and allows them to hold the state accountable for the same. Participating in cultural projects that question and subvert the forms of caste and gender based exclusion that frame the lives of people is another such arena which provides women and adivasis (tribals) with a language of empowerment. This research argues that for the language and practice of development to have more relevance to the lives of the poor and for it to engage with the deeper aspirations in their lives, the role of these political and cultural projects as vital platforms for rural people to exercise agency and bring about change, must be recognized. / by Richa Kumar. / Ph.D.in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the MIT Theses Online homepage <http://thesis.mit.edu>. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-79). / The evaluation for the competency of New Technology Vehicles, such as Fuel Cell vehicles, Hybrid vehicles and Current vehicles with incrementally improved combustion engines are examined as well as fuel systems that support those power train alternatives. The competency for each alternative is measured through an economic instrument in terms of cost of power train alternatives, cost of fuel alternatives, and environmental factors. Careful observations imply that a fuel cell with a direct hydrogen system will be the most promising power train in the near future and that we are finally on the verge of entering the diffusion process. The analysis deployed here shows how the choice offsets its internal "the chicken or the egg" dilemma by selective manufacturing equipment and transportation infrastructure that support the power train. In addition, detail investigations are described that clarifies the uncertainties accompanied in developing and commercializing the power train. Finally, insights are presented regarding how a green penalty significantly enhances the diffusion process. / by Yoshikazu Shimazu. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-141). / This thesis analyzes and compares the diffusion of antihypertensive and antidepressant medications in Germany and Japan during the time period of 1992 and 2003. The antihypertensive medications are classified as new, middle and old generations and the antidepressants are classified as new and old generations in this study. The demographic, economic, price, promotional, regulatory, and cultural factors that contributed to the sales level, number of compounds available in the market, and launch time of these medications are also examined using quantitative and qualitative methods at therapeutic class, generation, as well as product levels. The qualitative analysis includes discussions on the general health care systems, health care polices, and country-specific hypertension- and depression-related cultural backgrounds. Econometric tools (descriptive statistics and linear regression models) are used as means of quantitative analysis. The diffusion of different generations of medications is examined. The degree of the use of branded vs. generic medications are also compared. Finally, Chow-tests are conducted for cross-country and cross- therapeutic-class comparisons. This study finds that there are significant branded-v-generic, cross-generation, cross- class, cross-country differences in the diffusion of the selected therapeutic classes in the two countries. The factors examined contributed to the diffusion to various extents. Among which, the cultural factor played an important role in the adoption and sales of new medications of both therapeutic classes in both countries, especially the antidepressants in Japan. The promotional factors appear not to be very significant in the sales volumes, partially due to the regulatory settings of the two national-based health care systems. / y Ling Cui. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-90). / In his 1997 book, The Innovators Dilemma, HBS Professor Clay Christensen discusses the impact of "disruptive technologies" on leading incumbent firms in various industries. In many ways the phenomena of the Internet and the World Wide Web threaten to become the most disruptive technology to many industries in many decades, and perhaps much longer. This thesis examines one such industry: that of the institutional capital markets. The institutional capital markets industry consists primarily of broker-dealers, serving issuers and investors in concert with asset collectors, organized exchanges and regulatory bodies in various, but interlinked, geographical and product-defined capital markets. The size and economic impact of the industry, which transacts in excess of $1 trillion daily, is enormous. The trend in the industry since the global depression of the 1930' s has been one of consolidation and increased integration of product offerings. Beginning in 1997 new, Internet-enabled business models began to pose a serious threat to the existing industry structure. Traditional product bundles are being dis-aggregated and re-priced. New agents are re intermediating traditional brokers and exchanges. Networks are dramatically improving the efficiency of information. Barriers to entry are falling fast. This thesis examines the developments in electronic, institutional capital markets primarily from the perspective of leading incumbent firms. The legacy market structure is examined and new changes to that structure are analyzed. Three leading firms in particular are employed as examples. Electronic Communication Networks ("ECNs") are discussed as the primary challenger to the status quo. Incumbent strategies and potential scenario outcomes are discussed and evaluated. Some recommendations are ventured. The thesis is based upon a) a review of the academic literature of technology innovation, b) a survey of current media reporting and, where available, proprietary research, and c) interviews with the management of two of the leading incumbent firms. Some internal, proprietary material was also provided by Merrill Lynch, Inc. The academic literature referenced herein focuses on the legacy of work in innovation in technology and includes most notably Porter's work on competitive advantage and industry analysis, particularly the famous "five forces"; Foster's introduction of the technology 'S' Curve; Christensen's work on disruptive technologies and the responses by leading incumbent firms; and Henderson's teaching in technology strategy and managing the innovative process. Secondary references are made through these scholars to earlier foundation-building work by Tushman, Clark and others. / by David Berray. / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology, and Society, 1994. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 401-422). / by Wade Edmund Roush. / Ph.D.

Thesis (Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS))--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-219). / In this dissertation, I examine how the members of a distributed software development team (LC) operating entirely virtually for four and half years developed useful social practices to collaborate across time and space. Based on various communication data from LC, I analyze the communicative structuring of distributed work in members' daily practices. I show that "temporal flexibility," often mentioned as key advantage of virtual organizing, is socially accomplished through "boundary management," as members negotiate different temporal boundaries and learn and adapt to others' temporal patterns. Second, I identify dynamic coordination practices in LC that interweave multiple modes of communication and coordination in evolving work contexts, and demonstrate how these coordination practices facilitate temporal flexibility in LC. Finally, I analyze how members used the asynchronous communication medium of email to coordinate their tasks, using the notion of genre and genre system. / (cont.) My analysis suggests that communicating, coordinating, and temporal structuring are not distinctive activities, but are closely bound up with each other in a local practice; time, communication, and coordination are dynamically reconfigured over time, reflecting evolving work, social relations, and local contexts. Key Words: distribute teams, virtual teams, virtual organizing, technology-mediated communication, temporal flexibility, coordinating, communicating, temporal structuring, social practices, communicative structuring, genre and genre system, reconfiguration of time, communication, and coordination. / by Hyun Gyung Im. / Ph.D.in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Technology and Policy Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-86). / The Grid is a distributed computing infrastructure that facilitates the exchange of expertise and resources. It is somewhat analogous to the electric power grid in that it can potentially provide a universal source of IT resources that can have a huge impact on human capabilities and on the entire society. Currently the Grid is being deployed (in limited ways) in some research and academic institutions. As Grid computing technologies mature further, the commercial sector can also benefit. With Grid technologies enabling utility computing, enterprises will be able to access IT resources on-demand in a utility-like way. This thesis gives a brief introduction on Grids and looks back into the history of power grids for lessons learned. It suggests that the Grid and the power grid are both infrastructures and factors of reliability, standardization, universal access and affordability are necessary to ensure the success of any infrastructure. Once the Grid is successful, it can open up new opportunities in the field of utility computing and impact IT provision in the commercial sector. The new utility computing ecosystem would consist of five major players - the Grid resource supplier, the Grid infrastructure supplier, the utility service provider, the re-seller and the end user. Further industry analysis reveals that there are new roles for current players in the traditional IT provision industry and opportunities for new entrants in this new ecosystem. The thesis attempts to identify the characteristics of each of the five major players to help the IT industry better understand the requirements of these new roles. Current players in the IT provision industry would have to decide which of the above roles to play in this new utility computing ecosystem and to re-define their market strategies accordingly. New entrants to the field would likely be players in the telecommunication sector who want a share of this growing pie and whose existing relationship with bandwidth subscribers can be leveraged upon. This thesis concludes with recommendations on several policy issues: Grid standardization for inter-operability, decentralized Grid governance to encourage optimal resource sharing and mechanisms for transcending cultural/organizational barriers inhibiting the commercial adoption of Grid computing. / by Sze Hwei Ong. / S.M.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2000. / Also available online at the DSpace at MIT website. / "June 2000." / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-78). / The history of some U.S. service industries includes a period of rapid consolidation through the acquisition of many firms by one or a few competitors. This is often referred to as a "roll-up", with the designation used both as a verb in referring to the process and as a noun in referring to the company doing the acquiring. Roll-ups have become a well-known phenomenon since at least 1971, when Waste Management Corporation commenced an aggressive roll-up of the North American solid waste industry. In this paper, we look at the roll-up phenomenon closely and identify some of the patterns that characterize the process. We examine the history of three U.S. service industries -- solid waste, funeral homes, and landscape maintenance -each of which has experienced (or is experiencing) rapid consolidation through the roll-up process. In our investigation, we identify common characteristics as well as key differences among the three, and investigate the background of the industry, the market forces that appeared to be driving the industry dynamics at the time the consolidation efforts began, the pattern and processes of consolidation, and the results of the consolidation effort. In doing so, we identify potential industry characteristics and elements of the roll-up process that may have been contributing factors in determining the outcomes. The analysis employs several concepts and frameworks from the corporate strategy literature. Chief among these is Porter's five forces model of industry structure (Porter 1980). Additional concepts used to compare and contrast the three industries and the consolidation of each include minimum efficient scale, economies and diseconomies of scale, and inspection and integration issues related to merger activity (Oster 1999). / S.M.M.O.T.

Thesis (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-62). / A strategy is presented to rapidly advance a developing nation utilizing the power of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). A banking institution is chosen to be the anchor tenant to spread ICT. A radical approach of re-engineering using leading technologies is applied to transform the new bank to make it competitive for the new agenda. Development of a robust fiber optical network is proposed to facilitate connectivity of the branches for subsequent massive extension of broadband access through out the country. The strategic vision is to create a viral effect of ICT in the semi-rural and rural areas through use of innovative business models in order to achieve spurt in economic growth and pursue long term development. / by Abdullah Hasan. / S.M.M.O.T.