Intermodal traffic has been steadily increasing on the nation's railroads since the mid 1950's. Intermodal flatcar activity is now second only to coal in terms of total car loadings throughout the industry. The intermodal segment of the nation's transportation system is expected to play an ever increasing role in the future. Intermodal managers faced with increasing demands on their systems, have expressed a need for methods to aid in the development of new management techniques, economic costing models, and management information systems. The computer simulation intermodal model that is presented in this paper is designed to aid managers with the analysis of their current terminal systems and to plan for future growth in intermodal activity. The intermodal terminal model employs discrete, next event, simulation techniques. The Q-GERT simulation language, developed by A. Allen B. Pritsker, provides the vehicle necessary to approximate the required activities and associated flow of transactions through the terminal system. Three specific types of containers and flatcars are provided for, in addition to provisions for over-the-road container pick up and delivery. Thus, the model is adaptable to complex terminal systems, including sea ports where highly specialized containers are commonly encountered with rail, truck and ship interfaces. It is possible to simulate terminal activities for any period of time required for a specific analysis. The model's simulation output can also be modified, with little difficulty, to provide estimates of specific variables of interest for a particular terminal. Provisions for the operating environment of a terminal are also included in the model. These include week-end work rules, switching rules, container consignee notification rules, types of handling equipment employed and the standard working hours for a terminal. The primary applications of the model are viewed to be in the areas of planning and analysis for intermodal terminal current operations and future design concepts. The graphical network orientation of the model, however, could provide managers with a communications tool to apprise upper level decision makers of new concepts. Current problems, with recommended solutions, could also be visually illustrated. / Ph. D.

This dissertation investigated the effects of age on performance and image quality rating while varying screen surface treatment, ambient lighting, and character resolution. Five age groups were included, ranging from 18 to 69 years of age. The study used a factorial design to vary seven surface treatments which either reduced glare, enhanced contrast, or both; three lighting conditions, dark, diffuse, and specular; and two character resolutions, high and low, subtending visual angles of 16.1 arcmin. and 32.2 arcmin. respectively. Performance was measured using both a speed of reading task and a search task. In addition, subjects rated the image quality of displayed characters within each filter, lighting, resolution condition using a list of nine adjectives. Results showed performance times to increase with age. The older age groups (40-49, 50-59, 60-69) performed better with the quarterwave filter, which enhanced contrast and reduced glare, and most poorly with the filters with the harshest etch (Gloss25) and the lowest transmission (31%). Performance was significantly slower for specular and dark lighting. A finding consistent with previous research indicated that extremely high luminance contrast degrades performance with low room illumination. Finally, for all conditions in which resolution was a factor performance was fastest and ratings were highest with the low resolution characters. / Ph. D.

Information processing has altered the structure of the traditional office. Typewriters are no longer a necessity to prepare written business communication. As a result of a metamorphosis from manual data manipulation to electronic data processing, microcomputers and their related peripheral equipment are becoming the key link in the information system. Increased usage of microcomputers and word processing software has been linked to decreased proficiency in detecting errors and in turn to decreased office productivity. Thus a number of questions arise including: Is it better to proofread from a hardcopy or a softcopy document? Does the color and contrast configuration of a video display terminal affect the operator's ability to proofread? The effect on the operator's ability to accurately detect errors in keyboarded text from different media has not been previously determined. This study was therefore completed to ascertain if a difference does exist. Seventy-two individuals enrolled in four word processing classes at a western North Carolina community college comprised the individuals participating in this study. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a pretest instrument, and one of four error detection instruments. The error detection instruments were presented in either a hardcopy or softcopy format. The softcopy format consisted of three video display terminal configurations. Analyses of covariance with pretest scores used as the covariate were used to compare the quantity and types of errors detected by error detection environment configurations. Based on the findings from the analyses of data the following conclusions were derived. 1. Postsecondary word processing students have difficulty in finding errors in hardcopy and softcopy documents. 2. Postsecondary word processing students' abilities to detect errors in keyboarded text were not affected by the error detection environment–hardcopy or softcopy–during a ten-minute error detection process. Therefore, the printing of a hardcopy of keyboarded text when detecting errors for a short time period is not necessary. 3. Postsecondary word processing students' abilities to detect errors in keyboarded text were not affected by the video display terminal configurations examined in this study. A video display terminal’s color configuration is not a factor in the error detecting process for a short time period-ten minutes. Therefore, the color configuration of a video display terminal should not be a major consideration when purchasing new video display terminals for instructional use. 4. As the spelling Verification feature of word processing software does not detect all types of errors, instruction is needed in detecting errors that cannot be detected by the software’s spelling Verification feature. / Ed. D.

The effects of manipulating discrete element failure types and font types were determined on a reading performance task using a plasma panel display. Thirty male and thirty female college students attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University participated as subjects. The results demonstrate that reading performance is significantly degraded by the random addition or removal of discrete elements or lines of elements. Subjects took longer to read and made more null responses with lower case characters than with upper case characters. Similarly, reading performance was poorer in the discrete element failure condition than in the horizontal line or vertical line failure conditions. The Huddleston font was found to be better than the Lincoln/Mitre and the font used on the HP2621A. / M.S.

Este trabalho está relacionado coma implantação de adequados terminais intermodais para granéis sólidos nas margens das hidrovias, de modo a aumentar a participação do modal fluvial na matriz de transporte do país. Apresenta-se, inicialmente, um panorama da distribuição modal de transportes em que se enfatiza a deficiência dos terminais fluviais existentes como umfator responsável por esta distribuição. É estabelecido, então, como objetivo do trabalho o desenvolvimento do projeto de umterminal intermodal para a hidrovia Tietê-Paraná. O primeiro passo para o projeto é um estudo de demandas e de capacidade da via onde se define: o tipo de carga, quantidade de carga movimentada atualmente e a projeção de demanda, bem como a distribuição da movimentação ao longo do ano. E, emseguida, estima-se a capacidade de movimentação da via. Para desenvolver o projeto é feita uma compilação de diretrizes propostas para dimensionamento de terminais e de seus subsistemas (hidroviário, ferroviário, rodoviário, de armazenagem e de movimentação). Além disto, são analisados os critérios para avaliação do terminal. Antes de desenvolver o projeto, faz-se uma análise crítica dos terminais existentes na hidrovia, assinalando-se suas falhas. Para o dimensionamento do terminal são formuladas diversas configurações que envolvem combinações de diferentes taxas de movimentação e diferentes capacidades de armazenagem. Utilizando a técnica de simulação, com o emprego do software ARENA, obtém-se o desempenho destas configurações em termos de tempo de permanência para cada modal, que mede o nível de serviço oferecido pelo terminal. As alternativas geradas são, então, avaliadas em função do nível de serviço oferecido e do valor presente líquido do investimento, o que conduza escolha de melhor solução. / This thesis is related to the implementation of suitable intermodal terminals for solid bulk cargo with the purpose of increasing the inland waterway participation in the country transportation matrix . Firstly, it is presented a general view of the modal transportation distribution, mainly based on the highway modal, in which the deficiency of the existing inland terminals is stressed as a factor for this distribution. It is specified, therefore, as the purpose of this thesis, the development of the project of an intermodal terminal for the Tietê-Paraná waterway. As the first step of the study, it is performed an analysis of cargo demand as well as of the waterway capacity, in which it is defined: the type of cargo, the amount of cargo transported and its distribution along the year. It is also estimated the cargo demand for the future which remains below the waterway capacity. In order to prepare the project development, it is done a compilation of procedures recommended for multimodal terminals and their components (waterway, railway and highway ends, storage systems and cargo handling equipments). Besides, some criteria to evaluate the terminal performance are presented. A critical analysis of the waterway existing terminals is then presented and their drawbacks are pointed out. For the terminal project, some configurations, which involve combinations of different handling rates and storage capacities , are formulated. The performance evaluation of each option , in terms of vehicle stay time at the terminal, is done by probabilistic simulation technique, employing the commercial software ARENA. The generated options are then compared in terms of service level and net present value and the best configuration is then selected.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes special report study entitled: The Star ferry Pier & the bus terminus. Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

The document describes the development of a micro-processor based terminal multiplexer to connect four terminals to a standard Hewlett Packard series 1000 mini-computer. The project was required to fulfill the dual roll of both increasing the number of terminals that the HPI000 could support and of reducing the peripheral load on the host CPU. The final product occupied a standard 200mm square HP size interface card and used an 8085 micro-processor and several 8085 family peripheral chips to provide four full duplex serial channels and a high speed data link with the host. A multi-tasking executive was written to control the multiplexer software which was finally implemented as 15 independent tasks occupying 8 kilo-bytes of eprom. The software was written to perform all terminal interaction and editing in order to reduce the host CPU involvement to a single interrupt per record. The resultant interface proved capable of handling an aggregate throughput in excess of 4000 characters per second which was sufficient to cope with all four terminals running at 9600 bits per second, even when all four were transferring in burst mode. The interface also proved to be between five and eighteen times less demanding on the host than the two standard Hewlett Packard interfaces then available. When compared to the low cost HP12531 interface, the multiplexer increased the 9600b/s terminal handling capability of the host from 3 terminals to 52. / Thesis (M.Sc.-Electronic Engineering)-University of Natal, 1987.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Thesis (M. S.)--Literature, Communication, and Culture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Mazalek, Ali; Committee Member: Bolter, Jay David; Committee Member: Do, Ellen Yi-Luen; Committee Member: Nitsche, Michael; Committee Member: Winegarden, Claudia R.