The main aim of this study is to extending the holographic interferometry technique to measure the out-of-plane displacement of an object subjected to both temperature and displacement field. It is noted that both the out-of-plane displacement and the ambient temperature change can cause image fringes. Therefore, an auxiliary object is used to identify the fringe numbers caused by the ambient temperature change during the experiment. The warpage measurement of a PBGA package is used as an example. It can be shown that the proposed method works

This thesis is a study of social mobility in Thomas Hardy's novels based on The Return of the Native, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. Using the influence of family background, education and social injustice, it discusses the identity crisis that arises from an individual's rapid social mobility. The study also shows how the obstacles and the inner conflicts that the novelist himself encounters in his own process of moving upward socially, are transformed into parts or fragments of his novels, imbuing them with highly autobiographical elements. The introduction discusses the roles that the Industrial Revolution and other occurrences in history played in creating social mobility at the time and the roles that family background, education, personal temperament, and social injustice played in inhibiting it. Particular attention is paid to how the individuals, particularly those from the lower classes, are stopped from moving upward completely and what conflicts in self-identity are created in their struggles. Chapter one discusses The Return of the Native, focusing on the dilemma arising from the discrepancy between the expectations of oneself and others in social mobility. Chapter two discusses Tess of the d'Urbervilles, focusing on the idea that family background and education can lead to social displacement and alienation in a mobile society. Chapter three discusses Jude the Obscure, focusing on how disillusion with one's own life and goals caused by one's own family background and negative temperament as well as social injustice can sabotage one'

In the present study, the buckling behavior of beams is analyzed by a plane strain finite element. The displacement-type finite element formulation is based on elasticity and has no any other simplification and assumption except that the beam is of moderate depth. Also all the displacement boundary conditions can be imposed exactly. These are the advantages that beam theories of conventional approach, which simulate beams with neutral plane behaviors, do not have. Therefore the present analyses should be able to obtain buckling load and buckling mode more accurately than conventional method. Numerical values of buckling loads of the present approach will be compared with previously published results of the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and the Timoshenko beam theory, and further with the high order beam theory to reveal their differences. The effects of the geometry ratio, the distribution of axial loads and the displacement boundary conditions on buckling of beams are also discussed.

Textiles and apparel trade has been governed by the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA) for three decades. Trade restrictions have generated substantial welfare losses and price wedges in exporting and importing countries through trade distortions. Beginning in 1995, textiles and apparel trade underwent fundamental changes in trade flows and patterns. The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) aimed to remove all MFA quotas by January 2005. This study established an equilibrium displacement model to investigate the impact on textile and cotton sectors of different countries and country-groups of removing the MFA quota. The model specifies the basic linkages of textile and cotton markets in the United States, China and four other country-groups. With different assumptions about U.S. textile supply elasticity, foreign cotton exporters’ reaction and changes in the U.S. farm program payments, alternative scenarios are simulated to predict changes in domestic and import demand for textiles and apparel, import demand for U.S. cotton, domestic and import price of textiles and apparel, U.S. cotton price and adjusted world cotton price. Uniform distribution was imposed for selected parameters involved in the model to overcome the deficiency of equilibrium displacement models of assuming certainty of known related parameters. Results indicate increased import demand for U.S. cotton by China, higher U.S. cotton supply, more textile and apparel supply from China, decreased domestic demand for U.S. cotton, and lower U.S. domestic demand for textiles and apparel. However, prices of both textile and cotton markets experience both positive and negative changes under different scenarios. Holding other assumptions unchanged, when farm program payments increase, U.S. cotton price and adjusted world cotton price declined. When farm program payments are held constant, prices rise. The changes expected in U.S. cotton price are, in absolute value, greater than those of the adjusted world price.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 214-220). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

published_or_final_version / Orthopaedics and Traumatology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Seismic code provisions are now adopting performance-based methodologies, where structures are designed to satisfy multiple performance objectives. Most codes rely on approximate methods to predict the desired seismic demand parameters. Most of these methods are based on simple SDOF models, and do not take into account neither MDOF nor degradation effects, which are major factors influencing structural behavior under earthquake excitations. More importantly, most of these models can not predict collapse explicitly under severe seismic loads. This research presents a newly developed model that incorporates degradation effects into seismic analysis of structures. A new energy-based approach is used to define several types of degradation effects. The research presents also an evaluation of the collapse potential of degrading SDOF and MDOF structures. Collapse under severe seismic excitations, which is typically due to the formation of structures mechanisms amplified by P-Delt a effects, was modeled in this work through the degrading hysteretic structural behavior along with P-Delta effects due to gravity loads. The model was used to conduct extensive statistical dynamic analysis of different structural systems subjected to a large set of recent earthquake records. To perform this task, finite element models of a series of generic SDOF and MDOF structures were developed. The degrading hysteretic structural behavior along with P-Delta effects due to gravity loads proved to successfully replicate explicit collapse. For each structure, collapse was investigated and inelastic displacement ratios curves were developed in case collapse doesn't occur. Furthermore, seismic fragility curves for a collapse criterion were also developed. In general, seismic fragility of a system describes the probability of the system to reach or exceed different degrees of damage. Earlier work focused on developing seismic fragility curves of systems for several values of a calibrated damage index. This research work focuses on developing seismic fragility curves for a collapse criterion, in an explicit form. The newly developed fragility curves represent a major advancement over damage index-based fragility curves in assessing the collapse potential of structures subject to severe seismic excitations. The research findings provide necessary information for the design evaluation phase of a performance-based earthquake design process.

Knee osteoarthritis is a debilitating disease causing pain and disability in adults. Biomechanical factors including obesity, abnormal magnitude and load distribution have been cited to play a role in its initiation and progression with its definite cause being multi-factorial. Total knee arthroplasty has become the treatment of choice for knee osteoarthritis and although the procedure is mostly successful, there are some patients who experience implant failures which necessitates revision surgery. Revision surgery is more complicated and thus there is the need to monitor patients who have undergone TKA so as ensure better outcomes and also address problems much earlier. Objective methods like Radiostereometric Analysis (RSA) has proven to be a good tool at diagnosing these implant failures. Inducible displacement with RSA has the potential to serve as a one-time measure to diagnose implant failures. Previous studies have applied loads to induce motion to the knee in various ways- squatting, exercising and weight-bearing on the affected limb. This was not standardized and caused wide variations in the data. This work looked at refining a device used to apply standardized loads to the knee resulting in a more portable and faster way of applying load to the joint. Gait analysis is used to assess implant function pre and post surgery. Some gait patterns have also been related to implant failure. Previous works have focussed primarily on associations between well-working implants (non-revised patients) and these gait patterns (adduction moments and flexion angles). This work focussed on any differences in the gait patterns between patients who did not undergo revision surgery and those that did. Although most parameter differences did not reach statistical differences, they point to important trends that may explain the causative factors (adduction moments) whiles others may point to the effects of disease progression (external rotation).

This thesis reports a new set of experimental data and presents an in-depth analysis of the flow physics of a jet stream produced by a large quarter-round corner-mounted displacement diffuser. The air velocity, temperature and turbulence intensity inside the displacement ventilation (DV) jet have been thoroughly analyzed and compared with the reported findings of previous studies and model predictions. Furthermore, thermal comfort has been analyzed using the measured data following the ASHRAE standard. This thesis also aims at establishing an accurate numerical approach for simulating the heat and fluid flow in a room ventilated by a DV system. The supply boundary condition has been thoroughly investigated, which includes tests of the conventional box and momentum modeling methods, and proposal of a more accurate modeling approach. In addition, the predictive accuracy of the standard k-ϵ, RNG k-ϵ, SST k-ω and RSM turbulence models has been examined against the experimental data.

Biofilms are formed in aquatic environments by the attachment of bacteria to submerged surfaces, to the air/liquid interface, and to each other. Although biofilms are associated with disease and biofouling, the robust nature of biofilms; for example, their ability to tolerate chemical and physical stresses, makes them attractive for beneficial biotechnology applications such as bioremediation and biofuels. Based on an understanding of diverse signals and regulatory networks during biofilm development, biofilms can be engineered for these applications by manipulating extracellular/intercellular signals and regulators. Here, we rewired the global regulator H-NS of Escherichia coli to control biofilm formation using random protein engineering. H-NS variant K57N was obtained that reduces biofilm formation 10-fold compared with wild-type H-NS (wild-type H-NS increases biofilm formation whereas H-NS K57N reduces it) via its interaction with the nucleoid-associated proteins Cnu and StpA. H-NS K57N leads to enhanced excision of the defective prophage Rac and results in cell lysis through the activation of a host killing toxin HokD. We also engineered another global regulator, Hha, which interacts with H-NS, to disperse biofilms. Hha variant Hha13D6 was obtained that causes nearly complete biofilm dispersal by increasing cell death by the activation of proteases. Bacterial quorum sensing (QS) systems are important components of a wide variety of engineered biological devices, since autoinducers are useful as input signals because they are small, diffuse freely in aqueous media, and are easily taken up by cells. To demonstrate that biofilms may be controlled for biotechnological applications such as biorefineries, we constructed a synthetic biofilm engineering circuit to manipulate biofilm formation. By using a population-driven QS switch based on the LasI/LasR system and biofilm dispersal proteins Hha13D6 and BdcAE50Q (disperses biofilms by titrating cyclic diguanylate), we displaced an existing biofilm and then removed the second biofilm. Persisters are a subpopulation of metabolically-dormant cells in biofilms that are resistant to antibiotics; hence, understanding persister cell formation is important for controlling bacterial infections. Here, we engineered toxin MqsR with greater toxicity and demonstrated that the more toxic MqsR increases persistence by decreasing the ability of the cell to respond to antibiotic stress through its RpoS-based regulation of acid resistance, multidrug resistance, and osmotic resistance systems.