Thesis (M. Mus.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1948. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-123).

Thesis supervisor: Christine S. Getz. Includes bibliographical references (p. 105-111).

Thesis (D. Mus. Arts)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-92).

Diploma thesis describes possibilities of securing selected risks using bank guarantee instrument, which is used primarily in international trade. The goal is to analyze securing of commercial and territorial risks using bank guarantees, characterize different types of bank guarantees and possibilities of using them on international markets. The first chapter presents risks in international trade and the most common methods of securing - documentary letters of credit, documentary collections, promissory notes, standby letter of credit. The second chapter is devoted to product bank guarantee, introduces types of bank guarantees, exposure process and methods of use. The third chapter presents the Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG). The practical part explores the usage of bank guarantees in selected countries (Germany, Russia, USA, China, India) and describes different approach to this product. Thesis has to help readers quickly find their way in a relatively complicated topic of bank guarantees, especially in case of trading on international market. The last part can help in case of trading with specific countries.

Real-time digital music system design often involves the translation of formal music notation or human gestures by some input device to Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) commands which are then transmitted to an electronic music synthesizer. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a microprocessor controlled input device that maps analog signals to MIDI commands and transmits them to a digital synthesizer in real time. The controller emulates a traditional acoustic folk instrument known as a hammer dulcimer. The hammer dulcimer is the forerunner of the keyboard family of instruments and incorporates features found in percussive and keyboard instruments. As with any acoustic instrument, its tone is a composite of several partial tones. The controller, in emulation mode, generates the fundamental tone and optionally outputs the partials tones with the just noticeable difference (JND) tolerances described in psychoacoustic research. This feature allows the designer to experiment with the timbre of the fundamental tome. The controller interface succeeds in capturing the gestural movements and translating these events to MIDI commands. It also provides features such as on-demand retuning which allows the musician to play in any tonal center without changing hand positions. Selected MIDI features such as the pitch bend, program change and sustain are implemented by the controller. The prototype instrument yields a tow octave range from an eight by eight inch sensor grid. Additional grids can be added to increase the range of the instrument. / Master of Science

Students' motivation generally declines during the middle school years, a period of time when important foundations for further studies are laid. There is a move in many countries to improve science education, especially science literacy that is inadequate according to international research (Halldorsson, Olafsson, and Bjornsson, 2007, 2013). The subject of this dissertation is the translation and validation of the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MMAMI; Jones, 2012) from English into Icelandic. The purpose for the translation is to provide Icelandic educators with a tool to assess students' motivation in the science classroom. Motivation in the classroom is a complex issue in which both cognitive and contextual factors are involved. The information gained from the inventory responses could be used to guide the development or modification of the classroom strategies employed. The inventory measures students' perceptions of the five components of the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest and Caring, components that have been found to be influential to student motivation (Jones, 2009). The model is based on a thorough analysis of motivation theories and research. The inventory was developed for middle school students in science classes, although it can easily be modified to fit any subject. Back-translation followed by expert meetings was used to gain semantic equivalence. Participants were 458 middle school students in science classes in five public schools in Iceland. To obtain translation invariance in the first version of the translation, I used an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on one data set, using Principal Axis Factoring with Promax Rotation, to examine the translated items. Subsequently, I implemented a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) on a second data set to test for model fit. The results replicated the findings obtained with the original version and confirmed the five-factor structure of the MMAMI. All factor loadings were significant. The reliability analysis, using Cronbach's alpha, also replicated the good and acceptable alpha ratings of the original instrument. These findings provide validity evidence for the scores produced by using the Icelandic version of the MMAMI with middle school Icelandic students in science classes / Ph. D.

An adapted capacitance manometer is a sensor composed of one fixed plate and one movable plate that is able to make accurate pressure measurements in a low pressure environment. Using detection circuitry, a change in capacitance between the two plates can be measured and correlated to a differential pressure. First, a high sensitivity manometer is produced that exhibits a measurable change in capacitance when experiencing a pressure differential in a low pressure space environment. Second, an accurate and precise detection circuit is identified to measure the change in capacitance. Both, the manometer and the detection circuitry, are tested separately and together to confirm accurate measurements when experiencing small pressure differentials. The manometer shows low sensitivity at the desired differential pressure range but reacts predictably when compared to simulations. The manometer also shows an unexpected correlation in capacitance change to temperature change. / Master of Science

Accurate determination of surface texture is essential for the manufacturing of mechanical components within design specifications in engineering and materials science disciplines. It is also required for any subsequent modifications to physical properties and functional aspects of the object. A number of methods are available to characterize any surface through the measurement of roughness parameters that can then be used to describe surface texture. These methods may be divided into those in that direct contact is made with the surface and those where such contact is not required. This report describes two methods approach for the surface profiling of a quartz glass substrate for step height, and tungsten substrate for roughness measure. A stylus profilometer (contact method) and vertical scanning interferometer, (VSI) or (non-contact optical method) were used for step height and roughness parameter measurements. A comparison was made with nominal values assigned to the studied surface, and conclusions drawn about the relative merits of the two methods. Those merits were found to differ, depending on the parameters under consideration. The stylus method gave better agreement of step height values for dimensions greater than a micron. Both methods showed excellent accuracy at smaller dimensions. Both methods also provided accurate average roughness values, although the VSI data significantly overestimated 35% above the peak-to-valley parameter. Likely sources and nature of such differences are discussed based on the results presented, as well as on the previous comparison studies reported in the literature. Because of such method-specific differences, the multi-technique approach used in this work for accurate surface profiling appears to be a more rational option than reliance upon a single method. Both contact and non-contact approaches have problems with specific roughness parameters, but a hybrid approach offers the possibility of combining the strengths of both methods and eliminating their individual weaknesses.

The ROSAT Wide Field Camera (WFC) is an imaging experiment, conducted by a consortium of UK groups, intended to perform the first all sky survey in the XUV wavelength band (6-30nm). As part of the development and flight programmes, XUV calibration and background simulation work has been undertaken at Leicester. Here, the commissioning and development of an XUV line source and monochromator is described and their use to produce a laboratory detector standcird is reported. Subsequent efficiency calibration of a Csl coated prototype WFC MicroChannel plate detector is reported and the results shown to be in substantial agreement with a published model of photocathode behaviour. The results fill a gap in the published data between 11.2 and 25.6nm. Reflectivity measurements on the Wolter-Schwtirzschild Type 1 grazing incidence mirrors are reported and compared with the predictions of theory and with published measurements on test flats. Differences between theoretical reflectivities and the empirical results of up to 15% axe shown to be consistent with either: low density reflective gold coating, hydrocarbon contamination, or errors in the optical constants assumed for gold. Measurements were found to be broadly in agreement with published results. In addition to experimental work, the impact of the orbital low energy electron background is assessed on WFC performance and shown to be limiting due to the inclination of the spacecraft orbit. Reduction of this background is shown, by computer simulation, to be feasible by the introduction of a magnetic screen. Preliminary electron beam tests support this view.

Ultrafine particle emissions in motor-vehicle exhaust are associated with cardiopulmonary health impacts and increased mortality. The emission, evolution, and exposure-uptake of these particles, one hundred nanometers and smaller in diameter, are fundamentally quantified by the number concentration as a function of particle size. Ultrafine particle number distributions are widely varying and fast changing as they are strongly influenced by local environmental conditions and variation in vehicle operation and maintenance. Research and regulation to quantify and control such emissions rely on measurement of the number distribution of ultrafine particles in vehicle exhaust and by the roadside. Instruments to make such measurements are commercially available, but they are expensive, non-portable, and have slow response times. A new instrument, the NanoAPA, is being developed for these in-situ applications as an inexpensive, portable, and real-time instrument. The instrument is designed to perform ultrafine particle sizing and counting through electronic control of a microfabricated device that charges sampled airborne particles with a corona ionizer and then incrementally size-separates, collects, and counts the number of particles in the aerosol. The focus of this thesis was the development and characterization of the smallest device known that can perform these sizing and counting functions. The device miniaturizes a classical instrument from the aerosol field, the double-condenser of Whipple (1960) used for the sizing and counting of atmospheric ions, into a microfabricated device designed to utilize voltage-and-flowrate-variable electrophoresis to measure ultrafine particle aerosols. Performance characterization of the microfabricated device required development of an apparatus for the generation and conditioning of aerosols appropriate to this application. This Standard Aerosol apparatus was demonstrated to produce repeatable, temperature and humidity stable, charge-neutral, monodisperse exhaust-analog aerosols of particles 10 to 100 nanometer in diameter. The microfabricated device was characterized with the Standard Aerosol apparatus for the operating conditions of 0.1 to 1.5 liter per minute flow rate and 0 to 3000 volt separator voltage. Results of the characterization demonstrated effective selection and collection of solvent droplets in the diameter range 10-100nm. The selection and collection results for engine-exhaust analog particles were inconclusive, likely due to particle re-entrainment. Repeatable measurements of particle number proved elusive, likely due to electrical field interference, the limited particle concentration obtainable from the Standard Aerosol apparatus, and signal-to-noise and temporal stability issues with the electrometer electronics. Recommendations are made for approaches likely to overcome these issues.