Four different plot types were established in shrub and tree comunitities in Little Elk Valley in southwest Oregon. Ten functional (F) plots were cleared of all vegetation in a radius of three times the height of the surrounding vegetation around a single Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii Pursh.) tree. Ten competition...
The purpose of this study was to supply information
that would help improve typing courses by identifying
successful skillbuilding practices and to provide students
with a means of increasing speed and/or accuracy during
timed writings. More specifically, the purpose of this
study was to answer the question:
Does the previewing...
The purpose of this study was to determine if there was
a significant difference in the amount of technical subject
matter learned during a fixed period of instruction by
students working with a computer expert system and students
working with human experts from a technical field.
All students participating in...
The efficiency of a marine cargo terminal depends
primarily upon a smooth and orderly flow of material
during the container loading process. It has been
observed that the transtainer operation is the bottleneck
in the loading process due to frequent rehandles of
containers and the speed of the transtainer. Past...
This thesis discusses a special type of a versatile, distributed control system, the Taskmaster II. It includes a detailed specification of a readily realizable Taskmaster system utilizing a layered communication among units, oriented on the ISO OSI seven layer model. The specification was developed from the analysis of previous research...
Empirical observations have established connections between river network geometry
and various hydrophysical quantities of interest. Since rivers can be decomposed into
basic components known as links, one would like to understand the physical processes at
work in link formation and maintenance. The author develops a natural stochastic
geometric model for...
The American Proposed Standard for Digital
Cartographic Data presents the new national exchange format
which allows the transfer of spatial data among parties
that may use different computer hardware and different
operating system software.
A translator program for the conversion of the AutoCAD
DXf data structure to the Standard's output...
Product quality control is the back bone for an efficient process control system. By monitoring the size of the board cut in a sawmill, performance of the production system can be controlled. Feedback from the quality control system is used to evaluate the status of the production system and also...
Ozone is recognized as one of the most dangerous irritants to eyes, throat, lungs and etc .. Chamber studies consistently have demonstrated adverse effects of ozone on human lung function. The results of epidemiological studies, however, have been controversial, partly because there are many factors that affect human lung function....
Until now, most hypertext systems have been implemented on large scale computers. With improvements in microprocessors and development of graphical user interfaces, personal computers can run systems that previously needed the power of a mainframe. The low costs and widespread use of PCs will enable many people to use hypertext...
The purpose of the study was to assess county extension agents'
knowledge of geotextiles; to determine their current level of
information and their location on an adoption-diffusion curve; and to
determine the agents' attitudes toward the potential use of
geotextiles in agriculture, specifically in soil erosion control.
A questionnaire was...
The effects of household exposure to cigarette smoke on the incidence of respiratory illness were examined among 1007 18 month old children at Lu-wan District, Shanghai City, People's Republic China. The passive smoking quantity was estimated by summing the total daily cigarette consumption of family members. No mothers who smoked...
An experimental investigation of factors effecting
scheduling a system of parallel, non-identical processors
using a series of experimental designs was carried out.
System variables included were processor capacities
relationships, sequencing and assignment rules, job size, and
product demand distributions. The effect of the variables was
measured by comparing mean flow...
This study presents a rational process with supporting data to establish
appropriate road design controls, criteria, and standards for low volume
recreation and resource development. Much of the information presented can
be used to supplement design data presented in a National road design policy
published by the American Association of...
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been sponsoring workshops for undergraduate engineering professors since 1984. The workshops were designed to educate engineering professors about the importance of addressing health and safety issues in their undergraduate engineering curricula. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of...
Many failures of interpersonal communication and coordination in the aircraft cockpit have been found to occur as a result of poor management of flightdeck 'resources'. Crew Resource Management (CRM) is a concept that has evolved within the aviation community to specifically address this issue of resource management. The concept of...
An evaluation of scheduling heuristics for non-identical
parallel processors was performed. There has been
limited research that has focused on scheduling of parallel
processors. This research generalizes the results from
prior work in this area and examines complex scheduling
rules in terms of flow time, tardiness, and proportion of
tardy...
Fermentation of the grape must into wine is one of the most important steps in winemaking. Selected yeast strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been used for many years to ensure complete and even fermentations. The formation of volatile compounds also occurs during fermentation and will influence the sensory perception of...
Pollution prevention is promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other governmental agencies as a method of reducing the generation of wastes and pollutants. Pollution prevention is also called source reduction because it reduces wastes early in the production process. Source reduction has been used by some industries to...
The United States Congress is currently debating a bill to reauthorize the 1980 Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup Law. If this bill is not reauthorized by the end of 1995, the program will either continue in its present form or be eliminated altogether.' As currently administered, the Superfund program sets out...
Traditional simulation languages and simulators do not
fully support the need to design, modify, and extend
simulation models of manufacturing systems, especially,
material handling systems. Since AGV systems, one type of
automated material handling systems, require complicated
control logic, flexible job routings, and frequent layout
modifications and extensions to correspond...
This study surveyed a sample population of manufacturing companies in Oregon. Respondents were surveyed concerning their perceptions of ergonomics and their use of ergonomic consulting services from three potential sources of ergonomic consulting services. The sources of ergonomic consulting services were the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OR-OSHA), Workers'...
Starting more than 60 years ago, a complex of four forest fires occurring at six-year intervals burned almost 400 square miles of
virgin Douglas-fir forest in the northwestern Coast Range of Oregon. The area, which became known as the Tillamook Burn, was the focus
of an unprecedented reforestation effort drawing...
In 1993 and 1994 total, there were 247 people reported to have been bitten by animals in Benton County, Oregon. Of the 243 biting animals, 70 percent were dogs, 25 percent cats, and 5 percent other animals such as ferrets, mice, rats, bats, and skunks. Fifty-four percent of all bites...
A modem Flexible Manufacturing Cell (FMC) usually consists of several Distributed Control Systems (DCS). Modeling and evaluating a manufacturing integrated system and then translating the models to operational programs are important steps in implementing a FMC. Monitoring and enhancing a FMC's manufacturing process quality is another critical issue. An embedded...
Recently, fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP lamina) have
been applied to glued-laminated (glulam) timber for the
purpose of improving bending strength and stiffness.
Initially, full length reinforcement using FRP lamina was
developed. However, the cost of FRP lamina is a significant
portion of the total cost of reinforced glulam. Therefore,
it is...
Physical geography and topography combined with increasing number of motor
vehicles have lead to record breaking air pollution levels in Tehran, the capital city of
Iran. The objectives of this study were: 1) to document trends in Tehran, Iran's
ambient air quality levels between 1988 and 1993; 2) to compare...
Because of their high cost, reducing the number of boards used to fill an
order of dimension parts is an important goal in a lumber rough mill. FLCO
(Fuzzy Logic Cutting Order) is a computer program that achieves this goal.
Using the concepts of fuzzy logic control, FLCO provides a...
Reducing the number of intoxicated motorists and increasing seatbelt use are two
strategies that have effectively reduced morbidity and mortality. The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), however, suggests that reductions in alcohol-related
fatalities and injuries are the result of implementing strategies associated with
enforcement and judicial processing of driving...
The Oregon State University (OSU) Advanced Plant Experiment (APEX) is a one-fourth height, one-half time scale, reduced pressure integral systems test facility designed to model the long-term cooling capabilities of the emergency core cooling systems of the Westinghouse AP600. This study provides a brief description of the APEX test facility,...
Significant improvements in manufacturing productivity has resulted from
implementing cellular manufacturing systems (CMSs) in small to medium sized batch-oriented
manufacturing systems. The work reported in this thesis illustrates the effect of
cell locations in dealing with the processes of machine duplication and part
subcontracting under budgetary restrictions. In addition, this...
Traditional simulation tools, such as simulators and simulation languages do not support intelligent simulation output analysis and offer little - or no - features to model intelligence within a system. However, in a modern manufacturing environment we often find ourselves facing high flexibility requirements and the need for quick response....
Manufacturing intelligent agent simulation has not been
widely applied in industry because of its application
complexity. This complexity, which includes choosing
priority machines or jobs, determining machine maintenance
schedules, and allocating working shifts and breaks,
requires intelligent decision making. Manufacturing systems
are strongly influenced by intelligent decision makers.
Especially for...
Automation of Capacitor Discharge Welding (CDW) has not been investigated in
industry due to the limited understanding of the process. The US Department of Energy's Albany Research Center (ALRC) has done an extensive study of the process and reported applications of welds in the manufacture of electro-mechanical products such as...
Metal-plate-connected (MPC) trusses have traditionally been designed based on a
tributary load distribution and a simplified truss model. This design method ignores the
load-sharing and composite action in MPC roof truss systems, the semi-rigidity of MPC
joints, and joint eccentricity.
The main objective of this study was to provide a...
Emergency stop controls are essential parts of industrial machinery because they
are designed to stop the operation in case of emergencies without risks to operators,
equipment, products, or facilities. Current guidelines for emergency stop controls have
been formulated based on experience but not on empirical studies.
The main objectives of...
River regulation imposes changes in the supply of sediment and the frequency of competent flows. As a result, impounded rivers often exhibit downstream changes in channel processes, particle size, and morphology. The magnitude of change in competent flow frequency and sediment load together can be used to predict the pattern...
The purpose of this study was to examine Oregon State University students' self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behavior about recycling. Students living in on-campus and off-campus organized living groups were mailed a four-page survey with questions about their recycling activities, their attitudes about recycling, their opinions of the effectiveness of the...
The fundamental objective of a design engineer in performing tolerance technology is to transform functional requirements into tolerances on individual parts based on existing data and algorithms for design tolerance analysis and synthesis. The transformation of functional requirements into tolerances must also consider the existing process capabilities and manufacturing costs...
Two methods of radiation dose assessment were evaluated for the Cs-137 in soil ⇒ leafy vegetable ⇒ human consumption exposure pathway at three fictitious contaminated sites in California, Colorado, and Florida. An annual dose equation was developed and per USEPA risk assessment guidelines, traditional, single point annual dose estimates were...
Few studies, and none in Oregon, have examined the presence and change of water quality parameters over time in popular natural swimming areas. This information is necessary to better understand water quality and risk of illness from either fecal contamination or cross-infection from other swimmers. The purpose of this study...
Product development efforts are extremely important to a company's success in today's global competitive business environment. Yet, these highly consequential efforts are terribly nebulous to a point that past experiences are inherently underutilized. This thesis demonstrates a methodology to quantify past product development efforts in an attempt to better utilize...
Despite the increase in information on the causes of foodborne disease, outbreaks continue to be a major preventable public health problem. Current food service establishment inspection programs, however, are not designed to assess the potential of risk for foodborne disease and do not focus prevention efforts where food service problems...
In the semiconductor industry, numerous potential occupational exposures exist as a result of the diversity of chemical and physical hazards unique to integrated circuit manufacturing. The hazards associated with maintenance tasks are challenging because the sporadic nature of the tasks make exposure monitoring difficult. In particular, vacuum pump maintenance is...
The primary objective of this research is to develop a network-centric simulation modeling framework that can be used to build simulation models through the use of Internet-based resources. An object-oriented programming approach was used to build a Java-based modeling framework focused on modeling a semiconductor fabrication system. This research is...
The acquisition and elimination of products and the resources needed to create them constitutes an important part of the business decision-making process. Activity-based costing (ABC) supports this process by providing a tool for evaluating the relative profitability of various products. It accomplishes this by allocating costs to products based on...
The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework to enhance the redesign of a safety system. To identify the limitations of the current safety system, the concepts of congruency and integration of the safety function within a specific university environment were examined through a case study methodology....
The Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology (ABET) requires that safety and health be integrated into an engineering curriculum in order to be accredited. These criteria for safety and health requirements, however, are not clearly defined. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has initiated Project SHAPE (Safety and...
Poor air quality can result in reduced productivity and higher absenteeism in students, fatigue, eye, nose and throat irritation and reduced comfort. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 2 million education employees work in areas with poor indoor air quality.
The measurement of carbon dioxide often is...