Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationDry storage casks (DSCs) store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at sites contiguous to nuclear power plants (NPPs), known as Interim Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs). DSCs can be stored in concrete bunkers, or designed as free-standing or anchored struc

Parenting among Nepalese families in Lisbon and its effect on child integration

The purpose of this study was to understand which parenting style presented by Baumrind (1967) of authoritative, authoritarian or permissive the Nepalese immigrants in Portugal are associated with, what values they transmit to their children and how does it affect child integration in schools. The aim was to know if migrating to a country with difference in culture and values brings changes in the way parenting is provided for Nepalese parents and the affect it has on children. This was a qualitative study among 10 participants with 5 mothers and 5 fathers who brought their children to Portugal. The parent's perception of the way they provide parenting, the transmission of values and their children's response to these provided the primary data for this study. The data was collected through in-depth individual interviews which were conducted in Nepali language with the support of semi structured questionnaires. The research found that the Nepalese parenting style could not be incorporated into a single parenting style as suggested by Baumrind as it has components of both the authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles. I also found that parenting for Nepalese immigrants in Portugal was affected by native culture, children's reactions, Portuguese laws and norms and support systems. The mothers and fathers performed different parenting roles as mothers were mostly associated with care, support and comfort whereas fathers were mostly associated with monitoring and implementation of rules

Master of Science

thesisHigh strength alloy steel cast connector refers to a bracing system to be used in James L. Greene Science Center, Columbia University in New York. The cast connectors, as the name suggests, are the connection elements in a bracing system that uses stainless steel rods as the braces instead of traditional steel sections. The bracing system was designed to support lateral wind load. The cast connector material is A148 GR. 115/95 (ASTM A958, 2006). The nominal yield strength is f y = 95 ksi, whereas the nominal ultimate strength is f u = 115 ksi. Although the material has very high yield strength, its ductility is rather limited. Hence, limiting the use of the connectors in a quasi-static load like wind load. This study evaluates cast connector performance under monotonic and cyclic loading. Experimental results are validated by a finite element (FE) model created in ANSYS (Chapter 4). Initial proposed tests on the cast connector specimens showed linear performance. For loads of 2 and 2.5 times the design load (P = 275 kip), the test specimens exhibited linear behavior. Further tests with increased load were performed on a second specimen (Cast Connector 2) to obtain nonlinear behavior and connector failure modes. The nonlinear portion of the curve was not well developed as one would expect for steel, which demonstrated the brittleness of the material

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationDry storage casks (DSCs) store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at sites contiguous to nuclear power plants (NPPs), known as Interim Spent Fuel Storage Installations (ISFSIs). DSCs can be stored in concrete bunkers, or designed as free-standing or anchored structures. The primary focus of this study is to investigate response of free-standing DSCs under seismic excitation. Recent consideration of DSCs as a potential midterm solution may increase the operating period (initially 20 years) up to 300 years and requires response reevaluation. A longer compliance period results in larger accelerations, and larger vertical-to-horizontal spectral acceleration ratios that could have destabilizing effects on the cask response. The response of free-standing DSCs under seismic excitations is highly nonlinear, especially under concurrent sliding and rocking motion triggered by multidirectional seismic excitations. It depends on parameters such as aspect ratio, coefficient of friction between cask and foundation pad, and ground motion characteristics, among other factors. This research presents the investigation on the response of free-standing DSCs under long return period seismic events. Dynamic experimental tests were performed on a 6-degree-of-freedom shake table at the University of Nevada, Reno. Ground motions used for the tests were spectrally matched to spectral acceleration for seismic events of 10,000- and 30,000-year return periods. Experimental results were used to validate finite element (FE) models. The validated models were then be used to study casks’ response under full intensity long-term seismic event, tip-over spectrum under sinusoidal excitation and soil structure interaction (SSI). The research also addresses whether the response of DSCs is repeatable under identical ground motions. If the cask response has a relatively large variation (nonrepeatable), the analytical and FE models cannot directly capture this variation. Experimental tests on repeated ground motions showed that the dynamic response is not repeatable, which is the first indicator of chaos or extreme sensitivity to initial conditions. Numerical techniques for chaotic analysis were then implemented, for harmonic excitation, to show that DSCs’ motion is in fact chaotic for certain excitation conditions. This sensitivity was studied in FE models and analytical simulations by varying input parameters by ±1%. This small change resulted in large variation in the response

Subjective preference of light colour and LED lighting

The main objective of this work is to investigate the subjective preferences for lighting environments under different LED spectral power distributions (SPDs) and to analyse the different existing colour quality descriptors in order to recommend the best descriptor. An additional aim of the work is to find out the correlated colour temperature (CCT) and illuminance levels that users prefer for LED lighting. The experiments were conducted in lighting booths and in office rooms, where the subjective preferences for different LED light spectra were studied. In the lighting booth experiments, seven different LED SPDs were studied at CCTs of 2700 K, 4000 K and 6500 K at 500 lux. The study showed that the observers preferred the LED SPDs which increased the object chroma and colourfulness values (calculated in CIECAM02-UCS). Also, the preferred LED SPDs had higher values of reference-based metrics (such as colour quality scale (CQS) colour preference scale) and higher values of area-based metrics (such as CQS colour gamut scale or gamut area index (GAI)). The observers preferred the light sources at CCT of 4000 K and 6500 K over the CCT of 2700 K. The work was continued by simulation work and user acceptance studies to find out the simplified LED SPDs that the observers would prefer. The simulation results suggested that it is possible to generate simplified LED SPDs that have CQS Qp and CQS Qg values similar to those of the preferred complex SPDs that were generated by 9 to 11 different types of LEDs. The user acceptance studies conducted in the lighting booths also showed that the simplified LED SPDs using three different types of LEDs were preferred over complex LED SPD. Later, similar simplified LED SPDs were also studied in office rooms, and it was found that the observers preferred simplified LED SPDs over fluorescent lamp. The three different LED SPDs at each CCT of 4000 K and 6500 K were studied in the office room experiments. The observers preferred most the LED SPDs with high CQS Qp and CQS Qg or GAI values and least the LED SPDs that had the lowest CQS Qp and CQS Qg values. Also, the light sources (having high CQS Qp and CQS Qg) with negative Duv values were more preferred over light sources with positive Duv values maintaining the Duv values within the limit of ±0.0054. Moreover, for the office lighting, the observers preferred CCT of 4000 K over CCT of 6500 K at 500 lux. It was also found that the observers preferred the illuminance level of 500 lux over 300 lux. The results of the experiments conducted in the lighting booths to test the performance of different fidelity metrics showed that the CIE CRI, CRI2012 and CQS provide similar predictions for LED light sources that do not enhance the object chroma. It was found that the best prediction of colour fidelity was provided by CQS for LED light sources that enhance object chroma

Sana Guthi and the Newars : impacts of modernization on traditional social organizations

This thesis tends to highlight on the traditional social organization being practiced by the Newar people of Kathmandu valley of Nepal since the ancient times. Newar people are regarded as the indigenous population of Nepal inhabiting the Kathmandu valley since the pre-historic times. For the study, a locality named Panga of Kirtipur city has been chosen which is inhabited mainly by the Jyapu castes of Newar people who are traditionally agriculturists according to the caste division formed during the 14th century. Guthi, the traditional social organization, can be classified into various categories according to their functionalities among which, Sana Guthi is regarded most popular and the important one. Among the various functions performed by the Sana Guthi, death rituals are regarded extremely important from religious as well as social point of view. During death, numerous religious rituals have to be conducted properly by the family as well as Sana Guthi in order to ensure the soul to rest in peace. Not only death rituals, various religious festivals also have to be conducted by the Sana Guthi. In this study, two of such festivals conducted by Shree Bhairabnath Ta: Guthi of Panga have been studied in details. The study has been conducted in relation to modernization; for which the changes that have occurred or occurring these days have also been observed closely. Impacts of modernization are leading to the change of such rituals. Not only rituals, modernization is leading the whole society towards a new dimension. So, basically this study aims to identify the impacts of modernization on Newar communities and such traditional social organizations being practiced by them

Contribution of Gender on Learning Readiness among School Students of Nepal

Readiness is the prerequisite for the effective learning process among school students. Its absence can hinder the learning of the students and schooling as a whole. The purpose of this study is to examine the contributions of gender in learning readiness.  This study is based on the cross-sectional survey design and it employed purposive sampling to gather data from 400 students via questionnaire. Then, the data were analyzed employing both descriptive and parametric statistical measures, particularly independent sample t-test.  In the meantime, the researcher has incorporated the social capital theory for discussing the results. The derived result reveals that all dimensions (student, school, and family) elucidated the high level of learning readiness among students.  Likewise, gender makes significant contributions in learning readiness and its dimensions due to variation in the influences related to the existing social capitals among students.  Finally, it is wrapped up that without gender equality, the enhancement of learning readiness is not possible

Incidence of neonatal hypothermia and its association with low birth weight, preterm delivery, APGAR score and nursing care

Introductions: Neonatal hypothermia increases morbidity and mortality . This study aimed to assess the incidence of neonatal hypothermia and its association with low birth weight, preterm delivery, APGAR score and nursing care practices. Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was carried out to assess the neonatal hypothermia in neonates born via vaginal deliveries at Maternity ward of Patan hospital, Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS), Nepal, during Aug–Sept 2018. The study was approved from institutional review committee of PAHS. Axillary temperature was measured 4 times, at ten minutes and at 1,2, 4 hours after delivery by using Micro Life digital thermometer. The SPSS was used to analyse data for association of hypothermia with low birth weight, preterm delivery, APGAR score and nursing care practices. Chi square and fisher exact tests were used and p<0.05 was considered significant. Results: Out of 153 neonates, neonatal hypothermia was seen in 61 (39.8%), 66 (43.1%), 52 (33.9%) and 41 (26.8%) at 10 minutes and 1, 2 and 4 hours after delivery. There was statistically significant association between APGAR score and hypothermia at 1 hour. There was significant association between nursing care practices after delivery and hypothermia at 4 hours. Conclusions: In this study, the incidence of neonatal hypothermia was highoccurringin40% at 10 minutes and 25% at four hours after delivery. Low APGAR score was associated with hypothermia. Keywords: APGAR score, hypothermia, low birth weight, neonate, preter