Extraction based thermodynamic balancing for a humidification dehumidification desalination plant

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2012.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 54).Humidification dehumidification (HDH) desalination is a thermal driven desalination technology. One of the main issues with HDH desalination is the high energy consumption involved. The energy efficiency of thermal desalination systems is given by a non-dimensional number known as the gained output ratio (GOR) which is a ratio of the latent heat of evaporation of the water produced to the net heat input. In Lienhard Research Group at MIT, a particular method of increasing GOR has been invented. This method involves matching the heat capacity ratio (HCR) of the flows exchanging heat and mass to approach unity. Specifically, based on theoretical studies done previously in the group, it had been proposed that mass extraction of air from the humidification device to the dehumidification device changes the HCR favorably. This thesis looks to show the same experimentally. By making adjustments of the HCR in different parts of the process it is possible to increase the GOR substantially. In the current study it has been shown that the GOR is increased from 2.4 to 3.1 for a specific set of boundary conditions. All mass extraction cases found an improved GOR value, confirming that this process reduces the total system irreversibility.by Victor Nevarez.S.B

TREATMENT OF MENTAL ILLNESS CO-OCCURRING WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES

Past literature has showed that there have been several misdiagnosis of mental illness due to client’s delays in speech or introspection caused by an intellectual disability. It is believed that the intellectual disability is either interfering with the proper mental health diagnosis or a mental health diagnosis is unnecessarily being added to an intellectual disability. The study used a qualitative design that asked four psychiatrists on how they are treating their clients with an intellectual disability in addition to their mental illness. The interview guide asks about the difficulty in diagnosing individuals with a mental illness and a co-occurring intellectual disability. The proportion of clients also having an intellectual disability and co-occurring mental illness ranged from 5 to 20%. The problems that psychiatrists are running into are the fact that patients are not being correctly diagnosed before the age of 18 and are not able to get the resources that are needed, such as Inland Regional services

A Visual Velocity Impedance Controller

Successful object insertion systems allow the object to translate and rotate to accommodate contact forces. Compliant controllers are used in robotics to provide this accommodation. The impedance compliant controller is one of the more researched and well known compliant controllers used for assembly. The velocity filtered visual impedance controller is introduced as a compliant controller to improve upon the impedance controller. The velocity filtered impedance controller introduces a filter of the velocity impedance and a gain from the stiffness. The velocity impedance controller was found to be more stable over larger ranges of stiffness values than the position based impedance controller. This led to the velocity impedance controller being more accurate and stable with respect to external forces. The velocity impedance controller was also found to have a better compliant response when tested on various insertion geometries in various configurations, including a key insertion acting against gravity. Finally, a novel kinetic friction cone compliance model is introduced for the velocity impedance controller. It was determined that the new compliance model provided a more reliable insertion than the standard insertion model by increasing the error tolerance for failure

Evaluation of MyPlate Recommendations and Dietary Habits of EIU ROTC Cadets: A Mixed Methods Approach

The purpose of this study was to determine if MyPlate recommendation knowledge, dietary habits, and eating for performance influence the daily consumption among Eastern Illinois University ROTC Cadets. The sample population included EIU ROTC cadets (n=19), between the ages of 18 to 28 years old. A mixed-method approach, using a questionnaire along with focus groups interviews of six to ten cadets from all class levels, was used to obtain data. Results indicated that the highest mean score was 18.9 for MyPlate recommendation knowledge. In addition, five themes were analyzed: Inconsistency of dietary intake, High cost of eating healthy, Post workout consumption, Dependable nutrition education from kinesiology majors, and Concerns over body composition. Struggles with cost of food as well as meeting body composition standards were results of dietary habits and eating for physical performance. Increased nutrition education on MyPlate recommendations is warranted within the ROTC program

Meeting the Need for K-8 Teachers for Classrooms with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students: The Promise and Challenge of Early Field Experiences

The writers present the findings of their study focused on teacher learning through early fieldwork experiences to address the problem of teachers working with a culturally and linguistically diverse student population. Data were analyzed from an archive collected from approximately 500 students enrolled in six undergraduate child development courses at three state university campuses located in urban areas of California. Findings suggest that early field experiences provide participants with opportunities for career goal clarification, and the context of field experience is significant and may lead to outcomes beyond the initial goal of the experience

Lymphohistiocytic Proliferative Syndrome of Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis): a cutaneous manifestation of West Nile virus

ABSTRACT In 1999, there were reports of a new type of lesion in the hides of captive reared alligators from Florida. Similar lesions were first reported from alligator hides in Louisiana in 2001; however, it wasn’t until 2002 that small epizootics became apparent. In 2002, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries began a collaborative effort with the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine (LSU SVM) to help elucidate the etiology of “PIX” disease, later renamed Lymphohistiocytic Proliferative Syndrome of Alligators (LPSA). Preliminary work concluded that LPSA was a systemic disease affecting multiple tissues. Based on the results of this preliminary study, particularly the histopathologic evaluation of LPSA tissues, a viral etiology was established as the top differential for LPSA. Further work revealed that LPSA positive alligators were 476 (95% CI: 79.6, 2845.2) times more likely to be seropositive for WNV than LPSA negative alligators. At that point it was also becoming clear that the occurrence of LPSA matched the occurrence of WNV in alligator farms. Another project was performed to further elucidate the association between WNV and LPSA based on results of WNV serology, WNV RT-PCR, and histopathologic evaluation of animals with (treatment) and without (control) LPSA lesions. Results from this study revealed that in the treatment group, 97.5% (95%CI: 92.7-102.3 %) of the LPSA skin lesions (TxA) were positive for WNV via RT-PCR. Of the skins within the treatment group that had no LPSA lesions (TxB), 8% (95%CI: 0-16.9%) were positive for WNV. In the control group, all of the skin samples (CxS) were negative for WNV. All alligators in TxA were significantly (p=0.07-20) more likely to have RT-PCR WNV positive skin than those in CxS, and TxB (p=0.08-16). There was no significant difference in the recovery of WNV from the skins of alligators from TxB and CxS (p=0.24). The results of this work support the theory that LPSA is a cutaneous manifestation of chronic WNV exposure/infection in captive reared alligators. Therefore the epidemiology of LPSA follows the epidemiology of WNV and prevention, surveillance and control methods used for WNV should effectively decrease the occurrence of LPSA

Housing, Relationships, and Substance Use among Female Ex-Offenders

Female ex-offenders with histories of substance abuse face many difficulties upon reentry into the general population, such as acquiring adequate housing. The purpose of this proposal is to explore the relations between housing settings, relationships, and substance use. Two hundred adult females participated in the initial baseline study. Two methods of data analyses were proposed to predict substance use: one clustering participants into groups based on the endorsement of those settings and relationships, and one using multi-level modeling examining housing settings and relationships both independently as well as unique settings comprised of housing setting and relationship. Participants fell into one of three clusters: recovery alone, mutual living with family and friends, and catch all. Participants in homeless, and mutual settings had significantly more usage than participants living in their own house or apartment. Participants that were in controlled, residential and transitional settings had significantly less substance usage than those living in their own house or apartment. Participants that lived with their parents, family, or sexual partner with or without their children had significantly higher substance usage than those living alone. Participants that were living with family were likelier to engage in substance use compared to those living alone. Compared to participants living alone in one’s house or apartment, those living alone in transitional settings were significantly less likely to use substances, and those living alone in homeless settings were significantly more likely to use substance. These results are useful when creating housing plans for incarcerated women before they are released from correctional facilities

Strange Labor: Toward the Non-Expression of Feelings Themselves

This essay accompanies the researcher’s Master of Fine Arts thesis concert, Sensaciones y emociones (performed on September 5 and 6, 2017). It describes how he employed his training as a flamenco dancer to choreographically model three non-expressive interactions with three discrete feelings in the performances of this concert. The essay outlines the ways in which the researcher used his art practice to imagine alternative strategies for relating to emotions and sensations, as phenomena that might put a body in motion, but that do not always or necessarily travel from inside of a feeling subject, outward, in an act commonly called expression. Additionally, this essay draws attention to the ideological character of the notion of self-expression and the notion of the dance form. It offers that these ideas can work in tandem in dance discourse, describing the role of emotion in shaping both concepts. Furthermore, it argues that each dancing body presents a specific physicality as it moves, which choreographically models an attitude toward emotion, as that body itself performs a practiced management of feeling

Exploring the Use of Twitter Opinion Mining (TOM) in Marketing Courses

This paper discusses the use of social media mining (and more specifically, Twitter opinion mining) in marketing courses in order to help students understand current marketing events or phenomena. Social media mining refers to “the use of basic concepts and principal algorithms suitable for investigating massive social media data; it discusses theories and methodologies from different disciplines and encompasses the tools to formally represent, measure, model, and mine meaningful patterns from large-scale social media data” (Zafarani et al. 2014, p. 16). Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram provide opportunities to explore consumer preferences, opinions and behaviors through the examination of user-generated content (UGC). In a business world dominated by the Internet and social media, it becomes relevant to marketing educators to prepare students in the exploration, analysis and understanding of consumer insights through social media mining, and how to translate such insights into actionable intelligence that increases the effectiveness of a firm’s marketing efforts