Enhancing the Capabilities of Infrared Microscopy Apparatus

My honors research consists of the design and optimization of a microscopy apparatus as an accessory to an existing macroscopic spectroscopy setup. Using this apparatus, spot sizes below 30 microns can be obtained with high enough intensity to measure infrared-active phonon features. In addition the main optical apparatus, I have developed electronic connections to interface to a mid-infrared detector, a purge gas housing to eliminate contamination from atmospheric vibrational resonances, and a sample stage with sub-micron precision translation to properly operate the apparatus in purge

Evaluation of lens distortion errors in video-based motion analysis

In an effort to study lens distortion errors, a grid of points of known dimensions was constructed and videotaped using a standard and a wide-angle lens. Recorded images were played back on a VCR and stored on a personal computer. Using these stored images, two experiments were conducted. Errors were calculated as the difference in distance from the known coordinates of the points to the calculated coordinates. The purposes of this project were as follows: (1) to develop the methodology to evaluate errors introduced by lens distortion; (2) to quantify and compare errors introduced by use of both a 'standard' and a wide-angle lens; (3) to investigate techniques to minimize lens-induced errors; and (4) to determine the most effective use of calibration points when using a wide-angle lens with a significant amount of distortion. It was seen that when using a wide-angle lens, errors from lens distortion could be as high as 10 percent of the size of the entire field of view. Even with a standard lens, there was a small amount of lens distortion. It was also found that the choice of calibration points influenced the lens distortion error. By properly selecting the calibration points and avoidance of the outermost regions of a wide-angle lens, the error from lens distortion can be kept below approximately 0.5 percent with a standard lens and 1.5 percent with a wide-angle lens

Telepresence and Space Station Freedom workstation operations

The Space Station Freedom workstation system is a distributed network of computer based workstations that provides the man-machine interfaces for controlling space station systems. This includes control of external manipulator, robotic and free flyer devices by crewmembers in the space station's pressurized shirt-sleeve environment. These remotely controlled devices help minimize the requirement for costly crew extravehicular activity (EVA) time for such tasks as station assembly and payload support. Direct window views may be used for controlling some of the systems, but many activities will be remote or require levels of detail not possible by direct observation. Since controlling remote devices becomes more difficult when direct views are inadequate or unavailable, many performance enhancing techniques have been considered for representing information about remote activities to the operator. Described here are the telepresence techniques under consideration to support operations and training. This includes video enhancements (e.g., graphic and text overlays and stereo viewing), machine vision systems, remote activity animation, and force reflection representation

Internet filtering companies with religious affiliations in the context of Indiana public libraries

Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided to uphold the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) in 2003, public libraries accepting federal E-rate funds have been required to install technology protection measures on computers with Internet access. Many libraries use Internet filters to fulfill this requirement. Using research by Nancy Willard, which disclosed affiliations between Internet filtering companies and religious organizations, it was found that at least 15.9% of Indiana public libraries used filters with connections to conservative religious groups in 2005. Ethical implications of this research are discussed and recommendations for balancing First Amendment rights with a financial need for CIPA compliance are included

North Carolina's Southeast 2012 regional economic profile

Regional profile and economic profile of the 11 counties of Southeastern North Carolina. Sponsored and published by North Carolina’s Southeast

A reel nightmare exposed : a study of the cultural significance of Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Over the past forty years, Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) has become an icon that suggests the dangers of nuclear holocaust. Stanley Kubrick adapted Peter George’s Red Alert (1958) from a suspense novel into a “nightmare comedy,” a satire about the threat of an accidental nuclear war. Dr. Strangelove mocked the military officials, politicians, and scientists who formed US policies for the war on communism and the machines they utilized in that war. Kubrick hoped that, amid their laughter, audiences would realize that the scenario was not far- fetched. He hoped that audiences would recognize the dangers of US nuclear policies and the risks taken by the nation’s leaders. Although the film received mixed reactions and reviews, it inspired a debate about the worth of its message, the realism of Kubrick’s celluloid world, and the soundness of US nuclear policies. Since the Reagan administration, Dr. Strangelove has enjoyed new life. Historians have utilized the film in their discussions and about cold war history. Critics of US nuclear policies, particularly the Strategic Defense Initiative, have invoked the film to conjure up images of a world driven to the brink of the apocalypse by men similar to the film’s characters. Dr. Strangelove, which began as expression of a young director’s concern about the possibility of nuclear war, has become a point of reference for the cold war and the nuclear dangers that have not subsided with its end

North Carolina's Southeast [2010] regional economic profile

Regional profile and economic profile of the 11 counties of Southeastern North Carolina. Sponsored and published by North Carolina’s Southeast

The home front in the home : women's roles in Wilmington, North Carolina, 1941-1945

World War II disrupted the domestic roles of women living in Wilmington, North Carolina, but these roles did not change. Women were still expected to marry and establish a home, entertain guests, manage a budget, prepare meals, and raise children. In addition to these responsibilities, wartime domesticity included rationing, relocation, and separation from husbands. Despite such changes, women continued to establish homes and manage their homes. Interviews with Wilmington’s female population sixty years after the war showed evidence of such disruptions, but these women interpreted their lives as relatively unchanged. Propaganda and women’s articles created or influenced by the federal government placed as new sense of urgency on domestic duties. By embracing both their peacetime and wartime domestic responsibilities, women could help win the war. Victory overseas began with a victory on the home front. Advertisements and rhetoric aimed at women sent the message to women that their actions in their homes determined the outcome of the national conflict. Women were enlisted to fight from every room of their homes. An Allied victory depended on women on the home front maintaining positive morale, purchasing war bonds, feeding their families, and raising their children

The role of benthic macrofauna in influencing fluxes and speciation of dissolved zinc and copper in estuarine sediments

Sediment flux experiments were carried out for sediment and water samples collected on April 23, 2001 and June 26, 2001 from a site in the lower CFR estuary. Benthic fluxes were determined for total dissolved copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) and the ligands that bind these metals. Benthic fluxes of total dissolved Cu (TDCu) ranged from 130 to -180 nmol·m-2·d-1, where a negative flux represents the migration of a species from the sediment into the overlying water. The copper-complexing ligand fluxes ranged from 590 to -1030 nmol·m-2·d-1. Total dissolved Zn (TDZn) fluxes ranged from 56 to -300 nmol·m-2·d-1 and the Zn-complexing ligand fluxes ranged from 1220 to -980 nmol·m-2·d-1. Fluxes of both TDCu and TDZn were several times lower than the concentration of metal-binding ligands, suggesting that both Cu and Zn are largely complexed when they flux from sediments. There were no significant differences (a = 0.05) between the two seasons in the fluxes of TDZn and Zn- and Cu-complexing ligands. However, fluxes of TDCu were significantly greater in April than in June. The role of bioturbation in influencing benthic fluxes of these chemical species was also investigated using Streblospio benedicti, an opportunistic species common in the lower Cape Fear estuary. The presence of these polychaetes did not significantly affect fluxes of metals or ligands in any of the experiments. Speciation analysis using competitive ligand equilibration – cathodic stripping voltammetry revealed that Cu was bound by a single strong class (L1) whose Kcond ranged from 1013.5 to 1014.5, a result consistent with studies of Cu in this and other estuaries. Zn speciation analyses revealed qualitatively that there are two separate ligand classes responsible for binding dissolved zinc. The conditional stability constants of the two ligand classes are too close in value (~ 107.5) to compute values for each ligand class