Personal Research Database

? Cruces, L. (1999), Arsenic removal from water using manga,nese greensand: laboratory scale batch and column studies. Ph.D. Thesis, New Mexico State University, USA.

? Lordgooei, M. (1999), Adsorption thermodynamics and mass transfer of toxic volatile organic compounds in activated-carbon fiber-cloth for air pollution control. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.

Full Text: Thesis\Lordgooei, M.pdf

Abstract: Toxic volatile organic compounds (TVOCs) constitute 69% of the total air toxics emitted by major industrial point sources. Adsorption is one of the most practical mechanisms that can be used to separate and recover TVOCs before they are discharged into the atmosphere. Research on new adsorbent materials and adsorption processes were performed to achieve this goal. In this research, thermodynamic and transient behavior of TVOC adsorption in activated-carbon fiber-cloth were modeled. Experiments included steady-state and transient adsorption of acetone, as a surrogate for TVOCs, at select temperatures and partial pressures. The Dubinin-Astakhov model was modified to provide the ‘Thermal Equation of Equilibrium Adsorption’ (TEEA) model. Such model allowed for derivations of continuous functions describing adsorption thermodynamic parameters in the phase space of temperature, adsorbate partial pressure, and adsorption capacity. A new model was developed to define functionality of the relative pore filling pressure of vapors to the micropore size of the adsorbent using the classical thermodynamics and TEEA. Relative mesopore filling pressure was modeled by modifying the Kelvin equation. The Modified-Kelvin equation provided a convenient and reliable method to determine the mesopore size distribution of the adsorbent. Effective diffusivity of adsorbates into the fibers was then modeled as a function of temperature, adsorbate partial pressure and adsorbent pore size distribution. A non-dispersive finite difference analytical-numerical model was developed to define the local adsorption kinetics. The kinetic model was used to calculate the effective diffusivity of acetone from short length chromatography (SLC) experiments. A Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) was developed and used to model the longitudinal effective diffusivity of square matrices of fibers within miniature fixed beds. Reflective lattice boundary conditions were developed to define complex solid configurations and provide a second order accurate solution on the boundaries. The models developed for this research were then integrated into a numerical model to determine the adsorption dynamics of acetone through the ACFC adsorber. Results from this research provide predictive tools to characterize adsorption thermodynamics, kinetics, and dynamics of other TVOC-adsorbent systems.

? Shin, H.J. (1999), Research interactivity of cognitive science: A bibliometric analysis of interdisciplinarity. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Texas at Austin, USA.

Full Text: Thesis\Shin, HJ.pdf

Abstract: This study attempts to understand the interdisciplinary dimensions of cognitive science by analyzing the overall research interactions among the contributing disciplines to cognitive science through citation analysis of its literature. Three approaches to achieve this purpose are used. First, citation patterns of six constituent disciplines represented in the journal Cognitive Science (anthropology, linguistics, philosophy, psychology, computer science, and neuroscience) are analyzed for the time period of 1977–1996. Second, based on a journal inter-citation network, research interactivity among the above disciplines is analyzed along with measures of relative journal importance. Third, clusters of journals based on co-citation similarity are formed and mapped to illustrate the structure of cognitive science literature. The analysis reveals that psychology, computer science, and linguistics were the key contributory and reference disciplines in Cognitive Science from 1977 to 1996. While the initial dominance of computer science gave way to psychology, computer science always remained prominent. Anthropology, philosophy, and neuroscience remained marginal. Authors from the dominant disciplines of psychology and computer science have tended to look inwards, drawing heavily on their own respective disciplines; conversely, authors from the less dominant disciplines tended to look outside their home areas in their research. The analysis of research interactivity in the journal citation network generally corroborated the above findings. Network analysis further revealed that the constituent disciplines progressed from internal modes of research interactivity to multidisciplinary research interactivity over time, and bonded together to form a stabilized platform of cognitive science. The latter made possible the designation and analysis of a key set of cognitive science journals. Co-citation patterns in general produced findings similar to the inter-citation patterns of journals. The broad picture that emerges indicates that cognitive science has formed into a relatively mature, open, stable, diffuse, and dynamic system of interactive disciplines. But two dominant orientations or schools (one centered on the mind and brain, and the other on computational intelligence) continue to exist as side-by-side competitors and collaborators.

? Wallace, J.D. (1999), An examination of computer-mediated communication’s scholarly communication. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Oklahoma.

Full Text: 1999\Wallace, JD.pdf

Abstract: This dissertation asks ‘what is meant by computer-mediated communication?’ CMC was defined as it exists in the scholarly communication concerning business, education, psychology, sociology, and social sciences. This exploratory longitudinal analysis: examined the dynamic of computer-mediated communication in general, identified where academic scrutiny was being focused, and gives a general sense of the kinds of issues that were dominant during the time of examination. Specifically, this study employed bibliometric analytical techniques to establish CMC’s artifacts, producers, and concepts within that domain. These were defined as journals, authors of those journals, and conceptual keywords. Artifacts and producers were identified based on their prevalence in the field and academic orientation. A more fine-grained analysis was applied to concepts. They were examined in terms of their prevalence, academic orientation and also their relationship to each other. What was found was an area of scholarly communication, heavily popularized in education-related journals. Psychology and other social science affiliated disciplines contributed in a less prolific fashion. There were disparate foci between disciplines of differing perspectives. Multi-disciplinary with some interdisciplinary linkages would be a good description of CMC. Where there was interdisciplinary overlap, the communication discipline appears to be the boundary spanner in the majority of cases. This role did not extend to the business index analyzed. The distribution of first authors was overwhelming populated by one-time authorship. This significantly differed from theoretically defined literatures associated with a field of study. Moreover, CMC’s articles tended to be localized in a relatively few journals. Clusters of conceptual topics tended to be database affiliated. Those with the most wide ranging support among all databases tended to come from topics traditionally associated with the communication discipline. Also ‘telecommunications’, ‘information network’ and ‘Internet’ affiliated topics were widely indicated from a number of the databases. This study was significant for three reasons. First, it documented CMC’s historical emergence. Second, it identified descriptive boundaries concerning CMC’s authors, journals, and areas of inquiry that were prevalent. Third, it examines the communication discipline’s role in the literature as defined. Additionally, it provides guidance concerning CMC’s future research.

? Andrews, J.E. (2000), A bibliometric investigation of medical informatics: A communicative action perspective. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA.

Full Text: Thesis\Andrews, JE.pdf

Abstract: Medical informatics is an interdisciplinary field that draws from and contributes to a number of disciplines, has a number of overlapping research foci within its own boundaries, and often requires significant interactive collaboration among heterogeneous researchers. Collectively, these qualities of the field can complicate the ability of researchers to access, communicate, and/or utilize the knowledge, tools, processes, methods, and methodologies needed to enable knowledge creation, communication, and growth within the field. The impetus for this study is the presumed likelihood of language-based impediments to knowledge sharing within medical informatics. Using established bibliometric techniques (namely, those used for Author Cocitation Analysis), a representation of the field of medical informatics was derived for the period, 1994--1998. Cocitation information and bibliographic citations from the fifty most cited American College of Medical Informatics Fellows were the subjects for this study. Further analyses investigating language and communication issues in the field were also conducted. The concepts (operationalized as Medical Subject Headings assigned to the authors’ articles) representing the authors’ subject area(s), and the language use of each author and groups of authors, were derived using basic statistical techniques. Correlations among authors based on subject area and language use were studied in order to better elucidate the maps generated through the author cocitation analysis. Interpretation of the results and suggestions for future research were informed by Jurgen Habermas’s Theory of Communicative Action. This study offers foundational knowledge for further investigations into the semantic linkages among related research domains within medical informatics, as well as the underlying implications for understanding semantic interoperability in the field.

? O’Connor, J.F. (2000), Bibliometric analysis of pedagogy literature in adapted physical activity. Ph.D. Thesis, Texas Woman’s University, USA.

Full Text: Thesis\OConnor JF.pdf

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether pedagogical serials published in the core serials that encompass adapted physical activity content from 1988 to 1998 adhere to the principles of a Bradford Distribution. Further, the question was asked whether Price’s Law would substantiate the findings of the Bradford Distribution by identifying a nucleus of the most productive authors in adapted physical activity pedagogy. An analysis for the presence of a Bradford Distribution was conducted on the 770 articles in 259 serials accepted for this study from the 4,130 serials initially identified in the four databases. Results of this study support the use of the Bradford Distribution to describe and quantify the literature of adapted physical activity pedagogy from the period of 1988 to 1998. Based on the analyses of the data, the applicability of Price’s Law to adapted physical activity pedagogy was not supported. Suggestions for future research are provided.

? Phelps, H.S. (2000), The Second Vatican Council and American Catholic theological research: A bibliometric analysis of “Theological Studies”, 1940-1995. Ph.D. Thesis, University of North Texas, USA.

Full Text: Thesis\Phelps HS.pdf

Abstract: A descriptive analysis was given of the characteristics of the authors and citations of the articles in the journal Theological Studies from 1940--1995. Data was gathered on the institutional affiliation, geographic location, occupation, and gender and personal characteristics of the author. The citation characteristics were examined for the cited authors, date and age of the citations, format, language, place of publication, and journal titles. These characteristics were compared to the time-period before and after the Second Vatican Council in order to detect any changes that might have occurred in the characteristics after certain recommendations by the council were made to theologians. Subject dispersion of the literature was also analyzed. Lotka’s Law of author productivity and Bradford’s Law of title dispersion were also performed for this literature. The profile of the characteristics of the authors showed that the articles published by women and laypersons has increased since the recommendations of the council. The data had a good fit to Lotka’s Law for the pre-Vatican II time period but not for the period after Vatican II. The data was a good fit to Bradford’s Law for the predicted number of journals in the nucleus and Zone 2, but the observed number of journals in Zone 3 was higher than predicted for all time-periods. Subject dispersion of research from disciplines other than theology is low but citation to works from the fields of education, psychology, social sciences, and science has increased since Vatican II.

? Price, M.S. (2000), Characterization of Aspergillus niger for removal of copper and zinc from swine wastewater. M.Sc. Thesis, North Carolina State University, USA.

Full Text: Thesis\Price MS, 2000.pdf

? Spoor, Peter Benjamin (2000), Removal of nickel ions from galvanic wastewater streams using a hybrid ion exchange – electrodialysis system. Ph.D. Thesis, Universiteit Eindhoven, Canada.

Full Text: Thesis\Spoor, PB.pdf

? Vlugt, Thijs Joseph Henk (2000), Adsorption and diffusion in zeolites: A computational study. Ph.D. Thesis, Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Full Text: Thesis\Vlugt TJH, 2000.pdf

? Liu, M.H. (2001), Investigation on the adsorption of mercury chloride by powdered activated carbon: Operation parameters and adsorption isotherm. M.Sc. Thesis, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Full Text: Thesis\Liu, MH.pdf

? White, W.J. (2001), The communication of conceptual innovation in science: The case of chaos theory in psychology. Ph.D. Thesis, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey - New Brunswick.

Full Text: 2001\White, WJ.pdf

Abstract: This dissertation develops and empirically evaluates a communication-centered model of science that emphasizes the communicatively rational formulation and evaluation of innovation claims along multiple dimensions of validity as a fundamental component of scientific activity. The primary theoretical claim emerging from the development of this model is the association of a different type of discursive relation with different configurations of disciplinary integration (or cohesion) and ideational integration (or agreement) within heterogeneous networks of actors and ideas. The empirical evaluation of this claim occurs via the use of bibliometric and content analytic methods. A group of 120 articles published in psychology journals between 1994 and 1999 and indexed under the terms ‘chaos theory’ or ‘nonlinear dynamics’ in the Web of Science, the online version of the Institute for Scientific Information’s natural science, social science, and humanities citation indices, forms the dataset for this investigation. Analysis proceeds via the identification of groups of articles that are affiliated with the same blocks of structurally equivalent keywords and citations (obtained from Web of Science). These groups of articles are presumed to share the same discursive relation with other groups, and so are said to occupy the same discursive position. Analysis continues with the semantic network analysis of the article differences among the discursive position groups in terms of their semantic character. The structural properties of each discursive position in terms of semantic and bibliographic coupling are also considered. The results indicate some support for the theoretical claims generated by this dissertation. Some interesting qualifications to and modifications of the theory are suggested by the evidence as well. A discussion of the theoretical implications of the research touches upon the issues of disciplinarity and reflexivity.

? Ananthraman, V.K. (2002), Removal of phenol from an aqueous solution using lignite and perlite. M.A.Sc. Thesis, The University of Regina, Canada.

Full Text: Thesis\Ananthraman, VK.pdf

Abstract: Pulp and paper production plants, chemical industries and petroleum refining units are the major contributors of phenol to receiving water bodies. Adsorption of phenols from water using activated carbon, though effective, is economically unattractive. Saskatchewan has large lignite reserves that have limited industrial utilization. Perlite is available in large quantities in North America. The objectives of the study were to examine the influence of contact time, pH and dosage on the phenol adsorption capacity of low cost adsorbents such as lignite and perlite. Batch kinetic and isotherm studies were conducted and the data evaluated for the applicability of the Langmuir, Freundlich and BET isotherm models. Column experiments were conducted using both adsorbents to study their performance under dynamic conditions. Batch kinetic studies indicated that lignite and perhte exhibited equal phenol removal capacities (66% and 67% respectively). The kinetics of phenol adsorption of lignite and perlite were described by both the first order Lagergren rate equation and psuedo second order rate equation. Batch pH studies indicated that both lignite and perlite displayed maximum efficiency for phenol removal at a pH of 4.0. At this pH, phenol existed as neutral species in solution. The effect of pH on the removal of phenol from solution by lignite and perlite seemed to be dependent upon the ionic nature of the phenol and the surface characteristics of the adsorbent. Overall, the study indicated that even though low cost adsorbents like lignite and perlite are not as effective as activated carbon in phenol adsorption, they can be considered as reasonable alternatives to activated carbon in terms of local availability and cost.

? Fu, Y.Z. (2002), Removal of dyes from aqueous solutions by the fungus Aspergillus niger. Ph.D. Thesis, The University of Regina, Canada.

Full Text: Thesis\Fu, YZ.pdf

Abstract: Among industrial wastewaters, dye wastewater from textile and dyestuff industries is one of the most difficult to treat because of its synthetic origin and complex aromatic molecular structure of dyes. Biosorption using fungi is becoming a promising alternative to replace or supplement the present dye removal processes. In this study, the potential of using fungus Aspergillus niger for the removal of the four dyes, namely Basic Blue 9, Acid Blue 29, Congo Red and Disperse Red 1, from aqueous solutions was evaluated. The pretreatment of A. niger was dye specific. The effective pretreatment methods were autoclaving, H₂SO ₄ plus autoclaving, NaHCO₃ plus autoclaving and NaOH plus autoclaving for biosorption of Basic Blue 9, Acid Blue 29, Congo Red and Disperse Red 1, respectively. Initial pH of dye solutions was found to have a significant influence on biosorption of dyes on fungal biomass. The effective initial pH values of the four dye solutions were all in the acid range. The equilibrium time for biosorption of the four dyes on fungal biomass were 30 h, 24 h, 42 h and 48 h for Basic Blue 9, Acid Blue 29, Congo Red and Disperse Red 1, respectively. The kinetics of biosorption of the dyes on fungal biomass were described by the Lagergren first order and the Ho et al. pseudo second order rate equations except in the case of Disperse Red 1 where the kinetics were decided by the first order and second order rate equations. The Langmuir, the Freudlich and the BET isotherm models were applicable to the biosorption of Basic Blue 9 and Acid Blue 29, while none of isotherm models used in this study were found to provide a realistic description for biosorption isotherm of Congo Red and Disperse Red 1 on the fungal biomass. Basic Blue 9 and Acid Blue 29 were easily eluted by the dilute HCl and NaOH solutions, respectively, while Congo Red and Disperse Red 1 were difficult to be eluted from the biosorbed fungal biomass. Deionized water was effective for the biomass regeneration used for Acid Blue 29, Congo Red and Disperse Red l, while NaOH solution was effective for the biomass regeneration used for Basic Blue 9. Four cycles of biosorption - elution - regeneration for each of the four dyes were studied. The pretreated A. niger fungal biomass was immobilized into polysulfone solid matrix to form spherical beads. The biomass beads used for biosorption of Acid Blue 29 in column studies possessed the highest adsorption capacity (64.7 mg/g) and could be regenerated and reused with a high retaining ability (91%).