Digital Commons Network^™

Recommender Systems For Multimedia Libraries: An Evaluation Of Different Models For Datamining Usage Data, Raquel Oliveira Araujo

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Many recommender systems exist today to help users deal with the large growth in the amount of information available in the Internet. Most of these recommender systems use collaborative filtering or content-based techniques to present new material that would be of interest to a user. While these methods have proven to be effective, they have not been designed specifically for multimedia collections. In this study we present a new method to find recommendations that is not dependent on traditional Information Retrieval (IR) methods and compare it to algorithms that do rely on traditional IR methods. We evaluated these algorithms using …

A Phylogeny Of Genera Of The Fish Family Nemipteridae (Percoidei) Based On The Cytochrome B Gene, Denise R. Sliter

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The species level taxonomy of the Nemipteridae is well understood but existing morphological data is insufficient to hypothesize a phylogeny of the five genera of this family of percoid fishes. Furthermore, there are three distinct and widely disparate habitat requirements within nemipterids and little is known how these evolved. Species in the genera Pentapodus, Scaevius and Scolopsis are typically found around shallow reefs. Nemipterus species are also found in shallow-water, but they inhabit strictly soft sediment bottoms. Parascolopsis is the only deep-water genus and its species are also found over soft sediments. Complete cytochrome b gene sequences (1140 base …

Application Of Queuing Theory And Procedure Time Estimation In A Local Healthcare System, Galina Tsoy

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

People in the United States pay more for their basic healthcare needs than do people in any other nation in the world. When we consider that the United States is the wealthiest nation in the world, controlling the majority of the world's resources, it seems only reasonable to ask: Why should it be this way?

In an effort to address this problem, this thesis examines two possible methods of improving health care efficiency in hospitals. The thesis is thus in two parts: the first part examines resource allocation in medical units using Queuing Theory, and the second part examines a …

Bacterial Degradation Of Disinfection By-Products In Drinking Water, Laura Inga Fauntleroy

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Chlorine became a major disinfectant for the removal of microbial contaminants in 1914. Current water chlorination procedures yield halogenated disinfection byproducts (DBPs), such as haloalkanes and haloacetic acids (HAAs), due to the reaction of chlorine with naturally occurring organic compounds. Various water utilities have observed decreased HAAs levels in maximum residence time locations (MRTLs), where they were expected to be higher. These MRTLs have low free chlorine residual and high heterotrophic bacteria plate counts. Xanthobacter autotrophicus, GJ-10, is a bacterium that has been shown to contain dehalogenase enzymes and, therefore, can biodegrade HAAs. A number of water-system bacteria were …

Strong Interactions Between Juvenile Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus Argus) And Caribbean Reef Octopus (Octopus Briareus) In The Florida Keys, Jennifer Anne Lear

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Coexisting species may simultaneously compete for resources and interact as predator and prey, creating a strong interaction that can alter the structure of animal communities. This type of interaction potentially occurs between juvenile Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) and Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) within hard-bottom habitats in the Florida Keys, FL (USA), where octopuses may consume juvenile lobsters and also compete with them for limited crevice shelters. I conducted a series of field and mesocosm studies to investigate the nature of octopus-lobster interactions and their implications for the structure of their populations in the wild. …

Social Capital And Religion: A Quantitative Analysis Of The Relationship Between Religious Participation And Social Capital, Kyshawn Smith

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to confirm the existence of a positive correlation between religious participation and social capital, and to show that such a correlation varies considerably when specific demographic variables, and denominational and organizational dynamics are accounted for. Beginning with the early theoretical works of James S. Coleman, The World Bank and Robert Putnam, research has shown the importance of studying the philosophy and science of social capital, and the significance of measuring interrelated concepts like community volunteerism, political involvement, and religious participation. However, much of this research surveys national audiences and either completely ignores or spends …

Hydrologic Variations Within Created And Natural Wetlands In Southeastern Virginia, Aaron Dyer Despres

OES Theses and Dissertations

The hydrology of wetlands, particularly how wetland soils collect, store, and redistribute water strongly affects how wetland systems function. In created wetlands, construction processes and materials influence the hydrology and consequently, the potential for successful reestablishment of target vegetation communities. During .2002- 2004, the Virginia Department of Transportation constructed large mitigation wetlands on two different Quaternary aged surfaces with very similar hydrogeomorphic conditions. The Sandy Bottom Nature Park site (SBNP) located in Hampton, VA and rests on the sandy loam Tabb Formation while the Charles City Wetland site (CCW) lies on the older and clay-rich Shirley Formation. This study documents …

Institutionalizing Gender And Sexuality In A Call-In Radio Advice Program: A Characterization Of Loveline, Meagan P. Storey

English Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies of advice characterized it as a discourse in which authority is afforded to the giver by virtue of being asked for advice. As an authoritative discourse, advice sets the standards by which interlocutors base their judgments of normalcy. The consequences of these judgments are multiplied when advice is given as part of public, institutional talk, such as with radio call-in programs. This thesis examines how the authoritative discourse of global advice (public, commercial advice) is used to construct and normalize human experiences, specifically gender and sexuality. This study is based on an analysis of ten audio-taped episodes, each …

Political Violence And Conflict Resolution: The Struggle For Peace In Northern Ireland, Lisa G. Fox

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Political violence, especially in ethnoreligious conflicts, continues to threaten the stability and security of the international environment. Motivations for using violence are complex and can evolve over time. As long as one or more of the motivations continue to exist, parties to a conflict will feel that violence is a legitimate course of action and, thus, the conflict will persist.

Theories about the causes of conflict and the approaches that should be taken to terminate it mostly propose a single approach. A single approach, however, will address certain issues while leaving others unresolved, allowing some motivations to continue stimulating conflict. …

An Experimental Examination Of Equivalence Failures In Multi-Cultural Comparative Research, F. Mark Case

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

As the global economy integrates, there is an increased need to understand international business phenomena. This forces a reliance upon multi-cultural marketing research, which is evidenced by a marked increase in international studies, particularly multi-cultural comparative research (Sin, Cheung & Lee 1999). Central to the usefulness of this research is the question of the validity and comparability of results, which is greatly affected by a property known as equivalence of test instruments; or the degree to which the scales and the items in them are seen to be the same across cultures.

To date, no research exists that approaches the …

Space Cooperation Under Anarchy: Commercialization Of Outer Space And Space Security In The Post-Cold War Era, Irina V. Louts

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

The 20th century brought the most horrific weapons and most devastating wars in the history of human civilization. It also gave us the most breathtaking discoveries and technological breakthroughs, including the opening up of outer space to human reach. The commercialization of outer space is one of the most significant developments of our time, giving us an opportunity to put the richness of this medium to the betterment of human conditions on Earth on an increasingly widening scale.

Technological advances have also made space more important militarily. A puzzle now is whether the commercialization of outer space facilitates international cooperation …

The Smugglers' Landscape: Geography, Route Selection And The Global Heroin Trade, James Dallis Medler

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study focuses on transnational smuggling, and puts forth an analytical framework from the smugglers' perspective with respect to route selection, focusing primarily on aspects of economic, political, and human geography. It is predicated on three interconnected decision-making domains that constitute the smuggler's operational landscape, namely access, risk and connectivity, which interact to drive the smugglers' perceptions of route attractiveness. The first two domains operate reciprocally, primarily at the national level of analysis, and together both shape and are shaped by the third at the transnational level to form a feedback loop. With respect to connectivity, the convention of the …

Effects Of Ultrasonic And Hand-Activated Scaling On Tactile Sensitivity In Second Year Dental Hygiene Students In A Clinical Setting, Miranda Beeson

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if time spent instrumenting class III, IV, and V calculus clients, either hand-activated or with an ultrasonic scaler, decreased the tactile sensitivity of the clinician, and if change occurs in index finger, middle finger, and thumb tactile sensitivity prior to and following 45-minute scaling episodes. This study also afforded an opportunity to determine if tactile sensitivity changed in the same dental hygiene students over a one-year period of time by comparing data with that of a similar study conducted in the fall of 2002. Random assignment and a sample size of 25 …

Idiomatic Expressions And Marital Relationships Over Three Stages Of The Family Lifespan, Meredith T. Raynor

Institute for the Humanities Theses

In interpersonal communication language shared between two people becomes important in the everyday life of relational participants. Even more so, the language shared between married couples is vital because of their "unique relationship". Part of that language involves the symbols, gestures and words called idioms that have specialized meaning for the marital dyad.

This thesis sought to discover what idioms are identified among married couples at three stages of the family lifespan, newlyweds, couples with children and empty nest couples as they seek to maintain a system of "personalized communication" as it relates to their marital satisfaction (Breuss & Pearson, …

A Staging Sequence And Analysis Of Growth In Postovipositional Embryos Of Lamprophis Fulignosus, Angela Renee Vogel Rivera

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The brown house snake, Lamprophis fuliginosus, is a small, oviparous snake found throughout much of Africa. This lamprophiine colubrid reproduces rapidly; captive females can lay clutches every three to four months for a sustained period. Thus, L. fuliginosus is an excellent model for developmental studies requiring large numbers of embryos. In addition, the embryos of oviparous species are more suitable for some procedures than are those of viviparous forms. The most widely used system for staging embryonic snakes was developed for the common gartersnake, Thamnophis sirtalis, a viviparous natricine colubrid (Zehr, 1962). Based on the examination of 135 …

The Ultrastructure Of The Olfactory System In Two Species Of Short-Tailed Shrews, Blarina Brevicauda And Blarina Carolinensis, Lisa Johnson Byrum

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Several studies of the fine structure of the olfactory system of rodents have been conducted, but very little research has been done on members of the Insectivora. The olfactory systems of the northern short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda, and the southern short-tailed shrew, Blarina carolinensis, were examined by light and electron microscopy. These shrews were live trapped in the vicinity of Norfolk, Virginia throughout all months of the year. Olfactory tissues were processed following standard transmission and scanning electron microscopy protocols. The olfactory system structures investigated included the olfactory epitheliumlmucosa (OEM), main olfactory bulb (MOB), accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), …

The New Deal In Art: The Fine Arts Project And The Evolution Of Abstract Expressionism, Sarah Coon Stoops

Institute for the Humanities Theses

The formation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as part of Roosevelt's New Deal, in conjunction with the Depression and World War II, can be credited with changing the face of international art of the twentieth century. The majority of the artists who were later to be known as Abstract Expressionists participated in the Fine Arts Project (FAP) branch of the WPA in New York throughout the 1930s. This government support of the artists gave them a chance to commit to painting as a career, and their painting styles evolved drastically during this time. Through this support, the connections that …

Business Crime: The Perception And Experience Of Victimization And Corresponding Use Of Crime Prevention Measures, John A. Casten

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study uses the concepts of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory to examine some of the factors that influence a business owner's use of crime prevention measures. I predicted that neighborhood conditions as well as personal experience with crime would influence a business owner's decision to use crime prevention measures. In addition, I controlled for sex, race, age, education level, and police presence.

The results of the study were fairly consistent with the hypothesis except for two of the variables. In this particular study, age was not a significant factor in predicting the use of crime prevention measures, …

Racial Discourse In Planet Of The Apes, Mandy Sheidah Allen

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to explore the racial discourse in the six Planet of the Apes films. The films range from 1968 to 2001 and portray the radical advances and the slow progression of race relations during this time frame. The racial discourse will be examined using themes of race and devolution, looking at the race class hierarchies of the ape society (a subversive metaphor for human society) and race as it is associated with power and political movements. The earlier films will be contrasted with Burton's 2001 version to explore how the concept race has shifted its …

Gender And Hiv Risk Behavior In China, Yelan Guo

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Gender differences in prevalence of HIV risk behaviors are well established. Gender differences in major causes leading to HN risk behaviors are much less researched in China. Using data from a large and population-based survey conducted in 2003, in southwestern China, this paper examined gender-specific correlates of HIV risky drug using and sexual behaviors in the general population. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted for males and females separately. The results suggest that men are more likely to inject drugs and share needles than women while women are more likely to exhibit RN risk sexual behaviors than men. Socio-economic …

A Cross-National Analysis Of The Impact Of Conscription On Crime Rates, Nicolette G. Rose

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Research has repeatedly shown that males in the age range of 16 to 24 years account for a disproportionately large volume of crime (Sampson and Laub 1993 ). The armed forces are major employers of young males in this crime-prone age range and could thus play an important role in crime prevention. The military provides many varied opportunities including a highly structured and regimented institution in which rigid behavioral norms and close monitoring are imposed. Some other incentives that service provides include educational opportunities through the" Advanced Individual Training", the GI Bill, in-service tuition assistance, and world-wide travel. All these …

The Effects Of Firearm Use On Police Officers, Quinn M. Beers

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The use of firearms by police officers is a subject that has not received much attention in past research. It is a rare occurrence for police officers to have fire their weapon in the line duty, which has also made this area of law enforcement difficult to study. In addition, little data is kept on the extent of firearm use by police officers. Several theories have been proposed to explain firearm use by police officers as well as how officers decide to use their weapon or not.

Ninety-two police officers from the city of Newport News, Virginia completed a survey …

Genetic Algorithm-Based Model For Determination Of Efficient Management Strategies For Irrigation Canal Networks, Talaat Taher El Gamel

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An optimization model for the determination of efficient management strategies for an irrigation canal network is developed. The objective is to minimize the total water consumed while satisfying various system constraints. An unsteady flow model is used to simulate the flow in the network. A genetic algorithm- (GA-) based framework is used to solve the model. The suitable GA parameters that should be used within the model, as well as the performance of various constraint-handling techniques, are studied. Uncertainties in crop pattern and water consumption rates are incorporated into the search procedure to identify more reliable solutions. A graphical interface …

Field Effect Control Of Electrokinetic Transport Phenomena In Nanofluidics, Song Xue

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Naturally nanofluidics has applications demanding the samples to be handled in exceedingly small quantities due to the small size of the fluidic channels in nanofluidic devices, such as characterization of single biomolecules. Fluids confined in channels of nanometer characteristic dimensions exhibit physical behaviors not observed in large conduits. Charge properties of the nanochannel wall in contact with an aqueous solution play essential roles in the involved electrokinetic transport phenomena occurring in nanofluidic devices. In addition to tuning the charge properties of the nanofluidic channel wall by adjusting the solution properties such as pH and background salt concentration, field effect transistor …

Dynamical Studies Of Model Membrane And Cellular Response To Nanosecond, High-Intensity Pulsed Electric Fields, Qin Hu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The dynamics of electroporation of biological cells subjected to nanosecond, high intensity pulses are studied based on a coupled scheme involving the current continuity and Smoluchowski equations. The improved pore formation energy model includes a dependence on pore population and density. It also allows for variable surface tension and incorporates the effects of finite conductivity on the electrostatic correction term, which was not considered by the simple energy models in the literature. It is shown that E(r) becomes self-adjusting with variations in its magnitude and profile. The whole scheme is self-consistent and dynamic.

An electromechanical analysis based on thin-shell theory …

Pilot Performance And Eye Movement Activity With Varying Levels Of Display Integration In A Synthetic Vision Cockpit, Julie Michele Stark

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The primary goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of display integration in a simulated commercial aircraft cockpit equipped with a synthetic vision display. Combinations of display integration level (low/high), display view (synthetic vision view/traditional display), and workload (low/high) were presented to each participant. Sixteen commercial pilots flew multiple approaches under IMC conditions in a moderate fidelity fixed-base part-task simulator. Pilot performance data, visual activity, mental workload, and self-report situation awareness were measured.

Congruent with the Proximity Compatibility Principle, the more integrated display facilitated superior performance on integrative tasks (lateral and vertical path maintenance), whereas a less …

Uncertainty Propagation And Robust Design In Cfd Using Sensitivity Derivatives, Michele M. Putko

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates and demonstrates a methodology for uncertainty propagation and robust design in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Efficient calculation of both first- and second-order sensitivity derivatives is requisite in the proposed methodology. In this study, first- and second-order sensitivity derivatives of code output with respect to code input are obtained through an efficient incremental iterative approach.

An approximate statistical moment method for uncertainty propagation is first demonstrated on a quasi one-dimensional (1-D) Euler CFD code. This method is then extended to a two-dimensional (2-D) subsonic inviscid model airfoil problem. In each application, given statistically independent, random, normally distributed input …

Anthropogenic Lead Deposition And Four National Parks In Poland As Determined By Lead Isotope Ratios, Shannon Simcoe

OES Theses and Dissertations

Polluted soils are recognized by having high concentrations of heavy metals, including Pb. Partitioning of metals in geochemical fractions, by sequential chemical extractions, may indicate whether a metal has been recently deposited in the soil. While concentration levels alone cannot distinguish between natural and anthropogenic Pb, studies have demonstrated that anthropogenic pollution is accurately recorded by specific Pb isotope signatures, which differ from natural Pb isotopes. The objective of this project was to use ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb isotope ratios to differentiate between the anthropogenic Pb input and the naturally occurring Pb in four national …

The Effect Of Submarine Canyon Width And Stratification On Coastal Circulation And Across Shelf Exchange, Kyung-Hoon Hyun

OES Theses and Dissertations

A 3-D ocean circulation model is used to investigate the effect of the width of a submarine canyon and stratification on adjacent coastal circulation and across shelf exchange. Upwelling winds for 20 d drive circulation over six canyons of varying widths (8–60 km), two escarpments to represent infinitely wide canyons, and a generic shelf-slope without a canyon. Also six stratifications whose first internal Rossby radii (a) range over 2–18 km were applied to two canyons (20 and 40 km) to see the effect of stratification. All simulations adjust to the canyon after 5 days spinup and reach an …

The Effect Of Humor On Elderly Well-Being, Mary M. Boone

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The main objectives of this study were to identify the connections between the sense of humor and well-being in the elderly population, examine the benefits of humor as a coping mechanism, explore the role of humor as a preventative and therapeutic measure, and to attempt to gain a greater understanding of these connections. Humor has been the focus of study within many different domains, including psychology and medical research (immunology, pain management, cardiology, and psychoneuroimmunology), but there is a distinct lack of theory and research within the sociological realm on this topic (except in social psychology), especially involving the aging …