Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 453

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Interactive Data Visualization In Accounting Contexts: Impact On User Attitudes, Information Processing, And Decision Outcomes, Oluwakemi Ajayi Jan 2014

Interactive Data Visualization In Accounting Contexts: Impact On User Attitudes, Information Processing, And Decision Outcomes, Oluwakemi Ajayi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2009, The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a mandate requiring public companies to provide financial information to the SEC and on their corporate Web sites in an interactive data format using the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). This dissertation consists of three separate, but interrelated studies exploring issues related to interactive data visualization in financial reporting contexts. The first study employs theories in information systems (task-technology fit and the technology-performance chain model) and cognitive psychology (cognitive load) to examine the link between characteristics of interactive data visualization and task requirements in a financial analysis context, and …


Assessment Of Instructional Presentation For Emergency Evacuation Assistive Technology, Michael Boyce Jan 2014

Assessment Of Instructional Presentation For Emergency Evacuation Assistive Technology, Michael Boyce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is often the case that emergency first responders are well equipped and trained to deal with a situation that involves evacuation of someone with a physical disability. However, emergency responders are not always the first line of defense, or they may be otherwise occupied with assisting others. This research examined the effects of instructions for emergency stair travel devices on untrained or novice users. It was hypothesized that through redesign of the evacuation instructions, untrained individuals would be able to successfully prepare an evacuation chair and secure someone with a disability more effectively and efficiently. A prepost study design …


Successful Organizational Change: Aligning Change Type With Methods, Serina Al-Haddad Jan 2014

Successful Organizational Change: Aligning Change Type With Methods, Serina Al-Haddad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The motivation behind this research is the prevalence of challenges and ambiguity associated with successful organizational change and the numerous available approaches in dealing with these challenges and ambiguity. Many definitions and methods have been suggested to manage change; however, organizations still report a high failure rate of their change initiatives. These high failure rates highlight the continuing need for research and investigation, and imply a lack of a valid framework for managing successful organizational change. This dissertation critically reviews the concept of having one change approach as the “silver-bullet”. In pursuit of this goal, this research contributes a roadmap …


Novice Science Teachers' Thinking About The Purpose Of Teachers' Questions, Gwyndolyn Crittenden Jan 2014

Novice Science Teachers' Thinking About The Purpose Of Teachers' Questions, Gwyndolyn Crittenden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective teacher questioning during whole group instruction remains an important pedagogy in science education, especially the importance of helping novice teachers to guide student thinking using effective questions. This study examined how novice secondary science teachers’ understand the relationship between student thinking and teacher questioning. The sample was seven novice secondary science teachers’ enrolled in the University of Central Florida’s job embedded Resident Teacher Professional Preparation Program (RTP3 ). All participants received instruction and guided practice with the use of questions to elicit, probe, and challenge student ideas in the secondary science pedagogy class. Participants completed a questionnaire describing their …


Shop Scheduling In The Presence Of Batching, Sequence-Dependent Setups And Incompatible Job Families Minimizing Earliness And Tardiness Penalties, Patricia Buchanan Jan 2014

Shop Scheduling In The Presence Of Batching, Sequence-Dependent Setups And Incompatible Job Families Minimizing Earliness And Tardiness Penalties, Patricia Buchanan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The motivation of this research investigation stems from a particular job shop production environment at a large international communications and information technology company in which electro-mechanical assemblies (EMAs) are produced. The production environment of the EMAs includes the continuous arrivals of the EMAs (generally called jobs), with distinct due dates, degrees of importance and routing sequences through the production workstations, to the job shop. Jobs are processed in batches at the workstations, and there are incompatible families of jobs, where jobs from different product families cannot be processed together in the same batch. In addition, there are sequence-dependent setups between …


Textbook Cost-Lowering Initiatives: An Exploration Of Community College Faculty Experiences, Susan Dunn Jan 2014

Textbook Cost-Lowering Initiatives: An Exploration Of Community College Faculty Experiences, Susan Dunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Faculty have been identified as critical players in the implementation of textbook affordability efforts at community colleges. Furthermore, emerging lower-cost alternatives to traditional textbooks present a wide and growing range of options that may help further efforts. This study sought to examine more closely the role of faculty with respect to textbook cost-lowering initiatives. The researcher utilized in-depth interviews to gain a rich picture of the experiences, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors of nine full-time community college faculty as they confronted textbook affordability efforts and textbook alternatives. The interview data were analyzed using a thematic analysis process. Five major themes and …


Computational Fluid Dynamics Uncertainty Analysis For Payload Fairing Spacecraft Environmental Control Systems, Curtis Groves Jan 2014

Computational Fluid Dynamics Uncertainty Analysis For Payload Fairing Spacecraft Environmental Control Systems, Curtis Groves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spacecraft thermal protection systems are at risk of being damaged due to airflow produced from Environmental Control Systems. There are inherent uncertainties and errors associated with using Computational Fluid Dynamics to predict the airflow field around a spacecraft from the Environmental Control System. This paper describes an approach to quantify the uncertainty in using Computational Fluid Dynamics to predict airflow speeds around an encapsulated spacecraft without the use of test data. Quantifying the uncertainty in analytical predictions is imperative to the success of any simulation-based product. The method could provide an alternative to traditional “validation by test only” mentality. This …


Tiling Properties Of Spectra Of Measures, John Haussermann Jan 2014

Tiling Properties Of Spectra Of Measures, John Haussermann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We investigate tiling properties of spectra of measures, i.e., sets Λ in R such that {e 2πiλx : λ ∈ Λ} forms an orthogonal basis in L 2 (µ), where µ is some finite Borel measure on R. Such measures include Lebesgue measure on bounded Borel subsets, finite atomic measures and some fractal Hausdorff measures. We show that various classes of such spectra of measures have translational tiling properties. This lead to some surprizing tiling properties for spectra of fractal measures, the existence of complementing sets and spectra for finite sets with the Coven-Meyerowitz property, the existence of complementing Hadamard …


Examining Preservice Teachers' Performances And Pedagogies Of Practice In An Urban Classroom Through The Use Of A Simulated Learning Environment, Kelly Jennings Jan 2014

Examining Preservice Teachers' Performances And Pedagogies Of Practice In An Urban Classroom Through The Use Of A Simulated Learning Environment, Kelly Jennings

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The failure to staff the nation’s classrooms with highly qualified teachers, especially those in disadvantaged schools, is a problem in American education. Novice teachers who begin teaching in urban, low-income, diverse schools leave the field of education at alarmingly high rates. Schools are not being provided with the teachers they deserve; new teachers are especially ill-prepared to meet the needs of students in high-need urban settings. In return, these lowincome schools are not retaining sufficient numbers of the teachers they do recruit. A teacher’s performance has a tremendous impact on a child’s learning and academic journey. Teacher preparation programs need …


Evaluating Faculty And Staff Customer Satisfaction Of A Technology Support Office In A Large University In Florida, Laurence Jaffe Jan 2014

Evaluating Faculty And Staff Customer Satisfaction Of A Technology Support Office In A Large University In Florida, Laurence Jaffe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to determine customer satisfaction levels of faculty and staff with their technology support office in a large university in Florida. The focus of research was to determine if there were any differences in customer satisfaction based on four demographics: gender, faculty versus staff, educational level and age. An anonymous customer satisfaction survey included 26 Likert-type scale questions measuring 16 service quality dimensions was administered to the population. The 16 service quality dimensions included 10 dimensions from Zeithaml et al. (1990), five dimensions from Besterfield et al. (1995, 2003), and one dimension, overall satisfaction. Findings showed there was …


The U.S. Environmental Movement 1890-2002: Discourse Divisions, Environmental Crisis Events, And Strategic Concessions, Wendi Kane Jan 2014

The U.S. Environmental Movement 1890-2002: Discourse Divisions, Environmental Crisis Events, And Strategic Concessions, Wendi Kane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Environmental Movement is facing a paradox: increased mobilization over the last 100 years has not been entirely effective in halting environmental degradation. This research suggests that discourse divisions among environmental movement organizations constitute a fundamental obstacle to progressive change. The discourse divisions are evident in movement organizing patterns during periods of increased environmental crisis over the history of the modern environmental movement. In addition, evidence suggests that federal environmental policy is an outcome of increased organizing among movement organizations with more transformative visions of change. However, policy outcomes from increased pressure among transformative organizations are significantly correlated with …


Electronic Properties And Atomic Scale Microscopy Of Two Dimensional Materials: Graphene And Molybdenum Disulfide, Jyoti Katoch Jan 2014

Electronic Properties And Atomic Scale Microscopy Of Two Dimensional Materials: Graphene And Molybdenum Disulfide, Jyoti Katoch

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Novel two dimensional nanoscale materials like graphene and metal dichalcogenides (MX2) have attracted the attention of the scientific community, due to their rich physics and wide range of potential applications. It has been shown that novel graphene based transparent conductors and radiofrequency transistors are competitive with the existing technologies. Graphene’s properties are influenced sensitively by adsorbates and substrates. As such not surprisingly, physical properties of graphene are found to have a large variability, which cannot be controlled at the synthesis level, reducing the utility of graphene. As a part of my doctorate dissertation, I have developed atomic hydrogen as a …


Factors Associated With Information Literacy Competencies Of The Traditional Baccalaureate Nursing Student, Patricia Lafferty Jan 2014

Factors Associated With Information Literacy Competencies Of The Traditional Baccalaureate Nursing Student, Patricia Lafferty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nursing practice at all levels requires a nurse to use evidence-based nursing to improve the quality of patient care. Registered nurses need information literacy skills to practice evidence-based nursing, therefore, all nursing students need to be information literate upon graduation from nursing programs. There is no empirical research evidence on information literacy skills for students entering nursing programs in four-year colleges. Students seeking to attain a baccalaureate degree through a traditional nursing program, enter with differing demographic and educational factors that may affect their information literacy skills. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine information literacy skills of …


Managerial Process Of Discount Decision-Making In The Lodging Industry: The Role Of Human Agency, Seung Hyun Lee Jan 2014

Managerial Process Of Discount Decision-Making In The Lodging Industry: The Role Of Human Agency, Seung Hyun Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Management faces a paradox in managing discrepancies between actual demand and expected demand in daily operations, thereby requiring constant adjustments in pricing under the supervision of management in the short term. The purpose of this study is to determine how discount choices are created and to understand information processing related to the pricing and discounting decision-making process as well as narrating the events, stages, and cycles of choices made by hotel managers. This study also determines the role of human judgment based on contextual factors in the decision-making process. This mixed methods research design consists of three steps: observation, classification, …


Effect Of Acute L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine (Sustamine) And Electrolyte Ingestion On Plasma Electrolytes, Physiologic Measures, And Neuromuscular Fatigue During Endurance Exercise, William Mccormack Jan 2014

Effect Of Acute L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine (Sustamine) And Electrolyte Ingestion On Plasma Electrolytes, Physiologic Measures, And Neuromuscular Fatigue During Endurance Exercise, William Mccormack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of two dose levels of L-Alanyl-LGlutamine in a commercially available sports drink to the sports drink only on time to exhaustion, neuromuscular fatigue and physiological measures during prolonged endurance exercise. Twelve endurance-trained males (23.5±3.7 yrs; 175.5±5.4 cm; 70.7±7.6 kg) performed four trials, each consisting of 1 hr treadmill runs at 75% of VO2peak followed by a run to exhaustion at 90% of VO2peak. The trials differed in type of hydration. One trial consisted of no hydration (NHY), another required ingestion of only a sports drink (ET), and two trials required …


Structural Health Monitoring Using Novel Sensing Technologies And Data Analysis Methods, Seyedmasoud Malekzadeh Jan 2014

Structural Health Monitoring Using Novel Sensing Technologies And Data Analysis Methods, Seyedmasoud Malekzadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this research is to explore, investigate and develop the new data analysis techniques along with novel sensing technologies for structural health monitoring applications. The study has three main parts. First, a systematic comparative evaluation of some of the most common and promising methods is carried out along with a combined method proposed in this study for mitigating drawbacks of some of the techniques. Secondly, nonparametric methods are evaluated on a real life movable bridge. Finally, a hybrid approach for non-parametric and parametric method is proposed and demonstrated for more in depth understanding of the structural performance. …


Identifying Influential Agents In Social Systems, Mahsa Maghami Jan 2014

Identifying Influential Agents In Social Systems, Mahsa Maghami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the problem of influence maximization in social networks. In- fluence maximization is applicable to many types of real-world problems, including modeling contagion, technology adoption, and viral marketing. Here we examine an advertisement domain in which the overarching goal is to find the influential nodes in a social network, based on the network structure and the interactions, as targets of advertisement. The assumption is that advertisement budget limits prevent us from sending the advertisement to everybody in the network. Therefore, a wise selection of the people can be beneficial in increasing the product adoption. To model these social …


How High School Size Configuration Affects Student Achievement In The State Of Florida, Donald Morrison Jan 2014

How High School Size Configuration Affects Student Achievement In The State Of Florida, Donald Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study was conducted to determine if there were any statistically significant differences in student achievement as measured by the 10th-grade Reading and Mathematics Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) at the school level between the configurations of high schools, controlling for the percentage of minority population and SES. A total of 259 large public high schools within Florida were used in the study; 149 traditional schools and 110 large schools using small learning communities. Because prior researchers have indicated that the number of low SES students and the percentage of minority students can have an effect on student achievement, these …


The Influence Of A Career Planning Stem Explorations Course On Vocational Maturity, Career Decidedness And Career Thoughts For Undergraduate Students, Diandra Prescod Jan 2014

The Influence Of A Career Planning Stem Explorations Course On Vocational Maturity, Career Decidedness And Career Thoughts For Undergraduate Students, Diandra Prescod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), innovation that accompanies careers in science, technology engineering, and math (STEM) create a driving force in the economy and the creation of jobs, yet many positions remain open due to the lack of qualified individuals to fill them (NAS, 2011). Continuing research and innovation proves to be important, yet not enough students graduate with STEM degrees and enter into STEM careers. Career planning courses for undergraduate students increase student confidence about their abilities to make career decisions (Grier-Reed & Skaar, 2010: Scott & Ciani 2008). Vocational maturity and career decision making skills …


Complementary Layered Learning, Sean Mondesire Jan 2014

Complementary Layered Learning, Sean Mondesire

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Layered learning is a machine learning paradigm used to develop autonomous robotic-based agents by decomposing a complex task into simpler subtasks and learns each sequentially. Although the paradigm continues to have success in multiple domains, performance can be unexpectedly unsatisfactory. Using Boolean-logic problems and autonomous agent navigation, we show poor performance is due to the learner forgetting how to perform earlier learned subtasks too quickly (favoring plasticity) or having difficulty learning new things (favoring stability). We demonstrate that this imbalance can hinder learning so that task performance is no better than that of a suboptimal learning technique, monolithic learning, which …


An Exploratory Study Of The Strengths Of Islamic School Principals In California, Texas, New York, Florida, And Illinois, Syed Kamran Qadri Jan 2014

An Exploratory Study Of The Strengths Of Islamic School Principals In California, Texas, New York, Florida, And Illinois, Syed Kamran Qadri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the focal point of the school, the principal’s leadership is integral to its effective functioning. This study used a self-assessment to analyze the self-identified strengths of principals in Islamic schools within the five most populated states in the United States (which also have the largest number of mosques) and the commonalities in those strengths based on (a) the enrollment of the school; (b) year school was established; (c) the gender of the principal; (d) the principal’s professional preparation, e.g., degree in education vs. other fields and years of experience; and (e) geographic location. While only a small amount of …


Validation Of A Novel Hypothesis Of Generating Foam Cells By Its Use To Study Reverse Cholesterol Transport, Bhaswati Sengupta Jan 2014

Validation Of A Novel Hypothesis Of Generating Foam Cells By Its Use To Study Reverse Cholesterol Transport, Bhaswati Sengupta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Generation of foam cells, an essential step for reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) studies, uses the technique of receptor dependent macrophage loading with radiolabeled acetylated Low Density Lipoprotein (Ac-LDL). In this study, we used the ability of a biologically relevant detergent molecule, Lysophosphatidylcholine (Lyso PtdCho), to form mixed micelles with cholesterol or cholesteryl ester (CE) to generate macrophage foam cells. Fluorescent or radiolabelled cholesterol / Lyso PtdCho mixed micelles were prepared and incubated with RAW 264.7 or mouse peritoneal macrophages. Results showed that such micelles were quite stable at 4°C and retained the solubilized cholesterol during one month storage. Macrophages incubated …


Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Mechanism Behind Mutant Sod Toxicity And Improving Current Therapeutic Strategies, Cassandra Dennys Jan 2014

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Mechanism Behind Mutant Sod Toxicity And Improving Current Therapeutic Strategies, Cassandra Dennys

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is an always lethal motor neuron disease with unknown pathogenesis. Inhibitors of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) have limited neuroprotection in some models of motor neuron degeneration. However the direct effect of Hsp90 inhibition on motor neurons is unknown. Here we show that Hsp90 inhibition induced motor neuron death through activation of the P2X7 receptor. Motor neuron death required phosphatase and tensein homolog (PTEN)-mediated inhibition of the PI3K/AKT pathway leading to Fas receptor activation and caspase dependent death. The relevance of Hsp90 for motor neuron survival was investigated in mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase …


A Phenomenological Analysis Of Undergraduate Teaching In The United States And The United Kingdom From The Perspective Of Current And Former Exchange Students, Barry Griffiths Jan 2014

A Phenomenological Analysis Of Undergraduate Teaching In The United States And The United Kingdom From The Perspective Of Current And Former Exchange Students, Barry Griffiths

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While once almost indistinguishable, the systems of higher education in the United States and the United Kingdom have diverged during the past 200 years to the point where today there are few similarities. However, due to increasing globalization and the growing ubiquity of the internet, many contemporary issues in higher education are often faced by institutions across the globe. After detailing the historical role of scholarship and teaching in the two countries, this study concentrates on two aspects that have been extensively researched in recent years, namely the role of technology in the classroom and the balance that many modern …


A Time-Course Analysis Of Behavioral Plasticity And Differential Gene Expression Patterns In Response To Density In Schistocerca Americana (Orthoptera: Acrididae), Steven Gotham Jan 2014

A Time-Course Analysis Of Behavioral Plasticity And Differential Gene Expression Patterns In Response To Density In Schistocerca Americana (Orthoptera: Acrididae), Steven Gotham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of the genotype to express alternative phenotypes in response to different environmental conditions and this is considered to be an adaptation in which a species can survive and persist in a rapidly changing environment. Some grasshoppers and locusts are capable of expressing an extreme form of density-dependent phenotypic plasticity, known as locust phase polyphenism. At low population density, the individuals typically have a cryptic coloration as nymphs, are less active, and only seek out conspecifics for reproductive purposes. At high density, however, they develop a drastically different phenotype in which they have a conspicuous coloration, …


Dishwashing Water Recycling System And Related Water Quality Standards For Military Use, Jared Church Jan 2014

Dishwashing Water Recycling System And Related Water Quality Standards For Military Use, Jared Church

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the demand for reliable and safe water supplies increases, both water quality and available quantity are being challenged by population growth and climate change. Greywater reuse is becoming a common practice worldwide; however, in remote locations of limited water supply, such as those encountered in military installations, it is desirable to expand its classification to include dishwashing water to maximize the conservation of fresh water. Given that no standards for dishwashing greywater reuse by the military are currently available, the current study determined a specific set of water quality standards for dishwater recycling systems for U.S military field operations. …


Automatic Detection Of Brain Functional Disorder Using Imaging Data, Soumyabrata Dey Jan 2014

Automatic Detection Of Brain Functional Disorder Using Imaging Data, Soumyabrata Dey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) is getting a lot of attention mainly for two reasons. First, it is one of the most commonly found childhood behavioral disorders. Around 5-10% of the children all over the world are diagnosed with ADHD. Second, the root cause of the problem is still unknown and therefore no biological measure exists to diagnose ADHD. Instead, doctors need to diagnose it based on the clinical symptoms, such as inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, which are all subjective. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) data has become a popular tool to understand the functioning of the brain such …


The Conceptual Field Of Proportional Reasoning Researched Through The Lived Experiences Of Nurses, Deana Deichert Jan 2014

The Conceptual Field Of Proportional Reasoning Researched Through The Lived Experiences Of Nurses, Deana Deichert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proportional reasoning instruction is prevalent in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schooling. The concept of proportional reasoning is used in a variety of contexts for solving real-world problems. One of these contexts is the solving of dosage calculation proportional problems in the healthcare field. On the job, nurses perform drug dosage calculations which carry fatal consequences. As a result, nursing students are required to meet minimum competencies in solving proportion problems. The goal of this research is to describe the lived experiences of nurses in connection to their use of proportional reasoning in order to impact instruction of the procedures used …


Objectively Defining Scenario Complexity: Towards Automated, Adaptive Scenario-Based Training, Robert Dunn Jan 2014

Objectively Defining Scenario Complexity: Towards Automated, Adaptive Scenario-Based Training, Robert Dunn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective Scenario-Based Training (SBT) is sequenced in an efficient trajectory from novice to mastery and is well-grounded in pedagogically sound instructional strategies and learning theory. Adaptive, automated SBT attempts to sequence scenarios according to the performance of the student and implement the sequence without human agency. The source of these scenarios may take the form of a matrix constructed by Instructional Systems Designers (ISD), software engineers or trainers. The domain being instructed may contain procedures or concepts that are easily differentiated thus allowing quick and accurate determination of difficulty. In this instance, the sequencing of the SBT is relatively simple. …


Comparison Of Second Order Conformal Symplectic Schemes With Linear Stability Analysis, Dwayne Floyd Jan 2014

Comparison Of Second Order Conformal Symplectic Schemes With Linear Stability Analysis, Dwayne Floyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerical methods for solving linearly damped Hamiltonian ordinary differential equations are analyzed and compared. The methods are constructed from the well-known Störmer-Verlet and implicit midpoint methods. The structure preservation properties of each method are shown analytically and numerically. Each method is shown to preserve a symplectic form up to a constant and are therefore conformal symplectic integrators, with each method shown to accurately preserve the rate of momentum dissipation. An analytical linear stability analysis is completed for each method, establishing thresholds between the value of the damping coefficient and the step-size that ensure stability. The methods are all second order …