Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Integration For Monitoring Acceleration Signals, Charles Matthew Rose

Masters Theses

When testing turbine engines at Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC), vibration measurements are some of the most critical data taken. The present vibration monitoring system (VMS) consists of a charge producing accelerometer sensor, a charge amplifier, and a recording and analysis system. Currently the charge amplifier and the recording and analysis system are located in a data conditioning room which is approximately 150 feet from the accelerometer. If the signal processing equipment were moved closer to the test cell near the accelerometer, the fidelity of the acquired data could be greatly improved. An ideal system for this purpose would acquire …

From Authoritarian Dirty War To Neoliberal, 'Democratic' Class War Neoliberalism As Class Struggle In Argentina, Aaron Thomas Rowland

Masters Theses

This paper is a critical analysis of the theoretical assertions made, made by David Harvey and others, that neoliberalism is the ideological foundation for a one-sided, class-based struggle intended to restore or reconstruct the power of economic elites. Tracing neoliberalism back to its roots in the Austrian School of economics, I analyze the historical development of neoliberal theory and its critics. I show that it provides theoretical justification for elite class struggle. This theoretical argument is then grounded in a case study of Argentina's period of neoliberal reforms. In the case of Argentina, I show that this process was one …

Moderating Effect Of Intimate Exchange On The Reciprocal Relation Between Best Friend Delinquency And Child Externalizing Behavior, Alden Elizabeth Gaertner

Masters Theses

Research indicates both peer selection (choosing behaviorally similar individuals as friends) and peer socialization (mutual regulation of behavior) processes impact the development of problem behavior in childhood and adolescence. Differential association theory explains these processes by suggesting children and adolescents elect to participate in peer groups that conform to a commonly accepted set of group norms. Moreover, deviant peer groups ascribe to unconventional norms characterized by a higher proportion of pro-deviance messages learned in the context of intimate personal groups. Consistent with differential association theory, the current study examined the moderating effect of intimate exchange, or relational closeness, on the …

Genetic Load Of Crop Genes And Tandem Mitigating Genes In Transgenic Brassica Napus (Oilseed Rape) X Brassica Rapa (Field Mustard) Populations, Christy Weems Rose

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Spatiotemporal Variations Of Water Quality In The Little River Watershed And Their Connection With Land-Cover Patterns, Thomas Edward Burley

Masters Theses

The Little River supplies drinking water to Blount County, Tennessee, and supports several state and federally listed species. The upper, southeastern area of the Little River watershed is fed by protected sources originating in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In the lower, northwestern part, however, the watershed has been affected by anthropogenic land-cover and land-cover change in recent years. These changes may have impacted water quality in the Little River watershed over the past 20 years. The objectives of this study were: (1) to elucidate the spatiotemporal patterns of water quality, (2) to understand the Little River watershed's land-cover …

Measuring The Impact Of Knowledge Sharing On Quality Improvement Initiatives, Collins Landon Dukes

Masters Theses

The contributions of knowledge-based processes in quality initiatives, though unfamiliar, may have been realized by the improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of knowledge workers (Malhotra 2000). Effective knowledge management (KM) can provide an organization with a competitive edge through effective management of product and process quality. It is possible that quality initiatives can be directed using knowledge sharing practices by focusing on common themes throughout the organization. Hence, it stands to reason that knowledge sharing can be facilitated by understanding those factors that are critical to the success of quality improvement initiatives and, conversely, that the impact of quality …

The Role Of St6 Gal-I Sialyltransferase On Immune Responses To Lcmv Infection, Natalie Christine Wilson

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Human Cdc14b'S Function In Centrosome Cycle Control, Jun Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

Centrosomes are the only non-membranous organelles in most vertebrate cells and their major function is to nucleate microtubules, hence often recognized as the microtubule-organizing center (MTOC). Much like chromosome centrosome duplicates only once during the S phase of each cell cycle. The fidelity and timing of this duplication event will ensure equal division of duplicated chromosomes into the daughter cells. As a consequence, numerical and/or structural centrosome abnormalities will cause chromosome missegregation and lead to the generation of multiple mitosis and ultimately chromosomal instability, which typify many cancers.

The molecular mechanism of centrosome duplication remains unclear. Previous studies found that …

The Smart Shopping Construct: Scale Development And Validation, Kelly Green Atkins

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was designed to gain a better understanding and conceptualization of the term smart shopping. The specific research objectives were to: (a) investigate consumers‟ perceptions of the term smart shopping; (b) develop a measure of smart shopping; and (c) validate the measure of smart shopping.

A comprehensive literature review was used to identify existing smart shopping theories and to identify opportunities for expanding on the existing meanings of the term. To obtain consumers‟ perceptions of the term smart shopping, two focus group interviews and fifteen face-to-face in-depth interviews were employed for initial item generation and instrument development. Scale development …

Radiation Effects On Metastable States Of Superheated Water, Charles William Alvord

Doctoral Dissertations

Radiation Effects on Metastable States of Superheated Water covers theory, application, and experimentation into the behavior of water at temperatures above the boiling point. The backgrounds of Positron Emission Tomography target design, bubble chambers, and superheat measurements are presented. The quantitative theory of metastable liquids and their characteristic waiting time is discussed. Energetics of bubble formation from two different perspectives are included. Finally, the design of an apparatus for measuring liquid superheats in the presence of radiation is covered in some detail, including several design iterations, first measurements made on the apparatus, and techniques for data reduction.

Aristotle’S Contribution To Scholarly Communication, Stephen Edward Bales

Doctoral Dissertations

This historical study examines the Aristotelian foundations of the Library and Museum of Alexandria for the purpose of (1) understanding how the Library and Museum differed from preceding ancient Near Eastern information institutions (i.e., “protolibraries”) and (2) how Aristotle’s methodologies for producing scientific knowledge were carried out in Alexandria. While protolibraries served as safeguards for maintaining a static cultural/political “stream of tradition” and created, organized, and maintained “library” documents to this end, the Library of Alexandria was a tool for theoretical knowledge creation. The Library materialized Aristotelian pre-scientific theory, specifically dialectic, and served the scholarly community of the Museum …

The Consequential Effects Of High-Stakes Testing On Teacher Pedagogy, Practice And Identity: Teacher Voices Disrupt The A Priori, Janice Ellen Blake

Doctoral Dissertations

Today, under the federal mandates of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), test scores are being used for ways and means in which they were never designed, normed or intended (Linn, 2003). As a result, the purposes and uses of high-stakes tests have become a source of concerned debate among stakeholders, who see the consequences of high-stakes testing as having significant effects within the larger educational reform known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (Amrein & Berliner, 2002b). Allington (2002) has stated that NCLB has dramatically changed the testing story, making high-stakes tests one of the leading and central characters of …

A Comparative Philosophical Feminist Identity Study Of Chinese Women Intellectuals And The Educational Implications, Yan Cao

Doctoral Dissertations

As a female cross-cultural educator and scholar in the third space, I am deeply concerned about issues related to Asian Americans and especially Chinese women intellectuals. Problematic misinterpretations of Chinese women from Euro-western perspective center on Orentalism and newly arising problems during the post-Mao era in China such as problems with rising gender consciousness, invisibility issues of homosexuality, ethnic minorities, rethinking of class, and added social contexts in Chinese indigenous works. These problems demonstrate the need to pay attention to Chinese feminist scholarship and Chinese women’s academic contributions. A better way to theoretically understand Chinese women and their scholarship from …

The Association Between The Rate Of Child Fatalities In Tennessee And Selected Neighborhood Demographic And Housing Characteristics, Elizabeth Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if an association exists between housing characteristics and demographic characteristics of Tennessee neighborhoods (census tracts) and the rate of child fatalities (violent, accidental, and natural) in the neighborhoods reporting child fatalities for the years 1996-2003. The child fatalities, for the eight years, reported to each Tennessee Judicial District Child Fatality Review Team required by the Tennessee Department of Health’s Maternal and Child Health Division were selected for use in the study. Data was selected from the Bureau of the Census’ 2000 United States Census to obtain the housing characteristics and demographic characteristics …

Multispectral Imaging For Face Recognition Over Varying Illumination, Hong Chang

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the advantage of using multispectral narrow-band images over conventional broad-band images for improved face recognition under varying illumination. To verify the effectiveness of multispectral images for improving face recognition performance, three sequential procedures are taken into action: multispectral face image acquisition, image fusion for multispectral and spectral band selection to remove information redundancy.

Several efficient image fusion algorithms are proposed and conducted on spectral narrow-band face images in comparison to conventional images. Physics-based weighted fusion and illumination adjustment fusion make good use of spectral information in multispectral imaging process. The results demonstrate that fused narrow-band images outperform …

Structural And Magnetic Properties Of Manganites Pr1-XCa1+XMno4, Oxypnictides Cefeaso1-XFX, And Filled Skutterudite Pros4As12, Songxue Chi

Doctoral Dissertations

We present neutron scattering, with triple-axis and time-of-flight spectrometers, to study the structural and magnetic properties of the layered manganites Pr_1-xCa_1+xMnO₄ (PCMO), and to determine the crystalline electric field (CEF) levels in iron pnictides CeFeAsO_1-xF_x and filled skutterudite compound PrOs₄As₁₂.

For the single-layered manganites PCMO, four dopings (x=0.5, 0.45, 0.40 and 0.35) have been studied. At half-doping, the system first becomes charge- and orbital- ordered (CO/OO) near T_CO = 300 K and then develops CE-type antiferromagnetic (AF) order below T_N = 130 K. …

Explicit Methods In The Nuclear Burning Problem For Supernova Ia Models, Viktor Chupryna

Doctoral Dissertations

Most modern astrophysical problems such as supernova simulation require application of state-ofthe- art computational tools. Despite the fact that number of nuclei included in coupled simulations tends to be small, problems such as nuclear burning networks are often part of a large set of interconnected programs that require significant computing resources. Expansion of the nuclear reaction network to realistic sizes can easily make element and energy production the leading consumer of both time and memory in simulations. Therefore, in solving nuclear reaction networks coupled to (radiation) hydrodynamics in astrophysics simulations, the development of methods capable of improving on the traditional …

L’Impératif Passé: La Mémoire Comme Protagoniste Du Théâtre De Michel Tremblay, Fátima Elizabeth Costa Buchert

Doctoral Dissertations

Michel Tremblay, the most important contemporary playwright (and novelist) in Quebec, has written for the theatre for over forty years. The study of his plays, beginning with the very first ones, reveals the capital importance that he attributes to the problem of the past and of memory.

This dissertation examines how memory plays the role of protagonist in Tremblay’s drama: the study of Les Belles-Soeurs, (the writer’s first famous play, where memory is a tool for building gender identity), of Le Vrai Monde? (one of his most complex plays, where memory is concretely represented on the stage) and of …

Value Similarity And Its Relationship To Interpersonal Relationship Quality And Identity: Perceptions Of Self, Partner, And Ideal Partner, Jennifer G. Clement

Doctoral Dissertations

The exploration of interpersonal relationships has led to the recognition that similarity has played a large role in the relationship quality, e.g. satisfaction, of dyads, specifically romantic dyads. Three categories of similarity have been shown to best predict satisfaction: communication, attitudes, and values. This study examined the actual, perceived, and ideal value similarity of heterosexual romantic dyads at the University of Tennessee and assessed relationship quality which included satisfaction, intimacy, trust, and social provisions. Using stepwise regressions and Pearson Product correlations this study determined that actual, perceived, and ideal value similarity significantly predicted the relationship quality of the individual and …

A Comparative Study Of Faculty Expectations Of New Hires In Mathematics Education And Qualifications Of Doctoral Students In Mathematics Education, Randy L. Collins

Doctoral Dissertations

There is a critical need to attract more students into doctoral programs in mathematics education. Those in the doctoral programs in mathematics education have many career options outside of academics and research shows that 20% of those seeking the doctorate in mathematics education go into other areas besides higher education (Glasgow, 2001). Thus, there has been a shortage of qualified applicants for academic positions (Reys, 2000; Glasgow, 2000; Reys & Kilpatrick, 2001; Reys, 2002). Complicating matters is the fact that 80% of faculty in mathematics education are eligible to retire in 2008 (Reys, Glasgow, Ragan, & Simms, 2001; Reys, 2006). …

Modeling Of Algan/Gan High Electron Mobility Transistor For Sensors And High-Temperature Circuit Applications, Sazia Afreen Eliza

Doctoral Dissertations

With the most advanced and mature technology for electronic devices, silicon (Si) based devices can be processed with practically no material defects. However, Si technology has difficulty meeting the demand for some high-power, high-speed, and high-temperature applications due to limitations in its intrinsic properties. Wide bandgap semiconductors have greater prospects compared to Si based devices. The wide band gap material system shows higher breakdown voltage, lower leakage, higher saturation velocity, larger thermal conductivity and better thermal stability suitable for high-power, high-speed, and high-temperature operations of the devices. In recent years, GaN based devices have drawn much research attention due to …

Adsorption Of Propane On The Magnesium Oxide (100) Surface And Synthesis Of Anodized Aluminum Oxide, Michael John Felty

Doctoral Dissertations

This work is divided into two parts: the adsorption of propane on the magnesium oxide (100) surface and the synthesis of anodized aluminum oxide. The adsorption properties of propane on the MgO (100) surface were investigated using high-resolution volumetric isotherm techniques and a computational study was accomplished using Materials Studio. From the adsorption work, the two-dimensional isothermal compressibility, the isosteric heat of adsorption, the differential enthalpy, and the differential entropy of adsorption can be calculated. Three distinct layers of propane were observed to form on the MgO (100) surface and it was determined that a phase transition occurs at 162 …

Nanostructured Chitosan Membranes For Filtration, Keyur Desai

Doctoral Dissertations

Chitosan is a non-toxic and biodegradable biopolymer derived from naturally occurring chitin. It has excellent metal binding and anti-microbial properties which could be beneficial in air and water filtration applications. Nanofibers have distinctly high surface area to volume ratio.

Electrospinning is a process by which nano-sized polymer fibers can be produced using an electrostatically driven jet of polymer solution. The fibers are collected as a non-woven mat and offer a high surface area to volume ratio.

Electrospinning of pure chitosan is hindered by its limited solubility in aqueous acids and high molecular weight with high degree of inter and intra …

Art Therapy With An Adolescent: A Case Study, Cynthia S. Crawford

Doctoral Dissertations

Due to the paucity of formal research in the use of art therapy with adolescent populations, the purported effectiveness of art as an assessment instrument in screening for emotional disturbance, and the widespread application of art and other expressive modalities with children, the purpose of this single subject qualitative case study was to describe the experience of an adolescent, diagnosed with a mood disorder, either singly or in combination with other psychiatric disorders, and enrolled full-time in a residential treatment center, while participating in weekly person-centered art therapy sessions. The participant for this study was a 16-year old adolescent female, …

Linguistic And Cultural Competence In The Global Business Arena: A Study Of A Japanese Company In Tennessee, Asami Segi

Doctoral Dissertations

According to a survey by the State of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development Division of Research and Planning, the number one country in terms of investment in Tennessee is Japan, which currently has 160 companies in Tennessee that employ 40,450 people (Tennessee Total Foreign Direct Investment and Employment by Country Current Through April 2008, p.1).

Whereby there are a number of research studies examining the importance of Japanese language competence in American companies, there is a paucity of research that addresses Americans with Japanese language competency who work in Japanese companies located in the U.S. This study therefore …

Influences On Growth: Development Beyond Conventional Wastewater Infrastructure, Kendrick J. Curtis

Doctoral Dissertations

Wastewater treatment has long had a powerful restraining influence on land use patterns in the United States. The limited availability of central sewers confined intense property development to the sewered areas of cities and towns. The drawbacks associated with septic systems restrained even moderate-density development in areas with inappropriate soils. The advent of decentralized wastewater systems abolished these restraints, however. This technology made it possible to develop land at even high densities with no regard for the proximity of sewers and little for soil quality. This presented an opportunity for developers to pursue projects wherever attractive conditions prevailed. It also …

Development Of A Computational Model To Predict The In Vivo Contact Mechanics Of Modern Total Knee Arthroplasty, Adrija Sharma

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the development of a computationally efficient and fast method that incorporates the kinematics obtained from fluoroscopy and extends it to the prediction of the in-vivo contact mechanics at the femoro-tibial articulation in modern knee implants for the deep knee bend activity. In this endeavor, this dissertation deals with the use of an inverse dynamic rigid body model characterizing the slip and roll behavior observed in the femoro-polyethylene articulation and a coupled deformation model where the polyethylene in knee implants are modeled as hexahedral discrete element networks. The performance of this method is tested by comparing force …

Molecular Hydrogen Adsorbed On Mgo (100) Surfaces: A Thermodynamic Study, Lillian Ruth Frazier

Doctoral Dissertations

The thermodynamics of molecular hydrogen adsorbed on MgO (100) surfaces has been examined using high resolution volumetric adsorption isotherm techniques. These studies were undertaken using highly perfect, narrow size distributed MgO nanocubes with essentially single (100) facet exposure and extremely high chemical purity. A narrowly spaced (in temperature) series of isotherms were performed between the temperatures of ~7K and the triple point (13.8 K) using H₂ and D₂ gas.

A minimum of five, and in some cases seven, discrete adsorption steps are clearly observed in each isotherm trace. Analysis of these data indicate that the monolayer film forms …

Composition Classroom Narratives Of Teaching And Learning, Annie J. O'Dowd

Doctoral Dissertations

This was an action research study examining 1) narratives community college writing students had about themselves as writers in a college-level writing course and 2) the connection between those narratives and student experience of collaborative learning activities. The study of narrative is particularly useful in determining how people make meaning of experiences in their lives.

The class utilized three types of teaching and learning to explore the writing process, including lecture, discussion groups and collaborative learning activities. Students and teacher used a social-constructionist approach to conversation that implemented a process of reflective dialogue about writing and writers' strategies.

At the …

Does The Grade Level At Which Algebra I Is Completed Affect Future Mathematics Performance, Jamie Kay Fugitt

Doctoral Dissertations

According to analysis of 2003 NAEP data, the percentage of students enrolling in Algebra I prior to ninth grade continues to increase, up to 42% in 2003. This current study is designed to examine the benefits of acceleration into algebra by exploring four major questions regarding timing of algebra. The first question examines relationships between student characteristics and timing of algebra. Relationships between school characteristics and timing of algebra are examined by the second question. Questions three and four explore relationships between timing of algebra and mathematics achievement and course taking, respectively.

Information was gathered on 449 students matriculating at …