Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Examining Sociological Differences And The Influence Of Prey Distribution And Environmental Variability In The Distribution Of A Top Marine Predator, The Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus), Stefanie K. Gazda

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the influence of environmental variability on the distribution of prey, and the influence of prey spatial structure and habitat variability may have on the distributions of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Additionally I examined how sociological differences (behavior type and the changes in a foraging behavior specific to Cedar Key Florida) influences the relative roles of bottlenose dolphins within the population.

The Gowans et al. scheme assumes that small groups form small communities and that foraging groups are small and rare as there are few foraging benefits to promote grouping. Using network analysis, …

Network Evaluation In Practice: Approaches And Applications, Madeleine Taylor, Anne Whatley, Julia Coffman

The Foundation Review

As more funders support networks as a mechanism for social change, new and practical knowledge is emerging about how to build and support effective networks. Based on extensive review of different types of networks and their evaluations, and on interviews with funders, network practitioners, and evaluation experts, the authors have developed an accessible framework for evaluating networks.

This article describes the evaluation framework and its three pillars of network assessment: network connectivity, network health, and network results.

Also presented are case examples of foundationfunded network evaluations focused on each pillar, which include practical information on evaluation designs, methods, and results, …

Studying Displacement: New Networks, Lessons Learned, L. Peek, A. Fothergill, J. Pardee, Lynn Weber

Lynn Weber

No abstract provided.

Negative Externalities, Network Effects, And Compatibility, Matthew G. Nagler

Publications and Research

Positive network effects arise where incremental product use increases the utility of users of compatible products (user-positive effects), but also in situations where product use imposes negative externalities that selectively affect the adopters of incompatible alternatives (nonuser-negative effects). This paper compares the social optimality of firms’ incentives for compatibility under these two regimes. Using a “location” model of differentiated products, I find that, under both regimes, incentives for unilateral action to increase compatibility tend to be suboptimal when firms’ networks are close in size, but they may be excessive for small firms when networks differ greatly in size. The result …

Leveraging Academic Networks For Promotion And Tenure, Anne E. Rauh, Linda M. Galloway

Anne Rauh

Preparing for promotion and tenure (or tenure equivalent status) is a stressful time in any librarians’ career. Leveraging the power of academic and professional online networks can enhance and showcase an information professional’s scholarly output. From blog posts to peer-reviewed journal articles, knowing how to best promote your work will make the process easier. The presentation will include an overview of best practices for academic networking and provide participants with recommendations to build a solid online network. The presentation will begin with an overview of the topic, include descriptions of recommended tools and techniques, describe two short case studies and …

Helping A Microfinance Institution Select Its Clients: A Risk Analysis Using Social Networks, Sayantan Mitra, Varunavi Newar

Black & Gold

This paper formulates an objective mathematical model for a Microfinance Institution (MFI) to measure the credit worthiness associated with a potential client. We use concepts from network theory to determine the credit worthiness of an individual in relation to other households in the community. We use the concept of eigenvector centrality to evaluate the relative credit worthiness in the network. The latter part of the model focuses on the absolute measures of credit worthiness such as income, ownership of assets and risk of the proposed investment. This model would help MFIs reduce the risk of borrowing by ensuring that there …

Over-Voltage Mitigation Within Distribution Networks With A High Renewable Distributed Generation Penetration, Joel Kennedy, Philip Ciufo, Ashish Agalgaonkar

Dr Philip Ciufo

The rapid growth of grid-connected distributed generation has increased the likelihood of over-voltage occurrences in distribution networks. In recent times, much research has taken place in order to develop a control strategy to mitigate the voltage rise problem. However, most of the published strategies require re-tuning when additional resources are connected, or have a strong dependence on network parameters, such as fault level. This paper proposes a novel over-voltage mitigation scheme that has many advantages not observed in literature. Firstly, the control scheme can integrate with an existing feeder in a plug-and-play fashion. No prior analysis is necessary to configure …

A Comparison Of Regional Health Care Structures For Emergency Preparedness, Leslie Porth

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2001, increased policy attention and federal funding mechanisms have required more effective disaster response by government actors and private sector organizations, including the health care system. However, there is limited scholarly evidence documenting which structural elements have been associated with efficacious regional coalitions. This study addressed the gap by examining whether the number of different participating disciplines (a proxy for coalition roles), community setting, and prior weather-related disaster declaration influenced the number of activities (a proxy for coalition responsibilities) conducted by the health care coalition. Social network theory was the theoretical lens with which the study results were used …

A Distributed Broadcast Algorithm For Duty-Cycled Networks With Physical Interference Model, Dianbo Zhao, Kwan-Wu Chin

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Broadcast is a fundamental operation in multi-hop wireless networks. Given a source node with a message to broadcast, the objective is to propagate the message to all nodes in an interferencefree manner while incurring minimum latency. This problem, called Minimum-Latency Broadcast Scheduling (MLBS), has been studied extensively in wireless networks whereby nodes remain on all times and has been shown to be NP-hard. However, only a few studies have addressed this problem in the context of duty-cycled wireless networks, which unfortunately, remains NP-hard. In these networks, nodes do not wake up simultaneously, and hence, not all neighbors of a transmitting …

Application Of Saturated Core Fault Current Limiters To Interconnected Distribution Networks, Sasareka Gunawardana Mudalige, Sarath Perera, Jeffrey W. Moscrop

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

There is an increasing need for electricity utilities to limit fault levels in critical locations in power systems so that existing switchgear can continue to function as expected. This is particularly true in electrical distribution systems, where the increased penetration of renewable and decentralised generation is forcing the network to be highly interconnected in order to allow for higher integration capacity and reliable operation. Consequently, the short-circuit currents in distribution systems have increased significantly. In this background, application of fault current limiting devices is one of the solutions that is being considered by the Distribution Network Service Providers (DNSPs). A …

Attenuation And Propagation Of Voltage Unbalance In Radial Distribution Networks, Devinda Perera, Philip Ciufo, Lasantha G. Meegahapola, Sarath Perera

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Recently published International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) technical reports IEC 61000-3-13 provides detailed methodologies for managing voltage unbalance (VU) in electric power systems. A key aspect in the VU emission allocation process is the estimation of VU propagation in different parts of the network. Although the VU propagation from upstream networks to downstream networks is adequately addressed, the attenuation of VU when propagating from downstream to upstream networks at the same voltage level has not been properly taken into account in the aforementioned methodologies. Furthermore, mains connected three-phase induction motors are known to attenuate VU, and there is no methodology currently …

A Novel Mobility-Based Routing Protocol For Semi-Predictable Disruption Tolerant Networks, Saeid Iranmanesh, Kwan-Wu Chin

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This letter considers routing in delay tolerant networks whereby nodes have semi-predictable mobility patterns within a time period. We propose a mobility-based routing protocol (MBRP) where nodes construct a space-time graph dynamically. As the space-time graph may be incomplete, MBRP presents a heuristic that evaluates encountered nodes based on their recorded mobility patterns in order to disseminate a finite number of bundle replicas. Simulation results, over a service quality metric comprising of delivery, delay and overhead, show that MBRP achieves up to 105 % improvement as compared to four well-known routing protocols. Finally, MBRP is capable of achieving 50 % …

Planning Rural Water Services In Nicaragua: A Systems-Based Analysis Of Impact Factors Using Graphical Modeling, Jeffrey P. Walters, Paul S. Chinowsky

Faculty Publications - Biomedical, Mechanical, and Civil Engineering

The success or failure of rural water services in the developing world is a result of numerous factors that interact in a complex set of connections that are difficult to separate and identify. This research effort presented a novel means to empirically reveal the systemic interactions of factors that influence rural water service sustainability in the municipalities of Darío and Terrabona, Nicaragua. To accomplish this, the study employed graphical modeling to build and analyze factor networks. Influential factors were first identified by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing transcribed interviews from community water committee members. Factor influences were then inferred by graphical …

Childhood Adhd Symptoms: Association With Parental Social Networks And Mental Health Service Use During Adolescence, Regina Bussing, Johanna Meyer, Bonnie T. Zima, Dana M. Mason, Faye A. Gary, Cynthia Wilson Garvan

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: This study examines the associations of childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) risk status with subsequent parental social network characteristics and caregiver strain in adolescence; and examines predictors of adolescent mental health service use. Methods: Baseline ADHD screening identified children at high risk (n = 207) and low risk (n = 167) for ADHD. At eight-year follow-up, parents reported their social network characteristics, caregiver strain, adolescents' psychopathology and mental health service utilization, whereas adolescents self-reported their emotional status and ADHD stigma perceptions. Analyses were conducted using ANOVAs and nested logistic regression modeling. Results: Parents of youth with childhood ADHD reported support …

A Refined General Summation Law For Vu Emission Assessment In Radial Networks, Jayatunga Vitharanage Upuli Priyadarshani Jayatunga, Sarath Perera, Philip Ciufo, Ashish P. Agalgaonkar

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Voltage unbalance (VU) management of power systems requires the development of well researched engineering practices to maintain acceptable VU levels while utilising the total VU absorption capacity of the power system. In this regard, IEC/TR 61000-3-13:2008 prescribes a VU emission allocation methodology based on a stochastic approach which uses a general summation law in order to aggregate numerous sources of unbalance to take into account their random variations. On the other hand, recent deterministic studies on VU emission assessment at the post-connection stage of unbalanced installations present a complex VU factor based approach to determine constituent components of the post-connection …

On Using Wireless Power Transfer To Increase The Max Flow Of Rechargeable Wireless Sensor Networks, Tengjiao He, Kwan-Wu Chin, Sieteng Soh

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A key problem in Rechargeable Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is determining the maximum amount of data that can be collected by a sink over a given time period. This maximum is constrained by link capacity and critically, by the available energy at each node. In this paper, we consider a novel approach to increase the maximum flow rate by exploiting recent advances in Wireless Power Transfer (WPT). Specifically, we deploy a finite number of WPT capable rovers next to bottleneck sensor nodes with the aim to increase the max flow rate of a WSN. We formulate a Mixed Integer Linear …

A Multi-Agent Framework For Packet Routing In Wireless Sensor Networks, Dayong Ye, Minjie Zhang, Yun Yang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

No abstract provided.