Digital Commons Network^™

Cover Text Steganography: N-Gram And Entropy-Based Approach, Sara M. Rico-Larmer

KSU Proceedings on Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Steganography is an ancient technique for hiding a secret message within ordinary looking messages or objects (e.g., images), also known as cover messages. Among various techniques, hiding text data in plain text file is a challenging task due to lack of redundant information. This paper proposes two new approaches to embed a secret message in a cover text document. The two approaches are n-gram and entropy metric-based generation of stego text. We provide examples of encoding secret messages in a cover text document followed by an initial evaluation of how well stego texts look close to the plain …

Marketing And Advertising: Target Children, The Vulnerable Population A Review Of The Literature, Kyle Adams

MBA Student Scholarship

A heavily debated topic throughout the industry of marketing is the idea of advertising on children. More specifically the idea of how ethical it is to make children a demographic for an advertising audience. This topic brings up a great amount of concerns because of the idea that children are a vulnerable population for advertising and are more easily persuaded towards using their products or services. This review of literature analyzes the use of advertisement directed towards children and the effects that they have on them.

Patent Law, Copyright Law, And The Girl Germs Effect, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] "Inventors pursue patents and authors receive copyrights.

No special education is required for either endeavor, and nothing

precludes a person from being both an author and an inventor.

Inventors working on patentable industrial projects geared

toward commercial exploitation tend to be scientists or engineers.

Authors, with the exception of those writing computer code, tend

to be educated or trained in the creative arts, such as visual art,

performance art, music, dance, acting, creative writing, film

making, and architectural drawing. There is a well-warranted

societal supposition that most of the inventors of patentable

inventions are male. Assumptions about the genders …

White Papers On Employer Branding And On Social Media As A Teaching Tool, As Well As Three Contributions On Leadership, William P. Ferris

Organization Management Journal

No abstract provided.

What Is Professionalism? The Validation Of A Comprehensive Model Of Professionalism, Andrew W. Rowland

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Professionalism is a term frequently used in organizations yet perceptions of what it means differ from person to person. Given its frequent use and its link to various job outcomes, such as organizational commitment (Bartol, 1979), there is a need to have a universal definition of professionalism. While there are existing models of professionalism these models are typically developed for a specific field or industry. Thus, there is also a need for a comprehensive model of professionalism that can be used across multiple fields and industries. This study worked to develop a model of professionalism that creates a comprehensive model …

The Too-Much Precision Effect: When And Why Precise Anchors Backfire With Experts, David D. Loschelder, Malte Friese, Michael Schaerer, Adam D. Galinsky

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Past research has suggested a fundamental principle of price precision: The more precise an opening price, the more it anchors counteroffers. The present research challenges this principle by demonstrating a too-much-precision effect. Five experiments (involving 1,320 experts and amateurs in real-estate, jewelry, car, and human-resources negotiations) showed that increasing the precision of an opening offer had positive linear effects for amateurs but inverted-U-shaped effects for experts. Anchor precision backfired because experts saw too much precision as reflecting a lack of competence. This negative effect held unless first movers gave rationales that boosted experts’ perception of their competence. Statistical mediation and …

Drivers Behind The Monitoring Effectiveness Of Global Institutional Investors: Evidence From Earnings Management, Incheol Kim, Steve Miller, Hong Wan, Bin Wang

Finance Faculty Research and Publications

This paper studies the drivers behind the monitoring effectiveness of institutional investors in curbing earnings management in an international setting. We identify three distinct drivers and propose two competing hypotheses: the hometown advantage hypothesis predicts that because of proximity to monitoring information, domestic institutions have a comparative advantage over foreign institutions in deterring earnings management, whereas the global investor hypothesis predicts that foreign institutions have a comparative advantage because of their proclivity toward activism and ability to deploy superior monitoring technologies. Consistent with the hometown advantage hypothesis, in aggregate, domestic, but not foreign, institutional ownership is associated with less earnings …

T Bone Burnett, The American South, And The Ethic Of A Contemporary Cultural Renaissance, Heath J. Carpenter

Student Theses and Dissertations

With the success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, T Bone Burnett spent his cultural capital on repurposing traditional American music in subsequently successful soundtracks and artistic productions, providing a spark for a 21st century cultural movement that moves beyond music. This study aims to position Burnett has a cultural catalyst by grounding his work, and those abiding by a similar ethic, in the American South. In the process, I examine what Burnett’s soundtracks and select artistic productions communicate about contemporary Southern cultures and identities, while negotiating the ever-enigmatic generational issues of identity and authenticity. By extending the …

Affect And Value In Critical Examinations Of The Production And ‘Prosumption’ Of Big Data, Daniel G. Cockayne

Geography Faculty Publications

In this paper I explore the relationship between the production and the value of Big Data. In particular I examine the concept of social media ‘prosumption’—which has predominantly been theorized from a Marxist, political economic perspective—to consider what other forms of value Big Data have, imbricated with their often speculative economic value. I take the example of social media firms in their early stages of operation to suggest that, since these firms do not necessarily generate revenue, data collected through user contributions do not always realize economic value, at least in a Marxist sense, and that, in addition to their …

The Determinants Of Tourist Satisfaction In Religious Destinations: The Case Of Montserrat (Spain), Gema Canoves, Josep M. Prat Forga

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

In the last few years, the historic region of Bages in Catalonia (Spain) has developed the tourism advantage it enjoys because of the medieval relics of the monastery of Montserrat that it treasures, to the point of becoming a major resort area. Montserrat is an example of synergies between religious heritage and tourism. On the mountain of Montserrat, religious devotion, regional identity, cultural heritage and linguistic tradition, landscape, and the nearness of Barcelona join together to create a tourist product of great importance. This working paper shows how religious tourism is an expression of the commercialisation of culture and religion. …

Pilgrimage And Its Dual Functions In Iranian Shiitsm, Zahra Khoshk Jan

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Salvation is the main concern not only for theistic religions but also for atheistic ones, therefore, all of them try to offer doctrines for achieving both salvation and redemption in this world or in another world. Followers of the Twelver Shiism strongly believe in salvation through the Imam. Imamat and Imam, do not just refer to a special person, more than that, they involve a spiritual / worldly doctrine toward a complete and multilateral salvation, and also socio-political leadership. One of the important parts of this doctrine that involves spiritual / worldly salvation is intercession via religious rituals like praying, …

Assessing The Effect Of Mobile Word-Of-Mouth On Consumers : The Physical, Psychological And Social Influences, Juanyi Jiang

Lingnan Theses

Mobile technologies enable users to discover and research products anytime, anywhere. Mobile devices allow consumers to create and share content based on physical location, facilitate seamless interactions, and provide context-relevant information that can better satisfy users’ needs and enhance their shopping experience. As consumers increasingly rely on mobile devices to search information and purchase products, they need immediate, updated, informative and credible opinions in concise forms. Meanwhile, marketers face unprecedented opportunities for mobile marketing, making ever important for them to understand the mobile word-of-mouth and its effect on the purchase behaviors of consumers on the mobile platform vs. those on …

Capacity Building For Sustainable Workforce In The Construction Industry, Edelmiro F. Escamilla, Mohammadreza Ostadalimakhmalbaf

The Professional Constructor

Research has shown that the construction industry will face workforce shortages that will increase delivery cost and completion time. The purpose of this paper is to first identify and synthesize the fundamental factors impacting recruitment and retention of the potential construction workforce. A qualitative approach was employed in order to collect and synthesize known factors related to workforce development and capacity building for the construction industry. The paper then presents a conceptual framework for conducting research on capacity generation of a sustainable construction workforce—by considering the impact of family unit and cultural values, career path perceptions, higher educational attainment, and …

Foundation Support Of Immigrant Communities: Insights From A Survey Of Immigrants In Minnesota’S Twin Cities, Nicole Martinrogers, Ryan Evans, Paul Mattessich

The Foundation Review

Immigration brings both benefits and challenges to communities. This article provides insight into the needs of these communities and offers suggestions for how foundations can consider immigrant and refugee communities in their work.

This article combines information from Minnesota Compass, a foundation-governed social-indicators initiative, and Speaking for Ourselves, a study of immigrants and refu- gees in Minnesota’s Twin Cities metropolitan area that identifies the needs and strengths immigrants bring to our communities.

The results can help guide foundations and their grantees on how to improve a community’s quality of life for immigrants and refugees – to the benefit of all …

Good Vibrations: Charting The Dominant And Emergent Discursive Regimes Of Sex Toys, George Rossolatos

The Qualitative Report

Sex toys promote a new consumptive ethos whose significance may be adequately outlined by attending to the institutional implications of this product category’s consumption. By drawing on Foucault’s theory of sexuality and the technologies of the self that materialize with the aid of discursive formations about sexuality, as well as on relevant sociological and ethnographic insights, I undertake a qualitative content analysis on a corpus of 100 sex toys’ product reviews from popular magazines and web sites in order to identify how the discourse about sex toys is articulated in terms of three dominant categories of sexual scripts (Simon & …

A Study On International Trade Risks Of Ocean Freight Forwarders, Tsung-Yu Chou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Ocean freight forwarders play a critical role in the economic development of Taiwan and import/export services are their most important business line. As an integral element of the marine transportation industry, forwarders find themselves exposed to greater risks due to the homogeneity of their services in a highly competitive and changeable marketplace. It is hence essential to develop a model to evaluate trade risks so as to prevent and mitigate such risks, enhance competitive edge and operational sustainability. This paper examines the trade risks undertaken by the ocean freight forwarding industry in Taiwan and applies the algorithms of fuzzy multi-criteria …

Language Proficiency Benefits Of An Arabic Language Immersion House, John Bailey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study analyzed the language proficiencies of 25 students using the ACTFL “Can-Do Statements” and Oral Proficiency Interviews (OPI), examined responses of 33 language students throughout the US from a questionnaire to find behaviors they use in their language studies, and also studied results from questionnaires directed to 6 WKU language faculty and a faculty member for Denison University. The goal of this analysis was to find links between those behaviors exhibited by the students and their level of language proficiency to uncover what methods are most conducive to increasing second language (L2) proficiency and to find L2 proficiency benefits …

Innovative Reflection Tools For Management Development And Education, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Research continues to support the finding that critical reflection is a foundational aspect in developing management and leadership skills and competencies for individuals of all ages. The purpose of this engaging, innovative workshop is to offer participants a variety of innovative reflection tools that can be used by management educators with college students and other adult learners in various settings. These tools can help learners enhance and develop knowledge, competencies, and skills through enhanced reflective experiences. This workshop will also provide attendees the opportunity to challenge behaviors and practices commonly seen and held within management education. This conversation uses important …

The Effects Of Is-Bao Implementation And Leadership Performance On Safety Culture In Business Aviation Flight Operations, Christopher Mark Broyhill

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The International Standard, Business Aircraft Operations (IS-BAO), with a Safety Management System (SMS) as its core element, has been widely accepted by both the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the business aviation industry as the mechanism to create a healthy safety culture among the business aviation operators who have implemented the standard. Scholarly literature, however, has presented leadership as the most important factor in the creation and management of a healthy safety culture in organizations in general and aviation organizations in particular. This study examined and compared the effects of IS-BAO progression and leadership performance on the perceptions of …

Data Mining Journal Entries For Fraud Detection: A Replication Of Debreceny And Gray's (2010) Techniques, Poh Sun Seow, Pan, Gary, Themin Suwardy

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

The alarming frequency of fraud occurrences suggests that corporations continue to face persistent threat of fraud (Cecchini et al., 2010a; Summers and Sweeney, 1998). According to Association of Certified Fraud Examiner (ACFE)’s 2014 Report, a typical organization may lose five percent of its revenue to fraud every year. As such, the consequences of fraud may impact the shareholders, creditors, auditors and the public’s confidence in the integrity of corporations’ financial systems (Rezaee, 2005).

The Role And Usage Of Apps And Instant Messaging In Religious Mass Events, Juan Narbona, Daniel Arasa

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

Over the last few years, large events have conferred great importance on Event Management, or the management of mass meetings. In the religious sector, for centuries, pilgrimages have been a clear example of mass events of a spiritual nature. Due to globalization and increased mobility, recent times have seen the multiplication of international events without a fixed location: Taizé encounters, Kumbh Mela (India), and World Youth Day are all good examples of this. These events imply at least a threefold spiritual, organizational and touristic challenge, and success in each one of these areas contributes to the favourable result of the …

Benchmarking, Brokering, And Branding: Resources For Success Across Sectors, Maureen Scully, Lisa Deangelis, Katie Bates

Emerging Leaders Program Team Projects

The fellows in the Center for Collaborative Leadership's Emerging Leaders Program practice collaborative leadership skills by working together in peer-led teams on projects that involve multiple stakeholders and have a civic impact. The theme that emerged for the 2016 projects was Benchmarking, Brokering, and Branding: Resources for Success Across Sectors - recognizing that the fellows' social capital and ability to step back and take a wide comparative view provided new resources for their partners.

Using A Virtual Computing Laboratory To Foster Collaborative Learning For Information Security And Information Technology Education, Abdullah Konak, Michael R. Bartolacci

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

Virtual computer laboratories have been an excellent technological solution to the problem of providing students with hands-on experimentation in information technology fields such as information security in a cost effective and secure manner. A virtual computer laboratory was utilized in this work as a collaborative environment for student learning with the goal of measuring its effect on student learning and attitudes toward laboratory assignments. Experiments were carried out utilizing specially-designed computer-based laboratory activities that included student assessments and surveys upon their completion. The experiments involved both small groups and individual students completing their respective laboratory activities and subsequent assessments/surveys. …

An Empirical Application Of Fuzzy Qfd To Improve The Relationship Quality Of The Home Delivery, Tsung-Yu Chou, Ming-Tao Chou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper presents an extended quality function deployment (QFD) approach that incorporates fuzzy logic to decrease the subjectivity of relationship strength and equip enterprises with better improvement techniques to fulfill customers’ needs and enhance their relationship quality. The proposed fuzzy QFD (FQFD) model is simple, flexible, and easy to understand. The empirical case examined in this paper demonstrates the efficiency of the process and indicates five critical techniques for improving quality of relationship with the customer. Overall, the FQFD approach requires only an average amount of data that can be collected quickly. The requisite calculations do not require any sophisticated …

Service Innovation At Keelung International Harbor, Ming-Chung Lii, Yuh-Ling Su, Kung-Don Ye

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Growing competition among international harbors has changed the core port operating strategy from pursuing efficiency to innovation. Most academic studies of innovation have focused on products and manufacturing processes rather than on service innovation, especially in the field of international harbor. Accordingly, this study investigated service innovation in an international harbor to evaluate the applicability of the service concept for guiding the direction of effort by international harbors. Since the idea of service innovation is just in the initial stage, the purpose of this work is trying to explore set of indices that can well measure service innovation performance of …

An Interval-Valued Fuzzy Number Approach For Supplier Selection, Chan-Shal Lee, Cheng-Chi Chung, Hsuan-Shih Lee, Guo-Ya Gan, Ming-Tao Chou

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Supplier assessment in supply chain management and electronic marketplaces plays an important role in the business transaction. Many methods have been proposed to deal with the supplier selection problems. Some of them are based on fuzzy set theory. However, traditional fuzzy numbers cannot precisely express the vagueness in the decision process. In this paper, we are going to propose a new fuzzy multiple criteria decision making model based on interval-valued fuzzy numbers to tackle the supplier selection problem in the circumstances where uncertainty is introduced. Usually, fuzzy numbers are employed to express uncertainty. For a fuzzy number, the degree of …

Identity Construction And Language Use By Immigrant Women In A Microenterprise Development Program, Linda Eve Bonder

Dissertations and Theses

Researchers have explored immigrant identity in various contexts, but few studies have examined identity in low-income immigrant women entrepreneurs. To address this research gap, I conducted in-depth interviews with eight low-income Latino immigrants who were starting their own businesses and receiving support through a local microenterprise development program (MDP). The study explored how participants' microenterprise efforts affected their identities and their investments in learning English.

The research found that entrepreneurship promoted positive identity construction by providing opportunities for participants to develop personal and cultural pride, strengthened parental roles, and interdependence with the community. These benefits helped participants decrease family stress …

A Comparative Analysis Of Inclusive Education Systems In Ireland And Kazakhstan, Saule Aubakirova

Level 3

This article was written based on the results of the author's PhD internship at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland, in April 2016. The article provides an initial comparative analysis of inclusive education systems in Ireland and Kazakhstan related to special educational needs (SEN). Data were gathered for the Irish context through literature reviews, document analysis, site visits and interviews. Data for the Kazakhstan context were accumulated from relevant legal documentation, practice literature review and interviews. The aspects of inclusive education selected for comparative analysis in this article include: enabling legislation; types of schools; supports provided; training of teachers.

Measuring Students’ Abilities To Study Academic Subjects Taught In English At Postgraduate Level In The Republic Of Kazakhstan, Artyom Dontsov

Level 3

This article presents the results of research conducted among first-year students enrolled in a two-year, full-time Master's degree programmes at Pavlodar State University, Republic of Kazakhstan. The aim was to evaluate their readiness to study academic subjects taught in English. Based on the analysis of the research results, it was concluded that transition to teaching and learning in English should be carried out in a gradual manner. It is proposed to use Content and Language Integrated Learning as the most appropriate methodology for the identified level.

The Evolution Of The Concept Of Social Action: Parsons And Goffman, Philip Manning

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Goffman’s analysis of gambling is very important for our overall understanding of his work. This is because Goffman’s sociology is driven by both theoretical and ethnographic impulses, and his gambling project is the third of his three major ethnographic investigations. Goffman’s study of gambling is a key component in his sociology because it (a) develops a conceptual approach to the study of the interaction order, (b) extends Parsons’ and Merton’s analysis of social action and social control, and (c) links the microeconomic analysis of the social world that he associated with Thomas Schelling that has become the mainstay of the …