Digital Commons Network^™

Designing A Goal Journaling Application, Kevin Lufkin

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

Achieving a personal goal and making a positive change in one’s life can be a difficult and elusive task. Everyday people are creating and setting new goals for themselves, but more often than not these goals are never realized. Motivation, determination, and discipline are all key elements when it comes to accomplishing a goal, but if there is no clear idea as to how to connect the dots from where one is to where one wants to be these important qualities lose their effectiveness.

The applications that exist today largely fit in the realm of goal/task management and planners. This …

Supporting Non-Verbal Visual Communication In Online Group Art Therapy, Brennan Jones, Kate Collie, Sara Prins Hankinson, Anthony Tang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Art therapy provides therapeutic benefit to people suffering from chronic pain, and recent work has explored supporting art therapy through online tools such as chat forums and discussion boards. These tools give people the benefit of engaging in art therapy without the burden of having to leave one’s home (when transportation may be a challenge), and allowing people to reveal their identities through dialogue and activity rather than through one’s appearance. However, these tools also do not provide much opportunity for collaboration and shared art making. Because group members are not aware of each other’s actions and non-verbal cues in …

Identifying High Crime Areas Using Spatial Analysis, Elisa Trepanier

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

Crime incident locations and trends are examined spatially using GIS to produce maps that pinpoint high crime areas or Hot Spots Crime mapping aids police departments by identifying areas to allocate limited resources where and when they are most needed. This project introduces the availability of GIS technology to smaller police departments as a tool to assist in the development of crime prevention strategies. In this model crime incident reports for Windham, Maine are geocoded and patterns of motor vehicle and structure burglaries analyzed for date, time and location of incident. An addressing protocol is followed to protect victim privacy …

The Update, April/May 2014, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts And Sciences.

Update

Inside this issue...

-- Student Spotlight: Biology: Susan Graves
-- Department News
-- UBS Outstanding Teacher Award Recipients
-- School of Music Events
-- Celebrate Earth Week with the RRTTC
-- William & Stephanie Clohesy Documentary Film Series
-- UNI Botanical Center to Hold Its 15th Annual Spring Plant Sale
-- Alumni Spotlight: Computer Science: Tony Bibbs
-- Alumni Spotlight: Communication Studies, Language & Literatures: Therese Kuster
-- Alumni Spotlight: Mathematics: Ben Wadsley
-- Featured Organization: George Walker Society of Music, School of Music
-- Featured Organization: Grafx Club, Technology
-- Professionals and Students Awarded 19 American Advertising Awards
-- …

Harnessing Complexity: Analysis Methodology And Ethical Framework To Facilitate Utilization Of Video Data In Evaluations, Kurt A. Wilson

Dissertations

Most evaluations in the nonprofit and international development sectors are conducted in contexts of complexity; the specific intervention being evaluated is but one of many interrelated factors influencing the desired outcome. Video data, especially when directly generated by program participants, can provide both exceptionally rich qualitative data as well as contextually-relevant feedback within complex systems. Despite these unique strengths and opportunities, video data is underutilized in the field of evaluation. This dissertation addresses specific barriers associated with video data through three inter-related papers: Papers one and two (Chapters II and III) present the findings from two interrelated studies of an …

Stochastic Gradient Descent, Weighted Sampling, And The Randomized Kaczmarz Algorithm, Deanna Needell, Nathan Srebro, Rachel Ward

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

We obtain an improved finite-sample guarantee on the linear convergence of stochastic gradient descent for smooth and strongly convex objectives, improving from a quadratic dependence on the conditioning (L/µ) 2 (where L is a bound on the smoothness and µ on the strong convexity) to a linear dependence on L/µ. Furthermore, we show how reweighting the sampling distribution (i.e. importance sampling) is necessary in order to further improve convergence, and obtain a linear dependence in the average smoothness, dominating previous results. We also discuss importance sampling for SGD more broadly and show how it can improve convergence also in other …

Randomized Block Kaczmarz Method With Projection For Solving Least Squares, Deanna Needell, Ran Zhao, Anastasios Zouzias

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

The Kaczmarz method is an iterative method for solving overcomplete linear systems of equations Ax = b. The randomized version of the Kaczmarz method put forth by Strohmer and Vershynin iteratively projects onto a randomly chosen solution space given by a single row of the matrix A and converges exponentially in expectation to the solution of a consistent system. In this paper we analyze two block versions of the method each with a randomized projection, that converge in expectation to the least squares solution of inconsistent systems. Our approach utilizes a paving of the matrix A to guarantee exponential convergence, …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Principles And Approaches For Optimizing Efficiency In Nursery And Landscape Businesses, Sarah J. Vanek, Dewayne L. Ingram

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Publications in the Sustainable Production Systems series discuss ways of pursuing sustainability in nursery production systems. Sustainable businesses are those that yield acceptable returns on investments, conserve natural resources, make positive contributions to the community, and create a workplace culture where employees feel safe, productive, and valued.

Is Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy An Effective Treatment For Autism? A Review, Daniel Dunleavy, Bruce A. Thyer

Journal of Adolescent and Family Health

Objectives: We review outcome studies regarding the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Method: Studies were identified through electronic bibliographic databases and manual searches of article reference lists. Results: A total of 8 studies met eligibility criteria, consisting of three randomized controlled trials (RCTs), one quasi-experimental study involving a comparison group, two pre-experimental one-group pretest–posttest studies, and two single-system designs. Studies reviewed did not offer credible evidence to suggest that HBOT is an effective treatment for autism. Conclusion: It is premature to call HBOT an effective treatment for Autism and ASD. Individuals clinically treated with …

Changing Minds To Changing The World: Mapping The Spectrum Of Intent In Data Visualization And Data Arts, Scott Murray

Art + Architecture

No abstract provided.

Experiments On Surfactants And Thin Fluid Films, Peter Megson

HMC Senior Theses

We investigate the spatiotemporal dynamics of a surfactant monolayer on a thin fluid film spreading inward into a region devoid of surfactant, a system motivated by the alveolus of the human lung. We perform experiments that simultaneously measure the fluid height profile and the fluorescence intensity due to our fluorescent surfactant, NBD-PC. We perform experiments on both a Newtonian layer of glycerol and a shear-thinning fluid layer consisting of xanthan gum mixed with glycerol. We can very successfully extract height profiles on the xanthan gum fluid, although the simultaneous measurement of fluorescent intensity profiles proved problematic, as the laser tended …

A New Edge-Preserving Algorithm Based On The Cie- Lu'v' Color Space For Color Contrast Enhancement, Mohammad Zolfaghari, Mehran Yazdi

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Image segmentation and edge detection are the most important presteps in machine vision, and their successfulness can affect the success of the next steps. In this paper, the performance of the Trahanias edge detector in different color spaces, such as RGB, YCbCr, HSI, and CIE Lu'v', is compared in order to find the best color space for image segmentation and edge detection. We then offer an efficient edge-preserving algorithm for color contrast enhancement in the CIE Lu'v' space. The proposed algorithm can increase the color contrast, which causes a remarkable improvement in image segmentation and edge detection in the CIE …

Detecting Covert Communication Channels In Raster Images, Brian Cusack, Jarrett Chambers

Australian Information Warfare and Security Conference

Digital image steganography is a method for hiding secret messages within everyday Internet communication channels. Such covert communications provide protection for communications and exploit the opportunities available in digital media. Digital image steganography makes the nature and content of a message invisible to other users by taking ordinary internet artefacts and using them as cover objects for the messages. In this paper we demonstrate the capability with raster image files and discuss the challenges of detecting such covert communications. The contribution of the research is community awareness of covert communication capability in digital media and the motivation for including such …

A Not-So-Silent Spring: The Impacts Of Traffic Noise On Call Features Of The Bloody Bay Poison Frog (Mannophryne Olmonae), Catherine G. Clemmens

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Riskvis: Supply Chain Visualization With Risk Management And Real-Time Monitoring, Rick S. M. Goh, Zhaoxia Wang, Xiaofeng Yin, Xiuju Fu, Loganathan Ponnanbalam, Sifei Lu, Xiaorong Li

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With increased complexity, supply chain networks (SCNs) of modern era face higher risks and lower efficiency due to limited visibility. Hence, there is an immediate need to provide end-to-end supply chain visibility for efficient management of complex supply chains. This paper proposes a visualization scheme based on multi-hierarchical modular design and develops a supply chain visualization platform with risk management and real-time monitoring, named RiskVis, for realizing better Supply Chain Risk Management (SCRM). A Supply Chain Visualizer (SCV) with a graphical visualization platform is mounted as a part of a SCRM management decision-making dashboard and it provides senior management a …

Portable Game Based Instruction Of American Sign Language, Christyna Wilson

All Theses

In this thesis, we address the effectiveness of portable gaming devices as a vehicle for learning American Sign Language. We begin by creating a multi-level game using a standard programming language, and use the game to illustrate various signed words. We translate the game to mobile devices using Kivy, a crossplatform framework. This allows the game to be compatible with multiple mobile devices and platforms. A secondary inspiration for creating a game as opposed to standard memorization techniques is to stimulate a quicker learning response as the user enjoys the sign learning process. In this thesis we provide a mobile …

Usability Of Performance Dashboards, Usefulness Of Operational And Tactical Support, And Quality Of Strategic Support: A Research Framework, Bih-Ru Lea, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Performance dashboards are used as a strategic decision support tool in organizations. In this research, we examine the relationships between the usability of performance dashboards, the usefulness of operational and tactical support, and the quality of strategic support that they provide. We hypothesize that usability of performance dashboards will influence user perceptions of the usefulness of the operational and tactical support provided by the dashboards, which in turn influence the perceived quality of strategic support provided.

Usability Of Performance Dashboards, Usefulness Of Operational And Tactical Support, And Quality Of Strategic Support: A Research Framework, Bih-Ru Lea, Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Performance dashboards are used as a strategic decision support tool in organizations. In this research, we examine the relationships between the usability of performance dashboards, the usefulness of operational and tactical support, and the quality of strategic support that they provide. We hypothesize that usability of performance dashboards will influence user perceptions of the usefulness of the operational and tactical support provided by the dashboards, which in turn influence the perceived quality of strategic support provided.

Understanding Effects Of Presentation On Concept Learning In Technology Supported Learning, Nivedita Singh

Theses

The world of technology has had a significant impact on learning and instructional domain. Today, a large number of devices and software are specifically designed to afford faster and effective learning and instruction. They have not only erased the physical boundaries to resources in education but have also helped create new interactions and engagements for learners and instructors. With this changed scenario, the content or instructional material also needs our attention to become usable and compatible with the changed learning styles and preferences of the learners today. Not only does the content need to seamlessly integrate with the delivery methodology …

Sensual Cultures: Exploring Sensory Orientation, Lauren Sonnenstrahl Benedict

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

We use our senses every day, consciously or unconsciously, based on our cultural needs and preferences. These sensory orientations shape and are shaped by what a given culture defines as acceptable. For this reason, different sensory orientations result in different strengths and areas of emphasis and de-emphasis. Becoming aware of different sensory orientations and their associated cultures allows us to realize what we are missing in our own sensory orientations that inform our cultural habits. Familiarity with various sensory orientations may cultivate greater cultural acceptance as well. To analyze and illustrate such differences, an educational app for iPads was created …

The Use Of Visual-Based Simulated Environments In Teacher Preparation, Sharon Judge, Jonna Bobzien, Ann Maydosz, Sabra Gear, Petros Katsioloudis

Communication Disorders & Special Education Faculty Publications

While virtual technology for training in the simulation field has a long history in medicine, aviation, and the military, the application of similar emerging and innovative technologies in teacher preparation and education has been limited. TLE TeachLive™ (Teaching Learning Environment, Teaching in a Virtual Environment) [TLE] is an inventive mixed-reality environment (the blending of real and synthetic content) where prospective teachers can interact with a group of virtual students. The purpose of the virtual teaching environment of TLE is to strengthen teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention in education by allowing teachers to improve their skills with virtual students, providing a …

Just Beautiful Portrays Of The Mind? The Relevance Of Aesthetic Strategies On Knowledge Creation In Neuroscience, Valerie Kummer

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

We live in the age of big data. All types of data are being generated at an increasing rate but theories about the strategies and methods to visualize them is lagging. One of the main challenges we face today in research is to keep up with the massive amounts of data we produce (Allen, Elena A. et.al, 2012). Especially in the field of neuroscience and its use of imaging technologies, the vast array of data has risen to such a high number that it is impossible to grasp the inherent information without additional software tools and intelligent interfaces. Only through …

19. Zoology, University Of Central Oklahoma

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

No abstract provided.

Reducing Communication Delay Variability For A Group Of Robots, Goncalo Martins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel architecture is presented for reducing communication delay variability for a group of robots. This architecture relies on using three components: a microprocessor architecture that allows deterministic real-time tasks; an event-based communication protocol in which nodes transmit in a TDMA fashion, without the need of global clock synchronization techniques; and a novel communication scheme that enables deterministic communications by allowing senders to transmit without regard for the state of the medium or coordination with other senders, and receivers can tease apart messages sent simultaneously with a high probability of success. This approach compared to others, allows simultaneous communications without …

Singing Behavior And Geographic Variation In The Songs Of The Veery (Catharus Fuscescens) Across The Appalachian Mountains, Courtney L. Brennan

ETD Archive

The Veery (Catharus fuscescens) is a common Neotropical migrant thrush whose breeding distribution spans the Northern United States and southern Canada and continues south through the high elevations of the Appalachian Mountains. Despite its wide distribution, many aspects of Veery biology are largely unknown, including a clear characterization of song and knowledge of geographic song variation. I describe the song structure, repertoire size, and patterns of song delivery in the songs of the Veery and describe geographic song variation across four regions along the Appalachian Mountains. Visual analysis of song spectrogram images of territorial males revealed that Veeries' repertoire ranges …

Sustainable Systems Thinking In Communication Design Education, Yvette M. Perullo

Open Access Theses

Design ingenuity and sustainability can, and should, work together. Designers have an ethical responsibility to provide ideas that do no harm, and better yet, create positive solutions that nourish the environment, social and cultural structures, and the economy. This approach, referred to as sustainable systems thinking--in contrast to more common design approaches--looks at a problem as an integrated component of an entire network. Sustainable systems thinking helps designers, clients, and consumers to consider who or what is connected to the design outcome, where the project will have positive and negative ecological, financial, cultural or social impacts, and make the entire …

Communiqué: College Of Humanities, Arts & Sciences Alumni Magazine,Volume 2, Winter 2013, University Of Northern Iowa. College Of Humanities, Arts, And Sciences.

Communiqué: College of Humanities, Arts & Sciences Alumni Magazine

Contents:

-- Dean's Message
-- Major Change
-- The Art of Teaching
-- Briefs: Humanities and Fine Arts
-- Square Peg, Round Hole
-- Brazil and Back
-- CHAS Applause
-- News in Short
-- Going Viral
-- NASA: We Have an Intern
-- Get Energized, Iowa!
-- Blowin' Up
-- Briefs: Sciences
-- New Exchanges
-- Change and Innovation
-- Transitions
-- Donor Feature
-- Alumni News

Cooperative Interactive Distributed Guidance On Mobile Devices, Gregory Burnett

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Mobiles device are quickly becoming an indispensable part of our society. Equipped with numerous communication capabilities, they are increasingly being examined as potential tools for civilian and military usage to aide in distributed remote collaboration for dynamic decision making and physical task completion. With an ever growing mobile workforce, the need for remote assistance in aiding field workers who are confronted with situations outside their expertise certainly increases. Enhanced capabilities in using mobile devices could significantly improve numerous components of a task's completion (i.e. accuracy, timing, etc.). This dissertation considers the design of mobile implementation of technology and communication capabilities …

Discrete Transforms With Good Time-Frequency And Spatial-Frequency Localization, David Chisholm

Dissertations and Theses

Discrete orthonormal time-frequency basis functions are described and used for both analysis and synthesis of complex-valued signals. We derive expressions for complex-valued expansion coefficients in time-frequency lattices in the discrete one dimensional case. This derivation is based on Professor I. Gertner's previous construction of a complete orthonormal set of basis functions well localized in the temporal-spatial-frequency domain in the continuous case. We describe how these can be generalized to any number of dimensions. Example applications are presented in one and two dimensions. Three dimensional basis functions are visualized and discussed. Finally, a full a Matlab implementation of this work is …