Digital Commons Network^™

Comparative Analysis Of The True Profitability Between Genetic Multiplication And Terminal Pig Production, Nicholas H. Dekryger

Open Access Theses

In the agriculture industry today, farmers and agribusinesses must continually deal numerous uncertainties and consequential financials burdens. Market prices, both in grains and livestock, have varied quiet substantially over the past five years creating difficulties in risk management and sales. As a means to combat the uncertainty facing the agriculture industry, solid business strategies must be implemented in order to absorb any external impact. Using part of the strategy outlined in The Breakthrough Imperative, an analysis was done on the strategy used by Belstra Group Farms with the goal to determine the true profitability of gilt multiplication.

A model was …

Biomechanics And Relaxivity For Functional Imaging Of Articular Cartilage Injury And Degradation, Kateri Elizabeth Fites

Open Access Theses

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major debilitating health concern and economic burden worldwide, affecting 27 million people in the United States alone. OA often follows tissue injury, and is marked by changes in the structure and biomechanical function of cartilage, including breakdown of extracellular matrix molecules, loss of bulk tissue stiffness, and increase in articular surface friction and wear. Unlike bone and many other tissues, cartilage lacks an intrinsic capacity for regeneration. Advanced OA is typically diagnosed by patient symptoms (e.g. joint pain) and confirmed by radiographic evaluation of joint space narrowing. However, the application of functional imaging to assess cartilage …

Design And Evaluation Of An E-Learning Service For Online Self-Presentation Education: A User-Centered Design Approach, Zhihua Dong

Open Access Theses

With the booming of Web 2.0, cyber recruiting becomes much more prevalence. This makes online self-presentation literacy a necessity for college students to prepare for better career opportunities. This study proposed to design and implement a working prototype of an online educational platform for college students to learn about online self-presentation management. The design and implementation of the working prototype followed an iterative design process, through which the design was created, evaluated, and improved. Within this process, cognitive walkthrough study, competitive analysis, and usability testing study were adopted as major methods to design and evaluate the prototype.

Through the design …

Climate Change In Native American Communities: Challenges Of Comprehension, Context, & Communication, Patrick Austin Freeland

Open Access Theses

Very little literature exists which details how climate change impacts Indian Country. This study first investigates how US newspaper stories published from 1991 to 2011 present American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) perceptions, and observations, of environmental changes resulting from climatic change. Several specific risk, impacts, and vulnerabilities were documented, and observations of climate change from AI/AN perceptions were analyzed for content to identify three frames of perspective: pan-Indian, tribally-specific, and individual perceptions. By law, ethical considerations are paramount when dealing with research in Native American tribes and communities. While each nation is supposed to review research to assess the risk and …

Collection Management Matters:The Politics Of Weeding, Glenda Alvin

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Decoder Ring: The Cms Is Flat, Jerry Spiller

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Dr. Frances Pinter Profile

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Color On Emotions In Animated Films, Andrew Kennedy

Open Access Theses

Lighting color in animated films is usually chosen very carefully in order to portray a specific mood or emotion. Artists follow conventional techniques with color choices with the intention to create a greater emotional response in the viewer. This study examined the relationship between color variations in videos and emotional arousal as indicated by physiological response. Subjects wore a galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor and watched two different videos: one portraying love and one portraying sadness. The videos were watched multiple times, each with variations in the lighting color. No significant effects on emotion for either hue or saturation were …

Just Noticeable Difference Survey Of Computer Generated Imagery Using Normal Maps, Michael Edward Hoerter

Open Access Theses

Normal maps are widely used as a resource-efficient means of simulating detailed topology on 3D surfaces in the gaming, simulation, and film industries. However, as surface mesh density increases, it is unknown at what level of density these increases become no longer perceivable, and whether normal maps significantly affect this threshold. This study examined at what point participants were unable to discern differences between one level of mesh density and another using an adapted staircase model. Participants identified this threshold for five different organic character models. The averages of each of these thresholds were taken and compared against the results …

Senescence: An Aging Based Character Simulation Framework, Suren Deepak Rajasekaran

Open Access Theses

The 'Senescence' framework is a character simulation plug-in for Maya that can be used for rigging and skinning muscle deformer based humanoid characters with support for aging. The framework was developed using Python, Maya Embedded Language and PyQt. The main targeted users for this framework are the Character Technical Directors, Technical Artists, Riggers and Animators from the production pipeline of Visual Effects Studios. The characters that were simulated using 'Senescence' were studied using a survey to understand how well the intended age was perceived by the audience. The results of the survey could not reject one of our null hypotheses …

Perceptions And Expectations About The Use Of Social Media To Raise Situational Awareness In Emergency Events, Israa Bukhari

Open Access Theses

Social media transformed the process of crisis communication. This technology enables the user to communicate with emergency officials as well as the whole virtual world in a click of a button. The emergence of social media in emergency management and its role in raising situational awareness is growing tremendously, making it important for emergency officials to better understand the users' needs and perceptions.

This study's goal is to gain a better understanding of the expectations and perceptions that Purdue associates have regarding the use of social media as it relates to emergencies. The set of interviews conducted in this study …

Atg Interviews: Frances Pinter, Knowledge Unlatched, Katina Strauch, Tom Gilson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Collecting To The Core: Computing Instruction Manuals, Stephen Patton, Anne Doherty

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Disruptive Technology: Librarians Must Think Heretical Thoughts To Adapt, Michelle A. Kraft

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Bet You Missed It: What Do The Clintons And Harvard Have In Common?, Bruce Strauch

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Full Page Ads

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Blurring Lines: Bringing E-Textbooks Into The Orbit Of University Library Purchase And Usage Preferences, David Parker

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

You Gotta Go To School For That?, Jared Seay

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Jennifer Lohmann Profile

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

And They Were There: Reports Of Meetings, Ramune K. Kubilius

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Library Services: Access To Service Keeps The Academic Library Community Busy These Days, Janice M. Krueger, Lindsay Johnston, Kristen Stauffer

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

If Rumors Were Horses, Katina Strauch

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

From The Reference Desk: Reviews Of Reference Titles, Tom Gilson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Analyze This: Altmetrics And Your Collection, Andrea Michalek, Mike Buschman, Kathleen Mcevoy

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Outsell's End-User Study: Faculty And Students, Katina Strauch, Kate Worlock

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Media-Centered: Docs To Watch, Winifred Fordham Metz

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Back Talk: Paradise Will Be A Kind Of Library, Tony Ferguson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Op Ed -- Little Red Herrings -- Is The Google Book Decision An Unqualified Good?, Mark Herring

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

What Do Students Learn From Participation In An Undergraduate Research Journal? Results Of An Assessment, Sharon A. Weiner, Charles Watkinson

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

INTRODUCTION Undergraduate research journals provide students with an opportunity to disseminate their work while learning about the scholarly publishing process. The opportunities to learn about scholarly communication have been demonstrated, but such journals also offer a means of helping students attain necessary information literacy competencies. By partnering in the publication of undergraduate journals, libraries can further strategic goals related to information literacy and establish a connection between library publishing and student success. This paper reports on an assessment of the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research (JPUR) that was designed to evaluate student learning outcomes and demonstrate connections between journal participation …