Digital Commons Network^™

Expanding A Path Analytic Model Of Quality Management To Include The Management Of Safety, Bruce J. Ladewski

Dissertations

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) reports that every year 4.1 million American workers are seriously injured from workplace accidents at an annual direct and indirect cost estimated at hundreds of billions (OSHA, 2012). At the public level, actions to reduce the workplace deaths, injuries, and associated costs in the form legislation. At the private level, actions taken include implementing behavior based safety programs focused on various ways of encouraging employee behaviors to reduce reported injuries. The most recent move to drive down worker injuries focuses on the implementation of management systems by adopting principles used to prevent product …

The Influence Of Training Procedures On Generalization Performance In Scent-Detection Rats, Erin Watkins

Dissertations

The global illicit trade in tobacco products leads to an overall increase in the availability of tobacco, and this increase in tobacco availability and consumption undermines effective health, safety, and taxation policies in place to protect current and future populations. Dogs working at ports and customs have been trained to detect tobacco products and research has shown rats can detect tobacco-soaked filters (Mahoney et al., 2014). Cigarette smoking is the most common form of tobacco use, and cigarettes are the most commonly trafficked product in the illicit tobacco trade. In the current study, rats were trained to respond to filter …

Artificial Immune Systems: Applications, Multi-Class Classification, Optimizations, And Analysis, Brian Haroldo Schmidt

Dissertations

The focus of this research is the application of the Artificial Immune System (AIS) paradigm to a new research area along with the modifications necessary to adapt it to a new problem. In the past 10 years, there has been much research into the use of various Machine Learning (ML) algorithms in Network Flow Traffic Classification. AIS algorithms have thus far not been applied to this problem. Because AIS algorithms have been used extensively for Network Intrusion Detection applications, which is a similar area of research, the motivation to extend them to the network flow classification problem is clear.

This …

General Education Teachers’ Attitudes About Inclusion, Larry D. Monje

Dissertations

This study uses Q Methodology and semi-structured interviews to examine general education teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about inclusion of students with disabilities in their general education classrooms. As reported in the 38th Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act, 2016, 94.8% of students with disabilities are being educated in general education classrooms for some part of the school day (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). For this reason, it is important to understand general education teachers’ attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about the inclusion of students with disabilities.

In this study there were 50 Q …

Justice Involved Veterans’ Post-Release Employment-Related Experiences, James L. Dawson

Dissertations

In 2010, the cost to U.S. taxpayers was $39 billion to incarcerate individuals in State and Federal Correctional facilities. A sub-population of these prisoners is those that have served in the U.S. military, or “Justice Involved Veterans” (JIVs). Many Veterans are eligible for federal and state funds for Career Tech. Education to assist them with obtaining employment, which research shows often contributes to keeping them from re-offending. However, recent studies of employment after prison have all been quantitative investigations that do not incorporate the voices of JIVs describing their experiences in depth. Bush’s (2011), and Bolman and Deal’s (2008) theories …

Western Michigan University Magazine, Spring 2017, Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Magazine (1997-present)

• A Students’ Prez. A Big-idea Leader. A Dunn Deal. Because of President John M. Dunn, WMU moves into the future with an international reputation for student success, valuable partnerships, innovation and sustainability. His July retirement marks the culmination of a productive presidency.
• Welcome, Dr. Montgomery: Noted public policy expert is WMU’s ninth leader
• Degreed to Succeed: Our latest postgraduate success rate: 92 percent
• Can Biologists Cure What’s Ailing Bats?: A seemingly unstoppable fungus has killed millions
• Archaeological Aspirations: Unearthed Scholarship winner digs into her ambitions
• Foiling Fake News: Catch the untrue before it catches you
• Public Health Defenders: New public …

Satellite Sequencing Optimization And Observational Orbit Determination Using Genetic Algorithms, Andrew W. Verstraete

Masters Theses

The problem of mission design for a robotic servicing satellite in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) was investigated. A representative set of potential client satellites was selected, and operational needs were randomly assigned based on the average number of GEO retirements, anomalies, and repositioning maneuvers that currently occur each year. An objective function was developed to represent the value of servicing mission sequences, including client fees, time penalties, and operational risk. A genetic algorithm was then used to find sequences of operations on the potential client set that maximized the objective function’s value. Scenarios were analyzed with the database of satellites …

Home Literacy Practices: A Focus On Dominican Families, Susan E. Pendleton

Masters Theses

The majority of the current research regarding the home literacies that families employ to help their children become literate are explored through North American family structures. For this reason, there is a lack of knowledge about what Dominican families, a subgroup within the Latino culture, do at home to assist their children in their literacy acquisition in the Dominican Republic. This qualitative research study provides insight as to what literacy practices take place within the Dominican household. I gathered pertinent information from 10 Dominican participants using a semi-structured interview so literacy practices could be revealed. Findings from this research indicate …

Revisiting The One-Sided Ewma Control Chart Design, Duy Anh Duong-Tran

Masters Theses

Over the past half-century, Exponential Weighted Moving Average (EWMA) control charts have been widely used in Statistical Process Control to detect small and persistent process shifts. In theory, EWMA control limits monotonically increase over time to account for the continual growth of the EWMA statistic’s variance. These control limits are often assumed constant and are set to their respective asymptotic limits. While not theoretically correct, this simplifies the process of applying and analyzing the EWMA control chart while having little effect on the chart’s performance. One-Sided EWMA charts are often implemented when it is only desirable to detect shifts in …

A House Divided Cannot Stand: The Case For Latino-Black Coalitions, Sarah Perez

Dissertations

Ethnic and racial groups are increasingly challenging the African-American-White dichotomy that has historically characterized race relations in the United States. In an increasingly multiracial/multiethnic society, the question of racial and/or ethnic cooperation is an important aspect of the larger American political process. This study examines what attitudes will lead to increased support for coalition building between African-Americans and Latinos. The research questions are: what are the attitudes that are likely to produce strong coalitions between Latinos and African-Americans? Conversely, what attitudinal barriers stand in the way of potential multiethnic coalitions? There are four sets of limitations that could affect support …

Investigating Personality Traits Of Registered Nurses: Implications For Personnel Evaluation, Stephanie N. Means

Dissertations

The United States is currently facing a registered nurse (RN) shortage that is expected to reach the millions in the next few years. Since the beginning of the century, healthcare professionals and administrators have strived to develop and implement ways to increase recruitment and retention in the nursing field. It has been recognized that the key to recruitment and retention is to get the right nurse in the right place, which means focusing on clinical proficiencies as well as personality qualities and characteristics. Personality assessment has long been used to evaluate person-job (P-J) fit of applicants for positions across the …

Biosorption Of Pharmaceuticals And Noble Metals Nanoparticles By Algal Turf Communities, Haider Abid Faraj

Dissertations

Pharmaceuticals and nanoparticles are increasingly released into the aquatic ecosystem, while removing these contaminants from waters can be challenging. This study explores the use of periphytic algal turf communities to remove these contaminants. Initially algal turfs from different locations and aquatic systems were analyzed for pharmaceuticals commonly observed in wastewater outflows. Lab-grown turfs were exposed to a mixture of six representative pharmaceuticals of different functionality (acid, base, neutral and steroidal). Analysis of water column and the algal biomass showed pharmaceutical removal rates varied, specific to each pharmaceutical. Caffeine and estradiol had the highest removal rates while carbamazepine was not removed. …

Subgroup Analysis And Growth Curve Models For Longitudinal Data, Nichole Andrews

Dissertations

In clinical trials and biomedical studies, treatments are compared to determine which one is effective against illness. Growth curve analysis can be beneficial in longitudinal biomedical studies, as we can evaluate the treatment effect on the response over time. The generalized growth curve model using polynomial regression is proposed for longitudinal data. An optimal degree for the polynomial is obtained using the BIQIF, an adaptation of the Bayesian information criterion. Quadratic inference functions are used to estimate the parameters of the model, which takes into account the fact that repeated measurements from the same subject are more likely to be …

Multiprocessing Real Time Vision Based System For Condition Monitoring In Solar Panels, Moath Hashim Alsafasfeh

Dissertations

Enabling an algorithm to be executed in parallel on a multicore or a multiprocessor system has become a necessity for many real time applications. Multicore systems are widely used to improve performance and satisfy time and power demands. In this dissertation, solar energy, which has proved itself as the future clean source of energy, is also considered in real time. Optimum utilization of this energy propelled research efforts into many directions of the solar system components. However, while real time operations of Photovoltaic (PV) systems occur without any supervisory mechanisms, many internal and/or external obstacles can occur and hinder a …

Impact Of Post-Secondary Correctional Education On Self-Efficacy And Personal Agency Of Formerly Incarcerated African American Men, David E. Jones

Dissertations

This study explored the impact of post-secondary correctional education (PSCE) on those released from prison, with special attention paid to individuals’ sense of self-efficacy and personal agency. A review of the literature indicates the vast majority of people who enter prison will one day return to society. These returning citizens face a number of hurdles as they work to reconstruct life outside of prison and avoid recidivism. Prior research suggests education is positively correlated with successful reentry into society. Unfortunately, there are few opportunities to pursue education past the secondary level in prison, which limits access to the corollary benefits …

Assessing A Punching Bag Feedback Performance Device, Neil Deochand

Dissertations

Physical exercise has been integrated into treatment efforts in reversing the number of overweight and obese individuals. Furthermore, exercise extends mortality, enhances general quality of life, and it is a protective health factor for preventing the progression some mental health disorders. Electronic athletic training equipment easily allows monitoring of real-time physical activity, and enables tracking of progress made toward individualized performance goals. There are limitations to only using visual feedback (e.g., visual depictions of heart rate, speed, distance traveled, or calories burned etc.) to track and improve exercise and athletic performance, especially for some sports, such as boxing. This issue …

Security And Privacy In Cloud Computing, Ramakrishnan Krishnan

Masters Theses

Cloud computing (CC) gained a widespread acceptance as a paradigm of computing. The main aim of CC is to reduce the need for customers' investment in new hardware or software by offering flexible cloud services, with a user reaping the benefits of the pay per use approach. CC demands addressing many security and privacy issues: both problems (vulnerabilities, threats, and attacks) and solutions (controls). The thesis discusses all these classes of problems and solutions, categorizing them as either security-related issues, privacy-related issues, or intertwined security and privacy issues. The main contributions of the thesis are twofold: first, using the …

The Effects Of Feedback Modality On Performance, Garrett D. Warrilow

Masters Theses

Giving employees information about their performance is a common method for employers seeking to improve or change performance. With the popularity of the internet and computers feedback today is often provided through emails, text messages, and video meetings. While feedback has continued to evolve within and across organizations little has been done to assess the impact its delivery through various modalities has. This study explored and evaluated the relationship between the modality which objective feedback is delivered, and the differential effects it produced on performance of a check entering task. This experiment was a laboratory study employing a between-group repeated …

Engagement Of Early College Students In The Graphic Design Classroom, Kelly Ann Vander Kley

Masters Theses

This thesis creates recommendations for methods to increase classroom engagement, specifically in classrooms consisting of art/design students within a dual enrollment setting. The recommendations follow the investigation of literature and the examination of studies related to engagement features of young college students who are studying graphic design. This thesis examines factors that potentially reduce classroom connectivity, and looks deeper into how those factors play a role in the engagement levels of students. I begin with a focus on overall classroom engagement followed by a closer look at engagement of early college students in the graphic design classroom. After an examination …

Alaska Native Artifacts; Eskimos And Aleuts Of The Bering Sea Rhythm Of The Sea Collection, Marcia Sue Taylor

Masters Theses

“Only his artifacts provide his earthly testimony” (Thiry 1977, p. 5). The purpose of the research is to catalogue Eskimo and Aleut artifacts that comprise an unprovenienced (anonymous) collection in the Anthropology Department at Western Michigan University, and provide a corresponding ethnography. This will be accomplished in two ways: (1) a museum curation project, and (2) an ethnographic study that will focus on cultural synthesis within the parameters of artistic styles of harpoon head artifacts and geography as these pertain to the artifacts and their distribution. Analysis of the collection’s harpoon heads will provide both artistic and inventive evidence of …

Cultivating The Concrete Jungle: Examining Urban Agriculture In The Motor City - Detroit, Mi, Sultan Muhammad

Masters Theses

The maintenance and development of sustainable food systems is becoming an essential aspect of maintaining an efficient urban environment. Likewise, addressing food and job security within America for the entirety of the population has proven difficult in the face of increasing poverty, particularly in urban areas. Urban agriculture has become a favored system of producing local fresh quality food, increasing employment opportunities, beautifying brown spaces and improving environmental conditions through the benefits of increased vegetation. UA exists in America, but as of yet have not sufficiently addressed the prevailing conditions of food insecurity, particularly within poor communities. This study will …

Coming To The United States: An Exploration Of Third Culture Building Processes Emerging From University Sponsored International/Host-National Student Interactions, Margaret E. Baker

Masters Theses

International students studying in the United States encounter a number of challenges that affect their ability to achieve their academic and social goals. These changes and acculturative pressures often influence their psychosocial wellbeing and factor into their satisfaction in their experiences abroad. Forming relationships with host-national students aids international students in their adjustment to life in the U. S. and influences their satisfaction and success both in and out of the classroom. This qualitative study analyzes third culture relationships as well as the challenges to their formation and the negotiations necessary for the relationship’s continued survival. This project explores the …

Gravity And Passive Seismic Methods Used Jointly For Understanding The Subsurface In A Glaciated Terrain: Dowling And Maple Grove Quadrangles, Barry County, Michigan, Scott A. Feldpausch

Masters Theses

The Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) passive, single sensor seismic technique has been used together with gravimetry to study the topography hidden below the glacial drift of two 7.5’ quadrangles in Barry Co., MI. 265 stations were observed with both instruments along roads at nominal spacings of about 0.4 to 0.8 km. Occasional water wells and oil wells with documented penetrations of the base of glacial were used to calibrate the local power law regression calibration. This was also compared with the statewide calibration curve previously established. Results are presented as maps of Simple Bouguer Anomaly, Residual Bouguer Anomaly, …

Effect Of Design Parameters On Thermal Performance Of A Vane Type Disc Brake Rotor, Yogesh Satish Dalal

Masters Theses

The ever-increasing need of effective transportation puts automobile manufacturers in a situation of continuous improvement and innovate the safety systems. The brake system of an automobile has always been considered as one of the most critical active safety systems. Thermal characteristics of the brake are an important aspect to consider for brake disc durability and performance. The convective cooling of a brake disc is an important factor since design changes in the brake rotor can significantly improve cooling characteristics. The focus of this research is to study and optimize the disc brake rotor for a given heat dissipation rate and …

Solar Module Condition Monitoring Using Thermal Imaging, Ammar W. Hashim

Masters Theses

Solar energy industry has been exponentially increasing over the past decades with solar panels sales recording significant growth mainly due to the fact that solar energy is a renewable clean source of energy. Similar to other systems, condition monitoring is essential to maintain high efficiency specially that these systems are still not scoring more than 46% efficiency and also to ensure a safe system and prevent electric and fire risks that may occur. In this work, we introduce a system using infrared thermography along with selected image processing techniques to effectively and non-destructively test and detect these defects. Hot spots …

Past Negative Time Perspective As A Predictor Of Grade Point Average In Occupational Therapy Doctoral Students, Pat J. Precin

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Time perspective is a fundamental dimension in psychological time, dividing human experiences into past, present, and future. Time perspective influences individuals’ functioning in all occupations, including education. Previous research has examined the relationship between time perspective and academic outcomes, but the same research has not been done, to date, with occupational therapy doctoral students. This quantitative, cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between time perspective and academic success in occupational therapy doctoral students across the United States. Data from the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI) and grade point averages (GPAs) were collected from 50 participants via surveymonkey.com. Past Negative time perspective …

Exploring The Activity Of Daily Living Of Sexual Activity: A Survey In Occupational Therapy Education, Helene L. Lohman, Alexandra Kobrin, Wen-Pin Chang

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

This study aimed to query occupational therapy educators in professional programs in the United States about the amount of time spent addressing sexual activity and the type and depth of education related to sexual activity. The study aims to inform educators about how sexual activity is taught. A cross-sectional survey research design was used with both closed- and open-ended questions. A total of 51 educators participated. An average of 3.5 hr was spent teaching sexual activity. Many of the participants were comfortable teaching sexual activity. However, some reported that sexual activity was often an overlooked topic in occupational therapy curriculum …

Occupational Therapy Students’ Self-Efficacy, Experience Of Supervision, And Perception Of Meaningfulness Of Level Ii Fieldwork, Lynne Andonian

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: This study explored the relationship of perceived self-efficacy to demographic and fieldwork variables for occupational therapy (OT) students. Self-efficacy is related to student and employee success and competency.

Methods: OT students (n = 306) from 42 OT programs in the United States completed the Student Confidence Questionnaire and the Demographic Questionnaire and Survey addressing demographics, practice setting, students’ experience of supervision, and perceptions of the fieldwork’s personal meaning during Level II fieldwork. Correlational and regression methods examined the relationships among the variables. Analysis of variance methods tested differences between higher and lower self-efficacy student groups.

Results: The degree of …

A Sleep Intervention For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study, Sarah A. Schoen, Sheryl Man, Chelsea Spiro

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: Parents of children who have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) commonly report sleep problems, which typically exacerbate daytime behavior problems. This pilot study sought to identify the short-term effects on sleep, behavior challenges, attention, and quality of life of children with ASD following use of the iLs Dreampad^™ pillow, which delivers bone conducted music and environmental sounds. Aims were to demonstrate acceptability and feasibility, identify measures sensitive to change, and describe individual characteristics responsive to change.

Method: Parent report questionnaires assessed sleep behavior, attention, autism-related behaviors, and quality of life from 15 participants before and during intervention. A …

Caregiving Among Community-Dwelling Grandparents In Jamaica, Julian Gm Mckoy Davis, Douladel Willie-Tyndale, Kathryn Mitchell-Fearon, Desmalee Holder-Nevins, Kenneth James, Denise Eldemire-Shearer

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

Grandparents play invaluable caregiving roles in the general upbringing of grandchildren. The objective of the present study is to provide a profile of grandparents providing care to co-resident grandchildren younger than 18 years old in Jamaica. A subsample of 451 grandparents providing care to co-resident grandchildren under than 18 years old was derived from a larger nationally-representative community-based study of 2943 older adults residing in Jamaica. Data pertaining to caregiving, demography, health, socioeconomic status, and social participation were analysed using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Seventy one percent of grandparents were involve in regular care of their grandchildren. Hypertension (65.9%), arthritis …