Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding On Concepts Of Force Of Thai Freshmen, Chokchai Usawinchai

Dissertations

The central concept of Newtonian mechanics is force. Without this concept, the students would find the rest of mechanics very difficult to master. Based on this hypothesis, the understandings and misconceptions of Newtonian mechanics were investigated.

Three hundred eighteen Thai freshmen participated in this study. The freshmen were divided into two groups according to their high school locations, Bangkok and other cities of Thailand. The Force Concept Inventory was used to probe the freshmen's understandings and misconceptions. The SPSS and EXCEL programs were used to analyze the data. The translation of the FCI into Thai and its subsequent validation is …

A Comparison Of Different Schemes For Selecting And Estimating Score Functions Based On Residuals, Ali A. Al-Shomrani

Dissertations

In a linear model when the errors follow a normal distribution, least squares methodology is most powerful. However, when the assumption of normality of the error distribution is not met then there exist methods which are more powerful than least squares methods. Rank-based methods form one such class. These methods depend on the selection of a score function [varphi]( u ). The correct choice of [varphi] leads to an optimal (efficient) analysis, but its selection depends on the error distribution which is not known.

In this thesis, we explore different schemes for score selection. Some of these schemes are functions …

Using Protocol Analysis To Help Determine The Behavioral Function Of Conducting Safety Observations, Alicia M. Alvero

Dissertations

Recent research endeavors have demonstrated the existence of an observer effect . In other words, conducting safety observations increases the safetyperformance of the observer, and may result in safety-related verbalizations. The purpose of this study was to help determine whether observers make self-verbalizations regarding their safety performance and whether these reports are functionally related to safety performance. In order to answer these questions two experiments were conducted using both protocol analysis and the silent dog method. Protocol analysis is used by cognitive scientists to analyze thethoughts of a person as they perform a task, and the silent dog method allows …

Interspecies Encounters: An Ethnography Of A Veterinary Hospital, Dana Atwood-Harvey

Dissertations

There were three broad reasons for this research. The larger goal was to continue to advance the incorporation of 'other' animals and the rest of nature in general in sociological theory and research. The second was to suggest to those who have incorporated 'other' animals into their research, to include them as participants. The third was to redirect the focus of those who have incorporated 'other' animals as participants, to the impact that ideological structures and other social factors have on human-'other' animal encounters. Toward this end, I directed the focus of my study to examine human-'other' animal encounters ina …

Treatment Of Specific Animal Phobias And The Relationship Of An Opiate Antagonist To Outcome, Andrea T. Kozak

Dissertations

Previous research with non-humans, and humans to a lesser degree, suggest the endogenous opiate system is at work to assist an organism in times of pain or stress. One-session exposure treatment is an effective treatment for specific animal phobia and entails modest degrees of stress during implementation. At the present time, the mechanisms at work that facilitate the success of this intervention have been incompletely investigated. The focus of the present study was to determine whether the endogenous opiate system is activated during the treatment of persons with specific animal phobias. In a double-blind investigation, 15 individuals with specific animal …

Cellular Proliferation, Death And Histology In Gambusia Affinis Livers After Exposure To 2-Aminofluorene And Benzidine, Susan J. Lentz

Dissertations

A fundamental need exists for aquatic animals in the biomonitoring of aquatic ecosystems for environmental carcinogens. G. affinis, a small fish species, is selected for this study due to its hardiness, non-migratory nature, geographic diversity and ability to develop tumors. Molecular tools for cellular proliferation and death are examined for use with G. affinis. Additionally, these tools are used to investigate the early carcinogenic effects of 2-aminofluorene and benzidine, both individually and combined, on G. affinis livers.

Antibodies to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), p53, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) were examined for use in G. …

Using Behavioral Systems Analysis To Improve The Placement Service Of The Association For Behavior Analysis, Lori H. Miller

Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrated the use of behavioral systems analysis tools in the development of a useful service in a non-profit association. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to design a placement system that would add value to the field of behavior analysis by placing behavior analysts in appropriate jobs, internships, and graduate programs; (2) to develop a data collection infrastructure that would assist the Association for Behavior Analysis (ABA) in the assessment of the trends related to the human resources of the field; and (3) to advance the knowledge and methodology of behavioral systems analysis.

Six objectives were …

A Behavior Systems Analysis Approach To Designing A Hlgh-Impact Knowledge Management System, Jacalyn S. Smeltzer

Dissertations

Behavior systems analysis is an approach to designing and managing systems that incorporates the human-performance-technology model of systems analysis and considers the basic principles of behavior when analyzing causes of performance deficiencies and in selecting interventions to address those deficiencies. Behavior systems analysis focuses on three major conditions that influence behavior: (1) the motivation of the individual, (2) the immediate environmental cues, and (3) the consequences of behavior (Malott & Garcia, 1987; Suarez, 2001). The present study used behavior systems analysis to design a knowledge management system (independent variable) for a small business, a consulting firm in the employer-provided training …

Image Morphological Processing, Vijayalakshmi Gaddipati

Dissertations

Mathematical Morphology with applications in image processing and analysis has been becoming increasingly important in today's technology. Mathematical Morphological operations, which are based on set theory, can extract object features by suitably shaped structuring elements. Mathematical Morphological filters are combinations of morphological operations that transform an image into a quantitative description of its geometrical structure based on structuring elements. Important applications of morphological operations are shape description, shape recognition, nonlinear filtering, industrial parts inspection, and medical image processing.

In this dissertation, basic morphological operations, properties and fuzzy morphology are reviewed. Existing techniques for solving corner and edge detection are presented. …

Fully Nonlinear Interfacial Waves In A Bounded Two-Fluid System, Lyudmyla Leonidivna Barannyk

Dissertations

We study the nonlinear flow which results when two immiscible inviscid incompressible fluids of different densities and separated by an interface which is free to move and which supports surface tension, are caused to flow in a straight infinite channel. Gravity is taken into consideration and the velocities of each phase can be different, thus giving rise to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. Our objective is to study the competing effects of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability coupled with a stably or unstably stratified fluid system (Rayleigh-Taylor instability) when surface tension is present to regularize the dynamics. Our approach involves the derivation of two-and …

High Pressure Effects On Electron Transport And Structure Of Colossal Magnetoresistive Materials, Congwu Cui

Dissertations

Pressure effects on the electronic, magnetic properties and structure of several typical colossal magnetoresistive manganites, La_0.60Y_0.07Ca_0.33MnO₃, Pr_1-xCa_xMn0₃ (X = 0.25, 0.30, 0.35), Nd_1-xSr_xMnO₃ (x = 0.45, 0.50), were explored through high pressure resistivity and structure measurements. It was shown that pressure up to ~7 GPa induces more complicated charge, spin and lattice state changes than in the low pressure range explored previously. In La_0.60Y_0.07Ca_0.33MnO₃, pressure induces a local atomic structure transformation at a critical …

Pharmacophore Derivation Using Discotech And Comparison Of Semi-Emperical, Ab Initio And Density Functional Comfa Studies For Sigma 1 And Sigma 2 Receptor-Ligands, Dawoon Jung

Dissertations

This study describes the development of pharmacophore and CoMFA models for sigma receptor ligands. CoMFA studies were performed for 48 bioactive sigma 1 receptorligands using [H³ ](+) pentazocine as the radioligand, for 30 PCP derivatives for sigma 1 receptor-ligands using [³H](+)SK-F 10047 as the radioligand and for 24 bioactive sigma 2 receptor-ligands using the radioligand [H³](+)DTG in the presence of pentazocine. Distance Comparisons (DISCOtech) was used as the starting point for CoMFA studies. The conformers, derived by DISCOtech were optimized using AMi, or HF/3-21G* in Gaussian 98. The optimized geometries were aligned with the pharmacophore, …

Image Enhancement Techniques Applied To Solar Feature Detection, Artur J. Kowalski

Dissertations

This dissertation presents the development of automatic image enhancement techniques for solar feature detection. The new method allows for detection and tracking of the evolution of filaments in solar images. Series of H-alpha full-disk images are taken in regular time intervals to observe the changes of the solar disk features. In each picture, the solar chromosphere filaments are identified for further evolution examination. The initial preprocessing step involves local thresholding to convert grayscale images into black-and-white pictures with chromosphere granularity enhanced. An alternative preprocessing method, based on image normalization and global thresholding is presented. The next step employs morphological closing …

New Full Wave Theory For Plane Wave Scattering By A Rough Dielectric Surface - The Fictitious Current Method, Byung-Tae Yoon

Dissertations

A new full wave method for scattering of plane waves from a rough dielectric surface is developed. This new theory begins by postulating a zero-order field solution which does not satisfy Maxwell's source-free field equations. The zero-order field, however, is made to satisfy Maxwell's source equations. This is done by introducing a fictitious volume current distribution. Since the original problem does not possess a volume current distribution, its introduction represents a measure of the error in the postulated zero-order solution. To improve this solution, the fictitious volume current distribution is cancelled by the introduction of a second fictitious current distribution, …

Application Of Adaptive Optics To The Spectroscopic Investigation Of Small-Scale Solar Structures, Klaus Hartkorn

Dissertations

We study bright points, umbral dots and the G-band using a two-dimensional spectrometer and an Adaptive Optics system, which allows us to record high-resolution dopplergrams and residual intensity images. We find evidence that bright points are smaller than 120 km in diameter. Bright points are situated exclusively in regions of enhanced G-band brightness and do not show a change in their shape or a displacement in their position of more than 120 km horizontally over a height range from 0 km to 320 km above photospheric level T = 1. We do not find velocity differences of more than 100 …

Time-Frequency Investigation Of Heart Rate Variability And Cardiovascular System Modeling Of Normal And Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copd) Subjects, Douglas Alan Newandee

Dissertations

A study has been designed to add insight to some questions that have not been fully investigated in the heart rate variability field and the cardiovascular regulation system in normal and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) subjects. It explores the correlations between heart rate variability and cardiovascular regulation, which interact through complex multiple feedback and control loops. This work examines the coupling between heart rate (HR), respiration (RESP), and blood pressure (BP) via closed-loop system identification techniques in order to noninvasively assess the underlying physiology.

In the first part of the study, the applications of five different bilinear time-frequency representations …

An Evaluation Study Of A Community College Administrative Leadership Development Program, Cristina Chiriboga-Hahn Edd

Dissertations

The general purpose of this study was to examine a model for professional development designed to meet the needs of administrators who work within the community college segment of higher education. Specifically, the research project was structured as a formative evaluation of the California community college administrative development program entitled Administration 101 offered through the state's primary professional association for administrators, the Association of California Community College Administrators (ACCCA). The study employed a mixed research methodology that included qualitative approaches to assess: 1. The usefulness of the concepts presented in Administration 101 based on the perceptions of participants and presenters, …

Influential Factors Contributing To Exercise Compliance Following A Structured Lifestyle Change Program, Wayne E. Borin Edd

Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease remains the number one cause of death in the United States, with five hundred thousand people diagnosed annually. Even though regular exercise has been shown to dramatically reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, few hospitals offer programs that focus on the requisite lifestyle changes for participants to maintain long-term exercise programs. In an effort to determine what factors contribute to long-term exercise compliance, this study surveyed 279 participants of the Scripps Ornish/Healing Hearts program, a comprehensive lifestyle change program, to identify the factors that helped explain variation in exercise compliance among program completers. Results of the hierarchical multiple …

The Use Of Quality Indices For Successful Programs For Students With Emotional/Behavior Disorders In The State Of Michigan, Alice Brouwer Hoekstra

Dissertations

Recent research studies have determined that students with emotional and behavior disorders (EBD) are the most difficult to integrate into the general education environment. Students with EBD are most likely to be educated in separate settings and least likely to be found in traditional education environments. However, the mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act reauthorized in 1997 (IDEA '97) and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) regulation indicates all educators, including administrators, have the responsibility to challenge teachers and schools to be more inclusive regarding students with EBD and to provide services that better support students in this setting. …

An Experimental Analysis Of The Effects Of Reading Interventions In A Small Group Reading Instruction Context, Christine M. Bonfiglio

Dissertations

The validation of specific reading intervention components in increasing oral reading fluency is evident within the literature for academic responding. However, much of the literature examines these components using single-case designs on an individual basis across students. This study utilized response-guided experimentation in the context of a small group reading instruction with four 4th graders (three male and one female) while examining individual patternsof student responding for oral reading fluency. Acquisition, fluency, and consequential components were examined in a dismantling fashion. Sequential modifications of the treatment package and its components were utilized within a multiple-baseline design in order to identify …

Drug Courts: A Study Of Retention And Suspension In The Kalamazoo County Drug Court Program, James H. Houston

Dissertations

This is a study of the Kalamazoo County Drug Treatment Court Programs. Participants in the court programs are men and women who reside in the county and are charged with drug-related non-violent felonies. These participants, along with judges and administrators of the program, were interviewed for the study. The interviews were held in face-to-face meetings: participants on neutral ground and court functionaries in their offices.

The study sought to determine what factors contributed to the success or failure of drug court participants. It asked to what extent program requirements are perceived by the participants to be coercive, and how this …

One Mind Or Two? How Psychiatrists And Psychologists Manage Medical-Scientific And Religious Interpretations Of Mind, Ellen Wagenfeld-Heintz

Dissertations

Building upon concepts from sociology of medicine, religion, knowledge, and professions, this study explores the social determinants of separation and integration of medical-scientific and religious approaches to mind and mental health. Using qualitative interviews, it shows how, to what extent, and why psychiatrists and psychologists of Judeo-Christian religious orientations or nonaffiliated believers in the State of Michigan are willing or reluctant to integrate religious paradigms in their mental health practices. The study turns to a content analysis of 3,680 articles from two leading professional journals to assess the participants’ claims regarding the treatment of religion prevalent in psychiatry and psychology. …

The Tragedy Of The Rivers: Building Authority Over The British Water Environment, Kevin B. Vichcales

Dissertations

"The Tragedy of the Rivers: Building Authority over the British Water Environment" examines the problem of rivers as common public resources in modern Britain. Viewed historically, the enduring problem of environmental pollution control in Britain has been the establishment of regulating authority over aspects of nature that are regarded simultaneously as economic resources, public utilities, and public amenities. Legislators, subject to pressure from industrial polluters, political parties, and advocates for environmental quality, sought at different times to locate authority at local, regional, national and extra-national levels. Each effort failed to resolve the issue of authority over the environment, because administrative …

The Extent To Which Teachers And Principals Perceive High Schools As Learning Organizations, Scott Kemple

Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to conduct an assessment of the culture and leadership of a sample of Michigan high schools as perceived by their teaching staff and principals.

The variables of culture and leadership are primary indicators of whether a school is viewed as a learning organization by the faculty, staff and administration of the school (Leithwood et al., 2001). Five primary questions were examined: (1) To what extent are high schools perceived as learning organizations by their principals? (2) To what extent are high schools perceived as learning organizations by their teachers? (3) Is there a difference …

Identifying The Function Of Aberrant Behavior: Comparing Variations Of The Experimental Functional Analysis, Kathryn M. Potoczak

Dissertations

The advent of the experimental functional analysis has had a significant effect on the field of behavior analysis in shifting the focus from topography-based interventions for aberrant behavior to treatment based on function. The original method developed by Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, and Richman in 1982 utilized attention, demand, alone, and play conditions in a multielement design. Its effectiveness in determining the function of aberrant behavior using both antecedents and corresponding contingencies of reinforcement is well established, and it is the most prevalent method of functional assessment used today.

However, an alternative to the Iwata et al. (1982) procedure exists. …

Role That Professional Positioning And Professional Socialization Play In The Career Path Of African American Women Superintendents, Cheryl Celestin

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the professional positioning and professional socialization of African American women school superintendents in the Mid-West area of the United States. Numerous studies revealed that there are very few African American women superintendents (Glass, 2000; Alston, 2000; Brunner, 1999; Ortiz, 1998; and Jackson, 1995). Women educators in general and African American women educators more specifically were not placed in professional paths that normally lead to the superintendency (Alston, 2000; Gardiner, Enomoto and Grogan, 2000; and Shakeshaft, 1987). The ladder to the school superintendency had historically included male dominated line positions such as athletic coaching and band directing with …

Employee Receptivity To Three Hundred Sixty Degree Feedback Systems As A Function Of Employee Trust And Employee Commitment: An Exploratory Study, Gregory G. Stump Edd

Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative exploratory study was to determine what affect, if any, employee trust, employee commitment, psychological androgyny (an employee sex-role inventory), and various demographic variables have on employee receptivity to 360-degree feedback (R360). Two organizations participated in the study. The first is a large university located in New York; the second is a small consulting firm located in California. A total of 62 participants responded to the 77-item Internet-based survey. The survey was composed of psychometrically adequate constructs developed in earlier studies. Employee trust, a 12-item construct, consisted of 8 items that measured trust in supervisor and …

Network Lifetime Extension, Power Conservation And Interference Suppression For Next Generation Mobile Wireless Networks, Amer Catovic

Dissertations

Two major focus research areas related to the design of the next generation multihop wireless networks are network lifetime extension and interference suppression. In this dissertation, these two issues are addressed.

In the area of interference suppression, a new family of projection multiuser detectors, based on a generalized, two-stage design is proposed. Projection multiuser detectors provide efficient protection against undesired interference of unknown power, while preserving simple design, with closed-form solution for error probabilities. It is shown that these detectors are linearly optimal, if the interference power is unknown.

In the area of network lifetime extension, a new approach to …

Experimental And Modeling Studies Of Formation Of Products Of Incomplete Combustion And Chlorocarbon Incineration, Roman Brukh

Dissertations

The two-stage combustor facility was used to investigate the process of chlorocarbon incineration and formation of products of incomplete combustion. For this purpose methylene chloride was used as a chlorine-containing compound. The propose of this research was to obtain a better understanding of the incineration process of chlorocarbons, such as methylene chloride, especially regarding its destruction efficiency and formation of products of incomplete combustion. For measuring near-real time very low concentrations of benzene and methylene chloride, on-line microtrap gas chromatography system was used.

The experimental system was validated using a known combustion reaction mechanism from literature. Modeling of combustion process …

Handgrip Pattern Recognition, Zong Chen

Dissertations

There are numerous tragic gun deaths each year. Making handguns safer by personalizing them could prevent most such tragedies. Personalized handguns, also called "smart" guns, are handguns that can only be fired by the authorized user. Handgrip pattern recognition holds great promise in the development of the smart gun.

Two algorithms, static analysis algorithm and dynamic analysis algorithm, were developed to find the patterns of a person about how to grasp a handgun. The static analysis algorithm measured 160 subjects' fingertip placements on the replica gun handle. The cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were applied to these fingertip placements, and …