Digital Commons Network^™

Decision Support Model For Construction Crew Reassignments, Angela M. Sist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The reassignment of crews on a construction project in response to changes occurs on a frequent basis. The factors that affect the crew reassignment decision can be myriad and most are not known with certainty. This research addresses the need for a decision support model to assist construction managers with the crew reassignment problem. The model design makes use of certainty factors in a decision tree structure. The research helped to determine the elements in the decision tree, the appropriate combination rules to use with the certainty factors, and the method for combining the certainty factors and costs to develop …

Self Designing Pattern Recognition System Employing Multistage Classification, Manal M. Abdelwahab

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, pattern recognition/classification has received a considerable attention in diverse engineering fields such as biomedical imaging, speaker identification, fingerprint recognition, etc. In most of these applications, it is desirable to maintain the classification accuracy in the presence of corrupted and/or incomplete data. The quality of a given classification technique is measured by the computational complexity, execution time of algorithms, and the number of patterns that can be classified correctly despite any distortion. Some classification techniques that are introduced in the literature are described in Chapter one. In this dissertation, a pattern recognition approach that can be designed to have evolutionary …

Finite Element Analysis Of Left-Handed Waveguides, Balasubramaniam, Vellakkinar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, waveguides with simultaneous negative dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability, otherwise known as left-handed waveguides, are investigated. An approach of formulating and solving an eigenvalue problem with finite element method resulting in the dispersion relation of the waveguides is adopted in the analysis. Detailed methodology of one-dimensional scalar and two-dimensional vector finite element formulation for the analysis of grounded slab and arbitrary shaped waveguides is presented. Based on the analysis, for waveguides with conventional media, excellent agreement of results is observed between the finite element approach and the traditional approach. The method is then applied to analyze left-handed …

A Mobile Robotic Computing Platform For Three-Dimensional Indoor Mappi, Kenneth Mccoig

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are several industries exploring solutions to quickly and accurately digitize unexplored indoor environments, into useable three-dimensional databases. Unfortunately, there are inherent challenges to the indoor mapping process such as, scanning limitations and environment complexity, which require a specific application of tools to map an environment precisely with low cost and high speed. This thesis successfully demonstrates the design and implementation of a low cost mobile robotic computing platform with laser scanner, for quickly mapping with high resolution, urban and/or indoor environments using a gyro-enhanced orientation sensor and selectable levels of detail. In addition, a low cost alternative solution to …

Demographics Of Western South Dakota Wetlands And Basins, Bryan A. Rieger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands, whether natural or man-made in origin, are an important feature of the semiarid landscape of western South Dakota. These wetlands have numerous social and economic values and functions for both landowners and non-owners, as well as for fish and wildlife species. For this reason, accurate information about wetland abundance, characteristics and distribution is important. These demographic summaries of wetland resources of western South Dakota were based on digital wetland data, as delineated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) office. Surface water covers approximately 257,006 ha or about 2.4% of the 10,810,700 ha of western …

Factors Influencing A Declining Pronghorn Population In Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, Jaret D. Sievers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) were reintroduced into Wind Cave National Park (WCNP) in 1914 and thus, have inhabited the park for almost a century. A decline in the population has raised concern for the continued existence of pronghorn inside the park. Historically, pronghorn numbers reached greater than 300 individuals but were estimated to be less than 50 individuals during this study. Knowledge of food habits, genetic structure, causes of mortality, survival rates, and information related to movements were important to developing an understanding of factors contributing to this decline. Past studies have described spatial relationships and breeding behavior of adults and …

Effects Of Fire On The Nutritional Ecology Of Selected Ungulates In The Southern Black Hills, South Dakota, Teresa J. Zimmerman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research in the 1990s indicated that populations of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the northern and central Black Hills had declined since the late 1970s likely due to habitat deterioration. In August 2000, the Jasper fire consumed nearly 35,000 ha of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest in the southern Black Hills. To ascertain the nutritional condition of white-tailed deer and mule deer (O. hemionus) and their response to fire, 5 adult white-tailed deer and 5 adult mule deer were collected in burned and unburned habitat, in February and August, 2002 and 2003. Collected deer were weighed and necropsied at a …

Optimization Techniques For Image Restoration, Melissa Pirolli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many fields of study use images to make discoveries about the past, decisions for the present and predictions for the future. Images often acquire degradations such as a blur due to a patient moving during an x-ray or noise picked up through remote sensing imaging equipment. Images may also lose information through compression or

transmission. In this thesis, diffusion based models were used to solve the image restoration problem as these models can simultaneously remove noise, preserve edges and restore lost information. Specifically, numerical schemes were developed and tested for denoising via nonstandard diffusion that are more computationally efficient than …

A Proposed Algorithm Toward Uniform-Distribution Monotone Dnf Learning, Wenzhu Bi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1984 Valiant introduced the distribution-independent model of Probably Approximately Correct (PAC) learning from random examples and brought up the problem of whether polynomial-size DNF functions are PAC learnable in polynomial time. It has been about twenty years that the DNF learning problem has been widely regarded as one of the most important ---and challenging --- open questions in Computational Learning Theory. We consider a related but simpler question: are polynomial-size monotone DNF functions PAC learnable in polynomial time if examples of the function are uniformly generated? Our research develops an algorithm that we hope to learn a monotone DNF …

The Impact Of Utilizing High-Fidelity Computer Simulation On Critical Thinking Abilities And Learning Outcomes In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Lori Schumacher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Critical thinking abilities and learning outcomes are major components of nursing education. Initial critical thinking skills are often gained while the nursing student is learning the theoretical nursing principles in the classroom and is further enhanced in the clinical setting where learned knowledge is applied. A variety of instructional strategies are utilized to facilitate learning and promote critical thinking. Through the utilization of three complex and dynamic conceptual models, this study compared critical thinking abilities and learning outcomes of beginning baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students when three instructional strategies were used (classroom, simulation, and a combination of classroom and simulation).

A …

Queue Lengths At The Base Station Of An Hdr Forward Link / By Gokul Purushothaman, Gokul Purushothaman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Different Kind Of Civil Rights Work : The Gustavus Adolphus College Black Recruitment Program, William P. Hustwit

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of A School Of Origin Variable On The Traditional Predictors And Prediction Of Undergraduate Pharmacy Students' Academic Performance, William Boyd Lobb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Using Remote Sensing To Search For The Elusive Fort Maurepas Along The Back Bay Of Biloxi, Pollyanna Held

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Numerical Analysis Of Fresnel Zone Plate Antennas, Sasikanth Devulapalli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Dyadic Green's Functions Of Circular Waveguides With Application To Excitation And Scattering Problems, Victor Klymko

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Analysis And Design Of Coplanar Waveguide Fed Undirectional Slot Antennas With Wide Radiating Apertures, Venugopal Chennupati

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Addressing Scientific Literacy Through Content Area Reading And Proces, Susan Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to interpret the experiences of secondary science teachers in Florida as they address the scientific literacy of their students through teaching content reading strategies and student inquiry skills. Knowledge of the successful integration of content reading and inquiry skills by experienced classroom teachers would be useful to many educators as they plan instruction to achieve challenging state and national standards for reading as well as science. The problem was investigated using grounded theory methodology. Open-ended questions were asked in three focus groups and six individual interviews that included teachers from various Florida school districts. …

Coed Adolescent Soccer Players In A Competitive Learning Milieu: An Ethnographic Assessment Of Gender Attitudes, Perceptions And Sport Specific Component Testing, Francis O'Donnell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The history of association soccer dates back to the 1800's, and all indications are that prospects for the female athlete was scarce in all sports. The researcher has arranged an environment where young females can train with males in a soccer setting that has all the necessary elements for the athletes to learn, improve and compete with their own gender as well as opposite gender. The female group has been noticeable underachievers in this sport and is not aware of their potential. The research methodology is ethnographic in nature and study could easily be related to a traditional way to …

The Effect Of The Math Concepts And Skills (Mcs) Computer Program On S, Cheryl Manning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study measures the effectiveness of the National Computer Systems (NCS) Learn SuccessMaker Math Concepts and Skills computer program on standardized test scores at a middle school in east central Florida. The NCS Learn Company makes three claims for the SuccessMaker interactive computer program, Math Concepts and Skills (MCS): 1. Student Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) scores will improve from using the software 30 hours or more; 2. The increase in FCAT scores is directly related to the length of time the students' spend using the program; 3. The software package grading system is equivalent to the FCAT scoring. This …

Measuring Educational Gains And Setting Consequences: Charter Schooling And The No Child Left Behind Policy, Erin Lyttle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The charter school movement and the federal legislation No Child Left Behind (2001) have put a process in motion through which parents and students can opt out of the established public education system. This thesis is an in-depth study of one Pittsburgh charter school within the context of a critique of public education in American history. Empirical data was collected through a triangulated research design, which included interviews, surveys, field observations, and content analysis.

Determining the features of a charter school that make classroom dynamics more or less effective than those in traditional public schools was the original micro-level focus …

Size Of Rve & Effect Of Morphology On Local Fields : A Statistical And Numerical Approach, Diwakar Anipindi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Forecasting The Onset Of Cloud-Ground Lightning Using S-Pol And Nldn Data, Kartik Ramakrishnan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The maximum number of thunderstorms in the United States occur in Central Florida. The cloud-ground lightning from these storms is responsible for extensive damage to life and property. The lightning from these storms is also responsible for delays and cancellations of space shuttle launch attempts at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the 45th Space Wing unmanned launches at Cape Canaveral launch facilities. For these and other reasons accurate forecasting of cloud-ground lightning is of crucial importance. The second phase of NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Texas and Florida Underflights project (TEFLUN-B) was conducted between 1st August and 30th September, …

George Liska's Realist Alliance Theory, And The Transformation Of Nato, Sergey Kireyev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In many aspects, political theory forms a subjective structure of this abstract science. Perhaps, it is due to the fact that unlike natural sciences or mathematics, social sciences often lack the privilege of testing the theories in absolute and unadulterated conditions. Nonetheless, such nature of the science allows for a certain degree of flexibility, when applying political theories to real-world phenomena. Alliances and coalitions in international relations form the backbone of the theory, concerning IR scholars with two main questions: Why do alliances and coalitions form? And, what keeps alliances and coalitions together? As the core of my research, I …

Measuring The Effect Of Erratic Demandon Simulated Multi-Channel Manuf, Nancy Kohan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To handle uncertainties and variabilities in production demands, many manufacturing companies have adopted different strategies, such as varying quoted lead time, rejecting orders, increasing stock or inventory levels, and implementing volume flexibility. Make-to-stock (MTS) systems are designed to offer zero lead time by providing an inventory buffer for the organizations, but they are costly and involve risks such as obsolescence and wasted expenditures. The main concern of make-to-order (MTO) systems is eliminating inventories and reducing the non-value-added processes and wastes; however, these systems are based on the assumption that the manufacturing environments and customers' demand are deterministic. Research shows that …

Evaluation Of The Photo-Induced Structural Mechanisms In Chalcogenide, Cedric Lopez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chalcogenide glasses and their use in a wide range of optical, electronic and memory applications, has created a need for a more thorough understanding of material property variation as a function of composition and in geometries representative of actual devices. This study evaluates compositional dependencies and photo-induced structural mechanisms in As-S-Se chalcogenide glasses. An effective fabrication method for the reproducible processing of bulk chalcogenide materials has been demonstrated and an array of tools developed, for the systematic characterization of the resulting material's physical and optical properties. The influence of compositional variation on the physical properties of 13 glasses within the …

Damage Modeling Method For Turbine Compressor Blade Tuning, Gennadiy Afanasiev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The thesis presents a method of evaluation for blade damage in Combustion Turbine Compressor Section. This method involves use of multiple domains within a single Finite Element Model to predict the effect of damage on the blade properties. This approach offers significant time and effort savings when compared to traditional evaluation methods of similar problems. It is demonstrated via examples that the multi-domain modeling approach yields acceptable accuracy results. The economical implications of described method are readily applicable to both the industrial and the aerospace Combustion Turbine fields. It is economically impractical to replace the blade at each damage occurrence. …

Sub-Optimal Ultra-Wide Band Receivers, Nilesh Bhuvanendran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ultra-wide Band (UWB) has sparked a lot of interest lately from the industry and academia. The growing capacity of the wireless industry is requires a new communication system that satisfies the high data rate which does not interfere with existing RF systems. UWB promises to be this new technology. UWB also promises low power, low cost and flexibility. The UWB Channel opens up a huge new wireless channel with Giga Hertz Capacities as well as the highest spatial capacities measured in bits per hertz per square meter. When properly implemented UWB channel can share spectrum with traditional radio systems without …

Camera System Support For Highway Transportation Using Mobile Devices, Le Minh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the very fast growing technology in wireless, advancement in hardware and the dramatically falling cost of mobile computing devices such as PDA, handheld device, People nowadays can have a personal device that fits in their hand but has computing power as a desktop did few years ago. The same device now is able to communicate over a wireless network and view office document at the same time. The combination of size, power and flexibility makes the personal devices increasingly appear in many aspects of life. In this proposal, we focus on a simple yet useful application of mobile devices …

The Use Of Pyrosequencing For The Analysis Of Y Chromosome Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, Jeremy Charles Fletcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The potential value of the Y chromosome for forensic applications has been recognized for some time with the current work dedicated to Short Tandem Repeat analysis and Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) discovery. This study examined the ability of two different SNP analysis methods to determine if they could be utilized in forensic applications and ultimately be developed into an established system for Y chromosome SNP analysis. This study examined two principle SNP analysis systems: single base extension and Pyrosequencing. Pyrosequencing was determined to be superior to single base extension, due to the wealth of information provided with sequencing and the …