Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
File Type

Articles 3691 - 3720 of 5166

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Views Of Health Care Providers On Low-Income Populations In West Virginia With Sexually Transmitted Disease, Genevieve R. Cox Aug 2005

Views Of Health Care Providers On Low-Income Populations In West Virginia With Sexually Transmitted Disease, Genevieve R. Cox

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis focuses on health care providers who consistently diagnose sexually transmitted disease (STDs) in low-income populations. Eighteen providers ranging from registered nurses to physicians were interviewed about their experiences dealing with low-income patients, mainly women, who were diagnosed with incurable and curable STDs for the first time. This qualitative analysis which utilized grounded theory methods reveals several interesting findings. First, that providers who consistently work with low-income populations have a high level of empathy. They believe patients undergo a negative change in self-image second to an incurable STD diagnosis. Providers have concerns about a number of issues related to …

Go to article

Refinement Of Numerical Models And Parametric Study Of Sofc Stack Performance, Andrew C. Burt Aug 2005

Refinement Of Numerical Models And Parametric Study Of Sofc Stack Performance, Andrew C. Burt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The presence of multiple air and fuel channels per fuel cell and the need to combine many cells in series result in complex steady-state temperature distributions within Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stacks. Flow distribution in these channels, when non-uniform, has a significant effect on cell and stack performance. Large SOFC stacks are very difficult to model using full 3-D CFD codes because of the resource requirements needed to solve for the many scales involved. Studies have shown that implementations based on Reduced Order Methods (ROM), if calibrated appropriately, can provide simulations of stacks consisting of more than 20 cells …

Go to article

Development Of A Heavy Duty Diesel Vehicle Emissions Inventory Prediction Methodology, Prakash Gajendran Aug 2005

Development Of A Heavy Duty Diesel Vehicle Emissions Inventory Prediction Methodology, Prakash Gajendran

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles are known to contribute a substantial fraction of the oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and particulate matter (PM) to the atmospheric inventory. Prediction of heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions inventory is substantially less mature than the prediction of gasoline car emissions.;Heavy-duty truck emissions are affected by various parameters like vehicle weight/load, driving schedule used, and injection timing control strategies employed to operate the engine at more fuel-efficient (but higher NO x) mode.;Research has revealed a variety of options for inventory prediction, including the use of emissions factors based upon instantaneous engine power and instantaneous vehicle behavior. Effects …

Go to article

Critical Issues For Predicting Worker Exposure To Gaseous Contaminants In A Wind Tunnel, Jun Li Aug 2005

Critical Issues For Predicting Worker Exposure To Gaseous Contaminants In A Wind Tunnel, Jun Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this study, three dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are used to investigate the distribution and level of contaminant concentrations in the breathing zone of a worker when airborne contaminants are released within an arm's-length in front of the worker who has his back to the airflow. The main goals were to numerically evaluate the effect of different factors on the worker exposure and to recommend a turbulence model preferable for this type of simulation. These factors include the body shape, the heat flux from the body, the ventilation intensity, the free stream turbulence, and the unsteadiness. The comparison …

Go to article

Differences Among Standardized Test Scores Due To Factors Of Internet Access At Home And Family Affluence, Steve Macho Aug 2005

Differences Among Standardized Test Scores Due To Factors Of Internet Access At Home And Family Affluence, Steve Macho

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to examine differences among the standardized test scores of students due to factors of Internet access at home, household income, and the highest level of education attained by mother, father or guardian. If students with Internet access at home have a different academic standing, is it the result of the Internet connection or confounding factors of family affluence?;The San Miguel GEAR UP program at New Mexico Highlands University, located in Las Vegas, New Mexico had existent data on program participants for Internet access at home, household income, highest level of education in the household, …

Go to article

Rotation Compatibility Approach To Moment Redistribution For Design And Rating Of Steel I -Girders, Jennifer E. Righman Aug 2005

Rotation Compatibility Approach To Moment Redistribution For Design And Rating Of Steel I -Girders, Jennifer E. Righman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Moment redistribution refers to the design practice where the inherent ductility of continuous-span steel bridge structures is acknowledged and consideration for the redistribution of the large negative bending moments at interior supports to the less heavily stressed positive bending regions is provided. One of the key assumptions made in moment redistribution procedures is that members have sufficient ductility to sustain a given moment capacity throughout the level of rotation required for redistribution moments to develop. However, there is presently no explicit verification that this assumption is satisfied. Instead, it is assumed that sufficient ductility can be obtained by: (1) limiting …

Go to article

The Design Of A Rotor Blade Test Facility, Jason W. Gill Aug 2005

The Design Of A Rotor Blade Test Facility, Jason W. Gill

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department has developed a need for test facilities related to rotorcraft, specifically facilities capable of testing scaled rotorcraft models and experimental propellers and rotors. A design was completed to fill these needs.;The design included several factors; aerodynamic conditions during operation, flexibility of application, ease and cost of construction, and safety. The aerodynamic conditions involved in the testing of rotors or propellers in static conditions were investigated. Other testing involving downwash impingement on wings was considered and incorporated into the design.;In addition, the design of the power transmission components was completed. This included the power requirements …

Go to article

The Use Of Heuristics In Identifying Self-Propagating Malicious Mobile Code, Jesse Twardus Aug 2005

The Use Of Heuristics In Identifying Self-Propagating Malicious Mobile Code, Jesse Twardus

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Self-propagating malicious mobile code, or worms, has become a major threat to modern computer systems. As these types of viruses thrive in a networked computing environment, they have exploded in popularity in recent years.;Modern defenses have proved inadequate in protecting computer systems from the worm threat. The most often used remedy is a signature-based detection system that scans each incoming network packet for the presence of a signature identifying a specific worm. As a new worm or variant of an existing worm is released, this signature set must be updated to include definitions for the new worm or variant.;In this …

Go to article

The Effects Of Contextual Factors On Dyadic Everyday Problem Solving In Adulthood, Tara L. Neely Aug 2005

The Effects Of Contextual Factors On Dyadic Everyday Problem Solving In Adulthood, Tara L. Neely

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present study examined individual and dyadic everyday problem solving in 45 younger, middle-aged, and older adult married couples. The goal of the study was to investigate the effects of age, gender, collaboration, marital characteristics, and basic cognition on everyday problem-solving. Two research questions were addressed. First, were there group differences across three phases of problem solving? Second, what was the frequency of individual change, and which factors predicted improvement, stability, or decline? When addressing the first question, there was a significant four-way interaction, F (4, 78) = 2.83, p < .05, eta = .12, between participant age, gender, problem-solving condition, and problem-solving phase, emphasizing the multidimensionality of everyday cognition. When addressing the second question, a larger percentage of individuals who collaborated reliably improved compared to individuals who worked alone. Furthermore, basic cognitive abilities, education, and marital factors significantly accounted for individual reliable change in everyday problem solving.

Go to article

Response Of Clonal Genotypes Of Juncus Effusus L. To Different Environmental Regimes, Daniel Benjamin Stover Aug 2005

Response Of Clonal Genotypes Of Juncus Effusus L. To Different Environmental Regimes, Daniel Benjamin Stover

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A genetic tradeoff is hypothesized between resource use efficiency (RUE) and resource acquisition rate (RAR) in that it is impossible for selection to maximize both traits. In low-resource environments, RUE is expected to be favored while in high-resource environments RAR will be maximized. Growth rates and allocations of reciprocally transplanted clonal genotypes of J. effusus from differing nitrogen and elevation sites were examined. High-nitrogen populations outperformed their low-nitrogen counterparts, which were more nitrogen efficient. Plants originating from high-elevation sites grew larger irrespective of transplant environment. Elevation appears to be the dominant factor on biomass, nutrient allocation and growth at high …

Go to article

Bringing Down The Mountains: The Impact Of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining On Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970--2004, Shirley L. Stewart Burns Aug 2005

Bringing Down The Mountains: The Impact Of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining On Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970--2004, Shirley L. Stewart Burns

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

While surface mining began in West Virginia during WWI, the practice did not expand until WWII. Used to fuel the war effort, surface mining would become the industry-preferred means of mining coal and gained a permanent place in West Virginia's coal mining industry. Mountaintop removal surface coal mining began on Fayette County, West Virginia's, Bullpush Mountain in 1970. An extreme version of strip mining, during mountaintop removal the tops of mountains are removed via blasting in order to reveal the coal seams below. The last thirty-four years has seen an escalation in this mining method from forty-four permits covering 9,800 …

Go to article

Competing Fictions: Eighteenth-Century Domestic Novels, Women Writers, And The Trope Of Female Rivalry, Elizabeth Johnston Aug 2005

Competing Fictions: Eighteenth-Century Domestic Novels, Women Writers, And The Trope Of Female Rivalry, Elizabeth Johnston

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation focuses on mid to late eighteenth-century domestic fiction by Samuel Richardson, Sarah Scott, Frances Burney, and Maria Edgeworth, arguing that female rivalry in the novel performs a complex double function, both reinscribing domestic ideology and undermining it. I begin with the premise that Richardson's depiction of female rivalry differs significantly from those of the women writers who follow him. My chapter on Richardson's Clarissa examines his depiction of rivalry between Clarissa and all the other women of the novel, arguing that the "bad" women work to overshadow Lovelace's abuses; in other words, female rivalry effectively displaces a critique …

Go to article

Psychology In Character, Neil M. Austin May 2005

Psychology In Character, Neil M. Austin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Does Psychology help create character? How does Psychology build an interesting person on the stage or screen? Psychology helps us understand why we act the way we do? Psychology is a great tool for actors to bridge the history of the character to his or her present actions. Through my performance of Vassily from Kolonists, Nick from The Time of Your Life and my work with Psychiatrist Dr. Don Fidler, I will explain what my actor process is and how psychology has helped me in creating these characters.

Go to article

Development Of An Indentation Method For Material Surface Mechanical Properties Measurement, Ziheng Yao May 2005

Development Of An Indentation Method For Material Surface Mechanical Properties Measurement, Ziheng Yao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the utilizing structural materials with small size dimensions (such as MEMS devices), there are growing need to characterize the mechanical properties of the small volumes of materials. Tensile test is not possible to be applied to these small volumes. Indentation technique has emerged as a cost-effective, convenient and non-destructive method to solve this problem. It is also a promising means of obtaining mechanical properties for thin films, which were widely used in various industries nowadays.;In this work, finite element simulations of spherical indentation on various material models were performed to develop a series of methodology, by which the material …

Go to article

Channel Development On Unreclaimed Surface Mines In The Beaver Creek Watershed, Tucker County, West Virginia, Wendy Dawn Igo May 2005

Channel Development On Unreclaimed Surface Mines In The Beaver Creek Watershed, Tucker County, West Virginia, Wendy Dawn Igo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Surface mining has impacted channels in the Beaver Creek watershed of Tucker County, West Virginia. Three streams located in areas with similar geology, topography, climate, and mining disturbances were assessed to define similarities in channel development. Soil properties, vegetation coverage, bank stability, and geomorphology were quantified to determine dominant controls on stream form and process.;Streams were unstable and readjusting as evident by inconsistent width-depth ratios, bank instabilities, variable channel gradients, knickpoints, channel incisions, and erosive channels. Dominant controls on channel form were gradient alteration, bank failures, and vegetation coverage. Six classifications of channel types were established.;Without human intervention, instabilities in …

Go to article

Anatomical Measurements Of Orthodontic And Edentulous Casts To Determine The Width Of The Maxillary Anterior Teeth, Byron A. Davis May 2005

Anatomical Measurements Of Orthodontic And Edentulous Casts To Determine The Width Of The Maxillary Anterior Teeth, Byron A. Davis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Without dental records of patients' teeth prior to extractions, the selection of maxillary anterior teeth for the edentulous patient is mostly subjective. Several techniques using anatomic landmarks have been suggested for determining the size of maxillary anterior teeth. The purpose of this study is to determine the accuracy of using 3 anatomical areas of the oral cavity the "right hamular notch-incisive papilla-left hamular notch (HN-IP-HN) measurement," to calculate the width from the distal of the canine to the distal of the opposite canine. 24 post-orthodontic dentulous patients and 19 edentulous patients were evaluated for maxillary anterior tooth size using the …

Go to article

How West Virginia Daily Newspapers Handle Errors And Corrections, Lindsay E. Altobello May 2005

How West Virginia Daily Newspapers Handle Errors And Corrections, Lindsay E. Altobello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Media credibility and accuracy has been a topic of debate in the field of journalism for many years. This study examines the types of errors that occur most often within West Virginia's daily newspapers; how these publications handle errors and corrections, and the placement of corrections and clarifications within the newspapers. This study uses mixed-methods research to find its results. Corrections and clarifications gathered over a 60-day time period were analyzed for the type of error corrected as well as if the error was attributed. Newspaper editors were surveyed about how their publications handle corrections and their perceptions of the …

Go to article

Learning To Deal With Cots (Commercial Off The Shelf), Sreeram Bayana May 2005

Learning To Deal With Cots (Commercial Off The Shelf), Sreeram Bayana

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With the advent of model based development technologies, dependence of COTS in software development has increased considerably. Use of COTS is considered economical and practical when it comes to integration of various software components. However COTS are trapped with some pitfalls. COTS provided are not usually accompanied by models or extensive specifications. This approach makes usage & integration of COTS components with in house developed software components a very challenging task. Conformance of the implementation with the specification forms the basis for our approach. In this thesis, we analyze an approach where the model is extracted from the COTS software …

Go to article

Entrepreneurial Initiatives At Public Liberal Arts And General Baccalaureate Colleges, Jack R. Kirby May 2005

Entrepreneurial Initiatives At Public Liberal Arts And General Baccalaureate Colleges, Jack R. Kirby

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Until recent years, the concept of entrepreneurship has been the subject of study and application primarily in the private sector business community. However, in the wake of decreasing traditional sources of funding, higher operating costs, increasing government intervention, and institutional initiatives, entrepreneurship has gained increasing attention in public higher education (Elford & Hemstreet, 1996; Keast, 1995; Kozeracki, 1998).;This study examined the current patterns of entrepreneurial activities in public liberal arts and general baccalaureate colleges as defined by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education (The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, 2000). A survey instrument was prepared to …

Go to article

Classroom Justice As A Predictor Of Students' Perceptions Of Empowerment And Emotional Response, Michelle L. Paulsel May 2005

Classroom Justice As A Predictor Of Students' Perceptions Of Empowerment And Emotional Response, Michelle L. Paulsel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

One purpose of this dissertation was to examine the emotional response theory in the instructional context. A second purpose of this dissertation was to determine the predictive power of classroom justice. The effects of distributive, procedural, and instructional justice on students' emotional response and perceptions of empowerment were examined. Students ( N = 511) completed questionnaires about the class they had immediately before the class in which data were collected. Results indicated that classroom justice positively predicted students' emotional response and perceptions of empowerment. This dissertation also examined the relationships between students' emotional response and their perceptions of empowerment. Results …

Go to article

Preparation Of Acoustic Emission Data For Neural Network Analysis Using Awk And C Programs, Avinash Kaza May 2005

Preparation Of Acoustic Emission Data For Neural Network Analysis Using Awk And C Programs, Avinash Kaza

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fiber Reinforced Polymer composites are relatively new to the bridge construction industry. One of the challenges to greater usage is the lack of a real-time nondestructive method to accurately evaluate them. A Neural Network program can be used to predict the status of a structure by analyzing summarized Acoustic Emission data from the structure in real-time.;Existing methods use tools such as MS Excel to extract the Neural Network input matrix from raw data having more than 30,000 rows of Acoustic Emission data for a simple three point bending test. This manual data extraction process is very time consuming. Therefore, application …

Go to article

Roughening Of Cobalt Thin Films On Sapphire (110) Upon Annealing And Superparamagnetic Behavior Of Cobalt Nanodots On Sapphire (001), Jorge Espinosa May 2005

Roughening Of Cobalt Thin Films On Sapphire (110) Upon Annealing And Superparamagnetic Behavior Of Cobalt Nanodots On Sapphire (001), Jorge Espinosa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was employed to investigate the surface roughness of 5.0 nm thick Co films as a function of the annealing temperature. Films were epitaxially grown on (110) sapphire via molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and magnetron sputtering. Images were acquired in-situ at temperatures ranging between room temperature and 600°C. Surface roughening starts at 425°C and increases depending on the final annealing temperature and time. The films did not show a reversal of the roughening process upon sample cooling. Also a sub-monolayer film of Co was grown on Al2O 3 (0001) via MBE at room temperature. The film annealed …

Go to article

Use Of Conventional Tomography To Evaluate Changes In The Nasal Cavity With Rapid Palatal Expansion, Jacqueline R. Palaisa May 2005

Use Of Conventional Tomography To Evaluate Changes In The Nasal Cavity With Rapid Palatal Expansion, Jacqueline R. Palaisa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The relationship between nasal airway resistance and rapid palatal expansion remains controversial. The purpose of this study is to determine the anatomical changes within the nasal cavity following expansion using conventional tomography. Nineteen patients (ages 8--15) were included in the study. Tomograms were taken before expansion, immediately after expansion, and three months later. Areas for the left and right anterior, middle and posterior nasal cavity and total volume were calculated using computer software (AutoCAD LT 2005). Data was analyzed using paired t-tests. Significant increases in area were found in the anterior, middle and posterior nasal cavity at all time periods. …

Go to article

Enumeration Of The Generalized Catalan Numbers, Steven L. Richardson Jr. May 2005

Enumeration Of The Generalized Catalan Numbers, Steven L. Richardson Jr.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The sequence of numbers given by the equation Cn=1n +12nn are widely known as the Catalan numbers, because they were first studied by Catalan. The ways to enumerate these numbers are similarly widely known and studied, as can be seen in Gould's catalog of Catalan numbers. Our objective is to find ways to enumerate this larger and generalized set of sequences, using multiple methods that will build on known enumerations of the Catalan numbers.

Go to article

Functional Mri Of Rat Kidney Using Bold & Asl Techniques, Rajesh K. Garugu May 2005

Functional Mri Of Rat Kidney Using Bold & Asl Techniques, Rajesh K. Garugu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Noninvasive functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods may provide new ways to detect and track renal hemodynamic changes in-vivo. In this thesis, two fMRI methods were correlated with simultaneous invasive hemodynamic measurements. A particular goal of this thesis was to measure the relative contributions of oxygenation and perfusion changes to changes in the relaxation rate, T2*. Also, an MRI compatible motion detector was built and along with the invasive probes was interfaced to a data acquisition system for use during scanning. Drug-induced changes in renal oxygenation and blood flow were measured by BOLD- & ASL-MRI noninvasively, while a dual oxygenation/perfusion …

Go to article

Three Essays On Pricing And Risk Management In Electricity Markets, Serhiy Kotsan May 2005

Three Essays On Pricing And Risk Management In Electricity Markets, Serhiy Kotsan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A set of three papers forms this dissertation. In the first paper I analyze an electricity market that does not clear. The system operator satisfies fixed demand at a fixed price, and attempts to minimize "cost" as indicated by independent generators' supply bids. No equilibrium exists in this situation, and the operator lacks information sufficient to minimize actual cost. As a remedy, we propose a simple efficient tax mechanism. With the tax, Nash equilibrium bids still diverge from marginal cost but nonetheless provide sufficient information to minimize actual cost, regardless of the tax rate or number of generators.;The second paper …

Go to article

Username And Password Verification Through Keystroke Dynamics, Nick Bartlow May 2005

Username And Password Verification Through Keystroke Dynamics, Nick Bartlow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Most computer systems rely on usernames and passwords as a mechanism for access control and authentication of authorized users. These credential sets offer marginal protection to a broad scope of applications with differing levels of sensitivity. Traditional physiological biometric systems such as fingerprint, face, and iris recognition are not readily deployable in remote authentication schemes. Keystroke dynamics provide the ability to combine the ease of use of username/password schemes with the increased trustworthiness associated with biometrics. Our research extends previous work on keystroke dynamics by incorporating shift-key patterns. The system is capable of operating at various points on a traditional …

Go to article

Finite-Element Modeling Of A Composite Bridge Deck, Suraj Suraj May 2005

Finite-Element Modeling Of A Composite Bridge Deck, Suraj Suraj

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials are being widely used for structural applications, an example being bridge decks. In this study a finite-element model using the software ANSYS is developed for an 8&inches;-thick low-profile FRP bridge deck (Prodeck 8) made of E-glass fiber and Polyester resin. The bridge deck is subjected to a patch load at the center and the finite-element results obtained in the form of deflections, strains, and equivalent flexural rigidity are compared with experimental results. A good correlation is found to exist between the finite-element results and the experimental results. A failure analysis, based on maximum stress, maximum …

Go to article

Noise And Error Propagation In Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Shital Bipin Desai May 2005

Noise And Error Propagation In Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Shital Bipin Desai

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is the in vivo visualization and analysis of white matter fiber tracts by measuring the anisotropy of water molecule diffusion in the brain tissue. DTI has been increasingly used in clinical imaging. Diffusion weighted images are affected by noise from the human subject and the MRI scanner. This thesis studies the error propagation in the calculation of the DTI invariant anisotropy, mainly the Fractional Anisotropy (FA) using four methods and their comparison in terms of error, filtering and computational efficiency using simulated and human brain data. These methods were Diffusion Tensor, Diffusion Ellipsoid, Hasan and Platonic …

Go to article

Text-Independent Speaker Recognition, Smitha Gangisetty May 2005

Text-Independent Speaker Recognition, Smitha Gangisetty

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research presents new text-independent speaker recognition system with multivariate tools such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA) embedded into the recognition system after the feature extraction step. The proposed approach evaluates the performance of such a recognition system when trained and used in clean and noisy environments. Additive white Gaussian noise and convolutive noise are added. Experiments were carried out to investigate the robust ability of PCA and ICA using the designed approach. The application of ICA improved the performance of the speaker recognition model when compared to PCA. Experimental results show that use of …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last