Digital Commons Network^™

The Agglomeration Of Cement To Facilitate Transportation., Huma E. Hakim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this research was to develop a technique to agglomerate cement powder. This was done to facilitate its transportation and to prevent problems faced in conveying cement powder such as cement dusting as well as respiratory problems for workers coming in contact with cement dust. The final agglomerates formed were required to produce concrete with properties as close as possible to that of concrete formed from untreated cement. The agglomeration was carried out in a blender by adding a binder solution. A number of binder-solvent combinations were tested. Successful formation of granules was achieved and subsequently these were …

An Applied Market Area Study Of The Harley-Davidson Motor Company In The New York City Region., Harry O. Nichols

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study evaluates Harley-Davidson dealer market areas based on motorcycle sales and profiles market area ZIP codes base on their demographic make-up. There are three research objectives addressed. Objectives one and two utilize Arc View® geographical information system (GIS) to display ZIP code referenced sales data. The first objective is to map and compare 14 Harley-Davidson dealer defined market area boundaries using motorcycle sales data. In mapping motorcycle sales it was found that certain dealer sales fit their defined market area boundaries better than others did. The average percent of motorcycles being sold by dealers within their home market area …

The Effects Of Learning Geometry Using A Computer-Generated Automatic Draw Tool On The Levels Of Reasoning Of College Developmental Students., Lalah W. Larew

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The following study investigated the cognitive growth of college developmental geometry students enrolled in a one-semester course in introductory Euclidean Geometry. A quasi-experimental research design was used to determine if changes in cognitive growth occurred when students used a computer-generated automatic draw tool as an instructional aid. The subjects were a control group of 36 community-college students who learned geometry in a lecture-based formal and 27 students from the same college who learned geometry by using the automatic draw tool, GeoExplorer , for one-third of their instructional time. The van Hiele Theory of levels of thought in geometry was used …

The Effect Of Postorganizers On Mathematics Achievement Following Lectures., Karen E. Mitchell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This experiment examined the impact of an enhanced graphic postorganizer on the amount of learning and retention college students realized from mathematics lectures given during a full semester. The study was a quasi-experiment in which intact classes of intermediate algebra students with similar mathematical backgrounds either completed the written postorganizer developed for the experiment after each lecture or took a quiz over the same lecture. The postorganizer emphasized concepts, definitions, relationships and student-developed explanations rather than procedures. The planned difference among the groups was the amount of involvement that the students had with the postorganizer. Students in the four groups …

Photoluminescence Investigation Of Compensation In Nitrogen Doped Zinc Selenide., Monica Moldovan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A detailed liquid-helium-temperature photoluminescence study has been performed on a series of ZnSe epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The samples were grown at West Virginia University and include undoped and nitrogen-doped epilayers (with different levels of doping). The PL has been studied as a function of excitation wavelength, power, temperature and time. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Photoluminescence Excitation (PLE) were also performed. An ionization energy of 50 meV for the “deep” donor in a lightly doped ZnSe:N sample is determined using power dependence data. Heavily nitrogen-doped samples (≥8 x 1018 cm−3 ) provided evidence for a second deeper …

Effects Of Mutations On The Function And Assembly Of The Iron-Sulfur Protein Into The Cytochrome Bc(1) Complex Of Yeast Mitochondria., Victor Hosea Obungu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The iron-sulfur protein, a subunit of the bc1 complex, is encoded in the nucleus and subsequently imported into the mitochondria where it is assembled with the rest of the subunits into a functional cytochrome bc1 complex. The assembly of deletion mutants of the iron-sulfur protein into the bc1 complex has been investigated by immunoprecipitation by specific antisera against either the iron-sulfur protein or the intact bc1 complex. These studies have suggested that the iron-sulfur protein may be integrated into the bc1 complex of mitochondria through multiple interactions of different regions of the protein with other subunits of the bc1 complex …

A Neural Network-Based Bottom-Up Approach For Building A Software Reuse Economic Model., Gary Dawson Boetticher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This work describes and presents a process for building a neural network-based reuse economic model. This study adopts a bottom-up perspective where granularity moves from the developer (software program) level to the enterprise level. The goal of the proposed process is to create a model which provides accurate and reliable results which can be applied to various forms of software reuse in various programming paradigms. The current state-of-practice for measuring effort and reuse effort is extended, leading to improvements in accuracy. Furthermore, in order to accomplish this goal, it becomes necessary to address different forms of reuse: black-box and white-box …

The Effect Of Plant Uv-B Absorbing Compounds On Life History Traits And Reproductive Performance In Variable Uv-B Environments., Susan Jill Cooke

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Plants often respond to elevated UV-B by increasing the concentration of UV-B absorbing compounds in their tissues. However, evidence that UV-B absorbing compounds confer an adaptive advantage to plants in elevated UV-B environments has not been produced. Three of four experiments utilized an Arabidopsis mutant deficient in the ability to produce flavonoids (a set of UV-B absorbing compounds) to address this question. Results from a life history experiment showed that the wild type out-performed the mutant plants under both UV-B environments, indicating that flavonoids may confer an adaptive advantage across UV-B environments. Germination results were the exception with UV-B initially …

The Influence Of Racial Identity Development And Locus Of Control On The Career Self-Efficacy Of African-American Adolescents., Melanie Coleman Cosby

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Racial identity and locus of control are two constructs likely to have a significant impact on career self-efficacy (beliefs about one's ability to successfully perform in a given career). This study examines the influence of racial identity attitudes (as measured by the Racial Identity Attitude Scale-B) and locus of control (as measured by the Internal, Powerful Others, and Chance scales) on the career choice patterns and aspirations of African American adolescents (N = 101). It was predicted that gender differences would emerge in the expression of racial identity attitudes, locus of control, and career self-efficacy (as measured by the Career …

Risk Based Capital Requirements And The United States Loan Market., Sudip Ghosh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the effect of risk-based capital (RBC) requirements were introduced to the U.S. banking industry in the early 1990s and its influence on bank loans. A great deal of work has been spent on issues surrounding the credit crunch. Now the question is whether it is a coincidence of some kind that implementation of RBC requirements and the credit crunch happened around the same time or whether RBC requirements resulted in the credit crunch. Another issue is whether the impact of RBC requirements on U.S. bank lending behavior is permanent or temporary. The research focuses on the theoretical …

Safety By Design: An Expert Systems Approach., Magdy Akladios

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Industries may require the application of new technologies. In recent years, these technologies have undergone rapid development. Intensely scrutinized in terms of design, new technologies surprisingly receive little attention when assessing the hazards they might pose to worker health and safety. These technologies are usually designed by experts who know very little about safety and health issues. A user-friendly, easily accessible system that is devised to assist designers during the design phase by pointing out the different downfalls of their design with respect to safety and health issues and impacts, can dramatically improve safety, reduce costs, and most importantly, reduce …

A Comparison Of The Personalized System Of Instruction To Direct Instruction In The Training Of Direct-Care Residential Staff In The Use Of Social Attention And Planned Ignoring., Byron Michael-Carrick Doom

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The study compared the Personalized System of Instruction to Direct Instruction in the training of direct-care staff from community residential facilities. There were a total of 51 direct-care staff participating in the study. The experimental design was a pretest-posttest design. Experimental Group I received PSI training, Experimental Group II received Direct Instruction, and Experimental Group III was a control group. Participants in Experimental Groups I and II received the same training content, with only the method of instruction varied. Phase one of the study was the pre-training observation phase during which participants pre-training use of the content areas was evaluated. …

The Immunology And Infection Of The Cystic Fibrosis Lung., Andrea Rene Drummond Massengale

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The leading cause of death among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is progressive lung disease characterized by an early, sustained inflammation, chronic infection by mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa, and subsequent bronchiectasis. The connection between defective CFTR and the apparent pathophysiology of the CF lung remains unclear. Understanding this connection is of critical importance in developing strategies that temper the respiratory inflammation in CF and prevent P. aeruginosa colonization of the airways. The goal of this dissertation was to provide new insight concerning the immunology and infection of the CF lung by investigating the following: (1) the effect of alginate on …

The Effect Of Graphing Calculators On College Students' Ability To Solve Procedural And Conceptual Problems In Developmental Algebra., Mark Andrew Shore

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the graphing calculator (namely the Casio 9850 or the TI-85) on college students' procedural skills and conceptual understanding in two different developmental mathematics courses. The developmental mathematics college courses that were used in this study were Elementary Algebra and Intermediate Algebra. For this study, both the non-graphing calculator group and the graphing calculator group were taught with the same goals. The students in the graphing calculator groups were allowed to use the graphing calculator in place of performing paper and pencil procedures in class and on all tests. Students …

The Utilization Of Electronically Disseminated Research In Academic Personnel Decisions., Sylvia Anne Hawranick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the current status and use of electronically disseminated research (EDR) in academic personnel decisions. The population included 236 institutions classified as Research 1 or 2, or Doctoral 1 or 2, according to the Carnegie Foundation's Classification. The Chief Academic Officer of each institution was identified as the contact person. A cover letter and survey were sent to each institution, and 100 institutions (44.1%) responded.

The data was analyzed by institution type, and the results were reported based on responses to each survey question. Key findings included:

1. Technology Usage: Over 97% of respondents had access to a …

Gerald Finzi's Songs For Baritone On Texts By Thomas Hardy: An Historical And Literary Analysis And Its Effect On Their Interpretation., Curtis Alan Scheib

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research document examines twenty-six of the forty-nine songs composed by Gerald Finzi (1901–1956) to texts by Thomas Hardy (1840–1928). The songs were written for baritone and are found in the sets; Earth and Air and Rain, Before and After Summer, and I Said to Love. The study views the songs within the context of Finzi's life and compositional style as well as in relation to his affinity with the poetry and outlook of Thomas Hardy. It examines in some detail the lives of both composer and poet, and also looks at song composition in Britain during the first half …

Desire For Thinness And Desire For Health In Eighteen And Nineteen-Year-Old Females, Monica Gene Andis

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Desire for thinness and desire for health were surveyed among eighteen and nineteen year old female adolescents in north-central West Virginia to determine the incidence of these motivations within this population and their relationship to unnecessary weight loss concerns, and dieting behaviors. Variables derived from body image satisfaction, self-esteem, socioeconomic status, religiosity, and food management behavior were examined for their ability to predict desire for thinness and health in subjects.;Using the statistical process of discriminate analysis, 51.6% of 345 subjects were correctly classified into groups desiring thinness and/or health. Only weight perception accuracy and food management group were found to …

Real-Time Multimedia-Based Education Through The Internet, Abhay Arun Bakshi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The rapid advances in computer and communications technologies are challenging the American education systems to provide increased educational opportunities beyond the traditional geographic boundaries at a reasonable cost. Many educational institutions are answering this challenge by developing distance education programs. Distance education provides effective learning environment. An important requirement for effective distance education is the availability of continuous interactivity and immediate feedback. Over the Internet, synchronous sharing of multimedia content introduces unacceptable delays as network bandwidth is limited. In this thesis, the issue of Internet bandwidth is minimized and a novel system is developed for distance education using multimedia course …

Determination Of Resistance Across Development Section Return Stoppings, James Robert Gandy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis describes a ventilation engineering study to determine the resistance across return stoppings on continuous miner development sections. By determining the resistance across return stoppings, one equivalent resistance branch can be created to model leakage across a return stopping line on a development section. This thesis evaluates four types of return stoppings to determine which construction techniques and materials provide the highest resistance, thus allowing minimal leakage from the intake to return entry.;The first phase of the thesis outlines the data gathering process including; station locations, equipment requirements and techniques. Second, the data is used to create a model …

Implementation Of Courseware For Internet Delivery, Sohail Ramzan Khan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A process centered environment for implementing courseware is presented. The proposed environment addresses some of the constraints in the existing state of the art technology, presently used for distance education. The environment interface is developed using MS FrontPage 98 web development software. The thesis describes the design and implementation of the environment, which is named WVUCT. WVUCT utilizes MS NetMeeting software as a mode for interacting with the students in many different ways. WVUCT uses MS FrontPage 98 for developing a web-based course. The course web once developed using the environment can be published to any httpd server for student's …

Productive Performance And Fertility Of Broiler Breeders Maintained In Commercial Colony Cages And On The Conventional Floors, Kitogho J. Mwashighadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A trial with four replicates was conducted to compare performance and fertility of naturally mated broiler breeders maintained on litter floor versus their counterparts maintained in two tiered colony cages. Cage maintained hens with restricted feeding weighed less (P 0.05) was found in egg weights among treatments. No difference (P > 0.01) was found in feed conversion ratio per dozen eggs produced by hens maintained in cages and those on the conventional floors. A higher (P < 0.05) hen-day production was observed from 29 to 35 weeks of age in broilers maintained in cages than those on the conventional floors, but after this period no difference (P > 0.05) occurred. There were more (P < 0.05) eggs collected with cracks from cages than from the litter floors. The fertility rate was different (P 0.05) difference in mortality rate occurred between hens maintained on the fitter floors versus those in cages. When the breeders were 41 weeks of age, eggs from each treatment group were randomly collected, weighed, and incubated. Offspring from these treatments were randomly allocated to litter floor pens. Progeny were spaced at 23 CM.2 and were reared to 42 days. There was no significant (P > 0.05) difference in growth rate and feed conversion ratio in offspring from hens maintained on the litter floors versus …

Resonant Ion Heating In A Helicon Plasma, John L. Kline

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A resonant ion heating system has been developed for heating ions and controlling the ion temperature anisotropy in a helicon plasma source. The system uses two rectangular coils placed on either side of the cylindrical pyrex vacuum chamber to create a time dependent magnetic field transverse to the steady state axial field. A 1 kW, 25--125 kHz RF generator powers the coils. The parallel and perpendicular ion temperatures in argon plasmas are measured with a laser induced fluorescence diagnostic tuned to a metastable argon ion transition. Ion heating of over 800% has been measured for the perpendicular ion temperatures with …

Perceptions Of Supervisory Behaviors And Supervisory Needs Among Licensed Speech-Language Pathology Assistants, Jean Suzanne Mead

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to identify supervisory behaviors that occurred and the extent to which they were perceived as necessary during supervisory interactions between licensed speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) and their supervising speech-language pathologists (SLPs). Surveys were mailed to the 173 licensed SLPAs in Louisiana, who were the population for this study, requesting information about the supervision received. Eighty-eight (51%) completed and returned the survey.;The survey consisted of three parts. Part I contained 29 statements that were each rated twice using a Likert-type scale. The first rating indicated the extent to which supervisory behaviors occurred and the second …

Interoperable Components Across Multiple Component Architectures, Ravi S. Banda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A component is a pre-fabricated, pre-tested software object that provides clients with a well-defined set of services. Component software requires an architecture through which any developer or vendor can deliver a component at any time and have that component become immediately useful to applications on any given system. A system that supports component software must therefore support a generic service abstraction that is, an architecture that defines how all types of components appear and how they are manipulated. As part of the thesis various component architectures COM, JavaBeans and CORBA have been studied and the interoperability issues between the components …

Nondestructive Testing Of Concrete Bridge Decks Using Ground-Penetrating Radar And The Chain Drag Method, Jerry J. Scheff

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis presents the findings of two different nondestructive techniques that are used for bridge deck analysis: the chain drag method and ground penetrating radar (GPR). The chain drag testing was performed in the laboratory with 23 simulated concrete bridge deck specimens. The specimens contained varying internal conditions such as with/without steel reinforcement and with air and water filled cracks. The tests were to determine if the chains could uncover the different characteristics of each specimen, and to see if the varying sizes of the three chains had any influence on the outcome of the results.;The GPR testing was performed …

Experimental And Modeling Studies On A Catalytic Packed Bed Membrane Reactor, Ashutosh G. Deshpande

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the present work, the effects of operating conditions in a catalytic packed bed membrane reactor were investigated with the reactant gases H 2 and CO flowing through the membrane tube, and an inert gas N 2 flowing on the outside. The reaction under study was methanol synthesis with BASF catalyst, and a gamma-alumina membrane with a nominal pore size of 40 A was used.;Preliminary experiments were carried out in the membrane reactor without any catalyst inside membrane to characterize it in terms of its flux, permeance, and selectivity of H2 over CO. Experiments were carried out in the packed …

Identification Of Math Anxiety Subtypes, Aline Elizabeth Rabalais

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Conceptualizations of mathematics anxiety, as well as factors that are empirically related to it, were identified from the existing literature. These factors are test, evaluation, trait, and state anxiety, as well as gender and level of math ability. Differences in these factors were hypothesized to distinguish subtypes of highly math anxious individuals from one another. In order to determine whether subtypes exist, cluster analyses were performed on a sample of 96 highly math anxious college students. The results revealed three clusters distinguished by completion time on two versions of a math test and age. Furthermore, participants' responses on a variety …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Electrophilic Group 4 Metal Complexes Of Benzynes, Shawn Michael Nettles

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Upon thermolysis in aromatic solvents, diarylzirconacenes and diaryltitanocenes form benzyne intermediates. Formation of the benzyne intermediate presumably occurs via H-atom abstraction of an ortho-H of an aryl ligand by the adjacent sigma-bonded aryl ligand to give the benzyne intermediate. The diphenylzirconocene benzyne intermediate can be stabilized by the addition of PMe3 to afford the PMe3 adduct which has been isolated and structurally characterized. This benzyne intermediate couples with a variety of unsaturated organic fragments including nitriles, alkenes, and acetylenes to form metallacyclic species and has found applications in organic synthesis. This benzyne also couples with tungsten hexacarbonyl to afford a …

Winter Movements And Habitat Use Of Northern Saw-Whet Owls At Assateague Island, Maryland, John Beaudry Churchill

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Ten Northern Saw-whet Owls were radio-tracked over two winters (1996 and 1997) at Assateague Island, Maryland. I used the fixed kernel method to calculate home range estimates for seven owls. Ninety-five percent home range sizes averaged 122.9 ha (range from 39.7--261.9 ha) but varied in size and shape. I also calculated adaptive kernel, harmonic mean, and minimum convex polygon home ranges for comparison of these methods. Habitat composition in 30% home ranges was compared with 95% home ranges and 30% and 95% home ranges were each compared with composition of the entire study area using compositional analysis.;Roost site characteristics were …

Development And Validation Of A Modular Hybrid Electric Vehicle Simulation Model, William Frederick Kellermeyer Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

To attempt to bring rigor and analysis to the design process, accurate simulation programs are crucial. Most hybrid electric vehicle hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) simulation programs are written for very specific component configurations and only allow changes in component sizes. These programs prove helpful only if one designs a component configuration similar to the one already simulated. A modular based program such as the one developed here allows simpler reconfiguration of the components for an accurate simulation of almost any component configuration design. This HEV simulation program allows for simulation of all three types of hybrids, with several engine types …