Digital Commons Network^™

Language Learners, Inequality Regimes, And Secondary Schooling: Dilemmas Of The New South, Karen Gober

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the structure of the secondary education system in Northwest Arkansas and how it shapes the culture of education for newly arrived Latino immigrants. Significant achievement gaps remain between non-Hispanic white students and Latinos within secondary education. Uncovering possible causes for this gap is necessary in order to allow equal educational opportunity for all students. While prior researchers debate the method of language instruction as a barrier to education, there has been little attention to the relationship between organizational structure and levels of achievement. In-depth interviews with teachers and administrators reveal a consistent theme: large amounts of time …

Implications Of Teacher Motivation And Renewal Indicators In Arkansas Toward Professional Growth And Achievement, Lary D. Whitten

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study was designed to determine if the teaching population in the state of Arkansas had a more favorable attitude toward specific motivational theories and practices; and to determine if that attitude significantly affected the teacher retention rate and the quality of work produced. The literature reviewed included the role of the school leader, motivational theory, and other relevant studies on teacher motivation. Eight National Board Certified teachers in Arkansas were interviewed about motivation as it related to professional improvement and development. The interviews focused on characteristics that serve as intrinsic motivators toward professional improvement and development and their …

The Effects Of Fostering On Communication And Marital Quality In The Marital Dyadic Relationship, Katherine Elizabeth Russell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the phenomena of foster parents' marital relationships and the emotional stress felt by each spouse. Results revealed a positive correlation between marital quality and perceived spousal support and a negative correlation between either marital quality or perceived spousal support and emotional stress associated with disciplining the foster child. Analyses also showed that emotional stress associated with being a foster parent positively correlated with emotional stress associated with both the child's past and the possibility of the child being moved. These results underscore the importance of spousal communication, marital quality, and perceived spousal support as a stress reducer …

Rising To The Top: Career Progression Of Women Senior-Level Student Affairs Administrators, Devan S. Ford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women account for over half of the populations of enrolled students and employed staff and administrators in higher education. In student affairs, women current accounts for over 60% of employees at the entry and mid-levels of administration, but less than half of all senior-level executive positions are filled by women. Furthermore, the majority of the women in senior-level student affairs administrative roles work at two-year institutions; doctoral granting research intensive universities have the lowest numbers of women student affairs professionals in senior-level positions. The career pathway to advance from entry-level to senior-level positions is unclear, and as a result, many …

The Danielson Evaluation System In Two Mid- South High Schools: A Case Study, Laura R. Strickland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to answer the question: How do pilot users of the Danielson Evaluation System perceive this model in two mid-south high schools? The study describes the perceptions of teachers and administrators who implemented the Danielson Teacher Evaluation Model. The primary focus was on teachers and administrators experience with the pilot of the new Arkansas Teacher Excellence Support System. In an effort to meet requirements under the ESEA flexibility waiver Arkansas developed a comprehensive evaluation model to meet state and federal accountability standards. Arkansas Department of Education developed a pilot school program in which they were …

Radiation-Hardened Delay-Insensitive Asynchronous Circuits For Multi-Bit Seu Mitigation And Data-Retaining Sel Protection, John Davis Brady

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Radiation can have highly damaging effects on circuitry, especially for space applications, if designed without radiation-hardening mechanisms. Delay-insensitive asynchronous circuits inherently have promising potentials in mitigating the effects of radiation due to their delay insensitivity. This thesis proposes the use of two delay-insensitive asynchronous logic architectures to mitigate the effects of up to two single-event upsets (SEU) and a single-event latch-up (SEL). The multi-bit SEU mitigation with SEL protection architecture improves the original design by providing more integrity against data corruption and lock-ups caused by multi-bit SEUs, and it is expanded to simultaneously provide protection against SEL. The multi-bit SEU …

Multi-Physics Modeling Of Terahertz And Millimeter-Wave Devices, Mohammad Ali Khorrami

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, there have been substantial efforts to design and fabricate millimeter-wave and terahertz (THz) active and passive devices. Operation of microwave and photonic devices in THz range is limited due to limited maximum allowable electron velocity at semiconductor materials, and large dimensions of optical structures that prohibit their integration into nano-size packages, respectively. In order to address these issues, the application of surface plasmons (SPs) is mostly suggested to advance plasmonic devices and make this area comparable to photonics or electronics.

In this research, the feasibility of implementing THz and millimeter-wave plasmonic devices inside different material platforms including: …

Web Accessibility Of The Higher Education Institute Websites Based On The World Wide Web Consortium And Section 508 Of The Rehabilitation Act, Najma Habib Alam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The problem observed in this study is the low level of compliance of higher education website accessibility with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The literature supports the non-compliance of websites with the federal policy in general. Studies were performed to analyze the accessibility of fifty-four sample web pages using automated testing via auto-validation tools and using manual testing via assistive technology, followed by a comparative analysis of the findings of the auto validation tools. The auto-validation tools utilized on the sample web pages were comprised of three W3C validation tools. The results showed that two-thirds of the …

The Relationship Between Principal Leadership And Improving Achievement Status In Secondary Schools: A Multiple-Site Case Study, Anne Catherine Butcher

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For all that is revealed in the research literature identifying and describing traits and behaviors exhibited by principals who make a positive difference in student learning, many schools are still failing. With all we know, how does this continue to happen? The goal of this study was to develop theory to expand and enrich the existing research by defining and describing what three successful principals - a middle school and two junior high schools - did to turn their failing schools around and positively influence the levels of student achievement in their respective schools. The significant contribution this study adds …

21st Century Radicalization: The Role Of The Internet User And Nonuser In Terrorist Outcomes, David Wayne Woodring

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines differences between users and nonusers of information communication technologies (ICTs) within the pre-incident planning processes for domestic terrorist movements operating within the United States. In addition, this study is the first quantitative exploration of the prevalence, types, and purposes of ICT use within terrorist movements, specifically environmental, far-right, and Islamic extremist movements. Using "officially designated" federal terrorism investigations from the American Terrorism Study (ATS), we analyzed extracted evidence of ICT usage among individuals (n =331) engaged in the pre-incident planning processes as members of terrorist movements between 1995-2011. While we find significant differences in terrorist ICT use …

Mechanical Stratigraphy Of The Mississippian In Osage County, Oklahoma, Caleb James Jennings

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippian formation of Oklahoma and Kansas has recently developed as a world class unconventional reservoir with wells producing up to 800 bbl/day. The Mississippian is composed of multiple distinct lithologic zones including limestone, hard chert, and soft tripolitic chert. These zones are difficult to discern with traditional log correlation, but mechanical stratigraphy has the potential to improve previous correlations of the Mississippian.

This study uses full wave sonic logs from Osage County, OK to analyze the elastic properties of the Mississippian. Our work computes isotropic elastic parameters in an effort to partition the Mississippian section into units that may …

Middle-Earth's War On Terror: A Post-9/11 Reception Study On The Works Of J.R.R. Tolkien, James William Peebles

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates how Americans can and do interpret Tolkien's works in light of 9/11 and its proximity to Peter Jackson's film adaptations hitting theaters.

A Framework For Constructing Serious Games, Taylor Glen Yust

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communicating ideas and knowledge through serious games is a trend that is currently gaining in popularity. However, at present, there is a distinct lack of a game development methodology that takes a critical approach to transforming information into gameplay. This thesis presents a framework that can be followed to construct compelling serious games that are effective at transferring knowledge to the player. This is accomplished through an analysis of atomic knowledge items and their relationships to one another, followed by a meaningful and synergetic implementation of these ideas at a foundational mechanics level.

This thesis also describes the development of …

Theory And Practice: A Historical Examination Of The Assumptions And Philosophy Of Human Resource Development, Matthew Wayne Gosney

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The history of Human Resource Development (HRD) is the history of human organizational growth and development. A review of the history of western civilization, with particular focus on the Industrial Revolution to the modern era, demonstrates a distinct interaction between the predominant philosophy of the time, theory, and practice. A better understanding of seminal events in HRD's history thus provides insight into informing philosophies of HRD and the assumptions upon which current HRD theory and practice rest. Research was conducted to explore this interplay between philosophy, theory, and practice. The research was thematic and historical in nature, including the evaluation …

Postharvest Storage And Nutraceutical Evaluation Of Muscadine Grapes (Vitis Rotundifolia Michx.), Derek Barchenger

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A major limiting factor in muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.) commercialization is deterioration during storage. One solution for extending market seasons and preventing market saturation for fresh muscadines could be the release of new cultivars with improved postharvest storability. Three studies were conducted; Study 1: The effect of fungicide treatments on muscadine genotype postharvest storage and nutraceutical content; Study 2: An evaluation of a diverse range of genotypes for postharvest storage potential and nutraceutical concentrations; and Study 3: The impact of postharvest storage and berry segment on the nutraceutical composition of `Supreme'. Research on table grapes has shown that field …

3d Seismic Mapping Of Probable Tripolitic Chert Bodies In Osage County, Oklahoma, Richard Craddock Benson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi Lime play is an important recent oil and gas development in the mid-continent of the United States. In April of 2007, Chesapeake Energy Corporation used horizontal drilling and tracing to bring the Howell 1-33H well online. This well revitalized the Mississippi Lime play, expanding exploration with potential Mississippian reservoirs.

The Mississippian section is a complex carbonate reservoir containing several distinct lithologies. An important Mississippian lithology known from outcrops in Arkansas and Missouri is tripolitic chert, or tripolite; a bleach, highly diagenetically altered, silica rock with high porosity, low density, and high permeability. Tripolite is an important reservoir target …

The Impact Of Intolerance Of Uncertainty On International Students' Intercultural And Intracultural Conflict Management, Yekaterina Syrtsova

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the role of intolerance of uncertainty in international students' conflict management in intracultural and intercultural settings. International students at a large U.S. university were surveyed and their responses were analyzed using quantitative methods. Analyses indicated that the higher the intolerance of uncertainty scores, the higher the use of dominating and avoiding strategies. The results in this study also revealed that when controlling for sex, the higher the individuals' intolerance of uncertainty score, the lower their preference for integrating-compromising strategy. Finally, there were limited differences between the ways international students handle conflict with conflict partners from their own …

Taxonomic And Seasonal Variation Among Extant Hyracoids Based On Dental Microwear Texture Analysis, Ann Marie Walcutt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A number of works have been published on habitats and diets of living hyraxes but much remains to be learned about the paleoenvironment contexts of the much larger, more dominant but now extinct forms of the order. Here, I analyze the dental microwear of modern hyraxes to assess dietary and ecological relationships among the four extant species of Procaviidae: Heterohyrax brucei, Procavia capensis, Dendrohyrax arboreus, and Dendrohyrax dorsalis. The purpose of this study was to establish an extant baseline series for the interpretation of microwear texture patterns, and inference of diets, of extinct members of the …

Vocabulary Instruction Practices Of Highly Effective Kindergarten Teachers, Huda Alenezi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate vocabulary instruction in kindergarten classrooms by exploring and describing highly effective kindergarten teachers' practices. The fundamental question that guided this study was how do highly effective kindergarten teachers teach vocabulary? The study focused on five areas: teachers' methods, techniques to select vocabulary, assessment approaches, use of technology and whether their practices in the previous four areas were consistent with recent research. The study involved nine highly effective kindergarten teachers from nine elementary schools within one school district in Northwest Arkansas. The sample teachers were selected based on principals' recommendations, using specific …

Efficient Ray Tracing For Mobile Devices, Rafael De Melo Aroxa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The demand for mobile devices with higher graphics performance has increased substantially in the past few years. Most mobile applications that demand 3D graphics use commonly available frameworks, such as Unity and Unreal Engine. In mobile devices, these frameworks are built on top of OpenGL ES and use a graphics technique called rasterization, a simple concept that yields good performance without sacrificing graphic quality. However, rasterization cannot easily handle some physical phenomena of light (i.e. reflection and refraction). In order to support such effects, the graphics framework has to emulate them, thereby leading to suboptimal results in term of quality. …

Designing Customizable Network-On-Chip With Support For Embedded Private Memory For Multi-Processor System-On-Chips, Azad Fakhari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The computer industry's transition to multiprocessor systems on chip (MPSoC) architectures is increasing the need for new scalable high-bandwidth on-chip communication

backbones. Network-on-Chip (NoC) interconnects are gaining interest for serving as the on-chip communication infrastructure. The most important issues to be considered in designing a NoC are topology, routing algorithm, flow control, and buffering and also the trade-offs between performance, power, and area.

This research proposes a custom-designed NoC specifically for MPSoCs on FPGAs. The proposed design allows the communication infrastructure to seamlessly scale as the numbers of processors within the chip increases. The design adds a new level of …

The Effects Of Apoe Knock Out On Skeletal Muscle Regeneration: A Look Into Markers Of Protein Synthesis And Satellite Cell Function, Joshua Eden Ragland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ApoE helps regulate serum cholesterol levels by adding in transport of cholesterol into the cells, as well as, to the liver. ApoE knockout mice (ApoE KO) present a model that demonstrates the effects of hypercholesterolemia. Damage to muscle stimulates a complex regenerative response. The effects of high cholesterol on this regenerative response are not known. PURPOSE: To determine if skeletal muscle regeneration is altered in apoE KO mice by measuring protein synthesis regulator IGF-1, Akt, mTOR, and p70S6K, cell cycle regulator cyclin D1, and myogenic regulatory factors myoD and myogenin. METHODS: Female C57/BL6 (WT) and apoE KO were assigned to …

Patient-Provider Interaction: Person Centered Approaches To Patient Diversity And Evidence For Training, Hannah O. Allison

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the role of culture in patient-provider interactions. Physicians in Northwest Arkansas were interviewed on their experiences with cultural differences in interactions with patients. Analysis using Grounded Theory methodology indicated that physicians define culture in various ways and the majority view culture as negatively impacting their interactions. The results from this study also reveal that physicians received minimal training in their medical education on how to handle these cultural differences and instead have learned on-the-job through trial and error methods. Finally, the research concludes that many of the physicians interviewed perceived deficits in training and offered suggestions on …

"Beirut Speaks": New Graffiti Sub-Cultures Of Beirut, Lebanon, Jaime Alyss Holland

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modern graffiti is an ever-present part of urban space. It has become globalized and has adapted to different environments and social contexts. Today in Beirut, Lebanon a phenomenal street art movement is infiltrating public space. This particular movement questions the common understandings that have constructed Western graffiti artists and graffiti culture for so long. A new group of street artists is working to make the art form more inclusive of Beirut's many communities by writing messages that speak to the whole of Lebanon. They are making their work known in the presence of law enforcement, different sects, and generations. How …

A Content And Visual Analysis Of Promotional Pieces Used To Promote The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board, Amy Hughes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A communications campaign was developed for a commodity promotion board in the southern region of the United States with promotional pieces produced and disseminated by a third-party communications group to reach the general public, soybean producers, and animal agriculture producers target audiences through key themes and messages. A systematic, content-driven approach assessed the potential impact on perceptions of individuals. This study utilized a content and visual analysis based on semiotic theory to analyze creative pieces and focus groups to assess content quality and impact.

Many of the creative pieces displayed too many themes, and the themes did not accurately represent …

Knowledge, Perceptions, And Outcomes Of Agricultural Communications Curriculum In Arkansas Secondary Agricultural Classrooms, Carley Payne Calico

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method study was to assess the effectiveness of agricultural communications curriculum developed and incorporated into a semester-long agricultural leadership and communications course for secondary agricultural education programs in Arkansas. This study was comprised of three parts including a pilot test, teacher training assessment, and a descriptive field test over a two-year period. For the pilot test portion of the study, students (N = 297) participated in newly developed instructional modules (careers, writing, design, and multimedia) predetermined by a committee of agricultural education and communications faculty at the University of Arkansas. The pilot test indicated students' …

Classic Tales With A Contemporary Twist: A Series Of One Woman Shows, Melissa - Vera Misa Maramara

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a collection of one person shows radically adapted from different literary texts, particularly Liz and Dick, Alice in Wonderland, and the Oresteia, which I performed in the University of Arkansas. It includes my statement of artistry, the process of adaptation to performance, and my personal archive of production materials.

The Relationship Of Goal Focus To Physical Distance, Job Title And Years Served Within The University Of Arkansas Division Of Agriculture, Christina Miller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between physical distance from the headquarters, number of years working within the Division of Agriculture, and job title compared to mission statement and goal focus. The Division of Agriculture as part of the University of Arkansas System is a unique organization because many of its employees are not physically located at the headquarter locations of Little Rock and Fayetteville. The Cooperative Extension Service, part of the Division of Agriculture, has at least one office in each of Arkansas's 75 counties as well as faculty and staff members located at five …

Leaching Characteristics Of Selenium From Coal Fly Ash, Mark Allen Cantrell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Selenium (Se) contamination can be a potential groundwater concern near un-lined coal ash landfills. Out of all the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) priority and non-priority pollutants, Se has the narrowest range between what is considered beneficial and detrimental for aquatic and terrestrial organisms. The effects of ash type (i.e., fresh and weathered), water-extractant type (i.e., deionized water, rainwater, and groundwater), and extraction time (i.e., 2- and 6-hours) on Se, arsenic (As), and chromium (Cr) concentrations were investigated from Class C, subbituminous coal fly ash produced at the Flint Creek Power Plant located in Benton County, AR. Water-extractable Se concentrations differed …

Properties Of Multiferroic Bifeo3 From First Principles, Dovran Rahmedov

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, a first-principle-based approach is developed to study magnetoelectric effect in multiferoic materials. Such approach has a significant predictive power and might serve as a guide to new experimental works. As we will discuss in the course of this work, it also gives an important insight to the underlying physics behind the experimentally observed phenomena.

We start by applying our method to investigate properties of a generic multiferroic material. We observe how magnetic susceptibility of such materials evolves with temperature and compare this evolution with the characteristic behavior of magnetic susceptibility for pure magnetic systems. Then we focus …