Digital Commons Network^™

Design And Analysis Of Multistage Cooperative Broadcast With Amplify And Forward Relays, Bhargava Yammanuru

Master's Theses

Cooperative communication achieves spatial diversity by having the transceivers in an ad-hoc network pool their resources at the physical layer and cooperatively transmit their information. For this to be possible without adding a large overhead, we need low overhead-distributed protocols. This thesis proposes one such distributed scheme for wireless ad-hoc networks.

In this work, we study the propagation of the signal in a cooperative network where a single source message is retransmitted by multiple stages (levels) of relays. Relays are assumed to have limited computational abilities and hence adopt the amplify-and-forward scheme. At each node, cooperative diversity is obtained by …

Aircraft Deconfliction Responsibility Across En Route Sectors In Nextgen Separation Assurance, Christopher Donald Douglas Cabrall

Master's Theses

The subject of the current research is a Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) concept that involves automated separation assurance developed to enable controllers to provide both safe and efficient air traffic services at much higher traffic densities than possible today. The study investigated the issue of how responsibility should be handled between controllers for the resolution of a conflict that is predicted to occur in a sector other than where it was detected. Two possibilities, a De-Conflicting AirPlanes procedure (DCAP) versus a De-Conflicting AirSpace procedure (DCAS), were examined under human-in-the-loop simulations with scripted aircraft conflicts. Results showed that the …

Cooperative Symbol-Based Signaling For Networks With Multiple Relays, Yuanyuan Quan

Master's Theses

Wireless channels suffer from severe inherent impairments and hence

reliable and high data rate wireless transmission is particularly challenging to

achieve. Fortunately, using multiple antennae improves performance in wireless

transmission by providing space diversity, spatial multiplexing, and power gains.

However, in wireless ad-hoc networks multiple antennae may not be acceptable

due to limitations in size, cost, and hardware complexity. As a result, cooperative

relaying strategies have attracted considerable attention because of their abilities

to take advantage of multi-antenna by using multiple single-antenna relays.

This study is to explore cooperative signaling for different relay networks,

such as multi-hop relay networks formed …

Library Services In U.S. Immigration Detention Facilities, Stephanie Lan Chin

Master's Theses

The thesis explores the current state of library services in facilities in which U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) houses immigrant detainees, including (1) Bureau of Prison (BOP) facilities, (2) contracted detention facilities (CDF), (3) ICE-owned facilities (often called Service Processing Centers, or SPC's), and (4) Intergovernmental Service Agreements (IGSA) facilities. The study was based on a survey that was mailed to 356 facilities that detain immigrants by or on behalf of ICE. The results of the survey were used to determine the current status of library services in immigration detention facilities as well as to identify issues or problems …

Characterization Of Protein Residue Surface Accessibility Using Sequence Homology, Radhika Pallavi Mishra

Master's Theses

Residues present on the surface of the proteins are involved in a number of functions, especially in ligand-protein interactions, that are important for drug design. The residues present in the core of the protein provide stability to the protein and help in maintaining protein structure. Hence, there is a need for a binary characterization of protein residues based on their surface accessibility (surface accessible or buried). Such a classification can aid in the directed study of either residue type.

A number of methods for the prediction of surface accessible protein residues have been proposed in the past. However, most of …

Elliptic Curves And Cryptography, Senorina Ramos Vazquez

Master's Theses

In this expository thesis we study elliptic curves and their role in cryptography. In doing so we examine an intersection of linear algebra, abstract algebra, number theory, and algebraic geometry, all of which combined provide the necessary background. First we present background information on rings, fields, groups, group actions, and linear algebra. Then we delve into the structure and classification of finite fields as well as construction of finite fields and computation in finite fields. We next explore logarithms in finite fields and introduce the Diffie-Hellman key exchange system. Subsequently, we take a look at the projective and affine planes …

Courtship And Copulation In Glaucous-Winged Gulls, Larus Glaucescens, Kelly M. Mcwilliams

Master's Theses

Using video recordings and scan counts, I examined the occurrence, sequences, and durations of behavior and environmental factors associated with courtship and copulation in glaucous-winged gulls, Larus glaucescens. Males and females in a pair had equivalent pre- and post-Mount behavior occurrences and durations. The main courtship sequence was Head Toss -- Courtship Beg/Respond -- Mounted/Mount, and felames appeared to initiate transitions between these pre-Mount behaviors. More Mounts occurred during the egg-laying stage of the breeding season, but copulation duration, wing-flag duration, and cloacal contacts per copulation showed no significant differences across sampling periods. Poisson analysis showed no significant grouping …

Yom Yhwh As A Biblical-Theological Theme, Robert Czarnitzki

Master's Theses

Problem. Although it has been shown in recent studies on the topic that the "Day of YHWH" is to be understood not only as a collocation or concept, but as a motif-complex (a theme), the single theological motifs comprising the motif-complex have seemingly never been outlined in a systematic text-oriented study. -- Method. This thesis investigates which main theological motifs comprise the motif-complex of the "Day of YHWH" by means of a text-oriented study of the final text as existent today. It shall be asked whether the "Day of YHWH" is a true biblical-theological theme, that is, whether it is …

Impact Of Short-Term Study Abroad On Mba Students, Jessica Oldford

Master's Theses

Short-term study abroad programs are quickly becoming the new norm for study abroad within higher education. Results from the Institute of International Education's opendoors 2009 research show that short-term programs were the most popular during the 2007-08 academic year with 56% of students participating in this type of exchange. Many graduate programs of U.S. institutions are now expanding international program offerings to include short-term options to accommodate their students, particularly graduate-level students. Graduate-level students often times have other responsibilities such as full-time employment, young families, etc. which prevent them from participating in full-term study abroad programs. As such, these students …

Hippocampal And Anterior Cingulate Cortex Volumes In Amnestic And Non-Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Elizabeth R. Tuminello

Master's Theses

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a syndrome thought to fall between cognitively normal aging and dementia. Although much research has investigated the structural neuroimaging correlates of amnestic MCI, little research has been done on the imaging correlates of non-amnestic MCI. Even less research has examined the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a region important in executive functions (EFs), in these patients. This study attempted to address this gap by examining hippocampal and ACC volumes among amnestic and non-amnestic MCI patients and cognitively normal controls. Those with amnestic MCI were expected to have smaller hippocampal volumes than controls and those with non-amnestic …

Attitudes Towards Global Civic-Mindedness And Engagement Before And After Study Abroad: A Study Of Undergraduate Students At International Study Abroad Centers Of An American University, Mousumi Mukherjee

Master's Theses

Mousumi Mukherjee

Loyola University of Chicago

ATTITUDES TOWARDS GLOBAL CIVIC-MINDEDNESS AND ENGAGEMENT BEFORE AND AFTER STUDY ABROAD:

A STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT

INTERNATIONAL STUDY ABROAD CENTERS OF AN AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

In recent years Study Abroad has come from the periphery to the center of Higher Education programs in the U.S. Students from across the world has been studying abroad in the U.S. for decades because of the advanced research and infrastructural facilities here. Compared to the international students studying abroad in the U.S., the number of U.S. students studying abroad has been negligible according to Open Doors data reported …

Messages Of Nationalism In Mexican And U.S. Textbooks: Implications For The National Identity Of Transnational Students, Danielle Lane Jerdee

Master's Theses

This study uses qualitative content analysis to compare fifth grade social studies textbooks in Mexico and the United States to provide insight on how messages of national identity change as students migrate between school systems. The following research questions will guide the analysis: Given that one of the roles of textbooks is to form a national consciousness through mythmaking, how do messages of national identity conveyed in Mexican and U.S. textbooks conflict? How are the topics of immigration and citizenship presented in each nation's textbooks? In what ways do differences in the accounts of history between Mexico and the United …

Cyberspace And The Defense Of The Revolution: Cuban Bloggers, Civic Participation, And State Discourse, Renee Naomi Timberlake

Master's Theses

In this thesis I address how Cuban bloggers are contesting state sanctioned modes of civic participation and censorship. I begin to address this question with a discussion of the creation and perpetuation of a state sponsored hegemonic discourse, followed by the alternative, counterhegemonic discourses which appear in the blogs of Cuban writers Yoani Sanchez and Claudia Cadelo. The two authors are tapping into the internet, overcoming state imposed, island-wide bans on their websites, and voicing their dissent against and frustration with a government that professes a discourse of solidarity and socialism while enacting a reality of inequality and market-based economics.

Gender Stereotypes In Public School Textbooks In The Dominican Republic, Karie Jo Karasiak

Master's Theses

In 1992, the Secretary of Education of the Dominican Republic set an objective of eliminating gender stereotypes that discriminate against women from textbooks (Díaz Santana, 1996; Mateo Diclo, n.d.). My research is a historical comparison of two sets of texts published in the years 1996-1997 and 2005-2007 focusing on visual representations portraying gender roles with the purpose of ascertaining if progress is being made towards this objective. I analyze a total of six books, three books from 1996-1997 and three from 2005-2007. The examined textbooks include two second grade Natural Sciences, two fourth grade Spanish, and two sixth grade Social …

Embracing Compulsory Education: The Case Of Singapore, Chaitut Roungchai

Master's Theses

Singapore is a late adopter of compulsory education (CE). Six years of schooling for all children became compulsory in Singapore in 2003 (Ministry of Education, 2009). Surrounding Southeast Asian countries passed compulsory education legislation in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Countries such as the Philippines adopted compulsory education in 1899, and Thailand in 1921. However, Malaysia, similar to Singapore, adopted CE legislation in the early-twenty-first century. In order to explain Singapore's adoption of CE legislation, we must look further into each country's reasons for implementing it.

Singapore reported in 2000 that its dropout rate was 0.4 percent at the primary …

Short-Term Study Abroad Programs And The Development Of Intercultural Sensitivity, Barbara Elizabeth Zarnick

Master's Theses

This study focuses on the growing popularity of short-term study abroad programs and aims to determine the impact of such programs on producing intercultural sensitivity. A pre and post-departure survey were administered to undergraduate and graduate students to analyze students' perceptions of their own intercultural sensitivity prior to a short-term study abroad experience and after. This study uses the Intercultural Sensitivity Index developed by Christa Lee Olson and Kent R. Kroger in 2001 to assess the students' levels of intercultural sensitivity. The study reveals that this particular short-term experience had minimal impact on participants' levels of intercultural sensitivity, but illustrates …

Tradition To Acculturation: A Case Study On The Impacts Created By Chemawa Indian Boarding School Upon The Nez Perce Family Structure From 1879 To 1945, Arthur Maxwell Taylor

Master's Theses

Tradition to Acculturation: a Case Study of the Impacts created by Chemawa Indian Boarding School upon the Nez Perce Family Structure from 1879 to 1945

As a member of the Nez Perce Tribe, I have developed an interest in education of Native Americans and in particular those students who attended Chemawa Indian Government Boarding School from 1879 to 1940. For many centuries, the Nez Perce have played an integral role in the history of the American Indian Columbia River plateau people, as well as, in the history of the United States. As Manifest Destiny spread across the western frontier, there …

Building Citizens Or Building Nations? Alternative Visions For Learning History In Germany And The United States: The Geschichtswettbewerb Des Bundespraesidenten And National History Day, 1974-1984, Crystal Johnson

Master's Theses

The German philanthropist Kurt Körber and the American historian David Van Tassel envisioned a future where students engaged in discovering the sources and interpreting the past for themselves rather than reciting facts filtered by a textbook or teacher. Their ideas developed into two strikingly similar programs: the Geschichtswettbewerb des Bundespräsidenten and National History Day. These endeavors became models for similar efforts in many other countries. This comparative history argues that such programs offer provocative insights into the civic nature and purpose of history education. Inquiry learning and enhanced access to sources gave students opportunities to ask their own questions of …

Reorientation Through Interruption: On The Relation Of Immanuel Kant's Modes Of Egoism To His Critical Philosophy, Giancarlo Tarantino

Master's Theses

The relationship between Immanuel Kant's anthropology, and his Critical philosophy has proven to be a notoriously difficult problem, both for specifically Kantian scholarship as well as for philosophy in general. This thesis attempts to investigate this relationship by showing the importance of Kant's modes of egoism at work in his three Critiques. In doing so this thesis will highlight the phenomena of interruption, and orientation as playing crucial interpretive roles for parsing out the aforementioned relationship. I will try to show that anthropology and Critique mutually interrupt, and re-orient one another's specific contributions to the major themes of Kant's thinking.

Predictors Of Mental Health Outcomes Among Foster Care Children Receiving Community-Based Services, Alison Merri Dunleavy

Master's Theses

Historically, children served in the foster care system experience less favorable mental health outcomes compared to those in the general population (Anctil, McCubbin, & Pecora, 2006; Burns et al., 2004; Garland et al., 2001; Zima, Bussing, Yang, & Berlin, 2000). As a result, the child welfare system has been described as a "de facto public behavioral health care system" (Lyons & Rogers, 2004), prompting state child welfare agencies to seek to put systems and policies in place to serve the needs of these youth, such as Illinios' statewide community-based program, System of Care (SOC), designed to provide multi-modal services to …

Affection, Anger, Or Ambivalence? An Examination Of Tunisian And Two Groups Of American Students' Attitudes Toward American Politics And Popular Culture, Jonya Leverett

Master's Theses

Attitude ambivalence is the attitude actor's simultaneous possession of both negative and positive affect toward an attitude object. The competing affect produces tension, creating attitude ambivalence. In the present project, the attitude object is the United States of America. Students in Tunisia (a predominately Muslim nation) were asked specific questions about American foreign policy and American popular culture (n = 17). These two aspects of the `America' attitude object are expected to produce attitude ambivalence as the Tunisian students should express positive affect toward American popular culture and negative affect toward American foreign policy. A pencil and paper survey featuring …

The City Imagined: Race, Place And Identity In The Making Of Urban Church, Jessica M. Barron

Master's Theses

In this study, I will explore the racial and urban imaginary of church leaders and members seeking to create an authentic and relevant church for Chicago's unchurched, young-adult urbanite. In their quest to develop a relevant church, the varied imaginations of the city of Chicago by leaders, volunteers and members come to the forefront. How these imaginations are fostered, incorporated, rebelled against or dismissed brings to light the politics of imagining the imagined city. This paper will discuss these varied, dueling, and sometimes contradictory imaginations informing the construction, operation, and branding campaigns of Urban Church. Particular focus will be paid …

Erasing Mexican Chicago: The Role Of Community Based Organizations And Immigrant Networks In The Gentrifying Neighborhood Of Pilsen, David Orta

Master's Theses

This study explores the effects of gentrification in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, a historic port of entry for Mexican immigrants and a basin for community organization and other resources. The research questions of this study first query the effects of gentrification on the informal immigrant networks that make Pilsen a site for community resources for new immigrants. Second, the study explores the effects of gentrification on community-based organizations in a rapidly changing environment. As the racial and economic demographics of the neighborhood shift, community based organizations must adapt. Finally, this study examines the relationship between neighborhood residents and community based organizations. …

Fish Assemblage Structure In Natural, Channelized, And Restored Sections Of Nippersink Creek, Mchenry County, Illinois, Sarah Ann Zack

Master's Theses

Degradation of aquatic habitats and loss of biodiversity are growing concerns of natural resource managers and the general public. Channelization, the common historical practice of straightening streams and rivers for agricultural interests, has had profound detrimental effects on the biodiversity of lotic fish assemblages. Nippersink Creek, McHenry County, IL is a twenty-three mile stream that flows through an area valued for its fish, wildlife, and invertebrate biodiversity. Although a portion of the stream was channelized in the 1950's, restoration efforts by the McHenry County Conservation District have recently restored historical meanders. Nevertheless, efforts to restore streams and rivers to their …

Undergraduate Music Student Stress And Burnout, Helen Jane Orzel

Master's Theses

Burnout is fatigue and diminished interest caused by long-term stress. It is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment. In the university music atmosphere, stress and burnout are prevalent and accepted as part of the culture. Symptoms and causes of general stress and burnout have been well researched, but much less has been presented on college musicians' burnout, let alone how to deal with it. This study examines the sources of stress, burnout, and ways of coping for undergraduate music students.

A questionnaire with both quantitative and open-ended questions was administered during the 2009 spring semester. Participants …

Does Nighttime Television Influence Attitudes Toward Drinking?, Mike Mchone

Master's Theses

Alcoholism is a problem in the United States. Television portrays individuals drinking alcohol. Is television influencing attitudes toward drinking? An experiment was performed with students from San Josè State University in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications to discover if television would indeed influence them to drink.

Two groups, both Mass Communication classes, participated in an initial survey, and then the test group class viewed a dramatized program in which the main character was depicted drinking glamorously. Both classes then took the same survey again. Results were analyzed via a t-test. Although there was a change in attitude regarding …

Identité Et Langue Française Chez Azouz Begag Et Chahdortt Djavann, Nehal Abuelata

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the problematics of identity construction through the acquisition of the French language for immigrants living in France. More specifically, it examines the impact French language acquisition has had and still has on the identity of children of Maghrebian descent and, more generally, its influence on the identity of non-francophone immigrants who arrived in France as adults by examining the novels of two francophone authors: Azouz Begag and Chahdortt Djavann. Whereas the former is a French writer of Algerian descent, a "Beur," the latter is an Iranian-born writer who emigrated to France as an adult. In addition, this …

Valley Of Heart's Delight: Orchards To Hard Drives In The San Jose Mercury News, Megan Lynn Alpers

Master's Theses

This research was conducted to explore how the San Jose Mercury News (formerly San Jose Mercury Herald) covered the Santa Clara Valley's transition from an agricultural community known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight" to Silicon Valley, focusing on the changes made in the reporting of farm and ranch news.

The time period surveyed in this thesis is from 1935 to 2000. The purpose was to establish any changes to reporting agricultural news over the years. A social history of agricultural journalism in the San Jose Mercury News over a 65-year period provided insight into how the farming industry was …

An Analysis Of Stacy Garrop's Sonnet Settings For Treble Choir And Piano, Kathryn Alexis Feetham

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a thorough and detailed analysis of Stacy Garrop's two works for treble chorus and piano, Pity Me Not (2003) and Thou Famished Grave (2006) for the purposes of providing a base for future research and study. Since Garrop's goal as she composes is to tell the story contained in the text, this analysis of her works looks closely at the approaches she takes to communicate the story to the listener. The two choral pieces are examined on several musical levels including but not limited to form, melody, harmony, register, rhythm, tempo, meter, …

Amount Of International News By Four World Newspapers: Pre And Post-9/11, Sidney Mitchell

Master's Theses

World newspapers, The New York Times, The London Times, The Australian, and The Toronto Star, have the power to enlighten countries and shape public opinion domestically and abroad. However, at times, newspapers tend to be biased and reflect ideologies or values, which tend to be slanted towards home cultures and personal politics. Consequently, the public often suffers because what it learns about the world may be distorted. As a result, newspapers have witnessed a steady decline in readership following the end of the Cold-War and continuing throughout post-9/11. Irrespectively, studies have reported “spikes“ in international news coverage following 9/11 that …