Digital Commons Network^™

State Rural Development Policy: The Role Of The Community Development Block Grant Program, Robert Blair, Jerry Deichert, David J. Drozd

Publications

A partnership of the federal government and the states implement rural community development policy today, yet researchers rarely examine the nature and efficacy of this extensive intergovernmental collaboration. The authors collected data on Community Development Block Grant awards made by one state to small and rural communities for a variety of development projects over a period of more than ten years, and using a modified rural classification system detected patterns and trends in allocation. This study seeks to determine if a federally funded program assists states address the development needs of a diverse mix of rural communities. Do federal block …

Testing Our Schools - Talking Points, Derek Wilmott

Publications

The No Child Left Behind Act was officially signed on January 8, 2002, receiving broad bipartisan support in Washington. This documentary explores the debate over whether reliance on standardized tests could do more harm than good for the nation’s students and schools. It specifically looks at developments in Virginia, California, and Massachusetts. Interviews included administrators, educators, students, politicians, and test-designers to discuss their views concerning standardized testing in the public school systems. Prior to the 2002 legislation states had already begun looking at standardized testing as a means of evaluating students and teachers.

Simulation-Based Training For Patient Safety: 10 Principles That Matter, Eduardo Salas, Katherine A. Wilson, Elizabeth Lazzara, Heidi B. King, Jeffery S. Augenstein

Publications

Simulation-based training can improve patient care when factors influencing its design, delivery, evaluation, and transfer are taken into consideration. In this paper, we provide a number of principles and practical tips that organizations in health care can use to begin implementing effective simulation-based training as a way to enhance patient safety. We commend the health care community for their efforts thus far. We hope that the information provided in this paper will encourage thinking beyond the "bells and whistles" of the simulation and bring to light full potential of simulation-based training in health care and patient safety.

Relativistic Particle-In-Cell Simulation Of Prompt And Early Afterglows From Grbs, K.-I. Nishikawa, P. Hardee, Y. Mizuno, M. Medvedev, B. Zhang, Dieter H. Hartmann, G. J. Fishman

Publications

Nonthermal radiation observed from astrophysical systems containing relativistic jets and shocks, e.g., gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), active galactic nuclei (AGNs), and microquasars commonly exibit power-law emission spectra. Recent PIC simulations of relativistic electro-ion (or electron-positron) jets injected into a stationary medium show that particle acceleration occurs within the downstream jet. In collisionless, relativistic shocks, particle (electron, positron, and ion) acceleration is due to plasma waves and their associated instabilities (e.g., the Weibel (filamentation) instability) created in shock region. The simulations show that the Weibel instability in responsible for generating and amplifying highly non-uniform, small-scale magnetic fields. These fields contribute to the …

An Artificial Latrine Log For Swamp Rabbit Studies, Eric M. Schauber, Paul D. Scharine, Clayton K. Nielsen, Lyann Rubert

Publications

Managers use latrine surveys to monitor swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) populations but may miss rabbits in sites lacking suitable latrine logs. We tested artificial latrine logs in logless thickets in southern Illinois, USA, generally detecting swamp rabbits in fewer visits than by live-trapping. Artificial logs can aid swamp rabbit monitoring, especially in logless habitats.

Effects Of Sex, Age, And Season On Plasma Steroids In Free-Ranging Texas Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma Cornutum), Corina L. Wack, Stanley F. Fox, Eric C. Hellgren, Matthew P. Lovern

Publications

The Texas horned lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) is protected in several states due to its apparently declining numbers; information on its physiology is therefore of interest from both comparative endocrine and applied perspectives. We collected blood samples from free-ranging P. cornutum in Oklahoma from April to September 2005, spanning their complete active period. We determined plasma concentrations of the steroids, progesterone (P), testosterone (T), and corticosterone (CORT) by radioimmunoassay following chromatographic separation and 17β-estradiol (E2) by direct radioimmunoassay. T concentrations in breeding males were significantly higher than in non-breeding males. P showed no significant seasonal variation within either sex. …

Equivalences On Acyclic Orientations, Matthew Macauley, Henning S. Mortveit

Publications

The cyclic and dihedral groups can be made to act on the set Acyc(Y ) of acyclic orientations of an undirected graph Y , and this gives rise to the equivalence relations ∼κ and ∼δ, respectively. These two actions and their corresponding equivalence classes are closely related to combinatorial problems arising in the context of Coxeter groups, sequential dynamical systems, the chip-firing game, and representations of quivers.

In this paper we construct the graphs C(Y ) and D(Y ) with vertex sets Acyc(Y ) and whose connected components encode the equivalence classes. The number of connected components …

Exist's Gamma-Ray Burst Sensitivity, D. L. Band, J. E. Grindlay, A. Garson Iii, H. Krawczynski, Dieter H. Hartmann, S. Barthemy, N. Gehrels, G. Skinner

Publications

We use semianalytic techniques to evaluate the burst sensitivity of designs for the EXIST hard X-ray survey mis-sion. Applying these techniques to the mission design proposed for the Beyond Einstein program,we find that with its very large field of view and faint gamma-ray burst detection threshold, EXIST will detect and localize approximately two bursts per day, a large fraction of which may be at high redshift. We estimate that EXIST’s maximum sensitivity will be ~4 times greater than that of Swift’s Burst Alert Telescope. Bursts will be localized to better than 40" at thresh-old, with a burst position as good …

America's Health Insurance Crisis - Talking Points, Derek Wilmott

Publications

This last documentary by Peter Jennings aims the lens on the country’s health insurance system. Why is there a growing number of uninsured in this country? Why do people, who can afford the ever-increasing prices, cannot get insurance? Peter Jennings finds that spiraling costs and the growing number of uninsured are all part of a health insurance system in a state of crisis.

"What Are We Missing?" Usability’S Indexical Ground, Alan Zemel, Timothy Koschmann, Curtis Lebaron, Paul Feltovich

Publications

In this paper, we describe how usability provides the indexical ground upon which design work in a surgery is achieved. Indexical and deictic referential practices are used 1) to constitute participation frameworks and work sites in an instructional surgery and 2) to encode and manage participants’ differential access to the relevancies and background knowledge required for the achievement of a successful surgical outcome. As a site for both learning and work, the operating room afforded us the opportunity to examine how usability, which is a critical design consideration, can be used as a resource for learning in interaction. In our …

Gear-Specific Population Demographics Of Channel Catfish In A Large Midwestern River, Robert E. Colombo, Quinton E. Phelps, James E. Garvey, Roy C. Heidinger, Tom Stefanavage

Publications

Various gear types have been used to sample populations of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus in lotic systems. However, these gears produce different population characteristics (i.e., recruitment, growth, and mortality). We compared the population demographics of channel catfish in the Wabash River, Indiana, sampled with baited 25- and 32-mm-bar mesh hoop nets and three-phase alternating current (AC) electrofishing. Based on catch per unit effort, the relative abundance of channel catfish sampled with 32-mm hoop nets was lower than that of fish sampled with 25-mm hoop nets and AC electrofishing. Each gear type also resulted in a different length frequency, mean length …

Over-Ocean Validation Of The Global Convective Diagnostic, David W. Martin, Richard A. Kohrs, Frederick R. Mosher, Carlo Maria Medaglia, Claudia Adamo

Publications

The global convective diagnostic (GCD) is a bispectral (infrared and water vapor), day–night scheme for operationally mapping deep convection by means of geostationary satellite images. This article describes a test of GCD performance over tropical and subtropical waters near North America. The test consists of six cases, each involving a convective cloud complex. A seventh case treats convection over land. For each case, a map of deep convection was constructed from image pairs from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-12 (GOES-12). Case by case and for all maritime cases together, the GCD map was compared with a convective parameter derived …

Development Of Calcium Sulfate – Ggbs – Portland Cement Binders, Brian O'Rourke, Ciaran Mcnally, Mark G. Richardson

Publications

Binders manufactured using a blend of gypsum, ground granulated blast furnace slag and Portland cements are technically viable and possess considerable environmental and economic advantages when compared to binders manufactured using Portland cement alone. As such, the evaluation of binders made from these materials offers a promising research focus in the quest to produce technically sound, environmental and economical binders for specialist uses as an alternative to traditional concrete binders of higher carbon footprint. The aim of the test programme was to investigate the viability of a series of binders designed to fulfil particular user needs while having significantly decreased …

Evoking Desire…And Irreverence: A Collection Of Women Writing Women, Women Writing Women Collective

Publications

We draw from the diverse life experiences of women who have supported their academic and life journeys through membership in the Women Writing Women (WWW) collective. We come from diverse backgrounds in curriculum, new media studies, drama, english, art, science, creative writing, elementary, secondary, higher and adult education, and bring these multiple perspectives to our monthly dialogues. We explore how writing can evoke desire, longing, fear, reverence, irreverence, joy and awe rather than merely represent. The community offers an emergent space for these deeply personal, yet public explorations into meaning‐making. We share personal stories, perform writing, dialogue on the evolution …

Otolith Δ15n Distinguishes Fish From Forested And Agricultural Streams In Southern Illinois, Jodi M. Vandermyde, Gregory Whitledge

Publications

We investigated the ability of otolith stable nitrogen isotope ratio (δ¹⁵N) to discriminate among fishes from southern Illinois streams that differed in proportions of watershed agricultural land. Otolith δ¹⁵N was nearly as effective as muscle δ¹⁵N in identifying fishes from individual sites with different percentages of agricultural land cover; both had accuracies of >75%. However, because of the relatively low N content of otoliths, substantial amounts (~8 mg) of otolith material are required for δ¹⁵N analysis compared to fish muscle tissue (~0.3 mg), which precludes the use of otolith δ¹⁵N …

The Efficacy Of Dna Vaccination Is Enhanced In Mice By Targeting The Encoded Protein To Dendritic Cells, Godwin W. Nchinda, Janelle Kuroiwa, Margarita Oks

Publications

DNA vaccines promote an immune response by providing antigen-encoding DNA to the recipient, but the efficacy of such vaccines needs improving. Many approaches have considerable potential but currently induce relatively weak immune responses despite multiple high doses of DNA vaccine. Here, we asked whether targeting vaccine antigens to DCs would increase the immunity and protection that result from DNA vaccines. To determine this, we generated a DNA vaccine encoding a fusion protein comprised of the vaccine antigen and a single-chain Fv antibody (scFv) specific for the DC-restricted antigen-uptake receptor DEC205. Following vaccination of mice, the vaccine antigen was expressed selectively …

Advances In Hearing Aid Technology, Jessica Kerckhoff, Jennifer Listenberger, Michael Valente

Publications

No abstract provided.

Open-Loop Velocity Planning To Mitigate The Stiction Effect In Pushing Positioning, Laine Mears, Thomas Kurfess

Publications

No abstract provided.

A Magnetohydrodynamic Boost For Relativistic Jets, Yosuke Mizuno, Phillip Hardee, Dieter H. Hartmann, Ken-Ichi Nishikawa, Bing Zhang

Publications

We performed relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the hydrodynamic boosting mechanism for relativistic jets explored by Aloy & Rezzolla (2006) using the RAISHIN code. Simulation results show that the presence of a magnetic field changes the properties of the shock interface between the tenuous, overpressured jet (Vzj) flowing tangentially to a dense external medium. Magnetic fields can lead to more efficient acceleration of the jet, in comparison to the pure-hydrodynamic case. A "polodial" magnetic field (Bz), tangent to the interface and parallel to the jet flow, produces both a stronger outward moving shock and a stronger inward moving rarefaction wave. This …

Cognitive Processes Of Students Participating In Engineering-Focused Design Instruction, Todd R. Kelley

Publications

Since the publication of the Standards for Technological Literacy in 2000 (ITEA), there have been a number of new programs developed that are designed to teach pre-engineering. Project Lead the Way is one such program. Project Lead the Way boasts serving over 1250 schools in 44 states and teaching over 160,000 students (McVearry, 2003). Efforts are also being made to infuse engineering design into technology education programs. One example of this is the work of the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) partnering with high school technology educators in summer inservice workshops to help teachers develop activities and …

Mechanics Of Limb Bone Loading During Terrestrial Locomotion In River Cooter Turtles (Pseudemys Concinna), M. T. Butcher, R. W. Blob

Publications

Studies of limb bone loading during terrestrial locomotion have focused primarily on birds and mammals. However, data from a broader functional and phylogenetic range of species are critical for understanding the evolution of limb bone function and design. Turtles are an interesting lineage in this context. Although their slow walking speeds and robust limb bones might lead to low locomotor forces and limb bone stresses similar to other non-avian reptiles, their highly sprawled posture could produce high bending loads, leading to high limb bone stresses similar to those of avian and mammalian species, as well as high torsion. To test …

New Species Of Cheumatopsyche (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) From North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Christy J. Geraci, John C. Morse

Publications

Sulawesi Island has a high density of endemic animal species, including insects in the order Trichoptera. We describe the males of four new species of Cheumatopsyche (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) from North Sulawesi (Provinsi Sulawesi Utara), and provide a checklist of the Cheumatopsyche species from the Indonesian archipelago. Describing the aquatic insect fauna is an important step toward establishing biomonitoring protocols in Indonesia, which is experiencing rapid development and water pollution problems.

Engine Performance Test Of Cottonseed Oil Biodiesel, Xiaohu Fan, Xi Wang, Feng Chen, Daniel P. Geller, Peter J. Wan

Publications

Two cottonseed oil biodiesel samples (cottonseed oil methyl esters, COME) produced in Clemson lab, together with other two commercial cottonseed oil biodiesels were evaluated on their engine performance with the No. 2 diesel fuel as a reference. The results revealed that emission of CO, CO2 and NOx from cottonseed oil biodiesels was lower than that of the No. 2 diesel fuel. CO decreased by 13.8%, CO2 by 11.1% and NOx by 10%, though there was no significantly statistical difference at p<0.05. The engine test also showed a slightly higher amount of consumption and less tendency of coke formation from COME than the No. 2 diesel fuel. The oxidative stability study showed COME with acceptable stability. COME exhibited friendly environmental benefits and acceptable stability, demonstrating its feasibility as an alternative fuel.

Analogical Reasoning In The Engineering Design Process And Technology Education Applications, Jenny Daugherty, Nathan Mentzer

Publications

This synthesis paper discusses the research exploring analogical reasoning, the role of analogies in the engineering design process, and educational applications for analogical reasoning. Researchers have discovered that analogical reasoning is often a fundamental cognitive tool in design problem solving. Regarding the possible role of analogical reasoning in the context of technology education; analogies may be a useful tool to develop student’s design skills, teach abstract or complex concepts, and build students’ analogical reasoning skills for general problem solving. The positive and negative educational implications of analogical reasoning being explored by researchers are also discussed.

Engineering Student Outcomes For Grades 9 - 12, Vincent W. Childress, Craig Rhodes

Publications

The article focuses on a study by Dearing and Daughtry about postsecondary engineering education. The study used a modified Delphi technique that they conducted with technology teachers, technology teacher educators, and engineering educators to identify engineering outcomes for high school pre-engineering students. The purpose of the study was to identify those concepts that are necessary to teach high school students in order to prepare them for postsecondary engineering education, while preserving the mission of teaching technological literacy.

Quality And Characteristics Of Recent Research In Technology Education, Scott D. Johnson, Jenny Daugherty

Publications

The focus of research in technology education has evolved throughout its history as the field changed from industrial arts to technology education (Spencer & Rogers, 2006). With the move to technology education, the field has begun to broaden its focus to better understand the teaching, learning, curriculum, and policy implications of preparing the next generation of technological thinkers. Although a complete “paradigm shift” may not have occurred completely within all technology-oriented programs (Sanders, 2001), the current emphasis on engineering within technology education indicates a need to examine and assess the status of technology education research over the past ten years …

In Vivo Strains In The Femur Of River Cooter Turtles (Pseudemys Concinna) During Terrestrial Locomotion: Tests Of Force-Platform Models Of Loading Mechanics, Michael T. Butcher, Nora R. Espinoza, Stephanie R. Cirilo, Richard W. Blob

Publications

Previous analyses of ground reaction force (GRF) and kinematic data from river cooter turtles (Pseudemys concinna) during terrestrial walking led to three primary conclusions about the mechanics of limb bone loading in this lineage: (1) the femur was loaded in a combination of axial compression, bending and torsion, similar to previously studied non-avian reptiles, (2) femoral shear stresses were high despite the possession of a reduced tail in turtles that does not drag on the ground and (3) stress-based calculations of femoral safety factors indicated high values in bending and torsion, similar to other reptiles and suggesting that substantial `overbuilding' …

Transportation Security Framework For A Medium-Sized City, Ryan Fries, Mashrur Chowdhury, Anne Dunning

Publications

Terrorist attacks have made security preparedness unquestionably necessary in all cities. While major metropolitan areas have long recognized that their global visibility has required strong security operations, many medium-sized cities, specifically those of the U.S. and European Union, now face the need to establish transportation security frameworks for the first time. This paper assesses the resources available to help medium-sized cities begin the task of creating such systems. This assessment presents infrastructure risk assessment tools, identifies infrastructure and funding resources, and creates a process for developing a security framework to connect agencies responsible for transportation security in these metropolitan areas. …

Globalization: Winners And Losers - Talking Points, Derek Wilmott

Publications

Supporters of free trade argue that globalization increases economic prosperity as well as opportunity, especially among developing nations. Critics argue that globalization has led to the exploitation of both workers and the environment, while contributing to the destabilization of undeveloped nations. Can free trade enhance civil liberties, lead more efficient allocation of resources, and increase prosperity through globalization? Or are the critics right?

Cutting Edge: Langerin/Cd207 Receptor On Dendritic Cells Mediates Efficient Antigen Presentation On Mhc I And Ii Products In Vivo, Juliana Idoyaga, Cheolho Cheong, Koji Suda

Publications

The targeted delivery of Ags to dendritic cell (DCs) in vivo greatly improves the efficiency of Ag presentation to T cells and allows an analysis of receptor function. To evaluate the function of Langerin/CD207, a receptor expressed by subsets of DCs that frequently coexpress the DEC205/CD205 receptor, we genetically introduced OVA into the C terminus of anti-receptor Ab H chains. Taking advantage of the new L31 mAb to the extracellular domain of mouse Langerin, we find that the hybrid Ab targets appropriate DC subsets in draining lymph nodes and spleen. OVA is then presented efficiently to CD8⁺ and CD4 …