Digital Commons Network^™

A Computational Framework For Efficient Error Correcting Codes Using An Artificial Neural Network Paradigm., Maung Maung Htay

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The quest for an efficient computational approach to neural connectivity problems has undergone a significant evolution in the last few years. The current best systems are far from equaling human performance, especially when a program of instructions is executed sequentially as in a von Neuman computer. On the other hand, neural net models are potential candidates for parallel processing since they explore many competing hypotheses simultaneously using massively parallel nets composed of many computational elements connected by links with variable weights. Thus, the application of modeling of a neural network must be complemented by deep insight into how to embed …

Autobiographical Amnesia: Memory, Myth, Curriculum., Gregory Michael Nixon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Autobiography in curriculum theory and practice is being more and more acknowledged as a major force leading toward the development of reflectively analytical teachers, reflexive practitioners, and discursively self-aware individuals. I look to two vital aspects of self-narration to explore. I speak firstly of memory, without which narrative continuity would be impossible. Memory is as involved with learning as it is with storytelling, and I would agree with Krell (1978) that "inquiry into memory and the theory of pedagogy go hand in hand" (p. 131). I eschew the models of memory provided by the behavioral sciences, empirical psychology, cognitive psychology, …

The Forgotten Victims, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The attention and hand-wringing lavished on race relations by Aleinikoff and many others obscures the fact that by every measurement of formal equality, and by many measures of substantive equality, white women are further behind than black men (black women, unsurprisingly, are on the bottom). It leads us to focus our energies, our remedies, and our scarce resources on race discrimination, often at the direct expense of women. I hope to do three things in my brief remarks today. First, I will suggest that Professor Aleinikoff's paper exaggerates the problem it addresses. Second, I will explain what I mean when …

On "Hindutva" And A "Hindu-Catholic," With A Moral For Our Times, Julius Lipner

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

The purpose of this article is to comment on the term hindutva, viz. "Hinduness," with special reference to a 19th century Bengali thinker who sought to indigenise his Christian faith, and to draw some topical conclusions. The thinker is Brahmabandhab Upadhyay (1861-1907) whom his sometime friend, Rabindranath Tagore, Bengal's greatest luminary, described as "a Roman Catholic ascetic, yet a Vedantin -- spirited, fearless, self-denying, erudite and uncommonly influential." No doubt Upadhyay was influential then; he had a powerful impact on Tagore himself especially when they were jointly establishing what would later develop as Tagore's brainchild of Santiniketan. For years previously …

How Actualities Affect The Credibility And Audience Evaluation Of Radio Newscasts, Michael G. Bradd

Masters Theses

This study tests the hypotheses that actualities increase the audience appeal and credibility of a radio newscast. Two treatment newscasts of identical content were produced using the same announcer. One of the treatments used actualities in four of the seven stories while the other treatment had no actualities. Analysis of variance was used to compare subjects' evaluations of the two treatments. The study found that contrary to common wisdom in the radio industry, actualities have no statistically significant impact on the audience appeal of a newscast. The data did not confirm the credibility hypothesis; it strongly suggested that actualities do …

Ricardian Equivalence Or The Indifference Between Tax And Debt Financing, Chad Moutray

Masters Theses

Ricardian equivalence is a topic which has attracted much attention in the economic journals in the past couple of decades. Economic theory states that a tax cut gives the public a greater disposable income. Thus, the public will consume more, and the economy will grow. However, if the tax cut is financed by debt, the public will perceive that a future tax increase is inevitable to pay off the debt. Under this scenario, the public will not consume more. Instead, they will save all of their increased disposable income in anticipation of the future tax increase. Ricardian equivalence then is …

Expectations As Character Development In Chaucer's Clerk's Tale, Kevin Gorham

Masters Theses

The Clerk of Oxenford in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is often maligned for lacking development as a literary character. Frequently, the Clerk has been dismissed as a stereotype or an ideal rather than a multi-dimensional character. The Clerk's character, much like the meaning of his tale, is concealed from the reader and veiled behind expectations.

Chaucer manipulates readers by exploiting expectations associated with fourteenth century clerks. These expectations derive from historical and literary stereotypes which constitute the General Prologue portrait of the Clerk. Because Chaucer's description of the Clerk is populated with stereotypes, the reader expects the Clerk to tell a …

Chaucer's "Nether Ye": A Study Of Chaucer's Use Of Scatology In The Canterbury Tales, Brook Wilson

Masters Theses

Chaucer's use of scatology throughout the Canterbury Tales offers a new frontier for Chaucerian research. To this date, no book-length work dealing exclusively with the scatological elements found in his works exists. Too often, the serious and artistic effects of scatology become lost in the great comedy the device generates. Furthermore, many readers and scholars seem to find themselves somewhat "squaymous" when confronted with the "nether ye" of Chaucer. While Chaucer employs scatology perhaps less frequently than Swift or Rabelais, his mastery of this device remains unquestionable.

Recognizing that the uses for scatology extend far beyond creating humor, Chaucer instead …

The Meyersville School's Utilization Of Windows On Science, Art D. Anthony

Masters Theses

This study was designed to determine if the students and teachers of Meyersville School, Meyersville, Texas, liked the Windows on Science^® program better than learning and teaching science using the traditional book. All students, grades three through six, and teachers, grades one through six, were surveyed regarding their opinion of Windows on Science^®.

This field experience indicated the students and teachers liked the Windows on Science^® program better than using standard science textbooks. The male students had a higher mean score than the female students or teachers. The teachers felt they needed more experiments to help …

Social Facilitation: The Effects Of Audience's Status On Performances Of A Pursuit Rotor Task, Richard J. Baranowski

Masters Theses

In a study of social facilitation, 20 college students performed a pursuit rotor task in the presence of an audience of other students or faculty members. The results indicate that subjects performing in the presence of an audience of student peers displayed a significant enhancement in performance when compared to a baseline performance measurement. Subjects performing in the presence of an audience of faculty members displayed a nonsignificant decrement in performance when compared to baseline performance. The results suggest that the status of an audience affects individual performance.

African American Self-Esteem: Racial Ideology And Racial Identity, Carrie Wilson-Brown

Masters Theses

This study empirically investigated the relationships among global self-esteem and racial self-esteem, ethnic and racial ideology, cultural identity, and anti-white sentiment in a sample of 109 African-American students enrolled in the Partnership for Excellence program at Eastern Illinois University. The findings suggest that these dimensions are interrelated and anchored in the relationships with family and friends in the black community. Self-esteem is strongly correlated with racial self-esteem, cultural knowledge, and black separatism. The data do not support a relationship between self-esteem and system-blame, anti-white sentiment, and interracial contact. Implications of this study are that black self-esteem is insulated from systems …

Learning Mathematics As A Language, Kathryn Shafer

Masters Theses

This paper explores the relationship between language and mathematics. It is a summary of research done over the last thirty years. Also included are personal observations which are not part of any controlled study. Since language is the vehicle for thought, mathematics educators and curriculum planners will benefit from a linguistic approach to mathematics education. Symbolic mathematics is similar to natural language in both its structure and its communicative nature. If the students are to internalize the notation, they must be the ones to give it meaning. A linguistic approach to mathematics education includes language development, verbalization of concepts, vocabulary …

Before Guardianship: Abuse Of Patient Rights Behind Closed Doors, Peter J. Strauss

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Marianne Moore: Facets Of The Crystal, Mary Virginia Katzeff

Masters Theses

Marianne Mooore's poetry embodies two different types of work. As well as the objective poetry that her contemporaries called modernist or Imagist (labels which she rejected), she also wrote quite personal, subjective poems. Two factors, theme and subject matter, unify her work and give evidence of her distinct poetic voice.

The content and form of Moore's work developed from her personal life and interests. In her childhood, loss of a beloved grandfather and changes of household, as well as a lifelong attachment to her mother, affected the poet deeply, as evidenced by her consistent theme of protection. Exotic animals populate …

A Field Experience: Teacher Orientation, Rena J. Talbert

Masters Theses

The purpose of this field experience was three fold: 1) to determine the existence of formal teacher orientation programs, 2) the contents of the programs, and 3) the level of satisfaction by the principal(s) regarding the formal teacher orientation programs for newly employed teachers. A survey of the high schools in Educational Service Centers 15, 16, 17, and 18 was conducted.

In addition, a thorough review of literature and research associated with the need and benefits from a teacher orientation program was presented. Included in the review was the components of a mentor program.

An analysis of the survey results …

A Field Experience: The Paris High School Climate, Steven R. Sabens

Masters Theses

A comprehensive survey of the perceptions of students, teachers, and parents regarding the climate at Paris High School was conducted. This assessment was accomplished by conducting a random sample survey of students and parents, and a total survey of faculty.

Analysis of the survey results identified five specific areas in the Paris High School climate needing improvement (a) school/community relations, (b) student support climate, (c) school image, (d) school problems, and (e) students identifying a purpose between what they are studying and their everyday lives. In addition, a thorough review of recent literature and research associated with effective schools and …

Consolidation Study For Illinois Community Unit School Districts No. 10 And No. 20, Judith J. Phipps

Masters Theses

The main purpose of this field study was to examine factors related to school consolidation in Lawrence County, Illinois. Two unit school districts-Community Unit School District No. 10 and No. 20-have been in operation since 1972 in southeastern Illinois. Both districts have full recognition by the Illinois State Board of Education and North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

In 1991-92, approximately 2,800 students attended kindergarten through twelfth grade in Lawrence County. However, financial considerations were the primary concerns of the schools/ operations. Due to revenue losses in farmland reassessment, property taxes and general state aid, Lawrence County administrators examined …

The Effects Of Knowledge Of Accrued Clinical Clock Hours On Supervisors' Evaluations Of Clinical Competence, Julie Ann Johnston-Palmer

Masters Theses

Supervision in speech-language pathology is one facet of the field in which all speech-language pathologists have had to engage. The more that is known about the process of supervision the better future speech-language pathologists can be prepared to interact in a professional setting. Many variables are present in supervision related to the field of speech-language pathology. One variable which has received only minimal attention relates to the effect knowledge about a student clinician's number of accrued clinical clock hours has on the evaluation of the clinician's skills. The assumption is often made that a student clinician with more clinical clock …

Accuracy Of Perceived Self-Efficacy In Relation To Levels Of Depression, David M. Cummins

Masters Theses

In the investigation of the relationship between accuracy of perceived self-efficacy and levels of depression, conflicting results have been found. Some studies have shown that depressed subjects are more accurate at assessing their actual self-efficacy than nondepressed subjects, while other studies have shown that nondepressed subjects are more accurate than depressed subjects at assessing their actual self-efficacy. One common problem that exists in these studies is that their external validity is weak due to the uniqueness and random nature of the experimental designs. The present study attempts to address this problem by examining the relationship between levels of depression and …

Federalism, Intergovernmental Relations, And The Illinois State Division Of Safety Inspection And Education, William E. Darrell

Masters Theses

Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) saturates the academic study and practice of public administration. The two are combined into a structure of government (federalism) and the flow of information and instructions within that structure (IGR). Forming a single and complex theoretical approach to public administration, they offer definition and clarification to the nature of American government. However, the approach is inherently biased - as currently offered. Deliberate or not, it stresses the supremacy of each level of government over lesser units - a clear hierarchical structure. A pyramid is often described with individual citizens as the foundation and national government …

Lee V. Weisman: Paradox Redux, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

For more than two decades, the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence was "at war with" its Free Exercise jurisprudence. In recent years, however, two major decisions--"Employment Division v. Smith" and "Lee v. Weisman"--have effected a significant shift in our religion clause jurisprudence. In this article I will suggest that, considered together, these two decisions have merely replaced one form of incoherence with another. In particular, I will suggest that either decision could be justified alone--and indeed, that either standing alone would be an improvement on the Court's previous religion clause doctrine--but that together they make little sense.

Natural Law In The States, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Two of our most cherished constitutional myths are that we are, more or less, carrying on the constitutional traditions of the framers, and that the framers' most significant innovation was the invention of a written constitution. Neither belief is true. This article is the second in a series suggesting that our vision of the Constitution differs in a particular and important way from that of the framers: for us, it is the sole source of fundamental law, while for the framers it was only one source among many.

Rights Talk: Must We Mean What We Say?, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Mary Ann Glendon has written a powerful and persuasive diagnosis of the ills besetting modern American society. Unlike many other commentators, Glendon refuses to lay the blame on any single group or institution but spreads her accusations widely across society. For that reason, this book is sure to displease ideologues and fellow travelers on both the left and the right, but it is her impartial and relatively apolitical stance that gives the book its major strengths.

The Ghost Of Liberalism Past, Suzanna Sherry

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

We the People is an ambitious book by one of our best constitutional theorists. Part one of a projected three-volume series, it aims at nothing less than a re-envisioning of American constitutional history and promises a new synthesis of law, politics, and history. Ackerman weaves an intriguing story about who we are and who we might be as a people. Unfortunately, Ackerman's tale fails to inspire, because it is mired in a fictional past and envisions a utopian future. In addition, the book ultimately raises more questions than it answers because it provides inadequate criteria to identify the moments in …

Multijurisdictional Estates And Article Ii Of The Uniform Probate Code, Jeffrey Schoenblum

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The prefatory note to the 1990 revisions of article II of the Uniform Probate Code ("UPC") indicates that the changes wrought are a response to several developments since the promulgation of the UPC in 1969. The prefatory note emphasizes the decline of formalism, the proliferation of will substitutes, the multiple-marriage society, and the rise of the partnership/marital sharing theory as stimulative of the revisions introduced. The theme of this article is that one other crucial development has been essentially ignored. No serious attempt has yet been made by the drafters to address the immensely complex yet commonplace issues associated with, …

Taxation, Cynthia M. Ohlenforst, Jeff W. Dorrill

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can We Express Ourselves Dancing Naked - Barnes V. Glen Theatre, Inc. - The First Amendment And Freedom Of Expression, Chris Joe

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Evolving Framework Of The United States Export Control System: A Case Study In Exporting Fiber Optic Telecommunications Systems To The Former Soviet Union, Linda M. Googins

University of Baltimore Law Forum

No abstract provided.

Experimental Dual-Mode Control Of A Flexible Robotic Arm, Woosoon Yim, Jichun Zuang, Sahjendra N. Singh

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

This paper focuses on the implementation of a dual-mode controller for the maneuver of a single link flexible robotic arm. The joint angle trajectory tracking is accomplished by a proportional and derivative PD and a feedforward controller. Based on the pole placement technique, a linear stabilizer is designed for elastic mode stabilization. The stabilizer is switched on when the trajectory reaches the vicinity of the terminal state, and the effect of . switching time on arm vibration is investigated. An optical deflection sensor is used for on-line measurements of elastic deflections, and also used for the prediction of the static …

Optimal Linear/Nonlinear, Quantity/Quality Management Of Complex Multilayer Aquifers By Embedding, Ali Gharbi, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The embedding optimization modelling approach is adapted to aid long-term groundwater quality and quantity management of complex nonlinear multilayer aquifers. Implicit block-centered finite-difference approximations of the quasi-three-dimensional unsteady flow equation, and Galerkin finite-element approximations of the twodimensional advection-dispersion transport equation are embedded as constraints in the model. Other hydrological processes are also included as constraints. Cyclical linear differencing permits representation of nonlinear transport, even when contaminant is extracted by unsteady pumping (a decision variable). Also used are nonlinear (discontinuous derivative) constraints describing drainage, stream-aquifer interflow and evapotranspiration. The use of both linear and nonlinear formulations of the entire flow and …