Digital Commons Network^™

The Dit Examiner: The Newspaper Of The Dublin Institute Of Technology Students' Union May, 1997, Dit:Students' Union

DIT Student Union

No abstract provided.

The Dit Examiner: The Newspaper Of The Dublin Institute Of Technology Students' Union March, 1997, Dit: Students' Union

DIT Student Union

No abstract provided.

The Dit Examiner: The Newspaper Of The Dublin Institute Of Technology Students' Union October, 1997, Dit Students's Union

DIT Student Union

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Acousto-Optic Demodulation And Decoding Techniques, Matthew Graham Hicks

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis describes the operation and performance of an acousto-optic demodulator system consisting of a laser source, an acousto-optic cell and a bi-cell detector. The bi-cell detector is made up of two photodiodes positioned side by side, separated by a small gap. Theory is developed to predict the following; the linear operating range for different gap sizes, absolute frequency sensitivity, system output in response to discrete phase changes, optimum gap size for phase demodulation, absolute descrete phase change sensitivity, the performance of the system in the presence of carrier noise and the effect of clipping the carrier signal on both …

A Geometric Approach To Modelling Interacting Populations, Jennifer M. Sharp

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to present a different approach to the formulation of differential equation mathematical models for interacting populations. It does this through considering a geometric method. The solution to the differential equations are forced, through theuformulation, to lie on the surface of well known three-dimensional shapes. It is this that allows detailed analysis of how, and why, the solution of the equations behave as they do. The thesis firstly reviews some of the skills and techniques used in the formulation and alysis of differential equation models to give a background for some of the analysis used …

Intelligent Techniques For Handling Uncertainty In The Assessment Of Neonatal Outcome, Jonathan Mark Garibaldi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Objective assessment of the neonatal outcome of labour is important, but it is a difficult and challenging problem. It is an invaluable source of information which can be used to provide feedback to clinicians, to audit a unit's overall performance, and can guide subsequent neonatal care. Current methods are inadequate as they fail to distinguish damage that occurred during labour from damage that occurred before or after labour. Analysis of the chemical acid-base status of blood taken from the umbilical cord of an infant immediately after delivery provides information on any damage suffered by the infant due to lack of …

Design With Attitude: A Key World Class Method, Aj Robotham, Gn Blount

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

World Class Design by implication can best be achieved by adopting world class methods. ICED conferences continue to disseminate methodologies to help make designers and design teams more effective and efficient. At ICED 95 we introduced our PAKTS model (Figure 1.) which identified the total educational needs of young engineering designers [Robotham 1995]. The five key elements of the model are Processes, Attitudes, Knowledge, Tools and Skills. Of these elements, the least developed in terms of methodologies is that of “Attitude”. This paper will give further consideration to this element and identify the qualities that a designer must develop to …

A Comparison Of The Relative Impact Of A Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention Consisting Of An Education Component, With A Postal Education Package, On Coping With Osteoporosis, Charlotte Davenport Clarke

School of Psychology Theses

A study was carried out in order to compare the effects of a cognitive-behavioural intervention, with a postal education package, on coping with osteoporosis. Thirty osteoporosis sufferers were divided into three groups. One group received an intervention programme consisting of education, relaxation techniques, and instruction in the use of coping strategies for pain and stress. A comparison group received an education booklet on osteoporosis sent to them through the postal system. The study also included a non-treatment control group. Measures of locus of control, depression, anxiety, pain, and disease knowledge, were taken pre-and post-intervention. lt was predicted that the intervention …

A Novel Biosensor Using Nanolithographically-Produced Submicron Optical Sources For The Study Of Cell Adhesion And Chemotaxis, Alastair Sheridan Hood

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Cell adhesion and chemotaxis are two key factors determining cell behaviour and differentiation which are currently analysed by microscopic examination of the cell or membrane-associated fluorescence labels. These analyses are often slow, labour intensive and of limited informational content. This thesis describes the physical theory and experimental aspects of an optical method suitable for monitoring cell contact, adhesion to a surface and chemotaxis beyond the conventional limit of optical microscopy by means of a device that utilises both a plain bare surface and arrays of apertures nanolithographically-produced in the surface of a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor structure. Any minute …

Feedforward Artificial Neural Network Design Utilising Subthreshold Mode Cmos Devices, Dominique Xavier Henri Leon Coue

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis reviews various previously reported techniques for simulating artificial neural networks and investigates the design of fully-connected feedforward networks based on MOS transistors operating in the subthreshold mode of conduction as they are suitable for performing compact, low power, implantable pattern recognition systems. The principal objective is to demonstrate that the transfer characteristic of the devices can be fully exploited to design basic processing modules which overcome the linearity range, weight resolution, processing speed, noise and mismatch of components problems associated with weak inversion conduction, and so be used to implement networks which can be trained to perform practical …

Random Effect Models For Repairable System Reliability, John Nicholas Baker

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The practical motivation for the work described in this thesis arose from the development of a new Jaguar car engine. Development tests on prototype engines led to multiple failure time data which are modelled as a non-homogeneous Poisson process in its log-linear form. Initial analysis of the data using failure time plots showed considerable differences between prototype engines and suggested the use of models incorporating random effects for the engine effects. These models were fitted using the method of maximum likelihood. Two random effects have been considered: a proportional effect and a time dependent effect. In each case a simulation …

Learning And Co-Operation In Mobile Multi-Robot Systems, Alexis Kirke

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis addresses the problem of setting the balance between exploration and exploitation in teams of learning robots who exchange information. Specifically it looks at groups of robots whose tasks include moving between salient points in the environment. To deal with unknown and dynamic environments,such robots need to be able to discover and learn the routes between these points themselves. A natural extension of this scenario is to allow the robots to exchange learned routes so that only one robot needs to learn a route for the whole team to use that route. One contribution of this thesis is to …

Networked Computers + Writing Centers = ? Thinking About Networked Computers In Writing Center Practice, Stuart Blythe

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Nwca Information

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Reforming Education In The Land-Grant University: Contributions From A Writing Center, Patricia Lambert Stock

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Cybertext/Cyberspeech: Writing Centers And Online Magic, Sara Kimball

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Announcements

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

System Identification Theory Approach To Cohesive Sediment Transport Modelling, Huixin Chen

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Two aspects of the modelling sediment transport are investigated. One is the univariate time series modelling the current velocity dynamics. The other is the multivariate time series modelling the suspended sediment concentration dynamics. Cohesive sediment dynamics and numerical sediment transport model are reviewed and investigated. The system identification theory and time series analysis method are developed and applied to set up the time series model for current velocity and suspended sediment dynamics. In this thesis, the cohesive sediment dynamics is considered as an unknown stochastic system to be identified. The study includes the model structure determination, system order estimation and …

The Past, Present, And Future Of Expressive Freedom Under The Charter, Jamie Cameron

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

More than ten years have passed since the Supreme Court of Canada's first interpretation of the Charter's guarantee of expressive freedom in RWDSU v. Dolphin Delivery. This review of the past, present, and future of expressive freedom under the Charter is in three parts. The first-dealing with the past-traces the evolution of a methodology of expressive freedom in the "first generation" of s. 2(b) jurisprudence. It is followed by an examination of the status of expressive freedom at present, through comments on recent Supreme Court landmarks in Dagenais v. Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto, and …

The Charter Dialogue Between Courts And Legislatures (Or Perhaps The Charter Of Rights Isn't Such A Bad Thing After All), Peter W. Hogg, Allison A. Bushell

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article responds to the argument that judicial review of legislation under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is illegitimate because it is undemocratic. The authors show that Charter cases nearly always can be, and often are, followed by new legislation that still accomplishes the same objectives as the legislation that was struck down. The effect of the Charter is rarely to block a legislative objective, but rather to influence the design of implementing legislation. Charter cases cause a public debate in which Charter-protected rights have a more prominent role than they would have if there had been no …

Rethinking The Doctrine Of Legitimate Expectations In Canadian Administrative Law, David Wright

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The author examines recent cases that have transplanted the doctrine of legitimate expectations from British into Canadian law. He concludes that the doctrine has been applied in a confused way in this country, without proper consideration of its "fit" with the Canadian duty of fairness. He argues that the place of the doctrine should be to determine what fairness requires when statements or actions of a decisionmaker have led to a legitimate expectation. The suggestion that it should be an exception to the rule that legislative decisions do not attract the duty of fairness is rejected in favour of a …

Messianic Eschatology:Some Redemptive Reflection On Marketing And The Benefits Of A Process Approach, John Murray, Aidan O'Driscoll

Articles

States that a Messianic view of eschatology is one that directs its hopes to a salvatory or vindicating figure, event or philosophy. In applying the eschatology metaphor to marketing, makes the case that, despite apocalyptic forebodings about its shortcomings, marketing’s salvatory prospects are much improved by the adoption of some new concepts and practices. Suggests that it is now productive to add a strongly process-based view of marketing to more traditional perspectives. Comprehending marketing in terms of four core processes - a marketing strategy process, a marketing management process, an order generation, fulfilment and service process, and a new product …

Understanding Of Wetlands As Expressed By Selected Community Leaders, Donald Nathan Bardole

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study focuses on ascertaining the understanding of wetlands by selected community and state leaders and determining the source of that knowledge. Because of the subjects' positions of influence, this information may become an important element in understanding the decisions made by those community and state leaders. An interview survey was designed and piloted for this study. Community and state leadership positions were first delineated and then individuals selected from each category. The subjects varied considerably in their knowledge of wetlands, showed the presence of professional expediency, and agreed that regulation in some form is necessary. The wetlands knowledge held …

Impact Of A Six-Trait Character Education Program On Sixth-Grade Students’ Perceived Attitudes And Behaviors, Cindy S. Baumgartner

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a pilot character education program, called BOOMERANG, on students' reported attitudes and behaviors of six character constructs. The subjects consisted of 80 sixth-grade students enrolled in a small Midwestern town during the 1995-96 school year who were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The intervention consisted of a 16-week character education program led by trained high-school students for a weekly, 30-minute session, using a pilot character education curriculum designed by the researcher. The intervention program consisted of six character traits: (a) caring, (b) citizenship, (c) …

Preservice Teachers’ Use Of Curriculum-Based Measurement In An Informal Assessment Based Reading Clinic, Tina M. Schroeder

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated 13 preservice regular education reading teachers' use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) data under specified conditions. Conditions included: (a) providing preservice teachers with 75 minutes of training in the use of CBM in reading, (b) biweekly CBM administration and graphing during a 10-week practicum experience, and (c) concomitant use of other reading measures [e. g., Reading Miscue Inventory (RMI), Running Records (RR)]. Exit interviews indicated that preservice teachers made use of CBM data in some, but not all, of the important ways suggested in the research literature. Preservice teachers provided the following positive ratings of CBM: (a) CBM …

The Relationship Between Adolescent Alcohol Consumption And Selected Sexual Behaviors: A Retrospective Study, Linda L. Schoonover

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine if the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption by adolescents is associated with their voluntary participation in a continuum of sexual behaviors.

Sixty-one males and 14 females between the age of 18-25 from two substance abuse agencies in Iowa were surveyed. They were asked to provide some basic demographic information (i.e., age, gender, etc.,) and to retrospectively answer questions regarding their referral source to the agency where they completed the questionnaire, residence as an adolescent, family with whom they lived during adolescence, personal quantity and frequency choices for alcohol consumption, attitudes and …

Demonstrating The Need For Health Educators On Short-Term Medical Missions: An Analysis Of Intestinal Parasitic Infections In A Haitian Clinic Population, Janel Jo Brakke

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the need for health educators on short-term medical missions to developing countries. Specifically, the study was designed to analyze age-specific and gender-specific rates of intestinal parasitic infections in a rural Haitian, mountain clinic population. An extensive review of related literature indicated that 80% of the world's population lives in developing nations, primarily in poverty. Despite the tremendous efforts made by governments and international organizations, the basic health needs of developing nations are not being met (Djukanovic & Mach, 1975; King, 1966; Werner, Thuman, & Maxwell, 1996). Problems of contaminated water, improper sewage …

An Examination Of Environmental Sensitivity Among Supporters Of An Outdoor Recreation Area, Rodney James Blackman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The environment as an issue has been prominently before the public for over three decades. Yet the question of how much people know about the natural environment and how committed they are to the environment has seldom been considered in research literature. Research of this nature is needed because without it individuals interested in the preservation and conservation of the environment cannot be sure how their efforts to increase people's environmental sensitivity should be applied. The purpose of this study was to examine the level and extent of environmental sensitivity among supporters of an outdoor recreation area/facility in northeast Iowa. …

A Comparison Of The Speed Of Two Defensive Step Patterns By Women Volleyball Players, Sergei Y. Sherstnev

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to compare the speed of two defensive step patterns in volleyball. The shuffle step and long step were evaluated in terms of the speed of the shift of the center of gravity and stability. Subjects were 14 former female collegiate volleyball players. Each subject performed both the shuffle step and the long step in both directions. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in speed of the two step patterns, movement time, and height of the center of gravity (p >.05). There was a significant difference in displacement (F = 15.3687, p <.0001). The long step showed significantly greater distance from the line of gravity to the center of the base in the direction of the step than did the shuffle step (F = 24.2806, <.0001). The long step showed significantly greater size of the base of support as compared to the shuffle steps on both sides {F = 55.1042, p <.0001). The long steps demonstrated more mobility in the direction of the step, and the shuffle step showed more stability in the final position.

The VisegráD Group: A Case Of Post-Socialist Regional Cooperation In Central Europe, Grigori Chkalikov

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The thesis investigates the so-called Visegrád Group(the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia as of July, 1997) as a case of post-socialist regional cooperation in Central Europe and presents an empirical and theoretical framework to analyze the Group by reviewing stimuli and history of its cooperative efforts in security, politics and economics (including the Central European Free Trade Agreement), and contrasting empirical evidence with major theories of international relations. The Group has evolved as a result of interactions between its attempts to merge with West European economic and security structures, which could promote economic modernization, enhance security, and …