Digital Commons Network^™

Enhanced Coding, Clock Recovery And Detection For A Magnetic Credit Card, Daniel Felix Smith

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis describes the background, investigation and construction of a system for storing data on the magnetic stripe of a standard three-inch plastic credit in: inch card. Investigation shows that the information storage limit within a 3.375 in by 0.11 in rectangle of the stripe is bounded to about 20 kBytes. Practical issues limit the data storage to around 300 Bytes with a low raw error rate: a four-fold density increase over the standard. Removal of the timing jitter (that is prob-' ably caused by the magnetic medium particle size) would increase the limit to 1500 Bytes with no other …

Reinforcement Learning In Intelligent Control : A Biologically-Inspired Approach To The Relearning Problem, Brendan D'Cruz

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The increasingly complex demands placed on control systems have resulted in a need for intelligent control, an approach that attempts to meet these demands by emulating the capabilities found in biological systems. The need to exploit existing knowledge is a desirable feature of any intelligent control system, and this leads to the relearning problem. The problem arises when a control system is required to effectively learn new knowledge whilst exploiting still useful knowledge from past experiences. This thesis describes the adaptive critic system using reinforcement learning, a computational framework that can effectively address many of the demands in intelligent control, …

Investigation Into Submicron Track Positioning And Following Technology For Computer Magnetic Disks, Baolin Tan

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In the recent past some magnetic heads with submicron trackwidth have been developed in order to increase track density of computer magnetic disks, however a servo control system for a submicron trackwidth head has not been investigated. The main objectives of this work are to investigate and develop a new servo pattern recording model, a new position sensor, actuator, servo controller used for submicron track positioning and following on a computer hard disk with ultrahigh track density, to increase its capacity. In this position sensor study, new modes of reading and writing servo information for longitudinal and perpendicular magnetic recording …

Intelligent Pattern Analysis Of The Foetal Electrocardiogram, Nicholas John Outram

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The aim of the project on which this thesis is based is to develop reliable techniques for foetal electrocardiogram (ECG) based monitoring, to reduce incidents of unnecessary medical intervention and foetal injury during labour. World-wide electronic foetal monitoring is based almost entirely on the cardiotocogram (CTG), which is a continuous display of the foetal heart rate (FHR) pattern together with the contraction of the womb. Despite the widespread use of the CTG, there is no significant improvement in foetal outcome. In the UK alone it is estimated that birth related negligence claims cost the health authorities over £400M per-annum. An …

The Priming Of Visual Feature Integration And Illusory Conjunctions, Graham Derek Smith

School of Psychology Theses

Whether non-spatial previewing can interact with the process of integrating visual features and thereby affect the formation of illusory conjunctions was studied. A series of ten experiments were undertaken that employed methods borrowed from the illusory conjunction and visual previewing paradigms. Participants reported the identities of two briefly presented target objects. Preview stimuli were presented prior to the to-be-reported target stimuli. The preview objects and target objects were colour-filled geometric shapes. The effects of two types of non-spatial previewing were investigated; feature previewing and conjunction previewing. In feature previewing the preview stimuli were congruent or incongruent with one of the …

Performance Of A Boussinesq Model For Shoaling And Breaking Waves : A Comparison With Large Scale Laboratory Data, Francoise Ozanne

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In this thesis, a nonlinear model predicting hydrodynamics data for waves shoaling and breaking on a beach is reproduced and extensively tested with laboratory data. The model is based on the 1D Boussinesq equations as derived by Madsen et al. (1991) and Madsen and Sorensen (1992), with the free surface elevation and the depth-integrated velocity as variables. It allows slowly varying bathymetries and contains additional high order terms to improve the frequency dispersion for shorter wave periods, and thus also to improve the shoaling properties of the model. Wave breaking is modelled using the concept of a surface roller as …

Nwca Information

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Understanding "Spirit" In The Writing Center, Lynn Briggs

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Review: The Writing Center Resource Manual, Peter Carino

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Announcements

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Nwca Information

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Finding Common Ground: Multicultural Ya Literature, Chris Crowe

Faculty Publications

Unfortunately, I made little headway with my students. From their perspectives, people living on the other side of the world, especially "enemies," were so abstract they hardly seemed real. Because my students knew almost nothing about Soviet or Chinese people, the idea of exterminating all the "Commies" seemed about as horrifying or realistic to them as a Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon.

Part of their naivete resulted from the fact that they were typical teenagers: egocentric, unfamiliar with many of the ugly realities of the world, and prone to simplistic notions of right and wrong, good and evil.

A Bill Of Rights For The United Kingdom: From London To Strasbourg By The Northwest Passage?, Stephen Sedley

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In anticipation of the United Kingdom's patriation of the European Convention on Human Rights, the author explores the possible impact that a Bill of Rights will have on the U.K. system of justice from a European and U.K. perspective. The author argues that, from a European perspective, the U.K. has an established history of yielding to supra-national law given its membership in the European Union. However, from a U.K. perspective, this will present new challenges, as the constitutionality of domestic legislation is subject to increased judicial scrutiny in ensuring conformance with European Convention obligations. The author argues that the pressures …

"Pro-Life" Absolutes, Feminist Challenges: The Fundamentalist Narrative Of Irish Abortion Law 1986-1992, Ruth Fletcher

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article asks how Irish abortion law developed to the point of stopping a young pregnant rape victim from travelling abroad to have an abortion in 1992 (Attorney General v. X.). The author argues that this case, which ultimately saw the Irish Supreme Court overturn that decision and recognize the young woman's right to abortion, was the last chapter of the fundamentalist narrative of Irish abortion law. The feminist critique of that law needs to consider its particular fundamentalist aspects in order to clarify the obstacles posed to the struggle for Irish women's reproductive freedom. The author argues that a …

R. V. Oakes 1986-1997: Back To The Drawing Board, Leon E. Trakman, William Cole-Hamilton, Sean Gatien

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The Supreme Court of Canada, in R. v. Oakes, identified two standards of justification in applying section 1. The first standard was normative. The second was methodological, called the Oakes test. The Court, until recently, applied the Oakes test mechanically and avoided the normative standard. More recently, in Egan v. Canada and RJR-MacDonald Inc. v. Canada (A.G.), it resorted to a normative analysis that is indeterminate and unpredictable. This article challenges both the mechanical application of the Oakes test and the Court's new normative approach. It proposes, and illustrates, a preferable alternative that is both determinate and predictable. It is …

Gender Faultlines Of Legal Liberalism And The Advance Of The Contemporary Right: The Case Of India, Radhika Desai

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Volume 7, 1998, Ellen Hazelkorn, Nora French, Wolfgang Truetzschler

Issues

No abstract provided.

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Stride Angle On Ball Velocity And Stride Length In Softball Pitching, Jeanna Marie Foster

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in stride length and ball velocity which occur as a result of changes in the stride angle in the underarm fastball pitch. All subjects were female collegiate level softball pitchers who pitched windmill style. Each pitcher's preferred stride angle, stride length, and ball velocity were recorded. Stride lengths and ball velocities for predetermined stride angles were then recorded. An artificial environment was designed with a grid marked to measure stride length and stride angle. A radar gun was used to measure ball velocity. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to calculate …

The Incidence Of Domestic Violence Among A Group Of Iowa Women In Substance Abuse Treatment, Patricia G. Fitzgerald

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Domestic violence is receiving increasing attention in the media, communities, and classrooms across the country. It is suggested a minimum of from 2 to 3 million women are assaulted by male partners each year in the United States. More than 3 out of every 100 or 1.8 million women were severely assaulted as they were kicked, punched, choked, beaten, threatened with a knife or gun, or had a knife or gun used on them. The contribution of alcohol or drugs to this phenomena is frequently acknowledged but rarely examined in detail. This paper reports the incidence of domestic violence among …

The Relationship Between The Intensity And Duration Of Extracurricular Activities And Teenage Pregnancy, Rhonda L. Drilling

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Extensive research has been done in the area of adolescent pregnancy prevention. One possible means of prevention that has not been adequately explored is involvement in extracurricular school activities. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the intensity and duration of participation in extracurricular school activities and the incidence of teenage pregnancy. In the study, 200 female high school students who had never been pregnant and 36 females who had become pregnant as teenagers were surveyed. All females were from Fayette County, Iowa. A 33-item questionnaire was used to survey the two groups regarding …

An Investigation Of Women’S Motivational Factors To Run A Marathon, Michelle Roland

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to begin to understand what motivates women to participate in marathons. Twenty-seven Caucasian women enrolled in the "Seminar in Fitness and Mental Health" at a Midwest university answered the questionnaire (Motivations of Marathoners Scale Questionnaire). After participants completed the questionnaire a focus group interview was conducted with six participants. The Motivations of Marathoners Questionnaire was used to identify the participants' motives to run a marathon. The questionnaire contained 56 items distributed across nine scales. The scales included the following areas: health orientation, weight concern, self-esteem, life meaning, psychological coping, affiliation, recognition, competition, and personal …

Experimental Testing And Modeling Of Automotive Automatic Belt Tensioners, Jiaxin Zhao, Clark R. Barker, Larry Oliver, William Breig, Joey Edson

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Automatic belt tensioners are used in serpentine belt drive systems in many automotive front end accessory drive (FEAD) applications. The dynamic characteristics of the tensioner must be well defined in order to accurately model the entire belt drive system for system simulation studies. In order to determine required tensioner performance parameters, six different configurations of a production unit were tested over a wide range of frequencies at two different amplitudes of the arm travel. Data was recorded to define the total torque generated by the tensioner as a result of the known input motion to which the arm was subjected. …

Toxicity Of Tnt, Hmx, And Rdx Degradation Products To Mammalian Cells Before And After Bioremediation Of Contaminated Soils, Irina Yurievna Blinova

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The production and disposal of hazardous substances has resulted in environment pollution and has become one of the most important issues in the United States. New technologies such as site bioremediation using microorganisms or microbial processes that enhance contaminant detoxification and destruction are being developed. This project assessed the success of bioremediation by a white rot fungus. The material tested was soil from Virginia site contaminated with a mixture of explosives (TNT, RDX, and HMX). The assays examined toxicity of soil eluates to several mammalian cell lines (Ll210, Jurkat, and U-937). Two separate assays were used and compared in the …

A Case Study Of Four Fifth Grade Teachers And Their Perceptions Of How And Why They Teach Science, Ana K. Houseal

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of four 5th grade teachers and their perceptions of the influences on how and why they taught science in their classrooms. The four participating teachers who were from three school districts in Iowa were observed teaching science lessons and interviewed following the observations. The results of the study showed that the data obtained during the observations and interviews focused on three major themes. The first theme centered on the teachers' perceptions of changes in teaching elementary science. These included a move away from text-based learning with a subsequent move …

Frontal Lobe Dysfunction In Non-Clinical Compulsive Checkers, Christopher J. Boys

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Recent studies suggest deficits in set-shifting ability, as assessed by tasks such as the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The present study examined the extent to which these deficits were demonstrated by nonclinical "checkers" selected on the basis of scores on the Maudsley Obsessional Compulsive Inventory. A modified version of the WCST was used, the Milwaukee Card Sorting Test (MCST), in order to determine whether the deficits in set-shifting ability are due to a complete lack of switching or to a dysregulation in switching. In the latter case, the individual illustrates correct set shifting …

Network Security: An Evaluation Of Security Policies And Firewall Implementations, Melanie L. Abbas

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper begins focusing on network security issues. The areas of physical security, access security, and connection security are explored. Connection security provides the biggest need for improvement in the entire security field. This type of security is managed best with firewall implementations. Various firewall models are discussed.

Software evaluations were performed on three different commercial Internet security tools. The software was compared on the basis of ease of installation, functionality, level of security provided, and output available. In summary, the value of the firewall is dependent on the need to implement a firewall in an organization.

However, a security …

Cancer Prevention Behavior In Traditional College-Age Individuals, Michelle Renee Hartwig

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to describe cancer prevention behaviors practiced by traditional college-age individuals enrolled at a four year university. Specifically, the study was designed to determine what primary and secondary prevention behaviors the students were practicing and if there was a difference in prevention behaviors between males and females. Demographic information collected was limited to sex of the participant. The behavioral categories examined included tobacco use, early detection practices, alcohol use, nutrition, physical activity, ultraviolet radiation exposure, and sexual behavior. The distribution of the 210 respondents was almost equal with 102 males and 108 females participating. The …

Relationship Between Television Viewing And Physical Activity Levels Among College Students, Sarah Joan Brummer

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between leisure time physical activity levels and time spent viewing television (including video or computer game play) among college students. Sub-problems included the physical activity profiles of males compared to females and the association between self-reported intensity of physical activity and time spent viewing television. The present study utilized a nonexperimental research design. Specifically, survey methodology using a self-report questionnaire was used as the means of data collection. The self-report questionnaire was designed to measure demographic characteristics, leisure time television viewing, and physical activity behaviors. A total of 789 students …