Digital Commons Network^™

Double-Talk Robust Fast Converging Algorithms For Network Echo Cancellation, T. Gansler, Steven L. Grant, J. Benesty, M. M. Sondhi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Echo cancelers which cover longer impulse responses (greater than or equal to 64 ms) are desirable. Long responses create a need for more rapidly converging algorithms in order to meet the specifications for network echo cancelers devised by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). In general, faster convergence implies a higher sensitivity to near-end disturbances, especially "double-talk". Recently, a fast converging algorithm called proportionate NLMS (normalized least mean squares) algorithm (PNLMS) has been proposed. This algorithm exploits the sparseness of the echo path. In this paper we propose a method for making the PNLMS algorithm more robust against double-talk. The slower …

The Display Of Photographic-Quality Images On The Web: A Comparison Of Two Technologies, Chiang S. Jao, Daniel B. Hier, Steven U. Brint

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Downloading Medical Images on the Web Creates Certain Compromises. the Tradeoff is between Higher Resolution and Faster Download Times. as Resolution Increases, Download Times Increase. High-resolution (Photographic Quality) Electronic Images Can Potentially Play a Key Role in Medical Education and Patient Care. on the Internet, Images Are Typically Formatted as Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) or the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) Flies. However, These Formats Are Associated with Considerable Data Loss in Both Color Depth and Image Resolution. Furthermore, These Images Are Available in a Single Resolution and Have No Capability of Allowing the User to Adjust Resolution as Needed. …

A Study Of The Motives, Barriers, And Enablers Affecting Participation In Adult Distance Education Classes In An Iowa Community College, Roger Joseph Rezabek

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to explore the motives, barriers, and enablers that affect adult students in their decision to enroll in community college distance learning credit classes.

Three methodologies were used in the study: an online focus group of distance learning and adult education experts, enlisted to identify the main issues and questions that would be used in interviews with distance students; a questionnaire distributed to a sample of 210 distance students to determine motives, demographic information, and to act as a screening device for the interviews; in-depth interviews with 23 community college distance learners in northeast Iowa, …

The Impact Of Idea 1997 On Teachers' Beliefs And Collaborative Practices As Participants On Iep Teams At One Middle School, Mary Ann Walsh Schroeder

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of the IDEA Amendments of 1997 on teachers' beliefs and collaborative practices as participants on IEP Teams at one middle school. Regular educators are now required to serve as members of IEP Teams for students identified with special needs, the majority of whom will now be served in the regular classroom. Collaboration, the process of interactions between regular and special educators to provide instruction in inclusive settings, was the practice investigated. This study examines laws and policies, teachers' beliefs, supports and barriers, collaborative practices, and evidence of change over …

Perceptions Of Iowa High School Principals On The Relationship Of Leadership, School Size, And Socioeconomic Level To School Culture, Kevin Wayne Fiene

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

American society is changing. Consequently, public schools are being called to change as well. Previous reform efforts have failed to bring about substantive change and improvement. Current reform efforts are calling for the changing of school culture. What factors influence school culture? What role does leadership, school size, and socioeconomic levels play in developing school culture?

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of leadership, school size, and socioeconomic level to school culture utilizing the Competing Values Framework. The Competing Values Framework provided four ideal culture types and eight leadership roles. Culture types included group, developmental, rational …

Yusef Komunyakaa: Questioning Traditional Metaphors Of Light And Darkness, Katarzyna Jakubiak

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The theory of language promoted by cognitive linguistics points to metaphor as the crucial element of language and thought: a mode of thinking which determines our perception of reality. Stressing the importance of metaphor in our everyday life, George Lakoff, Mark Johnson, and Mark Turner state that the nature of poetic metaphors is the same as the nature of conventional metaphors which appear in "standard" language. Creating poetic metaphors, poets simply explore "conventional" metaphors, using four major strategies: expanding, elaborating, composing, and questioning. Focusing on questioning as the main strategy through which American "multicultural" literatures can undermine basic Western concepts …

Predictive Head Tracking For Virtual Reality, Donald C. Wunsch, Emad W. Saad, T. P. Caudell

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In virtual reality (VR), head movement is tracked through inertial and optical sensors. Computation and communication times result in delays between measurements and updating of the new frame in the head mounted display(HMD). These delays result in problems, including motion sickness. We use recurrent and time delay neural networks to predict the head location and use it to calculate the new frame. A predictability analysis is used in designing the prediction system

Parents And Schools : Making The Literacy Connection, Patricia A. Greguras

Graduate Research Papers

Families can offer children many opportunities to read and write in their home. By being role models, parents demonstrate to their children the genuine functions of language. Letting children know that reading and writing are meaningful activities and are used for practical and enjoyable reasons fosters literacy.

A home/school literacy project was developed in a fifth grade class to encourage the home/school connection and to provide more parental support for the school program. Students wrote a monthly newsletter to their parents, read and journaled nightly with their parents, and invited parents to share their job experience, favorite book, vacation or …

An Empirical Comparison Using Both The Term Structure Of Interest Rates And Alternative Models In Pricing Options On 90-Day Bab Futures, Irene Chau

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The use of the term structure of interest rates to price options is relatively new in the literature. It describes the relationship between interest rates and the maturities of bonds. The first model that described the interest rate process was the Vasicek (1977) model. There have been many studies on the formulation of theoretical pricing models. Yet limited empirical research has been done in the area of actually testing the models. In this thesis we report the results of a set of tests of the models indicated below. This paper involves analysis of the pricing errors of the Black model …

Notions Of Justice Through Drama, Elvira Sammut

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This paper explores and describes the lived-experience of a group of 16-year-old girls in a drama class designed to heighten awareness of values of social justice. The students involved are experienced drama students, with a good knowledge of the theory of role-play and play-making, as well as, sound dramatic skills and techniques. The lived-experience provided the source for the research study that used film as a medium to inculcate notions of justice and equity in the classroom through self-devised drama. Phenomenological research was conducted with a group of seventeen Year II drama students. The students took part in a series …

Emotion Altering Effects Of Research Participation, Matthew Dunsire

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Previous studies have suggested that participating in psychological research may temporarily amplify participants’ experience of positive or negative emotions (Daugherty & Lawrence. 1996). In the present research, 114 male and female university students completed either self-focused or non-self-focused questionnaires to investigate characteristics that may predispose some participants to positive or negative reactions following participation in research. Four hypotheses were examined: (a) A self-focused task compared to a non-self-focused task would significantly increase average levels of emotional arousal; (b) the amplification of emotional reactions would be greater in females than males (c) participants experiencing negative life events and who are less …

An Adaptive Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic System For Modelling And Prediction Of Financial Systems, Mark Kingham

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In this thesis, an intelligent fuzzy logic system using genetic algorithms for the prediction and modelling of interest rates is developed. The proposed system uses a Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic system in which a genetic algorithm is used as a training method for learning the fuzzy rules knowledge bases. A fuzzy logic system is developed to model and predict three month quarterly interest rate fluctuations. The system is further trained to model and predict interest rates for six month and one year periods. The proposed system is developed with first two, three, then four and finally five hierarchical knowledge bases to …

Aliens, Bodies And Conspiracies: Regimes Of Truth In The X-Files, Leanne Mcrae

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The X-Files is a television program that first screened on Australian television in 1993. This thesis will investigate the role of The X-Files as a cultural text. The X-Files is a significant program, and has contributed to a shift in the way in which television texts represent ideas about society, knowledge and truth. This thesis argues that The X-Files presents ‘knowledge’ in particular ways, and makes it possible to think about the relationship between the body, knowledge, and society in ways which have not previously been so visible.

Population Dynamics Of The Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon Obesulus) On Ellen Brook Reserve, Craig Pentland

Theses : Honours

The small, enclosed section of Ellen Brook Reserve provided the unique opportunity to observe a population of southern-brown bandicoots (lsoodon obesulus) in the absence of exotic predators. The reserves small-enclosed size enabled it possible to trap the whole area (excluding the ephemeral swamps) and so emigration and immigration could be excluded. This enabled good population size estimates, and inferences on the loss of individuals due to mortality could be more strongly argued for. An understanding of the population structure, dynamics, size and density, and body condition of I. obesulus in Ellen Brook Reserve, will provide important information, for …

Myofibrillar Protein Composition Of Regenerating And Pristine Claw Closer Muscles Of The Yabby, Cherax Albidis, Lanelle Cutler

Theses : Honours

Yabbies have the ability to regenerate lost limbs. Loss of a limb results in the growth of a limb bud. Development of this new limb involves many developing stages until the new limb becomes morphologically and physiologically virtually indistinguishable from its predecessor. In the yabby, the claw becomes functional after the first moult when the dactyl becomes moveable. However, the muscle fibres are able to develop force and appear to be functioning before the dactyl becomes moveable and the claw is operational (West et al., 1995). This study aimed to document morphological stages of claw regeneration and determine sequence and …

Trends In The Regulation Of Investment Companies And Investment Advisers, Tamar Frankel

Faculty Scholarship

Statutes, rules and enforcement actions are tea leaves we can read to predict future trends of mutual fund regulation. While statutes and rules are specific, the trends they signify are far more speculative. This Essay engages in such speculation to envision the long-term implications of the recent new N- 1A disclosure form, I the plain English Rule,² and the profile. ³ More generally, the Essay speculates on future trends in Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") enforcement, and predicts a continued and stronger use of informal enforcement by the Commission.

Contesting Government's Financial Interest In Drug Cases, Eric D. Blumenson, Eva Nilsen

Faculty Scholarship

In 1984, the civil asset forfeiture law was amended to allow the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and state law enforcement agencies to retain many of the "drug-related assets" they seize for their own law enforcement purposes. Under this amendment, some local law enforcement agencies have managed to double or triple their appropriated budgets by targeting such assets. As former Attorney General Richard Thornburgh has noted, "it's now possible for a drug dealer to serve time in a forfeiture-financed prison after being arrested by agents driving a forfeiture-provided automobile while working in a forfeiture-funded sting operation." The American people, however, …

Physician Attitudes Toward Clinical Health Psychologists In Medical Settings, Katherine T. Kelly

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary healthcare system is noted to be the de facto mental health system in the United States” (Stroshal, 1996). Despite this fact, patients typically do not receive the appropriate behavioral treatment to ameliorate their pain and suffering (Resnick & Rozensky, 1996). The present study attempted to investigate physicians' attitudes toward psychologists in medical settings with regard to whether these attitudes are influenced by (a) levels of medically/psychologically based medical conditions, (b) level of resident training, (c) level of exposure to psychological services, and (d) level of emphasis on psychological training within the medical schools. Thirty-nine female and forty-five male …

Transcendence, Neal Yanoff

Theses

Uses bird symbolism to investigate the subject of transcendence.

Effects Of Physical Appearance On Year 7 Students' Perceptions Of The Intellectual And Social Competence Of Their Peers, Helen Walmsley

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study was designed to investigate the effects of (a) the presence of an obvious disability, (b) physical attractiveness, and (c) the sex of peers on children's attitudes towards accepting a peer. A 2 X 2 x 2 factorial design was used in which the three between-subject variables were (a) whether or not the subject had a disability, {b) whether the subject was attractive or unattractive, and (c) the sex of the respondent. A sample of 200 Year 7 students was divided into four groups containing 25 girls and 25 boys. The students were given background information, and shown a …

The Meaning Of God Today: A Phenomenographic Study Of The Art And Language Of A Group Of Senior Secondary Students, Anne P. Devenish

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Relationship with the Divine is the core of Christianity and the professional concern of a number of ministries, including that of religious education. Knowledge about what God means to children and adolescents would be beneficial to teachers. However, research has provided little useful information in this area. Most research conducted so far has been quantitative in nature and does not uncover the lived experience or the participants' personal understandings of this phenomenon. The qualitative research that has been done focuses mainly on the range of concepts of God held by participants. It is concerned with uncovering some of the elements …

A Critical Analysis Of Devolution And The Corporate Reform Of Teachers' Work, Patrick O'Brien

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The corporate transformation of bureaucratic public education in Western Australia commenced in the late 1980s. The reforms announced in the Better Schools Report (1987) aimed to devolve responsibility to schools for the purpose of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public education. Designed to be responsive, adaptable, flexible and accountable, the administrative style accompanying the reforms is described as corporate managerialism. Devolution has impacted heavily on schools and teachers' work. Evidence presented in this thesis suggests that the corporate values and practices that dominate the organisation and management of schools create personal and professional conflict for many classroom teachers. Devolution …

Specific Domains Of Self-Esteem In Adolescents : Differences Between Suicide Ideated, Depressed And Non-Depressed Samples, Wendy J. Nicholls

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

A 1997 West Australian Child Health Survey (Zubrick et al., 1997) highlighted the need to explore issues regarding problems leading to emotional distress in adolescents. Adolescent self-esteem and suicidal ideation emerged as issues that required further research. The need to understand adolescent issues from a developmental perspective was also evident, due to the difficulties teenagers typically face during their adolescent years. This study builds on previous research by S. Harter and her colleagues, which identified different domains of self-esteem in young adolescents from a general population. Domains of self-esteem according to Harter's Self perception Profile for Adolescents (1988) and Social …

Factors That Malawian Adolescents From Co-Educational Secondary Schools Of Lilongwe And Mchinji Identity As Affecting Their Ability To Discuss Sexual Issues, Susan K. Geloo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors Malawian adolescents from co-educational secondary schools identified as affecting their ability to discuss sexual issues. A sample of 149 adolescent students from the coeducational secondary schools of Lilongwe and Mchinji districts was surveyed. Their ages ranged from 14-18 years of age. The schools and participants were chosen using cluster-sampling and data were obtained via a questionnaire. The questionnaire comprised of demographic variables, sources of sexual information, participant's sexual life, the sexual issues participants consider important and their ability to communicate sexual issues comfortably with different community members. Data were analysed …

Effects Of Joint Trials On The Proportion Of Guilty Verdicts Assigned To Defendants, Stacy Lyn Gall

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

When two or more people are alleged to have committed a crime together they are automatically tried together in a joint trial. Defendants can apply to have a joint trial severed into separate trials, but they are rarely granted. However, joint trials might be biasing against defendants in that they might have a greater likelihood of obtaining aguilty verdict than if they had separate trials. A review of the literature indicated that authors have several hypotheses why joint trials might be biasing, though there is no conclusive evidence that this is the case. This study used a mock juror paradigm …

Psychological Assessment For The Courts : A Survey Of Psychologists, Mary-Anne Martin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The literature relevant to legal standards in criminal, family, and civil settings in relation to psychological assessments for the courts is reviewed. Although over the past twenty years, a number of specialised forensic instruments have been developed for use in forensic settings, it appears that they are infrequently used. Surveys of test use patterns reveal that psychological test use in forensic settings is virtually identical to that in clinical settings, despite the different nature of the referral questions. The debate about the use of psychological tests in forensic assessments, and research on the use of tests in these assessments is …

A Windows Program For Airfoil Design Using B-Splines, Matthew Maclean

Theses

The objective of this thesis has been threefold. First, the formulation of splines has been studied and their development into a computer algorithm has been implemented. Splines represent a powerful concept in computer modeling and geometric representation, for, as parametric curves, they provide a compact way to store the information defining a curve or surface. B-splines have been exclusively used in this thesis, although other types of splines exist. The second goal of this thesis was to learn and utilize C++ as a programming tool in the demonstration of B-spline techniques. C++ was chosen because it is object-oriented, and because …

Church Planting In Sweden In The 21st Century: A Model For New Methodist Churches, Peter Svanberg

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Spiritual Formation Curriculum For Oakland City University, Ray Gene Barber

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Generation X : Unchurched Xers And The Churches That Reach Them, Patrick Mays

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.