Digital Commons Network^™

Developing Marketing Competence And Managing In Networks: A Strategic Approach, Aidan O'Driscoll, David Carson, Audrey Gilmore

Articles

Two important domains of scholarly investigation over the last decade, competency development and networks, share important common ground. These domains are also comprehended gainfully in terms of their wider strategic underpinning. This paper first contends that competence is considered best in terms of the particular strategy–structure–shared values constellation of a firm. This enables competence, including marketing competence, to be understood in terms of competency deepening (within the conventional marketing function), broadening (marketing activity which must be shared and co-managed with other parts of the firm), and of partnering (essentially, the ability to manage alliances, networks and relationships between the firm …

Electronic Control Of Torque Ripple In Brushless Motors, Peter Franz Kocybik

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Brushless motors are increasingly popular because of their high power density, torque to inertia ratio and high efficiency. However an operational characteristic is the occurrence of torque ripple at low speeds. For demanding direct drive applications like machine tools, robot arms or aerospace applications it is necessary to reduce the level of torque ripple. This thesis presents an in depth investigation into the production and nature of torque ripple in brushless machines. Different torque ripple reduction strategies are evaluated and one reduction strategy using Park's transform as a tool is identified as the promising strategy. The unified machine theory is …

Performance Characteristics Of A Low-Cost, Field-Deployable Miniature Ccd Spectrometer., S. Coles, M. Nimmo, P. J. Worsfold

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Miniature spectrometers incorporating array detectors are becoming a viable, low-cost option for field and process deployments. The performance characteristics of one such instrument are reported and compared with those of a conventional benchtop instrument. The parameters investigated were wavelength repeatability, photometric linearity, instrumental noise (photometric precision) and instrumental drift.

Confessions Of A First-Time Writing Center Director, Neal Lerner

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Beach Development Behind Detached Breakwater., Philip George Axe

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Concurrent wave and morphology data were collected around a coastal protection scheme on the U. K. south coast. The scheme consists of eight detached breakwaters protecting a renourished sand and shingle beach, and is situated in a strongly macro-tidal environment. The development of the beach morphology is described. The beach trapped sand and shingle moving eastwards into it, and lost material from the eastern end. While the beach was designed to maintain a shingle beach, it was found that the scheme was most effective at trapping sand, which led to tombolo formation behind the updrift breakwaters. Current engineering design methods …

On Turbo Codes And Other Concatenated Schemes In Communication Systems, Adrian Ambroze

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The advent of turbo codes in 1993 represented a significant step towards realising the ultimate capacity limit of a communication channel, breaking the link that was binding very good performance with exponential decoder complexity. Turbo codes are parallel concatenated convolutional codes, decoded with a suboptimal iterative algorithm. The complexity of the iterative algorithm increases only linearly with block length, bringing previously unprecedented performance within practical limits.. This work is a further investigation of turbo codes and other concatenated schemes such as the multiple parallel concatenation and the serial concatenation. The analysis of these schemes has two important aspects, their performance …

Development Of A Quality Control Procedure For Force Platforms, Jacinta Browne, Neil O'Hare

Articles

A force platform is a technical method of quantitatively assessing balance indirectly. The use of force platforms in physiotherapy departments has become more prominent over the last few years. However, the main drawback in the use of force platforms is the lack of comprehensive calibration procedures, which casts doubt on the results obtained with these systems. Existing calibration tests are limited to testing the spatial accuracy of the force platform. This paper describes a comprehensive quality control test procedure which was developed. It is proposed that the developed quality control test procedure could be used to test all types of …

Development Of A Novel Method For Assessing Balance: The Quantitative Posturography System, Jacinta Browne, Neil O'Hare

Articles

Balance is the ability to maintain equilibrium while sitting or standing. There are a number of different methods, which are used to assess balance: technical methods such as Sway Magnetometry, Ataxia Meter and Force Platforms and clinical methods such as Functional Reach Test, Berg Balance Test and Fall Risk Index. The most frequently used technical method is the force platform. There are two types of Force Platform a static and a dynamic Force Platform of which the dynamic Force Platform has been found to be more sensitive at detecting impaired balance. The Quantitative Posturography System (QPS) described in this paper …

Left Out In The Cold: The Problem With Aboriginal Title Under Section 35(1) Of The Constitution Act, 1982 For Historically Nomadic Aboriginal Peoples, Brian J. Burke

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In R. v. Adams and Delgamuukw v. British Columbia, the Supreme Court of Canada made statements to the effect that certain historically nomadic Aboriginal groups may be unable to make out a claim for Aboriginal title under section 35(1) of the Constitution Act, 1982. In light of the anthropological evidence relating to the close connection some of these groups enjoyed with the lands they occupied, a serious injustice may arise if these groups are indeed barred from an Aboriginal title claim. The author attempts to correct this potential injustice by demonstrating that at least some of these historically nomadic groups …

Law's Expression: The Promise And Perils Of Judicial Opinion Writing In Canadian Constitutional Law, Paul Horwitz

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article argues that there is a link between one's theory of constitutional law, and one's judgments about style in judicial opinion writing. It identifies several special functions of the constitutional opinion, including the democratic function of responding to the counter-majoritarian difficulty through an act of public justification, and the inter-generational function of provoking a temporally extended dialogue about constitutional values. Drawing on these functions, it argues for an opinion writing style dubbed "open-textured minimalism," that seeks to resolve cases narrowly, articulate fundamental values and principles, and spark long-term debates about the underlying constitutional values supporting each decision. The author …

Book Review: Boundaries Of Judicial Review: The Law Of Justiciability In Canada, By Lorne Sossin, David Mullan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Russian Parenting Styles And Family Processes: Linkages With Subtypes Of Victimization And Aggression, Craig H. Hart, David A. Nelson, Clyde C. Robinson, Susanne F. Olson, Mary Kay Mcneilly-Choque, Christin L. Porter, Trevor R. Mckee

Faculty Publications

Political changes in the former Soviet Union have allowed social scientists to explore a variety of family and child development issues that were closed to systematic investigation for many decades (Maddock, Hogan, Antonov, & Matskovsky, 1994). Prior Soviet psychological research focused on cognitive rather than socioemotional processes for political reasons (Kerig, 1996). Therefore, Western researchers had little opportunity to conduct research on children’s social development in the context of the family in the former Soviet Union.

2000 - 2001: Postgraduate Prospectus, Dublin Institute Of Technology

DIT Publications

This booklet outlines the opportunities for post graduate studies offered by the Dublin Institute of Technology. Including both taught and programmes of research leading to higher level awards.

Foreign Language Textbooks In The Classroom: Bridging The Gap Between Second Language Acquisition Theory And Pedagogy, Kristina Harlan '00

Honors Projects

Second language acquisition (SLA) research encompasses various theories of language learning in which the theoretical perspectives sometimes are not connected to SLA methods used by instructors in the classroom. This paper discusses several theories of SLA in an effort to better understand their connection to pedagogy. Foreign language (FL) pedagogy accounts for various methodological approaches the most common being Grammatical-Translation, Direct Method, Audiolingual, and Communicative. These distinctive methodologies have produced a variety of FL textbooks which focus on one or several methodologies.

The following research examines a selection oftextbooks in which the methodologies in beginning language learning are analyzed and …

Master's Oboe Recital, Terri Smith Armfield

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Terri Smith Armfield presented a graduate oboe recital at 8:00 p.m. on November 15, 1999 in Russell Hall Auditorium at the University of Northern Iowa School of Music. The recital was presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Music degree in oboe performance. The recital repertoire represented a variety of challenging pieces from Italian Baroque to twentieth century: Antonio Vivaldi's Sonata No. 6, Opus 13, Bohuslav Martinu's Concerto for Oboe, Gaetano Donizetti's Concertina for English Horn and Ludwig van Beethoven's Trio Opus 87.

The Effect Of Color On A Controlled Accuracy Test, Kaori Araki

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Human behavior is influenced by the environment and color is one ever present factor in the environment. Consequently, the impact of color on performance cannot be ignored. Previous research on the effect of color on a fine motor skill has not been systematic and results are inconclusive. The purpose of the present study, then, was to examine the effect of color (green, blue, red, and white) on the performance of a controlled target accuracy task (dart throwing). Based on previous literature, it was hypothesized that color would have an effect on performance. The experiment took place in the Psychomotor Behavior …

The Effects Of Symbol Organization Strategy On Syntactical Language Production In First Grade Children, Daniel Thomas Baier

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is the process in which a person's disordered speech is augmented or assisted with communication technology. This study investigated the effects of vocabulary organization using branching capabilities of a high technology device on sentence construction. Information about vocabulary organization strategies might be important for addressing the language and literacy deficits that were noted in previous research with AAC users. The study attempted to investigate whether or not vocabulary organization in a grammatical sequence across one page or multiple pages would improve non-AAC users abilities to retell a story using AAC technology. Six students participated in …

Gender, Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, Experience, And The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition, Short Form (Wais-Iii), Laura Jean Blalock

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships between gender, self-efficacy, anxiety, experience and the WAIS-III, short form. This study investigated the hypotheses that gender differences occur on select subtests of the WAISIII, short form, that math self-efficacy, math attitudes, and math experience affect Arithmetic scores, and that motor speed affects performance on the Digit Symbol subtest. The sample consisted of 93 undergraduate students from the University of Northern Iowa (36 males, 57 females). Students completed questionnaires and were administered the WAIS-III short form individually. Males scored higher on the Arithmetic, Information, and Digit Span subtests and …

The Effects Of Computer Animations On Secondary Students’ Understanding Of The Crushing Can Chemical Demonstration, Resa Marie Kelly

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Understanding chemistry requires the ability to think at three different levels: submicrochemistry, macrochemistry, and representational chemistry. Students often have difficulty making connections among these three areas due to the abstract nature of many chemistry concepts. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how computer animations affected secondary students' understanding of the Crushing Can Demonstration. This investigation compared two groups of chemistry students at a large, suburban high school. The treatment group viewed the animation after seeing and discussing the crushing can demonstration, while the control group received the same instruction as the treatment group but did not see the …

A Structure-Model For The Hamlet-Tradition, Christopher Scott Chiron

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The "hero-as-fool" structure-model for the Hamlet-story proposed by William F. Hansen is modified into an "Amlethan" structure-model with five major elements: ( 1) the Usurpation; (2) the First Test (of the Maiden); (3) the Second Test (of the Mother); (4) the Third Test (of the Journey); and (5) the Revenge. The first and last elements emphasize the "avenging son" aspect of the story whereas the middle three elements emphasize the "hero-as-fool" aspect. The Amlethan structure-model is then re-applied to the two "essential" texts in the tradition, Saxo Grammaticus' narrative of Amleth (c. 1200) and William Shakespeare's play Hamlet (c. 1600). …

An Evaluation Of The Ductile Iron Casting Training Program At The Industrial Technology Department Of A Midwestern University, Khalid D. Alkarimy

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study is to determine how efficient this training program is as measured by (a) increasing the knowledge of new employees about the ductile iron casting process and other casting processes as perceived by the participants, (b) participants achievement of the program learning objectives as perceived by the participants, and (c) a positive reaction and attitude toward the program contents, instructors, facility and handout as perceived by the participants. The problem of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Ductile Iron Casting Training program offered by the Industrial Technology department of a Midwestern University to …

The Prolonged Effects Of Acute Stretching On Vertical Jump, Robert R. Hammill

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Stretching has been shown to reduce maximal power in human subjects after an acute stretching protocol. Twenty-two college-aged males performed acute static stretches for the lower extremities for approximately 14 minutes (experimental group) or sat quietly for 15 minutes (control group). Subjects received both treatments in a random order on separate evenings. Following the treatment protocol (stretch or no-stretch) the subjects performed a series of vertical jumps at 5-minute time intervals. Two trials were allowed at each data collection period. The results indicate that acute stretching has no significant effect on vertical jump, F(6,126) = 0.01, p >0.92, nor is …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Sexual Assault Curriculum At The University Of Northern Iowa, Faith Hope Sonksen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to assess university students' attitudes toward rape and rape mythology and to measure any impact on these attitudes following exposure to a rape/sexual assault awareness curriculum unit. It was hypothesized that students attending the rape/sexual assault unit would demonstrate a statistically significant difference in their rape/sexual assault awareness attitudes and beliefs after taking a sexual assault program, and there would be a statistically significant difference according to gender.

The study sample consisted of 46 (28 male, 18 female) physical education major students enrolled in sections of 420:016, Self-Defense Class at UNI. The mean age …

The Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse And Revictimization In Adulthood Among Uni College Students, Kristine R. Wroblewski

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between childhood sexual abuse and adult revictimization. Two hypotheses were examined. It was hypothesized that childhood victims of sexual abuse were more likely to be revictimized as adults. It was also hypothesized that there would be significant differences in demographic and psychosocial correlates between victims of childhood sexual abuse and those who did not report childhood sexual abuse.

The Health and Safety Survey was administered to 589 students at the University of Northern Iowa. There were 398 female respondents and 182 male respondents. The Health and Safety …

Investigation Of The Job Training Partnership Act Career Inventory In Predicting Career Clusters For Clients In Black Hawk County, Amy Bryte

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) is a federally funded program that is an approach to employee training and placement to the economically disadvantaged, dislocated workers, or those facing significant employment barriers. The goal of ITP A is to put People to work by placing them in jobs through various training activities. Overall the ITP A program strives to move jobless individuals into permanent self-sustaining employment. A service offered through the ITPA program is career inventory. Career inventory are assessment tools used to determine a client's current abilities, values, and interests. After a client completes the career inventory they are …

The Effects Of Influence Tactics On Performance And Supervisory Evaluations Of Subordinates, Courtney L. Determan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examined the effects on performance and attitudes of three different types of influence tactics including exchange, personal appeal and inspirational appeal. The sample consisted of 78 undergraduate students from the University of Northern Iowa. The researcher conducting the study gave instructions for a paper-folding task to construct miniature paper tents. The instructions were given in a manner demonstrating one of the three influence tactics. After hearing the instructions, the participants' attitudes toward the researcher were evaluated using the Supervisory Behavior Description (as cited in Robinson, Athanasiou, & Head, 1974). The participants were then given materials to construct as …

An Investigation Of Student Understanding Of Light In Geometrical Optics: Relating Formalism To Conceptual Understanding Of The Physical Phenomena, Ekaterina Denissova

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper reports on a study of student understanding of the nature and properties of light prior to instruction and by the completion of a unit on geometrical optics in a General Physics II course at University of Northern Iowa. The emphasis of this study was placed on the ability to make connections between the formalism of physics and real world phenomena. The ability to apply appropriate concepts and principles from geometrical optics, including the drawing of ray diagrams, to predict and explain image formation and light behavior was chosen as the operational criterion to assess students' conceptual understanding. The …

A Silicon Olfactory Bulb Oscillator, Vitor M.Grade Tavares, Jose C. Principe, John G. Harris

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents a low power MOS-VLSI implementation of an oscillator proposed by Freeman to model a very important component of the olfactory cortex. The model dynamics has time constants in the order of 1/220 (s). To accomplish the long-time constants a new filtering technique recently proposed was utilized. All the blocks involving information processing were designed to operate below threshold (weak inversion).

Development Of A Functional Basis For Design, Robert B. Stone, Kristin L. Wood

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Functional models represent a form independent blueprint of a product. As with any blueprint or schematic, a consistent language or coding system is required to ensure others can read it. This paper introduces such a design language, called a functional basis, where product function is characterized in a verb-object (function-flow) format. The set of functions and flows is intended to comprehensively describe the mechanical design space. Clear definitions are provided for each function and flow. The functional basis is compared to previous functional representations and is shown to subsume these attempts as well as offer a more consistent classification scheme. …

A Heuristic Method For Identifying Modules For Product Architectures, Robert B. Stone, Kristin L. Wood, Richard H. Crawford

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Developing product architectures is a key phase in design and development processes. It encompasses the transformation of product function to alternative product layouts. In this paper, we describe a new approach for identifying modules for product architectures. We begin by reviewing the terminology and motivation for modular products. The new concepts of a functional basis and time ordered function chains are used to formally derive functional models of products. Then, three heuristic methods for identifying modules from functional models are presented. Using the formal functional decomposition and heuristic methods, modular design can be executed earlier in the product development process, …