Digital Commons Network^™

Linking Performance Requirements With Process Improvement Actions For Business Process Re-Design, Cita Lorraine Wood

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This thesis presents research that extends current knowledge in the area of business process re-design, with a specific focus on the 'Make Product' process within manufacturing organisations. Current business process re-design approaches offer only limited guidance on the specific changes that can be made to a process when re-designing it to achieve the desired performance improvements and often overlook any strategically derived performance requirements when re-designing the process. Case experience suggests that practitioners do not consider the performance requirements of their business processes when re-designing them and that the actions they take to achieve performance improvements are not selected with …

Intelligent Fault Tolerant Control Schemes For Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Andrew Raymond Pearson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The area of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) is an increasingly important area of research, with AUVs being capable of handling a far wider range of missions than either an inhabited underwater vehicle or a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). One of the major drawbacks of such vehicles is the inability of their control systems to handle faults occurring within the vehicle during a mission. This study aims to develop enhancements to an existing control system in order to increase its fault tolerance to both sensor and actuator faults. Faults occurring within the sensors for both the yaw and roll channels of …

Precision Control Of A Sensorless Brushless Direct Current Motor System, Matthew John Knight

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Sensorless control strategies were first suggested well over a decade ago with the aim of reducing the size, weight and unit cost of electrically actuated servo systems. The resulting algorithms have been successfully applied to the induction and synchronous motor families in applications where control of armature speeds above approximately one hundred revolutions per minute is desired. However, sensorless position control remains problematic. This thesis provides an in depth investigation into sensorless motor control strategies for high precision motion control applications. Specifically, methods of achieving control of position and very low speed thresholds are investigated. The developed grey box identification …

A Case Analysis Of Three Middle-School Boys Who Have Down Syndrome And Have Been In Regular Education Classes Since Preschool, Eileen Frances Luddy

Dissertations

This study investigated the experiences of three middle-school boys who have Down syndrome and have always attended regular education classes.

Despite the existence of policies and initiatives in support of inclusive education, research on the implementation of inclusive practices in middle schools is sparse.

This study is organized in nine chapters. A review of literature revealed that significant research conducted during the past decade supports the practice of including students with disabilities in regular education and the benefits of inclusion outweigh the benefits of separate instruction.

A case study approach investigated the phenomenon covering contextual conditions surrounding the experiences of …

Predominant Nursing Students' Learning Profile And Nursing Faculty Teaching Styles As Related To Final Course Grade In A Baccalaureate Nursing Program In Puerto Rico, Lourdes Méndez Cruz

Dissertations

Problem. The purpose o f this study was to investigate the relationship between students’ predominant learning profile, faculty teaching preferences, and the final course grade in a 4-year nursing program at a private Christian university in Puerto Rico.

Method. A non-experimental descriptive research design was used for this study. The Learning Profile Indicator was administered to all nursing students («=138) while the Teaching Style Inventory was given to all faculty («=9). Demographic sheets were also given to both students and faculty Students’ final course grades were obtained from the faculty. Descriptive (frequency, means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics …

The Relationship Between Perspectives Ofspiritual Care And Organizational Climate In Seventh-Day Adventist Baccalaureate Nursing Programs In North America, Edelweiss Ramal

Dissertations

Problem

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between perspectives of spiritual care held by students and faculty in Seventh-day Adventist baccalaureate nursing programs and their perception of the school climate and compare these between faculty and students, Seventh-day Adventists and non-Seventh-day Adventists, and males and females.

Methodology

The University Version of the Kettering School Climate scale and the Role of Spiritual Care in Nursing Subscale answered by 49 faculty and 159 students of nine Seventh-day Adventist baccalaureate nursing programs provided the data. Pearson correlation, one-way analysis of variance, and t tests at a .05 level of …

Exploratory Study Of The Relationships Between Community Building And The Social, Academic, And Spiritual Engagement At Antillean Adventist University, Zilma Enid Santiago

Dissertations

Problem. This research examined the students’ sense of community building in a college and how such perceptions influenced academic, social, and spiritual engagement in a 4- year Christian university.

Method. The study was an exploratory study that used survey methodology. Data collection was done using a 150-question research instrument that consists of several sections designed to gather information about the demographic characteristics of the population, and to measure the following variables: sense of community, and the academic, social, and spiritual engagement. Both descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistical techniques (one-way analysis of variance and canonical correlations) were used …

The Design, Implementation, And Assessment Of Initial Change And Growth In A Local Voluntary Organization And Its Members, Tracy Ann Weber

Dissertations

Problem. During the past 30 years, Americans have steadily reduced their participation in the traditional forms of community involvement, such as clubs, associations, and organizations, that bring people together to effectively pursue a shared objective. In this postmodern society, leaders of community and nonprofit organizations find they are asking themselves difficult questions about the most effective methods of fulfilling their mission and simultaneously meeting members' changing needs. Participatory volunteer-run organizations, such as a local branch or chapter of a national organization, face many challenges, making it hard to establish and maintain there organizations. They demand great energy of leaders, …

The Empirical Development Of A Curriculum On Identification Of The "Tongues" Of 1 Corinthians 14 Utilizing A Socio-Exegetical Approach To Interpretation, Angel Hernandez

Dissertations

Problem. The Corinthian tongues is a subject that has been extensively covered in the literature, especially in exegetical Bible commentaries, but no empirically developed curriculum for college-level instruction has been found. The purpose o f this study was to develop such a curriculum. The approach to the interpretation o f the tongues of 1 Corinthians 14 was interdisciplinary: both theological and sociological.

Method. The instructional product development method formulated by Baker and Schutz and revised by Naden was used in this study. The process consisted of ten steps including; assessment of the need for a new curriculum, identification and …

A Study Of Perceptions Held Toward Teacher Evaluation Policies And Practices By Teachers And Their Supervisors In Adventist Schools In Canada, Dave Densil Higgins

Dissertations

Problem. Most school administrators and teachers deem teacher evaluation systems to be extremely stressful, of little or no value, and a barrier to high staff morale. The purpose of this study was to investigate the current teacher evaluation policies and practices and the perceptions held toward these policies and practices by selected elementary and secondary' teachers and their supervisors in the Adventist schools in Canada.

Method. The population of this study consisted of selected elementary and secondary teachers and their supervisors in the Adventist schools in Canada. Two hundred and twenty-five teachers and 48 supervisors were surveyed. The survey …

The Early Bronze Age Ceramic Assemblage From Tell Ta'annek, Palestine, Mark S. Ziese

Dissertations

The problem

Greenberg has recently stated that isolating temporal ceramic indicators for the Early Bronze II-III periods is "one of the thorniest issues in the archaeology of Palestine" (2000: 183). Part of theproblem stems from the homogenous nature of ceramic assemblages from Early Bronze Age Palestine; part of it stems from a continued lack of published information. Both of these issues are addressed by this study. Excavations at Tell Ta`annek between 1963 and 1967 unearthed the remains of a multi-period site, including the residues of an Early Bronze II-III fortified settlement. It is purposed here to isolate that portion of …

Exemplary Bilingual Teachers In Puerto Rico: A Multiple-Case Study, Aurea Laracuente Araújo

Dissertations

Problem. Within a context of inadequate pre-service training, insufficient administrative support, and an ambivalent social environment regarding the teaching of ESL in Puerto Rico, a number of conscientious bilingual teachers try to overcome the odds of the system and have an impact on students' ability to speak English. Some even become exemplary teachers. How do they learn to meet so many expectations successfully in spite of real short comings found in their job, and how do they acquire the skills and competencies necessary to be exemplary bilingual teachers in Puerto Rico?

Method. A qualitative multiple-case study design was …

The Effectiveness Of The Writing Workshop Model To Teach An English-As-A-Second-Language College Writing Course In Puerto Rico: A Look At Students' Outcomes, Marie Jacqueline Agésilas

Dissertations

Problem. Questions have been raised regarding the number of limited-English-proficient students who enter undergraduate schools every year. This study was designed to look at the effectiveness of the Writing Workshop model in improving English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) college students' writing skills in a small liberal arts university in Puerto Rico.

Method. Students registered in two Intermediate English-as-a-Second-Language writing classes were asked to take a pretest-posttest related to writing skills and a pretest-posttest related to composition skills to indicate their level of agreement for each of the 22 statements on a Likert-type (survey) instrument--strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (4)--related to their attitudes …

The Roles And Attributes Of Human Resource Leaders During Organizational Restructuring, Alison Anne Brown

Dissertations

Problem. As the number of organizations involved in major restructuring increases, Human Resource (HR) leaders find themselves in a labyrinth of evolving roles. How might they facilitate the organization's desire to successfully wed human needs and experiences to profit expectations and strategies?

Purpose. This qualitative study seeks to increase understanding of the dual role played by human resource leadership, as they are both survivors and facilitators of organizational restructuring. It answers the overarching question: What are the unique contributions made by HR leaders to the organizational restructuring process?

Methodology. Through a purposive sampling process, 11 HR leaders were identified who …

A Descriptive Multiple Case Study Of Caucasian Female Suicide Attempters: Risk And Protective Factors, Janice Johnson Browne

Dissertations

Problem

Suicide is a problem globally and in the United States. Suicide rates for youth have remained particularly high. Caucasian men complete more suicidal acts than women, but women are more frequent suicide attempters. To gain information about the phenomenon of female suicide attempting, it is important to study the attempter. Awareness of risk and protective factors is necessary to intervene and prevent future incidences of suicide and suicide attempting.

Methodology

For this research a descriptive case study design was utilized. Three suicide attempters who had attempted suicide one or more times in the past was the sample population for …

Manifest Destiny Adapted For 1990s’ War Discourse: Mission And Destiny Intertwined, Roberta L. Coles

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Civil religious themes have long been integral to public discourse in America. Specifically the themes of mission and destiny best known in the farm of Manifest Destiny, still carry the country through periods of foreign conflict. This paper analyzes the discourses of President George Bush during the Persian Gulf War and President Bill Clinton during the Kosovo conflict. I identify the themes of mission by example and mission by intervention and argue that these forms of mission are intertwined. The use of these themes by presidents of different political parties indicates that while they remain useful, they are adapting for …

A Study Of The Reported Long-Term Attitudinal And Behavioral Effects Of An Eighth-Grade Environmental Education Project And The Development Of An Innovation Configuration To Promote Environmental Education, Jean Lomino

Dissertations

Problem. Increasing scientific evidence reveals that this planet is in serious environmental jeopardy. Since 1977, when an international group of K-12 educators met in the USSR and established goals for teaching environmental education worldwide, many schools have endeavored to fulfill these goals through the use of various curricula and teaching strategies. Although some progress has been made, most K-12 public schools have not done enough to meet the demands of environmental problems. In 1996, my co-teacher and I designed and implemented an environmental project, called Mission Environment, that we hoped would help our students develop long-term positive environmental attitudes …

Paul's Apparent Reversal Of Concern For The Weak Brother In L Corinthians 10:29b-30: An Examination Of The Text In Light Of Greco-Roman Rhetoric, Moses Oladele Taiwo

Dissertations

Problem . In 1 Cor 8:1-10:29a, Paul has been consistently on the side of the brother in 8:11 whose conscience is weak to eat food offered to idols. But, in 10:29b-30, he seems to reverse himself, here suggesting that one should be able to eat anything, regardless of its provenance or the effect such eating may have on others. Or, what should be made of the two questions asked in the text that appear neither fitted to the context nor directly answered by what precedes and follows in the discussion of εἰδωλόθυτα in 8:1-11:17?

Approach . Scholars have employed various …

Interpreting U.S. Treaties In Light Of Human Rights Values, Lori Fisler Damrosch

Faculty Scholarship

International treaty law occupies a more secure place in U.S. constitutional text than customary international law. Treaties, we know, are the “supreme law of the land” under Article VI of the Constitution and are routinely applied both in state courts and in federal courts under Article III. So the “awkward relationship” to which I will address myself is how U.S. courts should determine the meaning of an international treaty to which the United States is bound, when the parties involved in court have different views on the substance of the obligation that the United States has undertaken. Thus my general …

Behavioral Evidence For Chemosensory And Thermosensory Pathway Convergence In The Caenorhabditis Elegans Nervous System, Bowman O. Davis Jr., Lewis Vanbrackle, Darren Pittard

Faculty Articles

The nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, is an established model system to explore the ways simple nervous systems detect and direct organismal responses to environmental changes. C. elegans possesses specialized receptor cells for the detection of a variety of environmental stimuli. Separate cell types respond to volatile chemical and thermal stimuli and the neural pathways for these show anatomical evidence of convergence. This work reports findings from behavioral assays during simultaneous exposure of nematodes to both thermal differences and attractant volatile chemicals. Combined exposure to benzaldehyde and cold neutralized the behavioral responses to both stimuli in 24°C acclimated worms. Diacetyl and mild …

The Extent Of Protection Of The Individual’S Personality Against Commercial Use: Toward A New Property Right, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

The purpose of this Article is to explore the extent of an individual's right of privacy, vis-à-vis the concepts of commercial use and appropriations, which compromise rights of publicity. The deceptively simple, yet complex, conclusion to be drawn from this analysis is that a delicate balance of interests must be struck, either legislatively or judicially, between recognizing a full right of privacy, and its permutations in the right of publicity, with the press and news media. A definitive balancing test may be elusive, but at a minimum, a framework for principled decision making must be attempted. It is imperative that …

The Science, Law, And Politics Of Fetal Pain Legislation, Kevin C. Walsh

Scholarly Articles

Most people prefer not to inflict gratuitous pain on other sentient beings, especially other humans. What, then, should be the legal system's reaction to the mounting evidence that in late-term abortions doctors are inflicting just such pain on fetuses who have the anatomical, physiological, and neurological capacity to experience it? The pain being inflicted is gratuitous because it can be easily avoided with no significant increases in cost or health risk by the administration of tar geted fetal pain relief. If informed that an abortion is likely to cause pain to the fetus and given a choice between a procedure …

The Global Digital Divide: Focusing On Children, Susanna Frederick Fischer

Scholarly Articles

This article addresses the global aspect of the digital divide in two ways. First, I will focus primarily on the issue of school-aged children's access to information and communications technologies (ICT) globally. My focus is on children for the simple reason that children embody the future. Second, I will limit my assessment of this issue to a comparison of children's access to ICT in six countries around the world. Located on five continents, these six countries range from highly developed OECD countries to lesser developed countries. They are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Mongolia, and Tanzania.

Java At Middle Age: Enabling Java For Computational Science, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Not long after the Mosaic Web browser appeared and Netscape communications formed, Sun Microsystems launched Java in a way that will be forever known as a marketing success story. All across the US, there were many Java Day events. I still have my t-shirts as proof of having been there.

Increasing Company Competitiveness: “Tuning-Up” Your Pay System, K. Dow Scott, Dennis Morajda, James W. Bishop

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The cost of labor (i.e., salaries, benefits and incentives) accounts for a sizeable portion of an employer’s operating expenses. Pay packages priced too low or configured improperly can deprive firms of the talent needed to successfully develop, market and produce viable products and services in today’s ultra competitive business environment. However, if pay packages are too high, labor costs can weaken a firm’s ability to compete. For example, a firm with 500 employees can have labor costs that easily exceed $15 million. Thus, building and maintaining a cost-efficient pay system that encourages employee performance without adversely affecting corporate earnings requires …

A Preferred Vision For Administering Elementary Schools : A Reflective Essay, Brad Bridgewater

Graduate Research Papers

Caring is the first trait exhibited by almost every great leader. It may sound like a very soft touchy-feely thing, but it works.The second trait of great leaders, or those who get others to excel, is Integrity. In other words, they can be trusted to tell the truth. They tell the truth in good times and bad, and they tell the truth whether or not it makes them look good or bad.

Finally, great leaders who get others to excel have high expectations. They don't let people get by with mediocrity. No one can really feel good about themselves when …

Uniform Certified Public Accountant Examination Candidate Brochure., American Institute Of Certified Public Accountants. Examinations Team.

Examinations and Study

No abstract provided.

Information Outlook, January 2002, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2002

Volume 6, Issue 1

Wolves In Utah: An Analysis Of Potential Impacts And Recommendations For Management, T. Adam Switalski, Trey Simmons, Shiree L. Duncan, Andreas S. Chavez, Robert H. Schmidt

Natural Resources and Environmental Issues

The historic range of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in Utah was essentially statewide. Although their presence cannot be disputed, the historic abundance of wolves in Utah is unknown. The release of gray wolves into Yellowstone National Park and central Idaho in 1995 established growing populations, and increasing dispersal is bringing these wolves closer to Utah. It seems likely that wolves will commingle with Utah's other native mammals in the near future. The potential presence of wolves in Utah is generating a series of questions and debates. In this report, we review the potential of wolves in Utah and make predictions …

Fluorescence Studies In The Inductively Coupled Plasma, Anita Young

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

An Optima 3000 ICP-AES instrument was modified and the equipment necessary to carry out axial excitation atomic fluorescence was designed and constructed. Using this calibrated system, preliminary fluorescence experiments were not successful. As fluorescence is proportional to source intensity, it was considered that the excitation source, a hollow cathode lamp, may not have been sufficiently intense to produce fluorescence. A novel excitation source-driver system was designed and built in-house to operate HCLs, BDHCLs and LEDs with variable modulation frequencies and duty cycle capabilities. Studies investigating lamp response to changes in modulation frequency and duty cycle indicated that a lamp operated …