Digital Commons Network^™

Federated Searching Interface Techniques For Heterogeneous Oai Repositories, Xiaoming Liu, Kurt Maly, Mohammad Zubair, Qiaoling Hong, Michael L. Nelson, Frances Knudson, Irma Holtkamp

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Federating repositories by harvesting heterogeneous collections with varying degrees of metadata richness poses a number of challenging issues: (1) how to address the lack of uniform control for various metadata fields in terms of building a rich unified search interface, and (2) how easily new collections and freshly harvested data in existing repositories can be incorporated into the federation supporting a unified interface? This paper focuses on the approaches taken to address these issues in Arc, an Open Archives Initiative compliant federated digital library. At present Arc contains over 1M metadata records from 75 data providers from various subject domains. …

Fast Inner Product Computation On Short Buses, R. Lin, S. Olariu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We propose a VLSI inner product processor architecture involving broadcasting only over short buses (containing less than 64 switches). The architecture leads to an efficient algorithm for the inner product computation. Specifically, it takes 13 broadcasts, each over less than 64 switches, plus 2 carry-save additions (t_csa) and 2 carry-lookahead additions (t_cla) to compute the inner product of two arrays of N = 2⁹ elements, each consisting of m = 64 bits. Using the same order of VLSI area, our algorithm runs faster than the best known fast inner product algorithm of Smith and Torng …

Academic Gains Of Students With Special Needs In An Independent Religious School, Ivanka Saric

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The number of children who are performing poorly in school-wide tests seems to be increasing in an independent religious school in the metropolitan area. Several children have been identified "at risk" or having special needs but they seem to show little if any improvement as they get promoted to higher grades. The study investigated the instructional and assessment strategies that upper primary school teachers were using in their classrooms to improve the academic and social skills of children defined as having special needs. Teachers' perceptions were examined to determine whether there had been any observable increases in the academic performance …

Boundaries Of Socio-Political Discourse In The Singapore Media : The Out-Of-Bounds (Ob) Markers, Tan Pin Yang

Theses : Honours

November 1990, with the stepping down of Singapore's inaugural Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, saw the changing of the guard in Singapore, together with the promise of a more consultative style of government and greater citizen participation. However, the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) had been quick to point out that the new openness did not mean that they would tolerate undue criticisms of the government. Participants in political discussions are thus constrained by the Out-of-bounds markers (OB markers) which dictate the rules of political engagement and the topics which are deemed by the PAP as too sensitive for public …

Attributional Style, Depression And School Mobility : Assessing The Impact On Academic Achievement, Anne Grey

Theses : Honours

Academic achievement can impact on psychological wellbeing and can have a profound impact on later educational and vocational opportunities. Failure to achieve well academically has been associated with a number of factors including depression, a pessimistic explanatory style and mobility. There is evidence too to suggest that the impact of these variables is greater on younger boys and older girls. One hundred and eight students (54 M, 54 F) from two Catholic metropolitan schools took part in this study into the impact of depressive symptomatology, attributional style and school mobility on academic achievement. It was hypothesised that lower levels of …

The Effect Of Peer Collaboration On Children's Problem Solving Ability, Lillian M. Fawcett

Theses : Honours

Peer collaboration is a commonly used learning strategy, perceived by educators as a valuable educational activity. Studies do indicate a performance output benefit for children working collaboratively compared to children working individually. However, the longer term cognitive benefits of collaboration appear to be limited by a number of factors. It is suggested that cognitive change following peer collaboration is limited to children working with a more cognitively competent peer (or one with a different perspective), active participation and reasoned communication. This paper considers elements of Piaget's and Vygotsky's cognitive development theories in an attempt to explain some of the processes …

Peer Social Networks After The Transition To Secondary School : Adolescents' Perspectives, Angela E. Rowland

Theses : Honours

The transition from primary to secondary school has a considerable impact upon the social and academic lives of adolescents. An adolescent's sense of belonging (SoB) is important for determining school satisfaction and success during this transition. As SoB is partly developed through an individual's peer social network, this study explored the peer social networks for adolescents who have a SoB. Using the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale (Goodenow, 1993a), five females and three males with a high SoB completed sociological maps and participated in interviews in order to determine the structure and function of their peer social networks. …

Placental Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma And Leptin Receptor In Human Pregnancy, Gwyneth H. Gladstones

Theses : Honours

Leptin is a 16kDa peptide hormone that has recently been implicated in human reproductive processes. Like other hormones, leptin exerts its influence through its receptor. Of the three major isoforms of the receptor (OB-Ra, OB-Rb, and 0B-Re), OB-Ra (the dominant short form) has been implicated in transport processes within rat and human placentas, suggesting a role for it in implantation and pregnancy maintenance. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-dependent transcription factors that are a subfamily of nuclear hormone receptors. PPARs form heterodimers with another nuclear hormone receptor, RXRα, before binding to PPAR response elements (PPREs). Recently PPARϒ/RXRα heterodimers have …

Prisoners' Coping And Use Of Family Support, And Impact Of The Visiting Experience For Families, Lois F. Lange

Theses : Honours

This review was focussed on three areas (1) theoretical concepts of stress, coping and social support; (2) explanations for the patterns of prisoners' perceptions of their support-seeking behavior; and (3) the impact on families providing support. Prisoners' patterns of support seeking in the prison environment appear more consistent with hierarchical organisations than the domestication model of unit management. For stressful, uncontrollable situations, emotional support is sought from families, who are difficult to access. The family obligation to provide the free service of support to prisoners has implications for prison management and policy. Priorities for future research are (1) the impact …

A Study Of How Well Lower Secondary Students Use Calculators To Solve Computation Problems, Rachel Shipley

Theses : Honours

The main aim of this study was to determine how well students used their calculators to obtain the correct answer to a problem (effective calculator use). The study has also considered whether students used their calculators as efficiently as possible, in order to answer questions expediently (efficient calculator use). This research made use of a Calculator Computation Test and Answer Sheet which was used for checking the accuracy of subjects' answers as well as recording which keys they pressed to obtain their answer. These were developed for the study. The subjects were drawn from Years 8, 9 and 10 of …

Validating The Use Of The Shuttle Walking Test In Healthy Adult Women, Micheal C.M. Lim

Theses : Honours

The Shuttle Walking Test (SWT), with its externally paced characteristics, is commonly used as an objective measure of functional capacity. The reliability and validity of the SWT has been previously shown but only in patient populations. No studies have been carried out to investigate the validity of the SWT in healthy adult women. Therefore, the primary aim of this test was to determine if the SWT is a valid field measure of cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy adult women. A secondary aim was to identify if variables, such as age, body composition and habitual physical activity influence performance on the SWT. …

Improving Management Of Nuisance Midges (Chironomidae: Diptera) In Perth (Western Australia) Wetlands Based On Their Response To Temperature And Seditment Type, Kirsty Suffell

Theses : Honours

The eutrophication of wetlands has created ideal breeding and growth conditions for certain species of Chironomidae (midge). In urban areas, high abundances can cause adult midges to become a nuisance to nearby residents. The shallow and often eutrophic wetlands of Perth (Western Australia) provide ideal conditions for the growth of certain Chironomid species, resulting in common nuisance problems. To control nuisance plagues a range of management options are available, including light traps, biological controls, insect growth regulators and pesticides. In Australia, Abate00 is the only registered pesticide for the control of midges. Little is known about the life histories of …

The Children Overboard Event: Constructing The Family And Nation Through Representations Of The Other, Kate Slattery

Theses : Honours

This thesis presents a selection of representations of the Children Overboard event of October 7, 2001, sourced from the Australian government and print news media. Employing an interpretative and critical discourse approach, I explore how the event could be seen to define the physical and cultural boundaries of the Australian nation. In particular I explore how a threat to nation is articulated. From my analysis of the representations, I identify a rhetoric of the 'Other' set within the discursive spaces of family and nation. These discourses circulated within the Children Overboard event are pursued in this thesis in terms of …

Component-Based Development Using Uml, L. Zhao, Keng Siau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Component-based software development (CBD) is a potential breakthrough for software engineering. Unified Modeling Language (UML) can potentially facilitate CBD design and modeling. Although many research projects concentrate on the conceptual interrelation of UML and CBD, few incorporate actual component frameworks into the discussion, which is critical for real-world software system design and modeling. This paper reviews component-based development, including the use of UML for modeling CBD. The paper then discusses the means by which UML extension mechanisms can be used to better support the popular component framework -- CORBA. Two other important component frameworks, DCOM and Web Services, are also …

Declared Plant Control Handbook Recommendations For The Control Of Declared Plants In Western Australia, John R. Peirce, Rachael A. Pratt

Biosecurity published reports

Sixth Edition.

Reviewed October 2005.

Plants may be "declared" by the Agriculture Protection Board under the Agriculture and Related Resources Protection Act 1976.If a plant is declared, all landholders are obliged to control that plant on their properties. Declarations specifies a category, or categories, for each plant according to the control strategies or objectives which the Agriculture Protection Board believes are appropriate in a particular place.

Among the factors considered in categorising declared plants are:

* the impact of the plant on individuals, agricultural production and the community in general,

* whether it is already established in the area, and …

Enhancing Profiles For Anomaly Detection Using Time Granularities, Yingjiu Li, Ningning Wu, X. Sean Wang, Sushil Jajodia

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recently, association rules have been used to generate profiles of normal behavior for anomaly detection. However, the time factor (especially in terms of multiple time granularities) has not been utilized extensively in generation of these profiles. In reality, user behavior during different time intervals may be very different. For example, the normal number and duration of FTP connections may vary from working hours to midnight, from business day to weekend or holiday. Furthermore, these variations may depend on the day of the month or the week. This paper proposes to build profiles using temporal association rules in terms of multiple …

Using Real Options Analysis For Evaluating Uncertain Investments In Information Technology: Insights From The Icis 2001 Debate, Paul P. Tallon, Robert J. Kauffman, Henry C. Lucas, Andrew B. Whinston, Kevin Zhu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Business and information systems (IS) executives continue to grapple with issues of risk and uncertainty in evaluating investments in information technology (IT). Despite the use of net present value (NPV) and other investment appraisal techniques, executives are often forced to rely on instinct when finalizing IT investment decisions. Recognizing the shortcomings of NPV, real options analysis has been suggested as an alternative approach, one that considers the risks associated with an investment while recognizing the ability of corporations to defer an investment until a later period or to make a partial investment instead. Responding to a growing interest in real …

A Blackletter Statement Of Federal Administrative Law, Ronald M. Levin, Paul R. Verkuil, John F. Duffy, Michael E. Herz

Articles

No abstract provided.

Twenty-Five Years Later With Promises To Keep: Legal Education In Dispute Resolution And Training Of Mediators, Lela P. Love

Articles

No abstract provided.

Street Crime, Corporate Crime, And Theories Of Punishment: A Response To Brown, Kyron J. Huigens

Articles

In this response to Darryl Brown's important article, Street Crime, Corporate Crime, and the Contingency of Criminal Liability, Professor Huigens argues that Brown has chosen the wrong theory of punishment on which to rest his case for a more regulatory, less punitive, approach to street crime. Brown has chosen the best, most sophisticated consequentialist theory of punishment, as developed principally by Dan Kahan. However, consequentialist punishment theory of any kind has a significant drawback: it has no plausible conception of criminal fault. As a result, Brown is constrained to argue that the language of desert and retribution should be muted …

Can Uptake Length In Strams Be Determined By Nutrient Addition Experiments? Results From An Interbiome Comparison Study, Patrick J. Mulholland, Jennifer L. Tanks, Jackson R. Webster, William B. Bowden, Walter K. Dodds, Stanley V. Gregory, Nancy B. Grimm, J. L. Meriam, Judy L. Meyer, Bruce J. Peterson, H. Maurice Valett, Wilfred M. Wollheim

Faculty Publications

Nutrient uptake length is an important parnmeter tor quantifying nutrient cycling in streams. Although nutrient tracer additions are the preierred method for measuring uptake length under ambient nutrient concentrations, short-term nutrient addition experiments have more irequently been used to estimate uptake length in streams. Theoretical analysis of the relationship between uptake length determined by nutrient addition experiments (Sw') and uptake length determined by tracer additions (Sw)predicted that Sw' should be consistently longer than 5,", and that the overestimate of uptake length by Sw( should be related to the level of nutrient addition above ambient concentrations and the degree of nutrient …

Restoring Politics To The Commerce Clause: The Case For Abandoning The Dormant Commerce Clause Prohibition Of Discriminatory Taxation, Edward A. Zelinsky

Articles

No abstract provided.

Popular Sovereignty And The Electoral College, John O. Mcginnis

Articles

No abstract provided.

Toward A Nonzero-Sum Approach To Resolving Global Intellectual Property Disputes: What Can We Learn From Mediators, Business Strategists, And International Relations Theorists, Peter K. Yu

Articles

All societies, communities, organizations, and interpersonal relationships experience conflict at one time or another in the process of dayto-day interaction. Conflict is not necessarily bad, abnormal, or dysfunctional; it is a fact of life. Conflict and disputes exist when people are engaged in competition to meet goals that are perceived to be, or actually are, incompatible. However, conflict may go beyond competitive behavior and acquire the additional purpose of inflicting physical or psychological damage on an opponent, even to the point of destruction. It is then that the negative and harmful dynamics of conflict exact their full costs.

Affirmative Action Plan, 2002-2003, Illinois State University

Affirmative Action Plans

Illinois State University Affirmative Action Plan

[Introduction To] Saving Adam Smith: A Tale Of Wealth, Transformation, And Virtue, Jonathan B. Wight

Bookshelf

Every once in a while a great business novel is published. This is one of those novels. Follow an up-and-coming graduate student on a picturesque adventure involving terroristics and love, and learn, or better yet, re-learn, correctly this time, a little economics.

Development Of A Seamless Transition Program For Inmate Students At The Community College Of Southern Nevada, Theo A. Byrns

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The prison education program at the Community College of Southern Nevada (CCSN) has been in place since 1988. The Department of Prison Education offers a five-semester Associate of General Studies at facilities of incarceration in Southern Nevada. The purpose of the project was to develop a seamless transition program from a prison-based course of study to a course of study outside of the prison for community college inmate students and an implementation and evaluation plan. The seamless transition program would provide students with an opportunity to continue their higher education when released from prison.

There were six research questions in …

Economic Rationality, Empathy, And Corporate Responsibility, Jeanne L. Schroeder

Articles

Judge Richard A. Posner - the doyen of the law and economics movement - is probably the leading proponent of the hypothesis that legal subjects act as if they were economically rational. Over the years, however, Posner's conception of rationality has devolved from end-means reasoning by a conscious individual human actor, to unconscious instinct which is, nevertheless, beneficial to an individual subject (animal or human) to the mechanistic reproductive activity of individual genes which may or may not be beneficial to either the organism of which the gene is a part - or even to the gene itself. Indeed, all …

Evaluation Of Student Satisfaction With Flight Training Schools At The Indiana State University Department Of Aerospace, Gregory Lee Schwab

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

At Indiana State University, many students indicated their dissatisfaction with the contracted flight schools' ability to provide a quality customer service product. This was not only what students expected but also was required as part of the university's contract. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of service provided by the university's two contracted flight schools, as determined by a voluntary student survey and verbal feedback from students, staff and faculty, and the airport managers of the two contracted flight schools.

There were two research questions for this study. The first question was, "What quality of service …

A Determination Of The Relationship Between Participation In An Electronic Resume Workshop And Knowledge And Satisfaction Of Job Search Results, Thwanda L. Davidson

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The problem under investigation was that the knowledge and satisfaction with job search results of students who participated in the Electronic Resume workshops and those who did not was unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there was a significant relationship in the knowledge and job search results between workshop participants and nonparticipants.

There were eight research questions asked: (1) "Is there a relationship between participating in the electronic resume workshop and response to converting a traditional resume to plain text?" (2) ''Is there a relationship between participating in the electronic resume workshop and understanding the importance …