Digital Commons Network^™

Predictors Of Neonatal Mortality In The Intensive Care Unit In Abha, Saudi Arabia, Mostafa A. Arafa, Mohammed A. Alshehri

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: Based on 11 months of prospective surveillance in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of Abha General Hospital, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, The association of neonatal morbidity and mortality with different risk factors were studied for prediction of different factors of mortality. METHODS: All neonates admitted to the ICU during the period of study; April 2002 through to February 2003 were included. They were followed until discharge or death. RESULTS: Of the 277 infants admitted, 62 died (22.4%). The 3 common illnesses were prematurity with respiratory problems (31%), respiratory distress syndrome (27%) and perinatal asphyxia (7.6%). Sixty one …

Power Games Between The Researcher And The Participant In The Social Inquiry, Ana Bravo-Moreno

The Qualitative Report

This article will deal with the different power relationships that are in play during the interview process in ethnographic research. It explores how interviewees are agents in the creation of their own positions during the interview process and how they shift positions in interaction with the researcher and with the questions posed to them.

Common Questions About Aac Services In Early Intervention, Cynthia J. Cress, Christine A. Marvin

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Children and adults with developmental delays have benefited from the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems to develop language skills necessary for more generative and functional communication. Beginning communicators however, have historically been considered too young or too pre-linguistic and therefore have not been introduced to AAC systems until behaviors, thought to be prerequisites, have been noted. Recent research and theories about early communication development have challenged this traditional practice and broadened the scope of what is considered to be AAC. Practitioners and parents unfamiliar with early AAC options may not recognize possible applications of communication strategies used …

Molecular Phylogeny Of Haematoloechus Looss, 1899 (Digenea: Plagiorchiidae), With Emphasis On North American Species, Daniel R. Brooks, Virginia León-Règagnon

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Phylogenetic hypothesis of 23 populations corresponding to 18 species of the digenean Haematoloechus from America, Europe, and Africa, based on ribosomal DNA 28S partial sequences (~890 bp), is presented. Genetic divergence between the in-group and the out-groups ranged from 9.7 to 14.5% and within the in-group, from 0.9 to 12.2%. Eight most parsimonious trees 569 steps long were obtained, with a consistency index of 72%. Groups in the tree are not congruent with those in previous classification schemes of species in the genus, based on a small number of morphological characters. For this subset of Haematoloechus,/i> species, plesiomorphic hosts are …

Presidential Address: Flavor Buds And Other Delights, Robin M. Overstreet

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Presidential address at the 78th Annual Meeting, American Society of Parasitologists, August 2, 2003, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, by Robin M. Overtsreet.

The Effects Of Individual And Group Incentives On High And Low Performance, Heather M. Mcgee

Masters Theses

This study examined the effects of individual and group monetary incentives on the performance of high and low performers. Participants were six college students who performed a computerized work task called SYNWIN. Participants earned points for correct responses and lost points for incorrect responses. The primary dependent variables were the total number of points earned per session and the percent correct per session. An ABAC within-subject reversal design was used, where A= individual incentives, B = group incentives (either high or low performance), and C = hourly pay.

The point scores of all six participants decreased when group incentives were …

Capillary Electrophoretic Separations Of Metal Ions, Elena Hofman

Masters Theses

Transition-metal (Zn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II)) ion separation was studied using 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid and 2-methyl-8-hydroxyquinoline ligands with surfactants (cationic and anionic) by capillary electrophoresis under a variety of conditions (like pH, ionic strength, voltage and ion, ligand and surfactant amounts) and has debuted a clear separation mechanism. With cationic surfactants, ligands compete with capillary surface silanols for the metal ions; with anionic surfactants, ligands, silanols and micelles compete.

An empirical parameter, K_e, (electrophoretic-mobilities based) rationalizing the separation was proposed, experimentally analyzed and supported; it provides a silanol group per cm² value of the capillary surface, an equilibrium …

Classifying Forest Composition Using Fractal Dimension As An Index Of Image Texture, Fitria Latifah Wahid

Masters Theses

In this study, Landsat imagery from June (summer) and October (autumn senescence) 2000 of the area of Fort Custer Training Center in Kalamazoo and Calhoun Counties, Michigan, were analyzed for forest classification accuracies. The use of fractal analysis to improve forest classification, particularly to distinguish among northern hardwood species, was examined. Using moving windows with different sizes, measurement of local fractal dimension and spatial autocorrelation (Moran's I) were performed on the NDVIs and the panchromatic images. The measurement products were combined with Landsat TM bands as additional layers in supervised maximum- Iikelihood multispectral classifications. The accuracy for multispectral classification of …

Color Management Of Desktop Input Devices: Quantitative Analysis Of Profile Quality, Xiaoying Rong

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the color management principle and input device profiling. The input devices discussed in this thesis are flatbed scanners.

In this thesis, the human visual system, CIE L*a*b* color space, ICC profiles are reviewed, and the evaluation of profile quality is discussed. Grayscale and standard color targets of three primary suppliers are used to create profiles for a scanner. The quantitative analyses of the quality of different profiles, created by two primary commercial profiling software, are conducted according to the Delta-E of the CIE L*a*b* color space. Finally, the relationship of different color targets and profiles for desktop …

Redevelopment And Gis As Tools For Altering Crime Patterns, Jason R. Naess

Master's Projects

This planning report seeks to demonstrate a relationship between crime, neighborhood disinvestment/blight, and therefore the location of redevelopment project areas. Establishing that relationship, the report also describes the use of GIS and crime mapping to identify and prioritize areas which merit priority in redevelopment spending.

The City of Oakland is tised as a model to demonstrate how a jurisdiction can use its current GIS crime-tracking system to identify and prioritize areas for redevelopment agency spending.

A Comparative Study Of Photomultiplier Tubes And Charge Coupled Devices In Glow Discharge-Optical Emission Spectrometry, Robert James Broadwater

Masters Theses

This Masters Thesis compared two glow discharge-optical emission spectrometers designed around two different types of detectors: the photomultiplier tube (PMT) and the charge-coupled device (CCD). The two instruments compared were the LECO SA2000 (PMT-based) and the LECO GDS500a (CCD-based). Detection limit, dynamic range, precision, accuracy, and drift were determined to compare the detection systems between 165 and 450nm.

The PMT-based system outperformed the CCD-based system in all five of the categories studied based on the initial protocol. However, it was shown that improvements could be made in four of the five categories studied by exploiting the CCDs ability to monitor …

Structuring Lecture Videos For Distance Learning Applications, Chong-Wah Ngo, Feng Wang, Ting-Chuen Pong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper presents an automatic and novel approach in structuring and indexing lecture videos for distance learning applications. By structuring video content, we can support both topic indexing and semantic querying of multimedia documents. In this paper, our aim is to link the discussion topics extracted from the electronic slides with their associated video and audio segments. Two major techniques in our proposed approach include video text analysis and speech recognition. Initially, a video is partitioned into shots based on slide transitions. For each shot, the embedded video texts are detected, reconstructed and segmented as high-resolution foreground texts for commercial …

Reading Through Multimedia: Wasteful Or Worthwhile, Malinee Chandavimol

PASAA

Nowadays, the pressure is on to produce results in terms of teaching English as a foreign language. Given the time constraints of the curriculum, however, the only way to maximize existing resources is by providing sufficient channels for self-study. In this sense, we are blessed by the advances made in the field of computers over the past 30 years, and in particular the invention of the CD-ROM. Kaufimann (1992) argues that "computers may help to overcome the difficulties posed by a heterogenous class with the provision of a readily available range of materials, diverse in their level of difficulty and …

Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, And Colombians: A Scan Of Needs Of Recent Latin American Immigrants To The Boston Area, Miren Uriarte, Phillip Granberry, Megan Halloran, Susan Kelly, Rob Kramer, Sandra Winkler, Jennifer Murillo, Udaya Wagle, Randall Wilson

Gastón Institute Publications

The 2000 U.S. Census brought confirmation of the increase of the Latino population and of the growing diversity of Latino national groups that now make this region their home. Latinos now number 428,729, a 55% increase over their numbers in 1990. In 30 years, the Latino population has increased six-fold, and from its initial concentrations in Springfield, Holyoke, and Boston its presence is now a fact across the Commonwealth.

Massachusetts Latinos are also showing increasing diversity, matching that of the Northeast region and exceeding that of the nation. At the national level, Mexicans have a dominance that dwarfs all other …

How Are Social Identities Linked To Self-Conception And Intergroup Orientation? The Moderating Effect Of Implicit Theories, Ying-Yi Hong, Gloria Chan, Chi-Yue Chiu, Rosanna Y. M. Wong, Ian G. Hansen, Sau-Lai Lee, Jennifer Yuk-Yue Tong, Ho-Ying Fu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Social identity approaches assume that social identification affects both self-conception and intergroup orientation. The authors contend that such social identification effects are accentuated when people hold a fixed view of human character and attribute immutable dispositions to social groups. To these individuals, social identities are immutable, concrete entities capable of guiding self-conception and intergroup orientation. Social identification effects are attenuated when people hold a malleable view of human character and thus do not view social identities as fixed, concrete entities. The authors tested and found support for this contention in three studies that were conducted in the context of the …

Xstamps: A Multiversion Timestamps Concurrency Control Protocol For Xml Data, Khin-Myo Win, Wee-Keong Ng, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the tremendous growth of XML data over the Web, efficient management of such data becomes a new challenge for database community. Several data management solutions, proposed in recent years, extend the capability of traditional database systems to meet the needs of XML data while alternative approaches introduce new generation databases, named as native XML database management systems. Although traditional databases have mature transaction management and concurrency control techniques, there is still a need to tailor techniques for native XML databases in order to deal with distinct characteristics of XML. In this paper, we propose XStamps, a multiversion timestamps concurrency …

Expertise And The Supreme Court: What Is The Problem?, Ronald J. Allen

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Eyes Wide Shut: Hidden Problems And Future Consequences Of The Fact-Based Validity Standard, Joelle Anne Moreno

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reliability And The Admissibility Of Experts, Dale A. Nance

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reliability Under Rule 702: A Specialized Application Of 403, Calvin William Sharpe

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Limits Of Cross Examination, James M. Shellow

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Energy Efficient Routing Protocols For Mobile Ad Hoc Networks, Chansu Yu, Ben Lee, Hee Yong Youn

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Although establishing correct and efficient routes is an important design issue in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), a more challenging goal is to provide energy efficient routes because mobile nodes' operation time is the most critical limiting factor. This article surveys and classifies the energy-aware routing protocols proposed for MANETs. They minimize either the active communication energy required to transmit or receive packets or the inactive energy consumed when a mobile node stays idle but listens to the wireless medium for any possible communication requests from other nodes. Transmission power control approach and load distribution approach belong to the former …

Changing Scientific Evidence, Edward K. Cheng

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

A number of high-profile toxic tort cases, such as silicone breast implants, have followed a familiar and disturbing path: Early studies suggest a link between a suspected substance and a particular illness. Based on these initial studies, lawsuits are brought and juries award large judgments to various plaintiffs. Then later, more comprehensive studies find no evidence of a causal link. How should the legal system cope with this problem in which new scientific evidence calls into question previous findings of liability? These erroneous judgments seriously harm social welfare and legitimacy. Beneficial products are needlessly discontinued or are made more expensive, …

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Double Taxation, Herwig J. Schlunk

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article is divided into three Parts. The first Part is devotedto an example demonstrating that, while double taxation may be gratuitous in a purely domestic context, it invariably becomes necessary in a multinational context. The second Part formalizes and generalizes the example, and concludes that double taxation is not only necessary in a multinational context, but also in any multi-period domestic context. The third Part contains a few policy prescriptions that, I fervently hope, will guide future administrations.

Understanding Conflict In A Postmodern World, Scott H. Hughes

Faculty Scholarship

This article looks at new theories about the nature and dynamics of human systems in conflict.

Patent First, Ask Questions Later: Morality And Biotechnology In Patent Law, Margo A. Bagley

William & Mary Law Review

This Article explores the U.S. "patent first, ask questions later" approach to determining what subject matter should receive patent protection. Under this approach, the US. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or the Agency) issues patents on "anything under the sun made by man," and to the extent a patent's subject matter is sufficiently controversial, Congress acts retrospectively in assessing whether patents should issue on such inventions. This practice has important ramifications for morally controversial biotechnology patents specifically, and for American society generally. For many years ajudicially created "moral utility" doctrine served as a type of gatekeeper of patent subject matter …

Voter Knowledge And Constitutional Change: Assessing The New Deal Experience, Ilya Somin

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Critical Stage": Extending The Right To Counsel To The Motion For New Trial Phase, Jonathan G. Neal

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cross-National Predictors Of Primary School Completion Rates, Josh Richey, Jakob Conkling, Jessica Preece

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Vol. 21, Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies, Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.