Digital Commons Network^™

Filter Selection For Spectral Estimation Using A Trichrmatic Camera, David C. Day

Theses

Current imaging practices are based on exploiting metamerism to record and reproduce images. As a result, the data obtained in these images are dependent on the viewing conditions and the observer. While these methods produce acceptable results for day to day use, they often do not exhibit the type of accuracy and control required for scientific purposes such as art conservation. As a solution, many research institutions are now advocating the use of multispectral imaging to record the objects fundamental spectral properties to remove the data's dependency on the observer and viewing environment. The research described in this thesis involved …

Near-Lossless Bitonal Image Compression System, Jeremy Pyle

Theses

The main purpose of this thesis is to develop an efficient near-lossless bitonal compression algorithm and to implement that algorithm on a hardware platform. The current methods for compression of bitonal images include the JBIG and JBIG2 algorithms, however both JBIG and JBIG2 have their disadvantages. Both of these algorithms are covered by patents filed by IBM, making them costly to implement commercially. Also, JBIG only provides means for lossless compression while JBIG2 provides lossy methods only for document-type images. For these reasons a new method for introducing loss and controlling this loss to sustain quality is developed. The lossless …

The Role Of Physical, Chemical, And Microbial Heterogeneity On The Field-Scale Transport And Attachment Of Bacteria, Brian J. Mailloux, Mark E. Fuller, Tullis C. Onstott, James Hall, Hailiang Dong, Mary F. Deflaun, Sheryl H. Streger, Randi K. Rothmel, Maria Green, Donald J. P. Swift, Jon Radke

OES Faculty Publications

A field-scale bacterial transport experiment was conducted at the Narrow Channel Focus Area of the South Oyster field site located in Oyster, Virginia. The goal of the field experiment was to determine the relative influence of subsurface heterogeneity and microbial population parameters on flow direction, velocity, and attachment of bacteria at the field scale. The field results were compared with results from laboratory-scale column experiments to develop a method for predicting field-scale bacterial transport. The field site is a shallow, sandy, unconfined, aerobic aquifer that has been characterized by geophysical, sedimentological, and hydrogeological methods. Comamonas sp. strain DA001 and a …

Effective Packaging-Related Specification Management Software For A Packaging Documentation System, Gregory Cullen

Theses

An extreme amount of time and money is lost when a company utilizes an inadequate packaging documentation system. Problems such as confusion, decreased productivity, inaccurate information, and inefficient time to market arise. Having the right tool (in this case specific software) for the job will successfully provide needed information to flow throughout a packaging documentation system. In investigating the importance of this tool, Duracell will be the company focused on as part of this case study. Duracell's current packaging documentation system consists of a series of internal electronic transfers and physical distribution of packaging specifications. Relevant information is distributed among …

Demographic Assessment Of The Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus) In Chesapeake Bay Using Extractable Lipofuscins As Age Markers, Se-Jong Ju, David H. Secor, H. Rodger Harvey

OES Faculty Publications

The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) plays an important economic and ecological role in estuaries and coastal habitats from the Gulf of Mexico to the east coast of North America, but demographic assessments are limited by length-based methods. We applied an alternative aging method using biochemical measures of metabolic byproducts (lipofuscins) sequestered in the neural tissue of eyestalks to examine population age structure. From Chesapeake Bay, subsamples of animals collected from the 1998-99 (n-769) and 1999-2000 (n=367) winter dredge surveys were collected and lipofuscin was measured. Modal analysis of the lipofuscin index provided separation into three modes, whereas carapace-width …

The Independent Rep As A Source Of Competitive Advantage: An Actionable Scale For Rep Selection, Kathleen H. Gruben, Barbara J. Coe

Marketing: Faculty Publications

This study develops a scale that offers an actionable approach for suppliers’ use in selecting their reps. Rep selection is the critical first step suppliers take in developing profitable, long-term relationships with retailers. Retailers’ loyalties are often bestowed on the rep, rather than the supplier. As identified in the study, the rep needs to be professional, accommodating, ethical, sensitive, and compassionate to satisfy the retailer. The scale provides suppliers a technique for measuring these characteristics. Prior to this scale, no instrument was available to measure these characteristics, which increase the retailer’s likelihood of developing loyalty.

Life Values In Youth Sport: A Qualitative Analysis, Carla J. Schmitt

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

A qualitative analysis was used to examine the life values gained and enhanced through participation in youth soccer from the player, coach, and parent perspectives. Nine players, nine coaches, and nine parents were interviewed for this study. Participants were placed in groups according to classification and availability, and participants not available for the group times, were individually interviewed. The interview guides consisted of 11 questions, and two separate guides were used, one for players and one for coaches and parents. All interviews were hand, audio, and video recorded. Triangulation, involving the primary researcher and two additional researchers familiar with qualitative …

A Study Of Elementary Teachers' Abilities, Attitudes, And Beliefs About Problem Solving, Nancy Mullins Brown

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

Problem solving has been alternately viewed as the justification for the study of mathematics or as the impetus and means for studying mathematics. This study examines characteristics—attitudes toward problem solving, beliefs about problem solving, and abilities to solve problems—of elementary teachers of grades three, four, and five that relate to problem solving.

Participants completed a two-part survey to quantify their attitudes and beliefs and a problem-solving activity which quantified their problem-solving abilities. Four participants were subsequently interviewed. Analyses showed that these teachers had generally positive attitudes toward problem solving, generally positive beliefs about problem solving, and generally poor problem-solving abilities. …

Effectiveness Of Education On Diabetes Control, Irene Nganga

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a diabetes education intervention strategy on the clinical and biochemical status of patients in the Diabetes Complications Prevention Study (DCPS) at Candler County Hospital in Metter, Georgia. The participants in this study were all active members in the DCPS program. This intervention group was paired to control group members of a similar age and race. A sample size of 18 participants and an equal number of controls was chosen for this evaluative study. The sampling method utilized for participants in the study was non-probability quota sampling. Medical records were …

An Army Of One... With Dependents: A History Of The Army Family, Stacey Lynne Brown

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

Family members have accompanied the army for the entire 227-year history of the organization. This thesis outlines the formation of the army family and its continuation through times of peace and war. It establishes the army family as a community based on the existence of three elements: geographic location, social interaction, and common ties. The results of the research for this paper establish a common experience among the members of the army family that exists throughout history and is a vital part of the success and continuation of the community.

The Cardiotoxicity Of Carbon Monoxide, Ashvin P. Patel

Peninsula Medical School Theses

The mechanism(s) responsible for the cardiotoxicity of CO are not clear and do not appear to arise solely from tissue hypoxia. Tissue hypoxia is produced by CO binding to haemoglobin and reducing the amount of oxygen carried by the blood in vivo. CO-induced hypoxia in vivo may be responsible for producing conditions such as those found during ischaemia/reperfusion (l/R) injury. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced during l/R injury is established and responsible for cellular/tissue damage from the oxidative damage. We postulate that oxidative stress is responsible for the CO-associated cardiac morbidities found in some cases following severe acute exposure to …

Risk Factors Associated With The Mucociliary Apparatus In Intensive Care Patients, Ross James Kay

Peninsula Medical School Theses

Initially, there were two principal aims of this investigation. A laboratory based project studying the effect of elevated fraction of inspired oxygen on the ciliary coverage of rat trachea in culture and a clinically based investigation of the ciliary coverage and frequency of ciliary ultrastructural abnormalities in the bronchus of intensive care unit patients. The mucociliary apparatus is the main airway defence mechanism protecting the lungs from respiratory infections. It is vital in intubated patients, as they lack the back up clearance mechanism normally provided by the cough reflex. Ciliary coverage and ultrastructural integrity are two key components of effective …

Kuo Pao Kun: The Spirit Of The Eagle, Margaret Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Kuo Pao Kun (1939–2002) was the doyen of Singapore theatre and is considered by many as the most important figure in the nation’s cultural history. The author discusses the art of Kuo Pao Kun; his humanist theatre and his rigorous demands of artistic commitment.

The Concept Of A Middle Power In International Relations: Distinguishing Between Emerging And Traditional Middle Powers, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article seeks to develop a distinction between emerging and traditional middle powers as a means to giving the concept of a middle power greater analytical clarity. All middle powers display foreign policy behaviour that stabilises and legitimises the global order, typically through multilateral and cooperative initiatives. However, emerging and traditional middle powers can be distinguished in terms of their mutually-influencing constitutive and behavioural differences. Constitutively, traditional middle powers are wealthy, stable, egalitarian, social democratic and not regionally influential. Behaviourally, they exhibit a weak and ambivalent regional orientation, constructing identities distinct from powerful states in their regions and offer appeasing …

Campaign Spending In The Local Government Elections Of 1999, Kenneth Benoit, Michael Marsh

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

For the first time in Irish electoral history, the 1999 local elections required candidates to publicly declare their campaign expenditures. Drawing on these data, we explore patterns in campaign spending and assess their impact, both on candidate success and on turnout. First, examining the elections contested by 1,838 candidates from 180 local constituencies and 34 councils, we identify both partisan and geographic spending patterns, and examine how well these can be explained as a function of political and demographic variables. Second, we model and estimate the effects of expenditure on individual electoral outcomes. The findings clearly indicate that even at …

Islam, Democracy And Civil Society, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

What is the relationship between Islam, democracy, and civil society? This is thequestion which supplies the topic of this essay, Its purpose, more particularly, is to explore theplace of Islam in the modern world-a world which contemporary writers increasingly try tounderstand by invoking the notions of democracy and civil society. But the occasion for thisexploitation has a more precise origin still. The issue of the place of Islam in the modernworld is raised, more often than not, by writers and commentators for whom Islam is, aboveall, a danger, in geo-political terms, it is a danger to the West; in world-historical …

The Cultural Contradictions Of Socialism, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

While no one has yet announced the death of capitalism, reports of its imminent demise have been as numerous as they have been exaggerated. Such reports have usually been bolstered by thoughtful analyses of the fundamental contradictions of capitalism, which was expected to come sliding—if not crashing—down under the weight of its own inconsistencies. Leaving aside Karl Marx's own predictions, twentieth-century analysts as diverse as Joseph Schumpeter, Daniel Bell, and Jurgen Habermas have asserted that the contradictions of capitalism could only mean that its days were numbered. Alas, all that has been established by these analyses is that predictive failure …

Lists: Starting Points For Researching And Writing The Histories Of Academic Departments, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The discovery, imaginative construction, and methodical compilation of lists is a productive initial strategy for researching and writing the histories of academic department and small professional organizations. When purposefully conceptualized as inclusive, list construction provides a methodological framework that curtails the seemingly inherent tendency of historical writers to overlook the contributions and participation of minority members of professional organizations – I use the term “minority” here in the widest possible sense, to indicate virtually anyone who by one criterion or another has come to be defined or perceived as somehow “marginal” or “unimportant” to the historical record you are documenting.

Early Greek Lyric Poetry: The Cry Of The Self, Gemino Abad

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

It was the ancient Greeks who in lyric poetry were the first really to discover what we know today and take for granted as the self. It is difficult for us now to imagine how that discovery must have felt like a great revelation.

Iliad And Odyssey: Areté And Timé, Gemino Abad

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

2003 Aasu Women's Basketball Guide, Armstrong State University

Armstrong Athletics: Women's Basketball Records (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Books And Letters Vol. 17, No. 2, University Libraries, Anne Marie Candido, Ethel C. Simpson, Juana R. Young, Beth Juhl, Molly Boyd, Russell Cothren, Lora Lennertz, Don Batson

Books and Letters

Celebrating George Fisher; Preserving Our Resources; Paragould Meteorite on Display in Library; Library Offers a New World of Knowledge; A Note of Thanks!; Important Research Areas Benefit from Gift Collections; Art Enriches Environment in Mullins Library

Cad Associate Degree Programs In Public Post-Secondaryeducation, Xin-Ran Duan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated what community colleges were teaching in CAD associate degree programs in manufacturing and construction fields, and what knowledge and skills were required to empower CAD students to become successful in the workplace. In order to better meet business and industry needs, a model curriculum for CAD associate degree programs was developed and presented. This model curriculum could more effectively prepare students with the required knowledge and skills for successful employment. A three-round Delphi technique was used to collect data from CAD professors at community colleges and experts in industry. A total of 32 members in the Panel …

Factors Related To Academic Gains For Adult Learners In A Correctionaleducation Program, Maria Deanne Sells

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Education programs within the Indiana Department of Correction are evaluated on the number of student to teacher contact hours provided, the number of students enrolled and the number of students promoted or graduated from each program. Since each facility develops its own program design forEducation, it is important for each program to evaluate the effectiveness of the program design based on the individual program goals and objectives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among program placement, motivational time factors (i.e., age, length of sentence, time served, earliest possible release date, and time cut eligibility) and academic …

The International Telecommunications Sector : A Financial Investigation Of Post Privatisation Performance, Nasser Mubarak Shafi Al-Shafi

Plymouth Business School Theses

The focus of this thesis is an investigation of the post-privatisation performance of the international telecoms sector. Firstly, the general hypothesis (1) of this thesis has been pursued, which states that the privatised telecoms companies perform differently from their non-privatised (private) counterparts. Several tests were applied; namely, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis. The principal finding was that there was no significant difference in performance. Secondly, the next hypothesis (2) states that the financial performance of each company is positively related to that of the other two selected companies. For this purpose, multiple regression tests were performed to investigate any inter-relationships …

An Empirical Study Of Malaysian Firms' Capital Structure, Sharifah Raihan Syed Mohd Zain

Plymouth Business School Theses

It is sometimes purported that one of the factors affecting a firm's value is its capital structure. The event of the 1997 Asian financial crisis was expected to affect the firms' gearing level as the firms' earnings deteriorated and the capital market collapsed. The main objective of this research is to examine empirically the determinants of the capital structure of Malaysian firms. The main additional aim is to study the capital structure pattern following the 1997 financial crisis. Empirical tests were conducted on two different data sets: the first data set is the published data extracted from Datastream and consists …

Analysis Of Space Employee Risk Acceptance, Aliya Bostubayeva

Theses

In the summer of 2002, eighty-one students, faculty and staff of RIT took a survey that was aimed at determining the possible employees expectations about the risk compensation if hired to work in space. Every mission in space entails a certain degree of health damage; the length of stay is directly related with more risk involved. The survey results help understand rough estimations of risk acceptance of the future space labor force (cosmonauts and astronauts not included). Three sets of questions described the consequences of space missions (short, month-long and long), where the extent of health damage is directly dependent …

The State Of Our Union: Appraisals Of Romantic Relationships, Stephen Allan Michael Gallant

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

How do romantic partners determine if they are happy in their current relationship? What standards do they use when appraising their romantic relationship? The present thesis examines people’s preferences among various comparison standards (social comparisons, temporal past comparisons, temporal future comparisons and previous relationship comparisons) for relationship appraisal, the direction in which people prefer to make various relationship comparisons and the reported and actual impact of these comparison standards on relationship appraisals. The present research also examines the hypothesis that certain relationship beliefs and characteristics (controllability and satisfaction) affect how one interprets these comparison standards. In study 1, 140 undergraduate …

Cultural Projects And Structural Transformation In The Legal Profession, W. Wesley Pue

All Faculty Publications

This paper explores the history of professional formation amongst lawyers, pointing to the surprising conclusions that contemporary legal professionalism bears little continuity with supposed roots in British professionalism and that one of the major motors driving professionalism was related to a project of cultural transformation in state and society at large. Whilst legal professions appear exclusionary and xenophobic from an outside perspective, the desire to control difference has deeper, more fully cultural roots, than arguments from self-interest per se might suggest.

The Federal Income Tax Act And Private Law In Canada: Complementarity, Dissociation, And Canadian Bijuralism, David G. Duff

All Faculty Publications

This article examines the relationship between the federal Income Tax Act (ITA) and provincial private law, evaluating judicial decisions and statutory provisions according to the goals of Canadian bijuralism expressed in the policy on legislative bijuralism adopted by the federal Department of Justice in June 1995, the preamble to the first Federal Law-Civil Law Harmonization Act, No. 1, and new sections 8.1 and 8.2 of the federal Interpretation Act. The first part of the article reviews notable cases in which Canadian courts have recognized a relationship of complementarity between the ITA and provincial private law, looking at cases arising in …