Digital Commons Network^™

Review: The Center Will Hold: Critical Perspectives On Writing Center Scholarship, Lauren Fitzgerald

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Announcements

The Writing Center Journal

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Simulation In Semiconductor Manufacturing Facilities, Amr Arisha, Paul Young

Conference papers

Semiconductor fabrication facilities face many challenges through the many phases of their life cycle including design, build, various production ramps, and many levels of production. Confronted with global competition and rapidly changing technology and customer requirements, there is an increasing demand for rapid solution techniques to improve efficiency in manufacturing. The complexities and forces of both market and the process combine to make the use of simulation crucial at many different planning and control levels. While not a panacea for sustainable performance, simulation provides an effective vehicle for defining the path from competitive concepts to real world solutions and gives …

Quality Assurance Of Cervical Smear Slide Inspection Using A Novel Eye-Tracking Technique, Lee Roy Coombes

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

A novel objective quality assurance system for smear slide screening is investigated in this thesis. A method of data validation was developed that compares data from an eye tracked image display, machine image colour texture analysis and expert judgements in a statistical manner to identify salient areas of cervical cytological images. These data are used to construct screener performance profiles, which have been compared to screener experience. The experimental methodology is described and how the screener performance profile is constructed. Results from a study of 10 screeners, checkers and pathologists are presented showing predicted trends of human performance. Relations to …

Visualization Techniques For The Analysis Of Neurophysiological Data, Martin Alan Walter

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

In order to understand the diverse and complex functions of the Human brain, the temporal relationships of vast quantities of multi-dimensional spike train data must be analysed. A number of statistical methods already exist to analyse these relationships. However, as a result of expansions in recording capability hundreds of spike trains must now be analysed simultaneously. In addition to the requirements for new statistical analysis methods, the need for more efficient data representation is paramount. The computer science field of Information Visualization is specifically aimed at producing effective representations of large and complex datasets. This thesis is based on the …

Speech Quality Prediction For Voice Over Internet Protocol Networks, Lingfen Sun

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

IP networks are on a steep slope of innovation that will make them the long-term carrier of all types of traffic, including voice. However, such networks are not designed to support real-time voice communication because their variable characteristics (e.g. due to delay, delay variation and packet loss) lead to a deterioration in voice quality. A major challenge in such networks is how to measure or predict voice quality accurately and efficiently for QoS monitoring and/or control purposes to ensure that technical and commercial requirements are met. Voice quality can be measured using either subjective or objective methods. Subjective measurement (e.g. …

Coordinated Uav Target Assignment Using Distributed Tour Calculation, David H. Walker, Timothy W. Mclain, Jason K. Kowlett

Faculty Publications

In this chapter a method for assigning unmanned aerial vehicle agents to targets through the use of preplanned vehicle tours is presented. Assignments are based on multi-target tours that consider the spread of the targets and the sensor capabilities of the vehicles. In this way, the individual agents and the team as a whole make better use of team resources and improve team cooperation. Planning and assignments are accomplished in reasonable computational time through the use of heuristics to reduce the problem size.

A Model For Predicting The Performance Of Ip Videoconferencing, Licha Mued

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

With the incorporation of free desktop videoconferencing (DVC) software on the majority of the world's PCs, over the recent years, there has, inevitably, been considerable interest in using DVC over the Internet. The growing popularity of DVC increases the need for multimedia quality assessment. However, the task of predicting the perceived multimedia quality over the Internet Protocol (IP) networks is complicated by the fact that the audio and video streams are susceptible to unique impairments due to the unpredictable nature of IP networks, different types of task scenarios, different levels of complexity, and other related factors. To date, a standard …

Early Detection Of Dementia Using The Human Electroencephalogram, Geoffrey T Henderson

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Improved life expectancy has led to a significant increase in the number of people in the high-riskage groups that will develop Alzheimer's disease and other dementia. Efforts are being made to develop treatments that slow the progress of these diseases. However, unless a sufferer is diagnosed in the early stages the treatments cannot give the maximum benefit. Therefore, there isan urgent need for a practical, decision support tool that will enable the earliest possible detectionof dementia within the large at-risk population.Current techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that are used to diagnose andassess neurological disorders require specialist equipment and …

Performance Characterisation Of Ip Networks, Bogdan Ghita

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The initial rapid expansion of the Internet, in terms of complexity and number of hosts, was followed by an increased interest in its overall parameters and the quality the network offers. This growth has led, in the first instance, to extensive research in the area of network monitoring, in order to better understand the characteristics of the current Internet. In parallel, studies were made in the area of protocol performance modelling, aiming to estimate the performance of various Internet applications. A key goal of this research project was the analysis of current Internet traffic performance from a dual perspective: monitoring …

Pan-European Logistics And Scm Challenges: Towards An Integrated Approach To Supply Chain Re-Engineering, Edward Sweeney

Other Resources

No abstract provided.

Mobile And Accessible Dublin: An Application Of The Prospective Methodology In Developing A Vision For The Future Integration Of Transportation And Land Use In Dublin, Elzbieta Krawczyk

Articles

Contemporary cities can be characterised by a high pace of change and the growing complexity of their systems. Technological, economic and social evolution brings transformation that needs to be dealt with and accommodated in order to sustain consistent harmonious growth. Many cities are not prepared to adapt to these changes. This results in a vast range of urban problems. The rapid growth of Dublin during the last decade has intensified infrastructural and transportation problems. A number of institutions have been addressing these difficulties through the application of various solutions. This paper presents an attempt to address the lack of efficient …

Futures Thinking To Achieve Sustainable Development At Local Level In Ireland, Lorcan Sirr, Ruth Kelly, John Ratcliffe

Reports

We are living in times of unprecedented global change and upheaval and over the next ten to 20 years governments, organisations and individuals will face increasing difficulties in an environment of growing complexity, heightened uncertainty and a quickening pace of change. The concept of sustainable development implies the reconciliation of long-term socio-economic development, environmental protection and quality of life; essentially it is concerned with the future. Unfortunately, the potential for linking “futures thinking” to debates about sustainable development at local and regional government levels is relatively undeveloped, particularly in Ireland. Responding to this challenge, The Futures Academy at Technological University …

Online Learning In Teacher Education: Enhanced With A Problem-Based Learning Approach, Roisin Donnelly

Journal Articles

This paper describes research undertaken by an academic tutor in a Learning and Teaching Center (LTC) on the design of a module on Online Learning on a Postgraduate Diploma in Third Level Learning and Teaching. The LTC supports academic staff (Faculty) at the Technological University Dublin in learning, teaching and assessment activities, including integrating learning technologies. This work is supplemented by increasing awareness of current national and international research and strategies related to learning and teaching in higher education. The goal of the LTC is to offer resources, consultation, and a forum for discussion to help academic staff provide a …

Soap Opera, Com Mercialisation An D The Proletarian Isation Of Cultural Production, Edward Brennan

Articles

Abstract This article is based in a broader study of the production of Fair City, Ireland’s most popular television soap opera. The study argues that such shows are potentially important in civil society. They can promote discussion and debate on hidden or taboo social issues. They may thus inform public opinion. Until recently the potential role of soap opera in civil society has largely been overlooked. The research examined the social issues that Fair City could introduce to public discussion by examining its production process. It found the main limits on what the show could and could not say to …

An Exploratory Study Of How Decisions Are Made In The Yield Management Environment Of Four Star Dublin Hotels, Tony Kiely

Other resources

Yield management in the hotel industry has been described as a method of profitably managing fixed capacity. A critical element of yield management is the decision strategy employed as this determines the degree to which optimum solutions are generated. Recent research has indicated that the use of technology assisted decision optimising models (the management science model) would greatly improve the optimisation of decisions by minimising the need to employ guesswork in achieving optimum solutions. Despite this assurance, yield management remains couched in uncertainty through being inextricably associated with forecasting future demand for a perishable product in an increasingly competitive environment. …

2004 - 2006 Postgraduate Prospectus, Dublin Institute Of Technology

DIT Publications

Postgrad prospectus for years 2004 - 2006, containing information on applications to studies, disability services, research funding, international student office, contact persons.

Chemical Solution Deposition Of Electronic Oxide Films, Robert W. Schwartz, Theodor Schneller, Rainer Waser

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The chemical solution deposition (CSD) technique as a highly flexible method for the fabrication of electronic oxide thin films is reviewed. Various chemical aspects of different approaches are discussed, including sol-gel, hybrid, and metallo-organic decomposition (MOD) routes, which all have been successfully applied for the deposition of this class of materials. Principles of the selection and properties of the educts, the mechanism of film crystallization, and tailoring of microstructure through manipulation of deposition parameters are reported. the role of thermodynamics on the phase transformation process is also reviewed. Finally, some of the applications for chemical solution-derived thin films currently under …

Solid State Aircraft Concept Overview, M. Shahinpoor, P. Jenkins, C. Smith, Kakkattukuzhy M. Isaac, T. Dalbello, Anthony Colozza

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Due to recent advances in polymers, photovoltaics, and batteries a unique type of aircraft may be feasible. This is a "solid-state" aircraft, with no conventional mechanical moving parts. Airfoil, propulsion, energy production, energy storage and control are combined in an integrated structure. The key material of this concept is an ionic polymeric-metal composite (IPMC) that provides source of control and propulsion. This material has the unique capability of deforming in an electric field and returning to its original shape when the field is removed. Combining the IPMC with thin-film batteries and thin-film photovoltaics provides both energy source and storage in …

Sources Of Stress And Its Impact On Health Behaviors And Academic Performance Of International Students At The University Of Northern Iowa, Israel Gabriel Msengi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

International students travel from their home countries in search of continuing education abroad without expectations that they will encounter stress. However, upon arriving at American college and university campuses, international students start noting differences with their respective countries. Challenges start developing related to a range of issues including language difficulties, immigration, and cultural shock/alienation concerns which, if not dealt with promptly, might impede their health behaviors and academic performance. This study investigated sources of stress and its impact on academic performance and health behaviors of international students at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). Investigated also were coping strategies that …

Relationship Of Effective Serve Reception Passing To Side Out Offense In Iowa City West Volleyball Matches, Craig A. Pitcher

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to indicate the relationship of effective serve reception to side out offense in Iowa City West volleyball matches. Subjects were member of the 2002 Iowa City West varsity volleyball team. Iowa City West volleyball team was selected for the study based on availability of game tapes throughout the 2002 season. All taped varsity matches were viewed for the study analysis. All reception passes were given a pass value of three, two, one, or zero. Each pass was also categorized into offensive outcomes, kill, play on, or error. The results of the Person correlation test …

Latin American Resistance Movements In The Time Of The Posts, Glen Kuecker

History Faculty publications

This article examines the flood of resistance movements in today’s Latin America. It places them in the context of the great economic changes that have swept the world since the end of the Cold War, what is often called “globalization.” Analysis focuses on the “newness” of our contemporary period, especially the importance of the transnational political and economic order. This essay illustrates how social scientists attempt to understand this moment of change, and emphasizes the limitations to their theory. Special emphasis is on the utility of New Social Movement theory as a tool for understanding today’s resistance movements as well …

Protecting Us From Pictures : Gender And Support For Legal Restrictions On Pornography, Elizabeth Lynne Chivers

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research and debate concerning pornography has been controversial, primarily focusing on the perceived harmful effects. The current study addresses support for legal restrictions and the effect of gender on this support. Based on the internalization of gender roles, perspectives, and identities through socialization, gender is constructed differently for men and women. Because this socialization is constructed around an oppositional male-female dichotomy, men and women experience the world differently. While there have been previous research addressing gender differences, the gendered nature of attitudes merits further study.

The current study is based on data collected for 451 undergraduate students at the University …

Study Of Structural And Magnetic Properties Of Iron-Rich Mixed Rare-Earth Nddyfe (17-Y-X)Coxsiy Compounds, Kishore Kamaraju, Jinbo Yang, William B. Yelon, Oran Allan Pringle, M. S. Kim, Qingsheng Cai, William Joseph James

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A series of NdDyFe(17-y-x)CoxSiy solid solutions with = 2 and 3 and = 0.5 1.0 and 1.5 were prepared by induction melting stoichiometric amounts of high-purity elements. The postannealed samples consist of two phases belonging to the space groups R3 m and P63 mmc . The lattice parameters and the unit cell volumes were calculated from the refinements of the magnetic and structural unit cells using the FULLPROF version of the Rietveld program. For a fixed content of Co, the maximum Curie temperatures (305 C to 405 C) were observed in samples with = 1 and having two phases, a …

Interactive Dna Sequence And Structure Design For Dna Nanoapplications, Mingjun Zhang, Chaman Sabharwal, Weimin Tao, Tzyh-Jong Tarn, Ning Xi, Guangyong Li

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

DNA sequence and structure design is very important for DNA nanoapplications. A computer-aided design tool is needed for exploring DNA sequence and structure of interests before experimental synthesis, which is a time- and labor-consuming process. In this paper, an interactive DNA sequence and structure design software tool called DNA shop is proposed and implemented. The visualization tool can generate DNA structures by specifying, selecting, and moving DNA sequences around and display corresponding structures. Using the tool, DNA sequence and structure can be visually inspected in three-dimensional space before experimental studies.

2,4-Dinitrophenylhydrazones Of 2,4-Dihydroxybenzaldehyde, 2,4-Dihydroxyacetophenone And 2,4-Dihydroxybenzophenone, Russell G. Baughman, Kenneth L. Martin, Rajendra K. Singh, James O. Stoffer

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

In 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazone N,N-dimethylformamide solvate (or 4-[(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-hydrazonomethyl]benzene-1,3-diol N,N-dimethylformamide solvate

Laboratory Automation Curriculum At Keck Graduate Institute, James D. Sterling

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel curriculum in laboratory automation and high-throughput technologies has been developed at the Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) over the past five years as part of the professional master's degree program in applied life sciences. The goal of this curriculum has been four-fold: (1) motivate study by describing the need for automation through several example problems in combinatorial biological discovery, (2) provide elements of fundamental engineering science that are required for the development of the technologies and tools that enable automation, (3) provide opportunities for the students to see and use state-of-the-art instruments, learn about existing industry standards, and to …

Robust Near-Field Adaptive Beamforming With Distance Discrimination, Y. Rosa Zheng, M. El-Tanany, R. A. Goubran

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper proposes a robust near-field adaptive beamformer for microphone array applications in small rooms. Robustness against location errors is crucial for near-field adaptive beamforming due to the difficulty in estimating near-field signal locations especially the radial distances. A near-field regionally constrained adaptive beamformer is proposed to design a set of linear constraints by filtering on a low rank subspace of the near-field signal over a spatial region and frequency band such that the beamformer response over the designed spatial-temporal region can be accurately controlled by a small number of linear constraint vectors. The proposed constraint design method is a …

Robust Resource Allocation For Sensor-Actuator Distributed Computing Systems, Shoukat Ali, Jong-Kook Kim, A. A. Maciejewski, Howard Jay Siegel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This research investigates two distinct issues related to a resource allocation: its robustness and the failure rate of the heuristic used to determine the allocation. The target system consists of a number of sensors feeding a set of heterogeneous applications continuously executing on a set of heterogeneous machines connected together by high-speed heterogeneous links. There are number of quality of service (QoS) constraints that must be satisfied. A heuristic failure occurs if the heuristic cannot find an allocation that allows the system to meet its QoS constraints. The system is expected to operate in an uncertain environment where the workload, …

The Robustness Of Resource Allocation In Parallel And Distributed Computing Systems, Shoukat Ali, Howard Jay Siegel, A. A. Maciejewski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper gives an overview of the material to be discussed in the invited keynote presentation by H. J. Siegel. Performing computing and communication tasks on parallel and distributed systems involves the coordinated use of different types of machines, networks, interfaces, and other resources. Decisions about how best to allocate resources are often based on estimated values of task and system parameters, due to uncertainties in the system environment. An important research problem is the development of resource management strategies that can guarantee a particular system performance given such uncertainties. We have designed a methodology for deriving the degree of …