Digital Commons Network^™

Structure And Dynamics Of Interfaces In The Epitaxial Growth And Erosion On (110) And (100) Crystal Surfaces, Artem Levandovsky

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We present unified theory of the far-from-equilibrium interfacial phenomena occurring in the multilayer homoepitaxial growth and erosion on (110) and (100) crystal surfaces. Within a unified model, here we elucidate the multitude of novel states on (110) and (100) surfaces as well as the transitions between them. In particular, by analytic arguments and numerical simulations, we address experimentally observed transitions between two types of rippled states on (110) surfaces. We discuss several intermediary interface states intervening, via consecutive transitions, between the two rippled states. One of the intermediary interface states, the Rhomboidal Pyramid State, was theoretically anticipated by us and …

Modeling And Real-Time Feedback Control Of Mems Device, Limin Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Applying closed-loop control to a MEMS devices not only can handle the abnormal behaviors caused by manufactory imprecision or device failure, enabling MEMS devices to survive in critical conditions, but also can increase the application where MEMS devices are used to drive components under varying load conditions. This study mainly focuses on the effort of closed-loop control on the Lateral Comb Resonator (LCR) MEMS device. The success of closed-loop control has been achieved on lateral comb resonator with novel integrated through wafer optical monitoring technique.;Availability of a system model and feedback signals are mandatory conditions for the implementation of closed-loop …

Development Of A Program To Gather And Process Data From Oil And Gas Fields, Joshua R. Cook

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this thesis new software is developed to examine the needs and available options to gather information from oil and gas fields and to analyze data in an efficient manner. The program outlines potential setups as well as practical analysis techniques. The result is a program to store field data and capability to analyze input in different formats.;The developed system uses accounting, economics, engineering, and management concepts to process data. The program uses the relationships between field data gathered in a number of methods. The developed program provides a useful tool for the engineer to gather oil and gas field …

Constraint-Based Facilities Planning, Tafazzul Ahmed Khan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In recent years a large variation of production volume for the mass-production products happens frequently due to the changes in technology and market. Those changes cause introduction of new products having shorter life cycles, thus enforcing modification and renewal of production facilities much earlier than their lifetime. A model was built to assess the impact of manufacturing parameters on the effectiveness of the layout and the material handling system. A relationship was developed between variations in production oriented parameters and its impact on the facility size and final cost of the product being manufactured exclusively in terms of machine time, …

Forensic Analysis Of Digital Evidence From Palm Personal Digital Assistants, Christopher M. Mcnemar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Personal Digital Assistants are becoming more affordable and commonplace. They provide mobile data storage, computational, and network abilities. When handheld devices are involved in a crime, forensic examiners need tools to properly retrieve and analyze data present on the device. Unfortunately, forensic analysis of handheld devices is not adequately documented and supported.;This report gives an overview of Palm handheld development and current forensic software related to Personal Digital Assistants. Procedures for device seizure, storage, imaging, and analysis are documented. In addition, a tool was developed as part of this work to aid forensic examiners in recovering evidence from memory image …

Students' And Instructors' Attitudes Toward Using Biometric Technology As An *Identification Method In Online Courses, Wafi Albalawi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated the social and cultural issues related to the implementation of biometric technology at the College of Human Resources and Education at West Virginia University. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The researcher verbally interviewed five instructors and five graduate students. The quantitative research methods employed two surveys. The research population involved 30 instructors and 189 graduate students. The researcher utilized independent-sample t-tests to compare different groups. The results obtained from this research support the following: (1) there is a real privacy concern among instructors and students regarding the implementation of biometric technology, (2) religious …

Design And Flight Testing Actuator Failure Accommodation Controllers On Wvu Yf-22 Research Uavs, Yu Gu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation describes the design, development, and flight testing of a Neural Network (NN) based Fault Tolerant Flight Control System (FTFCS) with the ability to accommodate for actuator failures. The goal of this research was to demonstrate the ability of a specific set of control laws to maintain aircraft handling qualities in the presence of failures in the actuator channels. In this study, two-failure scenarios have been investigated: aileron failure (locking of the right aileron at a trim position) and elevator failure (locking of the right elevator at a trim position). A fleet of WVU YF-22 research aircraft test-beds were …

K--12 Teachers' Technology Integration In Benedum Collaborative Professional Development Schools, Sabah Karayegen-Giraldo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated how K--12 teachers and interns in West Virginia University's Professional Development Schools (PDS) are using technology as a tool to enhance their students' education. The study addressed the use of technology as a classroom tool for research, communication, productivity, and problem-solving as outlined by the National Technology Standards for students. Eleven research questions framed this study. Comparisons across grade levels (elementary, middle, and high schools) and subject areas (English, mathematics, science, and social studies) were included. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used as quantitative research methods. The study involved 327 teachers and 102 intern students in these …

Mathematical Writing In The Elementary Classroom, Dana D. Mccauley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this study, fourth and fifth grade students at River View Elementary participated in mathematics activities requiring written and oral dialogue. These dialogues were analyzed to determine how their mathematical understandings were reflected in their written and oral discussions. An examination of pre and post mathematical writing occurred to determine the effect the dialogue had on students' mathematical writing. Students were given a mathematics problem to solve. After reading the mathematics problem, each student wrote questions they had regarding the problem as well as a request for additional information that they felt was needed to solve the problem. Students exchanged …

Strategies For Sustainable Professional Development Programs To Promote Effective Pedagogical Use Of Instructional Technology In Teaching, Karla R. Assis Cezarino

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to determine a set of common strategies employed by sustainable instructional technology professional development programs that are found to successfully promote educators' high-level use of technology in their teaching practice. Two questions guided this study: (a) Research Question 1: What do successful instructional technology professional development programs recognize as indicators of high-level use of technology? and (b) Research Question 2: Which instructional technology professional development strategies successfully promote high-level use of instructional technology in participants' teaching practice?;An online questionnaire consisting of close-ended questions and open-ended questions was used as the means of data collection. …

Limiting Dns Covert Channels And Network Validated Dns, Rex D. Mccracken

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Despite the variety and number of network security devices and policies available, sensitive data, such as intellectual property and business data, can still be surreptitiously sent via the Internet to unscrupulous receivers. Furthermore, few security mechanisms address securing or limiting covert channels. This study defines a framework for determining a rule set to minimize covert channel capacity on the DNS protocol specifically. The information and techniques used in this study may be useful in aiding security professionals and developers with enforcing security policies on DNS and other Internet protocols.;This research resulted in the development of a rudimentary tool, referred to …

Search For A Narrow Charmed Baryonic State Decaying To D*±P∓ In Ep Collisions At Hera, S. Chekanov, M. Derrick, J. H. Loizides, S. Magill, S. Miglioranzi, B. Musgrave, J. Repond, R. Yoshida, Margarita C. K. Mattingly, N. Pavel, P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, G. Cara Romeo, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, P. Giusti, G. Iacobucci, A. Margotti, A. Montanari, R. Nania, F. Palmonari, A. Pesci, A. Polini

Faculty Publications

A resonance search has been made in the D*±p∓ invariant-mass spectrum with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 126 pb-1. The decay channels D*+ -→ D0πs+ → (K -π+)πs+ and D*+ → D0πs+ → (K-π+π+π-) πs+ (and the corresponding antiparticle decays) were used to identify D*± mesons. No resonance structure was observed in the D*± p∓ mass spectrum from more than 60 000 reconstructed D*± mesons. The results are not compatible with a report of the H1 Collaboration of a charmed pentaquark, Θc0. © Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica 2004.

Women And Social Services In Saudi Arabia, Khadija Nasseef

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This master thesis talks about social services for women that provided by social welfare agencies in Saudi Arabia. This thesis is a descriptive study that uses the content analysis as a method to investigate social services agencies that provides special services for women. This thesis also had special interest in social services that improve women's lives in Saudi Arabia. The content analysis is made on documents and brochures of 4 main social services agencies that offer services for women. The content analysis was made in term of these agencies main aim and target, their main massage, their programs for women, …

Network Requirements Definition And Management System, Kimberly S. Johnson

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Faculty Management System For National American University, Robert W. Thrall

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The process of developing a decision support system for the Distance Leaming department at National American University is examined. A system request and investigation of existing systems reveals deficiencies that are corrected by providing centralized management of data related to the university's faculty and classes. Access to the data is provided through the development of a secure web based application utilizing a relational database to store the data. The choice of technologies is based on meeting user needs while minimizing the risk of project failure by utilizing more familiar products. Opportunities to extend and improve the new system are considered.

The Creation Of A Distance Learning Graduate Level Course In Legal And Ethical Aspects Of Technology, Wade M. Chumney

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

This goal of this project is to provide a quality graduate level distance learning course administered via WebCT that can be administered by a professor possessing a Juris Doctor. To accomplish this goal, two primary texts were selected: Ethics in Information Technology, by Reynolds, George (2003), published by Thomson Course Technology., ISBN: 0-619-06277-0 and CyberLaw: Text and Cases, 2nd edition, Ferrera, Gerald and Stephen Lichtenstein, and Margo Reder, and Robert Bird, and William Schiano (2004), published by Thomson (West Legal Studies in Business), ISBN: 0-324-16488-2. Additionally, a number of papers were written on issues pertinent to the class, several PowerPoint …

Telecommunication Trouble Ticket System, Keerisa Yanpirat

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The Telecom Trouble Ticket System is used to track and report all problems with the services the telecommunication companies provide. The Trouble Ticket system will provide an integrated, automatic trouble reporting mechanism that assigns trouble tickets to technicians through printed trouble tickets and e-mail transmission. The system will be able to generate reports to aid in diagnosing equipment or network problems. Historical information will allow for maintenance agreement analysis and trend analysis studies. The users will be able to run standard reports and make queries from the trouble analysis system to track the progress and resolution of trouble tickets. (i.e., …

A Web-Based Model Management System For Managing Biocomplexity, Kanchana Tandekar

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Biocomplexity systems are quite complex in nature and involve nonlinear, chaotic and unpredictable behavior thus requiring highly innovative quantitative techniques in order to model their behavior. Such models are a national resource to be managed in an effort similar to the existing one for Biocomplexity data. In effect, the multidisciplinary nature of Biocomplexity research results in a need to integrate models from various disciplines and a need to exchange data and models among wide variety of users over time and space. The aim of this project is to explore a relatively new and integrated approach to managing Biocomplexity models. This …

E-Commerce Implementation For Dutch Precision Inc., Daniel C. Mortenson

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The MSIS project at Dakota State University, "E-commerce implementation for Dutch Precision, Inc." began in May 2004 and was completed in December of the same year. The target company, Dutch Precision, Inc. (DPI), remanufactures brake calipers for automotive applications, regionally based near Tampa, Florida, and sells predominately to independent auto parts stores. The DPI company website was established on a new static IP address using the DutchPrecision.com domain name. Three interrelated open-source code software applications were used; Apache web server, MySQL database, and PHP, a server-side scripting language. Virus and networking difficulties initially impaired and refocused the project goals, but …

A Department Of Transportation Motor Carrier Web-Based Application, Martin D. Wray

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Delivering the high levels of reliability and availability required of business-to-business Web sites requires not only advanced technology, but also great operational processes. Building a scalable, highly available application is a necessary process in becoming functional as an e-commerce entity. As the Project Manager for the development of a Motor Carrier Web-based Application developing the modules required in an online system, using IBM's WebSphere Java-based tools that have allowed me and the developers that I manage to create a sophisticated Web-based application. The central WebSphere tool is the WebSphere Application Server (WAS), an application server that will be used to …

Recommender Systems For Multimedia Libraries: An Evaluation Of Different Models For Datamining Usage Data, Raquel Oliveira Araujo

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Many recommender systems exist today to help users deal with the large growth in the amount of information available in the Internet. Most of these recommender systems use collaborative filtering or content-based techniques to present new material that would be of interest to a user. While these methods have proven to be effective, they have not been designed specifically for multimedia collections. In this study we present a new method to find recommendations that is not dependent on traditional Information Retrieval (IR) methods and compare it to algorithms that do rely on traditional IR methods. We evaluated these algorithms using …

Analysis Of Hostile Network Reconnaissance To Anticipate And Mitigate Network Attacks, Luis Angel Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

Network security systems today such as current intrusion detection systems, intrusion prevention systems and firewalls are good at reacting to attacks as they occur or shortly after they occur. Current security systems lack the ability to identify and detect the activity that usually precedes an attack. This activity is known as network reconnaissance. In this thesis we have developed a technique that can assist current security systems to detect hostile network reconnaissance to anticipate and mitigate network attacks.

Rf Cmos Receiver Front-End Using A Reflex Amplifier, Radovan Kuzet

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A concept for an RF-CMOS receiver with reflex topology is developed and tested, using OrCad as the primary design and simulation tool. The main idea of the reflex topology is to reuse a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) stage in the circuit and thus eliminate one high power consumption stage. A Gilbert cell is used for down conversion, with the benefit of low noise and low power while maintaining gain. A set of passive diplexers allows reuse of the LNA at the RF and IF. The complete circuit was simulated using 0.18 micron and 0.5 micron AMI technology. Parameters for the …

Where In The Hell Is Dorothy Parker?, Thomas J. Fuschetto Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The famous members of The Algonquin Round Table once got together to write and produce a play called No, Sirree! Since very little is known about the production, questions remain of how the members decided to do such a production, what was the production, and what they later thought about the production. Since such information is missing, then I filled in the gaps with my imagination of writing and producing an original play that represents my research and my imagination of how the members of The Algonquin Round Table decided to do a play production, how they prepared for the …

Analysis Of English And Spanish Academic Proficiency Of Pre-Service Bilingual Teachers At A University In South Texas, Matthew E. Meyers

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to examine the English and Spanish academic writing proficiency of pre-service bilingual teachers at a university in south Texas and attempt to establish factors that have influenced that proficiency or lack of proficiency. Ninety-four participants who volunteered to take part in the study completed a 50-question survey that solicited demographic information and perceived proficiencies in English and Spanish. After collecting the data from the survey, participants wrote essays on four separate themes. Two of the essays were written in Spanish, and two were written in English. The compositions purported to elicit the participants' written …

The Effect Of Scaffolding On Children's Oral Language Development, Ana Villaurrutia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This was a quasi experimental nonequivalent control group design used with 71 subjects in two Head Start center settings. LAP-D assessment results were also taken in account for the purpose of comparison regarding the dependent variable. The subjects were children 4 and 5 years old who were attending classes in two different Head Start centers. These subjects were students from 2 classrooms from Center One and 2 classrooms from Center Two. In Center One, teachers were trained in the use of scaffolding techniques, whereas in Center Two teachers had no training on scaffolding techniques. An analysis of variance procedure was …

Pursuing A Return On Technology, Mary Wise

Library Scholarship

This article discusses a few emerging technologies and how they could benefit libraries and library users.

A Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment For Depression In Native American Middle-School Students, Lori B. Listug-Lunde

Theses and Dissertations

Depression and suicide are serious conditions among Native American adolescents. Despite the need for effective treatment approaches in this population, there continues to be a dearth of empirical research in this area. Intervention studies examining Native American adults at risk for depression and Native American youth at risk for suicide have found effectiveness utilizing group skill-based interventions. Group cognitive-behavioral therapy has demonstrated effectiveness among Caucasian adolescents; however, its effectiveness has never been examined with Native American youth experiencing depressive symptoms.

The current study modified, implemented, and evaluated a cognitive-behavioral intervention for depression among Native American middle-school students. A modification of …

Study Habits Of College Students And Their Perceptions Of The Impact Of Brain-Based Attention Strategies On Their Independent Study Time, Sheryl L. Evans

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was twofold. The first part explored the study habits of lower-division undergraduate college students during independent study time, with special inquiry into sustained attention and mental effort. A questionnaire and focus groups answered research questions that explored students' general study practices, their study habits, factors influencing study, the length of sustained attention and mental effort, the strategies used to maintain attention, perceptions about productivity, and the metacognitive strategies used (i.e., self-monitoring, self-regulating, planning, and self-evaluating). The study showed that 1) students do not spend enough time studying, 2) the more time students spent on the …

Psychological Distress Between American Indian And Majority Culture College Students Regarding The Use Of The Fighting Sioux Nickname And Logo, Angela Laroque

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate to what extent, the “Fighting Sioux” Nickname and Logo affects American Indian and Majority Culture college students emotionally. This study compared American Indian and Majority Culture students’ differences of emotional reactions and distress to twc different slide presentations using images of the “Fighting Sioux” Nickname and Logo found around the campus of the University of North Dakota (UND). The main focus was to examine the possible psychological side effects.

Participants consisted of 36 Majority Culture and 33 American Indian College students in attendance at UND. Each participant filled out an informed consent …