Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Herbal Medications By Patients In A Conventional Health Care Setting: A Health Education Challenge, Jill Delaubenfels

Graduate Research Papers

The use of herbal medication is growing rapidly in the United States, but use of herbal medication is not without risk. This is a veritable mine field of health care risks. The federal regulation of herbal medicine as a dietary supplement raises safety and efficacy concerns. The American public lacks knowledge of herbal medicines, often believing that "natural" means "safe". Patients who combine the use of herbal medicine with conventional medicine pose challenges for health care providers. Is the health care provider aware of their patient's use of herbal medication? Is the health care provider adequately educated on the safe …

Software For Optimizing International Water Resources Management, Richard C. Peralta, S. Wu

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The Simulation/Optimization MOdeling System (SOMOS) has modules adapted for a range of international water resource management needs. The SOMOA module is best for field groundwater and conjunctive water management situations. It employs several analytical simulation models and several optimization methods to give appropriate optimal guidance for situations having sparse data. SOMOA requires understanding of the limitations of common analytical equations. It does not require experience in finite difference or element numerical modeling. SOMOS also has modules ideal for situations in which there is sufficient data for numerical modeling or aquifer and stream-aquifer systems. Emphasized here are SOMOA and its applications …

Multi-Objective Conjunctive Use Optimization, H. C. Fayad, Richard C. Peralta

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a simulation/optimization model based on artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms for solving multi-objective conjunctive water use problems. The model simulates and optimizes water flows in a hydraulically connected reservoir-stream-aquifer system. It is a powerful tool to help water managers and authorities in developing conjunctive water management strategies and evaluating tradeoffs between conflicting goals.

Optimization Modeling For Groundwater And Conjunctive Use Water Policy Development, Richard C. Peralta, R. Shulstad

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Planners must sometimes decide how to restrict or reduce groundwater use to prevent unacceptable future problems. Often there are several alternatives (policies). Comparing policies can involve formulating a sustained groundwater yield optimization problem and computing an optimal groundwater pumping strategy for each. This is easy via the SOMOS simulation/optimization (S/O) model. Subsequent analysis can include: flow simulation to predict transient water level response to pumping; and economic evaluation to estimate costs and returns. Two examples predict the best consequences of potential physical and legal management policies for alluvial and valley basin fill aquifers hydraulically linked to surface waters. Results show …

Graphical Modeling And Simulation Of A Hybrid Heterogeneous And Dynamic Single-Chip Multiprocessor Architecture, Chunfang Zheng

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

A single-chip, hybrid, heterogeneous, and dynamic shared memory multiprocessor architecture is being developed which may be used for real-time and non-real-time applications. This architecture can execute any application described by a dataflow (process flow) graph of any topology; it can also dynamically reconfigure its structure at the node and processor architecture levels and reallocate its resources to maximize performance and to increase reliability and fault tolerance. Dynamic change in the architecture is triggered by changes in parameters such as application input data rates, process execution times, and process request rates. The architecture is a Hybrid Data/Command Driven Architecture (HDCA). It …

Xml In Computational Science, George K. Thiruvathukal

Computer Science: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this first article in a series about XML in computational science, I present some background and lightweight examples of XML usage, describe some XML component frameworksalong with their purpose and applicability to computational science, and discuss some technical obstacles to overcome for the language to be taken seriously in computational science.

Revolving Door Scenario For Congressional Fellows, David W. Hafemeister

Physics

No abstract provided.

Why Teach Environmental Ethics? Because We Already Do, Raymond Benton Jr.

School of Business: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this paper we argue for the importance of the formal teaching of environmental ethics. This is, we argue, both because environmental ethics is needed to respond to the environmental issues generated by the neoliberal movement in politics and economics, and because a form of environmental ethics is implicit, but unexamined, in that which is currently taught. We maintain that students need to become aware of the latent ethical dimension in what they are taught. To help them, we think that they need to understand how models and metaphors structure and impact their worldviews. We describe how a simple in-class …

Rectification Of Thermal Fluctuations In Ideal Gases, Alejandro Garcia, P. Meurs, C. Van De Broeck

Faculty Publications

We calculate the systematic average speed of the adiabatic piston and a thermal Brownian motor, introduced by C. Van den Broeck, R. Kawai and P. Meurs [Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 090601 (2004)], by an expansion of the Boltzmann equation and compare with the exact numerical solution.

Information Outlook, January 2004, Special Libraries Association

Information Outlook, 2004

Volume 8, Issue 1

The Standard For Setting Utility Rates In Wyoming: Restoring The Required Balance Between Investors And Customers, James M. Van Nostrand

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

Interactive Teaching In The National Numeracy Strategy: Tensions In A Supportive Framework, Nick Pratt

Plymouth Institute of Education Theses

This thesis is an exploratory study of teachers' and children's understandings of the National Numeracy Strategy, and of interactive whole class teaching in particular. It starts by identifying aspects of the Strategy that are of significance to teachers and develops these by detailing the challenges that face them in teaching in this way. Data are collected by means of interviews and classroom observations, progressively focusing the study. In particular, the way in which teachers and children understand the role of discourse in whole class discussion is examined. This understanding illuminates a tension between the rhetoric of the Strategy, which appears …

Holocene Palaeoclimate Reconstruction From New Zealand Peatlands, Zoe Jennifer Hazell

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

A selection of palaeoecological proxies were tested on two raised, ombrotrophic, restiad peat bog sites from the North Island of New Zealand. With varying degrees of success, peat humification, testate amoebae, plant macrofossil and charcoal analyses contributed to determining the palaeomoisture records from three cores on each site. Climatic inferences have successfully been made for the Waikato region, mid North Island, over the period between the Tuhua (6,130±30 14C years BP; 6,800-7,150 cal. years BP) and Taupo (1,850±10 14C years BP; 1,650-1,800 cal. years BP) tephras. 47 AMS radiocarbon ages contributed to the production of age-depth models. The peat humification …

The Interference Free Determination Of Selenium In Environmental And Clinical Samples By Icp-Ms, Justine Clare Turner

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Theses

The determination of selenium in environmental and clinical samples by ICP-MS is complicated by both poor sensitivity and severe interferences resulting from both the sample matrix and the argon plasma. The purpose of this study was to investigate ways of overcoming these problems thus enabling Se to be determined both accurately and precisely. A novel procedure for the accurate determination of selenium in serum using electrothermal vaporisation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) has been developed. A simple 1:20 dilution of the serum with 1% nitric acid negates the need for a lengthy sample digestion procedure. Several of the interferences …

Points On My Curve To Find: A Journey Around The Self To Find The World, Morgaine Gaye

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

My creative practice has undergone a chronological series of transformations that has entailed experiments in several modes of self-expression. This has included the writing of prose-text, lyrics, song-writing, musical performance as a vocalist, work in film-making and visual documentation and work as a visual artist. In a life that has so far spanned living for substantial periods in different countries and cultures, my creative practice has been strongly influenced by that international and inter-cultural existence. Whilst on the one hand, different cultures nevertheless manifest 'languages' of communality with each other (especially in non-verbal communication, global 'signs, signals' and 'symbols'), on …

Weatherford: Undergraduate Catalog 2004-2005, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Numerical Analysis Of Broad-Band Optical Parametrical Generation In Periodically-Poled Linbo₃ And Novel Structure Design, Yiyi Guan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Music That Teaches, Susan L. Carroll

Graduate Research Papers

Not many materials for librarians are available in a participatory form. Most materials are available for presentation. But research has shown that affective learning, which allows students to participate, has had a positive effect on young children learning their basic skills. This research project will be used for participation. The research project used the standards, benchmarks, and objectives found in library curricula for kindergarten through third graders. These standards were the basis of the lyrics to the songs. Music was composed to complement the lyrics and a songbook was designed which included these songs, illustrations, and suggestions for activities to …

Ay 2003/2004 News Release, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Integrating Experiments And Simulators Into A Distributed E-Learning Environment, Frank Koehler

Theses

New information and communication technologies have emerged in the last few years which have made an impact on learning at all levels. At universities, the spectrum of learning support ranges from enriching traditional lectures and courses with multi- media elements to complete web-based interactive learning environments. A special aspect based on the new media technologies is learning within model worlds by use of simulations or real-life experiments. There are normally no links between these applications and the learning content, so it is impossible to tap the full potential of these applications. Research activities in the area of e-learning underline the …

The Convergence Of Traditional Higher Education And E-Learning: Organisational, Societal, Technological And Pedagogical Trends, Gearóid Ó Súilleabháin

Theses

The thesis is about the coming together of two traditions and how they are both changing dynamically in relation to each other, giving rise to a number of discernable organisational, societal, technological and pedagogical trends. Each tradition is examined in turn in the first two chapters, which deal with issues such as what the definitional characteristics of each tradition are and what factors have determined them. Organisational and societal trends in the convergence of traditional higher education and e-learning, as described in chapter three, highlight the tensions between the two traditions, as evidenced in the specific challenges e- learning represents …

A Service-Based Architecture For Learning Management Systems Which Supports Personalisation And Collaboration, Markus Schmid

Theses

This work develops a service-based architecture for an extensible and customisable learning management system (LMS) runtime environment. The architecture mainly defines interfaces for the interaction of functional system components represented by loosely coupled distributed services. Services that represent functional components of the distributed LMS are called e-leaming services. In addition, underlying infrastructure services provide supportive functionality such as service-lookup within an institution. Users access the system using an LMS portal component that acts as a front-end for the LMS services.

While existing e-leaming environments provide a relatively good coverage of most of the functional requirements defined in this work, they …

Catalog Denison University 2004-2005

Denison University Catalogs

Denison University Course Catalog 2004-2005

A High Precision Radial Velocity Survey Of K Giants, David S. Mitchell

Physics

Precise radial velocity measurements of stars can provide a powerful tool for both examining the intrinsic atmospheric activity of the star, and testing for the existence of substellar orbital companions. This method has been used to detect the vast majority of known extrasolar planets, as well as probing the asteroseismological characteristics of active stars. This dissertation presents the results of a precise radial velocity survey of 177 bright K giant stars. Six of the stars have data that indicate the presence of planetary or brown dwarf orbital companions. Many others have evidence of nonradial pulsations, and twenty binary stars are …

Graduate Catalog 2004-2005, University Of North Florida

UNF Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Metaheuristics With Local Search Techniques For Retail Shelf-Space Optimization, Andrew Lim, Brian Rodrigues, Xingwen Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Efficient shelf-space allocation can provide retailers with a competitive edge. While there has been little study on this subject, there is great interest in improving product allocation in the retail industry. This paper examines a practicable linear allocation model for optimizing shelf-space allocation. It extends the model to address other requirements such as product groupings and nonlinear profit functions. Besides providing a network flow solution, we put forward a strategy that combines a strong local search with a metaheuristic approach to space allocation. This strategy is flexible and efficient, as it can address both linear and nonlinear problems of realistic …

Bias In The Correlated Uniqueness Model For Mtmm Data, James M. Conway, Filip Lievens, Steven E. Scullen, Charles E. Lance

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This simulation investigates bias in trait factor loadings and intercorrelations when analyzing multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) data using the correlated uniqueness (CU) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) model. A theoretical weakness of the CU model is the assumption of uncorrelated methods. However, previous simulation studies have shown little bias in trait estimates even when true method correlations are large. We hypothesized that there would be substantial bias when both method factor correlations and method factor loadings were large. We generated simulated sample data using population parameters based on our review of actual MTMM results. Results confirmed the prediction; substantial bias occurred in trait …

Parameter Selection In Genetic Algorithms, Onur Boyabatli, Ihsan Sabuncuoglu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this study, we provide a new taxonomy of parameters of genetic algorithms (GA), structural and numerical parameters, and analyze the effect of numerical parameters on the performance of GA based simulation optimization applications with experimental design techniques. Appropriate levels of each parameter are proposed for a particular problem domain. Controversial to existing literature on GA, our computational results reveal that in the case of a dominant set of decision variable the crossover operator does not have a significant impact on the performance measures, whereas high mutation rates are more suitable for GA applications.

Effects Of Emphysema And Chronic Hypoxemia On Skeletal Muscle Oxygen Supply And Demand, John D. Lowman Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Skeletal muscle dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a condition in which peripheral skeletal muscle undergoes myopathic changes which impair muscle function, limit physical performance, and can lead to significant disability. While the etiology of the dysfunction is unknown, this study was conducted to test the hypothesis that chronic hypoxemia leads to alterations in oxygen transport and muscle function. A primary objective was to validate elastase-induced emphysema in rats as an animal model of skeletal muscle dysfunction in COPD.Arterial blood gases were used to determine the severity of hypoxemia and sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used …

Torsional Testing Of Race, K3 And Profile Nickel Titanium Endodontic Files, Sean D. Fessenden

Theses and Dissertations

Rotary endodontic instruments have different cross sectional designs that may effect their resistance to torsional stress. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the static torsional properties of two nickel titanium files that have recently been introduced for use in endodontics and compare them to the same size Profile instruments. Ten new files of each brand and size were tested. The files tested were: RaCe 25 tip 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 taper, K3 and Profile 25 and 40 tip in 0.02, 0.04 and 0.06 taper. The diameter of each file was measured at 3mm from tip. The last three millimeters …