Digital Commons Network^™

From “Separate But Equal,” To Tracking To “Choice”: Perceptions Of Different Stakeholders On The Impact Of Magnet Schools On High School Students, Minerva Medrano Villarreal

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this research was to examine and compare the impact of magnet-vocational high schools on the perceptions of seniors from the magnet schools and on those from the comprehensive/host schools. Additionally, the study examined the perceptions that several stakeholders of those schools and of the services and opportunities presented to the students were also investigated. Finally, the perceptions or parents were also investigated.

The Mixed-Methods Design study used several instruments as the primary sources of self-reported data: school district course listing guides, annual progress reports, official district Web sites and literature about district magnet schools. The second component …

How Optional Usage Of The Web Affects Reading Comprehension, Jocelyn K. Tenorio

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this investigation is to consider whether using web-enhanced material improves proportionally students' reading comprehension skills. In addition student attitudes are considered. Two groups of students at the University of Montemorelos, Nuevo Leon, Mexico were chosen as a census: a group of nursing students taking a course on reading comprehension of nursing articles in English and a group of students studying to be teachers of English as a foreign language. Reading selections were uploaded on the internet using the WebCT platform. The students were to read the selections and answer quizzes. The students took a pre- and post-test …

Politics As Usual: Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Dewey And The Wartime Presidential Campaign Of 1944, Michael A. Davis

Faculty Dissertations

This dissertation examines the U.S. wartime presidential campaign of 1944. In 1944, the United States was at war with the Axis Powers of World War II, and Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, already serving an unprecedented third term as President of the United States, was seeking a fourth. Roosevelt was a very able politician and-combined with his successful performance as wartime commander-in-chief-- waged an effective, and ultimately successful, reelection campaign. Republicans, meanwhile, rallied behind New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey emerged as leader of the GOP at a critical time. Since the coming of the Great Depression -for which Republicans …

Missouri S&T Magazine Winter 2005, Missouri S&T Marketing And Communications Department, Miner Alumni Association

Missouri S&T Magazine

No abstract provided.

Physical Cosmology In Relative Units, Victor Pervushin

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Perceptions Of Selected Public And Non-Public School Parents About School In Two North Dakota Cities, Thaines Arulandu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of public and non-public school parents about school choice in two North Dakota cities. Data were gathered through a survey questionnaire administered to randomly selected public and non-public school parents in Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota. Factor analysis reduced the perceptions of parents to four independent variables, income, education, ethnicity, and employment of parents. Perceptions of parents were studied on 16 issues related to school choice as dependent variables. The data analysis answered the following research questions: What are the perceptions of public and non-public school parents about school …

Actin Nanokinematics Under The Influence Of Dc Electric Fields, Raghu Chilakamarri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Molecular shuttles are nanometer-sized machines capable of transporting single molecules over small distances under user control. Actin-myosin system is a motor protein system, which naturally evolved within the cell for the nanoscale transport. The Acto-Myosin system is fuelled by ATP, converting chemical energy into linear motion. The gliding geometry movement of actin wherein the tails of the motors are adsorbed to the surface and the heads of the motors move the actin filaments across the surface can be exploited to achieve the directional control. The motion of actin in a specific direction and the surface of travel can be modified …

Multiagent Autonomous Energy Management, Shilpa B. Ganesh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this thesis is to design distributed software agents for reliable operation of integrated electric power systems of modern electric warships. The automatic reconfiguration of electric shipboard power systems is an important step toward improved fight-through and self-healing capabilities of naval warships. The improvements are conceptualized by redesigning the electric power system and its controls. This research focuses on a new scheme for an energy management system in the form of distributed control/software agents. Multiagent systems provide an ideal level of abstraction for modeling complex applications where distributed and heterogeneous entities need to cooperate to achieve a common …

Image Quality Assessment For Iris Biometric, Nathan D. Kalka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Iris recognition, the ability to recognize and distinguish individuals by their iris pattern, is the most reliable biometric in terms of recognition and identification performance. However, performance of these systems is affected by poor quality imaging. In this work, we extend previous research efforts on iris quality assessment by analyzing the effect of seven quality factors: defocus blur, motion blur, off-angle, occlusion, specular reflection, lighting, and pixel-counts on the performance of traditional iris recognition system. We have concluded that defocus blur, motion blur, and off-angle are the factors that affect recognition performance the most. We further designed a fully automated …

Error And Attack Tolerance Of Complex Real Networks, Vamsi Salla

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Real networks are often subjected to failures and attacks. Real networks are found to be robust to errors and vulnerable to attacks. This behavior of real networks is attributed to their non-homogeneous degree distribution. Non-homogenous networks are also known as scale free networks. Real networks along with the scale free property show high modularity.;Many network models have been proposed to model real networks. Erdos-Renyi Random network model is the first attempt, but fails to incorporate both properties - scale free as well as the high modularity of the real networks. Small world model shows high clustering but lacks non-homogeneous distribution. …

Characterization Of Web Server Workload, Amit Sangle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Realistic and formal mathematical description of web-server workload forms a fundamental step in the design of synthetic workload generators, capacity planning and accurate predictions of performance measures. In this thesis we perform detailed empirical analysis of the web workload by analyzing access logs of nine web-servers. Unlike most previous work that focused on request-based workload characterization, we analyze both request and session characteristics. We perform rigorous statistical analysis to determine the self-similarity of web traffic and heavy-tailedness of the distribution of different session parameters. Our analysis shows that web traffic is self-similar and the degree of self-similarity is proportional to …

Empirical Study Of Error Behavior In Web Servers, Ajay Deep Singh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The World Wide Web has been a huge success, bringing the Internet to widespread popularity. For Web based systems to deal effectively with increasing number of Web clients, it is very important to understand the basic fundamentals of Web workload and error characteristics. In this thesis we focus on detailed empirical analysis of Web server error characteristics and reliability based on the data extracted from eleven different web servers. First, we address the data collection process and describe the methods for extraction of workload and error data from Web logs. Then, we analyze the Web error characteristics which include unique …

Parents' Perceptions Of The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet For Their Children With Autism, Annette Puglisi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the factors that affected parent's decision for putting their autistic children on a gluten free casein free diet (gfcf diet). Parents completed a fifteen question survey relating to multiple factors affecting their lives while having their children on a gfcf diet. In addition, parents were asked to fill out a three day diet history for their child for a nutrient analysis.;Fifty three surveys (21%) and ten diet histories were returned. The majority of parents first heard of the gfcf diet either on the Internet (28%) or from Parent Magazine (32%). Desperation (25%) was the main reason parents …

A Qualitative Study Of Pre -Service Teachers Using Co -Teaching As A Method To Understand Scientific Process Skills To Teach *Inquiry, Jennifer Carter Mccain

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The National Science Education Standards (NSES) have established scientific literacy as a goal for all students. The goals advocate scientific inquiry as an instructional strategy to be used in the classroom, and standards of inquiry have even been established. At the same time, co-teaching has become prevalent in classroom as regular education teachers work with special education teachers. The classrooms are inclusive and both teachers are to work together to benefit all the students. Research has shown positive perceptions and negative perceptions of co-teaching. In this study, pre-service teachers are co-taught an elementary science methods course at a medium-sized university. …

Sarah Livingston Jay, 1756--1802: Dynamics Of Power, Privilege And Prestige In The Revolutionary Era, Jennifer Megan Janson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sarah Livingston Jay was a politically astute woman whose contributions to the success of the American Revolution and reconstruction of post-war society have long been underestimated. She understood the complex political and financial dynamics beneath the decision to declare independence from Great Britain and the international alliances necessary for success. Intelligent, educated and socially skilled, she used her personal gifts, position, and familial connections to exert a strong influence on the course of events that would benefit her fledgling country. She used her social graces to take part in the male-dominated political world, while working within the domestic realm. She …

America And China: Cultural Differences In Online Learning Motivation, Zongxiang Mei

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are learning motivation differences among students from different countries. And differences between American and Korean online learners were identified. This study was to identify whether American and Chinese online learners' motivation differed and what were the learner characteristics that affected the motivation of online learners. This study was conducted in May-June, 2005, West Virginia University, the United States of America, and Fudan University, China. Findings revealed that there was a significant difference in learning motivation between the U.S. and Chinese online learners. And there were some learner characteristics affected the learning motivation of online learners as well, such as …

The Influence Of Humanism On The Handwriting Of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Robert J. Tallaksen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The handwriting of Michelangelo Buonarroti underwent a distinct and permanent change between 1497 and 1502. The handwriting of his early letters of 1496 and 1497 is merchantescha, the gothic cursive mercantile script which he would have learned at school. The later handwriting is cancellarescha, a humanistic cursive. It is present in letters, contracts, memoranda, records of accounts, and in annotations on drawings. Both scripts as written by Michelangelo are analyzed paleographically and are compared to examples from instructional writing books of the period. The impossibility of evolution from one script to the other is demonstrated through analysis of the scripts …

Production Of Conjunctions And T-Units By The Elderly, Benjamin Haymond

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Recent research indicates a change in healthy elderly adult language capabilities. More specifically, Shadden (1997) and Ryan (1996) state that language competence is less affected by the processes of aging than production. The topic of this research examined specifically the production of conjunctions from the perspective of Halliday and Hasan (1976) in procedural and narrative discourse by the elderly. The hypothesis stated that the relationship between age and conjunctions produced would be non-significant. In a cross-sectional study, 17 subjects between the ages of 60-86 were interviewed and the transcripts analyzed.;Results supported the hypothesis of a non-significant relationship between age and …

A West Virginia Family In World War Ii, Miles B. Berger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As an analysis and examination of the letters of two West Virginia residents written during each resident's service in World War II, this thesis compares the wartime experiences of a brother and sister against secondary and primary source literature covering World War II and the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps/Women's Army Corps. The experiences of these two soldiers are told through an interpretation of their letters home and an examination of the training experiences of women and men in World War II. In addition, the first main section of the thesis, Chapter Two, is devoted to an overview and analysis of …

An Ecological Study Of Panax Quinquefolius In Central Appalachia: Seedling Growth, Harvest Impacts And Geographic Variation In Demography, Martha E. Van Der Voort

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.) is a long-lived, slow-maturing understory perennial herb found in eastern North American forests. The economic value of P. quinquefolius on the world market has remained strong for nearly 300 years. It has high economic and social value in the central Appalachians as well. Persistent harvest of ginseng combined with habitat loss has reduced populations in the wild, threatening the future of the species and its continued harvest. American ginseng was placed on the CITES Appendix II list in 1973 due to population declines. These concerns led to a series of studies investigating the population dynamics …

An Integrated Computer-Based Timber Cruising System For Appalachian Hardwoods, Jingxin Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In order to facilitate resource data collection and processing, an integrated computer-based timber cruising system was modeled and developed based on Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) and Objected-Oriented Programming (OOP) techniques. The system consists of three components - handheld data collection system, data transfer, and data analysis, all of which are stand-alone objects. The handheld system, which is Windows CE based, was used to collect overstory and understory tree data in the field. Data transfer and analysis components reside on a desktop PC and were used to synchronize cruising data from handheld PCs, analyze data and generate reports. A relational …

Putting Religious Symbolism In Context: A Linguistic Critique Of The Endorsement Test, B. Jessie Hill

Michigan Law Review

The treatment of Establishment Clause challenges to displays of religious symbolism by the Supreme Court and the lower courts is notoriously unpredictable: a crèche is constitutionally acceptable if it is accompanied by a Santa Claus house and reindeer, a Christmas tree, and various circus figures, but unacceptable if it is accompanied by poinsettias, a "peace tree," or a wreath, a tree, and a plastic Santa Claus. A menorah may be displayed next to a Christmas tree, or next to Kwanzaa symbols, Santa Claus, and Frosty the Snowman, but not next to a crèche and a Christmas tree. A number of …

The Impossibility Of Negation: Punk Rock, Christian Rock, And The Problem Of Negationist Subculture, Brian James Schill

Theses and Dissertations

Both the punk rock end Christian rock music subcultures have been the subject of analyses that cast them in “negationist” terms-as groups critically opposed to popular/secular culture. Despite their categorization of these music genres as antitheses, however, no analysis has gone so far as to read them specifically in the context of German philosopher GAV.F. Hegel whose dialectical model systematized the opposition of thesis and antithesis. Moreover, no analysis has juxtaposed the two suspiciously similar subcultures in dialectical terms, and theorized them in terms of their documented opposition to each other. Such is the goal of this thesis.

Therefore, beginning …

Proposal For Implementation Of A Nursing Theory Into Nursing Care Delivery, Margaret A. Gadaire

Theses and Dissertations

Jean Watson, in the introduction to her book, Nursing: Human Science and Human Care: A Theory of Nursing, states that “A Theory is an imaginative grouping of knowledge, ideas and experience that are represented symbolically and seek to illuminate a given phenomenon. ” (1999, pg.l) The phenomenon in this proposal is nursing care delivery. The symbol of nursing is caring. The question; How does a hospital implement a patient care delivery system that will demonstrate the caring provided by its nurses? This proposal provides a mid-sized urban hospital with a method for implementing a nursing theory into its patient care …

Nesting Success And Nest Site Characteristics Of Four Thrush Species On A Managed Forest, Rachel Dellinger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Four thrush species breed sympatrically in the Allegheny Mountain region of West Virginia, U.S.A.: American Robin (Turdus migratorius), Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), Veery (Catharus fuscescens), and Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). How nesting habitat is partitioned among the species is unclear, as is the effect of logging activities on the guild. My objectives were to identify nesting habitat characteristics that are partitioned among the species and to determine their effects on nest survival.;I conducted point count surveys and monitored nests of four thrush species on a managed forest. I measured habitat variables at three scales: (1) nest substrate, (2) nest site, …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Descriptive And Experimental Analyses To Identify Variables Influencing Problem Behavior In Domestic Dogs, Susan D. Kapla

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Problem behavior in dogs is a concern for pet owners. Many contemporary approaches to intervention first involve a process of diagnosis and classification which is often structural in nature. An accurate diagnosis is considered essential for effective treatment, however, outcome data validating the efficacy of this procedure are dubious. The success of strategies used to assess and treat behavior problems that identify behavioral function in humans (functional assessment), however, suggests the potential utility of such techniques in the assessment and treatment of behavior problems in dogs. Therefore, two separate assessments were conducted to identify and manipulate variables affecting problem behavior …

Supporting Awareness In Heterogeneous Collaboration Environments, Vijayanand Bharadwaj

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Rapid technological advancements have made it possible for humans to collaborate as never before. However demands of group work necessitate distributed collaboration in very heterogeneous environments. Heterogeneity as in various applications, platforms, hardware and communication infrastructure. User mobility, lack of availability and cost often make imposing a common collaboration environment infeasible. Awareness is essential for successful collaboration. Awareness is a key design criterion in groupware but often collaboration occurs with applications not designed to support useful awareness. This dissertation deals with the issue of effective group awareness support in heterogeneous environments.;Awareness propagation is effective if the appropriate amount of information, …

Factors Affecting Reproductive Efficiency Of Cattle, Melanie J. Starbuck

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Four experiments were conducted to evaluate two measures of reproductive efficiency in cattle, conception rate and retention of pregnancy. In experiment I, the relationship between concentrations of progesterone and retention of pregnancy was examined. The corpus luteum (CL) was removed on day 29 of pregnancy in 40 suckled, beef cows, and pregnancy was supported with exogenous progesterone to day 53. Concentrations of progesterone (1.8 +/- 0.1 ng/mL between days 30 and 38), were below those normally recorded for pregnant cows. Retention of pregnancy (77%) was monitored frequently using ultrasonography until day 53 and was negatively associated with age of cow, …

Three Essays On Migration: Its Interaction With Regional Wage Differentials And Occupational Choice And Its Application In Different Discrete Choice Models, Christiadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation consists of three essays that examine two important roles of migration, promoting regional wage convergence and increasing economic efficiency. The first essay is a survey of the migration and migration-related literatures, examining why migration and regional wage differentials can co-exist over time. The direct reason is that the classical assumptions leading to regional wage convergence are rarely fully applicable in the real world. This essay reveals various real-world conditions violating those assumptions and explains how they can either create or magnify regional wage differentials. The essay also reveals how the difficulty in distinguishing wage differentials from true wage …

Anesthesia Management In Kabuki Make-Up Syndrome, Remziye Sivaci, Orhan K. Kahveci, Muge Celik, Ali Altuntas, Mustafa Solak

Saudi Medical Journal

Kabuki make-up syndrome KMS is a rare condition with a number of characteristic congenital abnormalities. The syndrome is characterized by peculiar facial appearance resembling the make-up of actors in Kabuki, the traditional Japanese theater, skeletal anomalies, dermatoglyphic abnormalities, postnatal growth deficiency, and mental retardation. These are rare reports of central nervous system dysfunctions, other than mental retardation, and no previously described congenital talipes calcaneo-valgus in this syndrome. We report the case of a 22-month-old girl having Kabuki make-up. At presentation, she had an adenoid hypertrophy and a history of recurrent otitis media. She had also delay in motor development, and …