Digital Commons Network^™

Applying The Prediction Of Four-Year Height Growth Of Douglas-Fir And Ponderosa Pine Saplings To An Existing Growth Simulator, Kathryn Arendt Keller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Nature Of Change In Western Montana's Bunchgrass Communities, Pamela G. Sikkink

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Exploring Yesterday Preparing For Tomorrow : A Personal Perspective On Native American Cultural Studies In The Elementary Classroom As Experienced In The Multi-Grade Environment Of A Rural School, Donna Clair Peck

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Computer Vision-Based Monitoring Of Abrasive Loading During Wood Machining, Bhavin S. Vora

Theses

Surface quality is an important characteristic commonly assessed in wooden products. Sanding relies on coated abrasives as tooling for both dimensioning and surface finishing but their performance is dependent on chip loading and grit wear. Traditionally, the useful life of abrasive belts in sanding operation has been manually assessed. This type of inspection is highly subjective and dependent upon individual expertise, consequently leading to under utilization or over utilization of the abrasive. This, in turn, affects the production costs and quality of the product. In this work, an intelligent classification method that determines the optimal replacement policy for a belt …

Push And Pull: Using Regression Models To Study The Influence Of Economic Variables On Net Migration In Iowa Counties, Andrea White

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Migration is an intensely personal decision, but mathematical models are useful for quantifying the larger, economic aspects of it. The goal of this research is to use spatial and multiple regression models to study the influence of economic variables on net migration rates in Iowa counties. To achieve this data for many variables was collected from several sources and centered on the year 2000. S-plus software was used to create neighborhood structures, run spatial correlations and regressions, and run multiple regressions and residual diagnostics. The results showed that it is possible to develop a good regression model of migration using …

Vocabulary Instruction Correlation To Reading Comprehension, Kelly M. Vaughn

Graduate Research Papers

There is a direct relationship between word knowledge and comprehension-messages are composed of ideas, and ideas are expressed in words. Decades of research have resulted in significant best practices to support students' vocabulary development, yet very little has actually been implemented in the classroom. Teachers frequently rely on increasing student vocabulary through the incidental word-learning that results from sheer volume of reading. Research in this review will prove that incidental word acquisition is seriously inadequate. Effective vocabulary strategies include: hands-on activities or visuals, capitalizing on background knowledge or prior experiences, repeated exposure in meaningful contexts, and use of graphic organizers. …

Automated Operation Minimization Of Tensor Contraction Expressions In Electronic Structure Calculations, Albert Hartono, Alexander Sibiryakov, Marcel Nooijen, Gerald Baumgartner, David E. Bernholdt, So Hirata, Chi Chung Lam, Russell M. Pitzer, J. Ramanujam, P. Sadayappan

Faculty Publications

Complex tensor contraction expressions arise in accurate electronic structure models in quantum chemistry, such as the Coupled Cluster method. Transformations using algebraic properties of commutativity and associativity can be used to significantly decrease the number of arithmetic operations required for evaluation of these expressions, but the optimization problem is NP-hard. Operation minimization is an important optimization step for the Tensor Contraction Engine, a tool being developed for the automatic transformation of high-level tensor contraction expressions into efficient programs. In this paper, we develop an effective heuristic approach to the operation minimization problem, and demonstrate its effectiveness on tensor contraction expressions …

Simulating Instructional Roles Through Pedagogical Agents, Amy L. Baylor, Yanghee Kim

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper describes the design and empirical validation of three distinct pedagogical agent roles (Expert, Motivator, and Mentor) for college students within the MIMIC (Multiple Intelligent Mentors Instructing Collaboratively) agent-based research environment. The pedagogical agent roles were operationalized by image, animation, affect, voice and script, and were developed in Poser 4 and implemented via Microsoft Agent. Two controlled experiments validated the instantiation of the three roles according to learner perception (N=78) and actual impact on motivation and learning (N=71). The results confirmed that the agent roles were not only perceived by the students to reflect their intended purposes but also …

Can Otolith Elemental Signatures Record The Capture Site Of Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus Eleginoides), A Fully Marine Fish In The Southern Ocean?, J. R. Ashford, C. M. Jones, E. Hofmann, I. Everson, C. Moreno, G. Duhamel, R. Williams

CCPO Publications

Otolith chemistry has been successfully used to reconstruct the environmental history experienced by estuarine-dependent teleost fish, including movement between estuaries and coastal areas. However, application has been more limited in species exposed exclusively to oceanic waters, where gradients in physical and chemical properties are less extreme. To test whether otolith elemental signatures record spatial information in an oceanic species, we sampled otoliths from Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) and used an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) coupled to a laser ablation system to target the outer otolith edges corresponding to the period immediately before capture. Using multivariate analysis …

An Exercise In Forecasting Loop Current And Eddy Frontal Positions In The Gulf Of Mexico, Lie-Yauw Oey, Tal Ezer, George Forristall, C. Cooper, Steven Dimarco, S. Fan

CCPO Publications

As part of a model-evaluation exercise to forecast Loop Current and Loop Current eddy frontal positions in the Gulf of Mexico, the Princeton Regional Ocean Forecast System (PROFS) is tested to forecast 14 4-week periods Aug/25/99- Sep/20/00, during which a powerful eddy, Eddy Juggernaut (Eddy-J) separated from the Loop Current and propagated southwestward. To initialize each forecast, PROFS assimilates satellite sea surface height (SSH) anomaly and temperature (SST) by projecting them into subsurface density using a surface/subsurface correlation that is a function of the satellite SSH anomaly. The closest distances of the forecast fronts from seven fixed stations in the …

The Role Of Feeding Behavior In Sustaining Copepod Populations In The Tropical Ocean, J. D. Wiggert, A. G. E. Haskell, G.-A. Paffenhofer, E. E. Hofmann, J. M. Klinck

CCPO Publications

A fundamental question regarding marine copepods is how the many species coexist and persist in the oligotrophic environment (i.e. Hutchinson’s paradox). This question is addressed with a stochastic, object-oriented Lagrangian model that explicitly simulates the distinct foraging behaviors of three prominent tropical species: Clausocalanus furcatus, Paracalanus aculeatus and Oithona plumifera. The model also individually tracks all prey cells. Each particle’s motion combines sinking, turbulent diffusion and active swimming when applicable. The model successfully simulates observed size partitioned carbon uptake rates. Based on the model results, the wide-ranging translational ambit employed by C. furcatus is best suited for the acquisition …

Status And Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Chesapeake Bay: Rappahannock River (1985-2003), Daniel M. Dauer, Harold G. Marshall, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Frederick A. Hoffman

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The Virginia Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries continue to show some environmental trends indicating progress toward restoration of a more balanced and healthy ecosystem. However, the Bay system remains degraded and some areas and indicators show continuing degradation. Progress in reducing nutrient inputs has made demonstrable improvements and we expect that continued progress toward nutrient reduction goals, along with appropriate fisheries management and chemical contaminant controls, will result in additional improvements to the Bay. Findings from the last 18 years of the monitoring programs are highlighted below. In 1995, the Virginia DEQ instituted changes to its analytical techniques for …

Status And Trends In Water Quality And Living Resources In The Virginia Chesapeake Bay: James River (1985-2003), Daniel M. Dauer, Harold G. Marshall, John R. Donat, Michael F. Lane, Suzanne C. Doughten, Frederick A. Hoffman

Status and Trends for Virginia Chesapeake Bay

The Virginia Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries continue to show some environmental trends indicating progress toward restoration of a more balanced and healthy ecosystem. However, the Bay system remains degraded and some areas and indicators show continuing degradation. Progress in reducing nutrient inputs has made demonstrable improvements and we expect that continued progress toward nutrient reduction goals, along with appropriate fisheries management and chemical contaminant controls, will result in additional improvements to the Bay. Findings from the last 18 years of the monitoring programs are highlighted below.

In 1995, the Virginia DEQ instituted changes to its analytical techniques for …

Compact Topologically Torsion Elements Of Topological Abelian Groups, Peter Loth

Mathematics Faculty Publications

In this note, we prove that in a Hausdorff topological abelian group, the closed subgroup generated by all compact elements is equal to teh closed subgroup generated by all compact elements which are topologically p-torsion for some prime p. In particular, this yields a new, short solution to a question raised by Armacost [A]. Using Pontrjagin duality, we obtain new descriptions of the identity component of a locally compact abelian group.

Beyond 'Hot Lips' And 'Big Nurse': Creative Writing And Nursing, Sandra Young

English Faculty Publications

This essay describes a special topics creative writing course designed for nursing students, and argues that creative writing strategies work to improve nurses' compositional skills. Also discussed are other potential benefits from creatively writing patients' lives, notably, the blending of arts and sciences, and the ways in which medical schools are encouraging their students to study the humanities, especially literature and creative writing. The essay includes student creative writing samples.

The essay also discusses the depiction of nurses in popular culture. M*A*S*H*, Richard Hooker’s black comedy about the antics of doctors and nurses during the Korean War, gave us “Hot …

Commodity Price Fluctuations: A Century Of Analysis, Walter C. Labys

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Commodity prices again! The twentieth century has only been the latest spectator to the impacts and importance of commodity price fluctuations. It is reasonably well known that commodity price records have come down to us from the ancient civilizations of India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Earlier in the century, formal research began on the relationships between agricultural demand, supply and prices in a market context. This research not only evolved in sophistication but extended to mineral and energy commodities. Also at the beginning of the century, some of the earliest work took place on applying statistical methods to price …

Assessing Demographic Changes And Income Inequalities: A Case Study Of West Virginia, Yohannes G. Hailu, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The study examines the trends in demographic changes and income inequalities in West Virginia from 1990 to 2000. The relationship between economic growth and income inequality is tested using a system of equations model and county level data. The empirical results indicate that except for 65 years and above age group, income inequality increased in all other age groups. The highest increase was in the age group under 25 years and those 35 to 44 years. Using 3-Stage-Least-Squares estimations, the endogenous dependent variable per capita income growth was positively related with population and employment growth, but it is significantly and …

The Teaching Of Harmony And Composition In The French Conservatoire In The Nineteenth Century - The Importance And Influence Of Reicha And Fétis, Gloria Toplis

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

In 1818 Antoine Reicha was appointed teacher of counterpoint at the École Royale de Musique et de Déclamation. He was joined in 1821 by F-J. Fétis. At the time of their appointment each of these two composers brought to the École an established reputation as a teacher and a philosophy of teaching well considered, though the ideas and the musical repertoire which each called upon in his teaching differed from that of the other and of the teachers of composition of longstanding whom they joined at the École. Reicha and Fétis are rarely discussed in the same context. Fétis, from …

The Subjectivity Of Visual Inspection: Variables That Influence Inspector Decisions About Quality At A Cabinet Manufacturing Business, Bradley R. Bechthold

Graduate Research Papers

The following paper is an investigative project on the subjectivity of visual inspection by finished goods inspectors at a custom cabinet manufacturer located in northeast Iowa. The company manufactures custom and semi-custom kitchen and bath cabinets; with very few of the ~ 1.6 million pieces shipped each year being exactly alike in design, wood species, or color. The company employs over 1200 associates that support a three shift manufacturing operation.

The focus of the study involved the subjectivity of visually inspecting the company's finished product, while exploring elements in the manufacturing arena which affect inspector decisions. Some variables explored include …

Domination Graphs Of Tournaments And Other Digraphs, Deborah J. Bergstrand, L. M. Friedler

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Relative Growth On Information In Two-Dimensional Partitions, K. Dajani, M. De Vries, Aimee S.A. Johnson

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

Let ... ∈ [0, 1)^sup 2^. In this paper we find the rate at which knowledge about the partition elements ... lies in for one sequence of partitions determines the partition elements it lies in for another sequence of partitions. This rate depends on the entropy of these partitions and the geometry of their shapes, and gives a two-dimensional version of Lochs' theorem.

Cyclic Maps In Rational Homotopy Theory, Gregory Lupton, Sam Smith

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

The notion of a cyclic map g:A→X is a natural generalization of a Gottlieb element in π n (X). We investigate cyclic maps from a rational homotopy theory point of view. We show a number of results for rationalized cyclic maps which generalize well-known results on the rationalized Gottlieb groups.

Homotopy Actions, Cyclic Maps And Their Duals, Martin Arkowitz, Gregory Lupton

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

An action of A on X is a map F: AxX to X such that F|_X = id: X to X. The restriction F|_A: A to X of an action is called a cyclic map. Special cases of these notions include group actions and the Gottlieb groups of a space, each of which has been studied extensively. We prove some general results about actions and their Eckmann-Hilton duals. For instance, we classify the actions on an H-space that are compatible with the H-structure. As a corollary, we prove that if any two actions F and F' of A on X …

How Many Years Of Life Could Be Saved If Malaria Were Eliminated From A Hyperendemic Area Of Northern Ghana?, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For some time, Chinese government policies have treated rural and urban areas very differently, and a by-product of China’s rapid development seems to be an even greater differentiation between urban and rural social and economic life. Over the next several decades, in part because of rapid fertility declines and in part as a result of mortality declines at older ages, China and other developing countries will experience enormous increases in the proportion of older adults and the proportion of the “oldest-old.” It is reasonable to expect that these age structure changes will alter the provision of health care, making an …

The Simultaneous Onset And Interaction Of Taylor And Dean Instabilities In A Couette Geometry, C. P. Hills, A. P. Bassom

Articles

The fluid flow between a pair of coaxial circular cylinders generated by the uniform rotation of the inner cylinder and an azimuthal pressure gradient is susceptible to both Taylor and Dean type instabilities. The flow can be characterised by two parameters: a measure of the relative magnitude of the rotation and pressure effects and a non-dimensional Taylor number. Neutral curves associated with each instability can be constructed but it has been suggested that these curves do not cross but rather posses `kinks'. Our work is based in the small gap, large wavenumber limit and considers the simultaneous onset of Taylor …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Do Predator Exclusion, Position, And Plant Architecture Influence Hydrilla-Dwelling Macroinvertebrate Communities?, Jonathan C. Fisher

LSU Master's Theses

Hydrilla verticillata invaded south central Louisiana during the 1970s subsequently becoming the dominant submerged macrophyte in floodplain habitats of the Atchafalaya River Basin. The effects of hydrilla on littoral habitat structure, water quality, fish, and macroinvertebrates have been pervasive, and I hypothesized that dense hydrilla stands would also impact vertebrate predation on resident macroinvertebrates, although predation effects would likely be mediated by bed position. During 2003 and 2004, I conducted exclosure experiments in the Atchafalaya River Basin with artificial substrates to test for variations in hydrilla bed macroinvertebrate communities caused by predation, plant architecture, and bed position. To determine invertebrates …

A Parallel Computing-Visualization Framework For Polycrystalline Minerals, Venkatasrirama Pavankumar Yerraguntla

LSU Master's Theses

In this report, we have reported some preliminary results in the development of a parallel computing-visualization framework for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of polycrystals of minerals, which are geophysically relevant for Earth’s mantle. First, we have generated the input configurations of atoms belonging to various grains distributed in the space in a way, which resembles the polycrystalline structure of the minerals. The Input configuration is developed using Voronoi geometry. Thus generated polycrystalline system is simulated using the PolyCrystal Molecular Dynamics algorithm. Performance tests conducted using up to 256 processors and a couple of millions of atoms have shown that the …