Digital Commons Network^™

Gene Regulatory Networks Inference With Recurrent Neural Network Models, Rui Xu, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Large-scale time series gene expression data generated from DNA microarray experiments provide us a new means to reveal fundamental cellular processes, investigate functions of genes, and understand their relations and interactions. To infer gene regulatory networks from these data with effective computational tools has attracted intensive efforts from artificial intelligence and machine learning. Here, we use a recurrent neural network (RNN), trained with particle swarm optimization (PSO), to investigate the behaviors of regulatory networks. The experimental results, on a synthetic data set and a real data set, show that the proposed model and algorithm can effectively capture the dynamics of …

Measuring Scalability Of Resource Management Systems, A. Mitra, Muthucumaru Maheswaran, Shoukat Ali

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Scalability refers to the extent of configuration modifications over which a system continues to be economically deployable. Until now, scalability of resource management systems (RMSs) has been examined implicitly by studying different performance measures of the RMS designs for different parameters. However, a framework is yet to be developed for quantitatively evaluating scalability to unambiguously examine the trade-offs among the different RMS designs. In this paper, we present a methodology to study scalability of RMSs based on overhead cost estimation. First, we present a performance model for a managed distributed system (e.g., Grid computing system) that separates the manager and …

Multiuser Channel Estimation For Cdma Systems Over Frequency-Selective Fading Channels, Jingxian Wu, Chengshan Xiao, Khaled Ben Letaief

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, a pilot-assisted minimum mean square error (MMSE) multiuser channel estimation algorithm is proposed for quasi-synchronous code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems that undergo frequency-selective channel fading. The frequency-selective multiuser fading channel is represented as a symbol-wise time-varying chip-spaced tapped delay line filter with correlated filter taps. The multiuser channel tap coefficients at pilot symbol positions are estimated under the MMSE criterion with the help of the channel intertap correlation matrix, which is determined by the combined effects of the physical fading channel, transmit filter, and receive filter. In the development of the estimation algorithm, the channel intertap correlation matrix …

Aggregate Gradation Optimization -- Literature Search, David Newton Richardson

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Engineered Struvite Precipitation: Impacts Of Component-Ion Molar Ratios And Ph, Jun Wang, Joel Gerard Burken, Xiaoqi Zhang, Rao Y. Surampalli

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Struvite precipitation has the potential for removing and recovering phosphorus from agricultural wastewater streams, such as concentrated animal feeding operations wastewater. However, impacts of anticipated component-ion molar ratios and potentially interfering ions are unknown as are the compounding pH relationship with respect to all potential complexes. This research experimentally investigates and mathematically models these factors. Emphasis is placed upon the composition of formed deposits and model validation with experimental data. Results show that calcium is a major interfering ion affecting the deposit composition, decreasing struvite purity. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy + energy dispersive spectrometry were used to …

Inter-Institutional Collaboration: A Case Study Of Factors Contributing To The Viability Of The Iowa Community College Online Consortium, Kent Johnson

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In the competitive arena of distance education, the strategy of inter-institutional collaboration has been cast as a promising approach in reducing costs, expanding services, and demonstrating responsiveness. However, the work involved with collaborative arrangements has proven difficult, and the results have frequently failed to meet expectations.

The problem this research sought to address is that little is known about the factors involved in making distance education collaborations work. The Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC) was selected as a unit of analysis on the basis of purposeful sampling. The ICCOC, a comprehensive distance education collaboration involving seven member colleges, has …

Table Of Contents

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

No abstract provided.

Contributory And Vicarious Copyright Infringement As Applied To Auctions, Flea Markets, And Swap Meets: How Fonovisa And Napster Have Set The Standard, Laura E. Hancock

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines a flea market as an "open-air market for secondhand articles and antiques." Although its origin is nearly impossible to trace, it is commonly believed that the flea market first appeared during the 1960s, in Paris, France. The term itself is translated from the French phrase, marchi aux puces.

Generally, a flea market has been described as a venue renting "space to anyone [offering for sale to the public] merchandise, products, items, services and all other legal needs of the buying public." Individuals renting space and selling within these venues are known as vendors. Flea markets are truly …

The Chinese Approach To Electronic Transactions Legislation, Zhang Chu, Lingfei Lei

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is nothing new under the sun, and this may be equally true when it comes to electronic transactions. In the electronic world, agreements are still embodied in contracts, contracts are still entered into when two parties reach an enforceable agreement on terms, and objective evidence still determines whether an agreement has been reached. Fraud and piracy are no less illegal because they happen online. In other words, laws governing the physical world are also relevant in the virtual world. Nevertheless, despite all the similarities, there may still be some differences in form, and there are …

Site-Specific Art Parks On Moral Ground: Distilling Old Whine In New Battles Over The Visual Artists Rights Act, Carrie Jones

Computer Law Review and Technology Journal

Having passed by unanimous vote at the Second Continental Congress, the new Constitution duly declared that "Congress shall have the power [t]o promote the Progress of Science and the useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors rt]he exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." Pursuant to that power, Congress enacted the Nation's first copyright law in 1790, intending to promote the artistic progress through a grant of exclusive monopoly for a limited time to the authors of new works. Since then, the United States has successfully urged invention and creation through the full commitment to a comprehensive …

The Relationship Between Hypergender Ideology And Rape Empathy Among Male And Female College Students, Erin E. Okun, Suzaime L. Osman

Modern Psychological Studies

The primary purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between hypergender ideology and rape empathy. A sample of 157 college students completed a questionnaire packet containing demographic variables, the Hypergender Ideology Scale (HOS) and the Rape Empathy Scale (RES). It was predicted that those indicating stronger adherence to extreme stereotypic gender roles would report more empathy for the perpetrator rather than the victim of rape. It was also predicted that men would show stronger adherence to stereotypic gender roles and less victim empathy than women. Results show significant support for all predictions. Discussion involves implications that the …

Unskilled-Unaware And The Role Of Defensive High Self-Esteem, Kim Wilson, Christine Smith

Modern Psychological Studies

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between defensive high self-esteem and inability to recognize one's own incompetence. It is hypothesized that individuals displaying defensive high self-esteem will be most likely to show a high correlation between lack of skill and lack of awareness. Participants were assessed for defensive high self-esteem using the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. The unskilled-unaware construct was identified through comparison of prediction versus actual performance on a curriculum-scheduled exam. The null was rejected at p = .01, indicating the likelihood that defensive self-esteem can or does play a …

The Efficacy Of Writing Course Placement At An Iowa Community College, Kristine D. Owens

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of writing course placement at an Iowa community college. The following questions were addressed: What indicators, separately or in combination, resulted in an appropriate or inappropriate student writing placement? (a) To what extent did the COMPASS test result in an appropriate placement? (b) To what extent did the self-directed essay result in an appropriate placement? (c) To what extent did a student's preference result in an appropriate placement?

This study was important to understand how the “directed self-placement” model, adapted from Royer and Gilles (1998, p. 1), impacted the institution's …

Online Survey Research Of Faculty Attitudes Toward Promotion And Tenure, Thomas Diamantes

Essays in Education

This study is an extension of the preliminary study on faculty attitudes toward the processes of promotion and tenure in higher education. It began when several colleagues banded together and submitted proposals to a national conference establishing a panel to discuss promotion and tenure, which were subsequently accepted. The panel proposal consisted of: (1) a comparison and analysis of the tenure and promotion process at two institutions; (2) an analysis on mentoring a newly hired non-tenured colleague for the academic year; (3) an analysis of being mentored during the entry year at an institution; and finally; (4) an analysis of …

Teacher Education, Critical Pedagogy, And Standards: An Exploration Of Theory And Practice, Lynne A. Bercaw, Lisa M. Stooksberry

Essays in Education

Agreeing that a major goal of teacher education is to prepare individuals for informed citizenship in a democratic society, do standards lead toward social change promoting active citizenship of both teacher and student? We approach this question from two perspectives: one is a cultural approach grounded in critical pedagogy and the other is a policy approach based on the use of standards in teaching. We focus on a critical pedagogy in teacher education because of the goal of preparing citizens for participation in a democratic society. Highlighting three tenets of critical pedagogy, (a) reflection upon the individual’s culture or lived …

Rethinking Constructivism In Multicultural Contexts: Does Constructivism In Education Take The Issue Of Diversity Into Consideration?, Gyseon Bae

Essays in Education

This paper is an attempt to understand whether and, if so, how one particular prospective learning theory in education really deals with the issue of diversity. As a prospective learning theory, epistemology, and methodology, constructivism emphasizes non-transmitted ways of classroom instruction, and its conduciveness to student learning has been well documented. However, most research concerning constructivism has been conducted in relatively stable linguistic, ethnic, and cultural contexts; relatively few studies have critically analyzed the process of teaching and learning when constructivism is applied to contexts involving linguistic, cultural, or ethnic diversity. In the paper, the author discusses the major assumptions …

Retain Teachers By Listening To Their Wants And Needs, Katherine A. O'Connor

Essays in Education

This research study investigated the wants and needs of upper elementary (grades 3-5) teachers to distinguish what makes them successful and satisfied in their current positions. When people are satisfied and feel success at their workplace, they are more willingly to stay in their position. Wants and needs can be perceived differently; however, for this research wants and needs will be treated as the same. This blended research study included a random, stratified, sample.

The Development And Validation Of The Teacher Dispositions Index, Laura Schulte, Nancy Edick, Sarah Edwards, Debora Mackiel

Essays in Education

The purposes of this study were to develop and validate a quantitative instrument (Teacher Dispositions Index (TDI)) that measures the dispositions of effective teachers as specified by the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (1991). To provide evidence of the TDI’s reliability and validity, we distributed the TDI to 105 undergraduate students enrolled in an instructional systems course in a College of Education at a Midwestern metropolitan university. The TDI could be used to assess teacher candidate dispositions over the course of pre-service preparation and to help candidates determine if teaching is an appropriate professional fit.

Leadership By The Book: Case Study Of Creating A Doctoral Program In Education, Cynthia V. L. Ward

Essays in Education

Playing against type, by initiating of a doctoral program in education leadership at a respected career university is the conundrum underlying this case study in higher education leadership. Using a historical approach, the strategies used and the techniques employed to initiate a major change in an unlikely environment are discussed and linked to what the literature has to say about implementing academic change. In this particular case, what was done not only was consistent with recommendations found in the literature, but also worked to implement and sustain the doctoral program during its formative years.

Dunks And Drunks: Depictions Of Drug And Alcohol Use Among High School Athletes In Film, Peter S. Finley, Laura L. Finley

Essays in Education

Mediated portrayals of student-athletes can provide strong role models for realworld student-athletes. This research explored the images of student-athletes in sportrelated films regarding depictions of drug and alcohol use. A content analysis of six sport-related films released between 1994 and 2000 was conducted 1) to address whether such films accurately depicted drug and alcohol use among student-athletes and 2) to consider how these presentations might impact viewers who are, themselves, high school student-athletes. Results suggested that the films reinforced the notion that student-athletes are supposed to experiment with drugs and alcohol as a part of the social role relative to …

An Analysis Of Accelerated Christian Education And College Preparedness Based On Act Scores, Lisa J.L. Kelley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The current paper discusses Christian education in relation to college preparedness. The author focuses on Christian education and the use of Accelerated Christian Education, a prepackaged curriculum, specifically used in private fundamentalist Christian schools. Relevant research is reviewed regarding college preparedness and Christian education. The researcher obtained the ACT scores received by graduates of an ACE school over the past five years. These scores were analyzed using a t-test of comparative means (p<.05) to determine if there were a significant differences in ACT scores between students at the Accelerated Christian School and the students of a public high school in the same area with a graduate college application rate of 75-83%. Scores were analyzed and a significant difference was found between the public school graduatesí scores and the ACE graduatesí scores in all areas of the ACT (English, Math, Reading, and Composite Score), except the area of Science Reasoning. Overall, the ACT scores of the ACE graduates were consistently lower than those of the public school students.

Effective Advising In Student Organizations, James Wyman George Barnes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this research study was to discover how effective student organization advisors influence student organization success on a residential midwestern campus. Although the roles, skills, and importance of advising have been noted in higher education, leadership studies and business management literature, the advisors' perspective on the importance and practical use of these attributes had not been studied. This inquiry was guided by the following research questions: What constitutes effective advising of a student organization on a four-year residential campus? To what roles, practices, and values do advisors most strongly attribute to their success? A qualitative approach was employed …

Mcnair Research Journal

Georgia Southern University McNair Scholars Journal (Archived)

Full issue of the Georgia Southern University McNair Journal presented by the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program at Georgia Southern University.

• The Acceptability of Aggressive Behaviors in Dating Relationships Kirsten Barnard; Dr. Janice Kennedy

• A Response to My Bank Teller: How Has a Nation of Immigrants Become So Anti-immigrant Angel Beal; Darin Van Tassell, PhD.

• Glucose Fermentation Profiles of Geographically Diverse Spiroplasma Bacteria David Bostick; Laura B. Regassa, PhD.

• An Analysis of the Relation Between High Discretionary Quarterly Revenue Accruals and Fraudulent Earnings Management Enforcement Actions Taken by the Sec Korey S. Castleberry; Timothy Cairney, PhD.

• How Has the …

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Mad Art And The Essential Image: Unearthing The Conversation Between Oscar Wilde’S The Picture Of Dorian Gray And Roland Barthes’S Camera Lucida, Sarah Joy Cowger

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Roland Barthes's notion of "mad art" (introduced in Camera Lucida)--that is, art which is compelling, arresting, and uncovering-serves as a useful lens through which the portrait in Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray may be viewed. In doing so, Wilde's framed image, behaving as mad art, must expose Dorian's authentic self. Such an expose is, importantly, both the product of a spectator's engaged eye as it is the result of a piece which always already contains an essence. When both elements are present (that is, both the essentialness of the art and the engagement of the viewer), the "text" …

Agricultural Pollution Of Ground Water Near Gilbertville, Iowa, Paula Frost Even

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The transport of nutrients and contaminants from farm fields to the aquifer surrounding Gilbertville, Iowa, was monitored over a six-month period. The Gilbertville city water supply is obtained from the Silurian-Devonian aquifer, which has been determined to be highly susceptible to contamination because of the hydraulic characteristics of the aquifer and the overlying materials that allow contaminants to move to the aquifer fairly quickly. Monthly water samples were collected from April through September of 2004 from 26 private wells and 8 surface water sites within the source water protection area of the town's three wells. Each sample was tested for …

A Physiologically Based Clinical Measure For Spastic Reflexes In Spinal Cord Injury, Ela N. Benz, T. George Hornby, Rita K. Bode, Robert A. Scheidt, Brian D. Schmit

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: To test the validity of the Spinal Cord Assessment Tool for Spastic reflexes (SCATS), a clinical tool intended to rate spastic motor behavior after spinal cord injury (SCI).

Design: By using correlational analyses, the SCATS was validated using concurrent measurements of kinematics and electromyograms and traditional assessments of spasms and spastic hypertonia.

Setting: Research laboratory (kinematics and electromyography) and outpatient medical clinic (traditional measures of spastic hypertonia).

Participants: Eleven people with SCI were used for kinematic and electromyographic measurements. Seventeen people with SCI were used for comparison with other clinical scales.

Interventions: Not applicable. …

Characterization Of Motor Adaptation And Limb Posture Regulation During Arm Reaching Movements Following Stroke, Robert A. Scheidt, Tina M. Stoeckmann

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Whether attempting to pour water into a handheld glass, or simply trying to hold a young child's hand, many activities of daily living require interaction with unpredictable or uncertain mechanical environments. Here we describe a systems identification study that used a planar manipulandum to characterize how hemiparetic stroke survivors adapt reaching movements to novel mechanical environments. By analyzing trial-by-trial variations in hand path kinematics, we found that stroke survivors are less likely than neurologically-intact subjects to adjust motor commands for upcoming movements based on hand trajectory errors experienced on previous trials. This ability is most significantly compromised in subjects with …

A Real-Time Haptic/Graphic Demonstration Of How Error Augmentation Can Enhance Learning, Yejun Wei, James L. Patton, Preeti Bajaj, Robert A. Scheidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We developed a real-time controller for a 2 degree-of-freedom robotic system using xPC Target. This system was used to investigate how different methods of performance error feedback can lead to faster and more complete motor learning in individuals asked to compensate for a novel visuo-motor transformation (a 30 degree rotation). Four groups of human subjects were asked to reach with their unseen arm to visual targets surrounding a central starting location. A cursor tracking hand motion was provided during each reach. For one group of subjects, deviations from the “ideal” compensatory hand movement (i.e. trajectory errors) were amplified with a …

Using Rewards To Minimize Overdue Book Rates, W. Bede Mitchell, Fred W. Smith

University Libraries: Faculty Publications

For as long as many libraries have charged fines for books returned after their due dates, this familiar practice has excited comment and controversy. Fines are thought by many to deter patrons from keeping materials too long. However, others believe there is little persuasive evidence that fines are more effective at minimizing overdues than are reminder notices. Further, some critics contend charging fines is unethical, especially in public or school libraries, and the meager results are not worth the harmful public relations fines incur. The authors experimented with an alternative approach using positive reinforcement.

Review Of Babel And The Ivory Tower: The Scholar In The Age Of Science By W. David Shaw, W. Bede Mitchell

University Libraries: Faculty Publications

This review was published in College and Research Libraries.