Digital Commons Network^™

Stability Monitoring And Analysis Of Online Learning Neural Networks, Sampath Yerramalla

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

On-line adaptation using soft-computational learning methods is on the rise for use in safety-critical applications such as fault-tolerant flight control, maintenance of distributed networks, implementation of high security devices, etc. The inapplicability of traditional analysis methods is limiting the wider use of soft-computational learning methods in safety-critical applications that involve online adaptation. The focus of the research is the development of non-conventional analysis techniques for the testing, verification, validation and analysis of adaptive learning components such as the online learning neural networks.;Our research considers stability of online adaptation as a heuristic measure of correctness in the operation of the adaptive …

The Ballistic Missile Defense System And Its Effects On The Outer Space Environment, Steven A. Mirmina

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Satellite Earth Observation As "Systematic Observation" In Multilateral Environmental Treaties, Masami Onoda

Journal of Space Law

No abstract provided.

Transvergence In Art History, Ami Davis

SWITCH

SWITCH Issue 20 explores the theme of “Transvergence” in preparation for the ISEA2006 Symposium, hosted in San Jose as part of the ZeroOne Festival. This issue brings together ideas from artists, scientists, educators, and others to examine hybrid cultural experiences that transcend disciplines.

J Am Coll Dent 2005 72 4

Journal of the American College of Dentists

The Journal of the American College of Dentists (JACD) publishes scholarly articles, editorials, essays, and reflections addressing the ethical, professional, and social dimensions of dentistry. The Journal serves as a forum for advancing ethics, professionalism, leadership, and excellence within the dental community. By fostering dialogue across disciplines and perspectives, JACD provides readers with insights that encourage ethical, professional practice, lifelong learning, and service to the public, reinforcing dentistry’s commitment to advancing oral healthcare and the common good.

The Inkwell, Armstrong Atlantic State University

The Inkwell

No abstract provided.

Using Electrofishing Demonstrations To Increase Water Quality Awareness, Jp Lieser, Chris Zoller, Renee Clark

Journal of Extension

OSU Extension has developed a new program that utilizes electrofishing demonstrations to increase water quality awareness. Since 2001, over 2,000 participants have attended 72 demonstrations. Participants learn about water quality indicators and the electrofishing process, view aquatic wildlife and stream habitat, and discuss conservation measures that can protect and restore streams. An Extension professional does not need to be an expert on electrofishing or have any equipment to organize a demonstration. An interest and a dedicated fisheries resource person is all that is needed. Electrofishing demonstrations provide a fun, non-confrontational way to discuss water quality topics that can be controversial.

Assessing The Relationships Between The Spatial Variation In Land-Use Spatial Patterns And Surface Water Quality, Majed A. Khater

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the association between the spatial patterns of urban land uses and surface water quality parameters at the watershed outlet. The aim of the study was to understand the strength and nature of this relationship, and examine new methods of classifying and quantifying contributing urban land-uses and their spatial patterns. The hypothesis of this research was: in an urban watershed, the variation in the spatial patterns of contributing land uses will have a significant impact on the surface water quality parameters at the watershed outlet.

This relationship between urbanization and water quality is …

Retest Effects In Operational Selection Settings: Development And Test Of A Framework, Filip Lievens, Tine Buyse, Paul R. Sackett

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study proposes a framework for examining the effects of retaking tests in operational selection settings. A central feature of this framework is the distinction between within-person and between-person retest effects. This framework is used to develop hypotheses about retest effects for exemplars of 3 types of tests (knowledge tests, cognitive ability tests, and situational judgment tests) and to test these hypotheses in a high stakes selection setting (admission to medical studies in Belgium). Analyses of within-person retest effects showed that mean scores of repeat test takers were one-third of a standard deviation higher for the knowledge test and situational …

Smoke And Mirrors: Internalizing The Magic Lantern Show In Villette, Diane Hoeveler

English Faculty Research and Publications

With considerable historical background in mind, I would like to examine a number of the stock gothic tropes, including the mysterious nun, the paintings of women, the theater scene, and the fête in Villette as examples of not simply one of last gasps of high Victorian gothicism, but also of the internalization and critique of gothic theatrical technology. As Castle observes, the "phantasmagoria should [have] become a kind of master trope in nineteenth-century romantic writing," and certainly she applies the representation in provocative ways to the symbols and imagery in Thomas Carlyle's French Revolution. In a similar fashion, I …

Incidence Of Larval And Pupal Parasitoids Of Lepidoptera In Uganda With Special Reference To New Associations, I. Rwomushana, S. Kyamanywa, A. J. Ngi-Song, C. O. Omwega

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Cotesia flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) was introduced in Uganda in 1998 for the biological control of the old association cereal stemborer Chilo partellus (Swinhoe) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae). However there is little information on whether this parasitoid will attack new association Lepidoptera, which in turn may have implications on its efficacy on Ch. partellus. This study investigated the incidence of introduced Co. flavipes on Ch. partellus, and new association lepidopteran species and associated effects on its efficacy. Parasitism levels for Co. flavipes in several locations varied between 13.7-34.8% and 1.5-18.8% on Ch. partellus and new association hosts, respectively. Implications for biological control …

The Effect Of Nitrogen Fertilizer Application To Maize And Sorghum On The Bionomics Of Chilo Partellus (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) And The Performance Of Its Larval Parasitoid Cotesia Flavipes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), N. Jiang, F. Schulthess

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Laboratory and field trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of plant species (maize, sorghum), plant age (young, middle, old) and four different nitrogen fertilization levels (N0-N3) on the bionomics of the invasive crambid Chilo partellus and the performance of its braconid larval parasitoid Cotesia flavipes. Plant N varied significantly between N0 and N1-N3, but the differences among the latter were not significant. Intrinsic rates of increase and net-reproductive rates of C. partellus followed the same trends: they were lowest with N0 and similar among the other treatments. On maize only, mortality of C. partellus and parasitism by C. flavipes …

Integration Of Probabilistic Graphic Models For Decision Support, Jiang C., Poh K., Tze-Yun Leong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

It is a frequently encountered problem that new knowledge arrived when making decisions in a dynamic world. Usually, domain experts cannot afford enough time and knowledge to effectively assess and combine both qualitative and quantitative information in these models. Existing approaches can solve only one of two tasks instead of both. We propose a four-step algorithm to integrate multiple probabilistic graphic models, which can effectively update existing models with newly acquired models. In this algorithm, the qualitative part of model integration is performed first, followed by the quantitative combination. We illustrate our method with an example of combining three models. …

African American Parents’ Perceptions Of An American Deaf Community: Where’S The Poetic Justice?, Valerie Borum

The Qualitative Report

Poetic prose, a creative qualitative technique, is used to present the findings (emerging themes) of in-depth, thematic interviews with 14 African American parents with deaf children. This is presented in a multi- vocal, interactive, and interwoven style. This style of interweaving voices of participants in a creative poetic prose is indicative of African American cultural and oral traditions. It also permits and deepens the reader’s ability to emotionally and spiritually connect with experiences and emotions of African American parents and their perceptions of an American deaf community. This research was conducted using a modified grounded theory approach where theory (grand …

Remapping Hand Movements In A Novel Geometrical Environment, Kristine M. Mosier, Robert A. Scheidt, Santiago Acosta, Ferdinando A. Mussa-Ivaldi

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The issue of how the Euclidean properties of space are represented in the nervous system is a main focus in the study of visual perception, but is equally relevant to motor learning. The goal of our experiments was to investigate how the properties of space guide the remapping of motor coordination. Subjects wore an instrumented data glove that recorded the finger motions. Signals generated by the glove operated a remotely controlled endpoint: a cursor on a computer monitor. The subjects were instructed to execute movements of this endpoint with controlled motions of the fingers. This required inverting a highly redundant …

The Social And Cultural Construction Of Singlehood Among Young, Single Mormons, Jana Darrington, Kathleen W. Piercy, Sylvia Niehuis

The Qualitative Report

Religious young adults interpret their single experiences based on an intricate system of influences that include personal beliefs, family, religious teachings, and friendships. This qualitative study of 24 never-married, young Mormon men and women examined the social and cultural construction of singlehood based on: (1) definitions of singlehood, (2) influences on the construction of singlehood, and (3) feelings about being single. A major theme of this research emerged in the way participants defined singlehood: by what they lacked and by seeking to end their temporary single state through marriage. Families and religious teachings interacted to form the strongest influences on …

4-H Experiences Contributing To Leadership And Personal Development Of 4-H Alumni, Rama B. Radhakrishna, Megan Sinasky

Journal of Extension

The study reported here examined the contribution of 4-H experiences on leadership and personal development of Pennsylvania 4-H alumni. A total of 168 4-H alumni responded to a mail survey. Stepwise regression analysis identified six variables (challenges and responsibilities, benefits of 4-H participation, number of years in 4-H, animal science projects completed, usefulness and total number of 4-H projects completed) contributing to leadership and personal development. The variables explained 69.5% of the total variance. Pennsylvania 4-H alumni view their 4-H experience as very beneficial. The experiences they had in 4-H continue to influence them in later life.

The Meskwaka Tree Project: Ten Years Of Community Forestry Volunteer Development, Robert M. Ricard

Journal of Extension

Connecticut is highly urbanized, with dense tree cover, and this produces tree-versus-people conflicts that include public safety issues. Yet communities lack sufficient resources to develop community forestry programs. This article reports on the development, implementation, and outcomes of the Meskwaka Tree Project, an outreach education program for community forestry volunteers developed based on Roger's Diffusion of Innovations communications model. In 1992, the Meskwaka Tree Project began to equip community volunteers with the knowledge, skills, and contacts needed to create or improve community forestry programs and address public tree issues. Data shows that Meskwaka-trained volunteers helped conserve public trees and improved …

Organic Poultry Production And Forage Digestibility, Nancy P. Buchanan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current experiments were conducted to evaluate organic poultry production and the digestibility of organic feeds and pasture forages. A performance study was conducted to determine the effect of exogenous non-starch polysaccharide (NSP) enzyme supplementation on the performance and carcass characteristics of organically-reared broiler chickens. The addition of an exogenous NSP enzyme cocktail improved the performance and carcass characteristics of organically-reared broilers given access to pasture only in spring months. Pasture forages may contribute digestible nutrients to poultry; however, this contribution has not been evaluated in past research. A digestibility study was conducted to determine the nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy …

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 …

Combinatory Effects Of The Bioflavonoid Apigenin With Chemotherapeutic Drugs On Prostate, Colon, And Lung Cancer Cell Lines, Lesly Anne J. Lopez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Lung, prostate, and colon cancer are among the most commonly diagnosed cancers in Americans. Current chemotherapeutic regimens generally have toxic side effects leading to the death of normal cells. Polyphenols are naturally occurring compounds that can be found in fruits, vegetables and herbs. Apigenin is a polyphenolic compound that has been shown to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, apigenin was shown to inhibit the proliferation of several cancer cell lines. The combination of 15 uM apigenin and the chemotherapeutic drugs including doxorubicin, etoposide, mitomycin C, and 5-fluorouracil significantly decreased (P<0.05) the IC50 to inhibit the proliferation of prostate cancer cell lines PC-3 and DU-145 more than the chemotherapeutic drugs alone. Similarly, the addition of apigenin greatly enhanced the sensitivity of colon cancer cell lines HCT-116 and colo-205 and lung cancer lines A549 and H460 to doxorubicin, mitomycin C, 5-fluorouracil, and cisplatin. We analyzed sensitivity via cell death and cell proliferation assays.

Culvert Inventory And Effects On Fish Assemblages In A Central Appalachian Watershed, Ira O. Poplar-Jeffers

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

We surveyed 120 state-owned culverts within the upper Cheat River basin, West Virginia, and used a fish passage evaluation filter to quantify passage barriers. We quantified the length of stream and weighted potential brook trout recruitment area isolated by each culvert. We also sampled fish communities upstream and downstream of 24 culverts to quantify the impacts of culvert-related isolation on fish assemblages. We found 69% of culverts to be completely impassable. We determined that 17% of the stream length and 23% of weighted potential recruitment area in the study area were isolated by impassable culverts. We found that impassable culverts …

Isolation And Preparation Of Naturally Occurring Aluminum Ligands Using Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography For Analysis By Electrospray Ionization-Mass Spectrometry, Carson Baldwin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Typically, Al3+ is bound to minerals, but its toxicity towards vascular plants increases with increasing soil acidity. Ectomycorrhizal fungi often confer Al3+ resistance to host plants by unknown mechanisms. The objective of this research was to develop a method for the successful separation of Al3+ binding fungal exudates produced by the fungus Pisolithus tinctorius. A novel Al3+ immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) technique was developed to extract exudates involved in Al3+ binding. Recovery of exudates from the IMAC column was dependent on elutor type and pH, with ammonium hydroxide being most effective. Exudates exhibited strong binding with Al3+, allowing their …

Size, Age Composition, And Upstream Migration Of American Eels At The Millville Dam Eel Ladder, Shenandoah River, West Virginia, Heather Hildebrand

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Abundances of American eel (Anguilla rostrata) are declining along the east coast of the United States and Canada, possibly due to habitat loss and barriers to migration. In Atlantic coast watersheds, dams detain upstream migration of juveniles, and little is known about age class composition, age-length relationships, or environmental cues to upstream migration of yellow-phase eels. An eel ladder was installed on the Millville hydroelectric dam, lower Shenandoah River, WV, to facilitate and monitor the upstream movement of yellow phase eels. Daily length measurements (TL cm) and weights (g) were taken on eels using the ladder during three sampling periods; …

Properties And Acid Risk Assessment Of Soils In Two Parts Of The Cherry River Watershed, West Virginia, Cara L. Sponaugle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Cherry River watershed project area is underlain by acid-forming geology. The objectives of this study were to determine the physical and chemical properties of the soils, classify the soils, and to assess the acid risk to the forests. Sixty-seven soil pedons were sampled by horizon across six landscape positions and the soil samples were analyzed. The soils of the watershed were all acid. The east area soils were more acid than the west area soils. The shoulder soils showed the highest risk and the floodplain soils showed the lowest risk of forest productivity decline. While both areas showed high …

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, …

Exploring Career Satisfaction, Burnout, And Compassion Fatigue As Indicators Of The Quality Of Career Engagement Of Public School Educators, Beth Colleen Robinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study explored the experiences of career satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue in public school educators working with students in Primary/Kindergarten through grade 12 in schools in Nova Scotia and West Virginia. The research participants included 184 teachers, counselors, and administrators employed by the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board in Nova Scotia and Monongalia County Board of Education in West Virginia. Participants completed a questionnaire assessing the constructs of compassion satisfaction, burnout, and compassion fatigue that have been conceptualized in this study as indicators of healthy career engagement, career disengagement, and career overengagement, respectively. Participants also responded to a demographic …

Cellular Mechanisms Of Luteal Regression In The Bovine Corpus Luteum (Cl), Aritro Sen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The corpus luteum (CL) is a transient endocrine gland that produces progesterone (P4) for the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy. In absence of pregnancy, timely regression of the CL is essential for normal ovarian cyclicity. Several factors are known to participate in luteal regression. In this study, two factors, PGF2 alpha and endothelin (ET-1) are being studied. Protein kinase C (PKC) and calcium are the two main intracellular mediators of PGF2 alpha. The role of ET-1 in the regulation of luteal regression is unclear. The early CL is insensitive to the luteolytic actions of PGF2 alpha and the cellular mechanism(s) …

Functional Evaluation Of Cytochrome P450 2d6 Allelic Isoforms, Weiyan Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Human CYP2D6 is one of the most important human P450s based on the number of its drug substrates. It shows an extensive genetic polymorphism that influences its expression and function. There are more than 80 different CYP2D6 alleles and allelic variants that have been identified in human. However, only a part of alleles have been characterized with respect to enzyme activity and substrate specificity. In the first project, three alleles CYP2D6*24 (1297L), CYP2D6*27 (E410K) and CYP2D6*26 (I369T) were constructed and expressed. The enzymatic activities were evaluated by the metabolic rates for dextromethorphan O-demethylation and N-demethylation; codeine O-demethylation and N-demethylation. For …

Synthesis Of Novel Alkaloids Using Squaric Acid Esters, Peter S. Zehr

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A novel route to cyclopenta[b]quinoline-1-ones and -ols has been developed. Substituted cyclopenta[b]quinolin-1-ones were prepared by thermal ring-expansion of substituted N-BOC protected 4-(2-aminophenylethynyl)-4-hydroxy-2-cyclobuten-1-ones forming the corresponding 2-aminophenylmethylidene substituted 4-cyclopentene-1,3-diones. Deprotection of the amine resulted in spontaneous condensation to give cyclopenta[b]quinolin-1-ones. Sodium borohydride reduction of these products produced cyclopenta[b]quinolin-1-ols. The key step in the sequence is a thermally induced ring-expansion of 4-(2-aminophenylethynyl)-4-hydroxy-2-cyclobuten-1-ones. Changing the amino protecting group had no effect on the ring size selectivity of the thermal ring expansion. The thermal ring expansion of the corresponding nitro derivative suggests that electron withdrawing substituents may alter the selectivity of the ring formation. …