Digital Commons Network^™

Stability Of The Miniscrew-Bone Interface: Reverse Torque Values In Rabbits, Daniel John Drye

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Introduction: Miniscrews are used in orthodontics as practical temporary anchorage devices (TAD's). The purpose of this animal study was to measure reverse torque values for Absoanchor 1.2 mm and Micerium 1.5mm miniscrews at 0, 2, and 12 weeks under loaded and unloaded conditions.

Methods: Ninety-six miniscrews were placed in the femora of twelve rabbits and allowed to heal for either two or twelve weeks. Half of the fixtures were loaded immediately with NiTi open coil springs producing a force of 150-200g and the other half served as unloaded controls. For each of the healing times, two and twelve weeks, …

Regional Economic Issues: Determinants Of Recession Duration And Determinants Of New Firm Formation, Angela M. Kuhlmann

Student Work

Why are some regional economies able to outperform those of other regions? Using state-level data in two separate analyses, this thesis shows that industrial diversity is one potential answer. Industrial diversity is calculated using the Herfindahl index. In the first model, duration analysis on state recessions occurring between 1979 and 1996 indicates that an increase in industrial diversity is associated with shorter recessions. Other determinants of recession duration include unemployment, change in real income per capita, proportion of non-white workers, total population, and change in population growth. In the second model, regression analyses on 2001 firm formation rates show that …

The Urban Transportation Decision-Making Process: A Qualitative Examination Of Omaha-Council Bluffs Metropolitan Area, Aleksandra Georgieva Tepedelenova

Student Work

This thesis focuses on the transportation decision-making process in urban areas with a Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). It recognizes the importance of transportation planning for decision-making, in that planning supports decision-making. This research is a qualitative case study, which examines transportation decision-making in the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. The Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) is the MPO of the urban area. Responsible parts for transportation planning are the MAPA Transportation Technical Advisory Committee (TTAC) and the MAPA Council of Officials. The researcher conducts a series of interviews with members of the two groups in order to address the research questions. …

Clarett V. National Football League: Defining The Non-Statutory Labor Exception To Antitrust Law As It Pertains To Restraints Primarily Focused In Labor Markets And Restraints Primarily Focused In Business Markets, Ronald Terk Sia

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “Contemporary sports have seen an influx of young talent opting for a chance at playing in the big leagues earlier at the expense of obtaining higher education. Many dream of playing professional sports—dreams often prohibited by player eligibility rules. In situations where the restraints are not argued to have been protected by non-statutory labor exception, antitrust law has been seen to set its talons into eligibility rules. […]

Federal antitrust law and national labor law set forth two conflicting policies that have created a periodic drama for sports fans concerned that their favorite sports will suffer a cataclysmic court …

Regional Headquarters Schemes By China’S Ministry Of Commerce And The Shanghai Municipal Government: Differences, Limitations, And Possible Combinations, Benjamin Kroymann

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "As large multinational companies (“MNCs”) are continuously extending their Chinese market presence, many are considering moving their Asian-Pacific Headquarters to China. In an attempt to attract MNCs’ Regional Headquarters to Mainland China, the Chinese central government is not only faced with competition from regional hubs, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, but also from internal rivals, such as the Shanghai and Beijing municipal governments.

This article analyzes recently passed regulations on the establishment of Regional Headquarters by MNCs in China at the national and the municipal level. The focus will be on Shanghai’s set of regulations, issued in 2002 …

The Difference Between Filing Lawsuits And Selling Widgets: The Lost Understanding That Some Attorneys’ Exercise Of State Power Is Subject To Appropriate Regulation, Paul Taylor

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] "It is often argued that all attorneys practicing in the United States – regardless of the function they perform in the American justice system – are purely private actors working in a free market system. This article examines whether it is true that all attorneys in every instance should be equated, as a matter of public policy, with other private actors.

This article explores why not all attorneys function in a free market, and consequently their remuneration should not always remain unregulated. Attorneys who file lawsuits can, by simply filing a complaint at their unfettered discretion, immediately subject defendants …

Teacher Quality And Teacher Preparedness In Public Secondary Schools: Evidence From Sass 1999-2000, Xuejin Lu

Dissertations

In this study, I inquired into the quality of public secondary school teachers by examining what percentages of teachers were highly qualified in the fields of their main teaching assignment and in each specific field they taught. The focus was placed on the core academic fields (English, social studies, math, and science) and the subfields of science (chemistry, physics, earth science, and physical science). I also investigated whether there were possible variations in the distribution o f highly qualified teachers by school locations and by the percentages o f minority student enrollment in schools. Furthermore, I examined the relationship between …

Lifting Our Veil Of Ignorance: Culture, Constitutionalism, And Women's Human Rights In Post-September 11 America, Catherine Powell

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

While we live in an Age of Rights, culture continues to be a major challenge to the human rights project. During the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in the 1940s and during the Cold War era, the periodic disputes that erupted over civil and political rights in contrast to economic, social and cultural rights could be read either explicitly or implicitly as a cultural debate.

Gender has figured prominently in this perceived culture clash, for example, with the Bush administration's use of Afghan women as cultural icons in need of liberation--a claim that helped justify the …

The Fairness Doctrine Redux: Media Bias And The Rights Of Broadcasters, Erik Ugland

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Asthma Management Programs In Managed Care Organizations, Christine W. Hartmann Mss, Phd, Vittorio Maio Pharmd, Ms, Neil I. Goldfarb, Nicole M. Cobb Maom, David B. Nash

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

The aim of this work was to investigate how managed care organizations (MCOs) currently approach asthma treatment and management and to determine factors affecting asthma outcomes. A Web-based survey was administered to a national sample of 351 medical directors of MCOs to investigate the asthma management program components in their organizations as well as gaps and barriers in the management of patients with asthma. All 134 (38.2%) responding medical directors reported that their organizations monitor asthma patients. Plans use a variety of asthma management activities, including general member education (90%), member education by mail (87%), self-management education (85%), and provider …

Highlights In Jazz Concert 267- Salute To Kenny Davern, Jack Kleinsinger, Danny Gottlieb

Jack Kleinsinger Presents Highlights in Jazz

Jack Kleinsinger presents Highlights in Jazz. The concert was held at The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Thursday, December 1st, 2005 at 8:00 pm. Jack served as producer and master of ceremonies for the series of concerts. Artists for the concert include Kenny Davern, Wycliffe Gordon, Houston Person, Harry Allen, Norman Simmons, Jon-Erik Kellso, James Chirillo, Greg Cohen, Tony DeNicola, and surprise guest Nikki Perrott.

Study The Effect Of Aqueous Extract Of Yas Rue On The Types Of Bacteria Isolated From Wounds And Burns, Sinaa Waleed Al-Jbori, Ahmeed Yousif Al-Athath, Estabraq Abdul Al-Hadi, Eftkhar Abdul Al-Wahab

Baghdad Science Journal

The current study was conducted to determine the sensitivity of some pathogenic bacterial isolates isolated from wounds and burns water toward the disposer of the Yas Rue tested five crude bacterial isolates isolated from wounds and burns which these isolates sensitive to aqueous extract crude

Factors Of Success At Two Tribal Colleges As Perceived By Tribal College Board Members And Presidents, Erich Steven Longie

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the history of this country, the majority of Native Americans resisted all attempts by the federal government to educate them. Then in the late sixties and early seventies tribal colleges came on the scene. In spite of being faced with seemingly insurmountable odds and located on isolated Indian reservations, tribal colleges became well established in a few short years. They went from being located in dilapidated buildings and relying on affiliations with state institutions to offering their own individual coursework and being located in modem facilities, fully accredited by their respective accreditation agencies. Tribal colleges succeeded where most federal …

The Usa Patriot Act And Civil Liberties: The Media's Response, M. Ann Bergstrom

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the wake of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, the United States government hurriedly passed the USA PATRIOT Act. This legislation gives the Executive Branch sweeping new powers that could undermine the Bill of Rights and violate civil liberties in the name of national security. The media itself is protected by the First Amendment right to a free press and relies on other civil rights as well. This study is an attempt to gauge the print media's response to the Act by examining newspaper editorials about the PATRIOT Act since 2001 and determining their …

A Web-Based Environment For Automated Dental Identification Research, Satyasrinivas Chekuri

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS), division of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), include in its strategic plan the creation of an Automated Dental Identification System (ADIS), a Post Mortem Dental Identification System.;This project aims at designing an end-to-end web-interface to meet the requirements of ADIS like Identification, Maintenance and Bridge Modules. In Identification Mode the subject record will be uploaded by the user and the match list is obtained as result. Maintenance Mode enables uploading of reference records and to populate the database with preprocessing data. Bridge Module enables researchers from other universities to use the database designed …

Consulting Foresters Of West Virginia: A Profile, Services And Fees, Dheeraj Nelli

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Consulting foresters of West Virginia were surveyed with an aim to identify and document the firm characteristics, services offered and fees charged. The survey response rate was 56 percent. A suite of thirty-six (36) different services with different fee structures for each service is reported. West Virginia consulting foresters reported that they most commonly charge by the hour, with an exception for timber sale administration where they charge as a percentage of the sale revenues and for management plan preparation where they charge by the acre. Timber sale administration is the most frequent offered service, with an average fee of …

The Design, Construction And "Optimization" Of A Binder Pitch Refining Unit, Kevin D. Whiteman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Pitches have been important to mankind for hundreds of years. One of the most important pitches used in industry today is binder pitch. Binder pitch is used to make anodes for the aluminum industry. The supply of high quality binder pitch has been steadily decreasing. A process has been developed to produce binder pitch from coal at West Virginia University, but this pitch in this process requires refining.;The focus of this thesis was to design, and construct a bench top wiped film evaporator system to refine that pitch. From the data collected in this thesis, the process was scaled up …

The Impact Of Points Of Impasse On Conflict Escalation During The Special Education Conflict Resolution Process, Deedra Jane Lundeen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Current literature reveals the disparity between the knowledge that strong parent-school partnerships are integral to planning and implementing educational programming for exceptional children, and the ability of parents and school personnel to identify and deescalate conflict when it occurs. Several studies acknowledged variables that helped build and maintain strong parent-school collaboration, and identified factors that escalated or de-escalated parent conflict. However, the research is sparse regarding factors that impact points of impasse on conflict escalation between parents and school districts during the special education conflict resolution process. Such information could provide stakeholders with deeper insight into the dynamic aspects of …

Understanding Mindfulness: Implications For Instruction And Learning, Todd Lyle Stoops

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This Dissertation examines the literature concerning Mindfulness as it relates to Educational Psychology and overviews a research study conducted to add empirical research on Mindfulness instruction and learning. The literature review is divided into three categories of Mindfulness which are defined and discussed according to applications and implications for education. These three categories are (a) Mindfulness as a meditative practice for teachers and in its use in teacher education programs, (b) clinical and therapeutic applications of Mindfulness in contemporary psychology, and (c) Mindfulness in Educational Psychology. Established constructs from the literature of psychology and education are related to the concepts …

Thermal Stresses In The Superstructure Of Integral Abutment Bridges, Kevyn C. Mcbride

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Integral abutment bridges (IAB) have become a popular alternative to expansion joint bridges mainly due to their lower maintenance and repair costs. Although no specific guidelines exist for integral abutment bridge design, standards primarily used assume the volumetric changes of IAB under thermal loading occur free of constraint. This study examines the validity of this assumption and determines the effect of changing temperature on the state of stress in the superstructure of an IAB. The effect of changing thermal conditions on the Evansville Bridge in Preston County, West Virginia is investigated using an extensive bridge instrumentation system along with a …

Unconstrained Face Recognition For Law Enforcement Applications, Richa Singh

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research work simulates the human visual cortex by using 2D log polar Gabor wavelet to extract the facial features. Scale and orientation independent convolution of face image with Gabor wavelet gives the features in the form of amplitude and phase. The proposed face recognition algorithm is invariant to frequency, scale, filter orientation, illumination, and contrast. We evaluated the recognition algorithm on four face databases namely FERET, CMU AMP, CMU PIE and Notre Dame Face databases. Experimental results show that using single image for training, phase feature based face recognition performs approximately 5% better than amplitude feature based face recognition.;Another …

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 …

Modeling And Control Of A Small Glass Furnace, Andrea R. Holladay

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Most control systems currently used for glass furnaces monitor temperature with a thermocouple placed in the crown of the furnace and adjust the flow rate of the fuel to maintain a set point. The temperature measured is much closer to that of the combustion gasses within the furnace rather than the temperature of the glass. Models that predict the temperature of the glass are available in the form of complicated Computational Fluid Dynamics packages that are cost prohibitive to companies with small profit margins.;In this work, a simplified mathematical model has been developed to represent the dynamic performance of a …

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 …

Software Tools For Real-Time Simulation And Control, Raghu Sankarayogi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this thesis is to design and simulate a multi-agent based energy management system for a shipboard power system in hard real-time environment. The automatic reconfiguration of shipboard power systems is essential to improve survivability. Multi-agent technology is used in designing the reconfigurable energy management system using a self-stabilizing maximum flow algorithm. The agent based energy management system is designed in a Matlab/Simulink environment. Reconfiguration is performed for several situations including start-up, loss of an agent, limited available power, and distribution to priority ranked loads. The number of steps taken to reach the global solution and the time …

Ensemble Learning For Ranking Interesting Attributes, Erik W. Sinsel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Machine learning knowledge representations, such as decision trees; are often incomprehensible to humans. They can also contain errors specific to the representation type and the data used to generate them. By combining larger; less comprehensible decision trees, it is possible to increase their accuracy as an ensemble compared to the best individual tree. The thesis examines an ensemble learning technique and presents a unique knowledge elicitation technique which produces an ordered ranking of attributes by their importance in leading to more desirable classifications. The technique compares full branches of decision trees, finding the set difference of shared attributes. The combination …

Investigation Of Internal Fluid Pressure In Cells, Jayendran Srinivasan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Articular cartilage is a connective tissue that covers the ends of bones in joints, providing a nearly frictionless bearing surface for efficiently transmitting loads to the underlying joint. It is made up of specialized cells called chondrocytes that are responsible for its growth and maintenance. Studies indicate that cells remodel the tissue in response to mechanical loading. However the mechanism by which cells sense and respond to mechanical signals is poorly understood.;Studies also suggest the presence of internal fluid pressure in cells and change in this fluid pressure is believed to play a role in cellular mechanical signal transduction. This …

Evaluation Of The Transverse Load Capacity Of Block Stoppings For Mine Ventilation Control, Thomas M. Barczak

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The transverse loading requirement for stoppings as specified in the current Code of Federal Regulations is 39 psf. This measure is based on physical testing of a freestanding wall in accordance with ASTM E 72 specifications, where the dominant parameter is the tensile strength of the sealant. A new protocol based on arching has been developed to determine the true transverse load capacity of stoppings. Arching is achieved by the restraint of the stopping against the mine roof and floor, whereby compressive forces are developed within the wall. A laboratory procedure using the NIOSH Mine Roof Simulator (MRS) to simulate …

Strategies Nurse Educators Use To Integrate Computer -Assisted Instruction Into Their Courses To Teach Clinical Decision-Making, Beverly J. Schaefer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The strategies nurse educators' use to integrate computer-assisted instruction (CAI) designed to teach clinical decision-making into their courses were investigated to determine their frequency of use and effectiveness. The "Integration of CAI Questionnaire," an on-line electronic survey designed by the investigator, was used to collect data. A stratified randomly-selected group of 109 schools of nursing that was a statistically representative mix of baccalaureate (BSN), associate (AD) and diploma schools from each of six geographic regions of the United States comprised the sample.;The study questions were as follows: (1) What integration strategies have nurse educators used to integrate CAI? (2) How …

Learner Satisfaction And Learning Performance In Online Courses On Bioterrorism And Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Tatiana I. Solovieva

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the relationships between measures of (a) learner satisfaction with online courses on weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and bioterrorism intended to address the educational needs of responder Communities of Practice (CoP) and (b) degrees of accomplishment by the learner with those online courses. Provided that course design characteristics were similar between courses and that content was different, it was important to examine learner satisfaction with course common aspects in relation to learning outcomes and identify the predictors of effectiveness and relations between the learner satisfaction with the course characteristics and the learner achievement for potential design improvements …