Digital Commons Network^™

Shared Experience Building Around The Family Crucible Of Cancer, W. David Robinson, Jason S. Carroll, Wendy L. Watson

Faculty Publications

This study was designed to gain a greater understanding of the effects cancer has on families while simultaneously developing family therapy interventions that are helpful for families experiencing the crucible of cancer. On the basis of an action research paradigm, the authors designed an intensive case-analysis protocol involving reflective interviewing to learn about the personal perspectives of family members who participate in therapeutic treatment for cancer. An integration of reflective insight by the families, their therapist, and the research team ultimately revealed that cancer families face an ongoing struggle (a) between feelings of isolation and connectedness, (b) to make meaning …

Leadership, Collective Personality, And Performance, David A. Hofmann, Lisa Jones Christensen

Faculty Publications

By viewing behavior regularities at the individual and collective level as functionally isomorphic, a referent-shift compositional model for the Big 5 personality dimensions is developed. On the basis of this compositional model, a common measure of Big 5 personality at the individual level is applied to the collective as a whole. Within this framework, it is also hypothesized that leadership (i.e., transformational, transactional, and passive) would predict collective personality and that collective personality would be significantly related to collective performance. The results supported these hypotheses using a sample of franchised units. On the basis of recent research at the individual …

Diversification And Focus: A Bayesian Application Of The Resource-Based View, Lee T. Perry, Mark H. Hansen, C. Shane Reese, Greggory Pesci

Faculty Publications

We propose a new application of the resource-based view (RBV) that is more consistent with Penrose's (1959) original framework. We use that framework to study the relationship between diversification and refocusing strategies and economic performance. We propose that the RBV may be enhanced by the explicit recognition of Penrose's two classes of resources, administrative and productive resources. This distinction suggests a focus on the administrative decisions of managers, including the multiple decisions associated with diversification and refocusing strategies, which lead to economic performance. Second, we argue that RBV theory is a theory about extraordinary performers or outliers, not averages. Therefore, …

Passive Decisions And Potent Defaults, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, Andrew Metrick

Faculty Publications

Default options have an enormous impact on household choices. Such effects have now been extensively documented in the literature on 401(k) plans (Madrian and Shea 2001; Choi et al. 2002b, 2004). Defaults have been shown to affect participation, savings rates, rollovers, and asset allocation. For example, Choi et al. (2004) study three firms that use automatic enrollment. When employees at these firms are automatically enrolled in their 401(k) plan, only a tiny fraction opt out, producing participation rates exceeding 85 percent regardless of tenure. But when employees at these firms were not automatically enrolled, participation rates were significantly lower, ranging …

Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

We describe a regulatory framework that helps consumers who have difficulty sticking to their own long-run plans. Early Decision regulations help long-run preferences prevail by allowing consumers to partially commit to their long-run goals, making it harder for a momentary impulse to reverse past decisions. In the cigarette market, examples of Early Decision regulations include restricting the locations or times at which cigarettes are sold, delaying the receipt of cigarettes following purchase, and allowing a consumer to choose in advance the legal restrictions on her own cigarette purchases. A formal model of Early Decision regulations demonstrates that Early Decisions are …

Word-Formation As Creativity Within Productivity Constraints: Sociolinguistic Evidence, Don William Chapman, Pavol Stekauer, Slávka Tomaščíková, Štefan Franko

Faculty Publications

Productivity has been one of the central topics in the field of word-formation in recent decades. Heretofore, productivity has been mainly, if not solely, discussed in formal terms, such as which affixes can be used with which stems, the productivity of rival affixes, etc. Such a formal approach leaves out the speakers’ needs for creating new words. Accounting for speakers’ word-formation needs requires a re-evaluation of the notion of creativity. In our approach to word-formation, this notion emphasizes the active role of language users, reflecting the fact that, in each act of naming, there is more or less significant space …

Simulated Land-Based Turbine Deposits Generated In An Accelerated Deposition Facility, Jared W. Jensen, Sean W. Squire, Jeffrey P. Bons, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

This report presents a validation of the design and operation of an accelerated testing facility for the study of foreign deposit layers typical to the operation of land-based gas turbines. This facility was designed to produce turbine deposits in a 4-h test that would simulate 10,000 h of turbine operation. This is accomplished by matching the net foreign particulate throughput of an actual gas turbine. Flow Mach number, temperature and particulate impingement angle are also matched. Validation tests were conducted to model the ingestion of foreign particulate typically found in the urban environment. The majority of this particulate is ceramic …

Observations Of Flame Behavior In A Laboratory-Scale Premixed Natural Gas/Air Gas Turbine Combustor From Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence Measurements Of Oh, Laser Doppler Anemometer Velocity Measurements, And Coherent Anti-Stokes Roman Spectrometer Temperature Measurements, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Instantaneous planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF) images of OH, simultaneous axial/radial and axial/tangential velocity measurements with an LDA (laser Doppler anemometer), and instantaneous gas temperature measurements using a coherent anti- Stokes Raman spectrometer (CARS) were obtained in a pre-mixed, swirl-stabilized laboratory-scale combustor, fired with natural gas. Four operating conditions were examined (two swirl conditions and equivalence ratios of 0.80 and 0.65). The instantaneous PLIF images of OH illustrate the chaotic nature of the turbulent flame eddies. Mean and standard deviations of each variable were measured at different locations in the flame, along with probability density functions. Stability of the flame …

Speech Interactions With Linguistic, Cognitive, And Visuomotor Tasks, Christopher Dromey, Emily Bates

Faculty Publications

Lip movements were examined across several repetitive speaking conditions (speech alone and speaking concurrently with a linguistic, cognitive, or visuomotor challenge task) in 20 young adults. Performance in these nonspeech activities was also compared between isolated tasks and concurrent speech conditions. Linguistic challenges resulted in increased spatiotemporal variability of lip displacement across repetitions. Motor challenges led to more rapid speech with smaller lip displacement. These qualitatively different changes suggest that different aspects of attention are required for linguistic versus manual visuomotor activity. Vocal intensity increased for all concurrent task conditions compared with speech alone, suggesting increased effort compared to the …

“Indian Participation In The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade.”, Jay H. Buckley

Faculty Publications

The Eastern Shoshones represent one of the most influential Indian groups in the histories of Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Before European contact their ancestral lands covered most of western Wyoming. After acquiring horses in the early eighteenth century, the eastern bands adopted the nomadic lifestyle and culture of the buffalo hunting Plains’ tribes. Leaving their lands between the Great Basin and Wind River Mountains, Shoshones ventured eastward via South Pass onto the plains to hunt bison. Th is expansion eastward brought contact with European traders offering horses, guns, and other manufactured goods that altered Shoshone life-ways and …

Gvsu Undergraduate And Graduate Catalog, 2005-2006, Grand Valley State University

Course Catalogs, 1963 - Current

Grand Valley State University 2005-2006 undergraduate and/or graduate course catalog published annually to provide students with information and guidance for enrollment.

The Interaction Of The Bilingual’S Two Phonetic Systems: Differences In Early And Late Korean-English Bilinguals, Wendy Baker

Faculty Publications

One of the basic questions of bilingual research is to what extent the bilingual’s two phonetic systems influence each other, a question that has occupied a prominent place in bilingual research almost from the outset of the field (see, for example, Weinreich, 1953). Recent studies in bilingual first language acquisition (BFLA) demonstrate that, at least in simultaneous bilingual acquisition, infants exposed to two languages are developing what appear to be two phonetic/phonological systems from the beginning (Johnson and Wilson, 2002; Kehoe, 2002; Bosch and Sebastian-Galles, 2001, Vihman, 2002), although their two systems may differ from monolinguals of either language (Mack, …

Petrographic Analysis Of Sherd Samples From The Hot Spring Lake And Airport Sites, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sergio F. Castro-Reino, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

Prehistoric sherds from two sites near the Salt Lake City airport were analyzed petrographically and compared to a small reference set of sands from the Salt Lake Valley. No Fremont wares are tempered with sand from the Salt Lake area. Some Late Prehistoric wares are tempered with coarse, angular, alluvial sand temper of mineralic composition from metagranite sources 10-12 kilometers away. Volcanic-tempered Late Prehistoric sherds may originate in the Traverse Mountains--provenance cannot be established without further sampling, but the closest sources are at least 30 kilometers away. In all cases sources appear to be non-local to the studied sites.

Distance Learning And University Effectiveness: Changing Educational Paradigms For Online Learning, Scott L. Howell

Faculty Publications

Howell reviews Distance Learning and University Effectiveness: Changing Educational Paradigms for Online Learning by Caroline Howard, Karen D. Schenk, and Richard Discenza.

Halonitromethane Treatment Using Advanced Oxidation Process: Rates, Mechanisms And Kinetic Modeling, Stuart Kirkham Cole

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Halonitromethanes (HNMs) are low molecular weight halogenated disinfection-by-products (DBPs) found to be formed during ozonation, chlorination, or chloramination of waters containing natural bromide ion and nitrogenous organic matter. This work identifies the absolute rate constants for the oxidative hydroxyl radical (•OH) and reductive hydrated electron e^- _aq extinction of HNM compounds. Three forms of HNMs included in this study are the chlorinated, brominated, and mixed halogenated compounds. Electron pulse radiolysis and transient absorption spectroscopy were used to measure •OH and e^- _aq radical absolute reaction rate constants for a total of nine HNMs. To elucidate the decomposition reaction …

Tumor Response Tcf-4/Β-Catenin Regulatory Elements For Enhancing Cancer Gene Therapies, Saurabh Kumar Gupta

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli gene are frequently associated with progression of colon carcinoma and most other types of epithelial carcinomas. This usually results in stabilization of β-catenin protein levels, followed by transactivation of Tcf-4/β-catenin responsive genes. The effectiveness of a Tcf-4/β-catenin transcriptional enhancer element in combination with a c-fos or carcinoembryonic antigen promoter was tested for its ability to act as a tumor specific regulator of gene expression in a panel of human tumor and normal cell lines. Luciferase reporter assays indicated enhanced activity of the Tcf-4/β-catenin transcriptional element only in tumor cell lines, with minimal activities in …

The Interactive Question Protocol: Examining The Relationship Between Feedback, Cognitive Development And Student Achievement, G. Simon Richmond

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Feedback is an essential component of effective learning. The advent of the internet as a delivery mode for distance education has expanded the access many people have to higher learning. Despite many advantages that online courses provide for distance learning students, they often lack real time feedback. A software intervention called the Interactive Question Protocol was designed for this study to provide automated, real time feedback. That treatment was then contrasted against changes in student achievement, satisfaction and participation. Learners can be categorized by Perry's scheme of mental maturity according to how they understand and interpret the knowledge they acquire. …

Multi-Modal Enhancement Techniques For Visibility Improvement Of Digital Images, Li Tao

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Image enhancement techniques for visibility improvement of 8-bit color digital images based on spatial domain, wavelet transform domain, and multiple image fusion approaches are investigated in this dissertation research.

In the category of spatial domain approach, two enhancement algorithms are developed to deal with problems associated with images captured from scenes with high dynamic ranges. The first technique is based on an illuminance-reflectance (I-R) model of the scene irradiance. The dynamic range compression of the input image is achieved by a nonlinear transformation of the estimated illuminance based on a windowed inverse sigmoid transfer function. A single-scale neighborhood dependent contrast …

Effect Of Instructional Styles And The Duration Of Class Time On The Sense Of Classroom Community Of Military Urban Graduate Students, William J. Davis Jr.

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This study measured the effect that instructional style, duration of class time, and repeated administrations of the Classroom Community Scale (CCS) had on the sense of classroom community of military urban graduate students (N = 263). The Instructional Styles Inventory (ISI) was used to determine instructional style, and the CCS was utilized to measure sense of classroom community. In addition, this research contained qualitative data that were extracted from a random sampling of participants during small focus groups.

Quantitative analysis of the data showed that duration of class time and instructional style had an effect on sense of classroom …

An Exploratory Analysis Of Post Strategic Plan Implementation Fidelity In Two Urban-Based, Nonprofit Health Education/Advocacy Organizations, Theodore N. Burke

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This research is a multi case study examining the degree of fidelity (adherence) accorded to strategic plans following implementation in two, urban-based, nonprofit, tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) health education/advocacy organizations. The study was focused on the impetus and goals for strategic planning, the similarities and differences in the implementation processes, adherence (fidelity) to the plan once implemented, and finally what factors prompted the fidelity or lack of fidelity to the plan once implemented. Fourteen respondent participants from the two organizations were interviewed using a semi-structured interview format. Findings of this study indicated that post-strategic plan fidelity following implementation did exist. …

Multi-National Project Team Communications And Cultural Influences, Morgan E. Henrie

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This exploratory case study dissertation examined multinational project teams' communication satisfaction as influenced by the project team's cultural attribute of power distance. Utilizing a exploratory case study, semi-guided interview research approach, ordinal scale data and open-ended contextual based question responses was obtained. This data was gathered from United States---Russia and Canada---Angola multi-national, complex, high technology oil transportation project teams. Triangulation data gathering techniques were utilized to obtain empirical data from multiple sources of data and multiple data types. Subsequent data analyses combined descriptive statistical analysis, graphical analysis, cluster analysis, and content analysis techniques to derive a theoretical construct of multi-national …

P-Version Time-Discontinuous Galerkin's Method For Nonlinear Transient Heat Transfer Analysis And Sensitivity Analysis, Ta-Cheng Chien

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The finite element method is a powerful tool for approximating the solution of most engineering problems. Traditionally, the finite element method uses linear approximation of field variables over each element, where numerical results converge to the exact solution by increasing the number of elements. A newer finite element method called the p-version finite element method uses higher-order elements which assume a polynomial of order p for the approximation on each element. Here, the approximation will achieve accuracy without increasing the number of elements but by increasing the value of order p.

The focus of this research is on …

Regulation Of Sparc Gene Expression By The Activator Protein 1 Transcription Factor, Joseph William Briggs

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Overexpression of the c-Jun proto-oncogene in MCF7 breast cancer cells results in a variety of phenotypic changes related to malignant progression including a shift to estrogen independent growth, increased cell motility and invasion. Concurrent with these phenotypic changes are alterations to cellular gene expression patterns. One gene that becomes highly upregulated is SPARC (secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine). Increased SPARC expression is associated with malignant progression in a variety of different cancers, although little is known regarding the mechanisms of SPARC gene regulation. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: (1) to determine the mechanisms by which c-Jun …

Inclusive And Exclusive Compton Processes In Quantum Chromodynamics, A. Psaker

Physics Theses & Dissertations

In our work, we describe two types of Compton processes. As an example of an inclusive process, we consider the high-energy photoproduction of massive muon pairs off the nucleon. We analyze the process in the framework of the QCD parton model, in which the usual parton distributions emerge as a tool to describe the nucleon in terms of quark and gluonic degrees of freedom. To study its exclusive version, a new class of phenomenological functions is required, namely, generalized parton distributions. They can be considered as a generalization of the usual parton distributions measured in deeply inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering. Generalized …

Sex-Related Acoustic Changes In Voiceless English Fricatives, Shawn L. Nissen, Robert Allen Fox

Faculty Publications

This investigation is a comprehensive acoustic study of 4 voiceless fricatives (/f q s Ý/)in English produced by adults and pre- and postpubescent children aged 6–14 years. Vowel duration, amplitude, and several different spectral measures (including spectral tilt and spectral moments) were examined. Of specific interest was the pattern of normal development of the acoustic properties of fricatives and the nature of sex-specific patterns of fricative articulation in prepubescent children. Little evidence of amplitude or duration differences was found between speakers that was related to sex of the speaker. However, significant sex-specific differences in fricative articulation were found in all …

Data Matching, Data Mining, And Due Process, Daniel J. Steinbock

Georgia Law Review

The Article concerns the governmental use of computerized data matching (comparison of records) and data mining (profiling),which increasingly are aimed at locating potential terrorists. The most striking aspect of virtually all anti-terrorist data matching and data mining decisions is the total absence of even the most rudimentary procedures for notice, hearing, or other opportunities for meaningful participation before, or even after, the deprivation is imposed. The Article evaluates under Fourth Amendment and due process standards a variety of law enforcement activities data matching or data mining might instigate. After reviewing these activities' potential effects on private, governmental, and accuracy interests, …

Video Games As A Protected Form Of Expression, Paul E. Salamanca

Georgia Law Review

Video games, like motion pictures, failed to qualify for First Amendment protection until well after they emerged as a medium. Today, a number of courts have held that such games constitute a form of expression and do not fall into any recognized category of unprotected speech. Nevertheless, a number of commentators have called for limited constitutional protection for video games, predicating their arguments on a variety of grounds, including the alleged deleterious effects of such games on children. This Article responds to these commentators and defends recent decisions extending protection to video games.

Deception Detection Through Automatic, Unobtrusive Analysis Of Nonverbal Behavior, Thomas O. Meservy, Matthew L. Jensen, John Kruse, Judee K. Burgoon, Jay F. Nunamaker Jr., Douglas P. Twitchell, Gabriel Tsechpenakis, Dimitris N. Metaxas

Faculty Publications

Every day, hundreds of thousands of people pass through airport security checkpoints, border crossing stations, or other security screening measures. Security professionals must sift through countless interactions and ferret out high-risk individuals who represent a danger to other citizens. During each interaction, the security professional must decide whether the individual is being forthright or deceptive. This task is difficult because of the limits of human vigilance and perception and the small percentage of individuals who actually harbor hostile intent. Our research initiative is based on a behavioral approach to deception detection. We attempted to build an automated system that can …

Child Custody, Religious Practices, And Conscience, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

This article asks to what extent considerations relating to religion should figure in custody disputes. One inquiry is whether the kind of religious life that a parent plans for his or her child should figure in the decision whether to grant custody to that parent. The article focuses on a religious life that involves very substantial deprivation no after-school activities, no television, no pets, no reading except schoolwork and the Bible-from an ordinary secular perspective. A second inquiry is whether one parent of a divorced couple should be able to prevent the other parent from exposing a child to various …

Disappearing Dilemmas: Judicial Construction Of Ethical Choice As Strategic Behavior In The Criminal Defense Context, Manuel Berrélez, Jamal Greene, Bryan Leach

Faculty Scholarship

Imagine the following scenario: A criminal defense attorney represents a man accused of kidnapping and murdering two children in a residential neighborhood. During the course of interviewing key witnesses, the defense attorney becomes convinced that her client was present at the scene of the murder. While her client denies having been present, his alibi changes entirely from one interview to the next. The two main witnesses that the client offers to Corroborate his most recent alibi recant, suggesting to the defense attorney that both they and the defendant were actually present at the scene of the crime. Third parties confirm …