Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Student Self -Described Learning Styles Within Two Models Of Teaching In An Introductory Data Mining Course, Matthew A. North

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines the roles of learning styles and teaching methodologies within a data mining educational program designed for non-Computer Science undergraduate college students. The experimental design is framed by a discussion of the history and development of data mining and education, as well as a vision for its future.;Data mining is a relatively new discipline which has grown out of the fields of database management and data warehousing, statistics, logic, and decision sciences. Over the course of its approximately 15 year history, data mining has emerged from its genesis within the academic and commercial research and development arenas to …

Multiple Message Broadcasting And Gossiping In The Dynamically Orientable Graphs, Gayane R. Goltukhchyan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research investigates the problems of gossiping and multiple message broadcasting in dynamically orientable graphs of different network topologies. These are new problems never attempted before. Dynamically orientable graphs and six different network topologies are considered: paths, cycles, stars, binary trees, complete trees and two-dimensional grids. Information dissemination in graphs that are dynamically orientable requires that number of messages sent in each direction along an edge be balanced and therefore necessitates a different approach in gossiping and multiple message broadcasting.;The obvious upper bound for gossiping and multiple message broadcasting in dynamically orientable graphs is twice the best known time for …

Model-Based Risk Assessment, Walid M. Abdelmoez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this research effort, we focus on model-based risk assessment. Risk assessment is essential in any plan intended to manage software development or maintenance process. Subjective techniques are human intensive and error-prone. Risk assessment should be based on architectural attributes that we can quantitatively measure using architectural level metrics. Software architectures are emerging as an important concept in the study and practice of software engineering nowadays, due to their emphasis on large-scale composition of software product, and to their support for emerging software engineering paradigms, such as product line engineering, component based software engineering, and software evolution.;In this dissertation, we …

A Methodology For Software Performance Modeling And Its Application To A Border Inspection System, Paola Bracchi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It is essential that software systems meet their performance objectives. Many factors affect software performance and it is fundamental to identify those factors and the magnitude of their effects early in the software lifecycle to avoid costly and extensive changes to software design, implementation, or requirements. In the last decade the development of techniques and methodologies to carry out performance analysis in the early stages of the software lifecycle has gained a lot of attention within the research community. Different approaches to evaluate software performance have been developed. Each of them is characterized by a certain software specification and performance …

Faith, Power, And Conflict: Miner Preachers And The United Mine Workers Of America In The Harlan County Mine Wars, 1931--1939, Carletta A. Bush

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Early accounts of the Harlan County mine wars place the inability of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) to establish a permanent foothold in the county, first at the feet of the Harlan County Coal Operators Association (HCCOA) and secondly at the worn work boots of miners who, when work was plentiful, saw little or no need for a union. The power of the HCCOA is not in question. Its members used their immense wealth and influence to build a million dollar war chest to fight the union and to maintain their iron-clad grip upon the county's political, judicial, …

Child Distress During Immunization: The Influence Of Child And Parent Individual Difference Variables, Melissa Demore

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Routine childhood immunization injections result child distress, which may have lasting negative effects on children, parents, and staff, and impact adherence to schedules of immunization. Aims of the current study were to (a) examine the role of child and parent individual difference variables in relation to child immunization distress, and (b) determine whether child distress predicts future immunization schedule adherence.;Parents of 50 children (aged 12--18 months) attending a visit to a pediatric medical clinic for purposes of immunization completed measures of child temperament, parent psychopathology, immunization beliefs, and prior medical distress of the child. Child distress during the immunization injection …

Identifying *Assessment Practices In Undergraduate Accounting Programs, Anna L. Lusher

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The researcher conducted a survey of 786 baccalaureate accounting programs in the United States to determine the content and structure of their assessment plans. The study focused on five essential workplace skills: critical thinking, information literacy, oral communication, problem solving, and written communication. It examined the accounting programs and related assessment plans to determine whether the identified skills were integrated into the curriculum and were identified as learning outcomes in the assessment process. The study evaluated how faculty assess students' skills and how assessment results are used to make changes in programs and to improve student learning. The research also …

Recognition Capacity Of Biometric-Based Systems, Francesco P. Nicolo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Performance of biometrics-based recognition systems depends on various factors: database quality, image preprocessing, encoding techniques, etc. Given a biometric database and a selected encoding method, the capability of a recognition system is limited by the relationship between the number of classes that the recognition system can encode and the length of encoded data describing the template at a specific level of distortion. In this work, we evaluate constrained recognition capacity of biometric systems under the constraint of two global encoding techniques: Principal Component Analysis and Independent Component Analysis. The developed methodology is applied to predict capacity of different recognition channels …

Alumina Waveguide Characterization And Sparrow Biosensor Modeling, Pavan Kumar Samudrala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sensors based on evanescent wave techniques have the potential to detect minute change in refractive index arising from surface modifications. The biosensor device architecture evaluated in this work is the SPARROW (Stacked Planar Affinity Regulated Resonant Optical Waveguide) structure. This architecture can operate as a biosensor through the change in the coupled optical power resulted from antigen bonding to the bio-layer. Its stacked film arrangement with no lateral patterning offers a potentially less complex structure for fabrication. This thesis describes the process developed to optically characterize the alumina waveguides of the SPARROW device and investigates waveguide film quality as a …

Quantifying Effects Of Vehicle Weight And Terrain On Emissions, Fuel Economy, And Engine Behavior, Corey M. Strimer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

On-board emissions measurement for heavy-duty vehicles has garnered greater significance because 2007 marks the beginning of gaseous emissions monitoring for in-use vehicles in the United States [1]. Emissions compliance must be shown in a "not to exceed" (NTE) zone that emphasizes engine operation at higher power. An over-the-road 1996 Peterbilt tractor was instrumented with the West Virginia University Mobile Emissions Measurement System (MEMS) to determine how often the truck entered the NTE, and the emissions from the vehicle, as it was driven over varying terrain at multiple test weights. Distance-specific NOX emissions increase by approximately X/2% for an X% increase …

Design, Development And Qualification Of Compact Mobile Emissions Measurement System (Cmems) For Real-Time On-Board Emissions Measurement, Aseem Tiwari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objective of this study was to design, develop and qualify the Compact Mobile Emissions Measurement System (CMEMS) for real-time on-board measurement of exhaust emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles. This study was aimed at developing a system more compact and lighter with respect to the existing Mobile Emissions Measurement System (MEMS), so that the entire system could be mounted on the tail pipe of the test vehicle in order to reduce installation time, power requirements and manpower requirements. This was achieved by judicious selection of commercially available compact solid-state gas analyzers, and development of a sampling system which was significantly …

Meridian Management Officemate, Naixin Xu

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

A dynamic web application was needed that would improve the workflow and communication efficiency among Meridian management and its six optometry offices. The purpose of this paper is to document the requirements and subsequent implementation of the Meridian management officemate application developed. The scope of the web application was to develop the following features: file sharing, survey taking, daily entry and memo posting. The web application was for internal staff uses; therefore, access to the application was restricted. Only authorized users were allowed to access the system. The system was also role based. Users were only being able to access …

Product Grading Management System, Ben Condol

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Product Grading Management System (PGMS) is a comprehensive, statistical and stand-alone, control process application. This PGMS is web based and the first version being developed that will be utilized to define industry standards. Considering a broad array of products, the control process application in scrutiny is designed and deployed for two specific products: tomatoes and spinach. The company used in this paper is fictional; however, the examples are based on real scenarios experienced during a two year stint in the Supply Chain Management & Manufacturing industry. Product Quality Grading requires recording, tracking, managing and displaying quality data that is collected …

Inventory Management Of Medical Drugs, Srinivas Jujjavarapu

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Inventory Management is the active control program that allows the management of sales, payments and purchases. Inventory Management are quite complex in nature and involve nonlinear, chaotic and unpredictable behavior thus requiring highly innovative quantitative techniques in order to model their structure. The aim of this project is to explore a relatively new and integrated approach to manage Inventory. This approach can be used successfully for managing models from any discipline. The new system provides detailed inventory information and reference resources to department personnel. It is easy to integrate easily with other applications such as order management and financial management.

A Small Community Web Site, Dale O. Brovold

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Small communities have difficulties in trying to retain and attract new families. Many people who are looking at new communjties do not have a place to check out information about these communities. Large commuruties have dedicated websites to attract new farrulies and businesses. These sites provide information about local business, government, and school information. Large communities also have the resources to develop and maintain websites for this purpose. Small communities usually do not have these resources available. This project will provide a solution to this problem by providing a web site that provides the basic communjty information about local businesses, …

Xml And Web Interface For Cable Modem Provisioning, Sandeep K. Bowenapally

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this project is to provide an application to automatically provision cable modems, create Email Accounts on the mail server and develop an interface for users to access equipment, customer Infonnation. This application has two modules automated provisioning and a web Interface for users. The purpose of the project is to make the end user's jobs more efficient and smooth. With the present system users have to use different interfaces based on the location of the customer and users are expressing extreme dissatisfaction over the slow nature of the process of one system and the necessity to enter …

Web Based Insurance Enrollment System, Prasun Kumar Rachamalla

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Web Based Insurance Enrollment Systems have taken control of most of the Insurance Industry hereby making them more consumers driven and administratively efficient. This project aims to design and develop a similar system which provides favorable grounds for Insurance agents within an organization to enroll their customers using current technologies of web development. Specifically, the main task is to formulate the duties of designing an n-tier architecture system according to the corporate standards of the client organization. As a part of the project team, it is required to design and develop some of the web functionalities and implement them according …

Order Processing System, Sandeep Modugu

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Developing business demands high technology needs for performing its basic operations. Processing of orders and maintaining consistent data has been the major focus through years. This report is a mere representation of a system, which allows a high-end Order Processing System. Maintaining consistent data, ease of use system for managing and recording transactions and transformation of incoming order flows has been the major focus behind its development. This has been accomplished using tools provided by the .Net Framework such as ADO .Net for talking to database and ASP .Net for processing electronic orders, both using C# language. Thus, we have …

Error Tracking System Using Remote Object, Omar F. Azad

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years there is a trend in software market where more and more organizations are using standard customized software for their different operational needs. Error Tracking System using Remote Object is a special type of application software to track error where manufacturer of these customized software wants to track error in their software which is used by other companies. In other words Error Tracking System using Remote Object is a special type of solution to address specific situation. The ideal situation for this system is where a large application is running for different client but the owner of the …

Service Center Project, David Stendel

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

This report is concerning the creation of a service center system for the Business, IT & Public Services department at Valencia Community College (VCC) in Orlando, Florida. Since the department did not have a formal system in place for tracking faculty and staff problems and requests, one was built to assist and centralize communication and documentation. It would also facilitate the department with justifying budget changes. The main components of the system include a single telephone number, a Web site, a database, and an e-mail aspect. The Web site is made up of a home page to link the other …

Citrix Solution For The Great Plains Corporate Accounting System For Us Bioenergy Corporation, Nathan W. Anderson

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

US BioEnergy is a fairly new corporation in the business of providing various services in the ethanol industry. The corporation currently consists of an executive office in Brookings, SD; operations center in Wichita, KS; corporate office in Inver Grove Heights, MN; ethanol manufacturing facilities in Woodbury, MI; Albert City, IA; Central City, NE; and Ord, NE. The scope of the project is to provide US BioEnergy with a secure Citrix solution that will centralize and standardize the Great Plains accounting system throughout the organization and allow for sufficient usability, scalability, and manageability for the entire company. Citrix is a fast, …

Project Content Management Tool, Ravikanth Reddy Singavaram

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Yash Solutions is an emerging leader in enterprise and datawarehousing solutions that facilitate corporations to operate more efficiently, implement IT solutions quickly keeping minimum system downtimes and enable to achieve their business objectives rapidly. The main problem for the employee who is working on different projects in a company is they get the email from their project members regarding the project start date, updates regarding the project and project end date. The employee needs to keep track of all the mails what he gets in order to be in touch with the other employees, if he needs to contact with …

The Power Of Collaboration With Patient Safety Programs: Building Safe Passage For Patients, Nurses, And Clinical Staff, Karlene M. Kerfoot, Kathryn Rapala, Patricia R. Ebright, Suzanne M. Rogers

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Patient safety is a relatively new field, with many opinions and few effectively proven approaches. One factor is clear: optimal patient safety outcomes cannot be achieved in isolation. Although it is well recognized that multidisciplinary collaboration in the healthcare setting is necessary to effect patient safety, collaboration with resources external to healthcare-academia and industry in particular-will not only aid but also quicken the patient safety efforts. The authors outline a healthcare system's use of all available resources to build a patient safety program.

Missouri S&T Magazine Winter 2006, Missouri S&T Marketing And Communications Department, Miner Alumni Association

Missouri S&T Magazine

No abstract provided.

Principal Time Commitment And Job Satisfaction Before And After An Executive Coaching Workshop, Thomas Matthew Gravel

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate time commitment and job satisfaction of principals before and after an executive coaching workshop. Principals on average work 50-70 hours per week and the demands being placed on principals is ever increasing. The result has been fewer qualified individuals applying for principal positions across the country and the burnout of those who are in the position.

Data were collected from K-12 principals by surveying those who attended one of four workshops titled, “How to Work Less, Play More, and Still Get the Job Done in a Normal School Week: Assuming Your Proper …

Hepatitis C In Prisons: Evolving Toward Decency Through Adequate Medical Care And Public Health Reform, Andrew Brunsden

Articles & Chapters

Hepatitis C (HCV) in prisons is a public health crisis tied to current drug policy's emphasis on the mass incarceration of drug users. Prison policy acts as a barrier to HCV care by limiting medical care for the infected, especially drug users, and by inhibiting public health measures addressing the epidemic. This Comment argues that courts mistakenly limit prisoners' Eighth Amendment right to basic medical care when they defer to prisons that apply HCV policies as categorical rules of treatment. Where current standards of care mandate individualized patient evaluation for treatment, prison policies that eschew this principle exhibit deliberate indifference …

Parents' Perceptions Of Children's Attitude Of The Heritage Language Through Intergenerational Reading In The L1, Ruth A. Aldrich

Theses and Dissertations

Cultural diversity is not a new concept for the United States. In recent years a demographic shift has taken place so that the "language minority" has become the majority in many urban schools. Educational researchers actively seek innovative ways to acculturate new arrivals into North America. They observed that one way to strengthen acculturation is by affirming the heritage languages and cultures. This study involved three educated Afghan-Minnesotan parents reading heritage storybooks to their children at home. Through promoting heritage literacy, I hypothesized that an intergenerational reading program would enhance children's attitude and behavior toward heritage language and culture while …

Making The Connection: Engaging The Small Business Administration And Government Minority Programs To Develop An Electrical Contracting Business Model For Native American Entrepreneurs, Eric S. Bruguier

Theses and Dissertations

Native American entrepreneurs experience numerous obstacles when attempting to establish profitable businesses. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore how the Small Business Administration can assist Native American entrepreneurs with the minority programs that are established under the Small Business Act. More specifically, the study addresses how to utilize the Small Business Administration and government minority programs to develop a business model for Native American entrepreneurs who intend to establish electrical contracting businesses

Challenging Gender Stereotypes In The Classroom: How Students Respond To "Dreamworlds", Angela Bailly

Theses and Dissertations

Students do not arrive in our classrooms as blank slates. When we, as Iructors, attempt to challenge them with a new wav of thinking about a topic, it's often difficult to know the impact of that exposure. It is even more difficult to cjliscover how students integrate the new information. This study explores the integration of Dreamworlds II: Desire/Sex/Power in Music Video into the lives of nineteen undergraduates. Dreamworlds II is a film concerning music videos and how they present images of women. It challenges the viewer to think about the cortsequences of these images and the alternatives that could …

Funny Ha-Ha Or Funny Strange: The Structure And Meaning Of Laughter In Conversation, Linda Houts-Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Although laughter has been studied for centuries, the work has occurred in several different fields, and the lack of an interdisciplinary approach has hindered the integration of results. Work in philosophy has focused on why we laugh but has lacked a basis in empirical data, resulting in ungrounded theories. Studies in neuroscience and linguistics rest on empirical data, but stop short of a full description of the phenomenon of laughter, focusing on when and how we laugh, but not why. This study seeks to describe the phenomenon of laughter more fully, to describe both the nature of the laughable and …