Digital Commons Network^™

Cbc.Ca - Broadcast Sovereignity In A Digital Environment, Brian O'Neill

Articles

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), like many public broadcasters, has identified the value of branding their services on the world wide web as a crucial element in the strategy to bring radio into the digital era. Their approach highlights a number of strategically important issues facing broadcasters in the current environment. The internet, in Canadian terms, is an unregulated space and a not particularly Canadian space. Just as in the terrestrial environment, broadcasters like CBC have to operate in an environment dominated by United States-based interests. The regulatory solutions that Canada has previously pursued in order to preserve cultural sovereignty may …

Our Views: Anybody Listening?: Researching The Views And Needs Of Young People In Co. Kildare, Kevin Lalor, Katie Baird

Reports

No abstract provided.

Third Year Evaluation Of Tennessee Charter Schools, 2005-2006, Steven M. Ross, Aaron J. Mcdonald, Linda Bol

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The purpose of the present evaluation study was to examine the progress made in program implementation, school climate, and student achievement by Tennessee charter schools. Six evaluation questions guided the methodology for this study. Student achievement results are addressed in a separate report. The following evaluation questions are addressed in this report: (1) What is the frequency of usage of various traditional and alternative instructional strategies in the charter schools and compared to national norms? (2) What is the school climate at the charter schools and how does the climate compare to national norms? (3) To what degree and levels …

The Influence Of Issue Management Upon Public Relationships In A Changing Environment: How John Charles Mcquaid, Roman Catholic Archbishop Of Dublin (1940-72) Managed The Issue Of The Second Vatican Council From 1959 To 1972 And The Extent, If Any, To Which This Influenced Change In The Public Relationships Between Archbishop, Diocesan Priests And Laity, Francis Xavier Carty

Doctoral

This research examines the influence of issue management upon public relationships in a changing environment. The example chosen is the management of the Second Vatican Council, from 1959 to 1972 by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and the public relationships are those between archbishop, diocesan priests and laity. Public relations theories on issue management, publics and relationship management are applied to a religious context, one where relationships may be distorted by the religious faith, authority and obedience on which they are based and which is different to the commercial business environment within which they were framed. The methodology is …

The Use Of "Real" English In Language Learning: Making Authentic Ns Speech Accessible Through A Novel Digital Slow-Down Tool, Marty Meinardi

Doctoral

This project is concerned with the design of English as a Second Language (ESL) courseware for Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). It arises out of the Enterprise Ireland funded DITCALL (Digital Interactive Toolkit for Computer Assisted Language learning) project. The focus of the research for this courseware is on using authentic video and audio material that is as natural and true to life as possible and providing adequate, pedagogically efficient and visually pleasing lesson material that will prepare prospective students for the environment in Dublin. The thesis centres around the validity of using authentic spoken Native Speaker (NS) English, and …

Reforming The Stage And Screen: How Expectations, Audiences, And Economics Shaped The Film And Theatre Censorship Movements In Early-1930s New York, Jenna Simpson

Constructing the Past

This article discusses the efforts made in the early 20th century to censor certain things in both the movies and in theatre. It also discusses the differences between the two forms of entertainment and how they were viewed differently in public perceptions.

Reflection On Contemporary Issues In Relationship Marketing: Evidence From A Longitudinal Case Study In The Building Materials Industry, Aidan O'Driscoll

Articles

This article examines a number of issues in relationship marketing through the perspective of the competence based view of the firm. It draws on data from a 53-year case history of a firm in the Irish building materials industry. Relationship marketing emerges from this data as a significant market-related competence helping the firm to enjoy a preeminent position in the marketplace over five decades. Discussion focuses on the dynamic nature of relationship marketing in the company − how the intent, thrust and characteristics of relationship marketing evolved over 53 years and five eras of the firm’s history. In this context, …

Lung Nodule Detection In Screening Computed Tomography, I Gori, R Bellotti, P Cerello, Sc Cheran, Et Al

School of Biomedical Sciences

A computer-aided detection (CAD) system for the identification of pulmonary nodules in low-dose multi-detector helical Computed Tomography (CT) images with 1.25 mm slice thickness is presented. The basic modules of our lung-CAD system, a dot-enhancement filter for nodule candidate selection and a neural classifier for false-positive finding reduction, are described. The results obtained on the collected database of lung CT scans are discussed.

A Mathematical Formulation Of Dna Computation, Mingjun Zhang, Maggie Xiaoyan Cheng, Tzyh-Jong Tarn

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

DNA computation is to use DNA molecules for information storing and processing. The task is accomplished by encoding and interpreting DNA molecules in suspended solutions before and after the complementary binding reactions. DNA computation is attractive, due to its fast parallel information processing, remarkable energy efficiency, and high storing capacity. Challenges currently faced by DNA computation are (1) lack of theoretical computational models for applications, and (2) high error rate for implementation. This paper attempts to address these problems from mathematical modeling and genetic coding aspects. The first part of this paper presents a mathematical formulation of DNA computation. The …

Model Checking Control Communication Of A Facts Device, Bruce M. Mcmillin, J. K. Townsend, David Cape

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper concerns the design and verification of a realtime communication protocol for sensor data collection and processing between an embedded computer and a DSP. In such systems, a certain amount of data loss without recovery may be tolerated. The key issue is to define and verify the correctness in the presence of these lost data frames under real-time constraints. This paper describes a temporal verification that if the end processes do not detect that too many frames are lost, defined by comparison of error counters against given threshold values, then there will be a bounded delay between transmission of …

Multimedia Correlation Analysis In Unstructured Peer-To-Peer Network, Bo Yang, A. R. Hurson, Yu Jiao, Thomas E. Potok

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent years saw the rapid development of peer-topeer (P2P) networks in a great variety of applications. However, similarity-based k-nearest-neighbor retrieval (k-NN) is still a challenging task in P2P networks due to the multiple constraints such as the dynamic topologies and the unpredictable data updates. Caching is an attractive solution that reduces network traffic and hence could remedy the technological constraints of P2P networks. However, traditional caching techniques have some major shortcomings that make them unsuitable for similarity search, such as the lack of semantic locality representation and the rigidness of exact matching on data objects. To facilitate the efficient similarity …

Practical Experiences In Using Model-Driven Engineering To Develop Trustworthy Computing Systems, Thomas Weigert, Frank Weil

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we describe how Motorola has deployed model-driven engineering in product development, in particular for the development of trustworthy and highly reliable telecommunications systems, and outline the benefits obtained. Model-driven engineering has dramatically increased both the quality and the reliability of software developed in our organization, as well as the productivity of our software engineers. Our experience demonstrates that model-driven engineering significantly improves the development process for trustworthy computing systems.

The Space Of Freedom, Joseph C. Troncale

Languages, Literatures, and Cultures Faculty Publications

The exhibition, The Space of Freedom: Apartment Exhibitions in Leningrad, 1964-1986, invites visitors directly into the carefully re-created interior of a Soviet communal apartment. Within the kind of environment where the paintings first breathed freely, visitors have the opportunity to experience works by unofficial artists of the Soviet era who boldly executed and exhibited art that did not conform to the ideological prescriptions of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. These artists had to substitute the private space of their apartments for the public space controlled and denied them by the Party. Planning and staging these exhibitions, the artists …

Empirical Study Of An Unconstrained Modified Particle Swarm Optimization, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Phillip W. Moore

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, an unconstrained modified particle swarm optimization (UMPSO) algorithm is introduced and studied empirically. Four well known benchmark functions, with asymmetric initial position values, are used as testing functions for the UMPSO algorithm. The UMPSO is a variation of the canonical PSO in which the velocity and position is unconstrained, an additional strategic component is added, and the social component term has been modified. The strategy component is used instead of varying parameters or mutation to enhance diversity in the swarm during the search. The UMPSO algorithm is then compared to results obtained from the constrained canonical PSO …

Neural Network-Based Output Feedback Controller For Lean Operation Of Spark Ignition Engines, Brian C. Kaul, Jagannathan Sarangapani, J. A. Drallmeier, Jonathan B. Vance, Pingan He

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Spark ignition (SI) engines running at very lean conditions demonstrate significant nonlinear behavior by exhibiting cycle-to-cycle dispersion of heat release even though such operation can significantly reduce NOx emissions and improve fuel efficiency by as much as 5-10%. A suite of neural network (NN) controller without and with reinforcement learning employing output feedback has shown ability to reduce the nonlinear cyclic dispersion observed under lean operating conditions. The neural network controllers consists of three NN: a) A NN observer to estimate the states of the engine such as total fuel and air; b) a second NN for generating virtual input; …

Novel Sum-Of-Sinusoids Simulation Models For Rayleigh And Rician Fading Channels, Chengshan Xiao, Y. Rosa Zheng, N. C. Beaulieu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The statistical properties of Clarke's fading model with a finite number of sinusoids are analyzed, and an improved reference model is proposed for the simulation of Rayleigh fading channels. A novel statistical simulation model for Rician fading channels is examined. The new Rician fading simulation model employs a zero-mean stochastic sinusoid as the specular (line-of-sight) component, in contrast to existing Rician fading simulators that utilize a non-zero deterministic specular component. The statistical properties of the proposed Rician fading simulation model are analyzed in detail. It is shown that the probability density function of the Rician fading phase is not only …

On Discrete-Time Modeling Of Time-Varying Wssus Fading Channels, Christian Sgraja, Chengshan Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we consider the serial concatenation of linear time-varying (LTV) systems and its impact on the discrete-time modeling of wide-sense stationary uncorrelated scattering (WSSUS) fading channels. By deriving an expression for the composite impulse response of the overall concatenated system, we find that unlike the time-invariant case, the concatenation of LTV systems is not commutative, i. e., the order of arrangement affects the overall impulse response. This has significant impact when a digital transmission over a time-varying fading channel, which is an LTV channel, is represented by an equivalent discrete-time model that incorporates both transmitter and receiver filters. …

Decentralized Power Control With Implementation For Rfid Networks, Kainan Cha, Anil Ramachandran, David Pommerenke, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, the detection range and read rates will suffer from interference among high power reading devices. This problem grows severely and degrades system performance in dense RFID networks. In this paper, we investigate a suite of feasible power control schemes to ensure overall coverage area of the system while maintaining a desired read rate. The power control scheme and MAC protocol dynamically adjusts the RFID reader power output in response to the interference level seen locally during tag reading for an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We present novel distributed adaptive power control (DAPC) and probabilistic …

Design And Implementation Of A Storage Management Method For Content Distribution, Chang-Soo Kim, Yu-Hyeon Bak, Sang-Min Woo, Won-Jae Lee, Nunm-Ok Gee, Hag-Young Kim

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The SMART system is a special purpose server developed by ETRI and designed for efficient streaming services over high speed networks. The SMART server has one or more special purpose NS (Network-Storage) card. The NS card has several disks that store multimedia contents. However all of the multimedia contents to be serviced cannot be stored at the server. In this paper, we will describe the storage management mechanism in design and implementation aspects. With this storage management mechanism, the SMART server can provide effectiveness in managing storage and distributing some contents from a source station to streaming service servers.

Fault-Tolerant Control For Sssc Using Neural Networks And Pso, Wei Qiao, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Ronald G. Harley

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

International Working Group On Assurance Cases (For Security), S. Guerra, M. Masera, Ann K. Miller, C. B. Weinstock, R. E. Bloomfield

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Critical systems are aptly named - from electric power to water and gas to the telephone system and the Internet, they're all critical to some aspect of our daily lives. We''re a networked society and as such, it's important to both know whether critical systems are trustworthy and be able to communicate, review, and debate the level of trust achieved in them. In the safety domain, explicit safety cases are increasingly required by law, regulations, and standards. In this article, we outline what a small, international group of experts, spanning various disciplines in safety, security, reliability, and critical infrastructure, been …

Adaptive And Probabilistic Power Control Algorithms For Dense Rfid Reader Network, Kainan Cha, Anil Ramachandran, Jagannathan Sarangapani

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, the detection range and read rates may suffer from interferences between high power devices such as readers. In dense networks, this problem grows severely and degrades system performance. In this paper, we investigate feasible power control schemes to ensure overall coverage area of the system while maintaining a desired data rate. The power control should dynamically adjust the output power of a RFID reader by adapting to the noise level seen during tag reading and acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). We present a novel distributed adaptive power control (DAPC) and probabilistic power control (PPC) as …

Advanced Detection And Coding Techniques For Nonlinear Intersymbol Interference Cancellation In 40 Gb/S Systems, B. Vasic, I. B. Djordjevic, Vittal S. Rao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Two Optimal Control Strategies For A Grid Independent Photovoltaic System, Richard L. Welch, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents two optimal control strategies for a grid independent photovoltaic system consisting of a PV collector array, a storage battery, and loads (critical and non-critical loads). The first strategy is based on Action Dependent Heuristic Dynamic Programming (ADHDP), a model-free adaptive critic design (ACD) technique which optimizes the control performance based on a utility function. ADHDP critic network is used in a PV system simulation study to train an action neural network (optimal neurocontroller) to provide optimal control for varying PV system output energy and loadings. The second optimal control strategy is based on a fuzzy logic controller …

Iep Meetings: What Are The Strategies That Make An Iep Meeting Successful?, Maria T. Cashman

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

All students who receive special education services have one thing in common. They each have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) designed specifically for him/her. The IEP is a valuable document that guides the special education services for a student. It is imperative that parents have a significant role in the development, implementation, and review of the IEP.

For this study, interviews were used to understand the strategies that assist parents in achieving active participation during their child's IEP conference. Six parents of sophomore, junior, and senior high students were interviewed. Three parents were identified as "involved", which means they were …

Robustness And Distance Discrimination Of Adaptive Near Field Beamformers, Y. Rosa Zheng, Peng Xie, Steven L. Grant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A robust adaptive beamformer is proposed using the near field regionally constrained adaptive approach that designs a set of linear constraints by filtering on a low rank subspace of the near field signal over a spatial region and a wide frequency band. This method can accurately control the beam-former response over the designed spatial-temporal region using a small number of linear constraint vectors and improve the robustness against target location errors. Meanwhile, this method enhances the capability of the near field beamformer in distance discrimination without additional constraints so that interference impinging at the same direction as the desired signal …

Expanding Extracurricular Learning Opportunities Through International Engineering Student And Faculty Exchange, Mark Polczynski

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Iep Team Decision-Making Process In The Reintegration Of Special Education Students: A Qualitative Analysis Of Exiting Decisions, Kenneth G. Hayes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to take an in-depth look at the decision-making process that an IEP team goes through regarding the reintegration of special education students. In particular, this study looked at the exiting criteria used by an IEP team in determining whether or not a student should be exited back into the general education classroom prior to graduation. Furthermore, using Raven's (1992) Power/Interaction Model as the theoretical framework, this study also looked at the beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes of an IEP team that were adopted through the processes involved in exiting students from special education programs.

The …

Differences In Enjoyment, Motivation, And Perceived Athletic Competence Between Sport And Fitness Physical Activity Participants, Andy Briggs

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of the study was to determine if differences existed in level of exercise enjoyment, motivation, and perceived athletic competence between college students that exercise using sport activities and college students that exercise using fitness activities. Data were collected from 188 college students from a midsize comprehensive university in the Midwest. The questionnaire was designed to tap enjoyment, motivation, perceived athletic competence, and amount of physical activity. The participants were divided into four groups according to their exercise habits: high sport/high fitness, high sport/low fitness, low sport/high fitness, and low sport/low fitness. A MANOV A test compared the four …

Self-Esteem, Locus Of Control, Conformity, And The Psychology Behind Body Modification, Brianne Renae Arends

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The current study examined the psychological characteristics of individuals with and without tattoos and body piercings, along with their perceptions of cosmetic surgery as either positive or negative. Psychological characteristics measured included: self-esteem, locus of control, conformity, and fear of negative evaluation. Participants were ninety-seven individuals who completed paper-and-pencil measures encompassing the various psychological characteristics as well as a demographic and risk assessment questionnaire. Participants were recruited through the PSPM system established by the University of Northern Iowa and did not significantly vary on demographic information provided. The current study's hypotheses based upon similar research were: (1) individuals who approve …