Digital Commons Network^™

Elementary Music Assessment And Report Card Practices In Livingston County, Michigan, Jennifer R. Patterson

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This descriptive study explored how elementary schools in the five public school districts in Livingston County, Michigan, report musical achievement to parents. The purposes were to examine what is assessed in K–4 music classrooms, what grading systems are used to report the assessment data, and how school districts use report cards to convey information about students’ musical progress to parents. The study involved questioning district curriculum directors, elementary school principals, and music teachers with response rates above 70%. In addition, music report cards were reviewed and a small sample of parents were surveyed. Analysis of descriptive statistics revealed that elementary …

The Effects Of The Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program On Reading Fluency And Comprehension Of At-Risk First-Graders, Andrea R. Van Der Laan

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research study was to determine the impact of the Lindamood-Bell Phoneme Sequencing Program on phonemic awareness, reading fluency, and comprehension of at-risk first graders in one southwestern Michigan school district.

In the first phase of this research, baseline data in phonemic awareness and fluency scores were collected from two different first-grade classrooms to determine which students would be chosen for the study. The final study included 32 students, 16 from the experimental school and 16 from the control school. Both schools had similar demographic populations. In the second phase of the study, data were collected …

Advanced Image Processing Methods For Automated Quantitative Microstructural Analysis, Jonathan Chambers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Optimization of material properties can be aided by the studying its microstructural behavior. To obtain meaningful information about any given material, a large number of grain boundaries on the order of thousands of grains is required. However, current datasets of grain boundaries are often very limited due to the large amount of human effort required to delineate grain boundaries. Previous attempts to automate the grain boundary detection process using standard image processing techniques required images that were highly optimized for these algorithms. This work seeks to improve previous results by using newer, advanced mathematical methods for image processing. The automated …

Paleocene To Early Eocene Dinoflagellate Cyst Biostratigraphy In Southeast Nigeria And The Cote D'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin (Odp Site 959), Hernan Antolinez-Delgado

Masters Theses

"This study represents a contribution to Early Paleogene biostratigraphy in the tropics where published studies are sparse in comparison with mid and high latitude regions. Data were derived from a comprehensive analysis of dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) in 45 samples from the Early Paleocene to Early Eocene interval at two localities in West Africa, namely Alo-1 well in the Anambra Basin, southeastern Nigeria, and Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959D (ODP Leg 159) in the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin. Dinocyst recovery varied from very good to poor, and the specimens were commonly well preserved. The dinocyst data were calibrated with existing calcareous …

Model Checking Control Communication Of A Facts Device, David Andrew Cape

Masters Theses

"This thesis concerns the design and verification of a real-time 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 design and verify the correctness in the presence of these lost data frames under real-time constraints. This thesis 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 …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of Vehicle Performance On Consumer Satisfaction, Elizabeth A. Cudney

Doctoral Dissertations

"Value is the relationship of functionality or benefit to the cost of a product or service. Consumers appear to seek value, but not all consumers are alike in their needs and wants. Common characteristics that consumers desire in automobiles include a high level of value relative to the product's cost. Consumers measure vehicle performance in terms of twenty-three attributes such as roominess, ride, reliability, handling, brake pedal feel, visibility, interior noise, acceleration, etc. Problems arise when automakers try to translate these characteristics into vehicle performance specifications and capabilities.

Quality is an essential element for both the consumer and producer since …

The 2006 Analysis Of Information Remaining On Disks Offered For Sale On The Second Hand Market, Andrew Jones, Craig Valli, Iain Sutherland, Paula Thomas

Research outputs pre 2011

All organisations, whether in the public or private sector, use computers for the storage and processing of information relating to their business or services, their employees and their customers. A large proportion of families and individuals in their homes now also use personal computers and, both intentionally and inadvertently, often store on those computers personal information. It is clear that most organisations and individuals continue to be unaware of the information that may be stored on the hard disks that the computers contain, and have not considered what may happen to the information after the disposal of the equipment. In …

Leading Hackers Down The Garden Path, Suen Yek

Research outputs pre 2011

Can a hacker be controlled by predetermined deception? Limiting the decision making capabilities of hackers is one technique of network countermeasure that a honeynet enables. By furnishing a honeynet with a realistic range of services but restricted vulnerabilities, a hacker may be forced to direct their attacks to the only available exploits. This research discusses the deployment of a honeynet configured with a deceptive TELNET and TFTP exploit. Four hackers were invited to attack the honeynet and the analysis of their compromise identified if they engaged in a guided pathway to the intended deception. Hand trace analysis was performed on …

A Hybrid P-Cycle Search Algorithm For Protection In Wdm Mesh Networks, Kungmang Lo, Daryoush Habibi, Alexander Rassau, Quoc Viet Phung, Hoang Nguyen, Byung Kang

Research outputs pre 2011

p-Cycle is a type of shared link protection for survivable wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) mesh networks. p-Cycle not only retains ring-like restoration speeds, but also achieves capacity efficiency in mesh networks. However, finding the optimal set of p-cycles to protect all traffic demands within a reasonable response time is difficult. This is particularity true with dense meshes or large networks, because the number of candidates is huge. Generally, p-cycles are determined by using either Integer Linear Programming (ILP) or specifically designed heuristic algorithms. However, both methods need a set of efficient candidate cycles to tradeoff between the computational time and the …

Efficient P-Cycle Design By Heuristic P-Cycle Selection And Refinement For Servivable Wdm Mesh Networks, Kungmang Lo, Daryoush Habibi, Quoc Viet Phung, Alexander Rassau, Hoang N. Nguyen

Research outputs pre 2011

Using p-Cycles to protect against single span failures in Wavelength-Division Multiplexing (WDM) networks has been widely studied. p-Cycle retains not only the speed of ring-like restoration, but also achieves the capacity efficiency over mesh networks. However, in selecting an optimal set of p-cycles to achieve the minimum spare capacity and fast computational time is an NP-hard problem. To address this issue, we propose a heuristic approach to iteratively select and refine a set of p-cycles, which contains two algorithms: the Heuristic p-Cycle Selection (HPS) algorithm, and the Refine Selected Cycles (RSC) algorithm. Our simulation results show that the proposed approach …

Solution And Solid State Interactions Between Ionic Π-Systems, Jing Chen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Although attractive interactions between π systems (π-π interaction) have been known for many years, understanding of its origin is still incomplete. Quantitative measuring of π-stacking is challenging due to the weak nature of the π-π interaction. This dissertation aims at elucidating a quantitative conformational analysis by NMR ring current anisotropy of an organic compound capable of intramolecular π-stacking in solution and studying charge effects on the stacking of π-systems. This dissertation offers four contributions to the area. (1) A general approach to four-state, conformational analysis based on the magnetic anisotropy of molecules undergoing fast dynamic exchange is described. (2) Study …

High Order Shock Capturing Schemes For Hyperbolic Conservation Laws And The Application In Open Channel Flows, Chunfang Chen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Many applications in engineering practice can be described by thehyperbolic partial differential equations (PDEs). Numerical modeling of this typeof equations often involves large gradients or shocks, which makes it achallenging task for conventional numerical methods to accurately simulate suchsystems. Thus developing accurate and efficient shock capturing numericalschemes becomes important for the study of hyperbolic equations.In this dissertation, a detailed study of the numerical methods for linearand nonlinear unsteady hyperbolic equations was carried out. A new finitedifference shock capturing scheme of finite volume style was developed. Thisscheme is based on the high order Pad?? type compact central finite differencemethod with the …

Optimal Water Quality Management Strategies For Urban Watersheds Using Macro-Level Simulation Models Linked With Evolutionary Algorithms, Mohammad Tufail

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Urban watershed management poses a very challenging problem due to the varioussources of pollution and there is a need to develop optimal management models that canfacilitate the process of identifying optimal water quality management strategies. Ascreening level, comprehensive, and integrated computational methodology is developedfor the management of point and non-point sources of pollution in urban watersheds. Themethodology is based on linking macro-level water quality simulation models withefficient nonlinear constrained optimization methods for urban watershed management.The use of macro-level simulation models in lieu of the traditional and complexdeductive simulation models is investigated in the optimal management framework forurban watersheds. Two different …

Why Does Policy Fail? Understanding The Problems Of Policy Implementation In Pakistan - A Neuro-Cognitive Perspective, Sajid Ali

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Education policy in Pakistan, as in other developing countries, faces the challenge of poor implementation. The article explores the history of education policy in Pakistan and describes the conventional accounts of policy failures. It particularly highlights the issues of unclear goals, political commitment, governance, centralisation, resources and foreign aid. Generally, it is assumed that overcoming these conventional challenges will result in better policy outcomes. Although this is partially true, Spillane, Reiser and Reimer (2002) direct our attention to the cognitive factors that play a critical role in policy implementation. They argued that implementing agents try to make sense of policy …

Neck Loading In High Performance Combat Pilots During Aerial Combat Manoeuvres And Specific Neck Strengthening Exercises, Kevin J. Netto

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Neck pain and injury is a common occurrence in high performance combat pilots (HPCP) around the world. The cause of this has been attributed to exposure to the unavoidable high mechanical loading related to the neck being positioned in non-neutral head postures whilst being exposed to moderate to high +Gz levels. Specific neck conditioning exercises have been proposed as being a possible method to decrease the incidence of neck pain and injury in this population. However, there has been sparsely published research examining the suitability of selected exercises for HPCP who participate in regular aerial combat manoeuvres (ACM).

Methods For The Estimation Of Missing Values In Time Series, David S. Fung

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Time Series is a sequential set of data measured over time. Examples of time series arise in a variety of areas, ranging from engineering to economics. The analysis of time series data constitutes an important area of statistics. Since, the data are records taken through time, missing observations in time series data are very common. This occurs because an observation may not be made at a particular time owing to faulty equipment, lost records, or a mistake, which cannot be rectified until later. When one or more observations are missing it may be necessary to estimate the model and also …

Sources Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus In Stormwater Drainage From Established Residential Areas And Options For Improved Management, Surasithe Khwanboonbumpen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

From early April 2002 to June 2003, a study was conducted at Wanneroo and Bannister Creek in Perth's metropolitan area (Western Australia), aiming to quantify major sources of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) entering urban residential catchments on two of the major dunal systems. The export of N and P from these catchments in stormwater discharge was measured, allowing investigation of some of the key pathways through which N and P enter the drainage network from the catchment. This information was then used to recommend catchment management approaches to reduce nutrient discharge into stormwater.

Where The Cardinals Come To Sing, Scott Moncrieff

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Worlds Together . . . Words Apart: An Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of Arts-Based Curriculum For Second Language Learners, Stephanie Urso Spina

Publications and Research

The objective of this study is to assess whether authentic arts-based1 curricula facilitate the acquisition of English as a second language (ESL) without sacrificing proficiency in the first language (Spanish). This question is examined theoretically and empirically. First, the use of an arts-based curriculum is positioned within a Vygotskiian framework of learning as reflected in current research. This overview is organized by two themes: 1) the authenticity of the art experience and 2) the emphasis on social interaction and the cognitive mediation among sign systems. Applicable findings from related literature are reviewed and synthesized within each of these themes. Secondly, …

Vashegyite From Gaura Cu Muscă Cave (Locvei Mountains, Romania): A New And Rare Phosphate Occurrence, Bogdan P. Onac, Luminiţa Zaharia, Joe Kearns, Daniel Veres

International Journal of Speleology

This study investigated the occurrence of vashegyite from a guano-rich deposit located in the Gaura cu Muscă Cave, Romania. Analytical methods used include optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron-microscopy (SEM), inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), thermal investigations and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) analyses. Vashegyite occurs as friable, chalky white, irregular nodules of up to 2.5 cm in diameter, within a 15 cm thick sequence of organic and minerogenic sediments. The chemical structural formula is: (Al_10.91Fe³⁺_0.06Na_0.1Ca_0.02Mg_0.08)_Σ=11.17[(PO₄)_8.78(SiO₄)_0.056]_Σ=8.83(OH) …

Studies Of Condensation/Evaporation Processes In The Glowworm Cave, New Zealand, C. R. De Freitas, A. Schmekal

International Journal of Speleology

The condensation/evaporation process is important in caves, especially in tourist caves where there is carbon dioxide enriched air caused by visitors. The cycle of condensation and evaporation of condensate is believed to enhance condensation corrosion. The problem is condensation is difficult to measure. This study addresses the problem and reports on a method for measuring and modelling condensation rates in a limestone cave. Electronic sensors for measuring condensation and evaporation of the condensate as part of a single continuous process of water vapour flux are tested and used to collect 12 months of data. The study site is the Glowworm …

Development Of A Small Separation Riser For Fine Coal Particles, Haroon Akhtar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The wet, density based, separation processes employed at the coal preparation plant do not deal with particles under the size of 150 micrometers, resulting in the waste of precious coal resources. An exploratory fluidized bed riser system was developed to separate pyrite from fine coal particles under 150 micrometers in diameter. Gas velocity U0 and solid mass flux G p were the controlled variables so that the flow pattern within the riser was in the transition region from fast fluidization to dilute regime. Nine tests were conducted using coal and nine tests were conducted using a mixture of 10% iron …

Some New Methods For Image Compression, Muhammad Aslam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The vanishing moment of wavelets and associated multi-resolution framework yield an efficient representation of smooth functions with wavelet approximation. However as pointed out in many papers, the similar result cannot be expected for the piecewise smooth functions with large jumps. In other words, wavelet approximation cannot achieve the same approximation order in the vicinity of jumps as in the smooth regions. Large wavelet coefficients associated with jumps are generated and consequently produce oscillations near discontinuities in the reconstructed signal. This is the so-called Gibbs phenomenon or a Ringing effect. In this thesis, we develop a technique which reduces the Gibbs …

Minimizing The Makespan In A Flexible Flowshop With Sequence Dependent Setup Times, Uniform Machines, And Limited Buffers, Bret Crowder

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research addresses the problem of minimizing the makespan in a flexible flowshop with sequence dependent setup times, uniform machines, and limited buffers. A mathematical model was developed to solve this problem. The problem is NP-Hard in the strong sense and only very small problems could be solved optimally. For exact methods, the computation times are long and not practical even when the problems are relatively small. Two construction heuristics were developed that could find solutions quickly. Also a simulated annealing heuristic was constructed that improved the solutions obtained from the construction heuristics. The combined heuristics could compute a good …

Performance Measurements Of Web Services, Sarita Damaraju

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Web services are rapidly evolving application-integration technologies that allow applications in heterogeneous environments to communicate with each other. In this thesis we perform a measurements-based study of an e-commerce application that uses web services to execute business operations. We use the TPC-W specification to generate a session-based workload. The component level response times and the hardware resource usage on the different machines are measured. The component level response times are extracted from the application server logs. From the results it is seen that as the workload increases the response times of the web services components increase. From the hardware resource …

Design Of Composite Sandwich Panels For Lightweight Applications In Heavy Vehicle Systems, Thomas H. Evans

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Vehicle systems such as cargo freight and platform trailers are a primary source of transporting heavy cargo loads. The construction and materials used in a standard trailer design contribute significantly to the overall weight. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and West Virginia University have conducted joint research to reduce the amount of fuel consumption of cargo transportation trailers by initiating a lightweight materials program. This study is aimed at the utilization of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites and Composite Sandwich technology in conjunction with innovative joining concepts to reduce trailer weight. Finite element modeling and experimental analysis reveal the …

Examining Problem-Solving Interpretations: The Role Of Age, Sex, And Femininity, Jennifer A. Flinn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The current study examined age and sex differences in communal interpretations (statements focusing on the needs of others), and whether participants' femininity mediated these differences. One hundred and ninety six participants, 121 younger adults (M=19.26, SD=131: 53 M, 68 F) and 75 older adults (M=73.74, SD=7.65: 36 M, 39 F), were given a vignette regarding a hypothetical job relocation problem that involved either a male or female protagonist. To assess interpretations, participants were asked to indicate all the issues to be considered. The degree to which interpretations reflected communal concerns was coded. Results showed that women had higher communal interpretation …

Relationship Between Damper Resistance And Damper Insertion Depth, Ranjit Jangam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Experiments were performed to determine a predictive model for sliding gate damper resistance (Xdamper). Independent variables included eight ratios of insertion depth (I) to duct diameter (D), two different values of D, four different levels of air velocity, two damper orientations, and two damper edges (Concave/Straight). Analysis of Log (Xdamper) values showed a highly linear relationship with I/D and high statistical significance (p<0.05) for all independent variables and for most two-way interactions. Nearly the entire regression model (R2 = 0.985) was explained by I/D, so all but I/D and Edge were dropped from the final model: Y Log(Xdamper) = -1.434 + 0.089*(Edge) + 4.30*( I/D) (R2 = 0.978). The resulting predictive model: Xdamper = 0.037*10(0.089*(Edge )+4.3*I/D). However error for untransformed Xdamper increased sharply with increasing (I/D) and percent errors were as high as 125% across all values of (I/D). Hence the predictive models are useful for only initial rough adjustment and should be followed by final trial and error adjustment to goal air flow.

Enlightened Defense: The National Security *Policy Of Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Leonhard

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The triumph of Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic Republicans in 1800 left the deposed Federalists aghast at what this Francophile, anti nationalist, reputedly atheistic president might do to the country. Despite Jefferson's impulses toward pacifism, national isolation, the diffusion of political power, and healing faction, the eight years of his two administrations were destined to be as calm as a hurricane. The turbulent situation in Europe had already made a mockery of Washington's advice to avoid entanglement, and during Jefferson's presidency, the dangers only increased.;Jefferson's ideas on national security were diametrically opposed to those of Alexander Hamilton and the Federalists. …

Telementoring And Computer Mediated Discussions: A Description Of Online Instructors' Support, Mary Sue Cicciarelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate online instructors' characteristics and preferences concerning telementors' characteristics and role during a computer mediated discussion. In addition, this work looked for relationships between online instructors' characteristics in correlation to their support for the utilization of telementoring. Two thousand online instructors from a convenience sample received a request to participate email that contained a link to an anonymous contingency survey. Of those contacted, 323 instructors responded to the survey. Online instructors responded to questions about their characteristics, level of support for telementoring, and perceptions on a telementor's characteristics and roles. Spearman rho tests …