Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Principals And Teachers Of Their Roles And Other Variables In School Culture In Improving Their School’S Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (Fcat) Letter Grade By Two Grade Levels, Tracey D. Tedder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on perceptions of principals, assistant principals and teachers of their impact on student achievement scores in improving their school's Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test letter grade scores. This information is of importance because we do not have information on how school reference groups (principals, teachers) perceive the grading of schools as defined by the Florida A+ Plan. Specifically, this study investigated perceptions of school principals, assistant principals and teachers on their role in improving the school's FCAT letter grade by two grade levels in a 9-month school year. This qualitative case study analyzes perceptions of factors and behaviors …

Communicating Change: An Ethnography Of Women’S Sensemaking On Menopause, Hormone Replacement Therapies, And The Women’S Health Initiative, Linda Vangelis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the recent findings of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), many women who have been on hormone replacement therapies (HRT) have begun to renegotiate their understandings and strategies of this stage of their lives. The WHI findings suggested that the risks of HRT outweighed the benefits for healthy menopausal women. This study examined women's emerging sensemaking regarding HRT and menopause in light of the WHI findings. Seven women in the Tampa Bay area, who were in various stages of menopause, participated in three focus group sessions and two one-on-one interviews to discuss their lives in menopause. Based …

Local Lunches: Planning For Local Produce In Portland Schools, Lisa Anderson, Katherine Krajnak, Lisa Libby, Meghan Mackenzie, Sumi Malik, Katie Shriver

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

In the 1990s, school districts across the country began to integrate fresh food grown by local producers into school meals and snacks. School food authorities and farmers have broadly defined this new movement, called “Farm to School,” as connecting schools and local and regional farmers. Farm to School programs benefit a community’s economy, improve student nutrition, and strengthen education curricula. Local Lunches seeks to initiate Farm to School efforts in Portland, Oregon, by identifying specific strategies that Portland’s school districts can use to incorporate more local produce in their school meals. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy …

Interview With Myo Demayo, Urbanstead Farm (Audio), Myo Demayo

All Sustainability History Project Oral Histories

Interview of Myo DeMayo by Tyler Anderson.

The interview index is available for download.

The year is estimated.

Development And Characterization Of High Performance Transistors On Glass, Robert Saxer

Theses

Currently, the electrical drivers behind active-matrix flat-panel displays are polysilicon or amorphous silicon based thin-film transistors (TFTs). The ability to integrate transistors onto the glass substrate offers certain design and performance advantages over package-level integration with bulk silicon ICs; this is commonly referred to as system-on-glass (SOG) or system-on-panel (SOP). System on glass may also lower the manufacturing costs of the entire product. Cell phones, personal digital assistants, and entertainment systems are examples of applications that would benefit from system on glass integration. This project is a joint effort between the Microelectronic Engineering Department at RIT and Corning Incorporated. Thin- …

The Effectiveness Of Captive Release Conservation Methods For Spotted Turtles (Clemmys Guttata), Kate Cassim

Theses

The spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is categorized as protected and a species of special concern in New York State (Milam 2001). Understanding the habitat use, movement patterns, and life history characteristics of this species will be essential for any future efforts to provide the necessary habitat requirements for their successful recovery and management. Rochester Institute of Technology partnered with the Seneca Park Zoo and the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to investigate the release of captive-bred spotted turtles. The goal of this study was to determine the movements, habitat use, survivorship, and growth of the captive-bred spotted turtles in …

Three's A Crowd, Paul Engin

Theses

Not included.

Media Distribution In The Printing Industry: A Study Of The Movement Of Printed Materials And Electronic Files, Bernice Adjoa Lemaire

Theses

Change, according to Phillip Ruggles (2005), can be advantageous to one's business. It can sometimes be exciting and economically rewarding. At other times, change can be challenging and risky, bringing about chaos and disruption. The printing industry is undergoing both structural and cyclical change. Meeting the challenge to remain competitive in today's printing industry relies heavily on providing value for customers. Thus, print service providers are offering a variety of value added services in an effort to meet customer demands and to remain competitive. One such additional service is distribution (both physical and electronic), which includes shipping/delivery, mailing, warehousing, and …

Corporate Culture Implications On Dam Implementation Success In The Greeting Card Industry, Philip G. Diamantis

Theses

Digital Asset Management (DAM) has become a necessary concern with the growing number of files used in the graphics industry. Organization, storage, filing, and dynamic distribution of electronic mediums is becoming increasingly more important. The ROI for DAM systems comes from time savings, expanding product offerings via the web, and organization. For testing purposes, the greeting card industry was chosen because of its need for various images across several platforms. The research started by selecting several companies in the greeting card industry to analyze their competence with DAM. From these companies, four were selected and categorized according to size and …

The Relationship Between Emotional Recognition And Personality Traits, Lyndon A. Mitchell

Theses

This study investigated the relationship between personality traits and the ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions. A sample of undergraduate and graduate students (n = 52) were administered the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire 5th Edition (16PF-5) (Cattell, 1993) and an abbreviated version of Ekman's Pictures of Facial Affect (Ekman & Friesen, 1976). Pearson product-moment correlations revealed that the personality trait, Apprehension, was associated with the accurate recognition of most of the emotions. Further, regression analyses revealed that the recognition of fear was best predicted by the 16PF factors Dominance, Self Reliance and Apprehension. Personality differences were also identified between …

Putting The Community Back Into Community Networks: A Content Analysis, Michael A. Horning

Theses

This study examines the role that community networks can take in fulfilling McQuail's call for a more democratic participant form of media. Community networks, which are grassroots organizations designed to promote local community initiatives, increased their presence on the Internet in the 1990s. However, in recent years their number has declined. Research suggests that community networks fail because they lack a unified identity, have not determined their specific purpose on the Web, and do not provide relevant information to network members. Findings suggest that community networks wishing to achieve sustainability should concentrate their efforts on developing social capital and fostering …

The Fit Between Task And Medium In Sending Equivocal And Unequivocal Messages: How Self-Reported Skill Creates Self-Reported Attitude In Using The Medium, Teresa Merritt

Theses

Communication channels selected by members of an organization can have an impact on the outcome of the messages sent. The media richness theory proposes that task performance can be optimized when task information is matched with the medium's ability to convey information richness. The current study surveyed 25 support staff within the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology to evaluate the best media fit between task and medium for sending equivocal (ambiguous) and unequivocal (clear and concise) messages. The findings supported the media richness theory, and employees report positive attitudes associated with media use.

Parameric Decomposition For Evaluating Metamerism, Zhaojian Li

Theses

In those industries in which materials are colored to close specifications, a means of evaluating the degree of metamerism of colored objects is of considerable importance. Based on Wyszecki's hypothesis and its application to quantifying metamerism as described by Fairman, parameric decomposition is a technique to adjust one spectrum of a parameric match in order to achieve a perfect (metameric) match under a specific illumination and observer condition. This method can be viewed as batch correction using three "colorants" where the color-mixing model is linear in reflectance.

The research in this thesis presented these methods using the basis functions from …

Simultaneous Visual Cryptography, Oliver Kikic

Theses

A visual cryptography scheme (VCS), as proposed by M. Naor and A. Shamir, encodes a secret image into n different shares. The scheme ensures that only certain designated combinations of shares can recover the original image, while other combinations yield, in probabilistic sense, no information about the secret image. In this thesis, we show that there exist simultaneous visual cryptography schemes (SVCS), i.e. cryptographic schemes that allow for multiple secret images to be encoded across a set of n shares. The essential part of this research is to derive a set of formal definitions used to construct a valid SVCS …

Nonverbal Vocal Interface, Michael J. Murdoch

Theses

Nonverbal vocal interface, meaning the use of non-speech vocal sounds such as "oooh" and "ahhh" as input to a computer, provides an interesting and useful input modality for a graphical user interface. Nonverbal vocal interface is a novel improvement over speech-based solutions because voiced sounds may be smoothly modulated, meaning they are well suited to control of continuous variables such as cursor position, while spoken commands are inherently discrete. A graphical user interface is an excellent environment for vocal input because instantaneous visual feedback is crucial to usability, enabling users to see the results of their vocalizations and learn the …

Factors Influencing The Importance Of Incorporating Competencies Regarding Mass Casualty Incidents Into Baccalaureate-Degree Nursing Programs As Perceived By Currently Employed Faculty, Kristin Whitty

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Whether they are naturally occurring, caused by environmental forces, or generated by humans, disasters have placed extraordinary stresses on society. Following September 11, 2001, the Department of Homeland Security was created to protect the nation and coordinate responses to future emergencies at the federal, state, and local levels. However, Governmental agencies can’t handle all aspects of mass casualty events. Healthcare professionals, such as nurses, who are knowledgeable and trained in mass casualty incidents (MCIs) are needed to provide competent care to the victims. Although others expect a knowledgeable nursing response, the majority of nurse educators have not received mass casualty …

Minority Recruitment Efforts Aimed At Increasing Student Diversity At Historically Black Public Colleges And Universities And Predominantly White Public Institutions, Nia Francis Mason

LSU Master's Theses

Minority and other race recruitment have become a significant part of general recruitment efforts at many predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Despite increased efforts, some universities have not been successful at increasing diversity on campus. This study relies on the use of in-depth interviews to document, describe and understand the similar and differing characteristics of minority and other race recruitment tactics being used at PWIs and HBCUs. The researcher conducted interviews at four public institutions of higher education; two of which are HBCUs, and two of which are PWIs. The researcher also sought to …

Underground In The Confederate Capital: Punk Subculture In Richmond, Virginia, Christopher J. Dalbom

LSU Master's Theses

The intent of this thesis is to investigate the role of the punk subculture in Richmond, Virginia from an ethnographic perspective. Through participant observation and open-ended interviews, it seeks an understanding of the role of the subculture in the lives of those who embrace it and how it shapes their experiences in Richmond. In doing so, it hopes to fill a gap in music geography and in the study of the punk subculture. According to much of the literature, punk died decades ago, but for those who claim punk allegiance in Richmond today, it is very alive and real. This …

Resilient Optical Multicasting Utilizing Cycles In Wdm Optical Networks, Abhishek Satyedranath

LSU Master's Theses

High capacity telecommunications of today is possible only because of the presence of optical networks. At the heart of an optical network is an optical fiber whose data carrying capabilities are unparalleled. Multicasting is a form of communication in wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) networks that involves one source and multiple destinations. Light trees, which employ light splitting at various nodes, are used to deliver data to multiple destinations. A fiber cut has been estimated to occur, on an average, once every four days by TEN, a pan-European carrier network. This thesis presents algorithms to make multicast sessions survivable against component …

Evaluation Of An Amperometric Biosensor For The Detection Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7, Danyelle Denise Small

LSU Master's Theses

Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination is a major hazard in the water supply, causing outbreaks of disease. Conventional methods of E. coli O157:H7 detection usually takes 1-2 days and require hands-on preparation. There is a need to develop a rapid, inexpensive means of detecting the organism. The amperometric biosensor technology has achieved success in the area of metabolite detection. In this study, a bench scale amperometric biosensor was investigated to rapidly detect Escherichia coli O157:H7. The amperometric biosensor consisted of a power source, Clark electrode, autoranging picoammeter, and fabricated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) outer insert with nitrocellulose membrane and attached horseradish peroxidase …

Unbalanced Media Coverage And The 2004 Presidential Election: The New York Times Vs. The Washington Times, Jimmie E. Cummings, Jr.

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to find out if either The New York Times or The Washington Times participated in unbalanced media coverage during the last two weeks of the 2004 Presidential Election. Through content analysis paragraph tone was used to evaluate news stories, columns, and editorials as positive, negative or neutral from a composite week sample. Scholars, politicians, the public as well as journalists have long argued about the existence or not of media bias and whether it is in support of liberal or conservative politics. This study was not an attempt to pick a side in that …

Measuring Player Perceptions Of Advertising In Online Games, Ben Lewis

LSU Master's Theses

An experiment with 100 participants aged 18-24 was conducted to measure the effects of advertising in an online role-playing computer game on perceived interactivity and other aspects of gameplay experience. Results from a post-test questionnaire revealed insight into players' attitudes toward advertising in video game environments, and reflected varying levels of advertising awareness and recall, message recognition, and factors in purchasing habits. Results suggested that while advertising in online games can sometimes trigger high advertising awareness rates, it can also reduce a game's perceived sense of realism and genuinely annoy players if not appropriately coordinated with the game environment. Whereas …

Why Undergraduate Nurses Choose Not To Pursue Mental Health Nursing As A Career In Western Australia : A Descriptive Study, Therese Howell

Theses : Honours

Not only are fewer undergraduate nursing students opting to pursue a career in mental health nursing (Arnswald, 1987; Clinton & Hazelton, 2000; Happell, 1998; Lam, McMaster & Troup, 1993), but nursing students continue to rank mental health nursing as their lowest preference of career choice. Instead, nursing undergraduates appear to be opting for positions within the surgical or critical care specialties (Durkin, 2002; Happell, 1999; Happell1999; Happell, 2001). The aim of this descriptive study was to investigate and identify the potential reasons why undergraduate nursing students do not take up mental health nursing as a career. This descriptive study implemented …

Natural Death In The West Australian Newspaper, Heinrich Benz

Theses : Honours

This thesis analyses the way The West Australian presents natural death to its readers. Previous research involving death notices and obituaries has focused on gender and numerical analysis. There are hundreds of books dealing with death, covering legal, biological, physical, sociological and spiritual aspects of death, but books on death in the media tend to skirt around natural death. The diverse areas of death research fail to postulate a common definition of natural death. A similar diversity of views exists on the good death and the concepts surrounding life after death. This encourages the analysis of material from daily life, …

Hogarth To Monster Wheels : A Grotesque Connection, Christopher Ridley

Theses : Honours

When an audience is exposed to deformed, altered and abnormal entities, their interpretation relies on some form of cultural awareness of both the expected and the altered shape to stimulate a reaction. I maintain that the stimulus for this reaction has its roots in a dark and terrifying primal force, the manifestation of which we regard as the grotesque. This thesis looks for a commonality in a satirical interpretation afforded to this grotesque force. By using the caricatures in William Hogarth's engravings and the altered cars in three contemporary films. I search for a correlation between the way Hogarth and …

Cyberactivism : Public Relations In A Wired World, Shane Newton

Theses : Honours

Computer-mediated communication has revolutionised the way activist groups influence the opinion of corporations, governments and the community. It has never been so cheap or convenient to publish high-quality material to push a specific issue or cause. Activists are no longer restricted to satisfy the news values of media corporations to reach wide publics. Nor do these businesses (or governments) have any apparent advantage, despite their more economically sustainable and highly-resourced positions. Current literature is able to examine and explore how the Internet is used and the problems involved, yet much research fails to examine how these constraints and opportunities are …

Isolation And Characterization Of Toxin A-Negative, Toxin B-Positive Clostridium Difficile In Dublin, Ireland, Denise Drudy, N. Harnedy, S. Fanning, R. O’Mahony, L. Kyne

Articles

Clostridium difficile is a major cause of infectious diarrhoea in hospitalised patients. Most pathogenic C. difficile strains produce two toxins, A and B; however, clinically relevant toxin A-negative, toxin Bpositive (A– B+ ) strains of C. difficile that cause diarrhoea and colitis in humans have been isolated worldwide. The aims of this study were to isolate and characterise A– B+ strains from two university hospitals in Dublin, Ireland. Samples positive for C. difficile were identified daily by review of ELISA results and were cultured on selective media. Following culture, toxin-specific immunoassays, IMR-90 cytotoxicity assays and PCR were used to analyse …

Progressive Reform Panel, Shaun Marshall, Chris Daly, Medea Benjamin, Brad Seligman

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

No abstract provided.

The Color Of Sexual Harassment And The Public/Private Divide, Janeille Zorina Matthews

UC Law Journal of Race and Economic Justice

This article argues that the conception of sexual harassment as simply a gendered harm is inadequate because sexual harassment is not only about gender but also about race, class, sexual orientation and other realities of existence. Sexual harassment is about power and about keeping particular women out of particular economic spheres. Using the Commonwealth Caribbean as an example, this article concludes that an intersectional understanding of sexual harassment, and a more nuanced understanding of the public/private divide, will lead to better workplace harassment legislation. While much of the focus is on the Commonwealth Caribbean, a North American example suggests that …

Illinois Tool Works V. Independent Ink: Inking Out Limits Of The Patent Grant, Tyler J. Gee

University of San Francisco Law Review

This Note argues that, in deciding Independent Ink, the Supreme Court was overbroad in its characterization of the market power presumption, and the Court's analysis neglected important policies justifying the United States patent system.