Digital Commons Network^™

In This Apple For Teacher An Apple From Eve - Reanalyzing The Intelligent Design Debate From A Curricular Perspective, Mary Katherine Hackney

North Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

Art, The Social Enzyme: The Emergence Of An Art Community In The Rio Grande Valley, Heaven Lashley

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study explores the emergence of an art community in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region of South Texas. In researching this objective, I relied on observations at many gallery public functions where I had the opportunity to observe the interactions between prospective buyers, gallery owners and artists. I also visited with gallery owners and artists many times in small group settings where I raised open ended questions about the region's artists and other historical developments that would allow me to put together a cohesive story about the emergence of the art community

This study began as an unstructured exploration …

Maintaining An Immigrant Heritage Language Other Than Spanish Or English In The Bilingual Culture Of The Rio Grande Valley Of South Texas, Sonia A. Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A 2005 study in the bilingual Spanish/English Rio Grande Valley of South Texas investigates the language strategies used by immigrant families from China, Greece, Hungary, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, and the Ukraine to preserve their heritage languages and pass them on to their children. Personal interviews determine that all the parents are well-educated and from an above average socio-economic level. This investigation categorizes the various strategies used by the parents. All the immigrant parents emphasize that the main reason they want to preserve the heritage language with their children is to insure that the children can continue to communicate …

Set-Based Cascading Approaches For Magnetic Resonance (Mr) Image Segmentation (Scamis), Jiang Liu, Tze-Yun Leong, Kin Ban Chee, Boon Pin Tan, Borys Shuter, Shih Chang Wang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper introduces Set-based Cascading Approach for Medical Image Segmentation (SCAMIS), a new methodology for segmentation of medical imaging by integrating a number of algorithms. Existing approaches typically adopt the pipeline methodology. Although these methods provide promising results, the results generated are still susceptible to over-segmentation and leaking. In our methodology, we describe how set operations can be utilized to better overcome these problems. To evaluate the effectiveness of this approach, Magnetic Resonance Images taken from a teaching hospital research programme have been utilised, to reflect the real world quality needed for testing in patient datasets. A comparison between the …

Towards Effective Content-Based Music Retrieval With Multiple Acoustic Feature Combination, Jialie Shen, John Shepherd, Ann H. H. Ngu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we present a new approach to constructing music descriptors to support efficient content-based music retrieval and classification. The system applies multiple musical properties combined with a hybrid architecture based on principal component analysis (PCA) and a multilayer perceptron neural network. This architecture enables straightforward incorporation of multiple musical feature vectors, based on properties such as timbral texture, pitch, and rhythm structure, into a single low-dimensioned vector that is more effective for classification than the larger individual feature vectors. The use of supervised training enables incorporation of human musical perception that further enhances the classification process. We compare …

Measuring Qualities Of Articles Contributed By Online Communities, Ee Peng Lim, Ba-Quy Vuong, Hady W. Lauw, Aixin Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Using open source Web editing software (e.g., wiki), online community users can now easily edit, review and publish articles collaboratively. While much useful knowledge can be derived from these articles, content users and critics are often concerned about their qualities. In this paper, we develop two models, namely basic model and peer review model, for measuring the qualities of these articles and the authorities of their contributors. We represent collaboratively edited articles and their contributors in a bipartite graph. While the basic model measures an article's quality using both the authorities of contributors and the amount of contribution from each …

Supply Chain Information Sharing In A Macro Prediction Market, Zhiling Guo, Fang Fang, Andrew B. Whinston

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This paper aims to address supply chain partners' incentives for information sharing from an information systems design perspective. Specifically, we consider a supply chain characterized by N geographically distributed retailers who order a homogeneous product from one manufacturer. Each retailer's demand risk consists of two parts: a systematic risk part that affects all retailers and an idiosyncratic risk part that only has a local effect. We propose a macro prediction market to effectively elicit and aggregate useful information about systematic demand risk. We show that such information can be used to achieve accurate demand forecast sharing and better channel coordination …

Online Advertising By The Comparison Challenge Approach, Jae Wong Lee, Jae Kyu Lee

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

To enhance the effectiveness of online comparisons from a manufacturer's point of view, we develop a framework for the comparison challenge approach. To develop the comparison challenge framework, we analyze 12 factors that determine the characteristics of comparison and propose models of valuable comparison challenges using the CompareMe and CompareThem strategies. We demonstrate the approaches with the example of PC selection. To help plan the comparison challenges, we formulate a mathematical programming model that maximizes the total value of comparison under the constraints of comparison opportunity and budgetary limitation. The model is applied to eight comparison scenarios, and its performance …

Identifying Difficulties In Learning Uml, Keng Siau, Poi-Peng Loo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Despite its recognition as a standard object-oriented modeling language, Unified Modeling Language (UML) has been criticized for such deficiencies as semantic inconsistencies, vagueness, and conflicting notations. the relationship between these deficiencies and the difficulties in the learning process is the focus of this study. A concept mapping technique is used to unveil the learning difficulties and suggestions for alleviating them are provided.

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Update: December 2006, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2006

LSUHSC Dailly Facilities Updates from December 2006.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Inside The Bankruptcy Judge's Mind, Chris Guthrie, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski, Andrew J. Wistrich

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Specialization is common in medicine. Doctors become oncologists, radiologists, urologists, or even hernia repair specialists. Specialization is also common among practicing lawyers, who become estate planners or products liability lawyers or securities litigators. Judges, however, have historically been generalists who preside over any and all cases. This requires that judges become acquainted with the rules of civil procedure, the rules of criminal procedure, the evidentiary rules applicable to both civil and criminal cases, and the substantive law in almost every area. From the simplest slip-and-fall to the most complicated antitrust case, and nearly every civil and criminal action in between, …

Job Tasks Performed By Career Preparation System Administrators: Implications For Leadership Development, Julia K. Vandermolen

Dissertations

This study represents the results of a quantitative survey measuring the importance and frequency of job tasks performed by Michigan's Career Preparation System (CPS) administrators. The census consisted of 120 (n = 120) CPS administrators. Eighty-six (n = 86) or 72% of CPS administrators participated in the study. A mailed survey was used to collect data to determine the importance and frequency of 51 job tasks performed by career and technical education (CTE)administrators identified by a previous DACUM study for a leadership development program. Quantitative methods were used to seek an improved understanding of the job tasks performed …

After-Schools Programs And Their Influence On Parent Involvement With Children At Home, Marci Malone

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Eight-year-old Victoria, with hands on hips and chin stuck up, defiantly said, "No mom, I want to stay for After-School Club. I don't care about the dentist." Her mother patiently responded by telling Victoria, "I know you want to stay but we have to leave now or we will be late for our appointment." The little girl, seeming to know from experience that her mother would not budge, stomped her foot as she began leaving the school saying, "I hate when I have to miss After-School Club!"

How To Survive A Terrorist Attack: The Constitution's Majority Quorum Requirement And The Continuity Of Congress, John Bryan Williams

William & Mary Law Review

Since their realization that United Airlines Flight 93 was headed toward the U.S. Capitol on the morning of September 11, 2001, legislators and policymakers have been debating how the legislative branch would continue functioning in the aftermath of a terrorist attack that killed or incapacitated large numbers of sehators or representatives. This Article reviews the current House and Senate "Continuity of Congress"plans, and argues they are both practically and constitutionally inadequate. Focusing particularly on the Constitution's majority quorum requirement in Article I, Section Five, Clause One, this Article argues that a House or Senate operating in accordance with the current …

Moritz Busch's Die Mormonen And The Conversion Of Karl G. Maeser, A. Legrand Richards

BYU Studies

Karl G. Maeser’s contributions to the education of nineteenth-century Latter-day Saints had a profound impact on the history of Mormonism, an impact that has reverberated to today. The narrative surrounding Maeser’s conversion has been told and retold for over a century now in the enculturation of students into Brigham Young University’s heritage. This essay seeks to better understand and contextualize the events surrounding Maeser’s conversion and, more specifically, to discuss the text that was most influential in his conversion—the less-than-friendly Die Mormonen by Moritz Busch (1821–99).

Black And Mormon By Newell G. Bringhurst And Darron T. Smith, Eds, Emmanuel A. Kissi

BYU Studies

Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith, eds. Black and Mormon. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press, 2004.

Building Bridges Of Understanding: The Church And The World Of Islam, Boyd K. Packer, Alwi Shihab

BYU Studies

President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave this introduction of Dr. Alwi Shihab prior to Dr. Shihab’s forum address given at Brigham Young University on October 10, 2006.

Spatial And Seasonal Variation In Wildlife-Vehicle Collisions, Jonathan M. Conard, Philip S. Gipson

The Prairie Naturalist

To understand seasonal variation in the number of wildlife-vehicle collisions and the influence of land cover type on collision distribution we counted road-kill carcasses for 84 weeks along a 40 km route on two state highways in northeastern Kansas. We noted land cover type adjacent to each road-kill and tested the null hypothesis that road-kills were distributed randomly with respect to land cover type. Wildlife-vehicle collisions were not distributed randomly in relation to land cover availability. Instead, collisions occurred more often then expected adjacent to riparian areas and less often than expected adjacent to agricultural fields. Wildlife-vehicle collisions varied seasonally …

Amphibians And Reptiles In A Mixed-Grass Prairie In Northwestern North Dakota, Robert K. Murphy, Robert F. Danley, Patricia K. Moore

The Prairie Naturalist

There have been almost no surveys of herpetofauna at 109 km² Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge (LNWR) or surrounding counties in northwestern North Dakota, an area possibly undergoing significant environmental change from fossil fuel extraction and use. We used 30 m drift fences to survey amphibian and reptile species in prairie-wetland transition zones at LNWR during mid-May to early-July in 1985 to 1987, and again in 1999 and 2000. We captured only four amphibian and two reptilian species and noted one other reptilian species incidental to our survey. Several species expected to occur in the area were not detected.

Secularism In Turkey: The Perpetual Tipping Point: Key To The Future Or Prelude To Collapse, Peter R. Catalono

Student Work

During the Cold War, the strategic significance of Turkey to the United States was clear: limit the expansion of the Soviet Union and maintain control of the Dardanelles. For the past decade and a half Western policymakers (US and European) have sent mixed signals to the Turks as to the importance of Turkey in the region, as a bridge between East and West, and in the World. Through eight decades of secular rule Turkey has shown that a democratic and secular state can exist within an almost entirely Muslim population. This thesis is made up of five main parts that …

The Political Career Of Robert B. Crosby, Nebraska Governor, 1953-1955, Theodore J. Wehrbein

Student Work

This thesis examines the political career of Robert B. Crosby, Nebraska's twenty-seventh governor, whose early popularity ended with his efforts to comply with a State Supreme Court mandate to equalize state-wide property tax assessments. Elected to the Nebraska Legislature in 1940 and re-elected in 1942, Crosby was chosen at the age of 31 as the Speaker of the Legislature in 1943, the youngest person ever to hold that position. After serving two years in the United States Navy, he successfully ran as a Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor in 1946, and then, in a landslide victory, was elected Governor in …

Perceptions Of Respite Care Benefits And The Measures Of Leisure Satisfaction And Life Satisfaction Among Informal Caregivers, Natalie J. Nauman

Student Work

The purpose of the proposed study was to determine the perceived benefits of respite care by informal caregivers who are actively pursuing respite services, and to evaluate their expectations after receiving respite services. In addition the study also was undertaken to better understand the roles of “leisure satisfaction” and “Perceived Stress Levels” in the lives of informal caregivers who are currently receiving respite services versus those who are not currently receiving services, in both a pre and post format for both groups of caregivers. The study group of caregivers was given a total of four surveys in the pre-respite package …

The Effects Of Parent Involvement On The Reading Achievement And Reading Engagement Of Students Participating In A Balanced Reading Curriculum, Ledonna M. York

Student Work

This study evaluated the reading achievement scores and reading engagement outcomes of second grade students, in an urban magnet center, whose parents were randomly selected to participate in active parent involvement training (APIT; n = 13) sessions compared to information based parent involvement training (IBPIT; n = 6) sessions. Results of the pretest posttest two group comparative study examined (a) reading achievement scores as measured by (i) Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills 6th edition (DIBELS); and (ii) Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE); and (b) reported reading engagement frequencies as measured by student (i) school absences, (ii) …

Sarbanes-Oxley's Structural Model To Encourage Corporate Whistleblowers, Richard E. Moberly

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Nonprofit Takeovers: Regulating The Market For Mission Control, Dana Brakman Reiser

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Eastern Echo, December 1, 2006, Eastern Michigan University

EMU Student Newspaper: The Normal News & The Eastern Echo

No abstract provided.

December 2006 Commencement Program, Bowling Green State University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Letter To Friends Of The William & Mary Law School, W. Taylor Reveley Iii

1998–2008: W. Taylor Reveley, III

No abstract provided.

Openness, Income-Tax Progressivity, And Inflation, Joseph P. Daniels, David D. Vanhoose

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

This paper considers a model of an open economy in which the degree of income-tax progressivity influences the interaction among openness, central bank independence, and the inflation rate. Our model suggests that an increase in the progressivity of the tax system induces a smaller response in real output to a change in the price level. This implies that increased income-tax progressivity reduces the equilibrium inflation rate and that the effect of increased income-tax progressivity on inflation is smaller when the central bank places a higher weight on inflation or when there is greater openness. Examination of cross-country inflation data provides …

Integration Of Art And Environmental Education: The Centro De Educación Creativa In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2006, Veronica Harried

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Population growth and deforestation are negatively affecting biodiversity in the Tropics, necessitating environmental education for local populations. Arts education increases the ability to comprehend complex information, enhance creativity and provide problem solving skills (Longley 1999, Siegesmund 1998). Together, environmental education and Arts education can enhance ecological processes and conservation themes in students’ minds so they are retained well into their adulthood. This increases the likelihood that these individuals will make environmentally informed decisions throughout their lives (Gurevitz 2000). In this project, I incorporate current Arts curriculum guidelines from the United States into the Costa Rican environmental curriculum used at the …