Digital Commons Network^™

Minority Students’ Perspectives On Chemistry In An Alternative High School, Renee Peterson-Beeton

The Qualitative Report

Latinas/os form the largest minority group in the U.S. and they are growing more rapidly than any other ethnic group in this country. However, the number of Latinas/os in chemistry is not proportional to their population; they are noticeably absent from the physical science fields. Little research has explored the circumstances that Latino students encounter in high school chemistry. In this exploratory study, four Mexican American students and one Native American student were interviewed and observed in a physical science class at an alternative school that enrolled predominantly Latino students. Five underlying themes were found: negative perceptions of science, benefits …

Evaluation Of Remote Trap Monitors

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Can trap monitors save Wildlife Services (WS) specialists time and money by increasing the efficiency of trap checks? To find out, WS scientists and field specialists evaluated the use of remote trap monitors. In 2006, WS personnel evaluated the effectiveness of two remote monitoring devices to alert wildlife specialists when an animal is captured in a trap. The devices, which can be used with any type of trap, consist of small radio transmitters that emit unique pulse rates when an animal is captured. WS personnel tested the device on a variety of wildlife species using several different types of traps …

Deconvolution And Segmentation Of Ground Penetrating Radar Images, Vincent Krause

Masters Theses

Ground Penetrating Radar is a valuable tool for infrastructure condition evaluation as well as in archaeology and geology. The image produced by a GPR scan can be difficult to interpret due to the weak reflection amplitude, the overlap of reflections, and due to outside interference. This thesis proposes an algorithm to automate GPR scan interpretation. This will enable maintenance engineers to read GPR scans quickly and accurately.

The proposed algorithm framework uses an optimization-based deconvolution technique followed by a segmentation process. Each column of the image is deconvoluted and thus reducing them to a list of ordered pairs of reflection …

Nanomaterial Composites For The Detection Of Nerve Gas Analogs, Yogesh Datar

Masters Theses

The basis of the research work described here is the use of nanocomposite materials built by bottom-up approach for the selective detection of nerve gas analogs. Nanocomposites materials constructed by using nanoparticle-monomer-receptor (NMR) concept have been utilized to detect nerve gas analogs DCP and DMMP. Synthetic approach used in the construction of nanosensors involved use of robust platforms such as silica nanoparticles and fluorescent quantum dots. Highly conjugated receptor molecules were synthesized by using stilbeneoid compounds. A complete opto-nanosensor was developed by anchoring highly conjugated receptor molecules onto the silica nanoparticles as well as onto the quantum dots. The opto-nanosensors …

The Effect Of A Skyrme Interaction On Nucleon Induced Reactions, Yingfa Zhang

Masters Theses

The main goal of this Master thesis is the theoretical study of the interaction between a nucleon and a nucleus. This is a fundamental method to study the structure and dynamics of nuclear systems. This thesis concentrates on the study of nucleon scattering on light nuclei, ⁶Li, ⁷Li and ¹⁴N, with the effective interaction M3Y and its modification by adding a Skyrme force. This is the first time the Skyrme interaction has been employed in scattering calculations. From a comparison of the measured differential cross section σ (θ) and the analyzing power Ay (θ) for ⁶Li …

No Child Left Behind: The Process Behind The Policy, Amanda Patience Beedie

Masters Theses

My research will entail studying the political policy making process m reference to the education policy, No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The purpose of this Masters thesis is to take a more in-depth look of how the policy process functions, the steps used in the policy process, and if the steps are a valid process.

This study will look at the early. theories of the policy process. I am going to look at the classic works done by J. Leiper Freeman, Randall B. Ripley and Grace A. Franklin, and Theodore J. Lowi and their views on subgovemments. I will also …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Ruthenium Bipyridyl Complexes For Detecting Nerve Gas Agents And Explosives, Arambe Gedara Aruna Weerasinghe

Masters Theses

Five novel 2,2 '-bis bi pyridine Ru(II) complexes have been synthesized and characterized using ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹H-¹H-COSY, elemental analysis, fast atom bombardment or electrospray mass spectra and electronic absorption spectroscopy. Binding of Ru (11) complexes with nerve gas analogos such as diethyl chlorophosphate (DCP), dimethyl methyl phosphonate (DMMP) and hydrolyzed product (HCl) has been investigated by electronic absorption, fluorescence, and lifetime studies. Compound 1 showed a quenching in ³MLCT emission after an initial increase in intensity upon the addition of DCP with a bathochromic shift of 25 nm. Compound 2 exhibit a …

Design Of Multi-Electron Transfer Catalysts For The Reduction Of Trichloroethylene, Christopher Gerard Eman Ciptadjaya

Masters Theses

For decades, organohalide (RX) compounds have been heavily used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and in agriculture as pesticides. Improper disposal of organohalides has resulted in their presence in the environment as pollutants, and they have therefore presented serious environmental and toxicological concerns. These organohalides have been associated with various health and environmental problems. Therefore, effective methods for their remediation are required. We have developed a multi-electron transfer (MET) catalyst consisting of flavin mononucleotide anchored to nanocrystalline mesoporous titanium dioxide (TiO₂) thin films, and examined its reactivity toward the organohalide pollutant trichloroethylene (TCE). Various environmental factors were …

Moment Of Encounter: A Critical Exploration Of Parent-School Communication, Gary Samuel Marx

Masters Theses

Relationships among parents and schools are situated in a complex hegemony. Communication is central to the identification and construction of power in schools. Schools employ a model of communication that locates power predominately with their representatives and values parents for conformity to organizational expectations. Shared power relationships challenge actors to encounter one another and co-contribute to the development of children. The goal of this study is to uncover various meanings and understandings from what parents recall from Moments of Encounter with school personnel. Such an examination is designed to reveal power at the microlevel, in the encounter itself, as well …

The Impacts Of Congestion On Commercial Vehicle Tours Characteristics And Costs, Miguel A. Figliozzi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Congestion is a common phenomenon in all major cities of the world. Increased travel time and uncertainty brought about by congestion impacts the efficiency of logistics operations. Recent studies indicate that a significant proportion of commercial vehicle kilometers traveled (VKT) and vehicle hours traveled (VHT) are generated by trip-chains or multi-stop tours. This paper presents research demonstrating the impact of congestion on multi-stop tours in urban areas. An analytical model, numerical experiments, and real-world tour data are used to understand the impact of congestion on tour characteristics, carriers? costs, VKT, and VHT. This research shows that travel time/distance between customer …

Estimating Sea Level Due To Crustal Stretching In The Margin Of The Indian Ocean, Kisa Mwakanyamale

Masters Theses

Continental crust extension is a precursor to the formation of a new ocean. The overall crustal extension causes change in the volume of global oceans hence change in sea level. The break-up of Gondwana that began during Late Triassic to Early Jurassic time caused continental crustal extension prior to forming the Indian Ocean. Extension started 184 Ma with rifting between SE Africa, Madagascar and Antarctica. This was followed by rifting between Greater India, Australia and Antarctica beginning about 160 Ma. The most recent episode of extension occurred 34 Ma involving separation between Arabia and Horn of Africa. Gridded data sets …

Fundamental Investigation Of Vesicle Bilayer Membrane Dynamics, Wilson Okumu

Masters Theses

We studied the bilayer of vesicles from dimyristolyphosphatidylcholine (DMPC), using nitrobenzoxadiazole (NBD) probes, attached to the head (NBD-PE) and the tail (NBD-PC) of phospholipid derivatives. We characterized the bilayer as it underwent reversible transition from the gel to the fluid through a phase transition range. The main phase transition was characterized by steady state and timeresolved fluorescence anisotropy, fluorescence intensity decrement and kinetics of dithionite reduction. We also studied DMPC with dihydrocholesterol. Differences between the surface and interior regions of the bilayer region were obtained. The activation barrier was enthalpic in the gel, entropic in the fluid phase and anomalous …

Study Of The Minimum Spanning Hyper-Tree Routing Algorithm In Wireless Sensor Networks, Ting Yang, Yugeng Sun, Zhaoxia Wang, Juwei Zhang, Yingqiang Ding

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Designing energy-efficient routing protocols to effectively increase the networks' lifetime and provide the robust network service is one of the important problems in the research of wireless sensor networks. Using the hyper-graph theory, the paper represents large-scale wireless sensor networks into a hyper-graph model, which can effectively decrease the control messages in routing process. Based on this mathematic model, the paper presents the minimum spanning hyper-tree routing algorithm in synchronous wireless sensor networks (MSHT-SN), which builds a minimum energy consumption tree for data collection from multi-nodes to Sink node. The validity of the algorithm is proved by the theatrical analysis. …

Self-Organizing Neural Architectures And Cooperative Learning In A Multiagent Environment, Dan Xiao, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Temporal-Difference–Fusion Architecture for Learning, Cognition, and Navigation (TD-FALCON) is a generalization of adaptive resonance theory (a class of self-organizing neural networks) that incorporates TD methods for real-time reinforcement learning. In this paper, we investigate how a team of TD-FALCON networks may cooperate to learn and function in a dynamic multiagent environment based on minefield navigation and a predator/prey pursuit tasks. Experiments on the navigation task demonstrate that TD-FALCON agent teams are able to adapt and function well in a multiagent environment without an explicit mechanism of collaboration. In comparison, traditional Q-learning agents using gradient-descent-based feedforward neural networks, trained with the …

An Empirical Analysis Of Mobile Voice Service And Sms: A Structural Model, Youngsoo Kim, William B. Vogt, Ramayya Krishnan, Rahul Telang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In addition to the wireless telephony boom, a similar exponential increasing trend in wireless data service - short message service (SMS) - is visible as technology advances. We develop a structural model to understand how mobile users behave, especially how they consume voice, and services. Specifically, we measure the own- and the cross-price elasticities of these services. The cross-price elasticity is of significant importance because marketing activities are critically influenced by whether the goods are substitutes or complements. The research context poses significant econometric challenges due to three-part tariff, sequential discrete plan choice and continuous quantity choices. Using detailed individual …

Woody Encroachment In North Dakota Grasslands: Using Predictive Modeling To Examine Key Players And Management Implications, Leigh A. Ciofani

Theses and Dissertations

Woody shrub encroachment is one of the major threats to grasslands, closely connected to other issues such as fire regimes, herbivore grazing patterns, and climate change, and is currently a global trend. Consequences of shrub encroachment can significantly impact many of the ecological characteristics of grasslands, including grassland biogeochemistry and resource availability and biodiversity. Studies conducted on grassland ecosystems have pointed to grassland management, in the form of prescribed burning, grazing, or some combination of the two, as a way to prevent woody encroachment. Prevention of woody encroachment may be particularly important to preserving grasslands, as management may not be …

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, David Ashley, Tony Allen, Mamie Peers, Allison Miller

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

The High-Tech Sector In Northeast Ohio: 2007 Update, Ziona Austrian, Jill S. Taylor

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report describes trends in the high-tech sector in Northeast Ohio, focusing on the 2004-2006 time period. It is the first update to a baseline report released in February 2007 that analyzed trends between 2000 and 2005. This study follows the baseline report in that it examines the high-tech sector in Northeast Ohio from three perspectives — high-tech industries, high-tech occupations, and research and development activity. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of high-tech industries in terms of employment, average wage, gross regional product (output), and productivity. High-tech occupations are analyzed in terms of employment levels. Research and development activity …

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Update: December 2007, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2007

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates from December 2007.

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.

Lsuhsc Facilities Biweekly Update: December 2007, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2007

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates from December 7 and 21, 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.

The Opacity Of Spiral Galaxy Disks. Viii. Structure Of The Cold Ism., Benne W. Holwerda, B. Draine, K. D. Gordon, R. A. Gonzalez, D. Calzetti, M. Thornley, B. Buckalew, Ronald J. Allen, P C. Van Der Kruit

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The quantity of dust in a spiral disk can be estimated using the dust’s typical emission or the extinction of a known source. In this paper we compare two techniques, one based on emission and one on absorption, applied to sections of 14 disk galaxies. The two measurements reflect, respectively, the average and apparent optical depth of a disk section. Hence, they depend differently on the average number and optical depth of ISM structures in the disk. The small-scale geometry of the cold ISM is critical for accurate models of the overall energy budget of spiral disks. ISM geometry, relative …

Michigan Elementary School Facility Quality And Its Impact On Student Achievement, Brett A. Geier

Dissertations

Studies on school facility quality and its impact on student achievement have been conducted throughout the nation with varying results. Some studies conclude a significant relationship exists between facility condition and student achievement, while others refute this potential phenomenon. Much of the research concludes that not enough analyses have been conducted to make appropriate generalizations. This research study focused on the condition ofelementary schools in Michigan and utilized the Michigan Educational Assessment Program (M.E.A.P.) examinations in reading and mathematics at the third, fourth and fifth grade levels as the dependent variable to assess the relationship between building condition and student …

The Classic, Winter 2007-2008, Public Relations

The Classic, 2000-2009

A Leader Remembered; Inbox; No Easy Answers; Faith and Friendship; On Board; Writing Hope; Blue-Ribbon Collaboration; 'Tis the Season for Giving; So Long, Farewell; One Man's Art; Food for the World; Missions-Minded; Faith and Family: A Q&A with the children of Northwestern's Parents of the Year; Fall Sports; Face Value: Karen Barker; Of Course: Sick Feelings; Looking Back: The Christmas Gift; Pop Quiz; Photo Essay: Way to Celebrate!; Distinguished: Three alumni honored at Homecoming: Marty Guthmiller '82, Don Van Etten '54, Dave Hulsart '91; New Horizon: Students learn about sustainable community development in post-communist Romania; In the Line of Fire: …

The Effect Of A Required Character Education And Class-Wide Peer Tutoring Program On 5th-Grade Students’ Reading And Writing Performance, Anthony P. Dancer

Student Work

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of a required school year long Character Education and Class-Wide Peer Tutoring program (CE+CWPT) for students who scored at or below proficiency in one, two, or three of their reading fluency, reading comprehension, or writing assessments at the beginning of their 5th-grade school year. The study analyzed performance on criterion referenced tests, performance on norm-referenced tests, behavioral referrals, and attendance to determine what relationship, if any, exists between levels of achievement amongst students participating in a required CE+CWPT program. Following a year of program participation, 5th-grade students with one or …

The Effect Of A Required Character Education And Class-Wide Peer Tutoring Program On 5th-Grade Students' Reading And Writing Performance, Anthony P. Dancer

Student Work

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of a required school year long Character Education and Class-Wide Peer Tutoring program (CE+CWPT) for students who scored at or below proficiency in one, two, or three of their reading fluency, reading comprehension, or writing assessments at the beginning of their 5th-grade school year. The study analyzed performance on criterion referenced tests, performance on norm-referenced tests, behavioral referrals, and attendance to determine what relationship, if any, exists between levels of achievement amongst students participating in a required CE+CWPT program. Following a year of program participation, 5th-grade students with one or …

December 2007 Commencement Program, Bowling Green State University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Moral Development In Pilot Populations, Erica Anne Diels

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Ethical issues are becoming more commonplace in society today and while most industries are taking steps to improve poor ethical decisions through ethics education, aviation is lagging behind in both understanding of ethical issues inherent to the industry and ethics education. In this study three groups of pilots (students, instructors, and faculty) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University are examined in an effort to determine moral development level in terms of P score on the Defining Issues Test 2 (DIT2) and two domain specific additional questions. It was hypothesized that differences would be found between the groups and that the moral development …

Deliberation And Dialogue In The Pracademic Commons, Roger A. Lohmann

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

There is a strong connection between deliberation and dialogue and commons theory Deliberative activity generally takes place within group settings that approximate the defining conditions of a commons. In addition, social capital, in the form of trust and a sense of mutuality, and construction of a new or reconstituted normative outlook typically result from successful deliberation and dialogue efforts. This poses several lessons for the practice of the practice of such discussions.

Energy Efficient Removal Of Tds From Ro Reject And Cooling Tower Blowdown, Heath Himstedt, Meredith Bruick, Matthew Correnti, Seth Huber, Pettus Kincannon, Mai Sayarath

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The southwestern United States, specifically the Albuquerque, NM area, was chosen as the target location for implementation of the Project ZERO design due to the volume of electronics manufacturing facilities in the area and the critical need to conserve water. The WERC RO reject sample, believed to originate in chemical mechanical polishing, contains high amounts of silica, trace heavy metals, and salt compounds that would negatively impact water quality if it were discharged into surface waters. Because of the high levels of silica, special precaution must be taken when utilizing membrane or mechanical evaporation technologies due to fouling and scaling …

Application Of The Transtheoretical Model Of Change To Saving Behaviors Of College Students, Benjamin Franklin Cummings

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Using the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of change (Prochaska & Di Clemente, 1982) as a guide to analyze financial behavior, college students were asked a variety of questions about their financial situations. Recruited from undergraduate classes at Utah State University, 112 students took the online survey. Surprisingly, 44.4% of participants reported being in the Maintenance stage of the TTM, and 71.2% reported contributing at least monthly to some sort of savings or investment account. In terms of Financial Planning Personality Type (Lown, 2007), 46.3% of respondents were Planners and 23.1% were Savers. Though the study displays limitations, it begs further investigation …