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2008

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Scheduling For Composite Event Detection In Wireless Sensor Networks, Arny Isonja Ambrose Jan 2008

Scheduling For Composite Event Detection In Wireless Sensor Networks, Arny Isonja Ambrose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Wireless sensor networks are used in areas that are inaccessible, inhospitable or for continuous monitoring. The main use of such networks is for event detection. Event detection is used to monitor a particular environment for an event such as fire or flooding. Composite event detection is used to break down the detection of the event into the specific conditions that need to be present for the event to occur. Using this method, each sensor node does not need to carry every sensing component necessary to detect the event. Since energy efficiency is important the sensor nodes need to be scheduled …


Selection Of Canals And Ditches As Foraging Habitat By Wood S7374torks (Mycteria Americana), Os Eleanor K Van Jan 2008

Selection Of Canals And Ditches As Foraging Habitat By Wood S7374torks (Mycteria Americana), Os Eleanor K Van

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

A challenge to ensure the health of wading bird populations is to have a better understanding of the altered habitats that we must now consider part of their natural history. Throughout their range endangered Wood Storks (Mycteria americana) have been reported to forage in ditches, a disparate category of linear man-made waterways. In a 52-kmP 2 P study area on the east coast of central Florida, the characteristics of hydrologically diverse ditches were quantified, and their use by Wood Storks documented during their non-breeding season. Logistic regression analyses were carried out using the ditch characteristics as independent variables and Wood …


Sex Wars: Evolved Psychological Sex Differences And Sexual Conflict In The Contexts Of Infidelity, Persuasion, And Hip-Hop Song Lyrics, Alastair P C Davies Jan 2008

Sex Wars: Evolved Psychological Sex Differences And Sexual Conflict In The Contexts Of Infidelity, Persuasion, And Hip-Hop Song Lyrics, Alastair P C Davies

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Although researchers agree that humans exhibit behavioral sex differences, there remains controversy over whether these sex differences are socially constructed or are the product of divergent evolutionary selection pressures on the psychologies of men and women. Through four studies, this dissertation presents evidence that behavioral sex differences have their origin in divergent evolutionary selection pressures and that these sex differences lead to conflict between the sexes. The first two studies investigate a type of sexual infidelity known as human mate poaching. The third study investigates the use of physical attractiveness as a tactic to persuade opposite-sex individuals. The fourth study …


Studies On Stochastic Multi-User Scheduling In Wireless Communication, Di Wang Jan 2008

Studies On Stochastic Multi-User Scheduling In Wireless Communication, Di Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

We developed a cross layer design which combines retransmission diversity and multi-user diversity for wireless communication. To this end, a joint design of adaptive modulation and coding with retransmission-based automatic repeat request protocol is outlined. This design is applied to devise multi-user scheduling schemes, which can optimally capture the available multi-user and retransmission diversities. In addition, the proposed on-line scheduling algorithms can operate even when the underl ying fading channel distribution is unknown, while asymptotically converging to the offline benchmark with guarantees on prescribed fairness and rate requirements. Numerical results are provided to verify the merits of our novel schemes …


Structured Flows On Manifolds, Ajay S. Pillai Jan 2008

Structured Flows On Manifolds, Ajay S. Pillai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Despite the high-dimensional nature of the nervous system, humans produce low-dimensional cognitive and behavioral dynamics. How high-dimensional networks with complex connectivity give rise to functionally meaningful dynamics is not well understood. How does a neural network encode function? How can functional dynamics be systematically obtained from networks? There exist few frameworks in the current literature that answer these questions satisfactorily. In this dissertation I propose a general theoretical framework entitled 'Structured Flows on Manifolds' and its underlying mathematical basis. The framework is based on the principles of non-linear dynamical systems and Synergetics and can be used to understand how high-dimensional …


Subjecting The Chimera Supernova Code To Two Hydrodynamic Test Problems, (I) Riemann Problem And (Ii) Point Blast Explosion, Abu Salah M Ahsan Jan 2008

Subjecting The Chimera Supernova Code To Two Hydrodynamic Test Problems, (I) Riemann Problem And (Ii) Point Blast Explosion, Abu Salah M Ahsan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

A Shock wave as represented by the Riemann problem and a Point-blast explosion are two key phenomena involved in a supernova explosion. Any hydrocode used to simulate supernovae should be subjected to tests consisting of the Riemann problem and the Point-blast explosion. L. I. Sedov's solution of Point-blast explosion and Gary A. Sod's solution of a Riemann problem have been re-derived here from one dimensional fluid dynamics equations . Both these problems have been solved by using the idea of Self-similarity and Dimensional analysis. The main focus of my research was to subject the CHIMERA supernova code to these two …


Study And Design Of A Pifa For A Human-Implanted Rfid Communication System, Yves-Thierry Jean-Charles Jan 2008

Study And Design Of A Pifa For A Human-Implanted Rfid Communication System, Yves-Thierry Jean-Charles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This effort studies the implementation of a biocompatible Planar Inverted-F Antenna (PIF A) for the Medical Instrument Communication System (MICS) frequency band of 402 to 405 MHz for RFID applications. The basic electromagnetic properties of human tissues are investigated at 403 .5 MHz. Then, the radiation characteristics of submerged wire antenna are evaluated in order to approximate the effects of multilayered media on a PIFA's performance. The PIFA is assessed using Ansoft's Finite Element Method based electromagnetic evaluation software, HFSS v.l 0. The electrical parameters of the antenna in relation to the surrounding environment, notably air, silicone capsule, and a …


Struck By Aesthetics: Recuperating Folk Drama, Amber L. Estlund Jan 2008

Struck By Aesthetics: Recuperating Folk Drama, Amber L. Estlund

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

As current scholarship has begun to revisit African American theater, there has been an important rediscovery of certain women playwrights of the Harlem Renaissance. Coinciding with this rediscovery has been a tendency, however, to retain the often confusing and oppressive label that has haunted their plays and kept them from serious scholarly attention. Evoking categorizations like "folk drama" and "propaganda plays" oversimplifies the complexities of the terms themselves as well as what the individual women were doing in their writing. The primary focus of this study is to evaluate and recuperate the functions of the term "folk drama" as it …


Tejidos Arquitectonicos: Exploraciones De La Dimimica Entre El Individuo Y La Ciudad En "Walking Around" De Pablo Neruda Y Aura De Carlos Fuentes, Paret Alfredo Palacio Jan 2008

Tejidos Arquitectonicos: Exploraciones De La Dimimica Entre El Individuo Y La Ciudad En "Walking Around" De Pablo Neruda Y Aura De Carlos Fuentes, Paret Alfredo Palacio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Silas Weir Mitchell in 1872 defined as "phantom limb" the sensation and feelings of anxiety, confusion and even pain the amputee receives from an absent body part. By extending this concept and applying it to the architectural imagery within literature, it is possible to observe the dynamics between the characters and their structural environment. This thesis explores the relation between spatial structure and identity in two Latin American works: "Walking Around" (1933) by Pablo Neruda and Aura (1962) by Carlos Fuentes. Both authors introduce architecture as an intrinsic element in the construction of their narrative; Neruda's poetic voice wanders around …


The Effects Of An Audio Coaching Intervention On Parents' Interactions With Their Children With Autism, Patricia Oliver Jan 2008

The Effects Of An Audio Coaching Intervention On Parents' Interactions With Their Children With Autism, Patricia Oliver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Children with autism may present delays in the development of social, communicative and cognitive skills. The behavioral features and patterns of development exhibited across domains can be very distinctive (Volkmar, 1999). This diversity in the expression of autism is what presents the greatest challenge for professionals and parents looking for the most appropriate and effective intervention for this population. Audio coaching intervention is one technology that has been used for over 50 years to train psychologists, medical interns, pre-service teachers, and parents of children with behavioral challenges (Baum, 1976; Crimmins, Bradlyn, St. Lawrence, & Kelly, 1984; Giebelhaus, 1994; Goodman, Brady, …


The Circle Of Many Voices In Chaucer's The Parliament Of Fowls, Nancy Kay Gates Fleisher Jan 2008

The Circle Of Many Voices In Chaucer's The Parliament Of Fowls, Nancy Kay Gates Fleisher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Geoffrey Chaucer's poem. The Parliament of Fowls, has been acknowledged as an intricate dream vision of balanced contrasts of ideas, double entendre words, classical models, and rules of courtly love. Examining the heretofore unexamined voices invented by Chaucer's narrator, l found that the ancient grammatical term of "middle voice," employed in recent linguistic criticism and theory, served to place the narrator inside his world of reading, dreaming, and writing. As critic and poet. Chaucer offers the reader new ways to think about ancient literary themes of reading. writing, listening, and telling stories about love. The reader remains free to enjoy …


The Effect Of Vegetation (Ipomoea Pes-Caprae) On Leatherback (Dermochelys Coriacea) Nest Productivity, Jeremy R. Conrad Jan 2008

The Effect Of Vegetation (Ipomoea Pes-Caprae) On Leatherback (Dermochelys Coriacea) Nest Productivity, Jeremy R. Conrad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

From 2004 - 2007, the beach at Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge (St. Croix, USVI) experienced low summer erosion, which allowed native pioneer vegetation to spread seaward and invade leatherback-nesting areas. The encroachment of vegetation reduced nest survival. Here I describe the results of an experimental assessment of vegetation control methods and of the effects of native vegetation on leatherback hatching and emergence success. I tested four treatments: (i) naturally vegetated, (ii) herbicide treated vegetation, (iii) mechanically removed above ground vegetation, and (iv) non-vegetated (control) plots. Nests were relocated into each of the plot types then left to incubate naturally. …


The Relations Of Sexist Beliefs To The Personal And Social Adjustment Of Preadolescent Children, Rebecca L. Collins Jan 2008

The Relations Of Sexist Beliefs To The Personal And Social Adjustment Of Preadolescent Children, Rebecca L. Collins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this thesis was to see how sexist beliefs in childhood relate to indexes of children's personal and social adjustment. We developed an instrument to study the sexist beliefs that children have regarding work, parenting, dating, and other aspects of gender roles. We predicted (and found) that having these sexist beliefs affected the sexes differently. For girls sexist beliefs were associated with reduced global self-worth and body satisfaction; and increased depression. For boys, sexist beliefs were associated with increased global self-worth, narcissism, externalizing behaviors, and competence in sports; and decreased depression and prosocial behavior.


The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy Of Senior Adults And Their Use Of The Internet, Annmarie Masi Jan 2008

The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy Of Senior Adults And Their Use Of The Internet, Annmarie Masi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This mixed method research design explored the relationship between the selfefficacy of senior adults and their use of the Internet. Two quantitative research questions guided this study: (a) Is there a relationship between the self-efficacy of senior adults and their level of use of the Internet? and (b) Do the demographics (gender, age, and race/ethnicity) moderate the relationship between the self-efficacy of senior adults and their level of use of the Internet? Two qualitative research questions guided this study: (a) Is there a difference in views of senior adults in regard to their use of other technologies? and (b) Is …


Trophic Ecology Of The Slender Snipe Eel, Nemichthys Scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae), Jennifer N. Feagans Jan 2008

Trophic Ecology Of The Slender Snipe Eel, Nemichthys Scolopaceus (Anguilliformes: Nemichthyidae), Jennifer N. Feagans

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Roughly 92% of the total volume of Earth's oceans is considered deep sea. The eel species, Nemichthys scolopaceus, inhabits these waters, and little is known of its diet, its place within pelagic food webs, and its overall ecological impact. In this study we quantitatively estimate the abundance, feeding and predation impact of this key predator. Specimens were collected in 2004 along Georges Bank as part of the Census of Marine Life Gulf of Maine project. Gut contents were analyzed, revealing thirteen prey types, primarily euphausiids and decapod crustaceans. Other potential prey (i.e. fishes) were absent from the diet, suggesting a …


Unintended Alliances, Michael. Bocco Jan 2008

Unintended Alliances, Michael. Bocco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This thesis will explore the origins of the U.S.-Israeli alliance during the Kennedy administration. John F. Kennedy provided Israel with the first U.S. weapons sale, issued the first informal security guarantee, and established the first joint security consultations between both nations. Ironically, Kennedy gave these concessions to contain Israel, not to establish closer relations. His primary objective for the Middle East was to improve U.S. relations with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, seeing Nasser as the path for gaining pro-American sentiments among the Arab population in the region to the detriment of the Soviets. Kennedy unintentionally laid the foundations of …


Tennessee Williams's Guilt Inspired 'Savior' Doubles, Isaac H. Colegrove Jan 2008

Tennessee Williams's Guilt Inspired 'Savior' Doubles, Isaac H. Colegrove

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

This thesis documents Thomas Lanier (Tennessee) Williams's treatment of brother/sister relationships in literary works written between 1939 and 1950. Though Williams began by exploiting his troubled relationship with his sister Rose in "The Long Goodbye" and "The Purification," two one-act plays, he revised his treatment of siblings in The Glass Menagerie and the short story "The Resemblance between a Violin Case and a Coffin." These works do not merely reveal the writer's transparent guilt and shame at having neglected his sister at moments when he could have helped her, nor do they serve simply to over-write his torrid depictions of …


Trouble In Paradise: The Influence Of Property Insurance On The Politics Of Growth In Florida From 1880 To 1995, Patrick T. Welsh Jan 2008

Trouble In Paradise: The Influence Of Property Insurance On The Politics Of Growth In Florida From 1880 To 1995, Patrick T. Welsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Hurricane Andrew, in 1992, represented a watershed event in illuminating the financial consequences of Florida's business and political leaders decisions fostering population and economic growth without planning or control. The frontier mentality of the early generations of pioneers carried over to later developers and politicians, and led to a vision of empty land as unlimited economic opportunity The assumption of regulatory control of the insurance industry by state government allowed the completion of the emerging national housing policies for fully securing mortgages These policies essentially made property insurance mandatory. The retention of the cartel operation of the insurance industry led …


The Fate Of Copper In Flooded South Florida Agricultural Soils And Its Toxicological Effects On The Florida Apple Snail, Pomacea Paludosa, Emily Catherine Rogevich Jan 2008

The Fate Of Copper In Flooded South Florida Agricultural Soils And Its Toxicological Effects On The Florida Apple Snail, Pomacea Paludosa, Emily Catherine Rogevich

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Agricultural sites have been acquired under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) for the creation of water storage areas. Copper desorption and toxicity to the Florida apple snail (Pomacea paludosa) were investigated using soils from these sites. Copper concentrations in II soils ranged from 5 to 234 mg/kg Cu dw, and when flooded, resulted in overlying water Cu concentrations from 9 to 308 11g/L Cu. Juvenile apple snails exposed to three flooded soils had high mortality and decreased growth within 9 to 16 days in two ofthe three soils examined. To assess Cu toxicity to the apple snail at various …


Toward A Pragmatics Of Intent, Lois. Wolfe Jan 2008

Toward A Pragmatics Of Intent, Lois. Wolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Locus of an author poses questions of intentionality, how intention is discovered, expressed, hidden, revealed and interpreted. The purpose of the study is to find and apply productive interdisciplinary concepts in intentionality detection, decoding and evaluation in fictional texts. The investigation integrates traditions in literature, linguistics, cognitive science and creative writing, posing a pragmatics of intent that complements and complicates precepts in reader reception-based constructivism. Basic to a vision of pragmatic strategies: 1) situating effect and affect in an embodied mind; 2) acknowledging mutual and/or oppositional intentionalities which an embodied author and embodied reader bring to the process of fictional …


The Subaltern Female Struggle For Power In Courtly Love France And Medieval Spain, Verna Michelle Macbeth Jan 2008

The Subaltern Female Struggle For Power In Courtly Love France And Medieval Spain, Verna Michelle Macbeth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

In medieval France, much of the written literature was dominated by the system of courtly love, in which the married noble woman held the position of authority over her lover or knight. Yet this courtly system was entirely literary and did not change women's subjugated position in feudal society, and even propagated misogynistic ideals. In John Beverly's theory of Subalternity, the struggle for power within different systems is shown as having two main groups, the elite and the subaltern; the former having control over the representation of the latter, and therefore control over how the subaltern shapes its selfimage. In …


Web Accessibility For The Hearing Impaired, Simone. Pasmore Jan 2008

Web Accessibility For The Hearing Impaired, Simone. Pasmore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

With the exponential increase of Internet usage and the embedding of multimedia content on the Web, some of the Internet resources remain inaccessible for people with disabilities. Particularly, people who are deaf or Hard of Hearing (HOH) experience inaccessible Web sites due to a lack of Closed Captioning (CC) for multimedia content on the Web, no sign language equivalents for the content on the Web, and an insufficient evaluation framework for determining if a Web page is accessible to the Hearing Impaired community. Several opportunities for accessing content needed to be rectified in order for the Hearing Impaired community to …


Visualization As A Qualitative Method For Analysis Of Data From Location Tracking Technologies, Mohan Mani Jan 2008

Visualization As A Qualitative Method For Analysis Of Data From Location Tracking Technologies, Mohan Mani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

One of the biggest factors in the quest to better wireless communication is cellular call handoff, which in tum, is a function of geographic location. In this thesis, our fundamental goal was to demonstrate the value addition brought forth by spatial data visualization techniques for the analysis of geo-referenced data from two different location tracking technologies: GPS and cellular systems. Through our efforts, we unearthed some valuable and surprising insights from the data being analyzed that led to interesting observations about the data itself as opposed to the entity, or entities, that the data is supposed to describe. In doing …


Validating Music Therapy And Its Effectiveness In Treating Brain Disorders, Kristin Renee Hurley Jan 2008

Validating Music Therapy And Its Effectiveness In Treating Brain Disorders, Kristin Renee Hurley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The success of the music therapy profession has been well established, though the healing properties of music are not yet fully understood. Clinical observations show the medicinal value of music therapy; however, it is challenging to quantify music's beneficial effects. Examining music therapy's effectiveness in treating neurological disorders can possibly help to better validate this profession. However, music therapy is a multidisciplinary field, and perhaps we must come to a better understanding of how the various disciplines relate to one another. Music has the power to modulate our emotions. Neurological studies involving music therapy might help to uncover the connection …


Visual Discrimination By C57bl/6j Mice In Water Maze Tasks, Eric D. Buerger Jan 2008

Visual Discrimination By C57bl/6j Mice In Water Maze Tasks, Eric D. Buerger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

When interpreting how an animal "learns" discrimination tasks, strain capabilities must be considered, and it should be shown that they comprehend the task in a manner consistent with the given interpretation. A novel visual-discrimination (VD) task for relative-size-relations was used to examine visual cue use in C57BL/6J mice, which are shown to have biologically good vision and neurologically intact memory for VD tasks. Results suggest C57BL/6J strain may not be fully capable of relative cue-size associations or even object recognition-based on a water maze VD task. This is in contrast to previous studies suggesting this mice strain is quite strong …


Utopian/Dystopian Thought Experiments And The Potential For A New Strateb')' Of Inquiry In Public Administration, Cindy L. Pressley Jan 2008

Utopian/Dystopian Thought Experiments And The Potential For A New Strateb')' Of Inquiry In Public Administration, Cindy L. Pressley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose behind this dissertation is the creation, development, and illustration of a new strategy of inquiry in public administration. This new strategy of inquiry is a utopian/dystopian thought experiment. A utopian/dystopian thought experiment should provide its user with a way to develop a new/different viewpoint with which to examine an administrative activity. A researcher begins with an original viewpoint and should then develop a new/different viewpoint, a utopian/dystopian viewpoint, by engaging in a utopian/dystopian thought experiment. A utopian/dystopian thought experiment is developed in this dissertation by bringing together elements from utopian literature and scientific thought experiment literature using a …


Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Two Community College Baccalaureate Programs In Florida, Edwin P. Bemmel Jan 2008

Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Two Community College Baccalaureate Programs In Florida, Edwin P. Bemmel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The purpose of this case study was to determine which, if any, alternative in delivering baccalaureate programs in the state of Florida was the most cost-effective one. This exploratory study focused on gaining an understanding of the cost effectiveness of two baccalaureate programs offered at a Florida community college to two like programs at a Florida university using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The researcher interviewed five community college and three State Department of Education administrators during the Fall of 2007 and analyzed expenditure and effectiveness data from 2003-04 through 2006-07 to determine the cost effectiveness for the programs at each …


Design & Performance Of A Wind And Solar-Powered Autonomous Surface Vehicle, Patrick Forde Rynne Jan 2008

Design & Performance Of A Wind And Solar-Powered Autonomous Surface Vehicle, Patrick Forde Rynne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

The primary objective of this research is the development a wind and solar-powered autonomous surface vehicle (WASP) for oceanographic measurements. This thesis presents the general design scheme, detailed aerodynamic and hydrodynamic aspects, sailing performance theory, and dynamic performance validation measurements obtained from a series of experiments. The WASP consists of a 4.2 meter long sailboat hull, a low-Reynolds number composite wing, a 2000 Watt-hour battery reservoir, a system of control actuators, a control system running on an embedded microprocessor, a suite of oceanographic sensors, and power regeneration from solar energy. The vehicle has a maximum speed of five knots and …


Design Ofmosfet Ultra-Wideband Low Noise Amplifiers, Esteban Camacho Jan 2008

Design Ofmosfet Ultra-Wideband Low Noise Amplifiers, Esteban Camacho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Ultra-Wide band (UWB) systems are a new wireless technology capable of transmitting data over a wide spectrum of frequency bands with very low power and high data rates. This technology has the potential to replace almost every cable at home or in an office with a wireless connection. In a UWB receiver, a radio frequency (RF) low noise amplifier (LNA) is one of the most important components. This thesis discusses the entire process involving the design ofUWB low noise amplifiers including a detailed stage by stage analysis of a computer aided design (CAD) of a MOSFET UWB LNA. Simulation tools …


Data Envelopment Analysis Model For Assessment Of Safety And Security Of Intermodal Transportation Facilities, Elisabeth Gundersen Jan 2008

Data Envelopment Analysis Model For Assessment Of Safety And Security Of Intermodal Transportation Facilities, Elisabeth Gundersen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2000 - 2009

Following September 11, 2001, numerous security policies have been created which have caused a number of unique challenges in planning for the transportation networks. In particular, there is a need to enhance security by improving collaboration between various transportation modes. The transportation modes are disconnected and have unequal levels of security and efficiency. Tools need to be refined for collaboration and consensus building to serve as catalysts for efficient transportation solutions. In this study, we developed and investigated a mathematical model using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to assess the safety and security of intermodal transportation facilities. The model identifies the …