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2008

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The "Evolution" Of Media: The Influence Of A Media Literacy Campaign On Self Esteem And Body Image, Vasiliki D. Dremonas '08 Jan 2008

The "Evolution" Of Media: The Influence Of A Media Literacy Campaign On Self Esteem And Body Image, Vasiliki D. Dremonas '08

Honors Projects

For decades, society has criticized the media for instigating many of the physical, social, and psychological maladies that affect females of all ages. However, recent advertising approaches, namely the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, endeavor to sell products by responsibly endorsing attainable beauty ideals. The present study seeks to empirically evaluate whether campaign efforts like Dove's are successful at reducing negative female body image, or whether they are instead counterproductive to their goal due to what social psychologists term "sleeper effect" processes. 102 female undergraduates were either exposed to the Dove commercial Evolution in its entirety, Evolution in part, or …

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Increasing Condom-Related Behavioral Intentions, Motivation, And Willingness Via Social Ties In Advertisements, Marylee Richardson '08 Jan 2008

Increasing Condom-Related Behavioral Intentions, Motivation, And Willingness Via Social Ties In Advertisements, Marylee Richardson '08

Honors Projects

Although researchers have identified factors associated with increased condom use, STI prevalence rates are still high, and condom use rates are still low. Various advertising techniques have been implemented to increase condom use, but these techniques are largely self-focused. Based on research in exercise adherence and cognitive interdependence, this study used advertisements targeting social ties to increase condom use. One hundred forty-seven Illinois Wesleyan University students viewed one of six critical advertisements--a self-focused condom advertisement, a relationship-focused condom advertisement, a friendship-focused condom advertisement, a self-focused sunscreen advertisement, a relationship-focused sunscreen advertisement, or a friendship-focused sunscreen advertisement. Participants then completed measures …

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Promoting Environmentally Responsible Behaviors Using Motivational Interviewing Techniques, Sarah L. Tribble '08 Jan 2008

Promoting Environmentally Responsible Behaviors Using Motivational Interviewing Techniques, Sarah L. Tribble '08

Honors Projects

An experimental design was used to determine whether environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs) could be promoted by exposing participants to two motivational interviewing techniques-provision ofinformation and engagement in a decisional balance exercise. We hypothesized (a) a main effect of the information manipulation such that provision ofbasic as well as normative information about the current state ofglobal warming would be more effective than basic information only at promoting ERBs, which would in turn be more effective than a control information group and (b) a main effect ofthe decisional balance manipulation such that engagement in a decisional balance activity would be more effective …

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Rethinking The Organisational: From ‘Form’ To ‘Forming’, Paul Donnelly Jan 2008

Rethinking The Organisational: From ‘Form’ To ‘Forming’, Paul Donnelly

Conference papers

The organisational theory literature has identified the emergence and evolution of organisational forms as a critical issue to be addressed, yet new ways of looking at organisational form have yet to be addressed and there are concerns about the largely ahistorical and aprocessual character of much organisational theorising. Most “new” theories that have been put forward continue to view form as something already formed, as an essence, with the attention focused on what constitutes form. Further, extant organisational theories, from the original Weberian ideal type through all other theories, be they in appearance ahistorical (i.e., contingency) or historical (i.e., ecological) …

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How To Measure And Report Growing Conditions For Experiments In Controlled Environments., M. P. Fuller, J. Franklin, L. D. Incoll Jan 2008

How To Measure And Report Growing Conditions For Experiments In Controlled Environments., M. P. Fuller, J. Franklin, L. D. Incoll

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

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An Approach To Machine Development Of Musical Ontogeny, Marcelo Gimenes Jan 2008

An Approach To Machine Development Of Musical Ontogeny, Marcelo Gimenes

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

This Thesis pursues three main objectives: (i) to use computational modelling to explore how music is perceived, cognitively processed and created by human beings; (ii) to explore interactive musical systems as a method to model and achieve the transmission of musical influence in artificial worlds and between humans and machines; and (iii) to experiment with artificial and alternative developmental musical routes in order to observe the evolution of musical styles. In order to achieve these objectives, this Thesis introduces a new paradigm for the design of computer interactive musical systems called the Ontomemetical Model of Music Evolution - OMME, which …

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Mathematics Versus The Arts: A Comparative Look At Students' Attitudes And Beliefs, Mary Ann Harasymowycz Jan 2008

Mathematics Versus The Arts: A Comparative Look At Students' Attitudes And Beliefs, Mary Ann Harasymowycz

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

The words that students use to paint a picture of mathematics are very different from those which they use to describe their experiences in art and music. In the views of students, mathematics is pointless and repetitive while the arts are creative, relaxing and an expression of themselves. This thesis reports on the findings of a two part research project designed to investigate the attitudes of high school students when learning mathematics, art and music. The focus of this study was a comparative look at their confidence and enjoyment in learning these subjects. A questionnaire was designed and developed for …

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Book Review – Situated Fathering: A Focus On Physical And Social Spaces, Erin K. Holmes Jan 2008

Book Review – Situated Fathering: A Focus On Physical And Social Spaces, Erin K. Holmes

Faculty Publications

When it comes to scholarship on fatherhood (especially my own), I have too often found myself asking the question, "Could this argument really hold up in a variety of fathering circumstances?" However, by the time I finished Situated Fathering: A Focus on Physical and Social Spaces, I no longer needed to ask that question. Instead, I felt confident that the volume's editors and authors offered a more sound theoretical and empirical foundation for the exploration of fathering settings and circumstances than most other work I have read.

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Ceramic Variability And Cultural Diversity In The Northern San Juan Region, Janet Hagopian, James R. Allison Jan 2008

Ceramic Variability And Cultural Diversity In The Northern San Juan Region, Janet Hagopian, James R. Allison

Faculty Publications

The Northern San Juan region during the Pueblo I period has been subdivided into eastern and western groups based on differences in site structure and organization. Ceramic assemblages from across the Northern San Juan region also vary significantly. This poster uses both stylistic and technological traits to examine ceramic variability between Animas- La Plata sites and contemporary sites from the surrounding Northern San Juan region. The ceramics suggest at least three regionalized traditions, implying a greater degree of cultural diversity than previously suspected.

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Naipaul’S Children: Representations Of Humor And Ruin In Miguel Street, Aaron Eastley Jan 2008

Naipaul’S Children: Representations Of Humor And Ruin In Miguel Street, Aaron Eastley

Faculty Publications

The piece had originally appeared in the Demerara Daily Argosy in neighboring British Guiana, and was contributed by a writer who signed himself simply as "Clarence" ("Immigration"9). Under the subheading "UNJUST TO IMMIGRANTS" Clarence argues that abolishing the system of indentured labor, which brought a recorded 141,615 immigrant workers from India to Trinidad between 1845 and 1917 (Weller 151-3), would be "an act of veiled cruelty to the immigrants themselves" ("Immigration 9). He credits the system with keeping immigrants under skilled care and supervision until they ha[ve] learned how to live under the new conditions" of life in the West …

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A Competence-Based Curriculum For Environmental Health, Steven Konkel Jan 2008

A Competence-Based Curriculum For Environmental Health, Steven Konkel

Environmental Health Planning and Policy

No abstract provided.

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Child–Adult Differences In Second-Language Phonological Learning: The Role Of Cross-Language Similarity, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Pavel Trofimovich, James E. Flege, Molly Mack, Randall Halter Jan 2008

Child–Adult Differences In Second-Language Phonological Learning: The Role Of Cross-Language Similarity, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, Pavel Trofimovich, James E. Flege, Molly Mack, Randall Halter

Faculty Publications

This study evaluated whether age effects on second language (L2) speech learning derive from changes in how the native language (L1) and L2 sound systems interact. According to the “interaction hypothesis” (IH), the older the L2 learner, the less likely the learner is able to establish new vowel categories needed for accurate L2 vowel production and perception because, with age, L1 vowel categories become more likely to perceptually encompass neighboring L2 vowels. These IH predictions were evaluated in two experiments involving 64 native Korean- and English-speaking children and adults. Experiment 1 determined, as predicted, that the Korean children were less …

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Investigation On Singlemode-Multimode-Singlemode Fiber Structure, Qian Wang, Gerald Farrell, W. Yan Jan 2008

Investigation On Singlemode-Multimode-Singlemode Fiber Structure, Qian Wang, Gerald Farrell, W. Yan

Articles

This paper presents an investigation on a single-mode-multimode-single-mode fiber structure. A one-way guided-mode propagation analysis for the circular symmetry waveguide is employed to model the light propagation and the approximated formulations are derived and evaluated concerning the accuracy. Phase conjunction of the multimode interference within the fiber structure is revealed. A simple way to predict and analyze the spectral response of the structure is presented through the space to wavelength mapping with the derived approximated formulations. The prediction of spectral response is verified numerically and experimentally.

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Temperature Dependence Of Macrobending Loss In All-Fiber Bend Loss Edge Filter, Pengfei Wang, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell Jan 2008

Temperature Dependence Of Macrobending Loss In All-Fiber Bend Loss Edge Filter, Pengfei Wang, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell

Articles

A theoretical model for macrobending-induced temperature dependent loss (TDL) for a standard singlemode fiber (SMF28) with dual coating layers is presented, with good agreement demonstrated between theoretical calculations and experimental results. The impact of temperature on two examples of an all-fiber based edge filter is also investigated theoretically and experimentally and using the developed model, it is shown that it is possible to predict the impact of temperature variations on an all-fiber based edge filter.

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A Symbolic Operator Approach To Several Summation Formulas For Power Series Ii, Tian-Xiao He, Peter Shiue, L. C. Hsu Jan 2008

A Symbolic Operator Approach To Several Summation Formulas For Power Series Ii, Tian-Xiao He, Peter Shiue, L. C. Hsu

Scholarship

Here expounded is a kind of symbolic operator method that can be used to construct many transformation formulas and summation formulas for various types of power series including some old ones and more new ones.

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Effects Of Temperature And Particle Size On Deposition In Land Based Turbines, Jared M. Crosby, Scott Lewis, Jeffrey P. Bons, Weiguo Ai, Thomas H. Fletcher Jan 2008

Effects Of Temperature And Particle Size On Deposition In Land Based Turbines, Jared M. Crosby, Scott Lewis, Jeffrey P. Bons, Weiguo Ai, Thomas H. Fletcher

Faculty Publications

Four series of tests were performed in an accelerated deposition test facility to study the independent effects of particle size, gas temperature, and metal temperature on ash deposits from two candidate power turbine synfuels (coal and petcoke). The facility matches the gas temperature and velocity of modern first stage high pressure turbine vanes while accelerating the deposition process. Particle size was found to have a significant effect on capture efficiency with larger particles causing significant thermal barrier coating (TBC) spallation during a 4 h accelerated test. In the second series of tests, particle deposition rate was found to decrease with …

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Padé Spline Functions, Tian-Xiao He Jan 2008

Padé Spline Functions, Tian-Xiao He

Scholarship

We present here the definition of Pad´e spline functions, their expressions, and the estimate of the remainders of pad´e spline expansions. Some algorithms are also given.

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Enhancing Learning On A First Year Engineering Programme With A Student Design Project, Aidan O'Dwyer Jan 2008

Enhancing Learning On A First Year Engineering Programme With A Student Design Project, Aidan O'Dwyer

Conference papers

This contribution reports on, and evaluates, the use of a design project for enhancing student learning on a first year module in electrical engineering at Dublin Institute of Technology. The project objective, as outlined to the students, was to design and build a, possibly innovative, everyday device that can generate electricity from sources of “free energy”, so as to encourage first year engineering students to use their natural design creativity in a freeform, brainstorming manner. The project allows students to further develop their academic interests, assists student retention and facilitates student interaction, among other advantages. The work encourages students to …

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Vocal Tremor And Vibrato In The Same Person: Acoustic And Electromyographic Differences, Christopher Dromey, Marshall E. Smith Jan 2008

Vocal Tremor And Vibrato In The Same Person: Acoustic And Electromyographic Differences, Christopher Dromey, Marshall E. Smith

Faculty Publications

Summary. The goal of this case study was to measure and describe differences between vocal vibrato and essential tremor of the voice in one individual who exhibited both types of modulation. Recordings of spoken and sung vowels produced by the same individual at three effort levels were examined via analysis of acoustic and laryngeal electromyographic (LEMG) signals. Modulation rate, periodicity, and spectral measures of both audio and muscle activation signals revealed generally slower, more prominent, and more regular patterns in sung than in spoken conditions. There was not always a clear correspondence between LEMG and acoustic measures, but both showed …

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Word Recognition Materials For Native Speakers Of Taiwan Mandarin, Shawn L. Nissen, Richard W. Harris, Alycia Dukes Jan 2008

Word Recognition Materials For Native Speakers Of Taiwan Mandarin, Shawn L. Nissen, Richard W. Harris, Alycia Dukes

Faculty Publications

Purpose: To select, digitally record, evaluate, and psychometrically equate word recognition materials that can be used to measure the speech perception abilities of native speakers of Taiwan Mandarin in quiet. Method: Frequently used bisyllabic words produced by male and female talkers of Taiwan Mandarin were digitally recorded and subsequently evaluated using 20 native listeners with normal hearing at 10 intensity levels (–5 to 40 dB HL) in increments of 5 dB. Results: Using logistic regression, 200 words with the steepest psychometric slopes were divided into 4 lists and 8 half-lists that were relatively equivalent in psychometric function slope. To increase …

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Acoustic Characteristics Of English Lexical Stress Produced By Native Mandarin Speakers, Shawn L. Nissen, Yanhong Zhang, Alexander L. Francis Jan 2008

Acoustic Characteristics Of English Lexical Stress Produced By Native Mandarin Speakers, Shawn L. Nissen, Yanhong Zhang, Alexander L. Francis

Faculty Publications

Native speakers of Mandarin Chinese have difficulty producing native-like English stress contrasts. Acoustically, English lexical stress is multidimensional, involving manipulation of fundamental frequency F0, duration, intensity and vowel quality. Errors in any or all of these correlates could interfere with perception of the stress contrast, but it is unknown which correlates are most problematic for Mandarin speakers. This study compares the use of these correlates in the production of lexical stress contrasts by 10 Mandarin and 10 native English speakers. Results showed that Mandarin speakers produced significantly less native-like stress patterns, although they did use all four acoustic correlates to …

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Local Authority Residential Mortgage Credit: A Source Of Non-Market Sub-Prime Homeloans For Low-Income Households, Dermot Coates Jan 2008

Local Authority Residential Mortgage Credit: A Source Of Non-Market Sub-Prime Homeloans For Low-Income Households, Dermot Coates

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

As the volume of mortgage credit has risen in tandem with house price inflation, the sub-prime homeloan sector of this market has begun to expand in order to meet demand from those not serviced by the mainstream financial service providers. This article examines the role of local authorities in providing residential mortgages and assesses whether those who have traditionally borrowed from non-market (or public sector) lenders would be considered to be sub-prime borrowers by the private sector. It concludes that, in view of the relatively low average incomes of this cohort of borrowers, they represent a higher probability of homeloan …

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Evidence-Based Practice As Social Work "Technology", Ronald E. Hall Jan 2008

Evidence-Based Practice As Social Work "Technology", Ronald E. Hall

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

Contemporary scholars who are critical of social work insist that its status is one of a semi-profession. Their assumption is contingent primarily upon an assumed lack of rigor and technological expertise. Social Work will be regarded as a legitimate profession if it adopts Evidence Based Practice. It entails the application of a series of scientific research procedures that are dictated by scientific evidence. By adopting EBP critics will be less able to challenge Social Work’s professional status.

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The Research And Implementation Of Maintenance Excellence On Clean Utility Systems In The Pharmaceutical Indusry, Padraig Liggan Jan 2008

The Research And Implementation Of Maintenance Excellence On Clean Utility Systems In The Pharmaceutical Indusry, Padraig Liggan

Dissertations

Maintenance Excellence is the implementation of best maintenance practices within industry; it is the balance of performance, risk, and cost to achieve an optimal solution. This thesis has been structured around the 5 main areas of maintenance excellence; it has documented all the important functions of the maintenance department that contributes towards maintenance excellence. Demonstrating maintenance excellence is a big achievement however demonstrating it on pharmaceutical clean utility systems with strict regulatory controls is a major challenge. Pharmaceutical production is one of the most heavily regulated industries. With such an emphasis on product quality in the pharmaceutical industry, and with …

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Margin Trading, Overpricing, And Synchronization Risk, Sanjeev Bhojraj, Robert J. Bloomfield, William B. Tayler Jan 2008

Margin Trading, Overpricing, And Synchronization Risk, Sanjeev Bhojraj, Robert J. Bloomfield, William B. Tayler

Faculty Publications

We provide experimental evidence that relaxing margin restrictions to allow more short selling can exacerbate overpricing, even though it reduces equilibrium price levels. This is because smart-money traders initially profit more by front-running optimistic investor sentiment than by disciplining prices. When short selling is not possible, competitive pressures among arbitrageurs rapidly drive prices to the equilibrium. However, the risk of margin calls slows the convergence process, because arbitrageurs who sell short too early face substantial losses if they are unable to synchronize their trades with other arbitrageurs (as in Abreu and Brunnermeier. 2002. Journal of Financial Economics 66(2–3):341–60; 2003. Econometrica …

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Toast, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2008, Dit Students Union Jan 2008

Toast, Vol. 1, Issue 1, 2008, Dit Students Union

DIT Student Union

No abstract provided.

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Redefining The Edge, R Brown Jan 2008

Redefining The Edge, R Brown

School of Art, Design and Architecture

En (edge) is a distinguishing feature of traditional Japanese architecture; simultaneously inside and outside, the multi-layered external envelope performs a multiplicity of functions and embodies indigenous aesthetic and experiential sensibilities. The traditional form of en has however disappeared from contemporary Japanese architecture. This paper will frame en as a physical element and the roles and values it carries, and examine contemporary Japanese architecture’s move towards a more Westernised, conceptually-based, symbolic and introverted language. It will then consider some wider questions this raises on Japanese life and tradition, as well as the future of architecture in Japan.

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Media Literacy And The Public Sphere: A Contextual Study For Public Media Literacy Promotion In Ireland, Brian O'Neill, Cliona Barnes Jan 2008

Media Literacy And The Public Sphere: A Contextual Study For Public Media Literacy Promotion In Ireland, Brian O'Neill, Cliona Barnes

Reports

This research documents the background to the development of media literacy as a matter of public policy, both within the European Union and internationally, and examines considerations that may be important in the emerging Irish debate on media literacy.

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The Effect Of Gender Inequality On Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study, Quentin Brummet '08 Jan 2008

The Effect Of Gender Inequality On Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study, Quentin Brummet '08

The Park Place Economist

Many papers investigating this topic have been subject to problems of multicollinearity. This paper seeks to avoid this problem by reformulating gender inequality as a ratio instead of simply examining female and male education as separate factors. The results indicate that, controlling for multicollinearity, high levels of gender inequality have a damping effect on growth. Furthermore, these results are robust to not only changes in included variables but changes in the specification of gender inequality.

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Capital Investment And Rural-Urban Migration In China, Stephanie Panozzo '08 Jan 2008

Capital Investment And Rural-Urban Migration In China, Stephanie Panozzo '08

The Park Place Economist

This paper explores the linkages between the population, investment, and wages in both China nationally and in each of China’s provinces. The expected result of these linkages is twofold. First, provinces with the greatest per capita investment, whether state-sponsored or private, should in theory experience the greatest change in per capita wage. This is due to the increased marginal product of labor resulting from capital investment, which ultimately will be reflected in per capita wages in a perfectly competitive market. From this hypothesis, it follows that the provinces experiencing the greatest change in wage per capita will experience the greatest …

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