Digital Commons Network^™

Dags: An Information System Design Research Framework Supporting The Design, Development And Delivery Of More Effective Informat, Lascelles Adams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many IT systems fail to realize their objectives because not enough attention has been paid to the business context in which the system functions. One reason expressed--an emphasized technical focus which tend to omit business and organizational issues germane to the organization's and the system's success. When an organization's information system is in line with, and provides support for its business strategy--strategic alignment--superior business performance is often the result. Within the Requirements Engineering (RE) community there has been several attempts to develop and utilize approaches which can illuminate business and organizational informational needs. In this dissertation, the DAGS framework is …

The Sheffer B-Type 1 Orthogonal Polynomial Sequences, Daniel Galiffa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1939, I.M. Sheffer proved that every polynomial sequence belongs to one and only one type. Sheffer extensively developed properties of the B-Type 0 polynomial sequences and determined which sets are also orthogonal. He subsequently generalized his classification method to the case of arbitrary B-Type k by constructing the generalized generating function A(t)exp[xH1(t) + · · · + xk+1Hk(t)] = ∑∞n=0 Pn(x)tn, with Hi(t) = hi,iti + hi,i+1t i+1 + · · · , h1,1 ≠ 0. Although extensive research has been done on characterizing polynomial sequences, no analysis has yet been completed on sets of type one or higher …

Search, Characterization, And Properties Of Brown Dwarfs, Ramarao Tata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A trend in polarization as predicted by theoretical models was validated, and atmospheric dust grain sizes and projected rotational velocities for these objects were estimated. Comprehensive studies of UDs are proving to be crucial not only in our understanding of UDs but also for star and planet formation as brown dwarfs represent their lower and upper mass boundaries, respectively. Brown dwarfs (BD) were mere theoretical astrophysical objects for more than three decades (Kumar (1962)) till their first observational detection in 1995 (Rebolo et al. (1995), Nakajima et al. (1995)). These objects are intermediate in mass between stars and planets. Since …

Association Between Unirhinal Olfactory Processing And Self-Reported Empathy In Schizophrenia, Vidyulata Kamath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Empathy represents one multifaceted component of social cognition that is thought to be significantly impaired in individuals with schizophrenia. Psychophysical tasks of smell identification and hedonic processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors share common neural networks involved in empathy. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between odor identification, odor ratings, and self-reported empathy in 25 outpatients with schizophrenia and 25 nonpsychiatric individuals. Group differences on empathy scores and unirhinal smell identification performance (with hedonic and intensity ratings) were examined, along with the relationships between smell identification scores, self-reported empathy, and schizophrenia symptomatology. The preliminary findings suggest that individuals with schizophrenia …

The Impact Of Intraorganizational Trust And Learning Oriented Climate On Error Reporting, Dana Elizabeth Sims

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Insight into opportunities for process improvement provides a competitive advantage through increases in organizational effectiveness and innovation As a result, it is important to understand the conditions under which employees are willing to communicate this information. This study examined the relationship between trust and psychological safety on the willingness to report errors in a medical setting. Trust and psychological safety were measured at the team and leader level. In addition, the moderating effect of a learning orientation climate at three levels of the organization (i.e., team members, team leaders, organizational) was examined on the relationship between trust and psychological safety …

Different Time, Same Place, Same Story? A Social Disorganization Perspective To Examining Juvenile Homicides, Minna Laurikkala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2007, juveniles were involved in a minimum of 1,063 murders in the United States (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2008), and a concern over juvenile homicide offenders remains. While increasingly more macrolevel research on juvenile homicide offending has been accumulated, particularly since the 1980s, research focusing on macrolevel correlates of juvenile homicides is still relatively scarce (MacDonald & Gover, 2005; Ousey & Campbell Augustine, 2001). In the first part of this study, several variables relating to the offender, victim, setting, and precursors to the homicide by race and gender were examined in order to provide details on the context of …

Man Up Or Punk Out: The Role Of Masculinity In Prison Rape, Melanie Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the dataset, "Ethno-Methodological Study of the Subculture of Prison Inmate Sexuality in the United States, 2004-2005," this study investigated the relationship between masculinities and prison rape. These data was collected in 23 men's correctional institutions in 10 states. Between April 2004 and September 2005, 409 males were interviewed (Fleisher & Krienert, 2006). Findings showed that masculinity plays a complex and crucial role in the phenomenon of prison rape. Recommendations were made for inmate-oriented education and training which should include a discussion of masculinity as a possible preventative measure.

Wavelength-Division-Multiplexed Transmission Using Semiconductor Optical Amplifiers And Electronic Impairment Compensation, Xiaoxu Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last decade, rapid growth of broadband services necessitated research aimed at increasing transmission capacity in fiber-optic communication systems. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology has been widely used in fiber-optic systems to fully utilize fiber transmission bandwidth. Among optical amplifiers for WDM transmission, semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) is a promising candidate, thanks to its broad bandwidth, compact size, and low cost. In transmission systems using SOAs, due to their large noise figures, high signal launching powers are required to ensure reasonable optical signal-to-noise ratio of the received signals. Hence the SOAs are operated in the saturation region and the …

Design And Fabrication Of Space Variant Micro Optical Elements, Pradeep Srinivasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A wide range of applications currently utilize conventional optical elements to individually transform the phase, polarization, and spectral transmission/reflection of the incident radiation to realize the desired system level function. The material properties and the feasibility of fabrication primarily impact the device and system functionality that can be realized. With the advancement in micro/nano patterning, growth, deposition and etching technology, devices with novel and multiplexed optical functionalities have become feasible. As a result, it has become possible to engineer the device response in the near and far field by controlling the phase, polarization or spectral response at the micro scale. …

Boreal Forest Fire Impacts On Lower Troposphere Carbon Monoxide And Ozone Levels At The Regional To Hemispheric Scales, Kateryna Lapina

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Tropospheric ozone (O3) and carbon monoxide (CO) pollution in the Northern Hemisphere is commonly thought to be of anthropogenic origin. While this is true in most cases, copious quantities of pollutants are emitted by fires in boreal regions, and the impact of these fires on CO has been shown to significantly exceed the impact of urban and industrial sources during large fire years. The impact of boreal fires on ozone is still poorly quantified, and large uncertainties exist in the estimates of the fire-released nitrogen oxides (NO _x ), a critical factor in ozone production. As boreal fire activity is …

Evidence For Multiple Paternity In Broods Of The Green Lynx Spider Peucetia Viridans (Araneae: Oxyopidae), Martina G. Ramirez

Biology Faculty Works

In the green lynx spider Peucetia viridans (Hentz 1832), the two openings of a mated female’s epigynum are often sealed by copulatory plugs, sometimes with the two-pronged distal portion of the paracybium of a male palpus inserted in each opening and embedded in the plugs. The presence of copulatory plugs and paracymbia may prevent further mating by the female. However, not all mated females exhibit these structures, perhaps allowing some P. viridans females to mate with more than one male, despite the assertion of Whitcomb & Eason (1965) that females only mate once. We investigated this possibility by surveying the …

United States Certificate Programs In Technical Communication : A Feminist-Sophistic Investigation, Jim Nugent

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Technical communication certificates are offered by many colleges and universities as an alternative to a full undergraduate or graduate degree in the field. Despite certificates’ increasing popularity in recent years, however, surprisingly little commentary exists about them within the scholarly literature. In this work, I describe a survey of certificate and baccalaureate programs that I performed in 2008 in order to develop basic, descriptive data on programs’ age, size, and graduation rates; departmental location; curricular requirements; online offerings; and instructor status and qualifications. In performing this research, I apply recent insights from neosophistic rhetorical theory and feminist critiques of science …

Not Your Mother's Latinas : Film Representations For A New Millennium, Jeannie Ann Patrick

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

This dissertation seeks to contribute to film, feminist and Latino/a studies by exploring the construction and ideological implications of representations of Latinas in four recent, popular U.S. films: Girlfight (Kusama 2000), Maid in Manhattan (Wang 2002), Real Women Have Curves (Cardoso 2002) and Spanglish (Brooks 2004). These films were released following a time of tremendous growth in the population and the political and economic strength of the Latina/o community as well as a rise in popularity and visibility in the 1990s of entertainers like Selena and actresses such as Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek. Drawing on the critical concepts of …

Identifying Indicators Of Sustainable Development Using The Global Sustainability Quadrant Approach , Andres B. Tarte

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Advances in information technology and global data availability have opened the door for assessments of sustainable development at a truly macro scale. It is now fairly easy to conduct a study of sustainability using the entire planet as the unit of analysis; this is precisely what this work set out to accomplish.

The study began by examining some of the best known composite indicator frameworks developed to measure sustainability at the country level today. Most of these were found to value human development factors and a clean local environment, but to gravely overlook consumption of (remote) resources in relation …

Assessment Of A High School Geological Field Course, Eric Morgan Ruckert

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Fieldwork is supportive of students’ natural inquiry abilities. Educational research findings suggest that instructors can foster the growth of thinking skills and promote science literacy by incorporating active learning strategies (McConnel et al, 2003). Huntoon (2001) states that there is a need to determine optimal learning strategies and to document the procedure of assessing those optimal geoscience curricula. This study seeks to determine if Earth Space II, a high school geological field course, can increase students’ knowledge of selected educational objectives. This research also seeks to measure any impact Earth Space II has on students’ attitude towards science.

Assessment of …

Mse News 2009, Department Of Materials Science And Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Annual Reports

Table of Contents

• MSE Department Welcomes Engineering Fundamentals Chair
• MSE Department Welcomes New Professor
• Steel
• MSE Program Shines in US News Rankings
• MSE Alumnus Excelled in Mining Industry
• Student News
• Staff News
• Faculty News
• Alumni News

Yeast Telomere Capping Protein Stn1 Overrides Dna Replication Control Through The S Phase Checkpoint, Hovik J. Gasparyan

Biology Faculty Works

Telomere integrity is maintained through end-protection proteins that block nuclease degradation and prevent telomeres from being recognized as DNA breaks. Although less well understood, end protection proteins may also play a role in facilitating telomere replication. Here, we show that overproduction (OP) of the yeast telomere capping protein Stn1 makes cells highly sensitive to the replication inhibitors hydroxyurea (HU) and methyl-methane sulfonate (MMS). Unexpectedly, this sensitivity corresponds with Stn1 OP blocking most, if not all, aspects of the S phase checkpoint. The checkpoint kinase Rad53 is phosphorylated with normal timing in Stn1 OP cells, indicating Stn1 does not interfere with …

Shades Of Grey: A Critical Review Of Grey-Number Optimization, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

A grey number is an uncertain number with fixed lower and upper bounds but unknown distribution. Grey numbers find use in optimization to systematically and proactively incorporate uncertainties expressed as intervals plus communicate resulting stable, feasible ranges for the objective function and decision variables. This article critically reviews their use in linear and stochastic programs with recourse. It summarizes grey model formulation and solution algorithms. It advances multiple counter-examples that yield risk-prone grey solutions that perform worse than a worst-case analysis and do not span the stable feasible range of the decision space. The article suggests reasons for the poor …

Reducing Isolation Through Regional Mentors And Learning Communities: A Way To Support Rural Learners, Nancy K. Glomb, T. Midenhall, L. Mason, Charles L. Salzberg

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Reinforcing and facilitating learning communities is a strategy that has been used to decrease attrition rates in traditional campus-based programs, and it has been hypothesized that applying principles of learning communities in distance education programs could have similar positive outcomes. To facilitate the development and maintenance of regional learning communities within the Mild/Moderate Distance Degree and Licensure Program at Utah State University, highly successful graduates of the program are employed as mentors within each broadcast locality to engineer regional opportunities for studying and socialization. Program evaluation respondents indicate that mentoring experiences were very helpful as they progressed through the courses …

Chronically Ill Midlife And Older Lesbians, Gay Men, And Bisexuals And Their Informal Caregivers: The Impact Of The Social Context, Karen Fredriksen-Goldsen, Hyun-Jun Kim, Anna M. Muraco, Shawn Mincer

Sociology Faculty Works

With the exception of HIV care, informal caregiving of chronically ill lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults has received very limited attention in the extensive caregiving literature. This article reports on research that considered the social context of care and a dyadic caregiving approach for 36 chronically ill LGB adults ages 50 and older and their informal caregivers. In this study, both discrimination and relationship quality were associated with depression among chronically ill LGB adults and their caregivers. Furthermore, preliminary findings suggested that relationship quality moderates the impact of discrimination as a risk factor for depression in chronically ill LGB …

Free Regions Of Sensor Nodes, Laxmi P. Gewali, Navin Rongatana, Henry Selvaraj, Jan B. Pedersen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

We introduce the notion of free region of a node in a sensor network. Intuitively, a free region of a node is the connected set of points R in its neighborhood such that the connectivity of the network remains the same when the node is moved to any point in R. We characterize several properties of free regions and develop an efficient algorithm for computing them. We capture free region in terms of related notions called in-free region and out-free region. We present an O(n2) algorithm for constructing the free region of a node, where n is the number of …

Managing Performance [In Child Welfare Supervision], Megan E. Paul, Michelle Graef, Erika J. Robinson, Kristin Saathoff

Center on Children, Families, and the Law: Faculty Publications

One of the primary roles of a supervisor is to manage worker performance. Performance management is the "continuous process of identifying, measuring, and developing the performance of individuals and teams and aligning performance with the strategic goals of the organization" (Aguinis, 2007, p. 2). Supervisors must regularly assess current performance levels and take steps to improve performance in a way that is congruent with agency goals. The ultimate goal is to achieve agency objectives through individual and team performance.

To effectively manage performance, supervisors must know what the performance expectations are for workers and clearly communicate these expectations to workers. …

Probing The Lives Of Christ And Joseph Smith, Richard Lloyd Anderson

Review of Books on the Book of Mormon 1989–2011

No abstract provided.

"Just Trying To Be Human In This Place": Storytelling And Film In The First-Year Law School Classroom, Kate Nace Day, Russell G. Murphy

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

In 2007, the latest in a long line of studies and research projects that critically examined American legal education were published. The Carnegie Foundation Report, “Educating Lawyers: Preparation for the Profession of Law”, and the empirical research findings of linguistic anthropologist Elizabeth Mertz, “The Language of Law School: Learning to 'Think Like A Lawyer'”, identified many shortcomings and negative consequences that result from the traditional pedagogy of the American law school classroom. In this Article, Professors Kate Nace Day and Russell G. Murphy explore some of the findings of these studies in the context of their experimentation with the use …

New Records Of Psilophrys Parvulus And Its Host Kermes Bacciformis From Turkey, George Japoshvili, Mehmet Bora Kaydan, İsmai̇l Karaca

Turkish Journal of Zoology

During 2007-2008 survey conducted on the Turkey oak (Quercus cerris) in Isparta province Psilophrys parvulus (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea, Encyrtidae) and its host Kermes bacciformis (Hemiptera: Coccoidea, Kermesidae) represent new species records for Turkey. Previously, P. parvulus was known only from Italy where it was first recorded. The emergence behavior of this parasitoid differs from that of most scale insect parasitoids emerging from the anal opening of its host rather than chewing a hole in the scale insect's test to emerge.

Waldemar Hoff, Prawny Model Regulacji Sektorowej [The Legal Model Of Sector-Specific Regulation], Difin, Warszawa 2008, 302 P., Jerzy Supernat

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

No abstract provided.

Stanisław Piątek (Ed.) Regulacja Rynków Telekomunikacyjnych [Regulation Of Telecommunications Markets] Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Zarządzania Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego [University Of Warsaw, Faculty Of Management Press], Warszawa 2007, 395 P., Arwid Mednis

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

No abstract provided.

An Intelligent Face Features Generation System From Fingerprints, Şeref Sağiroğlu, Necla Özkaya

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this study, a novel intelligent system based on artificial neural networks was designed and introduced for generating faces from fingerprints with high accuracy. The proposed system has a number of modules including two feature enrolment modules for acquiring the fingerprints and faces into the system, two feature extractors for extracting the feature sets of fingerprint and face biometrics, an artificial neural network module that was configured with the help of Taguchi experimental design method for establishing relationships among the biometric features, a face re-constructor for building up face features from the results of the system, and a test module …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Magnetic Field Model And Insertion~Into A Commercial Electromagnetic Simulator, Priscila Fernandez Lopez, Christian Arcambal, Yolanda Vives Gilabert, Abhishek Ramanujan, David Baudry, Anne Louis, Belahcene Mazari

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

To take into account~certain ElectroMagnetic Compatibility (EMC) aspects~and especially to evaluate the magnetic fields radiated by electronic components, different radiated emission models have been created. Within IRSEEM, a magnetic field model based on equivalent sources (electric dipoles) placed on a plane has been developed. Thus, this paper presents the modelling procedure that requires~magnetic near-field measurements and matrix inversion methods. Concerning the measurements of the field radiated by the component under test,~a near-field test bench with a loop antenna is used to~quantify the tangential components of the magnetic field in amplitude and phase. Then, these data are used as input to …