Digital Commons Network^™

An Empirical Evaluation Of The Progress And Achievement Of English Language Learners In A Suburban School District, Marlynn Kessler Martin

Theses and Dissertations

The legislation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has brought to educators’ attention the need, requirement, and demand that all children are guaranteed an equitable education. In support of this mandate, Assistant Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Education Kathleen Leos (2006) states, “There are approximately 5 ½ million non-English-speaking students in the United States public schools, speaking 440 different languages and 80% of those English language learners speak Spanish” (p. 2). Continuing, Leos reports that English language learners are the fastest growing K–12 population in the United States with 16 states reporting a 200% increase in English …

Novel Techniques For Selective Doping Of Silicon Carbide For Device Applications, Bharat Krishnan

Theses and Dissertations

Superior properties of Silicon Carbide (SiC), such as wide bandgap, high breakdown field and high thermal conductivity, have made it the frontrunner to replace Silicon for applications requiring high breakdown strength, mechanical and radiation hardness. Commercial SiC devices are already available, although their expected performance has not yet been realized due to a few problems related to device fabrication technologies, such as selective doping. This work explores non-traditional techniques for SiC doping (and selective doping in particular) based on previously unknown types of defect reactions in SiC and novel epitaxial growth techniques, which offer advantages over currently available technologies. Recent …

Parallel Viterbi Search For Continuous Speech Recognition On A Multi-Core Architecture, Naveen Parihar

Theses and Dissertations

State-of-the-art speech-recognition systems can successfully perform simple tasks in real-time on most computers, when the tasks are performed in controlled and noiseree environments. However, current algorithms and processors are not yet powerful enough for real-time large-vocabulary conversational speech recognition in noisy, real-world environments. Parallel processing can improve the real-time performance of speech recognition systems and increase their applicability, and developing an effective approach to parallelization is especially important given the recent trend toward multi-core processor design. In this dissertation, we introduce methods for parallelizing a single-pass across-word n-gram lexical-tree based Viterbi recognizer, which is the most popular architecture for Viterbi-based …

Information Processing System To Security Standard Compliance Measurement: A Quantitative Approach Using Pathfinder Networks (Pfnets), Elaine Hulitt

Theses and Dissertations

Continuously changing system configurations and attack methods make information system risk management using traditional methods a formidable task. Traditional qualitative approaches usually lack sufficient measurable detail on which to base confident, cost-effective decisions. Traditional quantitative approaches are burdened with the requirement to collect an abundance of detailed asset value and historical incident data and to apply complex calculations to measure the data precisely in work environments where there are limited resources to collect and process it. To ensure that safeguards (controls) are implemented to protect against a majority of known threats, industry leaders are requiring information processing systems to comply …

Small Signal And Transient Stability Analysis Of Mvdc Shipboard Power System, Seetharama Raju Rudraraju

Theses and Dissertations

Recent developments in high power rated Voltage Source Converters (VSCs) have resulted in their successful application in Multi-Terminal HVDC (MTDC) transmission systems and also have potential in the Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) distribution systems. This work presents the findings of stability studies carried out on a zonal MVDC architecture for the shipboard power distribution system. The stability study is confined to rotor angle stability of the power system, i.e. the transient and small signal stability analysis. The MTDC ring structure similar to MVDC shipboard power system was implemented in MATLAB/Simulink to look at the transient behavior of the MVDC system. …

Validated Prediction Of Pressurant Gas Requirements In Cryogenic Run Tanks At Subcritical And Supercritical Pressures, Laurence De Quay

Theses and Dissertations

The development, testing, and use of liquid propellant and hybrid rocket propulsion systems for spacecraft and their launch vehicles routinely involves the use of cryogenic propellants. These propellants provide high energy densities that enable high propulsive efficiency and high engine thrust to vehicle weight ratios. However, use of cryogenic propellants also introduces technical problems not associated with other types of propellants. One of the major technical problems is the phenomenon of propellant tank pressurant and ullage gas collapse. This collapse is mainly caused by heat transfer from most of the ullage gas to tank walls and interfacing propellant, which are …

Verification Of A Three-Dimensional Statics Model For Continuum Robotics And The Design And Construction Of A Small Continuum Robot (Scr), Ricky (Ricky Lee) Gray

Theses and Dissertations

Continuum robots are biologically inspired robots that capture the extraordinary abilities of biological structures such as elephant trunks, octopus tentacles, and mamma-lian tongues. They are given the term continuum robots due to their ability to bend conti-nuously rather than at specific joints such as with traditional rigid link robots. They are used in applications such as search and rescue operations, nuclear reactor repairs, colo-noscopies, minimal invasive surgeries, and steerable needles. In this thesis, a model that predicts the shape of a continuum robot is presented and verified. A verification system to verify the validity and accuracy of the model is …

Real Time Modeling, Simulation And Validation Of Protective Relays, Ankush Saran

Theses and Dissertations

The protection system plays an important role in the power system to detect the fault, isolate the faulted zone from the unaulted zone and restore the power supply to the healthy part. In order to validate the developed protection system, hardware in the loop (HIL) tests have been performed on several power system test cases using commercial overcurrent and distance relays from two vendors and a Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). Two-bus and eight-bus terrestrial power systems (TPS) as well as a 4-bus shipboard power system (SPS) are developed in RSCAD and used as power system test cases. The simulation …

Machine Learning-Based Ontology Mapping Tool To Enable Interoperability In Coastal Sensor Networks, Shruthi Bheemireddy

Theses and Dissertations

In today’s world, ontologies are being widely used for data integration tasks and solving information heterogeneity problems on the web because of their capability in providing explicit meaning to the information. The growing need to resolve the heterogeneities between different information systems within a domain of interest has led to the rapid development of individual ontologies by different organizations. These ontologies designed for a particular task could be a unique representation of their project needs. Thus, integrating distributed and heterogeneous ontologies by finding semantic correspondences between their concepts has become the key point to achieve interoperability among different representations. In …

Clinical Profile, Outcomes And Improvement In Symptoms And Productivity In Rhinitic Patients In Karachi, Pakistan., Taimur Saleem, Umair Khalid, Ubaid Ur Rehman Sherwani, Shehzad Ghaffar

Section of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery

Background:Rhinitis can cause a heavy toll on Patients because of its bothersome effects on productivity. This retrospective study was conducted to explore the clinical profile, outcomes and improvement in the symptoms and productivity resulting from treatment of allergic rhinitis in Pakistan.

Methods:

We carried out a retrospective file review of all allergic rhinitis Patients who presented to the Ear, Nose, Throat Consulting Clinic from January, 2006 to June, 2008 using a structured proforma especially designed for this Purpose. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS v. 16.0.

Results:

The charts of 169 Patients were reviewed. The mean age of …

The New Hampshire, Vol. 99 [100], No. 26 (Dec. 11, 2009), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 99, but it is the 100th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

Measuring Marriage Or Measuring Individuals: An Ontological Analysis Of Marital Therapy Outcome Measures, Joseph Andrew Ostenson

Theses and Dissertations

Many scholars have noted the pervasiveness of individualism in American culture, particularly in the marriage culture. Unfortunately, assuming individualism in the marriage culture poses very specific threats to marriage as an institution. Some claim that these individualistic assumptions have also infiltrated the marital sciences, undermining the efforts of researchers who hope to defend marriage. This dissertation explores that claim by analyzing seven of the most popular marital outcome instruments used by marital researchers today for individualistic assumptions. Using a conceptual analysis called "contrasting relations," the meanings of both the content and the process of the instruments are laid out according …

Analysis Of Electromagnetic And Seismic Geophysical Methods For Investigating Shallow Sub-Surface Hydrogeology, Eric M. Parks

Theses and Dissertations

An integrated electromagnetic (EM) and seismic geophysical study was performed to evaluate non-invasive approaches to estimate depth to shallow groundwater in arid environments with elevated soil salinity where the installation of piezometers would be impractical or prohibited. Both methods were tested in two study areas (semi-arid and arid respectively), one in Palmyra, Utah, USA near the shore of Utah Lake where groundwater is shallow and unconfined in relatively homogeneous lacustrine sediments. The other area is Carson Slough, Nevada, USA near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Amargosa Valley. The area is underlain by valley fill, with generally variable shallow depths …

Challenges Predicting Ligand-Receptor Interactions Of Promiscuous Proteins: The Nuclear Receptor Pxr., Sean Ekins, Sandhya Kortagere, Manisha Iyer, Erica J. Reschly, Markus A. Lill, Matthew R. Redinbo, Matthew D. Krasowski

Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Faculty Publications

Transcriptional regulation of some genes involved in xenobiotic detoxification and apoptosis is performed via the human pregnane X receptor (PXR) which in turn is activated by structurally diverse agonists including steroid hormones. Activation of PXR has the potential to initiate adverse effects, altering drug pharmacokinetics or perturbing physiological processes. Reliable computational prediction of PXR agonists would be valuable for pharmaceutical and toxicological research. There has been limited success with structure-based modeling approaches to predict human PXR activators. Slightly better success has been achieved with ligand-based modeling methods including quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis, pharmacophore modeling and machine learning. In this …

Analysis Of Cat Oocyte Activation Methods For The Generation Of Feline Disease Models By Nuclear Transfer., Chunmin Wang, William F. Swanson, Jason R. Herrick, Kiho Lee, Zoltan Machaty

Department of Animal Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Somatic cell nuclear transfer in cats offers a useful tool for the generation of valuable research models. However, low birth rates after nuclear transfer hamper exploitation of the full potential of the technology. Poor embryo development after activation of the reconstructed oocytes seems to be responsible, at least in part, for the low efficiency. The objective of this study was to characterize the response of cat oocytes to various stimuli in order to fine-tune existing and possibly develop new activation methods for the generation of cat disease models by somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Methods

First, changes in the intracellular …

Analysis Of Regulatory T Cell Activation Markers In Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (Fiv)-Infected And Control Placenta Samples From Early And Late Term Pregnancy, Nikki Nikkia Lockett

Theses and Dissertations

Mother-to-child transmission of HIV is the leading cause of pediatric AIDS; however, mechanisms by which HIV compromises pregnancy are not understood. CD4+CD25+ T-regulatory (Treg) cells play a role in pregnancy maintenance. RNA from early and late gestation placentas and fetuses from FIV-infected and control cats were probed for expression of FIV gag and Treg markers CD25, FOXP3, and CTLA4, using real time reverse-transcriptase (RT)-PCR. High rates of vertical transmission and reproductive failure were detected in early and late pregnancy. In control animals, both FOXP3 and CTLA4 expression decreased with gestational stage, indicating a natural decline in Tregs. Expression of FOXP3 …

The Bg News December 11, 2009, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. December 11, 2009. Volume 100-Issue 73.

Incorporating Multiresolution Analysis With Multiclassifiers And Decision Fusion For Hyperspectral Remote Sensing, Terrance Roshad West

Theses and Dissertations

The ongoing development and increased affordability of hyperspectral sensors are increasing their utilization in a variety of applications, such as agricultural monitoring and decision making. Hyperspectral Automated Target Recognition (ATR) systems typically rely heavily on dimensionality reduction methods, and particularly intelligent reduction methods referred to as feature extraction techniques. This dissertation reports on the development, implementation, and testing of new hyperspectral analysis techniques for ATR systems, including their use in agricultural applications where ground truthed observations available for training the ATR system are typically very limited. This dissertation reports the design of effective methods for grouping and down-selecting Discrete Wavelet …

The Baryon Content Of Cosmic Structures, Stacy S. Mcgaugh

Faculty Scholarship

We make an inventory of the baryonic and gravitating mass in structures ranging from the smallest galaxies to rich clusters of galaxies. We find that the fraction of baryons converted to stars reaches a maximum between M 500 = 1012 and 1013 M ·, suggesting that star formation is most efficient in bright galaxies in groups. The fraction of baryons detected in all forms deviates monotonically from the cosmic baryon fraction as a function of mass. On the largest scales of clusters, most of the expected baryons are detected, while in the smallest dwarf galaxies, fewer than 1% are detected. …

The Effects Of Functional Behavior Assessment Teacher Training And Performance Feedback: Knowledge, Accuracy, And Acceptability And Their Ability To Accurately Complete Fba Procedures, Laquanta Watson Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Functional behavior assessment refers to the broad range of behavioral assessment methods used to identify or clarify the purpose or maintaining contingencies of problem behavior in order to design and implement function-based interventions designed to reduce the occurrence of the problem behavior and teach appropriate replacement skills. FBAs are required in the educational setting for students whose problem behavior is displayed to such a significant level that their learning or the learning of their peers is impacted. As such, previous researchers have conducted trainings on FBA for school-based personnel using a wide variety of methods. Unfortunately, the findings of these …

The Importance Of Soft Skills In The Workplace As Perceived By Community College Instructors And Industries, Laura Suzanne Tribble

Theses and Dissertations

Soft skills include communication skills, problem-solving skills, conflict resolution, working well with other people, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Employers need employees who have adequate technical skills but who also have soft skills. There is limited information about the perceptions of which soft skills are needed in the workplace. This study attempted to close the gap in the literature concerning the perceptions of instructors and employers in the area of soft skills in the workplace. For this study, the Soft Skills Survey for Instructors and Employers was used to gather the perceptions of information technology instructors and employers in five community …

The Role Of Cattle And Gulf Coast Ticks (Amblyomma Maculatum) In The Epidemiology Of Rickettsia Parkeri Infection, Kristine T. Edwards

Theses and Dissertations

I hypothesized cattle and Gulf Coast ticks (GCT), Amblyomma maculatum, may be involved in epidemiology of Rickettsia parkeri infection. I demonstrated transient rickettsemia by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the 17 kilodalton (kDa) gene in 33% (2/6) of calves experimentally exposed to R. parkeri either by direct inoculation or by placement of R. parkeri-infected GCT on calves’ ears. Calves (4/4) receiving GCT developed lesions at attachment sites consistent with a pathologic condition known as “gotch” ear whether or not GCT were infected with R. parkeri, suggesting the condition is related to GCT attachment and not to rickettsial infection. In calves …

The Spatial Distribution Of Cn Radicals In The Coma Of Comet Encke, Chandrasiri Albert Ihalawela

Theses and Dissertations

Comets are important for solar system studies because their interiors hold evidence of the conditions in which they formed in the outer solar system. However, the coma obscures the nucleus from view when observations are most easily performed, thus it is important to understand the nature of cometary comae. This study examines the spatial distribution of CN radicals in the coma of comet Encke and determines the likelihood that CN is a photodissociative daughter of HCN in the coma. Observations of CN were obtained from October 22-24, 2003, using the 2.7 m Cassegrain telescope at McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis, …

Racial Exemplars And Their Effects On The Race-Implicit Association Test, Ashley Ann Walker

Theses and Dissertations

Research on prejudice has long been skewed by participants’ ability to monitor their reactions on overt measures of such attitudes. Accordingly, researchers created an implicit measure to study prejudice (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). The Implicit Association Test (IAT) was thus developed. Though the IAT has long been purported as the only ‘true’ measure of participants’ feelings and cognitions, recent research has suggested the measure is not as infallible as once purported (e.g., Smith & Zarate, 1990). The purpose of this study was to integrate existing research on exemplars and how they affect scores on the IAT. Results showed that priming …

Nutrient Management In On-Site Wastewater Treatment, Ayanangshu Dey

Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater and surface water contamination has been linked in the past to inadequate or failing on-site wastewater treatment and disposal systems. The on-site wastewater systems installed in coastal areas have more potential for inflicting this kind of environmental damage. This work studied the regulatory compliance and environmental protection of the four types of on-site wastewater disposal systems found on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; i.e., vegetative rock filter, subsurface drip irrigation, sand mound, and sprinkler systems, by statistical techniques. Compliance was also evaluated for groundwater samples collected from monitoring wells installed at four corners of a disposal field. This work eventually …

Obstacle Array Drag Coefficient Parametric Response Surface Analysis, Mouthgalya Ganapathy

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout literature, one finds where numerous methodologies and models have been developed to predict the effect of surface roughness on a flat surface. Many of the models utilize a drag coefficient as one of the necessary parameters. In urban settings with groups of buildings, the drag coefficient on an individual obstacle would be determined by parameters like wind direction and the relative positioning of a building, in addition to Reynolds number and shape. Computational experiments were performed to simulate the fluid flow around a single row and two rows of “cube” obstacles. Based on dimensional analysis, the drag coefficient was …

Perceptions Of Motivation And Job Satisfaction For Information Technology Professionals At Institutions Of Higher Learning In Mississippi, Leann Mills Markham

Theses and Dissertations

Information technology is an ever evolving field that has become a mainstay in today’s society, especially in higher education. The employees who maintain the information technology (IT) infrastructure and systems at educational institutions are tasked with similar jobs as their equivalents in the private sector; however, these employees are faced with unique difficulties. A lower salary range, less benefits, and less technological variety are typical characteristics in a higher education setting for IT employees as compared to private industry. Faced with these circumstances, IT employees continue to perform their duties and ensure the institution is functioning on a daily basis. …

Current Sharing To Minimize Power Losses In Parallel Converters Using Pso, Dan Li

Theses and Dissertations

The Power Electronic Building Block (PEBB) concept leads to multifunctional converter systems, which provide robustness and flexibility in heavily power electronics based power systems. Systems comprised of flexible modular converters may have multiple possible operation conditions with respect to individual converters that meet the overall system goals. In this thesis, an optimization method for such flexible online power electronic systems is developed to minimize power losses of the overall group of converters in the system. Here the objective is to allocate sharing such that compensation objectives are met while the power loss of the entire parallel group of compensators is …

A Study On The Progress Toward Implementation Of Learning-Centered Approaches At A Large Urban Community College, Carmen Hawkins Walters

Theses and Dissertations

Faculty facing challenges of teaching students in a post-Katrina environment used learning-centered approaches to restore educational opportunities to its populations of hurricane-displaced students, the growing population of Hispanic students, and the business community. The study sought to determine if the faculty members had made progress toward implementing learning-centered activities and strategies into the classroom after attending seminars and workshops that covered the learning-centered principles. Additionally, the research sought to determine if there were differences among academic disciplines in the implementation of the learning-centered principles in the classroom at the college. The study used quantitative research methods. To collect the quantitative …

An Assessment Of Reading Programs In North Mississippi Elementary Schools: A Comparative Analysis, Angela Delentheia Bluitt

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the impact of reading programs of students who used the Reading Program One, Reading Program Two, and Reading Program Three reading programs and those students who were taught using no basal reading program in North Mississippi. The study also assessed teachers’ perceptions of the various reading programs based on gender, age, educational attainment, and years of teaching experience. The research design for this study included a descriptive analysis. Ten elementary schools in North Mississippi using the Reading Program One, Reading Program Two, Reading Program Three, and no basal reading program were analyzed. …