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The Effectiveness Of Colored Overlays On Reading Achievement And Attitudes Toward Reading For Students With Scotopic Sensitive Syndrome, Hanan Ali Bagabas

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study investigated the effects on students identified with Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS) or Irlen Syndrome (IS) when using colored overlays as an intervention (immediately and over time) to assess reading performance (rate, accuracy, and comprehension); to measure visual-motor integration; and to assess attitude toward reading. SSS/IS is a visual perceptual problem related to a collection of symptoms that affects an individual's performance when reading. Three participants, all males (one 3rd -grade student, one 4th -grade student, and one 5th -grade student), were identified as having SSS/IS and other learning disabilities.

The study involved five test instruments (Irlen Reading Perceptual …

Methods For Fostering Success In The Transition To High School, Debora E. Hanna Porter

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this paper is to examine newly implemented changes in transition supports at a large high school in the Midwest. Factors that affect success include attendance, environment, student characteristics and self-efficacy, socio-economic status and family support, peer pressure, teacher and school support, and race and gender differences. To determine the success of the new transition program, data were gathered regarding achievement and attendance outcomes for transitioning students in intervention and comparison groups. In addition, differences in outcomes were investigated for socioeconomic status 'groups and gender. Student opinions of the school environment, parent/teacher support, extra-curricular involvement, and the "New …

Analysis Of Factors Causing Failure Mode For Automotive Hitch Control System Calibration In Agriculture Equipment, Setordji Yao Abotsi

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Traditionally, agricultural tractors have used hydro-mechanical draft control systems to mechanically sense implement draft. Technological development of low cost, reliable microprocessors has contributed to allowing greater flexibility in designing agricultural tractor control systems (Rutkowski & Welchens, 1986). To successfully control the depth of which an implement penetrates the ground, it has become imperative to incorporate a draft control system on agricultural tractors. The control system operates by responding to the draft load or force acting on the tractor. Increasing the draft load or force allows the implement to be raised and decreasing the draft load or force allows the implement …

The Thought Processes Of Administrators As They Review And Make Evaluative Judgment Of A Second-Year Teacher Portfolio: A Qualitative Study, Terri Anne Lasswell

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This qualitative study explored the thought processes of administrators as they reviewed and judged second-year teacher artifacts (a portfolio) relative to the Iowa teaching standards and criteria (ITS/criteria). In addition, data was collected pertaining to the tools principals used as they conducted portfolio evaluation and the amount of bearing the portfolio had on a licensure decision.

Data for the study was gathered via a think-aloud process in combination with guided interview questions. Nine principals participated in the study; three each from elementary, middle, and high school. The nine principals were also representative of rural, suburban, and urban geographic/demographic regions. The …

Marriage As Monopoly: History, Tradition, Incrementalism, And The Marriage/Civil Union Distinction, Suzanne B. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

History and tradition have taken a prominent place as favored rationales for the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage. Incrementalism likewise has been invoked to suggest that states can permissibly move “one step at a time” to redress the unequal status of same-sex couples, including by creating a civil union/marriage regime instead of providing marriage for all. Yet constitutional jurisprudence is clear that neither longevity nor tradition alone can justify the continuation of a discriminatory rule. This Article asks, then, what work these rationales perform in the marriage/civil union jurisprudence and debate, given their inadequacy from a doctrinal standpoint.

The …

The Third Space: The Use Of Self-Study To Examine The Culture Of A Science Classroom, Dashia M. Magee

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Science educators are in the position to create bridges between their students and the world of science (Aikenhead, 1996, 1999). This connection has often been described as the third space (Bhabha, 1994; Moje, Collazo, Carrillo, & Marx, 2001; Wallace, 2004), which is represented as a combination or a meeting of the students' world and the world of science. In this study, I examined my role in creating the third space through the use of self-study. Self-study is a form of research, educators use to understand their practice (Austin & Senese, 2004; Loughran, 2004; Northfield & Loughran, 1996). It is a …

Estimated Economic Impacts Of The Buckman Direct Diversion Project: A Study For The Buckman Direct Diversion Board, Lee A. Reynis, Doleswar Bhandari

BBER Publications

Economic and fiscal impact analysis of the Buckman Direct Diversion Project, which will provide an additional water supply for the Santa Fe area by diverting and treating water from the Rio Grande River. The authors used an export-base method in a comparative static analysis.

Neoliberal Penality: The Birth Of Natural Order, The Illusion Of Free Markets, Bernard E. Harcourt

Faculty Scholarship

What work do the categories “the free market” and “regulation” do for us? Why do we incarcerate one out of every one hundred adults? These seemingly unrelated questions, it turns out, are deeply interconnected. The categories of free and regulated markets emerged as an effort to make sense of irreducibly individual phenomena – unique forms of market organization. In the process, these categories helped shape our belief that the economic realm is characterized by natural order and equilibrium, and that the only legitimate sphere of government intervention is policing and punishment. The consequences have been devastating: first, in distorting and …

Rulemaking And The American Constitution, Peter L. Strauss

Faculty Scholarship

A Constitution that strongly separates legislative from executive activity makes it difficult to reconcile executive adoption of regulations (that is, departmentally adopted texts resembling statutes and having the force of law, if valid) with the proposition that the President is not ‘to be a lawmaker’. Such activity is, of course, an essential of government in the era of the regulatory state. United States courts readily accept the delegation to responsible agencies of authority to engage in it, what we call ‘rulemaking’, so long as it occurs in a framework that permits them to assess the legality of any particular exercise. …

Subsidizing Creativity Through Network Design: Zero Pricing And Net Neutrality, Robin S. Lee, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

Today, through historical practice, there exists a de facto ban on termination fees – also referred to as a “zero-price” rule (Hemphill, 2008) – which forbids an Internet service provider from charging an additional fee to a content provider who wishes to reach that ISP’s customers. The question is whether this zero-pricing structure should be preserved, or whether carriers should be allowed to charge termination fees and engage in other practices that have the effect of requiring payment to reach users. This paper begins with a defense of the de facto zero-price rule currently in existence. We point out that …

When God Hates: How Liberal Guilt Lets The New Right Get Away With Murder, Jose M. Gabilondo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

From Queen Bees And Wannabes To Worker Bees: Why Gender Considerations Should Inform The Emerging Law Of Workplace Bullying, Kerri Lynn Stone

Faculty Publications

This Article submits that the documented phenomenon of workplace bullying operates to stymie the retention and advancement of women in the workplace Research documented in books like Queen Bees and Wannabes shows that as early as the schoolyard, males and females tend to socialize differently, engage in and resolve conflict with peers differently, and absorb bullying behavior differently. Girls often believe or are taught to believe that direct conflict or confrontation is unpalatable and tend to employ more passive aggressive means of engagement with foes. They often internalize and repress feelings that boys are more likely to express. Viewing the …

Balancing Law Student Privacy Interests And Progressive Pedagogy: Dispelling The Myth That Ferpa Prohibits Cutting-Edge Academic Support Methodologies, Louis N. Schulze Jr.

Faculty Publications

Controversy exists over whether the Family Education Records Privacy Act prohibits certain progressive law school academic support methodologies. This Article analyzes these claims, using the text of the statute, the related regulations, case law from the Supreme Court of the United States and other federal courts, and statements from the Department of Education. The thesis of this Article is that most academic support methods are perfectly lawful and that FERPA and progressive pedagogy can peaceably coexist.

Strength In Numbers: Setting Quantitative Criteria For Listing Species Under The Endangered Species Act, Kalyani Robbins

Faculty Publications

My primary thesis is that the Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service need to set quantitative criteria for listing species under the Endangered Species Act in order to promote consistency, transparency, and efficiency. I suggest a model for doing so, the use of which would create an opportunity to move beyond the political quagmire surrounding the selection of vulnerable species for preservation. Like my other environmental scholarship, the article merges scientific research in the field of conservation biology with legal analysis. With the status quo, listing decisions often turn on wildly different factors, including some not …

Including Spirituality: A Means To Cope With Cancer And Recommendations For Health Care Professionals, Lisa Green

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although psychosocial oncology is gaining in popularity as more research is conducted to support its inclusion in health care, there is still a lack of incorporation of spirituality in health care. The purpose of this study is to answer the following research questions: 1) How do participants use spirituality to aid in their healing? 2) How would participants like their health care professionals, specifically social workers, to incorporate spirituality into their formal care?

A qualitative, phenomenological methodology was selected for this investigation in an effort to gain an understanding of the lived experiences of people with cancer. Semi-structured interviews were …

Neural And Behavioral Responses To The Use Of Auditory Feedback In Vocal Control, Colin S. Haweo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A large body of evidence suggests that the motor system maintains a forward model that predicts the sensory outcome of movements. When sensory feedback does not match the predicted consequences, a compensatory response corrects for the motor error and the forward model is updated to prevent future errors. Like other motor behaviours, vocalization relies on sensory feedback for the maintenance of forward models and to stabilize vocalizations.

Experiment 1 used event-related potentials (ERPs) to examine sensory processing of short feedback perturbations during an ongoing utterance. In one session, participants produced a vowel at an FO of their own choosing. In …

Acknowledging The Skeletons In Our Closet: Collective Guilt And Ingroup-Affirmation, Gregory Roy Gunn

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Just as people defend against threats to personal identity, they also defend against threats to social identity. In the context of intergroup transgression, the defensiveness against social identity threat has the effect of undermining collective guilt and its prosocial consequences. However, there may be ways for perpetrator groups to alleviate threat without undermining guilt. Five studies examined whether perpetrator groups are more willing to acknowledge collective guilt once social identity threat has been buffered by ingroup-affirmation. As predicted, Study 1 revealed that men accepted greater collective guilt for the mistreatment of women after affirming their ingroup. Replicating this effect, Study …

The Tactile Motion Aftereffect, Peggy Joanne Planetta

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The tactile motion aftereffect (tMAE) is a perceptual phenomenon in which illusory motion is reported following adaptation to a unidirectionally moving tactile stimulus. Unlike its visual counterpart, relatively little is known about the tMAE. For that reason, the purpose of this dissertation was to gain a better understanding of the tMAE using both psychophysical and neuroimaging techniques. In a series of five experiments the skin was adapted using a plastic cylinder with a square-wave patterned surface. Chapter 2 consists of two experiments, both of which adapted the glabrous surface of the right hand. Experiment 1 showed that the prevalence, duration, …

The Effects Of Anonymity On Self Reports Of Depression And Alcohol Consumption, Yolanda Latrice Evans

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This research examined the impact of anonymity on self reports of alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms. Participants (N=363) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) Non anonymous or (2) Anonymous. All participants were administered the BDI and the MAST. Compared to the non anonymous group, those in the anonymous groups had significantly different higher means on the depression inventories. Women yielded significantly higher depression score means than men, but no significant differences were found between mean and women for alcohol use or between anonymous and non anonymous conditions. The level of alcohol use by both college men and …

Social Support And Work-School Conflict: A Daily Study, Eric John Faurote

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The goal of this study was to examine within-person associations between work-school conflict (WSC), social support at work, job satisfaction, and negative affect. There were 108 undergraduates for a Midwest university that participated in this study. Greater WSC was associated with decreased job satisfaction and increased negative affect (NA). Social support buffered the relationship between WSC and job satisfaction such that individuals with low social support experienced a decrease in job satisfaction when WSC was high, but they did not experience this decrease with social support was high. Greater social support from co-workers was associated with increased job satisfaction and …

Cognitive-Linguistic Abilities In Young And Middle-Aged Adults, Jamie Leigh Flatness

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The current study investigated the differences on cognition tests and whether or not an age effect existed between young versus middle-aged adults. Twenty young adults (ages 20-39) and twenty middle-aged adults (40-59) were given four cognitive tests to determine if differences in performance existed across the age groups. Tests included the Ross Information Processing Assessment-2nd revision (RIPA-2; Ross-Swain, 1996), the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RA VLT; Rey, 1964 ), the Wechsler Working Memory (WWM) subtests of the Wechsler Memory Scale, 3rd edition (WMS-Ill; Wechsler, 1997), and the Cognitive Linguistic Quick Test (CLQT,· Helm-Estabrooks, 2001 ). A series of one-factor …

Using Community Resource Mapping To Improve Systems Of Positive Behavioral Support And Wraparound, Daniel Innes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper will discuss the use of a technique known as resource mapping in an effort to improve systems of Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS) and Wraparound provided by the school system. The concept of PBS will be defined and discussed, along with a common student support philosophy known as Wraparound. Next, resource mapping will be discussed along with its associated benefits for schools and communities. Finally the results of a resource mapping project in a medium sized Midwestern community will be presented along with a discussion of the obstacles associated with such a task.

Ensemble Support Vector Machine Models Of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury Risk, Todd Schiller

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Patients undergoing radiation therapy can develop a potentially fatal inflammation of the lungs known as radiation pneumonitis: RP). In practice, modeling RP factors is difficult because existing data are under-sampled and imbalanced. Support vector machines: SVMs), a class of statistical learning methods that implicitly maps data into a higher dimensional space, is one machine learning method that recently has been applied to the RP problem with encouraging results. In this thesis, we present and evaluate an ensemble SVM method of modeling radiation pneumonitis. The method internalizes kernel/model parameter selection into model building and enables feature scaling via Olivier Chapelle's method. …

Design And Evaluation Of Flexibility-Based Structural Damage Localization Using Wireless Sensor Networks, Weijun Guo

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The health of civil structures is very important and sometimes life-critical. While there are different ways to monitor their health, wireless sensor network: WSN) has the advantage of easy deployment and low cost, which make it feasible for most structures. We designed and implemented a system to localize damages on structures with a WSN by detecting the change in structure flexibility. This method has been validated to work well on bridges like a cantilever beam and a truss. It is also possible to be extended to other type of structures. Different from other systems, in network data processing was applied …

Unf Journal Winter 2009, University Of North Florida

UNF Journal

A university periodical for alumni and friends of the University of North Florida.

Mfh Tpci Evaluation Report Brief 3: Workplace Strategy Evaluation Findings 2005-2008, Center For Public Health Systems Science, Sarah Shelton

Center for Public Health Systems Science

This report is part of a series developed to provide updates on the progress of the Missouri Foundation for Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative (TPCI). The report provides an overview of the activities and short-term outcomes of workplace strategies that occurred between 2005 and 2008.

Mfh Tpci Evaluation Report Brief 4: School Strategy Evaluation Findings 2005-2008, Center For Public Health Systems Science, Sarah Shelton

Center for Public Health Systems Science

This report is part of a series developed to provide updates on the progress of the Missouri Foundation for Health’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Initiative (TPCI). The report provides an overview of the activities and short-term outcomes of school program strategies that occurred between 2005 and 2008.

Microbial Diversity And Geochemical Energy Sources Of Tutum Bay, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea, An Arsenic-Rich, Shallow-Sea Hydrothermal System, Nancy Akerman

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

I investigate the hydrothermal system located in Tutum Bay, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea, a shallow-sea system ~5 - 10 meters below sea level that is arsenic-rich. Hydrothermal vents in the bay expel fluids with arsenite: AsIII) concentrations as high as 950 μg/L. To determine the role that Tutum Bay microorganisms might play in mediating As-redox reactions, three approaches were used: analyzing the geochemical environment for energy sources, characterizing the archaeal community composition of the sediments, and conducting culture-dependent As-cycling experiments. The second chapter of this dissertation discusses an energetic study of potential chemolithotrophic metabolic reactions, including As-redox reactions. Results …

Discovery Of Inactive E* Conformations In Thrombin And Other Vitamin K- Dependent Clotting Proteases, Alaji Bah

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Serine proteases of the chymotrypsin family play important roles in the regulation and function of numerous biological processes including digestion, blood coagulation, fibrinolysis, development, fertilization, apoptosis and immunity. For many of these proteases, activity unfolds when a zymogen is activated by limited proteolysis and the associated conformational changes result in the formation of a proper active site and oxyanion hole, both of which are required for efficient hydrolysis of peptide bonds. The transition from zymogen to active enzyme, E, thus provides critical temporal and spatial regulatory mechanism of protease function. Catalytic activity of serine proteases belonging to Vitamin K-dependent clotting …

Identification And Characterization Of Novel Astroviruses, Stacy Finkbeiner

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Approximately 1.8 million children die from diarrhea annually, and millions more suffer multiple episodes of nonfatal diarrhea. Despite the availability of improved molecular diagnostics to detect the known viral agents, the etiology of a large proportion of diarrheal cases is unknown. In fact, it is estimated that no causative agent can be identified in up to 40% of sporadic cases or in gastroenteritis outbreaks. Detection of novel or unexpected viruses is the first step in identifying agents that could potentially close the diagnostic gap and pave the way for the development of more comprehensive preventative measures and better treatments. This …