Digital Commons Network^™

Meta-Learning Computational Intelligence Architectures, Ryan J. Meuth

Doctoral Dissertations

"In computational intelligence, the term 'memetic algorithm' has come to be associated with the algorithmic pairing of a global search method with a local search method. In a sociological context, a 'meme' has been loosely defined as a unit of cultural information, the social analog of genes for individuals. Both of these definitions are inadequate, as 'memetic algorithm' is too specific, and ultimately a misnomer, as much as a 'meme' is defined too generally to be of scientific use. In this dissertation the notion of memes and meta-learning is extended from a computational viewpoint and the purpose, definitions, design guidelines …

The Tracking Of Dietary Intakes Of Children And Adolescents In Sweden Over Six Years: The European Youth Heart Study, Emma Patterson, Julia Wärnberg Julia Wärnberg, John Kearney, Michael Sjostrom

Articles

The stability of dietary habits through various life-stages is not well understood. A better understanding of the tracking of diet over time could have implications for health promotion as well as for the planning of nutritional epidemiology studies. We examined the stability of dietary intakes of children and adolescents over six years. As part of the European Youth Heart Study, in 1998-9, a 24-h dietary recall was performed on over one thousand 9- and 15-year-olds in Sweden. In 2004-5, 40% returned to the follow-up study. These 452 subjects (273 15- and 179 21-year-olds) were assigned to age- and gender-specific tertiles …

Hmgb1 Mediates Endogenous Tlr2 Activation And Brain Tumor Regression, James Curtin, Naiyou Liu, Marianela Candolfi, Weidong Xiong, Hikmat Assi, Kader Yagiz, Matthew Edwards, Kathrin Michelsen, Kurt Kroeger, Chunyan Liu, Akm Ghulam Muhammad, Mary Clark, Moshe Arditi, Begonya Comin-Anduix, Antoni Ribas, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

Articles

BACKGROUND: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most aggressive primary brain tumor that carries a 5-y survival rate of 5%. Attempts at eliciting a clinically relevant anti-GBM immune response in brain tumor patients have met with limited success, which is due to brain immune privilege, tumor immune evasion, and a paucity of dendritic cells (DCs) within the central nervous system. Herein we uncovered a novel pathway for the activation of an effective anti-GBM immune response mediated by high-mobility-group box 1 (HMGB1), an alarmin protein released from dying tumor cells, which acts as an endogenous ligand for Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) signaling …

Comparison Of Dashboard-Based And Balanced Scorecard-Based Corporate Performance Management System, Lin Zhu

Masters Theses

"Under current hypercompetitive and technology driven economic environment, more companies are using a corporate performance management (CPM) system to gain more accurate understandings of the company goals and strategies and to craft methods of achieving those goals and strategies. While CPM systems are generally implemented in two approaches: dashboard approach and scorecard approach, very few studies examine the effectiveness of each type of CPM systems implementation. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to assess the effectiveness of a dashboard based and a balanced scorecard based corporate performance management system. The effectiveness is examined through management effectiveness, degree of …

Identity, Gender, And Language In Synchronous Cybercultures: A Cross-Cultural Study, Charlotte Nirmalani Gunawardena, Ahmed Idrissi Alami, Gayathri Jayatilleke, Fawda Bouacharine

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The integration of the Internet into contemporary society worldwide has had a profound impact on the way we communicate, relate to ourselves, and to each other. Different users, depending on various characteristics such as age, gender, education, and sociocultural background, access the Internet for various communication needs such as exchanging emails, making new friends, or engaging in a serious discussion. Whatever the goal, users need to adjust to this new computer-mediated interactive environment, and they do so either in ways that reveal native cultural values, or reflect the creation of new cultural norms and conventions.

Teaching Information Literacy Skills To Prepare Teachers Who Can Bridge The Research-To-Practice Gap, Mark Emmons, Elizabeth B. Keefe, Veronica M. Moore, Rebecca M. Sanchez, Michele M. Mals, Teresa Y. Neely

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper explores ways in which academic libraries can partner with colleges of education to prepare teachers who can apply research to their practice. Federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind (2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) require teachers to implement evidence-based practices in their classrooms, which presents a challenge to teacher preparation programs and raises important questions about the nature of evidence in education. We believe that information literacy (IL) skills are critical in preparing teachers who can thoughtfully, critically, and ethically implement evidence-based practices. We report the results of a study into the effectiveness …

Special Libraries Association: The Importance Of Leadership, Donna E. Cromer

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The Special Libraries association (SLA), celebrating its 100th year in 2009, has long considered leadership qualities to be an important characteristic of members of the association. This paper describes the structure of the organization and types of leadership programs available to SLA members and reviews some of the research done on the individual potential leadership characteristics of librarians and on special librarians in particular. A brief summary of the current activities of SLA and its positioning for the future are also provided.

Depressive Symptoms In Elderly Women With Chronic Conditions: Measurement Issues, Jaclene A. Zauszniewski, Abir K. Bekhet

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective: Depression is highly prevalent in elderly women with chronic conditions and measuring depressive symptoms is complicated by co-occurring chronic illnesses. The 20-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale is commonly used with elders, but its length may result in missing data. Twelve short four to 16 item CES-D forms exist, but their psychometric properties have not been systematically evaluated.

Method: This study of 250 elderly women compared reliability and validity estimates for the 20-item CES-D and its 12 short forms; all scales used four response alternatives. The study also investigated whether women with varying numbers of chronic conditions …

The Effects Of Technology On Literacy(S), Thomas Glen Petersen

Masters Theses

"One of the challenges when measuring the effects of technology on literacy(s) is finding a control group where technology; does not play a major role in the culture. The Amish successfully live in a Technocracy where mechanical/electronic tools are used only when absolutely necessary; the Amish are not dependent on them for survival. The crux of the Amish philosophy is humility, serving the community and serving God. Ironically, they have suffered tremendous repercussions for adopting a wholesome, selfless lifestyle which is contrary to most popular world views, regardless of religious or spiritual views"--Purpose, page 40.

Feasibility Of A Human Performance Model In Consequence Management, Kashmeera Ghosh

Masters Theses

"Human civilization has always encountered unpredictable disasters as a result of natural events. Now it also faces the disasters caused by terrorist attacks. Governments must have consequence management plans in place to protect public health and safety, restore essential services, and provide emergency relief to affected businesses and individuals. Human performance models predict outcomes in complex dynamic situations. Such models can simulate disaster management procedures under varying circumstances. This work applies human performance modeling in a terrorist situation and evaluates possible uses of such models by first responders in practical consequence management applications. It includes a case study of an …

Development And Use Of Computer Aided Tools To Enhance Team Dynamics With Role Play Simulations, Vachaspathy Kuntamukkala

Masters Theses

"This thesis proposes a methodology for the development and use of computer based tools to enhance student team dynamics. Working effectively in groups cannot be taught in class room environment. Students often encounter conflicts during team meetings. Although some conflicts are resolved by the efforts of team members, an unbiased facilitator who is not a member of the team is often needed to help. This work proposes a tool that uses role play simulations to engage students in real-life scenarios so that they gain a practical, as well as a theoretical, understanding of how to work effectively as a team. …

Common Data Set, 2008-2009, Planning, Research, And Policy Analysis

Common Data Set (2001-present)

Common Data Set 2008-2009 for Illinois State University

Findings: College Of Education Research Report, 2008, College Of Education, Illinois State University

Annual Report and Findings

No abstract provided.

Symposium: Foot In The Door - The Unwitting Move Towards A New Student Welfare Standard In Student Speech After Morse V. Frederick, Francisco M. Negron, Jr.

American University Law Review

This article discusses an emerging legal trend that may expand schools’ abilities to protect their students. It focuses on Morse v. Frederick, a 2007 decision popularly known as the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case in which the court held that a school principal may restrict student speech that can be reasonably viewed as promoting illegal drug use. Negron argues that when read together, the majority opinion and Justice Alito and Justice Kennedy’s concurring opinion, permit schools to regulate student expression that may threaten student welfare. Justices Alito and Kennedy sought to limit the majority’s holding to speech involving illegal drug …

Adolescent Religiosity As A Protective Factor For Delinquency: Review Of Evidence And A Conceptual Framework For Future Research, Robert D. Laird, Matthew D. Marrero, Loren D. Marks

Faculty Publications

The first section of this chapter reviews evidence showing that although greater religiosity has been associated with less involvement in delinquent and analogous behaviors, the mechanisms and processes through which religiosity is linked too delinquent behavior are not well understood. In the second section of the chapter, a conceptual framework and theory for studying the religion-delinquency association will be presented. The framework adapts and builds on Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) General Theory of Crime. The third section of the chapter presents results off the initial study guided by the framework. Data are drawn from a longitudinal study of development during …

Religious Affiliation As A Correlate Of Linguistic Behavior, Wendy Baker-Smemoe, David Bowie

Faculty Publications

The current study examined whether religious affiliation in Utah County, Utah affected the production of several vowel mergers typical of the area (i.e., fell-fail, pool-pole-pull,card-cord). To do so, we asked selfidentified members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and self-identified non- Mormons to produce these vowel contrasts. Next, three naïve raters trained in phonetics but unfamiliar with how English is spoken in Utah were asked to judge which of the two vowels in a vowel pair contrast was produced by the speakers. Findings demonstrated clear evidence of differences based on selfdescribed religious affiliation for several of …

On The Contribution Of Perceptual Fluency And Priming To Recognition Memory, M. A. Conroy, Ramona O. Hopkins, L. R. Squire

Faculty Publications

Repetition priming has been shown to be independent of recognition memory. Thus, the severely amnesic patient E.P. has demonstrated intact stem completion priming and perceptual identification priming, despite at-chance performance on recognition memory tasks. It has also been shown that perceptual fluency can influence feelings of familiarity, in the sense that items perceived more quickly tend to be identified as familiar. If studied items are identified more fluently, due to perceptual priming, and fluency leads to familiarity, why do severely amnesic patients perform no better than chance on recognition memory tasks? One possibility is that severely amnesic patients do not …

Aging In Place In Suburbia: A Qualitative Study Of Older Women, Marian L.G. Knapp

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research explored "aging in place" among women age 65 and older living in Newton, Massachusetts. Study goals were to understand: the "places" that comprise the environment of "aging in place"; the factors that enable "aging in place"; "aging in place" in a suburb; and to refine definitions of "aging in place" Interviews with women used open-ended questions about women‘s early years in Newton and the changes they experienced in personal status, and places over time. Themes emerged using modified grounded theory with inductive and deductive approaches, and which acknowledged "sensitizing concepts". Six places comprised the "aging in place" environment: …

Flame, Furnace, Fuel: Creating Kansas City In The Nineteenth Century, Twyla Dell

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Though this work is a fuel and energy history of Kansas City from 1820 to 1920, it also provides a tool to describe and analyze fuel and energy transitions. The four parts follow the rise and fall of wood, coal and oil as their use grows to a peak and, in the case of wood, declines. The founding and growth of Kansas City as an “instant city” that grew from zero population to over three hundred twenty thousand in a hundred years embodies the increased use of fuels and energy in an urban setting and serves as a case study. …

North Dakota Supreme Court Review, North Dakota Law Review Associate Editors

North Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Aims Of Public Scholarship In Media Law And Ethics, Erik Ugland

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

This essay urges scholars in media law and ethics to reevaluate the extent and utility of their public-scholar efforts and to consider ways that they can transfer research-based knowledge to public audiences while also playing a more deliberate role in holding media and government institutions accountable. It suggests that the devolution of standards in mass communication, the increasing encroachments on media autonomy, and the broader collapse of power into fewer hands make this a particularly urgent moment for scholars to reengage the public and to abandon their feckless neutrality on public issues. The overarching aim of public scholars ought to …

Student Perceptions Of Streaming-Media Effectiveness, Sara Floyd Baber

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate cognitive-load theory as applied to the design of streaming media. In this study, student learning preferences and cognitive style were measured on a visualizer-verbalizer scale to determine the perceived importance of visual and audio components of streaming media used to supplement classroom instruction. Additionally, this study investigated cognitive-load theory by assessing attitudes regarding the importance of learner control when accessing streaming media files. The writer used 4 existing visualizer-verbalizer instruments in combination with 1 original survey that was designed to gather student perceptions and attitudes regarding the effectiveness of streaming media …

"Denmark Our Heritage - America Our Home": Danishness And Roots In A Multicultural World, Trine Tybjerg Holm, Borge M. Christensen

The Bridge

Danishness is flourishing in the U.S.A. at the dawn of the twenty-first century, and it is not difficult to find this Danishness, or rather, to find what Americans consider to be Danishness. When the Danish media focus on Danishness in the U.S., they tend to highlight two areas: Solvang, California, the so-called "Danish Capital of America," and the two "Danish Villages," Elk Horn and Kimballton, Iowa. Today, Solvang has a population of around 5,000 and Elk Horn/ Kimballton around 1,000. However, estimates have 1.5 million tourists visiting Solvang and 80,000 visiting Elk Horn/Kimballton annually. Dannebrog waves on high in both …

Determining The Future Income Of College Students, Paul Oehrlein, '09

Honors Projects

Many people invest a lot of money in order to go to college with the hope that they will eventually be rewarded with higher salaries. This paper attempts to determine what aspects of college are most important in determining the future income of students. In particular, this paper studies whether GPA is an important determinant of income as well as whether some majors are better investments than others after controlling for other factors. In addition, the effect of math and verbal ability on income and how they interact with different fields of study are studied. The data comes from the …

Adopted Children"S Outcome As Young Adults In Regards To Educational Attainment And Income, Nicole K. Spear, '09

Honors Projects

This study explains the differences between the outcomes for children adopted by the age of two in comparison to biologically raised children using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. It analyzes the educational attainment and income earned through a competing effects framework. The Family Background Effect measures the positive effects caused by higher than average socioeconomic status of the average family with adopted children. The Family Background Effect contrasted with the negative Adoption Effect caused by a number of different factors that could work against an adopted child. Using linear regression analysis, the study finds that the Family Background Effect …

Length Of Contracts And The Effect On The Performance Of Mlb Players, Katie Stankiewicz, '09

Honors Projects

The goal of any professional athlete is to receive a multi-year contract that guarantees them a salary for multiple years. However, a concern that fans, coaches and owners all share is that when a player receives a multi-year contract they may have a strong incentive to shirk. Shirking is when a player purposely does not perform to the best of his ability and may occur when a player has a guaranteed salary. The goal of this paper is to determine if a Major League Baseball player with a multi-year contract will show any pattern of shirking throughout the contract. Each …

State Greenhouse Gas Regulation, Federal Climate Change Legislation, And The Preemption Sword, William W. Buzbee

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

This Article starts in Part II by reviewing the basic anticipated design elements of federal climate legislation, then it reviews the substantial regulatory failure risks inherent in such climate change legislation. It then turns in Part III to analysis of preemption choices. The Article follows in Part IV by examining preemption jurisprudence, especially the growing risk of broad preemptive reads of federal law, and demonstrating how statutory uncertainties regarding preemption could result in subsequent interpretations substantially expanding the law's preemptive impact. ... Furthermore, as discussed in Part V, overlap and interaction of concurrent federal, state, and local climate change laws …

Effects Of Institutional Factors On The Retention Of Graduate Students Of Color In Schools Of Library And Information Science, Sandra M. Snyder-Mondragon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The intent of the study was to understand the changes that have occurred over the last 25 years in library programs as far as enrollment and diversity of students, number and ethnicity of the faculty, program income and expenses, cost of attendance, and scholarship and fellowship aid, in an effort to better understand library programs granting the MLIS degree. The study also endeavored to identify institutional factors associated with the retention and productivity rates of White students and students of color in schools of library and information science. During the period studied, the proportional representation of White students decreased. For …

The End Of The Red Queen's Race: Medical Marijuana In The New Century, Ruth C. Stern, J. Herbie Difonzo

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The road to marijuana prohibition is paved with prejudice, hysteria, and the outright rejection of science and rationality. Despite its proven medical value, marijuana remains misclassified under federal law, misrepresented and misunderstood by most of our drug policy makers. Seizing their role as innovators in our federalist system, California and twelve other states have declared their support for the many doctors and patients who believe in the therapeutic benefits of cannabis. The conflict between the federal government and the states on medical marijuana is a study in “cultural federalism,” the experience of citizenship in a divided polity. Whether the medical …

An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Functional Behavioral Assessment For Students With Emotional Behavioral Disabilities, Megan Kale Brose

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is defined as "a set of assessment procedures used to identify variables that promote and maintain challenging behavior and based upon this assessment, interventions are selected that alter one or more of these variables" (Stichter & Conroy, 2005, pp. 19-20). FBA has received a great deal of attention since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)l997 amendments, which require the use of FBA for all special education students upon referral of alternative educational placements due to behavior resulting in disciplinary action. There has also been considerable questioning of and need for research in …