Digital Commons Network^™

Silver Doped Perfluoropolyether-Urethane Coatings: Antibacterial Activity And Surface Analysis, Niall Stobie, Brendan Duffy, Steven Hinder, Patrick Mchale, Declan Mccormack

Articles

The colonisation of clinical and industrial surfaces with pathogenic microorganisms has prompted increased research into the development of effective antibacterial and antifouling coatings. There is evidence that implanted biomedical surfaces coated with metallic silver can be inactivated by hysiological fluids, thus reducing the bioactivity of the coating. In this work, we report the biofilm inhibition of Staphylococcus epidermidis using a roomtemperatureprocessedsilver dopedperfluoropolyether-urethane coating. The release of silver ions from these fluoropolymers over a six-day period inhibited bacterial encrustation – as observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis indicated differences in carbon, fluorine and sodium surface composition …

Structural Basis For Binding Specificity Between Subclasses Of Modular Polyketide Synthase Docking Domains, Tonia Buchholz, Todd W. Geders, Frank E. Bartley Iii, Kevin A. Reynolds, Janet L. Smith, David H. Sherman

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Bacterial type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) assemble structurally diverse natural products of significant clinical value from simple metabolic building blocks. The synthesis of these compounds occurs in a processive fashion along a large multiprotein complex. Transfer of the acyl intermediate across interpolypeptide junctions is mediated, at least in large part, by N- and C-terminal docking domains. We report here a comprehensive analysis of the binding affinity and selectivity for the complete set of discrete docking domain pairs in the pikromycin and erythromycin PKS systems. Despite disconnection from their parent module, each cognate pair of docking domains retained exquisite binding selectivity. …

Dab Eureka-147: The European Platform For Digital Radio, Brian O'Neill

Articles

Like its analogue counterpart, digital radio is one of the 'older' forms of new media. The technology of digital radio broadcasting has been under active development for at least 25 years and has produced a number of different technical solutions, the longest established of which is Eureka-147 or Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB). This article explores DAB's distinctly European vision for the future of broadcasting. DAB is traced to its origins in 1980s European research and development policy and its affinity with traditions of European public service broadcasting. Ironically, it was DAB's failure to capitalize on its 'Europeanness' that contributed to …

Gender Differences In Children’S Internet Use:Key Findings From Europe, Helen Mcquillan, Brian O'Neill

Articles

This paper analyses comparative empirical data from across Europe on gender differences in children’s internet use, and through a new interpretive framework on young people’s experiences, seeks to add new findings to this growing international knowledge base. Linking feminist theory on gender and technology with theories of youth gender identity construction, four key areas are investigated. Firstly, the impact of increased internet access and use in schools and in homes on gender equality is examined. Secondly, youth communication and content creation practices are investigated to explore whether the internet is facilitating flexibility in gender identity and the transcendence of traditional …

Regulatory Dysfunction: How Insufficient Resources, Outdated Laws, And Political Interference Cripple The 'Protector Agencies', Sidney A. Shapiro, Rena I. Steinzor, Matthew Shudtz

Faculty Scholarship

In the last several years, dramatic failures of the nation’s food safety system have sickened or killed tens of thousands of Americans, and caused billions of dollars of damages for producers and distributors of everything from fresh vegetables to granola bars and hamburger meat. In each case, the outbreak of food-borne illness triggered what can only be described as a frantic scramble by health officials to discover its source. Inevitably, the wrong lead is followed or a recall is too late or too narrow to prevent further illnesses, and the government has to defend itself against withering criticism. Americans expect …

Salero: Semantic Audiovisual Entertainment Reusable Objects, Charlie Cullen, Georg Thallinger, Gert Kienast

Conference papers

Broadcasters around the world are in desperate need to automate content production as much as possible. This need is twofold on the one side automatic production for good structured program parts is needed on the other hand production for different target devices is an issue. The EC project SALERO has developed a range of tools enabling automatic template based production of animation clips with virtual presenters over the past years. In this paper we describe the workflow devised by the project to automate major parts of media production based on 3D content. This is accompanied by a description by the …

Framing The Nigerian Transnational Family: New Formations In Ireland, Anaele Diala Iroh

Doctoral

No abstract provided.

Italian: As/A2 Digital Listening Practice Tests 2009, Silvia Bertoni, Susanna Nocchi

Books/Book Chapters

AS/A2 Digital Listening Comprehension Practice Tests 2009 consists of a book and audio files with authentic listening material and test questions. This book is ideal for practising, improving and building up students’ confidence in listening skills in preparation for the AS Level,A2 Level, the Irish Leaving Certificate and other advanced level exams.

Evaluating Ground Truth For Adress As A Preprocess For Automatic Musical Instrument Identification, Joseph Mckay, Mikel Gainza, Dan Barry

Conference papers

Most research in musical instrument identification has focused on labeling isolated samples or solo phrases. A robust instrument identification system capable of dealing with polytimbral recordings of instruments remains a necessity in music information retrieval. Experiments are described which evaluate the ground truth of ADRess as a sound source separation technique used as a preprocess to automatic musical instrument identification. The ground truth experiments are based on a number of basic acoustic features, while using a Gaussian Mixture Model as the classification algorithm. Using all 44 acoustic feature dimensions, successful identification rates are achieved.

On The Use Of The Beta Divergence For Musical Source Separation, Derry Fitzgerald, Matt Cranitch, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

Non-negative Tensor Factorisation based methods have found use in the context of musical sound source separation. These techniques require the use of a suitable cost function to determine the optimal factorisation, and most work has focused on the use of the generalised Kullback-Liebler divergence, and more recently the Itakura-Saito divergence. These divergences can be regarded as limiting cases of the parameterised Beta divergence. This paper looks at the use of the Beta Divergence in the context of musical source separation with a view to determining an optimal value of Beta for this problem. This is considered for both magnitude and …

Musical Sound Source Separation Using Extended Tensor Decompositions, Derry Fitzgerald

Conference papers

Recently, tensor decompositions have found use in sound source separation. In particular, non-negative tensor decompositions have received a lot of attention due to their ability to decompose audio spectrograms into meaningful ”parts” such as individual notes. Extensions to the basic non-negative tensor factorisation framework allow the incorporation of additional constraints, such as shift-invariance in both frequency and time. This enables the factorisations to capture more complex structures than individual notes, such as individual sources playing different pitches and time-evolving instrument timbres. Further music specific constraints such as harmonicity and source-filter modeling have been shown to improve separation performance for musical …

Using Tensor Factorisation Models To Separate Drums From Polyphonic Music, Derry Fitzgerald, Matt Cranitch, Eugene Coyle

Conference papers

This paper describes the use of Non-negative Tensor Factorisation models for the separation of drums from polyphonic audio. Improved separation of the drums is achieved through the incorporation of Gamma Chain priors into the Non-negative Tensor Factorisation framework. In contrast to many previous approaches, the method used in this paper requires little or no pre-training or use of drum templates. The utility of the technique is shown on real-world audio examples.

Creativity And Structure In Irish Architectural Practices: An Exploration Of The Symbiotic Relationship Between Structure And Creativity In Irish Architectural Practices With International Offices, Aine Rooney

Dissertations

This enquiry is concerned with exploring creativity within Irish architectural practices with overseas offices. Specifically, the thesis seeks to determine how strategic choices in relation to structure can deliver competitive advantage through increased organisational creativity. In gathering data and reviewing the findings from the research, the study ultimately seeks to develop recommendations for best practice guidelines for optimal organisational structure for Irish architectural practices which supports creativity. In doing so it seeks to solve a real world problem, significantly contributing to professional practice in the area. The current status of the sector in Ireland is presented in order to outline …

Supporting Value Creation By Reducing Cultural Distance As A Barrier To Exporting, Thomas Cooney, Amanda Ratcliffe, Jane Silver

Articles

Value creation at the level of the organisation involves balancing the interests of several different stakeholders, with exporting occasionally viewed as a broad-based strategy capable of achieving such equilibrium. However, while much has been written concerning the logistical and economic challenges faced by SMEs wishing to avail of market opportunities abroad, there remains a dearth of information offering solutions to overcoming cultural distance as a barrier to exporting. An EU project entitled ‘Passport to Trade’ sought to provide greater insight into business culture by collating the customs and subjective norms of all member states within the EU and making the …

Interview No. 1540, Fred Loya

Combined Interviews

Fred Loya was born to immigrant parents in Santa, California. His mother had a well-established family and his father worked different jobs through his life until he financed his own grocery store. Loya worked on his family ranch right out of college, he was able to do book keeping and started buying cattle for the ranch. Through buying cattle, he met Bill Bur who became Loya’s employer. Bur later lost his business and became an insurance agent with Farmers Insurance. He influenced Loya to become an agent as well, despite objection from his wife. Loya became one of the most …

Honors @ Georgia Southern, University Honors Program Students And Staff, Georgia Southern University

Honors College: News & Publications (2008-2020)

• STAND Combats Genocide
• 2008 Voter Registration Project
• Alternative Spring Break : Northern Ireland
• Honors in Action
• Alumni Notes

“All Work And No Play” Reconsidered: The Use Of Games To Promote Motivation And Engagement In Instruction, Stephen Gareau, Ruth Guo

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study examined the role of games in graduate-level instructional technology courses, where the curriculum includes complex abstract theory and hands-on, practical skills. A qualitative approach was used in the study, relying on classroom observations of student behavior (recorded by digital photographs), informal student verbal comments, formal written feedback, and analysis of student game projects, as sources of data. Participants had the opportunity to serve in one or both roles of ‘educational game player’ and ‘educational game designer’. Issues involved in adapting existing games to classroom use are also discussed. Study findings reveal that games can be very useful in …

Click Or Clique? Using Educational Technology To Address Students’ Anxieties About Peer Evaluation, Ruth Walker, Graham Barwell

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Peer bias is recognised as a primary factor in negative student perceptions of peer assessment strategies. This study trialled the use of classroom response systems, widely known as clickers, in small seminar classes in order to actively engage students in their subject’s assessment process while providing the anonymity that would lessen the impact of peer pressure. Focus group reflection on the students’ impressions of the peer evaluation process, the use of clickers, and their anxieties about potential peer bias were analysed in the light of the results of teacher and class evaluations of each individual student presentation. The findings revealed …

How Do Management Students Prefer To Learn? Why Should We Care?, Ednilson Bernardes, Mark Hanna

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This paper reports the findings of a study of the learning styles of students in the operations management class at a regional comprehensive university in southeastern United States. Extant learning styles are found to be highly diverse and differ by student gender. However, in contrast to at least one prior study, the learning styles of our respondents did not differ by student major. Five areas of opportunity for future research arising from the results of this study are identified in the paper’s conclusion.

Assessing Student Learning And Perceptions In An Upper-Level General Education Requirement Argumentation Course, Kathryn Olson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This project addressed the difficulties of teaching argument skills, a staple of liberal education, to a mixture of Communication majors and non-majors taking the course for General Education Requirement (GER) credit. The design uses independent instructor comparison of students’ pre- and post-test performances, students’ comparative self-evaluation of their pre- and post-test performances, as well as students’ reflections on their learning in response to a separate questionnaire and independent instructor assessment of their performance in arguing those reflective claims, to analyze learning processes in an upper-level argumentation course. The results include specific content concepts and course and instructor strategies that both …

Operationalization Of Innovative And Traditional Pedagogical Practices Within Undergraduate Bioengineering Courses, Monica F. Cox

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study operationalizes pedagogical practices using classroom observation data collected in twenty-eight bioengineering courses at a southeastern research university over five semesters. Using an index that distinguishes pedagogy reflecting principles of the “How People Learn” framework and pedagogy representing traditional, lecture-based instruction, the author presents five “How People Learn” instructional practices (i.e., guidance by the instructor, comments, praise, monitoring, and question and response) and four statistically significant subcategories representing traditional instructional practices (i.e., instruction by media, lecture, praise, and no response) that were most likely to occur within observed How People Learn-oriented classes and traditional, lecture-based classes, respectively. Included are …

Nestablishing Soil Compaction Thresholds For The M1a1 Abrams Tank At Camp Minden, Louisiana, Michael Ray Lindsey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Soil compaction is a primary impediment to vegetation regeneration on military land used for M1A1 Abrams tank training. As such, there is a need to identify soil compaction thresholds and develop guidelines with which military range managers can determine appropriate timing and intensity of training exercises using the 63-ton M1A1 tank. A study was initiated at the Camp Minden Louisiana Training Site (CMTS) to develop guidelines which will allow for maximum utilization of the land resource with minimum degradation. The study was designed to evaluate soil moisture content and traffic rates as experimental variables using a replicated 3 x 3 …

Miscellany, Adam Pace, Elizabeth Debbann, Lauren Mcswain, Mikey Winsor, Victoria Ivey, Danielle Maskery, Steven Roberson, Amy Dexter, Quacherra Mason, Clark Campbell, Matt Menefee, Jordon Fennell, Rachel Rozier, Erica Lasalle, Clark Campbell, Reuben Hayslett, Matthew Bishop

Miscellany

• Art
• Literature
• Roy F. Powell
• Credits

Nyar Savannah Program 2009, National Youth-At-Risk Conference, Savannah

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

N/A

Scanning Probe Microscopy Investigations Of (1) Arrays Of Cysteine-Coated Cds Nanoparticles And (2) Structures Formed During The Early Stages Of The Corrosion Of Copper Surfaces, Brian Robert Lewandowski

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) characterizations are becoming more prevalent for surface investigations due to their capabilities for obtaining structural information and physical measurements. New capabilities of SPM for studying and controlling nanoscale processes are emerging as valuable assets in research. A fundamental understanding of the interactions of surface reactions provides essential information for developing workable applications for nanotechnology. Two applications of SPM are discussed in this dissertation. The first investigation uses atomic force microscopy (AFM) for the characterization of nanostructures produced with a newly developed lithographic technique called “two-particle” lithography. This new technique is based on particle lithography for the …

The Informational Content Of Canonical Disjoint Np-Pairs, Christian Glaßer, Alan L. Selman, Liyu Zhang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

We investigate the connection between propositional proof systems and their canonical pairs. It is known that simulations between propositional proof systems translate to reductions between their canonical pairs. We focus on the opposite direction and study the following questions.

Q1: For which propositional proof systems f and g does the implication hold, and for which does it fail?

Q2: For which propositional proof systems of different strengths are the canonical pairs equivalent?

Q3: What do (non-)equivalent canonical pairs tell about the corresponding propositional proof systems?

Q4: Is every NP-pair (A, B), where A is NP-complete, strongly many-one equivalent to the …

Effects Of Simulated Drift Of Glyphosate, Imazethapyr, Glufosinate, And Imazamox To Non-Transgenic Rice, Justin Brian Hensley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Four studies were conducted at the LSU AgCenter Rice Research Station near Crowley, Louisiana to evaluate the effects of simulated herbicide drift on ‘Cocodrie’ rice. Herbicides were applied at 6.3 and 12.5% of the labeled usage rate of 863 g ae/ha of glyphosate, 70 g ai/ha of imazethapyr, 493 g ai/ha of glufosinate, and 44 g ai/ha of imazamox. Herbicides were applied to rice at the 1-tiller, panicle differentiation (PD), boot, and physiological maturity growth stages. Spray volume varied proportionally to herbicide dosage and was 15 L/ha for the 6.3% rate and 29 L/ha for the 12.5% rate using 234 …

Toward Open Source Hardware, John R. Ackermann

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

Analytic Signals With Nonnegative Instantaneous Frequency, D. V. Vliet

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Measurement Of Phonemic Degradation In Sensorineural Hearing Loss Using A Computational Model Of The Auditory Periphery, Andrew Hines, Naomi Harte

Conference papers

A computational model of the auditory periphery enables faster investigation of new signal processing algorithms for hearing aids. This paper presents a study of the degradation of auditory nerve (AN) responses at a phonetic level for a range of sensorineural hearing losses. The AN model of Zilany & Bruce was used to compute responses to a diverse set of phoneme rich sentences from the TIMIT database. The characteristics of both the average discharge rate and spike timing of the responses are discussed. The experiments demonstrate that the model responses are consistent with respect to impairment and inaudible thresholds.