Digital Commons Network^™

Message From The Vice President For Research And Federal Relations, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Friends Of The Library Mcnair Scholarship Awards, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Graduate Scholar Profile, The Mcnair Team

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Solar Shroud Design In A Cfd Environment, Keduse Agonafer

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

Wheelchairs And Stretchers: An Infection Danger?, Derrick Love-Jones

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Temperature On The Virulence Of Vibrio Alginolyticus And Serratia Marcescens (Pdl 100), Juandell Parker

McNair Scholars Research Journal

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of The Instructional Practices Inventory At An Illinois Middle School, Karen Earhart Gauen

Dissertations

This participatory action research study followed a middle school for two academic years to determine if incorporating the Instructional Practices Inventory (IPI) would increase classroom experiences that engaged students in learning and encouraged deeper, higher-order thinking skills. This study also used student standardized test scores, the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) and Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP), to determine if there was a relationship between the IPI process and improved test scores. I worked as the IPI coder, researcher, and facilitator for this study. During the research study, I kept field notes and observational data. Utilizing …

Exploring The Efficiency And Effectiveness Of Teacher Selection Tools: The Effects On The Total Group With A Focus On The Gender Sub-Groups, Sharon Lynn Ellerbrook

Dissertations

As schools struggle to meet federal testing requirements, the importance of having highly effective teachers in every classroom has never been greater, and, given the downward trend in the economy, there are more teaching applicants than ever. School districts would benefit from a streamlined process to interview and select only the most effective and highly-qualified teachers. The researcher’s purpose was to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of a unique and specific teacher selection process which included three Ventures for Excellence screening tools and one innovative instrument designed for this study, the performance rating scale. A collaborative correlational study involving three …

Exploring The Efficiency And Effectiveness Of Teacher Selection Tools: The Effects On The Total Group With A Focus On Elementary And Secondary Sub-Groups, Gregory Matthew Cicotte

Dissertations

As schools struggle to meet federal testing requirements, the importance of having highly effective teachers in every classroom has never been greater, and, given the current downward trend in the economy, there are more teaching applicants than ever. School districts would benefit from a streamlined process to interview and select only the most highly-qualified teachers. The researcher’s purpose in this study was to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of a unique and specific teacher selection process which included three Ventures for Excellence screening tools and one innovative instrument designed for this study, the performance rating scale. A collaborative correlational study …

Impact Of Missouri Reading Initiative On Student Achievement: An Administrative Perspective, Timothy E. Jamieson

Dissertations

Reading and critical thinking skills are a source of concern when analyzing student achievement relative to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). In Fort Zumwalt, middle school Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores in communication arts have not consistently met NCLB requirements. To address this concern, Fort Zumwalt implemented Missouri Reading Initiative (MRI) as a pilot at North Middle School during the 2007-08 school year. Collaborative researchers collected data derived from student test scores on the 2006-07 and 2007-08 communication arts MAP to assess MRI effectiveness. Quantitatively, this study examined the relationship between implementation of MRI and student achievement on the …

Freshman Transition Programs: Effect On Ninth Grade Academics And Minor Disciplinary Infractions, Angela Dawn Hahn

Dissertations

Ninth grade is critical because students either gain the maturity and academic skills to succeed in high school or fail and eventually drop-out (Hardy, 2006). With a new school environment comes anxiety as new social, academic, and behavioral responsibilities arise. Incoming freshmen at the High School of Study experience greater social freedoms and accountabilities, difficult academic requirements that leave no room for failure, and more stringent discipline policies. Administrators at the High School of Study recognized these challenges and designed a program to help their freshmen make a successful transition into high school. In 2006, the High School of Study …

Freshman Transition Programs: Effect On Ninth Grade Student Preparedness, Samantha Ruth Sutton

Dissertations

Ninth grade is critical because students either gain the maturity and academic skills to succeed in high school or fail and eventually drop-out (Hardy, 2006). With a new school environment comes anxiety as new social, academic, and behavioral responsibilities arise. Incoming freshmen at the High School of Study experience greater social freedoms and accountabilities, difficult academic requirements that leave no room for failure, and more stringent discipline policies. Administrators at the High School of Study recognized these challenges and designed a program to help their freshmen make a successful transition into high school. In 2006, the High School of Study …

The Effects Of Motivational Independent Reading Programs On Elementary At-Risk Students’ Reading Skills, Kathleeen J. Trueb

Dissertations

Teaching literacy is a challenging process that incorporates the functional and structural aspects of language with the comprehension of its content. Educators are often unable to successfully identify the appropriate strategies that are best-suited to communicate these distinctive components of literacy to students. Students from backgrounds of low socio-economic status are more likely to face challenges in acquiring literacy due to the cultural exceptions attached to their community and to the lack of resources available to them in the home and in schools that have less funding. The research study seeks to investigate these issues through comparing and contrasting the …

Nappy Roots, Split Ends, And New Growth: An Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry Into The Experiences Of A Black Female Educator, No Lye, Michel Linee Mitchell

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Using autobiographical narrative inquiry, I explore the ways that race, gender, class, culture, and place shape who I was and how I became who I am as a Black woman educator. Family members, colleagues, community members, and students are the main characters in my stories. Building on the works of Collins (2000), Cross (1991), Gay (2000), He (2003), hooks (2000), and Tatum (1997), I use Black women hair metaphors such as nappy roots, split ends, new growth, and no lye to comb through the phases of my life. For the purpose of protecting the characters and myself in my stories, …

Prism Vol. 1, No. 1, Center For Complex Operations

PRISM (Full PDF Issues)

Welcome to PRISM, a national security journal tailored to serve policymakers, scholars, and practitioners working to enhance U.S. Government competency in complex operations. PRISM explores the analysis, planning, and implementation of community-wide approaches to the three Ds—Defense, Diplomacy, and Development—and provides a forum for U.S. Government agencies, academic institutions, foreign governments, allied militaries, nongovernmental organizations, and other participants in the complex operations arena. PRISM is chartered to study, promote, and reinforce emerging thought and best practices as civilian capacity increases in stability, reconstruction, security, counterinsurgency, and irregular warfare operations. PRISM complements Joint Force Quarterly, chartered by General Colin …

Malaysian Construction Industry Payment Strategies For Reform / Lim Chong Fong, Chong Fong Lim

Student Works (2000-2009)

The construction industry in Malaysia is a mature and significant contributor to the economy of the nation. There is ironically much exasparation and complaints on construction payment for work done, materials or goods supplied and services rendered. This disertation is therefore devoted to the examination into the causes of the payment problems and to the suggestion of reform proposal to alleviate them. The examination of the causes initially inquires into the operating norms of the construction industry. Against this background, the examination focuses on the adequacy and effectiveness of construction contract term in use, the common law and statutory framework …

Context-Dependent Fusion With Application To Landmine Detection., Lijun Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional machine learning and pattern recognition systems use a feature descriptor to describe the sensor data and a particular classifier (also called "expert" or "learner") to determine the true class of a given pattern. However, for complex detection and classification problems, involving data with large intra-class variations and noisy inputs, no single source of information can provide a satisfactory solution. As a result, combination of multiple classifiers is playing an increasing role in solving these complex pattern recognition problems, and has proven to be viable alternative to using a single classifier. In this thesis we introduce a new Context-Dependent Fusion …

Polynomial Approximation Method For Stochastic Programming., Dongxue Ma 1986-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two stage stochastic programming is an important part in the whole area of stochastic programming, and is widely spread in multiple disciplines, such as financial management, risk management, and logistics. The two stage stochastic programming is a natural extension of linear programming by incorporating uncertainty into the model. This thesis solves the two stage stochastic programming using a novel approach. For most two stage stochastic programming model instances, both the objective function and constraints are convex but non-differentiable, e.g. piecewise-linear, and thereby solved by the first gradient-type methods. When encountering large scale problems, the performance of known methods, such as …

Mechanisms Mediated By Cxcl12 Signaling Through Cxcr4 And Cxcr7 In Breast Cancer., Lasharon Denise Mosley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interactions between chemokines and their receptors are involved in organ- specific homing and propagation of metastatic breast cancer (BrCa) cells. BrCa cells express higher levels of CXCR4 and CXCR7 mRNA and cell surface protein, than normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMECs). CXCR4 is ubiquitously expressed by a multitude of cancerous and normal cell types; while CXCR7 is differentially expressed by T helper lymphocytes, cancer cells, and normal epithelium. Importantly, recent studies show CXCR7 is highly expressed by activated endothelial cells (i.e., neovasculature), fetal liver cells, and many tumors, but not by non-transformed (or normal) human tissues. Unlike other chemokine receptors, …

Determinants Of Alumni Membership In A Dues-Based Alumni Association., Melissa Dawn Newman 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public higher education institutions are presently faced with a perfect storm of financial crises. State appropriations are on the decline, endowments have been substantially reduced as a result of the declining stock market, generally poor economic conditions across the board, and recent, historically high tuition increases make additional tuition hikes an unattractive option for a non-tax based revenue source. As a result of the economic climate within public higher education finance, institutions must increasingly rely on alternative revenue sources, which are largely made up of alumni support. According to Taylor and Massey (1996), "Alumni are a unique, select, and continuing …

The Role Of O-Glcnac Signaling In Acute Myocardial Ischemia., Gladys Afor Ngoh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

O -linked ß-N-acetylglucosamine ( O -GlcNAc) is an inducible, dynamically cycling, and reversible post-translational modification of serine/threonine amino acid residues of nucleocytoplasmic and mitochondrial proteins. O -GlcNAc transferase (OGT) adds, while O -GlcNAcase (GCA) removes O -GlcNAc from proteins. Albeit being a recruitable stress-induced signal in other tissues, the role of O -GlcNAc in the heart is unknown. Therefore, we hypothesized that O -GlcNAc is recruited in the heart during acute stress, and enhanced O-GlcNAc is cardioprotective. Subjecting neonatal rat cardiac myocytes (NRCMs) to hypoxia, or mice to myocardial ischemia reduced O-GlcNAc signaling. Augmented O-GlcNAc signaling attenuated, while diminished O-GlcNAc …

A Ferrari Engine With Bicycle Brakes : Mothers' Perceptions Of Family Communication Patterns When Having An Adhd Child., Anita Hoag 1967-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore how mothers with an ADHD child living in the household perceive and manage family communication. In-depth interviews were conducted amongst nine married mothers who have an ADHD child. Three themes emerged from the interview data: relational management, time management, and internal and external support. Mothers communicate with their ADHD child differently than their non-ADHD children and must also manage communication about the ADHD diagnosis. Mothers are not always open about their child's ADHD with non-family members as they are afraid of the stigma that is attached to the condition. Mothers recognize that …

Anticipatory Grief In The Context Of Dementia Caregiving., Caitlin Holley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the nature of anticipatory grief in a sample of dementia caregivers, and examined the relationship between anticipatory grief and caregiver burden. Anticipatory grief can be described as one's reaction to the impending death of a loved one, in addition to responses to other previously endured, ongoing, and anticipated losses. Interest in anticipatory grief has been inconsistent, and has typically focused on terminal diseases such as cancer. However, the issues involved in anticipatory grief are unique in the context of dementia due to the progressive deterioration of both cognitive and physical abilities. A total of 80 informal …

Comparative Study Of Freshmen College Student Beliefs And Values Between Representative Private And Public Institutions Of Higher Education In Kentucky., Brian S. Combs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students entering college for the first time are embarking on a life-changing journey like none they have experienced. The potential impact the college experience will have on their lives is extreme. Students will be engaged in class and co-curricular settings in ways that will challenge them to produce developmental growth that will carry them through emerging adulthood into adulthood. (Barry & Nelson, 2005) The importance of this time points to the necessity of colleges and universities ensuring that they are providing the best and most holistic educational experience possible. This study was a comparison of the level of student interest …

The Leadership Styles Of Social Work Educators., Patricia Louise Desrosiers 1969-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study are twofold: (1) to describe the leadership styles of social workers in educational administration and (2) to explain possible differences in leadership style by determining if context or gender or a combination of both factors influences style. This study will explore and describe the leadership styles of social work education administrators in the United States. The research design was a cross-sectional survey design and utilized multiple methods, both qualitative and quantitative, to achieve its purposes. Leadership styles were explored primarily through the collection of quantitative data in the form of a scale: the MLQ 5x-Short …

Psuedo-Randomly Controlled Analog Synthesizer, Jared Huntington

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project was to design and build a portable box recreating classic sounds heard in science fiction films. These include sounds ranging from droning hums to bloops and bleeps. Currently no other device is made specifically for generating these sounds. The user controls and manipulates the sounds produced using a combination of switches and knobs to shape the sound generation. The sounds are generated using analog electronics. The project was successful in meeting the desired goal by designing and building a Randomizer, MIDI controller, VCO, LFO, VCA, Ring Modulator, and Fuzz Section. The resulting device is useful …

Switching Circuit For A Permanent Magnet Dc Motor, Alex Boatman

Electrical Engineering

The project is a circuit that will basically supply current from the battery to the different stator coils at opportune moments. With a hall-effect sensor on the shaft as a feedback to a microcontroller, I was able to toggle switches based on the position of the shaft at the moments where we would be using as little power as possible. The operation of the control circuit works similar to a stepper motor; it takes a signal from the microcontroller that is sent to some FET drivers, which in turn sends signals to the FETs to open or close as the …

Automated Basketball Return System, Victor Mendoza, Chris Chamberlain

Electrical Engineering

The project is meant to assist a basketball player in their practicing. The project hangs directly on the basketball rim and automatically rotates to find the player on the court. Once the player is detected, the automated basketball return system (ABRS) stays focused in the direction of the player so that any baskets successfully made will be funneled back to the player. When the player moves from center, IR motion detectors find which direction you moved to and rotates accordingly, until the player is focused in front of the funnel again. If at any time the player is absent from …

Lab-Scale Thyristor Rectifier And Static Var Compensator Circuits, Haroun Idris, Ibrahim Idris

Electrical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to design thyristor circuits by using single-phase FCRO 4100 firing board donated by ENERPRO. These circuits in conjunction with a thyristor module will be used for future lab experiments in power electronics courses.

The first part of this project is to study the full effect of a firing angle on a controlled single phase full bridge thyristor rectifier circuit. Furthermore, the resulting circuit setup will be implemented as part of future lab experiments in Power Electronics I course. The next purpose of this project is to design a small-scale Static VAR Compensator (SVC) lab …

Dc-Dc Converter For Harvesting Energy From An Exercise Bike, Henry Ureh, Chris Henry

Electrical Engineering

Create an efficient buck-boost converter that adapts to input voltage range from ~3.8V to 70V, and outputs 13.7V DC, the voltage required by a charge controller to charge a battery. The energy stored in the battery will be supplied back to the grid.

The cost of energy saved by the converter should eventually cover the initial price of the converter. The converter should help reduce the net power consumption of the exercise machines used in the Cal Poly gym