Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2009

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 5371 - 5400 of 95731

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Study Abroad Program Evaluation: What Can Be Learned From Student Satisfaction Surveys?, Jenny Brown Dec 2009

Study Abroad Program Evaluation: What Can Be Learned From Student Satisfaction Surveys?, Jenny Brown

All Theses

ABSTRACT
The rapid growth in the number of students going abroad has prompted a recent endeavor among international educators to begin the cumbersome undertaking of evaluating the quality of study abroad programs being offered at U.S. colleges and universities. In response to this increased participation in study abroad programs, the Office of International Affairs at Clemson University initiated an internal program evaluation in the spring of 2007. In collaboration with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Assessment, an evaluation team assessed the components of these programs from the viewpoint of the participants. This study explored the following question: When it …

Go to article

Straight Line Braking Performance Of A Road Vehicle With Non Linear Tire Stiffness Formulation, Anup Khekare Dec 2009

Straight Line Braking Performance Of A Road Vehicle With Non Linear Tire Stiffness Formulation, Anup Khekare

All Theses

The capability of a road vehicle equipped with an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) to come to a safe stop depends on factors such as dynamic force between tire and road, surface adhesion coefficient, and the vertical profile of the road. When in panic, a driver's reaction is to step hard on the brakes to make the vehicle stop as soon as possible. Although the use of modern technologies such as ABS and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) have reduced the number of accidents significantly, any further improvement in stopping distance would only complement these technologies.
Michelin has undertaken the development of …

Go to article

The Classic Muscle Car Era, William Mckinney Dec 2009

The Classic Muscle Car Era, William Mckinney

All Theses

Big and bold, loud and brash, mighty and proud, the classic American muscle car is in many ways a reflection of America at a time in history when we were on top of the world and everything seemed to be going our way. This work will examine the classic muscle car era of 1964-1974, including how it started, who helped it along, what cars were involved, how it ended, and what it meant. What the future holds for a car such as a muscle car is also examined.

Go to article

Biological Treatment To Remove Color And Toxicity Of Effluent From The Manufacturing Of Navipol Yellow Gr, Larry French Dec 2009

Biological Treatment To Remove Color And Toxicity Of Effluent From The Manufacturing Of Navipol Yellow Gr, Larry French

All Theses

Navipol Yellow GR is an organic solvent azo dye manufactured by Sunbelt Corp. in Rock Hill, SC. The effluent generated from the manufacturing of this dye is highly colored, toxic, and contains trace solvents consisting of mixed xylene isomers and ethyl benzene. Traditional wastewater treatment systems are unable to remove the color and toxicity from the effluent. This study investigated using a sequential anaerobic / aerobic treatment system to decrease color and toxicity of the dye effluent. The anaerobic phase used bacteria cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, or Enterobacter aerogenes to decrease the color of the dye. …

Go to article

Mechanical And Chemical Characterization Of Biological Composite Structures, Bonnie Zimmerman Dec 2009

Mechanical And Chemical Characterization Of Biological Composite Structures, Bonnie Zimmerman

All Theses

A better understanding of the bioresponse of naturally occurring systems will help
to optimize the engineering of synthetic biomaterials. The aim of this thesis was to
characterize the mechanical and chemical behavior of two distinct biological composite
systems, human teeth and wool fibers. These mechanical and chemical properties were
also studied as a function of natural structure and environmental conditions.
Human teeth are composite systems consisting primarily of hydroxylapatite and
protein. This project investigated how the use of clinical dental treatments and
procedures, such as whitening and etching, affects mechanical properties. Analysis of
nanoindentation with the Oliver-Pharr model provided elastic …

Go to article

A Comparison Of Methods For Teaching Auditory-Visual Conditional Discriminations To Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Laura Lee Grow Dec 2009

A Comparison Of Methods For Teaching Auditory-Visual Conditional Discriminations To Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Laura Lee Grow

Dissertations

Early and intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is an approach to treating the behavioral deficits and excesses observed in children with autism spectrum disorders. The magnitude of improvement in the overall functioning of children receiving EIBI has stimulated additional research and widespread clinical dissemination through the publication of EIBI curricular manuals. Many EIBI manuals recommend teaching conditional discriminations using the simple/conditional method. Initially, component simple discriminations are taught in isolation and in the presence of a distracter stimulus. Finally, conditional discriminations, which include stimuli previously taught as simple discriminations, are presented to the learner. Although the simple/conditional method is often recommended …

Go to article

General Theory Of Oscillon Dynamics, Marcelo Gleiser, David Sicilia Dec 2009

General Theory Of Oscillon Dynamics, Marcelo Gleiser, David Sicilia

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present a comprehensive, nonperturbative analytical method to investigate the dynamics of time-dependent oscillating scalar field configurations. The method is applied to oscillons in a φ4 Klein-Gordon model in two and three spatial dimensions, yielding high accuracy results in the characterization of all aspects of the complex oscillon dynamics. In particular, we show how oscillons can be interpreted as long-lived perturbations about an attractor in field configuration space. By investigating their radiation rate as they approach the attractor, we obtain an accurate estimate of their lifetimes in d = 3 and explain why they seem to be perturbatively stable …

Go to article

Hispanics Communication Experiences In The Organizational Setting, Nicole Abeyta Dec 2009

Hispanics Communication Experiences In The Organizational Setting, Nicole Abeyta

Communication ETDs

The purpose of this study is to explore the organizational communication experiences of some Hispanic employees. In this thesis, I employ a narrative analysis method, and share the interviews and standpoint of twelve Hispanic employees to help advance the understanding of how Hispanic employees feel about integrated communication practices in the workplace. I also uncover how Hispanics feel about their work environment, what type of communication practices are utilized, and how Hispanics use technology in the organizational setting. The personal experiences help establish a general understanding of the influences of Hispanic culture, language, values, beliefs, and traditions in organizations, specifically …

Go to article

Examining Client Motivation And Counseling Outcome, Guy Ilagan Dec 2009

Examining Client Motivation And Counseling Outcome, Guy Ilagan

All Dissertations

University mental health clinics have experienced a marked increase in demand for services without an increase in resources to meet the rising demand. Consequently, university mental health centers need strategies to determine the best allocation of their limited resources. Transtheoretical Model, based on client motivation, may offer valuable insight into whether a university student is likely to benefit from campus mental health counseling.
The subjects included 331 university students at a liberal arts, public university in the Southeastern part of the United States. The subjects consisted of all students over age 18 who visited the research site campus mental health …

Go to article

Prosthetic Configurations: Rethinking Relationships Of Bodies, Technologies, And (Dis)Abilities, Amanda Booher Dec 2009

Prosthetic Configurations: Rethinking Relationships Of Bodies, Technologies, And (Dis)Abilities, Amanda Booher

All Dissertations

This work rethinks configurations of and relationships between bodies and prosthetics, emerging from a gap between three particular theoretical perspectives. The first perspective builds from Gender and Disability Studies theories; the second operates within the frame of post–humanity and cyborgean theories, specifically though Bernard Stiegler, Katherine Hayles, and Donna Haraway; the third is a practical/medical perspective, demonstrated through the experiences of people with amputations and medical prosthetics, as well as through the influence of medical visualization technologies. While offering productive and compelling means of complicating and deconstructing boundaries of bodies and prosthetics, these perspectives often operate independently; an integrative perspective …

Go to article

Probabilistic Remediation Evaluation Model For Chlorinated Solvents Considering Uncertainty, Hailian Liang Dec 2009

Probabilistic Remediation Evaluation Model For Chlorinated Solvents Considering Uncertainty, Hailian Liang

All Dissertations

The complex processes and expensive costs of source and plume remediation of dense, non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) complicate the decision-making process for site remediation. Selection of remediation alternatives has been a big challenge due to the lack of tools that simultaneously evaluate the effectiveness of source and plume remediation and access the uncertainties in all major parameters. In this research, a new probabilistic remediation model, Probabilistic Remediation Evaluation Model for Chlorinated solvents sites (PREMChlor), has been developed. This is achieved through linking the analytical model REMChlor to a Monte Carlo modeling simulation package GoldSim via a FORTRAN Dynamic Link Library …

Go to article

Nucleation And Growth Behavior Of Tellurite-Based Glasses Suitable For Mid-Infrared Applications, Jonathan Massera Dec 2009

Nucleation And Growth Behavior Of Tellurite-Based Glasses Suitable For Mid-Infrared Applications, Jonathan Massera

All Dissertations

Optical fibers transmitting in the 2-5 μm mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region are highly desirable for a variety of military and civilian applications including super-continuum generation, infrared countermeasures (IRCM), and MIR laser sources. These new applications in the mid-infrared require novel optical materials that transmit in this window and can be fabricated into fiber. As tellurite glasses are known to have good transparency in the (NIR) region, tellurite-based glasses are the material of choice for this study due to their high linear and nonlinear refractive index, their low glass transition temperature and the ability to form them into optical fiber.
This …

Go to article

A Scanpath Comparison Of The Salient Features Of Weather Among General Aviation Pilots Based On Training And Experience, Michael Sawyer Dec 2009

A Scanpath Comparison Of The Salient Features Of Weather Among General Aviation Pilots Based On Training And Experience, Michael Sawyer

All Dissertations

Over the last 20 years the number of annual accidents in general aviation has seen a steady decline. The annual number of fatal accidents, however, has remained relatively stable. Adverse weather is consistently cited as a leading cause of fatal accidents in general aviation; weather accidents have a fatality rate nearly four times that of other general aviation accidents. Reviews of accident data reveal that often these accidents occur when inexperienced pilots who are certified only for visual flight rules flight continue into adverse weather. The Situation Assessment Hypothesis suggests these accidents occur when pilots fail to accurately recognize weather …

Go to article

Visuohaptic Simulation Of A Borescope For Aircraft Engine Inspection, Deepak Vembar Dec 2009

Visuohaptic Simulation Of A Borescope For Aircraft Engine Inspection, Deepak Vembar

All Dissertations

Consisting of a long, fiber optic probe containing a small CCD camera controlled by hand-held articulation interface, a video borescope is used for remote visual inspection of hard to reach components in an aircraft. The knowledge and psychomotor skills, specifically the hand-eye coordination, required for effective inspection are hard to acquire through limited exposure to the borescope in aviation maintenance schools. Inexperienced aircraft maintenance technicians gain proficiency through repeated hands-on learning in the workplace along a steep learning curve while transitioning from the classroom to the workforce.
Using an iterative process combined with focused user evaluations, this dissertation details the …

Go to article

A Perceptional Analysis Of The South Carolina Principal Induction Program As Perceived By Program Participants, Jerome Hudson Dec 2009

A Perceptional Analysis Of The South Carolina Principal Induction Program As Perceived By Program Participants, Jerome Hudson

All Dissertations

BOLD

Go to article

Ninth Grade Academies In South Carolina: Early Adopters Versus Late Adopters, Daniel Mullis Dec 2009

Ninth Grade Academies In South Carolina: Early Adopters Versus Late Adopters, Daniel Mullis

All Dissertations

The addition of ninth graders to the high school level brought administrative challenges: increased failure rate, truancy, and disciplinary infractions; as a solution, the Ninth Grade Academy concept evolved. This study's purpose was to examine South Carolina schools' academies to determine if early adopters were more effective than late adopters. The study's research was based on Institutional Theory with its main focus as Institutional Isomorphism. This qualitative study used survey results to determine how much administrators used data from existing academies before beginning their own implementation process. The study used institutional theory to assess whether new academies were a form …

Go to article

Hydrodynamics Of Freshwater Turtles: Maneuverability, Stability, And Effects Of Shell Shape, Gabriel Rivera Dec 2009

Hydrodynamics Of Freshwater Turtles: Maneuverability, Stability, And Effects Of Shell Shape, Gabriel Rivera

All Dissertations

Aquatic organisms exhibit tremendous diversity in body design and modes of propulsion that can strongly influence locomotor performance. Understanding how such differences affect locomotor performance is a major focus of research in integrative organismal biology and can provide insight into the evolutionary origins of such variation. Turtles are unique among extant tetrapods (i.e., amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) in that they possess rigid bodies. In turtles, the vertebrae are fused dorsally with a bony carapace, precluding movement of the axial skeleton between the base of the neck and the tail. As a result of their immobilized axial skeleton and reduced …

Go to article

We're Here Now: An Exploratory Study Of The Relationships Between Tourism And Post-Migration Community Participation And Sense Of Community, Jason Draper Dec 2009

We're Here Now: An Exploratory Study Of The Relationships Between Tourism And Post-Migration Community Participation And Sense Of Community, Jason Draper

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
Research has suggested that visiting a community can result in an inclination (Cuba, 1989) or likelihood of moving there (McHugh, 1990). One reason that may contribute to the decision to move is tourism experiences provide an opportunity for visitors to compare the destination to their current community and determine if voids that exist would be filled should they relocate (Haug, Dann, & Mehmetoglu, 2007). However, should tourists decide to relocate, research is needed that examines how tourists transition to being a resident (Oigenblick & Kirschenbaum, 2002) and policy implications of residential growth. The purpose of this exploratory study was …

Go to article

Measuring The Impact Of Varied Instructional Approaches In An Introductory Animal Science Course, Brian Bolt Dec 2009

Measuring The Impact Of Varied Instructional Approaches In An Introductory Animal Science Course, Brian Bolt

All Dissertations

The objectives of this project were to: evaluate the impact of demographic descriptors (gender, class rank and final grade) on student's self perceived level of engagement in classroom activities; measure the impact of varying teaching styles on a student's likelihood of correctly answering a knowledge based question and: assessing the relationship of knowledge acquisition with their level of engagement. Data were collected on students in the AVS 150, introductory animal science class (n=155) at Clemson University during the fall of 2008. Ten to fifteen minutes of class time were classified as conforming exclusively to one of three types of material …

Go to article

Sequence Analysis And Characterization Of The Dihydrodiol Dehydrogenase And Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Genes In'' Sphingomonas Paucimobilis'' Epa505, Jaleh Jalili Dec 2009

Sequence Analysis And Characterization Of The Dihydrodiol Dehydrogenase And Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Genes In'' Sphingomonas Paucimobilis'' Epa505, Jaleh Jalili

All Dissertations

A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library was previously constructed from genomic DNA of Sphingomonas paucimobilis EPA505 at Clemson University Genomic institute (CUGI). To isolate and identify the bphB gene from the genome of S. paucimobilis EPA505, a set of primers was designed based on conserved regions of the bphB gene encoding dihydrodiol dehydrogenase of Sphingomonas CHY-1 and Sphingomonas yanoikuyae B1. Routine PCR was performed and a PCR fragment of approximately 500 bp that confirmed the presence of pbhB gene in Sphingomonas paucimobilis EPA505 was produced. Hybridization of the PCR product with BAC library was performed and one hundred two positive …

Go to article

Covalent Immobilization Of L1 Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule To Acrylated Tetronicâ® Hydrogels For Neural Regeneration, Rebecca Cribb Dec 2009

Covalent Immobilization Of L1 Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule To Acrylated Tetronicâ® Hydrogels For Neural Regeneration, Rebecca Cribb

All Dissertations

Spinal cord injuries cost the United States $20 billion per year, with an existing patient population of 256,000 growing by an estimated 12,000 each year. Current clinical therapies for spinal cord injury are limited to spinal immobilization and realignment via traction, surgery, administration of methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) within eight hours post-injury, and rehabilitation exercises. While these therapies are important and may minimize damage and restore limited function, there is a dire clinical need for treatments to address the growing population of chronically-injured patients.
Varying degrees of axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury have been achieved in …

Go to article

Field Evaluation Of The Immunocontraceptive Gonacontm In Reducing Eastern Gray Squirrel Fecundity In Urban Areas, Murali Pai Dec 2009

Field Evaluation Of The Immunocontraceptive Gonacontm In Reducing Eastern Gray Squirrel Fecundity In Urban Areas, Murali Pai

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the immunocontraceptive GonaConTM in reducing fecundity in Eastern gray squirrel (EGS) (Sciurus carolinensis) in urban areas. Using a modified box trap design, 317 EGS were captured during four trapping sessions on a 5.66 ha site on Clemson University's main campus. EGS were handled using a restraint cone and sexed, weighed, ear-tagged and implanted with a microchip at the nape of the neck on all 'original' captures and later identified in subsequent captures as 'recaptures.' Blood samples and morphometric data were obtained on EGS before the immunocontraceptive GonaConTM was administered by …

Go to article

Synthesis, Modification Of Mesoporous Carbons And Their Application In Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, Bing Liu Dec 2009

Synthesis, Modification Of Mesoporous Carbons And Their Application In Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, Bing Liu

All Dissertations

Mesoporous carbon materials of carbon xerogel (CX) and silica-templated carbon (MC) were synthesized and explored as catalyst supports alternative to the most-commonly-used carbon black (CB) support, for polymer-electrolyte-membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) application. Pt catalyst was loaded on these carbons and electrodes were fabricated from them. These Pt-loaded carbon supports were characterized with XRD, TEM, ex-situ and in-situ cyclic voltammetry, etc. The fabricated electrodes were evaluated in single-cell testing in comparison with commercial CB-supported Pt catalyst fabricated electrodes. The experimental results showed that CX-supported Pt catalyst had close or better performance than that of CB-supported Pt, possibly due to CX's 3-D …

Go to article

Examining The Dynamics Of Managing Information Systems Development Projects: A Control Loss Perspective, Ravi Narayanaswamy Dec 2009

Examining The Dynamics Of Managing Information Systems Development Projects: A Control Loss Perspective, Ravi Narayanaswamy

All Dissertations

The failure rate of information systems development (ISD) projects continues to pose a big challenge for organizations. The success rate of ISD projects is less then forty percent. Factors such as disagreements and miscommunications among project manager and team members, poor monitoring and intermediary problems contribute to project failure.
Agency theory and leader member exchange (LMX) theories offer potential explanations for project failure. In particular, three monitoring strategies - control strategy, decision rights, and influence tactics were found to be effective in promoting project success. LMX theorists suggest that achieving congruence between the manager and subordinate regarding each other actions …

Go to article

Evaluation Of Fluid Diodes As Pulmonary Heart Valve Replacements, Tiffany Camp Dec 2009

Evaluation Of Fluid Diodes As Pulmonary Heart Valve Replacements, Tiffany Camp

All Dissertations

Children born with congenital heart disease often times suffer from severe chronic pulmonary insufficiency. Palliative treatments for this condition may come early on in the life of the patient; however, if it becomes severe enough, a pulmonary valve replacement may be required. There currently is not a permanent option for a replacements valve. Therefore, a need exists to develop a permanent solution. Knowing that the right heart circulation is more tolerant of moderate levels of regurgitation (0 - 35%) and pressure gradient (0 - 30 mmHg), this study investigates the hypothesis that a fluid diode, a motionless valve that offers …

Go to article

Service Recovery: Trend, Path Model, And Cultural Comparison, Hua-Hung Weng Dec 2009

Service Recovery: Trend, Path Model, And Cultural Comparison, Hua-Hung Weng

All Dissertations

This dissertation studies the trend of service recovery practice over the past decade, establishes a service recovery model, and compares the cultural differences using it. Service recovery has been an important topic in service operations, but few studies discuss the changes of recovery practices over time and analyze their differences across countries. This dissertation consists of three essays. The first investigates the service recovery trends by comparing recovery practices in 2008 and in 2000. In 2008, successful recovery was found to have less impact on satisfaction and loyalty, and fair compensation has less chance of successful recovery. The second essay …

Go to article

Branchings And Time Evolution Of Reaction Networks, Changyuan Wang Dec 2009

Branchings And Time Evolution Of Reaction Networks, Changyuan Wang

All Dissertations

In this thesis I analyze flows in reaction networks in terms of branchings
in a digraph. If the coupled differential equations governing the rate
of change of probabilities X of a state or species are finite-differenced in time, a matrix equation (I + Adt)X(t+dt) = X(t) results, where X(t) is a vector giving the probabilities at time t and X(t+dt) is a vector giving the probabilities at time t + dt. I demonstrate that the matrix (I + Adt) may be written as the product of an incidence matrix and a weight matrix for a directed graph (digraph) representing the …

Go to article

Immune Regulation Of The Host Autophagic Response And The Elimination Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Sergio A. De Haro Dec 2009

Immune Regulation Of The Host Autophagic Response And The Elimination Of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Sergio A. De Haro

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Autophagy is an immune effector response against a variety of intracellular pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mycobacteria survive in macrophages by blocking maturation of the phagosome. Induction of autophagy by the T helper 1 (Th1) cytokine IFN-γ, or amino acid starvation, enables macrophages to overcome the phagosome maturation block and impedes mycobacterial survival. This study investigates the role of T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines Interleukin 4 (IL-4) and Interleukin 13 (IL-13) in autophagy in macrophages and their ability to eliminate intracellular mycobacteria. The Th2 cytokines abrogated autophagy and autophagy-induced transfer of mycobacteria into lysosomal compartments, thus enhancing mycobacterial survival within infected …

Go to article

Term Rewriting With Built-In Numbers And Collection Data Structures, Stephan Falke Dec 2009

Term Rewriting With Built-In Numbers And Collection Data Structures, Stephan Falke

Computer Science ETDs

Term rewrite systems have been extensively used in order to model computer programs for the purpose of formal verification. This is in particular true if the termination behavior of computer programs is investigated, and automatic termination proving for term rewrite systems has received increased interest in recent years. Ordinary term rewrite systems, however, exhibit serious drawbacks. First, they do not provide a tight integration of natural numbers or integers. Since the pre-defined semantics of these primitive data types cannot be utilized, reasoning about termination of ordinary term rewrite systems operating on numbers is often cumbersome or even impossible. Second, ordinary …

Go to article

Reconfigurable Middleware Architectures For Large Scale Sensor Networks, Sean M. Brennan Dec 2009

Reconfigurable Middleware Architectures For Large Scale Sensor Networks, Sean M. Brennan

Computer Science ETDs

Wireless sensor networks, in an effort to be energy efficient, typically lack the high-level abstractions of advanced programming languages. Though strong, the dichotomy between these two paradigms can be overcome. The SENSIX software framework, described in this dissertation, uniquely integrates constraint-dominated wireless sensor networks with the flexibility of object-oriented programming models, without violating the principles of either. Though these two computing paradigms are contradictory in many ways, SENSIX bridges them to yield a dynamic middleware abstraction unifying low-level resource-aware task reconfiguration and high-level object recomposition. Through the layered approach of SENSIX, the software developer creates a domain-specific sensing architecture by …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last