Digital Commons Network^™

Quest For Spirituality, Teodoro Estrada

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Quest for Spirituality is a body of work that confronted and validated suppressed spiritual experiences. I credit Our Lady Virgin of Guadalupe for my resurrection from ignoring my creative gift and bringing me home.

Desire for limelight, stability, and fulfilling the gallery-going public’s desire overshadowed numerous invitations and opportunities to explore spirituality. A fruitful lifestyle suppressed the nuance of spirituality never expressed until the silence vanished. My mother’s passing, a spiritual epiphany unraveled memories giving expression to these experiences. The vicious cycle of gallery going public’s desire for my art crumbled the day I returned to my homeland. Time has …

Teacher Leadership Practices In Large Texas High Schools With Different Accountability Ratings: A Mixed Methods Study, Cynthia Molina Saldivar

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A promising strategy for improving education is to use the energy of teacher leaders as agents of school change. According to Katzenmeyer and Moller (2001), teaching and learning improve where shared leadership exists, and when there is no expectation of “heroic leadership” from one person. Therefore, this mixed methods study was designed to examine teacher leadership and the leadership styles and practices of principals in large Texas high schools with different accountability ratings. Two hundred and fifteen participants consisting of teachers, teacher leaders, and leadership team members from 24 high schools were surveyed; and personal interviews were held with principals …

Utilizing Concept Mapping As A Teaching And Learning Tool To Prepare For The Science Taks Test, Rosa Linda Zuniga

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Concept mapping was used with Donna High School students to determine its effect on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) test. Concept mapping was used with models such as the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol model (SIOP), the 5- E model, and the Learning Groups model. This measure was taken because the models used have not helped students improve their TAKS scores significantly. The findings of this research reveals that using the process of concept mapping together with the SIOP model helps students clearly see related concepts and motivates them to think more deeply. Students quickly realize what concepts …

Set And Light Design For “Con Mis Manos/With My Hands”: A Play In Two Acts By Misael Martinez, Lawrence Andrew Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

An examination and analysis of the process of creating and executing a set and light design for a new show in a new space. This thesis will delve into the problems and solutions that helped to create the set for Con Mis Manos/With My Hands, a play by Misael Martinez, for production in the Albert L. Jeffers Theatre at the University of Texas-Pan American.

A Realization And Application Of Appropriate French Baroque Ornamentation For The First Four Preludes Of “L'Art De Toucher Le Clavecin” By Francois Couperin, Andres Javier Lopez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In his work, L’Art de Toucher le Clavecin (1716-1717), Francois Couperin (1668-1733) details specific instructions for the correct playing of his ornamentation. In addition to the text, Couperin composes a series of didactic preludes in ascending order of difficulty to illustrate his ornamentation in the context of his work. I will focus on the proper interpretation of Couperin’s ornamentation and include a realization of four Couperin preludes. They contain the majority of issues presented by his ornamentation. I shall seek to properly realize Couperin’s ornamentation and use of unequal rhythms using the first four preludes of L’Art de Toucher le …

Uab Madrigal Feaste, December 1994, Uab Archives

Images of the Month from UAB Archives

Image ID: P23.1

A man and woman in costume dancing

Open For Learning: The Cms And The Open Learning Network, Jon Mott, David Wiley

Faculty Publications

The course management system (CMS) reinforces the status quo and hinders substantial teaching and learning innovation in higher education. It does so by imposing artificial time limits on learner access to course content and other learners, privileging the role of the instructor at the expense of the learner, and limiting the power of the network effect in the learning process. The open learning network (OLN)—a hybrid of the CMS and the personal learning environment (PLE)—is proposed as an alternative learning technology environment with the potential to leverage the affordances of the Web to dramatically improve learning.

Gpu-Accelerated Hierarchical Dense Correspondence For Real-Time Aerial Video Processing, Stephen Cluff, Bryan S. Morse, Jonathan D. Cohen, Mark Duchaineau

Faculty Publications

Video from aerial surveillance can provide a rich source of data for many applications and can be enhanced for display and analysis through such methods as mosaic construction, super-resolution, and mover detection. All of these methods require accurate frame-to-frame registration, which for live use must be performed in real time. In many situations, scene parallax may make alignment using global transformations impossible or error-prone, limiting the performance of subsequent processing and applications. For these cases, dense (per-pixel) correspondence is required, but this can be computationally prohibitive. This paper presents a hierarchical dense correspondence algorithm designed for implementation on graphics processing …

Biological Diversity Of Prokaryotic Type Iv Secretion Systems, Cristina E Alvarez-Martinez, Peter J Christie

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Type IV secretion systems (T4SS) translocate DNA and protein substrates across prokaryotic cell envelopes generally by a mechanism requiring direct contact with a target cell. Three types of T4SS have been described: (i) conjugation systems, operationally defined as machines that translocate DNA substrates intercellularly by a contact-dependent process; (ii) effector translocator systems, functioning to deliver proteins or other macromolecules to eukaryotic target cells; and (iii) DNA release/uptake systems, which translocate DNA to or from the extracellular milieu. Studies of a few paradigmatic systems, notably the conjugation systems of plasmids F, R388, RP4, and pKM101 and the Agrobacterium tumefaciens VirB/VirD4 system, …

China’S Exports And The Oil Price, João Ricardo Faria, Andre V. Mollick, Pedro H. Albuquerque, Miguel A. Leon-Ledesma

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

The increase in oil prices in recent years has occurred concurrently with a rapid expansion of Chinese exports in the world markets, despite China being an oil importing country. In this paper we develop a theoretical model that explains the positive correlation between Chinese exports and the oil price. The model shows that Chinese growth can lead to an increase in oil prices that has a stronger impact on its export competitors. This is due to the large labor force surplus of China. We then examine this hypothesis by estimating a reduced form equation for Chinese exports using Rodrik (2006)’s …

Impact Of Microfinance And Remittances On The Livelihood Of Nepali People, Bishal B. Kasu

Theses and Dissertations

This research is about the impact of microfinance and remittances on the livelihood of Nepali people. The research has adopted a quantitative approach and used the Nepal Living Standard Survey 2003-04 dataset. The research shows that microfinance and remittances have a clear effect on percent of expenses made on food, health, education, and the housing quality of Nepali people. Out of four dependent variables, microfinance is significantly associated with percent of expenses on food, health and housing quality. Amount of microfinance loans received is negatively associated with percent of expenses on food and quality of housing but positively associated with …

Openline Newsletter, December 2009, Civil Service Council

OpenLine Newsletter

A monthly newsletter for Civil Service employees, Volume XXXIV, Number 6, December 2009.

20091201: Graduate College, 1992-1996, Graduate College

Guides to University Archives

These items include materials from the office of the Graduate College at Marshall University from 1992-1996. Items were received in 2009 and include notable materials from or about the Research Committee, the Dean's Retired Files, and catalog revisions. This is not an exhaustive list. Please download the finding aid for a full list of contents.

Looking At 2010, Robert T. Howell

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Automotive Technology Student Learning Styles And Their Implications For Faculty, Mark D. Threeton, Richard A. Walter

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

In an effort to provide Career and Technical Education (CTE) professionals with additional insight on how to better meet the educational needs of the learner, this study sought to identify the preference for learning of postsecondary automotive technology students. While it might appear logical to naturally classify auto-tech students as primarily hands-on-learners, the results suggested that the sample was a diverse group of learners with specific educational preferences within the automotive technology program. With a lack of learning style research within the trade and industry sector of CTE, findings may be useful to trade and industry teachers and or teacher …

A Cross-Case Analysis Of Gender Issues In Desktop Virtual Reality Learning Environments, Lynna J. Ausburn, Jon Martens, Andre Washington, Debra Steele, Earlene Washburn

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

This study examined gender-related issues in using new desktop virtual reality (VR) technology as a learning tool in career and technical education (CTE). Using relevant literature, theory, and cross-case analysis of data and findings, the study compared and analyzed the outcomes of two recent studies conducted by a research team at Oklahoma State University that addressed gender issues in VR-based training. This cross-case analysis synthesized the results of these two studies to draw conclusions and implications for CTE educators that may assist in developing or implementing successful virtual learning environments for occupational training. The cross-study findings suggested that males and …

Thirtieth Annual Outstanding Manuscript Award Recipients, Robert T. Howell

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Protein Secondary Structure Prediction Using Parallelized Rule Induction From Coverings, Leong Lee, Cyriac Kandoth, Jennifer Leopold, Ronald L. Frank

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Protein 3D structure prediction has always been an important research area in bioinformatics. In particular, the prediction of secondary structure has been a well-studied research topic. Despite the recent breakthrough of combining multiple sequence alignment information and artificial intelligence algorithms to predict protein secondary structure, the Q3 accuracy of various computational prediction algorithms rarely has exceeded 75%. In a previous paper [1], this research team presented a rule-based method called RT-RICO (Relaxed Threshold Rule Induction from Coverings) to predict protein secondary structure. The average Q3 accuracy on the sample datasets using RT-RICO was 80.3%, an improvement over comparable computational methods. …

The Link, Vol 3, No. 11, December 2009/January 2010, Illinois State University, Center For Teaching, Learning, And Technology

The Link

Newsletter for the Illinois State University Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology

Age Comparisons Of Bone Density And Geometry In Men, Vanessa D. Sherk, Murat Karabulut, Michael G. Bemben, Debra A. Bemben

Health & Human Performance Faculty Publications

Objectives: The purposes of this study were to examine tibia bone density and geometry in young and middle aged men, and to explore relationships between pQCT- and DXA-derived body composition variables.

Methods: Healthy males (18-30 years old, n=31; 50-64 years old, n=37) had their total body areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and body composition measured with Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). Volumetric bone characteristics, muscle cross-sectional area (MCSA) and fat cross-sectional area (FCSA) of the leg were measured with peripheral Quantitative Computed Tomography (pQCT).

Results: Young men were significantly (p<0.05) lighter and had less fat mass than older men. Total volumetric BMD (vBMD) at 66% of the tibia length was significantly lower (p<0.05) in older men. Bone-free lean body mass values were useful predictors of total and cortical area and content (R(2)=0.338-0.467). MCSA was more predictive of leg BFLBM than total body BFLBM, and those relationships were stronger in older men.

Conclusions: Differences in tibial bone area and density existed between …

Transferability Of Simple Sequence Repeat (Ssr) Markers Developed In Litchi Chinensis To Blighia Sapida (Sapindaceae), Marius R.M. Ekué, Oliver Gailing, Reiner Finkeldey

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Ackee (Blighia sapida, Sapindaceae) is a multipurpose fruit tree species of high economic importance, native to the Guinean forests of West Africa, and belongs to the same family as that of lychee (Litchi chinensis). In this study, a set of 12 primer pairs for simple sequence repeats (SSRs) previously developed for lychee has been evaluated for polymorphism in 16 ackee trees from different populations. Seven primer pairs have been found to be transferable, and four have revealed polymorphisms. However, the average number of alleles per locus has dropped from 4.9 for lychee to 3.7 for ackee. Characterization of the four …

Opportunity Cost Neglect, Shane Frederick, Nathan Novemsky, Jing (Jane) Wang, Ravi Dhar, Stephen Nowlis

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

To properly consider the opportunity costs of a purchase, consumers must actively generate the alternatives that it would displace. The current research suggests that consumers often fail to do so. Even under conditions promoting cognitive effort, various cues to consider opportunity costs reduce purchase rates and increase the choice share of more affordable options. Sensitivity to such cues varies with chronic dispositional differences in spending attitudes. We discuss the implications of these results for the marketing strategies of economy and premium brands.

Spirituality At Work In A Changing World: Managerial And Research Implications, Eugene Geh, Gilbert Tan

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper identifies the seminal works of key theorists in the field of spirituality and traces the development of the key ideas of spirituality at the workplace in relation to their relevance in today's organizational context. We examine how having a healthy orientation towards spirituality at work can lead to desirable individual and organizational outcomes. Particular emphasis is placed on understanding the rapidly changing workplace and its future directions by first uncovering the rationale behind the evolution of management thought since the introduction of Taylor's scientific management and then, by examining the various stages of economic development and as well …

Don't Be Undersold!, Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp, Nirmalya Kumar

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

"Aldi" is a word that strikes fear in the hearts of brand managers across Europe. A chain of low-budget retail stores with sales of $73.5 billion in 2008, Aldi invented what is commonly referred to as the hard-discount store, a format that is destroying between a quarter and a half trillion dollars in brand sales annually.Brand executives at major consumer packaged goods companies have mostly been caught off guard by this success, The authors' research identified four key misconceptions that explain why: (1) Hard discounters can succeed only in Europe; (2) they attract only the poor; (3) they offer inferior …

Law And Capitalism: What Corporate Crises Reveal About Legal Systems And Economic Development Around The World By C. J. Milhaupt And K. Pistor, Ruth V. Aguilera, Abhijeet K. Vadera

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The article reviews the book "Law & Capitalism: What Corporate Crises Reveal About Legal Systems & Economic Development Around the World," by Curtis J. Milhaupt and Katharina Pistor.

Firm-Specific Knowledge Resources And Competitive Advantage: The Roles Of Economic- And Relationship-Based Employee Governance Mechanisms, Heli Wang, Jinyu He, Joseph T. Mahoney

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The resource-based view of the firm emphasizes the role of firm-specific resources, especially firm-specific knowledge resources, in helping a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. However, the deployment of firm-specific knowledge often requires key employees to make specialized human capital investments that are not easily redeployable to other settings. Thus, in the absence of effective safeguards and trust building devices, employees with foresight may be reluctant to make such specialized investments. This study explores both economic- and relationship-based governance mechanisms that might mitigate this underinvestment problem. Effective use of these governance mechanisms enables a firm to obtain greater performance from …

Improvement Of The Mine Fire Simulation Program Mfire, Lihong Zhou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fire represents one of the most severe hazards to underground mines. A good understanding of the interaction between a mine fire and the mine ventilation network would be very crucial for fire emergency planning and hazard control. MFIRE, an underground mine fire simulation program developed in 1980's, is a tool that can be used to simulate the impacts of a mine fire event to a mine ventilation network. However, the lack of the abilities to simulate some of the important mine fire phenomena realistically hindered its wide applications. This research has been carried out to improve the MFIRE program. The …

Internal Valve Design And Response Analysis For A Circulation Control Augmented Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, Andrew J. Nawrocki

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Circulation control is an established method for increasing lift on an airfoil-shaped body. Previous research has focused on the application of circulation control to fixed-wing aircraft as well as rotorcraft; ongoing research at the Center for Industrial Research Applications (CIRA) involves the application of circulation control to vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWT). Due to size and response time constraints, one of the key technical hurdles of this application that must be overcome is the valve mechanism for controlling the airflow out of the blowing slots. A valve design consisting of a slotted, sliding gate mated to a slotted, fixed surface within …

Water Resources Year In Review - Winter 2009 Vol 21. No 2, Annis Water Resources Institute

AWRI Reviews

No abstract provided.

Organic Matter Processing And Opportunities For Stream Mitigation In An Intensively Mined West Virginia Watershed, Megan Stephanie Minter

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Mountaintop removal/valley fill mining is a controversial process that may have far-reaching impacts on central Appalachian watersheds. Our project sought to quantify spatial and temporal variation in organic matter processing within Pigeon Creek, an intensively mined sub-watershed of the Tug Fork River in southern West Virginia. Our objectives were to: (1) quantify variation in organic matter retention and decomposition among streams differing in size (drainage area), gradient, and structural complexity; and (2) quantify the effect of valley fills on stream flow, water chemistry, organic matter processing, and benthic invertebrate colonization of detritus packs in 1 st order perennial streams. Our …