Digital Commons Network^™

What Do Collaborations With The Arts Have To Say About Human-Robot Interaction?, William D. Smart, Annamaria Pileggi, Leila Takayama

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

This is a collection of papers presented at the workshop "What Do Collaborations with the Arts Have to Say About HRI", held at the 2010 Human-Robot Interaction Conference, in Osaka, Japan.

Optimal Design-Space Exploration Of Streaming Applications, Shobana Padmanabhan, Yixin Chen, Roger D. Chamberlain

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Many embedded and scientific applications are frequently pipelined asynchronously and deployed on architecturally diverse systems to meet performance requirements and resource constraints. We call such pipelined applications streaming applications. Typically, there are several design parameters in the algorithms and architectures used that, when customized, impact the tradeoff between different metrics of application performance as well as resource utilization. Automatic exploration of this design space is the goal of this research. When using architecturally diverse systems to accelerate streaming applications, the design search space is often complex. We present a global optimization framework comprising a novel domain-specific variation of branch-and-bound that …

Identité Et Langue Française Chez Azouz Begag Et Chahdortt Djavann, Nehal Abuelata

Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the problematics of identity construction through the acquisition of the French language for immigrants living in France. More specifically, it examines the impact French language acquisition has had and still has on the identity of children of Maghrebian descent and, more generally, its influence on the identity of non-francophone immigrants who arrived in France as adults by examining the novels of two francophone authors: Azouz Begag and Chahdortt Djavann. Whereas the former is a French writer of Algerian descent, a "Beur," the latter is an Iranian-born writer who emigrated to France as an adult. In addition, this …

A Phonetic, Phonological, And Morphosyntactic Analysis Of The Mara Language, Michelle Arden

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a linguistic analysis of the Mara language, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in northwest Myanmar and in neighboring districts of India. Data has been gathered through interviews with a native speaker. The analysis includes a full phonetic segment inventory of the dialect and a phonological analysis of contrastive sounds and contextual variants. Sound files embedded in the document illustrate the phonetic system. Mara's distinctive phonetic features include the loss of word-final consonants, a set of voiceless sonorants, pre- and post- aspirated nasals, and lowered and unlowered vowel pairs. The morphosyntax of Mara pronominal words demonstrates a split-ergative case …

Valley Of Heart's Delight: Orchards To Hard Drives In The San Jose Mercury News, Megan Lynn Alpers

Master's Theses

This research was conducted to explore how the San Jose Mercury News (formerly San Jose Mercury Herald) covered the Santa Clara Valley's transition from an agricultural community known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight" to Silicon Valley, focusing on the changes made in the reporting of farm and ranch news.

The time period surveyed in this thesis is from 1935 to 2000. The purpose was to establish any changes to reporting agricultural news over the years. A social history of agricultural journalism in the San Jose Mercury News over a 65-year period provided insight into how the farming industry was …

An Analysis Of Stacy Garrop's Sonnet Settings For Treble Choir And Piano, Kathryn Alexis Feetham

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a thorough and detailed analysis of Stacy Garrop's two works for treble chorus and piano, Pity Me Not (2003) and Thou Famished Grave (2006) for the purposes of providing a base for future research and study. Since Garrop's goal as she composes is to tell the story contained in the text, this analysis of her works looks closely at the approaches she takes to communicate the story to the listener. The two choral pieces are examined on several musical levels including but not limited to form, melody, harmony, register, rhythm, tempo, meter, …

Synthesis Of A Potentially Insulin-Mimetic, Lipid-Linked Inositol Glycan, Meenakshi Goel

Master's Theses

Inositol glycans (IGs) are naturally occurring oligosaccharides that can stimulate insulin sensitive cells. Several synthetic IG analogues have been shown to activate the insulin-signaling pathway, including the stimulation of the enzyme pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) phosphatase that can further stimulate aerobic metabolism in cells. Cancer cells shift to anaerobic metabolism in order to escape intrinsic apoptosis (Warburg Effect). IG's ability to stimulate aerobic metabolism might provide a method to reverse the Warburg Effect and thereby induce apoptosis in the cancer cells. One specific palmitoylated IG analogue has been shown to selectively kill cancer cells while having no adverse effect on normal …

Assessment Of First Aid Knowledge And Decision Making Of Coaches Of Youth Soccer, Lynn Castro

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the first aid knowledge of coaches of youth soccer and to assess the decision making ability of those coaches in hypothetical athletic situations. The study investigated coaches with passing scores on the First Aid Assessment test (FAA) and first aid and CPR certification; years of coaching experience and scores on the FAA; the difference between years of coaching experience and return to play; the relationship between first aid and CPR certification and education level and the scores on the FAA and education level. Coaches completed a FAA test, Game Situation Data Sheet …

Toward A Single-Consciousness: Challenging "Un-American-Ness" Of People Of Color, Bhawana Kamil

Master's Theses

Race is a major axis of social injustice in America. Social injustice is due to both maldistribution of material resources and opportunities and non-recognition or mis-recognition of people of color. One form of mis-recognition is the accusation that a person of color is not a real American, creating a conflict of identities (i.e., racial and American): a double-consciousness. This accusation has its origins in faulty ideas about race, identity, and race-group membership.

This paper presents a new model of identity that addresses these faulty ideas and provides a conceptual structure within which one can consistently maintain a single-consciousness while maintaining …

Social Support As Moderator Of Job-Specific Or Generic Stressors With Strains, Kaci Deeana Mabe

Master's Theses

Two studies examining the relationship between job-specific stressors and strains versus the relationship between generic stressors with strain, as well as the moderating role of social support (from coworkers and administrators), are presented. Eighteen primary school teachers from a private Jewish day school (Study 1) and 242 teachers from an Arizona school district (Study 2) completed self-administered surveys. Results indicated that job-specific (vs. generic) stressors had a stronger positive relationship with strains, but social support was a better moderator for the relationship between generic stressors and strain. As hypothesized, administrator support had a reverse-buffering effect on the stressor-strain relationship in …

Who Am I?: The Reflexivity Of Self-Identity Through Tourism, Matthew Lee Milde

Master's Theses

This study has set forth to close gaps, explore innovative methods, and create a better understanding of "Who am I?", in tourism research. Few studies in tourism research focus on how experiences gained from traveling shape self-identity through personal biographies. Building on the work of seminal authors on self-identity, personal narrative, and tourism, this study explores the reflexivity of self-identity as represented in travel narratives. The lived experiences offered through narrative condition spontaneous instances of self-discovery allowing for the (re)creation of new self-identities.

Participants were selected through a snowball sample; in-depth interviews were held with fifteen (15) adults born and …

Family Of Circulant Graphs And Its Expander Properties, Vinh Kha Nguyen Tran Nguyen

Master's Theses

In this thesis, we apply spectral graph theory to show the non-existence of an

expander family within the class of circulant graphs. Using the adjacency matrix and its properties, we prove Cheeger's inequalities and determine when the equalities hold. In order to apply Cheeger's inequalities, we compute the spectrum of a general circulant graph and approximate its second largest eigenvalue. Finally, we show that circulant graphs do not contain an expander family.

Where's My Daddy? Effects Of Fatherlessness On Women's Relational Communication, Latoya Marie Jackson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis research was to understand the relationship between father absence and women's communication styles in romantic heterosexual relationships under social cognitive theory. Two studies were conducted using a multi-method research approach in order to triangulate the results. Seven fatherless women were interviewed to arrive at a better understanding of how father absence informed their romantic relational experiences. Specifically, the topics of relationship roles, self-disclosure, expression, and self-silencing in romantic relationships were examined in the interviews. Participants reflected on what growing up fatherless meant to them and whether or not this had any influence on the role …

Observed Water Vapor Enhancement In Smoke Plumes, Caroline Marie Kiefer

Master's Theses

Wildland fires cause the loss of life and billions of dollars in property damage every year in the US annually; thus, there is a need to better understand, predict, and manage both wildland and prescribed fires. Moisture released from combustion, in addition to added heat, can enhance buoyancy and convection, influencing fire behavior. Previous studies have shown a wide range of smoke plume moisture enhancement, but much uncertainty still exists in the quantitative values of moisture released during combustion. In this study, three measurement platforms were used to obtain in situ measurements of temperature and relative humidity during various prescribed …

Visual Framing Of Patriotism And National Identity On The Covers Of Der Spiegel, Andrea Marie Pyka

Master's Theses

This thesis studied how Der Spiegel, a news magazine in Germany, visually framed images of German patriotism and national identity on its front covers between 1947 and 2009. This study specifically examined whether the covers showed an increase in symbols of patriotism and national identity following four major events in Germany. The events included: the building of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany, the adoption of the Euro, and the 2006 World Cup. A framing analysis of the covers showed that there was an increase in symbols of national identity across each of these four events. However, based …

Difference And Accommodation In Visigothic Gaul And Spain, Craig H. Schamp

Master's Theses

This thesis examines primary sources in fifth- and sixth-century Gaul and Spain and finds a surprising lack of concern for ethnicity. Authors in the fifth century expressed concern for the sanctity and safety of the church, their patria, and themselves, but seldom mention any issues that could be related to ethnicity. Even the Arian Christianity of the Goths seems to be of little or no concern. This changes in the middle of the sixth century, when Arian Christianity becomes an overarching issue in Visigothic history. The sources portray nearly every political concern in the second half of the sixth century …

Amount Of International News By Four World Newspapers: Pre And Post-9/11, Sidney Mitchell

Master's Theses

World newspapers, The New York Times, The London Times, The Australian, and The Toronto Star, have the power to enlighten countries and shape public opinion domestically and abroad. However, at times, newspapers tend to be biased and reflect ideologies or values, which tend to be slanted towards home cultures and personal politics. Consequently, the public often suffers because what it learns about the world may be distorted. As a result, newspapers have witnessed a steady decline in readership following the end of the Cold-War and continuing throughout post-9/11. Irrespectively, studies have reported “spikes“ in international news coverage following 9/11 that …

The Development Of A Formal Preceptor Model To Improve Departmental Mentorship, Angela Lutz Bs, Rrt-Nps, Kenneth Miller Med, Rrt-Nps, Linda Cornman Bs, Rrt-Nps, Uma Bhatt Rrt, Bryn Surgeoner Rrt

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Optimizing Technology To Improve Care In The Delivery Of Crrt, Susann R. Groller Rn, Bsn, Mba, Alice Vrsan Rn-Bc, Msn

Patient Care Services / Nursing

No abstract provided.

Heat Stress Evaluation Of Protective Clothing Ensembles, Amanda Lee Pease

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clothing directly affects the level of heat stress exposure. Useful measures to express the thermal characteristics are WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) clothing adjustment factor (CAF) or apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,_a). The CAF is assigned through laboratory wear trials following a heat stress protocol in which the air temperature and humidity are progressively increased until the participant clearly loses the ability to maintain thermal equilibrium. The critical condition is the point of thermal transition and from these conditions both the CAF and Re,T,a are computed. The first objective of this study is to compare the …

A Mixed-Methods Research Study Comparing Observations During Integrated Curriculum Lessons With Traditional Single-Subject Lessons For Primary-Age Students, Ksenia Sergeevna Zhbanova

Graduate Research Papers

This study examined teacher talk and actions under two conditions: ( 1) subject-integrated lessons of an integrated curriculum unit on African culture ( experimental condition); and (2) single subject-focused lessons of a traditional separate subject curriculum on mathematics time and money measurement (control condition). The study sought to define and compare characteristics of both curriculum approaches. Although the study was primarily qualitative with observations being recorded by the researcher that were subsequently sorted into categories through a constant comparison method, counts of frequency of observations in categories were recorded, resulting in a mixed-methods design.

The observations were collected in two …

(Re)Constructing Reflexivity: A Relational Constructionist Approach, Diane Marie Hosking, Bettine Pluut

The Qualitative Report

This article distinguishes three discourses of reflexivity in relation to human inquiry. One of these arises from a post-modern, relational constructionist perspective which radically re-conceptualizes reflexivity: (a) as a local and co-constructed process oriented towards the question (b) how are we 'going on' together, and therefore paying attention to (c) the realities and relations we are co-creating during the research process and so (d) is concerned with local pragmatic and ethical issues (Gergen & Hosking, 2006; McNamee, 1994) rather than with the quality of truth claims. Regular reflexive dialogues as part of, and directed at, the research process can heighten …

Theoretical Versus Grass-Roots Development Of A Community Partnership, Socorro Escandón

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine Bracht, Kingbury, and Rissel's five-stage community development model as applied to a grass-roots community action group. The sample consisted of low-income, predominantly Hispanic women in a community action group in a Southwestern barrio, some of whom were experiencing domestic violence. The community group organizer was interviewed, and a content analytic table was constructed. Results showed that the community group's efforts would have benefited from a theoretically organized approach. The window of opportunity continues to be open for community development researchers to offer theoretical assistance to groups that are forming and to …

Dialoguing With Body: A Self Study In Relational Pedagogy Through Embodiment And The Therapeutic Relationship, Chantale Lussier-Ley

The Qualitative Report

This article emerges from a self-study (Baird, 2004; Bergum, 2003; Grumet, 1990; Ham & Kane, 2004; Kitchen, 2005a, 2005b; Loughran, 2004) conducted as a requirement for a doctoral class at the University of Ottawa in the Faculty of Education. In this study, I reflected on my embodied experiences and the role of the body in my consulting practice in sport and performance psychology with athletes and dancers. Inspired by the work of Chehayl (2006), I engaged in a narrative analysis (Sands, 2002; Sparkes, 2002) of my own emerging autobiographic tale, and actively worked towards re-storying my body through a multi …

Incorporating Mythic And Interpretive Analysis In The Investigation Of Hearing Loss On The Family Farm, Mark Meister, Theresa Hest, Ann Burnett

The Qualitative Report

Despite knowing about the dangers of hearing loss, farmers typically choose not to protect their hearing. Examining the myth of farm life, this study aims to discern whether rhetorical myths influence farmers' decisions to wear hearing protection. Researchers conducted 40 interviews with farmers regarding farm life and hearing loss. Results suggest that farmers typically do not use hearing protection; their answers reflect the myths of sacrifice and safety. Analysis demonstrates that knowledge of the relationship between myth and practice should impact future attempts to change farmers' behaviors

Fifth Grade Student Learning And Interest In The American Revolution Through Reading Graphic Novels Compared To Reading Biography Or Other Nonfiction Books, Kari Bosma

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study was to examine student recall of facts, along with enjoyment of reading and interest in the topic when using graphic novels as compared to illustrated nonfiction prose in social studies content area reading. Twenty-two fifth grade students (13 f, 9 m) in a public school in a Midwestern state participated in the study. Half of the students read about the Boston Massacre and Patrick Henry through graphic novels and read about Paul Revere and the Boston Tea Party with illustrated nonfiction texts, with the other half doing the opposite. The mean number of correct ideas …

Caffeine, Exercise And The Human Body: Men Vs. Women, Allison Marie Miller

Graduate Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Let's Go Sue: The Attorney General's Historical Perspective On State Of North Dakota V. National Collegiate Athletic Association, Wayne Stenehjem, Matthew Sagsveen

North Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Taxpayer's And A Politician's Dilemma: Use Of Eminent Domain To Acquire Private Property For Sport Facilities, Arline F. Schubert

North Dakota Law Review

No abstract provided.

Hyperbolic Systems Modeling Currency Hoarding, Elena Quercioli, Jeffrey Rauch

School of Economics and Finance Faculty Publications

We introduce and analyse linear systems of hyperbolic partial differential equations that model the replacement and hoarding of currency. The goal is to deduce the hoarding behavior from observations of circulating bills. The large time asymptotics of the models is identified in all cases. The mathematical analysis is novel, partly because of nonstandard boundary conditions. To identify parameters we suggest the measurement of the age histogram of notes, the rate of growth, and the retard in wear of notes due to hoarding. In our models that suffices to identify all but one quantity.