Digital Commons Network^™

Uncertainty Quantification Study For A Comprehensive Electrostatic Mems Switch Model, Michael G. Snow, Anil K. Bajaj

PRISM: NNSA Center for Prediction of Reliability, Integrity and Survivability of Microsystems

This work presents an uncertainty analysis of a comprehensive model for an electrostatic MEMS switch. The goal is to elucidate the effects of parameter variations on certain performance characteristics. A sufficiently detailed model of an electrostatically actuated beam is developed. This model accounts for various physical effects, including the electrostatic fringing field, finite length of electrodes, squeeze film damping, and contact between the beam and the dielectric layer. The performance characteristics of immediate interest are the static and dynamic pull-in voltages for switch. Using Latin Hypercube and other sampling methods, the model is evaluated to find these performances characteristics when …

Applications Of Geophysical Analysis For Environmental And Geotechnical Problems, Basil Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Geophysical investigative techniques including Magnetic, Electric, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and Geochemistry become increasingly essential to study near surface setting as well as deep earth structure. A model was developed of the hot water system in southwest Arkansas using Geochemistry, Magnetic, and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data. The model was constructed using the data collected at the Caddo Gap and Little Missouri Hot Springs in Southeast Arkansas, USA. Understanding the mechanism of the transition from slow flow in porous media to fast flow in a fracture is critical in understanding the hot water flow of the hot spring. The geochemistry …

Learning Communities Versus Traditional Courses: Which Promotes The Highest Levels Of Student Persistence, Achievement, And Integration?, Sonya Russ

Theses and Dissertations

Past research in the area of college retention shows that social and academic integration are important elements in ensuring high retention rates. Many past studies show that learning communities are beneficial in helping raise retention rates as learning communities effectively increase the rates of social and academic integration. The purpose of this study was to determine whether underprepared students in learning community courses reported higher levels of achievement, persistence, and social and academic integration than underprepared non-learning community students when controlling for gender, age, ethnicity, student status, hours worked per week off campus, and time of registration. The focus of …

Factors Influencing The Academic Success Of Second Generation Immigrant College Students, Natalya V. Boureiko

Theses and Dissertations

The changing demographic situation in the U.S. creates paramount social problems as the population of immigrants grows. Because the higher education is the most effective tool for incorporating the immigrant populations into the society, the purpose of the proposed study was to determine what students' characteristics, parents' characteristics, as well as students' actions affect the academic attainment versus grade point average (GPA) of immigrant population in college. The study was based on longitudinal datasets NPSAS 2000, NPSAS 2004, and NPSAS 2008. There were three cross-sectional samples and statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and stepwise regression. The findings of the study …

Professional Development Of Principals: An Alignment Study Of The Master Principal Institute's Curriculum With Effective Leadership Practices For School Improvement, Brenda J. Haynes

Theses and Dissertations

The two-fold purpose of the study was to determine whether or not the Arkansas Leadership Academy's Master Principal Institute's (MPI) five curriculum content standards were aligned with the literature of effective educational leadership practices, and to ascertain if there were significant relationships among the principals' leadership practices that were related to improved student achievement as measured by the annual Arkansas Benchmark Examinations. In determining the alignment of the curriculum standards of the MPI with current research for the first research question, an assessment matrix (Appendix A) was developed by the researcher, which contains the curriculum standards and the research content …

Untargeted Metabolite Profiling Using A Multi-Way Decomposition Method, Minho Chae

Theses and Dissertations

Although gas chromatograpy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a mature technology for profiling primary metabolites, analyzing those datasets in a large-scale and high-throughput manner is a great challenge because of the complex nature of the data. There is often non-linear inter-run variance in the retention time between runs, making it difficult to identify corresponding peaks among multiple runs. Moreover, peaks are rarely homogeneous. They often contain systematic signals, i.e., background, or non-systematic signals, i.e., noise, and many peaks comprise multiple co-eluting or overlapping components. Thus, identifying all the pure components in all of the peaks from the entire dataset, and comparing them …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, September 20, 2010, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Education Policies Committee Report
• Honors Program Report
• Library Advisory Council Report
• Parking Committee Report
• EPC Items
• PRPC Section 402.4 - 402.13 and 405.11.4
• Draft of Summer Enrollment Committee Report 2010: Strategies for Increasing Summer Enrollment on the Utah State University

The Collegian (2010-09-20), Christine Cavazos

UTB/TSC Archives - The Collegian [Newspaper]

Vol. 63, No. 5

A Correlation Attack Against User Mobility Privacy In A Large-Scale Wlan Network, Keren Tan, Guanhua Yan, Jihwang Yeo, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

User association logs collected from real-world wireless LANs have facilitated wireless network research greatly. To protect user privacy, the common practice in sanitizing these data before releasing them to the public is to anonymize users' sensitive information such as the MAC addresses of their devices and their exact association locations. In this work,we demonstrate that these sanitization measures are insufficient in protecting user privacy from a novel type of correlation attack that is based on CRF (Conditional Random Field). In such a correlation attack, the adversary observes the victim's AP (Access Point) association activities for a short period of time …

Effect Of College Health Course Enrollment On Interest, Knowledge And Behavior, Britney Finley

Theses and Dissertations

Health of college students is a national public health concern, however general health courses which cover topics of concern such as responsible sexual behaviors, alcoholism, drug abuse, tobacco use, nutrition, weight management, cardiovascular health, and mental health issues are rarely a required course for college students. University health education faculty, health educators who teach students the appropriate practices of health education, must do what they are trained to do: teach college students healthy lifestyle behaviors and effective ways of changing negative behaviors. This quasi-experimental study investigates the extent to which the undergraduate general health courses are impacting the perceived knowledge, …

Improving Information Products For System 2 Decision Support, Neal Gibson

Theses and Dissertations

The creation, maintenance, and management of Information Product (IP) systems that are used by organizations for complex decisions represent a unique set of challenges. These challenges are compounded when the purpose of such a systems is also for knowledge creation and dissemination. Information quality research to date has focused mainly upon treating IP independent from the actual users, despite the obvious interdependency between the two. Research in cognitive psychology has established a dual-process model for human cognition. Designing IP systems in recognition of these differing methods of human cognition represents a new approach to improving their quality. Education data and …

In Search Of Critical Thinking: A Case Study Of A Midwestern University's Center For Teaching Excellence, Lourene Pike Thaxton

Theses and Dissertations

Research indicated that students often graduate from colleges and universities without encountering critical thinking skills in undergraduate coursework. The first national report raising concerns over the declining quality of education stemmed from the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983), and findings based on disappointing test scores were essentially repeated with the Spellings Report (2006) twenty years later. Although numerous scholars, experts, and politicians voiced concerns regarding what were perceived to be deficient methods of instruction in higher education, missing were the voices of professors who devised the curriculum and delivered student instruction. The intention of this study was to …

Knowledge-Driven Identity Resolution For Longitudinal Education Data, Greg Holland

Theses and Dissertations

Data sets containing information for an overlapping group of real-world identities present a very high likelihood that the identifying attributes and attribute values for these identities may be inconsistent between the data sets. Differences in the types of identifying attributes or attribute values inhibit proper record linkage and identity resolution. Traditional approaches to record linkage are commonly utilized however the results from these approaches do not demonstrate the highest possible levels of confidence and utility. Syntax, semantics, and temporal aspects of data sets should be understood and incorporated into the methodology of heterogeneous data set integration. Domain-specific expertise is a …

Signal Detection Framework Using Semantic Text Mining Techniques, Sithu D. Sudarsan

Theses and Dissertations

Signal detection is a challenging task for regulatory and intelligence agencies. Subject matter experts in those agencies analyze documents, generally containing narrative text in a time bound manner for signals by identification, evaluation and confirmation, leading to follow-up action e.g., recalling a defective product or public advisory for potential flu outbreak. Technical challenges to achieve effective signal detection include mining unstructured data, increasing document collections, and presence of multi-domain vocabulary. Lack of annotation and multi-domain vocabulary makes traditional semantic web mining ineffective. Use of heuristics to enhance bag-of-words type text mining to semantic text mining is a novel idea attempted …

The Effect Of Advanced Placement And Concurrent Enrollment On Post Secondary Math Achievement, Angela L. Kremers

Theses and Dissertations

Unprepared postsecondary students and poor high school retention rates emphasize a significant issue with education in the U.S. Although there have been increases in the number of programs to address retention and matriculation to degree attainment, little research has been completed to examine outcomes of these programs. Advanced placement and concurrent enrollment are two such programs in which high school students are purported to be better prepared for college while getting a head start on college credits. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of advanced placement and concurrent enrollment on post secondary math achievement. The multi …

Unusually Conductive Carbon-Inherently Conducting Polymer (Icp) Composites: Synthesis And Characterization, Shawn Edward Bourdo

Theses and Dissertations

Two groups of materials that have recently come to the forefront of research initiatives are carbon allotropes, especially nanotubes, and conducting polymers-more specifically inherently conducting polymers. The terms conducting polymers and inherently conducting polymers sometimes are used interchangeably without fully acknowledging a major difference in these terms. Conducting polymers (CPs) and inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) are both polymeric materials that conduct electricity, but the difference lies in how each of these materials conducts electricity. For CPs of the past, an electrically conductive filler such as metal particles, carbon black, or graphite would be blended into a polymer (insulator) allowing for …

The Energetics Of Molecular Gas In Ngc 891 From H2 And Far-Infrared Spectroscopy, G. J. Stacey, Vassilis Charmandaris, F. Boulanger, Yanling Wu, F. Combes, S. J. U. Higdon, J. D. T. Smith, T. Nikola

Physics & Astronomy: Faculty Publications

We have studied the molecular hydrogen energetics of the edge-on spiral galaxy NGC?891, using a 34 position map in the lowest three pure rotational H2 lines observed with the Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph. The S(0), S(1), and S(2) lines are bright with an extinction-corrected total luminosity of ~2.8 × 107 L ?, or 0.09% of the total-infrared luminosity of NGC?891. The H2 line ratios are nearly constant along the plane of the galaxy?we do not observe the previously reported strong drop-off in the S(1)/S(0) line intensity ratio in the outer regions of the galaxy, so …

Understanding Undergraduate Research Experiences Through The Lens Of Problem-Based Learning: Implications For Curriculum Translation, Olga Pierrakos, Anna Zilberberg, Robin Anderson

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

There has been criticism about STEM education not focusing enough on problem solving, especially in authentic real-world contexts which are most often associated to ill-structured domains. To improve education, it is essential that curricula bring students to high levels of cognitive development by exposing them to authentic problems. Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy that offers a strong framework upon which to build a curriculum to teach students essential problem solving skills. An authentic problem solving experience, which is highly valued and promoted outside of the classroom, yet almost non-existent in the classroom is undergraduate research (UR). Herein, the …

Storage Virtualization Promises Agility In The Data Center, Peter Egli

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

Data storage and protection has moved to the forefront of Information Technology solutions because the business value of data has gained in rank and importance in the world of internet commerce. Modern business models are built around instant and continuous data availability and they would not be able to function without this quality. This level of data availability requires data storage technologies to be of increased flexibility and higher performance. However the more sophisticated technologies pose a greater challenge to the architects of data storage solutions who are required to evaluate products of much higher complexity and administrators who need …

Feedback Facilitates The Acquisition And Retention Of Numerical Fact Series By Elementary School Students With Mathematics Learning Disabilities, Gary M. Brosvic, Roberta E. Dihoff, Michael L. Epstein, Michael L. Cook

The Psychological Record

The effects of feedback to assist elementary school students classified as either normally achieving (NA) or with a mathematics learning disability (MLD) in acquiring the fact sElries of 0 to 9 for the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were examined in Study 1. The acquisition of each fact series was facilitated by immediate, but not by delayed feedback, the latter of which was no more effective than control procedures. The students with math disabilities were tested with either delayed feedback or a Scantron form in Study 1, thEm participated in Study 2, in which they were provided with …

Diagnosing And Responding To Violations In The Positivity Assumption, Maya L. Petersen, Kristin Porter, Susan Gruber, Yue Wang, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

The assumption of positivity or experimental treatment assignment requires that observed treatment levels vary within confounder strata. This article discusses the positivity assumption in the context of assessing model and parameter-specific identifiability of causal effects. Positivity violations occur when certain subgroups in a sample rarely or never receive some treatments of interest. The resulting sparsity in the data may increase bias with or without an increase in variance and can threaten valid inference. The parametric bootstrap is presented as a tool to assess the severity of such threats and its utility as a diagnostic is explored using simulated data. Several …

Implementing Functionality To Identify And Fix Time Gaps, And Generate Custom Reports And Graphs Will Improve The Analysis, Modification And Reporting Off Tidal Data In Ireland, Shane Galvin

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The Irish National Tide Gauge Network (ITGN) is ongoing development involving the Marine Institute (MI) and a number of public sector organisations to develop a permanent tidal monitoring infrastructure. As part of this ongoing work the MI wish to be able to analyse the existing ITGN dataset for time gaps, and make changes to the dataset if needed, they would also like to be able to view custom reports and graphs based on the ITGN dataset. This thesis presents a webbased and windows application to meet the aforementioned needs of the Marine Institute and ITGN.

The Tiger Vol. 104 Issue 16 2010-09-17, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Beneath The Salt Marsh Canopy: Loss Of Soil Strength With Increasing Nutrient Loads, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

Although the broadly observed increase in nutrient loading rates to coastal waters in the last 100 years may increase aboveground biomass, it also tends to increase soil metabolism and lower root and rhizome biomass—responses that can compromise soil strength. Fourteen different multiyear field combinations of nutrient amendments to salt marshes were made to determine the relationship between soil strength and various nitrogen, phosphorus, and nitrogen+phosphorus loadings. There was a proportional decline in soil strength that reached 35% in the 60- to 100-cm soil layer at the highest loadings and did not level off. These loading rates are equivalent to those …

09-17-2010 Gary England Speaking Tuesday At Swosu, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2010

Gary England will share personal stories, discuss scientific developments in the field of meteorology and show powerful images of Oklahoma's weather this Tuesday, September 21, at 7 p.m. at the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Fine Arts Center in Weatherford.

Unh Sidore Series Focuses On The Past, Present And Future Of The Ocean, Lori Wright

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Serials Solutions Click-Through Statistics By Provider And Database 2009-2010

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the total number of database and journal-level clicks, by provider and database, of Serials Solutions tools at the University of Rhode Island Libraries by month for 2009-2010. Clicks may have originated from the A-Z full text electronic journal list (at http://zu4tq4pb5v.search.serialssolutions.com/), from OpenURL links ("360 Link"), or the 856 fields of Serials Solutions-generated MARC records ("360 MARC Updates").

Chancellor's Report 2010-09, John Pugh

Chancellor's Report

No abstract provided.

Serials Solutions Subject Search Report 2009-2010

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the total number of Serials Solutions subject searches at the University of Rhode Island Libraries by month for 2009-2010. Shows how many times the A-Z full text electronic journal list (at http://zu4tq4pb5v.search.serialssolutions.com/) was browsed by specific subjects.

Local Group Dwarf Spheroidals: Correlated Deviations From The Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation, Stacy S. Mcgaugh

Faculty Scholarship

Local Group dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies are the faintest extragalactic stellar systems known. We examine recent data for these objects in the plane of the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation (BTFR). While some dwarf spheroidals adhere to the BTFR, others deviate substantially. We examine the residuals from the BTFR and find that they are not random. The residuals correlate with luminosity, size, metallicity, ellipticity, and susceptibility of the dwarfs to tidal disruption in the sense that fainter, more elliptical, and tidally more susceptible dwarfs deviate farther from the BTFR. These correlations disfavor stochastic processes and suggest a role for tidal effects. We …