Digital Commons Network^™

Validation Of The Triply Selective Fading Channel Model Through A Mimo Test Bed And Experimental Results, Saurav Subedi, Huang Lou, Fei Ren, Mingxi Wang, Y. Rosa Zheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel is often triply selective, meaning that it has spatial, temporal and inter-tap correlation. the temporal correlation is well characterized by its Doppler spectrum, but spatial and inter-tap correlation and their impact on MIMO channels are less studied in the literature. a MIMO testbed has been established to measure the impulse response of MIMO channels and an estimation method is developed to quantitatively measure the correlation matrices from experimental data. © 2011 IEEE.

On The Preconditioner Of Conjugate Gradient Method A Power Grid Simulation Perspective, Chung Han Chou, Nien Yu Tsai, Hao Yu, Che Rung Lee, Yiyu Shi, Shih Chieh Chang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (PCG) method has been demonstrated to be effective in solving large-scale linear systems for sparse and symmetric positive definite matrices. One critical problem in PCG is to design a good preconditioner, which can significantly reduce the runtime while keeping memory usage efficient. Universal preconditioners are simple and easy to construct, but their effectiveness is highly problem dependent. on the other hand, domain-specific preconditioners that explore the underlying physical meaning of the matrices usually work better but are difficult to design. in this paper, we study the problem in the context of power grid simulation, and develop a …

Work In Progress - Exercises In Squeak Smalltalk For Pre-College Education, Steve Eugene Watkins, Nicolette Kowalewski, Kathryn N. Rodhouse, Benjamin Cooper

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer programming education helps to prepare pre-college students to function in a technology-based society and to promote technical careers. However, opportunities are limited for pre-college students to learn computer programming and effective programming instruction can be difficult. A set of introductory, self-paced tutorials in Squeak Smalltalk has been developed for students in high school and middle school. This work describes two supplementary exercises that address the needs of new learners, especially those at younger ages. Students are given tools for drawing and image manipulation. The optional exercises integrate basic concepts while allowing more interactivity and customization through creative "play." © …

Work In Progress - Virtual Facilitation And Procedural Knowledge Education, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Engineering students acquire both conceptual and procedural knowledge as part of their education. While conceptual knowledge, such as understanding why certain design practices are required or having knowledge of the general principles of engineering development, is essential, procedural knowledge to enact specific engineering practices is also needed. This kind of knowledge, such as balancing chemical equations, solving calculus problems, or finding Thevenin-Norton equivalents, is usually taught through rote problem solving, sometimes with the guidance of teaching assistants or aid from the instructor if students find themselves "stuck". However, a Virtual Facilitator, designed to help students develop team skills, can also …

Fear And Fascination: A Study Of Thomas Hardy And The New Woman, Anita Sandlin

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The tragic outcomes of most of his fictional heroines have led many to accuse Thomas Hardy of being a misogynist, harshly punishing women for their open defiance of Victorian social expectations. However, by writing about sexually-charged issues at a time when subjects such as premarital sex, rape, illegitimate children, adultery, and divorce were taboo, Hardy challenged his readers to consider the destructive power caused by hypocrisy and double standards, making many consider him to be among the first feminists. These conflicting perspectives reflect the internal ambiguities of a gifted man torn between wanting to maintain the conservative comfort of the …

Te Sequor: A Study Of Pope's Observations On The Iliad Of Homer, Drew Nathaniel Keane

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Although has been written on Pope's translation of the Iliad, little has been written directly on his commentary, which comprise more than half of Pope's work. This study seeks to correct this neglect and argues that Pope's commentary is a vital part of his Iliad. I examine Pope's place among English and French poets and commentators, the epic tradition, and Pope's understanding of the commentator's role.

Comparison Of A Recurrent Neural Network Pv System Model With A Traditional Component-Based Pv System Model, Daniel M. Riley, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Photovoltaic (PV) system modeling is used throughout the photovoltaic industry for the prediction of PV system output under a given set of weather conditions. PV system modeling has a wide range of uses including pre-purchase comparisons of PV system components, system health monitoring, and estimation of payback (return on investment) times. in order to adequately model a PV system, the system must be characterized to establish the relationship between given weather inputs (e.g., irradiance, spectrum, temperature) and desired system outputs (e.g., AC power, module temperature). Traditional approaches to system characterization involve characterizing and modeling each component in a PV system …

Optimized Built-In Self-Test Technique For Caen-Based Nanofabric Systems, Sambhav Kundaikar, Maciej Zawodniok

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

We propose a built-in self-test (BIST) technique for testing and diagnosis of molecular electronic based nano fabrics. the nano fabric architectures are reconfigurable in nature thus making it possible to utilize general methods similar to those employed for testing of FPGAs. However, a high defect rate in nano fabrics renders the traditional techniques ill-suited. Moreover, the nano blocks offer potential for using a partially damaged nano block due to inherent redundancy of the architecture. This paper presents the design and analysis of testing configurations and optimization scheme that minimizes testing time while improving the utilization of the nano fabric. the …

Localization Of Objects Using Cross-Correlation Of Shadow Fading Noise And Copulas, Mohammed Rana Basheer, Sarangapani Jagannathan

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

While fading, in general, is detrimental to accurately localizing a target, fading correlation between adjacent receivers may be exploited to improve localization accuracy. Therefore, this paper presents a novel wireless localization scheme that employs a combination of cross-correlation between shadow fading noise and copula technique to recursively estimate the location of a transmitter. a stochastic filter that models multipath fading as an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process followed by a Generalized Auto Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) filtering is proposed to extract shadow fading residuals from measured RSSI values. Subsequently, Student-t Copula function is used to create the log likelihood function, which acts as …

Contingency Constrained Economic Dispatch In Smart Grids With Correlated Demands, Yiyu Shi, Jinjun Xiong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Contingency constrained economic dispatch has been an extensively studied research topic. However, most existing works assume that the load demands at all buses are given. Such an assumption works well for conventional power grids, where the load demands are relatively easy to predict. We can select a few representative demand profiles and perform economic dispatch over them. However, such a practice will no longer work in smart grids, where the load demands fluctuate dramatically. We will need a huge number of demand profiles to cover all possible scenarios, which is computationally expensive. to address the problem, we propose a parameterized …

Soft-Decision Feedback Turbo Equalization For Multilevel Modulations, Huang Lou, Chengshan Xiao

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Error propagation phenomena is the major drawback for existing hard-decision feedback turbo equalizers. in this paper, we propose a new soft-decision feedback equalizer (SDFE) suitable for multilevel modulation systems employing turbo equalization. the proposed SDFE offers a low computational complexity growing only linearly with the number of equalizer coefficients, as opposed to the quadratic complexity of MMSE-Based linear turbo equalizer with time-varying coefficients (Exact-MMSE-LE). the performance and convergence property of the proposed SDFE are analyzed using extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) chart and verified by simulations in a severe InterSymbol interference channel set by Proakis. Results show that our approach performs …

Econometric Analysis Of Erie County, Ny Schools: The Effects Of Poverty On Our Schools And Evaluating Possible Solutions, Ryan B. Keem

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

School districts in the Buffalo Metropolitan Area are very segregated by socioeconomic status which has resulted in very different educational outcomes for the region's students as measured by New York State assessment results at the 4^th grade and 8^th grade level in English Language Arts and Math. This study measured the correlation between average test score results for each school building in Erie County and the rate of low-income students in those schools. The multiple regression analysis performed controlled for race, percentage of students that had a disability, class size, and per-pupil expenditures by the district.

The study …

An Analysis Of The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service's Role In Bridging The Digital Divide, Antoine J. Alston, Lashawn Hilton, Chastity Warren English, Chanda Elbert, Dexter Wakefield

Journal of Extension

The study reported here sought to determine the perception of North Carolina County Cooperative Extension directors in regard to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service's role in bridging the digital divide. It was perceived by respondents that variables such as income, education, gender, disability status, race/ethnicity, age, and geographic location (rural versus urban) are major factors in the digital divide. Recommendations are made regarding North Carolina Cooperative Extension forming partnerships in order to narrow the digital divide in its regions, in addition to developing educational programming efforts in this area for all clientele served.

Insights From Spanish-Speaking Employees In The Iowa Horticultural Industry, Emilie Justen, Cynthia Haynes, Ann Marie Vanderzanden, Nancy Grudens-Schuck

Journal of Extension

Addressing the needs of Latino workers can help improve working conditions, job satisfaction, and productivity of both employees and the companies hiring Latino workers. The study reported here assessed educational needs, communication gaps, and technical skills of Latino workers working in the horticultural industry in Iowa—an ethnic group that is relatively new to Iowa. Focus groups were conducted with Latino workers and produced topics for educational programming and suggestions that could improve communications between predominantly English-speaking managers and Spanish-speaking Latino employees, and the horticultural knowledge of the Latino employees.

The Inkwell, Armstrong Atlantic State University

The Inkwell

No abstract provided.

Male Backlash, Bargaining, Or Exposure Reduction?: Women's Working Status And Physical Spousal Violence In India, Yoo-Mi Chin

Economics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Labor force participation of women is expected to decrease the risk of spousal violence by enhancing their bargaining power or diminishing their contacts with abusive partners. the opposite effect is predicted when female employment induces male backlash. I identify the effect of female employment on spousal violence by exploiting the exogenous variations in rural women's working status driven by rainfall shocks and the rice-wheat dichotomy. the instrumental variable regression result indicates that female employment significantly reduces the incidence of spousal violence. This result is mainly driven by the exposure reduction effect that dominates male backlash. There is, however, no evidence …

Why Do Parents Choose To Send Their Children To Private Schools?, Ava M. Davis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Private schools were the original educational entities in the United States and have continued playing a prominent role in educating America's youth. The number of private schools has increased over the last decade while the number of private school students has remained stable at approximately nine percent of school-aged children. The reasons for choosing a private school are just as varied as the types of private schools available. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the reasons parents give for choosing a private school education for their children. A basic interpretive qualitative study was used to discover and …

Overcoming The Odds: An Exploration Of Resilience Strategies Used By Female Superintendents In School Districts In Georgia, Kathy H. Simmons

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences in the professional lives of female superintendents in Georgia to better understand the role of resilience when faced with adversity. The researcher utilized a mixed method design to determine the strategies employed by female superintendents to successfully overcome adversity and become more resilient. The experiences of female superintendents and strategies utilized in the position when faced with adversity were explored by administering a Leadership Resilience Profile questionnaire followed by in-depth interviews with five Georgia female superintendents. The questionnaire featured a rating scale to identify each participant's perception of individual resilience …

Self-Efficacy And First-Generation Students In A Physician Assistant Program, Judith B. Stallings

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this mixed method study was to determine if a relationship existed between self-efficacy scores and a final program course grade for first-generation graduate professional college students (FGS) and non-first-generation graduate professional college students (NFGS) in a physician assistant program. In addition, the researcher sought to explore the perceptions of first-generation graduate professional program students regarding experiences, contributors, and successful strategies relative to self-efficacy as related to completion of their degree program. Method: This mixed method study examined the experiences of 59 physician assistant students from Georgia Health Sciences University (formerly known as the Medical College of …

Secondary Students' Perceptions Of Teacher Quality, Catherine P. Sutcliff

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the perceptions of secondary students and teacher quality during their years in high school. The study sought to compare responses among males and females and among ethnicities to determine if there were differences in perceptions of teacher quality with respect to student-teacher relationships, instructional methods, and justice and fairness. Surveys were given to students from eight public high schools in a southeastern region of Georgia. Demographic questions were included in the survey to delineate responses by gender and ethnicity. This study generated data from 663 students to determine student perceptions of teacher quality in the areas of …

Protecting Liberty And Autonomy: Desert/Disease Jurisprudence, Stephen J. Morse

San Diego Law Review

This Article begins by describing the positive law of preventive detention, which I term "desert/disease jurisprudence." Then it provides a brief excursus about risk prediction (estimation), which is at the heart of all preventive detention practices. Part IV considers whether proposed expansions of desert jurisprudence are consistent with retributive theories of justice, which ground desert jurisprudence. I conclude that this is a circle that cannot be squared. The following Part canvasses expansions of disease jurisprudence, especially the involuntary civil commitment of mentally abnormal, sexually violent predators, and the use of post-insanity acquittal involuntary commitment. This Part also considers whether disease …

Toxic Marine Microalgae And Shellfish Poisoning In The British Isles: History, Review Of Epidemiology, And Future Implications, Sl Hinder, Gc Hays, Cj Brooks, Ap Davies, Et Al

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The relationship between toxic marine microalgae species and climate change has become a high profile and well discussed topic in recent years, with research focusing on the possible future impacts of changing hydrological conditions on Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) species around the world. However, there is very little literature concerning the epidemiology of these species on marine organisms and human health. Here, we examine the current state of toxic microalgae species around the UK, in two ways: first we describe the key toxic syndromes and gather together the disparate reported data on their epidemiology from UK records and monitoring procedures. …

Grain Boundary Behavior In An Ultrafine-Grained Aluminum Alloy, P. S. De, R. S. Mishra

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The low-angle grain boundary (LAGB) stability in an ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al alloy during monotonic loading was investigated by orientation imaging microscopy (OIM). the experiments show that boundaries with misorientation below ∼2.5 deg are stable, while boundaries with misorientation between 2.5 and 15 deg are unstable. Similar results were observed during cyclic loading of UFG Al alloy. This behavior was rationalized using the nonequilibrium thermodynamics concept. on the other hand, it is postulated that the grain boundary behavior in microcrystalline alloy is different because of the larger dislocation mean free path. © 2011 the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM …

Fluid Flow-Related Transport Phenomena In Steel Slab Continuous Casting Strands Under Electromagnetic Brake, Yufeng Wang, Lifeng Zhang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the current study, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical model is built to investigate the effect of a local-type electromagnetic brake (EMBr) on the fluid flow, heat transfer, and inclusion motion in slab continuous casting strands. the results indicate that the magnetic force affects the jet characteristics, including jet angle, turbulent kinetic energy, and its dissipation rate. to reduce the top surface velocity and stabilize the top surface, the magnetic flux intensity should be larger than a critical value. with a 0.39 T magnetic flux intensity, the top surface velocity and its fluctuation can be well controlled, and less slag is …

Influence Of Grain Size And Texture On Hall-Petch Relationship For A Magnesium Alloy, W. Yuan, S. K. Panigrahi, J. Q. Su, R. S. Mishra

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Friction stir processing was applied to a magnesium alloy to generate various grain sizes with the same intense basal texture. Subsequent tensile deformation along two orthogonal directions by easy activation or inhibition of basal slip follows the Hall-Petch relationship between yield stress and grain size in both directions. the Hall-Petch parameters are texture dependent. Easy activation of basal slip introduces lower values, while inhibition of basal slip leads to higher values. the Hall-Petch parameters are interpreted by texture and microstructural factors. © 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Efficient Uncertainty Quantification In Multidisciplinary Analysis Of A Reusable Launch Vehicle, Benjamin R. Bettis, Serhat Hosder, Tyler Winter

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The objective of this study was to apply a recently developed uncertainty quantification framework to the multidisciplinary analysis of a reusable launch vehicle (RLV). This particular framework is capable of efficiently propagating mixed (inherent and epistemic) uncertainties through complex simulation codes. the goal of the analysis was to quantify uncertainty in various output parameters obtained from the RLV analysis, including the maximum dynamic pressure, cross-range, range, and vehicle takeoff gross weight. Three main uncertainty sources were treated in the simulations: (1) reentry angle of attack (inherent uncertainty), (2) altitude of the initial reentry point (inherent uncertainty), and (3) the Young's …

Impact Of Spatial Correlation Of Fading Channels On The Performance Of Mimo Underwater Communication Systems, Jesse Cross, Jian Zhang, Yahong Rosa Zheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The spatial and intertap correlation matrices of fading channels are first estimated for underwater multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems using real experimental data. We confirm that underwater MIMO channels exhibit strong spatial and temporal correlation. the bit error rate (BER) performance of the MIMO system at different correlation scenarios are also evaluated with computer simulation. at BER=0.01%, the required SNR of highly correlated channel is 5 dB higher than the i.i.d. channel. BER results of the experimental data also quantitatively show the performance degradation caused by the correlation. © 2011 IEEE.

Assessing The Impact Of Recommendation Agents On On-Line Consumer Unplanned Purchase Behavior, R. Eric Hostler, Victoria Y. Yoon, Zhiling Guo, Tor Guimaraes, Guisseppi Forgionne

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Recommendation agents (RAs) have been used by many Internet businesses such as Amazon and Netflix. However, few authors have studied how consumer behavior is affected by those that make suggestions to online consumers based on their recent shopping behavior. Fewer still have examined the role that RAs play in influencing impulse purchasing decisions online. Our study developed a theoretical model to illustrate the impact of RAs on online consumer behavior. The model was tested through an online shopping simulation which used a collaborative filtering based product RA. Particular attention was paid to the effects of an RA on consumer behavior; …

Discussion Of "Biomedical Ontologies: Toward Scientific Debate", Brochhausen M., Burgun A., Ceusters W., Hasman A., Tze-Yun Leong, Musen M., Oliveira J., Peleg M., Rector A., Schulz S.

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With these comments on the paper “Biomedical Ontologies: Toward scientific debate”, written by Victor Maojo et al., Methods of Information in Medicine wants to stimulate a discussion on advantages and challenges of biomedical ontologies. An international group of experts have been invited by the editor of Methods to comment on this paper. Each of the invited commentaries forms one section of this paper.

Dual Enrollment: Breaking The Mold For College Readiness And Persistence In An Urban Charter School, Robert Lemoyne Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In the later part of the twentieth century, the continued growth in high school and college dropout rates led to the development of educational reform measures that would address an education model that was seen as applicable to a disproportionate percentage of the nation’s students, thereby leaving the majority of schools and their students to struggle (Simmons, 2008). Efforts to increase matriculation between secondary and postsecondary institutions must be connected at all levels of education, which is critical to educational reform—worldwide (Zhou, 2008). Due to its ability to increase the rigor of high school curriculum, an increasingly favored measure of …