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2011

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Being And Becoming Public School Teachers: Career Mobility Of Chinese Overseas-Trained Teachers In The San Francisco Bay Area, Lily L. Chow Jan 2011

Being And Becoming Public School Teachers: Career Mobility Of Chinese Overseas-Trained Teachers In The San Francisco Bay Area, Lily L. Chow

Doctoral Dissertations

Teacher shortage and retention has persisted in the United States for decades. Ethnic minority teachers are underrepresented in public K-12 schools as well as teachers for English learners. Untapped pools of overseas-trained teachers who are lawful permanent residents exist but are unemployed, underemployed, or working in other fields. To earn a local teaching credential, the immigrant bears the burden of proving equivalent knowledge and skills to re-enter her or his profession in the United States. At the time of this study, there was no research about overseas-trained immigrant teachers entering the teaching profession for primary and secondary public school students …

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Successful African American Community College Students Perceptions On Sense Of Belonging In Three California Community College Districts, Nicole Yvette Wise Jan 2011

Successful African American Community College Students Perceptions On Sense Of Belonging In Three California Community College Districts, Nicole Yvette Wise

Doctoral Dissertations

Roach (2009) indicates that "only 31 percent of public community college students go on to complete either an associate or bachelor's degree in six years" according to U.S. Education Department data (p. 14). In California the gap is even wider and the statistics more scarce for students of color. Whereas only 15 percent of African American students compared, to 26 percent of white students, complete their degree in six years of enrolling in a California Community College (Roach, 2009, p. 14). College retention as it pertains to success is a challenging issue in the United States, and the California Community …

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Innovative Pollutant Load Monitoring, Eric Gurr Jan 2011

Innovative Pollutant Load Monitoring, Eric Gurr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Modern streamflow measuring equipment, water quality sampling techniques and a better understanding of pollutant washoff are continuously being developed as today's society is in critical need of improving water management, minimizing developmental impacts and preventing environmental hazards. In particular, the study of the spatial, temporal and volumetric characteristics of annual pollutant loading caused by variations in precipitation, land use and other anthropogenic factors is of great significance due to their relation to future global water demands. The research presented here falls in three parts. In the first part of the dissertation, an acoustical Doppler velocity profiler installed in a submerged …

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An Adaptive Modular Redundancy Technique To Self-Regulate Availability, Area, And Energy Consumption In Mission-Critical Applications, Rawad N. Al-Haddad Jan 2011

An Adaptive Modular Redundancy Technique To Self-Regulate Availability, Area, And Energy Consumption In Mission-Critical Applications, Rawad N. Al-Haddad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As reconfigurable devices' capacities and the complexity of applications that use them increase, the need for self-reliance of deployed systems becomes increasingly prominent. A Sustainable Modular Adaptive Redundancy Technique (SMART) composed of a dual-layered organic system is proposed, analyzed, implemented, and experimentally evaluated. SMART relies upon a variety of self-regulating properties to control availability, energy consumption, and area used, in dynamically-changing environments that require high degree of adaptation. The hardware layer is implemented on a Xilinx Virtex-4 Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) to provide self-repair using a novel approach called a Reconfigurable Adaptive Redundancy System (RARS). The software layer supervises …

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Modeling And Characterization Of Acute Stress Under Dynamic Task Conditions, Angel M. Millan Jan 2011

Modeling And Characterization Of Acute Stress Under Dynamic Task Conditions, Angel M. Millan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stress can be defined as the mental, physical, and emotional response of humans to stressors encountered in their personal or professional environment. Stressors are introduced in various activities, especially those found in dynamic task conditions when multiple task requirements must be performed. Stress and stressors have been described as activators and inhibitors of human performance. The ability to manage high levels of acute stress is an important determinant of successful performance in any occupation. In situations where performance is critical, personnel must be prepared to operate successfully under hostile or extreme stress conditions; therefore training programs and engineered systems must …

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Modeling Human Group Behavior In Virtual Worlds, Fahad Shah Jan 2011

Modeling Human Group Behavior In Virtual Worlds, Fahad Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Virtual worlds and massively-multiplayer online games are rich sources of information about large-scale teams and groups, offering the tantalizing possibility of harvesting data about group formation, social networks, and network evolution. They provide new outlets for human social interaction that differ from both face-to-face interactions and non-physically-embodied social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter. We aim to study group dynamics in these virtual worlds by collecting and analyzing public conversational patterns of users grouped in close physical proximity. To do this, we created a set of tools for monitoring, partitioning, and analyzing unstructured conversations between changing groups of participants …

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Effective Task Transfer Through Indirect Encoding, Phillip Verbancsics Jan 2011

Effective Task Transfer Through Indirect Encoding, Phillip Verbancsics

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An important goal for machine learning is to transfer knowledge between tasks. For example, learning to play RoboCup Keepaway should contribute to learning the full game of RoboCup soccer. Often approaches to task transfer focus on transforming the original representation to fit the new task. Such representational transformations are necessary because the target task often requires new state information that was not included in the original representation. In RoboCup Keepaway, changing from the 3 vs. 2 variant of the task to 4 vs. 3 adds state information for each of the new players. In contrast, this dissertation explores the idea …

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Viability Study Of A Residential Integrated Stormwater, Graywater, And Wastewater Treatment System At Florida's Showcase Green Envirohome, Matthew Allen Goolsby Jan 2011

Viability Study Of A Residential Integrated Stormwater, Graywater, And Wastewater Treatment System At Florida's Showcase Green Envirohome, Matthew Allen Goolsby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The subject of water scarcity and the rate of water consumption has become popular topics over the last few decades. It is possible that society may consume or contaminate much of the remaining readily available water if there is not a paradigm shift. This deep rooted concern has prompted investigations to identify alternative water use and treatment methods. Within this report, information is presented from the use of innovative water harvesting and on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS) at Florida’s Showcase Green Envirohome (FSGE.net), while also addressing low impact development (LID) practices. FSGE is a residential home that demonstrates …

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Imaging Long-Range Orientational Order In Monolayers Of Amphiphilic Molecules With Scanning Probe Force Microscope And Liquid Crystal Optical Amplification, Wenlang Liang Jan 2011

Imaging Long-Range Orientational Order In Monolayers Of Amphiphilic Molecules With Scanning Probe Force Microscope And Liquid Crystal Optical Amplification, Wenlang Liang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monolayers of amphiphilic molecules at interface provide a unique system for understanding the thermodynamic and rheological properties of quasi two-dimensional systems. They are also an excellent model accessible for studying cell membranes. The feature of longrange organization of molecular tilt azimuth in monolayers at the air/water interface is one of the most interesting findings over the past two decades, which leads to the formation rich and defined textures. By observing the changes in these textures, the transitions between tilted monolayer phases can be detected. We study the boojum and stripe textures formed in the liquid-condensed phase of pentadecanoic acid (PDA) …

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Data-True Characterization Of Neuronal Models, Jose Suarez Jan 2011

Data-True Characterization Of Neuronal Models, Jose Suarez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, a weighted least squares approach is initially presented to estimate the parameters of an adaptive quadratic neuronal model. By casting the discontinuities in the state variables at the spiking instants as an impulse train driving the system dynamics, the neuronal output is represented as a linearly parameterized model that depends on filtered versions of the input current and the output voltage at the cell membrane. A prediction errorbased weighted least squares method is formulated for the model. This method allows for rapid estimation of model parameters under a persistently exciting input current injection. Simulation results show the …

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Models To Estimate Arrival Counts And Staffing Requirements In Nonstationary Queueing Systems Applied To Long Distance Road Races, Lindon P. Fairweather Jan 2011

Models To Estimate Arrival Counts And Staffing Requirements In Nonstationary Queueing Systems Applied To Long Distance Road Races, Lindon P. Fairweather

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We examine the problem of staffing refreshment stations at a long distance road race. A race is modeled as a mixed queueing network in which the required number of servers at each service station has to be estimated. Two models to represent the progress of runners along a long distance road race course are developed. One model is a single-class model that allows a road race manager to staff service stations assuming the runners are identical to those in some historical dataset. Another model is a multi-class simulation model that allows a road race manager to simulate a race of …

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Field Implementation Of Polyacrylamide For Runoff From Construction Sites, Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury Jan 2011

Field Implementation Of Polyacrylamide For Runoff From Construction Sites, Rafiqul Islam Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Polyacrylamide (PAM) is often used a part of a treatment train for the treatment of stormwater to reduce its turbidity. This study investigated the application of PAM within various treatment systems for a construction site environment. The general concept is to introduce hydraulic principles when placing PAM blocks within an open channel in order to yield high mixing energies leading to high turbidity removal efficiency. The first part of the study observed energy variation using a hydraulic flume for three dissimilar configurations. The flume was ultimately used to determine which configuration would be most beneficial when transposed into field-scale conditions. …

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Effect Of Acetic Or Citric Acid Ultrafiltration Recycle Streams On Coagulation Processes, Christopher C. Boyd Jan 2011

Effect Of Acetic Or Citric Acid Ultrafiltration Recycle Streams On Coagulation Processes, Christopher C. Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Integrating ultrafiltration (UF) membranes in lieu of traditional media filters within conventional surface water coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation processes is growing in popularity. UF systems are able to produce low turbidity filtered water that meets newer drinking water standards. For typical drinking water applications, UF membranes require periodic chemically enhanced backwashes (CEBs) to maintain production; and citric acid is a common chemical used for this purpose. Problems may arise when the backwash recycle stream from a citric acid CEB is blended with raw water entering the coagulation basin, a common practice for conventional surface water plants. Citric acid is a chelating agent capable …

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Optimal Detour Planning Around Blocked Construction Zones, Mutasem Jardaneh Jan 2011

Optimal Detour Planning Around Blocked Construction Zones, Mutasem Jardaneh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Construction zones are traffic way areas where construction, maintenance or utility work is identified by warning signs, signals and indicators, including those on transport devices that mark the beginning and end of construction zones. Construction zones are among the most dangerous work areas, with workers facing workplace safety challenges that often lead to catastrophic injuries or fatalities. In addition, daily commuters are also impacted by construction zone detours that affect their safety and daily commute time. These problems represent major challenges to construction planners as they are required to plan vehicle routes around construction zones in such a way that …

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Incremental Lifecycle Validation Of Knowledge-Based Systems Through Commonkads, Feras Batarseh Jan 2011

Incremental Lifecycle Validation Of Knowledge-Based Systems Through Commonkads, Feras Batarseh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces a novel validation method for knowledge-based systems (KBS). Validation is an essential phase in the development lifecycle of knowledge-based systems. Validation ensures that the system is valid, reliable and that it reflects the knowledge of the expert and meets the specifications. Although many validation methods have been introduced for knowledge-based systems, there is still a need for an incremental validation method based on a lifecycle model. Lifecycle models provide a general framework for the developer and a mapping technique from the system into the validation process. They support reusability, modularity and offer guidelines for knowledge engineers to …

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Predictors Of Healthcare Utilization Among Latinos And Non-Latino Whites : Trauma, Generation Of U. S. Residency, Perceived Health, And Protective Factors, Kristin N. Conlon Jan 2011

Predictors Of Healthcare Utilization Among Latinos And Non-Latino Whites : Trauma, Generation Of U. S. Residency, Perceived Health, And Protective Factors, Kristin N. Conlon

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

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The Effects Of Medication On Memory In Children Diagnosed With Adhd, Benjamin J. Dunagan Jan 2011

The Effects Of Medication On Memory In Children Diagnosed With Adhd, Benjamin J. Dunagan

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

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Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Level Of Educational Computer Game Use And Milken Exemplar Teacher Instructional Strategies, Yaela Dahan Marks Jan 2011

Analysis Of The Relationship Between The Level Of Educational Computer Game Use And Milken Exemplar Teacher Instructional Strategies, Yaela Dahan Marks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the nature and level of educational computer-based game techniques adoption by Milken Educator Award winning teachers in achieving success in their classrooms. The focus of the research is on their level of acceptance of educational computer-based games and the nature of game usage to increase student performance in the classroom. With Davis' (1985) Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1985) as the conceptual framework, the research also examines how teachers' perceptions of educational computer-based games influence their willingness to incorporate these teaching methods in their classroom. The approach utilizes a descriptive survey to develop and evaluate responses from exemplar …

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Spineless Wonders: How Listing Marine Invertebrates And Their Larvae Challenges The U.S. Endangered Species Act, Ryan P. Kelly Jan 2011

Spineless Wonders: How Listing Marine Invertebrates And Their Larvae Challenges The U.S. Endangered Species Act, Ryan P. Kelly

Penn State Environmental Law Review (1991 - 2011)

No abstract provided.

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Protecting Wood For The Woodland Caribou: Critical Habitat Considerations, Allan Ray Jan 2011

Protecting Wood For The Woodland Caribou: Critical Habitat Considerations, Allan Ray

Penn State Environmental Law Review (1991 - 2011)

No abstract provided.

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The Bison: 2011: Part 1, Howard University Jan 2011

The Bison: 2011: Part 1, Howard University

Howard University Yearbooks

This digital object was funded in part through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The digitalization of this object was part of a collaborative effort with the Washington Research Library Consortium and George Washington University.

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The Bison: 2011: Part 2, Howard University Jan 2011

The Bison: 2011: Part 2, Howard University

Howard University Yearbooks

This digital object was funded in part through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The digitalization of this object was part of a collaborative effort with the Washington Research Library Consortium and George Washington University.

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A Cross Cultural Study Of Disability In The United States And Brazil, Emily Kirsten Stortz Jan 2011

A Cross Cultural Study Of Disability In The United States And Brazil, Emily Kirsten Stortz

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Disability is not only a biological issue, it is an inherently social one. People are only as disabled as their society allows them to be. Enhancing our understanding of the social processes affecting the disabled will allow for their increased participation within society. The researcher employed qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews and participant observation to perform case studies at fieldwork sites providing care to the disabled in Chicago, IL, USA and Santarém, Pará, Brazil. The researcher spent two consecutive weeks in each location. The former location is a residential facility for people with developmental disabilities and the latter is a …

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Determining A Patient Recovery From A Total Knee Replacement Using Fuzzy Logic And Active Databases, Robert Azarbod Jan 2011

Determining A Patient Recovery From A Total Knee Replacement Using Fuzzy Logic And Active Databases, Robert Azarbod

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of the knowledge-based system is to predict the rehabilitation timeline of a patient in physical therapy for a total knee replacement. All patients have various attributes that contribute to their rehabilitation rate such as: weight, gender, smoking habit, medications, physical ability, or other medical problems. A combination of any one or several of these attributes will affect the recovery process. The proposed FRTP (Fuzzy Rehabilitation Timeline Predictor) is a fuzzy data mining model that can predict the recovery length of a patient in physical therapy for a total knee replacement and provide feedback to experts for revision of …

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Lawyers, Guns, And Money: The Governance Of Business Activities In Conflict Zones, Simon Chesterman Jan 2011

Lawyers, Guns, And Money: The Governance Of Business Activities In Conflict Zones, Simon Chesterman

Chicago Journal of International Law

There is a proliferation of literature discussing human rights and business, but far less that looks at the issue of businesses operating in conflict Zones and the applicability of international humanitarian law. This is understandable in terms of the prominence and dynamism of human rights as a sub-discipline, contrasted with the conservatism of international humanitarian law. But from a doctrinal perspective it is somewhat odd, as the direct applicabiIity of human rights norms to business is far less clear than the applicability of international humanitarian law. Section II of this paper describes the normative regime that is set up by …

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A Psychological Investigation Of The Expressed Attitudes Of Middle School Aged Adolescents Toward School Bullying, Jodi Marie Daly Jan 2011

A Psychological Investigation Of The Expressed Attitudes Of Middle School Aged Adolescents Toward School Bullying, Jodi Marie Daly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International research on bullying suggests that bullying is pervasive in schools and the workplace. Most researchers concur that bullying behavior is a disruptive factor to the social and educational well-being of students. Previous research, grounded in social and family systems theory, has indicated those who bully tend to be involved in self-destructive and delinquent behaviors. Additionally, in the only-large scale study on bullying behaviors, 29% of the 10th-grade student body admitted to being bullied that school year. Further, in a new study conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, half of all high school students reported that they have bullied …

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Promoting Inclusive Schools: A Case Study Of Leadership Experiences Of The Middle School Chairpersons For Special Education Service, Juvinell Baylis Jan 2011

Promoting Inclusive Schools: A Case Study Of Leadership Experiences Of The Middle School Chairpersons For Special Education Service, Juvinell Baylis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Federal and state guidelines direct students with disabilities to the least restrictive environment (LRE). The inclusion of students with disabilities in the LRE (general education) has been an issue for many public schools. In an effort to promote inclusive education for students with disabilities, many special education teacher--chairpersons experience opposition from the general education teacher and their administrator regarding LRE placement. The purpose of this qualitative case study, grounded in the theory of leadership, was to examine the leadership experiences of chairpersons of special education services in middle schools and their perception of the LRE decision-making process for placement for …

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A Q Methodology Analysis Of Individual Perspectives Of Public Decision Making Influences Of Collaborative Processes, Perry D. Gross Jan 2011

A Q Methodology Analysis Of Individual Perspectives Of Public Decision Making Influences Of Collaborative Processes, Perry D. Gross

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Suboptimal public policy formulation and implementation often result from traditional representative democratic practices. Increasing government fragmentation, eroding trust among policy actors, and an increasingly complex policy making environment contribute to this problem. Collaborative decision making is considered to be a pragmatic alternative by its advocates. The purpose of this research was to explore the claim that process dynamics lead participants to prefer collaborative approaches to decision making among local and regional transportation plans in a western state. The conceptual framework was the diversity, interdependence, and authentic dialogue (DIAD) theory-based model of collaboration in decision making. The research questions focused on …

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Correlates Of Resilience Among American Indians In A Northwestern Us State, Bruce M. Bradway Jan 2011

Correlates Of Resilience Among American Indians In A Northwestern Us State, Bruce M. Bradway

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite low life expectancy, high suicide and homicide rates, and excessive levels of poverty and violence, American Indians continue to survive. However, few researchers have assessed the correlates of resilience among adult American Indians. Current researchers assessing American Indian resilience have focused primarily on adolescents and preadolescents, resulting in a definition of resilience that is more often than not defined by the lack of negative youth outcomes. In this quantitative survey study, data were collected from 103 American Indians living off-reservation in a northwestern state. Gender, age, education level, degree of enculturation (using the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure), level of …

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The Perspectives Of African American Nonprofit Female Executives From The Northeastern Region Of The United States About The Work-Family Balance, Tammy Evans-Colquitt Jan 2011

The Perspectives Of African American Nonprofit Female Executives From The Northeastern Region Of The United States About The Work-Family Balance, Tammy Evans-Colquitt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although many studies have been conducted on the increased pressure and stress facing women who are trying to fulfill work and family demands, little is known about African American women in executive positions and their perspectives about work-life balance. A particular gap in the research literature exists on the lived experience of African American nonprofit executive women in maintaining work-life balance. The conceptual framework of this phenomenological study was the bidirectional frame of both work interfering with family and family interfering with work. Data were collected through semistructured telephone interviews of 12 African American women ages 30 to 45 and …

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