Digital Commons Network^™

Helping International Students Succeed Academically Through Research Process And Plagiarism Workshops., Yu-Hui Chen, Mary K. Van Ullen

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

Workshops on the research process and plagiarism were designed to meet the needs of international students at the University at Albany. The research process workshop covered formulating research questions, as well as locating and evaluating sources. The plagiarism workshop focused on acknowledging sources, quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing materials, citation styles, and avoiding plagiarism. The effectiveness of the workshops was measured by administering pre-and post-tests and by interviewing students several months after the workshops. The results showed that students achieved significant improvement for both the research process and plagiarism by attending the training, and they continued to apply new skills several …

Social Gerontology- Integrative And Territorial Aspects: A Citation Analysis Of Subject Scatter And Database Coverage, Elaine M. Lasda Bergman

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

To determine the mix of resources used in social gerontology research, a citation analysis was conducted. A representative sample of citations was selected from three prominent gerontology journals and information was added to determine subject scatter and database coverage for the cited materials. Results indicate that a significant portion of gerontology research, even from a social science perspective, relies roughly equally on medical resources as it does social science resources. Furthermore, there is a small but defined core of literature constituting scholarly “territory” unique to gerontology. Analysis of database indexing indicated that broad, interdisciplinary databases provide more comprehensive coverage of …

Land Use/Land Cover Changes And Climate: Modeling Analysis And Observational Evidence, Roger A. Pielke Sr., Andy Pitman, Dev Niyogi, Rezaul Mahmood, Clive Mcalpine, Faisal Hossain, Kees Klein Goldewijk, Udaysankar S. Nair, Richard Betts, Souleymane Fall, Markus Reichstein, Pavel Kabat, Nathalie De Noblet

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

This article summarizes the changes in landscape structure because of human land management over the last several centuries, and using observed and modeled data, documents how these changes have altered biogeophysical and biogeochemical surface fluxes on the local, mesoscale, and regional scales. Remaining research issues are presented including whether these landscape changes alter large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns far from where the land use and land cover changes occur. We conclude that existing climate assessments have not yet adequately factored in this climate forcing. For those regions that have undergone intensive human landscape change, or would undergo intensive change in the …

Voluntary Environmental Disclosure By Australian Listed Mineral Mining Companies: An Application Of Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines, Yanan Xia

Theses : Honours

There is a growing interest in studying voluntary environmental reporting around the world, especially in the mining industry, as there has been an increasingly focused debate about mining and its environmental responsibility, driven by strong public sentiment. The objectives of this study were, firstly, to evaluate the changes in environmental reporting over the period 2007-2010, in terms of type and volume of information disclosed in the Australian mineral mining industry, using the 2006 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines and secondly, to identify the key political characteristics of companies that volunteer to disclose environmental information in their annual reports. Based on …

The Application Of Data Mining Techniques To Interrogate Western Australian Water Catchment Data Sets, Ajdin Sehovic

Theses : Honours

Current environmental challenges such as increasing dry land salinity, waterlogging, eutrophication and high nutrient runoff in south western regions of Western Australia may have both cultural and environmental implications in the near future. Advances in computer science disciplines, more specifically, data mining techniques and geographic information services provide the means to be able to conduct longitudinal climate studies to predict changes in the Water catchment areas of Western Australia.

The research proposes to utilise existing spatial data mining techniques in conjunction of modern open-source geospatial tools to interpret trends in Western Australian water catchment land use. This will be achieved …

Erst War Es Immer, Und Dann War Es Nicht. Speed And The Poetics Of Movement In Rainer Maria Rilke's Neue Gedichte, Erika Kontulainen

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Optimal Control For Autonomous Motor Behavior, Tom Erez

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation presents algorithms that allow robots to generate optimal behavior from first principles. Instead of hard-coding every desired behavior, we encode the task as a cost function, and use numerical optimization to find action sequences that can accomplish the task. Using the theoretical framework of optimal control, we develop methods for generating autonomous motor behavior in high-dimensional domains of legged locomotion. We identify three foundational problems that limit the application of existing optimal control algorithms, and present guiding principles that address these issues. First, some traditional algorithms use global optimization, where every possible state is considered. This approach cannot …

Novel Plasmonic Nanostructures For Applications In Sensing, Imaging, And Controlled Release, Weiyang Li

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This research placed emphasis on engineering the properties of novel plasmonic nanostructures, especially silver: Ag) and gold: Au) nanostructures with well-defined shapes, for biomedical applications in sensing, imaging and drug delivery. The first part of this work focused on the development of novel dimeric nanostructures of Ag for surface-enhanced Raman scattering: SERS) applications. In this section, I successfully demonstrated the synthesis of well-defined Ag dimers consisting of nanospheres with a broad range of sizes by using two methods. The first method was based on polyol process and the second was based on wet etching. The key for the dimerization process …

Ultra-High-Q Microresonator With Applications Towards Single Nanoparticle Sensing, Jiangang Zhu

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Whispering-gallery mode microcavities confines light and enables enhanced light-matter interaction. They are great platforms for enhanced light-matter interactions. Using ultra-high-Q microtoroids and focusing on a phenomenon called mode splitting, we demonstrate the theory and experiments for real-time and label-free detection and size measurement of individual nanoparticles and viruses, with a theoretical size limit of R<10 nm. It enables us to cover a large range of virus and nanoparticle sizes of great interest for biomedicine, nanotechnology, and environmental science. Moreover, this approach allows to identify the components of homogenous mixtures of particles. It exceeds the capabilities of existing schemes with its unique single particle resolution and ability for quantitative size measurement of individual nanoparticles. The techniques described here also pave the way for using active lasing microresonators as particle sensors, in which mode splitting serves as the origin of the radio frequency beatnote in the laser which indicates the binding of nanoparticles. It also lays a solid ground for using microresonators for bio-molecule detection. In addition, two non-spectrogram gased nanoparticle detection techniques: fiber taper detection and resonator reflection mode detection are demonstrated and future implementation on bimolecular detections are discussed.

Cellular And Cytoskeletal Responses Of Myofibroblasts In Three Dimensional Culture To Mechanical Stretch, Sheng-Lin Lee

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Myofibroblasts play important roles in wound healing and pathological organ remodeling, such as hypertensive cardiac fibrosis and promotion of metastasis. Differentiated myofibroblasts are characterized by increased production of extracellular matrix: ECM) proteins and by the development of α-smooth muscle actin: α-SMA) positive stress fibers that are connected to the ECM through focal adhesion assemblies. Moreover, mounting evidence suggests that development of myofibroblasts is profoundly influenced by the mechanical microenvironment, especially, by the structure, organization or stiffness of the ECM: Hinz and Gabbiani, 2003a). Myofibroblasts are likely signaled by mechanical changes in their environment transduced through their cytoskeletons, and the fundamental …

Affirmative Action Plan 2011, Office Of Equal Opportunity, Ethics, & Access

Affirmative Action Plans

Illinois State University Affirmative Action Plan

Simplifying The Non-Manifold Topology Of Multi-Partitioning Surface Networks, Trung Nguyen

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

In bio-medical imaging, multi-partitioning surface networks: MPSNs) are very useful to model complex organs with multiple anatomical regions, such as a mouse brain. However, MPSNs are usually constructed from image data and might contain complex geometric and topological features. There has been much research on reducing the geometric complexity of a general surface: non-manifold or not) and the topological complexity of a closed, manifold surface. But there has been no attempt so far to reduce redundant topological features which are unique to non-manifold surfaces, such as curves and points where multiple sheets of surfaces join. In this thesis, we design …

Nonuniform Power Changes And Spatial, Temporal And Spectral Diversity In High Gamma Band (>60 Hz) Signals In Human Electrocorticography, Charles Gaona

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

High-gamma band: >60Hz) power changes in cortical electrophysiology are a reliable indicator of focal, event-related cortical activity. In spite of discoveries of oscillatory subthreshold and synchronous suprathreshold activity at the cellular level, there is an increasingly popular view that high-gamma band amplitude changes recorded from cellular ensembles are the result of asynchronous firing activity that yields wideband and uniform power increases. Others have demonstrated independence of power changes in the low- and high-gamma bands, but to date, no studies have shown evidence of any such independence above 60Hz. Based on non-uniformities in time-frequency analyses of electrocorticographic: ECoG) signals, we hypothesized …

Aerosol Route Synthesis And Applications Of Doped Nanostructured Materials, Manoranjan Sahu

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Nanotechnology presents an attractive opportunity to address various challenges in air and water purification, energy, and other environment issues. Thus, the development of new nanoscale materials in low-cost scalable synthesis processes is important. Furthermore, the ability to independently manipulate the material properties as well as characterize the material at different steps along the synthesis route will aide in product optimization. In addition, to ensure safe and sustainable development of nanotechnology applications, potential impacts need to be evaluated. In this study, nanomaterial synthesis in a single-step gas phase reactor to continuously produce doped metal oxides was demonstrated. Copper-doped TiO2 nanomaterial properties: …

Synthesis Of Tio2-Based Photocatalyst And Their Environmental Applications, Jinho Park

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Designing For The User: Exploring The Interface Design Of Web Services, Katelyn Anne Haw

Honors Program Theses

My thesis investigated the ideas of usability and the design process to create software that is considered usable. I developed a web interface for a Plan of Study Application that would help students make the educated decisions about their studies at UNI. Throughout the development of this application I addressed the following questions: "What makes an interface usable?" and "How does the design process affect a system's usability?" User interface design is an interdisciplinary process and it often involves computer programmers and graphic designers working together. Without clear communication and vision between the groups, the software being developed has little …

Does It Matter What We Say About Legal Interpretation?, Karen Petroski

All Faculty Scholarship

Despite a common interest in justifying their scholarly output, legal academics have resisted seeing how their work is molded by the institutional environment in which it is produced, and not just by legal doctrine, ideology, or individual perspectives. This paper presents a case study from this neglected perspective, considering the shape of scholarship on legal interpretation in light of the social conditions of its production. After a brief discussion of the debates over whether scholarship (and which scholarship) matters, the paper explores how such concerns are addressed in various academic accounts of scholars’ textual practices. It then offers some initial …

Optimal Control Of Inhomogeneous Ensembles, Justin Ruths

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This dissertation is concerned with formulating the problem and developing methods for the synthesis of optimal, open-loop inputs for large numbers of identically structured dynamical systems that exhibit variation in the values of characteristic parameters across the collection, or ensemble. Our goal is to steer the family of systems from an initial state: or pattern) to a desired state: or pattern) with the same common control while compensating for the inherent dispersion caused by the inhomogeneous parameter values. We compose an optimal ensemble control problem and develop a computational method based on pseudospectral approximations to solve these complex problems. This …

Hidden Markov Models For Heart Rate Variability With Biometric Applications, Michael Walker Ii

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The utility of hidden Markov models: HMM) for modeling individual heart rate variability: HRV) is presented. Starting with a physiologically based statistical model for HRV from the literature, we justify use of HMMs and present methods for parameterizing the model. The forward-backward algorithm and expectation-maximization algorithm are used to estimate the model and the hidden states for a given observation sequence of inter-beat intervals. Multiple initialization techniques are presented to avoid local maxima. Model order is determined from the data sequence using the Bayesian information criterion. Models are trained on twelve hour recordings. The models are then used to discriminate …

The Impacts Of Lead Contamination On The Community Of Herculaneum, Missouri, Jill Mcnew-Birren

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Lead contamination in Herculaneum, Missouri presents a complex context where the long history of a large lead processing plant has created an environmental health hazard. Local residents have been forced to balance their interest in promoting a clean and healthy local environment against their desire to preserve community identity and honor the history of their city and its most prominent industry. Additionally, contamination and related controversy has substantively impacted this community and its citizens on multiple levels--e. g., education, health, and financial well-being. The study presented in this dissertation explores not only the impact of contamination upon the community, but …

Inferring Aggregation Mechanisms Of Molecules Involved In Neurodegeneration Through Quantitative Studies Of Phase Behavior, Scott Crick

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Polyglutamine is involved in at least nine known neurodegenerative diseases, the most prominent of which is Huntington's Disease. It is thought that polyglutamine aggregation leads to disease. The biophysical mechanism of polyglutamine aggregation remains controversial as highlighted by conflicting proposals that have been put forth in the literature ranging from homogeneous nucleation to a more complex assembly mechanism that involves heterogeneous distributions of oligomers. Converging upon an accurate framework for describing polyglutamine aggregation in vitro is an essential first step for understanding how interactions in cis i.e., flanking sequences and trans i.e., heterotypic interactions in the cellular milieu shape self-assembly …

The Georgian Crisis And U.S.-Russian Relations, Ekaterina Chertkova

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Since the end of the Cold War, the U.S.-Russian relations, perplexed by constant strains and unresolved contradictions, shifted like a precarious seesaw. The former Soviet space has become a stage for an ambitious political game for regional supremacy between Moscow and Washington. Russia, eager to reestablish its great power status has tried to find a balance between collaboration with the West and its neo-imperialistic ambitions, aiming to preserve the control over its traditional sphere of influence. Washington, allured by the area’s natural resources riches, and after 9/11 terrorist attacks, in need of the region’s strategic location, has been creating its …

Quantitative Assessment Of Lung Microstructure In Healthy Mice Using An Mr-Based 3he Lung Morphometry Technique, Emir Osmanagic

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Recently developed in our laboratory the MRI-based technique - 3He Lung Morphometry - is a unique tool allowing in vivo measurements of lung microstructural parameters such as alveolar volume, surface-to-volume ratio and alveolar density. These parameters are commonly used by lung physiologists and pathologists but were previously available only from invasive biopsy studies. 3He Lung Morphometry was originally developed for human studies but there is a need to expand it for studies of small animals like mice and rats that are used to advance our knowledge of lung physiology in health and disease and for development of drugs. Such an …

Mechanics Of Heart Tube Formation In The Early Chick Embryo, Victor Varner

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The heart is the first functioning organ to form in the embryo. For decades, biologists have worked to identify many of the genetic and molecular factors involved in heart development, and over the years, these efforts have helped elucidate the vast biochemical signaling networks, which drive cardiac specification and differentiation in the embryo. Still, the biophysical mechanisms which link these molecular factors to actual, physical changes in cardiac morphology remain unclear. The aim of this thesis is to identify some of the mechanical forces which drive heart tube assembly in the early chick embryo. A unique feature of this work …

Molecular Mechanism Of The Allosteric Coupling For Ca(2+) Activation Of The Voltage- And Ca(2+)-Activated K(+) (Bk) Channels, Junqiu Yang

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The large conductance voltage- and Ca2+-activated K+: BK) channel is important for many physiological functions. The BK channel is activated by both membrane depolarization and intracellular Ca2+ so that it integrates these two important cellular signals. Ca2+ sensing of the BK channel is mediated by two binding sites, both located on the cytosolic domain. The structure of the cytosolic domain indicates that both binding sites are away from the pore-gate domain, suggesting that a coupling mechanism between the binding sites and the gate is required for Ca2+-dependent activation. The work in this dissertation focuses on the coupling mechanism, which can …

Optimal Control In Gene Mutation, Juanyi Yu

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Gene mutations are the radical causes of many diseases, including inheritance diseases and cancers. Current medical treatments usually focus on changing the concentrations of related chemicals or mRNAs at the cellular level to stop protein productions or cell duplications, which can only control the diseases under certain circumstances but cannot cure them. Little research work has been done at the molecular level, the fundamental of inheritance, to search possible ways to cure those severe diseases. In this dissertation, we propose a molecular level control system view of the gene mutations in DNA replication from the finite field concept. By treating …

Markov Chains Derived From Lagrangian Mechanical Systems, Scott Cook

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The theory of Markov chains with countable state spaces is a greatly developed and successful area of probability theory and statistics. There is much interest in continuing to develop the theory of Markov chains beyond countable state spaces. One needs good and well motivated model systems in this effort. In this thesis, we propose to produce such systems by introducing randomness into familiar deterministic systems so that we can draw upon the existing: deterministic) results to aid the analysis of our Markov chains. We will focus most heavily on models drawn from Lagrangian mechanical systems with collisions: billiards).

Essays On Consumer Shopping Behavior And Price Dispersion, Aleksandr Yankelevich

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Essay 1: "Price-Matching in a Sequential Search Duopoly" While substantial research has tried to determine if price-matching guarantees are anti-competitive, most previous studies have overlooked the effect that these policies have on consumer search behavior. This essay examines how price-matching guarantees affect consumer behavior and prices in a model of sequential price search. By endogenizing consumers' acquisition of price information, I find that price-matching may raise prices in three new ways. First, price-matching diminishes firms' incentives to lower prices to attract consumers who have no cost of search. Second, for consumers with positive search costs, price-matching lowers the marginal benefit …

Calling Law A 'Profession' Only Confuses Thinking About The Challenges Lawyers Face, Thomas D. Morgan

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

It is appropriate to want lawyers to be mature, moral people and to help legal education reinforce those qualities. It is also appropriate to be sure students understand lawyers’ fiduciary responsibilities and the ways lawyers fall short of meeting them. It only confuses work on those issues, however, to call them part of teaching "professionalism." Law is not a "profession" as that term has traditionally been used. Calling law a profession does not help understanding the challenges lawyers face.

The Changing Face Of Legal Education: Its Impact On What It Means To Be A Lawyer, Thomas D. Morgan

GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works

In recent years, it has become less clear what it means to be a lawyer. Current efforts by the ABA to change accreditation standards for U.S. law schools make it important to think about the ways in which lawyers have common qualities. This paper considers both the changes in law practice and what they are likely to mean for U.S. law schools as they try to equip lawyers for the new reality.