Digital Commons Network^™

Groundwater Surface Trends In The North Florence Dunal Aquifer, Oregon Coast, Usa, Sarah Rebecca Doliber

Dissertations and Theses

The North Florence Dunal Aquifer is the only feasible source for drinking water for the coastal city of Florence, Oregon and Florence's Urban Growth Boundary. High infiltration rates and a shallow groundwater table leave the aquifer highly susceptible to contamination from septic tank effluent, storm runoff, chemical fertilizers and recreational ATV use throughout the dunes. Public interest in the quality and quantity of the aquifer water has been sparked since the City of Florence received a grant from the Environmental Protection Agency for a watershed protection and restoration project. Delineation of the shallow groundwater surface and its relationship to the …

Understanding Sand Mining On The Maha Oya: The Conflict Between Economic And Environmental Survival, Meredith Corea Talbert

Dissertations and Theses

River sand mining from the Maha Oya is the main source of income and a force that drives economic activity for residents along the river. This study takes place in Sri Lanka, there are three villages included in this project: Jambugaswatte, Janituspuraya and Thoppuwa. In Sri Lanka, sand serves as the main building material. It is used to make bricks, tiles, asphalt and concrete, therefore demanding a high market value. However, the over-extraction of sand comes along with significant environmental problems. These communities depend on the river in many ways and the health of the river directly corresponds to the …

Finding The Past In The Present: Modeling Prehistoric Occupation And Use Of The Powder River Basin, Wyoming, Catherine Anne Clark

Dissertations and Theses

In the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, our nation's interest in protecting its cultural heritage collides with the high demand for carbon fuels. "Clinker" deposits dot the basin. These distinctive buttes, created by the underground combustion of coal, are underlain by coal veins; they also provided the main lithic resources for prehistoric hunter-gatherers. These deposits signify both a likelihood of extractable carbon and high archaeological site density. Federal law requires that energy developers must identify culturally significant sites before mining can begin. The research presented here explains the need for and describes a statistical tool with the potential to predict …

Exploring Support Network Structure, Content, And Stability As Youth Transition From Foster Care, Jennifer E. Blakeslee

Dissertations and Theses

Many older youth in foster care lack adequate resources and ongoing support in their social networks as they transition into young adulthood, while other youth in these circumstances experience stable social networks providing comprehensive support. Systematically measuring the supportive personal and service-oriented relationships in youth networks expands the scope of inquiry in this area by identifying patterns of social network structure, member composition, and relational qualities that are associated with more or less support provision through formal and informal relationships. These can also be measured over time to observe changes in network form and content and assess network stability. This …

Involvement In The Online Autistic Community, Identity, Community, And Well-Being, Colleen Anne Kidney

Dissertations and Theses

The values of the disability rights movement and community psychology promote research that focuses on improving the lives of individuals with disabilities (Dowrick & Keys, 2001). Using the Internet for social interactions has been shown to contribute to an individual's identity development, sense of community, and well-being (Obst, Zinkiewicz, & Smith, 2002a; Turkle, 1995). While challenges in typical social interactions have traditionally been considered a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder, autistic individuals have taken advantage of the Internet to develop social interactions (Blume, 1997a). The present study focused on the online Autistic community and how the importance and value …

Scale Invariant Object Recognition Using Cortical Computational Models And A Robotic Platform, Danny Voils

Dissertations and Theses

This paper proposes an end-to-end, scale invariant, visual object recognition system, composed of computational components that mimic the cortex in the brain. The system uses a two stage process. The first stage is a filter that extracts scale invariant features from the visual field. The second stage uses inference based spacio-temporal analysis of these features to identify objects in the visual field. The proposed model combines Numenta's Hierarchical Temporal Memory (HTM), with HMAX developed by MIT's Brain and Cognitive Science Department. While these two biologically inspired paradigms are based on what is known about the visual cortex, HTM and HMAX …

Designing New Drugs To Treat Cardiac Arrhythmia, Yanping Ye

Dissertations and Theses

Heart failure resulting from different forms of cardiomyopathy is defined as the inability of the heart to pump sufficient blood to meet the body's metabolic demands. It is a major disease burden worldwide and the statistics show that 50% of the people who have the heart failure will eventually die from sudden cardiac death (SCD) associated with an arrhythmia. The central cause of disability and SCD is because of ventricular arrhythmias. Genetic mutations and acquired modifications to RyR2, the calcium release channel from sarcoplasmic reticulum, can increase the pathologic SR Ca2+ leak during diastole, which leads to defects in SR …

Risk Factors For Homelessness Among Community Mental Health Patients With Severe Mental Illness, Rupert Talmage Van Wormer

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with homelessness, assess the relationship between housing status and consumption of costly publicly funded resources, to identify characteristics associated with service retention, and to evaluate whether length of treatment is associated with better outcomes. The target population was homeless and formerly homeless adults with SMI enrolled in community mental health services at the Downtown Emergency Service Center SAGE mental health program located in Seattle. The sample consisted of 380 SAGE patients who had continuous enrollment in 2005. These patients formed the cohort for the study. Agency records for these …

A Perspective On Resource Synchronization, Herbert Van De Sompel, Robert Sanderson, Martin Klein, Michael L. Nelson, Bernhard Haslhofer, Simeon Warner, Carl Lagoze

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Web applications frequently leverage resources made available by remote web servers. As resources are created, updated, deleted, or moved, these applications face challenges to remain in lockstep with changes on the server. Several approaches exist to help meet this challenge for use cases where "good enough" synchronization is acceptable. But when strict resource coverage or low synchronization latency is required, commonly accepted Web-based solutions remain illusive. This paper provides a perspective on the resource synchronization problem that results from inspiration gained from prior work, and initial insights resulting from the recently launched NISO/OAI ResourceSync effort.

Brown Abroad: An Empirical Analysis Of Foreign Judicial Citation And The Metaphor Of Cosmopolitan Conversation, Sheldon B. Lyke

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

This Article generates a data set (twelve courts and thirty-two decisions) of foreign judicial citations to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The purpose of this Article is to learn what happens when a case is deterritorialized and reconstituted in a different national scenario, and to conceptualize how courts around the world use foreign authority. My analysis reveals that few foreign courts used Brown in decisions involving education or race and ethnicity. Foreign courts used the case as a form of factual evidence, as a guide in understanding the proper role of a court …

Back Pain And Injury Prevalence And Prevention Strategies In The Workplace, Erin Randi Nielsen

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors and common prevention techniques associated with back pain and injury and provide suggestions for prevention, particularly in the workplace setting.

2012 Done It. Said It. Noted. Quoted., Northern University High School

Malcolm Price Laboratory School Yearbooks

The student yearbook of the Northern University High School, part of the Malcolm Price Laboratory School of the University of Northern Iowa.

The Influence Of Teacher Preparation Programs' Field Experiences On Pre-Service Teacher Candidates' Sense Of Teaching Efficacy, Alison Marie Reddy

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

In this descriptive, mixed methods study, the researcher investigated the influence of teacher preparation programs' field experiences on teacher candidates' sense of teaching efficacy. Tschannen-Morgan & Woolfolk-Hoy's (2001) Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale questionnaire was sent to 221 teacher candidates enrolled in one of five teaching license paths in a large metropolitan university in the eastern part of the United States. Seventy-seven percent of the questionnaires were returned. Questionnaires were analyzed to determine the degree the number of hours of elementary teacher candidates' field experiences influence their perceptions of their teaching efficacy. The questionnaires were also used to compare the …

Enhancing Spectrum Utilization In Dynamic Cognitive Radio Systems, Dusadee Treeumnuk

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cognitive radio (CR) is regarded as a viable solution to enabling flexible use of the frequency spectrum in future generations of wireless systems by allowing unlicensed secondary users (SU) to access licensed spectrum under the specific condition that no harmful interference be caused to the licensed primary users (PU) of the spectrum. In practical scenarios, the knowledge of PU activity is unknown to CRs and radio environments are mostly imperfect due to various issues such as noise uncertainty and multipath fadings. Therefore, important functionalities of CR systems are to efficiently detect availability of radio spectrum as well as to avoid …

Absolute Vs. Relative Location, Anthony Boggs

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to identify the terms absolute and relative location. Students will be able to discern which method of description is best used to pinpoint a particular location, dependent on context.

Are Your Electronic Products Fueling The Deadliest War In The World?, Kimberly Thielen-Metcalf

Open Educational Resources

The student will answer a series of questions applying economic reasoning to the Conflict in the Congo. The student will apply the laws of supply and demand and evaluate his or her role in the conflict.

Annual Report Of The Registrar 2011/2012, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--- Definitions
--- Some Comparisons
--- Annual Report Data
--- Summary of Attendance
--- Attendance by Session
--- Full-Time Equivalency Enrollment
--- Degrees Granted 2011/2012
--- Degree Summary 2011/2012
--- Program Certificates 2011/2012
--- Miscellaneous Enrollment Information
--- Degrees Granted by College, Degree and Racial/Ethnic Classification

Best Crop, Bill Schwarz

Open Educational Resources

Students will match the best conditions for a crop to the existing conditions around the state of Iowa.

Lac 1a Instructor Resource Guide: Uni I Am Writing, David Grant, Debra Dimond Young

Faculty Work

Writing is an important aspect of any college experience. It goes beyond mere examinations of knowledge and is part of the very learning process itself. We are proud to have so much collective experience and so many talents across our campus that can help students in all years tackle a ubiquitous task that is at once complex, daunting, and seemingly self-­‐evident. This guide is meant to supplement, support, and enhance the talents and experience of our staff. We recognize that teaching writing is a collaborative endeavor. You may be teaching writing for the first semester as a Graduate Assistant, as …

Common Cents, Dawn Shattuck

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to convert currency from USD (United States Dollars) to CLP (Chilean Pesos) and vice versa. Students will familiarize themselves with common prices in Chile and make comparisons of the costs of similar items in the United States. Students will analyze the differences in purchasing power and minimum wage in United States and Chile.

Countries And Capitals, Lynita Hunt

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to identify and label the countries and capitals of the Hispanic World.

Developing A Sense Of Place Through India's Diversity: Using A Structured Discussion And Role-Play, Kay Weller

Open Educational Resources

Students will participate in a discussion and write a summative essay related to the discussion.

Deforestation, Becky Herman

Open Educational Resources

Students will research about the causes and effects of deforestation and will take the role of a special interest group that has a vested interest in either the conservation or destruction of existing forest.

Discovering Chile And Its Culture, Ileana Gonzalez

Open Educational Resources

Students will be able to familiarize themselves with the geography of Chile. Students will be able to familiarize themselves with sites of interest in Chile. Students will be able to become aware of geographical differences and similarities between Chile and the US/Iowa. Students will be able to compare life and culture in Chile to life in the US/Iowa through festivals, schools, landscape, music and other cultural topics.

Relations Between Twisted Derivations And Twisted Cyclic Homology, Jack M. Shapiro

Mathematics Faculty Research

For a given endomorphism on a unitary κ-algebra, Α, with κ in the center of Α, there are definitions of twisted cyclic and Hochschild homology. This paper will show that the method used to define them can be used to define twisted de Rham homology. The main result is that twisted de Rham homology can be thought of as the kernel of the Connes map from twisted cyclic homology to twisted Hochschild homology.

Five Themes With Travelbydrone.Com, Danny Kirst

Open Educational Resources

The students will be able to choose a place in the world on TravelByDrone.com and present to the class 4 of the 5 themes of geography concerning that particular place.

Found Treasure Mural, Jessi Vickers

Open Educational Resources

Students will demonstrate how to use a GPS and a compass correctly to find various hidden "treasures" and then work together as a class to create a multimedia mural based on the found objects.

Geography And Government, Michelle Griffen

Open Educational Resources

Students will use geography to understand how people and the environment can work together. We have different local, state, and national governments that have authority over our lives. Specific academic vocabulary helps us communicate in science, social studies, and math.

University Of Northern Iowa Graduating Senior Survey Report 2011-2012, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

2011-2012 Survey Highlights --- 1

Survey Administration --- 2

Distribution of Respondents by College --- 3

Plans Following Graduation --- 4

Characteristics of Respondents --- 6

Institutional Summary of Results --- 8

Summary of Responses by College --- 10

Multiple Year Comparison --- 18

Appendix A --- 26

Geography Of Conflict: Syria, Andrea Aykens

Open Educational Resources

Students will understand the origins of the current conflict in Syria and the human rights abuses that can occur under an autocratic form of government.