Digital Commons Network^™

Ua64/2 The Challenge: Magazine For The Center For Gifted Studies (No. 29, Summer 2012), Center For Gifted Studies, Tracy Inman Editor

Gifted Studies Publications

No abstract provided.

Faith As A Holy Embrace, Duane Boyce

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Modelling And Simulating Social Vulnerability Under The Influence Of Climate Change In The Cordillera Blanca (Peru), Thaís López-Inojosa, Martina Neuburger, Sebastian Medina-Plascencia

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The objective of this research is to develop and simulate a model of theecosocial concept of populations’ vulnerability under the impact of environmentalchange in the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca, through a social vulnerability indicator.Numerous studies provide evidence for the impact of climate change on nature,water scarcity, and social problems; people living near glaciers are particularlyaffected by these natural hazards. The Peruvian Cordillera Blanca, an area withone fourth of the world’s tropical glaciers and its population are highly at risk. Theapplications of fuzzy algorithms to research works in this area, and even more tosocial and ecological aspects, is a new approach to …

Eldewas - Online Early Warning System For Landslide Detection By Means Of Dynamic Weather Nowcasts And Knowledge Based Assessment, O. Krol, T. Bernard

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In many alpine and low mountain regions landslide events occur more frequently during the last years induced by a growing number of hazards. Since these events often cause high material damage with corresponding costs and/or even personal injury, there is an increasing demand of early warning systems in order to minimize the impact of the events. Currently static hazard index maps are used which indicate areas with a high disposition for landslide. These hazard index maps are derived from information about slope, land use, geotechnical structure, etc. Depending on crisp criteria (e.g. threshold parameters) several disposition classes are derived. Since …

Agent-Based Simulation Of Stakeholders' Negotiation Regarding Land Development Scenarios Using A Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process, Majeed Pooyandeh, Danielle J. Marceau

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

This paper describes an agent-based model (ABM) that was developed to simulate the negotiation process of stakeholders over different land development scenarios in the Elbow River watershed in southern Alberta, an area subject to considerable urbanization pressure due to its proximity to the fast growing City of Calgary. In this initial phase of development, the stakeholders represented as agents include representatives of a Municipal District and two non-profit organizations. The modeling framework contains three main components: a web interface designed to facilitate the interactions of the users with the system, a PostgreSQL database in which data regarding the stakeholders’ preferences …

Towards Integrated Model Building With Semantically Annotated Components, Oliver Schmitz, D. Karssenberg, Jean-Luc De Kok

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Integrated models are valuable tools for research and decision support as they allow a comprehensive analysis of environmental systems. Component–based software frameworks aid in their development by a more straightforward construction and coupling of generic components. Formal descriptions of model components and their relationships by means of ontologies ease the clarification of the embedded knowledge. However, existing approaches do not adequately cover the development and assessment phases of integrated models. Here, we define invariant characteristics of process–based spatio– temporal systems and introduce an ontology to semantically describe model components and their interactions. We address the role of the ontology during …

Automatic Runoff Coefficient Estimation For Urban Drainage Modeling Using Google Maps Information And Fuzzy Classification., Neiler Medina, Arlex Sanchez, Zoran Vojinovic

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In the process of designing sewer and stormwater systems, there are numerousrepetitive tasks that require not only substantial time for their execution but alsothey are very much dependent on judgment and experience of the designengineer. Such examples are catchment delineation, identification of runoffcoefficients and definition of dry and wet weather flow parameters. Dealing withsuch aspects in real-life projects can sometimes be very time consuming andconsequently the time left for the design work may be limited. The present paperprovides contribution in this direction by evaluating the possibility for using highresolutionsatellite imagery data from Google Maps in an automated fashion. Thepaper describes …

System Dynamic Modelling For Conflicts Analysis In Groundwater Management, R. Giordano, Marcela Brugnach, Michele Vurro

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In most Mediterranean countries groundwater is the primary sources for irrigation. Nowadays, water scarcity is a limiting factor for sustainable growth. Designing and implementing effective groundwater protection policies is of outmost importance. Many times the best efforts to solve water management problem actually make it worse due to unanticipated side effects. Avoiding policy resistance requires to expand the boundaries of the system model, so that to incorporate the different actors and their problem definitions. Ambiguity is considered in this work as a distinct type of uncertainty that results from the simultaneous presence of multiple valid and sometimes conflicting ways of …

Using A Fuzzy-Logic Approach To Model A Reservoir And Transfer System Under Climate Change Conditions, Josef Schmid, Ralf Ludwig, Markus Muerth

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Embedded in an international project, a management model is developed for assessing climate change impacts on the Water Transfer System in Franconia, Germany. Based on expert knowledge, standard rules operating this system are defined and implemented in a fuzzy-based modelling system. Demands of stakeholders are identified as being core functionalities in the model. First climate change impact assessments were done, driving the management model with outputs from a hydrological model forced by dynamical climate model data

Communicating River Level Data And Information To Stakeholders With Different Interests: The Participative Development Of An Interactive Online Service, Kit (C. J. A) Macleod, Somayajulu G. Sripada, Antonio A. R. Ioris, Koen Arts, René Van Der Wal

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Increasing the effectiveness of how river level data are communicated to a range of stakeholders (individuals, groups and communities) with an interest in river level information is likely to result in greater use of data collected by regulatory agencies. A range of interest groups, like those involved in recreational pursuits such as angling and canoeing, require certain but different information on changes in river levels state to allow effective scheduling of their activities. A range of options have been developed for communicating river level data to different audiences, but those fail to address group heterogeneity and information demands. To a …

Pattern And Process In Metabolic Ecology: From Biotic Interactions To Cultural Diversity Gradients, William R. Burnside

Biology ETDs

Many ecological patterns and processes are functions of metabolism (Brown 2004), meaning the acquisition, transformation, and allocation of energy, materials, and information within the bodies of individuals and among members of human and other animal societies. Individual metabolic rate should influence behavior by determining the energy available for action as well as the rate at which the body requires fuel. First, I test a key prediction of the metabolic theory of ecology (MTE), that biotic interaction rates are characteristic functions of temperature. Findings support this prediction and suggest that herbivory, predation, parasitism, parasitoidy, and competition increase exponentially with temperature and …

Utpa Commencement – Summer 2012, University Of Texas-Pan American

Edinburg Archives - Legacy Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Search As Intertextual Practice For Undergraduate Research, Brett B. Bodemer

Library Scholarship

By first reassessing the role of search in the literacy event of the lower division undergraduate paper, this article argues that searching is not a lower order mental activity but a concurrent, integral component of the research-writing process. This conclusion has large implications for information literacy instructional design, and several practical applications to further support undergraduate research-writing are outlined.

Reverberations Of The Victim's "Voice": Victim Impact Statements And The Cultural Project Of Punishment, Erin L. Sheley

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Investigating Epistemological Implications Of Geospatial Representation In The Making Of Histories Of The Pueblos, Using An Exploratory Mixed Methods Approach, Judith Van Der Elst

Anthropology ETDs

The claim that epistemological differences between western science and indigenous research methodologies are the roots of contention of the interpretation and construction of histories is investigated. An exploratory mixed methods approach is employed to test whether current systems of geospatial analysis and representation are suitable for understanding different ways of knowing, focused on the spatial domain as a fundamental cognitive domain. Recent studies indicate that spatial cognition is significantly different among speakers of different language groups and that spatial ontology is not universal across the human population, providing the theoretical underpinning for questioning the organizational principles of currently used systems …

The Importance Of Activating And Building Knowledge, Stephanie Wessels

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The following exchange occurred in a third-grade classroom:

"I thought grit was a food. It doesn't make sense," Saida commented.

"Yes, there are grits that people eat. Grits are ground corn, however, in this story the word is grit. Do you remember when it was really windy outside and dust and dirt got on you? That was grit," Mrs. Henning explained. "That was gross. It got in my hair and teeth," replied Saida. In this exchange, the grade-level teacher made a meaningful connection between a recent experience and the new vocabulary word. This connection allowed the teacher to clarifY the …

Asian American We: Civic Engagement Among Low-Income Young Adults, Michael Liu, Star Wang, Janice Wong, Loan Dao

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This report describes a study of the civic participation of low-income Asian American adults between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five in the Boston area. It is based upon a mail survey with 100 respondents, focus groups, and organization interviews.

The study found that over 60% of the study population engaged in some form of civic participation, most commonly through fundraising or volunteer activities. Other activities included arts and culture with a social message, issues work, and electoral involvement. The area of greatest involvement was education. From the survey, civic engagement is correlated with female gender, higher education, and a …

Boys’ And Girls’ Relational And Physical Aggression In Nine Countries, Jennifer E. Lansford, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Laura Di Giunta, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Kenneth A. Dodge, Patrick S. Malone, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Arnaldo Zelli, Suha M. Al-Hassan, Liane Peña Alampay, Dario Bacchini, Anna Silvia Bombi, Marc H. Bornstein, Lei Chang

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, gender differences in, and associations between relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 7 to 10 years (N = 1410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. Unsurprisingly, boys reported being more …

The Institution Matching Canon, Aziz Huq

Public Law and Legal Theory Working Papers

This Article identifies and analyzes a transsubstantive tool of constitutional doctrine that to date has escaped scholarly attention. The Article terms this device the “institution matching” canon. It can be stated briefly as follows: When the government makes a decision that may impinge upon a liberty or equality interest—which may or may not be directly judicially enforced otherwise—a court should determine whether the component of government that made the decision has actual competence in and responsibility for the policy justifications invoked to curtail the interest. If not, the court should reject the government action but leave open the possibility of …

Intellectual Property And Asian Values, Peter K. Yu

Faculty Scholarship

From Niall Ferguson to Fareed Zakaria, commentators have paid growing attention to the rise of Asia and its implications for the West. Recent years have also seen the emergence of a growing volume of literature on intellectual property developments in Asia, in particular China and India. Few commentators, however, have explored whether Asian countries will take unified positions on international intellectual property law and policy.

Commissioned for the Inaugural International Intellectual Property Scholars Series, this article fills the void by examining intellectual property developments in relation to the decades-old 'Asian values' debate. Drawing on the region's diversity in economic and …

Engaging With Tradition: Mechanisms, Strategies, And Tactics, Michael Edwards

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

The relationships between tradition and social justice are complex and contingent, conditioned by many factors including social context, individual attachments and mechanisms of transmission and re-enactment. These relationships may be positive, negative or neutral from the perspective of LGBT concerns, and they may be approached in a variety of different ways according to the goals and circumstances at hand. The Engaging Tradition Project aims to explore these patterns in order to establish when and why tradition forms a barrier to the achievement of gender and sexual justice, and to identify how tradition can be deployed in positive ways by activists …

Tme Volume 9, Number 3

The Mathematics Enthusiast

No abstract provided.

Inquiries Into Korean Linguistics V: Selected Works From The Eighteenth International Conference And The 2012 Xuzhou Conference On Linguistic Sciences, David J. Silva, Candy Mccormic, Margaret Dwyer

UTA Libraries Staff Publications - Archive

No abstract provided.

Approaches To Teaching Young Children Science Concepts And Vocabulary And Scientific Problem-Solving Skills And Role Of Classroom Environment, Amy Colgrove

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study was a replication of the study completed by Hong and Diamond (2012) which explored the effectiveness of two approaches to teaching young children science concepts and vocabulary and scientific problem-solving skills related to objects’ sinking and floating: responsive teaching (RT) and responsive teaching combined with explicit instruction (RT + EI). The current study also examined the moderating effects of classroom environment and teacher-specific factors on the relation between teaching approaches and children’s science learning. Participants included 26 (15 girls) four-and five-year old prekindergarten children. Responsive Teaching (RT) mirrors common approaches to teaching (observing and commenting on behaviors, …

Hidden Earthworks In The Forests Of The Bolivian Amazon, John H. Walker

ProSIGAB Documents

No abstract provided.

The Future’S Epic Now: The Time Of Security And Risk In Don Delillo’S Cosmopolis, Johannes Voelz

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

In this essay I aim to reflect upon the cultural life of security in our contemporary moment. Doing so requires extending security beyond its essentially political functions, i.e., going beyond the currently dominant perspective according to which security is first and foremost an affective and ideological tool of legitimating states of exception. [1] The remarkable success of (in)security — understood as both a concept and a logic — is often explained by its presumed function to manipulate us into accepting untrammeled state power and the loss of civil liberties. If we are not satisfied with this explanation, we …

George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four: Is This Where It All Began?, Jacinta Maria Matos

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is arguably the most influential political novel of the twentieth century, providing us with a set of concepts and a vocabulary to discuss the state’s totalitarian control of the individual. As such, Orwell can be seen as one of the founding fathers of literary representations of a threatening urban space which functions as the microcosm of a global, totalizing and dystopian reality. His seminal contribution to the discourse of (in)security and surveillance has been widely recognized. David Lyon is one among the many theorists who place Orwell at the top of the list of early …

Book Reviews

New Mexico Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Genocide Ideology Laws: Violation Of Rwandan Peoples' 'Peoples' Rights'?, Casey Dalporto

Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law

The note argues that Rwanda's Genocide Ideology Laws, enacted to prevent ethnic divisionism and incitement to genocide, violate the Rwandan people's rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. It contends that challenging these laws through the framework of "peoples' rights" rather than individual civil and political rights could be more effective, as the latter approach is often dismissed by the Rwandan government as Western interference. The note proposes leveraging the African Charter's provisions on collective rights to address the laws' impact on ethnic identity and political dissent.

Identifying And Reaching Ethnic Groups In The City, Anthony Casey

Great Commission Research Journal

Immigrants are arriving in the United States in large numbers. We know the statistics, but what we do not know is who these people are, where they are living, and how we reach them with the Gospel. This article presents a strategy for identifying and reaching ethnic groups in the city. The first section provides information for locating internationals through research at the national, state, and local level. The second section examines issues related to urban ethnic church planting such as meeting felt needs, understanding worldview issues, dealing with preliterates, and training and partnering with other churches.