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Employment Research, Vol. 19, No. 1, January 2012

Employment Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Numerical Methods For Fluid-Structure Interaction - A Review, Gene Hou, Jin Wang, Anita Layton

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The interactions between incompressible fluid flows and immersed structures are nonlinear multi-physics phenomena that have applications to a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. In this article, we review representative numerical-methods based on conforming and non-conforming meshes that are currently available for computing fluid-structure interaction problems, with an emphasis on some of the recent developments in the field. A goal is to categorize the selected methods and assess their accuracy and efficiency. We discuss challenges faced by researchers in this field, and we emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary effort for advancing the study in fluid-structure interactions

Microfluidic Separation Of Live And Dead Yeast Cells Using Reservoir-Based Dielectrophoresis, Saurin Patel, Daniel Showers, Pallavi Vedantam, Tzuen-Rong Tzeng, Shizhi Qian, Xiangchun Xuan

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Separating live and dead cells is critical to the diagnosis of early stage diseases and to the efficacy test of drug screening, etc. This work demonstrates a novel microfluidic approach to dielectrophoretic separation of yeast cells by viability. It exploits the cell dielectrophoresis that is induced by the inherent electric field gradient at the reservoir-microchannel junction to selectively trap dead yeast cells and continuously separate them from live ones right inside the reservoir. This approach is therefore termed reservoir-based dielectrophoresis (rDEP). It has unique advantages as compared to existing dielectrophoretic approaches such as the occupation of zero channel space and …

The Implementation Of Engineering Design Challenges On 4th Grade Students' Attitudes Towards Engineering, Classroom Climate, And Writing Ability, Tara L. Newby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if my practice of having 4th grade students participate in engineering design challenges impacted their attitudes towards engineering, the classroom climate, and writing ability. In this action research students were given a pre and posttest that measured their attitudes towards engineering and their perceptions of the classroom climate. A pre and post written reflection was also examined and compared for the use of predicting, observing, thinking, explaining, reflecting, and yearning to learn more. A triangulation of data included the use of pre and posttest statistical analysis, rubrics, teacher observation, and student interviews. …

The Effect Of Question-Answer Relationships On Ninth-Grade Students' Ability To Accurately Answer Comprehension Questions, Tammy Stafford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This experimental research study examined the effects of the Question-Answer Relationships (QAR) taxonomy on ninth-grade students’ ability to answer comprehension questions. Participants included 32 incoming ninth-grade students who were required to attend summer school due to poor attendance, grades, and/or standardized test scores. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Experimental group participants received one week of initial strategy instruction followed by three weeks of maintenance activities. Results indicated that the strategy had a negative effect on students’ question-answering ability and raised questions regarding comprehension instruction, length of interventions, and the role of scaffolded support for a target …

Issues Of Crime And School Safety: Zero Tolerance Policies And Children With Disabilities, Melissa Henson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the aftermath of school shootings, safety in educational institutions became a national concern. The Zero Tolerance policy was designed to remove students who posed serious and or imminent threat to the school environment. It was hoped that the institution of this policy would allow schools to better police student behaviors through the use of tough disciplinary actions, and to ensure a safer learning environment for all. However, one of the latent consequences of establishing a broad set of directives was to result in the differential treatment of some minority groups such as special education students. To date, there exists …

Structural Identification Through Monitoring, Modeling And Predictive Analysis Under Uncertainty, Hasan Burak Gökçe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bridges are critical components of highway networks, which provide mobility and economical vitality to a nation. Ensuring the safety and regular operation as well as accurate structural assessment of bridges is essential. Structural Identification (St-Id) can be utilized for better assessment of structures by integrating experimental and analytical technologies in support of decision-making. St-Id is defined as creating parametric or nonparametric models to characterize structural behavior based on structural health monitoring (SHM) data. In a recent study by the ASCE St-Id Committee, St-Id framework is given in six steps, including modeling, experimentation and ultimately decision making for estimating the performance …

Gel 4850 : Environmental Geology, Geology/Geography

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Gel 2100 : Geology Of Energy Resources, Geology/Geography

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Semantic Inference On Heterogeneous E-Marketplace Activities, Jingzhi Guo, Lida Xu, Zhiguo Gong, Chin-Pang Che, Sohail S. Chaudry

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

An electronic marketplace (e-marketplace) is a common business information space populated with many entities of different system types. Each of them has its own context of how to process activities. This leads to heterogeneous e-marketplace activities, which are difficult to make interoperable and inferred from one entity to another. This study solves this problem by proposing a concept of separation strategy and implementing it through providing a semantic inference engine with a novel inference algorithm. The solution, called the RuleXPM approach, enables one to semantically infer a next e-marketplace activity across multiple contexts/domains. Experiments show that the cross-context/cross-domain semantic inference …

Global And Long-Term Comparison Of Sciamachy Limb Ozone Profiles With Correlative Satellite Data (2002-2008), S. Mieruch, M. Weber, C. Von Savigny, A. Rozanov, H. Bovensmann, J. P. Burrows, P. F. Bernath, C. D. Boone, L. Froidevaux, L. L. Gordley, M. G. Mlynczak, J. M. Russell Iii, L. W. Thomason, K. A. Walker, J. M. Zawodny

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

SCIAMACHY limb scatter ozone profiles from 2002 to 2008 have been compared with MLS (2005–2008), SABER (2002–2008), SAGE II (2002–2005), HALOE (2002–2005) and ACE-FTS (2004–2008) measurements. The comparison is performed for global zonal averages and heights from 10 to 50 km in one km steps. The validation was performed by comparing monthly mean zonal means and by comparing averages over collocated profiles within a zonal band and month. Both approaches yield similar results. For most of the stratosphere SCIAMACHY agrees to within 10% or better with other correlative data. A systematic bias of SCIAMACHY ozone of up to 100% between …

In Vivo Quantitative Study Of Sized-Dependent Transport And Toxicity Of Single Silver Nanoparticles Using Zebrafish Embryos, Kerry J. Lee, Lauren M. Browning, Prakash D. Nallathamby, Tanvi Desai, Pavan K. Cherukui, Xiao-Hong Nancy Xu

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Nanomaterials possess distinctive physicochemical properties (e.g., small sizes and high surface area-to-volume ratios) and promise a wide variety of applications, ranging from the design of high quality consumer products to effective disease diagnosis and therapy. These properties can lead to toxic effects, potentially hindering advances in nanotechnology. In this study, we have synthesized and characterized purified and stable (nonaggregation) silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs, 41.6 ± 9.1 nm in average diameter) and utilized early developing (cleavage-stage) zebrafish embryos (critical aquatic and eco- species) as in vivo model organisms to probe the diffusion and toxicity of Ag NPs. We found that single …

Isotopic Characterization Of Aerosol Organic Carbon Components Over The Eastern United States, Andrew S. Wozniak, James E. Bauer, Rebecca M. Dickhut, Xu Li, Ann P. Mcnichol

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Carbon isotopic signatures (δ¹³C, Δ¹⁴C) of aerosol particulate matter total organic carbon (TOC) and operationally defined organic carbon (OC) components were measured in samples from two background sites in the eastern U.S. TOC and water-soluble OC (WSOC)δ¹³C values (−27 to −24‰) indicated predominantly terrestrial C₃ plant and fossil derived sources. Total solvent extracts (TSE) and their aliphatic, aromatic, and polar OC components were depleted in δ¹³C (−30 to −26‰) relative to TOC and WSOC. Δ¹⁴C signatures of aerosol TOC and TSE (−476 to +25‰) suggest variable fossil contributions (∼5–50%) …

Protein Structure Networks, Lesley H. Greene

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The application of the field of network science to the scientific disciplines of structural biology and biochemistry, have yielded important new insights into the nature and determinants of protein structures, function, dynamics and the folding process. Advancements in further understanding protein relationships through network science have also reshaped the way we view the connectivity of proteins in the protein universe. The canonical hierarchical classification can now be visualized for example, as a protein fold continuum. This review will survey several key advances in the expanding area of research being conducted to study protein structures and folding using network approaches.

Compositional Features Of Japanese Humic Substances Society Standard Soil Humic And Fulvic Acids By Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry And X-Ray Diffraction Profile Analysis, Kosuke Ikeya, Rachel L. Sleighter, Patrick G. Hatcher, Akira Watanabe

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The composition of humic acids (HAs) and Fulvic Acids (FAs) from Inogashira (Umbric Andosol) and Dando (Dystric Cambisol) soils authorized as standard samples by the Japanese Humic Substances Society was characterized using Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICR-MS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) 11 band profile analysis. In FTICR-MS, the number of peaks that molecular formulas were assigned to was 2549-2913 for the FAs and 1943-2457 for the HAs. Molecular formulas with H/C and O/C ratios similar to condensed hydrocarbons were dominant in both the HAs, while those with H/C and O/C ratios similar to lignin were more abundant …

Observation Of Sulfate Aerosols And So₂ From The Sarychev Volcanic Eruption Using Data From The Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (Ace), D. Doeringer, A. Eldering, C. D. Boone, G. González Abad, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

[1] Infrared spectra measured by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) on the SCISAT satellite were used to analyze the Sarychev volcanic aerosol after the eruption in June 2009. Evidence of the Sarychev eruptions was first detected in July 2009 from enhanced SO₂ concentrations and atmospheric extinction. By February 2010, the atmosphere had returned to pre-Sarychev conditions. In July 2009, the volcanic plume was found between 8.5 km and 17.5 km in altitude at mid- and high latitudes (55°N–70°N). The first SO₂ and sulfate aerosol retrievals carried out using the infrared solar occultation spectra recorded with …

Process-Evaluation Of Tropospheric Humidity Simulated By General Circulation Models Using Water Vapor Isotopologues: 1. Comparison Between Models And Observations, Camille Risi, David Noone, John Worden, Christian Frankenberg, Gabriele Stiller, Michael Kiefer, Bernd Funke, Kaley Walker, Peter Bernath, Matthias Schneider, Debra Wunch, Vanessa Sherlock, Nicholas Deutscher, David Griffith, Paul O. Wennberg, Kimberly Strong, Dan Smale, Emmanuel Mahieu, Sabine Barthlott, Frank Hase, Omaira García, Justus Notholt, Thorsten Warneke, Geoffrey Toon, David Sayres, Sandrine Bony, Jeonghoon Lee, Derek Brown, Ryu Uemura, Christophe Sturm

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The goal of this study is to determine how H₂O and HDO measurements in water vapor can be used to detect and diagnose biases in the representation of processes controlling tropospheric humidity in atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs). We analyze a large number of isotopic data sets (four satellite, sixteen ground-based remote-sensing, five surface in situ and three aircraft data sets) that are sensitive to different altitudes throughout the free troposphere. Despite significant differences between data sets, we identify some observed HDO/H₂O characteristics that are robust across data sets and that can be used to evaluate …

Validation Of Ace And Osiris Ozone And No2 Measurements Using Ground Based Instruments At 80° N, C. Adams, K. Strong, R. L. Batchelor, Peter F. Bernath, S. Brohede, C. Boone, D. Degenstein, W. H. Daffer, J. R. Drummund, P. F. Fogal

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The Optical Spectrograph and Infra-Red Imager System (OSIRIS) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) have been taking measurements from space since 2001 and 2003, respectively. This paper presents intercomparisons between ozone and NO2 measured by the ACE and OSIRIS satellite instruments and by ground-based instruments at the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL), which is located at Eureka, Canada (80◦ N, 86◦ W) and is operated by the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC). The ground-based instruments included in this study are four zenith-sky differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) instruments, one Bruker Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) …

Atmospheric Effects Of Energetic Particle Precipitation In The Arctic Winter 1978-1979 Revisted, L. A. Holt, C. E. Randall, V. L. Harvey, E. E. Remsberg, G. P. Stiller, B. Funke, P. F. Bernath, K. A. Walker

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

[1] The Limb Infrared Monitor of the Stratosphere (LIMS) measured polar stratospheric enhancements of NO₂ mixing ratios due to energetic particle precipitation (EPP) in the Arctic winter of 1978–1979. Recently reprocessed LIMS data are compared to more recent measurements from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS) and the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) to place the LIMS measurements in the context of current observations. The amount of NO_x (NO + NO₂) entering the stratosphere that has been created by EPP in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (EPP-NO_x) has been quantified …

Analyzing Best Practices In The Schooling Of Secondary-Level Latino Newcomer Immigrant Youth: A Comparison Study Of Two Yearlong Specialized Programs, Amanda Keri Matas

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research study is to compare two yearlong program models designed specifically to educate secondary-level newcomer immigrant youth within one large, urban school district in Southern California. The two divergent secondary-level programs that are compared in this study, a self-contained newcomer program and a beginning level English as a Second Language program (ESL 1/2), are explored to determine which program more successfully prepares secondary-level Latino immigrant youth to gain the language proficiency, academic skills, and academic self-concept necessary to exit after the requisite year.

The research for this study is informed by scholarly literature that concerns the …

Assessing Metacognitive Skills Using Adaptive Neural Networks, Anderson Justin, Kouider Mokhtari, Arun Kulkarni

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The assessment of student's levels of metacognitive knowledge and skills is critical in determining their ability to effectively perform complex cognitive tasks such as solving mathematics or reading comprehension problems. In this paper, we use an adaptive multiplayer perceptron model to categorize participants based on their metacognitive awareness and perceived use of reading strategies while reading. Eight hundred and sixty-five middle school students participated in the study. All participants completed a 30-item instrument- the Metacognitive Awareness-of-Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI). We used adaptive multi-layer perceptron models to classify participants into three groups based on their metacognitive strategy awareness levels using thirteen …

Natural Product Xn On Matrices, Florentin Smarandache, W.B. Vasantha Kandasamy

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

In this book the authors introduce a new product on matrices called the natural product. ...

Thus by introducing natural product we can find the product of column matrices and product of two rectangular matrices of same order. Further this product is more natural which is just identical with addition replaced by multiplication on these matrices. Another fact about natural product is this enables the product of any two super matrices of same order and with same type of partition. We see on supermatrices products cannot be defined easily which prevents from having any nice algebraic structure on the collection …

An Interview With Francisco Ortega, Creator Of Crossing The Bridge, Observance: The Board Game, And H1-B: The Board Game, Marc Ouellette, Jason Thompson

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cyanobacteria Dominance In The Oligohaline Waters Of Back Bay, Virginia, Harold G. Marshall

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Back Bay and its flora have historically been influenced by the interaction of freshwater flow in combination with frequent intrusion of saline water into its basin. These events have resulted in a dynamic environmental setting influencing the abundance and composition of its phytoplankton community. Dominating these oligohaline waters is a diverse representation and high abundance of freshwater filamentous and colonial cyanobacteria. These include the nonheterocystous Planktolyngbya contorta, Planktolyngbya limnetica, and Pseudanabaena limnetica, taxa implicated as bloom producers in Bay waters with N:P molar ratios ranging from 23:1 to 74:1.

First Remote Sensing Observations Of Trifluoromethane (Hfc-23) In The Upper Troposphere And Lower Stratosphere, Jeremy J. Harrison, Christopher D. Boone, Alexander T. Brown, Nicholas D. C. Allen, Geoffrey C. Toon, Peter F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

This work reports the first remote sensing measurements of atmospheric HFC-23 (CHF₃) using solar occultation measurements made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory Mark IV (MkIV) balloon interferometer. A total of 8809 ACE occultations measured between 2004 and 2010 have been processed, along with 24 MkIV occultations measured between 1989 and 2007. ACE data (yearly averages over the 10-25 km altitude range) in the tropics/subtropics (40°S-40°N) reveal a trend of 4.0 ± 1.6% per year in the growth of HFC-23 for 2004-2009 (or 3.9 ± 1.2% per year for 2004-2010), …

Analysis Of Iasi Tropospheric O₃ Data Over The Arctic During Polarcat Campaigns In 2008, M. Pommier, C. Clerbaux, K. S. Law, G. Ancellet, P. Bernath, P.-F. Coheur, J. Hadji-Lazaro, D. Hurtmans, P. Nédélec, J.-D. Paris, F. Ravetta, T. B. Ryerson, H. Schlager, A. J. Weinheimer

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Ozone data retrieved in the Arctic region from infrared radiance spectra recorded by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on board the MetOp-A European satellite are presented. They are compared with in situ and lidar observations obtained during a series of aircraft measurement campaigns as part of the International Polar Year POLARCAT activities in spring and summer 2008. Different air masses were sampled during the campaigns including clean air, polluted plumes originating from anthropogenic sources, forest fire plumes from the three northern continents, and stratospheric-influenced air masses. The comparison between IASI O₃ [0–8 km], [0–12 km] partial columns and …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of The Learning Community As A Form Of Professional Development And A Catalyst For Changing The Beliefs And Practices Of Family Child Care Providers, Jennifer Gerdes

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

This study explored the influence of a 12-hour professional learning community for family child care providers in an urban Midwest city on the participants’ beliefs and practices. A secondary purpose was to explore the potential of the professional learning community as a format for professional development of family child care providers. Data for this study were collected in multiple ways including participant journals, field notes, recordings of learning community sessions, and collected artifacts from learning community provocations. For this group of family child care providers, the learning community was a useful format for professional development. The learning community influenced growth …

Allelopathic Effect Of Cassia Tora On Seed Germination And Growth Of Mustard, Eva Sarkar, Samarendra Nath Chatterjee, Pampa Chakraborty

Turkish Journal of Botany

Cassia tora L. (CT) is a widely growing weed in India with medicinal value and has been reported to show allelopathic potential causing biological suppression on crops. The present study was conducted to observe its suppression on Brassica campestris L. (mustard). The rate of seed germination and the root length, shoot length, chlorophyll content, fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), and relative water content (RWC) of 10-day-old mustard seedlings were observed after treatment with aqueous extracts of the roots, leaves, and seeds of CT and compared with control sets treated with distilled water. A confirmatory chemical test was conducted to …

A Study Of Localization And Latency Reduction For Action Recognition, Syed Zain Masood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The success of recognizing periodic actions in single-person-simple-background datasets, such as Weizmann and KTH, has created a need for more complex datasets to push the performance of action recognition systems. In this work, we create a new synthetic action dataset and use it to highlight weaknesses in current recognition systems. Experiments show that introducing background complexity to action video sequences causes a significant degradation in recognition performance. Moreover, this degradation cannot be fixed by fine-tuning system parameters or by selecting better feature points. Instead, we show that the problem lies in the spatio-temporal cuboid volume extracted from the interest point …

Regulating Risk And Governance In Banks: A Contractarian Perspective, Simone M. Sepe

Emory Law Journal

In the lead up to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, U.S. banks engaged in systemic, excessive risk taking that drove the economy to the verge of collapse. This Article makes three contributions to understanding how this pandemic of excessive bank risk taking was possible and which policy reforms are desirable to promote more prudent banking conduct.