Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of The Leadership Dimensions Of National Distinguished Principals, Judith Mccollum

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The identification and recruitment of effective school principals who can transform schools in the midst of today’s chaotic economic, social, and global environments require a thorough understanding of the research on effective leadership. Current research indicates that principals who exhibit transformational leadership and, most recently, instructional leadership, are the most successful by all measures, including school climate, teacher empowerment, community support, and high student performance results.

This study focused on a sample of principals from a population who recently received the distinction of a National Distinguished Principal (NDP) to determine if a correlation existed between their leadership dimensions and that …

The Effectiveness Of The Reading Recovery Program In A Southern Florida School District, Jacqueline Dallas-Sanders

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The Reading Recovery (RR) program is an early literacy intervention that provides individualized daily instruction to 1st-grade students with the lowest reading abilities in their classrooms. The program aims to increase the students’ reading performance levels so that they perform at the same level as their peers. A school district in southeast Florida is currently experiencing school district-wide problems as a result of poor reading achievement among its students. The RR program was implemented at many elementary schools as an intense early intervention for reading. This applied dissertation evaluated the effectiveness of the implementation of the RR program in the …

Adjunct Faculty Perceptions About Educational Technology Integration In Higher Education Courses: A Descriptive Study, John Lutzyk

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to gain an understanding of adjunct faculty members’ perceptions about integrating educational technology in the classroom. Surveys were distributed to adjunct faculty at the targeted university to collect quantitative data to determine perceptions about educational technology and integration in the classroom. In addition, two focus groups consisting of university administrators were held to discuss the target university’s perceptions and expectations of the both university and adjunct faculty members with regards to technology integration in the classroom.

There were 25 procedures used to complete this study. First, a literature review was completed. Next, formative …

A Large Cervidae Holocene Accumulation In Eastern Brazil: An Example Of Extreme Taphonomical Control In A Cave Environment, Alex Hubbe, Augusto S. Auler

International Journal of Speleology

A remarkable cervid bone accumulation occurs at a single passage (named Cervid Passage; CP) at Lapa Nova, a maze cave in eastern Brazil. CP lies away from cave entrances, is a typical pitfall passage and contains bone remains of at least 121 cervids, besides few bats, peccaries and rodents remains. There is no evidence of water (or sediment) flow at the site and in general bones lack post depositional alterations and display anatomical proximity, suggesting that the majority of the remains found inside CP (mainly cervids) are due to animals that after entering the cave got trapped in the site. …

Spatially Dense Drip Hydrological Monitoring And Infiltration Behaviour At The Wellington Caves, South East Australia, Catherine N. Jex, Gregoire Mariethoz, Andy Baker, Peter Graham, Martin S. Andersen, Ian Acworth, Nerilee Edwards, Cecilia Azcurra

International Journal of Speleology

Despite the fact that karst regions are recognised as significant groundwater resources, the nature of groundwater flow paths in the unsaturated zone of such fractured rock is at present poorly understood. Many traditional methods for constraining groundwater flow regimes in karst aquifers are focussed on the faster drainage components and are unable to inform on the smaller fracture or matrix-flow components of the system. Caves however, offer a natural inception point to observe both the long term storage and the preferential movement of water through the unsaturated zone of such fractured carbonate rock by monitoring of drip rates of stalactites, …

Editorial, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Advanced Neural Networks And Their Applications In Smart Grids, Bipul Luitel

Doctoral Dissertations

"Today, neural networks (NN) are used in several system identification and nonlinear control system applications. However, their implementation on large systems has been limited either because of their degraded performance or the amount of time and computation required for implementing them being impractical for real applications. The primary emphasis of this research is on the development of advanced NN - simultaneous recurrent neural networks (SRN) and cellular neural networks (CNN); and methods for learning the complexity of large systems.

US electricity infrastructure is one of the largest and the most critical infrastructure consisting of thousands of generators connected by transmission …

Analyzing Risk And Catastrophic Accidents: Using Lopa And Human Factors To Improve Safety In Generic Projects, Siddharth B. Damle

Doctoral Dissertations

"Risk assessment and identification in the early stages of any project is critical to the success of that project from time, budget and cost prespective [sic]. Identifying unacceptable risks and making provisions to mitigate those, can reduce the uncertainty in the project and ensure its smooth completion and closure. Various techniques have been developed over time to identify and quantify risks. Inspite of all the available research on risk management tools, accidents continue to happen and projects consistently fail.

The objective of this study is to first, determine the generic risks that can be encountered by a project. A list …

Behavior Of Advanced Innovative Materials For Improved Long-Term Bridge Performance, Wei Zheng

Doctoral Dissertations

"The dissertation is to present the investigation results and comprehensive understanding of the long-term performance and behavior of innovative construction materials. The materials are applied in bridge engineering in order to either enhance the conventional materials or replace them. The dissertation consists of two major parts: structural steel coatings for corrosion mitigation and thermal behavior of concrete bridge.

In First Part, evaluation of advanced structural steel coatings was carried out through laboratory weathering tests (salt-fog resistance test and QUV weathering test), adhesion test, and electrochemical techniques. Fifteen coating systems were evaluated in this part, which covered both coating and recoating …

Decreasing Time To Market For A Medical Device: New Methods For The Product Development Process, Kelly Marie Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

"Through an example, led at a leading medical device company, this dissertation will demonstrate that by applying certain lean principals and tools to the development of a medical device, shortened development times can be obtained. The two papers presented in the dissertation will fill a gap in current literature. Literature presents lean techniques and applications used in many different industries. But, due to the uniqueness of the medical device industry, these general techniques are not ideal. New methods will be used and validated at a medical device company, Covidien. Instead of trying to implement many general lean principals to their …

Discrete Fiber-Reinforced Polyurea Systems For Infrastructure Strengthening And Blast Mitigation, Natalia L. Carey

Doctoral Dissertations

"The research presented in this dissertation focused on evaluating the effectiveness of various blast mitigation materials and coating technologies to be used for enhancing blast resistance of structural members. Mechanical properties and blast mitigation performance of different discrete fiber-reinforced polyurea (DFRP) systems were investigated through experimental and analytical work. Four technical papers discuss the research efforts conducted within this dissertation.

The first paper examined the development and characterization of different DFRP systems for infrastructure strengthening and blast retrofit. The behavior of various systems which consisted of chopped E-glass fibers discretely integrated in with the polyurea matrix was evaluated through coupon …

Development Of Third Generation Advanced High Strength Steels, Meghan C. Mcgrath

Doctoral Dissertations

"Lightweight duplex steels with combinations of either bainite, acicular ferrite, and austenite or martensite and austenite were investigated as third generation advanced high strength steels targeted for automotive applications. Large additions of manganese (>13 wt%) and carbon (

Duplex steels with different volume fractions of primary δ -ferrite were used to study the crystallography of austenite formed during the peritectic reaction. Solute profiles across the peritectic interface showed aluminum segregated near the interface which promoted bainitic ferrite formation. Thermal treatments were used to manipulate the concentration and type of oxides and the ferrite plate density was found to correlate …

Experimental Investigations Of Pseudospark Discharge And Pseudospark Produced Intense Electron Beams, Jing Hu

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation focuses on the pseudospark discharge, a pulsed discharge discovered for the first time in 1970's. This dissertation is prepared as three journal articles in the style used by Missouri University of Science and Technology. A high voltage pseudospark discharge experiment setup, and discharge and electron beam diagnostic system are constructed and presented in this work. Three journal articles which have been published or are under review are presented in this dissertation on various topics of the pseudospark discharge.

Paper 1 "Experimental investigation of formation time in single-gap pseudospark discharge" is focused on experimental investigations of the time-dependent characteristics …

Friction Stir Welding Of High Temperature Alloys, Jiye Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Friction stir welding (FSW) of Ti-6Al-4V alloy, nickel-based and iron-based oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys (MA754 and MA956) has been studied. The main aspects covered include tool evaluation, microstructural evolution, mechanical properties, and correlation between processing, microstructure and mechanical properties. Tool performance study was carried out for Ti-6Al-4V alloy with refractory tools made of W-1.1%La₂O₃ and two different grades of WC-Co based materials. The results showed that tool degradation can be attributed to mechanical and chemical interaction with processed material. The nature of tool-workpiece interaction was tool material dependent and influenced the resultant microstructure and weld quality in the stirred …

Economics And Finance On Time Scales, Julius Severin Heim

Doctoral Dissertations

"This thesis consists of 6 papers that investigate models in economics and finance based on so-called dynamic equations on time scales. The first paper covers multiplier-accelerator models that can be described by linear second-order dynamic equations. The possibility of taxes as well as the possibility of foreign trade is taken into consideration. The second paper discusses cobweb models, which describe cyclical supply and demand in markets, where the supply is determined before the observation of the price. Cobweb models that can be formulated with first-order linear, second-order linear, and nonlinear dynamic equations are being considered. The third and fourth papers …

Impact Of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles On The Power Grid In A Smart Environment, Zahra Darabi

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the interactions between plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and the power grid. This study has used the data available through the national household travel survey (NHTS) to obtain realistic information such as the arrival time of vehicles, miles driven, and vehicles types. After data manipulation, the aggregated PHEV charging load profiles (PCLP) have been developed. The results show that the peak of PCLP overlaps with the domestic load peak. In order to alleviate this issue, several charging policies have been developed and their impacts on PCLP have been investigated. As a next contribution, the data obtained …

Influence Of Microstructural Length Scale On Deformation Behavior Of Magnesium Alloys, Wei Yuan

Doctoral Dissertations

"Friction stir processing (FSP) is emerging as an effective tool for microstructural modification. Mg-Al-Zn alloys with different aluminum contents were subjected to FSP to achieve fine grained and ultrafine grained (UFG) structure. The objective of this work was to study the influence of microstructural length scale on the governing deformation and strengthening mechanisms of FSP magnesium alloys.

FSP introduced strong basal fiber texture and processing parameter dependent grain/precipitate size and distribution. Grain refinement promoted non-basal dislocation activation at room temperature. The strength of the alloy increased as a consequence of grain refinement following classic Hall-Petch relationship to different extents due …

Identification And Visualization Of Electromagnetic Coupling Paths & Nonlinear Capacitors For Esd Protection, Hongyu Li

Doctoral Dissertations

"The first topic of this dissertation focuses on developing methods to identify and visualize electromagnetic coupling paths. The basis of the approach is to utilize an analogy between electromagnetic energy flow and fluid flow. This allows one to apply the theories and algorithms of fluid dynamics to electromagnetics and thereby to visualize the electromagnetic energy flow. This in turn can be utilized to identify the electromagnetic coupling path.

The second topic of this dissertation investigates the nonlinearity of capacitors and suggests improved trade-off between electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection and data bandwidth by using the antiferroelectric (AFE) capacitors as ESD protection. …

Influence Of Temperature And Microstructural Modification On Formability Of Magnesium Alloys, Arun Mohan

Doctoral Dissertations

"The ß-precipitate free AZ31, ß-precipitate rich AZ91 and a few Mg-Y-Zn alloys were studied to understand the dependence of Mg formability on microstructural condition and temperature. Friction stir processing (FSP) was used to refine the grain size and to obtain desirable distribution of precipitates in the matrix. Since Mg alloys exhibit challenges in achieving room temperature formability, superplastic deformation was utilized. This work focused on high strain rate superplasticity (HSRS, ≥10⁻² s⁻¹) which is more attractive for industrial applications as compared to the slower rates of conventional superplasticity.

Thermally stable fine grains and pinning particles at HSRS temperatures were essential …

Theoretical Studies Of Few-Body Problems, Uttam Chowdhury

Doctoral Dissertations

"Heavy ion collisions with atomic and molecular targets produce many outcomes. The Schrödinger equation is not analytically soluble for more than two mutually interacting particles. As a result, theory must resort to using approximations, the validity of which is determined by comparison with experiment. This work is focused on finding better approximations to describe ionization and capture processes in proton collisions.

Proton-impact ionization of molecular hydrogen is treated as a 3-body problem. Usually the target is treated as an atomic target and the results are multiplied by an ad hoc factor to account for the molecular structure. Measured cross sections …

Stress Corrosion Cracking Behavior Of Friction Stir Processed Ultrafine Grained Light Metal Alloys, Gaurav Ramchandra Argade

Doctoral Dissertations

"The influence of friction stir processing (FSP), a microstructural modification tool, on the corrosion behavior of Al-Mg, Al-Mg-Sc, Mg-Al-Zn and Mg-Y-RE alloys has been studied. An attempt has been made to establish correlation between processing parameters and the subsequent microstructural evolution especially matrix grain size on the corrosion and stress corrosion properties of the alloys. A relationship between grain size and corrosion rate for Mg-Y-RE alloys was envisaged and power law type behavior was proposed. Ultrafine fine grained (UFG) microstructure showed one order magnitude lower corrosion rate.

Grain refinement achieved through different FSP parameters showed lower corrosion currents for Al-Mg …

A Comparison Analysis Of Defensive Routines And Theories-In-Use Of Engineering And Non-Engineering Managers, Tyria Riley

Doctoral Dissertations

"Engineering managers are managers who have an understanding of both the technical and business world in organizations. Many lead teams of their peers who are purely technical individuals. However, the success of an engineering manager depends on being able to function in both worlds when necessary. There is a stigma that engineers experience challenges in areas such as communication, conflict resolution, and leadership. Due to these challenges, defensive routines are likely to exist. Defensive routines are behaviors that are common in many managers and may hinder the success of an organization. This research uses a case study approach to measure …

X-Ray Crystallography For The Study Of Nickel And Iron Salicylaldimines, Carla Schmiesing Eribal

Doctoral Dissertations

"X-ray diffraction of single crystals has developed dramatically over the last century by combining fundamental theories of light, diffraction, and statistics to generate the complete, geometric structure of molecules. The quality of the resulting X -ray structure data are reported in R₁ < 5%, wR2 < 12% and a goodness of fit value of one. This technique was applied specifically to the evaluation of the spin crossover (SCO) compound [Fe(salpm)₂]BF₄ʺ0.5EtOH and how the molecule's geometry changed during a two-step thermal LS-HS conversion. The crystal structure was measured at 100,175,225, and 296 K to yield final R₁ values of 0.047, 0.054, 0.051, and 0.058, respectively. The coordination bond lengths show the spin transitions occur between 100-175K at one crystallographically unique Fe and between 175-225K at the other Fe site. No strong long range interactions are found, suggesting a gradual spin transition. Reaction ofNi(Nalkyl-sal)₂ complexes with Ni(N0₃)₂ form either nickel dimeric, [Ni₃(Rsal)(N0₃)(MeOH)]₂ or trinuclear complexes, Ni₃(Rsal)₄(N0₃)₂. The binuclear complexes, with orthogonal bridging ligands, show overall ferromagnetic interactions. The crystal structures for Ni₃(Rsal)₄(N0₃)₂ from methyl to benzyl were solved and indicate no steric restriction on formation for the series. The trinuclear compounds form an isosceles triangle of metal atoms with the isopropyl analog showing an overall antiferromagnetic interaction with J=+11.386 and J23=-13.891. Lastly, xanthene spirolactam derivatives were structurally analyzed to determine binding modes for their selective and sensitive (µM) detection of metals Cr³⁺, Fe³⁺, Ni²⁺, Co²⁺ and the nerve gas mimic, dichlorophosphate"--Abstract, page iii.

Modelling Interruptions Of Human-In-The Loop Tasks, Muhammet Servet Gulum

Doctoral Dissertations

"Interruptions are a part of our everyday experience and are increasingly becoming a part of our work. Systems are typically not designed with consideration of the effects of interrupting a user during a task sequence. Research is being done in the field of interruptions and its effects. There have been various claims about the effects of interruptions on human task performance. It has been shown that interruptions may not only increase the time to perform a task but also decrease the performance. It has also been analyzed that the effect of interruptions depends on many parameters including task complexity, point …

Analyses Of Alternative Energy Deployments, Mathew Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations

"Energy use around the world is rising drastically. Fossil fuels, including liquid fuels, natural gas, and coal, are expected to supply 80% of the world's energy need in 2035. As a result, the world's energy-related carbon dioxide emission is expected to increase from 30.2 billion metric tons in 2008 to 43.2 billion metric tons in 2035. Significant steps are necessary to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Renewable and alternative energy technologies can assist in reducing the use of fossil fuels and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, most of the renewable energy technologies …

Evaluation Of An Early Intervention Program In A Rural County, Andrea Thomas

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The purpose of this study was to evaluate an early intervention program (EIP) in the southeastern United States. The program was adopted in 2000 by the state’s assembly and implemented in 2001. The goal of the program was to help students in kindergarten through fifth grade to perform on grade level in reading and mathematics. Students were identified and placed in the program based on standardized test scores and teachers’ checklists. Once placed in the program, students were given individualized programs targeted to help them perform better in reading and mathematics.

The research questions focused on the student achievement of …

Analysis Of Hpv-16 Late Gene Expression, Beatrice Orru

Doctoral

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are present in 99.7% of all cervical cancers and HPV type 16 (HPV-16) is the major cause of cervical cancer. Expression of the viral capsid gene L1 and L2 can be detected only in the terminally epithelial cells and we speculate that inhibition of HPV-16 late gene expression in the early stage of the life cycle is probably a prerequisite for persistence of infection. The products of the late genes, L1 and L2, are highly immunogenic and expression of these proteins in the lower layers of the cervical epithelium could lead to clearance of the virus. Therefore, …

Personality Modulates The Effects Of Emotional Arousal And Valence On Brain Activation, Elizabeth G. Kehoe, John M. Toomey, Joshua H. Balsters, Arun L.W. Bokde

Articles

The influence of personality on the neural correlates of emotional processing is still not well characterized. We investigated the relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and emotional perception using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a group of 23 young, healthy women. Using a parametric modulation approach, we examined how the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal varied with the participants’ ratings of arousal and valence, and whether levels of extraversion and neuroticism were related to these modulations. In particular, we wished to test Eysenck's biological theory of personality, which links high extraversion to lower levels of reticulothalamic–cortical arousal, and neuroticism …

Using Lidar As A Monitoring Device To Calculate Volume Of Rockfall Over Time, Travis James Kassebaum

Masters Theses

"There are many natural hazards which threaten the stability of highway infrastructure and the safety of motoring public. Rockfall and unstable slopes are one of the major concerns. This thesis describes a method which safely and accurately evaluates rockfall on rock outcrops through the use of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data. LiDAR is an imaging technology which can be used to measure and evaluate possible rock outcrop hazards such as: rockfall, rock-avalanches, debris flows, and landslides. LiDAR produces a three dimensional point cloud of millions of points which gives spatial data on the scanned object, accurate to millimeters, in …

Parametric Moment Closure For Non-Linear State Dependent Stochastic Systems, Ritesh Arora

Masters Theses

"This research highlights the use of moment closure approximation techniques to provide analytical approximations to nonlinear state dependent systems. Nonlinear systems are often difficult to solve and often approximated through the use of simulation. However, Moment Closure has the capability to derive an approximate solution by making a closed form solution out of open set of differential equations representing nonlinear system behavior in both transient and equilibrium state. It is this capability of approximating the closed form solution to complex systems that draws interest in the use of this method within systems engineering. This research further extends to the stability …