Digital Commons Network^™

Utilization Of Agricultural Wastes In The Manufacture Of Composite Boards, Macatangay P.M, Mangundayao E.C, Rosales C.A.M

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Development of useful composite materials out of agricultural waste has become a desirable option in recycling. This led to the production of composite boards being used in the construction industry. In this paper, three types of available agricultural wastes in the province of Batangas — peanut shells, corn husks and banana sheath — were independently utilized in the production of composite boards. The raw materials were either air or sun dried, then crushed (for peanut shells) and extracted (for banana sheath and corn husks) before mixing with the binder. Urea formaldehyde (UF) was used as binder for peanut shells and …

The Convergence Of Two Algorithms For Compressed Sensing Based Tomography, Xiezhang Li, Jiehua Zhu

Mathematical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The constrained total variation minimization has been developed successfully for image reconstruction in computed tomography. In this paper, the block component averaging and diagonally-relaxed orthogonal projection methods are proposed to incorporate with the total variation minimization in the compressed sensing framework. The convergence of the algorithms under a certain condition is derived. Examples are given to illustrate their convergence behavior and noise performance.

Measures Of Centrality Based On The Spectrum Of The Laplacian, Scott D. Pauls, Daniel Remondini

Dartmouth Scholarship

We introduce a family of new centralities, the k-spectral centralities. k-Spectral centrality is a measurement of importance with respect to the deformation of the graph Laplacian associated with the graph. Due to this connection, k-spectral centralities have various interpretations in terms of spectrally determined information.

We explore this centrality in the context of several examples. While for sparse unweighted net- works 1-spectral centrality behaves similarly to other standard centralities, for dense weighted net- works they show different properties. In summary, the k-spectral centralities provide a novel and useful measurement of relevance (for single network elements as well as whole subnetworks) …

The Who, How And Why Of Facebook Use : The Relationship Between Level Of Use And The Big Five Personality Traits, Larua K. Mackie

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and level of Facebook use. It was hypothesized that certain personality characteristics such as extraversion and low levels of conscientiousness would be more strongly correlated with higher levels of Facebook use. In addition, the study explored whether agreeableness and openness were significantly correlated to use/non-use of the site as had been found in previous research. Data was collected using an online survey, which included questions regarding demographic criterion, the Big Five Personality Inventory, whether participants utilized Facebook and if so how frequently, and what their reasons …

Performance Of Jatropha Oil-Based Biodiesel Fuel In A Single-Cylinder Four-Stroke Diesel Engine, Win H.H

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Studies on alternative fuels have been active in Myanmar because the rapid mechanization of the agricultural sector demands higher diesel consumption. Jatropha oil-based biodiesel is one of the potential alternatives because of the relative ease of growing and producing this plant. In this study, both the experimental and theoretical analyses of Jatropha oil-based B20 biodiesel wereperformed and compared with conventional diesel. First, B20 was prepared by the base-catalyzed transesterification of the oil and its properties were measured. Second, separate performance tests were conducted on diesel and the biodiesel fuel using a LEYER-16 diesel engine. The speed range of interest was …

A Comparison Of Boltzmann And Gibbs Definitions Of Microcanonical Entropy For Small Systems, Randall B. Shirts

Faculty Publications

Two different definitions of entropy, S= klnW, in the microcanonical ensemble have been competing for over 100 years. The Boltzmann/Planck definition is that W is the number of states accessible to the system at its energy E (also called the surface entropy). The Gibbs/Hertz definition is that W is the number of states of the system up to the energy E (also called the volume entropy). These two definitions agree for large systems but differ by terms of order N^-1 for small systems, where N is the number of particles in the system. For three analytical …

Uab Study Finds Optimism Benefits Pain Sufferers, Jim Bakken

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Don't Forget Flossing When Making New Year's Resolutions, Jim Bakken

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Building Capacity To Support And Study Qi In Local Georgia Public Health Systems, William C. Livingood, Nandi Marshall, Angela Peden, Ketty Gonzales, Gulzar H. Shah, Russ Toal, Kellie Penix, Dayna Alexander, Kay Davis, Sylvester Nixon, Purity Cummings, William Riley, Lynn Woodhouse

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The study of quality improvement within Georgia’s local public health systems provides important insight into the use of regional bodies as quality improvement (QI) collaboratives and multijurisdictional entities. This report describes QI initiatives following a RWJF funded quick strike research grant to assess health district capacity to conduct QI in Georgia’s local public health systems. These QI initiatives use QI to improve public health outcomes including: Adolescent pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infection prevention, HIV prevention and control, and HIV Management.

Tax Levy Financing For Local Public Health: Relationships Between Fiscal Allocation, Fiscal Effort And Fiscal Capacity, William Riley, Kim J. Gearin, Carmen D. Parrotta, Jill Briggs, M. Elizabeth Gyllstrom

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This study examines property tax levy (local tax levy) as a source of local health department (LHD) funding during a five year period (2006-2010) in all Minnesota counties by assessing fiscal effort, fiscal allocation and fiscal capacity. Local health departments rely on pluralistic funding from local, state, federal and private sources. However, local tax levy funding is unexplored and little is known regarding the extent of fiscal allocation (tax levy used for LHD), fiscal effort (potential amount of tax levy available for LHD), and fiscal capacity (wealth of community). More important it is not known to what extent variation between …

Evidence-Based Decision Making In Local Health Departments, Linda Weiss, Collette Sosnowy, Christopher M. Maylahn, Nancy J. Katagiri, Sylvia Pirani

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Evidence-based decision making (EBDM) represents an important strategy to increase efficacy and efficiency of public health programs and practice. There is insufficient information on the application of EBDM among local health departments (LHDs). This qualitative study examined use of EBDM in New York State (NYS) LHDs and factors facilitating and impeding its adoption through interviews and focus groups with 47 LHD commissioners, health directors, and other upper-level staff. Findings suggest variability in application of EBDM in NYS LHDs. A number of internal factors (e.g., staff capacity, organizational culture) and external factors (e.g., policy environment, appropriate and …

Stimulating Public Health Improvement In Complex And Constrained Delivery Systems: Findings From The Public Health Pbrns, Glen P. Mays

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks Program sponsored a series of studies to examine how public health decision-makers are responding to accreditation, quality improvement, and public reporting initiatives amid the ongoing fiscal pressures. Overall, the evidence to date indicates that these initiatives represent promising strategies for strengthening evidence-based decision-making and expanding the delivery of evidence-tested programs and policies in local public health settings. Continued, comparative research and evaluation activities are needed to provide more definitive evidence about which combination of strategies work best, for which population groups, in which community and organizational settings, and why.

A Bit Of History: Nevada Gambling Legalized

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

We are referring to the original legislation not the current status of the law.

Research Note: Forecasting Macau's Gaming Revenue And Its Seasonality, Ipkin Anthony Wong

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The gaming literature has identified a number of factors that have driven the growth of Macau's casino industry. At the same time, however, questions remain as to future prospects for the growth of the enclave's gaming revenue- and specifically, whether this type of growth can be sustained. A forecast of Macau gaming revenue and an examination of its seasonality can assist scholars and practitioners alike in developing a better understanding of seasonal variation (a significant consideration in the volatile world of gaming) and the future outlook of the world gambling capital. The objective of this article is to investigate these …

Prohibitions And Policy In The Global Gaming Industry: A Genealogy And Media Content Analysis Of Gaming Restrictions In Contemporary Russia, Pavel V. Vasiliev, Bo Bernhard

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

In an era of widespread gaming expansion, Russia's recent decision to contract its gaming industry stands out as a global anomaly. This article explores factors informing the 2009 restriction of gambling venues in Russia to four remote zones. After a brief discussion of gambling prohibition history across cultures, a genealogical analysis of the origins and development of gaming laws in Russia follows. The authors then use a qualitative content analysis technique to examine the rationales for this contraction that were expressed in Russian news outlets between 2003 and 2010 - the period when the new restrictions were debated, voted on, …

Increasing Chinese Tourist Gamblers In Macao: Crucial Player Characteristics To Identify And Exploit, Penny Yim King Wan

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Casinos are today considered major tourist attractions and are a strategic component in the development of a tourism destination. Tourist gamblers are an important market segment providing a reliable source of revenue for casinos. It is necessary to understand the characteristics of these gamblers and to design services and products that cater for their needs. In this study a survey of 402 Chinese tourist gamblers indicated that they have distinctive characteristics, gambling motivations, behaviors and preferences that must be considered and catered to for depth of understanding and devising ways to attract, keep and increase these important customers. Management and …

Analyzing The Trends In Gaming-Based Tourism For The State Of Nevada: Implications For Public Policy And Economic Development, William R. Eadington

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Gaming revenue trends for Nevada's three major gaming markets- Las Vegas Strip, Reno-Sparks, and South Lake Tahoe-are examined over the past two decades. The Las Vegas Strip had been characterized by cyclical growth from 1990 until 2007, but the Great Recession had dramatic adverse impacts on revenues and employment. Apparent recovery in 2010 was driven largely by baccarat revenues, but they are not likely to be sustainable in the long term. For South Lake Tahoe, deterioration of its core tourism business has been taking place since 1990, but has accelerated since the beginning of the Great Recession and the opening …

Estimating The Ability Of Gamblers To Detect Differences In The Payback Percentages Of Reel Slot Machines: A Closer Look At The Slot Player Experience, Anthony F. Lucas, Ashok K. Singh

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The results of play on 60 different computer simulated reel slots challenge the widely held theory that frequent slot players are able to detect changes in a slot machine's house advantage as slight as 1 to 2%. These findings affect the formulation of critical and capital-intensive customer retention strategies and brand positioning campaigns within the gaming industry. An overwhelming majority of 10,000 virtual players were not able to reject the hypothesis of equal payback percentages after playing both a 3% game and a 12% game (i.e., a 400% increase in the house advantage). This result held across three levels of …

A Mathematical Approach For Optimizing The Casino Slot Floor: A Linear Programming Application, Kasra C. Ghaharian, Ashok K. Singh

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

The gaming literature has identified a number of factors that have driven the growth of Macau's casino industry. At the same time, however, questions remain as to future prospects for the growth of the enclave's gaming revenue- and specifically, whether this type of growth can be sustained. A forecast of Macau gaming revenue and an examination of its seasonality can assist scholars and practitioners alike in developing a better understanding of seasonal variation (a significant consideration in the volatile world of gaming) and the future outlook of the world gambling capital. The objective of this article is to investigate these …

Pricing Lower Or Buying Cheaper? How Grocery Consumers Pay Less During Seasonal Demand Peaks, Colin Watson

Undergraduate Economic Review

The average price paid for a seasonal grocery category is (surprisingly) lower during the category's seasonal demand peak. For several product categories at one supermarket chain, demand peaks are shown to be associated with 1) consumer substitution to lower-quality products, 2) product price reductions, especially on products that increase their market shares, and as a result 3) a decline in the average price paid for the product category. In one very seasonal category, price reductions are driven by intertemporal substitution associated with large weekly discounts. Findings are consistent with any of several loss leader models.

An Interview With Dr. Theda Skocpol, Sarah Russell

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

No abstract provided.

Critique Of Microcredit As A Development Model, Grace Levin

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The field of microcredit (otherwise known as microfinance, microlending, or microcapital) has expanded rapidly since the 1980s as an economic means of lifting people out of poverty. Generally, microcredit has been accepted as an effective method for empowering both individuals and communities. In recent years, however, critics have brought to light some of the problems associated with microlending, such as the complex socioeconomic factors that can cause loan programs to fail. These problems stem from the basic tenet of microfinance: the need for lending programs to be managed locally in order to understand the needs of a community and assess …

Financial Services Innovation: Local Strategy, Management, And Change – A Field Investigation, Ann-Catherine Nave

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This study examines the innovation sources and processes of regional financial services firms through inductive field research. Innovation in these firms, and presumably other financial services firms and other smaller organizations, originate primarily out of three sources, the drive for efficiency, the external environment, and strategic, ambidextrous management. Successfully innovative firms balance the short-term need for efficiency improvements with the long-term desire to grow primarily through visionary, yet adaptive, leadership.

Working From Within: Observations Of Non-Governmental Efforts To Decrease Social Marginalization In Buenos Aires, Elisabeth Tilstra

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This essay is a modification of an excerpt from the senior thesis written for the Chancellor’s Honors Program at The University of Tennessee. The complete project—titled “Bringing the Outside In: An Examination of Non-Governmental Aid Organizations in Buenos Aires”—first examines the political and economic history of Argentina as a context from which to understand the current stage of actors in the social sector. Then, drawing from my fieldwork in the slums surrounding urban Buenos Aires, it introduces the twelve organizations I studied that work with issues of poverty and development, exploring organizational elements that aid or limit a nonprofit’s efficacy. …

Respiration And Carbon Dioxide Accumulation In Soil Microcosms, Jasity Murphy

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

The thawing of permafrost leads to liberation of soil organic matter and microbial component resulting in significant effect on the carbon cycle. Changes in permafrost soils upon the global climate warming would significantly impact microbial soil activity. Currently, not a great deal is known about what happens to the microbial community after the permafrost thaws. The activity of microbial community was determined in microcosms experiment using respirometry. To assess the CO₂ fluctuations during permafrost thawing a titration experiment was performed. Based on calculations using the respirometric equation it was found that CO₂ production increases with temperature, core depth, …

Key Factors And Trends In Transportation Mode And Carrier Selection, Keith Roberts

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Companies across the country must deal with the daily question of determining the best way to get their product in the hands of their customers. Weighing all of the various factors that play into this decision can prove to be very difficult at times, and these factors are ever changing as the market fluctuates with varying consumer demand which, in turn, affects the demand for transportation. This paper will look into these factors and relevant market trends to determine what factors play the largest role in a company’s decision of how to deliver its products, focusing specifically on the modal …

African Irregular Migrants In Malta: Exploring Perceptions And Renegotiating The Socio-Cultural Siege Of Malta, Hannah E. Durick

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

This paper discusses the influx of African irregular migrants seeking asylum in Malta and how their arrival and growing presence in Malta is perceived by the Maltese. Since becoming an EU Member State in 2004 Malta has been overwhelmed by the number of irregular migrants arriving on its shores while en route to continental Europe. Due to its proximity to the North African coastline Malta becomes a frequent, albeit unintentional, destination for African migrants who are rescued in Maltese waters and subsequently placed in a closed detention facility until their legal status is determined in a court of law. Although …

Beat Consumption: The Challenge To Consumerism In Beat Literature, Amien Essif

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Critics of the Beat generation, from their contemporaries to the present day, often contend that the Beats’ opposition to consumer culture was superficial. Writers like Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs failed, according to these critics, to present a coherent and principled response to consumerism. This paper, however, argues that while in many ways the Beats continued to participate in consumer culture, they developed a distinct form of consumption—Beat consumption—which attempted to regain sovereignty for the Beat consumer. Through an analysis of Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums and On the Road as well as several of Ginsberg’s seminal works, …

A Message From The Editor, Sarah Russell

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

No abstract provided.

Acknowledgements, Sarah Russell

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

No abstract provided.