Digital Commons Network^™

Video Detection Of Trains, Michael David Forsberg

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis discusses the use of video detection as a means for train detection. It reviews works done to increase safety at and near Highway-Rail Grade Crossings (HRGCs), discusses existing and past forms of technology and methods used in train detection and arrival time prediction, and provides summaries of investigations of other detection technologies used for vehicle detection. It then goes into depth on the use of radar and video detection with Autoscope Machine Vision Processing for train detection. This thesis provides a methodology of data collection, data analyses, results, and conclusions of video detection for train detection.

Data analyses …

Transition To College: Nonacademic Factors That Influence Persistence For Underprepared Community College Students, Ann M. Paulson

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Community colleges provide access to higher education for a broad range of students. The majority require ‘remedial’ coursework in reading, writing and, especially, math. Most students who begin with this remedial coursework do not go on to earn a certificate or degree. Low levels of college graduation have high direct cost, adversely affect the U.S. economy and contribute to socioeconomic inequity.

The literature review shows that both academic and nonacademic factors influence both completion of remedial coursework and completion of first year in college. It introduces research on a variety of strategies for increasing completion and persistence for underprepared students. …

Exploring Technology Usage By School Counselors: A Mixed Methods Study, Nathan Grosshandler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

School counseling is progressing from the tradition of responsive services to a proactive system linked to school mission (Dahir, 2009, p 4.). This paradigm shift within the profession has drastically increased the responsibility required of school counselors.

This study explored data drawn from a population of school counselors at Recognized American School Counselor Association (ASCA) Model Programs (RAMP). A multi-phase, sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used for this study. The study focused on nine specific technologies: website, e-mail, Internet, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, student database system, social networking platforms, and EZ Analyze. Mean scores, frequency distribution tables, …

Being There: A Grounded-Theory Study Of Student Perceptions Of Instructor Presence In Online Classes, William G. Feeler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of experienced individual online students at a community college in Texas in order to generate a substantive theory of community college student perceptions of online instructor presence. This qualitative study used Active Interviewing and followed a Straussian grounded-theory design to guide the collecting and coding of interview data in order to identify emerging categories and generate substantive theory. The researcher collected data through interviews with 16 online students, all of whom had taken at least four online courses at a community college.

A constant comparative analysis of the data generated …

Development And Evaluation Of Beat Management Practices (Bmps) For Highway Runoff Pollution Control, Daniel Edward Jones

Department of Environmental Engineering: Theses and Other Student Research

As non-point source pollution, storm water runoff is one of the main contributors to stream impairment in the United States. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) requires Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) to obtain a permit under the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) to manage this pollution. Many municipalities and non-traditional MS4s such as the Nebraska Department of Roads are under federal regulations that require new developments or redevelopments of a certain size to capture (and treat) runoff from all new impervious surfaces (roofs, driveways, sidewalks, and so forth) onsite, instead of allowing it to run into …

Implementation Of Magnetic Resonance Elastography For The Investigation Of Traumatic Brain Injuries, Thomas Boulet

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a potentially transformative imaging modality allowing local and non-invasive measurement of biological tissue mechanical properties. It uses a specific phase contrast MR pulse sequence to measure induced vibratory motion in soft material, from which material properties can be estimated. Compared to other imaging techniques, MRE is able to detect tissue pathology at early stages by quantifying the changes in tissue stiffness associated with diseases. In an effort to develop the technique and improve its capabilities, two inversion algorithms were written to evaluate viscoelastic properties from the measured displacements fields. The first one was based on …

The Effect Of Racial Distribution On Environmental Education In Two Rural Elementary Schools: A Case Study, Jimmy J. Simpson Jr

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The purpose of this research is to help identify whether or not race plays a role in how much Environmental Education (EE) is being taught in elementary schools throughout the region. This study takes place in two rural elementary schools, less than 20 miles apart, in Northeast Nebraska; one with a mostly white population and the other mostly Native American. The researcher interviewed 7 teachers total at both schools in order to gain information about EE in the classroom and the extent to which it is being taught. Results indicated that race did not play a role in the amount …

Motivation For Consumers Participating In A Sustainable Food System, Brittney Albin

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Currently there are trends for consumers to start choosing more sustainable options in every aspect of their life, including food. There are many negative consequences for both the environment and human health due to conventional industrial agricultural practices (Horrigan et al., 2002; Leitzman and Cannon, 2005). Sustainable agricultural practices are being promoted as part of a larger sustainable food system. As Leo Horrigan et al. describe it, “sustainable agriculture is not merely a package of prescribed methods. More important, it is a change in mindset whereby agriculture acknowledges its dependence on a finite natural resource base” (Horrigan et al., 2002: …

A Study Of Hdpe In High Pressure Of Hydrogen Gas: Measurement Of Permeation Parameters And Fracture Criteria, Sompong Prachumchon

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The permeation parameters of hydrogen gas in high density polyethylene (HDPE) system are sought by comparison with a diffusion model. The method of Green’s functions is used to obtain solutions for the diffusion model. Permeation parameters are found from transient experimented data during two processes; pressurization followed by depressurization. The mechanical compression of HDPE during the pressurization process resulted in lower diffusivity coefficient values and higher solubility values. The results show that the diffusivity coefficient value in the pressurization process is 37% of that during the depressurization process. At the start of the depressurization process, a short-duration fast flow rate …

The Road To Pomp And Circumstance For Ell Students: The Perceived Ambivalent Schooling Experience Of Ell Students With Mexican Ancestry In An Urban Midwestern High School, Kristine M. Sudbeck

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Perceptions of high school faculty and staff members about the graduation outcomes of English language learners of Mexican ancestry were explored. Throughout the course of one semester, observations were made and field notes taken in classrooms and other school locations. Interviews were conducted with 25 faculty/ staff members and 7 students, all of whom were former or current English language learners of Mexican ancestry. The author used a mixed methods strategy; interviews were coded for themes to assess qualitative data, and SPSS was used to analyze quantitative data. Faculty/staff perceived the top three indicators of whether or not an ELL …

Divided We Stand: Defying Hegemony In Theory And Practice, Anne Gregory, Gregor Halff

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The last decade has seen the world becoming increasingly complex. One way of dealing with complexity, according to Schwab (2010a), is to look for certainties or solutions that impose order by simplifying. The authors contend that this is also happening in public relations practice and the academy. They criticise attempts to produce global models which lead to hegemony and argue for maintaining a diversity that reflects reality. They take the cases of the UK and Singapore as respective exemplars where hegemony has succeeded and where it needs to be resisted. They call for a professional and epistemological stand against hegemony.

Melbourne Mandate: Key Document Defining The Direction Of The Global Pr Industry And Endorsed By 160 000 Professionals, Jurrien Gregor Halff, Daniel Tisch, Anne Gregory, Jean Valin

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

No abstract provided.

Muddy Cloud With Silver Lining? Bring It On!, Themin Suwardy

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

No abstract provided.

Banks' Survival During The Financial Crisis: The Role Of Regulatory Reporting Quality, Jeffrey Ng, Tjomme O. Rusticus

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

In this paper, we investigate the effect of bank transparency before the crisis on bank stability during the financial crisis that erupted in 2008. Using a large sample of private and public commercial banks in the United States, we find that transparency enhances stability. We use two measures of transparency. We develop a new measure of financial reporting transparency based on loan loss provision estimation errors. We corroborate our findings using a second measure based on the incidence of accounting restatements. We show that lower transparency before the crisis is associated with higher non-performing loans and lower profitability at the …

Intraday Price Discovery In Emerging Equity Market: Analysis Of Set50 Index, Set 50 Index Futures And Thaidex Set50 (Tdex), Chiraphol New Chiyachantana, Julaluck Choochuay, Tanakorn Likitapiwat

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study employs Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), information share and conditional information share methods to investigate price discovery in SET50 Index (cash index), SET50 Index Futures (futures index) and ThaiDex SET50 (exchange traded fund). Our findings indicate that there exists a long run relationship among three markets and a multi-market trading of derivatives markets and its underlying asset helps improve price efficiency. With respect to the degree of price formation process, SET50 Index Futures contributes most in price discovery process, followed by SET50 Index and ThaiDex SET50.

Fuelling The Asian Growth Engine: Talent Challenges, Strategies And Trends, Mario Ferraro, Catherine Mudford, Karina Kuok, Saumya Sindhwani, Rebecca Siow

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The emerging economies of Asia are increasingly playing a critical role in the global arena, even as there is continuing turmoil and uncertainty in other parts of the world due to economic, financial and political upheavals. While Asian economies are undoubtedly impacted by global headwinds, most of them have been buffered by their sound economic and policy fundamentals, healthy domestic demand and continued inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Meanwhile, Asia is undergoing its own transformation: many countries in Asia are experiencing greater economic prosperity and rising affluence, translating into higher demand for goods and services. As businesses flock to …

The Impact Of Macro Socio-Economic Drivers And Fiscal Policy On Expenditure Allocation And Attribute Preferences, Anirban Mukherjee, Andre Bonfrer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Our article investigates the effect of macro socio-economic drivers on Australian households’ allocation of expenditure in a category (household appliances) and conditional on the allocated category expenditure, preferences for products (clothes washers) within the category. At the category-level, we quantify the effect of changes in social mobility, disposable income, housing prices and the 2009 stimulus payments on purchase propensity and expenditure. At the product-level, we investigate how households trade off between price, energy efficiency and loading capacity conditional on allocated category expenditure, measuring nonhomotheticity in preferences. We use the model to study a number of hypothetical scenarios, where we simulate …

Chemical Communication In The Honey Bee Scarab Pest Oplostomus Haroldi: Role Of (Z)-9-Pentacosene, Ayuka T. Fombong, Peter E.A. Teal, Richard T. Arbogast, Paul N. Ndegwa, Lucy W. Irungu, Baldwyn Torto

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Oplostomus haroldi Witte belongs to a unique genus of afro-tropical scarabs that have associations with honey bee colonies, from which they derive vital nutrients. Although the attributes of the honey bee nest impose barriers to communication among nest invaders, this beetle still is able to detect conspecific mates for reproduction. Here, we show, through behavioral studies, that cuticular lipids serve as mate discrimination cues in this beetle. We observed five steps during mating: arrestment, alignment, mounting, and copulation, and a post-copulatory stage, lasting ~40-70 % of the total mating duration, that suggested mate guarding. Chemical analysis identified the same nine …

Incorporating Environmental Stimuli Into The Service Profit Chain In A Retail Grocery Context: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach., Treasa Kearney

Doctoral

Several theoretical contributions are highlighted; firstly that employee environmental stimuli construct contained five sub-factors, these were termed, E-design, E-music, E-lighting, E-olfaction and E-layout. This highlights the complexities of the environmental stimuli for employees. Furthermore this research found a significant direct link between employee environmental stimuli and employee satisfaction. Considering the literature examining the effects of environmental stimuli on employee behaviour is astonishingly scant (Skandrani et al., 2011), this is an important contribution to several literature streams. Secondly, examining a global configuration of the environmental stimuli can provide a fuller framework for understanding and exploring customer and employee behavioural responses. In …

Taxonomy And Dna Barcoding In The Genus Manfreda (Salisb.) Asparagaceae, William David Ritchie

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The genus Manfreda Salisb. of Asparagaceae is a genus of potential horticultural interest and is currently subject to breeding efforts at the University of Arkansas. A lack of taxonomic clarity however undermines the classification of potential inter - and intrageneric hybrids. The study aims to assess existing species delimitation within the genus Manfreda employing morphology while investigating the potential utility of Consortium for the Barcode of Life Plant (CBOL) DNA Barcodes for identification of specific taxa and an External Transcribed Spacer (ETS) - Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) DNA barcode for developed hybridized taxa.

Observation of 855 herbarium specimens facilitated phylogenetic …

Aesthetic Qualities Of Websites And Their Effects On Public Perceptions Of Agricultural Issues And Organizations, Chase Tyler Hundley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to evaluate perceptions of agricultural issues and organizations based on how information is presented visually in websites. Researchers intended the results to be used to help the agricultural industry more effectively communicate information through better website design and increased persuasiveness. The study was conducted through the use of three focus group sessions as mapped out by Krueger (1998a, 1998b, 1998c) and Morgan (1998a, 1998b). The study used non-agriculture students purposively selected from a class in the University of Arkansas School of Human Environmental Sciences as participants in the study. The subject demographics closely resembled the primary demographics …

An Analysis Of The Legal Obstacles To State Pension Reform, Jeremy Stuart Buck

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public pension systems are underfunded, straining state budgets. Historically, many states have presumed that they can modify pension benefits only as to newly-hired employees, and that they must leave benefit accruals untouched for current workers. More recently, though, states have begun enacting more fundamental pension reform that modifies future accruals or even reduces cost-of-living allowances for retirees. Nearly all such new reforms have been the subject of one or more lawsuits alleging that the federal and/or state constitution bars the legislature from reducing benefits or accrual patterns. This dissertation examines the legal underpinnings for arguments made against pension reform, and …

Managing Elective And Non-Elective Case Assignments For An Operating Room Suite, Narges Hosseini

All Dissertations

The success of operating room management depends on all levels of decision making, from strategic to tactical and operational decisions. One key decision in systems with block booking is to assign sufficient amount of block time to surgeons and surgery groups. While the typical method of block assignment identifies the share of surgery groups from OR times based on average of past usage, this method does not count for the difference between cost of under and overtime. One of the goals of this research is to develop a decision framework for block assignment. This work is presented in chapter two. …

Stochastic Tools For Network Security: Anonymity Protocol Analysis And Network Intrusion Detection, Lu Yu

All Dissertations

With the rapid development of Internet and the sharp increase of network crime, network security has become very important and received a lot of attention.
In this dissertation, we model security issues as stochastic systems. This allows us to find weaknesses in existing security systems and propose new solutions. Exploring the vulnerabilities of existing security tools can prevent cyber-attacks from taking advantages of the system weaknesses. We consider The Onion Router (Tor), which is one of the most popular anonymity systems in use today, and show how to detect a protocol tunnelled through Tor. A hidden Markov model (HMM) is …

Beyond Neighborhood Play: Factors That Predict Child Civic Engagement, Tracy Waters

All Dissertations

This study utilized a unique mixed methodology to examine perceptions of neighborhood characteristics, independent mobility, and child civic engagement among 101 child-caregiver dyads. Children between the ages of 7 and 13 years completed a neighborhood walk with a member of the research team, identifying neighborhood boundaries, taking pictures of important places, and explaining their day-to-day activities. Responses from a written survey and neighborhood observations complimented the neighborhood walk data. Results revealed that spatial neighborhood and independent mobility did not vary significantly by age or gender. However, spatial neighborhood and independent mobility were positively related to several child and caregiver measures …

Flow Behavior Modeling And Process Control Of Electrically-Assisted Forming (Eaf) For Sheet Metals In Uniaxial Tension, Joshua Jones

All Dissertations

This work studies the influence of an applied electrical current on magnesium sheet metal and introduces models which are successful in predicting the deformation behavior (i.e. material flow stress, local material strain, and thermal response). Also, this work examined the theory of electroplasticity by studying prior proposed theories and by quantifying the prior theories potential for improved dislocation mobility. From this analysis, a single dominant mechanism is determined and the theory of electroplasticity is explained using this single mechanism. The theory discussed in this work is supported by experimental testing and microstructure analysis.
In addition to studying the exact electroplastic …

On-Line Transient Stability Studies Incorporating Wind Power, Zhenhua Wang

All Dissertations

Transient stability is a major concern in power system security and reliability because it is the most common type of instability and its impacts can cause greatest economic losses. For enhancing the energy security, it requires the power system operation to be evaluated during both the planning and the operation stage. Many online/offline transient stability assessment techniques have already been developed for this purpose. However, due to the increase in energy demand, the modern power system has grown to a very sophisticated and large system for which extent transient stability assessment methods may not be able to handle. In addition, …

Application Of Carbon Dioxide Towards The Development Of Smart Materials, Green Reaction Schemes And Metallic Nanoparticle Synthesis, Fiaz Mohammed

All Dissertations

Global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions have steadily risen over the last 50 years, with 34 billion tons of CO₂ released in 2009 alone. Its potential as a greenhouse gas has negatively affected of our lives and environment by the resulting ocean acidification and climate change. To mitigate atmospheric CO₂, various strategies have been implemented for CO₂ separation, capture, storage and use as a chemical feedstock. The use of CO₂ in various chemical industries is attractive as its non-flammable, non-toxic, and relatively inert properties have made it an inherently safer alternative to traditional organic …

Improving Accuracy In Ultra-Wideband Indoor Position Tracking Through Noise Modeling And Augmentation, Salil Banerjee

All Dissertations

The goal of this research is to improve the precision in tracking of an ultra-wideband (UWB) based Local Positioning System (LPS). This work is motivated by the approach taken to improve the accuracies in the Global Positioning System (GPS), through noise modeling and augmentation. Since UWB indoor position tracking is accomplished using methods similar to that of the GPS, the same two general approaches can be used to improve accuracy.
Trilateration calculations are affected by errors in distance measurements from the set of fixed points to the object of interest. When these errors are systemic, each distinct set of fixed …

Geographic Information Systems For Real-Time Environmental Sensing At Multiple Scales, Samuel Esswein

All Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to design, implement, and apply a real-time geographic information system for data intensive water resource research and management. The research presented is part of an ongoing, interdisciplinary research program supporting the development of the Intelligent River® observation instrument. The objectives of this research were to 1) design and describe software architecture for a streaming environmental sensing information system, 2) implement and evaluate the proposed information system, and 3) apply the information system for monitoring, analysis, and visualization of an urban stormwater improvement project located in the City of Aiken, South Carolina, USA.
This research …