Digital Commons Network^™

The Modern Language Classroom: Individuality, Technology, And Context, Eric Sims

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation of the author’s research-supported ideas on what good language teaching looks like. The central component is the teaching philosophy, in which the author explains that respect for individuality, use of technology, and use of culture as context for learning are the three elements seen as most important for successful language learning.
The teaching philosophy is supported by artifacts about peer feedback in language learning, literacy in adult English as a Second Language learners, and autonomy in culture learning. Finally, in three annotations the author branches out from the pillars of the teaching philosophy and examines …

Remote/Autonomous Sentry Gun Platform, Angelo Gagliardi, Dante Gagliardi

Electrical Engineering

This senior project involves the complete system design and construction of a "Nerf" sentry gun to replace an armed guard. We aimed to develop a compact and highly mobile defense system that allows operational flexibility. The sentry gun can autonomously track and shoot at moving targets, while also allowing a user to remotely access and control the gun via computer. The mobility, hardiness, and functionality of this system allows a reliable replacement for human beings in harsh and hostile environments; ultimately sparing a life.

Education, Print Culture, Social Literacy, And Religiosity: A Multi-Grounded Theory Of Textual Mediation Found In Early And Contemporary Mormonism, Ezra G. Gwilliam

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study is a multi-grounded theory (Goldkuhl & Cronholm, 2010) approach to identify potential relationships between print culture, uses of social literacy, and education found in historical Mormonism (1830-1844) and the contemporary church, which has a reported parity between education and religiosity (Cooperman, 2012). Through the theoretical model of multi-grounded theory, scholars of Mormon history were identified and interviewed to help establish what relationship may have existed and if there is relevance between the past and present church in the context of print, literacy, religiosity and education. Two literacy theories, Venezky’s (1996) theory of literacy expansion and Barton and Hamilton’s …

"Not Everyone Was Asleep": Anti-Colonial Personifications Of Antiquity And Progress In José Rizal's Touch Me Not And El Filibusterismo, Lyn K. Uratani

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The cultural emphasis placed on José Rizal’s execution in 1896 has overshadowed his life and renders his novels Touch Me Not and El Filibusterismo unfamiliar to Western readership and postcolonial scholars. Since his novels emphasize the difficult questions about the absence of progress and ethnic identity for the indigenous populace, I argue that to read them for plot alone is to overlook his main focus: the formation of the Filipino identity.

In light of Spain’s historical treatment of its colonies, my work responds to the lack of attention given to Touch Me Not and El Filibusterismo as integral texts of …

9(B) Or Not 9(B)? That Is The Question: How To Plead Negligent Misrepresentation In The Post-Twombly Era, Andrew Todres

Fordham Law Review

    Perhaps nothing is more important to a litigant bringing an action in federal court than knowing the relevant pleading standard for his or her underlying claims. Ever since the inception of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, one of two pleading standards have applied to common law claims: the Rule 8(a)(2) standard, requiring a short and plain statement demonstrating entitlement to relief, or the Rule 9(b) standard, demanding that allegations of fraud or mistake be pled with particularity. At the intersection of these two pleading standards is the common law claim of negligent misrepresentation. Courts across the country have long …

Head Versus Heart: Applying Empirical Evidence About The Connection Between Child Pornography And Child Molestation To Probable Cause Analyses, Emily Weissler

Fordham Law Review

    As the internet has become nearly ubiquitous, child pornography possession has become increasingly widespread. Law enforcement efforts to combat the reach of these images have become increasingly aggressive and sophisticated. Sentences have also dramatically increased. As of 2008, the mean sentence for child pornography possession was ninety–two months, with a mandatory minimum sentence of five years.

    Circuit courts have confronted child pornography search warrant applications based mainly upon a prior child molestation conviction or enticement of a minor. Evaluating similar fact patterns, the Second, Sixth, and Ninth Circuits have held that child molestation or child enticement cannot be used to …

Ezh2 T416 Phosphorylation Enhances Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis, Adam M. Labaff, Adam M. Labaff

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Enhancer of zeste homologue 2 (EZH2) is the catalytic subunit of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and catalyzes the trimethylation of histone H3 on lysine 27 (H3K27Me3), to repress gene transcription. Many types of cancer stem and progenitor cells, including breast, have demonstrated EZH2 to be fundamental in the biology and promoting the expansion of their cellular populations. How EZH2 regulates each of these respective tumor initiating cells (TICs) populations has been studied, but the signaling transduction mechanisms that regulate EZH2 in these TIC populations is yet to be elucidated. Phosphorylation of EZH2 by cyclin dependent kinases (CDK) has been …

Investigation Of Respiratory Motion Management Techniques For Proton And Photon Radiotherapy Of Lung Cancer, Jason E. Matney

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Protons as a source of therapeutic radiation can provide a substantial improvement over dose distributions that can be achieved with conventional sources of radiation such as high-energy photons. However, respiratory motion can significantly impact the delivered proton and photon dose distributions during lung cancer radiotherapy. The goals of this dissertation research were to evaluate the impact of respiratory motion and to estimate the benefit of respiratory gating for passively scattered proton therapy (PSPT) and intensity modulated photon therapy (IMRT).

The first aim of this project was to determine the impact of respiratory motion in PSPT and IMRT. Four dimensional dose …

The Role And Mechanism Of The Homeobox Gene Hoxa9 In The Growth Of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Song Yi Ko

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. The high lethality of EOCs stems from rapid peritoneal involvement. EOCs frequently colonize peritoneal surfaces that overlie connective and adipose tissues. However, the mechanisms that enable ovarian cancer cells to readily adapt to the peritoneal environment are poorly understood. HOXA9, a homeobox gene that is normally expressed in the developing female reproductive tract, is aberrantly expressed in EOCs and controls the morphologic features of these tumors. The differentiation pattern of a tumor is an important determinant of its clinical behavior and …

Mtorc1 Signaling In Memory Formation And Dysfunction, Natalia S. Rozas De O'Laughlin

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway integrates cellular availability of growth factors, energy and amino acids to regulate protein synthesis and autophagy. The mTORC1 pathway has also been shown to be required for memory consolidation, and its dysregulation is associated with many neurological disorders. MTORC1 is negatively regulated by the tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC1/2). When ATP and growth factors are available, TSC1/2 is inhibited and mTORC1 activity can be restored. In a complementary regulatory pathway, amino acids signal to mTORC1 through the Rag GTPases and Ragulator complex, which modulate the translocation of mTORC1 from the cytoplasm to …

Ventral Tegmental Area Neuronal Responses To Methylphenidate Correlated To Behavioral Responses Of Adolescent And Adult Rats, Zachary Jones

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Methylphenidate (MPD) is a psychostimulant used in the treat treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and more recently is being used as a cognitive enhancement and recreational drug. Its therapeutic effects are not fully understood, nor are the long term effects of the drug on brain development. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is a site of psychostimulant action thought to be involved in behavioral sensitization. The aim of the this study was to first determine if there are differences in neuronal responses between individuals, with respect to neuronal firing patterns in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), and whether these differences …

Scanless Fast Handoff Technique Based On Global Path Cache For Wlans, Weetit Wanalertlak, Ben Lee, Chansu Yu

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Wireless LANs (WLANs) have been widely adopted and are more convenient as they are inter-connected as wireless campus networks and wireless mesh networks. However, timesensitive multimedia applications, which have become more popular, could suffer from long end-to-end latency in WLANs.This is due mainly to handoff delay, which in turn is caused by channel scanning. This paper proposes a technique called Global Path-Cache (GPC) that provides fast handoffs in WLANs.GPC properly captures the dynamic behavior of the network andMSs, and provides accurate next AP predictions to minimize the handoff latency. Moreover, the handoff frequencies are treated as time-series data, thus GPC …

Less Acting, More Doing: How Surface Acting Relates To Perceived Meeting Effectiveness And Other Employee Outcomes, Linda R. Shanock, Joseph A. Allen, Alexandra M. Dunn, Benjamin E. Baran, Cliff W. Scott, Steven G. Rogelberg

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study adds to the growing body of research on work meetings and extends the emotional labour literature beyond a service context by examining the relationship between surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness. Additionally, the relationships of surface acting during meetings and perceived meeting effectiveness with time-lagged reports of intention to quit and emotional exhaustion 3 months later were investigated. Structural equation modelling of data from 178 working adults revealed negative relationships between surface acting and perceptions of meeting effectiveness. Perceived meeting effectiveness partially mediated the relationship between surface acting and both intention to quit and emotional exhaustion …

Regulation Of The Myostatin Protein In Overload-Induced Hypertrophied Rat Skeletal Muscle, Paige Abriel Affleck

Theses and Dissertations

Myostatin (GDF-8) is the chief chalone in skeletal muscle and negatively controls adult skeletal muscle growth. The role of myostatin during overload-induced hypertrophy of adult muscle is unclear. We tested the hypothesis that overloaded adult rodent skeletal muscle would result in reduced myostatin protein levels. Overload-induced hypertrophy was accomplished by unilateral tenotomy of the gastrocnemius tendon in male adult Sprague-Dawley rats followed by a two-week period of compensatory overload of the plantaris and soleus muscles. Western blot analysis was performed to evaluate changes in active, latent and precursor myostatin protein levels. Significant hypertrophy was noted in the plantaris (494 ± …

Shaping Swarms Through Coordinated Mediation, Shin-Young Jung

Theses and Dissertations

A swarm is a group of uninformed individuals that exhibit collective behaviors. Without any information about the external world, a swarm has limited ability to achieve complex goals. Prior work on human-swarm interaction methods allow a human to influence these uninformed individuals through either leadership or predation as informed agents that directly interact with humans. These methods of influence have two main limitations: (1) although leaders sustain influence over nominal agents for a long period of time, they tend to cause all collective structures to turn in to flocks (negating the benefit of other swarm formations) and (2) predators tend …

Mathematics Curriculum Coaching And Elementary School Students’ Mathematics Achievement In A Northeast Tennessee School System, Evandro R. Valente

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educators and policymakers have demonstrated interest in finding ways to better equip mathematics teachers so they can help students achieve at a higher level. Academic coaching has been identified as an effective professional development activity for teachers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between students’ achievement levels before and after a mathematics initiative in a Northeast Tennessee school district. In this study I analyzed grades 3 – 6 students’ Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program or TCAP scores in the year prior to the hiring of a mathematics coach and their respective scores 2 years after the placement …

Classifying Spaces Of Symmetric Groups And Wreath Products, David Louis Arnold

Dissertations

Full abstract is available for download.

Enhancing Energy Efficiency In Connected Vehicles Via Access To Traffic Signal Information, Grant Mahler

All Dissertations

This dissertation expounds on algorithms that can deterministically or proba-bilistically predict the future Signal Phase and Timing (SPAT) of a traffic signal by relying on real-time information from numerous vehicles and traffic infrastructure, historical data, and the computational power of a back-end computing cluster. When made available on an open server, predictive information about traffic signals’ states can be extremely valuable in enabling new fuel efficiency and safety functionalities in connected vehicles: Predictive Cruise Control (PCC) can use the predicted timing plan to calculate globally optimal velocity trajectories that reduce idling time at red signals and therefore improve fuel efficiency …

Me-Em Enewsbrief, December 2013, Department Of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, Michigan Technological University

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering eNewsBrief

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Characterization Of Polymer Layers For Control Of Fluid Transport, Fehime Vatansever

All Dissertations

The level of wetting of fiber surface with liquids is an important characteristic of fibrous materials. It is related to fiber surface energy and the structure of the material. Surface energy can be changed by surface modification via the grafting methodologies that have been reported for introducing new and stable functionality to fibrous substrates without changing bulk properties.

Present work is dedicated to synthesis and characterization of macromolecular layers grafted to fiber surface in order to achieve directional liquid transport for the modified fabric. Modification technique used here is based on formation of stable polymer layer on fabric surface using …

Municipalities And University Athletic Departments: Economic Policy Development For Collaborative Capital Projects, Anthony Franklin

All Dissertations

Universities, intercollegiate athletic departments and municipalities regularly collaborate to improve their relationship and the atmosphere in which its constituents coexist. Leaders and elected officials within these institutions strive to offer state of the art facilities for their constituents, however financial allocations for these projects are often scarce. Stakeholder relationships, governmental structure, athletic event economic impact claims, citizen involvement and taxation influence university athletic capital improvement project subsidies. The purpose of this study is to investigate how university athletic departments collaborate with municipalities to create legislative policy that subsidizes athletic capital improvement projects while improving both entities.

Theoretical frameworks underlying this …

Assessing Potential Environmental Impacts According To Probable Patterns Of Switchgrass Adoption In The Southeastern Us, Benjamin Sharp

All Dissertations

To assess the overall net impact of an emerging technology, life cycle assessment (LCA) must be accompanied by projections of adoption. Diffusion of innovation research provides tools that incorporate economic and social variables to explain and forecast integration of technologies. A switchgrass-to-ethanol case study for the southeastern U.S. is used to demonstrate methods for gauging aggregate environmental effects of an emerging energy technology. Before applying diffusion concepts, breakeven capacities are calculated for land in row crops, hay, pasture and marginal land. Breakeven curves are generated to provide upper bounds to switchgrass adoption over a range of farm-gate prices. The amount …

A Hybrid Method Of Performing Electric Power System Fault Ride-Through Evaluations On Medium Voltage Multi-Megawatt Devices, John Fox

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores the design and analysis of a Hybrid Method of performing electrical power system fault ride-through evaluations on multi-megawatt, medium voltage power conversion equipment. Fault ride-through evaluations on such equipment are needed in order to verify and validate full scale designs prior to being implemented in the field. Ultimately, these evaluations will help in reducing the deployment risks associated with bringing new technologies into the marketplace. This is especially true for renewable energy and utility scale energy storage systems, where a significant amount of attention in recent years has focused on their ever increasing role in power system …

Assessment Of The Human Factors Analysis And Classification System (Hfacs): Intra-Rater And Inter-Rater Reliability, Awatef Ergai

All Dissertations

Human error has been identified as the primary contributing cause for up to 80% of the accidents in complex, high risk systems such as aviation, oil and gas, mining and healthcare. Many models have been proposed to analyze these incidents and identify their causes, focusing on the human factor. One such safety model is the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), a comprehensive accident investigation and analysis tool which focuses not only on the act of the individual preceding the accident but on other contributing factors in the system as well. Since its development, HFACS has received substantial research …

Exploring Multiple Levels Of Performance Modeling For Heterogeneous Systems, Venkittaraman Vivek Pallipuram Krishnamani

All Dissertations

The current trend in High-Performance Computing (HPC) is to extract concurrency from clusters that include heterogeneous resources such as General Purpose Graphical Processing Units (GPGPUs) and Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGAs). Although these heterogeneous systems can provide substantial performance for massively parallel applications, much of the available computing resources are often under-utilized due to inefficient application mapping, load balancing, and tuning. While several performance prediction models exist to efficiently tune applications, they often require significant computing architecture knowledge for reliable prediction. In addition, they do not address multiple levels of design space abstraction and it is often difficult to choose …

The Effects Of Yoga Participation On Symptoms Associated With Menopause: A Mixed Methods Study, Brandi Crowe

All Dissertations

During midlife, it is expected that women will progress towards the biological state of menopause; the permanent condition of infertility due to alterations or diminution of reproductive hormones. Typically lasting 5-10 years, the menopausal transition is associated with symptoms including hot flashes, night sweats, interrupted sleep, anxiety, forgetfulness, and inconsistent mood. As these symptoms often hinder a women's successful functioning in everyday life, hormone therapy is commonly prescribed as a means for diminishing symptoms. However, many women are seeking alternative/complementary treatments that can assist in managing menopausal symptoms due to the detrimental health-risks associated with the use of conventional therapies. …

Chemical Evolution Of The Neutron-Rich Iron-Group Isotopes And Implications For The Formation Of Fun Cais, Tianhong Yu

All Dissertations

Calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) are millimeter-sized refractory objects found in primitive meteorites. CAIs are considered as some of the first solids to form in the solar system, because they are refractory. FUN CAIs, those with Fractionated and Unknown Nuclear effects, are a small subset of CAIs. These FUN CAIs show correlated excesses and deficits in the neutron-rich iron-group isotopes such as ⁴⁸ Ca and ⁵⁰ Ti which regular CAIs do not. Interestingly, these isotopes are most likely produced infrequently but in huge quantities in a rare class of thermonuclear (Type Ia) supernovae. I propose that the isotopic effects in the neutron-rich …

Adaptive Transmission Protocols For Wireless Communication Systems With Fountain Coding, Jason Ellis

All Dissertations

We present low-complexity adaptive protocols for both unicast and multicast transmission in wireless communication systems that employ higher layer fountain codes. Our adaptive protocols respond to variations in channel conditions by adapting the modulation and channel coding of transmitted packets, and they provide efficient communication over wireless channels that experience fading, shadowing, and other time-varying propagation losses. The operation of our protocols is governed by simple receiver statistics that can be obtained during the demodulation of received packets. We present three adaptive protocols for fountain-coded unicast transmission, and compare the throughput performance of our protocols with that of fixed-rate systems, …

Recent Developments In Slovak Competition Law - Legislation And Case Law Review, Zuzana Šabová, Katarína Fodorová, Daniela Lukáčová

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Participation In 21st Century Community Learning Center After-School Program And Student Grade Five Achievement, Willie T. Herbert

Student Work

This study explored the fifth grade achievement in reading, math, and language as measured by the California Achievement Test for students who were selected because of at-risk factors into an after-school achievement and enrichment program. Students in grades one to five attended this 21st Century Learning Center Program from one to five days per week. Means of fifth grade achievement from participants in 2008-2012 were compared to the means of students within the same school setting.