Digital Commons Network^™

Detailed Comparative Analysis Of Pesq And Visqol Behaviour In The Context Of Playout Delay Adjustments Introduced By Voip Jitter Buffer Algorithms, Andrew Hines, Peter Pocta, Hugh Melvin

Conference papers

The default best-effort Internet presents significant challenges for delay-sensitive applications such as VoIP. To cope with non determinism, receiver playout strategies are utilised in VoIP applications that adapt to network condition. Such strategies can be divided into two different groups, namely per-talkspurt and per-packet. The former make use of silence periods within natural speech and adapt such silences to track network conditions, thus preserving the integrity of active speech talkspurts. Examples of this approach are described in [1, 2]. Per packet strategies are different in that adjustments are made both during silence periods and during talkspurts by time-scaling of packets, …

Monitoring The Effects Of Temporal Clipping On Voip Speech Quality, Andrew Hines, Naomi Harte, Jan Skoglund, Anil Kokaram

Conference papers

This paper presents work on a real-time temporal clipping monitoring tool for VoIP. Temporal clipping can occur as a result of voice activity detection (VAD) or echo cancellation where comfort noise in used in place of clipped speech segments. The algorithm presented will form part of a no-reference objective model for quantifying perceived speech quality in VoIP. The overall approach uses a modular design that will help pinpoint the reason for degradations in addition to quantifying their impact on speech quality. The new algorithm was tested for VAD compared over a range of thresholds and varied speech frame sizes. The …

Stromatolites And Miss—Differences Between Relatives, N. Noffke, S. M. Awramik

OES Faculty Publications

Benthic microorganisms form highly organized communities called “biofilms.” A biofilm consists of the individual cells plus their extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). In marine and non-marine environments, benthic microbial communities interact with the physical sediment dynamics and other factors in the environment in order to survive. This interaction can produce distinctive sedimentary structures called microbialites. Binding, biostabilization, baffling, and trapping of sediment particles by microorganisms result in the formation of microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS); however, if carbonate precipitation occurs in EPS, and these processes happen in a repetitive manner, a multilayered build-up can form—stromatolites. Stromatolites and MISS are first found …

Microbially Induced Sedimentary Structures Recording An Ancient Ecosystem In The Ca. 3.48 Billion-Year-Old Dresser Formation, Pilbara, Western Australia, Nora Noffke, Daniel Christian, David Wacey, Robert M. Hazen

OES Faculty Publications

Microbially induced sedimentary structures (MISS) result from the response of microbial mats to physical sediment dynamics. MISS are cosmopolitan and found in many modern environments, including shelves, tidal flats, lagoons, riverine shores, lakes, interdune areas, and sabkhas. The structures record highly diverse communities of microbial mats and have been reported from numerous intervals in the geological record up to 3.2 billion years (Ga) old. This contribution describes a suite of MISS from some of the oldest well-preserved sedimentary rocks in the geological record, the early Archean (ca. 3.48 Ga) Dresser Formation, Western Australia. Outcrop mapping at the meter to …

Molecular And Cellular Signatures Of Phytol Derivatives And The Small Intestinal Submucosa In Shaping Immune Responses To Staphylococcus Aureus, Chowdhury Roshni Roy

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vaccines represent the most outstanding success story of modern medicine. In addition to pathogen-derived antigen(s), immune adjuvants are crucial for the development of efficacious new generation vaccines. Most modern vaccines are comprised of purified recombinant proteins, peptides or polysaccharides, which are weakly immunogenic. The incorporation of adjuvants in vaccine formulations not only enhances the immunogenicity of the antigen but also activates various innate and adaptive immune parameters. New-age adjuvants become particularly important in the development of vaccines against some challenging pathogens, such as Staphylococcus aureus, for which vaccines are not yet available or are inadequate. S. aureus has proven exceptionally …

It's A Long Drive To Town: A Socio-Spatial Analysis Of Food Accessibility In Rural Illinois, Charles Jr. Yeager

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

How does the rural landscape impact accessibility to healthy food options and, in turn, the health of residents? There is a great deal of evidence suggesting that sparse rural landscapes are important factors in shaping how, or if, people can readily obtain fresh and healthy food. Although the economies of many rural areas, including Southern Illinois, are heavily reliant upon agriculture, some groups may not have equal access to healthy foods, even though they may conduct most of their daily activities surrounded by acres of agricultural fields. For many rural residents, the simple act of buying groceries can pose serious …

Emotional Intelligence In Certified Athletic Trainers, Elizabeth Houser

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

CONTEXT: Athletic trainers' duties include facilitating rehabilitation, preventing injuries, emergency preparation and situation management. Emotional intelligence (EI) is critical in management, specifically positive patient outcomes. High stress situations necessitates practitioners evaluate the emotions of others to seek the most efficacious outcome. To date, the impact of athletic trainer EI on effectively and safely performing responsibilities has not assessed. OBJECTIVE: To describe the EI of certified athletic trainers as determined by the Self-Report EI Test (SREIT) (Cronbach's α=0.90). DESIGN: Descriptive research study. SETTING: Internet Survey. PARTICIPANTS: We recruited 1000 certified athletic trainers working in a variety of settings across the United …

Parental Attributions Of Child Behavior As Predictors Of Help-Seeking Behavior In A Community Sample, Jennifer L. Hutchens

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Child and parenting focused interventions are commonly recommended by clinicians; however it is often the case that children and parents do not follow through on treatment. Research examining help seeking behavior related to child concerns has focused on child, parent and family demographics. Other research has considered the influence of parent cognitions, including parenting self-efficacy and parental attributions of child behavior, in predicting attendance for parenting interventions (e.g., Peters, Calam & Harrington, 2005). There is currently limited research that considers parental help seeking in a community sample (Girio-Herrera, Owens, & Langberg, 2013). The purpose of the present study is to …

Sport Prism, Scott Howard

Theses

The Sport Prism explores the development and implementation of a cohesive brand identity metaphor for a sport complex across multiple media. The metaphor that significantly impacts the design of this brand is the geometric prism. The concept of geometric prisms is paired with sport imagery to create a unique and compelling brand experience. The Sport Prism frames relationships between the sport complex and the prism in intriguing ways, creating new meaning and ultimately a unique brand identity.

The "War On Terror," Mortality Salience, And American Prejudice Before And After The 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings, Arthur Hatton

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The United States’ counterterrorism efforts have been framed in various ways in the media and politics, and each framing metaphor varies in its ability to accurately describe counterterrorism (Kruglanski, Crenshaw, Post, & Victoroff, 2007). Each frame also may have effects on the way the public perceives, responds to, and finds acceptable in counterterrorism. One common framing metaphor in American politics is counterterrorism as a “War on Terror.” Terror Management Theory (TMT) predicts that reminding people of mortality has predictable effects on their opinions and behavior. This study seeks to test empirically whether framing counterterrorism as a “War on Terror” acts …

Special Education Teacher Retention: The Relationship Between Mentoring, Job Satisfaction And The Retention Of Special Education Teachers, Angela Horrison-Collier

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The causes of the teacher shortage are complex; however, the retention of special education teachers is a significant contributor to this shortage. Some research has indicated that up to 9.3 % of special education teachers leave the field at the end of their first year of teaching and 7.4 % move to general education yearly. Therefore, school districts face a continuous cycle of recruitment, hiring, and induction. Because of the pivotal value of retention, school districts and site level education leaders must take proactive steps to reduce the retention rate. The research on teacher retention indicates factors such as salary, …

Total Lightning As An Indicator Of Convectively Induced Turbulence Threat To Aviation Interests, Ryan Rogers

Theses

The FAA recommends that aircraft avoid thunderstorms by a minimum of 20 nautical miles horizontally. When this buffer is not maintained the chance of an aircraft experiencing turbulence is increased. The presence of lightning in a convective cell gives some indication of its turbulence potential so locations of lightning flash initiations are used to highlight updraft regions where convectively induced turbulence is generated. Data from the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array (NALMA) serves as a proxy for Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) total lightning capability. GLM proxy data are used to investigate the impact of 8x8 km resolution on lightning-turbulence relationships. …

Higher Order Sliding Mode Control Of Laser Pointing For Orbital Debris Mitigation, Arthur Palosz

Theses

This thesis explores the use of a space-based laser to clean up small orbital debris from near Earth space. This system's challenge is to quickly and precisely aim the laser beam at very small (<1cm) and distant (<10km) moving orbital debris in the presence of parametric uncertainties and external disturbances. A mathematical model is derived for the debris position sensors, a Fast Steering Mirror (FSM), and a telescope which are used to track the orbital debris and then point and focus the laser beam onto the orbital debris. A Kalman Filter (KF) is designed to accurately track the orbital debris and generate a command signal for the controller. A second order Super Twisting Sliding Mode Controller (2-SMC) is designed to follow the command signal generated by the KF and to overcome the parametric uncertainties and external disturbances. The performance of the system is validated with a computer simulation created in MATLAB and Simulink.

Performance And Energy Efficiency Of Common Compression/Decompression Utilities : An Experimental Study In Mobile And Workstation Computer Platforms, Armen A. Dzhagaryan

Theses

Lossless compression and decompression are routinely used in mobile and workstation computer systems to reduce the costs of communicating and storing data. This research presents the results of a measurement-based experimental evaluation of common compression and decompression utilities running on several plat-forms of varying hardware complexity representing current mobile and workstation systems. The evaluation involves characterization of the compression and decompression utilities in a multidimensional space encompassing the compression ratio, compression and decompression throughput, and energy efficiency. Different use scenarios and conditioning typical for modern mobile and workstation computing platforms are considered. The study observes a wide variety of energy …

A Smartphone Based Wearable System For Monitoring Of Parkinson's Patients, Samjith Wasim Abdul Majeeth

Theses

Parkinson's Disease is a very common neurodegenerative disease. Most Parkinson's patients suffer from impaired motor skills that affect their quality of life, such as tremor at rest, rigidity, Bradykinesia, and postural instability. Wearable Health Monitoring Systems can help the patients to objectively assess their state and the progress of the disease. This thesis presents a smartphone based wearable system for the monitoring of Parkinson's patients. The system features a Smart Sole sensor to monitor gait and an Android smartphone application for assessment of hand tremor. The Smart Sole sensor processes and sends information from force sensors placed in the shoe …

Generation Of Radio Frequency Induced Metastable Xenon As A Gain Medium For Diode Pumped Rare Gas Laser Systems, Jacqueline Marie Andreozzi

Theses

The pursuit of novel, hybrid methods of achieving lasing from the rare gases has recently been a topic of interest in the field of high energy laser systems. This investigation presents the construction and execution of an experimental setup designed to generate metastable xenon (Xe*) to determine its potential to perform as a high power laser gain medium in a similar capacity as the alkali metals in Diode Pumped Alkali Lasers. A capacitively coupled radio frequency discharge was used to light plasma from naturally abundant xenon, thus exciting the 6s[3/2]₂ metastable state. The metastable xenon was probed with a …

The Ironic Narrator In Christopher Marlowe's Hero And Leander, Kylie Lemon

Theses

In his minor-epic poem Hero and Leander, Christopher Marlowe creates a narrator whose distinctive narrative presence and unique personality make him impossible for the reader to ignore. Existing scholarship often dismisses this narrator as an unintelligent and inept storyteller who is used by Marlowe to achieve a comedic effect; however, this study argues for a reevaluation of Marlowe's narrator as one who uses a sophisticated form of irony to achieve an alternative purpose. A close-reading of this narrator-character in light of Wayne Booth's and Linda Hutcheon's discussions of irony reveals a narrator whose use of seemingly contradictory statements, less-than-flattering descriptions …

The Design Of An Apparatus For The Experimental Testing Of Nucleate Boiling In Microgravity, Eric Becnel

Theses

Nucleate and pool boiling in microgravity is an area of interest due to the increase in heat transfer that this regime provides on Earth. An apparatus to experimentally test these properties may enable an increase of use of boiling in microgravity. The design, functional testing, and re-design of an apparatus to test the properties of boiling in microgravity is presented. An uncertainty analysis provides an understanding of the confidence in the performance of the instrument. The outcome of this research has shown several areas of improvement of the apparatus.

Detection Of Personnel And Small Arms Fire Using Pulse Radar, Joshua Bonner

Theses

The scope is to fill in a gap of detecting targets using low power, small size radars. The main objective of this thesis is to show, through simulation, that a small, low power radar can be theoretically designed using standard radar principles to accomplish said task. The primary method used in this thesis is to ascertain the conclusion with two separate Matlab Simulations. First, the design of a radar to detect human sized targets moving along the ground and secondly, detection of small arms fire aimed towards helicopters were used as the primary examples. The results show that a human …

To Sotl Or Not To Sotl?, Diana Sturges

Health Sciences & Kinesiology: Faculty Publications

Excerpt: "To be, or not to be, that is the question" is one of the most famous lines from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. As a soliloquy, Hamlet's speech represents a monologue of his thoughts and feelings and addresses existential questions. It is generally accepted that in his speech Hamlet is wondering whether he should choose between life and death. Life seems to be full of hardships, yet there is uncertainty at what lies beyond life, what happens after death? It is assumed that the audience (if there is one) would not hear the speaker, however, Hamlet-the character of the play …

Le Rôle De La Responsabilité Sociale Des Entreprises Dans La Réalisation De La Performance : Etude Par Questionnaire De La Rse Au Sein De Sonatrach, آسيا هبري

Muthanna Journal of Administrative and Economics Sciences

تشير الدراسة التالية إلى صورة المؤسسة كنتيجة لمختلف التفاعلات الداخلية و الخارجية للأطراف المشاركة في العملية الإنتاجية ، في إطار التطرق لمختلف الأدوار و النتائج التي تمارسها المؤسسة على هده الأطراف و مشاركة كل منها في تحقيق النجاعة في معناها الكلي . ترتكز الدراسة التالية على فرضيات المصالح المشتركة بين المؤسسة و الأطراف المتدخلة في العملية الإنتاجية داخليا و خارجيا بالطريقة التي تجعل كل طرف يحاول إقناع الأطراف الأخرى بوجهة نظره مما يجعل مفهوم المسؤولية الاجتماعية للمؤسسات يتجسد بطريقة عملية يمكن أن تحقق نتائج أكثر ايجابية بالنظر إلى تكاليفها

Natural Disaster-Risk Assessment Hinesville Georgia, Assana Magagi-Alio

Georgia Municipal Association Practicum (2013-2022)

No abstract provided.

City Of Metter Georgia: 2013 Citizen Survey, Jackeisha Hughes, Judith A. Oglesby

Georgia Municipal Association Practicum (2013-2022)

No abstract provided.

Measuring Differentials In Communication Research: Issues With Multicollinearity In Three Methods, Sonny Rosenthal

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Models of communication processes sometimes require the computation of the difference between two variables. For example, information insufficiency is the difference between what people know and what they think they need to know about an issue, and it can motivate information seeking and processing. Common methods that compute this differential may bias model estimates as a function of the correlation between the differentiated variables and other variables in the model. This article describes Citation the general form of Cohen and Cohen's (1983) analysis of partial variance for computing differentials and analyzes simulated data to contrast that method with two alternative …

Secularity, Religion And The Possibilities For Religious Citizenship, Lyn Parker, Chang Yau Hoon

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Scholarly predictions of the secularization of the world have proven premature. We see a heterogeneous world in which religion remains a significant and vital social and political force. This paper reflects critically upon secularization theory in order to see how scholars can productively respond to the, at least partly, religious condition of the world at the beginning of the twenty first century. We note that conventional multiculturalism theory and policy neglects religion, and argue the need for a reconceptualization of understanding of religion and secularity, particularly in a context of multicultural citizenship — such as in Australia and Indonesia. We …

2013 Fall Commencement, Georgia Southern University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Eagle Executive Magazine, Georgia Southern University

College of Business: News & Publications

• COBA’s Fifth Dean and First PhD
• COBA’s Whitaker Named VP
• A Message from Dean Wells
• Loughry Recognized for Teamwork Models
• Handlen — Fifth Freeman Lecturer
• Logistics Team Presents in Jacksonville
• Bland Visits Campus
• 23rd Annual Accounting Day Celebrated
• The Carter Chair
• Spotlight on Graduate Studies
• Alumni in the Spotlight
• 2013 Awards of Excellence
• Thank you to Our Many Supporters
• 7th Annual Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference in Atlanta
• Alumniville
• McCartney Retires
• City Campus Growth Continues
• 7th Annual Community Bank Symposium
• In Memory of Cory Wilson, a KA Gentleman

Casting Minority Gifted Students: The Pedagogical Impact Of Cinema On The Culture Of Schooling, Deborah F. Burnette

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

African American students are significantly underrepresented in gifted education programs. This dissertation creates a space where gifted education, African American students, media literacy, and teacher perceptions intersect in the field of curriculum studies. Media literacy will be utilized to critique popular films by gifted endorsement teacher-students and myself. Due to the low number of states that require pre-service teachers to study gifted characteristics of children it is left up to gifted teacher endorsement programs to train teachers. By using media literacy to examine films in gifted teacher endorsement programs, I assert that the under-representation of African American students in the …

From College Student To Change Agent: A Triadic Model Of Self-Efficacy, Attribution, And Appraisal, Joshua M. Garrin

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Beyond their newfound emancipation and opportunities for self-discovery, college students in the young adult stage of development are expected to achieve balance between their autonomous new world and the impending pressures of postgraduation life. The college student must not only reconcile issues related to identity formation, goal pursuits, and career exploration, but is expected to begin the process of identifying and developing the skills required to address salient social themes. How students establish competency beliefs, negotiate controllability over future outcomes, and appraise challenges have deep implications in their capacity to discover their social change “voice.” The following discussion proposes a …

Do Non-Response Follow-Ups Improve Or Reduce Data Quality?: A Review Of The Existing Literature, Kristen Olson

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The paper systematically reviews existing literature on the relationship between the level of effort to recruit a sampled person and the measurement quality of survey data. Hypotheses proposed for this relationship are reviewed. Empirical findings for the relationship between level of effort as measured by paradata (the number of follow-up attempts, refusal conversion and time in the field) and question-specific item non-response rates, aggregate measures of item non-response rates, response accuracy and various measurement errors on attitudinal questions are examined through a qualitative review.