Digital Commons Network^™

Cardiac Patterns During Another Infant's Cry Sound In Neonates Of Depressed Mothers, Joseph Cotler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Past research indicates there is a link between physiological responses and adaptive social responses to another individual's distress. Scholars have theorized that humans may be predisposed, both physiologically and behaviorally to responding to others, especially those who are in distress. Maternal depression has been associated with dysregulated emotional development and may possibly affect the physiological and behavioral responses of a neonate. The present research examined the relationship between neonates' physiological and behavioral responses to naturally generated (compared to artificial) stimuli of other neonates, as well as the role of maternal depression in the responses. Specifically, heart rate, heart period, and …

Computing Automorphism Groups Of Projective Planes, Jesse Victor Adamski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The main objective of this thesis was to find the full automorphism groups of finite Desarguesian planes. A set of homologies were used to generate the automorphism group when the order of the plane was prime. When the order was a prime power Pa,a ≠ 1 the Frobenius automorphism was added to the set of homologies, and then the full automorphism group was generated. The Frobenius automorphism was found by using the planar ternary ring derived from a coordinatization of the plane.

Concept Of Fit, Scott Vaughn Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The purpose of this mixed method study was to understand how demographic fit, organizational fit, and group fit influenced secondary school assistant principal (AP) selection and assimilation for candidates who completed the Paradise School District (pseudonym) leadership training program during the 2004-2005 to 2008-2009 school years. However, the results indicated that Hispanic candidates were selected at a higher rate than other groups of candidates. The results also indicated that Black candidates were selected at the same rate as the average for all candidates ; however these results may be misleading because Black candidates were disproportionally over-represented in the study sample. …

Conscious And Non-Conscious Bases Of Social Judgement, Susan D. Sullivan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Research on social judgment typically emphasizes one of three processes that enable unequivocal understanding of events with ambiguous causality. In the social influence perspective, people are susceptible to the interpretations offered by others. In the explicit attitudes perspective, people interpret events in line with their consciously held attitudes and values. In the implicit attitudes perspective, people interpret events in line with unconscious biases. The model investigated in the present study assumes that these processes vary in salience depending on people's mindset. Participants with low versus high implicit racial bias toward Blacks read a narrative concerning this altercation under either a …

Corrosion Initiation And Propagation On Corrosion Resistant Alloys Embedded In Concrete By Accelerated Chloride Transport, Tellez Francisco Gutierrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Two duplex stainless steels rebars: UNS32304SS and UNS32101SS, were selected to investigate the corrosion initiation and propagation in reinforced concrete specimens. The investigation is divided in two phases with two different methods to accelerate the transport of chlorides through the concrete and initiate corrosion in a short period of time. After corrosion had initiated and propagated for some time; selected specimens were terminated for visual examination. On specimens selected for autopsy, the rebars in the top row showed corrosion to various degrees. Corrosion had propagated to such extent on the terminated specimens that the specimen showed cracks. Stray current might …

Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre As An Approach To Teaching English Language Learners: Teachers’ Perceptions After Professional Development And Classroom Implementation, Samantha N. Uribe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This mixed methods study investigated second through fifth grade teachers’ perceptions of Curriculum-Based Readers Theatre (CBRT) as a relevant approach for teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). Quantitative survey data were collected from 18 teachers who worked at the school with the largest population of ELLs in a large South Florida school district. The surveys investigated teachers’ current use of ESOL instructional strategies prior to participating in a CBRT professional development session as well as their ability to identify ESOL instructional strategies embedded within the approach after professional development and classroom implementation. Qualitative data were collected in the form of interviews …

Creating Mindfulness With Sensual Functional Handmade Ceramics, Alexandria. Schwartz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

I create opportunities for nourishment that are physical, emotional and spiritual with my functional porcelain vessels. They reference the human body's sensual curves, dimples, and bulges, establishing the experience of eating as a metaphor for the sensual experience of human interaction. The tactility is heightened by the variety of glazes dancing around the vessels, from satiny smooth and skin-like, to wet and dripping. Handmade vessels connect the users not only more deeply to the food that provides them nourishment, but also connects them more deeply to one another, and to the maker of the work. The slow, deliberate work of …

Data Mining Heuristic-¬Based Malware Detection For Android Applications, Naser Peiravian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

The Google Android mobile phone platform is one of the dominant smartphone operating systems on the market. The open source Android platform allows developers to take full advantage of the mobile operation system, but also raises significant issues related to malicious applications (Apps). The popularity of Android platform draws attention of many developers which also attracts the attention of cybercriminals to develop different kinds of malware to be inserted into the Google Android Market or other third party markets as safe applications. In this thesis, we propose to combine permission, API (Application Program Interface) calls and function calls to build …

Cyclic Lipodepsipeptides As Lead Structures For The Discovery Of New Antiobiotics, Nina. Bionda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

With antimicrobial resistance to current drugs steadily rising, the development of new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action has become an imperative. The majority of life-threatening infections worldwide are caused by "ESKAPE" pathogens which are encountered in more than 40% of hospital-acquired infections, and are resistant to the majority of commonly used antibiotics. Naturally occurring cyclic depsipeptides, microbial secondary metabolites that contain one or more ester bonds in addition to amide bonds, have emerged as an important source of pharmacologically active compounds or lead structures for the development of novel antibiotics. Some of those peptides are either already marketed (daptomycin) …

Developing Interpretive Turbulence Models From A Database With Applications To Wind Farms And Shipboard Operations, Kyle A. Schau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This thesis presents a complete method of modeling the autospectra of turbulence in closed form via an expansion series using the von Kármán model as a basis function. It is capable of modeling turbulence in all three directions of fluid flow: longitudinal, lateral, and vertical, separately, thus eliminating the assumption of homogeneous, isotropic flow. A thorough investigation into the expansion series is presented, with the strengths and weaknesses highlighted. Furthermore, numerical aspects and theoretical derivations are provided. This method is then tested against three highly complex flow fields: wake turbulence inside wind farms, helicopter downwash, and helicopter downwash coupled with …

Bankruptcy Trusts, Transparency And The Future Of Asbestos Compensation, S. Todd Brown

Journal Articles

As we enter the fifth decade of asbestos personal injury litigation, much of the debate over its immediate future centers on the operations of bankruptcy trusts and their relationship to the tort system. Roughly 100 companies have entered bankruptcy as a result of their unsustainable asbestos liabilities, and, from these bankruptcies, approximately 60 trusts have been established or are in the process of being established. Some critics contend that the trust system is plagued by fraud and abuse; allowing plaintiffs' lawyers to obtain compensation from the trusts for fraudulent claims and to evade relevant discovery obligations under applicable state law. …

Across The Empire: British Women's Travel Writings And Women's Place In The British Imperial Project During The Second Half Of The Nineteenth Century., Katie. Wernecke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Women in Britain in the nineteenth century were expected to fulfill the traditional roles of wife and mother as determined by British society. Over the course of the nineteenth century, these ideals evolved, but the core functions of wife and mother remained at the center. Woman's participation outside the household was limited. British women travelers during the nineteenth century found themselves in many different environments. By examining samples of women's travel narratives from various locations in the Empire, this study analyzes the daily lives of British women in the Empire and determines that, while maintaining their roles within the private …

Activity Analysis And Detection Of Falling And Repetitive Motion, Clyde Carryl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This thesis examines the use of motion detection and analysis systems to detect falls and repetitive motion patterns of at-risk individuals. Three classes of motion are examined: Activities of daily living (ADL), falls, and repetitive motion. This research exposes a simple relationship between ADL and non-ADL movement, and shows how to use Principal Component Analysis and a kNN classifier to tell the 2 classes of motion apart with 100% sensitivity and specificity. It also identifies a more complex relationship between falls and repetitive motion, which both produce bodily accelerations exceeding 3G but differ with regard to their periodicity. This simplifies …

Advanced Placement (Ap) Social Studies Teachers' Use Of Academic Course Blogs As A Supplemental Resource For Student Learning, Seth. Alper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This mixed-methods study investigated the relationship between Advanced Placement (AP) social studies teachers' utilization of academic course blogs and student achievement. Simultaneously, the study examined the participating teachers' perceptions on the use of course blogs and other social media as supplemental learning resources. The study further explored a possible moderating effect of the social studies subject on student achievement and a possible moderating effect of students' previous academic blog usage on student achievement within the study. Quantitative data were collected from students' pre-tests and unit tests scores and analyzed for statistical significance. Qualitative data were collected through teacher-generated notes during …

Any (Body) Who Will Listen, Gavin Feller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This thesis explores how the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) has used media technology as part of its missionary communication strategy. Particular attention is paid to the Internet as a space for religious practice and how the LDS Church has sought to extend its media practices and missionary efforts online. By utilizing new media technology to find individuals interested in hearing its message, the LDS Church faces new challenges to its traditional face-to-face missionary program, its centralized hierarchy of control and its ongoing struggle for identity within American Christian culture. Throughout its history, the LDS Church's missionary …

Application Of Reference Point Theory To Merger Activity And Characteristics, Inga. Chira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

In Essay I, I analyze the impact of the target and bidder reference points on the probability of acquisition under general economic conditions as well as in strong/weak economic periods. I find that the target and the bidder reference points have a significant impact on the probability of a firm becoming a bidder or a target. While the target reference point also has a significant impact on the successful completion of the merger, the bidder reference point does not. In addition, I find that the target reference point is a significant determinant of management-led buyout mergers, while the bidder reference …

Automatic Parking Lot Occupancy Computation Using Motion Tracking, Torres Francisco Alberto Justo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Nowadays it is very hard to find available spots in public parking lots and even harder at facilities such as universities and sports venues. A system that provides drivers with parking availability and parking lot occupancy will allow users find a parking space much easier and faster. This thesis presents a system for automatic parking lot occupancy computation using motion tracking. The use of computer vision techniques and low cost video sensors makes it possible to have an accurate system that allows drivers to find a parking spot. Video bitrate and quality reduction and its impact on performance were studied. …

Avian Community Characteristics Of Constructed Treatment Wetlands Of South Florida, Tyler J. Beck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This study compared the avian communities of treatment wetlands in South Florida called Stormwater Treatment Wetlands (STAs) to those in natural marshes and crop lands, and examined factors that influenced the size and structure of the avian communities within the STAs. The STAs contained a more abundant, rich and distinct avian community compared to reference land types. The STAs were dominated by wintering waterfowl, and therefore community patterns fluctuated more seasonally other land types. Within the STAs, density and richness in the fall and winter were much greater in the submerged aquatic vegetation than in the mixed emergent vegetation when …

Development And Testing Of A Measure Of Alzheimer’S Disease Knowledge In A Rural Appalachian Community, Lisa K. Weise

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

Rural West Virginia has a very high percentage of older adults. The age-related disease of Alzheimer’s threatens the health of older Appalachians, yet research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in this population is scarce. In order to improve screening rates for cognitive impairment, Appalachians need to understand their vulnerability. The first step would be to assess their knowledge about AD but a suitable AD knowledge test has not been developed. The purpose of this study was to test the reliability and validity of a new measure of knowledge about AD that is culturally congruent, and to examine factors that may predict …

Development Of An Integrated Computational Tool For Design And Analysis Of Composite Turbine Blades Under Ocean Current Loading, Fang. Zhou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

A computational tool has been developed by integrating National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) codes, Sandia National Laboratories' NuMAD, and ANSYS to investigate a horizontal axis composite ocean current turbine. The study focused on the design, analysis, and life prediction of composite blade considering random ocean current, cyclic rotation, and hurricane-driven ocean current. A structural model for a horizontal axis FAU research OCT blade was developed. Following NREL codes were used: PreCom, BModes, ModeShape, AeroDyn and FAST. PreComp was used to compute section properties of the OCT blade. BModes and ModeShape calculated the mode shapes of the blade. Hydrodynamic loading on …

Dropout Prevention, Christopher L. Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019

This mixed methods study focused on the relationship between dropout prevention programs and graduation rates in one school district in Florida during the 2010-2011 school year. The dropout prevention program data analyzed included high school principals' perceptions in regard to perceived effectiveness, fidelity of implementation, cost efficacy, structure, and student-staff relationships within dropout prevention programs and their relationship to graduation rate. The data analysis investigated the relationship between the principals' perceptions of each dropout prevention program and graduation rate. Findings from this study showed principals' perceived that the level of fidelity for on-the-job training has a relationship to increased graduation …

How Did Rggi Do It? Political Economy And Emissions Auctions, Bruce R. Huber

Journal Articles

Among the major emissions trading schemes in operation around the world, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) stands alone: this CO₂ cap-and-trade program among nine northeastern states is the only such scheme to rely primarily on auctions to distribute emissions allowances. The standard practice - distributing allowances for free on the basis of historical emissions - elicits begrudging but politically crucial support from some regulated emitters. Like carbon taxation, allowance auctioning has long been considered economically superior to its alternatives but politically infeasible.

How did the RGGI states manage to defy conventional wisdom and institute a program so reliant …

Patients’ Experience Of A Regional Allergy Service, Rb Jones, A O'Connor, E Kaminski

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Sequential Proteolytic Processing Of The Triggering Receptor Expressed On Myeloid Cells-2 (Trem2) Protein By Ectodomain Shedding And Γ-Secretase-Dependent Intramembranous Cleavage, P Wunderlich, K Glebov, N Kemmerling, Nt Tien, H Neumann, J Walter

Peninsula Medical School

No abstract provided.

Alcohol Consumption And Its Correlates Among Residents Of Mining Town, Kitwe, Zambia: 2011 Population Based Survey, Cosmas Zyaambo, Olesegun Babaniyi, Peter Songolo, Adamson S. Muula, Emmanuel Rudatsikira, Seter Siziya

Faculty Publications

Alcohol consumption is a risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis and cancers. It has also been associated with risky sexual behaviors, hence, attributed as a factor in the increase of HIV incidence and prevalence. A cross sectional study was conducted using a modified World Health Organizations Global Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) Surveillance Initiative NCD-STEPs 1and 2. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the determinants of alcohol consumption. A total of 1627 individuals participated in the survey, of which 42.3% were males. Some 22.3% (36.2% of male and 12.1% of female; p<0.001) participants reported to have consumed alcohol during the 30 days preceding the survey. The factors considered to be associated with alcohol consumption were age, sex and smoking. Compared to respondents age 25-34 years, respondents of age 35-44 years were 38% (AOR = 1.38, 95%CI [1.11, 1.70]) more likely to report having consumed alcohol and those aged 45 years or older were 26% (AOR = 0.74, 95%CI [0.60, 0.93]) less likely to report having consumed alcohol. Female respondents were 47% (AOR = 0.53, 95%CI [0.46, 0.60]) less likely to report consuming alcohol compared to male respondents. Compared to respondents who reported smoking cigarettes, those who did not smoke cigarettes were 51% (AOR = 0.49, 95%CI [0.40, 0.59]) less likely to consume alcohol. The rate of alcohol consumption is high in this mining town. Factors identified in this study as associated with alcohol consumption, i.e., male sex, age, cigarette smoking, should be considered in designing interventions to curtail the level of alcohol consumption.

Drawn From Artists’ Lives: An Empirical Study Of The Situation And Realisation Of Professional Visual Art Practices In The Western Australian Field Of Cultural Production, Duncan Robert Mckay

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis presents the findings of empirical research on the working lives of visual artists living and working in Western Australia. No detailed studies of this kind have previously been undertaken in a Western Australian context, though a series of national, economically framed studies have surveyed Australian artists working in a variety of art forms about their working lives on five occasions since the early 1980s. Collectively the reports published from these five studies make up the most comprehensive picture of artists’ economic activity that has been available to policymakers and others involved in arts and culture in this country …

Modeling Speech Imitation And Ecological Learning Of Auditory-Motor Maps, C Canevari, L Badino, A D'Ausilio, L Fadiga, G Metta

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Classical models of speech consider an antero-posterior distinction between perceptive and productive functions. However, the selective alteration of neural activity in speech motor centers, via transcranial magnetic stimulation, was shown to affect speech discrimination. On the automatic speech recognition (ASR) side, the recognition systems have classically relied solely on acoustic data, achieving rather good performance in optimal listening conditions. The main limitations of current ASR are mainly evident in the realistic use of such systems. These limitations can be partly reduced by using normalization strategies that minimize inter-speaker variability by either explicitly removing speakers' peculiarities or adapting different speakers to …

An Exploratory Study Of The Benefits And Inhibitors Of Digital Libraries In Iraq, Basima Abdulbari Fezaa

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research study explores the potential of digital libraries (DLS) in Iraq and identifies inhibitors to adoption. Iraq is an ancient civilisation, with a recorded history of more than 5000 years. The Mesopotamian civilisation and the Babylonian Civilisation (both in Iraq) are amongst the most ancient in the world, and have existed from the times of the ancient Egyptian, Indus Valley, Persian civilisations. Iraq has a rich cultural history, with many rare historical manuscripts, antiques etc., on which many treatises have written and still continues to be a popular subject of research. In its recent history, Iraq has had much …

Bit Error Rate Estimation In Wimax Communications At Vehicular Speeds Using Nakagami-M Fading Model, Biswojit Bose

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The wireless communication industry has experienced a rapid technological evolution from its basic first generation (1G) wireless systems to the latest fourth generation (4G) wireless broadband systems. Wireless broadband systems are becoming increasingly popular with consumers and the technological strength of 4G has played a major role behind the success of wireless broadband systems. The IEEE 802.16m standard of the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) has been accepted as a 4G standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2011. The IEEE 802.16m is fully optimised for wireless communications in fixed environments and can deliver very high …

Normal Mysticism : An Interdisciplinary Study Of Max Kudushin's Rabbinic Hermeneutic, Thomas L. Head

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Max Kadushin (1895-1980) was a rabbi, professor, and preeminent figure in the history of American Conservative Jewish rabbinic thought. His hermeneutic system, which centers on the idea of organic religious value-concepts, has had a significant influence on the emerging Textual Reasoning movement.

In chapter one, I describe the intellectual climate in which Kadushin's system took shape—providing a short history of the 19th-century reform and haskalah movements, discussing the general outline of Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy tradition, and placing new focus on the tension between Conservative Judaism and Mordecai Kaplan's emerging philosophy of Reconstructionism as a critical factor in the …