Digital Commons Network^™

Essays On Rethinking African Development: Contextual And Methodological Advances, Olumayokun Soremekun

2013

This research study sets out to provide analytical answers to the questions of African development and inequality. We examine various aspects of development from the issue of inequality among African countries to unravelling the synergies among the MDG goals and finally to investigating the progress if any that African countries have made towards attaining the MDG goals.

This research is broken down into three main studies: measuring inequality of opportunity, examining the synergies between the Millennium development goals at a particular point in time and lastly assessing the progress that has been made towards attaining the MDG goals in Africa. …

User Resistance And Trust In A Clinical Rfid Employee Location Tracking Information System, Wilson Wong

2013

User resistance has been identified as a factor in information systems implementation failures in the health care industry. RFID, radio frequency identification, is being incorporated into new health care information systems in order to effect cost reductions by tracking, identifying and monitoring individuals and medical items. This is the first study to research the relative contributions of vendor trust and IT artifact trust components to user resistance and, as a result, makes a unique contribution to the information systems literature. An understanding of the degree to which technology adoption behavioral beliefs, and particularly system trust, affect user resistance towards information …

The Use Of Complexity Theory And Strange Attractors To Understand And Explain Information System Development, Arthur P. Tomasino

2013

In spite of the best efforts of researchers and practitioners, Information Systems (IS) developers are having problems "getting it right". IS developments are challenged by the emergence of unanticipated IS characteristics undermining managers ability to predict and manage IS change. Because IS are complex, development formulas, best practices or development guides simply will not work. The difficulties in these system developments stem from the complexity of IS arising from the inter-relationship, interaction, and interconnectivity of the elements in the system and its environment. This research uses complexity concepts to help solve the problem with IS development and explain why so …

Conical Intersection And Potential Energy Surface Features Of A Model Retinal Chromophore: Comparison Of Eom-Cc And Multireference Methods, Samer Gozem, Anna I. Krylov, Massimo Olivucci

Chemistry Faculty Publications

This work investigates the performance of equation-of-motion coupled-cluster (EOM-CC) methods for describing the changes in the potential energy surfaces of the penta-2,4-dieniminium cation, a reduced model of the retinal chromophore of visual pigments, due to dynamical electron correlation effects. The ground-state wave function of this model includes charge-transfer and diradical configurations whose weights vary along different displacements and are rapidly changing at the conical intersection between the ground and the first excited states, making the shape of the potential energy surface sensitive to a balanced description of nondynamical and dynamical correlation. Recently, variational (MRCISD) and perturbative (MRPT2) approaches for including …

Examining Roles In Children's Group Therapy: The Development Of A Dramaturgical Role Instrument To Measure Group Process, Craig Haen

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

In this exploratory group process study of two children’s psychotherapy groups in an outpatient clinic, group roles were examined through the development of a dramaturgical coding instrument and the use of trained raters to analyze videotaped scenes of interaction. Exploratory data analysis was conducted that compared individual members within groups, group-level data between groups, and members who showed clinical change with those who did not. The results suggest the potential diagnostic utility, for researchers and therapists, of applying dramaturgical roles to group process.

I Am A Teacher Walking A Mile In Her Shoes: A Narrative Study Of Teacher Identity, Amy Parmenter

Educational Studies Dissertations

Using an adapted life story interview process, narratives of six female mid-career elementary teachers were collected and analyzed. The stories describe the values and beliefs of these educators as they reflect on their experience being a teacher employed in one of three public elementary schools undergoing reform. Findings suggest professional development for teachers that cultivates a collaborative school culture and develops reflective dialogue and evaluative thinking is beneficial for schools in the midst of change. Author keywords: teacher identity; community of practice; learning community; life story; public school; professional development; reflective dialogue; evaluative thinking; change; elementary education; educational change; teachers--in-service …

Factors Affecting The Retention Of First-Career And Second-Career Science Teachers In Urban High Schools, Rosemary C. Rak

Educational Studies Dissertations

The turnover of high school science teachers is an especially troubling problem in urban schools with economically disadvantaged students. Because high teacher turnover rates impede effective instruction, the persistence of teacher attrition is a serious concern. Using an online survey and interviews in a sequential mixed-methods approach, this study investigates the perceptions of high school science teachers regarding factors that contribute to their employment decisions. The study also compares first-career and second-career science teachers' perceptions of retention and attrition factors and identifies conditions that urban school leaders can establish to support the retention of their science teachers. A purposeful sample …

Towards A Tight Integration Of Syntactic Parsing With Semantic Disambiguation By Means Of Declarative Programming, Yuliya Lierler, Peter Schüller

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

We propose and advocate the use of an advanced declarative programming paradigm – answer set programming – as a uniform platform for integrated approach towards syntax-semantic processing in natural language. We illustrate that (a) the parsing technology based on answer set programming implementation reaches performance sufficient for being a useful NLP tool, and (b) the proposed method for incorporating semantic information from FRAMENET into syntactic parsing may prove to be useful in allowing semantic-based disambiguation of syntactic structures.

Prolog And Asp Inference Under One Roof, Marcello Balduccini, Yuliya Lierler, Peter Schüller

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Answer set programming (ASP) is a declarative programming paradigm stemming from logic programming that has been successfully applied in various domains. Despite amazing advancements in ASP solving, many applications still pose a challenge that is commonly referred to as grounding bottleneck. Devising, implementing, and evaluating a method that alleviates this problem for certain application domains is the focus of this paper. The proposed method is based on combining backtracking-based search algorithms employed in answer set solvers with SLDNF resolution from PROLOG. Using PROLOG inference on non-ground portions of a given program, both grounding time and the size of the ground …

Modular Answer Set Solving, Yuliya Lierler, Miroslaw Truszczyński

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Modularity is essential for modeling large-scale practical applications.We propose modular logic programs as a modular version of answer set programming and study the relationship of our formalism to an earlier concept of lp-modules.

Logic Programs Vs. First-Order Formulas In Textual Inference, Yuliya Lierler, Vladimir Lifschitz

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

In the problem of recognizing textual entailment, the goal is to decide, given a text and a hypothesis expressed in a natural language, whether a human reasoner would call the hypothesis a consequence of the text. One approach to this problem is to use a first-order reasoning tool to check whether the hypothesis can be derived from the text conjoined with relevant background knowledge, after expressing all of them by first-order formulas. Another possibility is to express the hypothesis, the text, and the background knowledge in a logic programming language, and use a logic programming system. We discuss the relation …

Abstract Modular Systems And Solvers, Yuliya Lierler, Miroslaw Truszczyński

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Integrating diverse formalisms into modular knowledge representation systems offers increased expressivity, modeling convenience and computational benefits. We introduce concepts of abstract modules and abstract modular systems to study general principles behind the design and analysis of modelfinding programs, or solvers, for integrated heterogeneous multi-logic systems. We show how abstract modules and abstract modular systems give rise to transition systems, which are a natural and convenient representation of solvers pioneered by the SAT community. We illustrate our approach by showing how it applies to answer set programming and propositional logic, and to multi-logic systems based on these two formalisms.

Hybrid Automated Reasoning Tools: From Black-Box To Clear-Box Integration, Marcello Balduccini, Yuliya Lierler

Computer Science Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Recently, researchers in answer set programming and constraint programming spent significant efforts in the development of hybrid languages and solving algorithms combining the strengths of these traditionally separate fields. These efforts resulted in a new research area: constraint answer set programming (CASP). CASP languages and systems proved to be largely successful at providing efficient solutions to problems involving hybrid reasoning tasks, such as scheduling problems with elements of planning. Yet, the development of CASP systems is difficult, requiring non-trivial expertise in multiple areas. This suggests a need for a study identifying general development principles of hybrid systems. Once these principles …

Test Selection On Extended Finite State Machines With Provable Guarantees, Bo Guo, Mahadevan Subramaniam

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Building high confidence regression test suites to validate new system versions is a challenging problem. A model- based approach to build a regression test suite from a given test suite is described. The generated test suite includes every test that will traverse a change performed to produce the new version, and consists of only such tests to reduce the testing costs. Finite state machines extended with typed variables (EFSMs) are used to model systems and system changes are mapped to EFSM transition changes adding/deleting/replacing EFSM transitions and states. Tests are a sequence of input and expected output messages with concrete …

Legislature’S Planning Committee 2013 Report, John Harms, Tanya Cook, Greg Adams, John Wightman, Heath Mello, Mike Gloor, Kathy Campbell, Paul Schumacher, Kate Sullivan

Past Publications

The Legislature’s Planning Committee was created in 2009, pursuant to LB 653, introduced by Senator John Harms, of Scottsbluff. The 2012-13 Committee is:

Senator John Harms, Chair
Senator Tanya Cook, Vice-Chair
Senator Greg Adams, Speaker of the Legislature
Senator John Wightman, Chair, Executive Board
Senator Heath Mello, Chair, Appropriations Committee
Senator Mike Gloor
Senator Kathy Campbell
Senator Paul Schumacher
Senator Kate Sullivan

When the Committee was formed in 2009, it was decided that, in order to achieve their goals, they would be assisted by the Legislative Research Office and the College of Public Affairs at the University of Nebraska at …

Lomustine Analogous Drug Structures For Intervention Of Brain And Spinal Cord Tumors: The Benefit Of In Silico Substructure Search And Analysis, Ronald Bartzatt

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Lomustine is a nitrosourea anticancer agent shown to be effective for treatment of childhood medulloblastoma. In silico substructure searches produced 17 novel nitrosourea agents analogous to lumustine and retaining activity for DNA alkylation and cytotoxic activity. The mean values for Log P, polar surface area, formula weight, number of oxygens & nitrogens, and rotatable bonds were 2.524, 62.89 Anstroms2, 232.8, 5, and 2, respectively. All 17 agents have formula weight less than 450 and Log P less than 5, two criteria preferred for blood-brain barrier penetration.These agents have a polar surface area less than 90 Angstroms2. Each show zero violations …

Making Solution Pluralism In Policy Making Accessible: Optimization Of Design And Services For Constituent Well-Being, Margeret A. Hall, Steven O. Kimbrough, Wibke Michalk, Jefff Schneider, Christof Weinhardt

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Policy makers are increasingly turning to computational support mechanisms for managing uncertainty, and constituent focused-decisions. Utilization and standardization of human-computer interaction principles to create solution pluralism (the condition of having a consideration set containing a multiplicity of credible solutions) is a fundamental to fulfilling this need. There is a need for standardized applications and user interfaces to deliver a higher quality of service, which assists policy makers in maintaining or increasing constituent well-being.

A Study Of Sustainability Adoption Trends In The Transportation Market, Carlos Parra, Christine Toh, Marta Ventura

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Due to an increasing concern for sustainability, automobile manufacturers have been introducing hybrid variants of popular vehicles in an attempt to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles. However, it is still unclear how this ‘hybridization’ of popular car models affects the overall success of the vehicle. This paper seeks to address these gaps in knowledge by implementing a demand modeling approach, game theory framework, and a technology forecasting model. In the demand model, it was found that the percent of hybrid cars sold, the year and the model of the car are significant predictors of the total sales. In the …

A Parallel Template For Implementing Filters For Biological Correlation Networks, Kathryn Dempsey Cooper, Vladimir Ufimtsev, Sanjukta Bhowmick, Hesham Ali

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

High throughput biological experiments are critical for their role in systems biology – the ability to survey the state of cellular mechanisms on the broad scale opens possibilities for the scientific researcher to understand how multiple components come together, and what goes wrong in disease states. However, the data returned from these experiments is massive and heterogeneous, and requires intuitive and clever computational algorithms for analysis. The correlation network model has been proposed as a tool for modeling and analysis of this high throughput data; structures within the model identified by graph theory have been found to represent key players …

Real-Time Embodied Agent Adaptation, Ryan M. Schuetzler, David W. Wilson

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

This paper reports on initial investigation of two emerging technologies, FaceFX and Smartbody, capable of creating life-like animations for embodied conversational agents (ECAs) such as the AVATAR agent. Real-time rendering and animation generation technologies can enable rapid adaptation of ECAs to changing circumstances. The benefits of each package are discussed.

Information And Communication Technologies Effects On Economic Growth, Nancy Jimenez, Lotfollah Najjar, Sajda Qureshi, Dwight Haworth

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

While Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are seen to be drivers of economic growth, it is unclear how this change takes place, especially since social and human factors are often seen to change as a result of ICTs. This paper investigates the effects of ICTs, and social and human factors in terms of skills, education, and labor, on economic growth. An augmented production function is used to quantify the effects that infodensity levels, defined as the combination of ICT networks and skills, education, and labor, have on the economic growth of high and low-to-middle income economies. This research draws upon …

Factors That Affect Information And Communication Technology Adoption By Small Businesses In China, Jie Xiong, Sajda Qureshi, Lotfollah Najjar

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Emerging economies appear to be powering growth in their regions. While China is seen to lead growth in the emerging markets of Asia, 98% of its manufacturing and production base is powered by small businesses. These businesses represent the majority of all businesses in emerging countries and their growth increases with their successful adoption of Information Technology. As the driving force behind the economic growth of China, Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) are shaping the ways in which small businesses are able to grow. The majority of current research into the user acceptance and adoption of ICTs focusses on the …

The Role Of Human Capital In Information And Communication Technology Adoption For Development: Evidence From China, Jie Xiong, Sajda Qureshi, Lotfollah Najjar

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Emerging economies, in particular China, are powering growth in Asia. While China is seen to lead growth in the emerging markets of Asia, 98% of its manufacturing and production base is powered by small businesses. These businesses represent the majority of all businesses in emerging countries and the growth of these businesses increases with their successful adoption of Information Technology. This paper uses a well-known model in Information Systems Adoption to analyze ICT usage, the effect ICT usage and human capital in the development of the small businesses in China. The reason this model is used is to find out …

A Model Of Icts Adoption For Sustainable Development: An Investigation Of Small Business In The United States And China, Jie Xiong, Sajda Qureshi

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Improving Usability: Evaluating The Effect Of Changing Environmental Factors On Cognitive Load, Robin J. Deegan

Theses

Mobile devices are now truly ubiquitous. Their pervasiveness in all facets of our lives brings many advantages. Principle to these advantages is the notion that mobile devices can be used “Anytime, Anywhere”. The size, portability, battery life and computational power of mobile devices mean that they can be used for a diverse range of uses in an equally diverse range of environments.

Usability is primarily concerned with “ease of use” and “learnability”. Mobile devices are challenging this notion of Usability as they are used in new ways. Firstly mobile devices arc used in complex distracting environments and these distractions interfere …

An Experimental Investigation Of Colonel Blotto Games, Subhasish M. Chowdhury, Dan Kovenock, Roman M. Sheremeta

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

This article examines behavior in the two-player, constant-sum Colonel Blotto game with asymmetric resources in which players maximize the expected number of battlefields won. The experimental results support the main qualitative predictions of the theory. In the auction treatment, where winning a battlefield is deterministic, disadvantaged players use a 'guerilla warfare' strategy that stochastically allocates zero resources to a subset of battlefields. Advantaged players employ a 'stochastic complete coverage' strategy, allocating random, but positive, resource levels across the battlefields. In the lottery treatment, where winning a battlefield is probabilistic, both players divide their resources equally across all battlefields. However, we …

Major Depressive Disorder And Measures Of Cellular Aging: An Integrative Review, Patricia Anne Kinser, Debra E. Lyon

School of Nursing Publications

Major depressive disorder (MDD) affects millions of individuals and causes significant suffering worldwide. It has been speculated that MDD is associated with accelerated aging-related biological and functional decline. To examine the accelerated aging hypothesis, one of the biomarkers under study is leukocyte telomeres, and specifically the measure of telomere length and telomerase activity. This review integrates findings from eleven human studies which evaluated telomere length and telomerase activity, in order to synthesize the state of the current science and to inform the development of new knowledge and enhance nursing research of depression using appropriate biobehavioral measures. Although preliminary, the findings …

The Journal Of Undergraduate Research: Volume 11

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

This is the complete issue of the South Dakota State University Journal of Undergraduate Research, Volume 11.

Effects Of Discrete Time Delays And Parameters Variation On Dynamical Systems, Ibrahim Oumar Diakite

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

To understand the effects of discrete time delays and of parameters variation on certain biological system models, we first consider a Delay Differential Equation model of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We investigate the effects of the discrete time on the virulence of the HIV strain, and present sufficient and necessary condition for the virulence of the pathogen to change as the time delay changes. We also consider the same delay differential model for HIV infection, and we investigate analytically and numerically the stability of the endemically infected equilibrium. Our analysis shows that certain key parameters, such as the rate of …

Haplotype-Based Statistical Inference For Case-Control Genetic Association Studies With Complex Sampling, Daoying Lin

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

With the advances in human genome research, it is now believed that the risks of many complex diseases are triggered by the interplay of genetic susceptibilities and environmental exposures. The population-based case-control study (PBCCS) is widely used to investigate the role of genetic variants and environmental exposures in the etiology of complex diseases. There are numerous ways to implement the selection process of cases and controls. In its simplest form, a simple random sampling (SRS) design is used to choose cases and controls from diseased and disease-free population, respectively. Though SRS is easy to conduct and relevant statistical methodologies are …