Digital Commons Network^™

Professional Reading: Where Diddie Meets Douglass, Robert E. May

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

“Doing Business:” The Changing Shape Of Grass Roots Ngos In Haiti, Jessica Covell

Open Access Dissertations

This study provides an in-depth look at a NGO in Haiti that is attempting to generate some of its own revenue as opposed to relying solely on donor support. This case may prove to be a watershed and represent a new paradigm in development. The creation of micro-businesses and support for the state show signs of creating a more long term, sustainable solution to sanitation needs in Haiti. While the success or failure of this venture falls outside the scope of this study, it identifies emerging trends that may support the venture. The study concludes that while there is a …

Haitian Parents' Experiences With The Iep Process And Their Involvement With The Special Education Program, Margarette Mahotiere

Open Access Dissertations

Current literature and recent legislation advocate parental involvement in education as ‘best subsequent reauthorizations practice.’ The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendment of 1997 and its promote parental participation in the special education process by requiring schools to consider parents as equal partners in the development of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for students with disabilities. However, parents have reported the process as stressful and confusing. Prior research revealed barriers that marginalize culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) parents to passive roles in the process. Using qualitative methods, this study focused on Haitian parents’ participation in both the IEP process …

The Relationship Between Nursing Documentation And Incidence Of Pressure Ulcers In Intensive Care Units, Dan Li

Open Access Dissertations

Pressure ulcer prevention requires consistent assessments and documentation. Documentation of pressure ulcers among providers is often inconsistent and can lead to a delay in proper treatment of pressure ulcers. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the quality/comprehensiveness of nursing documentation of pressure ulcers and to investigate the relationship between nursing documentation and incidence of pressure ulcers in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). Sample: A convenience sample of ICU patients at the selected medical center comprised the study’s sample. All patients’ medical records of patients admitted to ICUs between the time periods of September 01, 2011 through September 30, …

Advanced Fiber Reinforced Composites As Confining Systems For Rc Columns, Adane Z. Abegaz

Open Access Dissertations

Composite materials are becoming more frequently used in civil engineering structures. One of the most practical applications of these materials is strengthening of reinforced concrete columns by means of confinement with fiber composite sheets with principal advantages of high strength-to-weight ratio, good fatigue properties, non-corroding characteristics, and the easier installation procedure. Over the past few decades a number of composites have emerged as viable solutions to address the issue of potential durability problems in the use of steel as a retrofitting and strengthening system, among which Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) and Fabric Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) are the most widely …

Attentional Biases, Emotional Arousal, And Post-Event Processing In Social Anxiety: An Eye-Tracking Study, Demet Çek

Open Access Theses

Research across the past two decades has identified attentional biases (AB) to threat as a cognitive vulnerability factor for social anxiety symptoms. However, much remains unknown regarding the nature of the association between AB and other key physiological and cognitive maintenance factors proposed by the cognitive-behavioral model of social anxiety. The current study investigated the relationship between AB to threat and emotional, physiological and cognitive responding to a social stressor in an undergraduate sample (N = 55) using eyetracking methodology. Findings revealed a significant positive association between AB-disgust and subjective emotional reactivity (SER). Furthermore, ABdisgust had a significant indirect effect …

Carbonate Slope Morphology And Sedimentary Processes Along Southwestern Great Bahama Bank, Andrew Jo

Open Access Theses

High-resolution multibeam bathymetry and sub-bottom profile data from offshore Great Bahama Bank, covering an area of 6,500 km2, allow an assessment of the evolution of the slope and basin environment. The data reveal a substantial variability in the slope morphology. Three different sedimentary processes (downslope mass gravity flows, margin collapse, and contour currents) control this variability in slope morphology. The deposits that result from these processes produce a consistent facies distribution along the slope, consisting of four morphofacies: 1) a steep upper slope with an onlapping sediment wedge, 2) a toe-of-slope with redeposited carbonates, 3) a basin floor covered with …

Advanced Bathymetry Retrieval From Swell Patterns In High-Resolution Sar Images, Fernando José M. Monteiro

Open Access Theses

We present an enhanced technique to retrieve underwater topography in coastal areas from swell refraction patterns in high-resolution spaceborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. From a SAR scene with swell patterns propagating shoreward, we compute the peak wavelength and wave direction of each sub-scene; we then obtain depth estimates via the linear dispersion relationship, as long as the wave period is known. Compared to previously presented depth retrieval methods based on the same principles, the innovation of our technique consists of implementing a modulation transfer function (MTF) to account for the dependence of the strength of radar signatures of ocean …

Reservoir Potential Of Cretaceous - Tertiary Redeposited Deep-Water Carbonates: A Core And Outcrop Study In The Apennines And The Adriatic Sea, Italy., Irena Andisa Maura

Open Access Theses

Redeposition of deep-water carbonates is poorly understood. As a consequence, quantifying their reservoir potential for hydrocarbon becomes extremely challenging. As such, this study aims provide a robust assessment of reservoir potential from Cretaceous – Tertiary redeposited deep-water carbonates. A comprehensive sedimentological description and petrophysical characterization includes sonic velocity, porosity and permeability from basinal samples adjacent to Adriatic carbonate platforms. The samples were collected from three areas; (1) Maiella platform margin, an isolated Mesozoic to Mid-Tertiary carbonate platform (2) Monte Conero, an isolated anticline of the distal section of the turbidite facies (3) Well 1, an offshore well in the Adriatic …

We Are...Marshall, December 18, 2013, Office Of Marshall University Communications

We Are ... Marshall: the Newsletter for Marshall University 1999-2023

No abstract provided.

Identifying Potential Cancer Driver Genes By Genomic Data Integration., Yong Chen, Jingjing Hao, Wei Jiang, Tong He, Xuegong Zhang, Tao Jiang, Rui Jiang

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Cancer is a genomic disease associated with a plethora of gene mutations resulting in a loss of control over vital cellular functions. Among these mutated genes, driver genes are defined as being causally linked to oncogenesis, while passenger genes are thought to be irrelevant for cancer development. With increasing numbers of large-scale genomic datasets available, integrating these genomic data to identify driver genes from aberration regions of cancer genomes becomes an important goal of cancer genome analysis and investigations into mechanisms responsible for cancer development. A computational method, MAXDRIVER, is proposed here to identify potential driver genes on the basis …

Efficiency And Reliability Of The Transit Data Lifecycle: A Study Of Multimodal Migration, Storage, And Retrieval Techniques For Public Transit Data, Matthew Ahrens

Honors Program Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Integrating Human Omics Data To Prioritize Candidate Genes., Yong Chen, Xuebing Wu, Rui Jiang

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: The identification of genes involved in human complex diseases remains a great challenge in computational systems biology. Although methods have been developed to use disease phenotypic similarities with a protein-protein interaction network for the prioritization of candidate genes, other valuable omics data sources have been largely overlooked in these methods.

METHODS: With this understanding, we proposed a method called BRIDGE to prioritize candidate genes by integrating disease phenotypic similarities with such omics data as protein-protein interactions, gene sequence similarities, gene expression patterns, gene ontology annotations, and gene pathway memberships. BRIDGE utilizes a multiple regression model with lasso penalty to …

Data Management In Cloud Environments: Nosql And Newsql Data Stores, Katarina Grolinger, Wilson A. Higashino, Abhinav Tiwari, Miriam Am Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

: Advances in Web technology and the proliferation of mobile devices and sensors connected to the Internet have resulted in immense processing and storage requirements. Cloud computing has emerged as a paradigm that promises to meet these requirements. This work focuses on the storage aspect of cloud computing, specifically on data management in cloud environments. Traditional relational databases were designed in a different hardware and software era and are facing challenges in meeting the performance and scale requirements of Big Data. NoSQL and NewSQL data stores present themselves as alternatives that can handle huge volume of data. Because of the …

The Antelope, University Of Nebraska At Kearney

The Antelope

No abstract provided.

Hotline Press Newspaper- December 2013 Vol 29 No 32, Hotline Press Newspaper

Hotline Press Newspaper 2013

No abstract provided.

Appropriating Juan Rulfo: The Film Score Of Los Confines As Adaptation, Catherine Mary Day

Theses and Dissertations

Mitl Valdez's film Los confines (1987) is an adaptation of several works of fiction by the Mexican author Juan Rulfo. The director chose to adapt two short stories ("Talpa" and "¡Diles que no me maten!") and an episode from the author's first novel, Pedro Páramo. Valdez's intent was to "capturar el sentido" of the Jaliscan author or, in other words, to remain faithful to certain elements of his writing while adjusting them to the filmic medium. The musical score of Los confines is the method of appropriation that this study endeavors to investigate, since it shares common themes, metaphors, and …

Nísia Floresta: Setting A Foundation For Feminist Literature In Brazil, Rachel Davidson Skinner

Theses and Dissertations

Many historians and literary critics recognize the nineteenth-century Brazilian author, Nísia Floresta, as the first feminist in Brazil. "Nísia Floresta é considerada a precursora dos ideais feministas no Brasil. Desde o início de sua carreira literária, a defesa dos direitos femininos foi o tema mais recorrente em sua obra"(Castro 250). Her works, published in Brazil and also in France and Italy, influenced women across borders. This thesis will address the discourse on maternity and education found in her works Opúsculo humanitário, Direitos das mulheres e injustiças dos homens, A mulher, and Conselhos à minha filha. Focusing on gender equality and …

Mechanisms Of Dietary Protein-Induced Changes In Calcium Absorption Efficiency, Jessica D. Bihuniak

Doctoral Dissertations

We undertook a randomized, double-blind, crossover study in 14 healthy women who were required to ingest a 6-day low protein diet supplemented with CaSR-AAA (calcium-sensing receptor-activating amino acids), DAA (dibasic amino acids) or methylcellulose capsules (control). All subjects ingested all three diets in random order. Prior to each experimental diet subjects consumed an 11 day adjustment diet. Calcium absorption was measured on day 5 of each dietary intervention using dual-stable calcium isotopes. The clinical trial tested the hypothesis that dietary protein affects the efficiency of intestinal calcium absorption by activating the calcium sensing receptor (CaSR). Supplementation with CaSR-AAA did not …

Hoyle State And Rotational Features In Carbon-12 Within A No-Core Shell-Model Framework, Alison C. Dreyfuss, Kristina D. Launey, Tomáš Dytrych, Jerry P. Draayer, Chairul Bahri

Faculty Publications

By using only a fraction of the model space extended beyond current no-core shell-model limits and a many-nucleon interaction with a single parameter, we gain additional insight within a symmetry-guided shell-model framework, into the many-body dynamics that gives rise to the ground state rotational band together with phenomena tied to alpha-clustering substructures in the low-lying states in 12C, and in particular, the challenging Hoyle state and its first 2+ and 4+ excitations. For these states, we offer a novel perspective emerging out of no-core shell-model considerations, including a discussion of associated nuclear deformation and matter radii. This, in turn, provides …

Collective Modes In Light Nuclei From First Principles, T. Dytrych, K. D. Launey, J. P. Draayer, P. Maris, J. P. Vary, E. Saule, U. Catalyurek, M. Sosonkina, D. Langr, M. A. Caprio

Faculty Publications

Results for ab initio no-core shell model calculations in a symmetry-adapted SU(3)-based coupling scheme demonstrate that collective modes in light nuclei emerge from first principles. The low-lying states of Li6, Be8, and He6 are shown to exhibit orderly patterns that favor spatial configurations with strong quadrupole deformation and complementary low intrinsic spin values, a picture that is consistent with the nuclear symplectic model. The results also suggest a pragmatic path forward to accommodate deformation-driven collective features in ab initio analyses when they dominate the nuclear landscape. © 2013 American Physical Society.

Model Spaces: A Survey, William T. Ross, Stephan Ramon Garcia

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

This is a brief and gentle introduction, aimed at graduate students, to the subject of model subspaces of the Hardy space.

Outcomes Of An Emotion Word Intervention For Children With Social Communication Impairments, Rebecca Cloward Mansfield

Theses and Dissertations

Children with social communication disorders have been found to exhibit deficits in emotional intelligence, including the ability to identify emotions attributed to facial expressions. The purpose of this thesis was to examine the efficacy of a social communication intervention program designed to increase the accuracy of emotion based word use in three elementary school-aged participants with social communication disorders. The participants took part in a multiple-baseline, 20-session treatment including story enactment, journaling procedures, and supplementary activities. The story enactment portion of the intervention centered on Mercer Mayer's A Boy, A Dog, and A Frog (1967) wordless picture book series. Participants' …

Volume 51, Number 18: December 18, 2013, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

The Murray Ledger And Times, December 18, 2013, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

Battery Energy Storage Systems To Mitigate The Variability Of Photovoltaic Power Generation, Heath Alan Gurganus

Dissertations and Theses

Methods of generating renewable energy such as through solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and wind turbines offer great promise in terms of a reduced carbon footprint and overall impact on the environment. However, these methods also share the attribute of being highly stochastic, meaning they are variable in such a way that is difficult to forecast with sufficient accuracy. While solar power currently constitutes a small amount of generating potential in most regions, the cost of photovoltaics continues to decline and a trend has emerged to build larger PV plants than was once feasible. This has brought the matter of increased …

A Dynamic Optimization Framework With Model Predictive Control Elements For Long Term Planning Of Capacity Investments In A District Energy System, Jose Luis Mojica Velazquez

Theses and Dissertations

The capacity expansion of a district heating system is studied with the objective of evaluating the investment decision timing and type of capacity expansion. District energy is an energy generation system that provides energy, such as heat and electricity, generated at central locations and distributed to the surrounding area. The study develops an optimization framework to find the optimal investment schedule over a 30 year horizon with the options of investing in traditional heating sources (boilers) or a next-generation combined heat and power (CHP) plant that can provide heat and electricity. In district energy systems, the investment decision on the …

Atmospheric Organic Matter In Clouds: Exact Masses And Molecular Formula Identification Using Ultrahigh-Resolution Ft-Icr Mass Spectrometry, Y. Zhao, A. G. Hallar, Lynn Mazzoleni

Department of Chemistry Publications

Clouds alter the composition of atmospheric aerosol by acting as a medium for interactions between gas- and particulate-phase substances. To determine the cloud water atmospheric organic matter (AOM) composition and study the cloud processing of aerosols, two samples of supercooled clouds were collected at the Storm Peak Laboratory near Steamboat Springs, Colorado (3220 m a.s.l.). Approximately 3000 molecular formulas were assigned to ultrahigh-resolution mass spectra of the samples after using a reversed-phase extraction procedure to isolate the AOM components from the cloud water. Nitrogen-containing compounds (CHNO compounds), sulfur-containing compounds (CHOS and CHNOS compounds) and other oxygen-containing compounds (CHO compounds) with …

Which Biomarkers Reveal Neonatal Sepsis?, Kun Wang, Vineet Bhandari, Sofya Chepustanova, Greg Huber, Stephen O′Hara, Corey S. O′Hern, Mark D. Shattuck, Michael Kirby

Publications and Research

We address the identification of optimal biomarkers for the rapid diagnosis of neonatal sepsis. We employ both canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and sparse support vector machine (SSVM) classifiers to select the best subset of biomarkers from a large hematological data set collected from infants with suspected sepsis from Yale-New Haven Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). CCA is used to select sets of biomarkers of increasing size that are most highly correlated with infection. The effectiveness of these biomarkers is then validated by constructing a sparse support vector machine diagnostic classifier. We find that the following set of five biomarkers …

News Source Preferences And News Source Credibility Among College Staff, Faculty, And Students, Larissa A. Bolalek

Theses

News consumption practices in the United States have been studied for decades. Recent technology has influenced traditional news consumption by allowing people to access news through the Internet and social media. Today, people have more options than ever as to where to obtain news. People remain interested in getting news that is credible and trustworthy. A survey was distributed to in order to learn where people say they turn for their primary sources of news and the credibility people assigned to various news sources. Respondents were split up into two groups, heavy and light social media users. Results suggest that …