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2013

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The Human Senses: Designing Beyond Intuition, April Lipatan Jan 2013

The Human Senses: Designing Beyond Intuition, April Lipatan

Landscape Architecture Theses

This thesis project will explore how multi-sensory experiences can be merged with landscape architecture as a supplement to communicate the meaning of place. The problem of landscape architects not fully understanding the senses and their processes needs to be addressed in order to create designs that are beyond our intuition. Landscape architects can better communicate the experiences humans have with built environments by better understanding how the senses work as communication tools. The problem is the lack of knowledge on the senses in this field. Landscape architects have the capacity to integrate humans into spatial elements creating meaningful places, and …

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4th And Sustainable: A Balanced Design Approach For The Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (Arden Hills, Mn), Zach Johnson Jan 2013

4th And Sustainable: A Balanced Design Approach For The Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (Arden Hills, Mn), Zach Johnson

Landscape Architecture Theses

With a lack of appreciation and the underestimation of the importance and benefits a sustainable ecosystem can provide in today’s society, it has become a topic that needs to be tended to. A great way to approach the design of sustainable sites, is to follow the guidelines of The Sustainable Sites Initiative(SITES), as well as find a project that can utilize them, and raise awareness in the publics eye. With the large budget and exposure a stadium receives, it is a strong development type to pair with the guidelines for SITES. This pairing can positively regenerate both sustainable ecosystems and …

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Urban Greenway Transformation: Multi-Functional Design Alternatives For The Fargo Community, David L. Eisenbraun Jan 2013

Urban Greenway Transformation: Multi-Functional Design Alternatives For The Fargo Community, David L. Eisenbraun

Landscape Architecture Theses

This study assesses how citywide greenway systems connect and strengthen neighborhoods, provide recreational opportunities, enhance options to use multi-modal transportation, and expand usable green spaces. A pedestrian trail-greenway system can link spaces to enrich the dynamics within city neighborhoods by creating efficient, invigorating and adaptable spaces. With the ability to augment social attributes within various neighborhoods, this cohesive pedestrian spine throughout the City of Fargo helps to generate a unified, lasting, and healthy community. The proposal provides access to various amenities within this central spine while diverse uses encourage social interaction and safety.

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Virtual Space | Creating A Digital Sense Of Place, Jacob Williams Jan 2013

Virtual Space | Creating A Digital Sense Of Place, Jacob Williams

Landscape Architecture Theses

The recent advancements in computer technology in the 21st century have changed the way many designers work in offices today. New computer software has allowed us to actualize works of landscape architecture that could have never been designed in the past using traditional drawing methods. Designers of the built environment have embraced new ideas and forms of virtual representations to present work which has evolved the landscape architecture profession in many ways. The drawing ability of designers is no longer a limit in expressing their imaginations due to new forms of digital art. As one of the most important aspects …

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Surfaces Modulate Β-Amyloid Peptide Aggregation Associated With Alzheimer's Disease., Elizabeth Anne Yates Jan 2013

Surfaces Modulate Β-Amyloid Peptide Aggregation Associated With Alzheimer's Disease., Elizabeth Anne Yates

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, a late onset neurodegenerative disease, is the presence of neuritic amyloid plaques deposited within the brain composed of β-amyloid (Aβ) peptide aggregates. Aβ can aggregate into a variety of polymorphic aggregate structures under different chemical environments, specifically affected by the presence of differing surfaces. There are several point mutations clustered around the central hydrophobic core of Aβ (E22G Arctic mutation, E22K Italian mutation, D23N Iowa mutation, and A21G Flemish mutation). These mutations are associated with hereditary diseases ranging from almost pure cerebral amyloid angiopathy to typical Alzheimer's disease pathology with both plaques and tangles. To …

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From Preparation To Practice: An Applied Sports Broadcasting Course, Marney Rae Mathiasen Jan 2013

From Preparation To Practice: An Applied Sports Broadcasting Course, Marney Rae Mathiasen

Communication

This project establishes the immense popularity of sports and explores the connection between sports and society, while establishing past weaknesses of broadcast education. It provides evidence of previous philosophical differences that existed between journalism educators and journalists, and explains the benefits of an applied learning course that emphasizes strong writing skills. This project provides details on sixteen weeks of course content, addresses both student and course assessment, and summarizes the overall strengths and weaknesses of the proposed course.

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Explaining Adolescent Behavior Intention To Consume Fast Food Using The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Julie Lynn Fudge Jan 2013

Explaining Adolescent Behavior Intention To Consume Fast Food Using The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Julie Lynn Fudge

Communication

This study tested the utility of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain adolescent fast-food consumption among 349 high school adolescents. Subjective norms were further investigated to identify how parents and friends influenced adolescent fast-food consumption. Study participants completed a paper-based questionnaire measuring adolescent attitude, subjective norms for parents and friends, perceived behavioral control, and behavioral intention. Path analysis revealed that TPB explained adolescent fast-food behavioral intention to consume fast food. The model identified parent subjective norms had the strongest relationship with adolescent behavioral intention to consume fast food. Parent norms differed across age and grade in high school. …

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Funding The Technology Of A Research University, Jean Ostrom-Blonigen Jan 2013

Funding The Technology Of A Research University, Jean Ostrom-Blonigen

Communication

Using the central information technology unit (CITU) on the North Dakota State University (NDSU) campus, this project triangulated two independent studies in an effort to converge data findings. The studies were conducted in an effort to determine whether CITU’s budget constraints were known to its stakeholders and how the extended use of the theory of Communication Privacy Management (CPM) into this organizational communication setting might be possible. The studies, which were both conducted by a CITU employee (participant/observer) included: 1) an online email survey involving 244 non-student employee participants and 2) interviews with 21 non-student employees. In Study #1, the …

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Once A Member, Always A Member: Identification Inducement Messages In National Sorority Magazines, Jessica Marie Rick Jan 2013

Once A Member, Always A Member: Identification Inducement Messages In National Sorority Magazines, Jessica Marie Rick

Communication

As sorority membership numbers keep rising, national sororities need to be cognizant of the ways in which they may induce their members to remain active and involved within the organization. Identification inducement messages are one way in which sorority organizations can continually reinforce organizational identification within their membership. This thesis sought to discover the strategies and tactics found in national sorority magazines and expand Cheney's (1983b) identification inducement typology. A content analysis of 25 articles found new ways in which the strategies and tactics were used. All four strategies - common ground, identification through antithesis, assumed "we," and identifying symbols …

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Leaving The Family: Exit From Totalistic Organizations, Amorette Nicole Hinderaker Jan 2013

Leaving The Family: Exit From Totalistic Organizations, Amorette Nicole Hinderaker

Communication

The purpose of this study was to explore how members exit totalistic organizations. Existing organizational communication research has treated employee membership in an employment institution as the universal organizational relationship. This study argues that certain organizational relationships are best understood not by the presence or absence of pay, however, but in relation to the extent of organizational reach into the member's life outside the organization. This study advances the notion that such totalistic organizations share important characteristics including value-based memberships, centrality of organizational values to the member's life, the involvement of primary relationships, and a requirement of organizational fealty. This …

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"Giving Rope And Pulling It Back" : Types And Patterns Of Strategies Used By Parents To Prevent Adolescent Substance (Ab)Use, Shweta Sharma Jan 2013

"Giving Rope And Pulling It Back" : Types And Patterns Of Strategies Used By Parents To Prevent Adolescent Substance (Ab)Use, Shweta Sharma

Communication

This study contributes to the INC theory by adding the stage of prevention to the parent-child relationships' timeline. Ten parents (six mothers and four fathers) were interviewed, and a memory enhancing timeline calendar was used to encourage parents to recall and talk about when they were trying to prevent substance (ab)use. Prevention strategies were coded on the basis of Inconsistent Nurturing as Control (INC) theory. Nurturing strategies consisted of 1.) Promoting open discussions, 2.) Monitoring behavior and activities in respectful ways, and 3.) Presenting a model for responsible use. Punishing strategies consisted of 1.) Reinforcing discipline and rules, 2.) Forcing …

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Incivility In The Informal Workplace: A Case Study Of Emerald Lutheran Church, Jared Nathan Fougner Jan 2013

Incivility In The Informal Workplace: A Case Study Of Emerald Lutheran Church, Jared Nathan Fougner

Communication

This study examined how incivility is expressed in an informal church organization and the impact relationships among those in the organization have on incivility. The researcher had staff members of the church complete journals. The researcher also observed the staff for one week and then conducted interviews based on the observations and journals. The researcher then coded data and grouped it into overarching themes. Themes that emerged about displays of incivility included: interrupting or not respecting another's ideas and yelling and gossiping behind each other's backs. The researcher examined these themes in terms of the relationships that exist among these …

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Injecting Safety-Critical Certification Into Agile Software Methods, Scott James Minot Jan 2013

Injecting Safety-Critical Certification Into Agile Software Methods, Scott James Minot

Computer Science

Agility offers an adaptable and changeable environment within software development. The benefits that agile methods provide for software development are becoming an even greater possibility in safety-critical software programs. These certified programs go through a rigorous process to ensure the safety of all people involved. As the systems become more complex and there is a need for adaptability, the benefits of agile could save companies considerable time and money without sacrificing the safety factor. In this paper, I will provide ways of incorporating certification for highly critical systems by using a form of agility tailored to fit certification requirements. With …

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Evaluation Of Firefly Algorithm Using Benchmark Functions, Anuroop Kundur Jan 2013

Evaluation Of Firefly Algorithm Using Benchmark Functions, Anuroop Kundur

Computer Science

The field of nature inspired computing and optimization techniques have evolved to solve the difficult optimization problems in diverse fields of engineering, science and technology. The Firefly algorithm is one of the several nature inspired algorithms that have been developed in the recent past and is inspired from the flashing behavior of the fireflies. The flashing behavior of the fireflies is to attract other fireflies in the group for mating. The less bright firefly will be attracted by the brighter one. As all the fireflies are assumed to be unisexual, each firefly is attracted to the other. This process is …

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Originalism And The Unwritten Constitution, Lawrence B. Solum Jan 2013

Originalism And The Unwritten Constitution, Lawrence B. Solum

Faculty Scholarship

In his book, America’s Unwritten Constitution, Akhil Reed Amar contends that to properly engage the written Constitution, scholars and laymen alike must look to extratextual sources: among them America’s founding documents, institutional practices, and ethos, all of which constitute Amar’s “unwritten Constitution.” In this Article, I argue that contemporary originalist constitutional theory is consistent with reliance on extraconstitutional sources in certain circumstances. I establish a framework for revaluating the use of extratextual sources. That framework categorizes extratextual sources and explains their relevance to constitutional interpretation (the meaning of the text) and constitutional construction (elaboration of constitutional doctrine and decision of …

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Vector-Vector Patterns For Agricultural Data, Eric Momsen Jan 2013

Vector-Vector Patterns For Agricultural Data, Eric Momsen

Computer Science

Agriculture is increasingly driven by massive data, and some challenges are not covered by existing statistics, machine learning, or data mining techniques. Many crops are characterized not only by yield but also by quality measures, such as sugar content and sugar lost to molasses for sugarbeets. The set of features furthermore contains time series data, such as rainfall and periodic satellite imagery. This study examines the problem of identifying relationships in a complex data set, in which there are vectors (multiple attributes) for both the explanatory and response conditions. This problem can be characterized as a vector-vector pattern mining problem. …

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Finding The Most Predictive Data Source In Biological Data, Ushashi Chakraborty Jan 2013

Finding The Most Predictive Data Source In Biological Data, Ushashi Chakraborty

Computer Science

Classification can be used to predict unknown functions of proteins by using known function information. In some cases, multiple sets of data are available for classification where prediction is only part of the problem, and knowing the most reliable source for prediction is also relevant. Our goal is to develop classification techniques to find the most predictive of the multiple data sets that we have in this project. We use existing classification techniques like linear and quadratic classifications and statistical relevance measures like posterior and log p analysis in our proposed algorithm, which is able to find the data set …

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Mining Communities From Multi-Layered Graphs, Meng Chao Jan 2013

Mining Communities From Multi-Layered Graphs, Meng Chao

Computer Science

Identifying communities from networks has been a subject of great interest in Biological and Social network analysis. Finding communities can help with tasks such as identifying and fighting disease. Using graphs to represent networks and identifying dense subgraphs as communities within these graphs is an increasingly important area of study. Many of the same entities can be found in multiple networks, each representing a different type of relationship. These graphs capturing different relationships between the same entities can be combined into a single graph called a “multi-layered graph”. By finding dense subgraphs containing the same entities within multiple layers of …

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Spin Model Checker For Mact, Murali Krishna Somavarapu Jan 2013

Spin Model Checker For Mact, Murali Krishna Somavarapu

Computer Science

The SPIN (Simple PROMELA Interpreter) model checker is a verification system used to check high-level models of concurrent systems and improve the overall system’s performance. The SPIN model checker takes the PROMELA model as input and verifies the properties or system requirements to check for any errors in the system’s design based on the system requirements. The MACT (Model-based Aspect/Class Checking and Testing tool) has an excellent testing approach. The SPIN is added to the MACT to strengthen the results delivered by the MACT for a given aspect-oriented model. This paper discusses SPIN model implementation for the MACT tool and …

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Protein Functional Site Prediction Using The Shortest-Path Graph Kernel Method, Malinda Vikum Sanjaka Benaragama Vidanelage Jan 2013

Protein Functional Site Prediction Using The Shortest-Path Graph Kernel Method, Malinda Vikum Sanjaka Benaragama Vidanelage

Computer Science

Over the past decade Structural Genomics projects have accumulated structural data for over 75,000 proteins, but the function of most of them are unknown due to limitation of laboratory approaches for discovering the functionality of proteins. Computational methods play key roles to minimize this gap. Graphs are often used to describe and analyze the geometry and physicochemical composition of bimolecular structures such as, chemical compounds and protein functional sites. In this study, we developed an innovative graph method to represent protein surface based on how amino acid residues contact with each other. Further, we implemented a shortest-path graph kernel method …

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Optimization And Heuristic Facility Location Algorithms For The Smart Grid, Nikhitha Kaparthi Jan 2013

Optimization And Heuristic Facility Location Algorithms For The Smart Grid, Nikhitha Kaparthi

Computer Science

One of the most crucial aspects in maintaining a smart grid Network is to monitor its stability, control and minimize the outages, blackouts etc. which can be achieved by Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs). Despite having a number of advantages, PMUs are expensive and cannot be placed at every node in a network for constant observation. Therefore, it is economically feasible to place these PMUs at optimal locations, depending on the demand of each node. Our current research attempts to resolve the issue of positioning PMUs in a dynamic network at optimal locations which is accomplished by using two different heuristic …

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Smart Grid Optimization Using A Capacitated Transshipment Problem Solver, Damian Lampl Jan 2013

Smart Grid Optimization Using A Capacitated Transshipment Problem Solver, Damian Lampl

Computer Science

A network flow model known as the capacitated transshipment problem, or CTP, can represent key aspects of a smart grid test network with the goal of finding minimum cost electric power flows using multiple different cost performance metrics. A custom CTP Solver was developed and implemented as an ASP.NET web application in an effort to study these various minimum cost smart grid problems and provide their optimal solutions. The CTP Solver modifies traditional linear programming concepts by introducing object oriented software development practices, as well as an insightful innovation for handling bidirectional arcs, which effectively halves the required disk and …

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Taxonomy Of Gestures In Human Computer Interaction, Fereydoon Vafaei Jan 2013

Taxonomy Of Gestures In Human Computer Interaction, Fereydoon Vafaei

Computer Science

Classification of gestures is important in the area of gestural interaction given the diversity, the complexity and the spontaneity of the gestures in different HCI application domains. Gesture designers for interactive systems as well as state-of-the-art researchers can benefit from a well-structured classification of gestures. Moreover, a taxonomy that includes efficient classes and labels and is capable to effectively distinguish gestures can be employed as a framework to express gestures in reliable gesture recognition systems. Existing taxonomies either lack a broad scope, or are too abstract and contain ambiguous dimensions. Proposing a taxonomy of gestures, which can address the diversity …

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A Two-Phase Security Mechanism For Anomaly Detection In Wireless Sensor Networks, Jingjun Zhao Jan 2013

A Two-Phase Security Mechanism For Anomaly Detection In Wireless Sensor Networks, Jingjun Zhao

Computer Science

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been applied to a wide range of application areas, including battle fields, transportation systems, and hospitals. The security issues in WSNs are still hot research topics. The constrained capabilities of sensors and the environments in which sensors are deployed, such as hostile and non-reachable areas, make the security more complicated. This dissertation describes the development and testing of a novel two-phase security mechanism for hierarchical WSNs that is capable of defending both outside and inside attacks. For the outside attacks, the attackers are usually malicious intruders that entered the network. The computation and communication capabilities …

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Spatially Aware Computing For Natural Interaction, Amin Roudaki Jan 2013

Spatially Aware Computing For Natural Interaction, Amin Roudaki

Computer Science

Spatial information refers to the location of an object in a physical or digital world. Besides, it also includes the relative position of an object related to other objects around it. In this dissertation, three systems are designed and developed. All of them apply spatial information in different fields. The ultimate goal is to increase the user friendliness and efficiency in those applications by utilizing spatial information. The first system is a novel Web page data extraction application, which takes advantage of 2D spatial information to discover structured records from a Web page. The extracted information is useful to re-organize …

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Tutorial On Negative Selection Algorithm, Sonal Singh Jan 2013

Tutorial On Negative Selection Algorithm, Sonal Singh

Computer Science

The primary aim of this paper is to incorporate the educational objectives of the revised Bloom’s taxonomy in the creation of educational material and assessments for teaching the concepts of the Negative Selection Algorithm. Bloom’s revised taxonomy makes the learning process easy for learners by dividing the educational material into increasing levels of complexity. Bloom's revised taxonomy identifies six cognitive levels, starting from basic steps in learning to the more advanced steps. The tutorial material is designed specifically to accommodate the first three cognitive levels of Bloom’s revised taxonomy. The material will help students to acquire basic knowledge of the …

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Optimization Of Benchmark Functions Using Chemical Reaction Optimization, Naveen Kumar Dandu Jan 2013

Optimization Of Benchmark Functions Using Chemical Reaction Optimization, Naveen Kumar Dandu

Computer Science

In recent past, many new nature-inspired optimization techniques have been emerged in the field of science and engineering that have proven to be efficient to solve optimization problems. One such method that makes use of metaheuristics for optimization, inspired by the nature of chemical reactions is Chemical Reaction Optimization (CRO). It is a powerful metaheuristic which mimics the interactions of molecules in chemical reactions to search for the global optimum. In this paper, we used this technique to solve well-known separable and non-separable benchmark functions. The simulation results showed that all problems showed good performance. A measurement metric is used …

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Optimal Placement Of Relay Stations In Wireless Sensor Networks, Kiran Kumar Vallabh Jan 2013

Optimal Placement Of Relay Stations In Wireless Sensor Networks, Kiran Kumar Vallabh

Computer Science

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are a collection of nodes organized into a cooperative network with sensing, processing and transmitting capabilities. WSNs are becoming an increasingly prominent technology that can be used in diverse application areas. In WSNs, cooperative relay stations are projected as one of the most cost effective solutions to meet the demanding requirement of capacity enhancement. In this paper, major concerns of the wireless sensor networks addressed are optimizing the number of relay stations required for covering the desired percentage of sensor nodes by optimal placement of relay stations and optimal assignment of the sensors to the relay …

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Social Network Based Recommendation System, Manish Singh Jan 2013

Social Network Based Recommendation System, Manish Singh

Computer Science

Every day we are overwhelmed with choices and options. Recommendation systems have gained popularity in providing suggestions. But every web application today has its own recommendation system. The recommendations provided by these systems are generic than user specific. Also the consumers of these systems are facing with the challenge of trusting these resources as they come from anonymous users. In this paper we propose a social networking based collaborative filtering recommendation system for movies. The prediction rating for a movie is provided based on similarity between you and your friends in the recommendation system. We have used two approaches to …

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A Mobile Website Prototype, Ashish Teotia Jan 2013

A Mobile Website Prototype, Ashish Teotia

Computer Science

More people have started using smart phones, and in the near future, cell phones/smart phones will take the place of computers. I developed a mobile website prototype based on standards, such as keeping it task oriented, by filtering and showing the menu items for North Dakota State University Computer Science students (prospective, current, or alumni); shrinking the data by using smaller images; making the data fit the screen, eliminating the need to scroll the page; and many more. I followed a test-and-learn approach to develop this prototype, utilizing a design that works well on mobile phones and utilizing the same …

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