Digital Commons Network^™

Kant And The Neglected Alternative, Andrew F. Specht

Dissertations - ALL

In this work, I conduct a reconstruction and evaluation of the Neglected Alternative objection to Immanuel Kant's philosophy. Kant famously argues in the Transcendental Aesthetic section of the Critique of Pure Reason that space and time are subjective forms of human intuition, and the Neglected Alternative maintains that this argument is a failure. According to the Neglected Alternative, Kant completely overlooks the possibility that space and time are in some way both subjective and objective, and so Kant's conclusions about the nature of space and time are not justified by his arguments. This objection was first formulated very soon after …

Determination Of The X(3872) Meson Quantum Numbers, Bin Gui

Dissertations - ALL

The Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) is one of the several experiments located at the ring of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva. The LHCb detector is a single arm forward spectrometer and is designed to perform high precision measurements of Charge Parity (CP) violation parameters and rare decays of the beauty and charm hadrons. The detector was successfully operated at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV in 2010 and 2011 and at 8 TeV in 2012. Over 3 fb-1 of data has been collected by the LHCb. The LHCb experiment is also well suited for studies on hadron …

Adaptive Power Management For Computers And Mobile Devices, Hao Shen

Dissertations - ALL

Power consumption has become a major concern in the design of computing systems today. High power consumption increases cooling cost, degrades the system reliability and also reduces the battery life in portable devices. Modern computing/communication devices support multiple power modes which enable power and performance tradeoff. Dynamic power management (DPM), dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), and dynamic task migration for workload consolidation are system level power reduction techniques widely used during runtime. In the first part of the dissertation, we concentrate on the dynamic power management of the personal computer and server platform where the DPM, DVFS and task …

Discrete Gate Sizing Methodologies For Delay, Area And Power Optimization, Jiani Xie

Dissertations - ALL

The modeling of an individual gate and the optimization of circuit performance has long been a critical issue in the VLSI industry. In this work, we first study of the gate sizing problem for today's industrial designs, and explore the contributions and limitations of all the existing approaches, which mainly suffer from producing only continuous solutions, using outdated timing models or experiencing performance inefficiency.

In this dissertation, we present our new discrete gate sizing technique which optimizes different aspects of circuit performance, including delay, area and power consumption. And our method is fast and efficient as it applies the local …

Is It The Thought That Counts? : Investigating Children's Understanding Of Helpfulness, Effort, And Utility., Danielle Mccarty

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

How do children consider helpfulness, specifically effort and utility, when evaluating potential informants? We tested preschoolers on three conditions, asking them to choose between a character high in both effort and utility and a character who acted with either 1) low effort and high utility, 2) high effort and low utility, or 3) low effort and no utility (removed from social contexts). The opposing characters provided conflicting information when labeling novel objects, and participants were asked which label they endorsed. They were then asked to choose which character was the more helpful, which worked harder, and which was nicer. We …

Examining The Effects Of Nebraska's Good Time Laws - Research Brief, Benjamin M. Steiner, Calli M. Cain

Reports

The purpose of this research brief is to summarize the findings of a study of Nebraska’s good time laws conducted by Dr. Benjamin Steiner and Calli Cain for the Nebraska Center for Justice Research at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. An electronic copy of the full report can be accessed through the link at the end of this brief. This brief lists each of the three specific research questions, the primary findings for each question, and the major conclusion from each set of findings. Please refer to the full report for the executive summary, full findings, and methodological details of the …

Examining The Effects Of Nebraska's Good Time Laws - Final Report, Benjamin M. Steiner, Calli M. Cain

Reports

Sentencing credit laws provide opportunities for inmates to gain a reduction in their prison sentence, and such laws have at least four intended goals: 1) reducing prison populations; 2) promoting prosocial behavior during imprisonment by offering inmates incentive for good behavior and/or deterring them from engaging in antisocial behavior; 3) reducing recidivism by providing offenders incentive for good behavior and participation in rehabilitative programming; and, 4) lowering correctional costs (Lawrence & Lyons, 2011; Weisburd & Chayet, 1989).

The state of Nebraska currently has a sentencing credit law that automatically awards good time credits to inmates. The study described in this …

Examining The Effects Of Nebraska's Good Time Laws: Final Report, Benjamin M. Steiner, Calli Cain

Reports

Sentencing credit laws provide opportunities for inmates to gain a reduction in their prison sentence, and such laws have at least four intended goals: 1) reducing prison populations; 2) promoting prosocial behavior during imprisonment by offering inmates incentive for good behavior and/or deterring them from engaging in antisocial behavior; 3) reducing recidivism by providing offenders incentive for good behavior and participation in rehabilitative programming; and, 4) lowering correctional costs (Lawrence & Lyons, 2011; Weisburd & Chayet, 1989). The state of Nebraska currently has a sentencing credit law that automatically awards good time credits to inmates. The study described in this …

Examining The Effects Of Nebraska's Good Time Laws: Research Brief, Benjamin Steiner, Calli Cain

Reports

The purpose of this research brief is to summarize the findings of a study of Nebraska’s good time laws conducted by Dr. Benjamin Steiner and Calli Cain for the Nebraska Center for Justice Research at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. An electronic copy of the full report can be accessed through the link at the end of this brief. This brief lists each of the three specific research questions, the primary findings for each question, and the major conclusion from each set of findings. Please refer to the full report for the executive summary, full findings, and methodological details of the …

Trends In Young Adult Male Incarceration Admissions In Nebraska, 2000-2013: Final Report, Jonathan R. Brauer, Nebraska Center For Justice Research, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Ipad Apps On Student Achievement In Literacy For Children In 2nd And 3rd Grade, Deena M. Reyes

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Many educators consider using educational iPad apps to supplement literacy curriculum and facilitate greater student engagement. Student literacy achievement is crucial at the lower elementary level. Students who do not progress through the grade level literacy standards of the Common Core State Standards need intervention instruction to achieve mastery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of using iPad apps based instruction in reading intervention programs for second and third grade students.

This study followed a mixed method approach, a pretest, post-test quasi experimental design where students enrolled in an after school reading intervention program used iPad …

Uno Website: Business And Finance - Code Of Professional Ethics, Uno Business And Finance University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Business/Finance/Operations

No abstract provided.

Aspccgtk: Towards Syntactic Parsing With Semantic Disambiguation, Yuliya Lierler, Peter Schueller

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Natural language expressions are often ambiguous, allowing multiple interpretations. In this note we describe an approach that integrates syntactic analysis with semantic constraints in a system called ASPCCGTK. This system is based on Answer Set Programming — a popular declarative constraint programming paradigm.

Machine Shop Learning Kits, Samantha Kelley, Ellen Chambers

Mechanical Engineering

Currently in the Cal Poly Machine shops, students are struggling to find ways to fulfill the 10 hours of shop experience required to gain their Yellow Tag certification. Red Tag is the first level of certification students generally achieve their freshman year. It allows them to use basic machine tools such as drills, shears, benders, etc. Then after completing 10 hours of shop experience they can take the Yellow Tag test, which gains them access to use a welder, mill, and lathe. The heads of the machine shop, the shop technicians, and the mechanical engineering students will all have different …

Compression Tester Shop Press, Colby Johnson, Brett Russon, Taylor Vandenhoek

Mechanical Engineering

A piece of machinery designed to carry out compression and bending tests on building materials constructed by the Center for Vocational Building Technologies (CVBT) in Isarn, Thailand.

Semi-Automated Glass Mat Splice Operation For Asphalt Shingle Line, Justin Bracci, Harry Zhao, Chad Linafelter

Mechanical Engineering

The following report details the senior project sponsored by GAF Materials Corporation, Shafter, CA in regards to semi-automating a glass-mat splicing table for asphalt roofing shingle production. Herein includes details, research, design, and analysis regarding the semi-automation of the gluing processes for the splicing table. A working prototype was manufactured and tested for the future implementation onto GAF’s production line or further senior project involvement.

Wingtip Dynamics Simulator, Eugene Fox, Nick Rodriguez, Steven Rieber

Mechanical Engineering

Raytheon is a defense contracting company with an electronic warfare division that is developing a radio frequency signal triangulation system. Part of the focus in improving this technology is the need for accurate and real time locational knowledge of the signal receivers, which are located at the tips of aircraft wings. Due to turbulence during flight, the fluttering motion of the wings alter the distance and angle relationships of the two receivers and add noise to the received signal data, which negatively affect the triangulation estimates. To mitigate this error caused by the wing flutter, Raytheon is developing a software …

Wildlife Deterrence Method Test Device, Garrett Tietz, Adam Webb, Dane Knutson

Mechanical Engineering

The objective of the Deer Busters team is to design and build a device or system of devices that will be used to determine which method, or methods, are most effective at deer deterrence. JumpSport suspects that a method which gives the appearance of approach to the deer in an aggressive or startling manner but also changes the way it attacks so that the deer do not get used to the device will be most effective. Deer Busters is committed to the completion of the deer deterrent testing device by the end of the fall quarter of 2014.

Castor Canadensis Winter 2014, Jedediah Smith Society

Castor Canadensis - Jedediah Smith Society

Newsletter of the Jedediah Smith Society

Applying Computational Methods To Dna Pattern Classification In Cancer Discovery, Mira Ghiat

Theses (Pre-2016)

The accumulation of large-scale data gathered from experiments and tests in the medical field prompts for new computational technologies that can exploit this huge amount of data to its fullest extent. In recent years, several efforts have been made to develop computational models and tools based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques. These tools have been used by biologists for data clustering and classification. In addition to their use in different areas related to knowledge discovery, modeling, and optimization, these tools can be used to develop computational models that might lead to predicting the response of complex biological systems to any …

Analysis Of San Luis Obispo Historic Precipitation Data And Calibration Of The Cal Poly Weather Station, Hilary Olsen

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Irrigation Drip System Design For A Vineyard, Riley Way

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Specificity And Catalytic Mechanism Of Dna Glycosylases In Udg Superfamily, Bo Xia

All Dissertations

DNA can be damaged by several kinds of endogenous and exogenous reactive nitrogen species. Under nitosative stress, uracil (U), hypoxanthine (I), xanthine (X) and oxanine (O) are four major deaminated DNA bases derived from cytosine (C), adenine (A) and guanine (G) respectively. To repair this type of DNA damage, several different repair pathways are involved.

My dissertation work mainly focused on the uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) superfamily, which includes several groups of enzymes that recognize the damaged DNA bases and initiate the base excision repair (BER) pathway, one of the most important repair pathways to deal with deaminated DNA bases. Chapter …

Energy Harvesting From Exercise Machines: Lt8705 Dc-Dc Conversion For Elliptical Trainers, Braden Burk, Raj Bhula, Nathan Mckay

Electrical Engineering

Cal Poly’s Energy Harvesting from Exercise Machines (EHFEM) program aims to power the grid using human energy harvested from exercise machines in its gym. Doing so could save the school money and increase the total supply of power available on the grid. This document belongs to one of many groups attempting to design a suitable DC-DC conversion system for an elliptical trainer using an LT8705 Four-Switch Buck-Boost converter. Past teams have built other converters and developed system compatibility characteristics such as filtering, safety, and stability for interfacing components. These teams fall into one of two departments in EHFEM: DC-DC Conversion …

The Black Community And The Call For Vatican Council Ii (1962-1965), Kathleen Dorsey Bellow

Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium

Even as the Church celebrates the 50th anniversary of Vatican Council II (1962-65), the people of God have not unfolded much of its meaning for Catholic pastoral practice and teaching. In the excitement of Council developments, many updates were implemented in the life of the church without proper catechesis, leaving many of the faithful – proponents and opponents of the Council - wholly uninformed about the continuity of Council reforms with Catholic tradition. The dialogue between the Church and contemporary society formally endorsed in Vatican II is ongoing. A review of the world’s situation in the 1950s and 60s provides …

Investigating Infection Control Behaviors In Nurses, Elizabeth L. Beam

Theses & Dissertations

Nurses are trained in the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and have access to policies and procedures to use in their daily work, but errors in technique during patient care are common. The purpose of this study was to better understand the infection control behaviors that nurses demonstrate in practice. The project described nursing behaviors related to basic airborne and contact precautions using personal protective equipment (PPE) in a simulated care environment. The specific aims were to 1) identify infection control behaviors by nurses which may or may not adhere to clinical standards for isolation practice while performing clinical …

A Strategic Approach To Effectively Manage Supplier Quality Within The Construction Industry, Rufaidah Almaian

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the research is to determine the best practices for supplier quality management (SQM) in the construction industry that ensure that the supplied materials and equipment for construction projects are within the quality requirements. The research is based on three main objectives. The first objective is to describe and assess the process of assuring supplier quality inside and outside the construction industry. The second objective is to develop a framework for the supplier quality process based on the collection of SQM practices from multiple data sources. The third objective is to assess the SQM practices within the developed …

Perceptions Of An Emergency Medicine Simulation Program By Undergraduate Medical Students With Different Clinical Experiences, Hsiang-Chin Hsu, Hsin-I Shih, Ming-Che Chuang, Chih-Hao Lin, Ming-Yuan Hong, Chih-Chan Lin, Ming-Yen Shih, Tsuen-Chiuan Tsai, Chyi-Her Lin, Chih-Hsien Chi

Journal of Medical Education

Purpose: Simulation has been widely used as a tool for the education and evaluation of doctors, nurses, and medical students. Performance in simulation programs can reflect the knowledge and skill levels of trainees. The study aimed to compare perceptions of an emergency medicine simulation program by two independent groups, 5th and 6th grade medical students. Methods: All of the medical students were required to take part in an emergency medicine course once during their clerkships. We conducted anonymous surveys after the emergency medicine simulation course. The questionnaire consisted of 22 items and included students’ learning experiences, confidence, and self-assessments. Results: …

Developing A High-Fidelity Mannequin-Based Simulation Contest For Interprofessional Education, Tsuen-Chiuan Tsai, Der-Fang Chen, Po-Kai Huang, Yu Chang, Zong-Rong He, Yi-Ming Wang

Journal of Medical Education

As the complexity of healthcare increases, the importance of inter-professional education has also become more pronounced. Simulation contest using high-fidelity mannequins has been successfully introduced to facilitate engagement for learners with both personal and team skills. Purpose: The study demonstrated the development of a theater type simulation contest that involves multiple disciplines. Narrative reflections on its effectiveness, feasibility and quality are also reported. Methods: The contest development process was recorded, which followed standard steps for test development. Cases and assessment tools were constructed based upon predetermined objectives and finally refined by piloting. The simulation focuses on critical emergent events in …

A Humean Account Of Testimonial Justification, Shane Ryan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

I argue that a Humean account can make sense of the phenomenology associated with testimonial justification; the phenomenology being that in standard cases hearers regularly simply accept a testifier’s assertions as true – hearers don't engage in monitoring. The upshot is that a Humean account is in a better position dialectically than is usually supposed. I provide some background to the debate before setting out two challenges facing accounts of testimonial justification. The first challenge is to provide an account that accords with the phenomenology of testimonial reception; the second challenge is to provide an account that can make sense …