Digital Commons Network^™

Mountain Monitor - 3rd Quarter 2014, Kenan Fikri, Mark Muro

Mountain Monitor Quarterly

As a group, the 10 major metro areas of the Mountain West outperformed the national economy during the third quarter of 2014 on all four indicators of economic vitality measured by the Mountain Monitor: employment growth, output growth, unemployment, and house prices. In the three months ending in September, the country’s large metropolitan areas were anticipating the rapid uptick in national economic growth that took hold at the end of 2014. Mountain region metro areas led the way.

All but two major metro areas in the region added jobs, and six did so at a faster rate than the …

Firm-Level Productivity Spillovers In China’S Chemical Industry: A Spatial Hausman-Taylor Approach, Peter H. Egger, Badi H. Baltagi, Michaela Kesina

Center for Policy Research

This paper assesses the role of intra-sectoral spillovers in total factor productivity across Chinese producers in the chemical industry. We use a rich panel data-set of 12,552 firms observed over the period 2004-2006 and model output by the firm as a function of skilled and unskilled labor, capital, materials, and total factor productivity, which is broadly defined. The latter is a composite of observable factors such as export market participation, foreign as well as public ownership, the extent of accumulated intangible assets, and unobservable total factor productivity. Despite the richness of our data-set, it suffers from the lack of time …

Random Effects, Fixed Effects And Hausman’S Test For The Generalized Mixed Regressive Spatial Autoregressive Panel, Badi Baltagi, Long Liu

Center for Policy Research

This paper suggests random and fixed effects spatial two-stage least squares estimators for the generalized mixed regressive spatial autoregressive panel data model. This extends the generalized spatial panel model of Baltagi, Egger and Pfaffermayr (2013) by the inclusion of a spatial lag dependent variable. The estimation method utilizes the Generalized Moments method suggested by Kapoor, Kelejian, and Prucha (2007) for a spatial autoregressive panel data model. We derive the asymptotic distributions of these estimators and suggest a Hausman test a la Mutl and Pfaffermayr (2011) based on the difference between these estimators. Monte Carlo experiments are performed to investigate the …

Algebraic Semi-Classical Model For Reaction Dynamics, Tim Glenn Wendler

Theses and Dissertations

We use an algebraic method to model the molecular collision dynamics of a collinear triatomic system. Beginning with a forced oscillator, we develop a mathematical framework upon which inelastic and reactive collisions are modeled. The model is considered algebraic because it takes advantage of the properties of a Lie algebra in the derivation of a time-evolution operator. The time-evolution operator is shown to generate both phase-space and quantum dynamics of a forced oscillator simultaneously. The model is considered semi-classical because only the molecule's internal degrees-of-freedom are quantized. The relative translation between the colliding atom and molecule in an exchange reaction …

Linking Individual-Tree And Whole-Stand Models For Forest Growth And Yield Prediction, Quang V. Cao

Faculty Publications

Background: Different types of growth and yield models provide essential information for making informed decisions on how to manage forests. Whole-stand models often provide well-behaved outputs at the stand level, but lack information on stand structures. Detailed information from individual-tree models and size-class models typically suffers from accumulation of errors. The disaggregation method, in assuming that predictions from a whole-stand model are reliable, partitions these outputs to individual trees. On the other hand, the combination method seeks to improve stand-level predictions from both whole-stand and individual-tree models by combining them. Methods: Data from 100 plots randomly selected from the Southwide …

Sustainability Of A Comprehensive School Reform Model From The Perspectives Of Three Participating Principals, Bethann S. Browning

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

School reform is a deliberate process that requires a strong commitment at all levels. The school leader plays a crucial role in establishing a vision and nurturing an environment that facilitates reform efforts. School reform efforts have witnessed a change in the role of the elementary principal from manager to instructional leader. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the role of the elementary principal in sustaining school reform, in the form of Literacy Collaborative. The study was guided by one research question: how did elementary principals sustain a comprehensive school reform effort in the form of Literacy …

Pale Statue, Richard Graham Bonnington Jr

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This Thesis will focus on the Inciting Incident as described by both Robert McKee and Christopher Vogler, both world renowned for their workshops involving the process of making stories. I will argue that the Inciting Incident is the most important aspect of prose. The creative section of the Thesis is the beginning of a novel called, Pale Statue: Blood Sisters. The novel is cosmic horror set in rural Kentucky. The main protagonist, Maureen Ford, is a teenager who has grown up unaware of her father’s involvement in a cult during his college years and unaware that alien DNA has affected …

Implementation Of Two-Dimensional Time Accurate Flow Simulation On Moving Mesh Exploiting Mesh Rupturing, Yanan Gong

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A two-dimensional dynamic moving mesh algorithm is implemented for simulating aerodynamic oscillating airfoils. The airfoil is inserted into a uniform unstructured background mesh by exploiting an new technique named mesh rupturing, which allows for significant geometry movement without grid regeneration or interpolation between grids. Then unsteady flow simulation results are presented and validated by several test cases. Previous methodologies for unsteady flow simulation are listed and compared, advantages and disadvantages of the new mesh technique are discussed and advice for further research as well.

Adaptive Underfrequency Load Shedding Based On Real Time Simulation, Mosab Salah Aldeen Mohamed Zeyada

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Conventional Underfrequency Load Shedding (UFLS) is used to balance generation and load when underfrequency conditions occur. It sheds a fixed, predetermined amount of load irrespective of disturbance location. Several adaptive UFLS schemes are proposed in the literature. Recent research discussed utilizing synchrophasor messages to implement adaptive UFLS but these studies have been using virtual PMUs. Of late, hardware implementations for adaptive UFLS scheme using actual Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) are reported but also these studies are based on small power systems. This study presents hardware implementation of adaptive UFLS based on real time simulation of IEEE39-bus system. The simulation tool …

Uaa Graduates: How Many Stay And Work In Alaska?, Alexandra Hill, Gunnar Knapp, Blake Steenhoven

ISER Reports

More and more people have been graduating from the University of Alaska Anchorage in the past decade. Do they stay in Alaska? What kinds of jobs do they have? How much do they earn? It turns out that most of them stay in Alaska for at least five years after they graduate, they work throughout the economy, and by five years after they graduate their average earnings double. Around one-quarter do leave within a few years. But Alaska’s population on the whole is transient, and it looks as if UAA graduates are no more likely than other Alaskans to leave …

55 | Bet Dagan: Intermediate Bronze Age And Mamluk-Period Cemeteries, 2004–2005 Excavations, Eli Yannai, Yossi Nagar

IAA Reports—Monograph Series of the Israel Antiquities Authority

This volume describes the IAA excavation of two cemeteries of different periods on the coastal plain near Tel Aviv. The excavation uncovered one of the largest Intermediate Bronze Age shaft-tomb cemeteries with burial assemblages and anthropological remains known to date. The Muslim cemetery is unique in having no tombs or grave goods.

Paper People And Digital Memory: Recreating The Public And Private In Japan, Meghan Sarah Fidler

Dissertations

This research examines how reading and writing on digital platforms establishes public and private spheres in Tokyo, Japan. Based upon findings from a group of students at an international University, I develop new modes of thinking about people and their use of Internet capable devices by exploring the paradoxes present in contemporary literacies. Contextualizing reading and writing within the speech patterns and exchange rituals (aisatsu) which mark public spheres in Japan, writing practices are found to reflect multiple nuanced identity performances in which the varied use of the cultural principles uchi/soto (inside/outside) and ura/omote (back/front) create parallel publics. Constructed by …

The Effect Of Instruction In Alternative Solutions On American Ninth-Grade Algebra I Students' Problem Solving Performance, Erin Elizabeth Sagaskie

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the use of an Alternative-Solution Worksheet (ASW) on American ninth-grade students' problem solving performance, and to determine the extent to which instruction in alternative solutions promotes "look back" strategies. "Look back" strategies are based on Polya's (1973) problem solving steps, and they are an examination of what was done or learned previously. The ASW was designed to encourage students to utilize "look back" strategies by generating alternative solutions to the problems. This mixed-methods study was conducted with two existing groups of ninth-grade Algebra I students. An experimental group of …

"I Don't Want To Hurt Anyone's Feelings": Using Race As A Writing Prompt In First Year Writing, Dianna Shank

Dissertations

First Year Composition (FYC) is one of the most important courses for any incoming college student. This course (often designated as English 101) provides students the rhetorical tools to fully engage in critical thinking and writing on the college level. One of the most common methods of organizing FYC is to use a topic as the center of all the reading and writing prompts. The use of outside subject matter to teach FYC is a common practice that is rarely interrogated for its effectiveness. However, the Hairston debate in the early 1990s opened up a public discussion of how FYC …

Seeing The World Through Deaf Eyes: Chile Study-Abroad Experiences Of Deaf Students, Joan Marie Naturale

Education Doctoral

Research has indicated that a global education, including study-abroad programs, is increasingly crucial in today’s world and offers intercultural, personal, academic, and career-related benefits to participants. However, there has been a paucity of academic research on best-class and study-abroad program designs for the deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The research to date has not included the experiences and perceptions of deaf students who participated in study-abroad programs. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived supports and barriers to study-abroad experiences of deaf students. Information gathered from the unique perspective of deaf study participants was used to assist in …

We Got Game! Using Games For Library Orientation, Lesli Baker, Annie Smith

LOEX Conference Proceedings 2012

Working with Millennial students requires librarians to use new approaches to engage and reach them effectively. Games offer an entertaining and effective means of teaching students basic information literacy principles while introducing them to the library and library services. Over a two-year period, the Utah Valley University (UVU) Library created and piloted two self-paced orientation games to introduce the library and library services. The Get a Clue game used clues placed throughout the building to orient students to the physical library and basic services while solving a mystery. LibraryCraft used an online game to introduce students to the library’s website …

From Prix Fixe To A La Carte: Using Lesson Study To Collaborate With Faculty In Customizing Information Literacy, Eric Jennings, Hans Kishel, Jill Markgraf

LOEX Conference Proceedings 2012

The one-shot, prix fixe library instruction session has long been the reality for many information literacy programs. Learn how one library used lesson study, a collaborative process of planning, observing and assessing a single lesson, to put in motion ongoing collaboration with faculty across several disciplines. Through the collaborative process of redesigning a single lesson, librarians and teaching faculty confronted their respective expectations for and challenges in providing library instruction, and ignited the interest of faculty from English, nursing and the sciences. Through work with a variety of faculty, librarians learned that a single instruction model does not work for …

Lateral Resistance Of Piles Near 15 Foot Vertical Mse Abutment Walls Reinforced With Ribbed Steel Strips, Jarell Han

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACTLateral Resistance of Piles near 15 Foot Vertical MSE AbutmentWalls Reinforced with Ribbed Steel StripsJarell Jen Chou HanDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, BYUMaster of ScienceA full scale MSE wall was constructed and piles were driven at various distances behind the wall. Lateral load tests were conducted to determine the effect of pile spacing from the wall on the lateral resistance of the piles and the force resisted by the MSE reinforcement. The piles used for this study were 12.75 inch pipe piles and the reinforcements were ribbed steel strips.Load-deflection curves were developed for piles located behind the wall at …

Physical Light And The Light Of Christ, David A. Grandy

BYU Studies

Light is puzzling. For the last century, surprises have repeatedly upended older understandings of light. What is more, these surprises have, among scientists and nonscientists alike, triggered a great deal of philosophical and theological commentary. Physical light resonates metaphysical overtones, some of which may be considered theological or spiritual. Light travels at its characteristic speed only in a vacuum; when moving through air, its speed is reduced. Material bodies can slow, block, and even extinguish light, giving light a seemingly subordinate role in our material world. But special relativity's portrayal of light breaks the frame of mechanistic thought and thereby …

The Special Skills Of Advocacy, Warren E. Burger

Fordham Law Review

    To commemorate our founding in 1914, the Board of Editors has selected six influential pieces published by the Law Review over the past 100 years and will republish one piece in each issue.

    The third piece selected by the Board is The Special Skills of Advocacy, a lecture delivered by the late Chief Justice Warren E. Burger that is among the most cited works in the Law Review’s history. Speaking at Fordham Law School on November 26, 1973, Chief Justice Burger advocated for law schools to better prepare students for skillful courtroom advocacy, declaring that “[w]e must acknowledge, …

Aging In Place In Marion: A Community Endeavor, Bernard A. Steinman, Hayley Gleason, Maryam Khaniyan, Ceara Somerville, Jan Mutchler

Gerontology Institute Publications

This report describes collaborative efforts undertaken by the Friends of the Marion Council on Aging (FMCOA) and the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, within the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston (UMass Boston). Beginning in Fall 2014, these organizations partnered to conduct a study to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of the Town’s older resident population, and the priorities of other stakeholders in the Town, with respect to living and aging in Marion.

In the earliest phase of the project, we met several times with members of the FMCOA to discuss and …

Principals Who Supervise Teachers Of The Deaf: A Mixed Methods Study, Tanya Hilligoss

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

School principals are responsible for supervising educational staff. Since the majority of students who are deaf or hard of hearing are served in public schools, it is important for principals to understand how to supervise teachers of the deaf. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of school principals who supervise teachers of the deaf in public schools in the United States.

In this mixed methods study, data was collected separately and sequentially, using an explanatory sequential design. Information was gathered from state-level personnel using a web-based survey for quantitative data. Data collected included: a) number of …

The Predictive Validity Of Pre-Admission Measures On Podiatric Medical School Performance, Kevin M. Smith

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study explored the influence of pre-admission measures on podiatric medical school performance. The purpose of the study was to predict which students are most likely to succeed in podiatric medical school when admitted, and potentially decrease the cost of attrition experienced by the student and institution. A review of the literature on medical school admissions was completed and used to develop this research.

Podiatric medical students from a Midwestern institution who enrolled between the years 2000 and 2015 were included as the sample for the study (n = 804). Pre-admission measures that were available for the subjects included Medical …

Motivational Interviewing To Enhance Weight Loss And Eating Self-Efficacy In Overweight And Obese Adults, Theresa K. Buchanan Dr.

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Translational and Clinical Research Projects

Greater than six in ten adults in the United States are overweight or obese which can lead to cardiovascular disease, Type II Diabetes, joint injury and some forms of cancer, costing billions of healthcare dollars each year. Weight loss is difficult, as is maintaining weight loss. The purpose of this project is to investigate if use of the evidenced based (EB) intervention, motivational interviewing (MI), will enhance weight loss and eating self-efficacy (ESE) in overweight and obese adults seeking weight loss at a weight loss clinic over the course of eight weeks. Participants who received MI in addition to current …

Top 10 Medicinal Plants And Their Groundbreaking Impact On Modern Medicine, Jordan N. Patterson, Joan Marie Lausier

Senior Honors Projects

This paper describes ten plants that having been groundbreaking drugs in the past century that were all derived from plants. I chose to do my project on this topic because of my family’s history with natural medicine. In 1999 my mother was diagnosed with Bile Duct cancer and the doctors gave her only a couple of weeks to live. The doctors recommended chemotherapy and radiation, but the results seemed negative for the situation. After some extensive research, my parents found St. Georges Medicinal Wellness Center located in the tiny village of Bad Aibling, Germany. This hospital along with offering traditional …

A Holistic View Of Agency Enforcement, David L. Markell, Robert L. Glicksman

Scholarly Publications

The law review literature has long recognized that effective enforcement is an essential component of effective regulation. Yet much of the literature focuses on one aspect of the enforcement challenge or another. For example, the underlying theory about optimal levels of enforcement has received considerable attention, as have topics such as the relative merits of using deterrence-based versus cooperation-based approaches and the use of citizen suits. The purpose of this Article is to consider agencies’ enforcement and compliance promotion function holistically.

This Article proposes a three-layered conceptual framework for considering options for structuring the administrative agency enforcement and compliance promotion …

Multimodal Arguments, Technology, And Social Issues: A Formative Experiment, Emily Howell, Tracy Butler, David Reinking

Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of University-Related International Experience, Volunteer Service,And Service-Learning On Moral Growth , Parry F. Garff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis empirically tests whether university-related volunteer service, international experience, and service-learning have a positive moral impact on students and whether the peer reference group moderates this relationship. I use a measure of morality based on the recent work on values by Shalom Schwartz. A novel approach to measuring the social psychological phenomenon of the peer reference group is used in which the relative strength of the peer reference group is measured. The peer reference group was included in hypothesized models as a moderator between volunteer service, international experience, service-learning, and moral growth. Cross-sectional survey data of 633 engineering students …

Annual Report On Research Activities 2013/14, Lingnan University (Hong Kong, China)

Annual Report on Research Activities to Research Grants Council

No abstract provided.

Editorial Team

The Prairie Light Review

No abstract provided.