Digital Commons Network^™

Basic Sheep Genetics, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Genetics is the science of heredity. It seeks to explain differences and similarities exhibited by related individuals. The application of genetics to livestock improvement is known as animal breeding. The objective of this fact sheet is to provide a refresher course on basic genetics and to show how knowledge of genetics can be used to improve sheep production.

Keeping And Using Flock Performance Records, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Performance records serve as the cornerstone of any good livestock management program. Unfortunately, the task of collecting, maintaining and using performance records is the one area of livestock production in general that gets the least attention. This fact sheet provides ten reasons why all sheep producers need to keep performance records on their flocks. Then, some ways of maintaining and using those records are discussed.

Crossbreeding Considerations In Sheep, Debra K. Aaron

Agriculture and Natural Resources Publications

Crossbreeding is the mating of individuals from different breeds. To a certain extent, it is a simple concept, but embarking upon a crossbreeding program, in sheep or any other livestock species, involves long-term decisions.

The primary benefits of a crossbreeding program are heterosis and breed complementarity.

Translating And Adapting The Postt For Formative Assessment Of Indonesian Preservice Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Orientations, Listiani

Masters Theses

Indonesia has experienced problems in teacher quality, especially science teachers. Regarding this problem, a teacher-training program, in which preservice teachers are directed to use the most appropriate science teaching methods, is important to prepare qualified teachers. Having formative assessments for assessing Indonesian preservice science teachers’ teaching orientations is important. Therefore, the Pedagogy of Science Teaching Test (POSTT) was translated and adapted into Bahasa as a formative assessment for preservice science teachers. There were eight steps to translate and validate the POSTT into Bahasa (Indonesian language). The translation and validation processes involved eight experts in the target language and eight science …

The Utilization Of The Library Innovation Project As An Intervention Of Developing Literacy In Morogoro Region Of Tanzania, Roselyne Obiero Ayieko

Master of Education

Due to high rate of enrolment in primary schools which is as a result of UPE, more children are going to school but the literacy levels are very low in Tanzania. More children are leaving school without attaining basic literacy that can make them function fully in the society. The situation is even worse in the rural areas. The situation has called for the NGOs, to intervene to bring about equity and equality to the people of Turiani. The RR has intervened in the rural areas of Turiani by constructing libraries to be utilized to improve literacy in the region. …

“Great Technology, Football And...”: Malaysian Language Learners’ Stereotypes About Germany, L. Nikitina, Z. Mohd Don, S.C. Loh

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Abstract: This study focuses on stereotypes about Germany, its culture and people, held by learners of German in a big public university in Malaysia. It examines not only the stereotypical representations of the target language country but also assesses its favourability and salience, which has not been done previously. The findings revealed that the students’ stereotypes about Germany were varied and diverse. Also, they were overwhelmingly positive. The top three salient categories of images about Germany were related to technology, famous personalities – for the most part football players and scientists – and cars. The findings also indicated that very …

A Comparative Study Of Testing Semantic Web Services, N. Anari, H. Saboohi, G. Ahakian

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Web Services provide efficient reusability mechanism, thereby reducing the development time and cost. Mostly the source code of web services is unavailable to other developers who use these services. The manual effort spent by them in testing these web services is very large in order to increase the interoperability. Thus, automated testing needs to be developed for testing these Web services. This paper reviews test cases for Web Services using reduction techniques Pair-Wise Testing (PWT) and Orthogonal Array Testing (OAT) and compares the two techniques with general method. The structure of Web Services is specified using UML diagrams. The pre …

A Hybrid Algorithm Of Source Localization Based On Hyperbolic Technique In Wsn, H. Kabir, J. Kanesan, A.W. Reza, H. Ramiah

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Electromagnetic (EM) source localization has become a vital issue lately to improve civilian safety, increase the military security and mitigate the disaster effect. The localization is embedded in battle-field surveillance, traffic alert, emergency call 911 (E911), resource allocation and mitigation of disaster effect. The location of the emitter can be determined by bestowing its transmitted signal measured at an array of spatially separated receivers. Several methods have been developed for estimating the EM source location. These methods include Time of Arrival (TOA), Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA), Frequency Difference of arrival (FDOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Received Signal Strength …

A New Parameterized Architectural Design For Sense Reconstruction, M.F. Siddiqui, A.W. Reza, J. Kanesan, H. Omer

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Reconfigurable hardware based architectures that could provide good quality image reconstruction for parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) within very less computation time are in high demand. Hardware platforms for specific reconstruction algorithms dramatically increase the power efficiency and decrease the execution time. This research proposes a new parameterized architecture design for Sensitivity Encoding (SENSE) reconstruction. This architecture is also synthesized for Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Complex multiplier, divider and complex matrix multiplier modules are designed to implement the algorithm. Furthermore, the variable data bus widths are used in the data path of the architecture, which leads to reduce the …

Adequacy Assessment Of Time Of Dispatch Rules Using Fuzzy Topsis Method, A. Alibeigi, A. Asemi, A.B. Munir, U.H. Obaidellah

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Adequacy assessment of the existing Time of Dispatch (TD) rules is an academic primary step to improve the regulation of electronic commerce laws. This study aims to evaluate the ASEAN countries based on the adequacy of their TD rules. We propose an extended Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method for evaluation of ASEAN countries’ TD based on experts’ judgments. Fuzzy TOPSIS is initially a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method. In this study, we extend it to a one criterion group decision making method. A group of academic experts is assigned for the judgment …

Cloud Computing Applications And Platforms: A Survey, M.N. Hindia, A.W. Reza, O. Dakkak, S. Awang Nor, K.A. Noordin

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

The implementation of cloud computing application takes the higher necessity, especially after suffering from modern problems, such as providing proper funds for social service and purchasing programs. For that, the cloud computing applications propose a promising solution to solve such issues. In this paper, we will discuss the implemention of cloud computing over Smart Grid system; a reliable, cost effective guaranteed and efficient system, it is expected to be Long Term Evolution (LTE): which allows larger pieces of spectrum, or bands to be used furthermore with more coverage and less latency and the third technology is Vehicular network: which is …

Designing A Sustaining Amplifier For A 17.22 Mhz Electrostatic Resonator Based Reference Oscillator, S. Roy, H. Ramiah, A.W. Reza

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

MEMS resonator based oscillators, however, are now a technical reality which are extremely cost-effective, very small in size in comparison with quartz crystal based oscillators and can be fabricated in the conventional CMOS process, monolithically. In this work a new sustaining amplifier is designed for a 17.22 MHz MEMS resonator which has an unloaded quality factor of 1000. A total transimpedance open loop gain of 122 dB-Ω has been achieved over the bandwidth of interest to drive this resonator for a sustained oscillation. Total DC power consumption of this sustaining amplifier is 6.3mW from a 1.8v DC source in 0.18μm …

Efficiency Maximization Of Resonant Coupled Wireless Power Transfer System Via Impedance Matching Based On Coupling Tuning, S.D. Barman, A.W. Reza, N. Kumar

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Non-radiative wireless power transfer (WPT) system using strong magnetic resonant coupling has been recently proposed and has shown more prospects in mid-range wireless power transmission due to its operating range and efficiency. The efficiency of such WPT system changes with the coupling distance between the coils changes, which is a critical issue for high efficient power transmission. In this paper, we demonstrate an impedance matching approach based on coupling tuning to enhance and maximize the efficiency of the system. The matching conditions are derived by analysing an equivalent circuit model of the system using reflected load theory (RLT) along with …

Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making Applications: A Review Study, A. Asemi, M.S. Baba, A. Asemi, R. Haji Abdullah, N. Idris

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making (FMCDM) techniques have a wide range of applications. However, they have different range of usage in various applications. In some applications they are more applied than others. In this study, we aim to investigate the most usage of FMCDM techniques among various applications. We select 150 articles that used FMCDM techniques for decision making. Then we analyzed the articles to investigate the application of FMCDM techniques. Finally, we found that “Location management” and “Supplier Selection” are the most applications for FMCDM techniques and among FMCDM techniques Fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS are the most applied …

Multi-Criteria Impact Assessment Of Mvml In Performance Of Interactive Systems For People With Disabilities, S.S. Salim, A. Asemi, Z.D. Champiri, S.R. Shahamiri

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

The impact assessment of MVML with different criteria is a primary step in the optimisation of Interactive Systems for People with Disabilities (DPISs). This study aims to assess the impact of MVML in comparison with other active learning methods based on multiple criteria. We apply a model of mathematical fuzzy Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) for evaluation of active learning methods. We determine the critical factors that are effective in the performance of interactive systems for people with disabilities. An expert’s judgment is used to compare the methods with each other for all criteria. The fuzzy set theory is applied …

Online Pattern Recognition In Subsequence Time Series Clustering, S. Zolhavarieh, S. Aghabozorgi, T.Y. Wah

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

One of the open issues in the context of subsequence time series clustering is online pattern recognition. There are different fields in this clustering such as e-commerce, outlier detection, speech recognition, biological systems, DNA recognition, and text mining. Among these fields pattern recognition is one the essential concept. To implement the idea of online pattern recognition, we choose sequences of ECG data as a subsequence time series data. Additionally, using ECG data can help to interpret heart activity for finding heart diseases. This paper will offer a way to generate online pattern recognition in subsequence time series clustering in order …

Segmentation Of Crescent Shape Blood Cells Using Circular Hough Transform, A.M. Rahmani, M.Y.I. Idris, R. Ramli, Hamzah Arof

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

In this paper, we presented a semi-automated tool to analyze red blood cells. We utilized circular Hough transform for circular cells detection. In a light micrograph, the red blood cells may appear in a crescent shape that known as Sickle-cell. Thus, we proposed a technique to detect this shape and demonstrated its capability. Overall, our tool recorded 92% of accuracy with 70% and 72% of sensitivity and specificity respectively. Despite the promising performance, several limitations must be overcome and has been highlighted in the conclusions.

Summary Of Best Efficient Algorithms On Cognitive Radio Cooperative Spectrum Sensing To Improve Qos, M. Akbari, A.W. Reza, K.A. Noordin, M.R. Manesh, M.N. Hindia

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Cooperative spectrum sensing (CSS) in cognitive radio (CR) has been widely investigated to be considered as a spectrum scanning mechanism that allows secondary users or cognitive radio users (SUs) to use detected spectrum holes caused by primary users (PUs) absence. This paper focuses on optimality of analytical study on the common soft fusion (SDF) CSS based on different iterative algorithms which confirm low total probability of error and high probability of detection in details. In fact, all steps of genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and imperialistic competitive algorithm (ICA) will be well mentioned in details and investigated on …

Reflective Dialogues And Students’ Problem Solving Ability Analysis Using Clustering, S.A. Sardareh, S. Aghabozorgi, A. Dutt

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

In the context of one-on-one instruction, reflective dialogues help students advance their learning and improve their problem solving ability. The effectiveness of one-on-one instruction with respect to learning through dialogue is highlighted by researchers and educators. However, little if any, is known about how reflective dialogues may lead to learning improvement and predict students’ problem solving ability. This information can be extracted from large educational datasets using data mining techniques. Consequently, this study aims at mining USNA physics dataset applying a two-level clustering approach to find patterns in the data and identify how reflective dialogues predict students’ problem solving ability. …

Peanut Butter Jelly: An Animated Short Film, Alexander Beaty

All Theses

Peanut Butter Jelly is an animated short film based on the concept of two species of Jellyfish clashing over a jar of peanut butter. The production spanned a year and involved the artistic effort of 12 Digital Production Arts graduate students as well as a support team of 10 students from various programs within the University.

High School Graduation Coaches: Supporting At-Risk High School Students, Heather Elise Dunnavant

Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of a new dropout prevention program, Project WALK, which was launched at a low-income high school in Missouri during the 2012–2013 school year. After examining alarming dropout statistics, Washington High School chose 40 students to participate in a new program, Project WALK, which was designed to use graduation coaches to improve at-risk students’ performance. The program’s six graduation coaches formed relationships with at-risk students, monitored student progress, and consistently communicated with parents, teachers, and school administrators about the at-risk students. The researcher, an administrator at the school, gathered quantitative data to measure the effects of …

The Connection Program: An Examination Of One Developmental Education Program, Katherine Grace Craft

Dissertations

Developmental education continues to be an area of concern for higher education institutions. Understanding and developing programs to provide support and increase retention, completion, and success rates for developmental education students is vital to increasing degree attainment in the United States. This study explored one developmental education program at a Midwest community college implemented in 2011. A mixed-methods approach was executed to compare completion and success rates two years prior to implementation and two years following implementation, as well as to obtain qualitative information regarding perceptions of the program. Quantitative data analysis revealed increases in developmental education rates for qualifying …

Impact Of Collaborative Specialization On 5th Grade Student Achievement In A Title I School: Program Evaluation Proposal, Nicole Villaverde

Dissertations

This paper details a complete program evaluation of an elementary school's transition from having mainstream classes to a collaborative specialization model of instruction. My study examines how this model of instruction impacts students' achievement levels and student behavior in a title 1 school. I created the model and in the process of doing my study was required to change it into a model I then defined as Collaborative Specialization. I concluded from my research that this model of instruction was indeed a success because it increased the number of students making learning gains and decreased disciplinary problems.

Understanding Higher-Order Nonlocal Halo Bias At Large Scales By Combining The Power Spectrum With The Bispectrum, Shun Saito, Tobias Baldauf, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Understanding the relation between underlying matter distribution and biased tracers such as galaxies or dark matter halos is essential to extract cosmological information from ongoing or future galaxy redshift surveys. At sufficiently large scales such as the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) scale, a standard approach for the bias problem on the basis of the perturbation theory (PT) is to assume the "local bias" model in which the density field of biased tracers is deterministically expanded in terms of matter density field at the same position. The higher-order bias parameters are then determined by combining the power spectrum with higher-order statistics …

Webster's Geometry; Or, The Irreducible Duchess, Benjamin Bertram Phd

Faculty Publications

This study of geometry, gender, and skepticism in John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi argues that the play leaves us in a hall of mirrors, a horror show of optical tricks, delusion, narcissism, and perspectivism from which there seems to be no escape, no masterpiece of God’s creation upholding reality beyond sensory images. In the absence of a transcendental referent, the Duchess’ willful and fearful journey «into the wilderness» – the life she leads as a result of her furtive marriage to her steward Antonio – becomes an alternative to both the public sphere mapped by divine patterns of order …

Onebusaway Multi-Region – Rapidly Expanding Mobile Transit Apps To New Cities, Sean J. Barbeau, Alan Borning, Kari Watkins

Journal of Public Transportation

Real-time transit information offers many benefits to transit riders, including reduced wait times and increased customer satisfaction. However, offering real-time transit services has been challenging for many transit agencies. While mobile applications (apps) have emerged as a preferred dissemination method for real-time information, it is typically cost-prohibitive for transit agencies to fund custom development of native mobile apps for all popular smartphone platforms. Third-party developers can offer services if an agency openly shares real-time data, but these individuals are volunteers whose priorities and deadlines may not be the same as the agency’s. As a result, few cities have full app …

Evaluating The Performance Of Public Urban Transportation Systems In India, Omkarprasad S. Vaidya

Journal of Public Transportation

Evaluating the performance of public transportation systems facilitates operational improvement and strategic decisions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative performance of 26 public urban transportation organizations in India using various criteria. We grouped these 19 criteria as Operations, Finance, and Accident-based. First, we evaluated the importance of these criteria groups using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Then, we evaluated the organizations (Decision Making Units, DMUs) using various criteria within each criteria group using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Finally, a ransportation Efficiency Number (TEN) was developed that quantified the overall performance of the DMUs considering the 19 …

Rnase L Contributes To Experimentally Induced Type 1 Diabetes Onset In Mice, Chun Zeng, Xin Yi, Danny Zipris, Hongli Liu, Lin Zhang, Qiaoyun Zheng, Krishnamurthy Malathi, Ge Jin, Aimin Zhou

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The cause of type 1 diabetes continues to be a focus of investigation. Studies have revealed that interferon α (IFNα) in pancreatic islets after viral infection or treatment with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), a mimic of viral infection, is associated with the onset of type 1 diabetes. However, how IFNα contributes to the onset of type 1 diabetes is obscure. In this study, we found that 2-5A-dependent RNase L (RNase L), an IFNα-inducible enzyme that functions in the antiviral and antiproliferative activities of IFN, played an important role in dsRNA-induced onset of type 1 diabetes. Using RNase L-deficient, rat insulin promoter-B7.1 …

Engineering Design Challenge, Lindsay B. Wheeler, Brooke A. Whitworth, Amanda L. Gonczi

Publications

No abstract provided.

The R Journal (December 2014) 6(2): Complete Issue, The R Foundation

The R Journal

Editorial, Deepayan Sarkar

Contributed Research Articles

Coordinate-Based Meta-Analysis of fMRI Studies with R, Andrea Stocco

Automatic Conversion of Tables to LongForm Dataframes, Jimmy Oh

Prinsimp, Jonathan Zhang, Nancy Heckman, Davor Cubranic, Joel G. Kingsolver, Travis Gaydos, and J. S. Marron

phaseR: An R Package for Phase Plane Analysis of Autonomous ODE Systems, Michael J. Grayling

Flexible R Functions for Processing Accelerometer Data, with Emphasis on NHANES 2003-2006, Dane R. Van Domelen and W. Stephen Pittard

Applying spartan to Understand Parameter Uncertainty in Simulations, Kieran Alden, Mark Read, Paul S. Andrews, Jon Timmis, and Mark Coles

ngspatial: A Package for Fitting …