Digital Commons Network^™

Automatic Conversion Of Tables To Longform Dataframes, Jimmy Oh

The R Journal

TableToLongForm automatically converts hierarchical Tables intended for a human reader into a simple LongForm dataframe that is machine readable, making it easier to access and use the data for analysis. It does this by recognising positional cues present in the hierarchical Table (which would normally be interpreted visually by the human brain) to decompose, then reconstruct the data into a LongForm dataframe. The article motivates the benefit of such a conversion with an example Table, followed by a short user manual, which includes a comparison between the simple one argument call to TableToLongForm, with code for an equivalent manual conversion. …

Mvn: An R Package For Assessing Multivariate Normality, Selcuk Korkmaz, Dincer Goksuluk, Gokmen Zararsiz

The R Journal

Assessing the assumption of multivariate normality is required by many parametric multivariate statistical methods, such as MANOVA, linear discriminant analysis, principal component analysis, canonical correlation, etc. It is important to assess multivariate normality in order to proceed with such statistical methods. There are many analytical methods proposed for checking multivariate normality. However, deciding which method to use is a challenging process, since each method may give different results under certain conditions. Hence, we may say that there is no best method, which is valid under any condition, for normality checking. In addition to numerical results, it is very useful to …

Coordinate-Based Meta-Analysis Of Fmri Studies With R, Andrea Stocco

The R Journal

This paper outlines how to conduct a simple meta-analysis of neuroimaging foci of activation in R. In particular, the first part of this paper reviews the nature of fMRI data, and presents a brief overview of the existing packages that can be used to analyze fMRI data in R. The second part illustrates how to handle fMRI data by showing how to visualize the results of different neuroimaging studies in a so-called orthographic view, where the spatial distribution of the foci of activation from different fMRI studies can be inspected visually.

Functional MRI (fMRI) is one of the most important …

Taming Pitchf/X Data With Xml2r And Pitchrx, Carson Sievert

The R Journal

XML2R is a framework that reduces the effort required to transform XML content into tables in a way that preserves parent to child relationships. pitchRx applies XML2R’s grammar for XML manipulation to Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM)’s Gameday data. With pitchRx, one can easily obtain and store Gameday data in a remote database. The Gameday website hosts a wealth of XML data, but perhaps most interesting is PITCHf/x. Among other things, PITCHf/x data can be used to recreate a baseball’s flight path from a pitcher’s hand to home plate. With pitchRx, one can easily create animations …

Applying Spartan To Understand Parameter Uncertainty In Simulations, Kieran Alden, Mark Read, Paul S. Andrews, Jon Timmis, Mark Coles

The R Journal

In attempts to further understand the dynamics of complex systems, the application of computer simulation is becoming increasingly prevalent. Whereas a great deal of focus has been placed in the development of software tools that aid researchers develop simulations, similar focus has not been applied in the creation of tools that perform a rigorous statistical analysis of results generated through simulation: vital in understanding how these results offer an insight into the captured system. This encouraged us to develop spartan, a package of statistical techniques designed to assist researchers in understanding the relationship between their simulation and the real system. …

First Documented Nest Of Northern Saw-Whet Owl In Nebraska, Wayne J. Mollhoff

Nebraska Bird Review

Northern Saw-whet Owl was added to our avifauna with a list prepared by Taylor and Van Vleet (1889). The first suggestion of breeding was a second-hand report included in a paper presented at the first meeting of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union in 1899 by M. A. Carriker, Jr., who "was told of a set of five eggs collected near Nebraska City about seven years ago" (1900), but which included no other details. At the next meeting, Bruner (1901) cited that report to include the species on a list of birds that breed in the state. Bruner, Swenk, and Walcott later …

Pedagogical And Ekphrastic Elements In The Story Of The Predestined Pilgrim And His Brother Reprobate By Father Alexandre De Gusm, M Cecilia Fischer

Theses and Dissertations

The object of this thesis is to analyze the presence of the pedagogical ekphrastic elements in the novel The Story of The Predestined Pilgrim and his Brother Reprobate by Father Alexandre de Gusmmão. In the past this novel has been an obscure masterpiece outside the circle of those who study early Portuguese language works. In the last half century there has been a crescendo of the study of this novel as more scholars have taken an interest in the pilgrimage motif and in particular using this novel in comparative literature. A monumental contribution to bring this novel out of obscurity …

Compact Antennas And Arrays For Unmanned Air Systems, James Arthur Eck

Theses and Dissertations

A simple and novel dual-CP printed antenna is modelled and measured. The patch antennais small and achieves a low axial ratio without quadrature feeding. The measured pattern showsaxial ratio pattern squinting over frequency. Possible methods of improving the individual element are discussed, as well as an array technique for improving the axial ratio bandwidth. Three endfire printed antenna structures are designed, analyzed, and compared. The comparison includes an analysis of costs of production for the antenna structures in addition to their performance parameters. This analysis concludes that cost of materials primarily reduces the size of antennas for a given gain …

Replication And Knowledge Production In Empirical Software Engineering Research, Jonathan L. Krein

Theses and Dissertations

Although replication is considered an indispensable part of the scientific method in software engineering, few replication studies are published each year. The rate of replication, however, is not surprising given that replication theory in software engineering is immature. Not only are replication taxonomies varied and difficult to reconcile, but opinions on the role of replication contradict. In general, we have no clear sense of how to build knowledge via replication, particularly given the practical realities of our research field. Consequently, most replications in software engineering yield little useful information. In particular, the vast majority of external replications (i.e., replications performed …

Is A Viable Theistic Program Of Psychological Research Possible?, Michael Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores whether a viable theistic program of psychological research is possible. The importance of this exploration has to do with naturalism's monopoly on psychological science, inasmuch as naturalism prevents other worldviews from competing fairly in psychology's scientific marketplace by controlling the criteria of psychological science. Because theism is naturalism's most complete rival, considering theism's scientific potential in psychology is crucial to dismantling naturalism's monopoly. Contrary to conventional wisdom, theism encompasses a unique set of understandings about the natural events that constitute the discipline of psychology. Therefore, a robust scientific conception of theism would change how psychological researchers understand …

The Multidimensional Quality Metric (Mqm) Framework: A New Framework For Translation Quality Assessment, Valerie Ruth Mariana

Theses and Dissertations

This document is a supplement to the article entitled “The Multidimensional Quality Metric (MQM) Framework: A New Framework for Translation Quality Assessment”, which has been acepted for publication in the upcoming January volume of JoSTrans, the Journal of Specialized Translation. The article is a coauthored project between Dr. Alan K. Melby, Dr. Troy Cox and myself. In this document you will find a preface describing the process of writing the article, an annotated bibliography of sources consulted in my research, a summary of what I learned, and a conclusion that considers the future avenues opened up by this research. Our …

Conscience And Context In Eastman Johnson's The Lord Is My Shepherd, Amanda Melanie Slater

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers the experiences that motivated the creation of an 1863 painting by American artist Eastman Johnson entitled The Lord is My Shepherd. An examination of the painting—which depicts a black man reading a Bible—reveals multiple artistic, social, political, and spiritual influences. Created in the midst of the American Civil War, the painting's inspiration derived from Johnson's New England childhood, training in Europe, encounters with the Transcendentalist movement, and his abolitionist views. As a result, The Lord is My Shepherd is a culminating work in Johnson's oeuvre that was prompted by years of experience and observations in an age …

Framework To Implement Authentication, Authorization And Secure Communications In A Multiuser Collaborative Cax Environment, Francis Mensah

Theses and Dissertations

Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications have historically been based on a single user per application architecture. Although this architecture is still popular to date, it does have several drawbacks. First of all the single user CAD architecture inhibits a concurrent engineering design process where several designers can work on the same model simultaneously. This limitation introduces time inefficiency especially when a project involves geographically dispersed designers. A solution to these drawbacks could be a transition from the traditional single user CAD architecture to a multiuser collaborative architecture. Advances in computer networking technologies, especially relating to the Internet, have provided the …

Fuel Response To Mechanical Mastication Of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands In Utah, Alan Wyatt Shakespear

Theses and Dissertations

Pinyon-juniper woodland encroachment threatens ecosystem function and diversity on sagebrush steppe. Decreased fire frequency likely favors proliferation of pinyon-juniper woodlands and subsequent decline in desirable understory species. Increased tree cover produces hazardous canopy fuel loads that contribute to severe crown fires and threaten life and property at the wildland-urban-interface. Mechanical mastication converts large canopy fuels into small woody debris, altering wildfire dynamics from a potential crown fire to a more controllable surface fire. We measured fuel loading and cover on untreated, masticated, and masticated + burned treatments on 30-m transects within 30 X 33-m subplots, representing 45 different sites throughout …

Modeling And Testing Of Bistable Waterbomb Base Configurations, Brandon Holbrook Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

Origami is making an impact in engineering as solutions to problems are being found by applying origami principles (eg. flat-foldability) and using specific crease patterns as inspiration. This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of a particular origami fold -- the waterbomb base -- to facilitate its use in future engineering problems. The watebomb base is of interest due to its familiarity to the origami community, simple topology (can be made by folding a single sheet of paper four times), scalability, generalizability, and interesting kinetic behavior. It can behave as a nonlinear spring as well as a one- or two-way bistable …

Zadie Smith's Nw And The Edwardian Roots Of The Contemporary Cosmopolitan Ethic, Laura Domenica Marostica

Theses and Dissertations

British contemporary writer Zadie Smith is often representative of cosmopolitan writers of the twenty-first century: in both her fiction and nonfiction, she joins a multicultural background and broad, varied interests to an ethic based on the importance of interpersonal relationships and empathetic respect for the other. But while Smith is often considered the poster child for the contemporary British cosmopolitan, her ethics are in fact rooted in the one rather staid member of the canon: EM Forster, whose emphatic call to ‘only connect’ grounds all of Smith's fiction. Her latest novel, 2012's NW, further expands her relationship to Forster in …

The Bioluminescence Heterozygous Genome Assembler, Jared Calvin Price

Theses and Dissertations

High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies are currently revolutionizing the fields of biology and medicine by elucidating the structure and function of the components of life. Modern DNA sequencing machines typically produce relatively short reads of DNA which are then assembled by software in an attempt to produce a representation of the entire genome. Due to the complex structure of all but the smallest genomes, especially the abundant presence of exact or almost exact repeats, all genome assemblers introduce errors into the final sequence and output a relatively large set of contigs instead of full-length chromosomes (a contig is a DNA sequence …

Family Ties: A Profile Of Television Family Configurations, 2004–2013, Samantha Ann Wiscombe

Theses and Dissertations

This study provides a content analysis of television families portrayed in family-focused programs aired between 2004 and 2013. The analysis focuses on family configuration type, parent type and marital status, and the frequency and gender of children characters, as well as each program's genre, channel type, and target audience. The study uses cultivation theory as the basis of understanding and aims to anticipate television's potential effects and raise important questions that should be addressed in future studies. Results indicate that the traditional nuclear family configuration held the largest portion of the television family landscape. The study found an increase in …

The Development Of Christianity In Contemporary China, Chu Yi Lu

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to study the development of Christianity in contemporary China. It adds to the limited literature that explores how Christianity has developed as the fastest growing religion in China post the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The data derive from semi-structured and focus group interviews with Chinese Christians and field observation notes collected at both official and non-official Christian churches in Beijing. I found an ambivalent attitude toward the development of Christianity across different social levels in China. At the state level, the Chinese government expects Christianity to provide a much-needed stabilizing influence in an increasingly self-centered …

Crash Prediction Modeling For Curved Segments Of Rural Two-Lane Two-Way Highways In Utah, Casey Scott Knecht

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains the results of the development of crash prediction models for curved segments of rural two-lane two-way highways in the state of Utah. The modeling effort included the calibration of the predictive model found in the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) as well as the development of Utah-specific models developed using negative binomial regression. The data for these models came from randomly sampled curved segments in Utah, with crash data coming from years 2008-2012. The total number of randomly sampled curved segments was 1,495. The HSM predictive model for rural two-lane two-way highways consists of a safety performance function …

Paraeducators' Perceptions Of Their Responsibilities Based On The Utah Standards, Mary E. Buynak

Theses and Dissertations

Paraeducators are increasingly involved in the education of students with disabilities. In order for paraeducators to properly work with this population, they must have adequate and ongoing training. Research has shown that paraeducators do not receive appropriate training in order to work with students with disabilities. The purpose of this study is to investigate the self-perceived knowledge of paraeducators working in special education and their level of training need. The study examines paraeducators' work environment, responsibilities, knowledge based on the Utah Standards for Paraeducators and perceived training needs. Ninety-five special education paraeducators working in a large, suburban school district in …

Dark Satire As Political Criticism In Dias' Gomes O Bem-Amado , Mark Jeffrey Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the Dias Gomes' play turned telenovela, O Bem-Amado, to demonstrate the use of satire and dark humor to make political commentary during the tumultuous sociopolitical era in Brazil from the early 1960s through the late-1970s. This era in Brazil is characterized by the overthrow of the leftist democratically elected civilian government by a corporate-backed hardline military dictatorship in the early part of 1964, which lasts for approximately 20 years. The result of this authoritative military rule causes many artists and intellectuals that oppose the dictatorship's repression to flee into exile abroad or adapt to the changing sociopolitical …

Analyzing The Instructional Methodologies And Ideologies Underlying English As A Foreign Language Textbooks In China And Evaluating Their Alignment With Assessments And National Standards, Anneke Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The current study is a collection of three publishable articles addressing a similar theme. Each article is an examination into the role textbooks play in Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classrooms and, specifically, a look at textbooks as an element in the classroom environment, their relationship to pressures from high-stakes exams, and an exploration into any paradigms about the nature of EFL learning they may be explicitly or implicitly promoting through their content and methodologies. The first article, a grounded theory look at underlying methodologies and ideologies in common Chinese textbooks, reveals that there may be competing paradigms …

A Desk Study Of The Education Policy Implications Of Using Data From Multiple Sources: Example Of Primary School Teacher Supply And Demand In Malawi, Moses Khombe

Theses and Dissertations

Malawi, as a country with very limited resources, needs to have educational policies in place to maximize effectiveness of the public education system. Policymakers depend on accurate data, but variations in data between sources leaves policymakers uncertain as they attempt to craft policies to address the growing educational crisis in Malawi. A desk study was performed to evaluate the policy implications of employing data from multiple sources using primary school teacher supply and demand in Malawi as an illustration. This study examined one national organization, Malawi's Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST); three international aid and assistance organizations (IAAOs), …

Inheriting The Library: The Archon And The Archive In George Macdonald's Lilith, Lauran Ray Fuller

Theses and Dissertations

George MacDonald's novel Lilith relates the story of a young man inheriting his deceased father's estate and coming in contact with its remarkable library and mysterious librarian. The protagonist's subsequent adventures in a fantastical world prepare the young Mr. Vane to assume authority over his inherited archive and become an archon. Jacques Derrida's exposition of the responsibilities of the archon including archival authority, domiciliation, and consignation illuminate the mentoring role of the elusive librarian Mr. Raven in Vane's adventures. By using Derrida's deconstruction of archives to unpack the intricacies of knowledge transfer in MacDonald's novel, the lasting impact of the …

Pets In The City: Managing Surplus Dogs In Syracuse, New York, Kristin A. Cutler

Theses - ALL

This thesis contributes to the growing interest in animals in geography. Specifically, it situates pets within the geographic literature and addresses the causes and consequences of pet love in the United States. Using Syracuse, New York as a case study, this thesis illuminates the critical yet understudied existence of pets in the city, paying particular attention to the historical and contemporary foundations, management, and geographies of surplus dogs. Further, it explores major shifts in Americans' attitudes toward pets over the last two centuries, details the necessity for and establishment of animal management in the city, and explains the consequences (namely, …

The Practice Of Neogeography In Community-Based Organizations, Patrick Oberle

Theses - ALL

Neogeography and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) are two terms that have emerged recently to describe the practice of geography by those not formally trained in it as a discipline and spatial data provided by individuals through social media and other Web-based tools. Both neogeography and VGI can be directly linked to the growth of various online mapping websites and applications that allow for the creation of electronic maps that are interactive, adaptable, and easily shared via the Internet and Web. As recent phenomena, the practice of neogeography and VGI is not well understood, nor are the links these new fields …

The Effects Of Watershed Liming On Mercury Concentrations And Stocks In Soil Of Woods Lake, New York, Zhenni Xie

Theses - ALL

Abstract

In acid-impacted forests, lime has been applied to neutralize acidity and mitigate acidification of soil and surface waters. However, few studies have evaluated the effects of liming on watershed mercury processes and transport. I investigated the effects of liming on mercury, organic carbon, and sulfur concentrations and stocks in forest soil 19 years after the application of lime to the Woods Lake Watershed, Adirondack Park, New York, USA (42o52' N, 71o58' W). The mercury, organic carbon, and sulfur stocks were significantly greater in the forest floor of limed areas (24.5 vs. 11.1 Hg g/ha for Oe and 31.6 vs. …

The Production Of Heritage Tourism In China: A Case Study Of Three Adjacent Villages, Yi Yu

Theses - ALL

With the massive infusion of external (foreign) capital into the Chinese economy since the 1980s, some historical villages in Huangshan city have been largely transformed for heritage tourism. Preservation restrictions on altering structures are in place to keep intact the architectural and morphological integrity of the sites. Questions arise on the roles played by various governments and private sector enterprises, and their influence on local residents

In the summer of 2013, I conducted field work including interviews, participatory observation and archival research on three adjacent villages in Huangshan city: Hongcun, Chengkan, and Xucun. They were at three different tourism development …

Integrating The Credit-Bearing Information Literacy Course Into The Curriculum: Goals, Benefits And Challenges, Dominique Daniel, Elizabeth W. Kraemer

LOEX Conference Proceedings 2012

This presentation provides a model for the design and implementation of a successful credit-bearing information literacy course that addresses the most common objections against stand-alone library instruction. It emphasizes two key principles, making it relevant to students and university administrators alike: integration into the university general education program, and the contextualization of information-seeking mechanics by introducing students to the economic, political and social context in which information is produced, managed and used. These principles lay the foundation for the development of critical information literacy skills that students can transfer to other courses and beyond. Offering stand-alone instruction while integrating it …