Digital Commons Network^™

Reducing Child Neglect In Linn County Iowa Utilizing The Public Health Model, Jennifer April Barnett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The issues that arise from child neglect cause a myriad of negative health outcomes. The objective of this thesis is to examine the use of the public health model as a preventive method in decreasing the incidence of child neglect. This study was conducted utilizing a survey that obtained information from 333 parents in Linn County, Iowa. The survey was created to gather social norms related to parenting. The survey gathered data on personal parenting practices and opinions of parenting practices of others within the community. Univariate and bivariate analysis were conducted to report demographics, frequencies in responses and the …

Human Trafficking And The Media: Comparing Newspapers' Portrayal Of Victims And Offenders, Brittany Leigh Virkus

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

his study examined the portrayal of victims and offenders of human trafficking in three major newspapers from 2005- 2012. Additionally, this study examined if the age, gender, and legal status effected the portrayal of victims and offenders in the newspapers. Also included is an examination of groups of claims-makers and whether different groups portrayed victims and offenders same or differently. Utilizing a quantitative and qualitative content analysis to analyze the newspapers’ framing of victims and offenders, this research compared the portrayal of its groups. The findings indicated that claims-makers socially construct victims and offenders in ways that may not reflect …

Effects Of A Short Term Mental Skills Training Program On Mental Toughness, Mitchell Edward Mleziva

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Context: Mental toughness is considered to be one of the most important psychosocial skills an athlete can attain to be successful in sports competition. Mental toughness has also been acknowledged as one of the most popular terms used in sport psychology and is the least understood. The majority of mental toughness research focuses on how mental toughness should be defined, is developed, and the key aspects of mental toughness. Minimal research has examined whether an athlete’s mental toughness can change or improve due to the use of a mental skills training program. Objective: To determine if mental toughness can change …

Book Review: Robotic Exploration Of The Solar System: Pt. 4: The Modern Era, 2004-2013, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of Robotic Exploration of the Solar System : Pt. 4: the Modern Era, 2004-2013 by Paolo Ulivi with David Harland Springer, 2014 567p bibl index afp, 9781461448112 $44.99, 9781461448129 $29.99

Book Review: The Observer's Guide To Planetary Motion: Explaining The Cycles Of The Night Sky, T. D. Oswalt

Publications

This document is Dr. Oswalt’s review of The Observer's Guide to Planetary Motion : Explaining the Cycles of the Night Sky by Dominic Ford. Springer, 2014 240p index afp, 9781493906284 $34.99.

Differential Spectral Imaging Of The Cn Violet Band In Laser-Induced Plasmas On Tnt Simulant Molecules, J. Merten, M. Jones, S. Hoke, S. Allen

Publications

Dual channel emission imaging of m-nitrobenzoic acid and benzoic acid was performed in order to visualize the morphology of the CN violet band emission of a TNT analogue. The CN channel was corrected for continuum emission using a simultaneously imaged background channel. Simultaneous dual channel imaging alleviated problems with shot to shot variation in the plasma morphology due to the friable substrates and showed differences between plasmas formed on the two targets.

A Regression Model To Investigate The Performance Of Black-Scholes Using Macroeconomic Predictors, Timothy A. Smith, Ersoy Subasi, Aliraza M. Rattansi

Publications

As it is well known an option is defined as the right to buy sell a certain asset, thus, one can look at the purchase of an option as a bet on the financial instrument under consideration. Now while the evaluation of options is a completely different mathematical topic than the prediction of future stock prices, there is some relationship between the two. It is worthy to note that henceforth we will only consider options that have a given fixed expiration time T, i.e., we restrict the discussion to the so called European options. Now, for a simple illustration of …

Appraisal And Selection For Digital Curation, Jinfang Niu

School of Information Faculty Publications

Based on existing appraisal/selection policies in libraries, archives, museum, social science and science data centers, this paper presents a generic appraisal/selection framework for digital curation. In presenting this framework, the author discusses how archival appraisal theories, methods, and criteria adapt to the general digital curation context.

Modeling Operational Reliability: The Discovery Of The Organizational Learning Loop, John J. Sullivan

School of Information Faculty Publications

There has been considerable debate over organizational learning strategies as a worthwhile endeavor. This paper examines the issue within the context of High Reliability Organizations (HROs) through a recent ethnographic study that focused on organizational learning and its role in understanding of the dynamics of operational reliability. A review of the literature examines factors that influence organizational learning effectiveness within the context of the Sullivan-Beach model (Sullivan & Beach, 2009), which provides a conceptual framework from within which the dynamics of High Reliability Organizations (HROs) can be explained. Empirical data was gathered over a six month period in a high …

Password Protected Visual Cryptography Via Cellular Automaton Rule 30, Roman V. Yampolskiy, Jovan D. Rebolledo-Mendez, Musa M. Hindi

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Visual cryptography depends on two shares. The initial configuration, extra security bits and the number of the rule for the CA along with the number of computed steps serve as a password for a visually encrypted image. The second share could contain a predefined pattern; the developed algorithm uses a snapshot of a CA after a certain number of steps to generate the predefined share. Only one of these shares has to be random. The developed encryption system is a hybrid between visual and classical cryptographic approaches. It requires less storage space compared to a standalone visual encryption system and …

Computational Models For Nanosecond Laser Ablation, Harihar Khanal, David Autrique, Vasilios Alexiades

Publications

Laser ablation in an ambient environment is becoming increasingly important in science and technology. It is used in applications ranging from chemical analysis via mass spectroscopy, to pulsed laser deposition and nanoparticle manufacturing. We describe numerical schemes for a multiphase hydrodynamic model of nanosecond laser ablation expressing energy, momentum, and mass conservation in the target material, as well as in the expanding plasma plume, along with collisional and radiative processes for laser-induced breakdown (plasma formation). Numerical simulations for copper in a helium background gas are presented and the efficiency of various ODE integrators is compared.

The Strategic Assessment Model (Stratam): Studying And Preventing Strategic Failure, Hans-Joachim Klaus Ruff-Stahl

Publications

The purpose of this study is to introduce the Strategic Assessment Model (STRATAM), a model designed to assist in the prevention of strategic failure. STRATAM aids firstly in the assessment of a strategy, as well as its crafting and evolution; secondly, it aims to enable and possibly streamline civil-military strategic debates on military operations. It is argued that strategic blunders in many cases result from latent organizational failures on one’s own side. Therefore, STRATAM combines Clausewitz’ theory of war and strategy with organizational failure theory. To demonstrate the use of this model, this paper uses Operation Cast Lead (or the …

Educating The Next Generation Of Cyberforensic Professionals, Mark Pollitt, Philip Craiger

Publications

This paper provides a historical overview of the development of cyberforensics as a scientific discipline, along with a description of the current state of training, educational programs, certification and accreditation. The paper traces the origins of cyberforensics, the acceptance of cyberforensics as a forensic science and its recognition as a component of information security. It also discusses the development of professional certification and standardized bodies of knowledge that have had a substantial impact on the discipline. Finally, it discusses the accreditation of cyberforensic educational programs, its linkage with the bodies of knowledge and its effect on cyberforensic educational programs.

Examining The Relationship Between Familiarity And Reliability Of Automation In The Cockpit, Rian Mehta, Steven Rice, Scott Winter

Publications

This study sought to determine the correlation between familiarity and perceptions of reliability, as associated to specific aviation-related automated devices. Participants’ experience levels ranged from non-pilots to novice pilots to certified flight instructors. It was hypothesized that familiarity has a direct correlation with ratings of reliability for various aviation-related automated devices and that the correlation across devices for each participant would be positive. The researchers expected to find a difference in the familiarity-reliability relationship as a function of experience. Findings showed that there was a significant positive correlation between familiarity and reliability for every single automated device. A positive correlation …

The Use Of Apps To Prime Learning For A Verbal Task, Christina Frederick, Devin Liskey, Daniel Brown

Publications

This study tested whether or not children’s memory performance would be affected by stimulating brain activity by completing a verbal puzzle task or a non-verbal puzzle task prior to a verbal learning task.

Climate Change: The Proof And The Process, Richard Snow, Mary Snow

Publications

Since what we call civilization began some 12,000 years ago, the mean temperature of Earth has not varied more than 1°C from the average. The forecast change in temperature of from 1.5 to 4°C (2.7 to 7°F) by 2100 has no equal in the recent history of the planet. Changes in the energy output of the sun, changes in the relative position of the sun and Earth, shifting locations of the continents, mountain building, volcanic eruptions, and changes in atmospheric composition all combine to cause our climate to change. Most of the changes in climate of the past can be …

A Case Study Of Outsourced Primary Healthcare Services In Sindh, Pakistan: Is This A Real Reform?, Sana Tanzil, Aysha Zahidie, Adeel Ahsan, Ambreen Kazi, Babar Tasneem Shaikh

Community Health Sciences

Background: Since a decade, low and middle income countries have a rising trend of contracting their primary healthcare services to NGOs. In Pakistan, public sector often lacks capacity to effectively & equitably manage the healthcare services. It led the government to outsource the administration of primary health care services to a semi-autonomous government entity i.e. Peoples' Primary Healthcare Initiative (PPHI). This small scale study has assessed the quality of healthcare services at the contracted Basic Health Units (BHUs) with the PPHI and compared it with those managed by the local district government in the province of Sindh.Methods: A cross-sectional mix …

State Of Metropolitan Housing Report: 2014: A Look Back, A Look Forward., C. Norton, Lauren Heberle, A. Smith, R. Fenwick, D. Weinstein, K. Pugh, A. Sizemore

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Asking The Right Questions In Copyright Cases: Lessons From Aereo And Its International Brethren, Rebecca Giblin, Jane C. Ginsburg

Faculty Scholarship

Aereo was a US-based service that made unique copies of broadcast programs from individual antennae for each requesting user, for individual retransmission near-live or at some point in the future. To the uninitiated, it makes no sense for a company to design a television transmission service that utilises thousands of tiny antennae and thousands of copies to deliver signals to users. Wouldn’t it be much more efficient to use just one of each? And surely, when it comes to copyright liability, wouldn’t more copies result in more infringement, not less? However, Aereo’s strategy made a lot of sense when viewed …

The Nordic Model Of Corporate Governance: The Role Of Ownership, Ronald J. Gilson

Faculty Scholarship

It is commonplace to credit the invention of the public corporation as an important engine of economic growth. The creation of a long-lived vehicle that gave investors both tradable shares and limited liability allowed talented managers to raise capital to fund enterprise. Writing in 1926, the Economist magazine heralded this role:

The economic historian of the future may assign to the nameless inventor of the principle of limited liability, as applied to trading corporations, a place of honor with Watt and Stephenson, and other pioneers of the Industrial Revolution. The genius of these men produced the means by which man’s …

Do Defaults On Payday Loans Matter?, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

This essay examines the effect on a borrower’s financial health of failure to repay a payday loan. Recent regulatory initiatives suggest an inclination to add an “ability to pay” requirement to payday-loan underwriting that would be fundamentally inconsistent with the nature of the product. Because the premise of that regulation would be that borrowers suffer harm when they fail to repay such a loan, it is timely to examine the after-effects of such a default empirically. This essay examines that question using a dataset that combines payday borrowing histories with credit bureau information.

The essay uses a difference-in-difference approach, comparing …

Tracking Above- And Below- Ground Seed Persistence And Mortality In A Native Tallgrass Prairie Restoration, Carmen Pellish

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The large cost of seed and low seedling establishment rates make restoring native tallgrass prairies expensive and difficult. Tallgrass prairie restorations typically achieve seedling emergence rates of only 10%. This begs the question of what happens to the remaining 90% of seeds that do not emerge as seedlings. This thesis sought to assess or quantify the importance of seed predators and death by microorganisms or to senescence on seed survival and seedling establishment within a newly planted native tallgrass prairie restoration under typical restoration conditions. I hypothesized that small vertebrate seed predators would play be detrimental to overall seedling emergence …

Designing Related-To Bankruptcy Jurisdiction, Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This Note offers a framework for analyzing related-to bankruptcy jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1334 that courts can implement immediately within the bounds of the statute and case law. It argues that that the requirements for related-to jurisdiction should be better deployed in accordance with the relative merits of jurisdictional rules and standards. Part I describes the requirements that courts impose to test related-to bankruptcy jurisdiction. Part II demonstrates how the requirements for related-to jurisdiction can be better deployed in accordance with the relative merits of jurisdictional rules and standards. Part III proposes a broad threshold inquiry backstopped by a …

Defense Lawyering And Wrongful Convictions, Ellen Yaroshefsky, Laura Schaefer

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

In Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward, the premise is that much can be learned by “stepping back” from the focus on the direct causes of wrongful convictions and examining criminal justice systems, and the sociopolitical environments in which they operate. Expert scholars examine the underlying individual, systemic, and social or structural conditions that may help precipitate and sustain wrongful convictions, thereby “moving forward” the related scholarship.

"Examining Wrongful Convictions is a book that has no equal. With full and up-to-date chapters dedicated to the unique vulnerability of adolescents, insufficiently protected; the enabling role of a “muddled” news media, …

Snapshot Of The Ivmf: Annual Report 2014, Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This report overviews the accomplishments of the IVMF during 2013-2014.

Research Brief: "Suicides In The Military: The Post-Modern Combat Veteran And The Hemingway Effect", Institute For Veterans And Military Families At Syracuse University

Institute for Veterans and Military Families

This brief is about current suicide prevention interventions within the military. In policy and practice, practitioners should monitor the wellness of aging veterans and ensure that a support system exists for their veteran patients, while veterans should participate in social events with other veterans; the VA and DoD should implement programs to ensure that veterans have feelings of belongingness and the VA should monitor veterans' well-being for 2-3 years after service during transitions. Suggestions for future research include examining the communities and veteran service organizations that produce the most useful support for veterans with mental health problems.

Federal Habeas Corpus In Capital Cases, Eric M. Freedman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

In legal terms, habeas corpus is simply the name for the procedure by which a court inquires into the legality of a citizen's detention. But habeas corpus is rarely discussed in merely legal terms. The name carries a special resonance in Anglo-American legal and political history: habeas corpus is celebrated as the Great Writ of liberty.

The reason is straightforward. The availability of habeas corpus means that if an individual is found to have been restrained unlawfully, the court can release him or her - thereby enforcing the rule of law and frustrating governmental oppression. Attempts to extend the range …

The High Cost Of Low Sanctions, Irina D. Manta

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Low sanctions can initially appear to be a mitigating factor for unjust or inefficient laws, but this perception is likely wrong. This Article argues that low sanctions may have a pernicious effect on the democratic process and on legislative rule making because, as both public choice theory and historical precedent suggest, the laws accompanying these sanctions are more likely to perpetuate themselves and become part of the unquestioned background fabric of society. This Article focuses on intellectual property law (in particular, copyright) and examines the progression of suboptimal laws through widespread low sanctions that may mostly escape the public eye …

A Game Changer For The Political Economy Of Economic Development Incentives, Stephen Ellis, Grant Hayden, Cynthia Rogers

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

State and local governments have embraced their authority to offer economic development incentives for the purpose of attracting, retaining, or enhancing economic activity within their borders. Collectively, these programs represent an enormous, but largely overlooked, transfer of wealth from public entities to private firms. The increasing use of economic development incentives runs counter to the guidance offered by academic researchers. With their proliferation comes the increasing need for accountability in the decision-making process. We consider whether the duty of care standard used in corporate governance should be applied to the public decision-making context regarding economic development incentives.

Erasing Boundaries: Inter-School Collaboration And Its Pedagogical Opportunities, Ian Gallacher, Amy Stein, Robyn A. Boyle, David Thomson

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Experiential learning is all the rage in legal education today. And yet, educators throughout history have known that involving students in their learning and exposing them to practical applications of what they are learning increases student engagement and retention. But legal education is coming to this way of thinking somewhat late. This article, based on a presentation that the authors gave at the AALS conference in New York in January of 2014, suggests that technology opens up new possibilities for law schools by allowing students from different schools to participate in complex inter-school simulations that can, if carefully prepared, teach …