Digital Commons Network^™

Board Of Directors Open Meeting 12/04/2015, Uc Hastings Board Of Directors

2015 Board of Directors Agenda and Materials

No abstract provided.

Uc Hastings Board Of Directors Lrpc Update, David Seward

Long Range Campus Planning Archive

No abstract provided.

Preoperative Smoking Cessation Intervention: A Critical Appraisal Of The Evidence With Practice Recommendations, Casta Townsley

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

Smoking is the single most important risk factor in the development of postoperative complications. Daily smoking increases the risk of postoperative complications by a factor of two to four. Smoking cessation preoperatively is beneficial in increasing rates of cessation and therefore reducing the incidence of complications postoperatively. As a result, smoking cessation should be recognized as a core element of care for the preoperative management of the surgical patient. Although the benefits of smoking cessation are well established, as is substantial evidence demonstrating that brief interventions are effective in increasing cessation rates among users, clinicians fail to consistently address the …

The Amazon In Brazilian Speculative Fiction: Utopia And Trauma, M. Elizabeth Ginway

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

There are two key moments when the Amazon is used as the setting for Brazilian science fiction, both during periods of dictatorship in the twentieth century. The first takes place during the authoritarian government of Getúlio Vargas (1930-1945), the second after the decades-long push for modernization and technological change imposed by the military government from 1964 to 1985. My study shows that, for writers of the first half of the twentieth century, the Amazon is a place of adventure, a setting for stories whose imaginative events ignore the region’s anthropology, history and indigenous cultures. Among the early Brazilian Amazonian adventure …

Converted Measurement Trackers For Systems With Nonlinear Measurement Functions, Steven V. Bordonaro

Doctoral Dissertations

Converted measurement tracking is a technique that filters in the coordinate system where the underlying process of interest is linear and Gaussian, and requires the measurements to be nonlinearly transformed to fit. The goal of the transformation is to allow for tracking in the coordinate system that is most natural for describing system dynamics. There are two potential issues that arise when performing converted measurement tracking. The first is conversion bias that occurs when the measurement transformation introduces a bias in the expected value of the converted measurement. The second is estimation bias that occurs because the estimate of the …

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes Dec 4, 2015, A-State Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

Meeting minutes for the Faculty Senate held on December 4, 2015.

Applications Of Structure Based Drug Design To Generate High Affinity Anti-Methamphetamine Immunotherapy And To Identify Novel Inhibitors Of Lox-1 To Treat Atherosclerosis, Shraddha Thakkar

Theses and Dissertations

Computer-aided rational drug design is one of the most promising approaches for the development of effective drug therapies. This dissertation describes applications of rational structure-based techniques in two cases. In the first study, we enhanced the potency of a therapeutic antibody against methamphetamine. In the second study we identified potentially therapeutic molecules to treat atherosclerosis. Methamphetamine abuse is a serious health hazard and a single chain variable fragment (scFv) of a therapeutic anti-METH antibody has been developed at this University. Anti-METH immunotherapy blocks or reduces the rate of METH entry into the brain. In this research we introduced rationally designed …

Efficient Implementations Of Pairing-Based Cryptography On Embedded Systems, Rajeev Verma

Theses

Many cryptographic applications use bilinear pairing such as identity based signature, instance identity-based key agreement, searchable public-key encryption, short signature scheme, certificate less encryption and blind signature. Elliptic curves over finite field are the most secure and efficient way to implement bilinear pairings for the these applications. Pairing based cryptosystems are being implemented on different platforms such as low-power and mobile devices. Recently, hardware capabilities of embedded devices have been emerging which can support efficient and faster implementations of pairings on hand-held devices. In this thesis, the main focus is optimization of Optimal Ate-pairing using special class of ordinary curves, …

Silicon Nitride Interfacial Layer Effect On Gallium Nitride Nanorod Growth, Filiz Keles

Theses and Dissertations

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanorods have been grown on Silicon substrate by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE). An amorphous and inhomogeneous interfacial silicon nitride (SixNy) layer is unintentionally formed at the initial stage of the GaN growth due to the high affinity between Si and N. The GaN cluster formation on uncontrolled SixNy layer occurs not only tilted but also defect-included such as stacking faults and threading dislocations. These defects mostly would be kept and carried throughout the growth. In this work, we studied the effect of crystal properties of SixNy layer on GaN nanorod quality by varying the nitridation parameters …

The Effect Of Manure Application Method On Nutrient And Microbial Runoff Transport And Soil Biological Health Indicators, Nicole R. Schuster

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Two projects were completed to provide significant new information to the agricultural industry regarding the environmental implications and soil health impacts related to land application of swine manure. The first study reports on the runoff transport of nutrients and microbials as affected by manure application method and time following application. The second study provides information about the effect of application method and time following application on soil health indicators using arthropod abundance and diversity as a biological indicator. The information gained through these studies will provide beneficial information to the pork industry on the impact of manure application method and …

Braithwaite, John, Bronx African American History Project

Oral Histories

Summarized by Concetta Gleason

John Braithwaite moved with his family fromManhattaninto theBronxontoKelly Streetin 1945 when he was two years old. His parents learned of theBronxandKelly Streetfrom their friends. Braithwaite’s parents and many of his neighbors were fromBarbados. The neighborhood and schools were very diverse with Italians, Jews, Spanish and blacks (both from the South and the Caribbean), and that did not change until the Cross-Bronx Expressway divided theBronxin half. The family was associated with St. Margaret’s Protestant Episcopal Church. His family has a great love for the arts; his father was a tailor, but painting was his passion, his older …

December 4, 2015, The Dakota Student

The Dakota Student

No abstract provided.

High Throughput Screening Of Priming Candidates For Impact On Nonviral Gene Delivery, Albert L. Nguyen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Priming, in the context of nonviral gene delivery, is the treatment of cells with a compound prior to gene transfer that enhances transfection efficiency and/or transgene expression. Essentially, it is the application of an adjuvant approach to gene delivery. Effective transfection strategies may require priming to compete with the efficiency of viral transduction in order to achieve clinically relevant efficiency and expression in vivo. To search for priming compounds, a high throughput screen of the NIH Clinical Collection was performed using 25kDa b-PEI, an EGFP/luciferase plasmid, and HEK293T cells. The EGFP reporter was multiplexed with Hoechst 33342 and Resazurin fluorescence …

Chimes: December 4, 2015, Calvin College

Chimes

Calvin launches college-wide effort to increase student retention by Josh Parks

Women's soccer: NCAA success by Mark Peless

"We Stand Together": Calvin shows solidarity against racism by Bethany Cok

Calvin ranked second for number of students studying abroad by Alicia De Jong

Open ocean fish display impressive biological cloacking by Natasha Strydhorst

Heartside gallery continues to grow by Saraphina Sefcik

Pope Francis visits Kenta, Uganda, and the Central Republic by Eckhart Chan

Spectroscopic And Theoretical Characterization Of Retinylidene Proteins And Biological Chromophores For Use In Biophotonic Applications, Jordan A. Greco

Doctoral Dissertations

Retinylidene proteins are found in all domains of life and perform diverse biological functions, including light-induced ion transport and phototransduction in visual systems. One such protein, bacteriorhodopsin (BR), is the light-activated proton pump that produces chemical energy for the archaeon, Halobacterium salinarum. In recent years, a branching reaction from the photocycle of BR has been discovered to produce a stable photoproduct, the Q state, using a sequential multiphoton process. The Q state has optical properties that enable the use of BR in bioelectronic technologies, however, the native protein has limited access to this photoproduct. A review is …

The 21st Century Graduate: Delivering A Tailored Approach To Social And Emotional Competency Training For Final Year Students To Enhance Graduate Attributes And Increase Employability, Ailish Jameson, Aiden Carthy, Colm Mcguinness, Fiona Mcsweeney

Conference Papers

The Higher Education Authority recently reported an average drop-out rate of 16% for Irish third level students, which poses significant pedagogical and economic challenges across the educational sector and negatively impacts the Irish economy. With respect to tackling this issue, a considerable body of international research has identified a strong positive correlation between higher levels of emotional intelligence (EI) and increased levels of student engagement and academic attainment. A wealth of previous research has also shown that employers favour graduates who possess higher levels of EI, for example, Job Outlook Survey, 2008, therefore, increasing students’ levels of EI is also …

Teacher Self-Efficacy: How Do High-Performing Black Teachers In Under-Performing Schools Negotiate Self-Efficacy?, Tisha Lithel White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Despite the vast research on efficacy and teacher efficacy, little focuses on high-performing Black teachers who work in low-performing urban schools. This research fills a gap in understanding high-performing Black teachers and provides a voice to a population under-represented in research. Through focus groups, semi-structured interviews, storytelling, and reviewing student work samples, findings showed that high-performing Black teachers in underperforming urban schools participate in specific practices that demonstrate their personal self-efficacy. Teachers were reflective, inquisitive, and generally maintained a positive outlook in all situations. The teachers in this study also carefully adapted their practice by focusing on strong relationships with …

A Fiscal Model Program Theory Proposal For Training Reentry Citizen Ex-Convicts To Remodel Abandoned Houses, James A. Hanson

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

The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a fiscal program theory model and proposal for training reentry citizen ex-convicts to remodel abandoned houses. A sustainable program theory model describes ways that training and employing these citizens to remodel abandoned houses may be expected to have benefits to a community. The recently released ex-convicts will learn a construction trade, earn a sustainable wage, and the once-abandoned houses will be returned to the city tax rolls. Vocational education and workforce training are key to this program. The literature indicates that national jobless rates for recently released inmates is well …

Modeling And Simulation Of Micro Electrical Discharge Machining Process, Bai Shao

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Micro parts and systems are playing crucial roles in the area of semiconductor, biomedical device, micro fluid devices, automotive, aerospace and so forth. Micro manufacturing is one of the most important technologies in realizing miniaturization. Compared to other micro manufacturing methods, micro-EDM is drawing lots of attention due to its ability to machine complex 3D parts regardless of the hardness of the workpiece material.

Micro-EDM is the cumulative result of numerous single discharges; therefore, it is crucial to understand the single discharge material removal process in micro-EDM. However, due to the stochastic nature and complex process mechanism, micro-EDM, including its …

Visual Feedback System For Ultrasound Training, Saeideh Akbarisamani

Robotics and Mechanical Systems Design

No abstract provided.

Dynamic Data Management In A Data Grid Environment, Björn Barrefors

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A data grid is a geographically distributed set of resources providing a facility for computationally intensive analysis of large datasets to a large number of geographically distributed users. In the scientific community, data grids have become increasingly popular as scientific research is driven by large datasets. Until recently, developments in data management for data grids have focused on management of data at lower layers in the data grid architecture. With dataset sizes expected to approach exabyte scale in coming years, data management in data grids are facing a new set of challenges. In particularly, the problem of automatically placing and …

On Problematic Robotic Thresholds, Adam K. Taylor

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Large configuration spaces present difficulties for developers validating large soft- ware systems and for users selecting the proper configuration to achieve the desired runtime behavior. Robot systems face the same challenges as they may have hundreds of configurable parameters. Our work focuses on co-robotic systems, those in which robots and humans work closely together to augment each other’s capabilities. We aim to leverage the user’s knowledge about a system to help determine configuration errors. To accomplish this, users mark runtime failures while observing the system in operation. A marked error indicates the robot “did something when it should not have” …

Development Of Semi-Circular Bending (Scb) Fracture Test For Bituminous Mixtures, Gabriel Nsengiyumva

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Granted that most distresses in asphalt (flexible) concrete (AC) pavements are directly related to fracture, it becomes clear that identifying and characterizing fracture properties of AC mixtures is a critical step towards a better pavement design. This thesis examines the testing variables of a reliable and practical semicircular bending (SCB) test for evaluating the fracture characteristics of asphalt concrete mixtures at intermediate service temperature conditions. The first part of this thesis investigates the repeatability of the SCB fracture test method by integrating a statistical-experimental approach to identify testing variables of the SCB test that result in repeatable test results. Toward …

High-Flying Success For Chemistry Students: Nasa's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, Kristi Budzinski, Nicholas Carter, Kayce Leard, Christina Watters, Brian Zoltowski

The Catalyst

NASA's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (RGSFOP) conducted at Johnson Space Center and Ellington Field in Houston, Texas, provides science and engineering undergraduates the opportunity to design and conduct experiments in a microgravity environment. The student program began roughly five years ago, although NASA developed a reduced gravity program in 1959. In the past five years, more than 1 00 different schools from around the country have participated. The KC-135 jet, which is similar to the Boeing 707, is used to produce a microgravity environment for training astronauts and testing equipment to use in space.

To create the rnicrogravity …

Volumetric Properties Of Electrolytes In Natural Waters, Carmen Rodriguez

Open Access Dissertations

The research of this dissertation has focused on the volumetric properties of electrolyte solutions, including seawater, across wide ranges of temperature and concentration. The volume and compressibility are inherently useful as physical chemical properties of electrolyte solutions. They are directly related to the density and sound speed of a solution; thus, they are important for studying physical processes and properties in the ocean, including mixing, sound transmission, and water mass stability. Possibly of greater significance, however, is the volume’s role as a thermodynamic variable that guides chemical systems into equilibrium. By analyzing the volume properties of electrolyte solutions over wide …

Ucc Minutes December 3, 2015, Kutztown University Curriculum Committee

UCC Minutes

No abstract provided.

Despite Best Intentions: A Critical Analysis Of Social Justice Leadership And Decision Making, David E. Dematthews, Angus Shiva Mungal, Paul A. Carrola

Administrative Issues Journal

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between social justice leadership and organizational decision making in order to make recommendations for how principals can make more socially just decisions in difficult school contexts. This article begins with a discussion of social justice leadership, facets and theories associated with social justice, and how facets can be contradictory and problematic in practice. Then, rational choice theory is presented to detail key assumptions and criticisms that are associated with decision-making in complex organizations. Next, rational choice theory is utilized as a straw man for analyzing principal decision-making in complex organizations …

The Setonian, December 3, 2015, Seton Hall University

2015

No abstract provided.

Benefits Of Air Transportation Vs Ground Transportation In The Medical Field, Mackenzie Carpenter

University Honors Program

opic: Benefits of air transportation vs ground transportation in the medical field Research questions: 1. Is there a greater outcome for patients transported by air? 2. Is there a difference in access to equipment for ground and air runs? 3. Since the collaboration of Lifeline, has there been a better survival rate and patient satisfaction?

Otter Realm, December 3, 2015, California State University, Monterey Bay

The Otter Realm

A farewell to Dean Moroh: Founding faculty and College of Science Dean retires -- CSUMB Athletics exceed scholarship requirement, but still lags behind other CCAA school -- The CFA "Fight for Five" continues --Winter SCUBA diving class at CSUMB -- Fletcher publishes new book -- Building diverse skill sets to serve diverse communities -- Students check in to new Sustainable Hospitality Management major: New major in College of Business is first of its kind, offers unique opportunity -- People on Campus: What Is Your Favorite Memory From This Semester? -- Vaccinate before infection: Think twice before you skip the shot. …