Digital Commons Network^™

Semiparametric Estimation Methods For Complex Accelerated Failure Time Model, Yinding Wang

Theses and Dissertations

The proportional hazards (PH) model and the accelerated failure time (AFT) model are the two most popular survival models in fitting the right-censored data. The AFT model is a useful alternative to the PH model, particularly when the PH assumption is not satisfied. Usually, the linear association is assumed with logarithm of survival time in the AFT model. However, the nonlinear association may exist in practice. The first project aims to handle the nonlinear component in the AFT model, which is called the semiparametric additive partial accelerated failure time (AP-AFT) model. Two estimation methods based on the rank-smooth method and …

Understanding Success Of Black Female Counselor Educators In Terms Of Racial Identity, Tanesha Lakendra Jones-Boyd

Theses and Dissertations

Over the years, minority faculty representation has increased in counselor education doctoral programs, but the rates are low compared to the overall rates of White faculty. Black female counselor educators, in particular, are among faculty underrepresented in higher education. Much of the research concerning Black female counselor educators addresses barriers these women face in higher education, especially during tenure. While Black female counselor educators find the journey to become accomplished counselor educators challenging, many have achieved that success despite their experiences. This dissertation explored the experiences of six tenured Black female counselor educators to gain a better understanding of how …

Interest Detection In Image, Video And Multiple Videos: Model And Applications, Yuewei Lin

Theses and Dissertations

Interest detection is detecting an object, event, or process that draws attention. In this dissertation, we focus on interest detection in images, video and multiple videos. Interest detection in an image or a video is closely related to visual attention. However, the interest detection in multiple videos needs to consider all the videos as a whole rather than considering the attention in each single video independently.

Visual attention is an important mechanism of human vision. The computational model of visual attention has recently attracted a lot of interest in the computer vision community mainly because it helps find the objects …

A Phenomenological Analysis Of Social Justice/Injustice On The Lives Of African-American High School Males, Michael R. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze what high school African-American males perceive as significant influences that directly impact their academic achievement while attending a predominantly White suburban high school. This qualitative research study will utilize semi-structured case interviews to collect and analyze data gathered from among a criteria-based subgroup of African-American high school males. An examination of archival data such as student course selections, a review of high school Carnegie units earned and attempted, the availability of support resources and interventions, as well discipline and attendance reports will each provide evidence of the probable obstacles impacting the achievement …

Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Play In Kindergarten, Michelle Taylor Clevenger

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to gain insight into preservice teachers’ beliefs about play in kindergarten, and explore differences in beliefs about play between teachers just beginning their education program and those who are completing their degree. The study examined the beliefs of two groups of preservice teachers: one at the beginning of their early childhood education program (beginning students) and one at the end (teacher candidates). This study used a mixed methods approach including a survey with both Likert scale and open-ended questions as well as individual interviews. Data were collected at the beginning of the fall semester …

Techno Economical Analysis Of Solid Oxide Iron-Air Redox Battery For Power Generation And Energy Storage, Farzana Yasmeen

Theses and Dissertations

The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation. Due to increasing environmental constraints associated with greenhouse gas emissions and uncertainty in the supply of fossil fuels, power systems of the future will become more reliable on renewable power source. To overcome the intermittency issue of renewable power, a promising cost effective electricity-storage systems is vital. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has established detailed cost targets for energy storage system. One of the targets is capital cost which should be under $150/kWh for new technology. Another target …

Understanding Academic Achievement Among Low-Income, Urban, Black Adolescents: The Role Of Father Involvement, Patrick Henry

Master's Theses

Although the Black-White test score gap has improved over time, it still persists. Furthermore, this academic risk for Black youth is compounded by the disproportionate representation of Blacks among low-income families in the U.S. Thus, the present study aims to shed light on factors related to greater academic success among adolescents in low-income, urban, Black families. Overall, this study addresses the following question. How does the presence of a biological father and positive father involvement impact the academic achievement of their adolescent children? Data from the Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study (TCS) were analyzed in order to address …

Atomic Oxygen Adsorption And Absorption On Rh(111) And Ag(111), Jonathan Derouin

Dissertations

A central question in the field of heterogeneous catalysis is how surface structure and subsurface species influence catalytic behavior. One key to answering that question is determining which surface structures and subsurface species are present under catalytically relevant conditions. This dissertation presents results of Auger electron spectroscopy, low energy electron diffraction, temperature programmed desorption, and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on oxidized Rh(111) and Ag(111) crystals. Exposing Rh(111) to O2 produced a predominately (2 × 1) adlayer, but even after extended dosing, (2 × 2) domains were also present. Exposing Rh(111) to atomic oxygen yielded O coverages greater than 0.5 ML …

Emature: Intergenerational Networks In Digital Media Spaces, Andras Lukacs

Dissertations

While the literature on adolescent usage of the Internet and mobile communication technology is burgeoning, the technological affordance of increased intergenerational contacts and intergenerational friendships received less attention. This project documents how intergenerational virtual networks operate in one particular massively multiplayer online game (World of Warcraft) from the standpoint of adolescent players. Online social worlds are similar to offline settings in a lot of ways. Users must obey certain behavioral standards and follow established rules and moral codes to participate. Despite accounts of online democracy and networked individualism, control and authority is central to the functioning of these environments. Power-relationships …

Performance Of Individuals And Teams On Cryptographic Tasks: Factors That Affect The Consideration Of Alternative Strategies, Joseph Bihary

Dissertations

The two studies presented here examined factors that might affect teams’ and individuals’ tendency to follow outside advice when attempting to solve a complex problem known as letters-to-numbers. Past research on group dynamics suggests that a lack of group consensus or homogeneity reduces group members’ confidence in their group’s abilities, and may lead members both to seek and accept advice from outside the group. Study 1 experimentally manipulated group diversity in task performance strategies in order to investigate whether dyads whose members have divergent perspectives are more likely than homogeneous dyads to consider and use a problem-solving strategy presented from …

Dreamers And The College Dream: A Case Study Analysis Examining The Influences Of High Schools And High School Agents, Aliza Joy Gilbert

Dissertations

This dissertation study contributes to a nascent field of research on undocumented students and college access. Rooted in a conceptual framework of models of college choice, this study utilizes case study methodology to examine how a high school and its agents influence an undocumented student’s college choice process. The unit of analysis is a suburban public high school located in the Midwest.

Data collection included semi-structured interviews of students, teachers, counselors, and college counselors, observation of college counseling programs, and document review of college related materials. The constant comparative method was the primary system of data analysis. The coding process …

Development Of Folate Directed, Protein Based Photodynamic Therapy Agents, Rojenia Jones

Dissertations

To attack cancer cells in a specific manner, we have developed a folate-targeted, photodynamic therapy (PDT) agent. The folate (FA) and the chlorin e6 (Ce6) photosensitizer were attached to bovine serum albumin (BSA) using carbodiimide chemistry. Since over 50% of cancers overexpress folate receptors, FA-BSA-Ce6 can be taken up by them and is an effective PDT agent. Hela cells exposed to FA-BSA-Ce6 in the dark showed no cytotoxicity. Upon exposure to light, the conjugate was dose (time and concentration) dependent. Concentrations less than or equal to 2 µM were not effective at killing Hela cells but concentrations of at 5 …

A Game Industry Beyond Diversity: Systemic Barriers To Participation In South Korea, Florence M. Chee

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Digital gaming has become a prominent part of mainstream culture. However, as one may observe in the public exhibitions of this form of play, the multitude of reasons for participation in the games industry are especially divided along gender lines. This paper is an analysis of themes emerging from the critical ethnographic examination of South Korea’s1 online game culture that, upon closer and iterative analyses, point to additional socioeconomic complications and systemic barriers to women’s equitable participation in the game development and production. Using South Korea’s national context as a point of reference, the findings from this case study offer …

Quality Of Math Instruction Matters: Examining Validity And Reliability Of High Impact Strategies In Early Mathematics (His-Em), Bilge Cerezci

Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to introduce a measure of early mathematics teaching practices, the High Impact Strategies in Early Mathematics (HIS-EM) and its framework, and to examine its criterion-related, predictive validity of High Impact Strategies in Early Mathematics (HIS-EM) and describe the types of early math teaching the HIS-EM detects among a sample of Pre-kindergarten to 3rd grade teachers working with high need students in an urban public schools system. The findings indicate that the HIS-EM produced reliable scores, and meaningful and predictable associations were found between HIS-EM and CLASS. The results also suggested that high quality mathematics …

Exploring Conditions For The Enhancement Of Acene Semiconductors Through The Use Of The Diels-Alder Reaction, Brittni Qualizza Qualizza

Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates the application of SAMs to the surface of acene crystals, specifically of tetracene and rubrene, using the Diels-Alder reaction. The second chapter details preliminary reaction results and two analytical methods which were employed to confirm adsorption of the dienophile on the surface of single crystals, tetracene and rubrene. These were mass spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Mass spectrometry experiments distinguish the chemical identity of adduct on the crystals and also it discerned chemi- and physisorbed molecules from one another. XPS was used to prove face selectivity of the reaction by the detection of dichloromaleic anhydride. From …

Easily Accessible Experiments Demonstrating Interference, Robert Polak, Nicolette Fudala, Jason T. Rothchild, Marcin Zelek

Physics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

A brief but detailed description of simple experiments to be used in Physics classrooms.

First Results From The Madcash Survey: A Faint Dwarf Galaxy Companion To The Low-Mass Spiral Galaxy Ngc 2403 At 3.2 Mpc*, Jeffrey Carlin, David Sand, Paul Price, Beth Willman, Ananthan Karunakaran, Kristine Spekkens, Eric Bell, Jean Brodie, Denija Crnojević, Duncan Forbes, Jonathan Hargis, Evan Kirby, Robert Lupton, Annika Peter, Aaron Romanowsky, Jay Strader

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A High Stellar Velocity Dispersion And ~100 Globular Clusters For The Ultra-Diffuse Galaxy Dragonfly 44, Pieter Van Dokkum, Roberto Abraham, Jean Brodie, Charlie Conroy, Shany Danieli, Allison Merritt, Lamiya Mowla, Aaron Romanowsky, Jielai Zhang

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Scientist, 2016, San Jose State University, College Of Science

The Scientist (College of Science)

No abstract provided.

Digital Forensics In Law Enforcement: A Needs Based Analysis Of Indiana Agencies, Teri A. Cummins Flory

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Cyber crime is a growing problem, with the impact to society increasing exponentially, but the ability of local law enforcement agencies to investigate and successfully prosecute criminals for these crimes is unclear. Many national needs assessments have previously been conducted, and all indicated that state and local law enforcement did not have the training, tools, or staff to effectively conduct digital investigations, but very few have been completed recently. This study provided a current and localized assessment of the ability of Indiana law enforcement agencies to effectively investigate crimes involving digital evidence, the availability of training for both law enforcement …

Verification Of Recovered Digital Evidence On The Amazon Kindle, Marcus Thompson, Raymond Hansen

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

The Amazon Kindle is a popular e-book reader. This popularity will lead criminals to use the Kindle as an accessory to their crime. Very few Kindle publications in the digital forensics domain exist at the time of this writing. Various blogs on the Internet currently provide some of the foundation for Kindle forensics. For this research each fifth generation Kindle was populated with various types of files a typical user may introduce using one method, the USB interface. The Kindle was forensically imaged with AccessData’s Forensic Toolkit Imager before and after each Kindle was populated. Each file was deleted through …

Making Sense Of Email Addresses On Drives, Neil C. Rowe, Riqui Schwamm, Michael R. Mccarrin, Ralucca Gera

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Drives found during investigations often have useful information in the form of email addresses which can be acquired by search in the raw drive data independent of the file system. Using this data we can build a picture of the social networks that a drive owner participated in, even perhaps better than investigating their online profiles maintained by social-networking services because drives contain much data that users have not approved for public display. However, many addresses found on drives are not forensically interesting, such as sales and support links. We developed a program to filter these out using a Naïve …

Countering Noise-Based Splicing Detection Using Noise Density Transfer, Thibault Julliand, Vincent Nozick, Hugues Talbot

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Image splicing is a common and widespread type of manipulation, which is defined as pasting a portion of an image onto a second image. Several forensic methods have been developed to detect splicing, using various image properties. Some of these methods exploit the noise statistics of the image to try and find discrepancies. In this paper, we propose a new counter-forensic approach to eliminate the noise differences that can appear in a spliced image. This approach can also be used when creating computer graphics images, in order to endow them with a realistic noise. This is performed by changing the …

Determination Of Rejected Landing Roll Runway Point-Of-No-Return And Go-Around In Transport Category Airplanes, Nihad E. Daidzic, Ph.D., Sc.D.

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The decelerate-accelerate-takeoff maneuver in transport category airplanes has been discussed. Mathematical model based on total energy conservation has been used to calculate the rejected landing point-of-no-return on a runway which will still enable the airplane to safely execute go-around and achieve regulatory screen heights and takeoff safety speeds. After this point has been exceeded or below the point-of-no-return speed no go-around should ever be considered. Landing long and fast and/or decelerating on slippery runways may very well result in an overrun which could be prevented if the go-around is attempted before reaching this critical runway point. The point-of-no-return on the …

Evidential Reasoning For Forensic Readiness, Yi-Ching Liao, Hanno Langweg

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

To learn from the past, we analyse 1,088 "computer as a target" judgements for evidential reasoning by extracting four case elements: decision, intent, fact, and evidence. Analysing the decision element is essential for studying the scale of sentence severity for cross-jurisdictional comparisons. Examining the intent element can facilitate future risk assessment. Analysing the fact element can enhance an organization's capability of analysing criminal activities for future offender profiling. Examining the evidence used against a defendant from previous judgements can facilitate the preparation of evidence for upcoming legal disclosure. Follow the concepts of argumentation diagrams, we develop an automatic judgement summarizing …

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

No abstract provided.

Electronic Voting Service Using Block-Chain, Kibin Lee, Joshua I. James, Tekachew G. Ejeta, Hyoung J. Kim

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Cryptocurrency, and its underlying technologies, has been gaining popularity for transaction management beyond financial transactions. Transaction information is maintained in the block-chain, which can be used to audit the integrity of the transaction. The focus on this paper is the potential availability of block-chain technology of other transactional uses. Block-chain is one of the most stable open ledgers that preserves transaction information, and is difficult to forge. Since the information stored in block-chain is not related to personally identify information, it has the characteristics of anonymity. Also, the block-chain allows for transparent transaction verification since all information in the block-chain …

Beliefs And Relationships During Children’S Transition To School: Parents, Practitioners And Teachers, Karen Wickett

Plymouth Institute of Education Theses

Young children’s experiences, which include their transition to school, can influence not only their academic outcomes but also their life chances. This understanding has led to governments in England investing in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector over the past 20 years. Over time a “discourse of readiness” has become increasingly apparent in ECEC policies. The revised Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) (DfE, 2012a) framework states that the purpose of the framework is to ensure children are ready for school. Increased political involvement in the sector has led to parents/families, ECEC practitioners and teachers sharing the task of …

Challenging Classical Legacy: Virginia Woolf' Mythical Method In To The Lighthouse, Alex Rucka

Maria Dittman Library Research Competition: Student Award Winners

No abstract provided.