Digital Commons Network^™

Johnson's "Holding Up Your Corner: Talking About Race In Your Community" (Book Review), Elizabeth Pearson

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Vetsch, Barratt, Davis, Gywn, Mcdonough, Meyer, And Seilstads' "Seven Brides For Seven Texans Romance Collection" (Book Review), Pamela Whitmire

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Mppt Control For Solar Splash Photovoltaic Array, Kelsey Zenko

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis demonstrates the ability to model and simulate the operation of Maximum Power Point Tracking, MPPT. Moreover, the MPPT technology is contextualized within the confines of the Solar Splash competition to provide the foundation for future model development and simulation for optimal competition performance. MatLab Simulink was used to model the solar panel's operation. A MPPT algorithm was written using the perturb and observe method and was implemented in the model using a buck DC to DC converter. The performance of the model with hardware in the loop using Typhoon and dSPACE, which demonstrated how the actual hardware would …

Statistical And Clinical Equivalence Of Measurements, Puntipa Wanitjirattikal

Dissertations

This study proposes a test for statistical equivalence of two measurements. Typically, a new measurement process Υ is compared to an existing or standard measurement process Χ. We are assuming that Χ and Υ are measurements on the same scale. The paired t-test may be used to check for significant difference between (Χ, Υ) pairs. However, the paired t-test is intended to detect shift-type relationships of the form Υ=Χ+δ1 and may have low power for scale-type relations of the form Υ=γΧ.

We propose a test that has reasonable power to …

How Friendships Between Heterosexual And Sexual Minority Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students Affect Anti-Heterosexist Identity Development, Amber L. Sylvan

Dissertations

As the field of counseling psychology strives to embrace diversity and social justice issues, sexual minority issues have flourished into an active area of study among scholars and an area of focus for LGBT-affirming practitioners. One area of emphasis has been on how heterosexual people develop Anti-Heterosexist Identities. Some studies have noted the importance of friendship as it relates to Anti-Heterosexist Identity Development (Asta & Vacha- Haase, 2012; Duhigg, Rostosky, & Gray, 2010; DiStefano et al., 2000; Gelberg & Chojnacki, 1995; Larson, 2012), however, no known studies have more deeply explored the role of crosssexuality friendships. The purpose of this …

Bio-Socially Inspired Strategies In Support Of Dynamic Spectrum Access: An Evolutionary Game Theory Perspective, Mohammad Ali Marzoug Abu Shattal

Dissertations

Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) has been introduced to fulfill the expanded need for spectrum by different wireless networks and applications. Within the realm of spectrum access, the problem of "spectrum crunch" is present since some of the spectrum bands are overcrowded and others are underutilized. DSA aims to alleviate the problem of spectrum crunch. In DSA, Primary Users (PUs) allow Secondary Users (SUs) to access the spectrum as long as they do not interfere with PU transmissions beyond a pre-agreed acceptable level. In this work, a bio-socially inspired approach is proposed for SU interactions in support of better throughput for …

An Examination Of Behavior Analysts' Treatment Selection Behavior For Escape-Maintained Problem Behavior, Rebecca Eldridge

Dissertations

The advent of functional analysis procedures has helped identify reinforcers for problem behavior; however, the behavior analyst is then faced with the task of selecting an appropriate treatment for problem behavior. When selecting treatments, in addition to behavioral function, behavior analysts also need to consider contextual variables, such as current client repertoires, setting conditions, time and resources of current caregivers, as well as client and caregiver goals (Benazzi, Horner, & Good, 2006). Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) must consider these factors when developing treatment according to their ethical code (Behavior Analyst Certification Board [BACB]’s Professional and Ethical Compliance Code [PECC], …

Change: A Leader’S Perspective, Hassan Al Tamimi, Kayleen Berwick, David Biedenbender, Nabih Elteir, Ross Hemmingsen, Kevin Horton, Benjamin Johnson, Danica Johnson, Wail Kailani, Julie Kiehne, James Lowery, Michael Mangan, Matthew Ohs, Lori Steinke, Riley Swier, Terrelle Wilson, Barbara Holmes, Kendall Larson

Leadership Education Books

Change: A Leader's Perspective represents the culmination of the Change Leadership course taught at Winona State University in the fall term of 2017. Leadership is a broad category with many facets. This book explores the subject and offers students of leadership and aspiring leaders current perspectives on leadership theories, the omnipresence of change, and personal reflections on the course material. Additional thoughts which resonate throughout this text are that leaders influence outcomes and that leadership manifests itself in change, whether by cause or effect.

Noteit Ios App, Waylin W. Wang, Gurjeevan Bains

Computer Science and Software Engineering

Miscommunication is a common struggle that many students face in today’s world, despite the significant technological progress that we have made. With NoteIt, we aimed to solve this issue, by allowing students to join groups based off of the courses that they are enrolled in during the current quarter. Within the app, they can send and receive messages and events from everyone else in the group, or post private reminders to themselves. Communication can range from assignment clarification to exam preparation tips. Overall the development of the application went relatively well, despite some roadblocks along the way. We were satisfied …

Streaming Mysql Database Activity To Aws Kinesis, Chris I. Voncina

Computer Engineering

Connecting Amazon RDS MySQL engine with AWS Kinesis is a feature that RDS customers have often requested. A good example indicating customer demand is demonstrated on AWS’ forum post at https://forums.aws.amazon.com/thread.jspa?messageID=697516.

Upon completion, my project will enable Amazon RDS to pick up the MySQL open source project, integrate the MySQL plugin with Amazon RDS MySQL and deliver this feature to Amazon RDS MySQL customers. Other open source engine projects can follow and build upon my project.

Amazon Aurora delivered similar capability to the project. See details at https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2016/10/amazon-aurora-new-features-aws-lambda-integration-and-data-load-from-amazon-s3-to-aurora-tables/

Court Reform With Chinese Characteristics, Margaret Y.K. Woo

Washington International Law Journal

In Court Reform on Trial: Why Simple Solutions Fail, Malcolm Feeley identified a number of obstacles that undermine reforms of the United States court system. Feeley’s proposed solution was to adopt a problem-oriented “rights strategy”—letting the courts themselves solve their problems through litigation. This is because litigation is a forum in which courts are well placed to identify specific problems and devise pragmatic solutions. This Article takes a look at this proposition in the context of court reforms in China and concludes that courts (and law) are also a reflection of national goals and identity. Any reforms to a …

Victim Participation In Japan, Erik Herber

Washington International Law Journal

In 2008, a victim participation system was introduced in Japan, which enabled crime victims to participate in criminal proceedings. One of the goals of the system was to correct the wrong done to victims due to their lack of previous involvement, thus giving crime victims what they “naturally desire.” Employing Malcolm Feeley’s analytical framework to make sense of planned legal change, this Article shows that the new system emerged against the background of a combination of international trends: victim activism and public perceptions of crime getting out of hand. It finds that for reasons that are not well understood, only …

The Financial Crisis As A Religious Crisis, Robert H. Nelson

Journal of International Business and Law

Among the important factors in the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 was a large ethical breakdown in the financial sector that preceded it. The sources of good ethical behavior are multiple but religion ranks high among them. In thinking about the role of religion, most people think first of Judaism, Christianity and other traditional religions. The concept of religion should be extended, however, to include "secular religions" which were among the most powerful religious influences of the twentieth century. This paper argues that many people on Wall Street once believed in an American "civil religion" that was grounded in …

East Asian Court Reform On Trial: Comments On The Contributions, Malcolm M. Feeley

Washington International Law Journal

I am honored to have my book, Court Reform on Trial: Why Simple Solutions Fail, serve as the organizing framework for this symposium. The enterprise has proven valuable as it provided a reason to assemble a set of articles that focus on important changes in Asian courts in recent decades. Further, it appears that the reforms in three of the countries are loosely related to each other. While Japan had a head start on judicial reforms, both Korea and Taiwan embarked on the same path as soon as they had shed authoritarian rule. China has pursued a more ambitious …

Deconstructing The Ivorian Vestimentary Traditions: New Fashion, Contemporary Beauty And New Identity In Marguerite Abouet And Clément Oubrerie’S Aya De Yopougon, Richard Oko Ajah, Letitia Egege

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

This paper adopts an eclectic framework of semiotic, postmodern and postcolonial theories to interpret the representations of dressing as an aesthetic activity in Aya de Yopougon 1-3 and to investigate how Yopougon dwellers use their fashion sense to establish both a group identity and a form of everyday resistance. Characters’ bodies are remade, through dressing, to contain emotive qualities and to play symbolic functions with their everyday choice of dress. Their sartorial obsession is supported by psychic inferiority and pop culture; all characters engage in “disciplinary practices” for the clothing culture of their bodies that are ornamented surfaces for display.

Criminal Court Reform In Taiwan: A Case Of Fragmented Reform In A Not-Fragmented Court System, Kai-Ping Su

Washington International Law Journal

This Article examines the character of Taiwan’s criminal court system and proposed court reforms. Taiwan’s criminal court is a not-fragmented system, distinct from the fragmented American criminal court. In fact, with hierarchical control in prosecutorial rulings and central administration of judicial decision-making, Taiwan’s criminal court system can be deemed a relatively centralized and bureaucratic organization. Given this context, when Taiwan’s criminal justice system disappoints the people, judges take the blame for the failures of the system. To resolve the serious problem of public distrust in judges and the court system, Taiwan’s government and the judicial authority make “responding to expectations …

Utah V. Strieff: Lemonade Stands And Dragnet Policing, Guy Padula

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Between Description And Prescription: Law, Wittgenstein, And Constitutional Faith, Gregory Brazeal

West Virginia Law Review

The occasions on which ajudge or legal scholar has peered into the depths of the Constitution and found, to her surprise, that the Constitutionrequiresthe opposite ofher ideologicalpreferences, are extremely rare. Yetjudges andscholarscontinuetopresenttheirconclusionsastheproduct ofideologicallyneutralreasoning,while often criticizingthe ideologicalbiasin thereasoningoftheiropponents.A Wittgensteinianperspectiveonthenatureof legaldiscoursecanshed lighton thispuzzlinglypersistentstateofaffairs. Legal discourse, includingconstitutionalargument, is partly defined by the blending ofdescriptive reasoningabout what the law is with prescriptivereasoningabout what the law ought to be. To reach a legal conclusion based on a blend of descriptiveandprescriptivereasoning,andtophrasethis conclusion aspurely descriptive, as legal actors habitually do, is not to violate the rules of legal discourse, but to abide by them. Taking this conception …

Ebolamania And Equal Protection Of Health Care Workers Under Rational Basis With Bite Review, Jennifer Jolly-Ryan

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Mating Memory: Attractiveness And Contextual Effect On The Remembering And Misremembering Of Potential Mates’ Faces, Peter Kay Chai Tay

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Research on adaptive memory demonstrates that words and objects are remembered better if they are evaluated in relation to their survival or reproductive fitness value. Using the error management theory as a framework to elucidate memory biases emerging from adaptive costs and benefits, the present research examined if memory is enhanced for faces of potential mates (i.e., opposite sex individuals) in an ancestral context when the facial attractiveness and the observer’s short-term mating motive were also considered (i.e., Adaptive mating memory). In two studies, participant read scenarios depicting survival threats, mating, or modern environment, and were told to rate a …

Trends In Spinal Surgery For Pott's Disease (2000-2016): An Overview And Bibliometric Study., Christian Fisahn, Fernando Alonso, Ghazwan A Hasan, R Shane Tubbs, Joseph R Dettori, Thomas A Schildhauer, Tarush Rustagi

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Study Design: Systematic review.

Objectives: (1) What are the surgical indications? Have they changed over time since the year 2000? (2) What is the current surgical approaches of choice? Have they changed over time since the year 2000? Do they vary by geographical region? (3) What are the most common outcome measures following surgery?

Methods: Electronic databases and reference lists of key articles were searched from database inception from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2016 to identify studies specifically evaluating surgical indications, current surgical approaches, and outcome measures for spinal tuberculosis.

Results: Six randomized controlled trials were identified from …

Effect Of Stress Concentration Factor On Threaded Hole Under Different Loading Conditions Using Transfer Functions, Sharnappa Joladarashi

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

Bolted joint is most widely used in assembling parts and joining various sections. In simulations, which include large models like jet engines, gas turbines, aviation structures, etc., where bolted joints are used in large numbers, modelling the threads for bolts and holes is computational expensive. To reduce the associated complexities of modelling actual threads, alternative models of representation are used. A bolted joint is influenced by different combinations of forces depending on the model and its function. Stress concentration factor of threaded hole for various load cases using static structural analysis in ANSYS is studied. Simplified modelling techniques are simulated …

Eigen-Based Offline Handwritten Digit Recognition Using Multi-Layer Perceptron, Muralikrishna S N

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

Offline handwritten digit recognition is one of the important tasks in pattern recognition, which is being addressed for several decades. The application of digit recognition lies majorly in areas like postal mail sorting, bank check processing, form data entry, etc. In recent years, research in this area focusses on improving the accuracy and speed of the recognition systems. Many algorithms have been proposed that achieve high recognition rates. In this paper, we propose a highly accurate and fast method using an artificial neural network. Also, we bring out a comparative study of Kirsch directional feature versus the Eigen-based method using …

Evaluation Of Opportunities And Challenges Of Using Inrix Data For Real-Time Performance Monitoring And Historical Trend Assessment, Anuj Sharma, Vesal Ahsani, Sandeep Rawat

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

In recent years there has been a growing desire for the use of probe vehicle technology for congestion detection and general infrastructure performance assessment. Unlike costly traditional data collection by loop detectors, wide-area detection using probe-sourced traffic data is significantly different in terms of measurement technique, pricing, coverage, etc. This affects how the new technology is applied and used to solve current traffic problems such as traffic incident management and roadway performance assessment. This report summarizes the experiences and lessons learned while using probe data for traffic operations and safety management in the state of Nebraska and makes recommendations for …

The Antitrusting Of Patentability, Saurabh Vishnubhakat

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Libraries And College Readiness: The Bronx Community College Library High School Collaborative, Carl R. Andrews, Dickens Saint Hilaire

Publications and Research

In today’s information-rich global economy, City University of New York (CUNY) graduates need strong critical thinking skills. Over three quarters of the students who enroll across CUNY’s 24 campuses are drawn from schools in the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) (Strang, 2014). The NYCDOE, the largest public school system in the United States, serving over 1 million students (Strang, 2014). Unfortunately, many of the students who matriculate to CUNY’s college and universities are underprepared for college-level work. This is especially the case with students who attend high schools throughout the Bronx, one of New York City’s five boroughs. …

The Role Of The Serotonin 1a Receptor In Mood Disorders, Rajapillai Laban Isaac Pillai

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a heterogeneous and debilitating disorder. As of now, there is no reliable biomarker for this disorder, either for diagnosis or prediction of treatment response. The serotonin 1A (5-HT1A) receptor has been shown through animal, post-mortem, and in vivo human studies to be elevated in mood disorders such as MDD, and thus may be a promising biomarker. In my dissertation, I aim to explore this receptor and the serotonin system in order to better understand MDD pathophysiology and to establish tools for future research and clinical use. The raphe nucleus (RN) is the major source of …

The Intracellular Cell Biology Of Ionotropic Glutamate Receptors, Noele Doreen Certain

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

AMPARs play an essential role in fast excitatory neurotransmission. Before native AMPARs can function at the synapse they must be processed intracellularly. These ion channels are synthesized and assembled into multimeric complexes, shuttled in a regulated fashion between intracellular compartments and are finally inserted into the membrane to carry out their function. Important binding partners known as auxiliary subunits associate with AMPARs at the synapse, but also during assembly and trafficking. The presence of auxiliary subunits in AMPAR complexes at the membrane has been demonstrated through electrophysiological studies, showing effects on the gating and pharmacology of AMPARs. The localization of …

Methylmercury Bioaccumulation, Transformation, And Trophic Transfer In Marine Food Chains, Cheng-Shiuan Lee

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Monomethylmercury (MeHg) is a neurotoxic compound that causes adverse health effects in exposed wildlife and humans. It is primarily accumulated through diet and is the only mercury species to build up in aquatic food chains. However, our understanding with respect to MeHg biogeochemical cycling in marine environments and its interactions with marine organisms is still limited. In order to better understand important processes in the MeHg biogeochemical cycling and factors governing its environmental fate, uptake, accumulation, transformation, and trophic transfer of MeHg in the marine chains, I conducted a series of experiments and measurements associated with marine bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, zooplankton, …

Quantitative Imaging Of 3d Cerebral Microvascular Network Dynamics By Ultrahigh -Resolution Optical Coherence Doppler Tomography (Μodt), Jiang You

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Optical domain technologies can provide high spatiotemporal resolution for biomedical research and therefore attract tremendous interests in multiple disciplines including psychiatry, neurology, ophthalmology, oncology, urology and many more. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), after more than 20 years of development, has been becoming one of the most widely-used bio-optical modalities not only for laboratory-based research but also for clinical applications. For example, OCT becomes the standard of care for diagnosing glaucoma. Additionally, its derived velocimetry, optical coherence Doppler tomography (ODT), also demonstrates the unique capability of mapping cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFv) of vascular networks with capillary resolution (&phis;<6µm) and thus allows for the widespread utilization in numerous neurology studies. Although ODT has been widely used in biomedical research, there remain several technical limitations including the shallow penetration depth, low sensitivity for imaging slow flow in capillary and the measurement error due to Doppler angle. To address these challenges, viable solutions are proposed in this dissertation. Chapter 1 starts with a comprehensive review over basic principle of OCT and ODT. Chapter 2-4 explicitly address these OCT technical challenges, for instance, using a 1310nm super-luminescent Diode (SLD) laser source to extend optical penetration depth, utilizing optical contrast agent: intralipid to enhance ODT’s sensitivity for capillary flow detection, implementing numerical methods to extend ODT’s dynamic range and decouple Doppler angle. In addition to these technical improvements, Chapter 5-6 address two biomedical challenges in oncology and psychiatry. Specifically, Chapter 5 introduces a longitudinal optical access to rodent cerebral vasculature and a method of tumor boundary detection, which provides a powerful insight into the tumor progression. Chapter 6 reveals the close correlation between cocaine-elicited transient ischemic attack (TIA) and hypo-perfused cortex. Chapter 7 focuses on the development of multi-modality system and novel imaging scheme for the study of neurovascular coupling. Chapter 8 briefly concludes the contents presented in this dissertation and outlines the future development and potential applications of ODT. | 129 pages