Digital Commons Network^™

Leadership In The Sixth Mass Extinction, Elizabeth Gingerich

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

No abstract provided.

Reflective Practice: The Impact Of Self-Identified Learning Gaps On Professional Development, Joanna C. Weaver, Matthew Ryan Lavery, Sarah Heineken

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The ebb and flow of education creates unique challenges within educational programming. Universities are charged with the directive to offer more diverse field experiences within their course requirements. As a result of the directive, not every topic nor instructional scenario can be addressed in the program coursework, challenging the programs to bridge the pedagogical learning gaps of their candidates. The purpose of the professional development (PD) being studied was to connect pedagogical methods to candidates’ own learning by providing self-selected PD with instructional tools that candidates could directly put into practice. The self-selected PD based on self-reflection of knowledge had …

Enhanced Teaching Requirements: A Case Study Of Instructional Growth On Student Academic Performance And Satisfaction In An Online Classroom, Mingzhen Bao, Adam L. Selhorst, Teresa Taylor Moore, Andrea Dilworth

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Online and brick-and-mortar universities are continually looking for a model that maximizes the student experience with the goal of enhancing retention and graduation rates among all student populations. Online education with its asynchronous nature and adult student populations need to hold faculty accountable for student performance in the classroom. This case study examined the effect of enhanced faculty requirements developed for online teaching on student academic performance and satisfaction. The enhanced requirements focused on increased faculty communication, subject-matter expertise, discipline mentoring, immediate assistance, and relationship building. Researchers compared student performance and satisfaction in courses taught under regular requirements with those …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 3, Issue 2

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full Spring 2019 issue (Volume 3, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence.

Multi-Tiered System Of Supports As Collective Work: A (Re)Structuring Option For Middle Schools, Sonja M. Hollingsworth Dr.

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) is the overarching referent for frameworks designed to target behavioral and academic challenges with a focus on a tiered continuum of evidence-based practices within the context of prevention science and implementation research (Freeman, Sugai, Simonsen, & Everett, 2017). Extensive literature indicates that MTSS programs can be effective in helping teachers address academic and behavioral challenges. However, from the onset of the RtI movement and through its transition into the MTSS paradigm, many middle level schools have faced significant organizational and systemic challenges which hamstring their ability to utilize MTSS programming with fidelity. This essay proposes …

Supporting Middle School Students In Tier 2 Math Labs: Instructional Strategies, Emily C. Bouck, Jiyoon Park, Mary Bouck, Jim Alspaugh, Stacey Spitzley, Angela Buckland

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Response to Intervention (RtI) has become a common support system for students; yet, no universal RtI model exists, especially for mathematics and specifically at the middle school level. This article focuses on a specific model for delivering Tier 2 mathematics supports and services at the middle school level: math labs. Evidence–based and research–supported interventions are discussed that support the delivery of Tier 2 services within a middle school math lab RtI structure. A fictionalized vignette, drawing from multiple actual cases, is presented to highlight the use of a Tier 2 math lab within a middle school setting.

Exemplary Chief Nurse Executives Leading Through Storytelling, Tricia Kassab

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand and describe how exemplary human resources administrators use storytelling to lead organizations using Denning’s (2011) model. In addition, it was the purpose to understand how they use storytelling to create transformational change. Denning’s The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling highlights eight storytelling narrative patterns: to ignite action, to communicate who you are, to build your brand, to transmit values, to foster collaboration, to share knowledge, to tame the grapevine, and to share vision.

Methodology: This phenomenological qualitative study described the lived experiences of exemplary elementary chief nurse executives in California. The …

Utah Women And Stem, Susan R. Madsen, Elizabeth Goryunova, Robbyn T. Scribner

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Employment opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) sectors in Utah are estimated to reach 101,000 by 2018 (Carnevale, Smith, & Melton, 2011). These jobs are recognized nationwide as being well-compensated and generally recession-proof. Yet Utah women continue to hold a lower percentage of STEM-sec-tor jobs than women nationally; in fact, Utah is ranked last in the United States in terms of the percent of women employed in STEM. In addition, Utah women work in STEM occupations at a rate that is less than half that of Utah men (Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), 2013). Recognizing the role …

Acoustic Design Optimization With Isogeometric Analysis And Differential Evolution, Garrett W. Dodgen

Mechanical Engineering Theses

The objective of this study is to utilize shape optimization to enhance the performance of devices relying on acoustic wave propagation. Particularly, the shape of a horn speaker and an acoustic energy harvester were optimized to enhance their performance at targeted frequencies. High order Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) was performed to estimate the acoustic pressure with minimum geometry and pollution errors [1]. The analysis platform was then combined with Differential Evolution (DE) to optimize the geometry of the horn speaker and energy harvester at a given frequency. These cases effectively demonstrate two applications of Isogeomtric shape optimization for devices relying on …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R4 Book Report 1 (Br1) By Title 2018-2019, Andree Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R4 Book Report 1 (BR1) for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019. Book Report 1 is defined as "Number of Successful Title Requests by Month and Title." This report presents an annual total only.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results: 506 title requests from 454 titles.

Dark-Binding Process Relevant To Preventing Photosensitized Oxidation: Conformation-Dependent Light And Dark Mechanisms By A Dual-Functioning Diketone, Sarah J. Belh, Niluksha Walalawela, Stas Lekhtman, Alexander Greer

Publications and Research

Few photosensitizers function in both light and dark processes as they usually have no function when the lights are turned off. We hypothesized that light and dark mechanisms in an α-diketone will be decoupled by dihedral rotation in a conformation- dependent binding process. Successful decoupling of these two functions is now shown. Namely, anti- and syn-skewed conformations of 4,4′-dimethylbenzil promote photosensitized alkoxy radical production, whereas the syn conformation promotes a binding shutoff reaction with trimethyl phosphite. Less rotation of the diketone is better suited to the photosensitizing function since phosphite binding arises through the syn conformer of lower stability. The …

Green Strategic Planning Approach For International Shipping Activities, Xiaofang Wu, Luoping Zhang, Huan Feng

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Sustainability is a long-term and ultimate goal for international shipping, although it is slowly making progress. The shipping perspective that moves away from “port-to-port” operations to “door-to-door” services also requires international shipping to take a long-term and holistic view instead of fragmented efforts. How to achieve the long-term sustainability goal becomes a key issue for door-to-door international shipping. Hence, green strategic planning for door-to-door international shipping was proposed with green development that puts forward the eco-centric point of view as its basic theory for sustainability. This study used a strategic decision-making approach, a so-called multi-dimensional decision-making (MDDM), coupled with the …

Automatic Detection And Prevention Of Fake Key Attacks In Signal, Tarun Kumar Yadav

Theses and Dissertations

The Signal protocol provides end-to-end encryption for billions of users in popular instant messaging applications like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Google Allo. The protocol relies on an app-specific central server to distribute public keys and relay encrypted messages between the users. Signal prevents passive attacks. However, it is vulnerable to some active attacks due to its reliance on a trusted key server. A malicious key server can distribute fake keys to users to perform man-in-the-middle or impersonation attacks. Signal applications support an authentication ceremony to detect these active attacks. However, this places an undue burden on the users to manually …

Data-Driven Multiscale Modeling Reveals The Role Of Metabolic Coupling For The Spatio-Temporal Growth Dynamics Of Yeast Colonies., Jukka Intosalmi, Adrian C Scott, Michelle Hays, Nicholas Flann, Olli Yli-Harja, Harri Lähdesmäki, Aimée M Dudley, Alexander Skupin

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: Multicellular entities like mammalian tissues or microbial biofilms typically exhibit complex spatial arrangements that are adapted to their specific functions or environments. These structures result from intercellular signaling as well as from the interaction with the environment that allow cells of the same genotype to differentiate into well-organized communities of diversified cells. Despite its importance, our understanding how this cell-cell and metabolic coupling lead to functionally optimized structures is still limited.

RESULTS: Here, we present a data-driven spatial framework to computationally investigate the development of yeast colonies as such a multicellular structure in dependence on metabolic capacity. For this …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Temperature And Prey Abundance On Bald Eagle Reproductive Dynamics, Joshua H. Schmidt, Judy Putera, Tammy L. Wilson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Understanding the mechanisms by which populations are regulated is critical for predicting the effects of large-scale perturbations. While discrete mortality events provide clear evidence of direct impacts, indirect pathways are more difficult to assess but may play important roles in population and ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use multi-state occupancy models to analyze a long-term dataset on nesting bald eagles in south-central Alaska with the goal of identifying both direct and indirect mechanisms influencing reproductive output in this apex predator. We found that the probabilities of both nest occupancy and success were higher in the portion of the study area where …

Data-Driven Multiscale Modeling Reveals The Role Of Metabolic Coupling For The Spatio-Temporal Growth Dynamics Of Yeast Colonies, Jukka Intosalmi, Adrian C. Scott, Michelle Hays, Nicholas Flann, Olli Yli-Harja, Harri Lähdesmäki, Aimée M. Dudley, Alexander Skupin

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

Background: Multicellular entities like mammalian tissues or microbial biofilms typically exhibit complex spatial arrangements that are adapted to their specific functions or environments. These structures result from intercellular signaling as well as from the interaction with the environment that allow cells of the same genotype to differentiate into well-organized communities of diversified cells. Despite its importance, our understanding how this cell–cell and metabolic coupling lead to functionally optimized structures is still limited.

Results: Here, we present a data-driven spatial framework to computationally investigate the development of yeast colonies as such a multicellular structure in dependence on metabolic capacity. For this …

Potential Distribution Of Six North American Higher-Attine Fungus-Farming Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Species, Sarah F. Senula, Joseph T. Scavetta, Joshua A. Banta, Ulrich G. Mueller, Jon N. Seal, Katrin Kellner

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Ants are among the most successful insects in Earth’s evolutionary history. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding range-limiting factors that may influence their distribution. The goal of this study was to describe the environmental factors (climate and soil types) that likely impact the ranges of five out of the eight most abundant Trachymyrmex species and the most abundant Mycetomoellerius species in the United States. Important environmental factors may allow us to better understand each species’ evolutionary history. We generated habitat suitability maps using MaxEnt for each species and identified associated most important environmental variables. We quantified niche overlap …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R4 Journal Report 1 (Jr1) 2018-2019, Andree Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R4 Journal Report 1 (JR1) for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019. Journal Report 1 is defined as "Number of Successful Full-Text Article Requests by Month and Journal." This report presents an annual total only.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results: 1,055,792 successful full-text article requests for 30,329 reported titles.

Winter Commencement: December 19-20, 2019, University Of North Dakota

UND Commencement Programs

UND Winter Commencement program from December 19-20, 2019.

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R4 Book Report 2 (Br2) By Platform 2018-2019, Andree Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R4 Book Report 2 (BR2) for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019. Book Report 2 is defined as "Number of Successful Section Requests by Month and Title." This report presents an annual total only, by platform.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results: 119,275 successful section requests for 63 reported platforms.

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R4 Book Report 2 (Br2) By Title 2018-2019, Andree Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R4 Book Report 2 (BR2) for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019. Book Report 2 is defined as "Number of Successful Section Requests by Month and Title." This report presents an annual total only.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results: 119,275 successful section requests for 9,528 reported titles.

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R4 Platform Report 1 (Pr1) 2018-2019, Andree Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R4 Platform Report 1 (PR1) for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2019. Platform Report 1 is defined as "Total Searches, Result Clicks and Record Views by Month and Platform." This report presents an annual total only.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results: 360,929 regular searches, 14,051 federated searches, 470,369 result clicks, and 283,037 record views for 80 reported platforms.

Electroanalytical Investigation Of The Electrode –Electrolyte Interface Of Quaternary Ammonium Ionic Liquids: Impact Of Alkyl Chain Length And Ether Functionality, Jeffrey M. Klein, Henry Squire, Burcu E. Gurkan

Faculty Scholarship

The influence of ionic associations and potential-dependent interactions on the electrode-electrolyte interfacial structure of ionic liquids (ILs) is studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for a variety of asymmetric quaternary ammonium ILs. Specifically, the impact of cation alkyl chain length (C = 4, 8 and 16) and ether functionality on the interfacial structuring of ILs at the glassy carbon electrode surface is examined. Ammonium cations with alkyl chain length of 8 and 16 carbons are found to stabilize the formation of the bis(trifluorosulfonyl)imide, [TFSI], anion dense Stern layer at positive electrode potentials leading to larger …

Flipping The Focus: Flipped Learning In A Geometry Classroom, Christina Dittus

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

In recent years, a new method of instruction has become increasingly popular amongst educators. Whereas the traditional method of teaching uses class time for direct instruction/teacher lecture, the flipped instruction model shifts that direct instruction to outside of class time as homework. The aim of flipped instruction is to allow educators more time to engage with and support students during the class time, while students work through practice problems. The purpose of this research is to examine whether flipped learning impacts students’ performance on assessments, students’ ability to retain information, and students’ attitude and perception of learning, as compared to …

The Correlation Between Classroom Engagement Strategies And Student Behavior, Abby Neppl

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Shoulders and Krei (2015) conducted a study which revealed that for teachers to be effective in their role, students must be engaged in their learning. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects classroom engagement strategies have on student behavior. There will be three engagement strategies implemented throughout this study, these include turn and talks, cold calling, and Whole Brain Teaching strategies. Behaviors that will be analyzed include on-task versus off-task behavior and overall student participation. The participants in this research project include middle school students, 6^th through 8^th grade. The sample group will consist of …

Image-Based Malware Classification With Convolutional Neural Networks And Extreme Learning Machines, Mugdha Jain

Master's Projects

Research in the field of malware classification often relies on machine learning models that are trained on high level features, such as opcodes, function calls, and control flow graphs. Extracting such features is costly, since disassembly or code execution is generally required. In this research, we conduct experiments to train and evaluate machine learning models for malware classification, based on features that can be obtained without disassembly or execution of code. Specifically, we visualize malware samples as images and employ image analysis techniques. In this context, we focus on two machine learning models, namely, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Extreme …

Hot Fusion Vs Cold Fusion For Malware Detection, Snehal Bichkar

Master's Projects

A fundamental problem in malware research consists of malware detection, that is, dis- tinguishing malware samples from benign samples. This problem becomes more challeng- ing when we consider multiple malware families. A typical approach to this multi-family detection problem is to train a machine learning model for each malware family and score each sample against all models. The resulting scores are then used for classification. We refer to this approach as “cold fusion,” since we combine previously-trained models—no retraining of these base models is required when additional malware families are considered. An alternative approach is to train a single model …

Application Development For Goods Management System Towards Waste Minimization Options, Wan Ahmad Nadzim

Student Works (2020-2029)

Waste is a global concern. Increasing waste generation levels are causing the increase of waste management costs. In fact, the greatest costs of waste are measured by its impacts to the environment, society and economy. Prevention is better than cure—since all wastes come from goods, thus the best way to manage wastes is to manage goods. An application model of goods management system has been developed using GIS (Geographic Information System) and app prototyping. The primary purpose of goods management is to maximize goods and minimize waste by promoting reduction and reuse. GIS was used to perform spatial analyses on …

Environmental And Energy Assessment Of Biomass Residues To Biochar As Fuel: A Brief Review With Recommendations For Future Bioenergy Systems, Mengshan Lee, Yi-Li Lin, Pei-Te Chiueh, Walter Den

Water Resources Science and Technology Faculty Publications (Archived)

This study explores the environmental and energy benefits of biomass residues, including crop residues and agricultural waste, for the production of renewable energy in the form of biochar as fuel, in order to offer recommendations for policy makers, by reviewing information regarding the key environmental issues associated with the implementation of the systems. The highest environmental benefits for biochar-to-fuel systems were most observed in reduction of global warming potentials (i.e., carbon abatement), particularly for those integrated with combined heat and power technology, or for those incorporating electricity offsets from biochar combustion and co-firing. But all of these practices come …

Posttraumatic Growth In Military Populations: Theory, Research, And Application, Karen C. Kalmbach, Bret A. Moore

Psychology Faculty Publications (Archived)

No abstract provided.