Digital Commons Network^™

Putting Physics First: Three Case Studies Of High School Science Department And Course Sequence Reorganization, Douglas Larkin

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This article examines the process of shifting to a “Physics First” sequence in science course offerings at the level of the school district in the United States. This curricular sequence reverses the more common U.S. high school sequence of biology/chemistry/physics, and has gained substantial support in the physics education community over the past few decades. Using qualitative case study methodology, the present study focuses on the lessons learned in three school districts that successfully rearranged their course offerings and made physics a ninth grade subject for all of its students. Findings show that in all districts, the shift was undertaken …

Reverberation Mapping Of The Dusty Torus In Active Galactic Nuclei, Erich Franz Geisert

Theses and Dissertations

The Dusty Torus is a structure that is believed to exist in Active Galactic Nuclei. The Torus is physically too small to be spatially resolved, so Reverberation Mapping can be performed in order to replace spatial resolution with temporal resolution, yielding observations that can unravel the mystery of the Dusty Torus. One of the unknowns about the Torus is how the dust is distributed. The two competing theories are that either the dust resides in discrete clouds or that there is a solid wall of dust. This thesis presents the results of a year long observation program, starting in August …

Robust Structured Tracking, Ivan Bogun

Theses and Dissertations

Model-free visual tracking is an important problem in computer vision. The abundance of applications make the problem attractive, and, as a result, significant progress was made, especially in the recent years. A number of reasons make tracking a hard problem: change of lighting conditions throughout the video, change of scale and rotation of the object, as well as frequent and occlusions. In this dissertation, we build upon a tracker known as Struck, which is based on a structured support vector machine. To make the structured tracker robust, we improve it in a number of ways. To make the structured tracker …

Ruthenium-Catalyzed Amination Of Secondary Alcohols Using Borrowing Hydrogen Methodology, Kostiantyn O. Marichev, James M. Takacs

Department of Chemistry: Faculty Publications

A new ruthenium complex catalyzes the amination of primary and secondary alcohols and the regioselective mono- and sequential diamination of diols via the borrowing hydrogen pathway. Several variations on new intra- and intermolecular cyclizations of aminoalcohols, diols and diamines lead to heterocyclic ring systems.

No Nonsense: The Protection Of Wild-Type Mrnas From Nonsense-Mediated Mrna Decay In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Krista D. Patefield

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Gene regulation in eukaryotes is tightly controlled at multiple levels to ensure proper expression and cellular homeostasis. Misregulation of gene expression is a common source of genetic disease. One mechanism by which cells are able to control gene expression is through the synthesis and degradation of the mRNA molecules encoding the genes. The transcription and degradation of mRNA molecules controls the pool mRNAs that are available to the translational machinery. One of the well-studied mRNA decay pathways is the Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay pathway (NMD). Originally, NMD was discovered as a posttranscriptional mRNA surveillance mechanism responsible for the deadenylation-independent decapping and …

The Promise Of An Energy Tracker Curriculum For Promoting Home-School Connections And Youth Agency In Climate Action, Elizabeth M. Walsh, Derek Jenkins, Eugene Cordero

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Formal classroom learning experiences that support sustainable behaviors outside the classroom necessarily must bridge students’ home and school lives, as knowledge and practice learned in the classroom is implemented outside of school. To this end, we study the impact of the Green Ninja Energy Tracker curriculum, which uses students’ home energy data in the classroom to promote engagement in climate change and conservation behaviors. Data is drawn from class observations, a focus group, and pre- and post- surveys of a pilot implementation of this curriculum in a diverse 12th-grade Earth Science classroom at an alternative school. We investigate what factors …

Conjugacy Geodesics In Coxeter Groups, Aaron Calderon

UCARE: Research Products

Take a square and flip it over the vertical axis, rotate it 90 degrees counterclockwise and then flip it again over the vertical axis. This sequence is the same as a 90 degree clockwise rotation but takes more steps to demonstrate the same symmetry. In general, the question of when a sequence of symmetries has minimal length is hard to answer and is dependent on the chosen generating set (in our toy example, rotation by 90 degrees and reflection). By realizing sequences of symmetries as paths in a group's Cayley graph, the problem becomes one about the set of shortest …

The Measure Of Nematode Diversity In Response To Varying Management Practices And Features In Restored And Remnant Prairie Ecosystems, Heaven A. Hulshizer

UCARE: Research Products

"Tallgrass prairies are the most endangered ecosystem in North America” (Helen et al 2013). “Surveys suggest that since European settlement, declines in area of native prairie range as high as 99.9%”(Sampson, Fred and Fritz Knopf 1994). Prairie ecosystem services are abundant and range from mitigating floods to promoting biodiversity. (USDA Forest Service).Given these benefits, restoring prairies and maintaining native areas should be an important conservation priority. Nematodes, the most abundant animal species on earth, have been used as bio-indicators of soil quality (Neher; Todd). To better understand the dynamics of nematode diversity in native and restored prairies we examines whether …

A New Ligation System For Protein Conjugation, Alicia J. Curti, Patrick H. Dussault

UCARE: Research Products

Click chemistry describes crosslinking reactions in which pairs of functional groups selectively “click” together to form linkages. The idea of our project is to explore the use of cyclobutene-containing fatty acids as a new class of “click” reagents as a tool for protein modification.

There is great interest in performing click reactions under biologically relevant conditions, in the presence of cells, and even within cells. The best known click reaction, the cycloaddition of alkynes and azides, is highly specific, can be conducted in the presence of buffers and proteins, and forms stable cycloadducts. However, use in biological systems is limited …

Computational Modeling Intervention: Using Dynamical Models To Teach Complex Biological Processes, Audrey J. Crowther, Tomáš Helikar, Nicholas Galt, Joseph Dauer, Heather Berganr, Bryan Kowal

UCARE: Research Products

The Unites States, while being one of the richest countries in the world, ranks 17th in science proficiency out of 31 countries. New techniques for teaching are needed if the US wants to keep up with increasing global competition. Often the problem with traditional methods for teaching biological processes is that they present the material as linear or causal, when in fact there is a much wider network at play. For example, cellular respiration is often represented as a linear process that always starts with glucose and always ends with ATP and water. However, there are several entry and exit …

The History And Applications Of Fibonacci Numbers, Cashous W. Bortner, Allan C. Peterson

UCARE: Research Products

The Fibonacci sequence is arguably the most observed sequence not only in mathematics, but also in nature. As we begin to learn more and more about the Fibonacci sequence and the numbers that make the sequence, many new and interesting applications of the have risen from different areas of algebra to market trading strategies. This poster analyzes not only the history of Leonardo Bonacci, but also the elegant sequence that is now his namesake and its appearance in nature as well as some of its current mathematical and non-mathematical applications.

Past Meets Future: Combining Gis, 3d Technologies, And Legacy Data To Reanalyze Ceramics At Copan, Honduras, Stephanie Sterling, Heather Richards-Rissetto, René Viel

UCARE: Research Products

The archaeological site of Copán—a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Honduras—was a primary center for cultural and economic exchange in the Maya world from the fifth to ninth centuries. Our research investigates the sociopolitical climate of the city immediately preceding this collapse. This poster presents the results of a pilot study intended to evaluate the potential of using a combination of digital technologies and legacy data to reanalyze a subset of diagnostic ceramics from select sites outside of Copan’s urban core. Our methods involved:

(1) Applying photogrammetry to generate 3D models for approximately 30 potentially temporally-diagnostic ceramic types

(2) Digitizing, …

Manipulation Of Beams Of Ultra-Relativistic Electrons To Create Femtosecond X-Ray Pulses, Jordan T. O'Neal, Austin Schulte, Rafal Rakowski, Matthias Fuchs

UCARE: Research Products

The research proposed here is expected to result in a crucial component used in a next-generation X-ray source. Typical conventional high-brightness X-ray sources (so-called synchrotron lightsources) are up to 30 football fields in size. Our group uses a novel technique based on ultrahigh-power lasers to develop a similar source that can readily fit into a single, university-scale laboratory. More specifically, the research conducted within this proposal will be concerned with the manipulation of beams of ultra-relativistic electrons, (electrons that move with almost the speed of light) with the goal to focus the particles into an area that is smaller than …

White Paper: Oer Adoption Study: Using Open Educational Resources In The College Classroom, Katherine Harris, Committee Members California Oer Council

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Permalink for online version: http://tinyurl.com/WPOERAdoption040116Printable PDF version with Appendices: http://tinyurl.com/WPOERPrintVersion2Video Synopsis: https://youtu.be/vwVIrv0iSgE Signed into law in September 2012, SB 1052 (Steinberg, 2012) specified that the California Open Education Resources Council (“CA-OERC”) be established under the administration of the Intersegmental Committee of Academic Senates (“ICAS”) of the University of California (“UC”), the California State University (“CSU”), and the California Community Colleges (“CCC”). CA-OERC was duly assembled and held its first meeting in January 2014. Representing 145 campuses across the three public systems of higher education, the CA-OERC initially set out to survey 10,000 UC, 24,000 CSU, 59,000 CCC full-time, …

Wild Horse Management Of Carson City Nevada: What The Public Thinks, Katie Zuehlke

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

There are two types of management strategies that are used in Carson City, NV, which are the free roaming method and the immunocontraception method. Nevada is home to nearly half of the nation’s wild horses (7), and the Departments of Interior and Agriculture need to manage and protect the wild horses that reside on public land stated by the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 (1). The objectives of this study are to obtain articles about the management of wild horses from previous studies, specifically look at Carson City and the community opinion about the wild horse management …

The Ethics Problem: Toward A Second-Best Solution To The Problem Of Economic Expertise, David M. Levy, Sandra J. Peart

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

The collective action problem of economic experts was diagnosed acutely by Knight and Pigou in the 1930s. The interest of economists as a group is in pursuing the public good of truth; the interest of an individual economist is in pursuing the private good of happiness. Pigou’s example is the pursuit of political influence. Deviation from truth-seeking devastates the theory of governance as objective inquiry laid out by Knight and John Rawls, as we saw in the eugenic era. We reformulate the Knight–Rawls position as truth-seeking contingent on a presupposed system. The best case for the Knight–Rawls position is transparency, …

Xiao Cheng Zeng Bibliography (April 2016), Xiao Cheng Zeng

Xiao Cheng Zeng Publications

397 articles sorted by topics

Book Review: Robert Brandom, From Empiricism To Expressivism: Brandom Reads Sellars, Colin Mclear

Department of Philosophy: Faculty Publications

One of the better known of the many bons mots of the Sellarsian corpus concerns his definition of philosophy: it is the attempt to understand “how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term.” When applied to Sellars’s philosophy in particular, one might be forgiven for doubting the possible success of such an endeavor. Richard Rorty once quipped of Sellars’s followers that they were either “left-wing” or “right-wing,” emphasizing one line of thought in Sellars’s work to the exclusion of the other. The two lines of thought to which …

Folate-Peg-Histidine For Use In Detection, Capture, And Analysis Of Fr+ Cells, Sean Dwyer

All Capstone Projects

Folate receptor alpha is a membrane-bound protein displaying high affinity for folic acid. This receptor serves as a receptor-mediated transport system of folic acid into cancer and cells associated with inflammation (e.g., macrophages). Folate is a basic component of cell metabolism in both the synthesis of DNA and proteins, which is hypothesized to be necessary for maintaining adequate processes during increased metabolic demand. Interestingly, most normal cells in the body have little or no high affinity folate receptor alpha. Based on these attributes, folate based drug delivery, imaging systems, and diagnostic systems are in several stages of development worldwide. To …

Trigonometry: An Overview Of Important Topics, Lauren Johnson

All Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project was to help students achieve a better understanding of Trigonometry, in order to better prepare them for future Calculus courses. The project is a tutorial that walks the student through important Trigonometry topics. The topics range from, but are not limited to, finding the measure of an angle to analyzing the graphs of Trigonometric Functions. Each topic allows an opportunity for the student to assess their understanding by working through practice problems and checking their solutions.

At any university, incoming students will have a wide variety of mathematical backgrounds. These students differ in age, in …

Feasibility Study Of Waste Isolation And Characterization By Instrumental Methods, Janith A. Wiehe-Wazio

All Capstone Projects

The original focus of this project was to develop an in house procedure for the recovery of commonly used science laboratory solvents consisting of Acetone, Ethyl (Ethanol) Alcohol, Hexane, Methanol and Hydrochloric Acid from everyday laboratory waste. However, the projects scope shifted a little further back to basics when it was discovered that Laboratory Waste Safety and Accounting practices were insufficient. It was assumed that identification of waste products was being recorded accurately. It became apparent with the very first waste bottle analysis that chemicals recorded on the standardized waste log sheets were not always what was in the waste …

The Neo Energy Industry, Saikiran Munigala, Saikrishna Munigala, Shivaraj Vodapalli

All Capstone Projects

The main Idea of the project is to develop a new web application which regulates Gas & Electricity market and Promote competition, wherever appropriate & regulating the monopoly companies which run the gas & electricity networks. Helping the gas and electricity industries to achieve environmental improvements as efficiently as possible. Take account of the needs of vulnerable customers, particularly older people, those with disabilities and those on low incomes. There are 3 modules in the project GUI and Database Design, User Module and Administrator Module.

Investigating Special Education Teachers’ Knowledge And Beliefs Of Learned Helplessness In Students With Mild To Moderate Disabilities, Jennifer Engemann

All Capstone Projects

This research study investigated educators’ knowledge and beliefs of learned helplessness in student with mild to moderate disabilities. Prior research indicates that students with disabilities are more prone to developing the learned helpless condition in comparison to their non-disabled peers. Studies provide evidence of a direct correlation between school failure and learned helplessness. A quantitative descriptive research method was used to collect and analyze data. A survey design method was used to assess special educators’ perceptions of the learned helpless condition. There were 40 special education teachers from suburban Chicago high schools who participated in this research study. Based on …

The Efficacy Of Structured Repeated Reading As A Method To Increase Reading Fluency, Ryan Capriotti

All Capstone Projects

Since reading is such a significant component of student success, it is important to perform research to determine which reading strategies and approaches are most effective. The purpose of this study was to explore Structured Repeated Reading as a beneficial reading strategy, in particular with students diagnosed with a reading disorder. There were eight students that participated in the study, all with similar reading difficulties and all that have been diagnosed with a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in the area of Reading. Specifically, four of the students were educated in an instructional, resource room setting (I), and four of the …

Online Library Project, Surya Teja Muthyala, Sai Krishna Raparthi, Satyanarayana Asundi

All Capstone Projects

The main objective of this project is to provide the hand free access to the library portal through web interface. This project of “ONLINE LIBRARY” gives us the complete information about the library. We can enter the record of new books and retrieve the details of books available in the library. We can issue the books to the students and maintain their records and can also check how many books are issued and stock available in the library. In this project we can maintain the late fine of students who returns the issued books after the due date. Throughout the …

Improving Phonics And Fluency Skills Using A Multisensory Language Intervention, Lisa M. Davi

All Capstone Projects

The purpose of this single case design study was to examine the efficacy of multisensory language instruction, specifically the Wilson Reading System, on the phonetic analysis skills and reading fluency of a single student identified as dyslexic. Data was collected for a period of eight weeks and analyzed using visual representations to determine participant growth in all areas assessed. Data showed growth of 20 words read correctly per minute (WCPM) with a projected gain of 16 WCPM according to Hasbrouk and Tindal's (2006) reading fluency normative chart. The education implications of the study are discussed and recommendations for further research …

Beyond An Aide: Perceptions And Attitudes Concerning The Self-Efficacy Of Paraprofessionals In Special Education, Nicolas Jones

All Capstone Projects

This action based research study was conducted to examine the self-efficacy of paraprofessionals working with students in special education in a specific school district (School District A). The study used a survey design and the paraprofessionals were currently working with students from grades 9-12 in a Chicago Area, south suburban high school district in Illinois. The study was conducted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Multicategorical Special Education program at Governors State University in the spring of 2016.

Identification Of English Language Learners In Special Education, Sonia George

All Capstone Projects

This study investigated the knowledge and opinions of teachers with regards to the identification of English language learners (ELLs) for special education services. The participants were 22 general education and special education teachers at two schools in a school district in the Chicago suburbs. The data collected included responses to a questionnaire. The questionnaire asked teachers to consider different factors that influence the placement of ELLs in special education. The results indicated that teachers did not believe there is a disproportionate amount of ELLs being identified for special education. On average, approximately 90% of the teachers surveyed believe that teacher …

Data Migration From Rdbms To Hadoop, Naga Sruthi Tiyyagura, Monika Rallabandi, Radhakrishna Nalluri

All Capstone Projects

Oracle, IBM, Microsoft and Teradata own a large portion of the information on the planet. By that on the off chance that we run an inquiry in any piece of the world, it is likely that you are perusing the information from a Database possessed by them. The bigger the volume of information moves from Oracle to DB2 or other is testing assignment for the business. The conception of Hadoop and NoSQL innovation spoke to a seismic movement that shook the RDBMS market and offering a different option for organizations. The Database merchants moved rapidly to Big Data for position …

Plan B, Sriyakar Reddy Baddam, Kranthi Kumar Reddy Kallem, Durga Prasad Kosuri

All Capstone Projects

The main objective of this project is to build an android application which can help people plan an event or hangout based on all the available time slots of each and every one participating in the event and come up with an optimized time slot. In this way the communication between each and every one participating will be easier and saves a lot of time and cuts down unnecessary discussion. Based on the user’s likings the application can come up with suggestions in future, such as movie recommendation, a new restaurant opened.