A connected matching in a graph is a set of disjoint edges such that, for any pair of these edges, there is another edge of the graph incident to both of them. This dissertation investigates two problems related to finding large connected matchings...
A k-term quasi-progression of diameter d is a sequence {Xl,... ,xk} for which there exists a positive integer l such that l < Xi-Xi-1 < l+d, for all i = 2, ... ,k. Quasi-progressions may be thought of as arithmetic progressions with a certain...
A careful perusal of Shakespeare’s works leads to one outstanding conclusion. Shakespeare was preeminently interested in words, as such. His every play shows a painstaking attention to words in their various shades of meaning. It is our interest...
Dermal wounds, including bed sores, pressure ulcers, and diabetic ulcers have a large impact on American healthcare costing up to $7 billion per year. Adequate pharmaceutical remedies applied at constant rate could prove to increase the healing...
Though Virginia Woolf’s and Kathe Kollwitz's personal histories and specific cultural circumstances were quite different, their aesthetics share fundamental qualities. This dissertation demonstrates that both artists affirm memory, the maternal,...
This dissertation explores how presidential inaugural speeches reflect the overarching mindset of the government, and how, in the postmodern era, this mindset manifests the same sort of African American erasure that has existed since Middle...
Data Classification is a task that could be found in many life activities. In general, the term could be used for any activity that derives some decision or forecast based on the currently available information. Using a more accurate definition, a...
This dissertation describes (1) size-dependent electrochemical oxidation/stripping of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs), (2) alloying of copper with gold nanoparticles at underpotential deposition potentials, (3) electrochemical characterization...
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It is identified by its rapid, invasive progression with a profound resistance to treatments such as chemotherapy. Unfortunately, there is a lack of...
This thesis is a study and critique of John Hick's pluralistic hypothesis as presented in his book "An Interpretation of Religion." I primarily focus on two issues: Hick's epistemology of religious beliefs and the pluralistic hypothesis...
Trachea--Intubation; Optical fibers in medicine; Clinical medicine--Study and teaching--Simulation methods; Medicine--Study and teaching--Simulation methods
Fiberoptic intubation skills (FOI) are critical in reducing the anesthesia related morbidity and mortality in clinical settings. The purpose of the study was to prove that the simulator can train a novice to achieve the expert level in a relatively...
The purpose of this study was to examine common algebra-related misconceptions and errors of middle school students. In recent years, success in Algebra I is often considered the mathematics gateway to graduation from high school and success...
Mathematics teachers--Training of; Student teaching; Mathematics teachers--In-service training
Teacher candidates enter teacher preparation programs with grounded beliefs
about teaching and learning. These beliefs are especially problematic in the area of
mathematics, as they hinder instructional decisions (Karp 1988, 1991; Kolstad &...
Six sigma (Quality control standard); Manufacturing processes--Quality control--Statistical methods
The objective of this thesis was to apply what was learned from Six Sigma while working for General Electric, towards real applications to improve processes. Two manufacturing problems were targeted. One of the issues dealt with variation, in an...
Heuristic; Production management; Personnel management--Data processing
The Naval Surface Warfare Center wishes to create a task assignment schedule
with a minimal training cost for workers to raise their skills to the required levels. As the
number of workers, skills, and tasks increase, the problem quickly becomes...
Feminism in literature; Self-perception in literature; Women in literature; Chen, Ran, 1962-; Tan, Amy
With increasing cross-cultural infiltrations and accelerated interflows among people of all nationalities in this globalized world, the focus of comparative literature has experienced a shift from traditional Eurocentric cannons to a broader space...
Electronic commerce--Corrupt practices--Prevention; Internet advertising--Corrupt practices; Internet fraud
Online search advertising is currently the greatest source of revenue for many Internet giants such as Google™, Yahoo!™, and Bing™. The increased number of specialized websites and modern profiling techniques have all contributed to an...
Women on television; Animated television programs--Social aspects; Women in popular culture
Utilizing the criteria for unruly women established by Kathleen Rowe, this work engages with current television scholarship on animated sitcoms in order to come to an understanding of how unruliness as a category of behavior and embodiment is...
Heart--Diseases--Diagnosis; Diagnostic imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Imaging systems in medicine
Many cardiac diseases, such as myocardial ischemia, secondary to coronary artery disease, may be identified and localized through the analysis of cardiac deformations. Early efforts for quantifying ventricular wall motion used surgical implantation...
The vaccinia virus complement control protein (VCP) is involved in the modulation of the host inflammatory response during vaccinia virus infection. It possesses the ability to inhibit both classical and alternative pathways of complement...
