100 research outputs found
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MURRAY STATE UNIVERSITY ON KENTUCKY, WEST KENTUCKY AND CALLOWAY COUNTY
No full textList of Contents
Acknowledgements
Overview
List of Tables
Chapters
Introduction
Cost of Murray State University
Direct Benefits of Murray State University
Economic Impact of Murray State University
Impact of Murray State University on the State and
Regional Economic and Social Infrastructure
Appendix A: Faculty and Staff Survey
Appendix B: Student Survey
Appendix C: Resource Persons
Bibliograph
The density, construction and drag coefficient of electrostatic volcanic ash aggregates.
No full textRecent laboratory experiments have demonstrated that electrostatic charges generated during the fragmentation of volcanic pumice cause rapid aggregation of the silicate particles produced. Here, we present measurements of the mass and component particle size distribution of individual, electrostatically bound aggregates produced during these experiments. Particles produced by fracturing pumice aggregated as they fell ∼1.5 m within an enclosed fall chamber. Aggregate mass measurements indicate aggregate densities of ∼200 kg m−3 or less. The component particle size analysis demonstrates exponential-type cumulative distributions which are dominated (on a volume basis) by particles ∼10–40 μm in diameter and contain few particles >70 μm. By representing these particles as disks of 5 μm thickness the calculated aggregate densities are in agreement with those derived from the aggregate mass measurements and indicate a relatively constant aggregate density with size (in contrast with previous results from fall velocities). Combining the density measurements with fall velocity data allows the drag coefficient of aggregates to be determined. Empirical equations developed to describe the particle size distribution within aggregates are used to derive relative aggregation coefficients for the electrostatic aggregation process. Our results can be used within numerical models of volcanic plumes in order to improve their representation of electrostatic aggregation processes
The Process of Mexican American Catholic School Selection
No full textThe Process of Mexican American Catholic School SelectionGilbert L. Sáenz, Ph.D.Director: Merylann J. Schuttloffel, Ph.D.ABSTRACTThis qualitative multiple case study explored the process Mexican American parents use in selecting Catholic schools for their children. Catholic school graduates become the leaders of the Catholic Church and society; and are replete with moral values resulting from the fostering of their faith while in Catholic schools. Their test scores and achievements outstrip those of their public-school counterparts, and their futures are bright as well (Berends, 2009; Dolan, 2010; Gautier, 2005). What about the futures of the 17.9 million Hispanic school aged children in the United States? In 2016, 55 million Hispanic people lived in the United States with 17.9 of their children being of school age (Patten, 2016). Of those children, only 307,664 attended Catholic schools (McDonald and Schultz, 2016). Emerging from this data is the problem that few Hispanic children were attending Catholic schools. This study sought to understand the process used by Hispanic Mexican American parents whose children attended Catholic schools to develop a conduit by which more Hispanic children could attend Catholic schools in the future.Data for this study came from interviews of six Mexican American married couples with their, first born, children enrolled in a Catholic prekindergarten or kindergarten in a Catholic diocese in the Southern region of the United States. Content analysis was used as a means of data analysis. Content analysis is a method that is both systematic and objective, as a means of describing… phenomena (Elo & Kyngäs, 2008). The data were also examined using a modified constant comparison method developed by Glaser and Strauss (1963). The theoretical framework of the study was derived from the rational choice model of Friedman and Hechter (1988), which described the process of school selection consisting of four major constructs: who chooses; the gathering and use of information; negotiated actions; and the aggregation mechanism. The study found that Mexican American parents undertake an informal process of school selection, different from the school selection studies found in the literature and the theoretical framework of the study. The study also found that Mexican American mothers direct the process of school selection, are often predisposed to sending their children to Catholic schools and lead their husbands towards the Catholic school selection as well, consistent with the literature of “who chooses”. However, grandmothers are also involved. In making the decision about selecting Catholic schools, Mexican American parents avail themselves of little information, including from the Internet. They also make a single Catholic school selection versus choosing two or three schools. Mexican American parents consider any negotiations that take place as conversations and due to selecting a single school, these conversations most often are limited to scarcity of resources and convincing fathers of the virtues of Catholic schools. Mexican American parents, who find it difficult to pay tuition costs, nevertheless, decide to send their children, contrary to popular opinion. Mexican American parents gather most of their school information during their visit to the school and cite the actual visit with the school principal as the most critical factor in the process of selecting the Catholic schools for their children. The results of this study identify steps that can be taken by educators, dioceses and policy makers in response to the problem of too few Hispanic children in Catholic schools.Religious educationHispanic American studiesCatholic Schools, Hispanic, Mexican American, Mexican Americans, Process of School SelectionEducationDegree Awarded: Ph.D. Education. The Catholic University of Americ
Universal banking and the financing of industrial development
No full textIn universal banking, large banks operate extensive networks of branches, provide many different services, hold several claims on firms (including equity and debt), and participate directly in the corporate governance of firms that rely on the banks for funding or as insurance underwriters. In this paper, the author contrasts the cost of financing industrialization in the United States and in Germany during the second industrial revolution. He explains that large production is typical of modern industrial practice, so the lessons from that period apply broadly to contemporary developing countries. The second industrial revolution involved many new products and technologies. Firms were producing new goods in new ways on an unprecedented scale. Therefore, they needed quick access to heavy financing. Finance costs for industry were lower in Germany than in the United States, because U.S.regulations prevented the universal banking from which Germany benefited. High finance costs retarded U.S. realization of its full industrial potential. The potential to expand quickly and reap economies of scale was greater in German industrialization. The cost of industrial financing began to decline when institutional changes came about that increased the concentration of financial market transactions. In recent decades, a combination of macroeconomic distress, international competitive pressure, and the creative invention of new financial intermediaries has helped the U.S. financial system overcome the regulatory mandate of financial fragmentation.Financial Intermediation,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Banks&Banking Reform,Labor Policies,Decentralization,Banks&Banking Reform,Financial Intermediation,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Housing Finance
The 'true use of reading' : Sarah Fielding and mid eighteenth-century literary strategies.
No full textPhDThe aim of this thesis is to explore, by examining her life and
works, how Sarah Fielding (1710-68) established her identity as an author.
The definition of her role involves her notions of the functions of
writing and reading.
Sarah Fielding attempts to invite readers to form a sense of ties
by tacit understanding of her messages. As she believes that a work
of literature is produced through collaboration between the writer and
the reader, it is an important task in her view to show her attentiveness
toward reading practice. In her consideration of reading, she has two
distinct, even opposite views of her audience: on the one hand a familiar
and limited circle of readers with shared moral and cultural values and
on the other potential readers among the unknown mass of people. The
dual targets direct her to devise various strategies. She tries to
appeal to those who can endorse and appreciate her moral values as well
as her learning. Her writings and letters testify that she is sensitive
to the demands of the literary market, trying to lead the taste of readers
by inventing new forms.
The thesis opens with an overview of Sarah Fielding's career,
followed by a consideration of her critical attention to the roles of
reading. I go on to examine the narrative structures and strategies
she deploys, with a particular emphasis on her use of the epistolary
method. The following chapter deals with her attention to the reading
of the moral message tangibly embodied in her educational writing. It
is followed by an analysis of the activity which earned her a reputation
as a learned woman. Various as the forms of her works are, they invariably
reflect her attempt to balance herself between the two demands of
inventiveness and familiarity
Theory of the electronic states of semiconductor heterostructures
No full textThis thesis is concerned with theoretical calculations of the properties of electronic bound states in semiconductor heterostructures. The complex band structure empirical pseudopotential method (EPM) is used as the foundation of the work. Spin orbit coupling and strain effects (due to lattice mismatch) are included in familiar ways, as is the transfer matrix method, allowing the study of arbitrarily configured heterostructures. These techniques are used to investigate the unusually deep InAs/AlSb conduction band well. The strong possibility of intraband transitions at electro magnetic wavelengths around 1.55µm is predicted, with corresponding enhanced momentum matrix elements and joint density of states over interband transitions. An InAs/GaSb/AlSb asymmetric well is investigated, paying particular attention to the bound states in the vicinity of the InAs/GaSb band overlap. The electron-like states are found to cross with heavy hole and anti-cross with light hole-like states, as a function of heterostructure dimension or applied electrostatic field. This is analogous to the hybridisation of states in the in-plane band structure, except that for zero in-plane wave vector there can be no appreciable hybridisation of electron and heavy hole states. A technique is described that has been developed to extract envelope functions from heterostructure wavefunctions calculated using the realistic complex band structure EPM approach. These envelope functions conform to Burt’s theory (M. G. Burt, J. Phys.: Condens. Matt. 4, 6651 (1992)) in that they are uniquely defined, continuous and smooth over all space. Comparisons with traditional effective mass envelope functions are made. The extracted envelope functions are used to demonstrate conclusively Burt's predictions (M. G. Burt, Superlatt. Mi- crostruct. 17, 335 (1995)) concerning the inadequacy of certain approximations for the calculation of interband dipole matrix elements and charge oscillation. Finally, the issue of k • p operator ordering is convincingly settled, in favour of 'ordered' over 'symmetrised' Hamiltonians, by comparison to EPM calculations, and using EPM derived k • p parameters
Sarah Fielding: Satire and Subversion in the Eighteenth-Century Novel
No full textThis study of Sarah Fielding (1710―68) is an original contribution to Fielding scholarship that has a dual purpose: to support those who are striving to re-introduce her to the modern literary landscape in an effort to restore her eighteenth-century literary standing, and to firmly establish Fielding as an early feminist writer. It is argued here that throughout her oeuvre Fielding challenged prevailing traditions that denied women a choice, particularly in education, employment and marriage. These themes are also considered in the political treatises of Mary Astell (1666―1731) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759―97), who are now widely recognised as feminist writers.
It is further argued that Fielding’s subversion in fiction of the English patriarchal system is underscored by her unorthodox performance in the literary arena. This is fully explored alongside her use of sentimentalism as a literary tool with which she challenges her seemingly inhumane society. Fielding’s interest in ‘the Labyrinths of the Mind’ (in modern terms, human psychology) will also be addressed as will her placement in the history of feminism and her placement in the sentimental novel tradition. Fielding’s performance as a literary critic will be compared with the few female authors who, like her, dared to publish literary criticism during her writing career. Accordingly, extracts from Fielding’s novels and her two critical pamphlets will be thoroughly examined.
An updated biography of Fielding that is also included here will provide evidence for a further claim, that her fiction is autobiographical in part. A comprehensive account of Fielding’s performance as a literary critic forms the final chapter of this work. It is the first full-length examination of her contribution to the genre and includes an appraisal of her recently unearthed critical pamphlet entitled A Comparison Between the Horace of Corneille and The Roman Father of Mr. Whitehead (1750) that is yet to be formerly attributed to her. Ultimately this study of Fielding will go far beyond what has previously been written about this remarkable eighteenth-century author, particularly regarding her feminist activity
Learning from biophysical heterogeneity: inductive use of case studies for maize cropping systems in Central America
No full textGlobal society has become conscious that efforts towards securing food production will only be successful if agricultural production increases are obtained through mechanisms that ensure active regeneration of the natural resource base. Production options should be targeted in the sense of that their suitability to improve agricultural production and maintain natural resources is evaluated prior to their introduction. Biophysical targeting evaluates production options as a function of the spatial and temporal variability of climate conditions, in interaction with soil, crop characteristics and agronomic management strategies. This thesis contributes to the development of a system-based methodology for biophysical targeting. Cropping system simulation and weather generator tools are interfaced to geographical information systems. Inductive use of two case studies - a green manure cover crop and reduced tillage with residue management - helped to develop the methodology. Insight is gained into the regional potential for and the soil and climate conditions under which successful introduction of these production options may be achieved. The resulting information supports regional stakeholders involved in agriculture in their analysis and discussion, negotiation and decision-making concerning where to implement production systems. This process can improve the supply of appropriate agricultural production practices that enhance production and conserve soil and water resources
Quasi-cyclic Generalized LDPC codes with low error floors
No full textIn this paper, a novel methodology for designing structured generalized LDPC (G-LDPC) codes is presented. The proposed design results in quasi-cyclic G-LDPC codes for which efficient encoding is feasible through shift-register-based circuits. The structure imposed on the bipartite graphs, together with the choice of simple component codes, leads to a class of codes suitable for fast iterative decoding. A pragmatic approach to the construction of G-LDPC codes is proposed. The approach is based on the substitution of check nodes in the protograph of a low-density parity-check code with stronger nodes based, for instance, on Hamming codes. Such a design approach, which we call LDPC code doping, leads to low-rate quasi-cyclic G-LDPC codes with excellent performance in both the error floor and waterfall regions on the additive white Gaussian noise channel
The experience of shame and the emotional isolation of psychotherapy patients
No full textIn a review of research on the relationship between shame and psychopathology it is
suggested that too little attention has been paid to the actual context in which shame is
experienced by people with psychological difficulties. An attempt is then made to link
existing models of pathological shame with recent literature on emotion and it is
suggested that shame associated with psychological disorder is of an enduring script like
nature, termed 'marker shame'. Literature on the relationship between shame and
disclosure is introduced. It is argued that in addition to presenting an opportunity to
investigate the operation of shame in a social context research on the dynamics of
shame and disclosure is important given the central role that emotional disclosure
plays in psychotherapy.
The empirical part of the thesis consists mainly of a diary and interview study
designed to explore the nature of shame in the context of psychotherapy patients'
daily lives and the role of shame in the context of disclosure or non-disclosure of
unpleasant emotional experiences. Quantitative data on the nature, context and
disclosure of shame and the other unpleasant emotional experiences is reported.A
major finding is that the majority of unpleasant emotions experienced by the
participants were not disclosed and that 'marker shame' appeared to play a role in this
non-disclosure. An empirical approach to qualitative data analysis is then introduced
and used to explore the apparent 'emotional isolation' of participants. The findings
again appear to illustrate the operation of 'marker shame'. A qualitative analysis of
participants' accounts of emotions that they did disclose is reported and a shame-related
account of disclosure dynamics is shown to compare favourably with a
number of alternative theoretical accounts of the benefits of disclosure. Qualitative
analysis from a second interview study focusing on significant emotional memories is
presented which appears to replicate most of the earlier findings in a seconds ample of
psychotherapy patients
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