Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium on Mathematical Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis

Topics addressed include: multivariate spline method; normal mixture analysis applied to remote sensing; image data analysis; classifications in spatially correlated environments; probability density functions; graphical nonparametric methods; subpixel registration analysis; hypothesis integration in image understanding systems; rectification of satellite scanner imagery; spatial variation in remotely sensed images; smooth multidimensional interpolation; and optimal frequency domain textural edge detection filters

Job seeking and job application in social networking sites : predicting job seekers\u27 behavioral intentions

Social networking sites (SNSs) are revolutionizing the way in which employers and job seekers connect and interact with each other. Despite the reported benefits of SNSs with respect to finding a job, there are issues such as privacy concerns that might be deterring job seekers from using these sites in their attempts to secure a job. It is therefore important to understand the factors that are salient in predicting job seekers\u27 use of SNSs in applying for jobs. In this research, a theoretical model was developed to explicate job seekers\u27 intentions to use SNSs to apply for jobs. Two aspects of intentions to use SNSs to apply for jobs were examined: (i) the likelihood of using these sites to submit applications, and (ii) the likelihood of sharing personal information requested by recruiters and potential employers using SNSs to recruit employees. Factors that could determine preference for the use of traditional job boards over SNSs in applying for jobs were also investigated. The initial theoretical model tested in this research was anchored on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), and thus, variables such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy and social influence were predicted to have an impact on job seekers\u27 intentions. Other factors hypothesized as having an influence on job seekers\u27 intentions to apply for jobs using SNSs were: privacy concerns; perceived justice (trust that the information revealed in SNSs will be used fairly in the job candidate selection process); perceived risks; and the provision of information on a distinctive function within some SNSs referred to, in this study, as the inside connections feature (which illustrates to job seekers their social network connections to potential employers). Data for this study were gathered through an online survey from 490 registered users (alumni and students hoping to graduate soon) of career services databases managed by two universities in New Jersey, USA. The test of the measurement model of the initial research model suggested that survey respondents did not sufficiently distinguish performance expectancy from intention to apply for jobs using SNSs. Thus, an alternative model with only intention to share information with recruiters and potential employers using SNSs to recruit employees as the dependent variable was developed. The results of the test of the alternative model suggest that performance expectancy and privacy concerns are the most dominant direct predictors, and that social influence specific to image and perceived justice are indirect predictors. However, effort expectancy and risk beliefs did not influence directly the intention to share information with recruiters and potential employers using SNSs to recruit employees. The R2 value for this alternative model was 37.3%. Exploratory analyses suggest that all of the model variables, except the provision of information on the inside connections feature, have a significant influence on intention to apply for job using SNSs and preference for job boards over SNSs. The results of this study suggest that, in efforts to encourage the use of SNSs for securing a job, designers should pay significantly more attention to promoting the usefulness of these sites and to providing job seekers with more control in handling their personal information in order to alleviate privacy concerns. This study provides insights into predictors of job seekers\u27 behavior in SNSs that can inform future research

General Undergraduate Catalog, 2001-2003

Marshall University General Undergraduate Catalog for the 2001-2003 academic years.https://mds.marshall.edu/catalog_2000-2009/1017/thumbnail.jp

Functional and structural correlates of dyslexia and reading-relevant skills in the brain : Evidence from newborns and adults

Developmental dyslexia is at the low end of a spectrum in reading and writing abilities, and may arise despite normal intelligence and education. It often is accompanied by difficulties in domains important for reading, such as phonological processing and verbal working memory. Neural impairments in speech processing are evident in the majority of dyslexic individuals and could be linked to phonological and temporal sampling problems. This thesis integrates four studies for which neuropsychological assessments, magnetoencephalography (MEG), electroencephalography (EEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were conducted. The first study examined the influence of familial dyslexia risk on neural speech-sound discrimination in newborn infants (Study I). The second and third study investigated neural processing of speech-sound changes (Study II) and natural speech (Study III) in adult dyslexic and typical readers. The fourth study analyzed anatomical brain abnormalities in dyslexia (Study IV). In addition, the associations of neural measures to reading and related phonological-processing and working-memory skills were investigated (Studies II–IV). The main findings of this thesis were neural speech-processing impairments in newborns at risk of and adults with dyslexia, neuroanatomical abnormalities in adults with dyslexia, and links between the neural measures and skills relevant for reading. Specifically, newborns at risk of dyslexia compared to a group of low risk showed atypical neural speech discrimination responses that may be precursors of phonological deficits in dyslexia (Study I). However, neuromagnetic discrimination responses elicited by the same speech-sound changes suggested no abnormalities in adults with dyslexia, yet, the responses were associated with reading and working memory functions (Study II). Inter-subject correlation (ISC) to natural speech was weaker between dyslexic than typically-reading adults in delta- and high gamma-frequency bands, and stronger in the theta, beta, and low gamma bands, possibly reflecting temporal sampling deficits of natural speech features (Study III). The ISC strength was related to all three reading-relevant skills of interest. Structural abnormalities were observed in dyslexic adults as decreases in grey- and white-matter volumes in temporal, frontal, and subcortical structures important for reading (Study IV). Furthermore, grey- and white-matter volumes were associated with reading and working memory functions. Taken together, this thesis illuminates neural speech processing deficits in dyslexia and its risk at birth and pinpoints associations between reading skills and neurofunctional and -anatomical measures.Lukivaikeus on luku- ja kirjoitustaitojen jatkumon matala ääripää, jota ilmenee normaalista älykkyydestä ja koulutuksesta huolimatta. Usein lukivaikeuden ohella esiintyy vaikeuksia muilla lukemiselle tärkeillä osa-alueilla, kuten fonologisessa prosessoinnissa ja kielellisessä työmuistissa. Suurimmalla osalla lukivaikeudesta kärsiviä voidaan todeta puheen hermostollisen käsittelyn häiriöitä, joita on selitetty fonologisen (engl. phonological deficit theory) tai ajallisen käsittelyn (engl. temporal sampling deficit theory) puutteilla. Tämä väitöskirja koostuu neljästä osajulkaisusta, joita varten tehtiin neuropsykologisia arviointeja, magnetoenkefalografia- (MEG) ja elektroenkefalografiamittauksia (EEG) sekä aivojen rakenteellinen magneettikuvaus (MRI). Ensimmäisessä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin perinnöllisen lukivaikeusriskin vaikutusta puheäänten hermostolliseen erottelutarkkuuteen vastasyntyneillä (Tutkimus I). Toisessa ja kolmannessa tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin puheäänimuutosten (Tutkimus II) ja luonnollisen puheen (Tutkimus III) hermostollista käsittelyä lukivaikeudesta kärsivillä ja tyypillisesti lukevilla aikuisilla. Neljännessä tutkimuksessa analysoitiin aivojen rakenteellisia poikkeavuuksia lukivaikeudessa (Tutkimus IV). Lisäksi tutkittiin käytettyjen hermostollisten mittarien yhteyksiä lukemiseen ja siihen liittyviin fonologisen prosessoinnin ja työmuistin taitoihin (Tutkimukset II–IV). Väitöskirjan päälöydöksenä olivat puheen hermostollisen käsittelyn vaikeudet riskiryhmän vastasyntyneillä sekä lukivaikeudesta kärsivillä aikuisilla, aivorakenteen poikkeavuudet lukivaikeudesta kärsivillä aikuisilla ja yhteydet näiden hermostollisten mittarien ja lukemiselle tärkeiden taitojen välillä. Vastasyntyneillä, joilla oli lukivaikeusriski, ilmeni matalan riskin ryhmään verrattuna epätyypillisiä puheäänten erotteluvasteita, jotka saattavat edeltää fonologista häiriötä lukivaikeudessa (Tutkimus I). Samojen puheäänimuutosten aiheuttamat neuromagneettiset erotteluvasteet eivät viitanneet poikkeamiin aikuisilla, joilla oli lukivaikeus, mutta vasteet olivat kuitenkin yhteydessä lukutaitoon ja työmuistitoimintoihin (Tutkimus II). Aivojen hermosoluryhmien synkronoituminen luonnolliseen puheeseen oli heikompaa lukivaikeuksisten kuin tyypillisesti lukevien aikuisten välillä delta- ja korkeilla gammataajuuskaistoilla ja voimakkaampaa teeta-, beeta- ja matalilla gammakaistoilla, mikä saattaa heijastaa luonnollisen puheen piirteiden käsittelyn häiriöitä (engl. temporal sampling deficits; Tutkimus III). Aivojen hermosoluryhmien synkronoitumisen vahvuus liittyi kaikkiin kolmeen tutkittuun lukemiselle tärkeään taitoon. Aikuisilla, joilla oli lukivaikeus, havaittiin harmaan ja valkean aineen pienentyneitä tilavuuksia lukemisen kannalta tärkeillä alueilla ohimolohkolla, otsalohkolla sekä aivokuoren alaisissa rakenteissa (Tutkimus IV). Lisäksi harmaan ja valkean aineen tilavuudet olivat yhteydessä lukutaitoon ja työmuistitoimintoihin. Kokonaisuutena tämä väitöskirja valottaa puheen hermostollisen käsittelyn häiriöitä lukivaikeudessa ja sen riskissä vastasyntyneillä sekä tuo esiin yhteyksiä lukutaitojen ja toiminnallisten ja rakenteellisten hermostollisten mittarien välillä

General Undergraduate Catalog, 1995-1996-1997

Marshall University General Undergraduate Catalog for the 1995-1996-1997 academic years.https://mds.marshall.edu/catalog_1990-1999/1002/thumbnail.jp

Management: A continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 551 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into NASA scientific and technical information system in 1980

Student perceptions of the aims of education in an independent school and the differing value priorities expressed. a q-methodological study

This research gathered student perceptions of the aims of their senior school education in an independent school. The data was collected using Q-methodology. Participants completed the same Q-sort twice. The Q-sorts were factor analysed resulting in three factors for Q-sort 1 expressing students’ own perceptions; these were titled: Future personal success, Enjoyment and care, and Empowerment. Four factors were retained from Q-sort 2, where students completed the same Q-sort from a hypothetical teacher’s point of view; these were titled: Social cohesion and enjoyment, Academic importance, Fulfilling potential, and Personal development and wider societal benefits. Literature around the aims of education, the statements for the Q-set and the resulting factors were analysed using Schwartz’s model of basic human values and pan-cultural baseline of value priorities as an analytical lens. This showed that although the aims of education align with Schwartz's findings of societal values, the participants in this study expressed differing value priorities to those in Schwartz’s pan-cultural baseline. Through this lens, it was found that student perceptions of the aims of their education in this independent school focus mainly on the value of self-determination, in line with Schwartz’s findings in societies. Differing from Schwartz’s findings in societies, however, is the high prevalence of self-enhancement and hedonism values in the students’ perceptions of the aims of their education. Also differing majorly from Schwartz’s findings is the low prevalence of benevolence and universalism in the students’ perceptions of the aims of their education. The study concludes that further research into the values of independently educated students would provide further valuable insights, and that schools should consider carefully the values that may be enhanced or demoted through certain educational activities

University of Maine Undergraduate Catalog, 2020-2021, part 2

The second part (of two) of the undergraduate catalog for the 2020-2021 academic year includes an introduction, the academic calendars, general information about the university, and sections on attending, facilities and centers, and colleges and academic programs including the Colleges of Business, Public Policy and Health, Education and Development, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Natural Sciences, Forestry and Agriculture

Eye quietness and quiet eye in expert and novice golf performance: an electrooculographic analysis

Quiet eye (QE) is the final ocular fixation on the target of an action (e.g., the ball in golf putting). Camerabased eye-tracking studies have consistently found longer QE durations in experts than novices; however, mechanisms underlying QE are not known. To offer a new perspective we examined the feasibility of measuring the QE using electrooculography (EOG) and developed an index to assess ocular activity across time: eye quietness (EQ). Ten expert and ten novice golfers putted 60 balls to a 2.4 m distant hole. Horizontal EOG (2ms resolution) was recorded from two electrodes placed on the outer sides of the eyes. QE duration was measured using a EOG voltage threshold and comprised the sum of the pre-movement and post-movement initiation components. EQ was computed as the standard deviation of the EOG in 0.5 s bins from –4 to +2 s, relative to backswing initiation: lower values indicate less movement of the eyes, hence greater quietness. Finally, we measured club-ball address and swing durations. T-tests showed that total QE did not differ between groups (p = .31); however, experts had marginally shorter pre-movement QE (p = .08) and longer post-movement QE (p < .001) than novices. A group × time ANOVA revealed that experts had less EQ before backswing initiation and greater EQ after backswing initiation (p = .002). QE durations were inversely correlated with EQ from –1.5 to 1 s (rs = –.48 - –.90, ps = .03 - .001). Experts had longer swing durations than novices (p = .01) and, importantly, swing durations correlated positively with post-movement QE (r = .52, p = .02) and negatively with EQ from 0.5 to 1s (r = –.63, p = .003). This study demonstrates the feasibility of measuring ocular activity using EOG and validates EQ as an index of ocular activity. Its findings challenge the dominant perspective on QE and provide new evidence that expert-novice differences in ocular activity may reflect differences in the kinematics of how experts and novices execute skills

Key Stakeholders’ Experiences of International Education at one Australian University

Aim: This study aimed to explore the experiences which influenced the perceptions of three key groups of stakeholders: academic and support staff, international students, and their domestic peers, when engaging in International Education at one Australian university. The original research questions for this study were: 1. What experiences influence staff members’ perceptions of International Education at one Australian university? 2. What experiences influence international students’ perception of their education at one Australian university? As directed by theoretical sampling, the views of domestic students were then also sought, to shed light on the following research question: 3. What experiences influence domestic students’ perceptions of International Education at one Australian university? Conceptual Framework: A Social Constructivist theoretical framework was employed within a Case Study approach for a number of reasons. First, institutions have their own specific characteristics, budgets and student populations and so can be studied separately in order that the researcher might develop a detailed critical understanding of the intricacies of the single case. Since International Education is a complex phenomenon, the researcher also needed to include the multiple realities of the different stakeholders involved. The researcher’s personal philosophy aligned with Social Constructivism, which argues that perceptions of reality are subjective to the person experiencing them. As such, Social Constructivist Grounded Theory allowed for the interpretation of both the participants’ views of reality as well as the researcher’s. Finally, this approach allowed for a co-construction of reality through the interactions of the participants and the researcher during the data collection process. This was important since the researcher, too, is an international student. Data collection strategies associated with Grounded Theory (GT) were used to obtain a more holistic understanding of the complex issues at play, and allowed for theoretical sampling, such that the researcher could follow up new directions as they arose during data analysis. Methodology: The study evolved in three interwoven stages, during which 25 international students, 38 staff members (academic and non-academic) and 10 domestic students were interviewed using semi-structured, face-to-face interview techniques. Theoretical sampling allowed new issues to be addressed in subsequent interviews as the study progressed. Participants: Data collection ceased after 38 interviews for staff members. This group comprised of 28 females and 10 males, most over 45 years of age, and an approximately equal mix of academic and non- academic staff. For international students, data collection ceased after 25 interviews. This group included both undergraduates and postgraduates, with only two having English as their first language. Length of stay in Australia varied from 2 months to 9 years. Data collection for the third group of participants, the domestic students, ceased after ten interviews, due to the difficulty of recruiting more students. There was an important gap in the sample of staff members, with no representatives from the SSC (Student Services Centre) responding to the numerous invitations to participate in the research. Ironically, SSC staff reported there was a policy based deterrent by which any staff working in the SCC were technically unable to participate in this (or any) research within the course of working hours. Procedure: The sampling process was carried out using snowball and volunteering techniques. Invitational emails, flyers and website posts were used to inform staff members, international and domestic students about the research. The participants then contacted the researcher to arrange for an interview date and time suitable for all parties. Interviews ranged from 30 to 45 minutes in length and data were transcribed immediately after each interview, so that a constant comparison with previous data could be carried out. Data were analysed using Constructivist Grounded Theory techniques. Findings: Perceptions of the key stakeholders were influenced by experiences both at the university level as well as at student and staff levels. It was observed that experiences of International Education depended on staff members’ roles and how much experience they had had with international students; how they perceived their international students; questions about the motivation of some students; and concerns about some students’ communication skills. At the university level, staff experiences were influenced by frustration with existing services and multi-level miscommunication across the university. These factors led to a number of implications for the staff, the students and the university. Issues such as lack of time to work with students, heavy workloads, lack of training or incentives to participate in training, and tensions around student assessment led to some staff members feeling “frustrated” or “resentful” about working with international students. International students’ perceptions of their education were influenced by concerns about the adequacy of their own communication skills, a lack of confidence in participating fully in the academic and social life of the university; and their perceptions of staff roles and responsibilities. Their broad experiences of their education were also affected by concerns about the services provided, which were either not specific enough, not familiar enough, or poorly coordinated. They also perceived some negative responses from their domestic peers. These combined factors resulted in a reluctance to access available services; some level of withdrawal from full participation in classroom activities, and feelings of being treated as the ‘other’ by some staff and students. Domestic students were recruited to the study using theoretical sampling after issues surrounding culturally-mixed group work were raised in the interviews with staff members and international students. Domestic students’ perceptions of International Education were influenced by concerns about some international students’ communication skills; in-group favouritism; and their belief that teachers did not facilitate group work to the extent required. At the university level, some commented that limited promotion of both the benefits of diversity, and of a sense of community on campus, influenced their experiences of working with individuals who were culturally and/or linguistically different. Conclusions: The study highlighted the importance of the university’s Value Position in influencing the International Education experiences of staff and students. The findings of the study supported the view that the model of service provision did not acknowledge that different student cohorts had, to some extent, different needs. This stance then influenced how staff and students responded to those they deemed as different. The contributions of the current study, its limitations and directions for future research are also discussed, along with a set of recommendations for the current Case aimed at enhancing the key stakeholders’ experiences of International Education