Developing and Delivering a Data Warehousing and Mining Course

This paper describes the content and delivery of a Data Warehousing and Mining course that was developed for students in the Eberly College of Business at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. This elective course introduces students to the strategies, technologies, and techniques associated with this growing MIS specialty area. Students learn what is involved in planning, designing, building, using, and managing a data warehouse. Students also learn about how a data warehouse must fit into an over-all corporate data architecture that may include legacy systems, operational data stores, enterprise data warehouses, and data marts. In addition, students are exposed to the different data mining techniques used by organizations to derive information from the data warehouse for strategic and long-term business decision making

Comparison Between Genetic and Morphological Sex of the Cranium

Morphological methods are relied upon to determine the sex of skeletal remains of both archaeological and forensic significance. The characteristics commonly examined in these morphological methods have a large margin of error, especially when it comes to partial or fragmentary cranial remains. The case could be made from this morphological study that sex attributed to fragmented remains where not more than one commonly scored trait is available for examination should not be considered as being fully reliable. In this study, I examined 20 crania from a collection from Tepe Hissar to compare morphological sex and genetic sex. Overall, the mastoid process should be considered a better indicator of sex than the supraorbital margins, nuchal crest, supraorbital ridges, and mental eminence. It is safe to assume that if the genetic sex and the morphological sex are the same, that sex is definitive. Conversely, it is difficult to determine which is correct when the morphological sex does not align with the DNA-determined sex. Through this research I have concluded that DNA analysis and morphological methods have the most significant advantages, especially over their alternatives, analysis of tooth size and wear and measurements plugged into discriminant functions, but have significant drawbacks

A study of some of the values of science in the primary school

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University, 1946. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Charles Dickens\u27 Trope of Great Gulfs: Irony in Bleak House

In Bleak House, Charles Dickens artistically and ironically manipulates language to expose burgeoning socio-political gaps in Victorian times, most notably those that involve people who have access to money, power, food and salvation, and people who do not. Dickens refers to the unlikelihood of two societies from opposite sides of Great Gulfs being brought together and he assists in drawing attention to those gulfs with the language in his novel. Framed within the social mores of his era, Dickens uses the language of phrenology and craniology to satirize the science that the English were using to justify their expansionism into lesser\u27\u27 intellectually and morally developed parts of the world, most notably Africa. He also uses the trope of cannibalism in terms of consumption in several different ways to illustrate the Great Gulfs between England and Others outside of England, between social classes, between genders, and between the haves and haves not within England. Dickens implies physical and moral consumption through some of his least likeable characters in Bleak House to reflect his Carlylean-influenced ideologies between people who support economic systems and people who attach themselves to the economic base without supporting it. Dickens also parrots many of Carlyle\u27s ideas when he uses the language of servitude and slavery to differentiate the Great Gulfs between a strong work ethic and one that is weak. It is Dickens\u27 language in Bleak House that exposes his disdain for England\u27s expansionism and demonstrates his strong isolationist views that fuels Victorians\u27 bias against England\u27s philanthropic efforts toward others. As a result, Dickens\u27 writing in Bleak House holds some of the most stinging criticism on England\u27s expansionism during his time

Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry analysis of covalent and non-covalent DNA complexes

textThe covalent and non-covalent interactions between DNA and external ligands and between DNA and itself are critical for cellular function. An increased knowledge of these interactions can be used for the development of disease-fighting agents, specifically anti-cancer drugs with improved sensitivity and specificity for tumor cells. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) is useful in the screening and characterization of the interactions involving nucleic acids given the speed and small sample sizes that can be analyzed. In this dissertation, ESI-MS is used to characterize covalent and non-covalent interactions involving DNA to assist in determining how these interactions can lead to better therapeutics. The non-covalent binding of ligands to quadruplex oligonucleotides is discussed first. Pyrrole inosine ligands, which bind to guanine bases, were found to interact with both quadruplexes and with guanine rich oligonucleotides without a quadruplex structure. While those interactions were specific with guanine, novel platinum complexes were found to form specific interactions with quadruplex structures themselves as the size of the ligands matched the size of a guanine quartet. This allowed the ligands to end-stack with quadruplexes with large thymine-rich loops between guanine-rich regions. The non-covalent and covalent interactions between ligands and other DNA structures were also studied. The non-covalent binding of anthracycline ligands to mismatched DNA hairpins was probed. The analysis of solutions of approximately equimolar ligand and oligonucleotide indicated preferential binding to the mismatched sequences. Diazirdinyl benzoquinone crosslinkers, including the clinically studied RH1 and an analogue of RH1, were reacted with a variety of duplex oligonucleotides. The complexes were observed by LC-MS and dissociated using both CID and IRMPD to determine the sites of crosslinking. It was determined that both ligands could form interstrand crosslinks in DNA with 5’-GNC or 5’-GNNC sequences. The RH1 analogue, with a bulky phenyl group, formed fewer crosslinks than RH1. In addition to studying DNA/ligand interactions, the interactions between oligonucleotides were also probed. Oligonucleotides containing non-standard isoguanine repeats were annealed in the presence of various cations to determine how those cations would affect the resulting secondary structures. In most cases, isoguanine containing strands formed pentaplexes rather than quadruplexes, which were observed for strands containing guanine bases.Chemistry and Biochemistr

The relationship between epistemological beliefs and academic achievement goals in middle school children

This study examined relationships among epistemic beliefs, achievement goals, self-regulated learning, cognitive strategy use, and academic performance for 131 sixth graders and 100 eighth graders

SAFER: Search and Find Emergency Rover

When disaster strikes and causes a structure to collapse, it poses a unique challenge to search and rescue teams as they assess the situation and search for survivors. Currently there are very few tools that can be used by these teams to aid them in gathering important information about the situation that allow members to stay at a safe distance. SAFER, Search and Find Emergency Rover, is an unmanned, remotely operated vehicle that can provide early reconnaissance to search and rescue teams so they may have more information to prepare themselves for the dangers that lay inside the wreckage. Over the past year, this team has restored a bare, non-operational chassis inherited from Roverwerx 2012 into a rugged and operational rover with increased functionality and reliability. SAFER uses a 360-degree camera to deliver real time visual reconnaissance to the operator who can remain safely stationed on the outskirts of the disaster. With strong drive motors providing enough torque to traverse steep obstacles and enough power to travel at up to 3 ft/s, SAFER can cover ground quickly and effectively over its 1-3 hour battery life, maximizing reconnaissance for the team. Additionally, SAFER contains 3 flashing beacons that can be dropped by the operator in the event a victim is found so that when team members do enter the scene they may easily locate victims. In the future, other teams may wish to improve upon this iteration by adding thermal imaging, air quality sensors, and potentially a robotic arm with a camera that can see in spaces too small for the entire rover to enter

Rapid Response of an Academic Surgical Department to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Implications for Patients, Surgeons, and the Community.

BackgroundAs the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread, swift actions and preparation are critical for ensuring the best outcomes for patients and providers. We aim to describe our hospital and Department of Surgery's experience in preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic and caring for surgical patients during this unprecedented time.Study designThis is a descriptive study outlining the strategy of a single academic health system for addressing the following 4 critical issues facing surgical departments during the COVID-19 pandemic: developing a cohesive leadership team and system for frequent communication throughout the department; ensuring adequate hospital capacity to care for an anticipated influx of COVID-19 patients; safeguarding supplies of blood products and personal protective equipment to protect patients and providers; and preparing for an unstable workforce due to illness and competing personal priorities, such as childcare.ResultsThrough collaborative efforts within the Department of Surgery and hospital, we provided concise and regular communication, reduced operating room volume by 80%, secured a 4-week supply of personal protective equipment, and created reduced staffing protocols with back-up staffing plans.ConclusionsBy developing an enabling infrastructure, a department can nimbly respond to crises like COVID-19 by promoting trust among colleagues and emphasizing an unwavering commitment to excellent patient care. Sharing principles and practical applications of these changes is important to optimize responses across the country and the world