A fiducial volume is crucial in particle physics when trying to choose the shape and size of a particle detector. The fiducial volume is defined as the volume at which a specified number of energy events are to be accepted. Fiducial volumes are impacted by aspects such as size and geometry. The fiducial volume in this study is optimized to contain the highest number of events generated from geo-neutrinos for the Hawaii Anti-Neutrino Observatory Project (HANOHANO). Geo-neutrinos are defined as anti-neutrinos coming from the earth either through radioactive decay or from a hypothetical nuclear reactor (geo-reactor). Five different volume types were tested and each type was able to contain at least 98% of anti-neutrino events. This study will demonstrate that an elliptical-cylinder is the best fiducial volume geometry for the HANOHANO project. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Geology

An ever-present achievement gap has been found among students and their peers. Educational research and literature have found that the growing gap is due in part to a lack of parent involvement in their students' education and academic performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate how parent involvement affects student achievement and academic success in Pre-Kindergarten. It is hypothesized that parents who display higher levels of involvement will have children that perform better academically. The participants in this study included 38 preschool children and their parents. The researcher utilized a curriculum based measurement, AIMSweb, and IGDI's (Indicators of Individual Growth and Development for Infants and Toddlers), a pre-k assessment measure used to monitor and assess early literacy development in preschool children. A modified version of the Parent Involvement Project Questionnaire (PIPQ) was also used to determine if there is a positive correlation between parent involvement and student achievement. Results of the study indicate that student achievement is not statistically correlated with any of the scales from the parental involvement survey. Because the results were based on self-report and included a relatively small sample size, the outcomes of the study may not align with the majority of published studies pertaining to parent involvement and student achievement, due to its subjective nature. Or, perhaps for some students, there may be other factors that are more influential than parent involvement. Implications and further research are discussed. / Thesis (M.A.T.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction

Early child education classrooms are beginning to see a trend in the way play is viewed and utilized in the daily structure of classroom environments and curriculums. A high emphasis on the accountability of how a curriculum is delivered and how students are learning continues to develop more structured environments. Kindergartens and pre-kindergarten classrooms are beginning to feel the pressures of accountability in the way they are teaching children the basic skills and subjects needed for later success in school. The purpose of this study is to compare an academically structured pre-kindergarten classroom to a more traditionally or play-based pre-kindergarten classroom in a large, urban school district in the Midwest. The focus is on developmentally appropriate practices and the achievement of students for kindergarten and/or school readiness. The study analyzes and reports on each prekindergarten curriculum and environment and how they are meeting developmentally appropriate practices using the The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scales: revised Edition (ECERS-R) (2005), The Four Curricular Subscales Extension to the ECERS-R (ECERS-E) (2011), and The Core Knowledge Preschool Assessment Tool (CT-PAK) (2004) was administered to random sample of six pre-kindergarten participants to asses kindergarten readiness. Finally, comparison and discussion of both pre-kindergarten curriculums and environments as well as their effectiveness on school and/or kindergarten readiness. / Thesis (M.A.T.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction

The capacitated lot-sizing problem (CLSP) is a core problem for successfully reducing overall costs in any production process. The exact approaches proposed for solving the CLSP are based on two major methods: mixed-integer programming and dynamic programming. This thesis provides a new idea for approximating the inventory cost function to be used in a truncated dynamic program for solving the CLSP. In the proposed method, by using only a partial dynamic process, the inventory cost function is approximated, and then the resulting approximate cost function is used as a value function in each stage of the approximate dynamic program. In this thesis, six different algorithms are developed for the CLSP, based on three different types of approximate dynamic programming approaches. The general methodology combines dynamic programming with data fitting and approximation techniques to estimate the inventory cost function at each stage of the dynamic program. Furthermore, three main algorithmic frameworks to compute a piecewise linear approximate inventory cost function for the CLSP are provided. The first approach integrates regression models into an approximate dynamic program. The second approach uses the information obtained by a partial dynamic process to approximate the piecewise linear inventory cost function. The third approach uses slope-check and bisection techniques to locate the breakpoints of the piecewise linear function in order to approximate the inventory cost function for the CLSP. The effectiveness of the proposed methods are analyzed on various types of CLSP instances with different cost and capacity characteristics. Computational results show that approximation approaches could considerably decrease the computational time required by the dynamic program and the integer program for different CLSP instances. Furthermore, in most cases, some of the proposed approaches can accurately capture the optimal solution of the problem. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not students in high school chemistry have the prerequisite math skills, the application of equivalent fractions to unit conversions, needed to work dimensional analysis problems in chemistry. If students do not have the math skills but are actively taught them, then they should be able to use this skill to solve chemistry problems. The participants of the study included 78 honors and non-honors high school chemistry students. The math data was analyzed from the fall Northwest Evaluation Association, NWEA, data and correlated with a student's chemistry pretest data involving dimensional analysis. In teaching dimensional analysis, teacher-centered instruction was compared to manipulative-assisted instruction. The teacher-centered instruction involved the use of notes, lecture, and problem worksheets. The manipulative-assisted instruction dealt with the use of unit conversion manipulatives, specifically animal/insect picture cards. Students who used the picture cards were found to have higher average retention test scores compared to those who used the teacher -centered strategy. Although the average score was higher with the picture cards, the increases were not statistically significant. In order to show statistical significance, the cards need to be used earlier in the year or possibly in previous courses for extensive exposure. As students work with the cards, they will internalize dimensional analysis and should improve the retention test scores. Keywords: chemistry, dimensional analysis, mathematics, and unit conversion / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction

Over the last few years, Internet use has expanded to the older adult population, according to the Pew Internet Project, 53% of adults aged 65 and over are now online (2012). Once online, studies have suggested that seeking out health information is one of the most popular online activities for adults. The purpose of this study was to better understand the potential of older adults improving their health literacy through the gathering of Internet-based health information. This project was designed to evaluate the relationship between Internet use, Internet self-efficacy, health literacy, and health status among adults aged 50 years and older. One hundred and eighty three men and women (mean age = 75.01 plus/minus 10.53 yrs) were recruited from local community programs, senior centers, and retirement communities. Participants completed five questionnaires. Based on results participants were separated into two groups: health literate and low health literate. There was no difference between the groups and the level of health literacy and self-reported health. There was a trend for the health literate participants to report greater self-rated health. The largest differences were observed for physical and emotional limitations. Health literate participants achieved a higher level of education. Results suggest that regardless of level of health literacy, the older adults in this sample had similar experience with computer/Internet use and ownership. With respect to self-efficacy, differences were noted for the variable addressing the gathering of information, but none of the other variables. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Health Professionals, Dept. of Public Health Sciences

The Solar Updraft Tower Power Plant (SUTPP) is a simple proven concept capable of producing power from sunlight with relatively little complexity and few moving parts. Unfortunately, it requires a large investment to build huge greenhouse-like collector to feed heated air into a very tall chimney, where it rises due to natural convection and spins turbo-generators that provide electric power. Substantial research has gone into understanding its physics, modeling its performance, and optimizing its fundamental design aspects. Economic analyses indicate it is feasible, proposals have been made, and the proposal for the first commercial plant has been floated. This thesis considers a few well researched configurations, and examines their environmental impacts (via a Life Cycle Assessment) of Global Warming Potential (GWP), and Energy Returned On Energy Invested (EROEI), including some of the practical aspects of building and operating a SUTPP. The best glass SUTPP studied had an EROEI of 7, comparable to photovoltaic power generation. Use of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) raised that to 14, approaching wind power (18), and permitted an EROEI of 10 for an airflow regulated SUTPP capable of baseload power or of shifting some generation to peak demand times. The collector was the largest contributor to life cycle impacts. Sites with risk of damaging hail should be avoided. Glass and ETFE offer favorable combinations of durability and recyclability. Evidence is cited suggesting the collector needs a cleaning system. Design strategies to facilitate cleaning and employ ETFE are discussed. Areas requiring further research have been identified and recommendations have been provided, along with the most promising SUTPP configurations based upon this research. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Much of the research on teen dating violence has attempted to take the ideas associated with adult domestic violence and intimate partner violence and apply it to teen relationships. This research was conducted to discover the underlying dimensions of teen relationships and the violence that exists in these relationships in order to provide a conceptual idea of who should be targeted, with what information, and at what age with prevention efforts aimed at reducing teen dating violence. Wichita Kansas has implemented a variety of prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing the prevalence of teen dating violence in the community for almost a decade. Participants in this study were recruited from 6th through 10th graders who were scheduled to receive intervention curriculum in their schools. Several items from the General Youth Relationship Survey-Student Version (Hertzog, Matson, & Rowley) were analyzed using factor analysis to discover the underlying dimensions of teen dating violence. Physical/emotional abuse, monitoring and controlling behaviors, and relational entitlements were the key dimensions gleaned from this analysis. An examination of the factor score means with several student characteristics were also analyzed. Girls were found to witness more teen dating violence in their friend’s relationships as well as hold more agreement with relational entitlements than boys. African American teens were more likely to report witnessing teen dating violence than Hispanic or white teens; however, Hispanic teens were more likely to report that a person has certain relational entitlements over their partner. This study also found that, in order to provide actual prevention, efforts should be targeted towards late elementary to early middle school-aged students. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Psychology

Recent technological advancements in electronics and telecommunications have provided more accessible quantitative methods of assessing balance. The latest smartphones have built-in motion sensors called tri-axial accelerometers, which are an ideal choice for evaluating variability of movement and balance providing a non-invasive, portable method of measurement. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare the balance assessment measures from a mobile device application (iPod) utilizing accelerometric motion sensors against the balance assessment measures of a clinically valid and reliable balance platform (BIODEX Balance System SD). METHODS: 75 healthy college-aged individuals (37 male, 38 female; average age = 24.2��6.8 yr) performed a series of balance tasks over two visits (Study 1 and Study 2). During Study 1, 8 balance tests were assessed, beginning with two feet on ground (baseline) and progressively becoming more difficult and repeating them over three trials. iPod Touches with a software application to measure balance was used to assess sway. During Study 2, participants completed 4 balance assessments using a clinically validated balance platform and the iPod Touches, at the same time. RESULTS: Data showed that the iPod Touches were consistent with expect outcomes, based off of normative data; the more unstable the assessment the higher the balance score compared to baseline or standing with feet together eyes open without foam. Analyses of the 3 trials suggest that a familiarization test should be performed when using the iPod Touch balance application and this is consistent with other devices. Results from Study 2 showed no significant difference between the two devices when measuring without foam, but a significant difference was found between the two while balancing on foam. CONCLUSION: Balance scores measured by accelerometers within an iPod appear to be a valid and consistent method of measuring human balance. / Thesis (M.Ed.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Human Performance Studies

This study reports the results of research done in three ninth grade English classrooms during a four week unit on Romeo and Juliet. The research focuses on the independent variables of ability grouping and evaluation modality as they have been found to be crucial to improving comprehension in English classrooms. The three classrooms were randomly assigned either the control condition or one of two experimental conditions. Each classroom received instruction using the Reciprocal Teaching Strategy. All 56 students were identified as either high or low level learners based on his or her most recent standardized reading test scores. The control classroom���s student participants were placed in reading groups with students of similar ability and were evaluated daily by the instructor. The participants in the two experimental cohorts were placed in reading groups with a variety of learner levels. Additionally, one experimental classroom employed peer evaluations. The study found that high level learners had significantly higher gains on the classroom objective test when receiving peer evaluations combined with mixed ability groupings. This was in comparison to low ability level students under the same treatment and high ability level students receiving teacher evaluations in mixed ability groups. The fact that high ability students in mixed ability groups did not perform well when given teacher evaluations seems to imply that peer evaluations are best suited for high level students in mixed ability cooperative groups. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Education, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction