Differential effects on behavior of a focal tadpole subjected either to the absence or presence of a predator cue were examined when the focal animal was in the presence of conspecific tadpoles differing in relatedness and familiarity. Tadpoles of the South African clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) were reared in full-sibling and mixed sibling groups in order to test an individual tadpole’s response to a predator cue while in the social context of a centralized tadpole group that varied in the degree of relatedness and also familiarity. Three different social contexts examined were as follows: 1) focal tadpole both related and familiar (RF) to a centralized tadpole group of 5 individuals from the same clutch and rearing tank; 2) focal tadpole tested with a mixed-related and familiar (MRF) centralized group of tadpoles from four separate clutches but the same rearing tank; and 3) focal animal unrelated and unfamiliar (URUF) with a group of centralized tadpoles from different separate clutches and rearing tanks. BIOBSERVE Viewer2 software allowed a variety of behavioral variables (i.e., velocity, track length, activity, and duration in distinct test arena zones) to be simultaneously filmed and quantitatively recorded for each focal animal. The focal animal was given both visual and olfactory, although not physical, contact with the centralized animals. Focal animal behavior was filmed for 10 minutes, either with or without a conspecific alarm cue present in the test arena. Mean and summary behaviors were calculated for each focal tadpole at 20 s intervals for each minute of the test. The tadpoles in the absence of cue showed greater differences in mean behaviors among test groups toward the end of the ten minute filming period; those in the presence of the cue exhibited a greater number of significant differences in mean values among test groups in the initial part of the films. In the presence of predator cue, test groups responded in a manner that would support the hypothesis of protecting more closely related individuals from the threat of predation and thus increasing inclusive fitness; while in the presence of cue, URUF focal tadpoles tended to expend more time and activity near conspecifics while MRF and RF exhibited behaviors indicating a distancing from center animals. Theoretical expectations for a particular behavior need to be evaluated in the context of the environmental and social conditions. That URUF animals go to the center more in the presence of the cue compared to RF animals suggests that anti-predator strategies are not just a simple response, but may adaptively vary dependent on background conditions. The results of this study support the conclusions that 1) X. laevis tadpoles do respond behaviorally to a conspecific predator cue, 2) the response of the tadpole varies dependent on the potential social interactions available during the predator threat, and 3) these tadpoles behave in manner that can be explained as showing more “altruism” towards related individuals. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Biological Sciences. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 50-54)

Kansas experienced a period of rapid construction in the late 1880’s that marked both the urban and rural environments. The growth was the result of an unparalleled atmosphere of opportunity brought about by a collusion of easy credit, liberal land policy, and a shared vision of progress. While many of these 19th century claims seem ludicrous today, they seemed very real at the time. This paper studies the boom in the central part of Kansas and its lasting effects on the politics, built environment, and culture of the state. The end of the boom brought about a changed political and economic landscape that reflected lessons learned in the boom years. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 105-110)

The Ethernet technology has advanced from the era of fast Ethernet to the era of gigabit ethernet. The gigabit routers currently available in the market are employing expensive hardware based implementations for improving the throughput [6], which makes the overall cost of the device prohibitively high. In this thesis the author reviews the existing router architectures and routing protocols and critiques the shortcomings of the existing implementation. This thesis evaluates the drawbacks in the existing infrastructure and proposes an architecture that provides a solution based on the RDMA protocol. The proposed architecture uses the RDMA protocol for transferring the data payload from the ingress interface to the destination interface. In this research the author also presents an analytical mathematical model that can be used for calculating the delay incurred by a packet, memory utilization and CPU utilization for both architectures. The potential benefits by the use of RDMA protocol are also explained in detail in this thesis. The necessity for modifying the update packet structure in the existing implementation of RIP is discussed in detail. Packet payload handling in both architectures is compared and the advantages in the RDMA protocol based implementation are presented. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical and COmputer Engineering. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 75-77)

In this thesis, we present the impact of backscattering induced crosstalk on the Bit-error-rate (BER) performance of a corner cube retro-reflector (CCR) based distributed sensor network system which is based on optical wireless communication. A CCR, which consists of three flat glass plates, can send information back to the base transceiver. We study the BER for different transmitted optical powers. The photodiode at the global transceiver combines all the received signals and following that a decision circuitry makes a hard decision based on an adaptive decision threshold. It is observed that the BER decreases with the increment of the number of CCRs. This thesis also reveals that there is a power penalty suffered by the system due to the type of transceiver used in this system. The limiting values of the link range (horizontal distance between the global transceiver and the CCRs) and the imaging receiver pixel sensitivity factor are determined at a BER of 10-9. Mathematical results show that the power penalty increases for about 2 watts for a decrement in the pixel sensitivity factor of about 0.5. It is also found that the system will get an improved BER by increasing the number of CCR. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 16-18)

This research evaluates the history of education in museums since 1870 with a particular focus on education programs for schools groups and their relationship with both theoretical and practical trends occurring in the American school system. To complete this research, the writings of museum professionals and related studies concerning education in museums were examined. It is concluded that in order to maintain creativity in their education programs; museum professionals must make sure that, while they always have to be aware of educational trends in traditional schools; they also safeguard their role as unique institutions of informal learning. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of History / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 101-116)

Rate Distortion analysis is a branch of information theory that predicts the tradeoffs between rate and distortion in source coding. In this thesis, we present the rate distortion analysis for conditional motion estimation, a process that estimates motion based on a criterion that affects coding rate, complexity of coding scheme and quality of the reconstructed video. In order to guide the rate distortion analysis, we use a conditional motion estimation scheme that estimates motion for certain blocks selected based on significant changes. We begin by explaining the conditional motion estimation technique and the effect of decision criteria on the technique. We then model the motion vectors as Gaussian-Markov process and study the rate distortion tradeoffs in the video encoding scheme. The rate distortion bound derived in this manner is also validated with a practical approach. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 28-31)

This thesis examines the effects of secular trends in stature between temporally and spatially different populations and assesses levels of homogeneity between historic and modern Central European populations and recent U.S. skeletal samples. By examining secular effects in response to socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural conditions it has been concluded that there exists a high degree of homogeneity within the U.S. skeletal sample as demonstrated by measurement means and standard deviations for both males and females. When compared to previously published historic and modern data on Central European stature, the various U.S. skeletal stature measurements provide some similar results and suggest (based on cultural information such as census data) their demographic continuity. By utilizing previously published studies that discern social strata among historic and modern Central European populations, different socioeconomic aspects and environmental variables are delineated as to disparities in secular trends of stature (such as nutrition, education and income levels, exposure to pollution, etc.). It is hypothesized that differences in stature can be observed between the populations by referencing socioeconomic, environmental, and cultural aspects of growth that can affect the original genetic trajectory of a human’s skeletal height. That is, these socioeconomic variables have the ability to affect stature to some degree. Although no marked secular trend in stature exists between the two studied populations, the recent U.S. skeletal sample could very likely be a descendant population of modern Central Europeans due to the great similarity in stature (homogeneity) between both populations. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Anthropology. / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 65-72)

A qualitative investigation of the Wichita State University (WSU) Office of disability services produced a program model with one proximate outcome (providing quality services to disabled students). This paper reports the program description revealed by the qualitative investigation and details the implementation and results of a quantitative survey instrument. The survey was designed to provide program monitoring information with regard to student perception of service quality. Findings include input monitoring information, information regarding student knowledge of the services available and satisfaction information. A factor analytic solution is detailed. / Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Program of Liberal Studies / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 52-56)

The problem of effectively integrating condition based maintenance and spare part inventory control is studied and a solution methodology demonstrated. Degradation modeling, Bayesian analysis, and optimization techniques are utilized to define a condition based maintenance model for a single production system under spare part inventory constraints. Specifically, the gamma process is used to model the degradation process for a system that has a monotonically increasing degradation behavior. The initial gamma process parameters are inferred during product testing and utilized to define a spare part optimization model. This optimization model is used to ascertain the stockout probability to support the system. To address the uncertainty in parameter estimates, the gamma process parameters are updated through a Bayesian updating technique as more degradation data is collected over time for a real time remaining useful life prediction of the component. Finally, condition based maintenance and spare part inventory control are tied together into a overall production decision model. The production decision model generates an optimal degradation limit maintenance policy which provides a means to make component replacement decisions while addressing the relationship among outstanding orders, the number of spares, and the degradation state. One can see that the methodology developed in this thesis effectively ties together condition based maintenance, production, and spare parts inventory control. This body of work is important in the area of reliability and maintenance engineering since it provides a way of controlling spare parts in conjunction with condition based maintenance and production. This concept addresses a relationship which is not well developed in the literature, yet has a significant practical value. / Thesis (M.S.)--Wichita State University, College of Engineering, Dept. of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-100)

Although the image of Woody Guthrie has often used as a symbol by collectivist leaning groups such as the Communist Party of the United States and the free love movement of the 1960s, and although he has been viewed by scholars as a dogmatic union supporter, an examination of several musical works characteristic of his creative oeuvre demonstrate individualistic traits. Guthrie’s own life, his solitary travels, his lack of concern for the welfare of his own family, his attitude toward financial success, treatment of and by the Communist Party, marriages, military career and final years demonstrate this individualism. His writings, most notably Bound for Glory – his semi-factual autobiography – and Woody Sez – a collection of his articles for a Communist Periodical – also show clear signs of a focus on self-actualization and independence rather than a desire for a Communist Cockaigne. The lyrics of songs characteristic of Guthrie’s preferred topical genres – “Jesse James” and “They Laid Jesus Christ in His Grave,” outlaw, “This Land is Your Land,” travel and “I Ain’t Got No Home,” anti-organized religion – came from an individualistic paradigm. Guthrie’s choices in crafting a musical idiom also reflect individualizing efforts. The easily played keys, chords, forms and rhythms allow a wide variety of individuals to take part in the music and also allowed for many variations on the music and lyrics while retaining the original message. Guthrie’s purposeful crafting of his own image independent of the musical culture both in his hometown and around him also demonstrates his independence. The choice of ultra-portable instrument – guitar – supplemented Guthrie’s rambling, self-reliant mystique. / Thesis (M.Mus.)--Wichita State University, College of Fine Arts, School of Music / Includes bibliographic references (leaves 59-62)