Poster exhibited at GPSC Student Showcase, November 7th, 2014, University of Arizona. / Today’s language teachers find increasing resources online that allow greater variety of authentic material. With the opportunities offered by digital video, the traditional listening comprehension activity has reached new potential for incidental learning and learner’s autonomy (Robin, 2011). While conscious attention is on the message delivered by the audiovisual, learners assimilate new words from context without intending to do so, stimulating incidental vocabulary learning (Carlisle, 2007). Video’s inherent multimodality makes sensory information available in various semiotic codes, allowing to the comprehension of information via separate channels (Guichon & McLornan, 2008). This case study involves three students of advanced Italian at a large American University. It will argue in favor of video cartoons as a valuable tool to foster a constructive environment for the acquisition of the L2 (Bahrani, 2014). Specifically, we will look at British award-winning preschool cartoon Peppa Pig in its Italian version. The rationale for choosing this particular cartoon includes: 5 minutes of episode length, authentic interpersonal language and descriptive prose, slow pace of speech, familiar every-day and humorous stories, free online access and the possibility to activate captions. Furthermore, this cartoon may be used for listening comprehension for the 30 other languages in which it has been translated. Feedback from university-level students confirms the potential of this particular cartoon and will be presented in this poster. Students reported strong motivation due to the low affective filter environment (Rule & Ague, 2005) as well as improvement in areas like vocabulary, pragmatics and idiomatic expressions from contextual clues.

The intent of this thesis is to design, build, and test a cylinder head with variable swirl and ignition sites. The design aspect used Solid Works Floworks to model airflow within the head and cylinder. Swirl rate and volumetric flow rate were calculated from the results. Many design iterations took place before a suitable design was accomplished. Once the suitable design was reached, it was built using the rapid prototyping method known as 3-D printing (Fused Deposition Modeling). Valve guides and seats were installed in the head. Then valves, springs, and retainers were installed to allow for testing. The inlet was created using stereo-lithography due to its smooth surface finish and thin walls. A pin wheel swirl measuring device was built to measure tangential rotation rate of gasses in the cylinder. The experimental head was tested on the University of Miami flow bench in the Internal Combustion Engines Laboratory. The results of the experimental work and theoretical modeling were compared. The results matched closely. The difference between experimental and theoretical values for high swirl flow rates were less than 3% error and the swirl ratio was less than 10%. For the low swirl scenario, error was less than 30%. The measured flow rate for the high swirl scenario was 28.87 CFM and the swirl ratio was measured as 2.87. SolidWorks Floworks created accurate results for the high swirl scenario and further experimentation should be conducted for different geometries.

This dissertation examines whether enhanced executive function plays a role in successful second language acquisition (SLA). Specifically, I examine learners’ performance in language learning tasks and in three tasks argued to reflect components of Miyake et al.’s (2000) model of executive control. Many studies in the past decade have claimed to find superior performance in executive control tasks by lifelong bilinguals (e.g., Bialystok, 2011). There is also research that supports a relationship between bilingualism and success in third language acquisition (TLA) (e.g., Kaushanskaya & Marian, 2009). The purpose of the present research is to explore whether an advantage in learning an additional language might be due to enhanced executive function. If enhanced executive function aids language learning, then I expect to find a significant correlation between performance on a language learning task and performance on executive function tasks, even for learners without a history of bilingualism. In this dissertation, I first describe the literature that examines the variables that support SLA, as well as research showing a bilingual advantage in executive function. Next I present empirical studies I conducted in which monolinguals, language learners, and bilinguals were taught novel words in an unfamiliar language (Turkish) and completed a series of language learning and executive function tasks, as well as another study in which language learners and bilinguals currently enrolled in a second language course were tested in the same tasks. Results show some group effects for executive function and language learning tasks, but the results are not consistent with previous research. Furthermore, the relationship between executive function skills and language learning success is complex and inconsistent, suggesting that further research is needed.

This study investigated two variables in relation to American English flapping among Saudi speakers. These two variables were gender and phonetic environment of flapping. For the purpose of the study, 20 Saudi university students, 10 male and 10 female, were chosen. In addition, three environments of flapping have been used in two production tasks. These environments were, flapping followed by syllabic /ɹ/, flapping followed by syllabic /l/, and flapping followed by a vowel. The two tasks were a word list and a paragraph. The results of the study revealed that female participants flapped less often than male participants in all three environments in both tasks. Female participants flapped 19% of the time in both tasks. On comparison, male participants flapped 65% of the time in both tasks. The difference between genders was high at 46%. The average of the first environment was 47% for both genders, 40% for the second environment, and 37% for the third. Age, word frequency, age of onset, and economic class did not have a significant relation in the flapping production.

abstract: This study examined the development and acquisition of second language (L2) sounds by adult students enrolled in a communicative language program. The investigation explored the acquisition of L2 phones by analyzing the voice onset time (VOT) of word-initial voiceless stops in Spanish by native English speakers. A total of 40 subjects participated in the study and were divided into three groups; one group of students enrolled in a first semester course, another group of students enrolled in a third semester course, and the last group enrolled in a fifth semester course. The duration of VOT was compared between groups reading from a word list consisting of 60 words during the 13th to 15th weeks of the semester. Significant differences in VOT were found between the first and fifth semester groups, as well as the third and fifth semester groups suggesting that accurate acquisition of L2 phones and the formation of new phonetic categories are possible for late L2 learners in accordance with the Speech Learning Model. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Spanish 2018

The theme of this dissertation thesis is the maintenance support Business Inteligence solutions. It is written in cooperation with the firm Clever Decision. The dissertation consists of two parts. The first part deals with the solution of the SLA contract, actually designing the SLA (Service Level Agreement) contract, wich the company used as an add-on support for the treaty. The second part is devoted to the helpdesk, the solution, process design and functionality of which is coming in when selecting an appropriate software solution. The aim of the work is properly designed SLA and help desk solution, including the selected software solution. At the beginning of this work is explain the concept of Service Level Agreement from several possible perspectives: general SLA, SLA for data and legal aspects of the SLA. The study also proposed a general SLA contract for small business. In the second part is processing the proposals and a description of the service desk processes. The proposal is primarily aimed at the implementation, measurement and reporting, SLA performace is not included there. Processes are designed in accordance with the requirements of the company. The following section the work deals with design and describing the helpdesk functionality. Finally, it is selected by the required functionality appropriate software solution.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Though the elimination of carbohydrate xenoantigens has reduced the antibody barrier to clinical xenotransplantation, identification of additional targets of rejection could further increase the immunologic compatibility of pig tissues with humans. Many patients in need of organ transplantation have antibodies to proteins encoded by the human major histocompatibility complex (MHC) which have high similarity to their swine homologs. The goal of this thesis was to determine if the class II genes of the swine MHC can bind human antibodies. To characterize antibody binding effect to class II swine leukocyte antigens (SLA), a constitutively positive SLA class II cell was created through transfection with the human class II transactivator (CIITA). Cells expressing only SLA-DR or SLA-DQ were also created using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene knockout tools. These various lines were incubated with human sera and tested for binding to IgM and IgG in a flow cytometry crossmatch (FCXM). The results demonstrate reliable antibody binding to each of the SLA class II –DR and –DQ derivatives. A two-way paired t-test revealed statistical difference in total sera binding between to the DR(+)DQ(+) and DR(-)DQ(-) clones for IgG (p = 0.0059) but not IgM (p = 0.2460). Looking at the subset of individuals with and without anti-HLA class II sensitization, statistical difference was noted for IgG (p = 0.0229) but not IgM (p = 0.3045). Examining further the role of DR(+) vs DQ(+), statistical analysis revealed difference in the DR(+)DQ(-) vs. the DR(-)DQ(+) FCXM (p = 0.0099), the DR(+)DQ(-) vs. the DR(+)DQ(+) FCXM (p = 0.0192), and the DR(-)DQ(-) parent vs. DR(+)DQ(+) FCXM (p = 0.0329). No difference was found in the DR(-)DQ(+) vs. DR(+)DQ(+) FCXM (p = 0.1601). The results of this project suggest that SLA class II, specifically SLA-DQ, could be a target of antibody binding and cross-reactive anti-HLA class II antibodies may be capable of binding SLA class II.

The objective of this thesis is to propose and describe the database, which enables to measure compliance of Service Level Agreement suppliers of software applications that work with HP Quality Center. The work describes specific solution used in project to implement a new core business system, describes requirements for functionality and use of result the solution. Briefly described is also HP Quality Center, the testing tool, from which are taken the input data and what possibility offers for monitoring the SLA. The proposed database allows calculation of the time which is actually spent by suppliers on solving the errors and comparison of calculated time with the defined SLA. It will also describe how to import data into the database and the basic reports, which are usable after implementation of the proposed solution.

The goal of this thesis is to design and implement information system for Help Desk purposes. In the first part there are specifications of theoretical bases, standard procedures and contracts concerning Help Desk operation and also summary of advantages and requirements of such system. Second part contains description of parameters and processes using the BORM method. In the practical part is the implementaion of the designed system on the platform Microsoft Sharepoint 2010. The analytical part contains description of requirements to use this platform and description of functions which are used during the implementation. Final part contains description of the implementation itself. It is based on the parametrs and processes designed in the theoretical part and uses the Sharepoint functions described in the analytical part.

No description available.