Showing papers by "Penn State College of Communications published in 2012"

The Role of Rape Myth Acceptance in the Social Norms Regarding Sexual Behavior Among College Students

Abstract: This study examined the antecedents for the acceptance of rape myths. The information motivation behavioral skills model was the basis for this study. In this cross-sectional study at a northeastern university, 237 students consented to participate in an online survey examining knowledge, social norms regarding sexual behavior, future time perspective, and rape myth acceptance (RMA). The majority of the sample was female. Forty-one percent believed that a woman who was raped while drunk was responsible. Men had higher RMA and the less sexual knowledge they had, the more they accepted the rape myths. Direction is provided regarding primary prevention of sexual assault.

Landslide displacement prediction based on combining method with optimal weight

Abstract: Predicting the deformation and evolution tendency of landslides is essential to landslide disaster prevention and mitigation. At present, most of the proposed models for landslide displacement prediction belong to single models. It is difficult to accurately describe the deformation and evolution law only by a single model for the complexity of landslides and limitation of the models. In this paper, we presented an application of linear combination model with optimal weight in landslide displacement prediction. We took Huanlongxicun and Saleshan landslides in Gansu province of China as examples, firstly to build GM(1,1) and Verhulst models for displacement prediction of the two landslides; then build two linear combination models of the two landslides, on the basis of the combining theory with optimal weight and the prediction results of the GM(1,1) and Verhulst models. The results show that the prediction accuracies of the combining models are much higher than those of the single models for both Huanglongxicun landslide and Saleshan landslide. Therefore, the combining model with optimal weight is an effective and feasible method to further improve accuracy for landslide displacement prediction.

Scrambling-based speech encryption via compressed sensing

Abstract: Conventional speech scramblers have three disadvantages, including heavy communication overhead, signal features underexploitation, and low attack resistance. In this study, we propose a scrambling-based speech encryption scheme via compressed sensing (CS). Distinguished from conventional scramblers, the above problems are solved in a unified framework by utilizing the advantages of CS. The presented encryption idea is general and easily applies to speech communication systems. Compared with the state-of-the-art methods, the proposed scheme provides lower residual intelligibility and greater cryptanalytic efforts. Meanwhile, it ensures desirable channel usage and notable resistibility to hostile attack. Extensive experimental results also confirm the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

New ICTs and the Study of Political Communication

Abstract: What is the relationship between new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the study of global political communication? This article reflects briefly on four important aspects of this complex question We begin at the most concrete level, outlining several prominent empirical opportunities and challenges created by a globally interconnected digital communication network Next, we examine how new ICTs matter, exploring the mechanisms through which diverse contemporary technologies alter the dynamics of political communication Third, we consider what the changing landscape of mediated communication means for political communication theory There is tension between the opportunity to advance existing theory and the need for radical new theorizing, and we argue that both approaches are relevant We conclude by mapping out important research opportunities located at the intersection of new ICTs and political communication

Consequences of Being the “Team Mom”: Women in Sports Information and the Friendliness Trap

Abstract: In an effort to move beyond relying solely on institutional critiques in explaining women’s marginalized status in the sports media workplace and to expand our understanding of gendered meaning-making in such organizations, we employ feminist scholar Romy Frohlich’s notion of the “friendliness trap” in the analysis of focus groups with women who work in college sports public relations, commonly called sports information. The friendliness trap is a term used to describe the faulty belief that women, by virtue of their feminine qualities, possess an advantage in communication-related fields. Our findings suggest, however, that women in sports information may be frustrated by the failure of “the female advantage” to provide them with opportunities for promotion. The friendliness trap obscures workplace realities, including the structural barriers to women’s advancement, and may divert the energy of women in ways that have no career benefit. Once the trap is exposed, however, women may be more able to challen...

The Annual Earnings Press Release's Dual Role: An Examination of Relationships with Local and National Media Coverage and Reputation

Abstract: This study analyzed annual earnings press releases and local and national newspaper coverage of those earnings for 207 of Fortune's America's Most Admired companies to explore intermedia agenda setting and relationships with reputation. The annual earnings press releases were found to have the greatest relationship with the positive content in local media coverage and negative content in national media coverage. The reputation, as determined by sophisticated investors, was related to the neutrality of the annual earnings press release in combination with the length of local and national newspaper coverage.

Preparation and electrochemistry of Pd–Ni/Si nanowire nanocomposite catalytic anode for direct ethanol fuel cell

Abstract: A new silicon-based anode suitable for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) is described Pd–Ni nanoparticles are coated on Si nanowires (SiNWs) by electroless co-plating to form the catalytic materials The electrocatalytic properties of the SiNWs and ethanol oxidation on the Pd–Ni catalyst (Pd–Ni/SiNWs) are investigated electrochemically The effects of temperature and working potential limit in the anodic direction on ethanol oxidation are studied by cyclic voltammetry The Pd–Ni/SiNWs electrode exhibits higher electrocatalytic activity and better long-term stability in an alkaline solution It also yields a larger current density and negative onset potential thus boding well for its application to fuel cells

Novel planar dual-band balanced antipodal slot-dipole composite antenna with reduced ground plane effect

Abstract: A novel planar, dual-band antenna composed of a symmetrical dipole and balanced antipodal slot radiator with low ground plane effect is proposed and investigated. Operation principle of the antenna is analyzed and design equations are drawn first. Then, the return loss, surface current distribution, radiation patterns, and gain are numerically and experimentally studied in detail. The impedance bandwidth of the antenna is from 2.36 to 2.56 and 5.13 to 12 GHz for return loss larger than 10 dB. The antenna has omnidirectional pattern at the lower band and quasi-directional pattern at the higher band, and it has good immunity to a neighboring, large ground plane. The proposed antenna should be useful for dual-band communication or identification systems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Bridging and toughening of short fibers in SMC and parametric optimum

Abstract: A simple analytical approach was proposed to simulate the bridging and toughening of randomly oriented short fibers in brittle matrix. Based on a magnitude order analysis, the energy dissipation before fiber pullout was neglected. The coupling of matrix spalling and fiber pullout was simulated by an approximate bridging model to determine the energy dissipation in the whole pull-out process of randomly oriented short fibers in brittle matrix. The proposed approach was applied to analyze the bridging/toughening of short fibers in SMC plates with mode I crack and to discuss the effects and optimum of parameters. The modelling results show that the main parameters for toughening are fiber length and interface friction stress and there is an optimal combination, i.e., their product nearly equals a constant (about 15–17 MPa-mm).

Outage Performance of OFDM Ad-Hoc Routing with and without Subcarrier Grouping in Multihop Network

Abstract: In this contribution, we investigate Decode and Forward (DF) OFDM Ad-hoc Routing strategy with bottleneck maximization We derive the exact outage probability and diversity order for the different scenarios: with and without subcarrier grouping and with and without joint selection, where joint selection refers to the selection of the last two hops together When joint selection is performed, numerical results show that a power gain can be obtained when using subcarrier grouping technique

Optimized Selective OFDMA in multihop network

Abstract: Selective OFDMA is a powerfull relaying technique with subcarrier based selection. This scheeme has a high potential to considerably improve the performance of cooperative OFDM systems. However, in practice, the implementation of this technique may suffer from multiple problems caused by the separation of the subcarriers from each other's. In this Contribution, we propose a new selection scheme denoted “Optimized Selective OFDMA” that approaches selective OFDMA performance in terms of outage probability while reducing its synchronization problems that may be caused by the subcarriers separation. The outage probability and diversity order of the proposed scheme are derived. The number of the used paths is also analyzed. We proved that for high SNR, the introduced scheme gives exactly the same performance of selective OFDMA with only one path for all the subcarriers.

From Research to Practice: Towards an Integrated and Comprehensive Faculty Development Program

Abstract: This article describes the design and development of a professional development program based upon research on the competencies necessary for online teaching success [1] conducted at Penn State University in 2009-2010. The article highlights how the results of this research are being aligned with various professional development courses comprising the certificate program for online faculty at Penn State’s World Campus. This article describes the process of research design and implementation to the direct application for professional development.

Nickel-Palladium Nanoparticles for Nonenzymatic Methanol Detection

Abstract: Silicon microchannel plates (MCP) modified by nickel-palladium nanoparticles (Ni-Pd/Si-MCP) have highly ordered microchannels with uniform diameters and lengths isolated and parallel to one another and are excellent sensors for the determination of methanol in alkaline solutions. The 3D ordered Si MCP is fabricated by electrochemical etching used as the backbone, and the Ni-Pd nanoparticles are sensitive materials for detecting methanol that was obtained by an electroless plating method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and electrochemical methods were employed to characterize the Ni-Pd/Si-MCP structure. An electrochemical workstation was used to monitor the sensing characteristics of the Ni-Pd/Si-MCP electrode. As a result of the synergetic effects rendered by the MCP and Ni-Pd nanoparticles, these sensors present a high sensitivity of 0.168 mA mM−1, and the detection limits was 12 μM. In particular, since the fabrication process is compatible with conventio...

Assembly Model Retrieval Based on Optimal Matching

Abstract: In this paper, an assembly model retrieval method based on optimal matching is presented in order to find the similar assembly model for design reuse and generation of manufacturing plans. First, shape features of components and connection relations of the components in assembly are extracted from assembly model; meanwhile assembly model is described as component attributed relational graph. Then, the compatibility matrix between two assemblies are calculated, which serve as the measure of their similarity. Finally, the optimal matching under the measures is calculated using Kuhn - Munkres algorithm. Experimental results show that this method is able to support the assembly model retrieval.

The research and analysis of the efficiency of automobile ABS brake based on fuzzy control

Abstract: The author combined the logic gate limit control method of ABS with the theory of multi-system dynamic and intelligent control, which based on analysis of the usage and control principle of ABS of the accidental vehicle. The author also made use of Matlab/Simulink fuzzy control toolbox to set up the multi-dynamic model of ABS controller and fuzzy control strategy. Then he simulated this model and compared and analyzed the simulation result with the testing result of a certain type of car. The simulation showed the application efficiency of fuzzy control on ABS. The study showed the automobile ABS based on fuzzy control could shorten the braking distance and time, which made the braking process more stale and efficiency.

Changes in the length of internal state codes with the aim at minimizing the power consumption of finite-state machines

Abstract: Two heuristic techniques intended to encode the finite-state machine (FSM) internal states with the aim at decreasing the power consumption have been discussed. In the first approach, internal state codes are assumed to have the constant length. The second approach is based on code lengths varying from the minimum value to the level not leading to a decrease in power consumption. It is demonstrated that the second technique has a low computational complexity, making it possible to use FSMs with a large number of states. It has been ascertained experimentally that the FSM consumed power inherent to the NOVA algorithm can be decreased by 39% on the average (or by 68% with the use of certain benchmarks) via the first technique. In several cases, the second approach enables us to diminish the consumed power by 34% in comparison with the first one. Practical recommendations for the use of each technique, as well as the promising directions of further investigations, are presented.

Classification-based self-adaptive differential evolution and its application in multi-lateral multi-issue negotiation

Abstract: Multi-lateral multi-issue negotiations are the most complex realistic negotiation problems. Automated approaches have proven particularly promising for complex negotiations and previous research indicates evolutionary computation could be useful for such complex systems. To improve the efficiency of realistic multi-lateral multi-issue negotiations and avoid the requirement of complete information about negotiators, a novel negotiation model based on an improved evolutionary algorithm p-ADE is proposed. The new model includes a new multi-agent negotiation protocol and strategy which utilize p-ADE to improve the negotiation efficiency by generating more acceptable solutions with stronger suitability for all the participants. Where p-ADE is improved based on the well-known differential evolution (DE), in which a new classification-based mutation strategy DE/rand-to-best/pbest as well as a dynamic self-adaptive parameter setting strategy are proposed. Experimental results confirm the superiority of p-ADE over several state-of-the-art evolutionary optimizers. In addition, the p-ADE based multiagent negotiation model shows good performance in solving realistic multi-lateral multi-issue negotiations.

Test Research on Elastic Modulus and Poisson's Ratios of Long Age Recycled Aggregate Concrete

Abstract: In order to reveal the constitutive behavior of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) which is related to time effect, 33 prismatic specimens were designed to have uniaxial compression tests. The changing variation of elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratios of RAC specimens which were placed two years in the lab were inspected, and a related correction formula was put forward to describe the elastic modulus. The results show that with the aggregate replacement rate growing, the RAC brittleness was relatively obvious. Since time effect played a great role, the axial compressive strength and elastic modulus were larger than those of normal concrete and the standard age concrete which is calculated. Poisson's ratio did not change significantly and the values were relatively stable, while the higher replacement rate is, the lower values are.

Ultra-wideband antipodal slot antenna with improved radiation performance

Abstract: A novel antipodal wide-slot antenna for ultra-wideband (UWB) applications is proposed and studied in detail. The antenna is fed by a microstrip line terminated with a rectangular tuning patch. An antipodal structure is employed to improve the radiation performances. The return losses, surface E-field, current distribution, radiation patterns and gains of the antenna are numerically and experimentally investigated. Results show that the proposed antipodal antenna has an impedance bandwidth from 0.79 to 4.0 GHz, which is about 5:1. Compared with conventional rectangular wide-slot antenna, more stable radiation pattern with lower cross-polarisation level and flatter gain variation over a 3:1 bandwidth can be obtained. Thus, the proposed antenna should be more suitable for future UWB-multiple-input multiple-output applications using polarisation diversity than conventional UWB rectangular slot antennas.

ICA based anti-jamming method of frequency hopping communication against comb jamming

Abstract: Comb jamming is one of the most common jamming signals,which seriously deteriorates frequency hopping communication.According to the statistical independence character between the frequency hopping signal and the CJ(comb jamming) signal,ICA(independent component analysis) was introduced into the anti-jamming problem of frequency hopping communication.A novel independent component analysis based anti-jamming method of frequency hopping against comb jamming was proposed.The object function was chosen based on the statistical independence between the output signals,and the object function induced the iteration of the unmixing matrix.When the unmixing matrix is estimated,the frequency hopping signal and the comb jamming signal are separated effectively from the product of the received signals and the unmixting matrix.Simulation results indicate that the proposed method can obviously enhance the anti-jamming ability of frequency hopping communication against comb jamming.For the bit error ratio of 10-3,the anti-jamming ability of frequency hopping communication under comb jamming can be improved by more than 8 dB with the proposed method.

Twin Tube Shock Absorber Thermo-Mechanical Coupling Simulation

Abstract: During the working process, temperature of the oil increases and its viscosity decreases due to the damping force, resulting in changes in operating characteristics of the shock absorber. This paper firstly analyzes the mechanism of themogenesis and heat transfer means of shock absorber in details, and then establishes the thermodynamic model of shock absorber with the energy conservation law and the first law of thermodynamics on this basis. After a comparison between the simulation results and the experimental results, causes of error will be analyzed. The study shows that the more influential correlations are the internal flow convection correlation used between the oil of the different chambers and the tubes of the shock absorber and the external flow convection correlation between the outside tube of the shock absorber and the ambient air.

Inter-beat (R-R) intervals analysis using a new time delay estimation technique

Abstract: In this paper, a new time delay estimation technique is applied for the R-R interval analysis. The key idea is about the R-R interval estimation of the ECG signal that is regarded as a time delay estimation in which we cast the change-point detection problem. This work aims to present an ad-hoc time delay technique that stems from operational calculus, differential algebra and non commutative algebra. So, we will be able to identify the change-point location and consequently the delay. Consequently, the R-R intervals estimation is deduced from a time delay estimation. The experimental results are provided and discussed to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed method under the real case. Tests are performed according to the recordings from MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. Moreover, the issues of the proposed algorithm robustness which is compared to literature are examined.

Combining algebraic approach with extreme value theory for spike detection

Abstract: This paper uses the Extreme Value Theory (EVT) for threshold selection in a previously proposed algebraic spike detection method. The algebraic method characterizes the occurrence of a spike by an irregularity in the neural signal and devises a nonlinear (Volterra) filter which enhances the presence of such irregularities. These appear as (positive) high amplitude pulses in the output signal. The pulses are isolated. We then interpret the occurrence of a spike as a rare and extreme event that we model in the framework of EVT. With this model, we derive an explicit expression of the decision threshold corresponding to a given probability of false-alarm. Simulation results show that the empirical probability of false alarm is close to the predicted one by applying the derived theoretical threshold.