Digital Commons Network^™

Dynamic Distributed Energy Resources For Expansion Of Ontario’S Greenhouse Sector, Lysandra Naom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vegetable greenhouse sector is rapidly growing and adopting technology advances like supplemental lighting. Supplemental lighting has a dynamic impact on the demand and consumption of a greenhouse’s electricity load. There is uncertainty on the rate of adaptation of technologies and the impact this could have on the power consumption of the sector. Without electricity availability, the sectors innovation and expansion can come to a halt. This research focused on investigating greenhouse electrical load models and lighting trends to forecast demand on electricity grids and discover potential for Distributed Energy Resource (DER) applications.

This thesis presents a series of studies …

The Influence Of Faculty Peer Network Communication In The Diffusion Of A Centralized Cure, Nicole L. Scheuermann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide students the benefits of undergraduate research participation by incorporating authentic scientific research into laboratory courses. CUREs are a relatively young pedagogy and are therefore innovative. Roger’s (2003) diffusion of innovations (DOI) framework posits that the diffusion of innovations, such as CUREs, is a highly social process. Most existing CURE research has focused on the impacts to students and the critical elements of CURE design. Investigation into instructor peer network communication is largely absent from the existing CURE literature. This study investigates the structure and function of a CURE community – the Malate Dehydrogenase CURE …

Soil Nutrient And Contaminant Assessment In Community Gardens, Louisville, Kentucky., Jessica Lynne Eggleston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Urban population impact on environmental warming has inspired interest in vegetative coverage to mitigate human influence. Community gardens are proposed to increase green space and access to fresh food, improve health, and quality of life. The potential for soil contamination in post-industrial cities is high presenting a health risk for gardeners. Three Louisville, Kentucky community gardens were chosen for analysis of soil texture, pH, concentration of trace nutrients and metals using Mehlich 1 Extraction. In two community gardens, relative absence of heavy metals suggest they are currently safe for gardening. One garden had a concentration of copper and zinc over …

Impact Of Coaching By Extension Professionals On Rural Wellness Coalition Success, Taylor Willhite

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To quantitatively assess coaches perceived confidence in coaching rural wellness coalitions and to qualitatively determine barriers and facilitators to success in coaching rural wellness coalitions.
Design: A mixed methods design was utilized with quantitative (scorecard) and qualitative (key informant interviews) methodologies.
Setting: Six rural South Dakota wellness coalitions.
Participants: Extension wellness coalition coaches (n=7), one previous and six current.
Intervention: A component of the broader SDSU Extension 1416 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) intervention.
Analysis: STATA was utilized for the quantitative scorecard data by running paired ttests. NVivo was utilized in the …

The Role Of A Community Coach In Rural Food Councils In Six Midwestern States, Kaitlyn Tusha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: To quantitatively assess perceived coaching confidence of a community coach working with food councils, and to qualitatively determine perceived barriers and facilitators associated with coaching rural food councils.
Design: Two phases were implemented using a mixed methods study design with quantitative (scorecard) and qualitative (key informant interviews) methodologies.
Setting: Six rural, Midwestern states implementing Voices for Food.
Participants: Voices for Food community coaches (n=9) who coached rural food council(s).
Intervention: A component of the broader Voices for Food intervention.
Analysis: Quantitative scorecard data were analyzed with STATA by running paired ttests. Qualitative key information interview data were analyzed with …

Vitamin D Status Of College Students: Implications For Health Leaders, Eileen M. Cress

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vitamin D deficiency is considered to be a pandemic with implications for compromised bone health and other chronic diseases. Few studies have examined vitamin D status in college-aged individuals where prevention of future health consequences is still possible. Serum vitamin D 25(OH)D status and vitamin D intake were examined in 98 college students ages 18-29 years during winter. BMI was classified as < 25and 25 or greater. Race was categorized as Caucasian or other. Overall, 69.5% had suboptimal serum vitamin D levels, <30ng/mL. Only 8 students (8.2%) met the EAR (400 IU) per day for vitamin D intake. t tests were used to determine if there were significant differences in serum vitamin D level and dietary intake based on gender, race and BMI. Significant differences were found in serum vitamin D level when compared by gender and race. Females tended to have a higher serum vitamin D level than males. Those representing minorities had lower serum vitamin D levels than Caucasians; One hundred percent of the minority students had suboptimal serum vitamin D levels. Based on these findings, dietitians should increase efforts to target college-aged individuals in educational programming related to factors affecting vitamin D synthesis, vitamin D intake, and health consequences of suboptimal vitamin D status, particularly in winter. Consideration should be given to vitamin D fortification of foods that meet the preferences of today’s consumer.

Native Grass And Forb Establishment In Post-Agricultural Soil, Courtney D. Hall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Restoration of degraded and abandoned agricultural land in arid and semiarid climates is a global problem. The erratic patterns of precipitation these lands experience makes restoration of a plant community difficult. Application of supplemental irrigation and inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are two restoration techniques that have been suggested to overcome deficits in natural precipitation. The effects and the interactions of irrigation and seeding date on the ground cover of intended species and unintended exotic species were tested in a post-agricultural restoration experiment in south-central Colorado, USA. The greatest ground cover of intended species and lowest ground cover of …

Future Of South Korean National Parks -- A Delphi Study, Byung-Kyu Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a three-wave Delphi survey of a panel of 40 key experts of Korean National Parks conducted between February 2001 and March in 2002, four major issues -- (A) Park philosophy not clearly articulated; (B) Inadequate emphasis on ecosystem protection; (C) Widespread deficiency of management tools; and (D) Visitor services needed -- were asked to get the panel's opinions regarding 'importance' (1 = most important; 4 = least important) and 'likelihood' of being resolved (1= resolved in 5 years; 4 = not resolved in 5 years) of these four issues in Wave 3. In terms of 'importance,' Issue A (Park …