Digital Commons Network^™

Growth And Productivity Of Irrigated Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) For A Tropical High Altitude Environment In Rwanda, Elie Rene Gasore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Yield components, grain yield, biomass and plant N accumulation, and N fertilizer responses of irrigated rice (Oryza sativa, L.) were evaluated for a tropical inland valley environment in the high altitudes in Rwanda. Effects were measured for nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate (0, 60, 90,120,150,180 kg N ha-1), season, growth stage and cultivar of different subspecies and plant types during 2012 dry season (DS) and 2013 wet season (WS) at Cyili Rice Research Farm (1380 m above sea level). Variations in irradiance (17.2± 0.32 MJ m-2 day-1 in DS and 9.4 ± 0.66 MJ m-2 day-1in WS) were linked to seasonal …

Somewhere Between Hell's Kitchen And Illyria: An Actor's Utopia, Guadalupe Campos

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of my statement of artistry, and documentation of artistic materials and thesis related performances.

Selling College: Student Recruitment And Education Reform Rhetoric In The Age Of Privatization, Paige Marie Hermansen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the success of for-profit colleges and universities (FPCUs) as a socio-cultural phenomenon that hinges on distinct public discursive strains and neoliberal rhetorics. This project examines the role of language in creating and sustaining particular discourses of higher education and how those discourses are reinforced and reflected in channels of discourse like documentary films and advertisements.

In the context of shifting demands on and representations of higher education, this project critiques the evolving rhetoric of American education and the shift toward a wider acceptance of privatization efforts, as well as the effect this shift has had on prospective …

Development Of Electrochemical Sensors Suitable For In Vivo Detection For Neurotransmitters, Mengjia Hu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The electrochemical method of redox cycling was exploited to achieve new discoveries in neurotransmitter detection and to advance its suitability toward in vivo use. Redox cycling has advantages in signal amplification, selectivity of species based on their electrochemical reaction mechanisms, and limited or no background subtraction. Distinction of dopamine from norepinephrine in a mixture with an electrochemical method at unmodified electrodes was demonstrated for the first time in vitro. This ability resulted from a series of fundamental studies of redox cycling behavior of the catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine) using different electrode configurations. Taking advantage of the ECC’ mechanism associated …

Use Of Response Surfaces In The Design Of A Simple Step Stress Accelerated Test Plan, Alexander H. Wong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In designing accelerated testing plans, cost is a factor that is missing in much of the literature. This paper explicits considers cost by developing an optimization model with the objective to minimize costs for a simple step stress accelerated test plan. Two methodologies are employed. One is an optimization approach in which an attempt is made to quantify the behavior of a series-parallel hardware system over all stages of testing using a response surface, and then an optimization model is used to determine the settings for stresses and failure mode modifications for all stages of testing prior to the start …

Lovable Rogue: The Shenanigans Of Sir Toby Belch In William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night", William Clark Rogers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents and explores the actor’s approach to and discovery of the values, methods and motivations of Sir Toby Belch in the Fall 2015 University Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” In addition, the author’s second thesis role was as Andrew Makepeace Ladd III in A. R. Gurney’s, “Love Letters” produced and performed in Kimpel Hall Studio during Spring 2016. The thesis also includes a personal statement of artistry, programs for the thesis related performances, a headshot, resume, production photos and a link to the actor’s website.

A Gnawing Problem: Does Rodent Incisor Microwear Record Diet Or Habitat?, Salvatore Samuel Caporale

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dental microwear has been shown to reflect food preferences and habitat in extant vertebrates, and its analysis has been applied to fossil assemblages to infer paleodiet and paleoenvironment. Such reconstructions are, of course, only as good as the extant baseline used to infer relationships between wear pattern and diet/habitat. This study tests, through dental microwear texture analysis, the potential of modern rodent lower incisors to reveal those relationships, and evaluates the extent to which effects of diet and habitat can be parsed from the signal. Microwear texture profiles were created for individual lower rodent incisors (n=430) using confocal profilometry and …

Dandy As Disease: Gender Hygiene And British Nineteenth-Century Literature, Sharon Louise Fox

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“Dandy as Disease: Gender Hygiene and British Nineteenth-century Literature” explores the link between the nineteenth-century dandy, ideas of hegemonic masculinity, and Walter Besant’s The Revolt of Man, a dystopian text in which women have usurped all traditionally-masculine roles, while men are the caretakers and manual workers. The first chapter deals with the historical role of the dandy in the nineteenth-century and how he might be viewed as the cause of the fall of Britain. The second chapter revolves around Besant’s novel, exploring how men are shown to be at fault for Britain’s fall in the eyes of the rest of …

From Duke To D: The Range Of An Actor In Classical And Contemporary Characters, Damian Oscar Dena

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis contains my statement of artistry along with photos and materials from both productions Twelfth Night and Mother F**Ker with the Hat. Also included are links to my website and current copies of my headshot and resume.

Telling New Tales: Modernizations Of Chaucer In The Eighteenth Century, Eric Duane Larson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Any review of medieval culture and literature in the British eighteenth century requires some consideration for the modernizations of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Effectively a collaboration that spanned the entire century, this project began with Dryden and Pope and continued in earnest with lesser-known poets like George Ogle and William Lipscomb. The resulting modernization of every Chaucerian tale between 1700 and 1795 revisits medieval themes, but it also displays contemporary anxieties through presentations of language, content, style, and rhetorical intent that are sometimes vastly different from Chaucer’s originals.

The modernization project is worthy of study, in particular because it reflects, across …

Beyond "Main Street": Small Towns In Post-"Revolt" American Literature, Rachael Price

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“Beyond Main Street” examines the impact and legacy of the literary movement that Carl Van Doren, in an infamous 1920 article from The Nation, referred to as the “revolt from the village.” This movement, which is widely acknowledged to encompass such writers as Edgar Lee Masters, Sherwood Anderson, and Sinclair Lewis, pushed back against the primacy of the heretofore-dominant pastoral tradition when it came to depictions of rural America. These authors sought to create a more accurate portrayal of the small town, one that, while not completely eschewing the pastoral, also exposed the more seedy side of village life. Critics …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Positive Imagery Training To Reduce Risk For Suicidal Behavior Among Adolescent Girls, Sasha Micaella Rojas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, with risk for suicidal thoughts and suicidal behavior emerging during adolescence particularly among girls. Consistent with theory and empirical evidence, the current study examined the effects of Socially-focused positive imagery training among a small sample of adolescent girls evidencing suicidal thoughts. This preliminary small n design also allowed for a detailed assessment of acceptability of imagery training for the adolescent sample. Risk for suicidal intent was indexed by 1) negative affect, 2) positive affect, 3) greater resting right (relative to left) prefrontal asymmetry, 4) perceived Social isolation, and 5) suicidal …

The Passionate Actor, Britney Nichole Walker-Merritte

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of materials documenting my thesis performances as well as a statement of artistry, a copy of my current headshot, and resume and a link to my website.

More Than A Job? The Perceived Outcomes Of Campus Recreation Employees And Relevance To Professional Employment, Jeremy Martin Battjes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As grant programs dwindle and students are needing to become less reliant on parents to help finance their education, employment while enrolled is shifting from a choice to a near requirement. Collegiate comprehensive recreation programs employ several hundred students annually. Employers must be intentional in creating positions that help meet their needs, but also serve as a co-curricular experience for the student, assisting them in preparation for experiences beyond graduation. This study explores the perceived outcomes of campus recreation employment and the relevance to professional employment.

Student employees at a large university with a comprehensive collegiate campus recreation program reported …

Cooling Effectiveness Of Modified Cold-Water Immersion Method Following Exercise-Induced Hyperthermia, Katherine Elizabeth Luhring

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Context: Recommended treatment of exertional heat stroke (EHS) includes whole body cold-water immersion (CWI); however, remote locations, spatial or monetary restrictions challenge CWI feasibility. Thus, the development of a modified, portable CWI method would allow for optimal treatment of EHS when restrictions apply. Objective: Determine cooling efficacy of modified CWI (tarp assisted cooling with oscillation; TACO) following exertional hyperthermia. Design: Randomized, crossover controlled trial. Setting: Environmental chamber (33.4 ± 0.8°C, 55.7 ± 1.9% relative humidity). Patients or Other Participants: Sixteen (9 males, 7 females) volunteers (26 ± 4.7y, 1.76 ± 0.09m, 72.5 ± 9.0kg, 20.7 ± 7.1%body fat) with no …

Identification Of Biomarkers For The Overall Survival Of Ovarian Cancer Patients, Kristi Mai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid advance in sequencing technology has led to genome-wide analysis of genetic and epigenetic features simultaneously, making it possible to understand the biological mechanisms underlying cancer initiation and progression. However, how to identify important prognostic features poses a great challenge for both statistical modeling and computing. In this thesis, a network-based approach is applied to the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) ovarian cancer data to identify important genes related to the overall survival of ovarian cancer patients. In the first step, a stepwise correlation-based selector is used to reduce the dimensionality of TCGA data, by filtering out a large number of …

Quantifying, Assessing, And Mitigating Methane Emissions From Super-Emitters In The Oil And Gas Supply Chain, David Richard Lyon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Methane emissions from the oil and gas (O&G) supply chain reduce potential climate benefits of natural gas as a replacement for other fossil fuels that emit more carbon dioxide per energy produced. O&G facilities have skewed emission rate distributions with a small fraction of sites contributing the majority of emissions. Knowledge of the identity and cause of these high emission facilities, referred to as super-emitters or fat-tail sources, is critical for reducing supply chain emissions. This dissertation addresses the quantification of super-emitter emissions, assessment of their prevalence and relationship to site characteristics, and mitigation with continuous leak detection systems. Chapter …

High Step-Up/Down Transformerless Multilevel Converter For Renewable Energy Applications, Haider Ghazi Mhiesan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on a high step-up/down transformerless dc-dc modular multilevel converter (MMC) that would be applicable to dc power systems. The design achieves high voltage ratios for interfacing renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic and line interactive Uninterruptible Power System (UPS) systems. The circuit topology provides for high step-up/down dc-dc conversion ratios using an MMC approach operating in resonant mode in order to improve overall efficiency. This topology operates to step-up the input voltage with 1:10 or larger conversion ratio. As a bidirectional converter, it also provides step-down capability at the same voltage ratio (10:1 or greater). The MMC …

Instructional Methods And Engagement: The Impact Of Gamification On Student Learning Of Apa Style, Joyce Elaine Terrell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examined the effects of simple gamification on the instructional skill outcome and level of engagement as measured by time, repetitions, and responses to the Cognitive Absorption, Perceived Ease of Use and Perceived Usefulness Scale (Saadé and Bahli, 2005). Participants were 70 graduate and undergraduate students randomly assigned to one of two instructional conditions: gamified or typical online instruction. Instruction consisted of three modules on the use of APA 6th ed. (American Psychological Association) citation and reference style in college level writing. Both groups received the same instruction but with different context and directions. Participants in the typical condition …

The Day I Walked Off The Motherf**King Stage: Shakespeare To Stephen Adly Guirgis, Christopher Markus Hecke

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis represents the culmination of my craft as an actor, through the collection of production material from Twelfth Night, and The Motherfucker With The Hat, headshot, resume, website link and my personal statement of artistry.

Designing Sewn Circuits And Stem Self-Efficacy In Middle School Girls, Kara Kaiser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine if the experience of designing and sewing LilyPad Arduino circuits in crafts projects can increase middle school girls’ STEM self-efficacy. Boys STEM self-efficacy will also be assessed to determine if LilyPad Arduino circuits can also increase boys’ STEM self-efficacy. Researchers have been wondering why there is a male dominance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields and why some women do not have a particular interest in these subjects. There are several reasons this could happen; stereotypes conveyed to them by parents and/or teachers, they genuinely are not interested in STEM …

A Method Comparison And Stressor-Response Experimental Study Of Nitrogen And Phosphorus Impacts To Periphyton In Ozark Streams, Ashley Renee Rodman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stream bioassessment is important for understanding algal-nutrient relationships and the development of scientifically defensible numeric nutrient criteria. However, multiple methods of periphyton data collection are currently used, and little is known about the comparability of resulting datasets. Literature also suggests other factors besides nutrients (i.e. variable grazing, light, and flow) can confound algal-nutrient relationships. A one-year method comparison study and 31-day algal biomass-nutrient manipulative experiment were conducted in the southern Ozarks of Arkansas. The method comparison study was implemented using two common bioassessment procedures (whole-surface and delimiter-reduced periphyton removal) to assess the potential for combining datasets. During the manipulative experiment, …

The Effect Of Fluid Balance On Exercise Performance In The Heat, Yasuki Sekiguchi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: In dehydrated individuals thirst seems to disappear after ingestion of small amount of water before full rehydration. This phenomenon has been linked to oropharyngeal receptors. However, some researchers suggest that drinking to satisfy thirst is enough for optimal performance. It is well established that water deficit greater than 2% of body weight decreases exercise performance in the heat. No study has ever examined the effect hydration on exercise performance in the absence of thirst via oropharyngeal stimulation. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of dehydration on exercise performance and thermoregulation during exercise in the …

Neighborhood Effects As Predictors Of Hispanic Young Adult Outcomes, Benjamin David Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present thesis explores the implications of neighborhood effects, parent-child relationship, and school attachment upon young adulthood attainment among Hispanic adolescents. By 2060, the U.S. population will consist of nearly 12.8 million Hispanic persons and will constitute nearly a third of the U.S population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Examining the Social contexts in which Hispanic adolescents develop, such as neighborhoods and schools, allows researchers a greater depth of understanding the processes and potential risks that influence young adulthood attainment, such as education and career attainment (Sampson, Morenoff, & Gannon-Rowley, 2002). Utilizing The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health …

Investigating The Factor Structure Of The Teachers’ Sense Of Efficacy Scale With Pakistani In-Service And Pre-Service Teachers, Sajid Ali Yousuf Zai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teachers with a high sense of efficacy are motivated to achieve and are generally optimistic about future learning. There is an extensive body of research that indicates a teacher’s self-efficacy beliefs can be a performance indicator for school outcomes. Research on characteristics related to teachers in Pakistan has been increasing over the last decade, however there are a number of instruments being used with this population without any documented validation studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES; Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) to determine the latent structure of …

A Storm In The Port: The Process Designing Twelfth Night, Jacquelyn Ryan Cox

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to document the process and provide all the necessary materials for the realization of the lighting design for the University of Arkansas Department of Theatre’s 2015 production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. This thesis consists of the following materials: designer’s script analysis, design concept statement, historical and evocative research, Vectorworks overstage plot, Vectorworks section plot, LightWright paperwork, cue sheet, final magic sheets, and process evaluation. The materials provided are necessary to the design team, the electricians who hang the light plot, and the designer in order program the cues. Archival photography is included …

Course Delivery Methods And Perceptions Of Self-Efficacy Of Pre-Service Teachers, Susan K. Anselm

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Conflicting research results regarding outcomes for distance versus face-to-face course delivery methods, as well as a lack of that research, presents a need for further research into distance education. This mixed methods study adds to the existing literature on distance education, and will provide specific research exploring pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their self efficacy in the context of teacher education. This study is descriptive in nature, and has a dual purpose: to add to the existing knowledge base regarding distance education models and traditional face-to-face delivery models in teacher education, and to inform program designers about the impact of these …

Preserving Rice Quality: Fine-Mapping And Introgressing A Fissure Resistance Locus, Haley Marie Sater

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) kernel fissuring is a major concern of both rice producers and millers. Fissures are small cracks in rice kernels that increase breakage of kernels when milled, and decrease the value of processed rice. This study employed molecular gene tagging methods to fine-map a fissure resistance (FR) locus found in ‘Cybonnet’, a semidwarf tropical japonica cultivar, as well as transfer this trait to rice genotypes of taller, non-semidwarf plant height that are better adapted to some rice production systems. Three QTLs for FR were previously reported; the FR locus with strongest effect resides near the semidwarf sd-1 …

The Mass Flux Of Non-Renewable Energy For Humanity, Edwin Dale Solomon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The global energy supply relies on non-renewable energy sources, coal, crude oil, and natural gas, along with nuclear power from uranium and these finite resources are located within the upper few kilometers of the Earth’s crust. The total quantity of non-renewable energy resources consumed relative to the total quantity available is an essential question facing humanity. Analyses of energy consumption was conducted for the period 1800 – 2014 using data from the U. S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and World Energy Production, 1800-1985 to determine the balance between non-renewable energy resources consumed and ultimately recoverable reserves. Annual energy consumption was …

The Maximal Thurston-Bennequin Number On Grid Number N Diagrams, Emily Goins Thomas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We will prove an upper bound for the Thurston-Bennequin number of Legendrian knots and links on a rectangular grid with arc index n.

TB(n)=CR(n)-[n/2]

In order to prove the bound, we will separate our work for when n is even and when n is odd. After we prove the upper bound, we will show that there are unique knots and links on each grid which achieve the upper bound. When n is even, torus links achieve the maximum, and when n is odd, torus knots achieve the maximum.