Digital Commons Network^™

A Mentor Training Module Designed To Build Resiliency For Homeless Emerging Adults, Courtney J. Edwards

Master's Theses and Capstones

Homelessness in emerging adulthood is a problem that potentially creates a lifetime of extreme poverty and limits the ability to thrive in adulthood. The literature demonstrates a need for programs specific to the homeless emerging adult population. A mentoring program is beneficial because the relationship between the mentor and mentee can offset developmental and psychosocial shortfalls that impede the individual's transition to adulthood. The homeless emerging adult needs a sense of belonging and positive role models. The theories of Maslow and Bandura therefore become the foundation of the mentoring training manual. The Walk with Me mentoring program manual and training …

Dominance In A Dating Relationship And Violence Approval As Partial Mediating Factors Between Violent Socialization And Perpetrating Dating Partner Violence, Thomas Lopez

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study investigated the possible mediating relationships between experiencing corporal punishment and partner violence perpetration and witnessing parental violence and partner violence perpetration. The sample used was 14,252 university students in 32 nations who participated in the International Dating Violence Study. For both men and women, self-dominance partly mediated the relationships between corporal punishment and perpetrating minor assault and corporal punishment and perpetrating severe assault. For men and women self-dominance mediated the relationships between witnessing parental violence and perpetrating minor assault and witnessing parental violence and perpetrating both types of assault for males and females. Violence approval did not partly …

Vital Allies: The Colonial Militia's Use Of Indians In King Philip's War, 1675--1676, Shawn Eric Pirelli

Master's Theses and Capstones

This study examines the role that Indians played in King Philip's War. It argues that Indians and Indian fighting tactics saved the colonies from destruction. This contention relies heavily on the assertion that February 1676 was the turning point in the war. Chapter I reexamines the role that Indian spies and informants played in King Philip's War, and argues that they saved the colonies from surprise attacks on major settlements. Chapter II argues that "friendly" Indians played a significant role as counterinsurgents against a common enemy. Additionally, they provided extra numbers at a time when the colonial militias suffered from …

Belief Revision In The Context Of Reading Comprehension, Erinn K. Walsh

Master's Theses and Capstones

The goal of the present experiments was to explore the underlying cognitive processes that support individual belief revision. In three experiments the amount of relevant information pertaining to a misconception was systematically manipulated to assess the impact of text refuting a misconception and text explaining the correct information. Experiment I assessed the impact of the refutation. Experiment II assessed the joint impact of the refutation and the explanation. Finally, Experiment III assessed the impact of the explanation. Experiment I demonstrated that providing a refutation section that explicitly negated the misconception was sufficient to eliminate disruption when reading a sentence that …

Control Of A Large Scale Wind Turbine Utilizing A Fluid Drive, Matthew Foley

Master's Theses and Capstones

As wind turbines grow in size there are added strains within the mechanical structure that need to be mitigated to improve machine life. The current area of greatest concern is the premature failure of the gearbox box due to torque variations along the drive train. This thesis incorporates a fluid coupler into the turbine's drive train. Three different controllers are developed for this model with the goal of minimizing the torque variations seen by the gearbox and providing better generator speed regulation.

The result of this study shows that the addition of the fluid coupler is a major improvement to …

Regional Harmonization Procedure For Prioritization Of Recycled Material Specifications, Courtney Goldstein

Master's Theses and Capstones

Widely varying recycled material requirements across state lines has been perceived as a significant barrier to greater use of recycled materials in highway construction by state contractors and industry. The goal of this thesis is to create a procedure to compile, compare, contrast and finally synthesize documents that support a priority list of recycled materials and applications for which material specifications can be harmonized among regional states in the US.

This work compiled background research on selected materials and related regulations into standardized templates. The information analyzed was communicated with EPA, FHWA, and state representatives to approve a breakdown priority …

Performance Evaluations Of Hma Containing Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement And Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles, Jennifer Foxlow

Master's Theses and Capstones

The use of recycled materials in the form of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Reclaimed Asphalt Shingles (RAS) in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) has become regular practice; however, when compared to the supply of these materials their use is still conservative. Comparative studies on the performance effects are needed to propose guidelines for the handling, processing, and incorporation of RAS and high RAP into mix design procedures. Presented here are results of examining lab produced HMA containing RAS and RAP. The RAS study indicates no significant difference in the stiffness in RAS vs. RAP mixes across most temperatures, and that …

Sex, Infection, And Trust: Condom Use Among Gay Men And Their Perceptions Of Hiv, Michael Jeffrey Staley

Master's Theses and Capstones

Unprotected anal intercourse among gay men remains high, despite the well-known fact that HIV/AIDS still disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM). This qualitative, exploratory study seeks to understand the meanings and motivations of gay men's condom use and non-use. I observed three organizations that center on gay identities in the spring and fall of 2010 and in the spring of 2011. Additionally, using a semi-structured format, I interviewed 19 gay or bisexual men between the ages of 19 and 39. Condom non-use was high; 16 men reported not using a condom in their sexually active lifetime. Three …

Digitally Enhanced: Adorno For The 21st-Century, Stephen Messa

Master's Theses and Capstones

Theodor Adorno is an influential figure in cultural studies, philosophy, and musicology. However, a re-examination of Adorno's framework in the context of contemporary media studies is necessary because audio production and distribution technologies have changed dramatically since Adorno's time of writing. In this thesis, I apply Adorno's critical framework to the electronic artist Owl City. In doing so, I enhance Adorno's model of analysis in order to allow for both regressive and progressive interpretations of contemporary music culture. I argue that social media facilitate a more efficacious culture industry, and that digital media facilitate a progressive form of escaping from …

Consequences Of A Separatist Platform? The Rise And Fall Of The Bloc Quebecois, Zachary Azem

Master's Theses and Capstones

This thesis analyzes the contributing factors to the Bloc Quebecois' overwhelming loss in the 2011 Canadian Federal Election. Using both qualitative evidence and statistical analysis, it will investigate the extent in which five potential causes affected this outcome: a shift in support of the New Democratic Party, the distribution of Francophone protest party votes, campaign strategies of the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois, changing views on separatism, and the single member district plurality system.

A Comparative Study Of Reactive Caps For Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocardons In Sediment, John D. Anderson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Some of the most common byproducts from industrial production and hydrocarbon combustion are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These compounds readily adsorb to lake and river sediment, and represent a significant problem to humans and the environment. Capping technologies work as physical barriers between the contamination in the sediment and the greater ecosystem. In this study, capping performance is analyzed based on the removal efficiency of two different organoclay-based treatments and a sand treatment, and the loading rate of PAHs onto the treatment materials. PAH loading rate and removal efficiency indicate the material's ability to sequester PAHs from the aqueous phase …

Interactions Between Adaptive Mutations In The Environment And The Consequences For Adaptation In Escherichia Coli, Kenneth Mark Flynn

Master's Theses and Capstones

Phenotypic plasticity, epistasis or both are expected to influence the adaptive value of mutations and, by extension, how organisms adapt to new environments. We investigated interactions among five mutations that arose and fixed in a laboratory-evolved population of E. coli in a variety of different external environments. Overall, we found that positive pleiotropy tended to be positive rather than antagonistic and that epistatic interactions were common regardless of the external environment. The nature of the epistatic interactions depended strongly on the external environment and altered which adaptive paths were selectively accessible. Ultimately, achieving high fitness in a new environment was …

Heuristic Search Under A Deadline, Austin Dionne

Master's Theses and Capstones

In many heuristic search problems of practical interest, insufficient time is available to find a provably optimal solution. The currently accepted methods of finding a best possible sub-optimal solution within a time deadline are the anytime methods which do not directly consider the time remaining in the search. My thesis is that a deadline-cognizant approach, one which attempts to expend all available search effort towards a single final solution, has the potential for outperforming these methods.

To support this thesis I introduce two new deadline-cognizant algorithms: Deadline Aware Search and Deadline Decision Theoretic Search. These approaches use on-line measurements of …

Nonlinear Evaluation Of Stock Assessment And Marine Ecosystem Models, Laura Storch

Master's Theses and Capstones

In fisheries management, single-species stock assessment models use fisheries-dependent catch and landings data along with fishery-independent estimates of relative or absolute abundance to make estimates of species biomass for a given area. This output is used by the Atlantis marine ecosystem model as input. Atlantis uses an array of physical, biological, and anthropogenic factors to predict biomass for individual species or functional groups of species. Nonlinear analysis was used to assess the output for both the stock assessment, and Atlantis models for the marine ecosystem off the California coast. The number of time series displaying nonlinear characteristics decreases from raw …

Development Of A Structural Parameter Estimation Program For Finite Element Model Updating, John A. Welch

Master's Theses and Capstones

The condition of America's infrastructure is highlighted by major collapses and overcrowded roadways remind us that our infrastructure is aging and in need of effective maintenance. The American Society of Civil Engineers report card for 2009 graded the nation's bridges as a C. In this period of renovation, rebuilding and limited funding, it is important to use the latest technologies to help make America's roadways safe and establish efficient management protocols. This research develops a program for the purpose of pairing structural health monitoring systems with the power of structural modeling, for the use of model updating and parameter estimation, …

A Model Study Of Adlayer Pattern Formation Of A Linear Molecule On Square And Triangular Lattices, Gennadiy N. Berezutskiy

Master's Theses and Capstones

We have determined patterning and geometric properties of rigid-diatomic-molecular rotors, fixed on (square and triangular) the lattice site modeled by the Morse potential. Zero-K adlayer patterns were enhanced through the implementation of unconstrained multivariable function using derivative-free method (also known as simplex algorithm). Results have been obtained over wide geometry range for adlayer patterns composed of periodically repeated primary cell.

A primary focus of this work was the calculation of adlayer free energies and geometry at the ground state. Those were obtained from conformational search of the primary (2x2) cell to locate geometric configuration, which minimizes the total energy. The …

Electrical Properties Of Growing Porous Anodic Aluminum Oxide Films, Joseph L. Iuliucci

Master's Theses and Capstones

Electrochemical oxidation of aluminum and aluminum alloys in acid electrolytes results in a coating with ordered structure on the nano-scale. Although this highly functional nano-material is available commercially for a diverse range of applications, the driving forces responsible for structure development are not well understood. Two electrical properties, the resistance and capacitance, contain information about the current, space charge and electric field distribution during structure development. The electrical properties of porous oxide films were extracted in situ during growth on three base materials at varying temperatures and current densities. In this work, a single frequency electrochemical impedance spectroscopy technique and …

Parallel Volume Rendering For Large Scientific Data, Thomas Fogal

Master's Theses and Capstones

Data sets of immense size are regularly generated by large scale computing resources. Even among more traditional methods for acquisition of volume data, such as MRI and CT scanners, data which is too large to be effectively visualized on standard workstations is now commonplace.

One solution to this problem is to employ a 'visualization cluster,' a small to medium scale cluster dedicated to performing visualization and analysis of massive data sets generated on larger scale supercomputers. These clusters are designed to fulfill a different need than traditional supercomputers, and therefore their design mandates different hardware choices, such as increased memory, …

Studies Of Net Community Productivity In A Near-Coastal Temperate Ecosystem, Olivia De Meo

Master's Theses and Capstones

Understanding the biological contribution to the carbon cycle is important to accurately calculate oceanic carbon budgets. The biological contribution to air-sea flux can be expressed as net community productivity (NCP), or the difference between gross primary production and community respiration. This study conducted two experiments to constrain NCP in a near-coastal region. The first experiment conducted in the western Gulf of Maine (GoM) sought to identify an indirect optical proxy for NCP that would allow for the determination of NCP remotely by satellite in the future. NCP results indicated that the GoM was near equilibrium during our study. Changes in …

Individual Differences In Updating Information During Reading, Kristina L. Steiner

Master's Theses and Capstones

Causal information has been shown to help readers update outdated information (Rapp and Kendeou, 2007, 2009). Outdating occurs when integrating new information produces a conflict with encoded information that was encountered earlier in the text. There are also a number of individual differences among readers that influence how successful they will be at encoding, integrating, and outdating information including their reading skill, working memory capacity, and domain knowledge. This thesis examines how these individual differences impact how readers utilize causal information during updating. Across three experiments, participants were indexed as less-skilled or skilled readers using the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. Experiments …

How Age And Religiosity Affect Forgiving Others, Andrew Schaefer

Master's Theses and Capstones

Using data from the General Social Survey (1998), Robert Wuthnow's Forgiveness Survey (1999), and ten in-depth interviews of members of an evangelical church (2010--11), I investigate three research questions: (1) How are age and religiosity related to people's attitudes toward forgiving others? (2) Do age and religiosity have the same effect on people's forgiving behaviors? (3) How do respondents' accounts of their own experiences forgiving others help explain and contribute to answers of the first two questions? I found that those with the highest levels of religiosity were most likely to have positive attitudes toward forgiving and to have engaged …

Belling The Cat: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency In Afghanistan, Andrew R. Smith

Master's Theses and Capstones

It has been over a decade since the United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom. Today, Afghanistan and the Taliban are at the forefront of US foreign policy. This thesis aims to define the Taliban movement in Afghanistan, from past to present, and asks why they still exist as a political movement after a decade of war and counterinsurgency efforts. It discusses the rise of both the Taliban and the neo-Taliban and observes their differences and similarities. Subsequently, using Cornelia Beyer's "Synthetic Approach," the Taliban insurgency and US-led counterinsurgency efforts are analyzed. The Synthetic Approach allows …

Arctic Ambitions The Photographs Of The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition Of 1881--1884 George W Rice Photographer, Geoffrey E. Clark

Master's Theses and Capstones

The Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881--1884 to the polar arctic was one of the first U.S. government sponsored foreign expeditions to incorporate the new medium of photography. The official photographer George W. Rice produced over one hundred images recording the progress of the project, including the landscape, scientific work, artifacts and indigenous people. These served multiple functions of acquisition, publicity and propaganda to promote the American program of expanding its sphere of influence beyond the borders of the United States. This thesis is the first complete catalog of the Rice photographs, drawn from all of the known collections, annotated …

Mathematical Analysis Of Blood Flow Model Through Channels With Flexible Walls, Lisa A. Bozzuto

Master's Theses and Capstones

A simplified mathematical model of blood flow through flexible arteries is developed and analyzed. The resulting system of non-linear, non-homogeneous PDE's is analyzed numerically using the Richtmyer Lax-Wendroff method. Numerical and theoretical results show excellent agreement suggesting that in physiologically relevant situations shocks only develop outside the domain of interest. These results suggest that when the model assumptions are satisfied the model provides sufficient regularity to yield a physically reasonable representation of flow through a flexible artery. We conclude with a discussion of future directions for this model.

Addition Of Sodium Bicarbonate To Colostrum: Effects On Igg Absorption And Hematocrit In Neonatal Calves, Colleen E. Chapman

Master's Theses and Capstones

Twenty-six Holstein bull calves born from primiparous and multiparous cows without dystocia were assigned to a randomized complete block design to one of two treatments within each block: colostrum with no supplemental sodium bicarbonate or colostrum with 30 g of supplemental sodium bicarbonate. Calves were fed colostrum from nine different batches with an immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentration of 82.05 +/- 8.45 g/L and the total amount of IgG fed of 329.89 +/- 34.56 g at 0 h and 6 h postpartum. Calves were fed 2 L of milk replacer (MR) at 24, 36, and 48 h postpartum. The addition of …

Sensitivity Analyses Of Flexible Pavement Performance In Vt, Ny And Ma Using The Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide, I Mark Nogaj

Master's Theses and Capstones

Many state highway agencies are in the process of transitioning pavement design procedures from the empirical AASHTO design to the new M-E PDG. The New England states and New York initiated NETC Project 06-1 to gather more information about the new design and to make the implementation process smoother. The objective of this project was to evaluate which of the Level 2 and 3 input variables require state specific information, which of the national default values are acceptable for the M-E PDG in New England and New York states, what variables are available and collected by the state agencies, and …

Outreach And Citizen Engagement In The Winnicut River Watershed: A Participatory Action Study, Jillan Scahill Farrell

Master's Theses and Capstones

Recently, citizen initiated watershed management has seen a rise in popularity. Citizen watershed groups have been created across the country especially in New England. These groups advocate for protections and responsible watershed-wide management. Each watershed contains a certain set of unique ecological, social, regulatory and problem situations and therefore each watershed organization requires a full mapping process of the policy and social process as well as the ecological and problem situation before engaging the citizens. This research explores the Winnicut River watershed in southeastern New Hampshire. Covering three communities and representing a subwatershed of the Great Bay coastal watershed this …

Robot Motion Planning Using Real-Time Heuristic Search, Jarad Cannon

Master's Theses and Capstones

Autonomous mobile robots must be able to plan quickly and stay reactive to the world around them. Currently, navigating in the presence of dynamic obstacles is a problem that modern techniques struggle to handle in a real-time manner, even when the environment is known. The solutions range from using: 1) sampling-based algorithms which cut down on the shear size of these state spaces, 2) algorithms which quickly try to plan complete paths to the goal (to avoid local minima) and 3) using real-time search techniques designed for static worlds. Each of these methods have fundamental flaws that prevent it from …

Synthesis Of 6-Thiosubstituted Pentacenes And Study Of An Unexpected Photorearrangement Of 6-Phenylthiopentacene Dimer, Julia Y K Chan

Master's Theses and Capstones

Two new monosubstituted pentacene derivatives, 6-phenylthiopentacene, 26, and 6-acetylthiopentacene, 27, have been prepared using a dehydrogenative aromatization and elimination reaction that utilizes 1,8-diazabicycloundec-7-ene (DBU) as reagent. Although many disubstituted pentacenes have been synthesized and characterized, monosubstituted pentacenes have received much less attention. While studying the photodegradation of 26 under ambient light and air conditions, an unexpected transformation to 6,13-bis(phenylthio)pentacene, 32, was observed. The transformation requires short wavelength (254 nm) UV irradiation. Through a combined experimental and computational study, we have identified this transformation as a multi-step intramolecular process initiated by the photoexcitation of the endo anti dimer of 26. The …

Modeling Least-Impact Atv Trails In Berlin, Nh With Established Fine-Grained Evaluation Criteria (Rsa 215-A: 43), Shawn C. Herrick

Master's Theses and Capstones

The evaluation of 7200 acres of land in Berlin, NH was conducted using the New Hampshire State Statues regarding fine-grained evaluation criteria for ATV trails (RSA 215-A: 43) to determine its viability as a multi-use trail park. A geographical information system (GIS) was used to facilitate the location of land, which is suited for trail construction. A comprehensive exploration of data led to the development of a geospatial database in which each criteria was given spatial value. Next, each of the 29 statutes regarding trail placement was analyzed and mapped to determine co-occurrence. Approximately, 1800 acres, or 25% of the …