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Stratification And Domination In Graphs And Digraphs, Ralucca M. Gera

Dissertations

In this thesis we combine the idea of stratification with the one of domination in graphs and digraphs, respectively.

A graph is 2-stratified if its vertex set is partitioned into two classes, where the vertices in one class are colored red and those in the other class are colored blue. Let F be a 2-stratified graph rooted at some blue vertex v . An F -coloring of a graph G is a red-blue coloring of the vertices of G in which every blue vertexu belongs to a copy of F rooted at u . The F -domination number γ …

The Three-Contingency Model Of Self-Management, Holly C. Harrison

Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation is to evaluate people's needs for self-management and the effectiveness of their use of the three-contingency model of self-management. This model prescribes a set of self-management procedures that can be applied to self-manage virtually any behavior. College students used these procedures to manage their own behavior as part of an extended psychology-course assignment.

This evaluation began with the Procrastination Survey, the results of which assessed the frequency of the students' self-management problems. The self-management interventions of up to 168 students were then evaluated using their self-reported performance data and an anonymous survey. The performance data …

Meaningful Learning: Reconciling The Tensions Between Constructivist And Environmentally Sustainable Pedagogy, Nancy Van Kannel-Ray

Dissertations

Critics of constructivism argue, in many ways correctly, that this approach to education is culturally and environmentally damaging because constructivism may not develop an understanding of the interdependence between the human community and the world in which people live. Advocates for environmentally sustainable pedagogy argue the importance of understanding patterns of thinking that allow communities to live sustainably. The purpose of this study is to resolve the tensions between the two pedagogical frameworks: constructivism and environmental sustainability.

The tensions are resolved in two ways. First, there are forms of constructivism that align in viable ways with the criteria critics argue …

Who Voted?: Social Class And Participation In United States Presidential Elections, Uisoon Kwon

Dissertations

Low turnout remains a persistent problem in American politics. The decline in turnout has been studied in various ways. In some cases scholars analyze aggregate turnout data and compare turnout in election districts with high and low concentrations o f particular ,social groups (Neimi and Weisberg, 1993). In other cases, surveys provide an opportunity to examine the causes and correlates o f turnout at the individual level. Various researchers find that socio-economic factors are related to turnout. People with more education vote at much higher rates than those with less education, higher income and middle class people are more likely …

Factors Affecting Treatment Program Development In A Mental Health Facility Serving Prisoners, Ruby Miranda Meriweather

Dissertations

There is a paucity of literature on how treatment programs for mentally ill prisoners are developed. Federal mandates require that services to mentally ill prisoners be comparable to what is offered in the community. Planners, therefore, must find ways to provide treatment programs that produce that outcome.

This research identified the most important factors that affect treatment program development and implementation to aid planners in designing treatment programs for mentally ill prisoners. This qualitative study, based on grounded theory, used a structured interview with 61 mental health staff (psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and activity therapists) across three categories (Administrative, …

Bufadienolides In The Chemical Defenses Of The Toads, Bufo Americanus And Bufo Fowleri, Catherine E. Merovich

Dissertations

Resource equalization represents the historical and theoretical basis for American school finance and its ideals continue to dominate discussion and practice. During the last decade and a half, the national aspiration for equitable distribution of school finance resources has started a transformation into a derivative notion of adequacy. This equity policy derivative embraces the idea of sufficiency, which in turn implies a standard. The concept of educational adequacy has grown to mean the achievement of high absolute standards. Equity (equalization) theorists measure resource level on a relative basis; each student relative to all others. Adequacy adherents measure student achievement against …

Collaboration Through Partnerships: A Review Of Six Michigan Communities, Cheryl Kay Sibilsky-Soule

Dissertations

The federal government supports the use of collaborative service planning for many federally funded programs. While there are anecdotal studies supporting community collaboration, its use has not been adequately evaluated. This study provides exploratory information regarding the relationship between successful collaboration and outcomes for children and families.

Data were collected from six Michigan communities using a survey tool sent to all members of the six community Family Coordinating Councils. The tool was designed to measure eight factors seen in successful collaboration. The respondents evaluated their own collaborative council on these eight factors.

Three of the communities were thought to be …

Impact Of Standards On Physical Education Teacher Education: Curriculum, Collaboration, And Learning Outcomes, Xiangren Yi

Dissertations

Standards are sweeping across the physical education teacher education field. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether national standards had influenced a change of curriculum, and whether curriculum changes were related to standards, individual or institutional variables. The analysis will also identify whether there are any individual and institutional characteristics that are significant predictors for determining curriculum. This study's targeted participants are a random sample of 110 program directors working in institutions that have a Physical Education Teacher Education program.

Differences were found to exist in directors' perceptions regarding curriculum. Descriptive statistics and ANOVA analysis demonstrated the impact …

Assessment Of Sediment And Nutrient Loadings In The Davis Creek Watershed, Southwestern Michigan Using The Swat Model, Peter Kibowen Kimosop

Masters Theses

The Davis Creek Watershed has been impaired for many years by nonpoint source pollution. A recent modeling research on the watershed simulated both nutrient and sediment movements for the single storm events. This study simulates the movement of sediments and nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) in the watershed continuously using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for assessing water quality in the watershed. Multiple databases for climate, soil types, DEM, land use and agricultural management practices were used to derive inputs for the SWAT. Subsequently, the SWAT model was run for the period of 1998-2004. The simulated results show that …

Decision Support System For Bridge Maintenance, Imran Fazal

Masters Theses

Three main problems that deteriorate bridge decks are cracking, delamination and corrosion. Once concrete bridge deck is infected with any of the three problems, it becomes susceptible to more serious structural and architectural problems. Corrosion, cracking and delamination sometimes occur in tandem in concrete bridge decks, which makes the situation even more worse.

Pontis, which has been successfully employed by various department of transportation is basically a network level BMS which prioritize bridges or groups of bridges for repair and rehabilitation funds. In this scenario researchers and scholars agree that along side Pontis certain other project specific BMS (Expert systems …

A Method For Classification Analysis On Simultaneous Product Defects, Jason S. Trahan

Masters Theses

There have been many advancements that share similar tools and techniques that help reduce the manufacture of nonconformities. These include computer-aided analysis, design reviews, total quality management, multivariate analysis, process monitoring and control, and root cause analysis to mention a few.

This work details the methodology developed for manufacturing companies to predict attribute defects. Injection molding was used to demonstrate the proposed methodology. Data were collected on a variety of tool design and construction attributes thought to affect the performance of a tool. The independent variables consisted of categorical and numerical data types. The dependent variable was a nominal four-tuple …

An Investigation Of The Interlobate Area West Of Three Rivers, Michigan And Its Relationship To The Late Wisconsinan Glaciation Of Southwest Michigan, Scott J. Kendzierski

Masters Theses

A detailed investigation of selected mineralogical and textural characteristics of glacial deposits was conducted in order to explore the complex relationships between the Lake Michigan and Saginaw Lobe ice-margins and associated depositional regimes during the deglaciation of southwest Michigan. Various analytical methodologies were applied to the characterization of glacial materials, glacial and post-glacial environments in order to infer a chronology of lobate activity.

The Sturgis Moraine, located in St. Joseph County, Michigan, is a major recessional moraine owing to the processes of both the Lake Michigan and Saginaw Lobes. Analysis of geologic materials and examination of subsurface data along with …

Effect Of Antioxidants On Cadmium Induced Oxidative Stress And Signal Transduction, Deepti Goel

Masters Theses

A study was done to establish if reactive oxygen species (ROS) participate in the signal transduction pathway through which cadmium induces gene transcription. Cadmium has become a concern in the health care community in the past few years as evidence suggests that cadmium can induce the development of tumors, influence cell signaling and cause damage to organs, tissue, cells and DNA. The mechanism by which cadmium exerts its action on cellular processes or induces toxicity is however unclear although there is evidence to suggest that ROS play a role. Our laboratory is interested in understanding the mechanisms of differentially regulated …

Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Relations And The Social Production Of Space In Isabella County, Michigan, Bryan Thomas Swanson

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on how the historical and cultural geography of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Mount Pleasant, Michigan and specifically on through their Soaring Eagle Casino reshaped the physical and cultural landscape of Isabella County. For this research I utilized documentary/archival evidence such as local histories, newspapers, plat maps and I also conducted field surveys. The research findings indicated that through the Soaring Eagle Casino the Saginaw Chippewa tribe has changed Isabella County, as well as their own social standing. Since 1993 the tribe has used casino revenues to purchase 1185 acres of land to add to the Isabella …

The Effects Of Various Types And Percentages Of Fillers With The Mechanical Properties Of Latex Saturated Paper, Jeffrey Alan Kuehn

Masters Theses

This study examined how the percentage of mineral fillers and their various types, when added to the base paper, affects the mechanical characteristics of latex impregnated paper.

A series of model handsheets were produced and subjected to physical property tests. The basis weight of these handsheets was held constant, as various types and percentages of filler were added. This base paper was then impregnated with a known acrylic emulsion. All variables with the impregnation process were held constant during the impregnation process. Physical properties were tested on the handsheets before and after impregnation. All physical tests on the handsheet samples …

The Detection Of Common Concrete Bridge Deck Defects Using The Thermography, Impact Echo, And Ground Penetrating Radar, Saleh Z. Nabulsi

Masters Theses

The transportation infrastructure in the United States is deteriorating and will require significant improvements. A recent report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave an overall grading of D⁺ to the nation's infrastructure. Approximately 162,000 of the nation's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. The total estimated cost to bring conditions to acceptable levels over the next two decades would exceed $1.9 trillion. Consequently, innovations in the area of transportation infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation are key to the health and wellness of this valuable national asset.

A major component of maintenance and rehabilitation is the ability …

Effectiveness Of Wavelet Transform, Fractals, Lacunarity And Spatial Indices In Content-Based Image Retrieval, Sivagurunathan Chinniah

Masters Theses

The thesis demonstrates the feasibility of applying wavelet transforms, fractals, and spatial indices in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) of remotely sensed imagery. It consists of three major parts: the design and development of thick-client CBIR software, population of two samples of SPOT™ and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) image databases with metadata describing their visual properties, and, exploration of the effectiveness of region quadtree query and retrieval by content using various combinations of indices. 272 SPOT™ and 507 Landsat 7 ETM+ 512 x 512 pixel panchromatic images of Atlanta, Georgia were subsetted from two scenes. Moran's I index …

Copper Exchange Studies Between The First And Fourth N-Terminal Metal-Binding Domains Of Wilson Disease Atpase, Jennifer Bunce

Masters Theses

The human copper-transporting ATPase Wilson's disease protein was one of the first proteins shown to be actively involved in cellular copper homeostasis. The protein includes six N-terminal metal binding domains. The individual capabilities of the domains to bind and transfer copper are not yet fully understood. Each metal-binding domain is about 72 amino acid residues long and contains the conserved binding motif GMTCXXC, of which the cysteines are involved in the copper coordination. Studies have shown that the protein binds six copper atoms suggesting the potential involvement of each metal-binding domain. Separate functional roles for the latter domains have been …

Any Given Tuesday: Performance Of Law During Small Claims Court, Michael E. Muhme

Masters Theses

Building on Hasian's examination of Jurisprudence as performance and Nolan's research of performance in drug courts, this study looks at Small Claims Court as cultural performance through the examination of face-to-face interactions in the courtroom. They are evaluated through the metaphoric lens of Tumer's social drama as well as integrating the legal metaphors of law as grid, energy, and perspective. This study found that the court uses scripts to limit issues and that claimants are rewarded more for following the rules of the court rather than resolving the conflict. Additionally, Small Claims Court exacerbates conflict between low-income tenants and the …

Seeing Beyond The Illusion: Dispelling The Grand Illusion Hypothesis, Melissa A. Ebbers

Masters Theses

The Grand Illusion hypothesis is a new form of skepticism about the nature of our visual experience: it seems to us as though our vision is everywhere detailed, distinct, continuous, in color, even “photograph-like,” but it is not. This position is motivated by developments in perceptual research, which have revealed new information about the functional structure of the visual system as well as the attention-dependent nature of perception.

My project is primarily deconstructive. I argue that the Grand Illusion hypothesis rests on problematic assumptions (motivated by the results from the relevant perceptual research), which ultimately leads to an incoherent formulation …

The Glucose And Insulin Responsiveness Of The Rat Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Promoter, Daryl Arkwright-Keeler

Dissertations

The regulation of expression of some enzymes involved in glucose homeostasis and fat metabolism requires both insulin and glucose to elicit an effect, while the regulation of others requires only one. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), an important enzyme involved in glucose homeostasis, has been shown to be transcriptionally regulated by carbohydrate feeding in rat liver, a diet regime that increases the levels of both glucose and insulin. Our lab had previously shown that insulin induces expression of G6PDH, thus we wanted to determine if glucose also induced G6PDH expression and if so, are the glucose and insulin responses mediated through identical …

Understanding Photosynthesis And Plant Cellular Respiration As “Nested Systems”: The Characterization Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Conceptions, Mary H. Brown

Dissertations

This dissertation project focused on pre-service elementary teachers' conceptions of the plant processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration as being connected, occurring at multiple ecological levels, and working within "nested systems." Participants enrolled in a biology course designed for elementary education majors provided their views of the processes through a series of tasks with a peer, a semi-structured interview, and clarified both photosynthesisand plant cellular respiration directly following classroom instruction on the two topics. The instructor of the course was interviewed after a preliminary analysis of the participants' responses. Data were analyzed using the qualitative analysis computer program The Ethnograph …

Examining The Keyword Mnemonic Strategy As An Effective Academic Intervention For High School Students Labeled Emotional Or Behavioral Disordered, Karen A. Kleinheksel

Dissertations

This investigation explored whether keyword mnemonic strategies were effective for high school aged students labeled emotional or behavioral disordered(E/BD) in recalling the definitions of scientific vocabulary terms. Ten students labeled E/BD from a suburban public high school in a Midwestern state participated in this investigation. A demographic description of the subjects indicated the following information: (a) all students' ethnicities were Caucasian, (b) sixty percent of the subjects were male, (c) the average subject's age was 17 years 1 month, and (d) all students were in the tenth through twelfth grades.

In a multiple baseline across subjects design using a single …

Global Optimality Conditions In Mathematical Programming And Optimal Control, Pariwat Pacheenburawaa

Dissertations

We derive new first-order necessary and sufficient optimality conditions characterizing global minimizers in mathematical programming and optimal controlproblems. These conditions are based on level sets of an objective functional and they do not assume special structure of a problem (convexity, linearity, etc.). For a mathematical programming problem of minimization of a smooth functional on some compact convex set with equality nonlinear constraints, we derive first-order optimality conditions in the form of a generalized Lagrange multiplier rule. This rule should hold for any point from the level set of the objective functional corresponding to a global minimizer. We demonstrate that these …

Changes In Glial Cell Line Derived Neurotrophic Factor And Nerve Growth Factor Expression With Development, Age, Exercise And Hypertension, Bertha C. Rebimbas-Cohen

Dissertations

Neurotrophic factors are important for neuronal growth, survival, and maintenance of cell phenotype. Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) affects sensory, autonomic and somatic motor neurons and nerve growth factor (NGF) affects sensory and sympathetic neurons. NGF and GDNF are produced by cardiac muscle and have potent effects on sensory and autonomic neuronal innervation of blood vessels. Neural innervation plays a key role in blood vessel function. Since neural innervation of blood vessels may be regulated by growth factors, we wanted to determine what changes would occur to NGF and GDNF levels with maturity, exercise and hypertension.

Changes in GDNF …

School Counselors' Perceptions About Female Participation In Non-Traditional Secondary Career And Technical Education (Cte) Programs, Rashida Khatoon Malik

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine high school counselors' perceptions of female participation in nontraditional secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs. The data for this study was collected from high school counselors in Michigan by sending them a survey containing 25 items. The first section of the survey covered the demographics of the participants. The second section consisted of eight belief statements about counseling femalestudents into nontraditional CTE programs. The third section of the survey had 12 belief statements about female participation in CTE nontraditional programs. The survey responses were based on five-point Likert scales. The belief …

The Italian Homliary: Texts And Contexts, Michael Thomas Martin

Dissertations

For the Carolingians, preaching was the best manner in which to teach good, Christian behavior orally to the largely illiterate masses. Studying early medieval sermon collections then can provide historians with a great amount of information on, for example, the intended audience and current moral instruction, who wrote the sermons, and the intended impact of the reform requirements. Too often however these early collections are grouped into a rather generalized classification of being little more than an exposition of Scripture composed with little or no originality. Some scholars claim we have no evidence for sermons produced for popular preaching prior …

An Analysis Of Service-Learning And Applied Anthropology, Danielle Nordbrock

Honors Theses

People think of others in comparison to themselves, and what they know. Anthropologists study a wide variety of things, this includes all different societies: simple and complex, ancient and modern, and in different locales. The perspective of an anthropologist tends to take on a unique cross-cultural nature, with comparisons oftentimes being central to the research. When anthropologists become engaged in a project and begin their fieldwork they experience a unique sense of understanding from living in such close proximity to another culture.

‘Þæt Is Yrre': The Construction And Use Of Anger In Anglo-Saxon Literature, Hilary E. Fox

Masters Theses

An examination of the linguistic background and literary conceptions of anger in Old English. The first point of analysis will be the vocabulary of used to discuss anger and its manifestations in Old English prose didactic texts, particularly homilies and translations from Latin materials. Subsequent chapters will discuss anger as a literary phenomenon, first with respect to its use in the Old English hagiographic poem The Passion of St. Juliana and then Beowulf. The goal of these two chapters collectively is to outline the social use ( or misuse) of anger, and Christian understandings of how anger must be …