Digital Commons Network^™

Mitochondrial Dna Haplotype And Sequence Analysis Of Historic Choctaw And Menominee Hair Shaft Samples, Lori Elmore Baker

Doctoral Dissertations

Franz Boas organized the collection of information for over 15,000 Native Americans for the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. Of these individuals, 2482 individuals gave hair samples that are currently stored at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Now, over 100 years and many technical advances later, the information amassed from these Native American individuals is being reanalyzed to provide a genetic dimension to the analysis of this collection. A new method for the extraction of DNA from aged hair shaft samples was developed and applied in this study. This is the first successful report of research …

Pedogenic Relationships In A Texas Vertisol Climosequence Defined By Geochemical Mass Balance Of Whole Soil And Chemistry Of Iron-Manganese Nodules, Cynthia A. Stiles

Doctoral Dissertations

Climosequence Vertisol profiles derived from the Upper Beaumont Formation in the Gulf Coastal Prairie physiographic province of Texas were examined for geochemical trends ascribed to different precipitation regimes. Mass-balance relationships were utilized for the comparisons. Compositional differences in zirconium (Zr) content between the solum and lower sub-soil precluded it use an immobile strain (volumetric change) indicator. This difference was correlated to sand weight percent (r² = 0.65**). Titanium (Ti) content did not shift correlatively with depth, thus making Ti the preferred strain index element for mass-balance calculations. Depths at which the Zr compositions shifted were not directly related to …

Base Closure Impacts And The General Effects Of Military Installations On Local Private Employment, Patrick E. Poppert

Doctoral Dissertations

This empirical study explores the general effects of military installations on local employment, and the special case of closure under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) proceedings of 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995. Employment impacts are modeled in a partial adjustment construct, and both random and fixed effects specifications of the disturbance term are evaluated. The analysis also includes both levels and changes forms of the model. The latter approach facilitates decomposition of defense personnel changes into its positive, negative, and BRAC related components. These components are examined for asymmetrical effects attributable to the public goods and community infrastructure vacuum …

Factor Analysis Of Online Instruction Self-Efficacy Using The Tennessee Online Instruction Survey, Frederick Augustus Randall

Doctoral Dissertations

As the use of online instruction continues to rise in post-secondary education and corporate training, a better understanding of one's beliefs, attitudes, and confidence regarding online instruction is necessary to increase the quality and effectiveness of online instruction. This study investigated self-efficacy beliefs related to online instruction. Self-efficacy, a psychological construct, is defined as self-appraisal of one's capabilities to plan and undertake a course of actions required for a specified task.

The objectives of this study were to (a) develop a survey instrument to measure the psychological construct of self-efficacy related to online instruction; (b) identify the salient factors of …

Diagenesis Of Upper Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone In The Illinois Basin - Microscale Investigation Of Basinal Fluid Migration And Mass Transfer, Zhensheng Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

A series of investigations were conducted to evaluate microscale evidence for basinal fluid migration in the Illinois basin during diagenesis of the Upper Cambrian Mount Simon Sandstone. Samples were examined using transmitted light and cathodoluminescence (CL) petrography, fluid inclusion analysis, and Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS) analysis of ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios and trace element compositions. Preliminary investigation of in situ laser ablation ⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar age dating techniques on authigenic K-feldspar over growths was also completed.

Two major generations of quartz overgrowths are observed, on the basis of transmitted light and CL petrography and fluid inclusion studies. …

Use Of Case Studies In Abet Accredited Engineering Technology Associate Degree Programs In The United States, James L. Barrott

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the years, the case method of instruction has been successfully integrated into professional educational programs like business, law, medicine, and psychology. In the 1960’s, Stanford University began a movement to include case studies in engineering programs. In the 1970’s a number of engineering professors developed and taught with cases and then published their experiences. Then in the 1980’s and 1990’s, the engineering case study movement died down. Engineering and engineering technology educational programs are closely related. In the literature, any national movement in engineering technology education to use case studies was virtually non-existent with the exception of the work …

Beta-Adrenergic, Arachidonic Acid And Potassium Channel Associated-Regulation Of Human Breast Cancer Cell Lines, Yavuz Cakir

Doctoral Dissertations

During the late stages of breast cancer progression, breast cancer cell growth switches from steroid hormone to growth factor dependence, and it is assumed that invasive breast cancers are growth factor receptor positive and estrogen hormone resistant. The cellular arachidonic acid (AA) pathway is upregulated in a variety of cancer types, and it may play an important role in the growth regulation of breast cancer cells.

Recent evidence suggests that beta-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) are expressed in some estrogen receptor (ER) negative breast cancers and that beta agonists not only can trigger AA release via the activation of cytosolic PLA2 or …

Expression And Characterization Of The Mhc Class Ii Transactivator In K-562 Cells, Noel Elyssa Day

Doctoral Dissertations

The K-562 cell line was developed from the pleural effusion of a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis and has served as an excellent model to study the properties of CML cells. The highly undifferentiated cells can be induced by a variety of chemicals to follow multiple pathways of differentiation. When K-562 cells were treated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), they exhibited accessory cell functions by replacing monocytes in the activation of resting Th2 lymphocytes. However, K-562 cells are negative for the expression of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens HLA-DR, -DP, and -DQ. The focus …

From Second Creek To New Pangea: A Multi-Scale Analysis Of Patterns And Trends In Aquatic Biodiversity, Jeffrey Robert Duncan

Doctoral Dissertations

The Earth’s freshwater ecosystems are undergoing a period of dramatic change. The simultaneous expansion and contraction of aquatic species’ ranges is leaving an indelible mark on the evolutionary histories of the world’s freshwater species. This dissertation represents a compilation of research efforts that quantify, explain, and propose policy recommendations concerning current trends in aquatic biodiversity. Part II provides an appraisal of the status of the world’s freshwater fishes that asks two primary questions—are all taxonomic groups equally susceptible to extinction, and can we identify a unifying suite of extinction risk factors? Although I concluded, that extinction risk is not randomly …

Two Body Dirac Equations And Nucleon Nucleon Scattering Phase Shift Analysis, Bin Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, the nucleon-nucleon interaction is investigated by using the meson exchange model and the two body Dirac equations of constraint dynamics. This approach to the two body problem has been successfully tested for QED and QCD relativistic bound states. An important question we wish to address is whether or not this approach is also valid in the two body nucleon-nucleon scattering problem. This test involves a number of related problems.

First we must reduce our two body Dirac equations exactly to a Schr¨odinger-like equation. This can be done without making any assumptions or approximations and unlike other relativistic …

Automated Fault Detection In An Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket Reactor: Comparisons Of Biogas Production And Physicochemical Quantities, Alexandra Maria Almeida Carvalho Pinto

Doctoral Dissertations

A system capable of rapidly detecting toxic loads entering high-rate anaerobic reactors would greatly enhance their reliability, and could thereby increase their commercial acceptance. A high-rate anaerobic wastewater treatment process, called the failure-causing load detector (FCLD), consisting of a small (4-liter) upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor having a short (10-min) hydraulic retention time (HRT), was used as a biosensor to rapidly detect potential problems with the influent wastewater. Sensors were used to monitor biogas production in the reactor, as well as pH, conductivity, and turbidity in the effluent from the reactor. The FCLD system was tested using the following …

The Relationship Between Self-Directed Learning And Learning Styles, James Boyd Canipe

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-directed learning readiness and learning styles. A cluster sample of 260 graduate students enrolled in classes in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Morehead State University at Morehead, Kentucky was utilized in this research.

The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale (SDLRS), developed by L. M. Guglielmino (1977), and the Learning Style Inventory (LSI) developed by D. A. Kolb (1984), were administered to the sample as a means of exploring the relationship between the two variables. In addition, a demographic questionnaire was used to describe the characteristics of the …

A Study Of Selected Non-Pending, Supreme Court Cases Held Between 1965-2000 On K-12 Public, Intradistrict, Race-Based, Dual Systems Of Education, Laronda J. Conley-Townsend

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the Supreme Court's rulings between 1965 and 2000 focusing on the legality of intradistrict, race-based, dual systems of education. The study applied the theory of Equal Protection as a rationale for the actions and determinations of the Court made in the kindergarten-twelfth grade public school segregation cases during this period. This theory was chosen because the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was used to prohibit the operation of segregated systems (Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, 1954) which were held to be detrimental to minority students. The Civil Rights …

An Investigation Of The Learning Outcomes Of Distance Learning Students Versus Traditional Classroom Students Attempting The Masters Of Business Administration, Elizabeth Crawford Dodd

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate any significant differences in the learning outcomes of graduate students in the MBA degree program at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in traditional instructional settings as compared with students who received their instruction via distance learning. Additionally, the study compared these previously mentioned groups to students who received a mixture of distance learning and traditional classroom instruction.

Research questions:

1) Is there a difference between the cumulative GPA scores of students in a distance learning setting and students in a traditional classroom setting, or students with a combination of distance learning and traditional …

Temporal Column Abundances Of Atmospheric Nitrous Oxide At The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville, John Stewart Hager

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation reports the detection of real time concentration levels of nitrous oxide in the earth's atmosphere at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, Tennessee and describes the integration of a suntracker with the 5-meter Littrow spectrometric system at the University of Tennessee Complex Systems Laboratory.

Atmospheric nitrous oxide (N₂O) is an important trace gas in the earth's atmosphere. Not only does it have implications to stratospheric ozone depletion, it is an important greenhouse gas. Since the main source of N₂O result from agricultural activities, this study is motivated in part by of the location of the …

Hafters And Crafters : Verbal Unruliness And The Contest For Artistic Discourse In The English Renaissance, David A. Haines

Doctoral Dissertations

Chapter One argues for the recovery of the word haft. An account of the denotative varieties of haft provides a way of looking back into an implicit logic of rhetorical practice which has fallen out of use. Chapter Two focuses on two texts by John Skelton which demonstrate the rhetorical texture of "literary" contests: the flyting "Agenst Garnesche" (1514) and the interlude Magnyfycence (c. 1515). In the former, Skelton falls to verbal blows with his opponent, Christopher Garnesche, in an effort to exalt his own reputation at court while humiliating Garnesche. In Magnyfycence, Skelton enlarges an understanding of haft through …

Synthesis Of The S And C-Linked Diaccharide Analogues Related To Hyaluronic Acid, Sean K. Hamilton

Doctoral Dissertations

Hyaluronic acid is a ubiquitous glycosaminoglycan found in several mammalian tissues. It has been implicated in the development and progression of cancer by interacting with a cell's CD 44 receptor. Our goal was to synthesize small molecules that are hyaluronic acid mimics, which contain CH2 and S groups strategically placed, as to render the molecules hydrolytically stable. Described in this dissertation are the synthetic efforts involved in assembling the disaccharide units related to hyaluronic acid that can potentially serve as building blocks for the synthesis of long-chain, enzymatically stable, oligosaccharide mimics. Both the S- and CH₂- linked disaccharide …

Family Physician's Adoption Of Innovations In Distance Learning, Deborah Hall Joyner

Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to investigate the use and receptivity of distance education to meet the Continuing Medical Education needs of family physicians in Tennessee. The researcher conducted a survey of the entire population of members of the Tennessee Academy of Family Physicians. She collected a measure of specific outcomes using a Liket scale, along with demographic data. A chi-square analysis was used to determine association and significance. A response rate of 55 % was achieved. Most responding family physicians perceived that CME activities affect their practice of medicineThe data found that the CME activity must be relevant, …

Homosexuality And The Black Church : Perceptions Of Church Leaders, Dutchess Renee Jones

Doctoral Dissertations

With more gay men and lesbian women seeking to become fully involved in the Christian church community, churches are beginning to grapple with the issue of the role of the homosexual within the church. Many churches, however, appear to try to ignore the issue; or turn to abusive or neglectful behavior toward homosexuals. The black church, in particular, has a reputation for being especially careless when it comes to issues of sexuality in general, and homosexuality in particular. For those reasons, the purpose of this study is to explore the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of pastors and church leaders within …

A Study Of The Novels Of Harry Mazer And Norma Fox Mazer And Their Place In Young Adult Literature, Amy J. Lantinga

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze the work of two young adult authors, Harry Mazer and Norma Fox Mazer, and describe their impact on the field of young adult literature. Long respected as authors in the genre of young adult literature, Harry Mazer and Norma Fox Mazer continue to write novels and edit collections of short stories, further contributing to the field. The Mazers are unique in that they write both individually as well as collaboratively, so far producing three novels together. However, aside fi-om their impressive quantity of published material, the Mazers are important for other reasons. …

Causing Students To Choose More Language Arts Work : An Educationally Valid Investigation Of The Interspersal Procedure, Sadonya F. Meadows

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study extended research on assignment choice and the interspersal procedure by exposing seventh-grade students to educationally valid, grade-level English assignments and requiring students to complete assignments with 20% more work. In Experiment 1, students were asked to work on control English assignments containing 20 discrete complex target tasks and experimental assignments containing 24 equivalent target tasks plus eight interspersed briefer/easier items. Students worked on each assignment for 10 minutes and did not complete either assignment. In Ejq)eriment 2, assignments were reduced to five target items (i.e., control assignment) and six target items plus two interspersed easy items (i.e., …

A Market Orientation In Supply Chain Management, Soonhong Min

Doctoral Dissertations

A market orientation (MO) has recently drawn renewed interest of marketing scholars for enhancing business performance in a strategic context. The term supply chain management (SCM) has risen to prominence in the past ten years. Supply chain management extends the concept of functional integration beyond a firm to all the firms in the supply chain. The individual members of a supply chain help each other/improve the competitiveness of the supply chain, which should improve competitiveness for all supply chain members. Both the concepts – a MO and SCM – have a lot in common in their conceptualization as (1) they …

Experiential Aspects Of Neglect: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Kurt D. Openlander

Doctoral Dissertations

A review of the empirical literature on maltreatment points to the need for more knowledge about neglect, especially the subjective aspects of neglect. In order to gain information about this topic, twelve adult volunteers were interviewed in detail about various times in which they had experienced themselves as neglected. In accordance with the principles of existential phenomenology, a qualitative methodology for research within the social sciences, the transcribed interviews were thematized, in this case with the aid of a group of scholars trained in phenomenological interpretation. Three interrelated themes emerged against the ground of Interpersonal Relationships: Feeling Alone, Feeling Invisible …

Attributes, Consequences And Value Of The Global Integration Of Supply Chain Activities And Processes In The Global Company : Applying Means-End Theory And The Value Hierarchy, Nancy W. Nix

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the value of global integration of supply chain activities and processes for global companies. In-depth interviews were conducted with thirty-five managers in three global businesses, and included representatives from across supply chain functions and geographic regions. The participating businesses represented three industries with different environmental influences. Means-end theoretical frameworks and research methodologies were applied in the analysis process. Hierarchical value maps developed for each business provided a visual representation of the attributes, consequences, goals and values of global integration important to each. Similarities across businesses were examined to identify processes important to achieve global integration. The costs …

Crusade And Conquest : Anti-Catholicism, Manifest Destiny, And The U.S.-Mexican War Of 1846-1848, John Christopher Pinheiro

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines how anti-Catholic sentiment affected Americans' conduct in, and opinions of, the U.S.-Mexican War of 1846-1848.Chapter One explores how increased immigration and republican ideology allowed anti-Catholicism and nativism to fuse in the late 1830s and early 1840s.Nativists and many evangelical Protestants claimed that the Pope conspired to undermineAmerican liberty by establishing a Catholic stronghold in the West with the help of aJesuit-led army of Catholic immigrants. Moreover, many Americans argued that RomanCatholicism was incompatible with civil and religious liberty, the two hallmark freedoms of republicanism. They pointed to Mexico's political troubles as an example of this incompatibility in …

Development Of A Continuous Bioluminescent Bacteria-Based System For Potw Influent Wastewater Toxicity Monitoring, Shijin Ren

Doctoral Dissertations

Influent wastewater toxicity causes upsets in the operations of biological wastewater treatment systems. Toxic compounds cause the loss of higher life forms in activated sludge, the formation of pin floes that settle poorly in downstream clarifiers and increase the addition of costly polymers. Ultimately, these effects lead to the degradation of effluent quality. In the most severe circumstances, influent toxicity can lead to a plant shut-down and the discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment. These effects can be avoided if influent wastewater is screened for toxicity and protective actions are taken to prevent damage to the activated sludge. Possible …

Design And Analysis Of An Attenuator-Based, Four-Channel, Differential, 150 Mhz, Linear-In-Db Vga With Sub-Nanosecond Delay Dispersion For Pet Applications, Bryan Scott Puckett

Doctoral Dissertations

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a medical imaging methodology based on the measurement of the concentrations of a positron-emitting radioisotope inside a three dimensional object. PET systems require hundreds of channels of high perfonnance detector readout electronics. The Phase I ASIC was developed in 1992 to reduce the cost, power consumption and complexity of PET systems and to improve reliability. The Phase I ASIC has been very successful and is a key component in thousands of commercial PET units currently in use.

A Living Lump Of Appetites': The Reinvention Of The Primitive In Naturalist And Modernist Literature", Gina M. Rossetti

Doctoral Dissertations

When we consider the historical and cultural events that mark the latenineteenth through early twentieth centuries, we discover a growing fear about the "vanishing Anglo-Saxon." This response to the non-Anglo-Saxon or "primitive" differs significantly, however, from earlier, more romantic definitions and philosophies wherein the primitive is considered a positive alternative to civilization. While earlier eras conceive of the primitive as positive, these eras' judgments change as one considers turn of the twentieth-century American literature. It is this reassessment of the primitive that is the focus of my study. am particularly interested in how these ruminations about the primitive are codified …

A Case Study Of An Institution Of Higher Education In Bulgaria: The Transition From Communism To Democracy, Glenda J. Ross

Doctoral Dissertations

Bulgarians use the term "The Changes" to represent the event in 1989 of the displacement of communism by democracy and the consequences which followed. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to develop an organized body of information to understand the progress and the problems of Bulgaria's oldest institution of higher education, Sofia University, in transition from communism to democracy. The researcher interviewed administrators, teachers, student services personnel, and students at Sofia University and people from government and society in general. Transcripts of interviews were examined using QST NUD*IST 4 text analysis software. Texts of the interviews were coded …

Three-Dimensional Structure And Kinematics Of The Piedras-Girardot Foldbelt In The Northern Andes Of Colombia, Camilo Montes

Doctoral Dissertations

Detailed geologic mapping, strain analysis, and simple stratigraphic principles indicate that deformation in the Piedras-Girardot foldbelt in the northern Andes began in the early Campanian with incipient propagation of faults that uplifted gentle domes where the accumulation of some sandy units did not take place. Maastrichtian unroofing of a metamorphic terrane west of the Piedras-Girardot foldbelt is documented by a conglomerate that was deformed shortly after deposition developing a conspicuous intragranular fabric of microscopic veins that accommodate little extension (between 1 and 2 percent in a general northeast-southwest direction). This extensional fabric, distortion of fossil molds, and a moderate cleavage …