Digital Commons Network^™

Fall 2014

Scientia

CSH progress notes; Alumna entrepreneur finds success at the intersection of chemistry and law; Lions, lycopods and laboratories: CSH students thrive in summer internships; Fielding a team for a mission to Mars; Professor Craig Klugman on the medical humanities; Lab Notes

The Role Of Emotion And Facial Expression In Synthesised Sign Language Avatars, Robert G Smith

Other Resources

This thesis explores the role that underlying emotional facial expressions might have in regards to understandability in sign language avatars. Focusing specifically on Irish Sign Language (ISL), we examine the Deaf community’s requirement for a visual-gestural language as well as some linguistic attributes of ISL which we consider fundamental to this research. Unlike spoken language, visual-gestural languages such as ISL have no standard written representation. Given this, we compare current methods of written representation for signed languages as we consider: which, if any, is the most suitable transcription method for the medical receptionist dialogue corpus. A growing body of work …

The Experience Of Reducing Environmental Risks In An Environmental Justice Community, Gabriela Dory

Dissertations

Research on Environmental Justice (EJ) communities has focused on quantitative assessment of environmental hazards and general physical health problems. Little is known about how individuals living in EJ communities perceive their environmental risks and how they reduce environmental risks. The purpose of the study is to explore and describe the perceived environmental risks and the experience of reducing environmental risk among individuals living in an EJ community.

A qualitative and longitudinal design with a descriptive phenomenological method is used to recruit 23 participants living in a known EJ community in the urban area of New Jersey. A total of 43 …

100th Convocation 2014 Address - Amazing Mice Light Up The Liberal Arts, Marc Zimmer

Convocation Addresses

Connecticut College Professor of Chemistry Marc Zimmer states, "I like to think of our educational system as an intellectual maze. New students, you are standing at the entrance of this fantastic maze, a lush and verdant garden maze..."

He concludes: "We are all, faculty, students and staff tremendously privileged to be sitting here at the entrance of the amazing maze of learning."

Discovery Of Shallow-Marine Biofacies Conodonts In A Bioherm Within The Carboniferous-Permian Transition In The Omalon Massif, Ne Russia Near The North Paleo-Pole: Correlation With A Warming Spike In The Southern Hemisphere, Vladimir I. Davydov, Alexander S. Biakov

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The conodont genera Hindeodus and Streptognathodus are reported for the first time within the Carboniferous-Permian transition in the northern high latitudes of the Paren’ River, Omolon Massif, NE Russia. Several fossil groups, including brachiopods, bivalves, scaphopods and microgastropods were found to be prolific in the invertebrate-dominated bioherms. These bioherms occur within predominantly siliciclastic sequences with extremely poor fauna, whereas in the studied bioherms the diversity of the bivalves and brachiopods exceeded observed diversity elsewhere in coeval facies in NE Russia. The bioherms are biostratigraphically constrained as uppermost Pennsylvanian to lowermost Cisuralian based on ammonoids. The very unusual peak of bivalve …

Social Tipping Points And Earth Systems Dynamics, R.A. Bentley, E. Maddison, P. Ranner, J. Bissell, C. Caiado, P. Bhatanacharoen, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Botha M., Akinbami F., Hollow M., Michie R., Huntley B., Curtis S., Garnett P.

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Recently, Early Warning Signals (EWS) have been developed to predict tipping points in Earth Systems. This discussion highlights the potential to apply EWS to human social and economic systems, which may also undergo similar critical transitions. Social tipping points are particularly difficult to predict, however, and the current formulation of EWS, based on a physical system analogy, may be insufficient. As an alternative set of EWS for social systems, we join with other authors encouraging a focus on heterogeneity, connectivity through social networks and individual thresholds to change.

Tempo And Mode Of Domestication During The Neolithic Revolution: Evidence From Dental Mesowear And Microwear Of Sheep, Melissa Zolnierz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Neolithic Revolution marked a dramatic change in human subsistence practices. In order to explain this change, we must understand the motive forces behind it. Researchers have proposed many different stimuli, with most theories invoking environmental dynamics, human population density increases beyond environmental carrying capacity, and the natural outgrowth of human and plant/animal interactions. However, unanswered questions remain concerning the mechanics of animal domestication. Traditional studies of changing faunal morphology and skeletal population profiles offer some clues, but such research has had limited success identifying stages intermediate between wild and domesticated forms, which makes it difficult to discern initial attempts …

Reduced Major Axis Regression: Teaching Alternatives To Least Squares, William V. Harper

Mathematics Faculty Scholarship

The theoretical underpinnings of standard least squares regression analysis are based on the assumption that the independent variable (often thought of as x) is measured without error as a design variable. The dependent variable (often labeled y) is modeled as having uncertainty or error. Both independent and dependent measurements may have multiple sources of error. Thus the underlying least squares regression assumptions can be violated. Reduced Major Axis (RMA) regression is specifically formulated to handle errors in both the x and y variables. It is an excellent topic to teach students the importance of understanding the assumptions underlying the statistical …

Using The Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Compositions Of Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus Pygerythrus) To Examine Questions In Ethnoprimatology, James E. Loudon, J. Paul Grobler, Matt Sponheimer, Kimberly Moyer, Joseph G. Lorenz, Trudy R. Turner

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

This study seeks to understand how humans impact the dietary patterns of eight free-ranging vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) groups in South Africa using stable isotope analysis. Vervets are omnivores that exploit a wide range of habitats including those that have been anthropogenically-disturbed. As humans encroach upon nonhuman primate landscapes, human-nonhuman primate interconnections become increasingly common, which has led to the rise of the field of ethnoprimatology. To date, many ethnoprimatological studies have examined human-nonhuman primate associations largely in qualitative terms. By using stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope analysis, we use quantitative data …

The Natural, Jeff Clark

Colby Magazine

Just before Thanksgiving Day last November, Kent Wommack '77 got the classic good-news, bad-news, worse-news call. Wommack is head of The Nature Conservancy in Maine, and the caller was a timberland manager who had asked Wommack to back a client in acquiring prime acres of Maine forest on the upper St. John River, one of the most unspoiled waterways left in the United States. The good news was that the owner had agreed to sell the breathtaking chunk of land in the first place. The bad news was that the client was no longer interested in the deal. The worse …

Interpolating Beach Profile Data Using Linear And Non-Linear Functions, Lance Calloway Croft

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Beach and nearshore surveys are conducted in a variety of ways, the most commonly used being the level-and-transit method; because it is inexpensive, time conducive and highly accurate. Specifically, beach surveys are conducted to better understand cross-shore, long-shore sediment transport processes, as well as to quantify volume changes, which are used to evaluate beach performance. In this study, a section of the beach on Sand Key, FL was surveyed using rod-and-transit. In addition to the commonly used linear data analysis, a non-linear analysis was conducted using NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines).

Survey data was collected within a short time window …

Determining What Factors Affect Peoples' Perceptions Of The Use Of Reclaimed Water As A Source For Potable Water: A Study Within Hillsborough County, Florida, Susana Rebecca Alvarado Tricoche

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In response to water supply depletion challenges, countries such as Australia, the United States, and Namibia have implemented technologies that treat wastewater up to the standards permissible to use for irrigation, toilet flushing, and even drinking water. However, many of these countries have been unable to successfully implement some of their ambitious reclaimed water reuse projects due to negative public perceptions of recycling wastewater. The focus of this study was to understand which factors in risk perception theory are the most influential in shaping community perceptions of reclaimed water reuse as a future source of drinking water within Hillsborough County. …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 55 Number 4, Summer 2014, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

20 - A DAY WITH THE DALAI LAMA photos by Charles Barry, Noah Berger, and Michael Collopy . Close-ups and long views from the spiritual leader’s Feb. 24 visit.

24 - THE CATHOLIC WRITER TODAY by Dana Gioia. The poet, critic, and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts argues that Catholic writers must renovate and reoccupy their own tradition. At stake: the diversity and vitality of the American arts.

38 - OUR STORIES AND THE THEATRE OF AWE an interview with Marilynne Robinson. The Pulitzer Prize–winning writer speaks with Editor Steven Boyd Saum about grace, discernment, and …

Assessing The Archaeological Resources Of Mormon Nauvoo With Three-Dimensional Geophysical Imaging, John H. Mcbride

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The principal objective of the project was to provide BYU students with the experience of exploring Nauvoo using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in order to gain a better appreciation of early Mormon history from a geophysical and archaeological perspective. The objective was met by carrying out two field seasons in Nauvoo. In addition, the grant partially funded a field expedition to the LDS Far West Burying Grounds and Hawn’s Mill sites in Missouri in order to perform surveying work analogous to that performed in Nauvoo. Additional funding for this project was provided by the LDS Church History Department, which allowed more …

Environment, Rights, And Waste In Bolivia: Addressing Water And Sanitation Processes For Improved Infrastructure, Maryann R. Cairns

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water and sanitation (WatSan) development projects impact both natural systems and societal structures where they are placed. A complex process of development, including inter-governmental policies, aid agencies, personal relationships, and community politics enhance and constrain the efficacy of these projects. This study presents the many ways in which the WatSan development process has unintended and unexpected returns for certain community groups. Using a political ecology framework, I look at power structures, perceived and projected environmental impacts, multiple stakeholders, and individual discourses to critique how the right to water and sanitation is implemented in a specific community context. This project advances …

Bass In Your Face: A Case-Study Exploration Of Networked Culture, Samantha Phyllis Kretmar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Using dubstep DJ Bassnectar as a case-study example, this thesis explores the impact of social networks and mobile connectivity. As evidenced by Bassnectar's digitally based approach to experiencing, distributing, and consuming music, these developments have contributed to the shift to a new model I describe as Networked Culture.

Figure 1 is a video highlighting the Bassnectar concert experience. Figure 2 is an audio clip illustrating the "drop" in dubstep. Figure 3 is another audio clip demonstrating the dubstep sound. Figure 4 is an image of an Ableton Live sound library. Figure 5 is an image of Ableton Live's functionality. Figure …

The University Of Nebraska State Museum, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

I first walked through the doors of Morrill Hall on the main or City Campus of the University of Nebraska on a day late in August of 1962 and thought that I had entered paleontology heaven. Morrill Hall then housed the University of Nebraska State Museum (UNSM). most of the Geology Department, and some other parts of university units. I was a new graduate student hoping to pursue research in invertebrate paleontology in the Department of Geology and was on my way to see the department chairman for the first time. When I entered the building I walked through a …

Mapping Landscape Values: Issues, Challenges And Lessons Learned From Field Work On The Olympic Peninsula, Washington, Diane Besser, Rebecca J. Mclain, Lee Cerveny, Kelly Biedenweg, David Banis

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

In order to inform natural resource policy and land management decisions, landscape values mapping (LVM) is increasingly used to collect data about the meanings that people attach to places and the activities associated with those places. This type of mapping provides geographically referenced data on areas of high density of values or associated with different types of values. This article focuses on issues and challenges that commonly occur in LVM, drawing on lessons learned in the US Forest Service Olympic Peninsula Human Ecology Mapping Project. The discussion covers choosing a spatial scale for collecting data, creating the base map, developing …

Stratigraphic Framework And Quaternary Paleolimnology Of The Lake Turkana Rift, Kenya, Amy Morrissey

Dissertations - ALL

Lake sediments are some of the best archives of continental climate change, particularly in the tropics. This study is focused on three ~10m sediment cores and high-resolution seismic reflection data from Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Lake Turkana is the world's largest desert lake and the largest lake in the Eastern Branch of the East African Rift System. It is situated at ~2 °N at 360 m elevation and is ~250 km long and ~30 km wide with a mean depth of 35 m. The lake surface receives less than 200 mm yr-1 of rainfall during the twice-annual passing of …

Owning Our Food System: Urban Community Gardening And Local Food Movements, Paige A. Edwards

Masters Theses

Food is a means of examining culture, including identity, autonomy and power. It creates relationships and memories between people via shared connections. Through food, I explore local food movements and urban community gardening.

We both ingest and produce garden-grown foods. This movement is often described as simple nostalgia. I suggest that it is a response against heavily processed foods within a system reliant on mass produced food. This desire for ownership pushes community gardens and other counter-hegemonic spaces forward in their goals of using social practice to challenge the established food industry and take control within their own lives.

The Effects Of Cold Adaptation On The Growth And Development Of The Neandertal Cranial Base, Sarah Caldwell

Theses and Dissertations

Neandertals and modern humans possess very different craniofacial shapes. Some recent work has attributed these contrasting shapes specifically to differences in brain development, which are extrapolated to mean differences in cognitive function. However, this may not necessarily be the case. In this paper, it is suggested that a size increase in the cranial base and rapid cranial growth are due not to cognitive differences, but environmental factors, specifically Neandertal adaptation to cold. Adaptation to cold would not only explain the more rapid growth of the Neandertal cranium, but also elongation of the cranial base via elongation of the nasopharynx for …

Herbal And Holistic Medicine In Latin America, William H. Lyle

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A variety of herbal and holistic remedies were used in pre-Columbian cultures, especially in Aztec and Incan cultures. Many different herbs were used to provide medical attention to patients directly, while other herbs were used to supplement shaman^[1] medicine, which was particularly common in Inca culture. While there is little scientific basis for shamanism, as a viable healing option in modern culture, most herbal remedies had active chemical ingredients that could be or are used today to treat similar symptoms, and, in some cases, are being applied in different scenarios as well. The methods of usage, active chemicals, and …

The Relocation Of Laurel Hill Plantation Rice Barges In The Waccamaw River, Sc, Using Multibeam Echosounding, Nathalie Arnone

Honors Theses

A study done in the lower Waccamaw River neck, inland of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, is done to relocate and bathymetrically map antebellum rice barge wrecks, last seen near the old Laurel Hill Plantation area. Sites investigated are Laurel Hill, Collins Creek, Cow House Creek, and the Wachesaw portion of the Waccamaw River. Magnetometer data contained multiple anomalies along the locations, mostly due to modern wrecks. Successful multibeam echosounding performed at the Laurel Hill site reveals two identifiable barges. Following archeological scuba diving provided that one barge was partially buried and upside-down, containing civil war era metal fastenings. Barges found …

No Parking But Parks: Sustainable Urban Planning Of Open Space In New York City, Jenny Kun

2014 Student Theses

Parks are keys to create a sustainable urban living environment. They are particularly important today as they ameliorate of one of the most urgent problem—global climate change. Parks has been New Yorkers’ most cherished public infrastructure. This thesis takes a close look on New York City and examines how open space planning affect the development of a metropolis. To investigate the topic, I applied three disciplines in environmental policy: environmental planning and design, history, and politics. These disciplines are intertwined. This thesis first digs in to the history of how the city’s iconic Central Park is created and evaluates how …

The Unknown Puppet Masters Of The Modern Day American Diet And How To Cut To The Strings: A Look Into Parasites And Applied Kinesiology, Kirstie E. Carrizales

2014 Student Theses

Many Americans suffer recurring health problems that are accepted as "normal" in American society. From panic attacks to digestive problems, Americans have been getting sicker and sicker. At the same time, we find ourselves craving more processed foods and sweets. And how could we not, it's very hard to find food that has not been contaminated with processed parts. Western medicine provides multiple pills both prescription and non-prescription to "ease" our pains. But what is the underlying cause? And what is a real cure? To understand what is really going on with our bodies, we must scale ourselves down and …

From Arrows To Bullets: Sustainable Hunting, Fishing, And Trapping, George S. Apostolopoulos

2014 Student Theses

My thesis paper is on hunting, fishing, and trapping in the state of New York. In this thesis I will go over months of my own personal research and experience on the topic. I will provide information on wildlife populations and biodiversity, as I have recorded it over the last two years.

When discussing the topics of hunting, fishing, and trapping in New York State the focus of conversation is often on the moral wrongness and negative impacts on wildlife that these disciplines have. However, those who oppose hunting, fishing, and trapping not only overlook their environmental educational value, environmental …

Statistical Power Of Alternative Structural Models For Comparative Effectiveness Research: Advantages Of Modeling Unreliability, Emil N. Coman, Eugen Iordache, Lisa Dierker, Judith Fifield, Jean J. Schensul, Suzanne Suggs, Russell Barbour

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

The advantages of modeling the unreliability of outcomes when evaluating the comparative effectiveness of health interventions is illustrated. Adding an action-research intervention component to a regular summer job program for youth was expected to help in preventing risk behaviors. A series of simple two-group alternative structural equation models are compared to test the effect of the intervention on one key attitudinal outcome in terms of model fit and statistical power with Monte Carlo simulations. Some models presuming parameters equal across the intervention and comparison groups were under- powered to detect the intervention effect, yet modeling the unreliability of the outcome …

A Computational Model Of Memetic Evolution: Optimizing Collective Intelligence, Noah Welsh

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to create an adaptive agent based simulation modeling the processes of creative collaboration. This model aided in the development of a new evolutionary based framework through which education scholars, academics, and professionals in all disciplines and industries can work to optimize their collective ability to find creative solutions to complex problems. The basic premise follows that the process of idea exchange, parallels the role sexual reproduction in biological evolution and is essential to society's collective ability to solve complex problems. The study outlined a set of assumptions used to develop a new theory of …

Effects Of Instrumentation On Dental Microwear Textures: Reanalysis And Augmentation Of An Early Hominin Sample, Anna Jacquelyn Ragni

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dental microwear texture analysis has been refined to a methodology relying upon scanning confocal microscopy for its advantages of repeatability and standardized quantification. A new instrument, the Plu Neox (Sensofar Corp.) confocal profiler recently entered the market, sparking questions among dental anthropologists related to the advantages and efficacy of this new technology, which has better resolution and lighting properties than previously available white-lighted based confocal profilers. This thesis reports on three complementary studies that set out to evaluate the comparability of the Plu Neox to the Plu Standard system and assess its ability to distinguish primates on the basis of …

An Assessment Of The Emas Pump And Its Potential For Use In Household Water Systems In Uganda, Jacob Daniel Carpenter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rural improved water supply coverage in Uganda has stagnated around 64% for a number of years and at this point more than 10 million rural people do not have access to an improved drinking water source. It has been recognized that progress toward improved water supply coverage and increased service levels may be gained through Government and nongovernmental organization (NGO) support of private investment in household and shared water supplies, commonly known as Self-supply. Self-supply can be promoted by introducing and building local capacity in appropriate and affordable water supply technologies such as hand-dug wells, manually drilled boreholes, low-cost pumps, …