Digital Commons Network^™

Transposon Exaptation In Mammalian Evolution, Donald Hucks

Biology Theses - Archive

A growing body of work suggests that the exaptation of transposon-derived sequences to perform beneficial cellular functions has played a significant role in eukaryotic evolution. In chapter 1, we present an analysis of 10 exapted pogo transposons in the human genome. We present evidence that all 10 are restricted to tetrapods, and that 8 of the 10 arose early in mammalian evolution, in several independent exaptation events involving diverse pogo lineages. We show that all 10 have been subject to stringent selection throughout mammalian evolution, with pseudogenization having occurred only infrequently. In 4 of these genes, we observed no cases …

The Language Of The University: A Systemic Functional Analysis, Erin Gonzales

Linguistics & TESOL Theses - Archive

This study examines the negotiation of interpersonal meaning in the language of university administrators in their communications with students. The three texts in this study were written by the president of a large university to the student body and concern a controversy which arose on campus. The study uses Systemic Functional Grammar to examine how the language of the texts constructs interpersonal relationships between administration and students, as well as the extent to which such language changes when significant contextual issues become a factor. Specifically, in this study data analysis reveals that the language used changes in different contexts in …

Dispensationalism And United States Foreign Policy With Israel, Aaron William Stone

Political Science Theses - Archive

I incorporated various public opinion surveys regarding the nature of Dispensational concepts to convey the prevalence of Dispensational theology in America. I incorporated demographic data regarding survey participants in an effort to show characteristics of Dispensational thought and what segments of the population were most likely to be in agreement with these ideas. This information was used as a springboard to examine the history of Dispensationalism in the United States and how support for Israel has been formed by such ideologies. I found that Dispensationalism is a salient belief and is responsible for a considerable amount of public support for …

Balancing Safety And Normalcy: A Study Of Parents' Management Of Young Children's Severe Food Allergies, Leslie Brook Graceffo

Sociology & Anthropology Theses - Archive

While severe food allergies have been extensively studied by physicians, sociologists have not yet examined the parental management of children's severe food allergies. In this thesis, I examine how parents negotiate physical, emotional, and social issues that arise in daily life with a severely allergic child. Severe food allergy management is not an easy task given the potentially fatalistic nature of severe food allergies coupled with the inadequate level of social awareness of such allergies. In order to better understand the parental management of food allergies, I interviewed twelve parents of severely food allergic children regarding the various spheres of …

Tracking Whiteness: Portrayals Of Whites In American Indian Literature, Mary (Peggy) M. Ruff

English Dissertations - Archive

Although whites have pervaded the lives and literatures of American Indians since contact, their own portrayals of whites have remained, for the most part, unexplored. I examine selected works of nineteenth and twentieth-century American Indian writers to discern ways that whites are portrayed collectively and individually. The most salient categories of whites emerge early on as government officials, educators, and missionaries, those most directly engaged in the "civilizing mission." Similar categories of white characters, with the addition of white doctors, are found throughout twentieth-century American Indian fiction. Also in these works, numerous individual whites are portrayed as multidimensional, dynamic characters …

Ionic Liquids: Syntheses, Characterization And Applications In Analytical Chemistry, Pritesh S. Sharma

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses - Archive

Multifunctional ionic liquids (esp. dicationic and dianionic) have been shown to have a greater range of physical properties than most traditional, singly charged ILs. In this work, 28 novel tricationic ILs with specific structural variations have been synthesized in order to investigate the effect on their physicochemical properties. It was observed that the physicochemical properties can be varied to a greater extent in tricationic ILs than in traditional ILs. The central core of the tricationic IL itself can have different degrees of flexibility and these moieties can be altered as can the charge carrying groups to produce ILs with the …

Homosexuality And The U.S. Military: A Study Of Homosexual Identity And Choice Of Military Service, G. Dean Sinclair

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

The Department of Defense policy regarding homosexuals allows gays and lesbians to join without requiring them to divulge their sexual orientation. However, just as in previous versions of the military's homosexual policies, the current Don't Ask, Don't Tell version continues to make it clear that gay men and lesbians are not welcome. The policy excludes persons (homosexuals) whose presence in the armed forces would create an unacceptable risk to its high standards of morale, good order, discipline, and unit cohesion (US Code 654, 1993). The purpose of this study was to examine and gain an understanding of those homosexuals who …

Web Based Integrated Multiple Function Customer Demand And Budget Management System, Supun Tiptipakorn

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Traditionally, most end-use residential consumers receive flat rate monthly electricity bills based on load profiling rate calculations from different utilities' consumer classes. Those flat rates do not relate and reflect the true and time-varying costs of electricity supply during actual time of consumptions. Without acknowledging the cost differences, consumers do not have any incentive to adjust their load consumption patterns, and inefficiencies of resource allocations can result. Cheaper-cost off-peak load users can end up paying to offset those expensive peak load users. Additionally, peak load users may still consume their loads without any awareness that their power networks may have …

Estimating Absolute Transcript Concentration For Microarrays Using Langmuir Adsorption Theory, Min Mo

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

This paper estimates the Langmuir parameters for probe on microarray then improves estimation of absolute transcript concentration using Langmuir adsorption model. We use the spike-in probes found on commercial microarrays, along with Langmuir adsorption model to estimate Langmuir parameters for spike-in probes, then combine with an assumed log-linear model for those Langmuir parameters in terms of the spike-in probe sequence features, to estimate the assumed-invariant model coefficients. These estimated coefficients are then used, along with the probe sequence features of the target probes, to estimate the Langmuir parameters for each target probe. Finally, these estimated Langmuir parameters are combined with …

The Public's Role In Framing The Agenda In The Digital Age, Karen Ayres

Communication Theses - Archive

The rapid growth of the Internet has transformed the business of journalism by allowing the public many new ways to participate in the news process. This thesis focuses on the public's participation in online news forums to assess how consumers' responses to news stories affect agenda setting. It centers on framing and agenda setting theories and employs quantitative methods to analyze the responses. The study relied on a content analysis of online postings tied to 50 different stories posted on The Lede, a news blog of The New York Times that can be found on the paper's website. The stories …

Principal Leadership Practices: A Correlation Study Of Specific Instructional Leadership Practices And Student Achievement In The Tennessee Gateway Tests, John C. Bartlett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of instructional leadership practices performed by the principal and the academic achievement on the Tennessee Gateway Tests by his/her students. The researcher sought to determine if a relationship between specific leadership practices performed by the principal and overall student achievement on the three gateway tests, English, Math, and Biology, exists. High school principals whose school fell within one standard deviation of the mean school size and one standard deviation of the mean in socio-economic status were surveyed. Data for this quantitative study were collected using the Instructional Leadership Practices Survey, …

Personal Traits And Experiential Characteristics Of Developmental Mathematics Faculty: Impact On Student Success, Michael David Preuss

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This ex post facto study of the relationship of selected personal traits and experiential characteristics of developmental mathematics faculty with student success rates was conducted a rural, North Carolina community college. The data gathered was from all classroom based sections of three levels of developmental mathematics taught between fall of 2003 and spring of 2007 and from faculty personnel records. Chi-square and p-value calculations were completed for 15 hypotheses regarding the impact of the traits and characteristics of the 24 developmental mathematics faculty on student success rates. Many of the comparisons made in the study are the first of their …

Separate Threads Or A Single Woven Piece? A Phenomenology Of The Integration Of Faith And Learning, Elizabeth Canby Sites

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenology investigated integration of faith and learning among eight Liberty University faculty members. Criterion sampling was used by asking 150 randomly selected graduate students to nominate the professor from whom they had learned integration the most. All participants described their holistic, existential, faith-praxis integration. Themes pertinent to their understanding of integration included the inseparability of faith from their being and a sense of calling. The outworking of their faith was seen in two main themes: teaching practices that included Biblical truth, and the humility and deliberate actions that develop relationships with students, colleagues and staff. Counseling and generalist participants …

Location, Acceptance And Suitability Of Lepidopteran Stemborers Feeding On A Cultivated And Wild Host-Plant To The Endoparasitoid Cotesia Flavipes Cameron (Hymenoptera: Braconidae), Meshack Obonyo, Fritz Schulthess, Juma Gerald, Onesmus Wanyama, Bruno Le Rü, Paul André Calatayud

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Maize fields in Africa are usually surrounded by land occupied by wild plants many of which harbor lepidopteran stemborer species not found on crops. It is not known if the exotic braconid parasitoid Cotesia flavipes, which was released in Kenya in 1993 against the invasive crambid Chilo partellus, searches for and attacks these borers in their natural habitats and whether they are suitable for parasitoid development. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between acceptance and suitability of six stemborer species attacking cultivated sorghum (C. partellus, Busseola fusca, Sesamia calamistis, and S. nonagrioides) or Napier grass (Busseola …

Interspecific Competition Between Diadegma Semiclausum Hellen And Diadegma Mollipla (Holmgren), Parasitoids Of The Diamondback Moth, Plutella Xylostella (L), Feeding On A New Host Plant, A. Rossbach, B. Löhr, S. Vidal

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Interspecific competition between an introduced parasitoid species aimed at controlling a herbivorous pest species and a native parasitoid parasitising the same host may influence the success of classical biological control programmes. In Kenya, interspecific competition between an introduced and a local parasitoid on two diamondback moth populations (DBM, Plutella xylostella) was investigated on two different host plants. We tested simultaneous and delayed competition of the local parasitoid Diadegma mollipla Holmgren and its exotic congenus D. semiclausum Hellen on a newly aquired DBM host plant (snowpea) in the laboratory. Under simultaneous competition, D. mollipla produced more progeny than D. semiclausum on …

Nurturing Failure: Re-Conceptualizing Library Leadership To Embrace Change And Encourage Innovation, Christopher Sweet

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Following The Public’S Lead: What Public Libraries Do Better Than Academic Libraries, Christopher Sweet, Aimee Dziekan

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Zooprophylactic Diversion Of Mosquitoes From Human To Alternative Hosts: A Static Simulation Model, A. Hassanali, L. V. Nedorezov, A. M. Sadykov

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In this paper we describe the development of individual-based simulation model on zoophilic mosquito's behavior that encounters odor plumes from two groups of alternative hosts. Within the framework of the model it is assumed that (i) the hosts are represented by two points located at varying distance from each other and that their odor plumes ("zones of influence") are represented by fractional-linear functions that depend on the number of individuals in each host group and their relative attractiveness to the mosquito; (ii) a mosquito comes under the attractive influence of the plumes only within a fixed domain with rectangular distribution; …

Green Oak Leaf Roller Moth Dynamics: An Application Of Discrete Time Mathematical Models, Lev V. Nedorezov, Dinara L. Sadykova

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Discrete mathematical model is selected for description of green oak leaf roller (Tortrix viridana L.) population dynamics. Experimental data set from Rubtsov [Rubtsov, V.V., 1992. Models of Oscillation Processes in Forest Ecosystems, Forest Institute, Moscow, Russian Federation, p. 39 (in Russian)] is analyzed from the standpoint of phenomenological theory of forest insect population dynamics [Isaev, A.S., Khlebopros, R.G., Nedorezov, L.V., Kiselev, V.V., Kondakov, Yu. P., 1984. Dynamics of Forest Insects Populations, USSR, Nauka, Novosibirsk, p. 224 (in Russian); Isaev, A.S., Khlebopros, R.G., Nedorezov, L.V., Kiselev, V.V., Kondakov, Yu.P., Soukhovol'sky, V.G., 2001. Population Dynamics of Forest Insects, Russian Federation, Nauka, Moscow, …

On-Farm Evaluation Of The 'Push-Pull' Technology For The Control Of Stemborers And Striga Weed On Maize In Western Kenya, Zeyaur R. Khan, Charles A.O. Midega, David M. Amudavi, Ahmed Hassanali, John A. Pickett

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The 'push-pull' technology is a novel pest management strategy developed for control of stemborers and striga weed, Striga hermonthica, in maize-based farming systems in eastern Africa, where maize is intercropped with desmodium, a forage legume, and Napier grass is planted as a border crop. Desmodium repels stemborer moths while Napier grass attracts them. Desmodium also suppresses the parasitic striga weed through a series of mechanisms ranging from shading to allelopathy through the root system. The technology is currently being disseminated among smallholder farmers in eastern Africa and adoption rates are rising. Our on-station studies have reported efficacy of this technology …

Eco-Social Analysis Of An East African Agro-Pastoral System: Management Of Tsetse And Bovine Trypanosomiasis, Johann Baumgärtner, Gianni Gilioli, Getachew Tikubet, Andrew Paul Gutierrez

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

A key constraint for development of many East African agro-pastoral communities is African animal trypanosomiasis or nagana caused by Trypanosoma spp. and vectored by species of tsetse flies (Glossina spp.). Suppression of trypanosomiasis through trapping of tsetse fly populations was conducted from 1995 to 2005 at and near Luke, Southwest Ethiopia. Odor baited mass trapping technology was used to suppress adult fly populations to very low levels while tryponocidal drugs were used to treat trypanosome infections in cattle. Data on ecological, economic and social variables were collected and analyzed in the context of eco-social dynamics in the community. The bio-economic …

Debate At Cambridge University With Gary Habermas (Video File), Gary R. Habermas

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

No abstract provided.

Hospital Stockpile For Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Planning, Po-Ching C. Delaurentis

RCHE Presentations

Increasing threat of the next influenza pandemic

H5N1 in wild birds & poultry

Confirmed human cases: 21 (year-to-date); deaths 18 (85.7%)

Past experiences suggest severe impact

Surge demand

Social disruption Nations With Confirmed Cases H5N1 Avian Influenza P d i Fl

Economic loss

Entering The Virtual Teacher’S Lounge: The Efficacy Of Community In Computer-Mediated Communication Based Environments For Professional Educators, Randall S. Dunn

Faculty Dissertations

This study seeks to illuminate an understanding of naturally forming online communities of professional educators in the context of off-line communities. Essentially, an online discussion forum for educators is evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the forum provides a “space” conducive for the development of a community of professional educators as benchmarked against an understanding of offline community formation and existence. The foundational works of Ferdinand Tonnies, James Coleman, and Ray Oldenburg are used to develop 13 characteristics of community - as understood in the context of informal social communities as opposed to the types related to more formal …

Discussion: Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, And Gary Habermas (Video File), Gary R. Habermas, N. T. Wright, Antony Flew

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (1973-2015)

No abstract provided.

Analysis And Optimization Of A Crashworthy Helicopter Seat, Nauman A. L Mhaskar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The objective of a crashworthy seat is to improve the survivability of occupants (cockpit and cabin) in helicopter crashes. All modern helicopter seats are equipped with an energy absorber to reduce lumbar spine load during crash landing. The main objective of this research is to carry out the structural analysis and optimization of a helicopter crashworthy troop seat assembly using finite element methods. The transient dynamic nonlinear finite element analysis helps in identifying whether the seat structure will survive in a crash landing situation, and optimization helps in reducing the weight of the crashworthy seat. The seat is analyzed using …

Does Shareholder-Sponsored Corporate Governance Proposal Matter? The Case Of Executive Compensation, Xu Wang

Accounting Dissertations - Archive

This study investigates the role of shareholder-sponsored corporate governance proposals in monitoring top management compensation. In particular, I test whether theories of agency costs, corporate governance, and optimal contracting can explain why shareholders submit executive-pay proposals, and examine the economic consequences of these shareholder proposals for the targeted firms. I find that firms are more likely to receive performance-oriented shareholder executive-pay proposals when the firms have higher agency costs, stronger shareholder rights, or higher unexpected executive compensation. Shareholder executive-pay proposals gain more voting support from shareholders if the proposals are performance-oriented (than non-performance-oriented), sponsored by pension or union funds (than …

Improving The Bit Error Rate Performance Of Gsm System Using A Independent Component Analysis Based Non-Linear Filter, Kumarabhijeet Singh

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Presently, call drop out is considered a major problem in wireless communication. A large percentage of call drops take place due to network congestion, handover failure and high bit error rate.Our main objective is to reduce call drops due to high bit error rate using a newly proposed signal processing block (SPB) at the receiver section of a mobile handset. The SPB helps improve the performance of the wireless system, particularly Global Systems for Mobile (GSM) by providing a coding gain over the existing system. In this work, we carried out a simulation of the physical layer of a GSM …

Performance Evaluation Of Greedy Heuristic For Sip Analyzer In H.264/Svc, Jaydeep Vijay Inamdar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The latest scalable video coding standard, H.264/SVC uses many components of H.264/AVC standard to maintain backward compatibility and also has proposed many tools to support scalable video coding with increased coding efficiency. SIP Analyzer is one such tool incorporated in JSVM (Joint Scalable Video Model) software which is the reference software for the SVC project. SIP Analyzer implements Selective Interlayer Prediction strategy to encode the bitstream so as to improve coding performance in scenarios where multiple adaptation is not needed without losing much if the same bitstream is used in scenario where multiple adaptation is needed. Core of this algorithm …

Fast Algorithms For Mdct And Low Delay Filterbanks Used In Audio Coding, Ravi Kiran Chivukula

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Modern audio and speech coding systems use filterbank and transform coding techniques to decorrelate the input signal. Cosine-modulated, perfect reconstruction, pseudo-QMF filterbanks are most commonly used for this purpose. In this thesis, we present three propositions. First, a fast algorithm for modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) for transform lengths of the form 5× 2m and 15× 2m is presented. This algorithm is based on mapping the MDCT to DCT-II via DCT-IV and using the involutory property of the DCT-IV matrix. This leads to a reduction in the number of multiplications and constant memory requirement. The algorithm also uses very efficient …